Jane Doe (character)

Jane Doe is the name of a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She first appeared in Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 and was created by Dan Slott and Ryan Sook.

Sarah Pidgeon portrayed a variation of the character in the final season of Gotham.

Fictional character biography
Jane Doe is a serial killer who observes her targets and then kills them before assuming their identity. She appears disguised as Arkham Asylum therapist Dr. Anne Carver. When she was about to kill Great White Shark, Batman showed up and exposed Jane Doe's identity while Great White Shark found the real Dr. Carver's body. Two Arkham Asylum guards show up as Batman advised them not to move. Jane stated that she wanted to look into the madness of Arkham Asylum by posing as Dr. Carver. Jane breaks down as the guards take her back to her cell. As the notes taken by Jane Doe as Dr. Carver in the last two months are thrown out, Aaron Cash confronts Jane Doe about what happened to Dr. Carver where she commented that Dr. Carver thought that Aaron was hideous before losing his hand saving Dr. Carver from Killer Croc's attack. Jane Doe later assumes the disguise of an Arkham security guard named Wrigley and escorts Doodlebug to his cell. Though she leaves the door to his cell ajar on purpose. Still posing as Wrigley, Jane Doe kidnaps Great White Shark during a riot.

After the Black Glove's failed plan to destroy Batman, Jane Doe and the rest of the inmates from Arkham Asylum were transferred to Blackgate until Arkham was completely decontaminated. The second Black Mask organizes a plan of action that involves Jane Doe, Adam Bomb, Firefly, and the other escaped Arkham Asylum patients. When Commissioner James Gordon visits District Attorney Hampton's office and tries to get an arrest warrant on Two-Face, Jane Doe breaks into the office where she kills Hampton and shoots Gordon three times as a "message from Two-Face." She was unaware that Gordon was wearing a bulletproof vest.

During the "Brightest Day" storyline, Jane Doe was seen in Arkham Asylum at the time when Deathstroke's incarnation of the Titans have entered Arkham Asylum to deal with a certain patient. After Osiris kills a guard, he unknowingly activates a switch that releases all the inmates.

In 2011, DC Comics rebooted their universe with "The New 52." Jane Doe appeared at a bank posing as wealthy socialite Vivian Wenner. When her accountant stated that Vivian Wenner is dead, a shootout occurred that attracted the attention of Batman. Though Jane Doe gave Batman the slip and was saved by Wrath. To aid him, Wrath persuades Jane Doe to take a disguise that can enable her to infiltrate the Gotham City Police Department. When Batman confronts Harvey Bullock, he deduces that he is not the real Harvey Bullock as Jane Doe sheds her disguise. When Jane Doe is weakened, she is taken down by Dr. Abigail Wilburn as she and Batman discover the real Bullock locked in the basement. When remanded to Arkham Asylum, Jane Doe chooses Batman as her next target. When Harvey later visits Arkham Asylum, he finds that Dr. Wilburn is now Jane Doe's appointed psychotherapist when he visits Dr. Wilburn during therapy. In truth, Jane Doe was actually conversing with herself while being observed by the Arkham Asylum doctors.

Powers and abilities
Jane Doe is a master of disguise and an expert at voice mimicry. She is also an expert at hand-to-hand combat.

Television

 * Jane Doe makes her live-action debut in the Gotham episode "Nothing's Shocking," portrayed by Sarah Pidgeon. This variation of the character, named Jane Cartwright, is a woman who made a testimony about her mother Victoria shooting her abusive husband. While incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, she was taken below to the Indian Hill facility and experimented on by Hugo Strange, gaining her shapeshifting powers. Under the psychological delusion that her real face had been hideously disfigured by the experiments, she wore a mask at all times. After escaping, Jane sought revenge against the police officers who had put her mother away, and started by killing detectives Boggs and Lewis at the Sirens while posing as Dix. When James Gordon and Harvey Bullock questioned Dix at his home, Jane arrived and attempted to kill him, fleeing after Bullock removed her Dix disguise. Gordon and Bullock initially suspected Basil as the killer. When hiding out at her family home, Jane ambushed and posed as a police officer that accompanied Gordon and Vanessa Harper. When Gordon attacked her, Jane regressed back to normal as she didn't want Gordon to see her face. At the Gotham City Police Department, Jane stated her side of the story and how she got her powers while stating that Jane Cartwright had "died in Arkham." When Gordon stepped out, Jane used her powers to free herself from her restraints. She killed Dix while posing as Bullock, and escaped the precinct while disguised as Barbara Kean. Bullock confronted Jane at her house. After being persuaded to remove her mask by Bullock, Jane stated that only one of them would leave the room alive, and raised her gun. This forced Bullock to put Jane out of her misery.


 * The Jane Doe of Earth-99 is mentioned in episode two of the five-part Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths". According to Bruce Wayne of Earth-99, she is a shapeshifter incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.

Other

 * Jane Doe is among many other DC characters included in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.