Characters / Gotham - GCPD

Homicide Unit

James Gordon

The future Commissioner Gordon, here a rookie detective struggling to make sense of Gotham's corruption but trying to be a good man regardless. For tropes regarding him, see his character page.

Harvey Bullock

Det. Harvey Bullock

"This is not a city or a job for nice guys."

Played By: Donal Logue

"You tell yourself, "I'll just do this one bad thing. All the good things I'll do later will make up for it." But they don't."

Gordon's partner, a corrupt and brutish detective, secretly allied with Carmine Falcone.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: In most appearances, Bullock is an overweight slob in disheveled and often dirty clothing. Here he's played by Donal Logue, so he looks a bit sharper than his comics counterpart straightaway, with his shabbiness present but considerably downplayed.
• Adaptational Job Change: Prior to getting fired by Michael Akins in the fallout of "Officer Down" in the comics, the highest Bullock ever got in the GCPD totem pole was Lieutenant.^note There were also The Nail, where he replaced Gordon as Commissioner, and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, where he's a Composite Character with Chief O'Hara from Batman (1966) as Gordon's Irish-accented second-in-command, but both of those are Elseworlds Season 4 sees him briefly as a Captain.^note However, after the show ended, the event DC Year of the Villain (which saw the Batman Who Laughs corrupt a number of heroes, including Gordon) and the lead-up to The Joker War saw Bullock briefly appointed as acting commissioner in Gordon's stead
• Age Lift: He's about 10 years older than Gordon (unsurprising given Logue is 13 years older than Ben McKenzie), which puts him in the ballpark of his comics counterpart - who reports to an older Commissioner Gordon.
• The Alcoholic:
  • He's constantly drinking in season 1. After spending a night drinking, Bullock jokes to Gordon that it would take him a couple more drinks for him to sober up. Even his decision to aid Gordon in bringing down Falcone is helped by a ton of alcohol.
  • Played very seriously in season 4, where Professor Pyg tricks him into shooting a fellow officer. The guilt from this is so great he starts drinking on duty, something he didn't do even at his worst in season 1.
• Anti-Hero: He's nominally on the side of angels, but is willing to take more extreme measures like beating confessions out of suspects at the start of the series, in stark contrast to Gordon. He grows out of it in later seasons thanks to Gordon's influence.
• Berserk Button: He may be a corrupt cop, but don't imply he's a bad cop.
  Montoya: Do the right thing for once.
  Bullock: For once? Where the hell do you get the nerve to say that to me!?
• Book Dumb: He's a very effective detective when the situation calls for it, and he's incredibly savvy and connected as to the ways of the Gotham underworld - but he displays a limited vocabulary on occasion (not knowing the meaning of altruism early on) and needs Lucius to lead him by the nose through the mysteries of the Riddler's initial killing spree.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's actually a pretty good detective when he wants to be, but he's usually just too cynical to give a damn about anything.
• The Captain: Bullock ends up taking over as the acting captain for the GCPD after Barnes goes insane thanks to the Alice Tetch Virus. This lasts until "Stop Hitting Yourself", when Gordon, at Sofia Falcone's behest, takes over.
• The Chains of Commanding: He's promoted to acting captain twice - when Barnes is injured by Azrael and again when he goes nuts from the Tetch virus - and quickly discovers that he can't indulge in Jim's Cowboy Cop antics now he has the eyes of the city on him.
• Character Development: He starts out as corrupt and ineffective, but being Gordon's partner gradually revives his old sense of heroism and morals. He's still a firm Anti-Hero and is more pragmatic and dirty than Gordon, but he's become a reliable ally against the crooked cops he used to be just like.
• Chubby Chaser: In "Penguin's Umbrella", he shows up at Barbara's place when Jim's sent her away, BBW of the evening dangling off his arm. Short version is that he's on board with Gordon's crusade now (because "I'm dead anyway"), but he and this larger lady are having sex in Barbara's bed. In a later episode, Gordon is able to tell that Bullock frequents a particular brothel because the man fitting his description hires the two largest girls in the place.
• Composite Character: Bullock in this adaptation mixes elements of the Bullock from the comics (scruffy looking and highly cynical but basically decent) with the Year One character Arnold Flass (Gordon's corrupt first partner) - though the original version of Bullock was corrupt before turning over a new leaf. Interestingly, the actual Arnold Flass does later appear, and even makes season 1 Harvey look like a supercop by comparison.
• Corrupt Cop: A (semi-)heroic example. He is at least smart enough to know to work around Gotham's gangs and to take whatever success he can get, rather than to try and blatantly take them on. He often goes to Fish Mooney for information in season 1, which she's happy to give him if he looks the other way from her crimes.
• Cowboy Cop: Even in later seasons, Bullock tends to punch crime away.
• The Cynic: Bullock has been on the police force a long time, and knows what Gotham is like, leading him to adopt a Cowboy Cop approach to his police work. Gordon explicitly calls him out on this though, and he's gotten better by season 3.
  • He really doesn't like being the one having to solve the Wayne Murder because not only is finding the killer going to be nigh impossible, the pressure of having to solve such a high profile case is not something he really wants. The only reason he doesn't pass on the case is because he loathes letting Major Crimes get it.
  • More so when he accidentally shot a cop because Pyg dressed her as him, and ignored Gordon's warning of a trap. It really led Bullock into a serious case of Heroic BSoD.
• Demoted to Extra: While he was very important in season 1, the decision to cast him as Gordon's willing ally instead of the Foil he had been led to less Character Development as Lee Thompkins, Ed Nygma and Barbara Kean all gained more screentime. He's still by no means an extra, but it's rare by season 5 to have full episode subplots devoted to Bullock.
• Deuteragonist: As Gordon's partner he's this in Season 1, but in Season 2 he has to compete for screen time with Leslie Thompkins as the tritagonist. The Penguin is the Villain Deuteragonist of Rise of the Villains.
• Establishing Character Moment: Two in succession in the pilot: telling off Gordon for defusing a hostage situation instead of just shooting the perp (his almost bored reaction to one of his colleagues with a gun to her head is something to see), and his outraged reaction to Montoya and Allen implying he's a shitty cop.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He couldn't care less about the corruption going on in Gotham, but even he regards the Balloonman killing a businessman who defrauded many of Gotham's poorer citizens via a Ponzi scheme as doing Gotham a favour. Likewise, he despises lawyers and calls them scum.
  • The normally apathetic Bullock is appalled by the killings of the Goat serial killer.
  • When the opportunity arises to go undercover at a high class fetish club, he is initially quite excited. However, once he sees just what they're doing, he becomes disgusted. He finally puts a stop to it after seeing the start of an act involving a whip, a chainsaw, possibly a man in a wheeled cage, and a pig.
  • Makes clear in season 2 that robbing the grave of Tabitha's grandfather is a bit much, even for him.
  • When Gordon, rapidly approaching his Despair Event Horizon in season 5, nearly provokes a fatal shoot-out with Zsasz by giving him Bullock's gun, a shocked Bullock afterwards tells him never to ask him to do anything like that again.
• Fire-Forged Friends: He doesn't like having a rookie like Gordon be his partner, but by the end of the pilot, they've become friends. Before the first season is out, Bullock is Jim's staunchest ally.
• Flanderisation: Bullock's role in the plot is initially to play the ultra-cynical and morally ambiguous foil to Jim's more straightforward Knight in Shining Armor, and much of the drama in the initial episodes comes from their contrasting viewpoints. But after he becomes Jim's ally mid season 1, this largely falls by the wayside and Bullock's role is usually either Jim's loyal sidekick or comic relief, though it does surface again after Bullock makes captain in season 4.
• Good Is Not Nice: In earlier seasons was quite happy to beat confessions out of suspects.
• Hardboiled Detective: Tough, cynical and distinctly old-school in playing outside the rules but with a heart underneath - he's a classic example.
