Michael Jon Carter grew up in twenty-fifth century Gotham. He was born into a poor family made poorer when his father took what little they had and left his mother, his sister Michelle, and he destitute. Despite their financial hardships Carter made the most of what physicals gifts he had inherited from his father and became one of the most decorated high school quarterbacks in the country at the time. Universities across the country sought out his services and eventually after a long recruiting period fraught with accusations of underhand payments, Carter opted to commit to his hometown team Gotham University. Michael became the first true freshman quarterback to start for a Gotham University team and would lead them to a bowl game in his first year of starting. From the outside it seemed like Carter was well on his way to a great deal of college success followed by a financially fruitful professional career afterwards.
That was until the authorities started digging. As more and more accounts of misconduct throughout Michael’s recruiting period came out it became clear that he had in fact taken money in order to support his mother and Michelle. On top of this it became clear that he’d continued to take money once enrolling at Gotham University and that he was in fact academically ineligible. Gotham University was hit with harsh penalties, their wins from Carter’s freshman season were vacated, and until he regained his academic eligibility he was suspended from the field. Physically gifted though he might have been, Carter was by no means a great intellect and failed time after time to regain his eligibility and sensing that he’d outstayed his welcome in Gotham he left and dropped down a division to seek out a fresh start.
Carter eventually found a place at Metropolis State University and led them to great success against much lesser talent. With questions surrounding his character, the corruption that had mired his time at Gotham University, professional teams were reluctant to take a chance on him but eventually the Central City Cougars signed him as an undrafted free agent. He would spend years riding the bench for them, coming in during garbage time in blowouts or to take kneel downs, behind their legendarily durable, Canton-bound starting quarterback.
Only once in his career would a glimmer of the talent he once had rear its head: the Cougars had made the playoffs and were seeded against their fierce cross-town rivals Keystone City and were down big going into the fourth. Their starting quarterback was knocked out of the game by an illegal late hit and Carter was thrust into the game, down twenty-eight, without a hope in hell of bringing the game back. He hadn’t played meaningful football all season, had barely trained with the first team, and wasn’t well liked amongst his peers. But he did the unthinkable and led the Cougars on a furious comeback for the ages, winning the game on a last second broken play that would be seen on every television screen across the nation.
The next week Carter started for the Cougars and led them to the worst playoff defeat of all time as his hometown team Gotham blew them out. The next season his comeback against Central City would earn him a trade to the Metropolis City Metros where he would fail to live up to the large contract they gave him and bounce around the league as a backup once more until eventually he washed out of the league. Unsure of what and where to go next, Carter pursued an acting career and hoped his football background would earn him some regard in Hollywood. It did not. Carter struggled to be taken seriously, as he had done his entire life, and instead opted for stunt man work for years whilst he hoped for some big break to fall into his lap.
Once more Carter’s big break would prove to come at the hands of someone else’s misfortune. Whilst working as a stuntman on the pilot for a network television program called “Supernova” about a superhero in the mould of Superman that patrolled the skies of twenty-fifth century Metropolis, the lead actor sustained life-changing injuries. The accident heaped pressure on the producer to halt production of the pilot but Carter offered to sign a waiver and step into the actor’s shoes instead. He took to it more naturally even than he had taken to football and was cast as the titular character “Supernova” going forward. The first season was well received and the show was brought back for another season though this time the budget had swollen larger than before as audiences expected bigger stunts and more explosions.
Certain the show would continue to be a success Carter took to spending his newfound fortune as freely as if he were pouring water down a drain. He bought houses for his friends, for his sister Michelle and their mother, and even lent money to their father who had reappeared in Michael’s life once he had heard of his son’s success. The cars, women, and houses began to stack up and unwittingly Carter began to burn through what money he had acquired. Worst of all after the second season of “Supernova” received horrible ratings and the reviews stank it was cancelled and Carter was left holding the bill for nearly a dozen mortgages on properties, some of which he had never been to. Broke once more, having squandered another opportunity, Carter declared bankruptcy and took to bartending and working nights at the Space Museum at Metropolis between auditions to make ends meet.
And that is when Rip Hunter would appear in Michael’s life and offer him the chance to reinvent himself once more.
Attributes:
Rip Hunter gifts Booster several pieces of equipment that he has acquired throughout his travels through time that make up Booster’s menagerie of toys. Firstly a power suit upon which there are wrist blasters and that enables him superhuman strength. Secondly a Legion Flight Ring and a force field belt that Hunter personally stole from Brainiac 5 that allows Booster the power of flight and affords him a degree of protection from both physical and energy attacks. And last and certainly not least a pair of goggles that Booster can be used to read the electromagnetic spectrum, for telescopic and microscopic vision, and to protect oneself from sudden flashes of light, but Booster mainly wears them because he thinks they look cool.
Stomping Grounds:
Booster is a former Gotham native and has notably spent time in both Metropolis and Central City though all three cities have changed a great deal in four centuries. In the twenty-first century Booster works out of Chicago due in large part because his ancestor Daniel Carter lives there and Booster once heard that “blood was thicker than water” and wishes to test the extent to which that is true. Conveniently for Booster, Ted Kord also calls Chicago home and thus Booster splits his time between Daniel’s apartment, Ted’s penthouse, and Chicago’s skies.
