Headscratchers / Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

• Why does Jack the Ripper have an Orgy of Evidence in his hidden room? The trophies and newspapers I understand, but why did he put his boxing gloves, pictures of him as a surgeon and medical books? Especially when he later does explain everything that was shown in the room during the final fight.
  • It might just be where he stores stuff he doesn't have a need for or doesn't care to look at. They might also make it seem like there's nothing concerning in there, just his personal stuff, if he's seen by anyone, such as his family, taking normal items towards the room.
  • Because Jack's sin is pride. He thinks he's the savior of Gotham by ridding it of evil, and clearly views himself as morally superior to everyone, including nuns. Why not have a room dedicated to his greatest work, aka his work in the civil war, his boxing days (which he brags about), newspaper clippings about his crimes and the organs he's stolen from 'evil' women?
  • Also, this is Truth in Television to a degree; a lot of serial killers have, when finally caught, been found to keep a trophy room or shrine to themselves and their crimes. Extreme narcissism has often been linked as being a key part of a serial killer's psychological make-up, so it's not so surprising that the Ripper would have a shrine to himself and how amazing he thinks he is.
• What I don't get is the nightmare Jack the Ripper has where he kills someone close to himself. Is this supposed to imply a split personality aspect to the villain?
  • I think it was probably meant as a Red Herring.
  • Or a twisted memory of him hurting her.
  • Or he fears that she might become a whore (which he believes to be likely for any woman) and he would be forced to kill her.
• I'm curious about this else-world. If Bruce Wayne/Batman is alive in the late 1800s, then who becomes Batman in the modern day?
  • Batman was originally made in the late thirties, this isn't too far off from that. If anything, it's obvious that Dickie, Jason, and Tim have figured out who Batman is by the end, so they will probably carry on his legacy once he gets too old, and they will probably find someone else to carry it on once they get too old.
  • Besides, this is a world where Batman and his supporting cast and enemies live in the late 19th century instead of the modern era.
  • This world's Terry McGinnis.
  • And then in the far future, as a mythology gag, the next Batman after Gaslight's Terry McGinnis is Terry McGinnis Jr.
• If The Ripper hates women so much that he stalks the streets at night looking for women to brutally slaughter then why on earth is he married!?
  • He eventually broke her psychologically into being his supporter in his killings. In Jack's mind, he "purified" her of her sin and "saved her soul".
    • It's possible the marriage predates his full-on Ripper insanity.
    • It's also possible he chose to marry just for appearances' sake: 19th-century morals seem to apply to this universe considering the disparaging comments Bruce gets for being an unmarried man at his age. Gordon's old enough that if he was a Confirmed Bachelor there would be a lot of speculation and rumormongering about why.