| “ | I'm not a rookie, I can handle myself. | „ |
| ~ James Gordon to Batman in Batman: Arkham Asylum. |
| “ | We're the same, Bruce. We'd do anything for our family. | „ |
| ~ Gordon making up with Batman and revealing he knows his secret identity. |
| “ | A friend once told me that criminals were a cowardly and superstitious lot. That the only way to beat them was to give them something to be scared of. I understand now, as his world grew darker, so did ours. When his war ended, our lives could begin again. He set us free, to live, to love. There was an inquest of course, hundreds of suspects "who killed Bruce Wayne?" I guess we'll never now for sure. So what's next? Criminals are a cowardly, and superstitious lot. What happens when they have nothing to be scared of? Who will protect Gotham now that the Batman is dead? | „ |
| ~ Gordon's closing narration at the end of Batman: Arkham Knight. |
Commissioner James Gordon is the tritagonist of the Batman: Arkham videogame series.
He was only honest cop on the GCPD's payroll back in the day and eventually he became close allies with Batman as did the rest of the GCPD once he cleaned it up after becoming the commissioner. Near the end of Batman: Arkham Knight after Batman's identity was revealed to the world and he seemingly killed himself by activating the Knightfall Protocol he became the Mayor of Gotham.
He was voiced by Tom Kane (who also voiced Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Professor Utonium in The Powerpuff Girls, and Takeo Masaki in Call of Duty zombies) in Batman: Arkham Asylum, David Kaye (who also voiced Clank in Ratchet & Clank and Optimus Prime in Transformers: Animated) in Batman: Arkham City, Michael Gough (who also voiced Deckard Cain in the Diablo series, Shrek in the tie-in video games and Anthony, Benjamin, and Clayton Carmine in the Gears of War series) in Batman: Arkham Origins, Jonathan Banks (who also voiced Eruptor in Skylanders Academy, Rick Dicker in Incredibles 2, and Quirin in Tangled) in Batman: Arkham Knight and Mark Rolston in Batman: Arkham Shadow.
Biography[]
Background[]
Jim Gordon, prior to the the events of Batman: Arkham Origins was a Police Captain who was not corrupt, and caused him to be beaten up by Detective Arnold Flass, who was loyal to Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb Gordon attempted to bring down Flass only for Batman to intervene and stop the SWAT team that Gordon had sent to arrest Flass as well as other corrupt law officials.
Police Commissioner James W. Gordon dedicated his career to cleaning up the corruption in the Gotham City police department, a goal he has come a long way towards accomplishing. He has been equally tough on crime, and in the pursuit of making Gotham City safe for all its citizens, Gordon has forged an uneasy alliance with Gotham's other top crime fighter, the mysterious vigilante known as Batman.
Batman Arkham Origins[]
Gordon still remains Captain. At that point in his career, he still thought of Batman as a vigilante and not a hero. After Killer Croc was defeated on the roof of Blackgate, Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and the rest of the vigilante squad interrupted Batman's interrogation of Croc, and attempted to arrest him. Batman managed to escape, however, and left Croc to be arrested by the cops.
After the murder of Commissioner Loeb by "Black Mask", Gordon was put in charge of the GCPD. Gordon informed the honest cops that there were eight assassins out to kill Batman as they had their chance to capture him before the assassins did. Gordon's daughter, Barbara, believed that Batman was a hero, who was only trying to help Gotham. That lead to a heated argument between Gordon and Barbara.
When Batman was at the GCPD, he encountered Gordon on the Rooftop Maintenance Floor, which lead to a quick scuffle between the two when Gordon attempted to draw his gun. Batman informed Gordon that he was on his side, but Gordon was still not convinced. Before Batman could convince him, Lt. Howard Branden and the other SWAT officers ran up the stairs, entered the room, and told Gordon to clear the line of fire, so that they could shoot Batman. Gordon, however, ordered Branden to hold his fire, but Batman dropped a Smoke Bomb, and pushed Gordon out of the way once Branden and SWAT officers opened fire, and proceeded to knock them unconscious.