• Heel–Face Turn: He stands by Jim out of partnership rather than any genuine liking in the early part of season 1, but still goes along with the department's corruption. Then he goes along with Gordon's scheme to arrest Falcone because he reckons he's a dead man anyway (having failed his directive to get Gordon to kill Cobblepot). It fails, but from this point on he starts shaping up into the still rough-edged but loyal and effective detective he is in the comics, and becomes a staunch ally to Gordon.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Over the course of the series Bullock and Gordon become very close friends with one another. By the end of season 3 Bullock even admits that Gordon is the best friend he's ever had.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Spends a lot of time in the first few seasons saving Jim from messes his Honor Before Reason approach leads him into, as well as using his underworld contacts and knowledge of the department to gain leads the straight-laced Jim couldn't.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His reasoning for being corrupt is that trying to go against the mobs will just get him and people he cares about killed.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Even on his good days, he's prone to stress drinking. When he's captain in season 4 it's revealed he has whisky bottles hidden in various spots throughout his office.
• I Warned You: A darkly humorous example. He knew Barbara was nuts to begin with, and had informed Jim of his concerns.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: He uses a "hands on" interrogation technique involving physical bodily harm in much of season 1.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • He establishes to Jim pretty early on that Gotham has its own set of rules and however much he tries to change things it'll grind him down just like him. Given the catalog of rotten things that happen to Gordon by the start of season 5, and how jaded and cynical he frequently is as a result, it's tough to say he wasn't right.
  • Despite the two being at loggerheads by mid-season 4, he correctly warns Jim that Sofia Falcone is just using him to get rid of Penguin.
• Jerkass Realization: While Jim's hands are far from clean by the time he takes the captaincy, Harvey comes to realise his blaming Jim was ignoring his own mistakes in the role; consequently, the two reunite to take down Sofia.
  • A minor example, but he does seem to be caught off-guard when Ed snaps at him for his insults and even though he chuckles about it, his tone of voice when he apologizes makes it seem like he is genuinely sorry.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's corrupt, but he does look out for his partner and has his own moral code. Hell, he even pays for his old partner's retirement home monthly.
• Jumped at the Call: Played with. At first Bullock is reluctant to return to GCPD because he's starting a new life with his fiancé. However, when Essen and multiple cops are killed in a surprise attack, he immediately returns by Gordon's side to take action.
• Knight in Shining Armor: He used to be a morally upstanding officer but after the Goat murders, he became jaded.
• Knight in Sour Armor: In "The Spirit of the Goat", we see Bullock take a case seriously for the first time, and his old partner Dix refers to him as a white knight (visibly stunning Gordon). However, after Dix ended up in a wheelchair after one case, as well as the mounting crime and corruption, it took its toll on Bullock's heroic resolve.
• Lack of Empathy: He's not completely heartless, but his lack of caring is a sign of how he's been on the force way too long. Again, this fades away by season 3.
  • When he comes across a robbed convenience store, he tells the owner to call 911 since he's a homicide detective and nobody got killed. Also because he's on his lunch break.
  • His solution to the Viper crisis is to just let the bums and junkies fight themselves to death, and keep everyone else off the streets.
• The Lancer: To Gordon after he decides to support Gordon wholeheartedly, due to their contrasting attitudes and approaches to the job.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Bullock swiftly becomes very competent in "The Spirit of the Goat."
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Bullock may be cynical and corrupt, but Gordon quickly finds out there are dirty cops like Cranston and Flass who make Harvey look like policeman of the month by comparison.
• Moral Event Horizon: Discussed in "Everyone Has a Cobblepot". Bullock reveals that he once had to kill or be killed, literally, and he and Gordon weren't the only ones given this Sadistic Choice either. Whoever chose to kill became another cog in the GCPD's corruption, and Bullock failed his test.invoked
• My Greatest Failure:
  • Was tricked into shooting and crippling a fellow officer by Professor Pyg in season 4. He takes it very hard, and falls into a deep alcoholic depression. He finally redeems himself in the eyes of his colleagues by risking his life to defuse Jeremiah Valeska's bomb.
  • In season 5 we find out a young Bullock, egged on by Dix, coerced a statement from the future Jane Doe about her mother killing her father - leading to the mother being locked away and Jane being put in Arkham. After Jane takes revenge on Dix and the other cops involved, it's clear Bullock regards the whole thing this way.
• Never My Fault: He's livid at Gordon taking his captaincy in season 4, which ignores Harvey's own unfitness for the job.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It's far from the only reason Ed eventually snapped, but Bullock's continually being an ass to him in season 1 really didn't help.
• Odd Friendship: Bullock gets along well with the crime boss Fish Mooney. He often goes to her for information in season 1, and unlike most people she deals with, she genuinely seems to like him (though that doesn't stop her trying to have him killed in the Pilot). He even helps her flee Gotham after she escapes from Zsasz.
• Officer O'Hara: A modernised version of the Irish American cop without the accent, being presumably several generations American. He calls himself a "pasty Irish guy" in "Beasts of Prey" and in "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" hopefully asks an attractive woman he's flirting with if she's Irish.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • The usually lazy and cynical Bullock disappears in "The Spirit of the Goat", and is replaced by a surprisingly clever and determined sleuth. The reason? The killer in that episode is a copycat of one he caught a decade ago. During that case, his old partner, Dix, ended up in a wheelchair.
  • In season 5 he admits to Bruce that when things get bad he goes to work on old case files - while he always hated paperwork, doing good things, even if no-one else can see them, matters.
• The Peter Principle: Makes captain in late season 3 due to Barnes going insane due to the Tetch virus and Jim being infected with it as well. It becomes apparent in season 4 the task is beyond his capabilities.
• Police Brutality: Is all too ready to beat the hell out of suspects to get confessions early in the series, much to Gordon's horror.
• The Rival: Harvey has a tense rivalry with Montoya and Allen from MCU, along with Gordon.
• Shadow Archetype: He was once just like Gordon: a young, idealistic, upstanding police officer looking to clean up the city. Many years learning how Gotham really works, and what a cop has to do to survive, whittled down his spirit to the man he is now.
• Spanner in the Works: Manages to successfully work out one of Nygma's riddles when he turns up threatening both the GCPD and Eduardo's men, giving the deactivation code to Riddler's bomb - except said bomb was a distraction to allow Bruce to sneak in and find their transmitter, nearly getting them all killed as a result.
• 10-Minute Retirement: He leaves the force to open a bar and settle down with a woman he met on a case, but comes back to avenge Essen when Jerome kills her. He leaves again after Jim displaces him from the captaincy a few seasons later, but returns to help him take down Sofia after realizing how much of his situation was his own fault.
• That One Case: The Goat murders. When he realizes that the killer has resurfaced, he suddenly morphs from a lazy, cynical Corrupt Cop into a competent investigator determined to chase the Goat Killer to the ends of the earth if he has to.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Bullock grows into a much kinder police officer due to Gordon's influence, and while he's still got a lot of rough edges, he becomes one of Gordon's staunchest allies.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He's ticked off at Gordon when he finds out that he didn't kill Cobblepot, enough to actually go at him, even though it got them both off on a murder charge. Justified because he thinks Fish and Falcone's retribution for failing to kill Cobblepot is going to be ugly, not knowing Falcone is Cobblepot's secret benefactor.
  Harvey: Son of a bitch...
  Gordon: Harvey...
  Harvey: You son of a bitch!
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Or a sweet rookie. But the city beat that out of him a while back. Now he's the bitter, corrupt son of a bitch you see today.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • In "Penguin's Umbrella", he chews out Gordon and almost kills him for not killing Cobblepot (though they do make up in time to try to arrest the Mayor and Falcone), and in "The Mask", he makes no attempt to hide that he's ashamed of most of the GCPD for not backing Gordon.
  • Blasts Gordon in "Ruin" for almost provoking a shootout with Zsasz, and using his gun to do it.
• Would Hit a Girl: He decks a woman after she tries to cover her boyfriend's escape by beating the crap out of him. She spent the previous twenty seconds throwing him around like a doll, so she wasn't a delicate flower.
• You Are in Command Now: He's acting captain of the GCPD following Captain Barnes's Tetch-virus-fueled departure midway through Season 3. He had already filled the role once before, when Barnes was in critical condition after being stabbed by Galavan.

