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Characters / Batman Film Series: Supporting Characters

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Bat-Family | Villains (The Joker | Poison Ivy) | Supporting Characters
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Multiple Movies

    Commissioner James Gordon 

Commissioner James Gordon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gordon_in_batman_89.png
"How'd they get away?!"

Played by: Pat Hingle

Voiced by: Yves Barsacq (European French), Yves Massicotte (Canadian French)

Appearances: Batman | Batman Returns | Batman Forever | Batman & Robin | Batman '89

"What are you waiting for? The Signal!"

James Gordon is the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and Batman's staunchest ally.

  • Abled in the Adaptation: This Gordon is lacking the glasses that comics Gordon is known to wear. And he wasn't the first version to do so.
  • Adaptational Wimp: Most other versions of Gordon, including his comic-book basis, have him as a relatively competent police officer (which, in Gotham, is saying a lot) who is one of the few people actually trying to change the city for the better, even at significant risk to himself, working closely with Batman as an indispensable ally. The films downplay his presence significantly, resulting in him losing most of his characterization and usefulness. This is finally subverted in Batman '89 where his role as Batman's closest ally is restored and he helps in trying to stop Two-Face.
  • Age Lift: Batman '89 confirms that he's 58 during the story, which according to Word of God takes place in the mid-nineties. Since Batman debuted shortly before 1989, this makes him a bit older than usual depictions which have Gordon be in his late thirties to early forties when Batman debuts.
  • Alternate Self: One on Earth-1, one on Earth-9 and one on Earth-66, as well as any other Earths where Barbara Gordon exists. He also exists on Earth-89 and Earth-97, with the former having a daughter while the latter doesn't.
  • The Commissioner Gordon: Despite being the Trope Namer, this version averts this because he barely has any presence in the films and hardly ever interacts with Batman. He does at least seem to value Batman as a crimefighter, presenting the Bat-Signal at the end of Batman (1989), and is the only person who isn't convinced by the Penguin's attempt to frame Batman for murder in Batman Returns.
  • Dead Alternate Counterpart: The Earth-89 version of Gordon was killed by Two-Face in Batman '89 which is set in the mid-nineties, while his Earth-97 counterpart was last seen still alive by 1997
  • Demoted to Extra: In the later films. In contrast to Batman canon, he's this the entire series; while Jim Gordon has always been a very important character in the comics and is a key partner in Batman's fight against crime, Burtonverse Gordon is perpetually on the fringe and barely assists Batman, who at times hardly acknowledges his presence. Finally subverted however in Batman '89 where he plays a bigger role in the story and helps Batman when he can.
  • Disabled in the Adaptation: Pat Hingle was missing the little finger on his left hand due to an accident he had in 1959.
  • In Spite of a Nail: His Earth-9 counterpart was also killed by a member of Batman's rogues gallery, except it was by Mr. Freeze instead of Two-Face.
  • Only Sane Man: In Batman Returns, when Batman is framed for kidnapping and killing the Ice Princess, Gordon is the only one who isn't convinced. He even told his officers to hold their fire on Batman.
  • Point of Divergence: While the Gordon of Earth-89 had a daughter unlike the Earth-97 version, both versions of Jim Gordon lived pretty much the same life until after Batman Returns, with the Earth-89 version experiencing the events of Batman '89 while the Earth-97 version experienced the events of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
  • Police Are Useless: Falls deeper into this with each passing film.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: See "Only Sane Man".
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: The police dress uniform notwithstanding, he arrives to arrest Napier at Axis Chemicals in a tuxedo. In Returns he swaps it for an black-grey coat and hat combo.
  • Unrelated in the Adaptation: This continuity's Gordon retains Barbara as his daughter, though not as Batgirl, whereas the Batgirl we see on Earth-97 is In Name Only and Alfred's niece.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: His picture quote, after finding out that Bane and Ivy got away.

    Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne 

Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_1989_the_waynes.jpg

Thomas Wayne Played By: David Baxt (Batman), Michael Scranton (Batman Forever)

Martha Wayne Played By: Sharon Holm (Batman), Eileen Seeley (Batman Forever)

Appearances: Batman | Batman Forever

Bruce Wayne's parents who were killed by a mugger (Jack Napier, the man who'd become the Joker). Their deaths drove Bruce to become Batman.

    Gossip Gerty 

Gossip Gerty

Played By: Elizabeth Sanders Kane

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gossipgertyheader.png
"You must be new in town. In Gotham City, Batman and Robin protect us... even from plants and flowers."

Appearances: Batman Forever | Batman & Robin

"Edward, how does it feel to be the city's newest, most eligible bachelor? Gotham must know! Oh! There's Bruce Wayne! Brucie!"

An entertainment news personality of Gotham City and host of Good Morning Gotham.

