History Characters / GothamRoguesGallery

** First, he gets his bleached skin and SanitySlippage from a special laughing gas given to him by Jerome, turns him into the series' pre-eminent threat in the last few episodes of season 4.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Is nowhere to be seen when Falcone was put into the hospital during the season 1 finale. You'd think Zsasz would be at Falcone's bedside considering how their relationship was in previous appearances. However he would have been a Storybreaker Power for Falcone. Subverted in season 5 - he returns in person, and the first episode shows he controls a substantial territory on his own.

* SecondaryColorNemesis: After he leaves [[spoiler:Bruce in Jerome's grave]] he's already wearing the telltale Joker colors, sporting a purple shirt with a bright green tie. Goes into this in full in season 5, sporting a purple longcoat and gloves in addition to a dark red shirt, making him resemble the Joker more than ever before. Tthe finale has him adopt the classic Joker outfit in full.

* SecondaryColorNemesis: After he leaves [[spoiler:Bruce in Jerome's grave]] he's already wearing the telltale Joker colors, sporting a purple shirt with a bright green tie. Goes into this in full in season 5, sporting a purple longcoat and gloves in addition to a dark red shirt, making him resemble the Joker more than ever before.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the comics and most adaptations (such as the VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries) he's just a serial killer who relies mainly on ambush tactics and fear, but who's not very tough in a straight fight. Here he's the most feared mob hitman around who can make the entire police department [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere turn and run]] at his request.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the comics and most adaptations (such as the VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries) he's just a serial killer who relies mainly on ambush tactics and fear, but who's not very tough in a straight fight. In here he's the most feared mob hitman who can make the entire police department turn and run at his request.

* BaldOfEvil: Not a single hair on this psycho's head. [[NoBrows Not even eyebrows]] or even eyelashes (Anthony Carrigan has alopecia areata totalis).

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Gordon tells him that he's nothing more than a C list criminal who's doomed to fall into obscurity, and has virtually no match against the staying power of bigger villains like the Penguin or Jerome. Nowadays, Pyg is considered by many to be one of Batman's more obscure rogues.

* AdaptationExpansion: His full transformation into the Joker has essentially been split into ''two separate events'' in this continuity. First, he gets his bleached skin and SanitySlippage from a special laughing gas given to him by Jerome. A season later, he [[spoiler:falls into the Ace Chemicals vat just like in the comics, and emerges physically deformed and closer to the traditional Joker look (specifically with the large pointed chin that's commonly associated with the character)]].

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: He's less a zombie and more a mutant with a strong HealingFactor that brought him back from the brink of death.

* TheDogBitesBack: Helps Theo against Penguin after being freed from his mind control.

* BackFromTheDead: After a pair of lazy paramedics dump his body in Slaughter Swamp, some dumped chemicals from Indian Hill bring him back to life.

* AscendedExtra: He's just Fish's head mook in Season 1, and while the show spends a good deal of time exploring his character, he's overshadowed by the likes of Penguin and Fish. By "Wrath of the Villains", he survived through the reigns of both Fish and the Penguin to become 'King of Gotham' on top of the underworld, hooking up with Tabitha in the process. And then in season 4 he becomes someone with a lot more importance to the Batman mythos - Solomon Grundy.

* AnArmAndALeg: Penguin hacks off his hand when he asks him to perform a special infiltration mission against Galavan. He then gains a prosthetic replacement. Later, once he becomes Solomon Grundy, his HealingFactor kicks in and he regains his hand for good.

* AnArmAndALeg: Penguin hacks off his hand when he asks him to perform a special infiltration mission against Galavan. He then gains a prosthetic replacement. Later, once he becomes Solomon Grundy, his HealingFactor kicks in and he regains his hand for good.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Some of her interactions with the Penguin seem classic of a DarkMistress or an IgnoredEnamoredUnderling, but they are only friends.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: She shows great TheChessmaster tendencies when tricking what is believed to be the name of the Wayne killer out of Silver by means of cold-blooded torture at the hands of someone who appears to be an associate of hers. Bruce, who was also subjected to it, played along with Selina's plan, and his role in her torture gambit is only revealed after the name is.

