Jerome Valeska

"You're all prisoners. What you call sanity, it's just a prison in your minds that stops you from seeing that you're just tiny little cogs, in a giant absurd machine. WAKE UP!"

- Jerome sending a message to Gotham after orchestrating an attack on GCPD Police Headquarters. "I'm more than a man. I'm an idea - a philosophy, and I will live on in the shadows within Gotham's discontent.."

- Jerome's last words. "We all could go insane with just one bad day!"

- Jerome to his twin brother Jeremiah.

Jerome Valeska is a major antagonist in the TV series Gotham. He serves as a minor antagonist in the first season, a major antagonist in the second season, and one of the main antagonists of the third season (specifically, in the final episodes of the Mad City arc). He later becomes one of the two secondary antagonists of the fourth season (alongside Sofia Falcone), as well as the founder and leader of The Legion of Horribles.

He is the twin brother of Jeremiah Valeska, who is seemingly the Batman supervillain Joker, sharing similarities, appearance, and behavior to the character.

He was portrayed by, who is best known for portraying Ian Gallagher on the Showtime comedy-drama Shameless.

Personality
Jerome is an utterly remorseless, unpredictable, ruthless, manipulative and psychopathic boy with a deep enjoyment of wanton and needless acts of violence and chaos, committed by him and the Maniax or just in general. Unlike anything that Gotham had ever seen before, Jerome is an abnormal criminal in regards that he cares nothing about organized crime or profiteering but how he only relishes in the mindless agony of everything around him. Penguin even states how he went against how usual criminals behaved due to his chaotic, rampageous, and unreasonable methods; single-handedly, Jerome introduced the city, and perhaps even the world, an altogether different class of criminal, one that personified complete sadism, madness, and pure, unadorned evil with no distinguishable objective or reasoning, beyond simply that he could or he enjoyed doing so. His presence (even after death) tipped the scales of the kind of maniac Gotham could produce. It is heavily implied that his schizophrenic views and his vile and iniquitous behavior, even by Gotham's standards, was the result of both his horrible childhood of being abused by his mother as well as Cicero, far from comforting Jerome on his ninth birthday, telling him that no one's going to care about him. However, he did state that he killed his mother for simply nagging him.

A persuasive showman, Jerome had a theatricality to his insanity that Galavan described as being "boyishly charming". He enjoyed his time in the spotlight to the point where the rest of Gotham's criminals would operate within the shadows, he would televise his crimes for everyone to see. Whatever atrocities he would commit, one would always guarantee that there would be cameras nearby and he would do such act with a smile on his face. Cruel yet charismatic, Jerome desired to create a name for himself and a legacy that would never be forgotten, he brandished a smile when Paul Cicero claimed he would become a "curse upon Gotham". His plans were usually intricate and needlessly complex, sometimes finding the challenge of them becoming a fruition or a failure entertaining nonetheless if they succeeded or otherwise and usually showcased his cunning and ingenuity in his designs. In the mind of Jerome, sanity was only a prison that prevented everyone from seeing what they were: pointless cogs within a monogamous machine stuck between a never-ending loop. Jerome and the Maniax believed that they were free from this prison due to their different ways of thinking and acting in comparison to everyone else and encouraged others to behave like they did, although they only thought this way because they were all mentally troubled, psychotic and borderline insane.

One of his most noticeable traits was his disturbed sense of humor which was accompanied with a never-ending, manic giggling and outright laughter towards everything which fit right within Jerome's own beliefs on what was funny. He was sadistic, merciless and destructive, so he found immense joy in the idea of pain and death towards others, he smiled broadly when Richard Sionis was strangled to death and shot an injured police officer who interrupted his broadcast from the GCPD, claiming he had "no manners". Jerome demonstrated a fondness for sarcasm, using it in a sick sense such as telling his father, who was blind "long time, no see" after breaking into his house. He enjoyed his own pain as well, making him suicidal as demonstrated while playing Russian Roulette, shot himself three times in a calm manner and how he found Commissioner Essen spitting at him and headbutting him as "strangely pleasant" and laughing crazily, respectively. Even while being stabbed and killed he died with a bloody smile on his face.

