History Series / Gotham

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Lampshaded in season 2, regarding Bruce and Silver St. Cloud. He really needs better taste in women.

Gordon's partner is the slovenly, semi-corrupt Harvey Bullock (Creator/DonalLogue), while the rest of the cast is rounded out by a young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), still reeling from the death of his parents; his butler and guardian Alfred Pennyworth (Creator/SeanPertwee), trying to be a father to him; a growing roster of up-and-coming villains like Oswald Cobblepot (Creator/RobinLordTaylor) and Edward Nygma (Creator/CoryMichaelSmith); streetwise teen thief Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova); and Barbara Kean (Creator/ErinRichards), Gordon's fiancée in season one.

Gordon's partner is the slovenly, semi-corrupt Harvey Bullock (Creator/DonalLogue), while the rest of the cast is rounded out by a young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), still reeling from the death of his parents; his butler and guardian Alfred Pennyworth (Creator/SeanPertwee), trying to be a father to him; a growing roster of up-and-coming villains like Oswald Cobblepot (Creator/RobinLordTaylor) and Edward Nygma (creator/CoryMichaelSmith); streetwise teen thief Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova); and Barbara Kean (Creator/ErinRichards), Gordon's fiancée in season one.

Gordon's partner is the slovenly, semi-corrupt Harvey Bullock (Creator/DonalLogue), while the rest of the cast is rounded out by a young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), still reeling from the death of his parents; his butler and guardian Alfred Pennyworth (Creator/SeanPertwee), trying to be a father to him; a growing roster of up-and-coming villains like Oswald Cobblepot (Creator/RobinLordTaylor) and Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith); streetwise teen thief Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova); and Barbara Kean (Creator/ErinRichards), Gordon's fiancée in season one.

* OneSteveLimit: [[AvertedTrope Aversions]] are inevitable for a show based on a long-running comic series with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters to pick from.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Take a gander at the character page. You'll see that it's been divided into subpages with more than a dozen characters on each, for major, minor, and recurring villains, GCPD, Wayne Enterprises, and ''other''.

* AdultFear:
** In "Lovecraft", Bruce and Selina are on the run from assassins, while Alfred and Jim have no idea where the children have gone and are barely able to contain their frantic worry that they'll be killed.
** At the self-help group meeting, Crane gets choked up when he speaks of seeing signs that his son may suffer the same crippling fear as himself. While he's actually there to kidnap a new victim rather than be helped, his confession of fear for his son may not be an act.
** In "The Last Laugh", Bruce gave himself up to be hostage for Jerome who threatened to shoot Alfred if he didn't. Both Gordon and Alfred know they don't have a clear shot with Bruce being held at knifepoint and can only helplessly watch as Jerome taunts Bruce.

* MoralEventHorizon: Discussed in "Everyone Has a Cobblepot". Bullock reveals that he's one of many cops put under Loeb's control by a crime they had committed earlier in their careers.

** Kristen Kringle has a callous one when she gives her boyfriend, corrupt cop Arnold Flass the poem Ed Nygma wrote for her and he reads it aloud to his fellow officers, publicly mocking nygma. While Ed had been unwantingly intrusive and unwittingly quite pesky, he did nothing knowingly hurtful or insulting and was very hurt by this. She does apologise later, but it seems very insincere and more like trying to be typical after going over the line.

Compare with ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', a show with a similar premise in that it chronicles Clark Kent's adventures prior to becoming Superman.

** In "Into the Woods", after learning how his father had died, Penguin deals with the responsible parties in a manner that may remind more than a few of [[IAteWhat a certain scene]] in ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus''.

* BerserkButton:
** Don't insult Thomas or Martha Wayne within hearing distance of Bruce Wayne, as Thomas Elliot found out the hard way. Likewise, Alfred actively ''encouraged'' Bruce to beat the crap out of Tommy.
** ''Don't'' tell call or compare Cobblepot to a penguin (at least in the early episodes of the show). Likewise, don't hurt or insult his mother in any way; he'll go fucking nuts.

