History YMMV / Gotham

* EvilIsCool: Arguably, one of the main points of the show, as is frequently the case with the Batman mythos. The Penguin, the Riddler, Jerome, Jeremiah, Carmine Falcone, Hugo Strange, Azrael, Victor Zsasz, and ''many others'' are all liked for being CreepyAwesome (and occasionally [[LaughablyEvil hilarious]]) adaptations of the characters from the comics, many of whom (like Mr. Freeze and the Riddler) haven't had any recent live-action appearances. Even the ''[[NonActionGuy Mad]] [[MemeticLoser Hatter]]'' is popular.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Many fans thought that Robin Lord Taylor was too thin and attractive to play the Penguin, though the new creepy air he brought to the Penguin with an alternative bird motif led him to become the BreakoutCharacter.
** The casting of Creator/BDWong as an Asian Hugo Strange got a few raised eyebrows, though once his performance was actually seen, many ended up agreeing that he looked and played the part perfectly.

** Jim Gordon not having his signature mustache and glasses happened already with the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/{{Batman}}'' series, but its Gordon (Neil Hamilton) still has his signature silver hair since he's older.

* EvilIsSexy: Oswald, Barbara, Tabitha, Ed, Fish Mooney, [[spoiler: Lee when under the influence of the Tetch virus,]] Ra's al Ghul, Sofia Falcone, and Ecco. There's even something darkly attractive about ''the Mad Hatter'' and the [[spoiler: Valeska twins.]] Some fangirls also have this opinion about Victor Zsasz.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

** "[[Recap/GothamS1E4Arkham Arkham]]": "[[ConsummateProfessional Richard Gladwell]]"--real name unknown--is a freelance professional assassin who [[PlayingBothSides works for both sides]] of a gang war between [[Characters/GothamGothamMob Gotham Mob]] Bosses Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni, having previously [[KillAndReplace killed a civilian and assumed his identity]]. Introduced posing as a constituent, Gladwell tricks a councilman in Falcone's pocket and the latter's aide into letting their guard down before killing them with a telescoping spike of his own design. Later burning a councilman in cahoots with Maroni, Gladwell proceeds to attempt the Mayor's assassination, nearly succeeding before being shot by Detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The average consensus is that it's highly enjoyable but flawed; it doesn't help that the other DC shows like ''Arrow'' or ''Flash'' are better at pacing and developing story arcs, while ''Gotham'' always seems to have too much going on that it feels a bit smothered.

** Ecco. Her season 4 self was popular enough, being an attractive, badass woman who had an impressive amount of loyalty to Jeremiah already, but her season 5 self cemented her as this, with her cool design, funny and nutty personality, and her darkly sweet semi-romance with Jeremiah. Although some people just liked her because she was the shows Harley Quinn, many liked her as her own character and were sad when [[spoiler: she suffered a tragic death at the hands of Jeremiah.]]

** Falcone. Is he just a AffablyEvil mob boss out to keep his power over the city? Or is he a NobleDemon who cares for the city and fully believes that crime can only be controlled, not stopped, so he does what he does to keep Gotham from falling apart? [[spoiler:The first season finale seems to indicate the latter, though it could still be a careful manipulation.]]

** During Penguin's [[spoiler:mayoral inauguration celebration assassination attempt]], Barbara can briefly be seen smiling in the background. Was she [[spoiler:in on the plan to set up Butch, or was she just excited for bloodshed]]?
** In Season 3, was Lee's increasingly hostile and petty behaviour towards [[spoiler:Gordon just her lashing out at him because he killed Mario, or was she already infected by the Tetch virus when it Mario's blood splattered over her and became more paranoid and aggressive]]? While [[spoiler:actually injecting herself with the virus made her a {{Yandere}} for Jim rather than despising him, when she is cured in Season 3, she doesn't hold a grudge against him and even saves him a couple times.]]

** [[spoiler:Was Arthur Penn really being controlled by Scarface, or was Penn only using it as a prop to play bad cop? While he does snap and start threatening Penguin in his regular voice at one point, he also seems to have reverted to his regular personality when Scarface is shot. Did Scarface's destruction truly free him, or was Penn just pretending to have reformed?]]