Lucius Fox

Lucius Fox

Played By: Chris Chalk

A junior executive at Wayne Enterprises before quitting and becoming an employee of the Gotham City Police Department, as a forensics scientist.

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• Being Watched: He warns Bruce that they are being watched every second they are inside the Wayne Enterprises building. He knows because he installed the cameras.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Calmly tells Ed in season 3 if he was going to kill him he'd lace one of the forensic aids lying around the lab with a lethal toxin, knowing he'd use them - then invites Ed to look at their latest evidence. Even the future Riddler is impressed.
• Deadpan Snarker: He has a remarkably dry delivery.
  Ed: Mr. Fox! Just the person I've been wanting to see.
  Lucius: Oh, joy.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Recruited by Alfred because they need his help fixing Thomas Wayne's computer.
• Honest Corporate Executive: Apparently one of the few at Wayne Enterprises.
• Jumped at the Call: When Alfred requests his help in Bruce's secret investigation, Fox immediately joins them to do all he can.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: He becomes the GCPD's forensic expert after quitting his Wayne Enterprises job, largely to keep him in the orbit of Gordon and the other GCPD characters.
• Only Sane Man: As the series progresses, it really starts to look like Lucius is the only person in the entire city who isn't touched in the head. Seen most notably when he declines to join Gordon, Harvey, Alfred and Penguin in storming Galavan's building, rightly pointing out he has no experience with weapons and as a happy amateur will likely only do more harm than good.
• Secret-Keeper: Recruited by Alfred to join Bruce's work in the second season. The finale, set over a decade later, makes clear he knows Bruce has become Batman.
• The Smart Guy: One of the smartest characters in the show, with an exceptional aptitude for the technical side of things. He's also smart enough to step into Nygma's old role as GCPD forensic scientist, proves able to puzzle out several of his riddles, by season 4 has become chief medical examiner as well and in season 5 is in charge of purifying Gotham's water supply after Jeremiah poisons it. In season 5 Riddler even refers to him as second-smartest man in Gotham (after himself).
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He's stuck working with Ed in season 3 on the Red Hood case, something he clearly loathes given Ed almost gassed him and Bruce the prior season. They team up again in season 5, albeit more willingly this time.
• Threat Backfire: His threat to Ed in season 3 only ends up impressing the future Riddler.
  Lucius: To be fair, if you ever threaten my life or the life of Bruce Wayne again, I will find a way to end you.
  Ed: Mr. Fox, we both know you're not a man of violence.
  Lucius: No, I'm not. If I was, I would have laced some piece of lab equipment - one which you were sure to touch - with a toxin. Ricin, maybe?
  Ed: I'd use saxitoxin. Harder to trace. But I like your style!
• Token Good Teammate: Lucius Fox is the first executive we see at Wayne Enterprises who isn't corrupt. He also tells Bruce that Thomas was a true "stoic" and not really corrupt as Bunderslaw thought he was.
• Undying Loyalty:
  • To Thomas Wayne, doing all he can to restore Bruce's perception of Thomas after Bunderslaw's insinuations. He later tells Bruce how much he regrets not having been able to tell Thomas Wayne how much he respected him.
  • Later on develops this with his colleagues in the GCPD. In the season 4 finale, Lucius is one of the few GCPD members who remains in the ruined city to maintain order after the rest evacuate.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Not doom, exactly, but in season 1 he reassures Bruce that his father was a true stoic who rarely let anyone see his true self. This convinces Bruce to keep digging regarding his father's secret life and eventually leads him to first Thomas' secret room under Wayne Manor and later to Arkham and Hugo Strange.
• Worthy Opponent: Ed briefly fixates on him as such in season 3 prior to becoming the Riddler, and even after this maintains a healthy respect for "Foxy".

Carlos Alvarez

Detective Carlos Alvarez

Played By: JW Cortes

A detective in the GCPD.

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• Ascended Extra: While not as important as the main characters, he becomes the only GCPD detective outside of Gordon and Bullock to appear in all five seasons, and graduates from Corrupt Cop to ally of Gordon in that time.
• Ax-Crazy: Briefly, when he gets infected by the Tetch virus and goes on the rampage in season 3.
• Bit Character: Usually shown taking minor roles in GCPD centered episodes.
• Character Development: He's corrupt at first, but during the season shows signs that he has some standards when he's one of the first officers to back Gordon against Flass. By Season 2, Alvarez has apparently become an ally to Gordon, shown helping him investigate cases when Harvey's otherwise occupied, while in season 5 he's shown to have stayed on to help during the No Man's Land crisis.
• Dirty Cop: Like most in the GCPD. He does improve later on, going so far as to be the one who slaps the cuffs on Flass when it becomes apparent how extensive his crimes are, and by season 2 he's on friendlier terms with Gordon.
• Dirty Coward: During Victor Zsasz's strike against Gordon in "Penguin's Umbrella". Subverted later on, most notably in "Welcome Back, Jim Gordon".
• Easily Forgiven: He kills another officer via Neck Snap and shoots at least one other while Ax-Crazy from the Tetch virus - but there's never any fallout from this mentioned.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Although he and Gordon were initially at odds with one another in Season 1, by Season 2 it becomes apparent that Alvarez and Gordon have developed a respect for each other, as Gordon was shown working with Alvarez while searching for the Arkham Asylum escapees.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Gets angry with Gordon arresting a back alley doctor, as he's a very useful informant and Gordon is only arresting him out of spite towards his colleagues after they abandoned him to Zsasz.
• Mauve Shirt: Considering cops in Gotham are a Red Shirt Army, it’s pretty impressive Alvarez survived the entire show.
• Running Gag: Don’t want to do a case? Let Alvarez do it.

Vanessa Harper

Played By: Kelcy Griffin

A detective In the GCPD's Homicide Unit.

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• Badass in Distress: When kidnapped by the Pyg, she's got the presence of mind to hide a knife on her, allowing Gordon to use it to escape.
• Canon Foreigner: Was created especially for the show.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: In season 4 she's generally the one who keeps Captain Bullock focused when Gordon's not around, and is later the one who convinces the rest of the GCPD to obey his orders after they remind him how he previously got numerous cops killed by Professor Pyg.
• Number Two: Whenever Gordon or Bullock aren't around, Harper often takes over as the sidekick to the one that is.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Comes across as a replacement for Renee Montoya (see below) after the show's unpopular treatment of her in the first season.