Earth-89

Batman (1989)

    Vicki Vale 

Vicki Vale

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_1989___vicki_vale_3.jpg
"I just wanna know- are we gonna try to love each other?"

Played by: Kim Basinger

Voiced by: Michèle Buzynski (European French), Claudie Verdant (Canadian French)

Appearances: Batman

"I'm here to see some of the wildlife in Gotham City."

A photojournalist who comes to Gotham City to investigate Batman. She partners with Alexander Knox on the assignment, and begins dating Bruce Wayne, not knowing at first he's actually the same guy she's investigating.

  • Alliterative Name Vicki Vale.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: Vicki is normally shown as a redhead in the comics, but is portrayed as a blonde in the film.
  • Audience Surrogate: Vicki learns throughout the film who Bruce Wayne and Batman are, and so does the audience. This is especially obvious due to the fact that this Bruce is fairly unknown in this film, despite him being the most famous man in Gothan City in other continuities.
  • Big Fancy House: Both Bruce and Joker marvel at how big her apartment is.
  • Captain Obvious: "Bats," she points out upon seeing the animals in the Batcave. "His parents were murdered in that alley. That's why he went there," while checking Bruce Wayne's newspaper files motivated by having seen him going to the alley, and then when she sees Joker's Smilex gas flowing out of a balloon, she comments "Smilex gas". In the first and third example, the referred items are in plain sight not only to her but to the audience as well.
  • Captive Date: With Joker in Batman1989. It was enough for him that he knew about it in advance, arranged it and had even brought his own waiters and candelabra. And toys.
  • Color-Coded Characters: She's prominently wearing white outfits throughout the film, giving her a pure appearance when compared to the black-clad Batman and colorful clothed Joker.
  • Composite Character: Resembles her comic counterpart in name and occupation only, as her characterization is much closer to another of Bruce Wayne's love interests from the comics named Silver St. Cloud, a blonde woman who learns about Bruce's secret identity as Batman. An early draft of the script featured Silver St. Cloud, but the character was renamed since the producers thought the name sounded too cheesy.
  • Damsel in Distress: She needs to be rescued by Batman after she's kidnapped by the Joker.
  • Dude Magnet: Bruce and The Joker fall both in love with her. The former even brings her to the Batcave and is later willing to reveal his identity to her (she figures it out, anyway), and The Joker shows his twisted love her via violence. Knox is also hinted to like her romantically, but otherwise, he keeps their relationship professional.
  • Dull Surprise: Especially when she meets Bruce in the Batcave, and later when the Batplane gets shot down. Roger Ebert chided the former sequence, asking why Vicki's reaction was so mundane. Could be justified if you subscribe to the theory that Vicki had already figured out Bruce Wayne's secret while reading about his parents' murders with Knox at the office, and had obviously given herself time to come to terms with the truth before heading for Wayne Manor. (Indeed, sharp-eyed viewers will notice that Vicki is wearing a different outfit in the Batcave than at the office, proving that she at least took time out to change her clothes.) In addition, she's escorted to the Batcave by Alfred, and one must surmise she asked him to take her there.
  • "Eureka!" Moment: May have had one after seeing the news clipping of the murder of Bruce's parents.
    Knox: [to Vicki] What do you suppose something like this does to a kid?
  • Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Vicki is a veteran reporter, but her bed has a teddy bear on it, showcasing her softer side.
  • Going for the Big Scoop: Her role in the first film is trying to get a scoop on Batman.
  • Hollywood Beauty Standards: Vicki is an attractive reporter.
  • Leg Focus: Knox comments on her legs when she's first introduced in the movie.
    Knox: Hello, legs.
  • Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: Happens to her while being forced to climb the bell tower of Gotham Cathedral by the Joker. She falls and loses one of her high heels. The Joker then throws away the offending shoe, seemingly to taunt the pursuing Batman and/or make Vicki move faster. Her other shoe is later seen discarded further up the stairs.
  • Ms. Fanservice: A beautiful woman who wears nice outfits, has a semi-nude scene and sex scene with Bruce, and she keeps losing her shoes throughout the movie.
  • Neutral Female: Played with. She does manage to save Batman from getting unmasked in the alley, and later successfully distracts Joker while Batman is sneaking up on him. In all other cases, though, she's as useless as a snorkel in the Sahara.
  • The One That Got Away: Her role as The Ghost in Batman Returns; she couldn't handle Bruce Wayne's dual identities and left him between the two films, which resulted in him becoming more jaded toward the idea of romance while still being Batman and hesitant to pursue a relationship with Selina Kyle. It also led to a minor rift between Bruce and Alfred, due to Alfred having led Vale into the Batcave.
  • Screaming Woman: She screams at everything—when the clowns are shooting at the City Hall, when the Joker nearly sprays her with acid, when Bruce Wayne gets shot by the Joker, when her friend Knox jumps to the windshield of her car and when the Joker pulls the trigger on his fake gun (which is even more absurd in context, since the Joker was pretending to shoot himself).
  • Secret Chaser: While following Bruce, she sees him putting roses by the old hotel, making her suspicious of its significance. She calls Knox to find any information on the location, which eventually led her to discover that Bruce is Batman.
  • Shameful Strip: The climax appeared to be heading in this direction, with the Joker taking her up to the top of the Gotham City Cathedral at gunpoint. He removes her shoes and throws them down the stairs, then removes her coat and drapes it over the railing... leaving her wearing only a sheer white dress. More to the point, the Joker makes sure that Batman, who is pursuing him, comes across these discarded articles of clothing on his way up the stairs, possibly as a means of taunting him. Whatever the case, Vicki was lucky that cathedral tower wasn't any taller...
  • Stalker with a Crush: She has a little bit of this towards Bruce Wayne when he avoids her after what was really just a one night stand.

