Blackgate Penitentiary

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Blackgate Penitentiary is a fictional prison depicted in the DC Universe, traditionally located on a small island in the Gotham Bay, Gotham City. Batman: The Long Halloween suggests that it was preceded by Gotham State Penitentiary, which appeared often in pre-Crisis comics. Gotham State Penitentiary is also known as Gotham Prison, especially when referenced after the Crisis. It is later officially re-named "Blackgate Prison". In the late 1980s, Blackgate Prison is condemned by Amnesty International and forced to shut down. When the prison eventually re-opens, it is officially known as "Blackgate Penitentiary".

Unlike Arkham Asylum, Blackgate is where non-insane criminals such as David Cain, Monsoon, Ernie Chubb, KGBeast, Catman, and various henchmen, mobsters, and mafia bosses are incarcerated when captured. The Penguin, Firefly, Rupert Thorne, The Joker, Zsaz, Two-Face, Clayface II (Matt Hagen), Calendar Man, and The Ventriloquist are the only criminals that have done time in both Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary.

There are instances where inmates from Arkham Asylum are temporarily moved to Blackgate, like when Bane destroys the original Arkham building in Batman 491. All of the Arkham inmates are incarcerated in Blackgate until the new Arkham structure is built and opened in Batman 521.

There is a one-shot about a breakout happening in the prison entitled Batman: Blackgate. The prisoners in the story are Cluemaster, Steeljacket, Ratcatcher, The Trigger Twins, Dragoncat, Gunhawk, Czonka (The Baffler), Actuary, and others. Several of these villains are also featured in the Cataclysm storyline when an earthquake and the resulting tidal waves damage the prison and open up a land bridge to Gotham. This allows the majority of the inmates of Blackgate to escape.

In Batman: The Animated Series, this prison is called Stonegate.

In the novel Batman: The Ultimate Evil, author Andrew Vachss refers to a "Hellgate Prison". This is most likely an incarnation of "Blackgate Penitentiary".

[edit] List of notable Blackgate inmates

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