Gotham Knights’ narrative deals with many obscurities throughout its narrative. Players learn more about Gotham City and its inhabitants as they progress through individual case files, and Gotham Knights’ playable protagonists each have individual storylines that players can experience. Still, fans hoping to hear about the backstories of Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, and Red Hood in Gotham Knights’ original narrative may be disappointed. In many ways, Gotham Knights is more focused on what lies ahead for its characters, meaning there are very few details shared about Red Hood and Batgirl.
Dick Grayson’s Nightwing and Tim Drake’s Robin are interesting characters with their own quirks. However, in the comic book source material, they do not have backstories that are as compelling or integral to their present characterizations as Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl or Jason Todd’s Red Hood. Fans who know about Barbara’s history as Oracle or Jason’s history as Robin were most likely excited to learn a bit more about how Gotham Knights had interpreted their pasts. However, these details are kept thoroughly under wraps for almost the entire game, leaving a lot up to fans’ imaginations.
Batgirl’s History as Oracle is Left Obscure in Gotham Knights
Barbara’s past outings as Batgirl are referenced in Gotham Knights, along with the mention that she adopted the moniker Oracle when she was confined to a wheelchair due to a spinal wound. This injury is regarded as a significant part of Barbara’s character and is part of the personal trauma she is working through.
However, it is never explicitly stated what events resulted in her ending up in the wheelchair. In the comic book source material, the Joker is responsible for her spinal injury via a gunshot wound and the kidnapping of her father, Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. The Joker is established as a character in Gotham Knights, but his name is not mentioned once, and he is not directly related to Barbara’s injury.
Regardless, it seems that WB Games Montreal wants fans to put two-and-two together since an alternate explanation for her past injury is not given. This would suggest that her backstory in Gotham Knights is comparable to that of source material. However, Batgirl’s miraculous physical rehabilitation has been a conflicted issue in WB Games Montreal’s iteration of the character.
Red Hood’s Revival Only Has Little to Do with Gotham Knights’ Story
Jason’s death plays a role in Gotham Knights’ narrative in connection to the Lazarus Pits and the League of Shadows. That said, he is not integral to understanding what the Court of Owls is up to, nor is his backstory explained in a satisfying or comprehensive way.
Tim tip-toes around the Joker’s name when mentioning Harley Quinn’s ex-boyfriend, and it is here that Jason acknowledges that the Joker had killed him. This is as direct a backstory nod as Red Hood gets in Gotham Knights, but there is another small tidbit that seems to have no tether in the game itself.
It is confirmed that Talia al Ghul and the League had revived Jason using a Lazarus Pit, for which Talia feels the Batman Family is ungrateful. This does not stretch into anything of importance and is dropped thereafter, and it is currently unknown how much WB Games Montreal decided for its development of characters ahead of the game's debut.
With regard to how Gotham Knights neglects explanations and depictions for each character’s backstory, it seems as though WB Games Montreal had decided which characters it would include in the game without first considering how to integrate their backstories into the narrative. Either way, backstories will hopefully be more fleshed out in a potential future installment of Gotham Knights.
Gotham Knights is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.