    Alexander Knox 

Alexander Knox

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_1989_j_sawyer___alexander_knox_4.jpg
"Forget Bruce Wayne- I'm onto Batman."
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batmanknoxcoie.jpg
"I hope you're watching, big guy..."

Played by: Robert Wuhl

Voiced by: Philippe Peythieu (European French)

Appearances: Batman | Crisis on Infinite Earths

"Is there a six-foot bat in Gotham City? And if so is he on the police payroll? And if so, what's he pulling down, after taxes?"

A reporter for the Gotham Globe who's investigating reports of a bat-like creature attacking criminals. He teams with Vicki Vale to solve the mystery of Batman.

  • All of the Other Reindeer: His co-workers at the Gotham Globe mock him for believing Batman exists.
  • Badass Normal: Manages to get rid of one Smilex balloon all by himself.
  • The Bus Came Back: Robert Wuhl returns as Alexander Knox in Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019), 30 years since he last played the character.
  • The Cameo: Wuhl reprised his role as Knox 30 years later for a brief cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019).
  • Canon Foreigner: Was created for Batman.
  • Cassandra Truth: He's the only semi-major media figure who believes The Batman is real, and is almost universally ridiculed for it.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: He flirts with his partner, Vicki a couple of times, but she always turns him down.
  • Engaging Conversation: When he first meets Vicki, who's the only other person who believes Batman exists and wants to help him:
    Knox: Vale, will you marry me?
    Vicki: No.
    Knox: Will you buy me lunch?
    Vicki: ...Maybe.
    Knox: I eat light!
  • Heroic Bystander: He was present during the parade as a reporter when Vicki shouted to him that the balloons were filled with Smylex gas. Knox immediately springs into action, and even went on to fight some Mooks armed with a baseball bat.
  • Holding Out for a Hero: When he sees the skies have turned red from the anti-matter wave, he looks up at the Batsignal and says "I hope you're watching, big guy..."
  • Intrepid Reporter: He's a reporter that doesn't mind putting himself in danger.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: When the Smilex gas is released in the streets of Gotham during a parade, he immediately grabs a mask and baseball bat from his trunk and goes after the Joker's goons, managing to scatter away one of the balloons.
  • Nice to the Waiter: Knox thanks Alfred (who's acting as a server at Bruce's fundraiser) for his drink and tips him.
  • Outside Ride: Does this on the hood of Vicki's car.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: He serves as a Heroic Bystander at one point, though he gets sidelined quickly. Accidentally. By Vicki.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Set up as one, but he's mostly an aversion (if not an outright inversion). He fancies himself a great investigative reporter, even though he famously has a "useless reputation" and though his co-workers at the Gotham Globe relentlessly mock him for being one of the few people in Gotham who actually believes in Batman. In addition, when he meets Vicki and is instantly smitten with her, he arrogantly asks if she has come to photograph him nude and boasts that, in that case, she will need a long lens. But Vicki actually ends up liking him despite his more annoying qualities, and in the end, he is vindicated when the people of Gotham come to realize that he was right about Batman after all. The nearest he gets to a Break the Haughty is when Vicki accidentally hits him with a car during a panicked stampede in the streets and he falls off the hood and into a pile of garbage in an alley.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: Downplayed, but Knox makes a couple of jabs at Bruce's status as supposed Idle Rich seconds after Bruce gives him a grant for his work.