Later, while Batman was fighting Bane on the balcony of the East Tower at the Royal Hotel, Alfred contacted Gordon because he was afraid that Batman was going to die during the battle. The GCPD arrived minutes later, and Bane decided to flee. After Batman saved the Joker from falling to his death into the Hotel Lobby, and once again eluded capture from the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock arrested the Joker.
Gordon was once again seen when Firefly held the Gotham Pioneer's Bridge hostage with four different bombs, and hoped to draw out Batman and collect the bounty for his head. Batman broke into the GCPD command post on the bridge, where he informed Gordon of Firefly's bombs and his plan to detonate them if the police attempted to breach the bridge. Gordon, who still did not trust Batman, told him to stand down and ordered the SWAT team to go. Firefly subdued the SWAT team, and captured Branden and his men. Batman eventually disarmed 3 of the 4 bombs, and Gordon, who still refused to cooperate with Batman, didn't open the fire door to the north end of the bridge, which was the only obstacle that blocked Batman's path to the last bomb. Alfred managed to remotely open the gate just as Gordon ordered his team to disarm the last bomb. As Batman engaged in a fight with Firefly, he dropped the detonator for the bombs. After a struggle, Firefly attempted to detonate the bombs but the detonator didn't work, as Gordon's team was able to disarm the final bomb. After he defeated Firefly and left him for the police, Batman confronted Gordon. Gordon admitted that he should have given Batman access to the final bomb earlier, but between the two of them, they covered it pretty well.
Later, Gordon announced over the radio that he needed help at Blackgate, because the Joker caused a full scale riot. Batman entered and secured the main gate before he entered the prison to stop the riot. After he fought his way to Joker, Batman was confronted by Bane. During the fight, Gordon arrived and found Joker strapped to an electric chair. Joker then sprang out of the chair, knocked out Warden Joseph and took Gordon's gun. He then made Gordon sit with him on the chair, and placed the chair's head gear on Gordon. After Batman appeared to kill Bane, Joker let Gordon go and attempted to shoot Warden Joseph. Gordon jumped in front of the bullet, but was unharmed due to his bulletproof vest. Batman asked for Gordon's and Joseph's help, but Gordon refused as he believed Batman had killed Bane. Batman told Gordon that Bane wasn't dead, and that he only stopped his heart. Gordon was surprised to hear that Batman didn't kill Bane, he realized that Batman didn't kill people, finally agreed to help him, and went after the Joker with Warden Joseph.
After he finally defeated Bane, Batman went after Gordon and Joker. Batman encountered a wounded Warden Joseph and was ambushed by Killer Croc. While Croc had Batman by the throat, a sniper appeared and was about to kill Batman, when Gordon showed up behind him and knocked him out with a wooden Baseball Bat. The shot hit Croc in his right shoulder which caused him to drop Batman. Croc left, saying it wasn't worth fighting Batman if there was no money involved. Batman and Gordon then fought off a mob of inmates to protect Warden Joseph. After they stopped the mob, Gordon stayed with Joseph, while Batman went after Joker who was in the Prison Chapel.
After Batman stopped Joker, Gordon came in and told him that he still had to bring him in. Batman, however, disappeared while Gordon was informing Bullock that he had the Joker in custody. After the Blackgate Riot was over, Gordon was seen telling Barbara that he didn't bring Batman in because she believed in him, and said that he might be the person to bring hope back to Gotham City.
Shortly after the riots, Gordon reached to Batman by the communication line that Barbara had hacked earlier. Gordon told Batman that twenty Blackgate Prisoners had escaped, and due to the night's events, he was short on man power, and needed his help to bring them all back into custody. After he brought all of the prisoners back in, Batman told Gordon to stay out of his way, and let him do his job. Gordon then replied in a friendly voice that he would think about it and thanked him for his help.