Major Crimes Unit

Renee Montoya

Renee Montoya

Played By: Victoria Cartagena

A detective in the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: She may not be as corrupt as most of the rest of the GCPD, but she's a Jerkass who thinks she's got Gordon's number for imagined crimes and refuses to lay off simply because he's romantically involved with her old flame. Granted, when these imagined crimes are conclusively proven to be untrue, she apologizes to Gordon for it, but that doesn't stop her from still pursuing Barbara and sleeping with her behind Gordon's back. Her relationship with Gordon in any DC universe has never been any more hostile than this, and it shows.
• Age Lift: Apparently around Gordon's age, but in the comics, she turns twenty-nine^note Detective Comics #747 when Gordon is in his fifties and has been the commissioner for about ten years.
• The Atoner: Seems to drive her saving Gordon from Zsasz and his minions.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saving Gordon from Zsasz.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After the first half of season one she basically disappears from the narrative along with Allen.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Was into drugs.
• Demoted to Extra: After she saves Gordon from Zsasz, her screen time is reduced to a couple short scenes with Barb. After they break up, she's practically disappeared from the show.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • She outright assumed from Cobblepot's tip that Gordon and Bullock cooked up the scapegoating plan with Mooney.
  • She seems to fully believe that Gordon is a high level corrupt officer and is trying to find any evidence to prove this. Though how much of this is solely for wanting to break up Gordon and Barbara, or if she actually thinks he is corrupt, is unclear.
• Everyone Has Standards: She's a Jerkass and a Green-Eyed Monster who may be pursuing Gordon out of jealousy that her former flame is with him now, but she's also genuinely disgusted by the corruption in the Gotham City Police Department and is clearly not on board with the idea that Mario Pepper should have been killed for a crime he didn't commit, even if he deserved it (he ran away from the cops and assaulted Gordon with a knife, prompting Bullock to shoot him to defend his partner).
• Green-Eyed Monster: No doubt part of her rationalization to convince herself and others that Gordon whacked Cobblepot on behalf of Falcone.
• Heel–Face Turn: In "Penguin's Umbrella", she and Allen decide to listen to Gordon's side of the Wayne murder case and agree to take up the case should he not make it. Additionally, she sincerely apologizes to Gordon for letting her feelings for Barbara dictate her opinion of Gordon. Not that this stops her from sleeping with Barbara after the latter leaves Gordon at the end of "Harvey Dent."
• Heel Realization: After saving Jim from Zsasz, seems to realize she was letting her personal feelings get in the way before, and sincerely apologizes to Gordon.
• Hypocrite: She breaks into Barbara's home and tries to force her to listen to her about her beliefs of Gordon's corruption. Barbara comes to her in a public street with her information that she is wrong and Montoya tells her "you shouldn't be here" and refuses to listen to her. In general, she tends to get very self-righteous and judgmental for a police officer hounding someone in large part just because they happen to be married to the ex-girlfriend they still have a thing for.
• Inspector Javert: Prior to "Penguin's Umbrella", Montoya fills this role, pursuing Gordon for her mistaken belief that he framed Mario Pepper, which Gordon is himself investigating. Further complicated by the fact that Gordon is engaged to Renee's ex, and she seems to have a not small amount of residual feelings for her. It soon gets to the point where Allen calls her out on it, saying she takes things way too personally.
• It's Personal: Her desire to arrest Gordon is motivated less by sense of justice and more because he's with Barbara. She eventually admits this in "Penguin's Umbrella."
• Jerkass: She's not very affable and has a condescending attitude towards everyone she meets. Bullock describes her and Allen as a pair of "self-righteous do-gooding skell huggers. Acting like they're such freakin' angels. Please". She even manages to piss off her old flame Barbara by breaking into her apartment. It's almost as though she'd be the villain of this series if Gordon didn't have the Mob and the corruption in the GCPD to worry about.
• Lipstick Lesbian: In line with the comics. Additionally, she has a history with Barbara Kean.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Apparently she and Allan are the only cops, besides Gordon, who are not on the take.
• The Lopsided Arm of the Law: She pretty much knows that there are plenty of other cops that are dirty to downright corrupt, and many so far seem to be confident enough in this status to openly admit it. But she focuses her entire attention on Gordon because of very flimsy testimony from people that wouldn't hesitate to lie to her.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: She seems to be ever so eager to find any flimsy information to break up Gordon and Barbara and makes it quite clear she still has feelings for Barbara. She even breaks into Barbara's home, which freaks Barbara out.
• Rightly Self-Righteous: She and her partner Allen look down on Gordon and Bullock, perceiving them both as another pair of Gotham Police Department's corrupt cops. They assume Gordon and Bullock were in on the frame up of Mario Pepper. They weren't. They really had no idea until Montoya went to Barbara.
• The Rival: Along with Allen, to Bullock and especially Gordon. Crosses over into love rival with Gordon over both's feelings for Barbara.
• Smug Snake: After constructing Gordon's corruption essentially whole cloth in her head (she based it on a few scraps of information from Cobblepot and Fish about a tangentially related case), her attempt to arrest him for Cobblepot's murder is completely derailed by Cobblepot showing up at the police station.
• Stalker with a Crush: Borders on it with Barbara. She's clearly not over it and breaks into Barbara's apartment in one episode using the key Barbara gave her. Barbara is not impressed and promptly takes it back.
• Team Rocket Wins: In "Spirit of the Goat", she finally nails Gordon for murder... at least, until the victim shows up and introduces himself.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her inability to both let go of her feelings for Barbara and stop regarding Gordon with suspicion lead to Fish rumbling Cobblepot and Jim "executing" him in the pilot, and later Cobblepot returning from the "dead" to exonerate Jim of his murder - letting everyone know he was still alive and starting the chain of events that lead to Falcone and Maroni going to war and Penguin taking power.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Her absence in later seasons - where Gordon is actively trying to clean up the GCPD and her former lover Barbara becomes an Ax-Crazy crime boss - is notable.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets one from Sarah Essen for trying to arrest Gordon and Bullock.

Crispus Allen

Det. Crispus Allen

Played By: Andrew Stewart-Jones

A detective in the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department.

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• Abled in the Adaptation: Much like Gordon, in the comics, Allen is depicted wearing glasses.
• Age Lift: Apparently around Gordon's age, while in the comics he is closer to Batman's age.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saving Gordon from Zsasz.
• Cheshire Cat Grin: Has this expression a lot, especially talking to anyone who isn't Montoya.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After the first half of season one he basically disappears from the narrative along with Montoya.
• Heel–Face Turn: In "Penguin's Umbrella", he starts caring more about justice after hearing Gordon's side of the Wayne murder case following his Big Damn Heroes moment.
• Jerkass: Allen doesn't care about justice, he just wants the Wayne murders for the "press action." His friendly attitude comes off as fake and insincere.
• Locked Out of the Loop: He and Montoya are the only cops, besides Gordon, who aren't on the take.
• Out of Focus: Disappears after he and Montoya stop their prosecution of Gordon.
• Rightly Self-Righteous: He and his partner Montoya look down on Gordon and Bullock, perceiving them both as another pair of Gotham Police Department's corrupt cops. They assume Gordon and Bullock were in on the frame up of Mario Pepper. They weren't. They really had no idea until Montoya went to Barbara.
• Token Good Teammate: He seems to be one of the few honest cops in Gotham, even more than his partner, who's at least partly emotionally invested in bringing down Gordon.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: As far as he's concerned (at least at first), Gordon is on the mob's payroll, and he's going after a hitman.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Like Montoya, disappears from the story midway through season 1.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets one from Sarah Essen for trying to arrest Gordon and Bullock.

Gotham City Officials

Mayor Aubrey James

Mayor Aubrey James

"We will not let these killers and these robbers and these rapists and these thugs win. Not on my watch."

Played By: Richard Kind

The On-Again-Off-Again Mayor of Gotham City.