** [[DesignatedLoveInterest Isabella]] is almost universally disliked. Nygmobblepot shippers hate her as a consequence of DieForOurShip, and even fans who didn't particularly want to see Oswald and Ed get together dislike her because she's a FlatCharacter and her only role in the story is to be an unrealistically perfect partner for Ed and then get StuffedInTheFridge.

** Harvey Dent. Upstanding moral prosecutor in the comics, becomes a slightly shady attorney obsessed with one criminal (Lovecraft) instead of bringing justice. His bumbling actions nearly get Selina and Bruce killed, not to mention an innocent gardener killed.
** This Mr. Freeze version is pretty unpopular for losing his famous motivation right off the bat ([[spoiler:when his wife, Nora, commits suicide DeaderThanDead at the end of his debut]]), gaining a {{Narm}}y design, and becoming an unsympathetic [[AdaptationalVillainy Adaptational Villain]] with no real purpose beyond "hired gun for whichever VillainOfTheWeek needs him next."

** [[PsychoPsychologist Dr. Hugo Strange]] is a former associate of Thomas Wayne in the Pinewood Farms project, meant to cure disease but abused by Strange to [[PlayingWithSyringes perform horrifying experiments]] on patients. When Wayne discovered Strange's deeds and shut the project down, he allied himself with the [[Characters/GothamCourtOfOwls Court of Owls]], having Wayne and his wife gunned down in front of their young son, Bruce. Becoming head of Arkham Asylum, Strange [[MadScientist continues his torturous experiments]] on his patients, [[DrivenToMadness driving many insane]] or transforming them into monsters. Discovering how to bring the dead back to life, Strange resurrects Gotham's deceased criminals, who return as raving lunatics and go on to kill numerous innocents while Strange happily accommodates them to commit their crimes. When persistently investigated by Bruce and Commissioner James Gordon, Strange viciously tortures them before trying to kill them, along with Selina Kyle, the latter merely for having annoyed him. Ordered by the Court to detonate a nuclear device to destroy evidence of his experiments, Strange agrees, apathetic that this may potentially take out much of Gotham City. Strange later returns to create a HatePlague, planning to unleash it on Gotham to drive the population into a killing frenzy. Playing both Gotham police and the Court as it suited him, Strange proved a narcissistic scientist who cared only for performing his depraved experiments.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Nygma ''has'' to speak in riddles, is visibly annoyed and disappointed when not taken up on them, and he is a textbook case of NoSocialSkills, which line up with symptoms of being on the autism spectrum. He also has signs of SuperOCD, carefully picking onions out of his lunch and reorganizing the station's archives to what he finds a superior structure. This could be a case of ShownTheirWork on the part of the writers, trying to ground character behavior in real-life disorders; "If the Joker is a sociopath, and Two-Face is bipolar, what real-life mental conditions would make someone act like the Riddler of the comics?"

* EvilIsCool: Arguably, one of the main points of the show, as is frequently the case with the Batman mythos. The Penguin, the Riddler, Jerome, Jeremiah, Carmine Falcone, Hugo Strange, Azrael, Victor Zsasz, and ''many others'' are all liked for being CreepyAwesome (and occasionally [[BlackComedy hilarious]]) adaptations of the characters from the comics, many of whom (like Mr. Freeze and the Riddler) haven't had any recent live-action appearances. Even the ''[[NonActionGuy Mad]] [[MemeticLoser Hatter]]'' is popular.

* CantUnHearIt: If it's one thing ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' is good at, it's giving us a very colorful cast full of villains, such as Creator/CameronMonaghan as Jerome Valeska[[spoiler: and [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker Jeremiah Valeska]]]], Creator/RobinLordTaylor as [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin Penguin]], Creator/CoryMichaelSmith as [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler Riddler]], Creator/BDWong as Hugo Strange, Creator/BenedictSamuel as Mad Hatter, Creator/AlexanderSiddig as [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's al Ghul]], and Creator/AnthonyCarrigan as Victor Zsasz.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Jerome Valeska was by far the most popular of the potential Jokers that the show introduced. His [[spoiler:early death]] was a disappointment to a large chunk of the [[BrokenBase fanbase]]. In season three, he [[spoiler:came back from the dead]]. Unsurprisingly, [[spoiler:his return]] put smiles on the faces of those who wanted him to be Gotham's version of ComicBook/TheJoker. [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged eventually]] however, [[spoiler:as Jerome dies for good in season four, and his twin Jeremiah becomes the Joker. [[ActingForTwo Both Valeskas however, are played by]] Creator/CameronMonaghan; meaning that Jeremiah acts similarly to Jerome except with more intelligence behind his insanity, as is true to the Joker's character.]]

