Member
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Khyron Shadowfang
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Aces Away
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Kaithe Dame
Name:
Barbara Gordon
Alias:
Batgirl
Age:
24
Gender:
Female
Skills/Abilities:
Eidetic Memory: Barbara has a near-perfect recall of things that have happened to her, be it events or experiences or things she's read or learned. It's not just limited to sounds, she can recall auditory memories if they're distinctive enough. Her memory recall has worked against her, as sometimes she needs to shut it off to be more effective in defending herself against opponents who fight unpredictably. Which is most of them.
Polyglot: While not a master of every language there is, Barbara knows three languages in addition to English, though not enough to be considered perfectly fluent. Mandarin, French, and Greek but she is interested in learning Swahili. She can read them better than she can speak them but she can speak them well enough to get by casually.
Martial Arts: It was a good thing her father agreed that in a city like Gotham it was good to be able to defend yourself. She just took it a bit further than most. Jujutsu was her martial art of choice though she has since taken up boxing and judo and karate. Her fighting style relies more on joint manipulation, throws and takedowns to make up for the difference in size that often comes with the territory.
Radio Wizardry: Barbara has a fascination with the modern marvels that is technology. Transistor radios are her latest obsession to the point where she likes taking them apart and seeing how they work in her spare time. This has given her the unique ability to understand how things work and how to tinker. With time and a little luck she hopes to be able to tap into different frequencies for espionage or to aid in crime fighting.
Sewing: Well, someone has to patch up the suit and that's not the kind of thing you trust to a tailor off the street.
Equipment/Weapons:
Utility Belt: Never leave home without it. Smoke bombs and a grappling gun are par for the course for exiting and entering as only a Bat can.
Batarangs: Sometimes a well thrown piece of metal does just as well at disarming a firearm from a thug as a good solid kick does. Often with less risk.
Bio:
It seems almost fitting that Barbara Gordon would find her way to fighting crime given her family name and all. Barbara is the daughter of James Gordon, police commissioner, and his greatest wish for her was to keep her safe and out of the way of various thugs and brutes who have a vendetta against the man. To that end, education was stressed for Barbara who once had thoughts of becoming a lawyer which led to a rather heated argument with her father as lawyers were almost more hated by the criminals of the city than cops were. Equally as corrupt, though, given how many lawyers were involved in keeping crime families from seeing bars.
As a young girl, Barbara took ballet at the urging of her mother, back when her parents were still together, though Barbara didn't stick with it, it did help her be limber and acrobatic enough in her future life that she still marks the ballet lessons as one of the more important aspects of her childhood. Other than the shoes. She hated those things. After the separation of her parents, Barbara elected to stay with her father, not wanting him to have no support structure or to find it in a bottle, but the relationship between them was strained not out of some twisted belief that Barbara was at fault but because it was difficult to have a relationship with a man who was routinely beaten down by the system he fought for.
As an adult, Barbara worked at the Gotham Public Library, which was the perfect place for someone with her intellect and drive to learn more. One of the perks of the job was being able to assist people in finding what they needed without having to look it up - the perks of an eidetic memory extended to the Dewey decimal system. Though restless often due to worry over her father, Barbara would've likely remained a librarian were it not for an encounter at a ball for important folks in Gotham.
Barbara hated those balls, they were so...stuffy and she knew she was only there because of her father which made it worse. At one of the more eventful balls, a costumed ne'er do well attempted a kidnapping on billionaire elite Bruce Wayne. Barbara, unflinching, stood up to the criminal and helped subdue him long enough for the police to handle things. At the time, Barbara was just doing the right thing, reckless as it was, and her father had a talk with her on the way home. Little did she know that that act had put her on the radar of Gotham's protector.
The rush she got from punching her first bad guy was inspiration enough. After putting together a costume herself, she took to the streets only to be stopped by Batman who cautioned her against doing what he did, not because she was a woman but because of what it would mean to her father if anything happened to her. Barbara disagreed. It would be worse on her if something happened to her father and she didn't do anything to prevent it. It was almost with reluctance that Batman brought her into the fold, taught her how to be better, how to truly protect not just her father but the city her father worked tirelessly to defend.
Barbara initially felt bad living a double life, but if it means doing more for the city than just telling people where books are then she will continue to do what she can as Batgirl.