People of Note:
Ted Kord is Booster’s closest friend and confidante. It’s Ted that Booster seeks out for help upon arriving in the twenty-first century and the two have an instant bond that is apparent to the both of them. Their friendship is built on a mutual trust and respect for one another but first and foremost a shared joy of life. Despite coming from very different backgrounds and having wildly different interests their friendship is built on the thing all friendships ought to be built around: having fun.
Skeets is Booster’s robotic companion from the twenty-fifth century tasked by Rip Hunter with advising and guiding Booster and ensuring he doesn’t damage the time stream. At first Booster is slightly antagonistic towards Skeets as he takes offense to the robot’s quick wit and propensity to make veiled jokes at his expense but over time the two become fast friends.
Rip Hunter is the man that provides Booster the opportunity to change his life. Out of nowhere Rip appears to Michael at his lowest, having wasted yet another opportunity at happiness, and offers him the chance to travel back to the twenty-first century and become the hero he was always meant to be. Rip is brusque with Booster at the best of times and it’s clear he doesn’t consider Carter an equal but underneath the surface he seems to believe in him. Even when Booster doesn’t believe in himself.
Daniel Carter is a distant ancestor of Michael Carter’s that Skeets suggests Booster should seek out. Carter lives in the Chicago metropolitan area with his girlfriend Rose Levin who often chides him for his lack of work effort. Once Booster makes the Carter/Levin household his home the tension between Daniel and Rose increases tenfold, something Booster seems completely oblivious to.
Rose is the girlfriend of Daniel Carter and works for the Chicago Tribune. She is ambitious, career-minded, and wants big things for herself and for her boyfriend. She dislikes Booster and dislikes the fact he has seemingly made their home his home too without sign of his leaving. Skeets and Rose enjoy an amicable relationship.
Ted's personal assistant who Booster tries in vain to ask out to dinner every time to two cross paths. As with Rose, Tracy is several times fonder of Skeets than she is of Booster and she makes no secret of it, much to Booster's chagrin, but she is clearly very fond of Booster and Ted. Though she is reluctant to admit it, she even finds them pretty funny on occasion.
Ted’s adopted Labrador puppy that Booster is particularly fond of and Skeets cannot abide. Much to booster’s amusement whenever Skeets is in Blue Beagle’s presence it chases after him endlessly and harries him.
Dirk Davis is a PR executive that Booster seeks out to help make “Booster Gold” a household name. It is unclear as to whether the money that Booster pays Dirk goes anywhere towards making this aim a reality or whether it sits in Dirk’s desk. He constantly has his hand out asking for more funds, pushing Booster to make bad investments, and to produce cheap quality Booster Gold actions figures.
An orphan that Booster takes an instant liking to for describing Booster Gold as her favourite superhero. She possesses a prodigious intellect despite rarely if ever having attended school and clearly has impeccable taste in superheroes, at least as far Booster is concerned.
Character Goals:
The initial point of tension for Booster upon arriving in the twenty-first century is that he’s been deceived. He believes he’s been sent back for one reason, which he believes to be his own personal gain, when in fact Rip Hunter has much greater plans for him. Naturally Booster isn’t going to be very happy about that and I want to explore his reaction to it and attempt to carve something of a niche out for him in the game. Booster and Ted are often a ray of sunshine in otherwise gloomy, gritty storylines and their shenanigans, and their friendship, can hopefully bring a real change of pace to proceedings.
Sample Post:
Today was the day that Michael Carter’s life was going to be changed forever. He sat in the seat of the Time Sphere, his hands wrapped tightly around the seat at its centre, and stared down at his feet. Beside him was his benefactor Rip Hunter who was running some last minute security checks on both Michael’s power suit and the Time Sphere. It wasn’t exactly in great condition and that fact hadn’t gone unnoticed even by Michael’s untrained eye. Rip had explained it only had enough juice to make one journey and that meant once he was in the twenty-first century there was no way of getting back. Understandably Michael was a little anxious about that.
“What if something goes wrong?”
Rip sighed.
“Nothing is going to go wrong.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve done this a thousand times before, Michael.”
Rip’s voice was smoky and authoritative and the look he gave Carter was doubly so and yet Carter’s nerves were no closer to being assuaged. Maybe it was something to do with the copious number of science-fiction films that Carter had watched over the years but he couldn’t help but feel like something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong when time travel was involved. Anyone that had ever seen a Back to the Future film knew that much.
“But what if I get stranded in the Jurassic Period and have to spend the rest of my life running away from dinosaurs? Or I materialise in the exact same place as a cinder block and I’m liquidated before I even get a chance to smell that sweet, sweet twenty-first century air? Or worse, what happens if I get stuck in the 1990’s and I have to pretend I like grunge music? What then, Rip? Have you thought about these things?”
An impatient Rip Hunter looked up from Booster’s power suit.
“Could you stop talking for once?”
The pair sat in silence for a time as Rip made the last few alterations that were needed before walking off into his Time Lab leaving only Carter and Skeets behind.
“Easy for him to say,” Booster muttered under his breath. “It’s not him that's going to be strapped into this damn thing.”
