Gotham City is under the protection of Batman and his protegees from the criminally insane supervillains, gangs, and mobs that litter its streets.
Geography
Gotham City’s actual location was never fully explained. The location would vary depending on the writer. A majority of writers usually put Gotham City on the eastern coast on the shores of Lake Gotham. There have been maps created for Gotham but it has also varied many times. Sometimes Gotham City is based on the actual eastern coast and sometimes it would reside around Manhattan or Vancouver.
During the No Man’s Land story arc, it showed a map of Gotham and it seems to be based on Rhode Island’s geography. Sometimes it has been shown to be a completely original eastern coast and would tie Gotham in with Metroplis. In this version, Gotham is placed on opposite sides of a large bay. It is also located right next to Bludhaven. The distance between Gotham City and Metropolis was never fully stated so therefore it would vary over the years. It has been as close as a neighboring city, to as far as several hundreds of miles away. When the Atlas of the DC universe was finally published in the 90s, it revealed that Gotham City was south of New Jersey and Metropolis. However, various references in the comic books indicate that it's somewhere in New Jersey.
Notable Residents
Batman was not actually the first DC hero in Gotham. During the Golden Age, Alan Scott (Green Lantern) and the Golden Age Black Canary lived in Gotham.
Gotham City is the city where the crime fighters Batman and Dick Grayson operate. Eventually the Batman Family would grow and include Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Huntress, and Batwoman.
Though Batman is the first superhero that comes to mind when Gotham City is raised, many other DC characters are known to be living in Gotham City: Plastic Man, Zatanna, Zatara, The Question, The Creeper, and Simon Dark . The Justice Society of America has also been shown to operate in Gotham City.
