#you have the brat you have the billions bay-bee

[trekkele]

So Alfred was made responsible for Bruce after his parents' death but what about Leslie Thompkins? I think it says somewhere that she was Bruce's guardian too, but then she just never gets mentioned in correlation to Bruce's parental figures. Maybe Jim Gordon too, though I don't know if that's fanon or not.

Ok so Jim Gordon is pretty much a fanon thing - he’s either new to Gotham when Batman starts out (like in Batman Year One) or he’s new to Gotham when the Wayne’s die and thats one of his first big cases (Gotham TV). I personally like it when he’s the on the Wayne Murder case, because it creates a sort of circle - the cop who failed Bruce working with Batman.

He also has very little connection to Bruce outside of that, more of a family friend, someone Alfred considered a good influence more then anything.

Legally and morally Jims responsibility to Bruce starts and ends with solving the Wayne murder (and being a mandated reporter). He never quite manages that one either does he.

In Leslie Thompkins’s original appearance she played Jim Gordons role of being the only person at the scene to try and comfort Bruce, and was later made into a family friend (colleague of Thomas) who decided to take a parental role in Bruces life after his parents death. That was a personal choice though, and legally she had no responsibility to him, outside of being a doctor and also a mandated reporter.

(I keep specifying ‘legally’ not because i think that is what makes someone significant to a kid, but because that would dictate how much access/power/consideration these people would have in a kids life. Legally neither Leslie or Jim were/are Bruces guardians, that doesnt mean they wouldn’t stick around when they could)

I also keep specifying that they’re mandated reporters because in quiet a few canons, Alfred is not Bruce’s first legal guardian (regardless of what his parents may have/may not have wished/willed). The legal maneuvering around becoming a vulnerable baby billionaires guardian would have been a nightmare, and both Gordon and Thompkins would/could have stuck around for that. Them being a cop and a doctor would have been very useful for Bruce’s safety.

Alfred was also “made responsible”, but the glossing over of what that means and how that would have happened is such a wasted opportunity. I promise the absolute shit show around that custody battle could fuel a million angst fics.