C&C
[CHARACTER INFO]
CHARACTER NAME: Commissioner James Worthington Gordon
FANDOM: Batman
CHRONOLOGY: Just after One Year Later storyline, pre-Blackest Night, fresh out of retirement.
CLASS: Hero
SUPERHERO NAME: n/a
ALTER EGO: James Gordon, Commissioner of Police
BACKGROUND: On the surface, James Gordon, a born native of Gotham City, had a simple childhood. He grew up in an everyday suburban neighborhood, went to a line of schools with few problems with grades. He was an athlete, captain of the debate club, and had a perfect attendance record. He was a model student. At home, however, he spent most nights avoiding his father. He was an angry man, and often made excuses to take it out on his son. Jim put up with his hard hand, as long as his mother was left alone. If anything, that sparked his on-going fight for justice in the world.
As a young man, Jim soared through Gotham's police academy and later served in the United States Special Operations Forces. Though, like most true 'Gothamites', he returned to the city and joined the GCPD. There, he met his first wife, Barbara Keen. He started his career there as a simple boy in blue, keeping crime at bay as well as he could. (Jim was also present when Bruce Wayne, heir to the Wayne fortune, was brought in - the night his parents were murdered. He stayed with him until his butler arrived.)
He encountered a man and woman robbing a warehouse, and a young boy keeping their look out. They fired on him, and he shot in self-defense, killing both of them. The man turned out to be a crooked police officer, having been committing the crime with his wife and son. To cover up the corruption in-office, the then-Captain Loeb suggested a transfer to Chicago for Jim. When he refused, Loeb threatened to have the dead cop's son murdered. Without any other choice, Jim packed up with his new wife and moved to Chicago. He would stay there for fifteen years.
Towards the end of his time in Chicago, Lieutenant Gordon took night classes in criminology to further understand the law. Around the same time, he started investigations into the corruption of the force, earning himself a hard assault one night from one of the crooked officers. Relentless, he continued his pushing, going as far as committing the first felony of his life. Meanwhile, he and Barbara struggled with having a child. His wife believed that he did not really want to have children. This begins a long and thorny road for their marriage.
Eventually, Jim uncovered the catalyst in the corruption. The police force was helping a monster rig the mayoral election for large amounts of money. Unfortunately, the only officer he could force to confess is killed, and Gordon is left without a case. The CCPD commissioner, an honest man, told Gordon that there was a detective position open in Gotham City. With the animosity in Chicago, he thought it was the best thing for a 'good cop' like him. Gordon accepted and moved back to Gotham with Barbara.
Gordon returned to Gotham just before Batman's first appearance. Again, he delved into the fight to rid the force of corruption, and, again, he was jumped and beaten bloody for his efforts. One of the officers, Flass, personally threatened a pregnant Barbara. Gordon, still recovering, tracked him down, beat him easily, and left him naked and handcuffed outside his home. Eventually, he encountered Batman while trying to save an old woman from a run-away truck. After the man in black escaped a desolate building--in a cloud of bats no less--Gordon first noticed that no matter how bad things had gotten, Batman went out of his way to keep people alive.
Jim had a very short affair with Officer Sarah Essen. He ended it for the sake of his family, and she transferred to New York. Having had enough of Gordon's meddling, Commissioner Loeb attempted to blackmail Gordon into silence using his affair. Shortly after, he told Barbara about Sarah. She later gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and they attended marriage counseling. While leaving on a call for the office, Gordon noticed a dark motorcycle speeding into the garage of his apartment building. Paranoid, Gordon turned back, finding his son and wife being kidnapped. He shot and killed the men holding his wife, but the man in the car--with his son--drove off. Jim gave chase and finally caught up to him on a bridge. After blowing out his tires, Gordon attempted to fight him in hand-to-hand combat, the fight sending the three of them over the railing. The motorcyclist from before, who had followed him, leapt over the side and saved the lieutenant’s son.
Gordon, his glasses broken during the fight, took his baby and thanked the man he believed to be Batman. These events started a long-lasting bond of trust between the two men. Flass turned on Loeb, who then resigned, and Gordon was promoted to Captain. Later, after the first appearance of the Joker, Gordon had the Bat-signal made so they could call the Dark Knight whenever they needed him.
During the events of The Long Halloween, Captain Gordon, D. A. Harvey Dent and Batman entered a pact to bring down Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, head of the largest mafia in Gotham City, as well as the mysterious 'Holiday Killer'. They vowed to bend the rules of the law, but never to break them. Unfortunately, the case brought around Dent's fall from grace. His face horribly disfigured by acid, he became the criminal psychopath Two-Face. After he willingly confessed to the murder of The Roman, Gordon arrested him personally. He and Batman bonded further over the loss of their friend.
