James Gordon (Gotham by Gaslight Movie)

James Gordon was both the police inspector in charge of the "Jack the Ripper" case in Gotham City and the infamous Jack the Ripper himself.

History

Gordon was born left-handed, something that was looked down upon in 19th Century United States, and was forced by nuns to adopt writing with his right hand. During the outbreak of the American Civil War, he served in the Union Army as both a field medic and a soldier. Stationed at the Culpeper military camp, he took part in bare-knuckled boxing and became a champion. He was also involved in the Battle of Antietam and trained himself to become an expert fighter.

The war however changed Gordon. Having witnessed "evil" first-hand, he theorized the source of those atrocities: prostitutes, immigrants, illiterates and criminals. He also came to view women as sinful by nature. At some point, he married Barbara Gordon, and they had children together. He would soon begin torturing her and possibly their children to drive the "sin" out of them and turn them to his ways. Joining the Gotham City Police Department, he rose up to the rank of police commissioner. As the commissioner, he was also member of the city council of Gotham City.

At an unknown point of time, he decided to purge Gotham of what he saw as evil and took on the identity of Jack the Ripper. He used the identity to start his crusade by killing prostitutes and other women he saw as corrupt, or their supporters. His murder of Pamela Isley however drew Batman's (secretly Bruce Wayne) attention. During the opening of the Gotham World Fair, he privately discussed the killings with the Bruce and Sister Leslie.

Batman later met Gordon at his house and requested he hand over whatever details the police had on Jack, since all of Gotham's women were in danger. Gordon gave him the letter he had sent to Gotham Gazette as Jack, but Bruce was unable to discover anything of significance. Gordon later attacked Selina Kyle, an actress he met at the world fair. Batman after a brutal fight stopped him from killing her, by making him fall through the floor of the slaughterhouse they were in.

Gordon escaped and next struck Sister Leslie, who had been providing help to poor prostitutes, successfully eliminating her. During her funeral, he learned Hugo Strange had found out who the Ripper was and was going to reveal it later to Batman in secret at the Arkham Asylum. Gordon arrived there first and threw him into a pit with the violent mental patients, who killed him. Batman chased after him and the two fought across the city and atop a police blimp. Just as he was about to kill Batman, the blimp crashed as the police fired at it, before the two were forced to flee.

Police Chief Bullock assumed Batman was Jack and gave the orders to shoot him on sight, but Gordon restrained him from doing so. Gordon also murdered Marlene Mahoney, who had seen Bruce near the scene of Leslie's murder, in order to point a finger at him. The police soon arrested Bruce and Selina went to Gordon to reveal that he was Batman, so he could be declared innocent and could be back out on streets in order to stop Jack.

Gordon soon injected the unsuspecting Selina with a drug, but the recently escaped Bruce found his location by intimidating his wife. As two fought in one of the cars of the Ferris wheel of the world fair, it soon caught fire. Gordon revealed his exact motivations to him during the fight and was saved from falling to his death by Bruce. He used this to cuff him with himself and proceeded to resume the battle. Bruce however overpowered him and cuffed him to a rail. Rather than being saved by him as the Ferris wheel collapsed or be arrested and reprimanded for his actions, Gordon burnt himself alive.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Gordon has been trained in combat and his skills were at par with the Batman.
  • Boxing
• Deception: Gordon was able to conceal his identity as the true serial killer while simultaneously investigating the crimes.
• Investigation
• Medical Science
• Peak Human Condition: His body can stand up to trained combatants like Batman and can also deal out a great deal punishment. He is also a very agile and quick person, jumping across rooftops in a very fast and flawless manner.
• Weaponry: James is an expert at utilizing ordinary blades as weapons.

Other Characteristics

• Mental Disorder: James Gordon was a murderous serial killer with a fascination for the source of all evil.
  • Irrational Hatred: As part of his theory on evil, Gordon harbored a disdain for prostitutes, immigrants, illiterates and criminals, which he targeted to exterminate. He also views women as sinful by nature and wives as the worst prostitutes.

Notes

• This character is a fictional representation of Jack the Ripper, a real person. More information on this person can be found at Wikipedia.org.

• This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (Movie) and is an adaptation of James Gordon. The original character was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and first appeared in Detective Comics #27.
• James Gordon was voiced by Scott Patterson.

Related

• 1 Appearances of James Gordon (Gotham by Gaslight Movie)
• 2 Images featuring James Gordon (Gotham by Gaslight Movie)
• Quotations by or about James Gordon (Gotham by Gaslight Movie)
• Character Gallery: James Gordon (Gotham by Gaslight Movie)

Footnotes

GCPD Officer This character is or was an officer of, or held a title in the Gotham City Police Department, in any of its various incarnations. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "GCPD members" and "Police Officers" categories.

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."