“There really isn’t any reason to worry, sir, Master Hunter is the foremost expert in chronospace transportation. You’re in safe hands.”
Booster shot the robot a churlish look.
“Why don’t you marry him if you like him so much?”
“Alas, sir, even in the twenty-fifth century robosexual marriage has yet to be legalised. Were it possible though I might give it some consideration.”
“Very funny.”
Before the robot had a chance to respond to Carter’s comment Rip Hunter came striding back into their portion of the Time Lab and hurriedly pressed a few buttons on the platform overlooking the Time Sphere. On a large screen in front of them appeared what appeared to be a heavily-armed militia of some sort making their way towards their Time Lab with menace.
“Skeets, we have company.”
“Locking down the Time Lab, sir.”
A confused look appeared upon the face of Michael Carter.
“Company? What? I don’t understand.”
“What we’re doing here isn’t exactly legal, Michael, there are some people that don’t take too kindly to time travel. You’re going to have to leave sooner than we planned.”
“How much sooner are we talking?”
“Like right now sooner.”
For the first time since Michael had met Rip he allowed himself a moment of seriousness as his thoughts drifted to what little family he had in the twenty-fifth century. His mother and his sister Michelle meant the world to him, it was for them that he had taken those bungs in high school, and for them he had taken crappy acting job after crappy acting job to make ends meet. They had grown up poor and he’d promised himself they wouldn’t have to live their entire lives like that. What would they do without him? How would they get by? Michael shook his head as he pictured their faces before him.
“But what about my sister? My mom? I haven’t even had a chance to say goodbye to either of them.”
The Time Lab began to shake from the as explosion after explosion from the militia outside began to rain down upon it. On the screen in front of them more militia began to appear with every passing second and it seemed like there was to be no stop in the hostilities.
“Sir, I’m not sure how long the Time Lab’s security can hold them.”
Rip stared Michael in the eye intently as he ran his fingers lightly over the buttons on the platform before him.
“It’s now or never, Michael, either I hit this button and you can become a hero, the hero you were always meant to be, or you can stay here and spend the rest of your life sweeping up after people at the Space Museum.”
“Thirty seconds, sir.”
Michael nodded.
“Do it.”
The explosions continued and a particularly violent one hit that shook the Time Lab so badly that Rip Hunter was nearly knocked from his feet. He clutched onto the platform and returned Michael’s nod as he began to adjust the figures on it. “April 8th, 2010” the figure read to begin with but once Rip was done the date stood at “April 25th, 2015” and he hit another button that seemed to lock the date in.
“Twenty seconds, sir, they’re almost in.”
The door to the Time Sphere began to hiss as Michael buckled himself into the seat and Skeets floated inside just as the door shut. The explosions were coming thicker and faster than before now and it seemed like the militia would overrun Rip’s lab in any second. As Carter stared at Hunter a pang of gratitude washed over him as he realised what exactly the man stood before him was doing for him.
“I know I've never thanked you for this but I really ought to,” Booster muttered. “I know I’m not the easiest person to be around sometimes, I know I’m hard work, but you’ve given me a second chance in life, maybe even a third chance, when nobody else would. So thank you, Rip, thank you for everything.”
The Time Sphere began to glow with a white energy and the Time Lab began to spin around Carter and Skeets as they sat unmoving within it.
“Five seconds.”
Less than a second after Skeets had spoken there was a flash of orange light and a loud bang that made it impossible for Skeets and Michael to see what was happening outside the Sphere. The white light of the Sphere overtook them and they were plunged headfirst into the time stream, unaware of Rip’s fate, hurtling head first towards whatever awaited them in the twenty-first century.
“Deactivate Simulation: Enemy at the Gates.”
At the Time Lab the explosions and the banging had had stopped. The militia that had come pouring into the Time Lab had proven to be little more than simulations of Rip Hunter’s own design. Even the damage his lab had taken during the faux-attack had been falsified. Hunter stood alone at the platform, his shame worn clearly on his face, as he eyed the date he had sent Booster to. When Hunter had sought him out he had promised Booster he would make him the greatest hero of all time, that he would be considered greater even than Superman, and that time itself would owe him a greater debt than anyone else. They hadn’t been lies. Allowing Booster to believe he’d be a founding member of the Justice League? Those had. He was going to arrive five years later than he thought. Faking the attack was the only was to ensure that he wouldn’t realise beforehand and call a halt to the entire thing. Rip sighed as he weighed up the morality of what he’d done, the lies he’d told, but within seconds shook his head determinedly.
The universe needed Booster Gold, even if it meant lying to him.
Fun fact, the expression 'blood is thicker than water' is actually paraphrased from 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb' which in fact means the opposite of the paraphrased expression's implications which everyone is familiar with.
Fun fact, the expression 'blood is thicker than water' is actually paraphrased from 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb' which in fact means the opposite of the paraphrased expression's implications which everyone is familiar with.
I think that's the first time I've ever heard the phrase "fun fact" followed up by something that was actually fun.
I think I'm gonna swap out Detective Chimp for Jim Gordon. I know we talked about doing some stuff Ruby, and I'm sorry if I seem like I'm cutting out on you. Bat folks, look this over and let me know if I need to change anything.
