The James Gordon wiki last edited by Manhunter2070 on 09/23/14 01:50AM View full history


Husband of Barbara and father of James Jr., James Gordon was a cop for many years in Chicago, where he eventually got himself into trouble taking down a couple of corrupt fellow officers. Due to the potential fallout, it was suggested strongly that he take a detective position in Gotham City. It did not take long after his arrival in Gotham City to realize that it was even more corrupt, and his seemingly only ally against the corruption was a suspicious new vigilante called Batman.

Through his alliance with Batman, Gordon reduced Gotham City's corruption and eventually rose to the rank of police commissioner.


James Gordon, originally created as a police detective, was introduced by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. He was Batman's first supporting cast member.

Character Evolution

Golden Age

Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, James Gordon was a police detective who at first, did not like Batman’s attempt in vigilantism and became bitter and resentful of the caped crusader. Jim did not like Batman’s method of tracking down criminals and torturing them because it was going above the law. Eventually Batman was able to talk to Jim and they were able to set aside their differences and worked together to help rid crime in Gotham. Eventually Jim was able to succeed Commissioner Gorgan and become the police commissioner of GCPD. Jim deputized Batman and he became a law enforcer. Jim now frequently contacted Batman for help in solving crimes and to fight masked criminals.


After Crisis on Infinite Earths, James Gordon was re-introduced into the Batman word during Frank Miller’s run on Batman entitled “ Batman: Year One.” James Gordon was a Special Forces veteran with hand-to-hand combat skills. He was also trained with all police weapons and marksmanship. Gordon was at the top of his league in Chicago.

He and his pregnant wife Barbara moved from Chicago to Gotham City. Jim was transferred to the corrupted Gotham City Police Department. Before meeting the Batman, Jim was involved in "The Peter-Pan Killer" case. The case revolved around a killer who would abduct children from their beds and murder them. When Gordon found out the chief suspect was released from prison, he followed the suspect in the hopes of preventing another murder. All the same, Jim remained the only honest cop in Gotham and soon finds out that his only ally against the criminal underworld was Batman. Batman was never deputized and Jim and Batman would make contact in private and away from the public eye. Whenever Jim needed to talk to Batman, he would use the Bat-Signal that was placed on top of the GCPD building. Also at the end of the Year One story arc, Jim and his newly born son James Gordon Jr. were rescued by Batman without his mask on and seemingly appeared to have seen him as Bruce Wayne. However Jim denies that he saw anything due to not wearing any glasses at that time. During this time Gordon first begins an affair with his future wife Sarah Essen which puts a strain on his already fragile relationship with his wife. During the events of Millennium, Jim was discovered to be a sleeper agent for The Manhunters.

Major Story Arcs

The Long Halloween

For further details: the Long Halloween and Dark Victory

Wife and son

A police captain at the time, James Gordon joins into a partnership with Batman and Harvey Dent to control Gotham City's organized crime problem only to see his friend Harvey turn into the villain Two-Face as the Holiday Killer pushes Gotham City into chaos.

Becoming the new commissioner, Gordon tries to sway the new district attorney to accept Batman while helping Batman to try to apprehend Two-Face.

Night Cries

In the midst of solving a horrible series of crimes involving child abuse, Gordon's marriage falls apart. Barbara leaves him and returns to Chicago with James Jr.

The Killing Joke

For further details: the Killing Joke

During the Killing Joke story arc, the Joker shoots and paralyzes Gordon's daughter Barbara and kidnaps Gordon. He strips Jim down and cages him at an abandoned amusement park. He forces Jim to look at photos of Barbara beaten badly, and naked in hopes of driving Jim insane. Later, Joker reveals that he was trying to prove that anyone could go insane after having “one bad day.” However, Jim was able to maintain his sanity and told Batman to apprehend Joker peacefully to show Joker that their way works too. Afterwards, Barbara was paralyzed from the waist down and had to start using a wheelchair.

