Chicago is a midwestern city in the United States. It served as a filming location for Gotham City in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Risesand The Batman. The Chicago Board of Trade Building has often been used to represent Wayne Tower in live-action media, including Batman Begins, Batwoman, and Gotham Knights.
History[]
Chicago was home to the Viti crime family, allies of the Falcone Crime Family in Gotham, New Jersey. The Viti family's matron was Carla Viti, daughter of late Gotham gangster Vincent Falcone and sister of its don Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. The Viti crime family's strength rivalled that of Carmine's power in Gotham with Carla and her husband Felice having two children, Johnny and Lucia Viti.
Year One[]
Jim Gordon was originally a cop in Chicago where he was married to one Barbara Eileen Gordon with whom he had two children, Barbara and James "J.J." Gordon, Jr.. Criminals who Jim may have fought include serial-killer Wesley Mathis whom Gordon shot dead in-front of Wesley's son, Barton, and a child-abductor named Roy Blount AKA, "The Peter Pan Killer". Gordon also murdered a criminal and said criminal's wife by gunshot in front of their young son.
Due to Gordon's killings, he was transferred to Gotham City's police department by Captain Gillian Loeb who threatened the life of JJ if Jim did not comply. During his first year in Gotham, Jim was put in charge of hunting the cryptid/vigilante, "The Batman" alongside fellow cop Sarah Essen. Jim cheated on his wife with Sarah before leaving his wife to marry Sarah.
The Long Halloween[]
Early in Batman's career, the year nicknamed, "The Long Halloween" was started in October around the wedding party of Carla Viti's son, Johnny. Johnny had previously threatened to testify against Carmine but the families made a fragile peace which they celebrated with the party whose attendance included Bruce Wayne whom Carmine invited for a proposed illegal business-deal, Selina Kyle who was Carmine's secret illegitimate daughter that had infiltrated the party to steal items relating to her past.
Not long after this party on Halloween, Johnny Viti was shot with a .22 caliber pistol in the bathtub. The pistol was left behind along with a jack o'lantern causing the press to nickname the killer, "Holiday". Carla stayed in Gotham to mourn her dead boy and oversee proper vengeance for his death while attempting to find the perpetrator. While staying in Gotham, Carla learned her brother hired, "Freaks" such as Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, the Mad Hatter and the Riddler to assist him cling onto power and track down Holiday, outraging Carla. On the Roman Holiday, Carla infiltrated the Gotham City Coroner's office to seek information on her dead family member's corpses, only to be shot dead by Holiday, Carmine's son Alberto.
Following the Long Halloween, Carla's daughter Lucia later moved to Gotham, seemingly to assist the Falcones against the rising, "Freaks". She bailed the twin sons of late mobster Sal Maroni to work for her during this period. During the super-criminals' war on the Falcones, Poison Ivy murdered Lucia in a car explosion as part of the, "Columbus Day Massacre".
Batgirl[]
Jim Gordon's daughter Barbara Gordon was also a Chicago resident before moving to Gotham where she became Batgirl and later Oracle.
Second City[]
In the New 52, the mobster Tony Zucco who killed Dick Grayson's parents survived and moved to Chicago under the name Billy Lester. As Nightwing, Dick tracked Tony Zucco down to Chicago during the time the city was being terrorized by terrorist Oswald "The Prankster" Loomis. Nightwing defeated Prankster around the time that Zucco's failed alias was falling apart, causing him to snap and confess his true identity to the police. Tony was sent to Gotham and incarcerated within Blackgate Penitentiary where he was confronted and abandoned by his estranged daughter, Sonia, now an ally to Dick Grayson.
Prankster would also move to the Gotham area where he joined forces with the city's criminal-underworld. Prankster was amongst a group of minor super-criminals united under the Arthur "The Cluemaster" Brown alongside Lock-Up, Ratcatcher, Firefly and Signalman. These criminals coincided coordinated attacks on Batman while vigilante and his allies were distracted by the crimes of more prominent enemies as a scheme orchestrated by Lincoln March.
Appearances[]
Residents[]
Heroes who have operated out of Chicago[]
- Jim Gordon
- Batman
- Death
- Batwoman
- Hawkgirl
- Linda Park
- Supergirl
- Sarah Essen
- The Question
- Maggie Sawyer
- Catwoman (Temporarily Enemy)
- Plastic Man
- Black Lighting
- Hawkman
- Cynthia Reynolds
- Barbara Gordon
- Bleez
- Techne
- Blur
- Blue Beetle II
- Blue Beetle III
- Lara Lane-Kent
Villain's who have operated out of Chicago[]
Organizations and Teams Operated in Chicago[]
- Kord Industries
- Wayne Enterprises
- Insurgency
- Gotham Knights
- Seven Shadows
- Batgirls
- Justice League International
Items[]
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Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Other DC characters who live in or come from Chicago include Maggie Sawyer, Plastic Man, Blue Beetle and Hawkman.
- Chicago's use of Art Deco skyscrapers has often been replicated in Batman media representations of Gotham City. Several creators have also pointed to the city as the place where it is based on, due to its notorious history with organized crime.
- Netherrealm Studios, developers of of the Injustice games, is based in Chicago.
- License Plates we’re used in all three Dark Knight films but we’re actually the state of Illinois license plates.