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• Ancient Conspiracy: Is revealed to be a puppet for the Court of Owls in season 3.
• Break the Haughty: The Galavans abduct him as part of a scheme to make Theo the new mayor, while Tabitha and Barbara torture him for fun with a box on his head. Has this happen again in season 3 when Penguin not only outwits him at every turn during their mayoral race, but wins 100% fairly too.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Galavan keeps him alive after replacing him as mayor, just in case. Galavan's sister still tortured him, though.
• Corrupt Politician: He's not quite as bad as some - he's never seen taking bribes, at least - but he's still beholden to Carmine Falcone and, we discover later, the Court of Owls. As such, he's instrumental in keeping Gotham's endemic corruption going.
• Dirty Coward: When Falcone says he may kill Gordon, James gets away as soon as possible.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • As noted below, he exploits attacks on street kids to send a bunch of them upstate, NDAA 2012-style. However, it's soon clear that he had to do something to keep them safe, even if he didn't care enough about them to bother finding proper homes for all of them (he does have an image to maintain, after all, and keeping those kids out of trouble helps to keep him from looking bad), and when he's told that a couple of the Dollmaker's minions hijacked a bus headed upstate, he's genuinely upset. He's cynical about it, but what was the alternative? Leave those kids on the streets to get preyed on by drug dealers and worse?
  • He also seems shocked when Gordon says that not even the police precinct is a safe place for him, the mayor of a large city, and laments what the city has come to.
  • He insists to Gordon that if there was a mob conspiracy to assassinate the Waynes, he wasn't part of it. Given that he's later shown to have ties to the Court of Owls, it's unclear whether this is the truth or not.
• Faux Affably Evil: Seems personable and approachable— but as Gordon discovers early, challenge him and he drops this quick.
• Karma Houdini: Has become mayor once more by the Distant Finale.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Kidnapped in the second season by Theo Galavan, the businessman running the Maniax!, and subjected to a string of abuses and humiliations by his sister Tabitha. Happens again in "Heroes Rise: The Primal Riddle" when he's targeted yet again by Nygma in order to gain information about the Court of Owls— and again in the final episode where Nygma aims to blow him up to prove a point.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He has a strong resemblance to Richard Nixon.
• Oh, Crap!: In "Penguin's Umbrella", upon realizing that Gordon and Bullock have him sussed and weren't kidding about arresting him.
• Puppet King: James was formerly under the control of Carmine Falcone in the past, but season 3 makes clear they both ultimately answer to the Court of Owls.
• Skewed Priorities: Even when he knows a hitman is coming to kill him, he would rather waste precious time stuffing his bag with money rather than leave when Gordon asked him to.
• Sleazy Politician: Our first good look at him involves exploiting attacks on street kids to ship them all to jail, except for a few kids photogenic enough to be publicly put in foster homes.
• Two First Names: Per the DC Comics norm.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Gordon saves his life several times in the early part of season 1. That doesn't stop James from scapegoating him for Lovecraft's suicide and reassigning him to Arkham.
• Ultimate Job Security: Ousted by Penguin in season 3, and again by the equally corrupt Burke in season 4, but each time he finds a way to come back and get re-elected. In the latter case, with Burke blown up by Ra's al Ghul, there may not have been any other viable candidates.

ADA Harvey Dent

Harvey Dent

Played By: Nicholas D'Agosto

The assistant of the District Attorney and an ally of Montoya and Allen who agrees to help Gordon covertly solve the Wayne murders.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: The youngest and most handsome incarnation to date, certainly helped by his face happily remaining away from acid.
• Adaptational Heroism: Never becomes Two-Face in the show and remains a staunch ally to Gordon in all his appearances, though given that the whole point of the series is that it takes place when Bruce Wayne is still a child (long before he'd start donning the cowl or facing any of his iconic enemies) and Harvey Dent traditionally doesn't become Two-Face until sometime after Batman has been active, it is inordinately plausible that he will end up like his comic book counterpart sometime after Bruce Wayne starts his career as Batman.
• Advertised Extra: Billed as a major character for season 2, you'd be forgiven to think Dent plays a major role in the series. Dent has a total of SIX episodes in seasons 1 and 2 where he appears and has an active role. While he does still appear on Gotham, it is mostly off screen. His presence on the show itself is an Aborted Arc.
• Age Lift: He is around Bruce's age in the comics. Here he is approximately Gordon's age.
• Anti-Hero: He's an upstanding and moral man, but only as far as your usual Gotham official goes. He's willing to use half-truths and media manipulation to smoke out the Waynes' killer, knowing he has no actual evidence (yet) to go on if he finds them. Also, sort of like Bullock, he realizes he can't get blood from a stone so he'll try to push for what near-term goals he can, because taking on the entire system and corrupt mayor like Gordon wants to will probably be fruitless.
• Batman Gambit: Has juvenile defenders call a coin flip to see if he'll put them away or give them another chance, knowing that statistically teenagers will usually pick heads. And when his two-headed coin comes up heads, he tells them that The Powers That Be must favor them, so they better put their second chance to good use.
• Continuity Nod: Several of the modern versions of Harvey Dent/Two-Face state or imply that Dent had some form of split personality before his scarring. This is hinted at by the scene of him talking normally, then suddenly sounding and looking Axe-Crazy, then calmly carrying on as if nothing had happened.
• Face Framed in Shadow: See the following entry.
• Foreshadowing: During all the scenes in his office, the lighting is always cast in a way that shadows the left side of his face.
• Never My Fault: He lets Gordon take the fall for Lovecraft's "suicide" even though it was he and not Gordon who had the vendetta against Lovecraft. Although it was mainly because the Mayor pressured him to that.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He promised Gordon he wouldn't leak out Selina's name, so he leaked out Gordon's name instead. It was enough that they were able to trace Selina as the witness. Gordon is furious with him when he finds out.
• One-Steve Limit: Shares a first name with Bullock.
• Put on a Bus: A long one to be exact. The writers have forgotten about Harvey to the point where the scene from The Dark Knight where the Joker is questioning where Harvey Dent is has become meme worthy in regards to where Dent is on the show. Even his Split Personality arc was given to Edward Nygma of all people. Despite his prominence in the comics, he never comes back either.
• Real Men Love Jesus: Implied by the religious intonations he invokes with juvenile perps.
• Split Personality: Given who he becomes, "Lovecraft" shows that the Split Personality is hinted or at least alluded towards with Harvey being nice and friendly one moment, before transforming into a "Big Bad" Harv personality.
• Tranquil Fury: Well, yes and no. Already suffering from some kind of bipolar disorder or repressed rage, in "Lovecraft", it becomes clear that Dent doesn't just switch back and forth between angry and polite like a light switch: it's bubbling beneath the surface, and at times he is visibly struggling to suppress outbursts of rage. People think he can be a bit obsequious, but this is because he is overcompensating, self-consciously trying to will himself to remain calm. As Gordon yells at him for leaking a paper trail, Dent's voice gets increasingly soft and his words exactingly polite and apologetic...while his eyes are locked in a death glare, which he is struggling to suppress. Intellectually, he can understand that the situation is entirely his fault and that Gordon is right to yell at him, so he tries as hard as he can not to react angrily.
• Two-Headed Coin: Of course he owns one. Unlike past versions however it's a half dollar as opposed to the silver dollar he's more famous for.

Former Members

Nathaniel Barnes

Captain Nathaniel Barnes

^{Click here to see him as the Executioner.} 

Played By: Michael Chiklis

A "law and order zealot" who takes command of the GCPD following the massacre.

