History

  The niece and adoptive daughter of James Gordon, Gotham's police commissioner, Barbara grew to admire Batman, and attended a fancy dress party in a costume modelled on his. On her way there, she saved millionaire Bruce Wayne from a criminal called Killer Moth, and decided as a result to become Batgirl on a regular basis, grudgingly supported by Batman, whom she later learned was Bruce Wayne's 'real' self. She also developed a close friendship with the original Robin, who would later become Nightwing. Shortly after the second Robin was killed, her heroic career was brought to a permanent end when she was shot by the Joker, thereafter being confined to a wheel-chair. However, she would not let this daunt her, and, using her information and computing skills, she set about becoming Oracle, an on-line help and information source for various heroes, working initially alongside the Suicide Squad, later working more as she wanted to, recruiting various heroes, most notably the Black Canary, to combat problems as they arose. She has also worked as a coordinator for the JLA on many recent occasions.