Over the years, Gordon rose to the position of Commissioner. He and Batman grew strong in their partnership, collectively weeding out the crooked men in the department. After his brother Roger and his wife Thelma are killed in a car-crash, Jim and his wife take in his niece Barbara (nicknamed Babs). They eventually adopted her. Some years later, fed up with his dedication to Gotham, Barbara divorces Jim and leaves with their son to live in Chicago. Jim wins custody over Babs and she remained with him in Gotham. Though the break-up was more than messy, they still kept in touch.
Babs became Batgirl in secret during her later years. Though initially unaware, Jim eventually made the connection. He did not tell her he knew at the time. After she retired the cowl, while sharing a quiet evening with Gordon, the Joker appeared and shot her through the base of her spine. He kidnapped Gordon and forced him through a horrifically constructed madhouse to prove a point: even the most up-standing citizen can lose their minds after just 'one bad day'. Jim, stripped bare, was bound to an old amusement park ride and made to view giant nude pictures of his wounded daughter. Batman came to the rescue, and in spite of his torture, Jim remained completely sane. He told Batman to catch the Joker by the book, and to show him 'our way works'.
Sarah Essen returned to Gotham, and Gordon, being long divorced from Barbara, started a deep and open relationship with Sarah. They eventually married.
During the events of No Man's Land, after the earthquake hit, he and the 'Blue Boys' of the GCPD worked to keep a semblance of order in what was left of Gotham. When Batman disappeared, Gordon lost most of the trust he held in the man. Though he himself had wanted to leave Gotham, he could not bring himself to abandon the city. He resented Batman for doing so. When Batman finally returned, Jim lashed out at him, furious over his desertion--going as far as punching him in the jaw. The least he could have done was tell him he was leaving. They did not speak again until Jim was kidnapped by Two-Face, his wife left at home under gunpoint. After Batman and his team saved Sarah, he decided to speak with him again. Batman explains himself, saying it is hard for him to say goodbye. They speak heatedly for some time, though their friendship is tentatively repaired.
At the end of No Man's Land, the Joker--who had kidnapped the infants in Gotham--shot and killed Gordon's wife after she finds him hiding with the babies in the GCPD basement. Distraught over the loss of Sarah, Jim came very close to killing the Joker. With a soft word from Batman, he didn't follow through with it. He did, however, shoot the Joker in the kneecap. A small revenge for his crippled daughter.
During Officer Down, while he walked home from the GCPD's birthday celebration for him, he was gunned down by a former cop Gordon had arrested years prior. With four bullets to the back, Gordon barely pulled through, falling into a heavy coma. While in-hospital, the Batman never left his side, the true nature of their relationship coming to light. For all intents and purposes, there was not another man he was closer to. Gordon eventually came to, his assailant going free due to an unsuccessful prosecution.
After over twenty-years of service, James Gordon retired from the force. He needed to take the time to completely come to terms with losing Sarah and his growing age. His retirement initially caused friction between him and the Batman, but he came around (again repeating that he was 'not good at saying goodbye'). Still, the Dark Knight would often visit him for advice and company.
After Babs nearly died from the Braniac virus in Metropolis, Gordon went to see her. She confessed her former role as Batgirl, as well as her current Oracle alias. He told her he did know about her time as Batgirl, but not of Oracle. He expressed his deep pride in her that she still found a way to be the hero she is.
Gordon had returned to the position of Commissioner during One Year Later, possibly due to the rumored corruption infecting the GCPD once more. He rebuilt the Bat-signal and worked tentatively with the reformed Harvey Dent. Much to Jim and Batman's dismay, Harvey returned to his Two-Face persona.
Most recently in the Blackest Night, Gordon is in mourning for the original Batman, who died during Final Crisis. He and Babs see the Green Lantern crash into the Bat-signal while fighting a resurrected Martian Manhunter. Shortly after, they're stuck in a battle with a large group of reanimated Gotham Big-Bads. Cornered at Gotham Central, they make a break for it--Gordon showing his surgical precision with a 12-gauge shotgun. He and Babs don't make it too far, being attacked by Tim Drake's and Dick Grayson's reanimated parents. The new Dark Knight and Red Robin rescue the injured father and daughter and take them to their base. Alfred Pennyworth treats the unconscious Gordon, keeping their secret safe.