No Man's Land

Gordon loses his wife

For further details: No Man's Land

Before No Man’s Land, Jim would fall in love all over again with fellow officer Sarah Essen upon her return to Gotham. Jim quickly marries her but their relationship would take a turn. Essen questioned Jim why he needed Batman so much and this put strain on their marriage. However she was fatally shot and killed by the Joker. Jim had the Joker at point blank and was convinced by Batman to not kill the Joker. Instead, Jim shoots him in the leg in hopes of crippling him. The Joker got the joke that it was pay back for crippling Barbara and began to laugh uncontrollably. Since Batman had abandoned Gotham and then seemingly returned and acted as if nothing had happen, Jim lost all his trust in Batman. Batman intended to regain Jim’s trust and decides that he would reveal his secret identity to Jim. Batman hoped that this would symbolize his trust for Jim by offering to reveal that he is Bruce Wayne. When Batman proceeds to take off his mask, Jim turns his back and replies that he does not want to know and demanded Batman put the mask back on. Their relationship returns to normal again.


Following Sarah's death at the Joker's hands he takes a 10 week leave of absence, where he grieved for Sarah's death. He returns during the death of two officers following a suspected mob hit due to the influx of mob families filling Gotham upon it being reopened. Gordon then goes after the Kosov crime family, breaking in and pointing his gun to his head demanding answers, before having all the family present brought in for questioning by detectives Allen and Montoya. Kosov quickly gives up the shooters, as the detectives wait for a QRT, Gordon attempts to take all four down by himself only to be stopped by Batman. Gordon then realizes it would be a stupid way to die, as he covers the exit as Batman goes inside to take them down, Gordon then manages to talk one of the men who escaped to give himself up which he does quickly.

Batman and Gordon continue working more closely then ever while dealing with the Triads, Burnley Town Massive,Colombians, the Odessa Mob, and Sicilian Mafia slowly driving them back. Following the destruction of a local youth center, the Gotham gang's prepare to move towards a gang war orchestrated by Whisper A'Daire on orders of Ra's al Ghul,in order to flood Gotham with a drug which transforms people into beasts.

Gordon is forced into trying to stop a public panic, as a body is found at a Wayne Enterprises construction site.As Gordon and Batman work to discover who has attempted to start a war between the OG's (Citizen's who remained in Gotham during No Man's Land) And the Deezee's (Those who left Gotham),while dealing with Gotham's new corrupt Mayor Dickerson. When Gordon and Batman discover it's a Gotham rebuilder sabotaging his buildings for insurance money, they convince his partner to wear a wire to gather his confession arresting him, with Gordon punching him in the face as he insults the victim's for being worthless.

Officer Down

Gunned down

For further information: Officer Down

Later Jim was shot by a common crook that was looking for revenge. Jim retires from the Gotham Police Force after serving over 20 years in Gotham. He decides to remain in Gotham and would occasionally get visits from Batman who would also seek advice from Jim. Michael Akins has taken Jim’s place as the Police Commissioner of the Gotham Police Department.

Even though he retired he often finds himself in the middle of things. Batman often comes to him for advice or simply to talk to his old friend. He stops Batman from killing the Joker, after being contacted by the then reformed Harvey Dent, in the Hush storyline.

Later Barbara would require surgery to save her life from a Brainiac virus. Jim would visit Barbara at the Metropolis hospital and Barbara would reveal the truth to Jim. She tells him that she is currently going by the code-name Oracle and was an information broker for the heroes, and about her past work as Batgirl. Jim reveals to Barbara that he knew she was Batgirl and told her he was proud of her work now with the heroes and her past accomplishments.

One Year Later

For further details: One Year Later

One Year after Infinite Crisis, it has appeared that Jim has returned to the GCPD as police commissioner. He states that he has been back for about 3 months already and also mentions that he is back together with his ex-wife Barbara. During this time he rebuilds the Bat Signal which was not in use for the majority of the time Jim was not Commissioner. There has not been any clear cut reasoning for Jim coming out of Retirement, but allusions to serious corruption seem to be a good reason. Since his return he has been targeted by the Joker once again, this time being a victim of his Joker Venom, however he was brought to the Hospital in time. After the events of Batman R.I.P. Gordon seems to know that Batman is gone and makes not efforts to hide the fact that he knows. He appreciated the help of both Nightwing and Robin, to at one point making a Robin symbol, which is shut down soon after. He seems to know that there is a new Batman. He recognizes the voice but it is unclear if he believes Nightwing to be Batman. He often has moments with the new Batman that seem almost as though he's teaching this new Batman the way the old Batman operated. He comes under fire when the Gang War erupts between Penguin and Two Face and on top of that Arkham Asylum has been destroyed and rebuilt. He often has people judge whether or not he is the right man for the Job, however at the end of the day he still sits in the same office he has for most of his time with Batman.

