- "From the first day I put on the badge, I was told things could never change. Gotham was corrupt. GCPD was corrupt. Criminals and lowlifes ran things. You just showed me different."
- —Jim Gordon to Gotham Central[src]
James Worthington "Jim" Gordon is the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. He is the son of the late Peter Gordon, the nephew of the late Frank Gordon, the best friend/partner of Harvey Bullock, the ex-fiancé/ex-lover of Barbara Kean, the father of Barbara Lee Gordon, the husband of Lee Thompkins, the ex-boyfriend of Valerie Vale and the ex-lover of Sofia Falcone. He started as a homicide detective within the GCPD. After being demoted to traffic duty by the corrupt then-police commissioner Gillian Loeb, Jim collected debt for Oswald Cobblepot to get his job back. He later murdered Theo Galavan, afterward was framed for Carl Pinkney's murder by Edward Nygma. After escaping from prison and clearing his name, Jim decided against re-joining the GCPD and sought to solve the mystery of who was behind the Waynes' murders once and for all.
Later on, after being dosed with the "Red Queen" drug by Jervis Tetch, he went through a hallucinogenic experience which helped him come to terms with his past enough to convince himself to re-join the GCPD as a detective once again. After he was infected with the Alice Tetch virus, Jim was going to leave Gotham with Lee until Bullock convinced Jim to cure himself and Lee. When Penguin came up with a new license of crime, Jim looked to Carmine Falcone for help but actually ended up working with his daughter, Sofia. Jim is later promoted to the rank of captain after saving a squad of cops from Professor Pyg's trap.
After Gotham is reduced to a lawless no man's land by Ra's al Ghul and Jeremiah Valeska, Gordon remains with Harvey, Lucius Fox, and a dozen other cops to fight for the evacuated city. He activates a searchlight atop the GCPD, intended both to draw his enemies out of hiding and as a beacon of hope.
During the events of the No Man's Land crisis, Jim has a brief fling with his ex-fiance Barbara, which led to her getting pregnant. The subject of the pregnancy garnered conflict between him and Lee which was eventually put to rest when the two of them finally get married in a ceremony inside the GCPD. Following the end of the No Man's Land crisis and Gotham joining the mainland, Jim was promoted to commissioner of the GCPD, a position he would serve in for 10 years.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Jim Gordon grew up within the suburbs of Gotham City, as the son of a successful but corrupt district attorney Peter Gordon. He was sheltered as a child, giving him a different perspective of Gotham as a child, opposite to the one he would be exposed to during his career as a police detective. As a child, he favored his mother and resented his father's strength.[1] When Gordon was nine and riding in the car with his father their car was hit by another car and Gordon watched his father die. Gordon and everyone else believed Michael Ness, the other driver, was drunk at the time but in reality, he'd been hired to kill Peter Gordon. In his later years, he joined the army and became a war hero by the time he retired from the service.[2] During his time in the army, he had saved and befriended another soldier, Eduardo Dorrance. He also became engaged to Barbara Kean at some point. After returning to his home city, Jim joined the Gotham City Police Department in hopes of cleaning up and saving the city which he had romanticized in his mind over the years.[3]
Joining the GCPD[]
- "I know how you feel right now. And I promise you, however dark and scary the world might be right now... there will be light. There will be light, Bruce."
- —Jim Gordon to Bruce Wayne[src]
As his first case, Detective Jim Gordon and his partner Harvey Bullock was assigned the case of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder. After arriving at the crime scene, Jim comforted the Waynes' son, Bruce, who had survived the ordeal, promising him that he would do everything in his power to find the murderer and bring him to justice. Though several of his colleagues berated him for doing so, insisting he and Bullock drop the case as it would bring unwanted attention, Gordon continued looking for leads anyway, determined to keep his promise to Bruce. After several cold leads and unproductive interrogations, Jim was taken to Fish Mooney's Nightclub by Harvey Bullock, to see if they could further their leads on the investigation. The two detectives were led to a recently paroled felon, named Mario Pepper who was rumored to have attempted to sell Martha Wayne's stolen pearl necklace. After arriving and interrogating Pepper at his apartment, the detectives requested to search the premises. Nervous because of this, Pepper made a run for it. After making the two chase him through the streets of Gotham, Jim cornered Pepper in an alleyway in which the two fought, and Pepper bested him in combat. However, Bullock, shot him before he could kill James. Returning to Pepper's apartment, the GCPD found Martha Wayne's pearl necklace within a box belonging to Pepper.[3]
Jim would later go onto discovered Pepper was simply framed and wasn't the Waynes' murderer, after being questioned to whether he had taken any part in the heinous act by Barbara. Nevertheless, Jim mentioned the possibility to Bullock, not sure of whether his partner would tell him the truth, Jim went to Fish in search of his answer, finding out from her that the Mario Pepper was in fact, framed. He was then beaten and captured by Fish Mooney and her associates. Bullock later went searching for him and was captured alongside him. The two were freed by Carmine Falcone, the head of the Falcone Crime Family in Gotham, as well as an old friend of Jim's deceased father. In return, Jim was asked to kill Oswald Cobblepot, a former umbrella man for Fish Mooney, who had snitched to the Major Crimes Unit. However, when brought to the docks and faced down with the decision of whether to kill Cobblepot or not, Jim faked Cobblepot's death, pushing him into the Gotham River, and ordering him never to come back to Gotham.[3]
In the weeks following, Jim and Bullock investigated the death of a homeless war veteran, discovering it was connected to recent kidnappings of homeless children, by people claiming to be with the Mayor's Homeless Outreach Program. After reporting this to Captain Essen, she demanded the two get to the bottom of the case, though not before emphasizing that neither of them goes to the press about this. Later that night while having dinner with Barbara, he mentioned the case which provoked her to call the Gotham Gazette with the news, anonymously, despite Jim telling her not to. The next day after narrowing down the suspects, Jim and Bullock arrived at Quillinformer, one of the pharmaceutical manufacturers suspected of supplying the snatchers with ATP, a drug previously used at Arkham Asylum to put the patients to sleep. There, the two detectives discovered the snatchers and a group of the missing homeless children.
Although the two kidnappers escaped, Jim and Bullock were able to recover the children, allowing Mayor Aubrey James to send them all upstate. The Gotham City Police Department soon learned the buses taking the children upstate had been hijacked by the child snatchers. Jim and Bullock attempted to discern their location by interrogating Morry Quillan who was in GCPD custody, learning from him that the truck the snatchers used had a plate with a fork on it. After getting every truck with a plate on a fork on it searched, Jim realized it wasn't a fork that was on the truck, it was a trident. Jim arrived at Trident Intercontinental Shipping, just in time to save Selina Kyle, and rescue the other homeless children who were in the process of being ready to be shipped overseas. At the GCPD headquarters, he later learned from Selina that she had seen the Waynes' killed, and the face of their murderer.[4]
Jim and Bullock were later assigned to investigate the death of con man Ronald Danzer, who was killed when a man tied him to a balloon and let him fly away. At the same time, Montoya and her partner Crispus Allen asked Jim about what happened to Cobblepot. Jim denied knowing about him, and Montoya later visited Barbara at her house to discuss Jim's "corruption" - Barbara refused to believe Montoya and told her to leave. Jim later met Bill Cranston, a lieutenant of the GCPD at the office, and shortly after, Cranston was killed by the vigilante with a balloon as he beat down a drug dealer. The Balloonman was becoming a real threat to the police, so Jim and Bullock traced stolen balloons to Carl Smikers. Smikers told them that he sold the balloons to an unknown man but told him that there were only four; after Cardinal Quinn's death, there was one left. Jim's boss Sarah Essen ordered Jim and Bullock to find the man as soon as possible, and Jim then had a hunch that the Balloonman was living in the old orphanage. When they headed there, they found Davis Lamond, who held Bullock at gunpoint while telling Jim about his reasons for the murders - he wanted to bring justice to corrupt officials. Unswayed, Jim was then shot at by Lamond, but he was able to beat him down. Bullock tied Lamond to a balloon and let it go, but Jim sensed that this was the wrong thing to do and grabbed Lamond's leg, flying with him. Bullock reluctantly shot the balloon and Lamond was put on a stretcher to enter an ambulance, and Jim found out that Lamond's next target "didn't matter"; it could be any corrupt official in the city. When Jim returned to his apartment, he returned to Barbara, but a man knocked on the door. Barbara opened the door and let the man in, and it turned out to be Oswald Cobblepot, who needed to talk with Gordon.[5]
Jim walked Cobblepot to the street, where he furiously berated him for coming back. However, Cobblepot then offered to work for Gordon as his underworld informer, telling Jim that though other lies to him, he would never lie to him. Jim questioned him about the "war" he spoke of us, and Oswald told him that war was just another form of politics and that it was all centered around Arkham. A couple of teenagers then arrived laughing and shouting, giving Cobblepot the opportunity to take off. The next day, Gordon is assigned the case of Councilman Ron Jenkins' murder. He later meets with Alfred to inquire about the Waynes' plan for Arkham. With the information he gets from Alfred, Gordon discovers that Jenkins was working for Falcone. After Councilman Zeller was killed, Gordon and Bullock learned that Zeller and Jenkins had been killed by the same killer. Gordon and Bullock visited another hitman at a prison, bribing him for information about the Councilman's killer, learning his name was Gladwell and his job location. The detectives quickly went to the Lansky building where they failed to intercept Gladwell, though found a paper at his desk with the letters C, L, and M written on it. Jim later is told about Renee Montoya and Barbara Kean's relationship by the latter, when Barbara questions him about Cobblepot. Gordon received a call from Oswald informing him that Maroni had planned to attack a politician that night. Jim quickly went to get a list with the names of the policemen assigned to protect the city councilmen and noted that Officers Campos, Lazenby, and Martins were in charge of guarding the mayor. With time running out, Gordon went to the mayor's house where he discovered that none of the police officers were present. Knocking on the Mayor's door, Gordon informed Mayor James that he thought someone was coming to kill him. While trying to escape with Mayor James, Gordon encountered Richard Gladwell, and the two engaged each other in combat with Gladwell gaining the upper hand. However, Bullock arrived threatening to shoot if Gladwell didn't back away. Soon after Gladwell, attempted to finish his job to kill the mayor, despite being surrounded by Gordon and Bullock. This caused the two detectives to fire at Gladwell, killing him.[6]
Gordon and Bullock who were in the middle of lunch, hear the sound of the alarm and went to the store where the owner informs them that the attacker had stolen his ATM, with his bare hands. At the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock went over the evidence they had obtained with Captain Essen. Gordon and Bullock began to explore Gotham in search of information about the drug addict musician, Benny, who they ended up finding under a bridge. There, surrounded by milk containers, Benny asks them to find the man with the mangled ear for more of the drug that he gave him before trying to attack them and afterward dropped dead before Gordon and Bullock. Gordon and Bullock later received a visit from Taylor Reece, a public relations lawyer for WellZyn, quickly assuring them that WellZyn had no connection to it, after hearing about the man with a mangled ear she blames Stan Potolsky, a former employee of WellZyn. When Harvey leaves to get an arrest warrant for Potolsky, Jim receives a visit from Frankie Carbone who persuades him to accompany him to talk about Oswald Cobblepot. Arriving at Bamonte's, Gordon is greeted by Maroni who orders him to tell him the story Penguin had told him, or else Gordon and Cobblepot would both be killed. Reluctantly Jim is forced to tell Maroni everything, including the murder of the Waynes, the death of Mario Pepper and faking Cobblepot's death. Ecstatic that the two stories matched, Jim was allowed to leave by Maroni. Jim returns to GCPD where among the things left by Potolsky at WellZyn is a photograph of him with an old college professor of his. The detectives then went to Gotham University where they discovered Professor Isaac Steiner assisted Potolosky, and they were then attacked by Steiner who had inhaled a vial of Viper. Gordon is forced to shoot down the old man as he got the upper hand of Bullock. Though before he died, the Professor informs them that Potolosky would strike back against Wayne Enterprises. There, Gordon went to the roof in order to to get Potolosky to stop the spread of Viper. Though already having fulfilled his plan to expose WellZyn, Potolosky asks Bullock and Gordon to visit Warehouse 39 before throwing himself off the ledge of the building to his death. Later, Gordon and Bullock visited the Warehouse but are surprised to find an empty lab inside.[7]
Arriving at the scene of a crime, Gordon was informed by Bullock of what they were dealing with, and the two went to see Amanda Hastings' parents, where they inquired whether they knew anyone who would want to cause harm to Amanda. There they meet the Hasting family's therapist, Dr. Marks, who specialized in hypnotherapy. The two detectives were unable to get any useful information out of Mr. Hastings. Comparing the murders of the Spirit of the Goat in the past with the murders committed by the Goat's imitator, Gordon realizes that in the absence of signs of intrusion into the homes of the victims, perhaps the murderer had a set of keys to their homes, which would only be available to some of the companies responsible for providing clean services. In the medical examiner's room, Gordon and Bullock attended the autopsy of Amanda Hastings to verify that the murder had been executed following the same exact methodology of the Goat. After discovering that the imitator had a penny into the back of the head of Amanda Hastings, Gordon and Bullock were sent to see Bullock's former partner Dix. He theorized that Randall Milkie hadn't worked alone in the past and instead had been apart of a conspiracy. The two began to argue, and when the detectives began to leave, Gordon was told by Dix to watch out for Bullock as he was a loose cannon and thought of himself as a hero. They later find Ember Copley at an abandoned theater, and Gordon freed her while Bullock went after the Goat. Afterward, Gordon goes to help Bullock, knocking the Goat unconscious. Gordon is later arrested at the GCPD by Montoya and Allen of killing Oswald Cobblepot, despite Jim's objections that he hadn't killed Cobblepot, he isn't believed until Oswald Cobblepot arrives.[8]
After the Penguin is discovered to be alive, Gordon, attempted to call Barbara to ask her to leave the city but is forced off the phone, when Bullock punches him and attempts to assassinate him, in order to placate Falcone. Gordon is able to disarm him, and returns home and quickly defeats both Gilzean and his associate. Fearing for Barbara's life, Gordon takes her to the bus station where he asks her to leave for a few days until he solved the situation. Later, Gordon returns to the GCPD, asking Alvarez for several blank arrest warrants signed by Judge Bam Bam. Essen tried to advise Gordon to leave town before he was killed because no one would help him. Victor Zsasz and his two female companions arrived at the GCPD looking for Gordon. A shootout between the two began, with Gordon being wounded in his side, escaping into the parking lot bleeding. While there, Gordon was almost caught by Zsaz, though an officer arriving in the parking lot gave Jim time to escape. Though he ended up getting shot again, this time in the leg. Fortunately, Montoya and Allen arrive on the scene to rescue Gordon. Hours later Gordon woke up in the veterinary department of the Gotham University, where Dr. Thawson managed to extract the bullets. Later, Jim and the detectives went to Wayne Manor, where the Jim informed Bruce that if something were to happen him, Montoya and Allen would continue with the investigation into the murder of his parents. That night Jim hid out at his home while preparing his arsenal to carry out the suicide mission to arrest Falcone. Surprisingly, he is visited by Bullock, who somewhat drunk, offers his help in the madness that occurred since he figured he was dead either way. The next morning, the two detectives intercepted Mayor James in his limousine and used the Mayor as cover to infiltrate Falcone Manor without being executed. Falcone gave Gordon an ultimatum: trust his word or arrest him, condemning Barbra's life. Reluctantly, the detective decided to trust the word of Falcone, who was proved he wasn't lying calling for Zsaz to bring Barbara. They are later allowed to leave, as Jim had trusted Falcone.[9]
The body of a fallen fighter is found near the river covered in black ink. The case is assigned to detectives Gordon and Bullock, and it is later identified to be Coleman Lawson. Gordon is charged with finding out the reason Coleman Lawson had been killed, interrogating the victim's mother. Later, having exhausted all their resources, the detectives visit the black market to try and talk to a doctor responsible for dealing with wounded criminals. After squeezing him for information, they got the doctor who treated the man with the missing thumb, after which a card for Sionis Investments fell out of his pocket. With the new lead, Gordon arrested the doctor, which only served to widen the rift between Gordon and his fellow officers, namely Alvarez. Upon returning home, Jim discovered Barbara, who totally consumed by her fear of Zsasz, holding his spare gun after drinking several glasses of wine. He then tried to calm her down. Hours later, Gordon and Bullock reach the Sionis Investments to meet with Richard Sionis, however before meeting with him, they notice several employees with wounds on their faces. Sionis quickly denies Gordon's accusations and being involved in the murder of Coleman Lawson. Gordon does not believe in any of Sionis' excuses about the injuries of his employees, and accuses Sionis of being involved, though Sionis tells him to prove it. While leaving the office, Gordon notices a trail of blood on the floor leading to the bathroom. When Gordon enters, he finally finds the employee whose thumb had been torn off. The two engaged each other in battle, with Gordon ending up on the floor. Fortunately when he tries to flee Harvey Bullock stops him with the door. At the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock find out from a man missing his thumb, Adams, that Sionis ran a sort of circuit where he forced all potential employees to fight to the death for a job. Gordon later reaches an old office complex where he finds three men locked in cages. Unfortunately, before he can release them he is incapacitated by Sionis using an electric baton. Gordon fights against the three individuals until he finally emerges victorious to the dismay of employees Sionis Investments. To everyone's surprise, Richard Sionis appears wearing a black mask and carrying a sword. Jim is forced to dodge the attacks, and using an office object to fight back. Gordon eventually defeats Sionis, with Essen and several other GCPD officers arriving soon after. Later, detective Alvarez informs him that a teenage thief who had been arrested wanted to talk to him, who Gordon realized was Selina Kyle.[10]
