Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)

Jeremiah Valeska
Gotham‎ and Pennyworth
Gallery
Real Name	Jeremiah Valeska
Other Aliases	Xander Wilde Mr. J J
Relatives	Paul Cicero (father, deceased) Lila Valeska (mother, deceased) Zachary Trumble (maternal uncle, deceased) Jerome Valeska (twin brother, deceased)
Affiliation	formerly League of Shadows
Base Of Operations	Gotham City
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Eyes	Green · formerly Blue
Hair	Green · Bald
Skin	White
Origin
Universe	Gotham (TV Series)
Creators	Jerry Robinson · Bill Finger · Bob Kane
First Appearance	"A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting" (April 5, 2018)
Last Appearance	"The Beginning..." (April 25, 2019)

Why don't you understand? You need me. I'm the answer to your life's question! Without me, you're just a joke... without a punchline.

— Jeremiah Valeska

Jeremiah Valeska is a psychopathic murderer, as well as the twin brother of the nihilistic anarchist Jerome Valeska.

History

Jeremiah Valeska is an identical twin of Jerome Valeska, born to a Haly's Circus snake dancer named Lila. According to Jeremiah, Jerome would try to kill him when they were kids, but his statements were later revealed by the latter to be untrue. Jerome said that Jeremiah "poisoned the minds of everybody he loved against him".

After his family decided to keep him out of the circus and away from his twin brother, Jeremiah got to study in good schools and later, became an engineer. Living in a bunker, he hid away from Jerome. He changed his legal name to Xander Wilde, while using only his proxy, Ecco, to meet clients and other company acquaintances.

Despite doing his best in hiding, Jerome was able to find Jeremiah. Over the course of him meeting his brother again, Jeremiah meets Bruce Wayne, who had offered him help and funds through Wayne Enterprises for his project. Meanwhile, after Jerome died, Jeremiah got a trap with the Joker Venom that sprayed onto his face. His skin becomes completely pale with red lips, green eyes, and darker hair, as he takes his twin brother's mantle in changing and ruling Gotham City. Ecco remained by his side, becoming his henchwoman.

Jeremiah revealed to Bruce Wayne and James Gordon that the next-generation generators that he built with Bruce in Wayne Enterprises are also explosive bombs, which he used to blow up all the bridges connecting Gotham City to the mainland, while being the partner of Ra's al Ghul at the same time. However, due to his friendship with Bruce Wayne, Jeremiah decided not to kill him and only forced him to become as crazy as him by doing several tricks, such as extracting the Joker Venom and re-enacting the night Bruce's parents were killed. With these failing, he decided to "be bonded with Bruce by hatred." He destroyed Wayne Manor using bombs, but was later faced off by Bruce in Ace Chemicals, where Jeremiah fell into the vat of chemicals.

Ten years later, Jeremiah, now completely grotesque with only a few strands of hair after falling into the chemical, was broken out of Arkham Asylum by his sidekick Ecco after the news of Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham City. Pretending to be brain-dead for a decade, he kidnapped James Gordon and Barbara Kean's daughter Barbara Lee Gordon. About to kill James, a sharp bat-shaped weapon hit his hand, and he saw a mysterious man in the dark. Saying "You" after seeing it, Jeremiah realized that the man is Bruce Wayne. His hand was later pierced by another of the bat-shaped weapon, in which he just laughed off to show his pain tolerance, while a third weapon knocks him out.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Unique Physiology: Since being driven insane and his chemical bath, Jeremiah has shown considerable strength and immunity to pain. Even with a batarang piercing his palm straight through, he only laughed.
• Cheating Death

Abilities

• Genius Level Intellect: Even at a young age, Jeremiah showed genius. After learning of Bruce's return to Gotham a decade later, Jeremiah was able to use Ecco to spring Riddler from Arkham as a diversion, diverting the GCPD to him.
  • Architecture
  • Demolitions
• Charisma
• DeceptionJeremiah feigned catatonia for a decade. He even never reacted to the abuse and pain the other inmates put him through.
• Disguise: Jeremiah can flawlessly use makeup to hide his features and even mimic Jerome's scars.
• Acting
• Firearms
• Weaponry
• Swordsmanship
• Leadership

Weaknesses

• Obsession:Bruce Wayne Before they were enemies, Jeremiah and Bruce became friends after the latter offered him help with his projects through Wayne Enterprises. Jeremiah grew fond of Bruce, appreciating his actions and help as he stayed in a bunker for his entire life, and only getting to spend time with Ecco. He then become obsessed with Bruce after the insanity gas incident, seeing him as the brother that he never had. To this end, he hoped to bring the darkness in Bruce out so they could be the same. Jeremiah stated that Bruce is the only reason why he was still holding on to his sanity.
• Deluded: Since his chemical bath and subsequent decade without Bruce Wayne, Jeremiah began to lose touch with reality. He began confusing his memories with fantasy; he couldn't even remember his own name.
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Joker Venom: Jeremiah used Scarecrow's laughing gas in his scheme to drive Bruce Wayne mad.

Notes

• According to showrunner John Stephens, Jeremiah along with his brother is heavily involved in the origins of the Joker and embody certain traits that explore the mythology of the character. The showrunners have since remained vague as to whether Jeremiah becomes the Joker later on or inspires him.
• Jeremiah Valeska was portrayed by Cameron Monaghan.

Related

• 11 Appearances of Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)
• 18 Images featuring Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)
• 5 Quotations by or about Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)
• Character Gallery: Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)

Footnotes

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

League of Assassins member This character is or was a member of the League of Assassins, a international organization of the world's greatest killers, operating both for hire and their own agenda, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "League of Assassins members" category.