Owner: Bat Family
Designation: Headquarters
Affiliation: Gotham Knights
First Appearance:
Detective Comics #934
Brief:
The Belfry is the secret headquarters of Batman and Batwoman's joint-run vigilante squad; the "Gotham Knights. With the ground originally consisting of themselves, Orphan (Cassandra Cain), Red Robin (Timothy Drake), Spoiler (Stephanie Brown) and Clayface (Basil Karlo), the headquarters was located within the pinnacle of Old Wayne Tower until it was destroyed following an attack by the Victim Syndicate.
History:
Originally a Talon Nest, the Belfry was retrofitted to serve Timothy Drake's design to create the "Gotham Knights" program, a scheme where the Bat Family stopped trying to push away everyone who they inspired and gave them a way to work with them in a controlled system where they could solve a lot of problems that one Dark Knight has never been able to solve.
The Belfry was the first part of the plan as a base from where they could stage their operations so that they could be anywhere in the city the moment they were needed instead of having to choose which emergencies were within their reach.
As the program established itself, Timothy intended to further the Gotham Knights program to create "Bat-Medics" to arrive at emergency scenes, and employ volunteers to prisons and asylums to talk to and reabilitate the people who went down a dark path, showing them the light, offering them forgiveness and acceptance. Changing the methods of the Bat Family to Trust, not fear. Collaboration, not coercion.
While encouraging Timothy's idealistic plan, Bruce did not create the group and activate the base until after he noticed certain vigilantes in Gotham were being observed by The Colony and used the scheme as a way to gather the vigilantes under his influence before the Colony acquired them. The Belfry was constructed three months before the team was formed.
Following Timothy's "death", Batman brought Luke Fox in to the team to become their technology expert
Following their encounter with the Victim Syndicate, Doctor Leslie Thompkins was called in to hold initial therapy sessions and psych evaluations with the team.
- The headquarters possess self-repairable viewing panels that look out over the city scape.
- Following his "death", Bruce Wayne erected a memorial of Timothy Drake in the headquarters' main room.
- The headquarters is connected to the abandoned underground subway system that was built in 1898. As the Wayne Tower sat on the subway's central hub, Drake used the tunnels to erect an underground network of bullet-trains to enable instant access to anywhere in the city.
- An ornate bell hangs over the main room; rumours say that when Gotham was first founded, there was an ornate bell that the people called "Justice" in the first courthouse. It would ring when the final verdict was about to be given. It is thought that the Court of Owls stole the bell to dishearten the city, hiding it here when they made the Talon Nest. Learning of the story, Timothy opted to keep the bell while renovating the lair to become The Belfy.
- Mud Room: is the team's adaptable training center. Using excess clay gathered from Clayface's crime scenes over the years the room alters its shape and density to form any scenario that the team wishes.
- Holding Cells: Used to hold prisoners captured by the Gotham Knights. Following their encounter with the Colony, the cells were used to hold captured Colony soldiers, including Colonel Jacob Kane, until they were freed by the Colony.
Mud Room:
Trivia[]
- In the spirit of his naming the team the "Gotham Knights", Timothy installed a Round Table in the Belfry's room proper.
- During Timothy's death, Stephanie Brown would use the Mud Room to consult with an artificial Timothy Drake; formed from a conversation program Timothy had been forming and the room's clayface properties.
- Thanks to her relationship with Timothy, Stephanie Brown knows all of the Belfry's countermeasures and access codes.