Jim arrives at Barbara's penthouse with Selina Kyle, finding a letter Barbara had left him, telling him that she had gone away for a while as she was still paranoid because of what had happened with Falcone. Gordon proposed a new place to keep Selina safe, Wayne Manor. Later, Gordon visits the Wayne mansion to present Bruce with the drawing of his parent's killer, also asking Bruce and Alfred to accommodate Selina in the mansion until they were able to take the case to trial. Despite not having the support of Alfred, Bruce accepts hosting Selina. Later, Gordon, Montoya, and Allen met with the assistant district attorney Harvey Dent, for help with Wayne murder case. Dent, an idealistic lawyer with strong convictions and a desire to execute justice, states that he believes that the entrepreneur Dick Lovecraft, a rival of Thomas Wayne's, was involved with the Wayne murders. Dent announced his idea of scaring the corrupt of Gotham, and with Gordon's permission decided to spread the word about having a new witness to the Wayne case without confirming their identity. At the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock interrogated Ian's brother, John Hargrove. Nygma informs Gordon and Bullock about the discovery of the distinctive plate between the remains of the bomb that went off last night, which belonged to an abandoned metal factory. Wasting no time, the two detectives arrived at the factory where they found Hargrove working on yet another bomb. Relieved by the detectives' arrival, he informs them that his captors had threatened to kill his brother and his brother's family, and were Russians led by a guy named Gregor Kasyanov who were trying to strike against Falcone. The Russians then arrive at the factory and started a shootout against the police as to recover Hargrove and his bomb and then escaped. Gordon and Bullock are able to arrive on time to stop the Russians, with reinforcements, but before they could arrest the Russians, Butch, who was located in a position near there, activated the bomb placed under the van, that ends up killing Kasyanov and all his men. Later Bullock informs his partner that Hargrove and all the criminally insane inmates at Blackgate had been transferred to the old Arkham Asylum building by the order of mayor.[11]
Jim and the rest of the police arrive at the manor and during which Bullock discovers Gordon and Harvey Dent's plan to try to solve the murder of the Waynes. This causes an argument between the two partners but Alfred quickly silences the two, because all that mattered at that moment was to find Bruce. Jim offers that the murderer may have been sent by Lovecraft, so he asks Bullock try to find Selina and Bruce as he tried to get Lovecraft to call off the assassins. Gordon confronted Dent to find out how the assassins knew that Selina Kyle was the surprise witness of the Wayne murder case. Reluctantly, Dent confesses to leaking his name to give credibility to the rumor. Given that Lovecraft could not be found anywhere, Dent gives Jim the addresses of several of Lovecraft's condos that he had under the name of his mistress to try to find him. Gordon went to Lovecraft's condo, and finds the entrepreneur there, fearing for his life. Lovecraft denies having sent the murderers after Selina as they were also chasing him. At the precise moment when Lovecraft tried to reach the documents proving his non-involvement in the Wayne murder, the female assassin entered the apartment, subduing Gordon after the two engaged each other in battle. Gordon receives a call from Bullock informing him of the children's location, The Factory, where Selina's fence was based at. Standing up, Gordon begins to search for Lovecraft, finding him in his bathtub, dead, with a shot in the head, that been deliver with Gordon's gun. Jim later arrives at the scene with other police to assist in the effort. The next day Gordon and Dent were lectured by Mayor James, about the death of Lovecraft. Before the media could circulate the story of his murder, the politician decided to pass it off as suicide because of the pressure from the accusations of Gordon. The mayor then told them that one of them would be a scapegoat, picking Gordon, as Dent knew how to walk the line, whereas Gordon didn't. When the news about Lovecraft's death is made public, Gordon is relieved from his duties as a detective and sent to work as a security guard at Arkham Asylum.[12]
Several weeks pass and Jim Gordon begins his job as a security guard for Arkham Asylum. One night in the middle of a play, Frogman Jones loses his sanity and attacks one of the actors, Royston hitting him several times before Gordons and his cohorts manage to stop it. It being another altercation that he should have been prevented, Jim is reprimanded by Director Gerry Lang, who blames him for letting the situation happen in the first place. Moments later, Dr. Leslie Thompkins comes to the infirmary to inspect Royston and meets Jim. Amidst one of his rounds, Gordon discovers a patient in a vegetative-like state complete with a two holes on the side of his head. With the help of Dr. Thompkins, Jim discovers that someone had administered electroshock therapy on the patient, completely frying his brain. After being informed of the situation, Director Lang prohibits Gordon from alerting the police and gives him the task of finding out who committed the act. As someone needed the keys from a guard to access the patient's cell, Gordon investigates his fellow officers, namely Steven Wenger, to discover which one of them lost their keys, with Wenger confessing that he lost his during the riot during the play the previous night. Along with Nurse Duncan, Gordon interrogated several patients in the asylum, including Jack Gruber. Suspecting that perhaps it was a staff member doing so, but Gordon calls the GCPD. Alerted by Gordon's call Bullock visited the Asylum, happy to see his former partner. Gordon later discovers that the person who had been attacking the inmates should be based in the basement area, so Nurse Duncan offered to escort him there. On the way to the basement, Jim begins to notice her strange behavior, and the situation worsens when the two cross paths with Dr. Thompkins who offered to accompany them. Suddenly, Duncan pushes Leslie towards Gordon and begins to flee in terror. Soon after, Harvey calls Gordon to inform him that Dorothy Duncan was actually a patient. Duncan releases all of the inmates from their cells, starting a riot, and Jim and Leslie on, manage to gate the inmates off and save themselves. At the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock reported to Captain Essen what had happened. However, the Medical Examiner comes in to tell Essen that he had found electroshock therapy marks on Duncan's head as well, proving she was not the culprit after all. Arriving at the Asylum, Gordon finds a note from Gruber in the hand of a dying Director Lang, in which he expressed his wishes for the two to meet again.[13]
Jim makes a deal with Commissioner Loeb that gives him 24 hours to go after Gruber. If he succeeds, he will be reinstated into the police force, though if he didn't, both him and Bullock would both be at Arkham. Gordon is visited by Arkham nurse Leslie Thompkins. She tells Gordon that Arkham Asylum is getting over the incidents and tells him about an inmate who curses dolls of people for inmates, giving him a doll that resembled Don Maroni. Later, Gordon and Bullock speak to Maroni about Buchinsky and want to use him as bait for the Electrocutioner. When "The Electrocutioner" began his attack on the GCPD, Gordon appeared wearing rubber shoes. Gordon uses a beverage to short out Electrocutioner's gear. Electrocutioner and Helzinger are then arrested. Gordon is then reinstated into the police force by Commissioner Loeb. Later, Leslie visits GCPD to ask Gordon for Arkham Asylum's "sorceress's" doll back. A police officer then informs Gordon about the shootout at Mooney's nightclub.[14]
Gordon is later introduced to Arnold Flass. The three meet with a night janitor named Leon Winkler, who was a witness in a public homicide. When at the police station, Winkler is visited by a mysterious person who kills him. Edward Nygma states that the weapon used on Winkler was an ice pick. Gordon suspects that a cop is behind this, as Sarah Essen tells him not to take action without her say-so. Gordon, after interrogating some guards, confronts Officer Delaware upon his role in the guard duty and finds the same drugs in Delaware's car that were on the murder victim. Due to the illegal search, Essen removes Gordon and Bullock from the murder investigation. At a restaurant, Bullock tells Gordon that Flass and his men have taken possession of drug stash houses and that Flass is protected by serious people. Gordon and Bullock arrive at a stash house where Delaware and his men claimed that they have the search warrant on this stash house. Gordon and Bullock are later told by Essen that Internal Affairs has ruled Winkler's death as a suicide and advises that they move on to the next victim. Gordon visits Cobblepot at the nightclub where he meets Cobblepot's mother, Gertrud. Gordon asks Cobblepot as a favor to find anyone with info on Flass. Gordon is later given the evidence, the tape and the ice pick, by Gabe. Later in an alley, Delaware pleads to Gordon not hurt his family. Gordon realizes that because of the "favor" Copplepot did him, Delaware thinks Gordon is a threat to them.[15]
Gordon arrives at Barbara's penthouse and finds that Selina Kyle had been staying there in his ex-fiancee's absence. Soon after, he is told by Selina that she didn't actually see the Waynes' killer, and had lied. After hearing this, Gordon visits Bruce at Wayne Manor to confirm what he had been told. However, Bruce decides to relinquish detective Gordon from his promise, as after several months had passed, Gordon hadn't found any leads. Going to the furniture factory that made the chair used to hang Adam Jodowsky, Gordon, and Bullock, to the surprise of both, find a guy, wearing a pig mask, torturing the kidnapped man. After shooting the masked man, Bullock decides to visit Scott's phobia group to give the good news, however, Gordon insists on further research to make sure the man they shot wasn't working alone, because of the post-mortem incision made in Jodowsky's body before being killed. Without being able to call upon Nygma's expertise, Jim uses the case as an excuse to see the Leslie Thompkins. He later confessed this to her after she arrived dressed up and the two kissed before Gordon had to leave. Jim and Harvey later arrive at Lemmars Park, after "Tod" kidnapped Scottie Mullens. Harvey throws himself into the pool to save the woman, and Jim chases Tod into the boiler room, simultaneously shooting at him. Unfortunately, Crane gets away after closing a door, cutting Jim off. Dr. Thompkins arrives at the GCPD to inform Gordon that the murderer extracted the adrenal gland, commonly known as the fear gland to extract all its hydrocortisone. Jim then tells her that there will possibly be more work for her, as their medical examiner had been fired for stealing body parts. Excited by the offer, to which leads to dinner between the two, she decides to kiss Gordon passionately uncaring that they'd be seen by the rest of the police department.[16]
In the city, Jim and Leslie concluded their third date, with Leslie informing him that she was hired as the new medical examiner of the GCPD, much to Gordon's surprise. The next day, while the police search the home of the most recent victim of Crane, Bullock gives Gordon the rundown once he arrived. Gordon and Bullock later go to Aquinas High School intending on finding out information about Crane, and the headmaster, Judith Barthel informs them that Crane was very overprotective of his son Jonathan and that his wife died several years ago in a car accident. She also gives them an academic paper that Crane had written where he explained his theory that the fear was an evolutionary failure in humans and was trying to cure himself of it.Back at the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock discover that Crane had intentions on creating inoculations for himself and another person, dubbed "Subject B". Later, Jim turned down Oswald's offer of attending the nightclub and though Penguin offered to help him with his case, Gordon rejected the offer telling him he didn't want him coming to the GCPD again. Offended, Penguin tells Jim that he shouldn't treat him that way and that he'd one day soon he'd need his help. Jim later draws a line with Lee regarding PDA during the job, though the two are interrupted by Bullock. Gordon and Bullock discover that Crane's real fear he had been generated by the guilt of not being able to save his wife from a fire that had occurred in their house, years ago. With that information, they decide to visit the old Crane house. Gordon and Bullock arrived at the old house Crane house, where, Gerald and Jonathan attempted to escape through the courtyard. Stopping at the hay under the Scarecrow, Gerald decided to conclude the injections and administered a large dose to Jonathan that him convulsing wildly before in fear of the Scarecrow. Fearing nothing, Gerald takes his gun and shoots at the detective, though they quickly shoot him down. Finding Jonathan convulsing, Gordon quickly tells Bullock to call an ambulance. Later, Jim visits the hospital to check on the state of Jonathan Crane. There, Doctor Anderson informs him that the injections had altered Crane's brain activity, leaving him in a constant state of terror.[17]
Jim and Leslie share a date together at Haly's Circus but the date abruptly ends when clowns burst onto the scene led by Owen Lloyd who engages Alphonse Grayson. Annoyed, Jim raises his badge, announcing himself as a GCPD detective to stop the conflict. Interrogating those involved in the fight Jim fails to find anything out, however, Leslie manages to find out through John Grayson and Mary Lloyd that it had been about a snake charmer named Lila Valeska. Fearing that something might have happened to the woman, Jim and Leslie visit her son, Jerome Valeska, to find out the whereabouts of his mother. Suspicious, Jim uses her snake to guide them, they soon after manage to find Lila's dead body covered by a blanket. Investigating Alphonse and Owen separately, Gordon and Bullock discover that the grudge between the two families dated back to an accusation of a stolen horse. Concluding that they had all the alibis at the time, Jim decided to release the rest of the circus members after warning them not to fight anymore, as they had seen where it had gotten their friends, using Alphonse and Owen as examples. At that moment an elderly, blind, psychic, named Paul Cicero arrived before Gordon and Leslie to deliver a message Lila had supposedly sent him from beyond the grave. Later, Jim and Leslie visit the park at night and to the surprise of them both of they immediately find an old ax blood covered with symbols carved into the handle. The detective immediately recognized the symbols as belonging to Hellfire Club, an old satanic cult who used to perform ritual murders. Later in the interrogation room of the GCPD, Jim, accompanied by Leslie, summons Paul Cicero to tell him about the ax. Knowing that the so-called messaged he had received from Lila had been invented and that the ax was planted to divert the investigation, Jim proceeds to accuse him of covering up the real murderer, who was someone close to him. After that, Jerome was summoned into the room, with Gordon then revealing that Cicero was Jerome's biological father, and accused Jerome of being the real murderer. Though he initially denied it, Jerome began to feign crying before chuckling evilly. With joy, Jerome confesses to the murder of his mother.[18]
Gordon and Bullock are assigned to solve the theft carried out by the group and after learning that a smoke bomb had been set off in the bank a week previous, they decide to analyze previous recordings of the theft to try to find if it was connected to the robbery. Thanks to security recordings, Gordon discovers that one of the robbers had Gus previously visited the bank to time the reaction time of the police. Fortunately for them, the robber neglected to take off his work uniform for the auto shop where he worked at, Kleg's Auto. At Kleg's Auto, Gordon and Bullock found Gus Floyd's body inside a refrigerator, and the Red Hood Gang performed another heist at another bank, with Clyde imitating Gus Floyd's actions as the new Red Hood. At the GCPD, with the help of the witness, Gordon and Bullock manage to find Clyde Destro, however, instead of arresting him they let him go in order to follow him and track down the rest of the Red Hood Gang. Gordon and Bullock quickly enter the apartment after hearing gunshots and call an ambulance for the Destro, and there they discover that the band had been robbing banks that denied Destro loan's in the past and that the next target would be the International Savings Bank of Gotham. The next day the Red Hood Gang, now only down to three people, closed in on the bank, but are surrounded by the GCPD. They begin a gun shootout, though they are all gunned down. After which, Jim receives a call informing him about what happened to Alfred. Upon reaching the hospital he finds Bruce next to Alfred's bed. The two then embrace, with Jim trying to comfort Bruce.[19]
At the hospital, Jim checks in on Bruce and Alfred. Gordon questions them about who attacked Alfred, though to no avail. At the GCPD, Gordon and Harvey Dent learn from Captain Essen, that Commissioner Loeb was able to find a witness to get Arnold Flass exonerated, and that he'd be backing him as the head of the policeman's union. When Gordon visits Loeb, he showed Gordon footage where Bullock states that he presented false evidence against Flass. Back at the GCPD, upon confronting Bullock, Gordon learns from him that Loeb had dirt on him and half of the GCPD, and years ago he had been given a task similar to Gordon's of killing a criminal. Gordon and Dent interrogate an ex-partner of Loeb's, Charlie Griggs, in order to find out what exactly Loeb has on some police officers. After questioning him, he tells them to go see a Chinese bookkeeper by the name of Xi Lu. Later, Gordon and Dent enter Xi Lu's den and try to get him to show them where Loeb's stash of evidence is, but Xi Lu has the workers who were counting the money attack Gordon and Dent with knives. They later escape when Bullock crashes through a gate with his car and rescues them. With Bullock's help, Gordon they learn from Griggs that the only person who knew where Loeb kept his files was Falcone. Gordon and Bullock visit's Oswald's to ask the Penguin for his help and he agrees after Jim promises him a favor. That night Gordon, Bullock, and Penguin reach an old farm located on the outskirts of the city, there they are welcomed in by an elderly named Jude and Marge, under the guise of being a security team sent to check out the farm's security. Unexpectedly, the elderly couple, having figured out that they were not who they claimed to be, opened fire against them however they managed to subdue them quickly and went to check the attic. In the attic they discover Miriam Loeb, the daughter of Commissioner Loeb, living there. After having a long talk with Miriam, who had serious mental issues, the detectives end up discovering that she was the real killer of her mother. The next day at his office, Gordon confronted Loeb with the truth. Overwhelmed by the turn of events, Loeb offers to resign, however, Jim tells him not to, as then he'd have to deal with someone else who was also Falcone's lap dog. But with Loeb, at least he had leverage. In exchange for keeping Miriam's whereabouts secret, Jim demands Arnold Flass be tried fairly, Loeb's dirt on all of the GCPD officers sent to Dent, though he is only given Bullock's file, and for Loeb to support him as president of the policeman's union.[20]
