Oracle is the primary computer expert and information network source for the superhero community. Providing intelligence and computer hacking services to assist other heroes, Oracle was the original Batgirl until she retired and then unrelatedly fell victim to an assault by the Joker that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Unwilling to succumb to her disability, she took her photographic memory, her intellect and computer knowledge to reinvent herself as an information broker to aid others and created the Birds of Prey espionage team to continue the fight against those wishing to harm others.
Background[]
Barbara Gordon was born to Roger C. Gordon and his wife Thelma in the suburbs of Ohio. As a young girl, Barbara wanted nothing more than to be a superhero; spending endless hours designing superhero costumes and heroic identities for herself. When Barbara was 13, her parents were killed in an automobile accident while visiting an aunt in Youngstown and she was adopted by her uncle, James Gordon. Moving to Gotham City to live with her uncle, aunt Barbara and cousin James Gordon, Jr., Barbara learnt of and became infatuated with the city's hero, Batman; later learning that her uncle was actually in partnership with the hero.
Inspired to be like her uncle and Batman, Barbara enrolled in martial arts classes and committed herself towards her academic achievements, her photographic memory helping her to graduate Gotham Heights High School early at the age of sixteen and earn a scholarship to Gotham State University. As one of the University's youngest students, Barbara graduated with honors before she was even a legal adult while still continuing with her self-defense training. To supplement her income, she accepted a position as a research assistant at the Gotham Public Library, however, she still dreamed of bigger things and attempted to join the police academy only to be dissuaded by notions over her gender and height (and the fact that her uncle did not wish for her to become a police officer due to the dangers associated with the career). Her attempt to enroll at the local FBI office as a field agent led to similar results.
Frustrated, Barbara researched and attempted to break into the headquarters of the Justice Society of America (then operating within Gotham) to train with her current idol; Black Canary, only to be captured and laughed at by Wildcat before he dismissed the eighteen year old. Upset over people putting her down, Barbara took an invitation to the Wayne-hosted Million Dollar Masquerade Ball, and created a girl-version of Batman's costume to pose as a hero to upset her uncle. However, before she could reveal herself, the ball was held-up by the villain Killer Moth and Barbara took the initiative; foiling the villain's schemes while wearing the costume. Having gotten a taste for heroics, Barbara took to secretly operating as "the Batgirl" without her uncle's knowledge. Eventually meeting Batman and Robin and becoming an official member of the Bat Family, Barbara became involved in grander adventures but eventually began finding her role as Batgirl less and less fulfilling as well as becoming increasingly skeptical of her effectiveness overall, she eventually retired from the role; although she would return to costume on random occasions.
As part of a plan to drive James Gordon insane through grief, the Joker broke into Gordon's apartment and shot Barbara in the stomach; damaging her spine and rendering her unable to use her legs. Plunged into a state of reactive depression after she realizes that she was only ever considered important due to her association to someone else (Batman, James Gordon) and that now she could only rely on her uncle to survive due to her disability, Barbara soon regains her drive after a pseudo challenge by Batman to beat her disability and realizes that her aptitude for and training in information sciences has provided her with skills that could be deployed to fight crime in a world increasingly centered on technology and information.
Adopting the codename "Oracle" after a dream she had of herself as an "all-knowing woman", Barbara applies for a grant from the Wayne Foundation to build as powerful a computer set-up as she could within her bedroom and used her knowledge to earn money as a programmer and hacker on the Internet before extending her skills to act as an information broker; gathering and disseminating intelligence for law enforcement organizations and members of the superhero community.
Using the alias "Amy Beddoes", Barbara began anonymously offering her services to the government's Task Force X before officially becoming a member of the Squad following an invitation from Amanda Waller. Following an incident where the United States Secret Service attempted to dismantle the Hacker subculture as part of an operation known as "Operation Moonwitch", Barbara moved to an apartment within the Gotham City Clocktower and took to recruiting field agents to aid in political hotspots around the world. Habitually choosing heroines who were at a low-point in their careers, one of Barbara's first agents was Power Girl (who at the time had lost half of her power and had discovered that what she thought was her past was actually someone else's memories), however, during a mission to protect a president-in-exile in Qurac, the heroine was forced to chose between saving the president's life and the lives of a thousand civilian refugees. Due to her underpowered state, Power Girl was unable to meet the task and both the president and the refugees died.
Involvement[]
- Oracle keeps tabs on New Heroes and will teleport them out of trouble to the nearest Rally Point if they are Knocked Out.
- During the first instance in the Headquarters PvP arena, terminals that have been secured by Heroes will have a hologram of Oracle hovering above them.
Heroes[]
- During the player's first tutorial mission, Oracle frees New Heroes from inside the Brainiac Harvester Ship and guides them through the ship before calling in Superman and directing them to the nearest Safe House to continue the game.