** Gordon has become this for a large number of viewers (and reviewers) thanks to his arguable WhatAnIdiot moments, and his [[PoliceBrutality frequent]] [[WhatTheHellHero morally questionable]] actions. It doesn't help that all of the show's [[RomanticPlotTumor romantic plot tumors]] are centered around him and his obligatory love interests.

** [[PsychoPsychologist Dr. Hugo Strange]] is a former associate of Thomas Wayne in the Pinewood Farms project, meant to cure disease but abused by Strange to [[PlayingWithSyringes perform horrifying experiments]] on patients. When Wayne discovered Strange's deeds and shut the project down, he allied himself with the [[Characters/GothamCourtOfOwls Court of Owls]], having Wayne and his wife gunned down in front of their young son, Bruce. Becoming head of Arkham Asylum, Strange [[MadScientist continues his torturous experiments]] on his patients, [[DrivenToMadness driving many insane]] or transforming them into monsters. Discovering how to bring the dead back to life, Strange resurrects Gotham's deceased criminals, who return as raving lunatics and go on to kill numerous innocents while Strange happily accommodates them to commit their crimes. When persistently investigated by Bruce and Commissioner James Gordon, Strange viciously tortures them before trying to kill them, along with Selina Kyle, the latter merely for having annoyed him. Ordered by the Court to detonate a nuclear device to destroy evidence of his experiments, Strange agrees, apathetic that this may potentially take out much of Gotham City. Strange later returns to create a HatePlague, planning to unleash it on Gotham to drive the population into a killing frenzy. Playing both Gotham police and the Court as it suited him, Strange proved a narcissistic scientist who cared only for performing his depraved experiments.

*** [[ArchEnemy Jeremiah Valeska]] is Jerome's seemingly orderly twin brother and a powerful but suspicious businessman. According to Jerome, Jeremiah is just as bad as he is and plans to make him his heir; when seemingly DrivenToMadness by a special gas, Jeremiah states it did nothing but alter his appearance, and that he intends to usurp Jerome's legacy to gratify his own ego; Jeremiah starts off with a plan to detonate powerful bombs all over Gotham, before incinerating his new followers after he fails, and has his lover Ecco shoot herself to prove her loyalty. Jeremiah later teams up with [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's al Ghul]] to destroy all the bridges out of Gotham and turn the city into a lawless despot. Obsessed with Bruce Wayne, Jeremiah does anything to become the center of his world, including shooting Selina Kyle; torturing a decoy of Alfred to self-mutilate; attempting to recreate the night of the Wayne murders with brainwashed victims, before trying to use Jim and Leslie as a substitute; and attempting to unleash chemicals onto the city to ruin it beyond repair. Emerging ten years later, Jeremiah eventually kills Ecco, stating they'll be others like her, before kidnapping and trying to drop Jim Gordon's [[WouldHurtAChild young daughter]] into a vat of chemicals.

** [[Characters/GothamJeromeValeska Jerome Valeska]] is a psychopath introduced being placed in Arkham Asylum for [[{{Matricide}} murdering his own mother]], laughing at his crime when interrogated. Recruited along with other inmates by [[Characters/GothamTheGalavansOrganization Theo Galavan]] to form the Maniax, Jerome functions as their leader, committing crimes such as taking hostages and throwing them off a rooftop; attempting to set fire to a bus full of cheerleaders; shooting up the Gotham City Police Department, personally killing Commissioner Sarah Essen; [[{{Patricide}} killing his own father]]; and taking those in attendance at a children's charity hostage, killing the deputy mayor of Gotham. Tormenting the 13-year-old [[Characters/GothamWayneManor Bruce Wayne]], Jerome slowly begins slitting his throat, trying to kill him. After being killed and resurrected, Jerome encourages his followers to spread death and chaos as he announces his return and straps his own follower, Dwight, to a bomb, detonating it and killing him. As the chaos spreads through the city, Jerome again goes after Bruce, making it entertaining for himself by taking Bruce to a twisted carnival he's set up, tormenting Bruce before trying to kill him yet again. Taking over Arkham along with other criminals, Jerome has Jonathan Crane produce an insanity-inducing PsychoSerum, then chooses to kill himself to deny [[Characters/GothamJimGordon Commissioner Jim Gordon]] arresting him. Sending a package of his Venom to his twin brother Jeremiah, Jerome ensures his nefarious legacy lives on in the creation of [[ComicBook/TheJoker Gotham's most infamous criminal]].

