Gotham City

Gotham City (ゴッサム・シティ, Gosamu Shiti) is a large metropolitan city and one of the oldest-established Eastern urban centres in the United States, located in the state of New Jersey.

It nestles at the mouth of the Gotham River upon islands once peopled by the vanished Miagani Tribe. Though it now resides in infamy for its rampant per capita crime rate, florid urban legends, and brooding Gothic spires, Gotham's 19th-century patrons once envisioned their community as a concrete and steel stronghold for pious righteousness and booming industrial growth.

Bolstered for generations by the business ventures of the wealthy Wayne Family, Gotham's economy helped the city to flourish as a technological hub, but one founded upon the swampy soils of slow and inexorable moral decay, despite the best of intentions. After the earthquake that leveled the city and the governmentally sanctioned No Man's Land, New Gotham's skyline is an amalgam of yesterdays and tomorrows; with newly-erected towers of glass standing side-by-side with granite Gothic citadels preserved from the old city.

It is known to be serves as the home of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, who uses his alter-ego of Batman and the Bat Family to protect the city against infested, organized crime and corruption. Gotham City is known to be the home to many super-villains like Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Black Mask and Bane. Gotham houses many historic locations such as Blackgate Prison, Arkham Asylum, Wonder Tower, Crime Alley and Arkham City.

Its name comes from the gothic, dark architecture the city holds, building up a unique atmosphere that best identifies it. Gotham is the darkest of America's cities, and only rumors of a Batman give it hope.

"Once, long ago, I saw a beautiful city and brilliant people rising from this abyss. I have seen the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I saw that I held a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it was a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. But now, Gotham is no longer a city anymore, it's become a battleground, and whoever controls the most turf..is going to rule this whole town."
 * —James Gordon.

Uptown/North Gotham

 * Diamond District
 * Royal Hotel
 * Gotham News Building
 * Gotham Theatre

Midtown/Central Gotham

 * Wayne Tower
 * Gotham City Stadium
 * Wayne Enterprises
 * Gotham Pier
 * Prewitt Building

Downtown/South Gotham/Arkham City

 * Park Row
 * Church/Medical Center
 * Ace Chemicals Building
 * Solomon Wayne Courthouse
 * The Black Canary
 * Finnigan's Bar
 * Liquors
 * Gotham Hardware
 * Glass, Mirrors, Shades
 * The Stacked Deck
 * Hotel Aventine
 * Vote Harvey Dent Campaign Office
 * Live Nudes
 * Baudelaire
 * TYGER Confiscated Goods Vault
 * Mad Hatter's Lair
 * Monarch Theatre
 * Crime Alley
 * Selina Kyle's Apartment
 * Amusement Mile
 * Gotham Casino
 * Gotham City Olympus Nightclub
 * GCR
 * GCPD Building
 * Prawn Shack
 * Gotham Sea Pier
 * Scallop Bar
 * W. White - Gotham Fish Monger's
 * Krank Co. Toys
 * Dini Towers
 * Leslie Thompkins Medical Clinic
 * Poison Ivy's Lair
 * Industrial District
 * Sionis Industries
 * Steel Mill/Joker's Funland
 * Waste Exchange
 * Loading Bay
 * Assembly Line
 * Smelting Chamber
 * Cooling Tunnel - B
 * Cooling Tunnel - D
 * Freight Elevator
 * Boiler Room
 * Bill's Hotdogs
 * South Gotham Docks
 * Tricorner Naval
 * Zsasz's Hideout
 * Storage Warehouse 5B
 * Otis Flannegan Pest Control
 * Subway
 * Subway Station
 * Subway Tunnels
 * Subway Terminal
 * Subway Maintenance Access
 * The Bowery
 * Bank of Gotham
 * Gotham Merchant's Bank
 * Live Nudes
 * Monorail
 * Sal Maroni's Italian Restaurant
 * Cyrus Pinkney's Institute for Natural History (Museum)
 * Trophy Room
 * Gladiator Pit
 * Torture Chamber
 * War Room
 * Armory
 * Iceberg Lounge
 * Shreck's Department Store
 * Jezebel Center
 * Gotham Casino
 * Carnival Toys & Games
 * Gotham Perfumes
 * Glass, Mirrors, Shades
 * Italian Cuisine
 * Subway Station
 * Magic and Props
 * Wonder City
 * Collapsed Streets
 * Wonder Avenue
 * Grimberg's Occult Store
 * Muftic Barbershop
 * Underhill & Davies Books
 * The Tea Hut
 * Wonder City Jewelry
 * Billingham Butchers
 * Adamson & Stjernberg Drugstore
 * Furniture Store
 * Fruit & Vegetables
 * Cloney Cobblers
 * Wonder City Textile Manufacturing
 * Crazy Clown Toys & Dolls
 * Royal Flush Tobacco
 * Wine & Spirit
 * Secret Corridor
 * Chamber of the Demon
 * Wonder Tower
 * Tower Foundations
 * Observation Deck
 * Security Control Center