During New Year's Eve, Gordon helped contain the riot activities in North Gotham. At the end, he was in talks to be a candidate for the position of Commissioner.
A Matter of Family[]
Years before the events of Arkham Asylum At some point shortly before Valentine's Day, Gordon was kidnapped along with several GCPD officers by Joker and Harley Quinn as part of a plot to draw out Batman's sidekicks, Batgirl and Robin. Joker threatened to kill Gordon if Batman showed up, which forced Barbara to call upon Tim to help save her father. Batgirl and Robin found that Joker had taken him to an abandoned amusement park which a rich mogul had built for his dying daughter. Together, Batgirl and Robin managed to save Gordon and captured Harley, though Joker managed to escape. As Batgirl and Robin left while Gordon was distracted, Gordon jokingly commented that it must run in the "family".
Batman Arkham Asylum[]
Gordon, along with Batman, watched as security guards escorted the Joker through Arkham Asylum. Batman arrived at the Intensive Treatment Centre unit as Gordon was signing in. Gordon expressed fatigue because of having to deal with the police, the media, and Batman after the Joker's kidnapping of the Mayor, but was relieved that he was finally back behind bars. Gordon then witnessed the Joker's escape and Batman's unsuccessful attempt to capture him. With the Joker in control of security, Gordon was trapped in the intensive care unit along with Arkham guard, Frank Boles. Unbeknownst to Gordon, Boles was secretly working with the Joker, and knocked Gordon unconscious. Boles then brought him to Harley Quinn in order to keep Batman from following them. Harley took Gordon to the in which a struggle took place. Gordon purposely dropped his pipe by the Batmobile, and left a trail of tobacco to where he was taken, the Medical Facilit.
Batman infiltrated the Medical Facility to locate Gordon, where he saw him getting dragged away by Scarecrow. Batman found Gordon's body, and became distraught that he was too late to save him. Batman contacted Oracle and told her that he was too late to rescue her father, but was unable to contact her. After he escaped Scarecrow's Nightmare, Batman returned to Gordon's body only to learn that it was not Gordon whom he saw dead, but it was actually the body of a security guard that Scarecrow had killed, and that seeing Gordon was simply a hallucination that was caused by Scarecrow's Fear Toxin. Batman saw Quinn take Gordon captive, and rescued him from her captivity. Gordon overheard that they were holding someone nearby, and upon investigating the room in question, Bane was revealed to be inside when Gordon thought Bane has broke out of Blackgate. Batman ordered Gordon to escape as Bane attacked him. Gordon made his way out of the facility, and regrouped with Batman after the battle. Suddenly, Bane smashed his way to the surface, attacked Batman once again, and was incapacitated after the Batmobile smashed him into the harbor. Batman then instructed Gordon to go back to Gotham via boat, because the people of Gotham would need him more, and that he'd be much safer. Gordon reluctantly agreed and left Arkham Island, along with a security guard.
Somewhere along the journey back to Gotham, Gordon was recaptured by the Joker's Henchmen and taken to the Visitor Centre.
There, Gordon was tied up by the Joker and revealed to Batman when he entered the Joker's Throne Room. The Joker planned to turn Gordon into a Titan Hechman by using his dart gun. However, Batman jumped in the path of the dart, and subjected himself to the Titan Formula. However, Batman was quickly able to cure himself. Gordon was then tied up to an electric chair and tortured during Batman's fight with Titan-Joker. After Batman defeated Titan-Joker, Gordon was set free, and was able to orchestrate the police attack force. They were able to infiltrate Arkham Asylum, as well as update Batman on the current status of the island. As soon as the situation was under control, Gordon apologized for the loss of the Batmobile before he offered to give Batman a ride. The Dark Knight politely declined, and stating that another one was on the way. Gordon then encouraged him to get some rest. Then suddenly, Gordon received a police radio message, that detailed that Two-Face was in the process of robbing the Second National Bank in Gotham, which Batman overheard, and raced off to the scene in the Batwing.
