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Canon: Barbara Gordon, niece to Commissioner Gordon, grew up in Chicago and then moved to Gotham to live with her uncle when her parents died. She caught Batman’s attention when she saved him from an attempt on his life while dressed as Batgirl. Instead of letting her flounder, Batman decided that she should be trained, and he and Robin both were involved in making Barbara a good a crime fighter as they. For a good many years she was Batgirl, helping keep the streets of Gotham safe along side Batman and Robin. During that time she was briefly engaged to Jason Bard, a private investigator and former cop, but it fell through. She also was involved with Dick Grayson, but they never managed to make it stick despite the fact that they do love each other.

Then the Joker when on a rampage to drive her uncle insane he shot her in the stomach, rendering her confined to a wheel chair. She did mourn the loss of her physicality, and for a time she felt listless and useless. Bruce contacted some of his scary friends and found someone who could teach Barbara a way to defend herself in her chair. With her confidence bolstered, she turned her sharp mind and hacker skills to fashion herself as the eyes and ears of the superhero community, Oracle. For a while she was even an active member of the JLA.

But being the eyes and ears of the JLA wasn’t all she did. She established a group of all female heroes who were international agents, operating where the more high profile superheroes and regular government forces couldn’t function. Black Canary, though not the first agent, was the best and became a good friend to Barbara herself after Canary found out who Oracle was. And when Gotham became a No Man’s Land after a gigantic earthquake, she gathered teenagers from the streets to keep an eye on things and assist Batman in keeping Gotham from tearing apart further. It was during this time she noticed Cassandra Cain, a fantastic martial artist, and gave the girl leave and training to be the next Batgirl. Cassandra and Barbara became good friends during that time, the younger girl looking up to Barbara almost as much as she looked up to Bruce Wayne.

After Gotham returned to normal, relatively speaking, Barbara continued with her own brand of crime fighting, and superhero organizing. But then Infinite Crisis happened, and because things are still being shaken out, I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole.

History for AU: Barbara came to live with her uncle Jim after her parents died in a car accident when she was in junior high. She excelled in school, but her real love was gymnastics. Talented and promising, it looked like she could go far with her talent and willingness to practice no matter what. But an accident on the vault took all that away, breaking her back. Having to take a year off school for physical therapy, she hated falling behind and tried to keep up as much as she could on her own. When she got back to school, she kept on with the team, but in a more coach-like position, helping wherever she could. Still, her breaking her back is a Big Deal and it has pretty much redefined how she sees herself, and it’s made her calmer and wiser beyond her years. But she still has her sense of humor, which doesn’t exactly show through in the application, because college applications are serious business and not to be laughed at.

In between sessions with her therapist, she lost herself in the internet, finding new and interesting things to do, such as minor hacking. She’s not as talented as she is in canon, but she’s able to sneak around a little. Notably, she just likes to find things out about people. Naturally outgoing, she remembers people’s names and faces and stories upon hearing them once. Her brain acts like one big filing system.

As for her relationship with Dick Grayson, they dated in high school, and maintained contact over email while she was in physical therapy, but they haven’t really gotten back together since. If he ever shows up, she’ll be the most relaxed around him.

[[This is a RP journal for alternate_u.]]

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