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  1. #1
    Extraordinary Member Primal Slayer's Avatar
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    Default The many *controversial* loves of Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle


    I'm sure others have noticed and some may have not but when it comes to Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl aka Oracle...writers across various mediums have had this desire to have her date half of the Batfamily and it's something that needs to stop. Why do you think writers like to use her as the de-facto female to date various Batfamily men?

    In the comics she's been romantic with Nightwing, Red Hood, Batwing

    In animation she dated Dick and Bruce

    In the Arkham games she is engaged to Tim Drake.

    3 Robins, Batman himself, and Batwing. Having multiple love interests across ones history is fine but it's something different when they are part of the same general crime fighting family.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Primal Slayer View Post

    I'm sure others have noticed and some may have not but when it comes to Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl aka Oracle...writers across various mediums have had this desire to have her date half of the Batfamily and it's something that needs to stop. Why do you think writers like to use her as the de-facto female to date various Batfamily men?

    In the comics she's been romantic with Nightwing, Red Hood, Batwing

    In animation she dated Dick and Bruce

    In the Arkham games she is engaged to Tim Drake.

    3 Robins, Batman himself, and Batwing. Having multiple love interests across ones history is fine but it's something different when they are part of the same general crime fighting family.
    Arkham City/knight a mistake entirely, especially since this was suppose to be in line with the animated series

    Jason a moment of weakness

    Luke was intresting but the writer did not put forth enough effort nor meant to, basicly Ross dating Kristen on friends

    Bruce ………….

    You forgot Ted Kord

  3. #3
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    To paraphrase Rebirth Nightwing Annual #1 when they made Dick attracted to Vicki Vale,

    "Maybe the fact that I know she used to date Bruce makes it feels... naughty"

  4. #4
    Spectacular Member Micael's Avatar
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    Because it's easier to use an established character that audience is already familiar with and that has very close ties to the male characters. Plus she's a crime fighter herself so she'll automatically share common ground with those characters, DC loves their power couples. It's just lazy really but that's why they do it.

    But the main reason is that she doesn't have a cemented supporting character as a love interest.

  5. #5
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    I think this is much simpler than some people make it: it's a result of her being one of the only heroic prominent female characters in the Batfamily, at least in the main core - for most of her history, whenever they wanted to have some romance in the story, she was the most obvious (if not the only) choice. This is even more aggravated in adaptations, where she is often the only female member of the Batfamily to make it.

    This has resulted in the weird animated obsession with her and a much-older Bruce (that's all Bruce Timm), the Arkham Games pairing her with Tim Drake, etc.

    In the comics, that's less of an issue. I think that brief stint with Luke and the flirtations with Jason are mostly ignored, and I don't think anyone truly bothers, because her romance with Nightwing is so definitive for both characters. It feels kind of like when Superman is dating someone else other than Lois (like that Wonder Woman-Superman pairing 5 years or so ago). Sure, that's fine for that story, and I never minded it, but we all know he's gonna go back to Lois. Same with Babs, her definitive love interest is Dick Grayson.

  6. #6
    Astonishing Member Blue22's Avatar
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    Honestly, I wish things had worked between her and Luke. I'll always ship that over her and Nightwing. I'm tired of the constant "Will they? Won't they?" that's been going on between those two for decades.

  7. #7
    Astonishing Member Majesty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blue22 View Post
    Honestly, I wish things had worked between her and Luke. I'll always ship that over her and Nightwing. I'm tired of the constant "Will they? Won't they?" that's been going on between those two for decades.
    It was the only non-toxic relationship she pretty much has had in the Bat Family... or in relationships in general for the most part.

    There was essentially no reason for it not to have worked, other than writers deciding to go "lets throw her in another will they/won't they with Dick again till Kory comes back around and we can will they/won't they that too."

