Barbara Gordon, daughter of police Commissioner James Gordon, is a college student attending Gotham State University. When Two Face sets up her father for taking bribes from Rupert Thorne, Barbara enlists the help of Batman to appear at a public rally for the Commissioner. When Batman dismisses the idea of making a "public appearance" Barbara takes matters into her own hands, she dresses in a Bat costume and attends the rally herself! When Robin spots the impostor, he chases after her. Grabbing the back of her cowl, he reveals her fiery red hair and thus "Batgirl" was born. With her gymnastic ability and innovative detective work she gains the respect of Batman and Robin. Barbara is similar in age to Robin, and the two share a flirtatious relationship.

Since she graduated college at twenty-one with honors in the field of computer science, she has worked for the police department updating their crime files, but during the night she battles the underworld as Batgirl. Early on Batman deduced the masked red-head who fought so hard to clear Commissioner Gordon could only be Gordon's daughter, Barbara. When Dick Grayson left Gotham, Batman found himself calling on Batgirl to work with him on special cases. Eventually Batman told Batgirl the secret of his dual identity and granted her free access to the Batcave and all its technology. The Batcomputer quickly became her domain and now she even surpasses Batman, Robin and Nightwing in cyber-expertise. Her double life as Batgirl sometimes puts Barbara at an emotional crossroads. As the daughter of the Police Commissioner, Barbara was raised with respect for law and order, but her actions as Batgirl technically label her a vigilante. If Batgirl was ever caught and unmasked, the scandal would certainly destroy Commissioner Gordon's career. Still, Gotham is a city that breeds an extreme kind of criminal and extreme crimefighters are needed to handle situations regular cops can't. Barbara believes the good she does as Batgirl is worth the potential risk to herself and her father.

When the original Bat-team hung up their capes Barbara (Batgirl) Gordon chose to continue crime-fighting from behind a desk. She studied law, was elected Gotham City District Attorney and eventuall rose to the posistion once held by her father, that of Police Commissioner. Nowadays Barbara looks down on the cape-and-cowl crime-fighting of her youth. She recognizes that the new Batman has helped the city in time of need, but she also warns him to keep out of her way and not interfere with business. Though Barbara was once romantically linked to Bruce Wayne, their relationship turned cold when Bruce, despite his advancing age, refused to give up his crusade against crime as Batman. Barbara gave him a choice: either her or the street. Bruce made his descision and Barbara withdrew from his life. Now married to District Attorney Sam Young, Barbara has begun to renew tentative, though friendly contact with Bruce Wayne.

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