The Road Home

For further details: Batman: the Return of Bruce Wayne and Bruce Wayne: the Road Home

Bruce wanted to see who was best for helping him continue his new war on crime. Commissioner Gordon was one of the few who passed the test. During this story line, every crook, super villain, and average citizen was trying to kill the elusive Vicki Vale. Vicki had information about all the identities of members from the Bat-family; all she didn't have was proof (or evidence). When Vicki Vale needed protecting, Commissioner Gordon volunteered to help keep Vicki Vale safe, even protecting some of his police comrades. In the end, Commissioner Gordon was excited to work once again with a mysterious avenger of the night; whom was the Insider.

The Skeleton Cases

The Skeleton Cases

As Gordon tries to draw a line between work and home, he gets a phone call from Harvey Bullock telling him to go to the Gotham City Aviary. When Gordon arrives, Bullock informs Jim that the aviary cages are all automated from the control room and there is some troubling video footage from the security cameras that Jim needs to see. Gordon sees the image of a man who resembles his son James Jr. . This troubling assumption begins to trouble Gordon and soon he becomes haunted by the visions of past unsolved case files that involved murdered children.

Fifteen years ago, Gordon was moving up the ranks within the precinct when he started investigating a string of eight murders that involved the Peter Pan Killer who would sneak into family homes and abduct children from their beds then murder them. Gordon apprehended the Peter Pan Killer when he attempted to abduct a young James Jr.

Now after 15 years, Gordon heads to Blackgate to interrogate the Peter Pan Killer before he was released from prison. Gordon wanted to find out why the killer didn’t go through with kidnapping James Jr. The killer reveals that he was going to kill Gordon Jr. rather than abducting him because James Jr. gave the killer an ominous stare when he entered the boy’s room. The killer also reveals that he murdered a young girl who was friends with Oracle before he visited Gordon’s apartment.

This revelation causes Gordon wonder about his son’s innocence and what exactly happened to the young girl. Oracle has always been under the assumption that James Jr. murdered her friend Bess because she saw James Jr. playing with her friend’s apartment keys with smug look on his face. Gordon has heard this story from Babs before but now he doubts if Babs’ story is actually true. There is a possibility that the killer took the young girl’s keys and dropped them at the Gordon’s apartment by accident. After his conversation with the Peter Pan Killer, Gordon threatens the killer that he will be followed at all times in order to prevent another murder.

Later on that same day, Gordon invites Oracle for some coffee at Bay Diner and talks to her about his findings. Jim tells Barbara that her brother, James Jr., is back in Gotham City. Barbara asks her father if he really thinks it's him coming back, and Jim replies yes. As they continue their talk, Barbara reminds her father that Jim Jr. is really smart and cunning. Jim tells her that it's going to be all right and that they've got police officers looking out for him. Oracle still sticks by her story and she leaves her father with lingering doubts but then James Jr. appears from other side of the diner, staring at his father. James Jr. sits down with his father and explains his return to Gotham. James Jr. begins by apologizing to his father for the theatrics at the aviary. James tells the commissioner that his mother (Barbara Sr.) sent him to Arkham for a psychological evaluation and the doctors clinically diagnosed him as mentally unstable in regards to exhibiting apathetic behavior. However, the doctors prescribed an experimental medicine to help James in stabilizing his emotional imbalance.

James also overheard Oracle's convictions about him and he swears to his father that he has never killed anybody. Gordon still doesn't know what to think about his son until James informs him about his volunteer work at Dr. Thompkins' clinic. James Jr. leaves the cafe and asks that his father will hopefully find it in his heart to forgive him. For a while, Gordon feels this extreme sense of relief that his son is misunderstood but he is changing for the better. When Gordon reaches his apartment, he finds a trail of blood. Gordon follows the trail to James Jr.'s old room. The trail ends in James' closet. Gordon opens the door and finds the body of a schoolyard bully that James Jr. fell victim to when he was young.

