Jane Cartwright was a criminal; who gained the power to shapeshift; as a result of Hugo Strange's experiments. Her trauma left her convinced that she looked hideous, despite evidence to the contrary, compelling her to change into other people.
After embarking on a police killing spree by shapeshifting into a variety of officers, Jane was killed by Harvey Bullock in a standoff.
Biography[]
Early years[]
Jane Cartwright grew up in a household with an abusive father. In order to prevent further abuse, Jane's mother, Victoria Cartwright shot her husband. Her father's murder investigation had no physical evidence, leaving Victoria free. GCPD officers, including Harvey Bullock, were determined to solve the case so the detectives in charge manipulated Jane into testifying against Victoria. This caused Jane to harbor a lifelong resentment against the GCPD.
Birth of Jane Doe[]
During her incarceration at Indian Hill, Jane was experimented on by Professor Hugo Strange and given the ability to shapeshift. The trauma of this experience caused her to permanently disassociate from her old identify and become "Jane Doe". It also left her with severe body dysmorphia, whereby she viewed herself as monstrous-looking and tried to avoid looking at her own reflection, despite having a normal, symmetrical face. Along with the other test subjects, she escaped the facility thanks to Fish Mooney and disappeared into Gotham City.
Revenge on the G.C.P.D.[]
Several years following her escape, Jane began plotting her revenge on the cops she believed ruined her life. Taking the form of Dix, one of the detectives who worked on the Cartwright case, she murdered two other officers involved in the case at the Sirens nightclub. She broke into Dix's house with the intent of killing him, but was startled by Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock, and left behind the Dix face mask.
Jim tracked Jane to her home. She took the form of one of Jim's subordinate officers, but he deduced the switch after seeing the officer's unconscious body and captured her. In the interrogation room, Jane contorted her hand to free herself from the handcuffs, took Bullock's form, and strangled Dix to death.
Bullock confronted Jane at her home, where he urged her to remove her mask. When she did, he was shocked to see that she was ordinary looking. She raised her gun to shoot Bullock, and he shot her to death.[1]
Personality[]
Jane suffers from self-loathing and is obsessed with taking revenge on the GCPD, likely as a result of mental illness, intensified by the tortures she endured at Indian Hill.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Shapeshifting: After being experimented on by Hugo Strange at Indian Hill, Jane gained the ability to shapeshift into other people and change her voice to mimic theirs. She demonstrated the ability by changing into Dix, Harvey Bullock, and Barbara Kean.
Abilities[]
- Skilled Markswoman: Jane uses firearms with accuracy.
- Escape Artist: Thanks to the Indian Hill experiments, Jane can use her contortion abilities to escape from handcuffs.
- Stealth
Appearances[]
Season 5[]
Notes[]
- In DC Comics, Jane Doe is an inmate of Arkham Asylum who stalks her victims to learn about them, disguises herself as them, and then kills them and takes over their identity. Unlike on Gotham, she has no sense of self-identity, no face, real name, or origin story. She first appeared in the mini-series Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, alongside several other characters including Daedalus Boch, Great White Shark, Aaron Cash, and Humpty Dumpty.
- The Gotham depiction of Jane Doe parallels Calendar Girl, a supervillain and former model who was so convinced she looked hideous that she permanently wore a mask, only for it to be revealed that her face was unblemished and her obsession was the result of mental illness.
- In September 2017, executive producer John Stephens revealed that there had been conversations about using Calendar Man, upon whom Calendar Girl is based on.[2]
- Her name can alude to John Doe, the Joker from the Telltale Batman Games
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Boston, Seth (writer) & Fink, Kenneth (director) (February 28, 2019) "Legend of the Dark Knight: Nothing's Shocking" Gotham. Season 5. Episode 8.
- ↑ [1]