| James Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Gotham character | |
 James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) | |
| First Episode Appearance | "Pilot" September 22, 2014 |
| Created by | Bruno Heller (Gotham) Bill Finger (James Gordon) Bob Kane (James Gordon) Lawrence Donovan (James Gordon) Henry Ralston (James Gordon) |
| Character played by | Ben McKenzie |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation |
|
| Family | Peter Gordon (father) † Unnamed mother † Frank Gordon (uncle) † |
| Children | Unborn child (miscarried) † |
| Nationality | American |
| Police career | |
| Department | Gotham City Police Department |
| Years of service | 2014–present |
| Rank | Captain |
GCPD Captain James "Jim" Gordon is a fictional character that appears in the Fox TV series Gotham. He is portrayed by Ben McKenzie. He is based on the character of the same name created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, that debuted in the first panel of Detective Comics #27 (May 1939).
Fictional character biography[]
Season 1[]
Gordon is introduced as a homicide detective and Iraq War veteran who has recently been transferred to Gotham City, where he lives with his fiancée, Barbara Kean (Erin Richards). As his first case, Gordon and his partner, Detective Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are assigned the case of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder. After arriving at the crime scene, he comforts the Waynes' son, Bruce (David Mazouz), who had survived the ordeal, promising him that he would do everything in his power to find the murderer and bring him to justice.
During his investigation, Gordon runs afoul of gangster Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith), who takes him hostage. Bullock later goes searching for him, and is captured alongside him. The two are freed by Gotham's most powerful mob boss, Carmine Falcone (John Doman), who was an old friend of Gordon's deceased father. In return, Falcone asks Gordon to kill Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot (Robin Lord Taylor), Mooney's underling who had informed on her to the GCPD. Gordon fakes Cobbelpot's death and orders him never to come back to Gotham.[1]
After Gordon's gun is used to kill Dick Lovecraft (Al Sapienza), a corrupt billionaire, Mayor Aubrey James (Richard Kind) reassigns him to Arkham Asylum as a guard.[2] He is later reinstated as a homicide detective by Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Peter Scolari) after he captures a serial killer who had escaped from Arkham during a prison riot.[3] Gordon then blackmails Loeb into naming him the President of the Gotham City Police Union.[4] At the end of the series, he discovers that Barbara is in fact a murderer, and begins a relationship with Arkham physician Leslie "Lee" Thompkins (Morena Baccarin). He is also present during a gang war between Mooney and mob boss Sal Maroni (David Zayas), during which Falcone retires and Penguin takes control of Gotham's criminal underworld.[5]
Season 2[]
After the events of the first season, Gordon is demoted to patrol officer by a vengeful Loeb. He is later reinstated as a Detective after Penguin blackmails Loeb into retiring and appointing Captain Sarah Essen (Zabryna Guevara) to replace him as Commissioner.[6]
In "Rise of the Villains: Worse Than a Crime", Gordon, upon realizing that there is a strong possibility that corrupt billionaire Theo Galavan (James Frain) will escape justice after terrorizing the city, takes him to an isolated place outside Gotham, where Penguin beats him mercilessly until Gordon stops him and shoots Galavan dead. In the same episode, he learns that Lee is pregnant with his child.[7] He is later framed for the murder of Carl Pinkley by Edward Nygma, and he breaks his engagement to Lee, who subsequently "loses their baby". He is later broken out by Carmine Falcone, and he chooses to stay at Gotham. He exposes Nygma for the murder of both Pinkney and Kristin Kringle. Gordon eventually helps defend Gotham from the monsters that Hugo Strange (B.D. Wong) has unleashed.
Season 3[]
After apprehending Strange, Gordon leaves Bullock in charge of the GCPD and goes off to find Lee, only to discover she has moved on to a new lover, Mario Calvi, the son of Carmine Falcone. He ends up becoming a bounty hunter after he declined his reinstatement as a detective. Gordon works to hunt down a resurrected Fish Mooney in order to collect the Penguin's bounty, although this act puts others lives at risk. After Fish leaves Gotham, Gordon finds himself in a conflict with a psychopathic hypnotist named Jervis Tetch, who initially hires Gordon to find his sister Alice but then works to ruin him after she dies. This breaks up his relationship with Valerie Vale and puts him into more conflict with Lee, to the point where he has to gun Mario down when the latter becomes infected with Alice Tetch's blood and attempts to kill Lee. After rethinking his life and rejoining the GCPD, Gordon discovers that his late father was a member of the Court of Owls, a secret society that has controlled crime in Gotham for centuries, and he joins it in order to bring it down from the inside. Simultaneously, Gordon is also forced to help find an antidote for a virus linked to Alice Tetch's blood that has infected many citizens of Gotham and driven them to insanity, including himself, Lee, and Nathaniel Barnes.[8] He and Lee eventually come to terms with each other after the chaos subsides and reaffirm their love for each other before Lee leaves the city once again.[9]
Career[]
Template:In-universe
List of assignments[]
- Junior Detective, GCPD Homicide (September 22, 2014 – November 24, 2014)
- Guard, Arkham Asylum (January 5, 2015 – January 19, 2015)
- Junior Detective, GCPD Homicide (January 19, 2015 – May 4, 2015)
- Patrol Officer, Gotham City Police Department (September 21, 2015)
- Detective, GCPD Homicide (September 21, 2015–Present)
- President of the Gotham City Police Union (March 2, 2015–Present)
Ranks[]
- Detective 1st Grade[1]
- Officer[10]
- Detective 1st Grade[3]
- Officer[6]
- Detective 1st Grade[6]
- Captain[11]
Partners[]
- Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD (September 22, 2014 – May 4, 2015)
- Officer Franks, GCPD (September 21, 2015)[6]
- Detective Harvey Bullock, GCPD (September 28, 2015–Present)
Portrayal[]
In September 2013, it was reported that Fox was developing a TV series centred on James Gordon's early days as a police detective and the origin stories of various Batman villains.[12] In February 2014, McKenzie was cast as the lead character.[13] When describing his character in an interview, McKenzie stated that Gordon "is a truly honest man. The last honest man in a city full of crooked people. He's not an anti-hero, he’s a true hero – but he will have to compromise."[14]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Pilot". Gotham. episode 1. season 1. September 22, 2014.