It seems everyone was right about James Jr. even though Gordon tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Gordon immediately goes to the clinic and finds Dr. Thompkins. Gordon confronts Leslie by demanding to know where his son is. Leslie informs Gordon that his son is a model volunteer because anything she asks him to do, he "happily" does. Over time, Leslie has given James Jr. more responsibilities like making "nutrition runs" for newborn babies who come from poor families. Gordon doesn't want to panic Leslie by telling her what he had found at his apartment so he humbly asks her to call him the moment James comes in for his shift. Leslie agrees to Gordon's request and she tries to calm his worries by showing him James' office.

Leslie flips on the lights in James' office and gives Gordon a tour. As Leslie professes how great James is, Gordon on the other hand, can't believe that Leslie would be so naive to willingly put her full trust in someone like James. Gordon peers around the office and finds a vile of James' medicine. The medicine is called Diaxemene which is designed to release a chemical in the brain so the patient can feel empathy. Gordon takes a pill from the vile, thanks Leslie for the tour and makes his way to Barbara's place at Kord Tower.

Gordon gives Barbara the pill that he took from James' office and asks her to run a couple of tests. Barbara knew something was going on with James but she didn't want to rub in her father's face because she could see that Gordon still wanted to hold onto any hope of saving his son. Barbara figures the medicine is supposed to help James in treating or possibly curing his psychotic tendencies but Diaxemene is still in the testing phases and hasn't been approved by the FDA. Gordon is hoping he can convince James to undergo some blood work in order to make sure that he has been taking his pills.

Gordon leaves Barbara to her work while he heads back to the clinic. Barbara breaks down the pill's components and she makes a startling discovery. James has reversed the effect of the pill and now the pill is designed to chemically induce apathy rather than empathy in a certain section of the brain. However, the dosage of James' pill is of such low grade that it wouldn't affect an adult. Barbara relays all of her findings to Gordon's cell phone. Gordon can't understand why James would concoct a pill with such a low dosage then it hits him. Leslie made James responsible for the "nutrition runs" at her clinic. James has been putting his pills in the baby formula and giving it to all the newborns thereby ensuring their development into becoming psychopaths.

Just as Gordon reached the clinic, he is stopped by Det. Bullock who has some really bad news. Bullock says the Joker has escaped Arkham and something horrible has happened to Gordon's ex-wife. Gordon acts quickly by warning Leslie about James then he calls in a small task force to station themselves at the clinic and wait for James to return. Gordon must put the hunt for his deranged son in the hands of his brothers in blue while he accompanies Bullock. Bullock tells Gordon that he received an anonymous phone call from someone who said Barbara Gordon is going to die at the Gotham Plaza Hotel. Gordon and Bullock reach the hotel room where Barbara was staying at and as Gordon entered, he notices a light coming from the bathroom. Gordon falls to his knees in tears because he has found his beloved ex-wife nude in the bath tub with a crimson smile across her face.

Gordon rushes Barbara to the lab at Wayne Enterprises while Bullock calls in Oracle and tells her what has just happened. Oracle reacts by calling Dick and having him meet her father at the lab. Oracle runs a few tests on her mother while Dick injects the anti-Joker Venom. Fortunately, Gordon got to Barbara just in time to save her and the Joker Venom was a derivative of the original. Gordon at this point wants Joker's head on a pike for all the misery he has brought to the Gordons but Dick convinces Gordon that there is no way the Joker could have escaped Arkham and found out where Barbara was so quickly. Dick promises Gordon that he will find Joker and make him talk.

Dick heads to Arkham and conducts a complete sweep of the crime scene. From what Dick could deduce, Joker didn't get very far from Arkham because Dick begins follow a trail of Joker's sweat which seems to be secreting Joker Venom. Dick follows the trail to an abandoned section of Arkham. At this point, Dick figures that Joker must have discovered Victor Zsasz's underground path which leads to the catacombs beneath Arkham. Zsasz used this path to escape Arkham so he could freely kill anyone he wanted in Gotham then he would make his way back to Arkham as if he had never escaped at all.