Jim is approached by Officer Len Moore, a young idealist who looked up to Gordon. Len, knowing Gordon's reputation of closing cases, asks him to look into the case of a girl found dead to bring justice to her family. Somewhat reluctant, Gordon promises to check the case out, however, when Leslie sees the report she is horrified to discover that the victim, Grace Fairchild, is close to her age, and was last seen alive in a bar located in her neighborhood. Determined to find Grace's murderer, Jim gets a list of the bars in Leslie's neighborhood, and before leaving, having convinced Bullock to join him, he asks Nygma find evidence from the case that was apparently missing. Gordon and Bullock begin to go to bars looking for information about Grace, eventually finding a barwoman who remembered seeing her leave months ago with a "hot" date. At the GCPD, Nygma informs Gordon that he couldn't find the missing evidence, though he did find a photocopy of an image of a hand-painted broken heart. Seeing this, Bullock informs Gordon that they were dealing with a known serial killer. Gordon is informed by Bullock of the history of the serial, known as the Ogre, who kidnapped young and beautiful women and then killed them. The reason he hadn't been stopped, however, was because the Ogre used to take revenge on those who tried to catch him, killing their loved ones. Realizing that he had been setup, Gordon and Bullock go to find Officer Moore. Gordon and Bullock interrogate Moore until he confesses that he brought the case to Jim under the orders of Commissioner Loeb. Afterward, Harvey recommends that Jim stop looking into the case, and no one knew he was, though Jim refused. Loeb then entered the GCPD building, and Gordon is overwhelmed by rage, leading him to confront Loeb and in the presence of his fellow officers, he tells Loeb that he intends to stop the Ogre, then afterward he was coming for Loeb himself.[21]
Trapped by the desire to stop the serial killer and protect Leslie, Jim asks his girlfriend to leave town, but she refuses. Gordon and Bullock met with detective Ben Mueller the first officer to ever investigate the Ogre. Mueller reveals that the first victim was a nurse at a cosmetic surgery clinic. At the plastic surgery clinic, Gordon and Bullock meet with Dr. Cushman to find out about the first victim of the Ogre, which was recommended to them by a client. Unfortunately to find out the client's name they would need a court order. Outside passing by an alley, Gordon saw a car he had recognized from outside the GCPD. When he begins to approach it, the car starts and tries to run him over but he fails. Back at the GCPD, Gordon reports to Essen what happened, when he suddenly got a call ordering from the Ogre ordering him to stop investigating him. Telling him that if Gordon kept on his current path he'd kill someone that Gordon loved. In response to this threat, Gordon held a press conference to make the Ogre's killings known. Later, Gordon and Bullock arrive at the van Groot home and quickly find a man trying to hang himself. Gordon interrogated Jacob Skolimski and found out that the Ogre was actually his son, and that his son wouldn't be capable of murder. Skolimski then informed them that his son Jason, being treated affectionately by Mrs. Van Groot, became convinced that she was his biological mother. When she refused to recognize it and give her his surname, he killed her and devoted himself to finding a woman that would love him unconditionally. However, he scoffs at the idea that Jason could be a woman seducer since he had been born with the brutally disfigured face, causing his actual mother to leave them. With that information, Gordon returned to the cosmetic surgery clinic where he confirmed there that they had indeed operated on Jason. At the GCPD, Gordon, Bullock, and Captain Essen all gather leads on the case to try to find out who the Ogre was. Despite not having a picture in the file "Jason Van Groot" of the clinic, they manage to get a sketch of him. Delving into the information, Gordon realizes that the press article cited by the Ogre during their conversation included a photo of him with Barbara Kean. Jim quickly goes to her penthouse, and asks Selina if the sketch looked like the man Barbara had left the ball with.[22]
After learning that the Ogre frequented a brothel called The Foxglove, an extremely exclusive place that was only never used the same place twice. Given his desperation, Jim decides to once more resort going to Oswald Cobblepot already owning Cobblepot a favor. Gordon arrives at Oswald's' and after threatening him, he manages to get the Penguin to get him an invitation to the Foxglove, though having to promise him another favor. Jim gave Bullock the invitation for Foxglove, to go instead of him. At the Foxglove, Gordon and the rest of the police arrive, beginning to question the host until he's told to talk to Sally. Taking off her mask to reveal a large scar on her face, she reveals that in the past she was kidnapped by a man, who for some unknown reason did not kill her, though he gave her the scar. After telling her story she informs them that the murderer took her to an apartment in midtown Gotham, and after giving specific details, Gordon deduces that it was across from the Gotham Royal Hotel. At Jason's apartment, Gordon and Bullock arrive, finding it empty. After discovering the Ogre's torture chamber, the Ogre communicates with Jim via a telephone and confirms that Barbara was safe with him. During the call, Gordon hears the sound of a passing train over a bridge and quickly deduced that they were on their way to Barbara's parents' house. The Ogre then engages Gordon in battle, while Barbara stares in shock. After being stabbed in the arm with his own knife, the Ogre sneaks behind Barbara to take her hostage. With the knife at her neck, the Ogre orders him to lower his weapon, and Barbara tells Jim to leave them alone, but Bullock distracts Skolimski from behind and Gordon shoots him in the forehead, killing Skolimski, avenging the women he has killed and ending his killing spree. With the Ogre dead, and Barbara still in shock, Jim comforts her telling her that everything would be alright. At the GCPD, Gordon is celebrated as a hero for stopping the Ogre. Gordon and the rest of the GCPD are informed by Essen of the gang war between Falcone and Maroni.[23]
Gordon visits Barbara, who was being examined by Leslie Thompkins. Leaving the room, Bullock informs Gordon about the attack on Falcone and how almost all the politicians in the city, including the GCPD, had decided to switch their support over to Maroni. Gordon arrives in time to stop Penguin from killing Falcone at the hospital and arrest both him and Gilzean for attempted murder. Jim comes to free Falcone knowing that if he died and Maroni took control, the city would collapse into civil war. In exchange for his help, Falcone promises that it would only take two days to regain control at his safe house. Jim called Bullock at the hospital asking his help in getting Falcone out of the hospital. At that moment, Tommy Bones arrives and is surprised to see Gordon there. When he leaves, he comes back with Commissioner Loeb who orders him to leave. When Jim refuses to obey his orders, Loeb turns around and leaves the thugs to open fire on the detective. Later, Gordon and Bullock take Falcone to his safe house, where he tells them that anyone who knew about it was dead. However while there, Fish arrives with a gang of her very own. After Fish kills Maroni, Gordon is freed by Bullock and Jim, Bullock, and Falcone tried to escape without being seen by Fish Mooney's people, during which Falcone confesses to the detective that he had thought about it and after it was all over, he planned on retiring to his place down south. The trio is quickly recaptured by Selina and the rest of Fish's men. They are escorted back to Fish, but the Penguin unexpectedly reappears, carrying a machine gun and opens fire against Fish's gang. The trio takes the opportunity to escape in a car. Gordon, Bullock, and Falcone arrive at Barbara's penthouse, to see Leslie and Barbara fighting. Jim and Leslie then embraced while Leslie explained what had happened. After dealing with the situation with Barbara, Gordon meets with Falcone on the balcony to see if he had changed his mind about leaving, but the Don says no. Falcone knew that Gotham needed a lawman like Gordon and not a criminal such as himself. He then gives Jim his knife which Gordon's father had given him as a birthday present, years ago.[24]
Descent into darkness[]
Jim is subsequently demoted from Detective to traffic duty. One month later, while in the midst of directing traffic Zaardon arrives in an intersection, introducing himself while firing two pistols. An altercation between the two ensued, and Zaardon was subdued by Gordon. Gordon's new partner arrives late, which angers Gordon. Gordon shoves Officer Franks before stopping a few street thugs from stealing from a street vendor. Gordon was later called into Essen's office, as Officer Frank complained that he was shoved by Gordon, Loeb fires Gordon due to the violation of section 12. Essen stuck up for Gordon, though Gordon gave up his badge. Before Gordon leaves, Gordon reminds Loeb of his promise to break him. Later that night, Gordon tells Leslie Thompkins of what occurred. The next day, Gordon arrives and asks Cobblepot for a favor, believing he owes him one after saving his life at the hospital. Despite reluctant at first, Cobblepot agrees. As Gordon leaves, Cobblepot tells Gordon he should return another favor, collecting a debt from Odgen Baker for him. However, Gordon refuses, he then arrives at the Wayne Manor, telling Bruce he had been fired and can no longer keep his promise. Bruce tells Gordon that in order to do something right, he has to do something ugly first. Taking Bruce's words into consideration, Gordon goes to collect the debt from Odgen Barker. Gordon is chased by Odgen's men, who report nearby police that of Gordon stealing money. Gordon locks a door to buy time, though he is fired at by Odgen. Gordon ducks and fires at Odgen, killing him. Gordon brings the money to Cobblepot. Later, Barbara calls Gordon, trying to convince him Leslie lied about what had happened the night the two fought. Leslie tells Gordon they should leave Gotham and start a new life, though Gordon says they can't due to him doing an unlawful action. Jim is later reinstated as a Detective. The next day when Captain Essen is made Commissioner, she informs Gordon that six inmates had escaped Arkham, including Barbara.[25]
Commissioner Essen puts Jim in charge of the Arkham breakout case. Gordon goes to the bar that Bullock was employed at to visit him, intending to ask his friend to return to the police, however, Scottie Mullen arrives, extremely against the idea. After trying but failing to convince Bullock to return to the force, Bullock gives him a clue towards his case. Bullock asks him why the Maniax had chosen the specific shipyard that they had. Jim later obtains the license plate number and description of a fuel truck that The Maniax stole, and reported the news to Commissioner Essen. After The Maniax took over a Gotham City High School bus, Gordon and his colleagues quickly arrive at the scene. The Maniax and the GCPD have a shootout, with Jerome eventually ordering Aaron Helzinger and Robert Greenwood to get the truck started, leaving Dobkins to light the fire. Jim sneaks up right behind Dobkins, making him drop the lighter which ignites the gasoline. He quickly knocks Dobkins out with a punch, and gets into the bus, driving it away from the fire to save the lives of the cheerleaders on the bus. Later after the cheerleaders were safe, he questions Dobkins as to discover who set him free, but the latter was shot. Gordon later received an unexpected call from Barbara. Soon after, he sports in the GCPD and begins to pursue her. Outside, Barbara has Gordon chase her to an alley where he is surprised by Aaron Helzinger, who brutally attacks him, leaving him on the verge of blacking out. Barbara then kisses Jim's bloodied face, before hinting at what had happened back the GCPD. Later Gordon returns to the GCPD, where after discovering that Lee was okay, found Essen lying on the ground, shot and dying. Later, Gordon entered Essen's office where seconds later, Bullock arrived, deciding to return to force despite Scottie's opposition towards it. The two were then informed by Officer Zeke that they need to see something, who turned on the news, as they had obtained the video Jerome had recorded. In the recording, Jerome told the public that they were all prisoners of sanity, and they needed to wake up, and furthermore, they hadn't seen anything yet.[26]
Gordon and Bullock began searching for Jerome by confronting people on the streets about his whereabouts, throwing them out of windows. Afterward, the Detectives decide to check with Jerome's father, Paul Cicero to see if he knows where his son is. Gordon and Bullock arrive to find an already dead Cicero and Jerome manages to escape. Jim is later called by Leslie who informs him that Jerome and Barbara were at the Gotham Children's Hospital Gala. When Jim finally arrives, Jerome talks to him on Leslie's cell phone telling him he has 10 minutes before he starts killing people and that tells him he has his "performance" was being broadcast on every TV in Gotham. As Jim is arguing with the fellow police officers he sees Selina coming out of the secret entrance giving Jim an opportunity to get into the Gala. Jim arrives as Bruce is about to head back into the gala to save Alfred. Jim gives him a gun to give to Alfred, and after Jerome drags Bruce and holds him at knifepoint, neither Alfred or Jim can find a clean shot that won't hurt Bruce leaving the three in a standoff until Theo who regains consciousnesses stabs Jerome in the neck, saving Bruce. Before anyone can react Barbara escapes through a trap door on the stage. Jim later has Leslie kiss him in front of Alfred, when the latter tries to flirt with her.[27]
After Captain Barnes arrives at the GCPD, introducing himself to everyone and firing several cops, he calls Jim into his office afterward. He calls Jim a troublemaker and a fighter and appoints him his second in command. Jim tells Barnes they're shorthanded and it's going to be tough to correct the unit. Barnes tells him tough is what they eat for breakfast. Jim walks out and is greeted by Bullock, who disagrees with Barnes, but Jim has faith in the new captain. That night, Jim receives a call from Barnes who tells him to meet up with him at 0700 at the Gotham Police Academy. There the next morning, Barnes informs Jim of his plan, as he wanted to grab the cadets at the Academy for the GCPD before they became corrupt or crushed. Jim and Barnes meet Gus Freeman, a trainer at the Academy, they continued to interview several other cadets and pick four who will answer only to Jim. After Barnes is informed about Janice Caulfield's murder. Jim and Harvey go to the scene looking for information. A witness reluctantly gives Jim a description of the Penguin. Later, Jim, Bullock, and The Strike Force arrive outside of Randall Hobbs' campaign office and try to stop Zsasz. A gunfight ensues and they bring the candidate to safety. Zsasz gets shot and shoots a fire hydrant on his way down, allowing him to escape unseen. Jim and Harvey wonder what Penguin is playing at. Later, Jim accuses Penguin of killing Caufield. Penguin tells Jim it's complicated. He asks Jim to walk away and when he doesn't, Cobblepot tells Jim he knows why he came alone. Jim is cornered and can't arrest Penguin because of how he had Penguin get him his job back. Jim leaves though he tells Penguin that he'd face whatever was coming to him.[28]
After successfully raiding one of Penguin's cash houses, Gordon, Bullock, and Barnes were attacked by a man with a rocket launcher. Gordon informs Captain Barnes of a place called The Merc where criminals were getting such weapons. At the GCPD, Leslie convinces Jim to have a double date with Nygma and Kristin Kringle that night at their home, and afterward, he receives a surprise visit from Theo Galavan. Talking alone, Theo confesses to still feel bad about what happened with Jerome Valeska but seeing the confidence people had in Jim, asked his support in the upcoming mayoral election. Though Gordon was flattered by the offer, he rejected it, as he didn't want to get involved with politics. However, Theo tells him to possibly reconsider his decision. Later, The Strike Force led by Gordon and Captain Barnes arrives at The Merc, telling everyone to freeze. Evan tries to run to escape, but he was pursued by Gordon and Barnes, but he attempts to pull out a gun, though the cops shoot him first and accidentally hit the Napalm in his pants, causing him it to explode. That night, Gordon returns home for his double date with Leslie, Kristin, and Ed. To his surprise, the latter is more relaxed, lively and cheerful and even offers up a toast to their friendship. The next morning, with five buildings set on fire, Gordon was ordered by Barnes to find some kind of pattern that would show them where the next potential location was. Later Jim discovers that all the buildings burned, belonged to Wayne Enterprises so, assuming the arsonists followed a pattern, he deduced that the next target would be the Gotham City Book Depository. That night, Gordon and Bullock had a stakeout outside the library, with the Pikes pulling up outside the book depository soon after. The Strike Force quickly appears to stop the arsonist, and Officer Luke Garrett is eventually accidentally set on fire. Gordon puts Garrett out and calls for an ambulance, the next day he is informed of Garrett's death and agrees to Galavan's proposal.[29]