* OverarchingVillain: Due to the fact they're rarely treated as the BigBad for long, many of the future Bat-villains are treated this way. Penguin, Riddler and Barbara are especially constant presences throughout the seasons regardless of how big a threat they are at any given time.

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: Attempted by Jervis Tetch, who kidnapped Lee and Valerie Vale and forced Jim to decide who he would murder. Subverted when they both survived.

The show ran for 5 seasons, with the final episode airing on April 25th, 2019. The showrunners then went on to create another Batman mythos-inspired ""{{prequel}}" show, ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which premiered in July 2019 on Creator/{{Epix}} and [[FlipFlopOfGod may or may not]] be set in the continuity of ''Gotham''.

The show ran for 5 seasons, with the final episode airing on April 25th, 2019. The showrunners then went on to create another Batman mythos-inspired show exploring how things were in the past, ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which premiered in July 2019 on Creator/{{Epix}} and [[FlipFlopOfGod may or may not]] be set in the continuity of ''Gotham''.

* RealityEnsues:
** Bruce wanted to help the homeless children and offered to donate money, but Gordon pointed out that the children needed guardians, not money. He then chooses to give them clothes instead. Next shot are the children wearing new clothes, but still being sent upstate and still looking pretty miserable.
** The Balloonman's second target is an experienced police officer, as opposed to a middle-aged banker taken mostly by surprise. The Balloonman's attempt to tie the officer to a balloon leads to him getting the crap kicked out of him. If Cranston hadn't gotten distracted by some paperwork the Balloonman was carrying, the Balloonman's killing spree would have ended then and there.
** Also with Bruce's self-training. He sees it as helping him overcome fear. Jim and Alfred see it as TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior, and want to refer him to a psychologist. And even with his self-training and intelligence, the show makes it clear that he's got a long way to go before becoming the Dark Knight as he is still a naïve child.
** People don't just bounce back after a kidnapping. Barbara is traumatized and paranoid after being held captive by Zsasz. She later completely snaps after being kidnapped ''again'', this time by The Ogre. Leslie even lampshades it and insists on her finding professional help.
** Gordon is repeatedly warned that if he goes against the system, he will not last long in the GCPD. Initially he seems protected due to his status as a war hero and his connection (through his father) to the DA office. However, as soon as his enemies find a viable pretext, Gordon is [[ReassignedToAntarctica reassigned to Arkham Asylum]] and his supposed allies like Harvey Dent abandon him.
** Turns out, losing your fear isn't actually a good thing. After taking his serum, Gerald Crane makes several reckless decisions. Such as injecting his son with too much serum and engaging in a gunfight with two experienced cops.
** It doesn't matter how lethal your electric weapon is. If the wiring is not properly covered, a cup of water will short you out, as The Electrocutioner found out the hard way when he went one-on-one with Gordon.
** Edward's pretty proud of himself for making that riddle in Tom's letter and getting away with it, especially since it was so easy to see if you looked at it closely. Well, turns out that's exactly what Kristen Kringle does in the next episode.
** Captain Barnes recruits a group of cops straight out of the academy to be his elite Strike Force. They are uncorrupted and highly dedicated, but they are still just NewMeat rookies; as a result, they end up making mistakes that get them killed.
** A bunch of monks with knives against a BattleButler, two GCPD detectives, a thief with a [[TookALevelInBadass new level in badass]], and a couple of mob men all armed with guns. Three guesses on who wins, and the first two don't count.
** Crime scene examiner Edward Nygma frequently conducts unauthorised autopsies despite not being a medical examiner. The actual examiner finally has enough and has the captain suspend Nygma.
** Because a corrupt official is out of the picture doesn't mean he doesn't have friends still in high places afterwards. One such friend of former Commissioner Loeb is in the prison system, and when Gordon's sent to Blackgate he knows exactly why Loeb retired and goes out of his way to make Gordon pay through the nose for it by placing him in general population along with many of the criminals he's locked up, just to be vindictive.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: At the end of "Lovecraft", when Gordon makes clear to the mayor he won't give up on the Wayne case, he gets reassigned to guard duty at Arkham.