Jerome had a definable relationship with most members of the Maniax. He seemed to respect Galavan for believing in him and promising to make him a star, he also nicknamed him "Sensei" but was very shocked when the latter stabbed him in the neck. He was extremely sociable, gregarious, and communicative towards Richard Sionis and Barbara Kean within Arkham Asylum, as he appeared to be friends with him and speaking for him when trying to ask Barbara for a date, although he found him being brutally murdered funny enough to grin at. He and Barbara worked together at Gotham Charity Ball and he was the one who granted her a phone call to threaten her ex-boyfriend. The most frictional relationship would be with Robert Greenwood who mocked him for his young age and prepared to fight him to lead the Maniax. Though they worked together to kill the officers with GCPD and were a part of the same team, Jerome shot him dead for stealing his line and mocked his corpse later on.

Regarding his parentage, Jerome absolutely hated his mother and father. Though he finally discovered that Paul Cicero was his birth father, Jerome initially seemed to have a low opinion of him, claiming he was "pathetic" and a "creep". Even after learning that Cicero was his birth father, Jerome merely stated "I'll be damned" in an easygoing and nonchalant manner, only shortly afterwards realizing the humor in the revelation. Cicero was also somewhat unsympathetic and insensitive towards his son and admits he was a bad father but loved him nevertheless and constantly gave him shelter and a home, even helping Jerome cover up his matricide for that reason alone. Whilst meeting with him after breaking into his house, Jerome mockingly called him "pops", "daddy", and "dad" all before killing him. His mother was his first ever victim. She was stated to be cold, abusive, defamatory, and vituperative to her son, and highly promiscuous and alcoholic, but Jerome claims that the only reason he killed her was because she asked him to do the dishes while having sex with a clown, which pushed him over the edge once too far.

Jerome is a pure psychopath, exhibiting all classic traits: a complete lack of emotion, remorse, and fear. He has no empathy for his victims and is easily angered, for example, shooting Greenwood just for stealing his line. He also has a very dark and sadistic sense of humor. Post-revival, he has proven himself to be an even more certifiable and overall darker character who wants to see himself on a much larger stage and bring out the insanity he knows so well that exists in his fellow Gotham citizens.

He is also all too delighted to forge alliances to his benefit, especially if he is able to manipulate those joining him, as he appears to do with Oswald Cobblepot after he is landed in prison.

Powers and Abilities

 * Explosives knowledge: Jerome managed to create a bomb powerful enough to destroy the Gotham power plant.
 * High pain tolerance/Masochistic Love: Having been abused as a child, Jerome has learned to withstand physical pain. Even when he staples his face back and Bruce kept punching him in his face, he smiled and stayed conscious.
 * Leadership: Jerome was able to lead hundreds of Gotham citizens into causing havoc and chaos in the city.
 * Master of Deception: Prior to revealing to true nature, he was able to trick others into thinking he was innocent of his mother's murder.
 * Skilled knife-thrower: Jerome is skilled at throwing knives, such as when he threw a knife into the Deputy Mayor's chest.
 * Skilled marksman: Jerome is skilled at using firearms.
 * Ruthless Cunning: Jerome shows no mercy from his victims, such as killing his own parents.

Personally
Kill count: 24
 * 1) Lila Valeska - Bludgeoned with a hatchet.
 * 2) Unnamed Cops - 5 shot, 1 stabbed
 * 3) Robert Greenwood - Shot in the stomach
 * 4) Sarah Essen - Shot or stabbed
 * 5) Paul Cicero - Stabbed in the eye
 * 6) Mayor Kane - Knife thrown in his heart
 * 7) Unnamed Men - 2 run over, 1 dropped into a piranha tank
 * 8) Dwight Pollard - Blown up
 * 9) Unnamed Makeup Artist - Stabbed
 * 10) Unnamed Follower - Shot in the back
 * 11) Zach Trumble - Shot
 * 12) Unnamed Board Members - 2 eviscerated with a shotgun
 * 13) Carl - Shot
 * 14) Unnamed Singer - Head bashed in with microphone stand
 * 15) Commissioner Reynolds - Head blown off
 * 16) Archbishop McGregor - Head blown off

By Proxy

 * 1) Unnamed Yellen Shipyard Employees - 7 thrown off a roof by Maniax
 * 2) Unnamed Cops - 5 shot by Maniax

Season 1

 * Blind Fortune Teller

Season 2

 * Rise of the Villains: Damned If You Do...
 * Rise of the Villains: Knock, Knock
 * Rise of the Villains: The Last Laugh

Season 3

 * Mad City: Ghosts (corpse)
 * Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It
 * Mad City: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

Season 4

 * A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight
 * A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness
 * A Dark Knight: One of My Three Soups
 * A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting
 * A Dark Knight: That's Entertainment
 * A Dark Knight: That Old Corpse (corpse)

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