** [[Characters/GothamJeremiahValeska Jeremiah Valeska]] is Jerome's seemingly orderly twin brother and a powerful but suspicious businessman. According to Jerome, Jeremiah is just as bad as he is and plans to make him his heir; when seemingly DrivenToMadness by a special gas, Jeremiah states it did nothing but alter his appearance, and that he intends to usurp Jerome's legacy to gratify his own ego; Jeremiah starts off with a plan to detonate powerful bombs all over Gotham, before incinerating his new followers after he fails, and has his lover Ecco shoot herself to prove her loyalty. Jeremiah later teams up with ComicBook/RasAlGhul to destroy all the bridges out of Gotham and turn the city into a lawless despot. Obsessed with Bruce Wayne, Jeremiah does anything to become the center of his world, including shooting Selina Kyle; torturing a decoy of Alfred to self-mutilate; attempting to recreate the night of the Wayne murders with brainwashed victims, before trying to use Jim and Leslie as a substitute; and attempting to unleash chemicals onto the city to ruin it beyond repair. Emerging ten years later, Jeremiah eventually kills Ecco, stating they'll be others like her, before kidnapping and trying to drop Jim Gordon's [[WouldHurtAChild young daughter]] into a vat of chemicals.

* IdiotPlot: "Rogues' Gallery" runs on the staff of Arkham Asylum (besides Gordon and Leslie) being utterly incompetent. Though, this ''is'' Arkham; considering its history, incompetence is an upgrade.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** Gotham has been criticized for its [[http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/recaps/gotham-recap-female-trouble-20150420 handling of its]] [[http://www.movietrailerreviews.net/index.php/2015/10/14/news/gotham-and-its-tone-deaf-writing-room/ female characters]], particularly Barbara Kean, Renee Montoya and Kristen Kringle. However, this mostly goes away after the first season, with more development for Barbara, Lee, Ivy, and Selina, and the introduction of characters like Bridgit Pike and Vanessa Harper.
** A video essay criticises Gotham for its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gar6GCQss2s treatment of LGBT characters]], such as Barbara, Tabitha and Oswald, specifically how Barbara and Tabitha's relationship is poorly developed and played for {{Fanservice}} and Ed and Oswald's never got a chance to take off.

** Renee Montoya. In her mind she might see herself as a good friend to Barbara, coming to her believing that Gordon is actually a DirtyCop who's manipulating her. But her actions in doing so are to go behind Gordon's back ''twice'' to warn Barbara without any evidence aside from two separate informants -- both of whom, she knows, have strong mob ties and also have every reason to lie to her. In addition, the second time she ''broke into Barbara's home,'' which Barbara is not pleased about. If anything it looks more like she's a jealous ex who's willing to latch onto any idea without evidence to break the couple up so she can get back together with Barbara. [[spoiler:In fact, when the breakup does happen, it's clear that Barbara brought it on herself by blabbing about the child snatchers earlier, before Cobblepot's return (if anything, Gordon was smart to not tell her anything about Cobblepot); Montoya was little more than the accelerator in the long run.]]