PERSONALITY:
Jim is a man of integrity, morality and pure goodness. He's made his mistakes in the past, and holds tightly onto guilt--but at his heart, he is the best of men. What's more, he doesn't know this. He sees himself as someone doing the job. Once, he used to tell himself that he did the job because there was no one else to do it. As he grew, he found that wasn't the case anymore. He did the job because if he could just help one more person from being mugged, one more person from killing an innocent, one more person escape the clutches of a madman, maybe--just maybe--he could make a difference. And then, maybe, he could sleep better at night.
Gotham is often a pit of depravity and violence, and Gordon refuses to let it drag him down the wrong path. It takes damn near everything to cause him to crack under the pressure. Though a law-abiding man with a strong faith in the system, he learned long ago that the rules sometimes needed to be bent. If he did not believe in hope outside the system, he would have never worked so closely with the vigilante Batman.
Much of Jim's optimism for Gotham originally came from the appearance of Batman. He became a symbol of hope for a city gone so wrong. He helped Jim believe that there was a chance to drag them all back from the brink. That hope kept him rooted in Gotham, with full dedication in healing it's sickly soul. With his partnership with the Batman, he gained a true friend that he became fiercely loyal to. And though his loyalty often brought the worst of Gotham to his and his family's doorstep, he never once blamed the Bat. Their friendship has stood the test of time and duress.
Jim deeply appreciates family and friends, and has a great capacity for love. He remains very close to his daughter Babs, and still keeps in touch with his ex-wife. After Sarah's death, it's hard to say if Jim ever truly recovered. He blames himself, as his sending her to the headquarters for another radio resulted in her murder. He has missed her every day since, often recalling her housekeeping habits or her relentless teasing of his inability to cook. Jim sometimes expresses sympathy for some of Gotham's worst, though his compassion never clouds his judgment. That being said, he is still a very passionate man, his vigor for doing the right thing driving him day after day.
Gotham has taken it's toll on him over the years. A life-time of smoking has earned him a heart condition. He also, like many people, has an addiction to caffine--something he vehemently denies. Due to a shooting, the same one that sent him into a coma, he can sometimes be seen with a wooden cane, much to his chagrin. Gordon knows his age and doesn't try to kid himself about the inevitable; still, he's very spry for an older man. Despite his age, he remains a credible fighter and can wield a 12-gauge shotgun like no other. He's kept his sense of humor over the years, and is quick to quip when the occasion arises; of all the men in the city, he is certainly not above affectionately teasing the Dark Knight.
He also enjoys gardening.
After so many years in the field, Jim Gordon has grown and let himself learn greatly. Gotham is a city of unpredictability, and he is constantly willing to face it.
POWER:
Canon: Nothing, he's a normal human.
Not!Canon: Slight telekenesis--by means of small objects like your sunglasses or a tin trashcan--maybe even a chair; ridiculously talented pasta cooking skills.
[CHARACTER SAMPLES]
COMMUNITY POST (FIRST PERSON) SAMPLE:
[Audio springs to life; there's a small rustle of papers...a sigh]
My name is James Gordon, Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. If I understand correctly, I have been thrown here--like all of you--to help stabilize this city. Know that I have every intention of doing so while here--but my priorities will lie with Gotham. I will be looking for a way to return to my own city--it's problems and corruption formost in my mind.
[He tries to continue...there's light plastic-against-plastic--glasses clattering on the tabletop; barely audible muttering; papers are shuffled and discarded]
I'm not good with words. That's nothing new for anyone here who knows me. It's not every day some--machine makes you feel like you've been pulled through your own naval--drops you into a smear of a town and recruits you to be a 'superhero'. I'm getting too old for that. I didn't give up my Sunday mornings during retirement so the universe could jerk me around. It wouldn't be so bad if it -left- you the way you are, but no--it's gotta...screw you up inside. My kid is here too.
Damn it.
Someone told me it was more of the same. I shouldn't get myself into an uproar. Gotham is nothing to take lightly. Nothing. If the City is anything like it, I have every god blessed right to be up and roaring. As far as I'm concerned, I'm at the perfect level of caution here--at least I -know- the lunatics from my city--and after twenty years I -still- don't know what they're really capable of--but now there's a whole new smorgasbord of maniacs I've never even heard of. I--
[another sigh] Jesus.
All right.
I'm here. On this Police force. And I'll try my damnedest to do the job right.
That's all I really have to say.
LOGS POST (THIRD PERSON) SAMPLE:
After awhile, you just stop counting. You know how long it's been. You've changed from waiting to grow up to...just wanting to stop growing. He felt older every morning. The days were longer, and things never got easier. Everything hurt. Still, every year, they insisted the same thing. They were good people--the ones that really knew him there. They still made him proud. And it made them happy.