Batman Arkham City[]
After Bruce Wayne was captured, Gordon ordered all officers to stop taking prisoners to Arkham City. Shortly before Protocol 10, Gordon was called to a City Council meeting, where Strange said that he was unable to prevent the spread of weapons within Arkham City, that the inmates were planning an escape, and that Protocol 10 had to be initiated. Unbeknownst to the City Council, that was Strange's plan all along. While Batman climbed Wonder Tower, Strange sent the TYGER Guards into Wayne Manor in order uncover more of Batman's secrets, only for them to be subdued by Robin and Nightwing. Gordon realized Strange's true colors, and went to Arkham City to standby for an order that he knew would be given: arrest Strange and shut down Arkham City. After rallying at the front gate, Gordon was shocked to see Batman carrying out the Joker's dead body, and asked him what happened, though Batman left without answering him.
Robin heard Vicki Vale talk to Commissioner Gordon on the radio. Two days earlier, after Batman arrived in Arkham City again, Gordon told him that Harley Quinn and her thugs had ambushed the GCPD cops who were clearing the prison-city, and dragged them towards the Steel Mill. Batman said that he would rescue the cops, and Gordon asked him if he's sure and knew that Harley blamed him for the Joker's death. Before he searched for evidence outside the Steel Mill, Batman heard Gordon on the GCPD radio.
Gordon eventually made It towards the shipyard only to be knocked down by the explosion, from the bomb that Harley had planted in the Joker's statue. Gordon was horrified that Batman and his men never made it out. However, Gordon saw that Batman and Quinn made out alive. When Gordon saw Harley pull out a knife and attempted to stab Batman to death, Gordon tried to stop her, but Harley got knocked unconscious by Robin throwing a Shuriken at her. After the cops were safe, Gordon asked Robin if Batman was all right who told him that he would be fine. Gordon and his cops then apprehended Harley and her henchmen, and Arkham City was officially shut down for good.
Batman Arkham Knight[]
Nine months after the events of Arkham City, Gordon was informed by Batman and arrived at Panesa Studios After he entered the studios, Gordon found cells that kept four of Joker's infected victims before Batman arrived at the cells. Batman revealed to Gordon that five people were infected with Joker's blood, and turned them into Joker, except for Henry Adams who had the immunity of Joker's blood. Gordon told Batman that there only four people left in their cells, but the fifth infected victim was missing, and Batman said to him that he would be there soon. Gordon and the GCPD started evacuating the city when Scarecrow returned and all of Batman's enemies all teamed up. Gordon later activated the Bat-Signal to summon Batman. The Dark Knight appeared while Gordon was on the phone with Barbara, and he assumed that she left the city. Gordon then told Batman that the only lead that he had on Scarecrow was a Militia vehicle that was speeding through Chinatown. He then received a dispatch that reported a downed patrol car. When he turned around, Batman had once again disappeared.
As Batman pursued the armored Militia vehicle in the new Batmobile, Gordon took advice to pull back the pursuing patrol car, but the patrol was taken out before they could respond. Batman later came into GCPD Lockup with Poison Ivy in tow. After Batman secured Ivy, Gordon got off the phone with the government, who refused to send aid, much to his frustration.
Batman later informed Gordon that Scarecrow was making his Fear Toxin at Ace Chemicals, to the Commissioner's confusion, as he had a team stationed there and they hadn't reported anything strange. Batman suggested that they may have been paid off or worse.
Gordon took a team to help Batman investigate Ace Chemicals when the Arkham Knight appeared in an attack chopper and destroyed the access bridge. Batman went in alone to rescue the two surviving Ace Chemicals workers who were left on site, after which Gordon pulled his men back.
