Gotham: Blackgate Penitentiary

In the world of Gotham, if you do some really bad stuff, you will end up in either one of these two places — Arkham Asylum or Blackgate Penitentiary. And being shuffled into one or the other is only dependent on one thing: are you insane or not? We’ve already got our fair share of venturing inside Doctor Strange’s kingdom of crazy, but Gotham City’s abode for the worst of the worst has only been seen in a few episodes. In this article, we dive into a brief history of Blackgate, and quickly go through a roster of famous baddies who have called it home.

More from TV

Blackgate Penitentiary, previously known as Blackgate Prison, is run by Gotham State Penitentiary, also previously known as Gotham Prison. Though Gotham State Penitentiary was considered the main correctional facility, writers switched it to Blackgate Prison in the 1990s. It was later condemned by Amnesty International, but later reopened with the official name of “Blackgate Penitentiary.” The facility is located on a secluded island, much like our real-world Alcatraz, and later dominated Gotham State Penitentiary in terms of usage. Gotham State Penitentiary would soon become a relic of the past.

Blackgate is where Gotham holds its “sane” criminals. Hence, Gotham‘s Edward Nygma would not be housed here after recent events. In the comics, famous residents of Blackgate have included Penguin, Catman, David Cain, Monsoon, Ernie Chubb, KGBeast, and other notorious individuals associated with organized crime. Residents who have served at both Arkham and Blackgate include the Joker, Clayface II, the Ventriloquist, Mr. Zsasz, Firefly, Calendar Man, and Rupert Thorne.

Nygma serving a sentence at Arkham is actually pretty consistent with past media. In the comics, the default prison for the Riddler has always been Arkham Asylum — as the Riddler’s crimes are driven by a compulsion for puzzles, as is the case for his characterization on Gotham.

On television, Blackgate has been featured in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman, and The CW’s The Flash. On film, Blackgate has been featured in Batman: Gotham Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). In the realm of video games, Blackgate has been rendered in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (2003), Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), Batman: Arkham City (2011), Batman: Arkham Origins (2013), and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (2013).

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a Recap of 'Into The Woods'

So far, Gotham seems to be the one medium outside of the comics that has had the most extensive portrayal of Blackgate Penitentiary. It would’ve been a better “slow burn” had Gotham started out with Gotham Prison and moved through the politics of creating Blackgate. With crime rates climbing hire and hire on the show, I’m betting that we’re going to be seeing more of this legendary prison.

Fox’s Gotham airs on Mondays at 8:00PM EST.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Edward Nygma was being housed at Blackgate Penitentiary. Thanks to reader Luke, I’ve corrected this article to note that Nygma is actually being housed at Arkham Asylum. For some reason, while watching the episode, I had it in my mind that Nygma was being imprisoned at Blackgate. Isn’t it poetic that my mind is seeing things that aren’t there and it’s a mistake that involves Arkham?

Home/TV