A Thumbnail Biography of Barbara Gordon

From filmed material -

• is a librarian.
• is Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon’s daughter.
• is Batgirl.
• is brunette, but wears a titian wig as Batgirl.
• is a college graduate.
• is right-handed. e.g. She shook hands with her right and threw her Batarang righty in The Great Train Robbery.

• Barbara was a librarian at Gotham City Library.
• Barbara said, "I just started working here recently, but it isn't as if we're complete strangers, Mr. Wayne."
• Bruce Wayne said, "He (Commissioner Gordon) did say that he had a daughter away at college."
• In the Librarian's Lounge, Barbara used a secret panel to access a secret closet.
• Barbara had a yellow skirt that reversed to become Batgirl's first cape.
• Desmond Doomsday (the narrator) said Batgirl was modeled after Barbara's idol, Batman, and that this was her first foray.
• Barbara had a hat that reversed into her first cowl.
• There was a secret exit from the secret closet at the Gotham City Library.
• The following dialogue took place, which is further evidence this was Batgirl's first appearance:
  Robin: "Holy Apparition!"
  Batgirl: "No, Boy Wonder. I'm Batgirl. You're no longer alone, Caped Crusaders."
• Even though Barbara is a librarian, Batgirl didn't seem to mind using library books as weapons in a fight.
• Batgirl remarked to Batman during an interlude in the fight, "What delightful dynamic destruction!"
• Batgirl said, "Come now, Batman. Have you ever revealed your true identity? Mine must be kept as secret as yours." This makes clear Barbara does not know Batman’s and Robin’s secret identities.

• Barbara is a librarian at the Gotham City Public Library. Since this looks very different than her workplace shown in the Batgirl Presentation Film and since she never again uses the secret panel, closet or exit, it may be inferred Barbara changed jobs. The Gotham City Library may be a different institution from the Gotham City Public Library.
  Although Desmond Doomsday calls Barbara, “one of the newer librarians” at the Gotham City Library in this episode, when the librarian Drusilla answers the phone, she clearly says, “Gotham City Public Library.” (emphasis added)
  In the Batgirl Presentation Film, Barbara answers the phone, “Gotham City Library.” In addition, the clock on the wall in the Presentation Film says “Gotham City Library.”
• Commissioner Gordon said to Barbara over the phone, “He’s (Bruce Wayne’s) going to get quite a surprise tonight. He hasn’t seen you since you went away to college four years ago.” Being a good daughter, Barbara doesn’t correct her father. She may not have told him about seeing Bruce in the Batgirl Presentation Film, understandable with the subsequent appearances of Killer Moth, Batman, Robin and Batgirl.
  Barbara had known of Bruce Wayne before she went to college. Whether Bruce had even noticed the young Barbara is an open question.
• Desmond Doomsday said Barbara, “. . . enters the lobby of her mid-town apartment house.” We later see her apartment is designated as “8A,” however, her apartment may or may not be on the eighth floor.
  When Barbara pushed the elevator button, it appeared she pressed the top button, which was the seventh from the bottom. Later, though, Commissioner Gordon pushed the second button from the bottom! Further confusing matters, the number of lights that went by as the Commissioner and Chief O’Hara rode up in the elevator seemed to indicate her apartment was on the sixth floor!
• Barbara subscribes to The Gotham City Times, an afternoon newspaper which is delivered to her apartment.
• Barbara hides a key to her apartment behind a picture in the hallway. This might not only be to give her father access, but would also help her if she forgets her key.
• The Penguin threatened to make Barbara an orphan by killing her father. The most generally accepted definition of “orphan” is a person who has lost both of his or her parents.
• Barbara has a pet parrot/parakeet named Charlie. Charlie doesn’t talk, but Barbara sometimes talks to him when no other human is present. Charlie changes size during the season. This linked Omake explains why.
• Batgirl’s costume and the Batgirlcycle were modified from their appearance in the Batgirl Presentation Film.
• Batgirl said, “I’m sure you could have handled these crooks without my help, but I was glad for the chance to join in the fun;” and “Crimefighting is a serious matter to me, too, Batman, but we might as well get a few laughs out of it.”
• Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler, learned Barbara is Batgirl. He swore “as a gentleman’s gentleman,” to never disclose her secret.