- ↑ "Lovecraft". Gotham. episode 10. season 1. November 24, 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "What the Little Bird Told Him". Gotham. episode 12. season 1. January 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Everyone Has a Cobblepot". Gotham. episode 18. season 1. March 2, 2015.
- ↑ "All Happy Families Are Alike". Gotham. episode 22. season 1. May 4, 2015.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Rise of the Villains: Damned If You Do…". Gotham. episode 1. season 2. September 21, 2015.
- ↑ "Rise of the Villains: Worse Than a Crime". Gotham. episode 11. season 2. November 30, 2015.
- ↑ "Heroes Rise: Pretty Hate Machine". Gotham. episode 20. season 3. May 29, 2017.
- ↑ "Heroes Rise: Heavydirtysoul". Gotham. episode 22. season 3. June 5, 2017.
- ↑ "Rogues' Gallery". Gotham. episode 11. season 1. January 5, 2015.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedStop Hitting Yourself - ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (September 24, 2013). "Fox Nabs Gotham City Origin Drama About Commissioner Gordon From Bruno Heller & Warner Bros. TV With Series Commitment". Deadline.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Nellie Andreeva (February 8, 2014). "Ben McKenzie To Star As James Gordon in Fox's Batman Series 'Gotham'". Deadline.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
{{cite web}}: - ↑ Hibberd, James (June 12, 2014). "Ben McKenzie 'Gotham' interview". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
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| Gotham | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episodes | Season 1 | "Pilot" • "Selina Kyle" • "The Balloonman" • "Arkham" • "Viper" • "Spirit of the Goat" • "Penguin's Umbrella" • "The Mask" • "Harvey Dent" • "Lovecraft" • "Rogues' Gallery" • "What the Little Bird Told Him" • "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon" • "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" • "The Scarecrow" • "The Blind Fortune Teller" • "Red Hood" • "Everyone Has a Cobblepot" • "Beasts of Prey" • "Under the Knife" • "The Anvil or the Hammer" • "All Happy Families Are Alike" |
| Season 2 | "Rise of the Villains" ("Damned If You Do..." • "Knock, Knock" • "The Last Laugh" • "Strike Force" • "Scarification" • "By Fire" • "Mommy's Little Monster" • "Tonight's the Night" • "A Bitter Pill to Swallow" • "The Son of Gotham" • "Worse Than a Crime") • "Wrath of the Villains" ("Mr. Freeze" • "A Dead Man Feels No Cold" • "This Ball of Mud and Meanness" • "Mad Grey Dawn" • "Prisoners" • "Into the Woods" • "Pinewood" • "Azrael" • "Unleashed" • "A Legion of Horribles" • "Transference" | |
| Season 3 | "Mad City" ("Better to Reign in Hell..." • "Burn the Witch" • "Look into My Eyes" • "New Day Rising" • "Anything for You" • "Follow the White Rabbit" • "Red Queen" • "Blood Rush" • "The Executioner" • "Time Bomb" • "Beware the Green-Eyed Monster" • "Ghosts" • "Smile Like You Mean It" • "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies") • "Heroes Rise" ("How the Riddler Got His Name" • "These Delicate and Dark Obsessions" • "The Primal Riddle" • "Light the Wick" • "All Will Be Judged" • "Pretty Hate Machine" • "Destiny Calling" • "Heavydirtysoul") | |
| Season 4 | "A Dark Knight" ("Pax Penguina" • "The Fear Reaper" • "They Who Hide Behind Masks" • "The Demon's Head" • "The Blade's Path" • "Hog Day Afternoon" • "A Day in the Narrows" • "Stop Hitting Yourself" • "Let Them Eat Pie" • "Things That Go Boom" • "Queen Takes Knight") | |
| Characters | James Gordon • Bruce Wayne • Fish Mooney • Oswald Cobblepot | |