The superhero genre has plenty of games focusing on Batman’s adventures. He’s such an iconic superhero that it’s only fitting that he gets a lot of games where players can live out his vigilante justice. However, Batman comes with a wide cast of allies that are always cropping up and working with him, and all of these characters are worth exploring. That’s what Gotham Knights is aspiring to do by putting Bruce Wayne aside and letting his cast of sidekicks and teammates known as the Bat-Family take the spotlight. In a genre where cornerstone characters like Batman and Spider-Man get plenty of features, Gotham Knights gives an exciting opportunity to play some characters that don’t get to be the stars as often.
One of those characters is Batgirl, the famous alter ego of Barbara Gordon. Commissioner James Gordon’s daughter has been working with Batman and his allies for many years, first appearing in the late ’60s and making regular appearances for decades since. However, she doesn’t always adopt this alter ego, especially in recent history. Instead, Barbara frequently serves a utilitarian role as Oracle, providing intel to Batman from behind the scenes. Her transformation from Batgirl into Oracle has much to do with being partially paralyzed, but in Gotham Knights, she seems whole and healed. How could that be?
The origins of Barbara’s paralysis and her transformation into Oracle lie in 1988’s Batman: The Killing Joke, a classic Batman comic that later got an animated movie. In the comic, the Joker shoots Barbara through the spine, causing permanent damage paralyzing her from the waist down. Writers dissatisfied with her treatment promptly decided to give her a character arc by creating the identity of Oracle. From behind her massive computer screens, Oracle is an extraordinary help to Batman and other forces of justice, providing crucial insight and information.
Some clues in the Gotham Knights trailer indicate that Barbara’s identity as Oracle and her paralysis haven’t been abandoned in this timeline, even though the game is separate from Arkham where Oracle often plays a significant role. Barbara views the message about Bruce’s death on a huge and highly sophisticated computer surely fitted for use in informing Batman. What’s more, as the camera pans over to her, it passes by an empty wheelchair and toward Barbara standing at the computer. These elements strongly suggest that, while Barbara was probably paralyzed for some time in this timeline, she has somehow recovered.
There’s a few ways that WB Games Montreal might have settled this piece of lore. There’s always the possibility that Barbara was actually never paralyzed in this continuity. Instead, perhaps she’s always been serving as both Oracle and Batgirl and the wheelchair was just an Easter egg; however, that seems unlikely considering how important Oracle has become as a disabled superhero icon. A more likely explanation might be along the lines of advanced prostheses or similar mobility devices, considering the Bat-Family’s knack for advanced technology. Also, in a superhero setting, one can never discount the possibility that Gotham Knight‘s Barbara has undergone a highly advanced medical procedure to heal her spine.
Out of all of these, the prostheses seem like the most likely explanation, as removing Barbara’s paralysis would be a very significant departure from the tradition of the character. Although Barbara has made some more appearances as Batgirl in comics recently, her identity is inextricably tied to Oracle in Gotham Knights, so it’s hard to imagine that Barbara’s paralysis won’t come up if she’s been playing a part as Oracle in this version. Gotham Knights is shrouded in a fair amount of mystery right now, but in terms of character arcs, this might be one of the pressing questions for the moment. Regardless of the answer, it’s certainly a breath of fresh air that Batgirl will be the one defending Gotham this time.
Gotham Knights is will release for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in 2021.
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