Batgirl is Barbara Gordon, daughter of Gotham City police commissioner James Gordon. She uses her costumed identity to aid the Batman in his war on crime, not always with his approval. When Barbara Gordon found out that Bruce Wayne was Batman, she decided to help him as the superheroine Batgirl. She has all of Batman's bat- gadgets, as well as a few of her own. She is a master of martial arts and a expert acrobat. In later incarnations, she is also an expert computer hacker. Instead of riding the Batmobile (which is designed for only two people), she rides her own Batbike.The Barbara Gordon Batgirl, jointly inspired by producer William Dozier and DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz, appeared in the final season of the live-action Batman television series in 1967, promptly following the character's comic book debut. Barbara Gordon was shot and paralyzed by the Joker in the 1988 comic-book one-shot The Killing Joke by writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland. She continued fighting crime behind-the-scenes as the computer-guru Oracle, eventually forming the super-heroine team the Birds of Prey.Barbara Gordon's Batgirl made her first animated appearance in Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder in 1968 and was also adapted into its successor animated program The New Adventures of Batman in 1977. More recently, Barbara Gordon appears as Batgirl in the series of animated programs and animated films which comprise the DC Animated Universe; these include Batman: The Animated Series, Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, The New Batman Adventures, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. In the 1999 series Batman Beyond we learn that this Barbara Gordon has become Gotham's police commissioner in her later years. A younger version of the Barbara Gordon character also played a recurring role in the animated series entitled The Batman. In addition to recent animated adaptations, the Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl served as the inspiration for the character Barbara Wilson in the 1997 feature film Batman & Robin. In addition, the short-lived Birds of Prey television series, which aired on The WB network in 2002, features a paralyzed Barbara Gordon donning her Batgirl costume after creating a device that allows her to walk.A different Barbara Gordon appears in Christopher Nolan's 2005 film Batman Begins and its 2008 sequel The Dark Knight (played by Ilyssa Fradin and Melinda McGray, respectively). This is the wife of Gotham City police sergeant (later lieutenant, then commissioner) James Gordon. It is established in The Dark Knight that the Gordon's do have a younger daughter, simply credited as Gordon's Daughter (played by Hannah Gunn) in a non-speaking role. This may be the Barbara Gordon who grows up to become Batgirl and/or Oracle (although director Christopher Nolan has stated emphatically that he has no intention of giving his Batman any sidekicks).A different Batgirl ( Bat-Girl ) appeared in the comics in the early 1960s. She is Betti (or Betty) Kane, the niece of Kathy (Batwoman) Kane. Betti Kane goes by the costumed identity of Flamebird in the modern DC Universe. Show less «