    Alicia Hunt 

Alicia Hunt

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alicia_1_3.png
Click here to see her after being disfigured

Played By: Jerry Hall

Voiced by: Martine Meirhaeghe (European French), Élise Bertrand (Canadian French)

Appearances: Batman (1989)

Grissom's mistress and, before his transformation into the Joker, Jack's secret girlfriend.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: She seems genuinely attracted to and close to Jack. Joker, not so much.
  • Ambiguous Situation: After Joker scars her, it's unclear if she's in a constant state of fear for her life, she's been drugged, or she had a mental breakdown thanks to what was done to her face.
  • Break the Haughty: A proud gangster's moll who is visibly subdued after half her face is disfigured, apparently either suffering from mental trauma or just being terrified to do anything which would cause Joker to hurt her again.
  • Death by Disfigurement: Joker disfigures one side of her face, seeing it as making her a living artwork. Later he says that she jumped out the window.
  • Driven to Suicide: Apparently her disfigurement became too much for her, and she threw herself out of a window... if you're willing to trust Joker's word on that. Batman '89: Echoes #1 reveals she's still alive.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Her: After being a decent presence in the first half of the movie, Joker casually says that she threw herself out the window (although it's possible that he pushed her, or is only lying about her death to justify his flirtation of Vicki). It's revealed in Batman '89: Echoes #1 that Alicia survived.
  • Facial Horror:
    • Downplayed in the movie itself; her acid scarring isn't severe, mostly being blisters and some second-degree burn tissue on her cheek◊, but for a vain woman like Alicia, the loss of symmetry and perceived perfection seems to have been psychologically devastating. Batman '89: Echoes shows that the damage was corrected with only a few small marks remaining.
    • Craig Shaw Gardner's novelization, which was based off multiple written scripts and not the film itself, leans heavily into this, with Joker's handiwork implied to be the result of a lengthy process of torture.
      She couldn’t look back at Alicia, no matter how much she tried. The left side was perfectly normal, a model’s face. But the right side — skin melted into muscle, which in turn eroded away to scar tissue and bone. How long had it taken the Joker to destroy Alicia’s face so completely?
  • Fainting: She drops into a faint when she gets her first look at Jack after he turns into Joker.
  • Godiva Hair: One of the pictures in Alicia's Shrine to Self has her posing topless, with her hair draped down over her chest.
  • Karmic Transformation: She's a professional model and very proud of her looks, so Joker turns her into his first art "project" by making her ugly, starting with the mutilation of her face. As of Batman '89: Echoes, it's revealed that, aside from some light scarring, Alicia's face was fully restored.
  • Minion with an F in Evil: Alicia seems more cowed than anything once Joker starts dragging her into actual criminal activity.
  • The Mistress: To Grissom, although she's not a faithful one.
  • Proud Beauty: She seems very proud of her looks.
  • Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Joker tells Vicki later on that Alicia supposedly threw herself out a window, implying she was dead. Echoes confirms that she actually survived regardless if she did jump of her own accord or Joker tried to kill her.
  • Shrine to Self: She keeps lots of pictures of herself modeling outfits in her apartment.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: She just had to cheat on her mob boss boyfriend with his second-in-command, which ended up with said boyfriend dead, her mutilated and eventually dead, and the second-in-command becoming the Joker.
    Joker: [seething] You set me up, over a woman. A WOMAN!
  • White Mask of Doom: She wears one after Jack disfigures her. Following her death, he puts the broken pieces together to show Vicki, then smashes it all over again.

    Peter McElroy 

Peter McElroy

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_movie_6371.jpg
A Gotham City news anchor.
  • Seriously Scruffy: Peter is well-groomed in his first scene, but in his second, he's unshaven and has several zits due to avoiding shaving cream and skin products because of how Joker has been poisoning household products to kill people.
  • This Just In!: Peter is seen reporting updates about the Joker's crime spree and the upcoming bicentennial celebration in three scenes. He actually says "This just in" during his first scene.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He reprimands another anchor for laughing about the recent Joker Venom poisonings before realizing that it's because she's experiencing the symptoms of poisoning herself.

Batman Returns

    Ice Princess 

Ice Princess

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_ice_princess.jpg
"You know, I don't just light trees; I'm an actress as well."