In the city, Gordon pursues and captures Nino, a known arsonist to get the name of Officer Garrett's killer. Gordon's behavior was later reported to Captain Barnes, who puts a note in his file, then harshly berates him for it. After asking him if his interrogation had gotten him any leads, Barnes showed him the video of the robbery that had taken place at an auction house, with Gordon recognizing Selina Kyle in the footage. Later, Gordon breaks into Selina's home. The two momentarily had a face down, guns pointed at each other, but when questioned about Bridgit, Selina informs Jim that Bridgit was forced to burn down the buildings by her brothers, and it was their fault that Officer Garrett was dead. Gordon commits to doing everything possible to bring the Pikes justice while keeping Bridgit safe, though Selina had to stay out of it. Later, Gordon and Bullock arrive at the Pike apartment where they found the two charred bodies of Joe and Cale. Gordon and Bullock then went over the evidence, with Gordon questioning why they were burning down Wayne Enterprise buildings. Gordon returns to the GCPD with the information he had obtained about Bridgit and tells Captain Barnes. Gordon receives a call from Selina who after making sure he remembered his promise, told him where Bridgit was going. Outside the auction house, the Strike Force led by Gordon and Captain Barnes waited for Bridgit. To avoid confrontation, Jim tries to reason with Bridgit for her to stop, though she refuses to listen and uses her flamethrower. An officer instinctively shoots and breaks one of the fuel pipes on her suit which leaks out. Bridgit then uses her flamethrower to blow up a squad car, though the fire from the explosion ends up reaching her, causing her to catch on fire. Gordon arrives at Leslie's apartment, apologizing to Lee about the situation. Soon after, Gordon regretfully informs Selina about the death of Bridgit, and although he tried to help her, she didn't want to go quietly. With her eyes full of tears and outraged at Gordon, he questioned her as to who had hired the Pikes to set the fires. Citing that Gordon didn't care about people like them, she told him that it wasn't as if he'd go after his "little friend", revealing it to be Penguin.[30]
With Galavan set to win the election, Theo and Harvey Dent arrive at the GCPD to inform Captain Barnes of Penguin's attack on Theo's life, telling the GCPD officers that Penguin attacked him when he refused to agree to an alliance between the two. However, Gordon was quick to point out that reaction seemed extreme even for Penguin. Dent gave Barnes an arrest warrant for Cobblepot and announced that due to the recent events that had occurred Judge Turnball declared a state of emergency, giving the Mayoral office additional powers. However, Jim was hesitant at the idea of martial law. Thanks to Bullock's informant, Gordon and Bullock leave for downtown as they had heard of Penguin and Butch's falling out, and that Butch had put together his own crew. Inside of Butch's hideout, they encounter Butch along with his crew, who refuses to tell them why Penguin went after Galavan. When Zsasz arrives, Butch finally confesses that the Galavan made Penguin do everything as he had kidnapped Penguin's mother for leverage. Zsasz and his crew started shooting from outside, forcing Gordon and Bullock to use the weapons inside to defend themselves. After Zsasz relented and left, Gordon and Bullock were surprised to find Butch gone, with his fake hand left in the handcuff. At Theo's celebration party, Theo takes a moment to talk to Jim and tries to get some information about Gordon's encounter with Butch. However, Gordon pretended to not have discovered anything. Jim later escorted Theo out a back exit to a car when Penguin's men attack, though upon reaching their destination, he finally comes face to face with the Penguin. The two faced off, and Galavan ordered Jim to execute Penguin, but Gordon refused since he knew that Galavan had Penguin's mother killed. Penguin tries to warn Gordon about Theo's real plan, which involved a person Jim cared about, but Penguin is unexpectedly shot in the shoulder. Detectives Gordon and Bullock shoot at Tabitha on the roof while Oswald takes advantage of the confusion to steal Theo's car and escapes, with the two Detectives shooting at the car as he drove away. Gordon later reaffirms his determination to take down the monsters of the city, starting with Galavan.[31]
Jim was present when Barbara arrived at the GCPD entrance. Later, Jim visited Barbara in the interrogation room attempting to see what information he could get out of her about Galavan. He kisses her, and Barbara tells him that if accompanied her to a surprise she had for him, she would answer anything he wanted. Gordon manages to convince Barnes to comply with his request to go because she was their only link to Galavan. As they drove downtown, Jim tries to get Barbara to confess her affiliation with Galavan, however, it fails. Captain Barnes then contacts the Detectives through the radio telling them that he was pulling them out. However, Barbara tells them that if they turned around they'd get nothing. Gordon and Bullock then ignored Barnes' order over the radio, continuing on. Suddenly a truck rammed the patrol car and left Bullock unconscious while Jim was disoriented. Jim was then tranquilized. Later, Gordon awakened in the Gotham Cathedral tied to a wheelchair. Barbara entered dressed as a bride holding a shotgun, ready to begin the ceremony. Though Gordon told her he didn't want to die, Barbara told him that he did, and asked him if he was tired of lying to himself and Lee. Gordon told Barbara that he didn't lie to Lee. Leslie was then brought in who was also tied to a wheelchair. Gordon eventually breaks free and grabs the shotgun Barbara had previously wielded. The GCPD then arrived invading the cathedral and Jim went after Barbara. In the ensuing struggle, Barbara goes through a stained glass window and is saved from falling thanks to Jim. However, Barbara releases her hand from his grip, falling to the ground. Later, Leslie informed Jim that her life was saved thanks to bushes that broke her fall, but was in critical condition. After that, Gordon informs Barnes about what Barbara had told him about Mayor James being stashed at China Docks. There, Gordon and Bullock discover Mayor James, who had a box over his head. Gordon questioned James as to who had kidnapped him, with Mayor James confirming his suspicions about Theo Galavan. Afterward, Gordon and the GCPD burst into Galavan's penthouse to arrest him for kidnapping Mayor James.[32]
While entering the elevator to Galavan's penthouse and Jim was accompanied by a man sent there to repair a piano. Suddenly the man tries to kill him with piano wire, and the two intertwine in a violent battle until finally, Jim emerges victorious. After the fight, Gordon drags the man before Captain Barnes showing him the piano wire and confirming that he was a professional killer. Soon after, thanks to the video cameras the building, Gordon and Barnes are alerted to several armed men entering the lobby to finish the unfinished job of killing Gordon. The assassins managed to blow up the door and enter the room shooting, but the three policemen quickly manage to repel the assault and Jim kills his original assassin after he threatens the life of Officer Parks. Barnes immediately orders for them to evacuate for fear of a new wave of assassins, but Gordon refuses to leave believing that the evidence against Galavan could be destroyed if they left. Seeing something in a hole behind a painting Jim finds a monk's cassock. Suddenly, one of the killers gets up and attempts to attack Gordon with a knife to kill him, but Barnes comes between them and kills the attacker. Unfortunately, he receives a stab wound to his left leg that punctured an artery, which threatened to bleed out if moved. Later outside of Galavan Towers, the GCPD reinforcements arrived, but within seconds they are all killed by Flamingo. Seeing Flamingo on the cameras, Gordon decides to face down Flamingo Arriving outside, Gordon finds several police cars with their officers killed. Flamingo immediately appears armed with a chain and initiates a series of attacks against him. Jim moves fast and despite sustaining several blows, he lands several of his own. Eventually, after a series of well-aimed punches, Jim throws Flamingo to the ground and continues to beat him. Seeing the villain laugh, the detective takes a gun and puts it in his mouth. But with a cry of frustration, Gordon overcomes his inner darkness and does not kill Flamingo. At Leslie's apartment, Jim has informed of Officer Katherine Parks' death at the hands of Flamingo.[33]
Jim, Barnes and several GCPD officers attended Katherine Parks' funeral. Afterward, visited Theo Galavan at Blackgate Penitentiary to inform him he'd be attending his trial to see him found him guilty. Later, Barnes orders Jim to investigate a body found at the harbor with the victim's throat slit, as the Galavan case was closed. A few minutes later, Harvey was presented with the information that the symbols belonged to the ancient Order of St. Dumas which used to have an abbey in the center of the city, that the Mayor's office tried to it a few weeks ago. Knowing that it presently served as a Chinese massage parlor, Gordon chooses to ignore Barnes' order. There, a monk attacks and later informs Gordon that the day of judgment was near. The man then threw himself into the street and is killed by a truck. Later, Gordon deduced that the monk's companions were operating in the sewers, and there, he and Bullock made their way to the area near the ports. Walking through the sewer Jim and Harvey finally manages to find the altar of the Order of St. Dumas but are attacked by another monk. However, Harvey manages to defeat him by throwing him against a stone column, which topples over his head. Gordon deceived the monk, posing as one of his brothers to get the truth. By doing so, Gordon finds out that the Order was going to kill the "Son of Gotham" next. Later at Galavan's trial, Gordon enters the room and Aubrey James admits to having lied about Theo Galavan abducting him. James admits that his abductor was actually Penguin. After Theo is released, Jim is carried away by his own anger and hits Galavan in front of everyone. Several cops immediately grab Jim and drag him to the outside, attacking him with electric batons until he passed out. Upon awakening, Jim finds his hands tied to a beam and Theo before him. Theo, in addition to telling Gordon the truth about his family, and beckons for Gordon to be untied, giving him the opportunity to beat him. However, Jim fails to strike a single blow to Galavan, after the latter uses a series of martial arts. He then leaves to allow Gordon to be killed at the hands of the police officers who abducted him. However, Penguin arrives and saves him.[34]
Jim dreams of his last encounter with Barbara Kean and wakes up is the home of Edward Nygma where he finds Nygma playing the piano and singing next to the Penguin. Gordon tries to leave but stops when Oswald warns him that he was a fugitive from the law. Penguin offers the opportunity for them to stop Theo Galavan. Jim is later asked to leave the city with Leslie because she was pregnant. That night, given Leslie's news, Jim chooses to leave everything behind and to leave the city with his beloved, but seconds before their departure Bullock, Alfred, and Lucius appear to inform him that Galavan had Bruce. At Nygma's apartment, Lucius suggested for them to devise a backup plan if the direct assault failed, and given the lack of a plan to break into Galavan Tower. However, Selina Kyle appears in the window offering them a way in. Gordon and his team later arrive at Galavan Tower, arriving just in time to save Bruce. After a few minutes, Gordon's group manages to defeat the monks. Afterward, Gordon immediately arrives to arrest Galavan for his crimes. After making Theo handcuff himself, he proceeds to escort him out, but after Theo confidently implies that he'll beat the case again, it makes Jim re-think the situation. Jim puts a gun to Theo's head to end the root of the problem, but Captain Barnes appeared, ordering the Detective to put his gun down, and his hands on his head. Barnes manages to convince Jim to surrender to prove his innocence, but suddenly the Penguin and his men arrived and knocked out Barnes and Officer Vargas intending to kill Theo. Gordon tries to stop them, but Oswald makes him understand that killing Galavan was for the greater good of Gotham. Elsewhere, Bruce, Alfred, and Selina left the premises, and Jim and Penguin took Galavan up to the Southside Docks where the latter savagely beat him with a baseball bat in retaliation for the death of his mother. Seeing Theo bloodied on the ground and begging for his death, Jim stops the Penguin and shoots Galavan. Gordon then begins to leave. The next day Jim meets with Leslie in a park and after assuring her that the conflict was over, he asks her if she would marry him.[35]
A month later, Jim Gordon appears to give his testimony to led by Harvey Dent and Captain Barnes to clarify his actions on the night Theo Galavan was killed. Afterward, Gordon was exonerated of any blame for Galavan's death and reinstated as a Detective. Gordon goes home with Leslie Thompkins. The next morning at the GCPD, Jim arrives and Bullock quickly tells him about an officer being frozen the night before. To initiate the investigation they go to Ed who informs them that the attacker would be using liquid helium to easily freeze human victims. Before leaving Gordon interrogates Ed about his relationship with Penguin. However, Ed clarifies that he made a mistake helping Penguin, but the conversation is interrupted by an unexpected uproar in the main area. There they see Captain Barnes arriving, dragging Penguin directly to a cell. Gordon then approached Barnes, and the latter told him that they'd finally know the truth about the murder of Theo Galavan. Jim is later informed by Barnes that Penguin backed his testimony. Gordon is informed by Bullock that only Wayne Enterprises made liquid helium in the city, and in the last month, there were three other abductions by the suspect in the blue van. At a diner, Gordon and Bullock discover from Lucius Fox that Wayne Enterprises did manufacture liquid helium as a part of their cryogenics program. However, Thomas Wayne had shut the program down along with a few others for unknown reasons. Gordon and Bullock are alerted to the attack on the pharmacy and they soon arrive but after a brief chase, they collided with the frozen body of the security guard. At Park Surgical, witnesses help Bullock find the bottle Victor had thrown at the pharmacist earlier with Nora's name on it. Gordon, Bullock, and several patrol cars quickly go to the Fries home. After descending into Victor's laboratory they find incriminating evidence along with Nora, still stunned by her discovery. The Detectives took Nora back to the GCPD for questioning. In the interrogation room of the GCPD, Nora refuses to betray her husband because although he had committed horrible acts, he had done so just to save her. [36]
Gordon and Bullock arrive at Ace Chemicals a witness had seen Victor Fries enter less than twenty minutes ago. In addition to discovering Victor had kidnapped the night janitor, they also found that he took a canister of liquid helium and left them a message carved on one of his victims ordering them to free his wife. At the GCPD, Barnes decides to send Nora to Arkham Asylum's medical wing as there she could be given the attention she needed and they could also capture Fries without risking the lives of any civilians. Gordon explained the situation to Leslie, however, she was unwilling to use Nora as bait. There, Gordon is responsible for securing the entry points at Arkham. While doing so, Penguin appears being taken two orderlies to his cell and when he sees Jim he cries for help. Gordon tells the orderlies to bring Penguin over. Oswald quickly informs him that he was being tortured mentally, however, Gordon refuses to help him because it was therapy. Furious as the orderlies returned to him to his room, Oswald starts screaming that Gordon was the true murderer of Galavan. Outside the entrance of the asylum, Gordon and Bullock are present when a truck destroys the entrance gate bars and eventually collides with a bus. Gordon, Bullock, and the GCPD Strike Force approach the vehicle to apprehend the culprit but discover that it was the night janitor from Ace Chemical who had been kidnapped. When Fries entered the building, several doors were remotely locked to prevent the GCPD from advancing except for Gordon, who managed to get through before it closes. Gordon gets to the medical wing of the asylum though Victor appears and after disarming Gordon promises to surrender to the police after he froze his wife. Leslie then offered to provide her services as a doctor, which accepts Fries. He then forces Gordon into a closet and traps him in by freezing the door. Afterward, Gordon and Bullock arrive at the home of the Fries accompanied by several officers, he later descends into the basement and found the frozen deceased bodies of Victor and Nora Fries, much to his astonishment. Later at Leslie's apartment, Jim informs Leslie that Victor Fries had died in Arkham's infirmary. He then berates her for the danger that their baby at risk, but she makes him see that he put their child in danger when he decided to use Nora as bait.[37]
Jim is asked by Leslie to find out the whereabouts of Kristin Kringle since she hadn't received her last paychecks, and Leslie was afraid that Tom Dougherty might have hurt her. Gordon visited Edward Nygma to question him about Kristin Kringle in order to see if he knew where she could be but leaves when he suddenly gets an unexpected call. Later at the hospital, Gordon and Bullock arrive to see Alfred, and he informs them they discovered the Wayne killer was Matches Malone and informed them fearfully that Bruce had gone to kill him. Gordon later goes to Celestial Gardens to look for Bruce. There, Gordon tries to convince him not to continue with killing Malone. However, suddenly Jeri returns to the stage and orders all of her followers to act against Jim, which gives Bruce a chance to escape. However, Jeri orders all of her followers to act against Jim, which gives Bruce a chance to escape. At the GCPD interrogation room, Jeri plays with Gordon, asking him questions about his relationship with Bruce, and remarking on his widely known temper. About to lose his cool, Gordon threatens to get violent if she doesn't divulge Bruce's whereabouts, but she decides, to tell him the truth as the Detective would be unable to prevent Bruce from killing Matches at that point. At Malone's apartment building, Gordon encounters Bruce leaving, and the two hear a gunshot, and Gordon goes into Malone's apartment finding Malone who had committed suicide. At the GCPD, Bullock reveals to Gordon that Malone was never a suspect in the Wayne murder as he spent the last few years without work, successfully flying under the radar. After that, Ed approaches Gordon to ask if there was news about Kristin Kringle, but Jim says no because he was busy with other things.[38]
Framed by Edward Nygma[]
Gordon is informed by Barnes of a bomb case at the Gotham Museum of Art, and later that Internal Affairs had decided to reopen the investigation into the murder of Galavan thanks to the appearance of a witness. After that, Gordon and Bullock prepare to go to the museum, but Ed appears to give his testimony about the disappearance of Kristin Kringle. However, Jim chooses again to postpone the case. At the museum, Jim tells his partner about Internal Affairs reopening the Galavan case. After hearing the names of the authors of the paintings and the content of the stolen work, Gordon and Bullock deduced that thief planned to place a bomb at the train station. There, Gordon uses a crowbar to break down the door of a locker and takes the bomb, throwing it into the inside of a statue before the explosion. Later at the GCPD, Harvey, having met with his contact in internal affairs, informs Gordon that he had become the prime suspect in the death of Theo Galavan. Later, Jim receives a call from Bullock who reports that forensics tracked down the pay phone used to activate the bomb at the train station earlier. Gordon then agrees to go check it out, despite Bullock telling him the bomber was long gone. There beside the pay phone he finds a door to an apartment open and inside Pinkney's bloodied body. Unfortunately, Barnes also arrives and tells Gordon to handcuff himself. In the interrogation room of the GCPD, somewhat desperate, Gordon pleads with Barnes as to why he would have the motive to kill Pinkney, but Barnes contradicts him, informing him that Pinkney was the anonymous witness who presented the report to Internal Affairs to expose him for the murder of Theo Galavan. Jim is taken by two policemen to a cell at the county, and before leaving tells Bullock that the entire day had been a setup for him. After the four-week trial, Gordon is convicted of the murder of Pinkney and Theo Galavan, and sentenced to forty years in prison in Blackgate Penitentiary. Gordon is later visited by Leslie in prison, before his transfer. He asks his girlfriend to move on with her life. Jim asks her to leave town, start a new life and forget that he existed. Later, the truck arrives to take Gordon to Blackgate, Harvey promises his friend he would find the person who set him up.[39]
