10 Things Everyone Forgets About Batgirl

Likely to the surprise of many, James Gordon is not the biological father of Barbara Gordon in certain post-Crisis on Infinite Earts canon.

Roger C. Gordon, Jim’s brother, and his wife Thelma are Barbara's biological parents and gave birth to her in an Ohio suburb. As a young child, Babs and her friend Marcy were enamored with superheroes and spent their days designing costumes and heroic identities for themselves.

When Barbara was 13, her parents died in a car crash, largely in part due to her father’s alcoholism. She moved to Gotham City where her Uncle Jim, a police captain, and his wife, also named Barbara, adopted her. Barbara’s early interest in superheroes became laser-focused on Gotham’s own vigilante, Batman. She learned everything she could about the Dark Knight and snuck into her father’s private office one night to spy on a conversation between Gordon and Batman. The next day, she asked her father for martial arts lessons, and she soon excelled and quickly earned her black belt.

Thanks to her intellect and photographic memory, Barbara completed Gotham Heights High School by the time she was 16. She also received a scholarship from Gotham State University where she graduated with honors before she was even a legal adult. She then continued he martial arts training and began learning Jujitsu from a sensei - all while bringing in an income as a research assistant at the Gotham Public Library.