Dick finds Joker in a dank corner of the catacombs. He notices Joker mumbling to himself about being disappointed. Dick apprehends Joker and begins to interrogate him. Joker starts off by complaining about the fact that Dick isn't the real Batman by saying "You don't scare me little bird” and he isn't saying a word until the real Batman returns. Dick decides to beat down on the Joker until he reveals who he hired to attack Barbara Gordon. Joker laughs hysterically because according to him, the real Batman would have figured out that the Joker does his own dirty work and he would never send some errand boy to take credit for his fun. Dick finally realizes that the Joker was able to escape simply because someone needed him to be the scapegoat for the attack on Barbara Gordon and they were counting on Commissioner Gordon to retaliate by ending the Joker once and for all.

Back at the lab, Gordon sat by Barbara's side as Bullock escorted Oracle back to her apartment. Barbara eventually wakes up and when she laid her eyes on Gordon, she immediately began to scream for help. A doctor comes rushing and injects a sedative into Barbara. Gordon finally realizes that James injected the Joker Venom into his mother as a way to get back at her for institutionalizing him while at the same time he wanted Gordon to think the Joker was responsible for the attack on Barbara in order to bait him into killing the Joker. If Gordon knows how calculating his son can be then he would guess that James has already realized his plan to manipulate everything is falling apart which leaves only one person left for him to torture...Oracle.

Bullock drops Oracle off at her apartment doorstep and just as she entered her apartment, James closes the door right behind her. James and Oracle enter a discussion about on how depraved he is. James respects Oracle because she is the only one who can see him for what he is. Barbara replies to his compliment with a scoff. Oracle always knew James was disturbed and most of those people that he has already killed were actually victims rather people who had it coming. In short, Oracle realizes that James tries to find flaws or start something with another person just so he can justify as well as satisfy his violent tendencies. James smiles and his respect for Oracle's deduction has reached new lengths.

New 52

James Gordon In The New 52

It was announced that DC Comics would relaunch their entire line and starting in September 2011 52 new #1's would begin to be released.

Jim Gordon appears in both Detective Comics and Batgirl with red hair and mustache and appearing several years younger.

Zero Year

During the events of Zero Year, Gordon helped Batman and Lucius Fox defeat the Riddler and regain control Gotham City. Gordon was not sure if Batman had found the Riddler or not, but had faith and painted the very first bat signal on a spotlight to alert jets sent by to bomb the city that Batman had the situation under control, saving the city.

Batman Eternal

In the New 52, Gordon's son, James Gordon Jr. (who is a murderous criminal) is believed to be dead when Batgirl throws a batarang into his eye, making him fall into the water. In Batman Eternal, Gordon shoots a criminal he is chasing who he believes to holding a gun in a subway. The shot injures the man and hits an electrical box in the subway, causing the train to crash and dozens of people to die. Gordon is imprisoned, and while in prison he meets his son, finding out that he is not actually dead. His son offers him a way out of jail, but he refuses. Batman continues to try to figure out if Jim was drugged or not when he shot the man, as new police officers take over the force, causing more issues, until Officer Bard, who Gordon recruited, fixes things back up and begins to earn the trust of Batman.

Powers and Abilities

James Gordon is an expert detective, showing so as a long-time ally of Batman, usually assisting Bruce Wayne in his numerous adventures and mysteries. He is also the head of his police force, is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant (shown to be able to best Russian Spestnaz in combat) and weapons expert. He usually carries around a pistol for self defense and often times shown to have other officers nearby him.