Name: Commissioner James Gordon
Alias: "Whiskey Jim" "Schoolboy Jim"
Origin:
James Worthington Gordon was born in Chicago, the latest in a long line of family of cops. When he was sixteen his father was killed in the line of duty. The death of his father was further motivation for him to become a police officer. He joined Chicago PD soon as possible and made patrolman a year later. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Kean, and soon had a young daughter also named Barbara. When the girl was just an infant trouble came to the Gordon family. Jim's sergeant, a corrupt policeman with mob ties, targeted Jim for his refusal to take part in a protection racket in their sector. Jim went to Internal Affairs and reported the sergeant. Unfortunately, the case did not stand and Jim was labeled a rat. He was forced to leave Chicago for a job in Gotham City with the PD.
In Gotham Jim learned to keep his head down and his mouth shut. He moved from the beat to the office as a detective and later Detective Sergeant. To cope with his silence, he began to pick up the bottle and drink. The drinking and his general discontent destroyed his marriage with Barbara. One day she left both him and little Barbara. Jim laid off his drinking in order to raise Barbara, but he continued to languish in a deep depression as he saw the horrors of the job and the corruption that plagued the GCPD.
Enter the Batman.
The masked vigilante tapped Gordon, one of the few straight cops in the GCPD, as an unlikely ally. Reluctant at first, Jim began to slowly see the things Batman could accomplish and soon found himself working with him and Deputy District Attorney Harvey Dent to clean up the streets and government of Gotham. Results began to improve, as the three engineered a state investigation into the GCPD that led to the arrests and dismissal of many of the PD's top brass. The vacuum led to promotion for Jim, first to lieutenant then up to major. Harvey Dent swept into office as district attorney and the future looked good for the city and the small band of reformers.
Salvatore Maroni had other plans.
During a trial, the mob boss horrible disfigured Dent with a bottle of acid. The attack caused Dent's already fragile psyche to shatter. What emerged from the accident was Two-Face. With their once ally now an enemy, Jim and Batman found themselves at odds as they coped in different ways: Batman tore up the streets looking for revenge while Jim retreated into a bottle. With Batman's help he was able to get out of that funk and back into the job. After Dent's arrest, Gordon found himself on the fast track to police commissioner. After a brief time as a deputy, he was appointed commissioner of police.
Tragedy struck again when Barbara was attacked by the Joker. A bullet meant for Jim instead paralyzed Barbara below the waist. The closest Jim came to losing his sanity was when he faced the Joker and almost took his life. If not for the timely intervention of Batman, he would have found himself crossing that line and murdering in cold blood.
As police commissioner Jim continues to clean up the GCPD, work with the Batman against the colorful freaks and villains that plague the city, and make sure that the people of Gotham remain safe.
Attributes:
No powers. Jim is a skilled police detective, in relatively good shape for a man his age, and a decent shot with a pistol.
Stomping Grounds:
Gotham City Gotham Central - Downtown headquarters of the GCPD
People of Note:
Inspector Sarah Essen - Commander of the GCPD's Eastern District, Jim's on and off girlfriend. Lt. Harvey Bullock - A rough and tumble GCPD detective and commander of the Major Crimes Unit. Jim's right-hand man in the department. Crispus Allen - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a skilled investigator. Partners with Detective Montoya Renee Montoya - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a specialist in interrogation. Partners with Detective Allen Marcus Driver - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a strong arm man. Partners with Sgt. Fields Sgt. Charlie Fields - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, second in command behind Bullock. Mayor Arnold Krohl - Mayor of Gotham City. Jim's boss and up for reelection this year. Councilman David Kane - Gotham City Councilman running for mayor.
Character Goals:
My ideas with Jim are to just pump out some good story-telling and interaction with the good Gotham folks where possible. I imagine this Gordon as a figure similar to Cormac McCarthy's Ed Tom Bell or Jame Ellroy's Ed Exley. He is good man who has been exposed to bad things for far too long and has found himself hardened by it. He still believes in justice and the system, but he is willing to bend it in the form of his partnership with Batman to see things done. As much as I love detective stories, I see this playing out more like a western. The lone man in the wilderness, battling his demons and the wicked outlaws in the name of justice.
Sample Post:
These are end times.
Not biblical, seventh seal breaking end of days times. This is something else. This is like standing on the ice of a frozen lake in late winter. The cracks are beginning to show and every movement creates more cracks. On the other side of that ice is a new age, something lurking beneath that dark water that we can see through the ice but cannot truly fathom until the ice breaks. They say that it will be an age of gods. Even now men and women walk the earth who can defy the laws of physics. Each passing day more and more of them come into the world and the ice get a little bit thinner. What looms behind the sheet is a new epoch of existence. The superheroes of today are a vanguard for a new tomorrow. This is the last age of the human race. What waits for us behind that ice is the new humanity.
