View Poll Results: Batgirl or Oracle

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  • Batgirl

    23 25.27%
  • Oracle

    44 48.35%
  • Depends

    4 4.40%
  • It doesn't matter

    3 3.30%
  • She can keep both

    17 18.68%
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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member AmiMizuno's Avatar
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    Default Barbara Gordon:Oracle or Batgirl

    With how long she been both. What do you guys think?

  2. #2
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    I grew up with her as Batgirl; I hated what they did to her in The Killing Joke; I'm happy with her back as Batgirl.

    Her period as Oracle was also good, but to me that was essentially making the best of a bad situation. Someone else can have the Oracle mantle now.

  3. #3
    Ultimate Member Jackalope89's Avatar
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    Start off as Batgirl, move onto Oracle, NO Killing Joke though. Rather, she decides to pull out of running around on rooftops and instead helps coordinate various hero teams.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    I grew up with her as Batgirl; I hated what they did to her in The Killing Joke; I'm happy with her back as Batgirl.

    Her period as Oracle was also good, but to me that was essentially making the best of a bad situation. Someone else can have the Oracle mantle now.
    I agree completely with you, MajorHoy.

    She is my Batgirl too...and DC brutally pushed her aside for too long.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jackalope89 View Post
    Start off as Batgirl, move onto Oracle, NO Killing Joke though. Rather, she decides to pull out of running around on rooftops and instead helps coordinate various hero teams.
    I might be able to accept this.

    Barbara transitions from Batgirl to Oracle the way Richard transitioned from Robin to Nightwing; maturation not mutilation.

    Thanks to DC, many people had a different Batgirl...and they want her back. I understand how they feel.

  5. #5
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scary harpy View Post
    . . . Thanks to DC, many people had a different Batgirl...and they want her back. I understand how they feel.
    But those other characters can still be great characters without being called "Batgirl".

    Somehow, many people seem to want their favorite to still be "Batgirl".
    (As for Barbara, if she were to "outgrow" the Batgirl name, she's sort of stuck because there's already a Batwoman.)

  6. #6
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    15-19 Batgirl
    20 and up Oracle
    Depend on my timeline though since I haven't checked the other's ages yet

  7. #7
    Savior of the Universe Flash Gordon's Avatar
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    Babs is Batgirl. She's iconic.

    The Killing Joke is also something best left in the past.

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member Fergus's Avatar
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    Batgirl obviously.

    Can we stop with the Batgirl or Oracle debates and threads?

    Can't understand why some fans won't just let Barbara be Batgirl in peace? This quick turning into the Robin debacle.

    Let the current official holder just be.

    I blame Tynion for this debate ramping up once more. He poked the beast. Dangling the vague possibility of Batgirl mantle changing hands and we ended up with Babs now holding down 2 mantles [which is dumb].

    Oracle isn't a great mantle/role. It was only worth something when it was Babs taking control. Turning tragedy into success. Taking back power by showing that just because Joker robbed her of her mobility, he didn't rob her of her drive and desire to fight.

    If she must.

    If Batman/DCU really needs tech support then I suppose they might get her one of those wrist thingys that Tim Drake uses to hack and do everything in Tec.

    She can Oracle while she Batgirls. If she must. I don't want her sat at a desk looking at screens. Not just because Oracle isn't essential, esp with her past being stuck in the chair due to assault by a villain.
    Last edited by Fergus; 01-22-2021 at 03:34 PM.

  9. #9
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    I love Babs as both having been Batgirl (really love her Bronze Age tales!) and Oracle. Ideally, I would have her operate as both, though maybe more Oracle and less Batgirl. Have her suit up as Batgirl to close some case she investigated as Oracle.

    And I'm fine with The Killing Joke, it's a classic tale by Alan Moore (that DC, not Moore, decided to run with as canon).
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

  10. #10
    Uncanny Member MajorHoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBatmanFan05 View Post
    . . . And I'm fine with The Killing Joke, it's a classic tale by Alan Moore (that DC, not Moore, decided to run with as canon).
    Yeah, that's the big problem.

    DC decided to make it stick, and they even kept it in her backstory when Babs went back to being Batgirl for the New52 (which would have been the perfect time to erase it from main continuity).

  11. #11
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MajorHoy View Post
    DC decided to make it stick, and they even kept it in her backstory when Babs went back to being Batgirl for the New52 (which would have been the perfect time to erase it from main continuity).
    I know that's what some wanted, but I myself think they chose the wiser path of restoring her to Batgirl with The Killing Joke (and Oracle's simple well-known "pop culture" origin/explanation) intact, her overcoming. Though I tend to be one who prefers, fundamentally and philosophically, to keep stories in canon, especially once they acquire acclaim and a long length of time as main canon.
    Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 01-22-2021 at 08:03 PM.
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member SiegePerilous02's Avatar
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    She'll always be Batgirl for me first and foremost, though I've liked a lot of Oracle stuff too (chiefly Gail Simone's run).

    I also think both sets of fans tend to downplay how big of a deal the other identity is to prop up the one the prefer.

  13. #13
    The Superior One Celgress's Avatar
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    Arrow

    I like both versions more or less equally.

    While I like Babs as Batgirl, I greatly appreciate the message her time as Oracle sent: that you can still be useful in a world full of caps if you have a disability. Part of me will always feel a little sad we lost that when she returned to being Batgirl.
    Last edited by Celgress; 01-22-2021 at 10:14 PM.
    "So you've come to the end now alive but dead inside."

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Gaius's Avatar
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    The best version of Barbara is the 60s show, so Batgirl.

  15. #15
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    She can keep both and she will

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