Oracle (comics)

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Oracle
Image:Birds58.jpg Oracle. Art by Ed Benes.
Publisher DC Comics First appearance Suicide Squad vol. 1 #23 (January, 1989) Created by John Ostrander, Kim Yale (writers), Luke McDonnell (artist)
Statistics Real name Barbara Gordon Status Active Affiliations Birds of Prey Previous affiliations Suicide Squad, Justice League Notable aliases Batgirl Notable relatives James Gordon (uncle and adoptive father) Notable powers None; superb hacker and incredible genius. Capable of hand-to-hand combat, but confined to a wheelchair.

Oracle is a fictional character, the nom de guerre of a superhero appearing in the publications of DC Comics. Her secret identity is Barbara Gordon, the niece/adopted daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon. She was the original Batgirl until an attempt on her life by in The Killing Joke, a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, when the Joker shot Barbara through the spine. Drawing on her training as a librarian, she now acts as an information broker, gathering and disseminating intelligence to law-enforcement organizations and members of the superhero community. Barbara has no superpowers but is gifted with a genius-level intellect, an eidetic memory, a vast knowledge of computers and electronics, and is an expert hacker. She has even trained herself to engage in combat from her wheelchair should the need for it arise.

Barbara first used the Oracle identity to assist the Suicide Squad. Until recently, she was an alternate member of the Justice League. She is also a founding member of the Gotham City superhero team, Birds of Prey. Oracle is also the guardian/mentor of the current Batgirl, Cassandra Cain.

Recently, Barbara became infected with a virus from Brainiac. After she killed the virus, she discovered she could now move her toes.

Oracle in other Media

Oracle (played by Dina Meyer) was adapted as one of the main characters in the WB television series, Birds of Prey. The series was loosely based on the comic book of that name.

Barbara Gordon has also appeared in the DC Animated Universe, but only as Batgirl.