I don't believe much will change whenever what's coming finally comes. It will still be loud and violent and cruel because that's humans, no matter the place or the time. Ever since the first monkey bashed the other's one head in for a few extra grubs we've skipped hand in hand with violence like a constant companion. That violence will be the legacy we leave the planet when we're gone. The one thing that will change is how the battles will be fought. When men and women can level buildings with a single blow and melt steel beams with their gaze, what hope does an ordinary cop have? In a world like this, what can one man hope to accomplish? I don't have an answer to those questions. I just do what I've been doing for twenty years: Roll up my sleeves, start another pot of coffee, and get to work.
The Bowery Gotham City
Jim's unmarked cruiser rode in the wake of three GCFD trucks. The trucks' sirens wailed. Their brights lights lit up the night. Jim kept both hands on the wheel and kept close to the fire trucks. The call: a four-alarm fire in the Bowery. Civilians and prosties gawked on the adjacent sidewalks at the convoy. Jim caught the eye of a wino on the sidewalk. The wino flipped him off. The wino tossed a bottle. It smashed near his rolling car. Jim swore he could smell the cut-rate booze. It made his mouth water.
The Thirst beckoned. The Thirst was his siren and bright lights. It tried lured him away from sanity and towards the rocks of binge drinking. Six months without a drink. Six months spent fighting something he was afraid to discover was true. White knuckle sobriety was his way. He didn't truck with AA. Nothing there but sob stories and thinly-disguised Christian tracts. The second of the twelve steps: You must admit there is a power greater than ourselves, and this power could restore us to sanity. He rejected that notion outright. Over twenty years as a cop proved that if a greater power actually did exist, there was no way in hell it could ever restore anybody's sanity. He would not utter falsehoods even for the sake of his own sobriety. He would not be beholden to a sponsor or a higher power.
The trucks pulled up to a four-story flop house. Three other fire trucks were on the scene watching as an inferno consumed the building. It roared and blew heat outward. Ten minutes since the call and it was already fully involved. The firefighters kept adjacent buildings wet in case the fire tried to spread. Containment was their mandate now. Anyone in the burning building could not be saved. Jim shook his head and watched from the car. The sixth building to go up in the past month. Every single fire burned hot and fast, taking out the building in less than a half hour. The previous five were ruled arson. This one would be too.
A knock on his window. A fat, gray-haired man in a firefighter suit stared at him. Jim rolled down the window and caught the smells of smoke and burning. Heat pulsated from the fire and radiated against his face. The fire burned too hot to be natural.
"Commissioner Gordon," he said with a nod.
"Commander. Someone is burning this city to the ground, one rowhouse at a time."
"So it would seem, sir. This one was stronger than the last one. It's those chemicals I found at the last fire, it has to be."
Intuition melded with experience. Thoughts and ideas clicked and unclicked. A hunch coalesced into a theory. Hypothesis formed from hysteria. Experimentation. Theory in practice.
"It's a stronger dose," said Jim. "Whoever is doing this, Commander, is experimenting. These rowhouses are where they're testing these chemicals."
"For what purpose?"
A scream went out from the burning building. A few seconds later he could smell the unmistakable scent of a human body burning alive. Burning hair and fat had its own personal fragrance. He put his hands on the wheel to steady them. The Thirst screamed at him, it begged for him, it needed him... and right now he needed it.
"I don't know," he said slowly. "But we're going to find out."
I think I'm gonna swap out Detective Chimp for Jim Gordon. I know we talked about doing some stuff Ruby, and I'm sorry if I seem like I'm cutting out on you. Bat folks, look this over and let me know if I need to change anything.
Name: Commissioner James Gordon
Alias: "Whiskey Jim" "Schoolboy Jim"
Origin:
James Worthington Gordon was born in Chicago, the latest in a long line of family of cops. When he was sixteen his father was killed in the line of duty. The death of his father was further motivation for him to become a police officer. He joined Chicago PD soon as possible and made patrolman a year later. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Kean, and soon had a young daughter also named Barbara. When the girl was just an infant trouble came to the Gordon family. Jim's sergeant, a corrupt policeman with mob ties, targeted Jim for his refusal to take part in a protection racket in their sector. Jim went to Internal Affairs and reported the sergeant. Unfortunately, the case did not stand and Jim was labeled a rat. He was forced to leave Chicago for a job in Gotham City with the PD.
In Gotham Jim learned to keep his head down and his mouth shut. He moved from the beat to the office as a detective and later Detective Sergeant. To cope with his silence, he began to pick up the bottle and drink. The drinking and his general discontent destroyed his marriage with Barbara. One day she left both him and little Barbara. Jim laid off his drinking in order to raise Barbara, but he continued to languish in a deep depression as he saw the horrors of the job and the corruption that plagued the GCPD.
Enter the Batman.
The masked vigilante tapped Gordon, one of the few straight cops in the GCPD, as an unlikely ally. Reluctant at first, Jim began to slowly see the things Batman could accomplish and soon found himself working with him and Deputy District Attorney Harvey Dent to clean up the streets and government of Gotham. Results began to improve, as the three engineered a state investigation into the GCPD that led to the arrests and dismissal of many of the PD's top brass. The vacuum led to promotion for Jim, first to lieutenant then up to major. Harvey Dent swept into office as district attorney and the future looked good for the city and the small band of reformers.
Salvatore Maroni had other plans.