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• Adaptation Name Change: The comic version of the Executioner was named Willy Hooker.
• An Arm and a Leg: Jim blows his hand off with a shotgun in his final appearance.
• Ascended Extra: Nathaniel Barnes, himself, is a Canon Foreigner but the name he takes to judge Gotham is that of the Executioner, who is a one-shot Batman villain from 1953.
• Ax-Crazy: After being infected by Alice Tetch's blood he swiftly devolves into a murderous vigilante obsessed with dispensing fatal justice to the guilty.
• Badass Decay: In-Universe, as Gotham descends more and more into supernatural madness and his by the book policing is unable to stop it. By Season 3, he's powerless to stop Penguin openly challenging his authority. However, he comes back blazing once he forms his super sinister Knight Templar side.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Always wears a rather dapper suit while out on the field.
• Band of Brothers: Fully believes in the brotherhood of the badge, which why he is has No Sympathy towards Bridget Pike and was quite willingly to use Nora Fries as bait, since her husband had killed two cops.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: Goes from a by-the-book cop to a deranged vigilante due to Alice's blood.
• Berserk Button:
  • Mouth off to him? He'll put you in a holding cell.
  • Following his infection, any crime becomes enough to drive him into a murderous rage, even if it's as minor as trying to stop him from going vigilante. Even hearing Gordon's name sets him off.
• Big Good: He's the unambiguously honest, zealous and law-abiding leader GCPD can rally behind. Remains in this position for all of season 2 after Essen's death and the first half of season 3.
• Black-and-White Morality: He refuses to accept any gray in a city like Gotham, much to Gordon and Bullock's chagrin. Which means he shows no sympathy to troubled criminals like Bridget Pike, and won't stand for his officers roughing up criminals for revenge or to get information out of them.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: His Executioner costume features one of these in a an axe-shaped gauntlet.
• But Thou Must!: Considering there's a contract out on Gordon and a dangerous costumed madman is out to carry it out, Barnes bringing him in on suspicion of involvement in the breakout of Karen Jennings, which stands out as shoddier police work than Barnes is known for, comes across as this in his effort to protect him from said madman.
• By-the-Book Cop: Makes it quite clear in his Establishing Character Moment that he will not tolerate any violations of the law, even by cops. Which makes his Face–Heel Turn as a Killer Cop all the more harsher.
• Composite Character: After becoming corrupted by Alice's poisonous blood, he shows super strength similar to Bane, but acts more like an expy of Quincy Sharp with his Knight Templar approach to crime. Though his symptoms of seeing Gotham citizens as zombies who need to be killed is a characteristic usually given to Zsasz. He also uses the codename of The Executioner, the name of a Batman villain from The Golden Age of Comic Books, but displays a personality similar to The Judge.
• The Corruptible: After Alice's blood taints him, he grows into the exact opposite of who he really is; a criminal.
• Deadpan Snarker: Perps who mouth off to him get to see his sarcastic side, if they're lucky.
  Barnes: This is my "amused" look.
• Detective Mole: Becomes a high-ranking version once he starts killing criminals, rousing Gordon's suspicions.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Briefly joins forces with the Court of Owls to hunt down Jim Gordon, but kills Kathryn Monroe once she oversteps her bounds in trying to control him.
• Driven to Villainy: Becomes an Ax-Crazy Killer Cop from being corrupted by Alice's blood, which brings out the worst character aspects of those infected - in this case driving Barnes' desire for justice to murderous extremes.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: After becoming corrupted by Alice's poisonous blood, he becomes obsessed with growing into a Knight Templar trying to force his way of combating evil onto others.
• Empowered Badass Normal: An ex-Marine, he was already a formidable combatant - then the Tetch virus upped his strength and speed considerably.
• Establishing Character Moment: He smashes a chair on the ground to get the attention of the station to introduce himself and ream them for their past problems. He calls out the names of several cops and when they step forward, he fires them all on the spot for bribery, extortion and other crimes. When one protests, Barnes shoves him onto a desk and arrests him. He then tells the officers he will take no shortcuts or mercy on the criminal before ordering them to get to work.
• Everyone Has Standards: He intends to do whatever it takes to restore law and order to Gotham, but beating up a suspect in broad daylight is a bit too much for him - something he makes very clear to Jim.
• Expy: He shares some striking similarities to Quincy Sharp. Albeit, as a police commissioner instead of a politician. Then he grows into an Ax-Crazy Knight Templar in his Split Personality who exacts cruel punishment upon all criminals in Gotham to vent out his frustration in the broken law system exactly like how Warden Sharp did under his "Spirit of Arkham" persona.
• Face–Heel Turn: Mostly due to his corruption from Alice's blood, Barnes begins to suffer a severe Sanity Slippage that has caused him to become a Killer Cop.
• Fallen Hero: He was once a noble police officer who protected the city of Gotham, but now he's become another psychopath wandering the streets killing whoever gets in his path.
• A Father to His Men: He really does care about the men under his command, even if they often frustrate him. Even with Jim Gordon off the force, he puts him in a holding cell for his own protection while Azrael is on the loose looking for him, even if he has to use the breakout of Karen Jennings as a pretext to do so.
• Foil: He's got a lot in common with season 1 Jim - a military background, an idealistic core and an unbending view of the world as black and white. By the point he's introduced, however, Gordon has come to appreciate the shades of gray in Gotham; consequently, the two clash frequently throughout seasons 2 and 3.
• Good Is Not Nice: The GCPD's boss and overall Big Good of seasons 2 and the first half of season 3 - but he's still a hard man who has no problems overriding and ignoring his subordinates when he feels like it.
• Handicapped Badass: Spends much of early season 3 with a cane after getting stabbed in the gut by Azrael.
• He Who Fights Monsters: After becoming corrupted by evil, he's grown into everything he hated about Gotham; an Ax-Crazy criminal who goes around doing whatever he wants.
• Hero Antagonist: His black-and-white outlook clashes with Jim's ability to acknowledge the gray in Gotham.
• Honor Before Reason: He refuses to recognize how corrupt Gotham really is and insists on doing everything by the book which causes friction with Bullock and Gordon, who recognize that being morally grey is basically a requirement for a Gotham police officer to get his job done.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Inverted in "Into the Woods" when Jim tells him that in arresting him, he merely did his duty.
• Icy Blue Eyes: He has almost nerve-wracking blue eyes that enhance his Death Glare. Later transitions to Creepy Blue Eyes after he becomes an Ax-Crazy Killer Cop.
• Inter-Service Rivalry: Calls Jim a "sad-sack Army hump" because he's a jarhead according to Jim.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pre-turn to villainy. He's harsh, but he's looking out for the people of Gotham and genuinely cares for the officers under his command.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Virtually everything he berates Jim and Bullock about - not beating up suspects, the need for evidence before they act, the stupidity of believing anything Barbara has to say - is absolutely true and in any other police show would make him The Hero. In Gotham, however, it just makes him the Only Sane Man.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: He realises what he's becoming, and at least tries to keep it under control - but when it becomes clear Jim is onto him, he gives him the chance to join him, then tries to murder him when he refuses.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Using Nora as bait to catch Mr. Freeze - because he holds her responsible for her husband's killing of officers.
  • He sends Karen to Blackgate without a trial in "Pinewood". Even considering his usual excuse that he's a white knight for the law, that was pretty low, especially considering that Gordon, having done a stint in Blackgate for a crime he didn't commit, knows exactly what her chances of survival are.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: After becoming corrupted by Alice's blood, he coldly murders both a criminal disposing of bodies in acid and an Ax-Crazy back alley doctor who tried to escape justice through his connections.
• Killer Cop: Thanks to his Sanity Slippage, he becomes a psychopath killing criminals while maintaining his guise as a cop.
• Knight Templar: Begins a one-man crusade against the criminals of Gotham after accepting his insanity.
• Like a Son to Me: Claims Jim is like this to him - while putting out a warrant for his arrest. A pissed-off Lee points out a father would have had more faith.
• Murder Is the Best Solution: After suffering his Sanity Slippage, he now sees murdering all of Gotham's worst criminals as the best solution to stop crime for good in the city.
• My Greatest Failure: He tells Gordon that he once accidentally murdered a Child Soldier in a blind rage after cracking under the pressures of war. This was how he accepted his Black-and-White Morality - to him, there is no line in the sand to cross, there's only the law.
• Only Sane Man: Inverted: he thinks he's this given his high morals insistence on doing things by the book, but Jim, Harvey and the audience are already aware that such attitudes are more of a hindrance than a help in Gotham.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In "Azrael", he commits an act of Hollywood Law by bringing Gordon in on suspicion of breaking Karen Jennings out of GCPD custody en route to Blackgate without any real evidence. Indeed, he has no intention of charging him, as he doesn't have any evidence, as mentioned earlier. He just wants to protect Gordon from Azrael, even if he has to do it by force.
• Rage Breaking Point: Seeing the Smug Snake doctor he'd apprehended for cutting faces from unwilling victims walk into Carmine Falcone's party scot-free finally causes him to snap and throw the bastard through a wall to his death.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his By-the-Book Cop tendencies he definitely is this, and usually accepts the instincts of his subordinates in who's responsible for the crimes they investigate. The trouble often is that he correctly calls for evidence to put criminals way, something that often doesn't exist in a city where criminals are great at covering their tracks.
• Sanity Slippage: In the third season, he is exposed to Alice Tetch's blood and becomes increasingly unhinged over the next several episodes.
• Semper Fi: Noted by Jim when he calls Jim a "sad-sack Army hump."
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Downplayed. He reveals that the pressure of war did affect him while on duty - to the point where he murdered an enemy in cold blood because he couldn't control his rage. In the present he admits the incident still haunts him, but is also what gave him his unshakable faith in the law.
• Shout-Out:
  Barnes: I am the LAW!
• Sociopathic Hero: After becoming corrupted by Alice's blood, he grows into a cold Killer Cop punishing criminals in Gotham in order to cleanse it of evil. After he aligns with the Court of Owls, the hero part is very much gone.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Gordon after he leaves the force and becomes a bounty hunter. Gordon even acknowledges that Barnes would be glad to see him dead during a hostage situation with Fish.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: After giving into his inner darkness, all he sees now in Gotham are zombie-like monsters who must be killed off as punishment for their sins.
• To Be Lawful or Good: His ultimate dilemma in the show, and he'll choose lawful every time.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The most morally pure character in the entire show. It was only a matter of time until he got corrupted by forces beyond his control.
• Tranquil Fury: Often displays this as he chooses to uphold the letter of the law and is forced to watch criminals escape justice due to technicalities or lack of evidence.
• Tragic Villain: Barnes was once a good man who wanted to protect the innocent people of Gotham by rebuilding the police force from the ground up, but it seems that his dreams have been shattered once he grows into a Fallen Hero casually killing criminals for the sake of justice.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He openly disdains Gordon after he leaves the force, despite him still being a useful ally because Gordon is working outside the law now. To be fair, Gordon has a way of showing up uninvited in the first half of season 3 to make his job harder.
• We Have Reserves: When one of his "Alpha Strike Team" officers dies he brushes it off on the grounds that you can't have a war without casualties.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After his final defeat, Barnes manages to escape custody once again whilst en route to Arkham and goes into hiding, much to Bullock's dismay. His current location is unknown. Ultimately, the series ends before ever saying where he went.
• What the Hell, Hero?: With Cowboy Cop subordinates like Gordon and Bullock working directly under him, he gets to do this a lot.
  Barnes: I don't know which one of you I want to bash over the head with this cane more. [to Gordon] I get it. Life disappointed you. So what? Does that make you special? I'm done with you. You cross me again, I will have you skinned alive and your head put on a pike. [to Bullock] And you. When I came back, I saw the way you handled things while I was away. I swear I had this feeling right here. I thought I was having a heart attack. But it was pride, Bullock. In you. The next time I have that feeling, I'll know it was just gas.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Barnes used to be an honest cop who believed in the law system, but Alice's blood has made him insane and driven him to villainy.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: In any normal gritty hyper-realistic Police Procedural, Barnes would be the hero or Big Good, with Jim as the Cowboy Cop sidekick who learns higher morals along the way - but not in this show. Granted, he's not too far off, but his underestimating the complexities of Gotham, as well as dealing with villains like Penguin, Theo Galavan and Jervis Tetch - not to mention Jim's refusal to shape up - lead to his catastrophic downfall in season 3.