Played By: Cristi Conaway

Appearances: Batman Returns

"The tree lights up, and then I push the button. No, no, wait, wait, wait. I press the button, and then the tree lights up, I press the button and then the tree lights up, I press the button and then the tree lights up..."
A Christmas-themed beauty queen chosen to turn on Gotham City’s Christmas lights at the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony.
  • Alpha Bitch: Her original portrayal in the earlier screenplays and Craig Shaw Gardner's novelization (which was based on those screenplays), before it was toned down in the finished film. One scene that was written but never filmed, was that during the Red Triangle Circus Gang's first attack on Gotham Plaza, she knocked down an elderly woman during her escape. This was mentioned in Batman Returns: The Official Movie Book, as well an interview with Cristi Conaway in Entertainment Weekly:
    "[The Ice Princess is] the beauty queen-elect of Gotham City. A very lampoon, Vanna White kind of thing. She'd push an old woman down and try to fix her nail at the same time. It’s just silly — it’s, like, a comedy. It wasn’t some great acting role. Puh-leease." — Cristi Conaway, Entertainment Weekly, June 26, 1992
    • In an earlier script (notably, the one featuring Robin, AKA "The Kid"), the Ice Princess is depicted barking into a cordless phone, inside her dressing room, advising an underling that "Bottom line, they want this fair maiden back next year, they are going to have to pay. Big time," and in a subsequent scene, the Mayor refers to her as the "Ice Brat".
  • Bat Scare: How The Penguin killed her; when Batman tried to rescue her, The Penguin releases a colony of bats from his umbrella and they swarm her, causing her to lose her balance and fall off the ledge she was standing on.
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted; when The Penguin threw a stolen Batarang at her, it left a gash on her forehead.
  • Brainless Beauty: "The embodiment of mindless glamor, the Ice Princess is a total contrast to Cristi Conaway, whose intelligence presents a fine match for her radiant good looks." — Batman Returns: The Official Movie Book
  • Damsel in Distress: Batman is prompted to come to her rescue, not once, but two times. Firstly, when The Penguin easily kidnaps her, and then, after Catwoman has thwarted that attempt, and dragged her away. Unfortunately, it doesn't end well...
  • Dumb Blonde: While reading her script, she thought she had to turn on the switch after the lights come on, until she corrected herself.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": She is only referred to as the Ice Princess; her real name is unknown.
    • This might be an example of Truth in Television, since it is the custom at certain festivals (Mardi Gras, especially) for "kings" and "queens" and whatnot to never have their identities revealed to anyone except for invited guests at the elite parade clubs' private banquets.
  • Fur and Loathing: She is adorned in a vast white fur-trimmed winter coat, which she strips off to reveal an even furrier trimmed-corset, which has both a Pretty in Mink effect and also alludes to some of her less admirable traits (i.e. that she's The Ditz and possibly an Ice Queen, if her particularly rude behavior in an earlier draft of the script is anything to go by).
  • High-Class Gloves: She wears long, fur-trimmed gloves befitting of an Ice Princess.
  • Meaningful Background Event: In the scene where Bruce asks Selina to watch the Tree Relighting Ceremony with him at his mansion, the Ice Princess is seen in the background being briefed on her instructions for the ceremony; her irritable facial expressions and posture show she's clearly annoyed with it, which is funny because in the following scene she's seen struggling to mentally grasp those same instructions, before she gets kidnapped by The Penguin. Apparently, she did need the extra tuition, not that she appears to have paid much attention to it.
  • Meaningful Name: Her title is a reference to her original "Ice Queen" characterization in the earlier screenplays.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Pretty much what her job is.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: She is modeled after Marilyn Monroe; a blonde-haired beauty with a similar beauty mole on her face, but also a ditz (a nod to Monroe playing dumb blonde characters). In the original screenplay, she mentioned that she studied Method Acting by mail, which is what Monroe studied.
    • Her skimpy, fur-trimmed costume is based on outfits worn by 40s pin-up Betty Grable, and real-life 'ice princess,' Sonja Henie, and it's apparent she shares a good few other traits with both of these blonde icons.
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: She speaks with a Southern accent, despite being a Gotham native; her actress, Cristi Conaway, was originally from Lubbock, Texas.
  • Pretty in Mink: She wears a large white fur-lined coat, beneath her matching white fur-lined corset, evoking a glamor and status befitting of an Ice Princess.
  • Proud Beauty: She's clearly stunning, and boy does she know it. At the first tree-lighting ceremony, she positively delights in the cheers and wolf-whistles, after her assistants/bodyguards remove her fur-trimmed winter coat to reveal her skimpy Sexy Santa Dress. "How about that?" she exclaims, whilst posing to the assembled crowd of admirers. Later on, she is more than delighted to pose for The Penguin, after she mistakes the Batarang for a camera. "Cheese!" she beams, after The Penguin asks her to "Say 'Cheese!'"
  • Recognition Failure: She doesn't know who The Penguin is, despite all the publicity he's had for "rescuing" the Mayor's baby and his mayoral campaign. She believes his lie that he's a "talent scout" when he enters her dressing room, and later refers to him as "an ugly birdman with fish breath" when Batman comes to rescue her.
  • Screaming Woman: During the first Red Triangle Gang assault, and as she falls to her death.
  • Sexy Santa Dress: She wears a fur lined, silver and black, one piece corset, with similarly-colored gloves, boots, and a hat, and fishnet stockings.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: The Ice Princess survives in at least two adaptations:
    • The children's adaptation, "The Penguin's Plot", had Batman successfully free her. It should be noted that neither Catwoman nor Shreck appear in the book.
    • In the PC version, if you do certain things correctly before Day 8 (the day of her kidnapping), Batman can save the Ice Princess. This is also the only way to get the good ending.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Without wishing to victim-blame, The Penguin really knew what he was doing when he chose The Ice Princess as his victim, in order to frame Batman. Here was the one person in Gotham who didn't know who The Penguin was. Not only that, but she easily fell for his lie that he was a 'talent scout,' and that the Batarang was a 'camera,' thus offering herself up on a plate as The Penguin's victim by posing for a photo with the said Batarang. Later, instead of hopping off a ledge onto the safety of a skyscraper roof, as anyone else would, The Ice Princess (under no restraints or obvious duress to stay put) chooses to remain on the ledge, thus allowing The Penguin to handily scare her, and cause her to lose her balance and fall off the other side of the very high building. Honestly, anyone else in the same circumstances stood a decent chance of surviving.
  • Winter Royal Lady: Her title in Gotham Plaza's Lighting of the Tree ceremony.