The show ran for 5 seasons, with the final episode airing on April 25th, 2019. The showrunners then went on to create another Batman mythos-inspired {{prequel}} show, ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which premiered in July 2019 on Creator/{{Epix}} and [[FlipFlopOfGod may or may not]] be set in the continuity of ''Gotham''.

Compare with ''{{Series/Smallville}}'', a show with a similar prequel premise for Clark Kent.

The show ran for 5 seasons, with the final episode airing on April 25th, 2019. The showrunners then went on to create another Batman mythos-inspired {{prequel}} show, ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which premiered in 2019 on Creator/{{Epix}} and [[FlipFlopOfGod may or may not]] be set in the continuity of ''Gotham''.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Generally averted. If Gordon is injured during an episode, he'll usually maintain that injury throughout the rest of the episode. Such as in "Penguin's Umbrella", where he's shot in the leg by Zsasz and walks with a slight limp afterwards.

** After being reformed into a harmless, friendly person, Oswald meets his father and stepfamily, the latter of whom repeatedly harass him, kill his father (albeit accidentally) to get his house and fortune, and keep Oswald as a hapless servant while secretly planning to kill him as well. The moment he finds out they killed his father, Oswald snaps back into his old self, kills the children, feeds them to the mother as roast, and then stabs her to death. Brutal? Yes. Tragic? Maybe. Still, so IMMENSELY satisfying!

* HollywoodGenetics: The Galavan siblings (Theo and Tabitha look nothing alike, as the actors aren't even the same race. Creator/JamesFrain (a White Englishman) plays Theo, and Black/European Canadian Creator/JessicaLucas is Tabitha. We never see their parents, so it's possible (but unlikely) they come from a mixed race family with each of them just looking like one side (it's never stated they're {{not blood siblings}}).

* HighVoltageDeath: Jack Gruber kills a man, who was answering the door, at an electronics store by running an electric current through the doorknob, and frying him.

* BigBad:

** Season 1: The entire season is virtually a huge GambitPileup in a struggle over the Gotham underworld between [[TheDon Carmine Falcone]], [[TheStarscream Fish Mooney]] and [[TheRival Maroni]] with [[VillainProtagonist The]] [[ManipulativeBastard Penguin]] in the center of it all, though he is more of a protagonist that the audience can root for and he is only antagonistic in a VERY indirect way towards Jim (who never finds out the majority of his crimes) as he ends up jump-starting the mob war that Jim hoped to avoid.
** Season 2: [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Theo Galavan]] for the ''Rise of the Villains'' half, [[PsychoPsychologist Hugo]] [[MadScientist Strange]] for the ''Wrath of the Villains'' half.
** Season 3: Mad Hatter for ''Mad City'' although the spotlight is eventually stolen by [[BackFromTheDead Jerome Valeska]]. [[AncientConspiracy The Court Of Owls]] serves as this for ''Heroes Rise'' with Lee Thompkins as TheHeavy.
** Season 4: [[MafiaPrincess Sofia Falcone]] with [[SerialKiller Professor Pyg]] as TheDragon for the first half. [[MonsterClown Jerome Valeska]] for the second half though he dies before the season's end and the season's true BigBad ends up being his brother [[SuperiorSuccessor Jeremiah]].
** Season 5: [[SociopathicSoldier Bane]] is the main antagonist in Gordon's storyline, being the one who invades Gotham and tries to initiate a hostile takeover.]] [[AxCrazy Jeremiah Valeska]] is this for Bruce Wayne's storyline, planning to take out Selina and drive Bruce mad.