During a trial, the mob boss horrible disfigured Dent with a bottle of acid. The attack caused Dent's already fragile psyche to shatter. What emerged from the accident was Two-Face. With their once ally now an enemy, Jim and Batman found themselves at odds as they coped in different ways: Batman tore up the streets looking for revenge while Jim retreated into a bottle. With Batman's help he was able to get out of that funk and back into the job. After Dent's arrest, Gordon found himself on the fast track to police commissioner. After a brief time as a deputy, he was appointed commissioner of police.
Tragedy struck again when Barbara was attacked by the Joker. A bullet meant for Jim instead paralyzed Barbara below the waist. The closest Jim came to losing his sanity was when he faced the Joker and almost took his life. If not for the timely intervention of Batman, he would have found himself crossing that line and murdering in cold blood.
As police commissioner Jim continues to clean up the GCPD, work with the Batman against the colorful freaks and villains that plague the city, and make sure that the people of Gotham remain safe.
Attributes:
No powers. Jim is a skilled police detective, in relatively good shape for a man his age, and a decent shot with a pistol.
Stomping Grounds:
Gotham City Gotham Central - Downtown headquarters of the GCPD
People of Note:
Inspector Sarah Essen - Commander of the GCPD's Eastern District, Jim's on and off girlfriend. Lt. Harvey Bullock - A rough and tumble GCPD detective and commander of the Major Crimes Unit. Jim's right-hand man in the department. Crispus Allen - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a skilled investigator. Partners with Detective Montoya Renee Montoya - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a specialist in interrogation. Partners with Detective Allen Marcus Driver - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a strong arm man. Partners with Sgt. Fields Sgt. Charlie Fields - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, second in command behind Bullock. Mayor Arnold Krohl - Mayor of Gotham City. Jim's boss and up for reelection this year. Councilman David Kane - Gotham City Councilman running for mayor.
Character Goals:
My ideas with Jim are to just pump out some good story-telling and interaction with the good Gotham folks where possible. I imagine this Gordon as a figure similar to Cormac McCarthy's Ed Tom Bell or Jame Ellroy's Ed Exley. He is good man who has been exposed to bad things for far too long and has found himself hardened by it. He still believes in justice and the system, but he is willing to bend it in the form of his partnership with Batman to see things done. As much as I love detective stories, I see this playing out more like a western. The lone man in the wilderness, battling his demons and the wicked outlaws in the name of justice.
Sample Post:
These are end times.
Not biblical, seventh seal breaking end of days times. This is something else. This is like standing on the ice of a frozen lake in late winter. The cracks are beginning to show and every movement creates more cracks. On the other side of that ice is a new age, something lurking beneath that dark water that we can see through the ice but cannot truly fathom until the ice breaks. They say that it will be an age of gods. Even now men and women walk the earth who can defy the laws of physics. Each passing day more and more of them come into the world and the ice get a little bit thinner. What looms behind the sheet is a new epoch of existence. The superheroes of today are a vanguard for a new tomorrow. This is the last age of the human race. What waits for us behind that ice is the new humanity.
I don't believe much will change whenever what's coming finally comes. It will still be loud and violent and cruel because that's humans, no matter the place or the time. Ever since the first monkey bashed the other's one head in for a few extra grubs we've skipped hand in hand with violence like a constant companion. That violence will be the legacy we leave the planet when we're gone. The one thing that will change is how the battles will be fought. When men and women can level buildings with a single blow and melt steel beams with their gaze, what hope does an ordinary cop have? In a world like this, what can one man hope to accomplish? I don't have an answer to those questions. I just do what I've been doing for twenty years: Roll up my sleeves, start another pot of coffee, and get to work.
The Bowery Gotham City
Jim's unmarked cruiser rode in the wake of three GCFD trucks. The trucks' sirens wailed. Their brights lights lit up the night. Jim kept both hands on the wheel and kept close to the fire trucks. The call: a four-alarm fire in the Bowery. Civilians and prosties gawked on the adjacent sidewalks at the convoy. Jim caught the eye of a wino on the sidewalk. The wino flipped him off. The wino tossed a bottle. It smashed near his rolling car. Jim swore he could smell the cut-rate booze. It made his mouth water.
The Thirst beckoned. The Thirst was his siren and bright lights. It tried lured him away from sanity and towards the rocks of binge drinking. Six months without a drink. Six months spent fighting something he was afraid to discover was true. White knuckle sobriety was his way. He didn't truck with AA. Nothing there but sob stories and thinly-disguised Christian tracts. The second of the twelve steps: You must admit there is a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. He rejected that notion. Over twenty years as a cop proved that if a greater power actually did exist, there was no way in hell it could ever restore anybody's sanity. He would not utter false notions even for the sake of his own sobriety. He would not be beholden to a sponsor or a higher power.
The trucks pulled up to a four-story flop house. Three other fire trucks were on the scene watching as an inferno consumed the building. It roared and blew heat outward. Ten minutes since the call and it was already fully involved. The firefighters kept adjacent buildings wet in case the fire tried to spread. Containment was their mandate now. Anyone in the burning building could not be saved. Jim shook his head and watched from his cruiser. The sixth building to go up in the past month. Every single fire burnt hot and fast, taking out the building in less than a half hour. The previous five were ruled arson. This one would be too.