* GogglesDoNothing: Selina is usually seen with a pair of green goggles on top of her hood, perhaps as a nod to more modern versions of Catwoman who wears goggles as part of her costume.

** In "Pena Dura", not only did she confessed to Bruce that she was there the night his parents, she didn't do anything not because she was scared but because [[ItsAllAboutMe she didn't care and was only looking out for herself]].

** For the GCPD in the first half of season 3. When mayor Oswald appoints him his liason with the GCPD - [[RealityEnsues everybody hates him]] for his prior actions. Bullock loathes him for his prior framing of Jim, Lee punches him for Kristen's murder (and dares him to do something about it given she's marrying Carmine Falcone's son) and Barnes even makes it clear that he only tolerates his presence at the station because he likes his own job more than he likes Nygma. Lucius is the only one that even tries to work with him out of a grudging respect for his intellect.

* EvilGenius: Possibly the smartest character on the whole show, rivaled only by the likes of [[ChildProdigy Bruce Wayne]], Lucius Fox (whom he calls to his face "the second smartest man in Gotham"), and [[spoiler:Jeremiah Valeska]]. If it weren't for his compulsions and split personality tripping him up, he'd be unstoppable.

* EvilGenius: Possibly the smartest character on the whole show, rivalled only by [[ChildProdigy Bruce Wayne]], Lucius Fox (whom he calls to his face "the second smartest man in Gotham), and [[spoiler:Jeremiah Valeska]]. If it weren't for his compulsions and split personality tripping him up, he'd be unstoppable.

* EvilGenius: Possibly the smartest character on the whole show, rivalled only by [[ChildProdigy Bruce Wayne]] and [[spoiler:Jeremiah Valeska]]. If it weren't for his compulsions and split personality tripping him up, he'd be unstoppable.

* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: At the start of "How the Riddler Got His Name" he's still maintaining the pretence of being part of the (now-missing, presumed dead) Mayor Cobblepot's staff, with the GCPD suspecting nothing about his killing Penguin even though they hate him anyway. But Oswald's belief Ed would be nothing without him needles him into going on a episode-long rampage that outs him to the police and city, killing 6 people to find someone who understands him, revealing himself to Lucius Fox and almost killing Harvey. Lucius expresses utter confusion as to why he do something so blatantly insane - but none of it matters to him, as he's now discovered who he truly is: [[TheDreaded The Riddler]].

* EvilGenius: Possibly the smartest character on the whole show, rivalled only by [[BoyGenius Bruce Wayne]] and [[spoiler:Jeremiah Valeska]]. If it weren't for his compulsions and split personality tripping him up, he'd be unstoppable.

* EvilGenius: Possibly the smartest character on the whole show, rivalled only by [[spoiler:Jeremiah Valeska]]. If it weren't for his compulsions and split personality tripping him up, he'd be unstoppable.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: The rest of the police often take his brilliant forensics work for granted, and in particular because they think he's annoying, they often shoo him away as soon as possible or ignore him. One of the principle reasons he ends up going down [[StartOfDarkness the path he does]].

!!Oswald Cobblepot

!!Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow

* AmbiguousDisorder: He ''has'' to speak in riddles, is visibly annoyed and disappointed when not taken up on them, and he has a textbook case of NoSocialSkills, which line up on the Asperger's 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?"

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating:
** For the GCPD in the first half of season 3. When mayor Oswald appoints him his liason with the GCPD - [[RealityEnsues everybody hates him]] for his prior actions. Bullock loathes him for his prior framing of Jim, Lee punches him for Kristen's murder (and dares him to do something about it given she's marrying Carmine Falcone's son) and Barnes even makes it clear that he only tolerates his presence at the station because he likes his own job more than he likes Nygma. Lucius is the only one that even tries to work with him out of a grudging respect for his intellect.
** Becomes this for the populace of Gotham in season 5 after it gets out he was the one responsible for the [[spoiler:Haven bombing. Averted later on, when Gordon finds out he was being controlled by a chip inserted by Strange, and controlled by Eduardo. Also one of the few times Nygma is completely ''horrified'' by "his" actions.]]