• The following dialogue took place in Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds:
  Chief O’Hara: “Bonnie said that me wife called when I was out and I haven’t called her back.”
  Commissioner James Gordon: “The same with me, Chief O’Hara.”
  O’Hara: “For the same reason, Commissioner Gordon?”
  Gordon: “Well, being a wife, I’m sure she wonders about my temporary absence, both from the office as well as from home.”
  Commissioner Gordon’s wife is never brought up again, not even being mentioned when he discusses his North Cape Cruise (Louie's Lethal Lilac Time) or is honored at a civic luncheon for twenty-five years of faithful service to Gotham City (Nora Clavicle and the Ladies' Crime Club.)
• Commissioner Gordon said to Bruce Wayne in The Bats Kow Tow, “My grandchildren insisted I come and hear Chad and Jeremy.”
• Commissioner Gordon had the following exchange with Batman over the Red Phone in Batman's Waterloo:
  Gordon: “First, Batman, will you be talking to Bruce Wayne?”
  Batman: “I occasionally run into him Commissioner, why?”
  Gordon: “I’m worried about my daughter, Barbara.”
  Batman: “How is she involved in all this?”
  Gordon: “Well, as Bruce Wayne knows, she’s away at college. She’ll be graduating shortly and I’d hate to think that some of the dire happenings which have happened to that fine professor of Egyptology could also happen to my beloved daughter at her school.”
  Batman: “I rather doubt that your daughter Barbara is going to get conked on the head and turn into a long-dead Egyptian ruler, Commissioner.”
  Gordon: “I know it sounds a little far-fetched, but she’s an only child and, of course, my pride and joy. I guess I just need a little re-assurance.”
  Batman: “If I see Bruce Wayne, I’ll ask him to call you. He knows much more about the present American collegiate scene than I do.”
  Gordon: “I’d be most grateful, Batman.”
• Commissioner Gordon gave his secretary, Bonnie, the following instructions in The Duo Defy: “Please call my daughter Barbara at college. Ask her to take a later plane home. I want to meet her, of course, but I have some cool facts to face before I get to the airport.”

• fight in a style that seems drawn from dance and relies on her feet and high-kicks. She usually dodges attacks against her and never uses her fists, but will grab objects and use them against opponents.
• ride a motorcyle.
• ride a thoroughbred racehorse. A Horse of Another Color
• surf - or, at the very least, she owns a surfboard. Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!
• dance. Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, called Batgirl, “a good dancer.” The Ogg Couple
• play a flute. Nora Clavicle and the Ladies’ Crime Club
• apply first aid techniques. The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra

• studied the history of southwestern Asia in college. Ring Around the Riddler
• Her apartment building has an underground garage. The Wail of the Siren
• has a telephone answering machine. The Wail of the Siren
• monitors the emergency library prowler signal from her apartment. The Sport of Penguins
• opens the Gotham City Public Library on occasion. A Horse of Another Color
• sometimes wears glasses, apparently for reading. Whether she is actually farsighted or just uses them to further conceal her secret identity is unknown. When she is reading in front of Charlie in The Unkindest Tut of All, she does not wear her glasses.
• said about Princess Primrose, “She’s a friend of mine. I went to college with her when she was Thelma Jones.” Louie, the Lilac
• Her apartment is close enough to the Gotham City Public Library that she can, at least occasionally, come home for lunch. “I’d only come home for lunch and discovered the intruder.” Her apartment has a balcony, which she also refers to as a “terrace,” and we learn there is, in addition, a fire escape landing. Louie, the Lilac
• almost never argues with her father. In Louie, the Lilac, Commissioner Gordon said, “My daughter Barbara had no right to call you on the Red Phone, Batman. It precipitated the first real argument we’ve ever had.”
• lived with her father until she went to college. In Louie, the Lilac, Commissioner Gordon told Barbara, “I still think you should move back home.”
• has never been married. In Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time, she said to her father and Bruce Wayne, “It isn’t often a spinster gets to cook for a bachelor.”
• said to Alfred, “My father wouldn’t take me seriously,” regarding her giving information about criminal activities to the Commissioner in her civilian guise. Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time
• told the maintenance man she keeps “several guns” in her apartment, but whether this is true or just said to scare him from coming back is unknown. Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time
• as Batgirl, is not afraid of mechanical mice. Nora Clavicle and the Ladies’ Crime Club
• was elected chairman (sic) of Gotham City’s anti-littering campaign. Penguin’s Clean Sweep
• is afraid of a Little Green Man. The Joker’s Flying Saucer