    Chip Shreck 

Chip Shreck

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chip_shreck_1.jpg
"Dad, go! Save yourself. Dad, go!"

Played By: Andrew Bryniarski

Appearances: Batman Returns

"Dad. Mr Mayor. It is time to bring joy to the masses."

Max Shreck's adult son.

  • Evil Virtues: Despite being quite a boorish and selfish young man, he still cares about his father and is loyal to a fault, yelling at him to leave during the Penguin's attack.
  • Fur and Loathing: He and his father wear winter coats with fur-lined collars, in contrast to other central, and more sympathetic, characters like The Mayor, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (all of whom just wear regular, non-fur-lined winter, coats), thus further emphasizing the Shreck family's moral corruption.
  • Jerk Jock: More so in earlier versions of the script where he puts down Selina after her faux pas at Max's meeting with the Mayor, and later helps his dad come up with a cover story for Selina's defenestration. The novelisation makes it clear that Chip is a star college quarterback, and we can briefly see photos of Chip, in football attire (Andrew Bryniarski played American Football in real life) next to a few football medals, on Max's desk, beneath his Hall of Fame.
  • Meaningful Name: He is named Chip, as in, "a chip off the old block".
  • Overlord Jr.: The son of the film's Big Bad Max Shreck, and groomed by the latter to be a 'Chip off the old block.'

Batman '89

    Barbara Gordon 

Barbara Gordon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barbara89.jpg

Appearances: Batman '89

Commissioner Gordon's daughter and sergeant at the GCPD. She's romantically involved with Harvey Dent.

  • Adaptational Dye-Job: She's not a redhead in this series, which makes sense given that she's based on Winona Ryder.
  • Adaptational Job Change: In the main universe, Barbara Gordon was a librarian before becoming Batgirl. Here, she is a Sergeant with the Gotham City PD (which is especially ironic considering most versions of Barbara tried joining the GCPD, but was barred from doing so by her father).
  • Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She's dating Harvey Dent in this series, whereas no other iteration of her has had such a desire (as most other iterations of the character only appeared after he became Two-Face).
  • Age Lift: Since she's a sergeant it can be assumed Barbara is in her thirties here, while all other comics have her somewhere between her late teens and late 20s.
  • Alternate Self: On Earth-Prime, Earth-9, Earth-66, Earth-167 and Earth-203.
  • Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Drawn in the likeness of Tim Burton regular Winona Ryder.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Barbara's existence was never hinted at in the first two movies, due to Commissioner Gordon being out of focus.
  • Truer to the Text: Unlike with Alicia Silverstone's Batgirl, this Barbara is closer to her comic counterpart's depiction in being Jim Gordon's daughter (though she hasn't taken up the cowl yet, the ending hints that she may take her commitment to justice up a notch in the future).

    Harvey Bullock 

Harvey Bullock

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bulock89.jpg

Appearances:

A detective that has it in for Harvey Dent.

    Jerome Otis 

Jerome Otis

Appearances: Batman '89

The local mechanic at Burnside. He raised Harvey Dent and mentors Drake Winston.

  • Canon Foreigner: He has no equivalent in the comics.
  • Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Jerome has no negative traits whatsoever. This makes it extra tragic when Two-Face decides to flip for his life, with Harvey Dent begging his evil side to spare his life.

    "Dr. Q" 

"Dr. Q"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quiin89.jpg

Appearances: Batman '89

A popular psychologist. She looks very familiar...

  • Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. Here, she's just a psychologist instead of a supervillain but Echoes reveals she's still a Loony Fan of the Joker and loves being in the spotlight.
  • Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-1, Earth-Prime, Earth-66, Earth-203.
  • Berserk Button: She's livid when her interview with Alicia Hunt gets cut off due to a breaking news bulletin, swearing the network's going to pay.
  • Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Her appearance is modelled after Madonna who was rumored to play the character in the 90s.
  • Composite Character: She borrows quite a lot of her characterization from Dr. Ruth, mostly her celebrity status and obsession with sex.
  • Decomposite Character: She's a completely separate character from Alicia Hunt, who served the role of the Joker's moll/mistress years before the original Harley Quinn was ever conceived, rather than simply making Alicia directly take on the Harley Quinn persona as was planned in the original Batman '89 comic pitch by Kate Leth and Joe Quinones.
  • In Spite of a Nail: She never met either Jack or the Joker, becoming a well-known clinical psychologist and TV talking head in the years after his death. She still slowly becomes fascinated by how he cast "Jack Napier" aside to unleash his violent impulses as the Joker, seeing it as akin to her own work with Jungian "persona therapy".
  • Loony Fan: She's shown to have an obsession with the Joker, downplaying his vicious, cruel behavior all the way to asking Alicia Hunt what it was like having sex with him. That obsession extends to Alicia herself, as, since Joker's dead, his ex-lover is the last link Harley has to connect with him.
  • Mythology Gag: Her role as a fame hungry pop psychologist who spends a lot of time doing TV interviews and specials harkens to Harley's characterization from The Batman, where she hosted a Jerry Springer-esque talk show.
  • No Sympathy: Her filmed one-hour special with Alicia Hunt is just an attempt at notoriety and nationwide fame, using Hunt's account of who Jack was as a proxy to posthumously analyze and diagnose him. Privately, she's fixated on the Joker as an engrossing, misunderstood figure, and casually dismisses his abuse and disfigurement of Alicia with the excuse that "he had a really bad day".
  • Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Dr. Jonathan Crane is one of her coworkers at Arkham Asylum. They're cordial to each other at first glance, but Harley thinks Crane is a quack while he in turns believes she's a fraud.

    Carmine Falcone 

Carmine Falcone

Appearances: Batman '89

A mob boss that took over Gotham after Grissom and the Joker were killed.

  • Asshole Victim: He's a mob boss that has Gotham's upper echleons in his back pocket. When Two-Face flips for his life, Falcone gets the clean side. Two-Face kills him anyway, saying that the good side wasn't for Falcone, but for his victims.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Falcone gives Two-Face attitude for trying to lead a rebellion against the system. Two-Face flips for the mobster's life and uses either outcome as an excuse to kill him.
  • Remember the New Guy?: After having Carl Grissom acting as his expy in the first Batman film, it was assumed Falcone didn't exist in this continuity. Then he appears right in the final issue, where he's promptly murdered by Two-Face.

Earth-97

Batman Forever

    Dr. Chase Meridian 

Dr. Chase Meridian

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chase_meridan.png
"Well I wish I could say that my interest in you was... purely professional."

Played by: Nicole Kidman

Voiced by: Stéphanie Murat (European French), Élise Bertrand (Canadian French)

Appearances: Batman Forever

"You like strong women. I've done my homework. Or do I need skin-tight vinyl and a whip?"

A psychologist who's brought in by the Gotham Police Department to consult on Two-Face's case. She becomes attracted to Batman but eventually falls for Bruce Wayne.

    Fred Stickley 

Fred Stickley

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fred_stickley.jpg
"Get back to work, Edward!"

Played by: Ed Begley Jr.

Voiced by: Jean-Pierre Leroux (European French)

Appearances: Batman Forever

Nygma's boss at WayneTech.

  • Asshole Victim: There's dealing with a difficult employee and then there's going out of your way to verbally put him down at every opportunity you can find. No wonder Nygma snapped.
  • Bullying a Dragon: Threatens to haul Nygma before a federal tribunal and have him incarcerated in an insane asylum after Nygma has not only disobeyed a direct order from him, but also hit him in the head with a coffee pot, tied him up and subjected him to a highly unethical and potentially life-threatening neurological experiment. On top of all that, he fires Nygma; Edward does not take this well, and his reaction is swift and terrible.
  • Death Glare: Gives one to Nygma while standing behind Bruce while Edward is going on about his mind manipulation ideas.
  • Expy: Presumably to Daniel Mockridge, Nygma's former boss in Batman: The Animated Series.
  • Face Palm: When Nygma unveils his invention to Bruce Wayne.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: As dickish as he is to Edward, Fred does has a leg to stand on regarding his treatment. Aside from Nygma inventing an ethically questionable device that operates through Mind Manipulation, Nygma comes off as incredibly pushy, even to Bruce Wayne, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Edward's first scene alone has him barge into a conversation with Bruce and Fred to push his device, ignore repeated direct orders from Fred himself to go back to his work station, acts like an unhinged stalker with abnormal breathing, rudely pushes Fred aside with his arm, and rebuffs Bruce's polite and very reasonable request for Nygma to make an appointment with his secretary to discuss things on the grounds that he deserves a direct answer from Bruce himself right then and there; all of this is grounds for termination in most corporations.
  • Large and in Charge: It's not that he's necessarily intimidating, but he can share a scene with Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey and still be the tallest man in the room.
  • Large Ham:
    • "What the HELL is going on here?!"
    • His rant to Nygma that ends with "But first and foremost, Nygma, you're fired! Do you hear me?! FIRED!"
    • Overall Begley's whole performance is pretty exaggerated in almost every facial expression and gesture, even him greeting Bruce Wayne when he comes to visit is delivered in a rather theatrical way.
  • Mean Boss: His entire screentime largely consists of him being a dick to Nygma and going out of his way to verbally degrade him and put him down every chance he gets.
  • Mind Rape: Edward uses him as his initial guinea pig.
  • Too Dumb to Live: For some reason, he thinks it's a brilliant idea to rant at an obviously unstable employee about how thoroughly he's going to ruin his life... while said employee has him tied up and at his mercy. This ends about as well as you'd expect.