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Barbara has a lot of them.
*** Barbara blabs about the child snatchers to the press and now expects Gordon to come clean about Oswald Cobblepot. [[spoiler:If she hadn't done the former, they wouldn't have had to put their relationship on hold.]]
*** Another one from Barbara: after being sent away by Gordon, she returns to the city, walks up to Don Falcone's doorstep, and pleads for Gordon's life, which completely ruins Gordon's plan to save Gotham from the clutches of Falcone. The only two possibilities from this action would be Gordon would already be dead or the mob would use Barbara against him, especially after Gilzean already tried to use Barbara against Gordon ''moments beforehand''.
*** And then there's her cheating on Gordon with Renee. To give more background as to why this is a '''''monumentally''''' stupid action: even though Barbara did a noble (but idiotic) action in going to Falcone to plead for Gordon's life, she gets used as leverage. After all is calmed down, '''now''' she decided she can't handle the stress and leaves Gordon a DearJohnLetter, only to head straight into Renee's arms. You know, the woman who, since the beginning, has acted like a PsychoExGirlfriend StalkerWithACrush that has been breaking into her apartment to constantly tell Barbara that Gordon was corrupt without any real evidence, and whose actions essentially led up to all the problems that she had to face recently. At this point one can be forgiven for thinking, "[[WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHerBack Why Would Gordon Take Her Back?]]"
*** She calls Gordon after having given him a DearJohnLetter and cheated on him with Renee where a 12 year old Ivy answers. She thinks that she is an adult woman and that Gordon is cheating on her with another woman. [[{{Hypocrite}} Something she sees as a betrayal]].
** In the first episode, the police goes to visit Mario Pepper, a suspect of the murder of the Waynes. As he was in parole, his relation with the law is already tense. The police ask to check his house.\\
'''You'd expect:''' that he cooperates with the cops and allows them to check the house, trusting that they shouldn't find anything tying him to a crime he did not commit.\\
'''Instead:''' he attacks the cops, escapes with all guns blazing, and tries to kill them during his escape. A T-Shirt labeled "I'm Guilty!" would have worked just as fine.\\
'''Result:''' He is killed by the police, before he can kill one of the cops. And, considering the circumstances, it was hardly an unjustified shot.
** [[spoiler:Fish Mooney in the Season 3 Finale. Imagine how much trouble could have been saved if she had kept her distance from a Tetch-tainted Jim Gordon: she'd be alive, and she would not have dropped all the vials of the cure for the Tetch Virus. She knew he was infected, that he had a katana, and that he had just killed a bunch of warriors - all good reasons to stay away.]]

** Jeremiah's last appearance gives him a near pitch-perfect Joker costume, but the effect is somewhat marred by his canary yellow gloves, which look like they were borrowed from [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald.]]

* CantUnHearIt: If it's one thing Series/Gotham is good at, it's giving us a very colorful cast full of villains, such as Creator/CameronMonaghan as Jerome Valeska[[spoiler: and [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker Jeremiah Valeska]]]], Creator/RobinLordTaylor as [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin Penguin]], Creator/CoryMichaelSmith as [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler Riddler]], Creator/BDWong as Hugo Strange, Creator/BenedictSamuel as Mad Hatter, Creator/AlexanderSiddig as [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's al Ghul]], and Creator/AnthonyCarrigan as Victor Zsasz.

* CantUnHearIt: If it's one thing Series/Gotham is good at, it's giving us a very colorful cast full of villains, such as Creator/CameronMonaghan as Jerome Valeska[[spoiler: and Jeremiah Valeska]], Creator/RobinLordTaylor as Penguin, Creator/CoryMichaelSmith as Riddler, Creator/BDWong as Hugo Strange, Creator/BenedictSamuel as Mad Hatter, Creator/AlexanderSiddig as Ra's al Ghul, and Creator/AnthonyCarrigan as Victor Zsasz.

* CantUnHearIt: If it's one thing Series/Gotham is good at, it's giving us a very colorful cast full of villains, such as Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska[[spoiler: and Jeremiah Valeska]], Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin, Cory Michael Smith as Riddler, BD Wong as Hugo Strange, Benedict Samuel as Mad Hatter, Alexander Siddig as Ra's al Ghul, and Anthony Carrigan as Victor Zsasz.

* CantUnHearIt: If it's one thing Series/Gotham is good at, it's giving us a very colorful cast full of villains, such as Cameron Monaghan as Jerome Valeska[[spoiler/Jeremiah Valeska]], Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin, Cory Michael Smith as Riddler, BD Wong as Hugo Strange, Benedict Samuel as Mad Hatter, Alexander Siddig as Ra's al Ghul, and Anthony Carrigan as Victor Zsasz.

** Despite both being completely irredeemable, Cameron Monaghan's CreepyAwesome performance as [[spoiler: the Valeska twins]] has gotten them both a bit of this from fans who find them attractive or just thrillingly entertaining.