Several weeks after his confinement to Blackgate Penitentiary, Jim Gordon begins to adapt to the routine life. However, one day Warden Grey informs Jim of his intentions to transfer him from protective custody to F-wing. To make matters worse, Carlson informed him there were several criminals there that had been detained by Gordon. Later, Gordon is informed that he has a visitor by Wilson Bishop. Outside, Gordon and Bullock met, and Gordon finds out that Lee had lost the baby and left town. When Jim returned to the prison stricken with sadness by the news, he is attacked by Henry Weaver, until a convict nicknamed "Puck" tries to defend him. Several inmates then proceed to beat them both, led by Weaver. In the infirmary after getting stitched up, Gordon tells Puck to stay away from him. However, Puck explains that he couldn't because Gordon had saved his sister two years ago. Later, Gordon gets a warning from Officer Bishop that Weaver was being released from the hole. Soon after, Weaver warned Gordon that he was a dead man and then waved towards Puck who he had two fellow inmates beat up, while officers held Gordon back. While doing laundry at Blackgate, Officer Bishop told Gordon to go and visit Puck in the infirmary. There, Puck told Gordon not give up on hope, and although he felt his sadness, he had to choose life. Later at Blackgate during the screening of a film, Gordon cautiously sits down to the watch the film. During the movie, Jim is stabbed several times by an inmate who orders him to play dead. After being declared dead, Bishop along with Bullock helps him escape in an ambulance. However, he returns to Blackgate's medical wing to save Puck. However Jim is confronted by Warden Grey, but the warden is knocked unconscious after Bishop appears from behind him and knocks him out. Afterward, Gordon, Bullock, and Puck meet with Falcone on a bridge where he gives Jim the decision of leaving the country or he could set him up with a safe place in Gotham. Jim declares that he wants to find Lee, but to do that, he'd need to clear his name. He then asks Puck what he thought he should do, but when he went to check on him in the ambulance, Gordon discovered that he had died.[40] Gordon and Bullock believed that the person who made this elaborate setup was an active cop since he had access to the crowbar Gordon used at the train station. Gordon later manages to steal his I.A tape with Bullock's help. Gordon and Bullock listen to the tape and see that the perp has masked his voice to hide his identity. Gordon then goes to Edward Nygma for help. Gordon asks Nygma to clean the tape so he can find out who framed him. When the tape is finally cleaned Jim decides to listen and realizes that Nygma is the one who set him up. Jim is then electrocuted by Nygma who had wired his chair. Jim regains consciousness while being dragged to Nygma's car and runs through a window. Nygma shoots Jim in the leg before he manages to go into the building. Ed explains that he framed Jim to stop him from investigating Kringle's death. Jim solves this out loud realizes it stood for Kristen Kringle, giving away his position. Despite Nygma chasing after the wounded Gordon, he manages to escape into a crowd of people. Gordon ends up in Bruce and Selina's hideout and falls unconscious. Jim is tended to by Bruce and is taken back to Wayne Manor. The next morning, Jim recalls that the time Ed met Penguin in the woods and realizes that Ed must've been burying Kristen after he killed her. Jim sends Selina to the GCPD with false information. After following Nygma to the woods, Jim asks Nygma how'd he turn into the monster he is. Nygma tells Jim that this was who he was and how because there's a monster inside of everyone, Nygma used Jim's inner demons to frame him and say how their own friendship was based on pity. Before Nygma shoots him, Barnes and Bullock arrive to arrest Ed having heard the entire conversation. Even though his name is now cleared, Jim decides not to return to work yet, saying he has one more thing to do. Barnes gives Jim Lee Thompkins' new phone number revealing that she's now working down south, but Jim reveals that he still wants to find out who hired Matches Malone to kill the Wayne in order to be free. Later at his apartment, Jim opens his door to see Barbara.[41]
Investigating Hugo Strange[]
Jim immediately points his gun at her and demands to know what she was doing there as she was supposed to be in Arkham Asylum. Gordon dismisses her, but while she was leaving she notices he was investigating The Lady in correlation to the Wayne murder case. Though she offered her help, Jim rejected her offer. At Artemis, Jim is denied access, but Barbara appears and offers help to knowing how much he cared about the Wayne case. Jim tries to sneak into the club through the kitchen area but is caught. As he suspected, Barbara betrays him and subdues him, putting him in the capture of her and The Lady. Soon after, Jim is tied to a chair where The Lady, reveals that she sent Matches to kill the Waynes at the request of the "Philosopher". Having got what they came for, Barbara zaps the Lady with an electric baton and helps Gordon to escape. Outside Artemis, Barbara tries to make Gordon see that everything she had done, she had done for him, but Jim tells her he could not forgive her because she tried to kill Lee. Afterward, Jim is called by Bruce who hastily explains the situation, and Gordon leaves to meet him. Soon after, Gordon reaches the GCPD and is informed of Alfred's arrest, and discovers that Bruce was in Barnes' office talking to him. At a diner, Bruce informs Gordon of what they had learned, and Gordon shares his suspicions that he suspected that the Philosopher was in charge of Pinewood, so he quickly begins to plan a way to prevent Karen from being sent to Blackgate since she was the only person who could identify him. Unfortunately, the truck was stopped as the street was covered in ice, an ambush created by Victor Fries. Outside, Gordon and Alfred attempted to subdue Fries, though they failed. Seeing that everyone was in danger because of her, in the end, Karen decides to sacrifice herself and approach Fries, who freezes her and breaks her body into pieces before leaving. Later, Lucius arrives with an important discovery after having sought scientists who had worked for Wayne Enterprises cross-referencing the words "Pinewood" and "philosopher". To the astonishment of the group, Fox showed them a photograph of the old Gotham cricket team where Thomas stood by his friend Hugo Strange, otherwise known as " The Philosopher".[42]
Gordon confronted Hugo Strange at Arkham Asylum questioning him about his participation in the Pinewood Farms program. However, Strange denies involvement in the atrocities of the program which, according to him, were the work of Thomas Wayne. After that, Gordon gives Strange an envelope with a court order to exhume the body of Victor Fries, and Gordon reveals that he only did so to get confirmation that he was the one behind it all, and afterward Strange realizes that Gordon gave him an empty envelope. At Wayne Manor, Gordon and Bullock inform Bruce and Bullock that the evidence on Hugo Strange was not enough to imprison him. Annoyed by the bureaucracy of the situation, Bruce suggests that Gordon do the same thing to Strange as he did to Galavan, but Jim advises him not to take that route because he'd end up paying for it over and over again. Later at a crime scene, Barnes does not believe Jim's allegations about Hugo Strange. While they argue, Azrael arrives and confronts Barnes and Gordon. Azrael quickly subdues the two, though Bullock, Bruce, and several officers arrive in time to save Gordon. At the GCPD, Barnes questions Azrael's identity. Gordon states that Hugo Strange is behind him, but Barnes rejects this suggestion due to the lack of evidence. Later Gordon wants to leave to look for Azrael as well, but Barnes orders him to stay at the GCPD for his own protection. Barnes decides to put Gordon in a cell, under suspicion of breaking Karen Jennings out of GCPD custody. Later, the lights go out at the GCPD, and Azrael comes swinging in through a glass window. After brutally killing three officers, Azrael tries to do the same to Gordon, however, Barnes saves Gordon shooting down Azrael. Despite shooting the villain several times, it only momentarily subdues him. Barnes then tells Gordon that he'd lead Azrael to the roof, while Gordon went to go get a bigger gun to use on him. After Barnes was stabbed on the roof, Gordon appears armed with a shotgun. Azrael tries to flee but Gordon shoots him several times until Azrael falls off the ledge of the building. On top the GCPD roof, Gordon comforts Barnes while the ambulance arrives.[43]
Gordon, Bullock and several officers of the GCPD come to Arkham Asylum with a court order to inspect the office of Hugo Strange. However, when they went into his office they found all his document shredded, which he excused as "spring cleaning". Later Gordon, Bullock, and Tabitha arrive at the Gotham Cemetery to recover Azrael's actual sword, but Azrael arrives and attacks them. Minutes later, Gordon was informed of what happened inside the crypt and that Theo had remembered his mission to kill Bruce Wayne. Gordon then swiftly apprehended a police car, after trying to call Wayne Manor. While driving to Wayne Manor, Gordon calls Alfred, warning him that Galavan was after Bruce once again. Later before Azrael could kill Bruce with his sword, Gordon appears from behind him and shoots him with gun Theo, though it fails to kill him. Gordon then helps Bruce to his feet, and Alfred arrives, with them both tending to Bruce. Meanwhile, Azrael came to his feet, and although Gordon got out his gun to shoot him, his gun had no bullets left. However, Penguin and Butch arrive, and Butch shoots him with a rocket launcher, blowing him to smithereens. The two then leave, with Butch telling Gordon, Bruce, and Alfred good night.[44]
Gordon tells Bullock inside his office that they needed to bring in Strange. However, as acting captain, Bullock told Gordon that he couldn't without a charge, as the entire city had him under a microscope. While leaving, Gordon crosses paths with Bruce who informs him that Professor Strange had Selina Kyle. At Wayne Manor, Gordon and Lucius Fox decide to use this opportunity to infiltrate Arkham Asylum and find the secret laboratory where Hugo Strange was creating monsters. The next day, Gordon was let out of the trunk of the car, with Lucius telling him that if he saw anything suspicious he would mark it with white chalk. Gordon then entered the Asylum disguised as a security guard. Later, Gordon finds the marking Lucius left on the wall indicating that it was the entrance to the Indian Hill facility. Gordon is later taken ahold of by orderlies on the orders of Strange. Gordon is brought to one of the laboratories in Indian Hill where Strange had a helmet placed on his head, and a solution poured in. Strange removed the helmet and Jim came face to face with Basil. The helmet was then put on Basil, and afterward, Jim was surprised to see Basil had a face identical to his, and Strange then put a wig on him so he looked identical to Gordon. Basil then mimicked Gordon, to Gordon's horror.[45]
Gordon was then questioned by Hugo about several things. After revealing that he didn't know anything at all, Hugo tells Jim that he has a few hours to live before he leaves. Jim is later joined by Lucius and Bruce and the room. The trio is later freed by Selina Kyle, and the entire group went to the site of the fight where they witnessed Strange trapped in the middle of Freeze and Firefly's battle. After being hit with both ice and fire, and knocked unconscious, Gordon checks to see if Strange was alive. When Strange regains consciousness, he completely rules out going down to the facility, as he had set off a bomb. Strange tels them he had calculated the risk of a radioactive cloud was relatively low. Hugo then told them that paying the price of thousands dying was better than releasing the monsters in the facility. Later, Ed shorts the security system, and Lucius and Gordon make their way into the elevator. Down in the facility, the door opens and Fish Mooney makes her way to the bus, driving it out of the Indian Hill facility. At the bomb site, neither Gordon or Lucius had an idea of how to defuse the bomb. With a few seconds left on the timer, Gordon throws water on the circuits of the bomb and it miraculously turned off, afterward, he and Lucius realize that Mrs. Peabody was actually asking them for water for her to drink. Afterward, Gordon tells Bullock that monsters were on the bus. Back in the city, Fish crashes the bus after being shot down by Butch Gilzean, Penguin, and his men. While walking up to the bus to confront Strange, Penguin is surprised to see Fish alive and well. At Arkham, Bullock orders GCPD officers to find the bus. Gordon then tells communicates Bruce of his intention to leave the city to find Leslie. After that, Bruce tells Alfred of the secret council that controlled everything in Gotham, and that they were close to the ultimate truth. Bullock managed to catch Jim before he left, and Gordon reassured Bullock that he had everything under control, before leaving in the latter's car.[1]
Jim went down South to where Lee was living to find her which he eventually did, however before he could reveal himself to her he saw her kissing another and realizing she had begun a new relationship. Heartbroken Jim left without saying a word.
Working as a Bounty Hunter[]
Jim later returned to monster-infested Gotham and rather than returning to his job as a detective with the GCPD Jim instead became a bounty hunter who captured the monstrous Indian Hill escapees. Jim's real reason for becoming a bounty hunter was because he had become tired of losing the things he cared about in his effort to save Gotham when it was apparent it did not want to be saved.
One night when an escapee was robbing a pharmacy Jim attempted to subdue him but was forced to push him in front of an oncoming truck, thus killing him. During a press conference at the GCPD, Bullock tries unsuccessfully to persuades Gordon to rejoin the GCPD. Valerie Vale runs into Jim in a bar and offers to write a story about him but he is not interested. She then tells him of Penguins prize of a million dollars for whoever catches Fish Mooney, intriguing Gordon. He is then given a lead by Lucius Fox. He arrives quickly at Gray Pharma and confronts Fish Mooney. He is then attacked by Tweaker (a member of Fish Mooney's gang). Which gives the others an opportunity to escape. Valerie meets with Selina Kyle, who tells her about Mooney's next move, to which she meets with Gordon and tells him to get on the lead. The lead from Selena takes Jim And Vale to a house. Gordon then handcuffs Vale, preventing her from being injured. Explaining that she was used as bait by Mooney and goes inside the building alone. Gordon then finds Ethel Peabody, who had been released as she agreed to testify against Hugo Strange. Mooney's monsters arrive and take Peabody hostage, while Gordon arrests Tweaker. Gordon and Bullock are then chastised by Nathaniel Barnes, Bullock then tells Gordon to stay away from the hunt, as well as him. The next morning Valerie Vale proposes they cooperate to capture Fish Mooney. Wanting to find Mooney's location, they head to the The Sirens to speak to Barbara Kean. Barbara wants Gordon to give her a kiss for the location but he refuses, to which he begins to leave. This causes Barbara to reveal the location. She then tells him of a dream she had where he had an accident, losing his legs and pushing him around in a giant baby carriage. Lucius Fox shows Jim the body of Ethel Peabody and they deduce that she was killed because she couldn't "fix" Mooney and the only other person that can is Hugo Strange. Gordon and Fox inform Nathaniel Barnes about her next move and he reveals that Strange is being held in an abandoned mansion turned into a research facility out of Gotham City. Mooney abducts Bullock, who cleverly drops his badge. Mooney ends up seducing Harvey with her powers and he reveals the location of Strange. While the GCPD surround the location, Cobblepot and Butch Gilzean lead a horde of people to the mansion, planning on killing the monsters. Gordon sneaks inside and is caught by Mooney's monsters and brought to her. Gordon manages to make a deal to spare Bullocks life by helping her escape through the backside. Before the escape, Gordon calls Cobblepot, telling him about Mooney's location and that he needs to send the people through the entrance. Cobblepot agrees and sends the people to burst into the building, killing two of Mooney's gang while everyone escapes. Valerie visits Gordon again and begins to deduce what happened in the woods, which culminates in a kiss. At the train station, Leslie Thompkins is revealed to have started a new life in Gotham.
Having slept with Valerie Vale, Jim goes to the GCPD to collect his bounty. He runs into Leslie Thompkins who was being offered her previous job by Nathaniel Barnes. She explains to Jim that she is moving permanently to Gotham with her fiancee, who is a doctor in head trauma in Gotham General, and she is seeking to join the GCPD again. Jervis Tetch visits Gordon for help with finding Alice Tetch. He explains that after losing their parents, he took care of her when she began experiencing a rare condition, to which she sought help from Hugo Strange. It revealed a poison in her blood and he took her for "supervision" and never saw her again. After hearing of the Indian Hill breakout, he deduces that she escaped alongside the others. Gordon agrees to find her when he doubles the GCPD's offer. Gordon meets Selena to get a clue about Alice. Selena tells him that saw Alice at Indian Hill and also asks him to help find Ivy Pepper. He looks in a bar where Alice worked, and finds it burned. The owner and some goons arrive and attack Gordon. He ends up beating them. However, he injured in the head and goes to Gotham General for some stitches. The doctor stitching his head up is revealed to be Mario Calvi, Lees fiancee. He explains that he wont ever hurt her but Gordon "threatens" to kill him if he ever does so. Gordon locates Alice's room and finds the landlord in the closet, who attacks him until Alice arrives to kill him. She then burns the corpse as she claims its infected and flees, claiming she wants nothing to do with Jervis Tetch. Tetch performs again at The Sirens this time causing Barbara to kiss him, stunning Tabitha Galavan. Gordon confronts Tetch about Alice's claim so he takes him to the rooftop to talk but Tetch hypnotizes him and sends him on the ledge to hump to his death. Alice arrives and stops him. Tetch tries to talk her down but she shoots him in the shoulder, causing Gordon awake from the hypnosis. Alice saves Gordon from falling from the roof, afterward, he handcuffs her.