Kristen Kringle

Kristen Kringle

Played By: Chelsea Spack

A secretary working in the archives at the GCPD. Nygma has an attraction to her, something she doesn't appreciate.

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• Accidental Murder: She ends up being accidentally strangled by Nygma while he's holding her by her neck in an attempt to speak to her.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She dated Flass. She outgrew the trope, however, and began dating Tom, another cop, who is far nicer. Only that Tom turns out to also be an Affably Evil abusive boyfriend. And then of course there's Ed. He is particularly noteworthy in that once his alter-ego began influencing him to act more like a "bad boy", Kristen seemed to become more interested in him.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Wistfully complains to Lee that the gentle Ed needs to have a little fire and danger too him. Oh, does she ever regret it.
• Bespectacled Cutie: Cute, quiet, smart, and wears glasses.
• Break the Cutie: In a depressingly subtle way, each of Kristen's relationships have done this to her. Each of the men she's dated have been abusive, and it puts her quiet, serious, withdrawn nature in a different light. The worst example is with Ed: her initial instincts told her for so long that he wasn't a safe choice, but she ultimately ignored her instincts and eventually started dating him. In the last few moments of her life, she realized she'd been right about him from the beginning. Unfortunately, in Real Life, this is a common occurrence: an abuse survivor might have trouble trusting their instincts, in no small part due to their abuser messing with their sense of reality.
• Broken Bird: Kristen comes across as a very serious, studious young lady so the audience is as shocked as Ed is to learn that Tom Doherty is abusing her. It winds up putting her withdrawn demeanor in a totally different light.
• Character Death: She ends up being accidentally killed by Nygma in a fit of panic in order to push his transition to the Riddler.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: She initially wants nothing to do with Nygma, but seems to be warming up to him. After learning Nygma killed Tom, she realized she was right about Nygma in the first place.
• Destructive Romance: Kristen has dated three men during the show's run, and all three turned out to be abusive to her.
• Dies Wide Open: The last thing she sees is Nygma's face before losing her oxygen.
• Horrible Judge of Character: When it comes to romantic partners. To be fair, Tom Doherty seemed like a nice guy at first, and the audience is expected to sympathize with Edward Nygma before his Face–Heel Turn.
• Hot Librarian: Miss Kringle ticks all the boxes: glasses, skirt, hair in a bun, shy, passion for order...
• Punny Name: It's a feminized form of "Kris Kringle." Which may explain Nygma's obsession with her.
• You Monster!: Calls Nygma a psychopath when she learns the truth of her ex-boyfriend's death.

Gillian B. Loeb

Gillian B. Loeb

Played By: Peter Scolari

The commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department.

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• Adaptational Job Change: In both Batman Begins and the story arc, "Wrath Child", flashbacks to the night the Waynes died had Loeb as a captain at the time. Here, he's already commissioner.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When Penguin and Zsasz threaten to kill him if he doesn't quit his job, Loeb breaks down and pleads for a chance to live.
• Arc Villain: For the second half of Season 1. He's behind all the corrupt cops and controls them on behalf of Falcone.
• Bad Boss: He tells Gordon he has 24 hours to find Jack Gruber, or else he gets shipped back to Arkham with Bullock in tow.
• Blackmail: How he stays in position, he has dirt on pretty much every other cop, multiple DA's and politicians including Bullock.
• Break the Haughty: After a visit from Penguin and Zsasz, they threaten to kill him if he doesn't quit his job. Fearing for his life, Loeb gives in and is visibly distraught that he has to rehire Gordon back on the force.
• By-the-Book Cop: It's all for show. He's the most crooked cop of them all.
• Da Chief: Of all the GCPD.
• Dirty Cop: Much like in other incarnations, he's a self-serving bastard in league with gangsters like Falcone.
• Dirty Coward: He collapses into a sniveling, pleading mess after Zsasz and Penguin threaten to kill him if he doesn't retire.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has a daughter named Miriam who he truly cares about. Enough to cover up his wife's murder at the hands of his crazy as balls daughter. But not enough to endanger his own life.
• Hate Sink: Corrupt to the core and cruel.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: When Maroni gains the upper hand in the mob war, Loeb drops his support of Falcone and switches his loyalty to Maroni.
• It's Personal: Really has it in for Gordon in the aftermath of his successfully uncovering the truth about his daughter, having another officer put Gordon onto the Ogre case - knowing full well that the Ogre kills the loved ones of the police investigating him. Later attempts to have Gordon murdered in prison in retaliation for Gordon having Penguin force him to resign.
• Karma Houdini: Faces no consequences after attempting to have Gordon killed at Blackgate.
• Manipulative Bastard: He made another cop put Gordon on the Ogre case, knowing that the Ogre kills the family of any cop that investigates him.
• Not His Sled: In the comics, The Dark Knight Trilogy, and Batman: Arkham Origins, he was commissioner by the time Bruce Wayne became Batman, being forced to resign by the end of Batman's first year in the former (then later killed by the Hangman shortly after Gordon became commissioner) and killed by the Joker in the latter two. Here, he's forced into retirement not long after the Waynes died.
• Quickly-Demoted Leader: At the beginning of Season 2, Loeb quits his job after being threatened by Penguin. Essen replaces him right after.
• Reluctant Retiree: As of the Season 2 premier. After Gordon makes a deal with the Penguin, the latter along with Zsasz essentially forces Loeb into retirement.
• Revenge by Proxy: Sets Gordon onto the Ogre, knowing full well the Ogre will target his loved ones in retaliation.
• Smug Snake: To a T.
• Spared by the Adaptation: He isn't killed after losing his job as commissioner, and disappears from the series thereafter.
• Straight Edge Evil: As Penguin points out in his Breaking Speech, Loeb has no vices to exploit, and might as well be a monk for all he cares. This means that, unlike everyone else in Gotham, the only way to get him to do something is to threaten his daughter, or - far more effectively - his own life.

