WARNING: Contains potential spoilers for Nightwing #121!In the ongoing debate over who is the smartest member of the Bat-Family, the contenders are typically Bruce “Batman” Wayne, Barbara “Batgirl” Gordon and Tim “robin” Drake. While each hero has demonstrated their nearly unparalleled intelligence through a myriad of impressive feats, Nightwing recently reminded readers just how extraordinary one of these members of the Bat-Family truly is when it comes to intellectual prowess.
…Batgirl more than deserves her place as the World's Greatest Hacker.
In Nightwing #120 by Dan Watters and Dexter Soy, Dick begins his investigation into Spheric Solutions – a company specializing in weapons designed to kill superheroes – by breaking into their facilities as Nightwing. However, their intelligence-gathering efforts are quickly thwarted by the company's heavily armed security system.
As a result, issue #121 sees the Original Boy Wonder change tactics, opting for a more subtle approach. Entering as Dick Grayson, he accepts CEO Olivia Pearce's invitation to tour the facility. During their meeting, Dick secretly clones Pearce's personal hard driveprotecting the information he needs.
Nightwing reveals that Barbara Gordon broke into the Pentagon… at age 16
Batgirl, aka Oracle, aka Barbara Gordon, is the smartest hero in the Bat family
Upon returning to the apartment he shares with Barbara, Dick reveals the cloned copy of Pearce's hard drive to his longtime girlfriend. Although Batgirl is impressed by Dick's subtle tactics, she points out that the hard drive is probably “Pentagon-level encryption.” She then amends her statement, suggesting it may actually be Pentagon encryption, given Spheric Solutions' government contracts. Despite this revelation, Dick remains unfazed, responding casually, “Good thing I know a girl who once broke into the Pentagon to win an argument with me about what was really in Area 51. When she was sixteen.”
While breaking into the Pentagon is an impressive feat in itself, what makes this revelation even more remarkable is that Barbara accomplished it at just 16 years old – and on a whim. Achieving such a feat is a testament to her incredible intelligence, especially considering this was long before she became Oracle, a role that solidified her reputation as a technology genius. The fact that Barbara can hack the Pentagon before the official start of her technological journey, coupled with her current ability to do so in just a few hours, strongly supports the argument that Batgirl is the smartest member of the Bat-Family.
Barbara Gordon has a long list of impressive feats of intelligence
New Watchtower communications thanks to Oracle
There are certainly those who will argue in favor of Tim or Bruce, and that's understandable since intelligence comes in many forms. To be fair, although Barbara is versatile in her intelligence, she perhaps surpasses Bruce and Tim especially in technology-related knowledge. Over the years, Barbara has firmly established technology as her domain, with countless examples to support this. Recent stories further emphasize his skill, such as that of Chip Zdarsky Batman run, where she hacks satellites, and Joshua Williamson's DC ALL IN Specialwhich confirms Oracle as the brains behind the Watchtower's communications systems. So, while Tim Drake Robin and by Bruce Wayne Batman can forever hold the title of World's Greatest Detectives, Batgirl more than deserves her place as the World's Greatest Hacker.
Nightwing #121 is now available from DC Comics!