Batman later returned to the GCPD Lockup after he escaped the destruction of Ace Chemicals to inform Gordon that the Arkham Knight had kidnapped Barbara, to his shock. Gordon then drove out to her last known location, the Clock Tower, with Batman following him, but the Militia was sent by the Arkham Knight in an attempt to capture him, which forced Gordon to ride in the Batmobile. Upon arriving at the Clock Tower, Gordon remained inside the Batmobile while Batman took out the Militia Soldiers who guarded the building. Once inside, Gordon blamed himself for letting Barbara get taken. Batman then said that she's stronger than he thought, as he revealed the concealed technology in the room, and he revealed that Barbara was working for him. Shocked to discover that, Gordon angrily threw the blame on Batman, threw his communicator on the floor, and left, which signified an end to their alliance.
After he left, Gordon went after Scarecrow on his own. Unfortunately, Gordon was eventually strong-armed into cooperating with Scarecrow under the threat of Barbara's life, with him initially trying to kill Batman on Scarecrow's orders. After Batman rescued Gordon, the Arkham Knight arrived and revealed himself as Jason Todd. Jason called Batman Bruce in front of Gordon, and Gordon learned that Batman's identity was Bruce Wayne. After Jason's defeat, Batman and Gordon head to the rooftop to apprehend Scarecrow. Gordon told Batman that he never forget the witness statement, and remembered Bruce watch his parents when he was young and apologized for his anger. However, Gordon managed to fake Batman's death by shooting the armored bat symbol on his Batsuit chest. Scarecrow took Gordon to Panessa Studios, accessed his voice print, and took Robin from his cell. Gordon later encountered Scarecrow again at the Arkham Mansion at the abandoned Arkham Asylum after Batman was captured by him. Gordon was then forced by Scarecrow to unmask Batman in front of a live feed to various news reports by shooting Robin and then threatening to give the killing shot to him if he tried anything.
Batman then encouraged Gordon to unmask him. After Scarecrow ended up being forcibly exposed to his own enhanced Fear Toxin by Batman when Jason Tood as the Red Hood rescued him, Gordon proceeded to knock Scarecrow out while the villain underwent a state of panic.
After the public reveal of Batman as Bruce Wayne, and The Knightfall Protocol, it was shown that Jim Gordon had retired from his duties as Commissioner and became Mayor of Gotham City. Gordon received a message from Tim Drake that said not to forget the ring for his and Barbara's wedding.
Personality[]
Despite being raised in Gotham City, where crime and corruption was rampant Gordon was an honest cop and had a strong moral code. Although idealistic he was no way naive, he was aware how corrupt the GCPD was and didn't think it could be changed. Gordon had no tolerance for vigilantes, thinking that they were "the worst kind of criminal" who think their "actions are justified" but unbeknownst to him, Gordon would later become close allies with the first vigilante to set foot in Gotham, Batman. Because of his morality he has also become a target in Gotham, specifically his boss the corrupt Commissioner Loeb who had him beaten half to death by his lapdog, Detective Arnold Flass as he thought he was too much of a "regular boy scout." Despite being enemies at the start of his career, Batman saw potential in the young detective and thought that his skills and moral code would be more useful as an ally.
Gordon frequently proved that he was stubborn, during the siege of Arkham Asylum and after he was rescued from Harley Quinn he argued with Batman about him leaving Arkham Island despite the fact that he himself was massively outmatched and outnumbered. Gordon deeply cared for his daughter Barbara although there are occasions when their relationship can be strained. He blames himself for Joker ambushing Barbara and causing her to become paraplegic, and later when she was kidnapped by Scarecrow but this quickly changed when he discovered that his daughter actually worked for Batman all along. His relationship and dedication to Barbara was so strong he was even willing to betray and shoot Batman so his daughter would not be killed by Crane. However like all all character Gordon's character began to change in Arkham Knight. After learning that Barbara had lied to him about working for the Batman, he viciously rejected the vigilante and went after Scarecrow himself and became dangerous, vengeful, emotionally blinded and reckless, going after Crane himself which actually ends up him being captured. He was able to remend his relationship with Batman at the end after his identity was revealed to the world and he seemingly committed suicide and Gordon become the new mayor of Gotham.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is Jonathan Banks’ first role as a hero.