• The Marriage of Figaro is her “very favorite opera.” Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin
• As Batgirl, she “just adore(s) weddings.” Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin
• ”There’s nothing I like better than hearing Lady of Spain played eight times in succession.” The Unkindest Tut of All
  (Okay, I guess you’ve got to be a little crazy to be a masked crimefighter!)
• She loves books about Egypt. The Unkindest Tut of All
• She said, “Paleontology used to be a hobby of mine.” How to Hatch a Dinosaur
• As Batgirl, she “always liked crashing parties.” How to Hatch a Dinosaur
• ”I think a ship sailing is one of the most exciting things in the world.” The Londinium Larcenies
• She made fondue for her father and Bruce Wayne in Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time.
• She made a sandwich for herself with lettuce and either dark bread or toast and had milk to drink in Louie’s Lethal Lilac Time.

Barbara/Batgirl's Crimefighting Equipment

and when it first appeared.

• Batgirl utility belt (Batgirl Presentation Film)
• Electronic Batgirl compact "with a laser beam which will destroy anything!" (Batgirl Presentation Film)
• Batgirlcycle (Batgirl Presentation Film)
• Barbara’s bedroom has a secret revolving wall, which reveals a hidden room and a secret freight elevator. The Batgirlcycle is kept in the secret freight elevator, which descends to a secret exit into an alley. There are later references to the above as a “secret closet” and the “Secret Batgirl Room.” Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin
• Rope Ring Around the Riddler
• Walkie-Talkies . . . lace-trimmed! The Ogg and I
• Jimmy The Ogg and I
• Batgirl Geiger counter How to Hatch a Dinosaur
• Anti-eavesdrop plug (for telephone) The Londinium Larcenies
• Suitcase with Batgirl insignia The Londinium Larcenies
• Batgirl Antidote Pills The Funny Feline Felonies
• Secret Batgirl Room Instant Transformer & Secret Batgirl Room Instant Re-Transformer Louie's Lethal Lilac Time
• Batgirl Vat Opener . . . Although Batgirl may have escaped the vat by a mundane method and simply been teasing Batman about all his for-every-occasion Bat-equipment Louie's Lethal Lilac Time
• Batarang The Great Train Robbery
• Automatic Fuse Extinguisher The Joker's Flying Saucer

From the November 4, 1967, issue of TV Guide

(since Yvonne Craig played Barbara Gordon) -

• is 5’ 4” tall.
• has green eyes.

Extrapolations/Assumptions used on
The Batgirl Bat-Trap Homepage!
based upon the above facts -

• Barbara is a computer expert.
• Barbara is now in charge of the Gotham City Public Library. The Descent of Penguin, The Expensive Wages of Sin
• Regina - the daughter of Myrtle, one of Barbara's subordiantes at the Gotham City Public Library - knows Barbara is Batgirl. The Book of Revelation
• After the Londinium trilogy, Barbara began using the alias of "Barbara Wilson" when Batgirl travels far from Gotham City. "Barbara Wilson" has a Canadian passport.
• Barbara's mother died from cancer when Barbara was little. The trauma caused young Barbara to give up ballet. Don’t Believe All the Hype
• Commissioner Gordon learned his daughter's secret in Besmirching the Archetype/Don't Believe All the Hype.
• Doctor Liz Shaw, under the influence of the Metamorphosis Formula, may know Batgirl's secret identity. The same can be said of Clock King, The Doctor when under the Formula's influence. To Embark Upon Royal, Roguish Plans
• The Gotham City Police Department can contact Batgirl by her e-mail address, Batgirl@batgirl.gov. She also now has a cellphone, which her good friend, Lieutenant Diana Mooney, and the other caped heroes can use to contact her. Unfortunately, a few members of Gotham City's underworld have also obtained her cell phone number.
• Barbara sought out her apartment after learning of its special features from blueprints at the Gotham City Public Library. The building started out as a warehouse (hence the freight elevator) and the secret room/revolving wall was built by a bootlegger during Prohibition.

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