Jerome Valeska was a major antagonist in the TV series Gotham. He was the nihilistic anarchist twin-brother of the narcissist absurdist Jeremiah Valeska. He was a deranged and charismatic cult-leader who wanted nothing more than to leave a legacy of death and madness in his wake and create a destructive mark on Gotham that will be remembered for decades even after his death.
Much like his twin-brother, he was portrayed by Cameron Monaghan.
His Qualities[]
What Makes Him Entertaining?[]
- Cameron Monaghan's portrayal of Jerome was highly regarded amongst fans, with some even praising him as a very comic book accurate live-action version of The Joker since Jack Nicholson's take on the Clown Prince of Crime.
- At the season 3 of the show when Jerome was coming back, the legendary voice of The Joker from the Arkham series and the DC Animated Universe, Mark Hamill praised Cameron's preformance as the character on Twitter.
- Jerome's version of the Joker was so good that even to this day, many fans persist in claiming that Jerome shouldn't have been replaced with Jeremiah.
- Jerome takes many inspirations from past incarnations of the Joker from various media, the biggest example is when the character's face was cut off being a direct reference to the New 52 comics.
- Jerome embodies almost all parts of The Joker's essence (the personality, the dark humor, the showmanship, the charisma, the philosophy, ect), just as Jeremiah got the characteristics that Jerome represented, Jerome showed the potential to get the characteristics of The Joker that Jeremiah had, however due to the Fox studios decitions this couldn't be possible, even Jeremiah being victim of this, limiting too much the twins potential.
- Jerome's personality while absolutely deranged and purely evil, is full of moments of black comedy, keeping him from becoming too hateful. He was also proven to be so charismatic, that he managed to inspire a cult forming around his memory after his first death and after his resurrection, managed to convince even ordinary citizens to take up his cue and start causing chaos and anarchy across Gotham and not long after landing inside Arkham Asylum, managed to take control over the entire institution with even the guards being subserviant to him.
- His reveal scene in his very first episode is chilling and Cameron's acting made it better than it ever could've been.
- The character's chemistry with Bruce Wayne is one of the most underrated dynamics in the whole show,
- He has so many Laughably Evil, Evil is Cool and badass moments, for examples of being his Russian roulette scene, him giving a speech to Gotham after his resurrection and his final monologue before his final demise.
- Despite not having any of the education his brother got, Jerome still proved to be highly intelligent and capable of forming very intricate plans, although he took 4 years to prepare his last one.
- Due to how good Jerome knows his brother, the previously mention preparation and help of Tech and Crane, that was unexpected for Jeremiah, that Jerome could overcome his brother's plan with his own, ending to finally exposing him as the monster that is, and with that also making sure his legacy of madness and terror would be masterfully continued for someone he can trust will bring down Gotham into a complete hell.
- He is partially responsible for Bruce Wayne following his future "No Kill" rule as Batman, after Jerome tried to convince the younger boy that there are no heroic people in Gotham and that Bruce's beliefs are a joke, even causing Bruce to slowly realize that he needs to step up as something more to protect Gotham from maniacs like Jerome, thus making Jerome partially and indirectly responsible for Bruce becoming Batman besides Malone, Ra's Al Ghul and his brother.
- While not being a scientific genius, Jerome makes up for it by having other talented villains help him create the Laughing Gas (simply using his charm to persuade them without any intimidation) which proves that while he maybe a narcissitic sociopath he still understands his limits and makes up for his lack of scientific talents, proving his opportunistic planning and manipulative charisma.
- Even in his final moments in both cases, Jerome has proved that he has absolutely no fear of death even smiling and even outright laughing before his deaths.
- Just as his brother, Jerome would find himself frustrated at the fail of a grand plan he might have, however for most of the time he is always able to recompose himself since he finds something more fun to be entertainent with. Although in most cases is because he already won at that point and in a twisted way he managed to accomplish his ultimate goal of leaving a destructive legacy of terror behind which will live on years after his death.
What Makes Him Detestable?[]
- While most characters in the show are not saints or are genuine villains, most of them have some extent of sympathy, or are genuinley too mentally ill, or delusionally and hypocritically believe that they are doing the right thing, or have some understandable and reasonable motives such as revenge, power and money, Jerome's whole motivation for creating a legacy of madness and destruction "For the Evulz": Jerome commits several heinous crimes just for the sake of it, with almost every single crime being on the table just so he could have a good laugh, even devilishly smiling when his father prophecizes him becoming Gotham's worst curse making Jerome, alongside his brother, utterly repulsive to the core. Overcoming the evilness of almost all criminals in the show, for not only his diabolical nature but also for his nihilistic worldview.
- He is a horrifically Bad Boss, as he kills or tortures his own many for a variety of reasons (being let-down, outliving their usefulness, being upset or just straight up boredom).
- Corrupting many citizens across Gotham, including children, into becoming murderous lunatics just like himself leading to the formation of his very own cult who resurrected him in the 3rd Season.
- He posthumously made Jeremiah to reveal his inner insanity throught the special gas, making this way that he will spray even more chaos and destruction that Jerome himself could ever made, being this way the perfect and funniest revange, leaving under him a more nightmerish villain.
- In season 5 Ecco admits that Jerome gave him a "near death experience" that was more like a gift than a final attack, and as Ecco reflects Jeremiah's perspective, or at least his message, it can be said that Jeremiah percieves Jerome's special gas in that way.
- Although he was abused as a child by his family which might make him a tragic figure, the fact that he showed no remorse for their deaths or the suffering he caused to people who were completely unrelated to his tragedy make him an inhuman monster devoid of any sympathy. What's more is that even since childhood he was likely psychotic as he admitted that as a teenager he wanted to kill everyone he saw.
- Even when he acts all charming and charismatic, other characters around him seem to be somewhat unsettled and creeped out by him, proving that he as a dangerous arua around him.
External Links[]
- Jerome Valeska on the Villains Wiki
- Jerome Valeska on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Jerome Valeska on the Gotham Wiki
- Jerome Valeska on the DC Comics Database Wiki
- Jerome Valeska on the Wikipedia