A knock on his window. A fat, gray-haired man in a firefighter suit stared at him. Jim rolled down the window and caught the smells of smoke and burning. Heat pulsated from the fire and radiated against his face. The fire burned too hot to be natural.
"Commissioner Gordon," he said with a nod.
"Commander. Someone is burning this city to the ground, one rowhouse at a time."
"So it would seem, sir. This one was stronger than the last one. It's those chemicals I found at the last fire, it has to be."
Intuition melded with experience. Thoughts and ideas clicked and unclicked. A hunch coalesced into a theory. Hypothesis formed from hysteria. Experimentation. Theory in practice.
"It's a stronger dose," said Jim. "Whoever is doing this, Commander, is experimenting. These rowhouses are where they're testing these chemicals."
"For what purpose?"
A scream went out from the burning building. A few seconds later he could smell the unmistakable scent of a human body burning alive. Burning hair and fat had its own personal fragrance. He put his hands on the wheel to steady them. The Thirst screamed at him, it begged for him, it needed him... and right now he needed it.
"I don't know," he said slowly. "But we're going to find out."
That's a damn good sheet. Though I was looking forward to more Detective Chimp stories, if none of the Batplayers have a problem with the sheet, Gordon's accepted. Looking forward to seeing what you do with him.
I think I'm gonna swap out Detective Chimp for Jim Gordon. I know we talked about doing some stuff Ruby, and I'm sorry if I seem like I'm cutting out on you. Bat folks, look this over and let me know if I need to change anything.
Name: Commissioner James Gordon
Alias: "Whiskey Jim" "Schoolboy Jim"
Origin:
James Worthington Gordon was born in Chicago, the latest in a long line of family of cops. When he was sixteen his father was killed in the line of duty. The death of his father was further motivation for him to become a police officer. He joined Chicago PD soon as possible and made patrolman a year later. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Kean, and soon had a young daughter also named Barbara. When the girl was just an infant trouble came to the Gordon family. Jim's sergeant, a corrupt policeman with mob ties, targeted Jim for his refusal to take part in a protection racket in their sector. Jim went to Internal Affairs and reported the sergeant. Unfortunately, the case did not stand and Jim was labeled a rat. He was forced to leave Chicago for a job in Gotham City with the PD.
In Gotham Jim learned to keep his head down and his mouth shut. He moved from the beat to the office as a detective and later Detective Sergeant. To cope with his silence, he began to pick up the bottle and drink. The drinking and his general discontent destroyed his marriage with Barbara. One day she left both him and little Barbara. Jim laid off his drinking in order to raise Barbara, but he continued to languish in a deep depression as he saw the horrors of the job and the corruption that plagued the GCPD.
Enter the Batman.
The masked vigilante tapped Gordon, one of the few straight cops in the GCPD, as an unlikely ally. Reluctant at first, Jim began to slowly see the things Batman could accomplish and soon found himself working with him and Deputy District Attorney Harvey Dent to clean up the streets and government of Gotham. Results began to improve, as the three engineered a state investigation into the GCPD that led to the arrests and dismissal of many of the PD's top brass. The vacuum led to promotion for Jim, first to lieutenant then up to major. Harvey Dent swept into office as district attorney and the future looked good for the city and the small band of reformers.
Salvatore Maroni had other plans.
During a trial, the mob boss horrible disfigured Dent with a bottle of acid. The attack caused Dent's already fragile psyche to shatter. What emerged from the accident was Two-Face. With their once ally now an enemy, Jim and Batman found themselves at odds as they coped in different ways: Batman tore up the streets looking for revenge while Jim retreated into a bottle. With Batman's help he was able to get out of that funk and back into the job. After Dent's arrest, Gordon found himself on the fast track to police commissioner. After a brief time as a deputy, he was appointed commissioner of police.
Tragedy struck again when Barbara was attacked by the Joker. A bullet meant for Jim instead paralyzed Barbara below the waist. The closest Jim came to losing his sanity was when he faced the Joker and almost took his life. If not for the timely intervention of Batman, he would have found himself crossing that line and murdering in cold blood.
As police commissioner Jim continues to clean up the GCPD, work with the Batman against the colorful freaks and villains that plague the city, and make sure that the people of Gotham remain safe.
Attributes:
No powers. Jim is a skilled police detective, in relatively good shape for a man his age, and a decent shot with a pistol.
Stomping Grounds:
Gotham City Gotham Central - Downtown headquarters of the GCPD
People of Note:
Inspector Sarah Essen - Commander of the GCPD's Eastern District, Jim's on and off girlfriend. Lt. Harvey Bullock - A rough and tumble GCPD detective and commander of the Major Crimes Unit. Jim's right-hand man in the department. Crispus Allen - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a skilled investigator. Partners with Detective Montoya Renee Montoya - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a specialist in interrogation. Partners with Detective Allen Marcus Driver - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, a strong arm man. Partners with Sgt. Fields Sgt. Charlie Fields - Detective in the Major Crimes Unit, second in command behind Bullock. Mayor Arnold Krohl - Mayor of Gotham City. Jim's boss and up for reelection this year. Councilman David Kane - Gotham City Councilman running for mayor.
