Gotham City (Earth-Prime)

Gotham City
Information
Location	United States; Earth
Use(s)	City
Owner(s)	United States government

Gotham City, simply known as Gotham, is a major city in the United States. It is home to several important businesses and corporations, such as Wayne Enterprises and Hamilton Dynamics. Gotham is notorious for its hostile nature. Crime, corruption, terrorism, and poverty were widespread to the point of making it one of the most dangerous city in the USA, nevertheless being a thriving metropolis.

Overview

Businesses

Companies

Wayne Enterprises

• Wayne Enterprises: The head business of Gotham City and one of the most powerful multi-billion-dollar corporations on the planet. It was owned and run by Bruce Wayne until he left Gotham in 2015. After that, in 2018, Bruce's cousin, Kate Kane, converts the company and its old building into a real-estate development firm.
• Hamilton Dynamics: A powerful arms industry and defense contractor company that financed Crows Security and was formerly owned by the late CEO Catherine Hamilton-Kane.
• Hewitt & Associates: A powerful and respected law firm in Gotham.

Cafés and restaurants

• The Hold Up: A gay bar opened by Kate Kane and Mary Hamilton.

Crime

Gotham City is infamous as a breeding ground of crime. According to many, Batman's presence in Gotham generated a new breed of "crazy" criminals as the city was terrorized for years by notorious madmen such as the Scarecrow.

The situation worsened after Batman mysteriously disappeared. The crime skyrocketed at an all-time high, to the point that many citizens believe the city is in dire need of superheroes. The city has suffered numerous attacks at the hands of a criminal who went by Alice and, along with her Wonderland gang and second-in-command Mouse, aimed at satiate her personal vendetta against the Crows Security's co-founders, Jacob Kane and Catherine Hamilton-Kane.

Vigilantism

Batman, the original vigilante.

Gotham was prominent for having registered the first known case of vigilantism in the figure of Batman, a brutal individual who dressed like a bat, fought against evil, and struck terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere. However, Batman's very existence has always sparked debate, with many arguing that he was nothing but an urban legend created by the Gotham City Police Department to instill fear in criminals, while other dismissed him as being simply a "myth", prompting the public opinion to reward Star City's Green Arrow as the first vigilante.

File:Batwoman.png

Batwoman, Gotham's new vigilante.

The mysterious Batman, however, disappeared a few years prior to 2020. Years later, the equally-mysterious Batwoman took his place. She alone took on crime, and protected Gotham from highly dangerous criminals acting extremely more publicly than her predecessor, since many initially mistakenly believed Batwoman to be the finally returned Batman himself.

Landmarks

Culture

• Orpheum Theatre: A historical theatre in Gotham.

Structures

• Loeb Bridge: Loeb is one of the three massive bridges that connect Gotham to the mainland. It's sometimes used by the GCPD or the Crows in order to transport criminals to Arkham Asylum.
• Brown Bridge: Brown is one of the three massive bridges that connect Gotham to the mainland.
• Trigate Bridge: Trigate is one of the three massive bridges that connect Gotham to the mainland. It is implied to be the biggest or, at least the most trafficked.
• Blackgate Penitentiary: A massive prison located outside Gotham.
• Gotham Juvenile Detention Center: a youth detention center in Gotham.
• City Hall: The administrative building of Gotham.

Education

• Gotham University: Presumably a prestigious university in Gotham, it was where Mary Hamilton studied medicine.
• Gotham Preparatory High School: Gotham Prep is a prestigious high school that Kate Kane once went to.

Health

• Arkham: A psychiatric asylum "for the criminally insane", Arkham is where criminals suffering from mental illnesses are incarcerated, presumably because most of these patients are considered to be very dangerous.
• Mary Hamilton's secret clinic: Mary Hamilton runs a secret and illegal clinic for the citizens of Gotham who cannot afford regular hospitals.

Media

• Gotham City News: This station is the primary source for the latest news in Gotham City.
• Gotham City Gazette: It is a newspaper publisher located in the city.
• The Gotham Observer: One of the main newspaper outlets in Gotham.
• Vesper Fairchild's radio talk show: Vesper Fairchild host her editorial-type talk show, where she presents news and states her say on the matters at hand.

Security

• Gotham City Police Department (GCPD): The GCPD was the police department of Gotham, in charge of the Gothamites' security, and also overseeing and associating with the operations of private security companies such as the Crows.
• Crows Security: Formerly headed by Commander Jacob Kane, the private security business is currently being run by Agent Sophie Moore.

Buildings

• Aventine
• City Hall
• Crows Security headquarters
• Gotham City Bank
• Mary Hamilton's secret clinic

Neighborhoods

• West Harlow

Known individuals

Known residents

Current residents

Bryan Akins Akins Slam Bradley Ethan Campbell August Cartwright (as of 2003) Jonathan Cartwright Dana Dewitt Vesper Fairchild Steven Forbes Forbes Luke Fox Mary Hamilton Hewitt Beth Kane Kate Kane Sophie Moore Robles "Scarecrow" Parker Torres Unnamed woman

Incarcerated residents

• Jacob Kane
• Reggie Harris

Former residents

• Catherine Hamilton-Kane (deceased)
• Gabi Kane (deceased)
• Anthony Mitchell (deceased)
• Odell (relocated to Freeland)
• Bruce Wayne (relocated to an unknown location)
• Martha Wayne (deceased)

Known mayors

• Akins (incumbent)

Known commissioners

• Forbes

Appearances

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Season 5

• "Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Five" (mentioned)

Batwoman

Season 1

• "How Queer Everything Is Today!"
• "An Un-Birthday Present"

Black Lightning

Season 3

• "The Book of Markovia: Chapter Two" (mentioned)

Trivia

• Gotham's citizens referred to themselves as Gothamites.

Location

• It was revealed that Gotham is connected to the mainland by three bridges, Loeb, Brown and Trigate, and that those are the only ways of accessing and exiting the city which, therefore, seem to be in the center of a massive bay.
  • Maps of Gotham City in the original multiverse seemed to indicate it was located somewhere in the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay, and it was stated that Dollywood, in Tennessee, was in the South respect to Gotham and reachable in a few days. If the multiverse merge hasn't changed it, this further proves said location.

Behind the scenes

• In the DC comics, Gotham City is the home of the hero known as Batman. Gotham City is located in the Northeastern United States, in close proximity to Metropolis, with the majority of DC comics references placing Gotham City specifically in New Jersey.
• In real life, "Gotham" is a nickname that writer Washington Irving attached to New York in November 11, 1807 referencing a village in England inhabited, according to folklore, by people who feigned madness and were branded as true fools.
  • Batman creator Bill Finger took inspiration from that nickname and New York City itself provided the basic visuals for the fictional city.

References

Other versions of Gotham City (Earth-Prime)
To see other versions of this location, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Gotham City.
New multiverse
Earth: Prime • 4125
Original multiverse
Earth: 1 • 38 • 66 • 89 • 96 • 99
Transmultiversal multiverse
Earth: 27A