Character Profile

Real Name: Commissioner James W. Gordon

Occupation: Gotham City Police Commissioner, Batman's ally

Height: 5ft 9in

Weight: 168 lbs

Hair: Red/White

Eyes: Blue

Base: Gotham City

First Appearance: Detective Comics #27 (May 1939)

Created by: Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Alternate Versions

All-Star Batman and Robin

In Frank Millers re-imagination of the origin of the Dynamic Duo. He is seen as a Police Captain, talking to his ex-partner Sarah Essen. He is married to Barbara Kean Gordon, who is depicted as an alcoholic. He has a son named James Jr. His daughter Barbara, who is 15, becomes the first Batgirl. This series is set in the same universe as The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

The Dark Knight Returns

James Gordon is depicted as retiring and has figured out who the Batman was. He has a close friendship with Bruce Wayne. In this Earth, Jim Gordon is more of a father figure to Bruce than ever before.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again

In a cameo appearance, the now retired Jim Gordon writes a book about Batman, who is believed to have died. JIm Gordon travels world wide, and makes a whole bunch of money. However, always remembering the great man whom helped save Gotham City thousands of times!

JLA: Earth Two

On the Anti-Matter Earth, where The Crime Syndicate of Amerika, the evil versions of superheroes, live Gordon is depicted as a crime boss known as Boss Gordon who is an ally to Owlman. He also reportedly had an affair with Martha Wayne. He was the leading crime boss until it was toppled by Batman and Commissioner Thomas Wayne.

Batman: Gotham Noir

In the Elseworld title set in 1940's Gotham, Gordon is depicted as an alcoholic private detective who is the former lover of Selina Kyle and a war time friend and partner of Bruce Wayne. He left the police force because of his failure to solve a case about the vanishing of a local Judge.

Batman: In Darkest Night

In another Elseworld title Gordon is depicted as a police officer who doesn't trust Green Lantern (Bruce Wayne) because of his apparent limitless power. When Bruce comes to him as Green Lantern asking him to help find the man who killed his parents at first he refuses, but then agrees to help. He narrows the suspect list down but before he can relay the information his heart is torn out by Sinestro.

Vampire Batman

An Elsewhere Trilogy depicts Gordon as a shocked officer when learning that recent killings by means of slashing the throat are done by a group led by none other than Dracula. He is captured by Dracula, however even as his neck is cut doesn't show any fear. In the second part of the trilogy Gordon and Alfred team up to take down the new vampires, also having to deal with vampire Batman. At the end of part two they are forced to stake Batman after he proves too dangerous. In the final arc, Gordon works with the criminals in order to stop Batman. Gordon dies after detonating explosives in the Batcave, making the light shine in on Vampire Batman.

Batman: Earth One

In an alternate take on Batman written by writer Geoff Johns, Jim Gordon appears as a beaten and weathered GCPD detective. When Gordon is introduced to his new partner Harvey Bullock, Bullock is shocked at how Gordon and the rest of the GCPD have seemingly given up and allow many crimes to happen. Gordon eventually reveals to Bullock that he was once an idealistic cop like Bullock but this ultimately led to the death of his wife. After his daughter Barbara gets kidnapped, he and Bullock attempt to track her down and Gordon begins to be more like the idealistic cop he once was when he first started.


A zombie Gordon is a flesh hungry beast kept in line by Bat-Soldier by means of a short chain.


For further details: Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint reality created by Reverse Flash's time manipulation, Bruce Wayne died with his mother and Thomas Wayne survived the mugging. He became Batman and used his fortune to privatize Gotham City's police force into his own security firm, Gotham Security. James Gordon was Chief Gordon, head of Gotham Security, in this reality. He worked closely with Thomas and openly knew about Thomas being Batman.

Other Media

Batman and Robin (1949)

For further details: Batman and Robin

Portrayed by Lyle Talbot, this film was the first ever live action depiction of Commissioner Gordon.


For further details: Batman and Batman (1966)

Commissioner Gordon was play by Neil Hamilton in the 1960s live action television series starring Adam West as Batman. The character was often shown contacting Batman through a red telephone rather than the Bat-signal.

The New Adventures of Batman

For further details: the New Adventures of Batman

In this 1970s animated series, Commissioner Gordon was a recurring character and voiced by Lennie Weinrib.

Burton/Schumacher Film Series

Pat Hingle as Gordon

For further details: Batman (1989), Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin

Beginning with the 1989 Tim Burton film, Commissioner Gordon was played by Pat Hingle in Batman live action films through the '90s. Despite appearing throughout the series, little was actually done with the character. He was portrayed as highly suspicious of Batman in the first film but became quickly won over by the second movie, Batman Returns.

