Though Barbara Gordon was paralyzed from the waist down after the Joker attacked her in Batman: The Killing Joke, this injury did not stop her from being a hero. Though her paralysis prevented her from going out as Batgirl, she used her computer knowledge and skills to become a new kind of superhero, Oracle. As Oracle, Barbara monitored criminals over the Internet with her vast information network and used her hacking skills to take them down. She created and led the Birds of Prey as a way to collaborate with other superheroes to defeat enemies.
Barbara is best known for using the Oracle persona in relation to the Birds of Prey, but she has shown that she is also capable of defeating threats by herself as Oracle. The short comic "Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope" (by John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Mark Chiarello, and John Costanza) from The Batman Chronicles #5 portrayed Barbara's journey as she became accustomed to living without the use of her legs and first established the identity of Oracle in order to fight crime. This comic also showed Barbara's first fight as Oracle against an enemy. The metahuman abilities of this enemy, and the manner in which Oracle defeated her, proved why Barbara's new role as Oracle is so effective and necessary.
In "Oracle: Year One: Born of Hope," Barbara became a computer hacker as a way to regain agency over her life. When her father told her about a woman the police are investigating, Barbara used her internet resources and discovered that this woman was a metahuman criminal known as Interface who was a money launderer and child abuser. Interface's metahuman abilities gave her intuitive control over computers, and she used these abilities to destroy digital evidence of her crimes.
Barbara's computer skills made her the perfect match for Interface. Using the codename Oracle, Barbara warned Interface that she had caught her. When Interface psychically linked with her computer to strike at Oracle, Barbara used a computer algorithm to trap Interface and render her immobile. Barbara then forced Interface to turn herself in to the police. This victory showed Barbara what she was capable of as Oracle, and helped her realize that she could still be a hero even though she was paralyzed.
Plenty of superheroes fight criminals with their fists, but Oracle is unique because she fights criminals from behind a screen, using her intellect and the power of technology. The fight with Interface showed that a tech-savvy hero with knowledge of computers and hacking is needed in Gotham. As Oracle, Barbara was able to catch Interface when the police failed to do so. Although Barbara's disability forced her to retire the Batgirl moniker, she could continue to help people as Oracle.
Being attacked by the Joker was very traumatic for Barbara, and she struggled to adjust to life as a disabled woman who needed to use a wheelchair. At first, Barbara worried that her injury would diminish her life and leave her weak and helpless when before she had been strong and capable of defending herself. However, after developing her online information network and learning self-defense, she regained confidence in herself and realized that she was still capable of protecting other people and herself. She continued to help people as Oracle and remained as heroic as she ever was.