Sarah Essen

Capt. Sarah Essen

Played By: Zabryna Guevara

The Captain of the Gotham City Police Department homicide squad and the boss of James Gordon and Harvey Bullock.

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• Adaptational Job Change: Outside of a subplot during the '90s where she briefly replaced Jim as Commissioner as part of the fallout of Knightfall, the Sarah of the comics never held a rank higher than Lieutenant. Here, she's a captain and Jim's boss.
• Age Lift: Appears to be somewhat older than Gordon, while she was younger in the comics.
• Big Good: In a way. She's still a Corrupt Cop, but only sticks with the program to keep her family safe. As one of the leaders of GCPD, she's the only one who genuinely cares for her officers and has aligned herself with Gordon and Bullock.
• The Captain: She's the Captain of the GCPD Homicide squad and Gordon and Bullock's boss.
• Corrupt Cop: She's "part of the program". She's well aware that Jim was supposed to kill Cobblepot. However we later find out it's because she wants to keep her family safe from the mob.
• Da Chief: Promoted in the Season 2 premiere, thanks to Gordon and Cobblepot's deal.
• Death by Adaptation: She's killed before Bruce ever becomes Batman, whereas her comic counterpart was killed during the tenth year of his career.
• Decomposite Character: In a sense. While she retains many elements of her comic counterpart (a police officer from the GCPD and acquaintance of Gordon), many other traits (a young ally and lover of Gordon) are transferred to Dr. Leslie Thompkins.
• Defiant to the End: She tells Jerome he'll never amount to anything, then spits in his face and breaks his nose with a headbutt before he kills her.
• Dies Wide Open: The last thing she sees is Gordon's face when parting ways with him.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: She gets unceremoniously killed off by Jerome.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Now that she's the commissioner, she's all set to reform Gotham's poor police structure to make the city safe again. Too bad she's murdered by Jerome and the Maniax! before she gets to do much.
• Heel Realization: After Zsasz's attack leaves Gordon sullen towards the rest of the GCPD, she realizes she should've stuck with Gordon no matter what.
• Mama Bear: She may be corrupt, but she is very protective of the cops under her charge. As Montoya and Allen find out. Later, when Falcone sends a hitman to the precinct to capture Gordon, she's the only cop to stand by him.
• Mythology Gag: This wouldn't be the first time the Sarah Essen character would be killed by a grinning maniac who treats life and death as a joke.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Inverted. In the comics, Essen began an affair with Gordon in the first storyarc she appeared in, and later became his wife. There is no hint of anything romantic between the television counterpart, to say nothing of the fact that she has a family, presumably including a husband, and is Gordon's superior, likely preventing any future romantic relationship.
• Race Lift: Sarah Essen, a white woman in the comics, is played by Latina actress Zabryna Guevara.
• Sacrificial Lion: She's killed off to establish the Maniax! as a serious threat.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Despite surviving all the horrors of Season 1, Essen is killed off in the second episode of Season 2.
• Trapped in Villainy: As mentioned, her willingness to let the law slide, especially where Falcone is involved, is more Necessarily Evil for her position than it is because she's actually corrupt.

Tom Dougherty

Officer Tom Dougherty

Played By: Zachary Spicer

A GCPD officer and Kris Kringle's new boyfriend.

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• Asshole Victim: He was a domestic abuser which is why Nygma kills him.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: At first it seems he's an improvement when compared to Ms. Kringle's previous boyfriend: Jerkass Dirty Cop Flass, as he's actually nice to "Riddle Man" Nygma, even humoring his riddle-telling by offering some that he knows. It turns out he's not so nice after all.
• Domestic Abuse: To Kristen. It's what gets him killed.
• The Nicknamer: He never refers to Nygma as anything but "Riddle Man".

Arnold Flass

Detective Arnold Flass

Played By: Dash Mihok

A narc who runs a network of undercover detectives. The undercover part is actually a cover for their own drug dealing operations.

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• Decomposite Character: Bullock takes over his role as Gordon's partner.
• Dirty Cop: Just like his comics counterpart.
• Foreshadowing: Of the unintentional variety, but his telling Gordon to come preach to him in five years just before being arrested is remarkably prescient of the fact that by season 5 Jim has done a lot of shady stuff in his own right (though never anything as blatantly corrupt).
• Large and in Charge: He's the most physically imposing of his crew.
• Jerkass: Exemplified by his treatment of Nygma.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Double Subverted He considers himself untouchable because he's well connected. However, murdering an innocent witness within the GCPD is too much and he's arrested once Gordon obtains the murder weapon and a confession from one of his crew. Then Commissioner Loeb has him cleared and reinstated. It takes Gordon blackmailing Loeb to get him put away.

Derek Delaware

Detective Derek Delaware

Played By: Niko Nicotera

A detective in Flass's crew.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Begs Gordon not to touch his family after Gabe, Penguin's The Dragon, threatens him and waterboards his wife to get him to confess that Flass murdered a witness.
• Beard of Evil: Nicotera's own.
• Dirty Cop: He's part of Flass's drug-dealing operation.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A wife and children.
• Not His Sled: He isn't Gordon's partner in this.

Bill Cranston

Lieutenant Bill Cranston

Played By: James Colby

A corrupt lieutenant in the GCPD, targeted by the Balloonman.

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• Affably Evil: He is surprisingly friendly to Gordon, even when showing off O'Brien and its purpose as his chief interrogator.
• Asshole Victim: By the time he's killed in the episode, it is clear he's a corrupt jerk.
• Dirty Cop: He takes money from drug dealers to allow them to operate.
• Police Brutality: He beats suspects with O'Brien, his award from the Chamber of Commerce. It's made of metal.
• Shout-Out: His surname is a reference to The Shadow (Lamont Cranston), who was one of the inspirations for Batman.
• Villain with Good Publicity: He has a favourable reputation, if his award is anything to show.

Dix

Detective Dix

Played By: Dan Hedaya

Harvey Bullock's former partner, forcibly retired ten years before the series after a bad fall left him paralyzed.

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• Back for the Dead: Returns a full four seasons after his debut, only to be strangled by Jane Doe.
• The Corrupter: A milder example than most, but his cynicism that there were "No heroes in Gotham," along with his willingness to cut corners on cases led to the once-idealistic Harvey Bullock becoming the tired, jaded cynic he is at the start of the series.
• Dirty Cop: Among other things, forced a false confession out of a child in order to put her mother in jail.
• Don't Be a Hero: Apparently his philosophy in life, "No heroes in Gotham". Something he tries teaching Bullock.
• No Sympathy: He has no guilt over the Victoria Cartwright case. Especially when her daughter Jane Doe (shapeshift into Bullock) calls him out for turning her into a monster. He just scoffs at his/her berating, and then gets killed.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His rush job on the Victoria Cartwright case eventually led to her daughter being declared insane and experimented on by Hugo Strange, and the deaths of Dix and two of his friends at her hands years later.