Due to his limited role in the films, Batgirl was not even his daughter in this continuity. Instead, she was renamed Barbara Wilson and made the niece of Alfred Pennyworth, who had a more substantial role. However like Alfred, Gordon was one of the rare characters to be consistently played by the same actor through the series, a distinction that not even Batman had.

DC Animated Universe

For further details: Batman: the Animated Series, the New Batman Adventures, Superman, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the Batman Superman Movie, Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, and Gotham Girls

Batman: The Animated Series

Beginning in Batman: the Animated Series, Commissioner Gordon held a major role in Batman's animated role and was voiced throughout it by Bob Hastings. True to his comics portrayal, Gordon was one of Batman's closest ally and a father figure to the Dark Knight. And unlike the films, Batgirl was correctly his daughter. One episode even implied that he knew about his daughter's double life.

When Batman: The Animated Series became The New Batman Adventures, Gordon underwent a slight redesign as did many other characters. This new character design portrayed him as a much slimmer man as opposed to the broad shouldered figure he was originally portrayed as.

DC Universe Animated Original Movies

Batman: Year One

Batman: Year One

The adaptation was announced by Bruce Timm's DC Universe Animated team, one of the many films that re-create famous stories from DC Comics library. In this film, James Gordon is voiced by Bryan Cranston.

Batman : Under the Red Hood

Commissioner Gordon is in charge of the police force, and appears briefly throughout the movie, mostly when police officers are involved. He was with the police while Joker was taking Black Mask, his assistant, and former employee's as hostage.

The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1 & 2

The elderly Gordon finally retires as commissioner.

Son of Batman

Gordon appears briefly in the film and is introduced to the new Robin, Damian.

Batman: Assault on Arkham

Gordon and his SWAT team is present when the Suicide Squad storm Arkham Asylum.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

For further information: Batman Begins , the Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

Gary Oldman as Gordon

In the Christopher Nolan reboot of the Batman film franchise, James Gordon is played by Gary Oldman and given a much larger role than he had in previous films. Batman Begins drew heavily from Batman: Year One, and therefore, Gordon was not yet commissioner in the movie. He spent the majority of the film with the rank of sergeant and was portrayed as perhaps the only good cop in the corrupt Gotham City Police Department. As such, Bruce Wayne reached out to him as Batman to form an alliance. It was his use of the Batmobile that saved Gotham City from Ra's al Ghul, and he ended the film with the rank of lieutenant.

When The Dark Knight began, Gordon was now running the Major Crimes Unit. He formed a secret alliance with Batman and district attorney Harvey Dent to finally make the big push against organized crime in Gotham City. This was complicated by the rise of the Joker, who killed the current commissioner among many others. Gordon faked his own death in a successful ploy to apprehend the Joker but later found himself at the mercy of a deranged Harvey Dent who had his family hostage. After Batman stopped Dent, Gordon led the manhunt for Batman in order to cover up Dent's criminal acts.

The Batman

For further details: the Batman

In this animated series that began in 2004, Gordon did not appear until the third season when he was appointed as the new police commissioner of Gotham City. He was now voiced by Mitch Pileggi. Upon becoming the new commissioner, Gordon ended the manhunt for Batman and endorsed him as a useful resource in making Gotham City a safer place. As in most other continuity, his daughter Barbara became Batgirl and was even shown to become Oracle.

Beware The Batman

Gordon is recurring character on the CGI animated series Beware The Batman.

Arkham Video Game Series

For further details: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Knight

Voiced by Tom Kane, Commissioner Gordon appeares in this video game series for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and Wii U. He was present when the Joker trapped everyone in Arkham Asylum and was taken hostage by the psychotic criminals, necessitating that Batman come to his aid.


Ben McKenzie in Gotham

Ben McKenzie stars as James Gordon in the FOX television show Gotham.

The show is set as a prequel to Batman showcasing a young Bruce Wayne witnessing the death of his parents, as well numerous other Batman related characters. Gordon will be one of the main focuses of the show as he is shown being portrayed as a young, rookie detective who only recently joined the GCPD who investigates the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne.

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