The next morning in the GCPD interrogation room, Alice Tetch explains to Bullock that Jervis Tetch held her captive and after escaping, she fled to Gotham where Hugo Strange locked her up. However, Bullock is adamant in believing her because she killed her landlord. Tetch is revealed to be operating on a abandoned amusement park, planning on using it to bring Alice and then kills the owner because its an "private affair." Gordon is walking on the street when suddenly, the sounds near him show the same rhyme as Tetch's hypnosis. Gordon then steps on a street to be hit by a truck when he is saved at the last moment by a man. Gordon goes with Barbara Kean to find Tetch, discovering he took Deever Tweed, Dumfree Tweed, and 3 unnamed brothers. They are a local group of wrestlers called the tweed brothers. Gordon talks with Alice, who states that the resembling of the ticking will trigger his mind to be controlled by the sound of the ticking. Alice then explains that she has been under control for him for years and has put thoughts in here head. Tetch has the Tweed Brothers attack the GCPD, prompting Gordon to escape with Alice. However, Tetch uses his ticking in Gordon and escapes with Alice. Gordon then lifts the gun to his head about to pull the trigger. He is saved from shooting himself by Nathaniel Barnes. He is knocked out, with a cut on his face. The Young Tweed Brother is arrested and detained at the GCPD. Gordon wakes up handcuffed in a hospital room. Leslie Thompkins is watching over him, and checking his wounds. Jim confronts and berates her about moving on but she justifies what she did. She also states Mario was always there for her when needed. The young Tweed brother is interrogated by Harvey Bullock. He gets him to reveal Alice Tetch location by threatening to destroy his brothers fallen masks. Bullock then frees Gordon and takes him to the amusement park. They discover Tetch has been injecting Alice to sustain her blood to infect a fountain to create more monsters. They try ambushing Tetch but he uses the mind control ticking on Jim. Remembering Lees words on moving on, Gordon frees himself from the hypnosis. He then shoots at the two Tweed brothers. Tetch tries to control Alice, but when she attempts to escape, she accidentally falls from the floor and is fatally impaled. Tetch escapes, heartbroken.
Gordon is visited by Bruce Wayne who asks him for help in finding Ivy Pepper. Gordon arrives at the GCPD and meets with Bullock. They find ivy's sweater but everyone states that the woman spotted at the docks was in her 20's. Valerie Vale meets with a medical examiner who tested Alice's blood, but as he becomes flirty with her, Gordon arrives and kicks out the examiner as they both have a date.
Jim and Valerie Vale are having breakfast in a diner the following day. Valerie then tells him that she wants to talk to Lee about Alice Tetch's blood. Despite knowing that it would be uncomfortable, he agrees to help her. She leaves and then, a white-suited man appears to Jim, telling him a message from Tetch, "Follow my friend where to go, to learn the truth you've hidden below. Should you choose not to play, precious people will die today." Gordon goes with the white-suited man to a street where a phone rings. Gordon answers it to find Tetch at the other end, taunting him over the phone, revealing that he has hypnotized the married couple and are going to fall to their deaths, in the overpass in front of Gordon. Tetch states that he can run upstairs to save the couple but below the bridge there is a child who is going to be hit by a hypnotized driver, wanting to reveal to Gordon that he cannot save both. After deciding, he chooses to save the boy and the couple fall from the bridge, killing themselves. Gordon then receives another call by Tetch, telling him to meet him in five minutes on a new address. The GCPD is investigating the couple's death and upon seeing that Gordon saved the boy, Nathaniel Barnes tells Harvey Bullock to put an all-points bulletin on Jim Gordon. They find the white-suited man in the street and as he continues repeating the same words, they deduce that Tetch hypnotized him. Gordon arrives at the address and finds many photos and articles related to him and a telescope. A phone rings, revealing Tetch to be at the sight of the telescope. Gordon begins to taunt him by hanging up the phone many times, telling him that Alice is dead because of him and that he has to die to get revenge. After this, Tetch reveals that he has kidnapped Valerie. Gordon confronts Barbara Kean in The Sirens, as she was the only person who knew about him, revealing that Tetch came earlier and told him everything. Gordon receives another call from Tetch, who now has kidnapped Lee and tells him to go to a water plant. In the plant, Gordon finds two people, an anchorman and a pediatrician tied to chairs with helmets on their heads that will send an electric shock that one will die. The GCPD arrives to help but Tetch turns the helmets on, killing them both while telling Gordon that an old friend will tell him what to do next. In the GCPD, Gordon notices the white-suited man arrested, realizing he is the "old friend" Tetch was referring to. The man writes, "The true test will be revealed. A final decision you must yield. Our tea party begins once more, when you walk through Lee Thompkins' door." Gordon is then confronted by Mario, who believes that he could know about her. Gordon enters Lee's apartment to find Lee and Valerie on chairs in the dining room, preparing for a tea party while Tetch and the Tweed Brothers hold them at gunpoint. Tetch forces Gordon to sit for the "tea party", relating Alice's story to everyone in the table. He then takes out a gun and tells Gordon which one of them loves the most so he can kill her to get revenge for Alice's death. While this is happening, Mario enters the house by the basement and grabs a gun. Gordon begins to distract Tetch enough time for Mario to enter the room and hold Tetch at gunpoint; however, Tetch already found the gun and took out the bullets and has Mario chained in the bathroom while the tea party continues. Gordon begins to deviate his version of Alice's story as she states that she preferred to die rather than spending her life with him as she hated him. This causes Tetch's rage, to which he tells Gordon to tell him who to kill. At the last moment, Gordon tells him to kill Lee but as Tetch believes Valerie is his love, he shoots her instead and leaves. Gordon and Lee rush Valerie to the hospital, with Mario doing the surgery. In the hospital, Gordon wants to talk to Lee about what happened, but she tells him that it's not time.
Gordon talks with Lee, who is also deducing that he told to kill her as he knew he would do the opposite. Gordon continues to deny it, upsetting Lee. While visiting Valerie, Gordon spots Tetch and chases him. He finds him on the stairs but Tetch pours the Red Queen on him. Gordon's hallucination begins with him in an elevator with Barbara Kean acting as his guide, deducing that he could face his inner demons. His first stop is in the GCPD where Bruce tells him that he does not have much time before disappearing. The scene shifts to Gordon and Cobblepot in a battlefield in the precinct. He finds Bruce, who shows him the damage Gordon has done: the deaths of many officers and civilians. Bruce then shoots Gordon and retrieves Martha Wayne's necklace before he falls. The next stop is on Gordon's dream life where he is married to Lee and they have two children, Frankie and Julie. When he begins to enjoy this dream, everyone disappears. in the hospital, nurses find Gordon's body and Mario rushes him to a room for help. the final stop reunites Gordon with his father, Peter, and they go into a car trip. Peter makes Gordon seem that he is just lost and that needs to find the answer to stop acting like a lone wolf. The hallucinations end as Mario manages to wake him up. Mario leaves but Gordon notices a band-aid in his neck. Gordon finds his father's ring in his apartment which reads "While we breathe, we shall defend" in Latin. Barnes is in the GCPD, having finished his will when he is visited by Gordon. Gordon asks to be reinstated as detective and Barnes agrees.
Rejoining the GCPD[]
Gordon and Harvey Bullock are investigating the cleaner's scene, getting shocked after seeing his mutilated corpse. While Lucius Fox shows Gordon the toxicology reports on the case of the victim, Bullock informs them that the woman refused to press charges against Symon, seemingly being paid off, and a judge ordered his release.Mario talks with Gordon in private and he confronts him that he preferred to save Lee rather than Valerie in the tea party. Gordon calls him weak and Mario punches him in the face but Gordon decides to let it pass just for Lee. Gordon leaves the party after talking with Barnes and discovers Symon, who is nearing death. Gordon asks who threw him off, and Symon responds, "Barnes".
The Following day, Jim is looking for Nathaniel Barnes. He prefers not to tell any details to anyone in the force about him, just getting helped by Harvey Bullock, who wants to prove his innocence. Gordon checks on Barnes' office when he returns, suspicious as he was the last person with Maxwell Symon before dying but Gordon says he didn't see anything. Barnes tells him to accompany him with an enforcer named Sugar who may be connected to the crime scene. Gordon confides to Bullock the address before leaving. Barnes stops the car in a different address and he and Gordon find Sugar inside. Despite Sugar claiming that he did not commit the crime, Barnes kills him with his gun and then proposes to Gordon that they work together to clean Gotham from the criminals. Gordon refuses and escapes when Barnes gets distracted while being shot in the distance. The GCPD receive the notification that Gordon killed Sugar and are prepared to catch him but Bullock receives a call from Gordon, who is being chased by Barnes. He decides to seek help from Lee. Barnes finally corners Gordon on a warehouse when the GCPD arrives, who is now certain that Barnes killed Symon and the other criminals. Gordon and Barnes fight until Gordon shoots Barnes, who is arrested.
The following week, Jim is investigation a car explosion at the Falcone Manor. While the paramedics attend Lee and Mario, Falcone talks with Gordon, assuming that an old enemy may have had orchestrated the attack. Falcone is certain to take matters in his own hands and gives Gordon a day to find out. Fox tells Gordon and Bullock that the explosive was a particular kind of high tech, and Bullock realizes that only a person he knows as Fuse could be responsible. They go to Fuse's apartment but find him dead. Concluding that the person who hired Fuse wanted him dead, they search files in his room and discover that the target is not Falcone but Mario. Mario is attacked at the hospital by bikers, but Gordon saves him. Mario leaves the GCPD and sets off to a jewelry store to pick up the rings. Gordon intercepts him and they are attacked by the assassins. Mario kills one of the attackers barehanded with surprising strength. That night, Lee visits Gordon in his apartment and kisses him goodbye. Mario watches from a distance and is then assaulted by thugs. He is revealed to possess the symptoms from Alice Tetch's blood and grows increasingly strong as he uses it to brutally dispatch the thugs after hearing voices telling him "She loves him". He then begins to repeat, "She loves me!".
The GCPD is investigating the hematologist's murder, a man named Ryan Pfeffer and because of the smashed skull, Gordon suspects that Barnes may be responsible as the wallet reveals his position in the bio-lab. At Gotham Bio-Lab, Gordon visits the facility in case someone uses Pfeffer's card but the guard tells him that the card was just used a few minutes ago. Gordon rushes to the lab and finds a doctor dead. Mario appears, attacks him and leaves him unconscious, but decides not to kill him. While Bullock tends him, they are told by Fox that the files were missing and Gordon's hand has "Arkham" written on it. He visits Arkham to question Tetch, deducing that he infected people before he was incarcerated and needs a name. Tetch refuses but accidentally reveals that the one he loves will die by hate and that he went from "healer to killer". Gordon instantly deduces that the killer is Mario. Gordon has Mario tested but Fox states he's cleared of the virus. Gordon arrives at Lee's address and finds Mario and he deduces that Tetch injected him while he was experiencing the drug effects. Mario has Zsasz watch Gordon in the apartment but after a time, Zsasz lets him go. Gordon arrives at the wedding ceremony and finds Lee, in her dress, and tries to dissuade her from marrying. He subsequently realizes that Mario beat the virus through a cure in the files, had himself tested and told Zsasz to free him so he could arrive at the wedding and look like a jealous ex. Lee suggests that he gets help, causing Gordon to confess that he still loves her and that he did find her after his release, but backed off when he saw Lee happy with Mario. This causes Lee to cry and slap Gordon in the face and has Falcone take him out of the church. Gordon fails to beat them and Lee and Mario marry. Gordon arrives with Falcone, demanding to know where he is. Falcone reveals that he knew something was wrong with Mario but that he didn't know about the virus. He eventually gives Gordon the location but makes him swear that he will bring him alive. Mario, now fully infected by the virus and certain that Lee still loves Gordon, is about to stab her when Gordon arrives and fatally guns down Mario, causing the knife to fall in the river. Lee looks at Gordon with shock and horror.
Dwight and members of the cult enter a warehouse with the help of a fellow co-worker and retrieve Jerome's corpse. The GCPD investigates the break-in and Gordon and Bullock find that the warehouse belongs to Wayne Enterprises, which retrieved the corpses from Indian Hill and deduce that the woman in the morgue was a resurrection test. They then find an injured cult member in the warehouse and arrest him. In the GCPD, Gordon interrogates the cultist and finds that Jerome's cryrogenic pod was stolen and discovers that they're planning to resurrect him. Meanwhile, Dwight and another cultist begin a process to bring Jerome's corpse back to life. Fox tells Gordon and Bullock that because of the energy used to revive the girl in the morgue, that would cause a power surge in the electric grid and suspect a power plant to be the center of the resurrections. They decide to go raid the place but one of the cultists is revealed to be working in the GCPD and informs Dwight of the raid. Dwight fails to revive Jerome and upon being reminded by his assistant that the cultists were promised by Dwight that they'd see Jerome's smiling face again, Dwight kills the assistant in frustration, cuts off Jerome's face from the corpse and flees before the police arrive, leaving the corpse behind. Gordon and Bullock interrogate the mole but fail to convince him until Lee doses him with a truth serum and Dove reveals that Dwight and the cultists are planning on broadcasting a message at a TV station. Lee returns to her office where Jerome is revealed to be resurrected and takes her prisoner. Dwight and the cultists invade the station and take over the news broadcast with Dwight acting as Jerome while Gordon and the police enter through the ventilation system to save a hostage. Jerome sees the broadcast and leaves the precinct in uniform, leaving Lee bound and gagged. Gordon, Bullock and the GCPD invade the station just as Dwight broadcasts the message, killing many cultists and arresting Dwight. Meanwhile, Cobblepot receives a call from Nygma, who says that he is held captive at Kane Chemicals. Gordon demands a chopper to make it in time for the plant but as he goes outside, he sees as the power plant explodes and the city suffers a wide power outage, leaving it in darkness.
With the lights not coming back until the next day, Gordon and Bullock discuss Jerome's next move and remember that he talked with Lee and discover that he is planning to kill Bruce. Gordon arrives just in time to kill the followers and save Alfred. Gordon, Alfred and Bullock arrive and fight the followers while Jerome ignites the cannon. In the last second, Bruce frees himself and flees while Jerome follows him. Jerome gets up and tries to attack Bruce, but is subdued by Gordon, who knocks off his face. Jerome is then arrested and taken to Arkham Asylum with his face being placed back. He visits Gordon, revealing himself to be his uncle Frank Gordon, the man who wore the ring.
Gordon and his uncle frank go to cabin in the woods to fully talk. Frank explains that he came back to Gotham in order to solve the problems between him and Gordon. He then explains about the Court of Owls, a secret society that controlled Gotham for centuries which wanted balance to the city. However, time passed and it became corrupt. He says that he and Gordon's father, Peter, were both members of the Court and they want Gordon to join them. he also explains that Peter discovered what the Court planned and as such, the Court had him killed on an car accident and the Court sent him to another place during these years to prove his loyalty and he returned to ask Gordon to join him in taking down the Court. Frank leaves later, reporting to Kathryn about their progress.
While Mayor James is reinstated, Gordon is investigating Michael Ness, the supposed drunk driver who killed his father. He finds that he had chronic persistent hepatitis and Bullock adds that if he had this disease, then he wouldn't be able to drink. Gordon then meets with Frank, whols him about the weapon but admits that he doesn't know what it is. He is then noticed that Ness's lawyer was paid by Carmine Falcone. Gordon confronts Falcone on his house, demanding to know the name of the person who ordered the hit on his father and Falcone reveals that Frank is the one who did it. Gordon then confronts Frank, who admits ordering the hit because Peter threatened to expose the Court. Gordon tries to arrest him but Frank resists, telling him the location where the weapon will be while he will try to buy some time. Seeing no option, Gordon asks Barbara to interrogate a worker in the dock. The worker reveals they retrieve an item the past week, which is on an Indian Hill crate. Gordon then confronts Frank, who admits ordering the hit because Peter threatened to expose the Court. Gordon tries to arrest him but Frank resists, telling him the location where the weapon will be while he will try to buy some time. Seeing no option, Gordon asks Barbara to interrogate a worker in the dock. The worker reveals they retrieve an item the past week, which is on an Indian Hill crate. Gordon meets with Frank, who tells him that the Court no longer trusts him and he needs Gordon to join the Court to stop it and finish what his father started. To ensure his plan, Frank shoots himself in the head. Gordon visits his father's grave and receives a call from Kathryn, where he takes the blame for killing Frank and asks to meet her. A limo is waiting for him in the street and he enters.
