Barbara Gordon is a beloved DC Comics character. Though she is unquestionably a member of the Bat Family, she has also made a name for herself independent of the Dark Knight, both as Oracle and as a person committed to using her abilities—be they intellectual, physical or technological—for good as Batgirl. Both casual and hardcore fans know her altruism and willpower are unwavering.
Still, Barbara's backstory has shifted through the years. Not only has she held a whole host of jobs from information broker to congresswoman, Gordon's 50-plus years in publication have also provided her with different, dynamic characterizations.
10 Barbara Is A Total Foodie, But Her Favorite Food Is Pizza
Barbara Gordon has an adventurous palette. This becomes abundantly clear as she backpacks through Naha, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore at the beginning of the Batgirl Rebirth series. She goes out of her way to try foods that are new to her and clearly enjoys them.
Even the foodies of the world have their comfort foods, though, and Barbara's go-to is pizza. She has a weekly pizza night with her fellow Batgirls back in Gotham, and Dick Grayson knows just which pizza spot to go for dinner when she stops by Blüdhaven.
9 Barbara Gordon Is Helping Gotham Go Green
Barbara Gordon's background in technology makes her a great candidate to start her own energy company. So, start an energy company she does.
In grad school, Barbara whips up a schematic for a "negahedron," a self-sustaining energy source. Barbara uses the schematic as a starting point for her company, which she calls Gordon Clean Energy. She cedes leadership of the company to her friends and collaborators, but ultimately, the shared brainpower among Barbara and her colleagues allows GCE to develop and provide sustainable power to Gotham.
8 Batgirl Has Been Engaged Several Times
Most fans are familiar with Barbara's romance with Dick Grayson. The two have been engaged multiple times in various timelines and even married in a handful. The two are currently dating seriously in main continuity,
Fewer readers know about Jason Bard, Babs' cop boyfriend and former fiancé. The two dated both pre- and post-Crisis, getting engaged post-Crisis. Barbara broke off the engagement after the Joker shot her, though eventually, she and Bard developed a professional relationship as he transitioned from police officer to a private investigator.
7 Barbara Gordon Was A Ballerina
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Barbara doesn't mention the ballet classes she took as a child and adolescent very often. Since she eventually took to Judo, Karate and Eskrima (among other mixed martial arts) and began using them on a nightly basis as Batgirl, it's not altogether surprising the topic comes up infrequently.
Still, Barbara is incredibly limber, even when she is using a wheelchair, and she can usually match Nightwing's acrobatic stunts. Her grace swinging from a grappling hook is no doubt attributable to her history as a ballerina.
6 Barbara Gordon's Birthday Is September 23
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The 1976 Super DC Calendar lists Barbara Gordon's birthday as September 23. This makes her a Libra, and her introduction in 1967 means she was "born" in a Year of the Sheep in the Chinese Zodiac.
Her exact intended age in main continuity is unclear, though she is likely in her late 20s or early 30s since she completed her PhD program in 2016. Babs is not one to make a big deal out of her birthday, stating outright that she dislikes parties where she is the center of attention. Those that know her best usually come up with other creative ways to celebrate her birthday. Dick Grayson even takes her skydiving one year as a birthday present.
5 Batgirl Has An Eidetic Memory
Barbara Gordon is smart, as even the most casual Bat Family readers know. However, her intellect is a product of several factors and cognitive abilities.
On one hand, Babs has an eidetic (or "photographic") memory. She remembers everything that has happened to her. A mentor even advises her at one point to "shut off" her perfect recall in order to better anticipate an opponent's future moves in combat, which she does. On the other hand, Barbara knows how to put her memory to good use, illustrating her problem-solving skills and deductive abilities.
4 Barbara Gordon's Middle Name Is Joan
Barbara Gordon shares her first name with her mother like her brother does with her father. However, her mom's full name is Barbara Eileen Gordon (née Kean) and her own is Barbara Joan Gordon.
Babs reveals her middle name in Batgirl vol. 4 #25, written by Marguerite Bennett, with pencils by Fernando Pasarin, inks by Jonathan Glapion and colors by Blond. Barbara gives herself a pep talk in the Zero Year story, encouraging herself to be her own hero and addressing herself by her full name.
3 Barbara's Eyes Alternate Between Green And Blue
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While she is never drawn without her trademark red hair (unless there's a wig involved), Barbara Gordon's eye color varies between iterations. She started out with blue eyes when she debuted in 1967, but since then, she has been shown to have either blue or green eyes.
During the New 52, Barbara was primarily drawn with blue eyes, though they changed to green during her run as Batgirl of Burnside. They have stayed green fairly consistently since then, and remain so to date. Non-comic media also play with Barbara's eye color.
2 Barbara Gordon Took Over Lex Luthor's Satellites
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While infected with the Brainiac virus, Barbara's consciousness merged with her Oracle program. During this time, Barbara discovered Lex Luthor's 12 satellites he secretly launched while he was President of the United States.
Barbara took the opportunity presented by her infection to take control of Luthor's satellites. This means that, at one point, she commanded a fleet of the most powerful non-superheroic weapons on the planet (or within its orbit). Even after successful treatment for the virus, her Oracle code still gave her access to the satellites.
1 Barbara Gordon Is A Polyglot
Most of the Bat-family is multilingual, as are a number of other DC characters. However, Barbara Gordon specifically speaks Korean, Mandarin and Japanese in addition to her native English. She can also read in these languages, though she is shown Googling a Chinese character which she learns means "student."
As though her familiarity with various spoken languages was not remarkable enough, she also knows most (if not all) coding languages. Barbara is such a talented programming polyglot, she even creates her own coding languages every now and again.