 * Otisburg
 * Stagg Enterprises Gotham HQ
 * Monarch Playing Card Company
 * 15 Kane Street (Abandoned)
 * Gotham Light and Power
 * Knightsdome Sporting Complex
 * Millicent Mayne Plaza
 * OMAC Base
 * Ace Chemicals
 * Amusement Mile
 * Joker's Funhouse
 * Gotham S.T.A.R. Labs
 * T.O. Morrow's Hideout
 * Gotham University Warehouse
 * Westward Bridge


 * East End
 * Bat-Signal
 * Wayne Memorial
 * Original Wayne Enterprises Building
 * Ellis Memorial Convalescent House
 * Deacon Blackfire Shelter for the Homeless
 * Cape Carmine Lighthouse
 * LexCorp Reclamation Project
 * Malone Improvement District
 * East End Free Clinic
 * The Bowery
 * Old Soder Cola Plant
 * Crime Alley
 * GCPD 9th Precinct
 * Gotham City Sewers
 * East End Regal Hotel
 * GCPD Special Crimes Unit
 * Distribution Centre
 * Robert H. Kane Memorial Bridge
 * Cape Carmine
 * Park Row Theatre
 * Brainiac Incursion Zone


 * Robinson Park
 * Reservoir-side Gazebo
 * Forum of the 12 Caesars
 * Pillars of Hades
 * A Shadow of Hell
 * Robinson Park Reservoir


 * Burnley
 * Gotham University Campus
 * Gotham University
 * Von Gruenwald Tower
 * WGTU Radio
 * Museum of Natural History Storehouse
 * Gotham Mercy General Hospital
 * Gotham Natural Science Museum
 * Giordano Botanical Gardens
 * The Greenhouse
 * Burnley Freight Yards
 * Gotham Warehouse
 * Gotham Arms Apartments
 * The Gotham Tap Room
 * Club 539
 * University Warehouse
 * Gotham Old Subway
 * WayneTech Storage Facility
 * Brainiac Incursion Zone


 * Old Gotham
 * GCPD Headquarters
 * Clocktower
 * Gotham City Hall
 * Cathedral Square
 * Riverfront Center
 * South Gotham Courthouse
 * Gotham Hospital
 * Riverside Hotel


 * Gotham City Chinatown
 * Museum of Natural History
 * Chinese Cultural Center
 * Vincefinkel Bridge


 * Diamond District
 * Wayne Enterprises (building)
 * R.H. Kane Building
 * One Gotham Center
 * Iceberg Lounge
 * GCPD 12th Precinct
 * Intergang Penthouse
 * Mysterious Warehouse
 * Temple of Crime
 * Aparo Expressway
 * Old Wayne Tower

Other Gotham Locations

 * Gotham Pioneer's Bridge
 * The Palisades
 * The Narrows
 * South Channel Island
 * South Hinkley
 * Wayne Manor
 * The Batcave
 * Bruce Wayne's Penthouse
 * Gotham National Bank
 * Gotham General Hospital
 * Gotham City District Courthouse
 * Arkham Island
 * Arkham Asylum
 * Arkham North
 * Intensive Treatment Center
 * Batcave
 * D'Angelo Sewage Treatment Plant
 * Arkham East
 * Arkham Mansion
 * Caves
 * Botanical Gardens
 * Arkham West
 * Medical Facility
 * Arkham Island Dock
 * Penitentiary
 * Trigate Bridge
 * Blackgate Prison
 * The Ocelot
 * Puccio's
 * Mob Hideout
 * Lou's
 * Bruce Wayne's Warehouse
 * Gotham City Hall
 * Gotham Stock Exchange
 * Pettsburg Terminal
 * Sheal Maritime Building
 * Gotham City Pizzeria
 * Gotham Tunnel System
 * Gotham City Opera House
 * Gotham Carnivalland
 * Gotham University
 * Triad Restaurant
 * Paulie's House of Ribs
 * Gotham Zoo
 * Thomasina Arms
 * Rossi's Deli and Grill
 * St. Swithuns Catholic Church
 * Betty's House of Pies
 * Pasquale's Bistro
 * Gotham International Airport
 * Kinsley Travel
 * Acme Security Systems
 * Law Offices of Joseph Candoloro
 * Bichel Co.
 * Gotham Academy
 * Gotham Cemetery
 * Gotham City Observatory
 * Gotham Heights
 * Artemis &amp; Paula Crock's Apartment
 * Gotham North High
 * Wayne Foundation
 * Sprang River
 * Finger River
 * Gotham River
 * Miller Harbor
 * Gotham Rail
 * The Midnight Masquerade
 * Sewer Rendezvous