    Luke and her were a supportive relationship that wasn't a toxic one and one she was genuinely happy in. But instead of building on that and allowing other stories of her to flourish without needing to dig into the well of 'toxic relationship dramas', they decided to take her out of the one truly supportive/non-toxic relationship she had.. off-screen no less.. so that they could eventually throw her at Dick again so. It is what it is with how writers like to use Barbara, much as we hate it.

    Yes I agree, Luke and her are better than Nightwing and her. The problem is, the people in charge decided to never expand upon it further, had it been given those years of expansion and fleshing out then it probably would have been her best ones.

    But DC didn't want to do that. Shawn and Dick had they fleshed them out for the same amount of time, would probably have worked as well. But they find reasons to break apart actually interesting relationships so they can dig into the well of soap opera drama that they know works as opposed to giving people something fresh and new. It's problematic, but it's their MO.
    Last edited by Majesty; 08-24-2021 at 07:57 PM.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Primal Slayer View Post

    I'm sure others have noticed and some may have not but when it comes to Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl aka Oracle...writers across various mediums have had this desire to have her date half of the Batfamily and it's something that needs to stop. Why do you think writers like to use her as the de-facto female to date various Batfamily men?

    In the comics she's been romantic with Nightwing, Red Hood, Batwing

    In animation she dated Dick and Bruce

    In the Arkham games she is engaged to Tim Drake.

    3 Robins, Batman himself, and Batwing. Having multiple love interests across ones history is fine but it's something different when they are part of the same general crime fighting family.
    Wasn’t Jason Bard created to be her non-Bat-family love interest and supporting character

  9. #9
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    The thing I find ironic with the disgust over Bruce/Babs is that in the Adam West TV show, she was a grown woman clearly set up to be a love interest to Bruce, and this was, to my knowledge, before Dick/Babs was even a thing.

  10. #10
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Will Evans View Post
    Wasn’t Jason Bard created to be her non-Bat-family love interest and supporting character
    Yes, though the current Jason Bard was a cop manipulated by Hush to frame Jim Gordon and erase the evidence. So even after turning over a new leaf, when he tried to began a relationship that calls back to the original, it's not something Babs can easily forgive so she broke it up.

    Quote Originally Posted by TheBatman View Post
    The thing I find ironic with the disgust over Bruce/Babs is that in the Adam West TV show, she was a grown woman clearly set up to be a love interest to Bruce, and this was, to my knowledge, before Dick/Babs was even a thing.
    Different generation. Like, 40 years of difference. These days people know Babs as Dick's love interest,

  11. #11
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Restingvoice View Post
    Yes, though the current Jason Bard was a cop manipulated by Hush to frame Jim Gordon and erase the evidence. So even after turning over a new leaf, when he tried to began a relationship that calls back to the original, it's not something Babs can easily forgive so she broke it up.
    That didn't stop Cecil Castelluci from trying .

  12. #12
    Mighty Member WonderNight's Avatar
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    Well with the characters love interest being limited to the bat franchise and civilian relationships don't really work anymore, dating within the "family" is all they have left of love interest.

    If steph and cass become more popular and mainstream aspect the same thing with them.

  13. #13
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    The thing with Luke seems not really problematic to me, they are of similar age and Luke is not related with the others.

    Her with Tim and Jason on the other hand ...

    With Bruce it kinds on depends on the continuity. In the Bronze age where she was 25, Bruce was in his early 30s and Dick just 18, that wouldn't really have been a problem. Same for the Adam West show where Dick was afaik still in High School and she was already an adult.

    In the DCAU where was Dick's age and both were dating before Barbara/Bruce thing happend on the other hand ...

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member marhawkman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Restingvoice View Post
    Different generation. Like, 40 years of difference. These days people know Babs as Dick's love interest,
    That or they think of Koriand'r as Dick's love interest.

  15. #15
    Mighty Member witchboy's Avatar
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    This reminds me of how Wonder Woman is paired at times with Batman or Superman.
    It kind of leaves a feeling that they're a prize to be given to the favorite character.
    Dick and Babs are a great couple but passing her around to Bruce - and Tim! - just gets alternately weird and gross.

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