The gutters were rotting, he noticed. Peeling paint. Crumbled brick. It was getting to be an old hovel at best. But it was Sarah's house. The one they shared.Every time he looked at it...she was always there.
James Gordon had finally made it home; subway, freezing rain and all. When that lock slid home, the tumblers activating, and the first warm gush of air hit him through the open door...he was home. He could breathe. After securing the dozens of locks, he hung his dripping coat and wandered towards the kitchen--a few small parcels in hand. It wasn't that he hated the occasion in particular, he just didn't like what it meant these days. Or the paranoia that came with it.
Of course, he wasn't the only one that felt it. The watchful black shadow that had followed him through the city was proof of that.
His back throbbed in protest by the time he reached the table, shooting light agony down to his knees. With a yawn, he groped for the dark cane near the doorway. Some days he needed it, others he could get by. He tried to go without it at the office, a self-made form of physical therapy. Heart conditions, tar lungs--threat of arthritis. Now he was supposed to be half-crippled too? He was a stubborn old man. He didn't need to hobble around on a goddamn cane for the rest of his life.
He could still feel it at times. Like a tunnel had been ripped through him with those bullets. Trying to tear him apart. His chest hurt. It hurt all the time.
Leaning heavily, he started the coffee-maker. Jim still had some things to go over on one of the most recent cases. Just a drug-bust. Nothing he -had- to lose sleep over, but he just wanted to make sure...three kilos of the stuff they had confiscated were missing. The names in those files were cops. He had to make sure.
He opened the refrigerator, making the mental note--for the hundredth time--that he desperately needed to go shopping. He never was the best when it came to food. Babs still tried to do it for him every so often. Most of the time, he'd just forget to eat. Jim had long perfected living on coffee and tobacco. Maybe..he'd have some luck with their tomatoes that spring...at least he always had peanut-butter and jelly on hand.
Jim sat with his sandwich and coffee, the rain beginning to let up outside. The small packages sat across from him. They had gotten him a card this year. A -card-. A glittery one too. It's shimmery letters glowed at him, shaming the black marker bearing his name.
Happy Birthday, Jim
He suspected it was Bullock that always remembered. He'd never say it, of course, but it was. They all participated in the 'party'. They know he still liked Kelly Plough's. He had never been a drinker, but their home-brewed pale ale was his favorite beer. The presents were better this year--no golden woman-shaped lamps, for starters. Renee gave him another book, Farewell, My Lovely. Harper gave him a moleskin wallet. Some of the newer kids gave him a tie. Barbara always gave him ties...not this year, though. She had invited him to lunch earlier that day. Just the two of them, at home. Her gift was a beautiful stainless steel watch. Jim had worn it back to the office, but there it sat in it's package now. He loved it, of course--but he knew it's first full day out, something would happen and it would be destroyed in some ridiculous way.
He'd save it for special occasions. Like when he saw his daughter.
Jim still needed to call her. She had called him at work, reminded him a hundred times to call her when he was home. The whole of MCU had offered to give him a ride at one point or another. And -he- followed him to the subway. Because of that one year, his birthday had officially become some new superstitious holiday. Everyone was convinced something horrible was going to happen to him. And, damn it, that made him nervous. There was no reason he had to deal with everyone's suspicion someone was going to -kill- him AND his marching mortality.
That just wasn't fair. Getting older was hard enough.
Jim stood from the table, coffee and cane in hand, and headed for the den. The rain had stopped now. The light from the kitchen shined through the sliding glass doors, the backyard glowing with blue light. Sarah loved that garden. That's what sold the place for her, the patches of green and red. They had worked so hard on it...not even the earthquake tore it down. That's why he kept at it. Kept everything alive. When he was out there, digging through dirt--sometimes, she was still there. Right inside the door, watching him, smiling that beautiful smile. Wrapped in a large green sweater. Stirring her coffee.
Jim thought of her..and things were easy.
There was a short breeze. The leaves of the large oak trembled. Jim checked the red-glowing clock near the couch. He had a little time before his daughter got frantic. Sipping his coffee, the Commissioner pulled the doors open and stepped into the damp cool air. He wasn't surprised he came by. He visited damn near every night. Still. His friend had yet to miss a single birthday.
"I know you're here. You're fussier than Barbara. "
"Hello, Jim."
"Should I even ask if you want some coffee?"
"Happy birthday."
"Thank you."
FINAL NOTES ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER:
Just thanks for your time!