Joining The Court Of Owls[]
Gordon meets with Kathryn in the Court. She wants him to prove his loyalty to the Court and they make sure to manipulate Frank's body scene. Gordon "discovers" this in the GCPD but Lee sees through this and suspects him to hide something. Gordon and Bullock also discover that Nygma, now getting called "The Riddler" by the press, begins striking again. Gordon and Bullock investigate Nygma's interrupting of the theater and find a box that contains a riddle signaling a "two-faced politician". Gordon and Bullock arrive at James' office where they find him eating Danishes made by a "citizen" and when he tries to eat a pill for his pain, discovers interrogation marks in the pills. They transfer him to a hospital but Nygma makes a biker gang's bar explode so the bikers make a riot in the hospital. While no one sees, he takes James. Gordon calls Nygma and promises to tell him everything about the Court if he comes to the GCPD. Nygma agrees but tells him to empty the department. Nygma takes James with a device on his neck which will kill him once he presses a button. However, Gordon had Tabitha deactivate the device, freeing James. Gordon calls Nygma and promises to tell him everything about the Court if he comes to the GCPD. Nygma agrees but tells him to empty the department. Nygma takes James with a device on his neck which will kill him once he presses a button. However, Gordon had Tabitha deactivate the device, freeing James. Gordon then leaves with Nygma to show him who runs the Court. Gordon takes Nygma to a location where they meet with Kathryn, who tells Nygma to get in her car so he can find all the answers he needs. Kathryn introduces the Court to Gordon, officially becoming a member and donning a mask.
Meanwhile, Gordon takes a sample of hair from Kathryn's mask, sending it to Bullock. After receiving information from Bullock, Gordon finds Cobblepot and Bridgit waiting for him outside. He demands information regarding Nygma's location although Gordon negates his knowledge. Cobblepot gives him a phone in order to call him later. Gordon infiltrates Kathryn's house and finds a Wayne Enterprises access code in a drawer. He informs Kathryn about Cobblepot's suspicions and Kathryn reveals that with Gotham in the edge of darkness, and as such, they will unleash a weapon in order to bring out "their darkest selves". Gordon instantly deduces the weapon is the Tetch virus. Arriving at a lab, Gordon and Bullock are attacked by a man infected with the virus until he is stopped by Strange. Seeing they can't arrest Strange to risk the virus getting unleashed, Strange gives them notes and a vial of the virus compound. Kathryn then calls Gordon in order to meet him for a reunion. Gordon meets with Kathryn in a reunion of socialites where the plan to put a dispersal bomb with the virus. After Kathryn leaves, Gordon gives a call to Cobblepot to inform him of the bomb. With the time running out, he attacks Talon and after a fight, Bridgit arrives and kills Talon with a flamethrower, causing everyone in the building to flee. Gordon meets with Kathryn in a reunion of socialites where the plan to put a dispersal bomb with the virus. After Kathryn leaves, Gordon gives a call to Cobblepot to inform him of the bomb. With the time running out, he attacks Talon and after a fight, Bridgit arrives and kills Talon with a flamethrower, causing everyone in the building to flee.
In the GCPD, Gordon and Bullock find new evidence that Kathryn possesses multiple properties around Gotham and the duo set off to find one of the properties to find the bomb. On the property, they find a crystal owl and using their lights, they discover a map of Gotham City. A grenade is thrown and Barnes arrives in a suit, taking Gordon with him. Gordon is taken to a property where he is confronted by Kathryn and then left with Barnes, who is treating Gordon on a trial acting as his "judge, jury and executioner." Just before his attempted beheading by Barnes, he is rescued by the GCPD while Barnes escapes. Bullock has Kathryn arrested and taken to the GCPD. When Alfred discovers this, he enters the interrogation room and stabs Kathryn to force her into revealing Bruce's location. Barnes arrives, knocking everyone in the building out with a grenade. Kathryn tries to reason with Barnes, who responds by decapitating her. Gordon manages to get a shotgun and shoots at Barnes' axe-tipped glove, cutting his hand and then knocking him down. Bullock has the owl statue fixed and displays the map but is notified that Barnes has escaped on its transference. They also find that the vial of blood with the virus has been taken. Gordon finally discovers who took it.
Infected By The Tetch Virus[]
Gordon arrives at Lee's house and finds her infected with the virus. She tries to seduce him, claiming she's infected with the darkness inside him and then knocks him out. Gordon wakes up and finds himself on a buried coffin with a little of time before oxygen runs out and a CB radio along with a syringe containing the virus. She explains they will need to find him quickly or he will need to inject himself in order to get out. They have her arrested and while Bullock and many officers go to search for Gordon, Alfred interrogates Strange for Bruce's location, revealing he's on Wayne Enterprises and that the bomb is set to detonate on a train station in just a few minutes. Seeing they won't find him, Gordon injects himself with the virus and uses his strength to get out of the coffin while Bullock sends a unit to the station for evacuation. While the station is evacuated, Gordon arrives, planning to stop the bomb. However, he is stopped by Lee, who escaped her cell. The bomb finally goes off and explodes in the station, spreading the virus while a cloud begins to spread it throughout the city.
In the GCPD, Gordon, Bullock and Alfred begin interrogating Bruce in an attempt to destroy the Shaman's brainwash. Gordon and Bullock arrive at the train station in order to stop Strange from leaving Gotham but Strange is taken by Fish Mooney. Gordon and Bullock surround Fish and try to get back Strange but Victor Fries arrives and creates an ice barrier that lets them escape while an infected Gordon slams the barrier. Cobblepot and Strange meet with Fish, Fries and Bridgit in a slaughterhouse in order to get the antidote. Suddenly, members of the League of Shadows arrive and demand the antidote. Fries and Bridgit begin to fend off the assassins when Gordon and Bullock arrive to kill many of them but then, Gordon accidentally kills Fish, causing her to drop the antidotes, shattering them. She dies on Cobblepot's arms. Seeing no choice, Strange then suggests using Tetch's blood as a way to make a new antidote.
In the GCPD, Gordon receives a call from Lee, who is planning on leaving Gotham and wants him to join her. Gordon decides to leave with her in order to stay together. Gordon and Bullock then take Cobblepot out of his cell in order to bargain with them but Nygma has taken Tetch, planning on killing Cobblepot once and for all. Gordon and Bullock take Cobblepot to a factory where Nygma holds Tetch with a bomb connected to him in order to kill him if the deal goes awry. The meeting is interrupted by Barbara, Tabitha and Butch who try to retrieve Tetch. Cobblepot breaks free, knocks out Nygma and escapes in the police cruiser with him in the backseat. Seeing they cannot escape in time, Gordon cuts Tetch's throat to retrieve his blood for the antidote and he and Bullock return to the GCPD to develop the cure. Unfortunately, Gordon finally succumbs to the virus and leaves the precinct. He tries to inject Lee with the antidote but he fails multiple times. While he and Lee escape through the train station, Bullock intercepts them but Gordon attacks him while Lee boards the train. Harvey urges him to remember his calling, and affirms his friendship with Jim before giving him his badge back with another vial of the antidote on the back. In the train, Gordon injects himself and Lee, freeing them from the virus. Gordon receives a letter from Lee, stating that she is leaving Gotham but that she believes in him.
"Pax Penguina"[]
3 months following the Alice Tetch virus, Oswald Cobblepot is back in power and offers the new mayor Burke, a new license of crime called Pax Penguina. Gordon arrives at a bar just when a thug is robbing it. The thug reveals he has one of Oswald's licensees. Despite possessing it, Gordon stops the robbery and arrests him. A gang of crminals run by Merton, use Jonathan Crane Fear serum to rob a bank. Gordon and Bullock investigate the heist and Gordon deduces that the crminals must of broke Jonathan Crane out of Gotham Asylum and made him remake his fathers fear toxin. After interrogating the Warden, they go to Grady's apartment but are ambushed by him and Merton. Merton explains that they plan to send a message to Cobblepot regarding the licenses and they leave. Gordon, using an advice from Bruce, visits him and taunts him that the gang does not fear him, prompting Cobblepot to set to catch the gang. The gang decides to attack the club's inauguration and have Jonathan make more toxins and then lock him in a closet with a scarecrow. In the GCPD, Gordon is attacked by a group of cops that are loyal to Cobblepot's methods.
The GCPD arrives at the Crane house to discover the experimentation tests. Gordon and Bullock then discover Grady tied up and dressed as a scarecrow. They remove his hood and he starts yelling that "The Scarecrow" is coming. Bruce manages to get released from the GCPD, claiming he was on the roof and accidentally falling off in the wrong time. Although suspecting him, Gordon decides to let him go. Cobblepot arrives at the GCPD and confronts Gordon for not catching Jonathan while also being teased for his ridicule in the club opening. They then a make a deal in which Gordon needs to catch Jonathan within 24 hours, otherwise Cobblepot will clean the city his way. Gordon decides to go to stop the mutiny in Arkham but everyone in the precinct, including Bullock refuse to go with him. Inspecting an area, he is attacked by the mutineers while Jonathan decides to set his revenge on him for killing his father. After chasing him, Jonathan sprays him with the gas, making Gordon hallucinate Lee's suicide. Jonathan tries to compel him to kill himself but Gordon resists. He is then attacked by inmates in a hall but upon defending himself with water, he discovers water dissolves the gas. He uses a ceiling sprayer to heal everyone but Jonathan escapes.. Gordon arrives at the GCPD and is confronted by Cobblepot, who berates him and even tells the fellow officers to go working for him. Gordon and Bullock go to a bar where Harvey suggests that they would require an army to take down Cobblepot. Gordon then decides to go and visit Carmine Falcone down south.
Gordon travels to Miami to meet with Falcone. He joins Falcone at a table, also accompanied by Sofia, Falcone's only daughter. He asks for Falcone's help in taking down Cobblepot but Falcone says he can't because he's dying and leaving the city would be risky for his health. Sofia then volunteers to stay with Gordon while he remains in Miami. Later, while meeting up at the beach, they end up kissing. Gordon returns to Gotham and is shocked to find Sofia there, seemingly wanting to help him.
Gordon is called to investigate the scene when Bruce comes in and finds Niles' body. After giving away Alex's involvement, Bruce mentions to Gordon that Barbara also wanted the knife. Gordon goes to interrogate Barbara but their meeting is interrupted by Bruce, who accuses Barbara of working with Ra's but she denies his involvement. They then find Alex in a library but they are attacked by the Anubis and an assassin, looking for the knife. They manage to beat them and escape to the precinct but Bruce and Alex flee. There, Gordon is met by Ra's, who claims to be a Nanda Parbat officer. While questioning, Alfred interrupts and attacks Ra's after recognizing him and then he disappears. Bruce and Alex flee to the Gotham Natural History Museum but they are attacked by the assassin and Anubis. Gordon arrives and kills both of them. Ra's shows up and holds Alex hostage, demanding the knife. Bruce refuses to give him the knife, as it's extremely important. An impressed Ra's kills Alex and lets himself get arrested. Sofia meets with Gordon to discuss what happened to Cobblepot. After an argument, they kiss passionately.
Bruce decides to use the knife to kill Ra's as revenge for Alex's death. During Alex's funeral, Alfred is warned by Gordon that Ra's has diplomatic immunity and will be released from incarceration. Bruce arrives at Blackgate and manages to enter Ra's cell, ready to kill him. However, he hesitates and decides to leave only to be ambushed by Ra's and assassins from the League of Shadows posing as guards. They take him to the underground of the penitentiary while Gordon and Alfred investigate upstairs. Ra's tells Bruce that the knife was brought to him for his resurrection, having a vision of him as his heir and he is the only person who can kill him. Gordon and Alfred manage to defeat the guards and reach the room. Ra's begin taunting Bruce, threatening to kill his loved ones in the future, prompting an angry Bruce to finally stab him in the chest. This causes Ra's to age in the pace of a few seconds until becoming a decaying corpse. In the aftermath, Gordon decides not to report Bruce murdering Ra's.
Becoming Captain[]
In another part of the city, a police officer investigates a gunshot. While searching the area, he is butchered by a man wearing a pig mask.
Gordon and Bullock investigate the murder, finding the killer put a pig's head on the officer's head. The officer also was a bagman on Cobblepot's payroll. After interrogating Cobblepot, Gordon gets a clue from a man, Wally Clarke, who applied for a license, discovering a headless pig in his apartment. Wally states that he just retrieved the pigs from a butchery and left it for a man known as the "Professor". Gordon and Bullock get a clue from an informant about dirty cops that may be affiliated to the Professor. They find them dead on a bench with their pig masks on but get a lead that a white van left the bodies. Another officer is also kidnapped by the Professor. They follow to a warehouse where they find the officer. However, he has a grenade in his stomach, killing him and knocking Gordon and Bullock out. Gordon wakes up tied to a chair where he is confronted by the Professor. The Professor states that he was once a cop but decided to end the corruption by killing any corrupted officer. The Professor leaves to kill Bullock in another room. Gordon manages to free himself, but the Professor cuts Bullock's throat and escapes. Bullock wakes up and is confronted by Gordon, who tells him he knows that he has been on Cobblepot's payroll. Bullock finally admits he has been on his payroll since the licenses began, saying his debts were the main reasons. Gordon tells him it will stop. The Professor, now dubbed by the media as "Professor Pyg", is seen taking care of pigs in an undisclosed area.
The following day, the GCPD receive boxes filled with severed pig heads. The instructions say Jim is the only one who doesn't get one. In the GCPD, Gordon is visited by Cobblepot and his new security consultant Headhunter, who are working on the case as the dead officers are affecting Cobblepot's business. They're also notified that three officers were missing in the Narrows. The GCPD and Cobblepot's henchmen lead a raid in the Narrows looking for the cops but some officers also attack many residents in the area. Headhunter manages to get information by threatening a resident and they find two officers tied on a building with one of them dead. The wounded officer tells Gordon about a clue in a courthouse. Gordon and Cobblepot's henchmen arrive at the courthouse. However, Gordon receives a threat from Professor Pyg on the phone if he enters and puts the wounded officer's voice. After checking with the hospital, Gordon tells Cobblepot and Bullock that Pyg was the wounded officer in disguise and going in the courthouse would be a trap. Bullock dismisses this and sets a raid team and enter the courthouse, shooting Pyg as he's about to kill the officer. However, the officer is in Pyg's clothes and his fall sets off a pair of automatic machine guns, killing many police officers and pinning them down until Gordon enters and effects a rescue. In the aftermath, Gordon is applauded by media and the GCPD for his actions. He is again called by Pyg, who, while he removes his disguise, tells him he has more plans in mind. In the GCPD, Gordon is lauded by the media as a hero, the GCPD stops accepting the licenses, and Bullock complains that while Gordon is now a hero, he is now "just a cop that shot another cop".
Gordon is offered the position of Captain by Mayor Burke but he remains doubtful. Gordon attends a police ceremony in honor of the fallen in the courthouse but when Bullock fails to show up, he is forced to start the ceremony without him. After a bitter argument with Bullock, Gordon decides to sign the offer and officially becomes the new Captain of the GCPD's Central Precinct. Gordon meets with Sofia where he confronts her for everything that happened to make him Captain. She explains that Bullock needed to go. Gordon decides to end his relationship with her for good.
Acting Captain[]
Gordon arrives just as Bullock is leaving the Captain's office. Gordon continues receiving threats from Pyg, who has now pitched a tent with two corpses being eaten by pigs outside the GCPD, tells Gordon that the corpses were filled with materials that produce paper so he and Detective Harper set to investigate a closed paper mill. However, they are ambushed by Pyg, who grabs Harper and takes her hostage before escaping. Gordon arrives at the fundraising but is captured by Pyg and gets left tied up and gagged in a storage closet. He is shown struggling to get free but is unable to do so successfully. However, soon after, Harper opens the door to the closet and enters, which surprises Gordon because he thought she was captured as well. Harper explains she was able to evade Pyg before he could tie her up. Meanwhile, Pyg serves Gotham's Elite, including Sofia and Cobblepot the people pies. When Sofia questions him, he stabs her in the hand.
He explains that everyone will eat the pies that are made of homeless people or he will kill Martin. When one of them dismisses Martin for being an orphan, Cobblepot kills him. He then forces everyone to eat the pies. Gordon and Harper show up, and Gordon fights with Pyg on the table, eventually stabbing Pyg in the arm and defeating him. Pyg is later sent to Arkham Asylum and Gordon gets praise from the media.
In the aftermath, Cobblepot decides to abandon the licenses but tells Sofia that Gordon can't continue being captain. Later that night, Jim and Sofia talk and eventually kiss.