- During the game proper, Oracle alerts the player to mission information and objectives to complete. She also alerts the player to new seasonal events when they are available.
- Oracle teams up with Calculator to hack into Brainiac's systems and trap him within his own bottling technology after Brainiac is defeated at the end of Batcave: Brainiac Sub-Construct.
- Oracle is a taskmaster for the mission Anti-Matter Matters during the anniversary event Attack of the Anti-Monitor.
Villains[]
- For Meta villains, Oracle can be heard issuing security warnings as the player makes their way through the JLA Watchtower.
- Inside the Batcave raids while assisting Batman in defeating Brainiac.
Associated Equipment[]
Trivia[]
- Barbara Gordon first appeared in Detective Comics #359 (January 1967)
- Oracle is voiced by Kathy Catmull.
- Barbara's father, Roger, was the younger brother of James Gordon and a problem drinker. While he was living in Chicago, James frequently visited their home out of concern and offered money to help support them. It was also revealed that before she married Roger, Barbara's mother, Thelma, dated James and turned to Roger after their relationship fell through. While Barbara was still a child, Thelma wrote a letter to James revealing that he may actually be Barbara's biological father. However, Barbara found and kept the letter instead. It is unknown whether James knows, however, Barbara never revealed the letter to her uncle for fear that he might say it was untrue.
- Oracle maintains control over the twelve technologically advanced satellites that were created by Lex Luthor during his tenure as President of the United States. She can also access any and all items perpetrated by the Pentagon, no matter how secret, much to their dismay.
- Oracle and Nightwing harbour a relationship which stems from their days as Batgirl and Robin respectively. She also had a relationship with detective Jason Bard and an internet relationship with the hero Blue Beetle before his death.
- Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Oracle went under the tutelage of Richard Dragon, thanks to a tip from a computer programmer dubbed "Matches", and has extensive skills with eskrima fighting sticks, small firearms, and Batarangs; she customarily keeps a pair of eskrima sticks stored in the armrests of her wheelchair as a contingency.
- Blessed with a photographic memory, Barbara reads dozens of the world's top newspapers and magazines daily. She's also constantly gathering information from other, less public sources, such as the CIA's mainframe, not to mention the data networks of the FBI, NSA and Interpol (all without their knowledge or consent).
- Barbara Gordon graduated summa cum laude ("with very great honor") with a Ph.D and doctorate in library science at Gotham State University.
- The first criminal Barbara "caught" as Oracle was a technopath called Ashley Mavis Powell (aka Interface) who was a child abuser and money launder.
- Harley Quinn has discovered the existence of Oracle and sometimes makes prank calls to her late at night, much to Oracle's annoyance.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Barbara Gordon Wikipedia
- Oracle DC Database
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Heroes | Black Canary - Huntress - Lady Blackhawk - Oracle |
| Villains | Brainiac - Calculator - Deathstroke - Gorilla Grodd - Ra's al Ghul |
| Other | Batgirl - Big Barda - Catwoman - Hawkgirl - Power Girl - Lady Shiva - Vixen |
| Items | |
| Oracle's Challenge Kiosk - Penthouse - Tech | |
| Weapons | Dual Pistol - Martial Arts - Sonic Cry - Sonic Shout - Staff |
| Apparel | Blackhawk (Style) - Daring Vigilante - Goth Leggings - Goth Tights - Power (Style) - Trench Coat - Vengeance - Viking |
| Vehicles | |
| Locations | |
| Clocktower | |
| PvE | |
| PvP | |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Bat Family - Blackhawk Squadron - Gotham City Organized Crime Family - Justice League of America - Justice Society of America - S.T.A.R. Labs | |
| Age of Justice | |
| v · e · d | |
|---|---|
| Characters | |
| Affiliates | Amanda Waller - Bane - Black Adam - Captain Boomerang (George Harkness) - Captain Boomerang (Owen Mercer) - Captain Cold - Deadshot - Doctor Light - Duchess - Harley Quinn - Killer Frost - King Shark - Mirror Master - Oracle - Parasite - Penguin - Poison Ivy - Power Girl - Solomon Grundy - Speedy - Steel - Superboy - Vixen |
| Adversaries | Batman - Lois Lane |
| Other | Chemo - Vicki Vale |
| Items | |
| Bombshell Belle Reve's Poster | |
| Weapons | |
| Apparel | Expert Marksman - Punchline |
| Vehicles | |
| Locations | |
| Belle Reve Federal Penitentiary | |
| PvE | Suicide Squad Training |
| PvP | Belle Reve Sanitarium |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Checkmate - United States of America - Justice League of America - Justice Society of America | |