Overview
The city is a very large, with approximately 12-million people residing on the islands. It is also corrupt and teeming with criminals. The architecture in Gotham City is a mix of different styles, ranging from Art Deco to Modern.

Founding
Scandinavian settlers arrived on these islands in the mid-1600's and laboured through harsh winters to build the foundations of Gotham City. There are many tales about what these settlers endured-from encounters with mythical beings to fights over Native American burial grounds. Much of Gotham's early history has been garnered through folklore passed down orally during those first trying years.

Wonder City
Over a century ago, the mysterious Ra's al Ghul arrived in Gotham City and met with the Gotham elders. Even then, Gotham was a crime-ridden, lawless place. Ra's promised a brighter future for all in exchange for a deed to the north end of the city. The Gothamites laughed at this strange man, until he produced more gold than they had ever seen. The deed in hand, Ra's began construction of a new city, a utopian vision powered by clean, free energy. With no crime, the future would be bright, and as the last brick was laid by the slaves he had shipped in from his homeland, Ra's presented the future of Gotham: Wonder City.

Mechanical guardians watched over the population of Wonder City while behind the scenes, lawbreakers were removed and executed. Wonder Tower stood above it all, a monument to prosperity. But for Ra's, the real reason for choosing this location was simple. Beneath the streets, he had located a chemical source that he called Lazarus. In small doses it would rejuvenate a person, but Ra's believed that with enough power the Lazarus could be super-changed to defeat any aliment... even death itself!

Unknown to all but Ra's and his engineers, Wonder Tower was actually a giant lightning rod. When the time was right, he would test his theory.

Wonder City continued to operate for months before the effect of prolonged exposure to the Lazarus chemical became clear; it was driving the city's inhabitants insane. When Ra's al Ghul failed to act, the newly formed Gotham City Hall did. Wonder City was declared a public health hazard and quarantined. Troops dragged the screaming citizens out of their homes, straight to Arkham Asylum. Ra's al Ghul disappeared. As Gotham reached into the sky, new neighborhoods were built over Wonder City, until the site was all but forgotten. Some years later, Ra's returned in need of his old Lazarus Pit. As his forces began the mining process, the streets above collapsed, but Ra's forced them to keep digging.

Notes & Trivia

 * A trio of clocks within the JSA Metropolis Wing reveals that Gotham City, Metropolis and Atlantis exist in different timezones.
 * Many of Gotham's streets and bridges are named after notable contributers to the DC Comics mythos;
 * Peckingpah Street: Sam Peckinpah (co-director of a mythological Batman movie supposedly made in 1976)
 * Broome Street: John Broome (creator of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Elongated Man, and the Flash's Rogues Gallery. Is credited for most of what is considered "the Silver Age of Comic Books")
 * Aparo Expressway: Jim Aparo (comic book artist best known for his 1960s and 1970s DC Comics work. Which included the Death in the Family arc)
 * Novick Tunnel: Irv Novick (comic book artist who worked almost continuously with DC Comics from 1939 until the late 1990s)
 * Sprang Bridge: Dick Sprang (comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on Batman during the period fans and historians call "the Golden Age of Comic Books")
 * Saint Street:
 * Robert H. Kane Memorial Bridge: Bob Kane (creator of the character Batman)
 * Vincefinkel Bridge: Gordon F. Vincefinkel
 * The Vincefinkel Bridge was originally known as Brown Bridge before the No Man's Land incident.