Character Goals:
My ideas with Jim are to just pump out some good story-telling and interaction with the good Gotham folks where possible. I imagine this Gordon as a figure similar to Cormac McCarthy's Ed Tom Bell or Jame Ellroy's Ed Exley. He is good man who has been exposed to bad things for far too long and has found himself hardened by it. He still believes in justice and the system, but he is willing to bend it in the form of his partnership with Batman to see things done. As much as I love detective stories, I see this playing out more like a western. The lone man in the wilderness, battling his demons and the wicked outlaws in the name of justice.
Sample Post:
These are end times.
Not biblical, seventh seal breaking end of days times. This is something else. This is like standing on the ice of a frozen lake in late winter. The cracks are beginning to show and every movement creates more cracks. On the other side of that ice is a new age, something lurking beneath that dark water that we can see through the ice but cannot truly fathom until the ice breaks. They say that it will be an age of gods. Even now men and women walk the earth who can defy the laws of physics. Each passing day more and more of them come into the world and the ice get a little bit thinner. What looms behind the sheet is a new epoch of existence. The superheroes of today are a vanguard for a new tomorrow. This is the last age of the human race. What waits for us behind that ice is the new humanity.
I don't believe much will change whenever what's coming finally comes. It will still be loud and violent and cruel because that's humans, no matter the place or the time. Ever since the first monkey bashed the other's one head in for a few extra grubs we've skipped hand in hand with violence like a constant companion. That violence will be the legacy we leave the planet when we're gone. The one thing that will change is how the battles will be fought. When men and women can level buildings with a single blow and melt steel beams with their gaze, what hope does an ordinary cop have? In a world like this, what can one man hope to accomplish? I don't have an answer to those questions. I just do what I've been doing for twenty years: Roll up my sleeves, start another pot of coffee, and get to work.
The Bowery Gotham City
Jim's unmarked cruiser rode in the wake of three GCFD trucks. The trucks' sirens wailed. Their brights lights lit up the night. Jim kept both hands on the wheel and kept close to the fire trucks. The call: a four-alarm fire in the Bowery. Civilians and prosties gawked on the adjacent sidewalks at the convoy. Jim caught the eye of a wino on the sidewalk. The wino flipped him off. The wino tossed a bottle. It smashed near his rolling car. Jim swore he could smell the cut-rate booze. It made his mouth water.
The Thirst beckoned. The Thirst was his siren and bright lights. It tried lured him away from sanity and towards the rocks of binge drinking. Six months without a drink. Six months spent fighting something he was afraid to discover was true. White knuckle sobriety was his way. He didn't truck with AA. Nothing there but sob stories and thinly-disguised Christian tracts. The second of the twelve steps: You must admit there is a power greater than ourselves, and this power could restore us to sanity. He rejected that notion outright. Over twenty years as a cop proved that if a greater power actually did exist, there was no way in hell it could ever restore anybody's sanity. He would not utter falsehoods even for the sake of his own sobriety. He would not be beholden to a sponsor or a higher power.
The trucks pulled up to a four-story flop house. Three other fire trucks were on the scene watching as an inferno consumed the building. It roared and blew heat outward. Ten minutes since the call and it was already fully involved. The firefighters kept adjacent buildings wet in case the fire tried to spread. Containment was their mandate now. Anyone in the burning building could not be saved. Jim shook his head and watched from the car. The sixth building to go up in the past month. Every single fire burned hot and fast, taking out the building in less than a half hour. The previous five were ruled arson. This one would be too.
A knock on his window. A fat, gray-haired man in a firefighter suit stared at him. Jim rolled down the window and caught the smells of smoke and burning. Heat pulsated from the fire and radiated against his face. The fire burned too hot to be natural.
"Commissioner Gordon," he said with a nod.
"Commander. Someone is burning this city to the ground, one rowhouse at a time."
"So it would seem, sir. This one was stronger than the last one. It's those chemicals I found at the last fire, it has to be."
Intuition melded with experience. Thoughts and ideas clicked and unclicked. A hunch coalesced into a theory. Hypothesis formed from hysteria. Experimentation. Theory in practice.
"It's a stronger dose," said Jim. "Whoever is doing this, Commander, is experimenting. These rowhouses are where they're testing these chemicals."
"For what purpose?"
A scream went out from the burning building. A few seconds later he could smell the unmistakable scent of a human body burning alive. Burning hair and fat had its own personal fragrance. He put his hands on the wheel to steady them. The Thirst screamed at him, it begged for him, it needed him... and right now he needed it.
"I don't know," he said slowly. "But we're going to find out."
Does anyone follow GOtham? I feel llike it has potential to be awesome, but keeps drowning its own potential.
I tried, got bored, stopped. :\
Anyways, I was writing up Babs' first post... and I find myself stumped without having any of the batclan and/or her dad to write off of. Because I just realized those are the only people she interacts with nowadays. I was going to do the Birds of Prey, but I didn't want to step on GG's toes with Black Canary. So, unless you guys just want a monologue of her inner thoughts as she sits in front of a computer at night, anyone want to tag team? Because I got nothing. Hahaha.