Gordon and Fox check the X-rays for Pyg, discovering that due to his many facial surgeries, his real identity can't be tracked. Gordon is visited by Sofia, who wants to continue seeing him, citing her confession to Cobblepot as a matter of trust but Gordon rebuffs it. Gordon and Fox check the X-rays for Pyg, discovering that due to his many facial surgeries, his real identity can't be tracked.
Gordon is visited by Sofia, who wants to continue seeing him, citing her confession to Cobblepot as a matter of trust but Gordon rebuffs it. Sofia tells Gordon about it but he soon finds that she is using this as an excuse to kill Cobblepot. Gordon then meets with Cobblepot to make a deal in which both will make sure Sofia leaves Gotham at nightfall and let Cobblepot continue ruling his empire. After talking with Sofia, Gordon arrests her and sends a detective to scold her to the train station. Fox tells Gordon that their recent DNAs showed that Pyg's real identity is Lazlo Valentin, a serial killer in the South. Gordon goes to visit Pyg but finds him gone, a guard dead and "It's been fun James - Lazlo" written in the wall with the guard's blood.
Stopping Sofia[]
No Man's Land: Day 246[]
One month later, Gordon and Lee are married at the GCPD by Bullock with Bruce, Selina, and Alfred as the wedding guests. Bruce and Selina share a passionate kiss. Meanwhile, Barbara is disappointed and plans to leave Gotham City with Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma, and her baby.
10 years later[]
After having been the Police Comissioner for the last 10 years, Jim Gordon had put in some thought about retiring from it, feeling like he's done his job and retire with all the service he has done. This; however, changed when he had his encounter with Jeremiah, who had threatened to kill his daughter, when he saw a shadow figure, more like a man lurking around the ceilings and knocked out Jeremiah. He knew that he and Barbara Lee Gordon wouldn't have make it out of there, if the mystery man hadn't shown. Later that night, he lit up the GCPD distress signal with Harvey, Alfred and Lucius. They all looked up to the rooftops and saw the mysterious man looking down on them as well. From that moment Jim knew he couldn't retire just yet and that he knew he was a "friend".
Personality[]
- "I would never try to change you, Jim. Your sense of mission, it's part of what I love about you."
- —Lee Thompkins[src]
Jim is the opposite of his colleagues in Gotham City, being one of the few citizens with a position of power that is non-corrupt. Jim has a strong moral compass to do what is right, this being the driving force behind several of his actions such as sparing Oswald Cobblepot's life, promising Bruce Wayne to find the murderer of his parents, and his dedication to rid Gotham of crime and corruption.
- "You're not like the rest of these crooks."
- —Selina Kyle to Jim Gordon
Jim also has a soft spot for children. He was the only cop to comfort Bruce Wayne after his parents' death. In Selina Kyle, he shot one of the child traffickers because he was about to kill the children he kept downstairs in a building. Once he heard about the crime in question, he was furious to the point that he allowed Harvey to beat a man in jail for answers.
- "James Gordon is the most honest man I've ever met."
- —Barbara Kean to Renee Montoya[src]
Fiercely idealistic and tenacious, Jim possesses a desire for justice, to the point of utter naiveté. Whilst Harvey Bullock, his then-fiancée Barbara Kean and virtually every ally he had warned him that Gotham was not a place for "nice guys", he only concurred that justice is always ethical no matter where the place. Being a police detective, Jim understands that some situations will require him to get dirty at times, involving the occasional killing of suspects but he holds on to his idealism and believes that such actions will not always be necessary and risks his own life to save criminals such as Penguin and the Balloonman.
Jason Skolimski aka the Ogre, proves to be a defining point for Jim's mentality and morality. Growing disgusted at how corrupted Gotham is, especially the GCPD, he began battling said corruption in more dubious manners such as working with Oswald Cobblepot and brutalizing a suspect to get information on the Ogre. The few months he spent working within GCPD have also hardened his ideals, seasoning a once naive cop into a determined enforcer who now understands ideals sometimes have to be forsaken for the sake of justice.
- "Yeah, Bullock tells me you're a real boy scout. Don't think we should be roughing up the skells?"
- —Bill Cranston to Jim Gordon[src]
- "I'm sick and tired of your holier-than-thou crap, Gordon."
- —Gotham Police Officer[src]
When facing the injustice within the police and government systems, this tends brings out the darker aspect of his personality more than anything. While battling corrupt GCPD members such as Arnold Flass and Gillian Loeb, he shows more aggression, somewhat unusual fitting the "Boy Scout" perspective people get from Jim. His ultimate shift in morality began when he killed Theo Galavan in cold blood. Due to knowing what kind of monster Theo was and the influence he held allowed him to get away unscathed and also due to Parks, a rookie cop being killed by Eduardo Flamingo. Jim had Flamingo at gunpoint but did not kill him causing a feeling of guilt. Knowing a man like Theo can not be brought down so easily and he would only kill more people if he was allowed to walk freely, Jim took justice into his own hands by allowing Theo to be tortured by Oswald and shot him in the chest.
Jim's new jaded cynicism has caused friction between him and the new police captain, Nathaniel Barnes. Nathaniel's firm idealism was similar to what Jim was when he started at the GCPD and the darker actions that he committed allowed Nathaniel to believe that Jim truly did murder Carl Pinkney (although to be fair there was a substantial level of evidence towards him at the time). This, along with several other incidents, have also disturbed his opinions on joining the police as his new beliefs are that the law should bend to fit justice rather than the other way around. As the law was bound only by evidence and facts, which caused him to be unlawfully imprisoned when he was framed by Edward Nygma, Jim finally left the GCPD to achieve justice outside of legality by taking down Hugo Strange. Although sometimes dirty, as it is occasionally necessary, he has still not dropped to the level of the crime he is dedicated to defeating as he voices clear, guilt or remorse over his moral blips.
After Jim was infected by a drug known as the Red Queen, he was forced to face his fears, as he had admitted to a hallucination of his late father, Peter Gordon that the reason why he gave up on his relationship with Lee Thompkins and did not return to the GCPD was because he was afraid of letting all other individuals down. After his hallucinations had ended, Jim finally overcame his fear, as he became a police detective again.
Jim is protective of the individuals that; he cares about. For example, he had tried to warn Lee that; her fiance, Mario Calvi had been infected by Alice Tetch's blood, although she did not believe him and believed that he was trying to sabotage her relationship with Mario out of jealousy. When he went to try and save Lee, and bring Mario in alive, he was forced to kill Mario in self-defense when he had tried to kill Lee but he still felt guilt and remorse for what he did to him, despite the fact that he did not like Mario at all due to his arrogant, rude and disrespectful traits. This protectiveness of those he cares about was also seen when he had found out that Nathaniel was infected with Alice's blood and he tried to bring him in alive, and succeeded.
The main difference between bringing Nathaniel in and Jim's failed attempt to bring Mario in alive was that he had no choice but to kill Mario because he was about to kill Lee, whereas Nathaniel was in a standoff with Jim, and he outdrew and non-fatally shot him.
Jim has a certain level of tolerance when it comes to being blamed for situations that. are not entirely his fault. For example, when Lee kept on berate and jab at him for her husband, Mario's death, he initially had tolerated it.
But in "Light The Wick", Jim had finally gotten tired of Lee trying to blame him for ruining her life, as he coldly and cruelly pointed out how Mario tried to kill her and that he was forced to kill the him in self-defense and he would do it again in a heartbeat. He even points out that Lee can blame him for her husband's death, walk away and never come back, but it's not going to change the fact that her late husband was infected with the virus and had tried to kill her.
Physical appearance[]
- "You couldn't look more like a cop if you wore a blue uniform."
- —Harvey Bullock[src]
Jim is a man in his mid to late 30s with a slender build with blue eyes and brown hair. Early on in his career at the GCPD he had short hair, although he later began to grow it. Unlike his partner Harvey Bullock, Gordon was always well kept whilst on the line of duty, wearing mostly a fresh suit and was always clean shaven and professional looking. Although on some occassions (such as being on the run after being framed by Edward Nygma) he developed an unkempt appearing and grew a stubble for a short time.
During his time as a bounty hunter going after the escaped experiments from Indian Hill, Jim donned a black leather jacket.
After being promoted to captain at the GCPD, Gordon began to wear a brown trenchcoat on several occasions.
Ten years following his promotion to commission of the GCPD, Gordon's hair had slightly lightened due to his aging. For a short while he grew a mustache, although when a couple of those close to him made remarks about it, he chose to shave it off and remain clean shaven, even admitting that he didn't think it suited him.
Powers and abilities[]
Former powers[]
- "Oh, James, I would love to see what Alice's virus would do to you. The beast in you is right there. So desperate to get out."
- —Jervis Tetch to Jim Gordon[src]
- Superhuman strength: After taking the Alice Tetch virus, Jim gained a significant increase in strength, which lasted up until he took an antidote to the virus. His newfound strength allowed him to punch through the wooden coffin he was in and exhume himself after Lee Thompkins buried him alive. He was able to effortlessly throw a police officer away from him and punch a Talon with enough force to send him sliding across the floor. Before Victor Fries could freeze him and Harvey Bullock, Jim was able to leap up and rip a water pipe loose to counteract the former's freeze beam. He then proceeded to successfully punch and break through the new ice wall created by the water meeting the beam. Back on the surface, he was able to rip off a car door from Bullock's car. When facing the League of Shadows, Jim threw an assassin across the floor and defeated the rest of them, but accidentally impaled Fish Mooney with a sword he disarmed. Shortly after, he lifted Oswald Cobblepot by the neck with just one hand. He ripped the metal chains off a gate to protect Jervis Tetch and avoid being shot by Barbara Kean. Back at the GCPD precinct, he dented Kowalski and Burrows' lockers after repeatedly hitting them, injured the lab tech's arm and ripped off the doorknob to the medical examiner's room. He effortlessly tosses Bullock around and dented the train car behind him. When Hugo Strange later started the process of injecting Jim with an unknown chemical, Jim temporarily gained an increase in strength once more, singlehandedly being able to break free from his bonds and throw Strange at the same time.
- Superhuman durability: Jim was unfazed when he was punched multiple times by a Talon, but was vulnerable to others of equal strength, such as the infected Lee Thompkins, who knocked him down with a wrench. He was also able to punch a wooden coffin, a wall of ice and a subway several times with his hands showing no sign of injury.
Abilities[]
- "Oldest in your class. Not the strongest, or the fastest, or even the most academically-gifted, either. And yet, you finished at the top of your class. Now how did you do that? I'll tell you how. You were a soldier. You saw combat while your classmates were still playing with themselves in their parents' basements. You got blood on your face."
- —Nathaniel Barnes[src]
- Peak of human physical condition: As a former war hero soldier and police captain, Jim is in top physical condition. He graduated from Gotham Police Academy at the top of his class due to his experience on the battlefield, and he exercised daily when he was imprisoned in Blackgate Penitentiary. When Riddler tortured him with Une peine forte et dure, he was able to resist 50-350 pounds of pressure pressed against his ribs; however, Lee Thompkins noted that, as a healthy male adult, his ribs should be able to take about 450 pounds of pressure before they crack, which allowed him to survive falling from high up after trying to save the Balloonman. He also withstood a beating from Aaron Helzinger and the superhumanly strong Nathaniel Barnes, Mario Calvi and Bane, as well as survived being shot by Victor Zsasz twice, despite the latter being a hitman of the highest professional standards. He was strong enough to lift a manhole cover by himself, break through Barbara Kean's restraints, break free from Marino's hold by kicking him back into the street, knock Zsasz out with a single punch to the face, punch off Jerome Valeska's severed face, push a large bookshelf onto The Hunter, kick Anubis several feet away from him, dislocate Professor Pyg's titanium plates surgically grafted onto the bones of his face with a punch, throw Griffin Krank's explosive robot, and keep his daughter from falling into a vat of acid by holding the rope hanging her, and he was fast enough to save Shane from being hit by a moving truck.
- Expert hand-to-hand combatant: Due to Jim's time in the military, he is a highly trained hand-to-hand combatant; he has been able to hold his own against other expert fighters, such as members of the Order of St. Dumas, Talons of the Court of Owls, and even assassins of the League of Shadows. He also contended with Ecco and Scarecrow. James as a soldier was trained in Modern Army Combatives Program (Wrestling, Judo, Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo and Escrima), advanced unarmed and armed combat techniques.
- Expert stick-wielder: Jim is accomplished using a baton or any stick-like weapon in combat. this is seen in his fight against an Indian Hill Monster and his second fight with Scarecrow.
- Expert knife-wielder: Jim was able to hold his own in a knife fight with Professor Pyg by using a kitchen knife thrown at him by Pyg himself.
- Skilled swordsman: Jim was able to hold his own in a sword fight with Richard Sionis, using a broken paper cutter as an improvised weapon. He also briefly wield a sword against members of the League of Shadows under the effects of the Tetch Virus, killing all the members present.
- Expert marksman: As a former soldier, Jim is highly trained in the use of firearms; including pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and machine guns. He also possesses keen accuracy, as he was able to shoot Jason Skolimski, Billy Boy and Ramos Silva in the head, narrowly missing Barbara Kean and officer Katherine Parks the first two times respectively. He also had used a shotgun to shoot off Nathaniel Barnes' prosthetic hand and precisely had fired a bullet; into Oswald Cobblepot's knee, effectively re-crippling him. Victor Zsasz had complimented his marksmanship in his killing of Mario Calvi. He also accurately shot Jerome Valeska's hand to; make him drop his phone.
- "You always were clever, Jim. I respect that."
- —Edward Nygma to Jim Gordon[src]
- High-level intellect/Master tactician: Jim has above average intelligence and is a very observant detective. Sarah Essen had referred to him as the precinct's firebrand, and he became known for his reputation as being one of the few law enforcers in Gotham; who actually accomplishes his cases; "the rising star of the GCPD" as put; by Jason Skolimski. He outsmarted Jervis Tetch; by speaking in rhymes; in order to get him to reveal the truth about Mario Calvi's infection.
- Expert detective: Jim is a highly trained criminal investigator. He was able to figure out it was Jerome Valeska who killed his own mother, and that Paul Cicero was Jerome's father. He could also answer many of Edward Nygma's riddles, and knows when Barbara Kean is lying. He found Stan Potolsky's professor at Gotham University based on the school mascot seen in a photo of the two together in the latter's office. He also found drugs hidden in the pivoting heel of Pinky Littlefield's shoe, and noticed Gus Floyd's Kleg's Auto work shirt under his coat on security footage of a bank robbery. During his time as a bounty hunter, Jim was able to locate multiple Indian Hill escapees, leading Harvey Bullock to state that Jim is a cop in everything but name.
- Military/Police training: Due to his time in the military, Jim is well adept in military protocol. Jim has also received training as all Gotham City Police Department members do. He understood that he did not need a warrant to search Mario Pepper's apartment, and only reasonable cause due to him being a felon on parole.
- Deception: Jim was able to convince Harvey Bullock that he shot Oswald Cobblepot in the back of the head, when in reality he fired his gun over the latter's shoulder and pushed him over the dock and into the water as a warning.
- Leadership: As the captain of the Gotham City Police Department, Jim is a skilled leader. Victor Zsasz complimented Jim on his great leadership skills to Penguin. He was later promoted to Commissioner of the GCPD.
- "But only because I know that you'll never quit. And I love that about you."
- —Lee Thompkins[src]
- Indomitable will: Jim is nearly fearless and almost never gives up under most situations; for example, he was able to break free of Jervis Tetch's hypnotic suicidal impulses implanted in his mind; even; when he was infected; by the Alice Tetch virus; before Jim was cured from it, he did not give; into his dark urges. When he was sprayed with Jonathan Crane's fear toxin, Jim was able to overcome his worst fear of hurting Lee Thompkins and the temptation to kill himself to prevent her from truly living a peaceful life; despite Jonathan claiming that; defeating the toxin was impossible. Ivy Pepper called Jim "tenacious". Hugo Strange had stated that; he has always admired Jim's fighting spirit and Harvey Bullock described Jim as "not one to quit".
Equipment[]
- Guns/Firearms: Jim has used a variety of firearms such as pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, machine guns, and grenade launchers. He initially carried the standard SIG-Sauer P226 that most GCPD officers carry.
- Smith & Wesson SW1911SC E-Series: Jim carries this pistol as his main sidearm of choice. He first started carrying it after he left the GCPD, and continued to use it once he returned to the department.
- Telescopic Baton: Jim used a telescopic ASP baton to take on an Indian Hill monster, however it eventually broke.
- Brass Knuckle Duster: Jim received a knuckle duster from Bullock to aid in interrogating criminals on the streets.
- Bulletproof Vest: Jim has used a bulletproof vest for protection whenever he goes into a dangerous situation.
- Handcuffs: Jim Gordon uses handcuffs to arrest criminals. He used handcuffs in order to gain an advantage when fighting Nyssa al Ghul.
Gallery[]
Main Article: Jim Gordon/Gallery