    The Flying Graysons 

The Flying Graysons

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_forever_flying_graysons.png
From left to right: Chris/Mitch, Dick, Mary, and John

Played By: Chris O'Donnell (Robin/Dick Grayson), Larry A. Lee (John Grayson), Glory Fioramonti (Mary Grayson), Mitch Gaylord (Mitch/Chris Grayson)

Appearances: Batman Forever

The Flying Graysons are an acrobatic family that is part of a traveling circus; Dick, the youngest of The Flying Graysons, would eventually become Robin after witnessing his family's deaths at the hands of Two-Face.

    Dr. Burton 

Dr. Burton

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batmanforeverdoctorburton.jpg

Played By: René Auberjonois

Appearances: Batman Forever

"Edward Nygma has been screaming for hours that he knows the true identity of Batman."
The head doctor at Arkham Asylum.
  • Einstein Hair: Dr Burton looks very dishevelled for someone with a doctorate. The stress of working with unstable criminals has clearly taken its toll on his appearance.
  • Expy: To Jeremiah Arkham, the former head of the Asylum, from the comics.

Batman & Robin

    Julie Madison 

Julie Madison

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/julie_madison_burtonverse.jpg
"Bruce and I are recklessly in love, and that is most certainly enough for us - for now."

Played by: Elle Macpherson

Voiced by: Ivana Coppola (European French), Anne Dorval (Canadian French)

Appearances: Batman & Robin

Bruce's Love Interest in Batman & Robin.

    Nora Fries 

Nora Fries

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_and_robin_nora_fries_9.jpg
"My passion thaws for my bride alone."
Click here to see Nora and Victor on their wedding day

Played By: Vendela Kirsebom Thommessen

Appearances: Batman & Robin

Mr. Freeze's terminally ill wife who is suffering from a rare disease, MacGregor's Syndrome. She was put into cryostasis by Mr. Freeze to help slow down the effects of the disease while he searches for a cure.

  • Alternate Self: Had one on Earth-1 before Crisis, but after has a new version on Earth-Prime.
  • Cryonics Failure: Zigzagged; Poison Ivy attempted to kill Nora by unplugging her cryotube, but Batman managed to save her life.
  • Delicate and Sickly: Nora suffers from MacGregor's Syndrome, a rare disease which Alfred also has, but hers is in an advanced stage.
  • Human Popsicle: She is cryogenically frozen by Mr. Freeze to search for a cure for her MacGregor's Syndrome.
  • Tragic Keepsake: Her snowflake necklace, which Victor gave her on their wedding day. Poison Ivy gave Mr. Freeze Nora's necklace as "proof" that Batman killed her.

    Banker 

Jonathan Crane

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bankerscarecrow.jpg

Played by: Coolio

Appearances: Batman & Robin

An individual who arranges bets to be made at bike races.

  • Adaptational Dumbass: He makes bets at bike races, so it's unlikely he's a trained psychologist like in the comics.
  • Adaptational Heroism: He doesn't become Scarecrow like in the comics due to the fifth film never being made.
  • Adaptational Job Change: He's usually a psychologist in the comics and sometimes even a teacher, but here his job seems to be making money through bets and arranging bike races.
  • Adaptational Wimp: A supervillain in the comics, but here just a minor character who lacks any of the skills he has in the comics.
  • Alternate Self: Has one on Earth-Prime, Earth-9 and Earth-66.
  • In Name Only: He has nothing in common with his comic self.
  • No Name Given: Coolio didn't confirm that he was playing Scarecrow until decades after Batman & Robin.
  • Race Lift: This version of Scarecrow is black.

    Superman 

Superman

Played by: N/A

Appearances: Batman & Robinnote 

A superhero who works alone.

  • The Aloner: Unlike Batman he doesn't have a crime fighting partner, and due to some of Robin's more annoying actions that's something Batman is jealous of.
  • Ambiguous Situation: Whether Batman knows him personally or just from reputation is unknown.

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