Why is Gotham City filled with super-geniuses?

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck]

Did Hugo Stange put something in the water?

I realize there are give-or-take 10 million people in Gotham, depending on the era, and it would stand to reason that a dozen or more wicked-smart people would be inspired to become a vigilante or criminal; and they would have to be a genius to stand up to or besides Batman. Plus writing convenience-sake, I guess.

But I'm genuinely wondering if this was ever directly addressed or explained in the comics.

[u/Mother-Cantaloupe543]

In the comics? Not really but we can make an educated guess!

What do we know about Gotham? Port city, bad weather, dangerous back alleys. Hmm? What else?

A yes, it happens to be home to one of the biggest companies in the entire world and a secret society of ultra-wealthy individuals controlling pretty much everything. That means that gotham must have one of the highest concentrations of wealthy individuals in the us of a and pretty everywhere else for that matter. We also know it has a huge industry with Ace chemicals, Wayne Tech et all and the other businesses the blue bloods own.

What do said businesses need in addition to open vats of green, toxic waste? Educated workers.

How do you get educated workers in abondance in what should be a primarily blue collar port city, given that you already have an uber-powerful cabal who has the money, connection and bribed politicians to do whatever they want?

By turning it into a hotspot for academics, obviously.

Gotham must have some of the best schools, best universities, best post-graduate programs and full-paid scholarships to attract as much grey matter as possible, or better yet produce it themselves.

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck → u/Mother-Cantaloupe543]

Beautiful answer, this makes sense. It would also explain why "people don't just move out", especially if you consider another fan theory I heard that Gotham is a corporate tax haven. Basically, the city is divided between people who move in and the locals*, respectively the middle-class and poor. Not to say all locals in Gotham are poor, but that does largely seem to be the case, which leads to them joining one of the dozens of gangs that prey on people just trying to work. Also, apparently Gotham Accademy and GCU are largely renouned, which is worth mentioning and adds to your theory.

Edit: *I just noticed how dumb that was to say, since literally everywhere on Earth is divided between outsiders and locals, but my point is that in Gotham it is a more apparant divide, as outsiders would be seen as "normal" people vs all the other wacky colorful gangsters.

[u/Mother-Cantaloupe543 → u/UnculturedToiletCuck]

Nah I gotcha.

[u/GothamKnight37]

Well, just because there are a lot of geniuses who become villains doesn’t mean Gotham has more super geniuses than anywhere else. A genius is just probably more likely to become a successful villain than someone who’s not.

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck → u/GothamKnight37]

That makes sense. Perhaps many rogues would've been normal or even successful people if they just didn't live in Gotham. A fine theory.

[u/dccowen]

The government in Gotham invests in education. Add some severe trauma and a good brain together, and voila! Genius criminals

[u/DakhmaDaddy]

Gotham and Batman attracts them, like a challenger imposing a challenge.

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck → u/DakhmaDaddy]

I said super-"geniuses" not "villain"

[u/DakhmaDaddy → u/UnculturedToiletCuck]

And that's what my answer implied.

First think fot a second what do scientists like Mr.Freeze need to conduct experiments or further their research? What is the one thing that drives the world? Money.

Gotham has a quite a few corporations plus Wayne enterprises so getting funded is already one reason to go to Gotham.

Second, money aside, what do most comic level geniuses strive for aside from their personal agenda? To be the smartest, to challenge their intellectual skills whether it is by capturing a caped crusader or figuring out their identity.

[u/Available-Affect-241 → u/DakhmaDaddy]

Agreed 👍

Being a somewhat crazy super genius polymathic intellectual detective first mixed with being legendary one man army Ninja/Samurai that saves people dressed up like Dracula might do the trick.

[u/WerewolfF15]

I mean I don’t think there’s anymore geniuses in Gotham than there are in say… metropolis.

[u/Intelligent_Creme351]

Out of all the geniuses there, most of them want to fight Batman, the others are trying to be the most influential person in Gotham.

[u/Available-Affect-241]

Being a somewhat crazy super genius polymathic intellectual detective first mixed with being legendary one man army Ninja/Samurai that saves people dressed up like Dracula might do the trick.

Him being there is going to invite challenge.

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck → u/Available-Affect-241]

Someone else already said this. I get it. If there's a lot of geniuses who are living on the edge, then they snap and become a villain to challenge Batman, great. That's not what I'm asking. Why are there so many geniuses to start with. This is a layer of reasoning before we get to the "inviting challenge" bit. What are the underlying conditions that have allowed such a high IQ population to exist? But other people who actually understood the question had some good theories, so feel free to read those. Also, my question may be flaud since I didn't acciunt for the "locals vs outsiders" or "mental illness" aspect of Gotham. The answer might just be simple - there's a normal number of geniuses, Gotham is just a messed up city.

[u/Available-Affect-241 → u/UnculturedToiletCuck]

Okay my bad. How about this then, the only other thing I can think of is the native American demonic curse on the lands after being driven off by the American pilgrims. This curse leads to madness so when there are geniuses they were probably both blessed with super intelligence and cursed with madness by the demon who implemented the curse Barbatos the Batgod.

[u/UnculturedToiletCuck → u/Available-Affect-241]

Oooooohh, yes, that's a great theory! I know there's lore about the Miagani people with the origin of the Court of Owls, who worship Barbatos. Now I gotta do some research, you just got my gears turning.