Gotham Bruce's Age

[ALittlePush]

How old is Bruce supposed to be in show?

We know Thomas wrote the letter before his death when Bruce was 12. At the minute I'm guessing Bruce's age is either 12 or 13 since the letter would be more poignant if it was the last thing Thomas wrote before his murder. That would make Bruce 12 at the time of the Wayne murders and since season 2 is only set a month after season 1, depending on Bruce's birthday, that would make Bruce still 12 or at the most just turned 13.

However, I would've thought if Bruce did have a birthday, the show would've shown us that since it would've been his first birthday without his parents and the perfect opportunity for an emotional moment between Bruce and Alfred.

The letter is only "evidence" of Bruce's age insofar that it tells us that Bruce is at least that age at the beginning of the series but it doesn't tell us how long before the Wayne murders it was written. Is there any other evidence in season 1 or 2 that could indicate Bruce's age?

 

[Taarna]

I think he's 13.

 

[Kathemy]

Since we have in fact no confirmation whatsoever about what Bruce's age is except for the fact that he absolutely can not be younger than 12, I think the best canon we can find is going with David's real age. David was 13 when filming began and he is now 14. So this makes him 13 in season 1, and 14 in season 2.

 

[ALittlePush]

Season 2 is only set a month after season 1 so Bruce can't be 14.

All we know is that Bruce was 12 when Thomas wrote the letter before his death. The letter would be more poignant if it was one of the last things Thomas wrote before his murder.

So Bruce is at least 12.

We've not seen Bruce have a birthday in-show. Whilst it's possible this could've happened off-screen, you'd think that, since it would be Bruce's first birthday after his parent's murder, they would want to show us that as it lends itself to an emotional moment between Bruce and Alfred.

I would say Bruce is either 12, approaching 13, or he has only just turned 13 in the month gap between season 1 and 2.

 

[Kathemy]

How can you discern how much time transpires between each episode?

 

[ALittlePush]

In the first episode of season 2, the opening scene carries on from where season 1 ended with Bruce and Alfred finding the Bat cave. There are then subtitles saying "1 month later" which then leads into the current day actions with the maniax in Arkham.

Also in Barnes' first episode, he says that the GCPD massacre occurred "a few days ago".

 

[dax]

Penguin mentioned that he was holding Fish Mooney's umbrella "1 year ago" which is around the same time Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed. Bruce was 13 back then so he would now be 14.

 

[Taarna]

Penguin mentioned that he was holding Fish Mooney's umbrella "1 year ago" which is around the same time Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed. Bruce was 13 back then so he would now be 14.

Good point! This would make Bruce a freshman in high school.

Waiting for L Fox to repair his father's computer...

 

[ALittlePush]

Penguin mentioned that he was holding Fish Mooney's umbrella "1 year ago" which is around the same time Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed. Bruce was 13 back then so he would now be 14.

That's a good point about Penguin being an umbrella boy "a year ago" which in turn would actually shift Bruce's age to a more stable 13 rather than 12 but I don't think he's quite 14 yet.

We know Thomas wrote the letter when Bruce was 12.

Penguin was an umbrella boy "a year ago" in season 2

There is a one month gap between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2.

So if season 1 more or less covers a year then Bruce would be at least 13 currently approaching 14 but not 14 yet.

My reasons for thinking this are:

1. The letter would be more poignant if it was one of the last things Thomas wrote instead of being written a year before his death.

2. Bruce's first birthday after his parents' murder would be a meaningful one and it would be foolish not to show that onscreen (though it was foolish to kill off Jerome but the show went there).

3. Penguin's "a year ago" could refer to a general timeframe rather than a specific "12 months ago to the day I was Fish's umbrella boy" eg if you were in March 2016 and something happened in September 2015, you'd say whatever occurred happened "last year". If something happened 11 months ago, it would still be classed as "a year ago"

The question is how far into being 12 was Bruce when his parents were murdered? He's definitely 13 given Penguin's "a year ago" but had he just turned 13 at the time of the murder hence why there is no reference of Bruce's birthday in which case he would very well be approaching 14, or was he, for example, 12 years 9 months at the time of the murders so he's still in the 13 bracket because that would add up to "a year ago".

 

[Kathemy]

I'm adding some stuff here that we know now.

1, 1 month has passed between episode 3 and episode 7 of the second season.

2, Bruce and Silver are both attending "prep school". ThePhantasm mentioned some preparatory schools accept children but the usual age range is 14-18. However this is the same as Bruce's school in season one, the "Anders Preparatory Academy".

3, As ALittlePush said "one year ago" can mean less than one year ago, but it can also mean more than one year ago. The average is exactly one year ago.

ThePhantasm called my attention to this article https://www.thewrap.com/foxs-gotham-meet-bruce-wayne-age-12/ where it says Gotham introduces Bruce at the age of 12. I am not sure if we can immediately accept this as show canon given that it hasn't been presented on screen but I am willing to go with it.

 

[ALittlePush]

I'm adding some stuff here that we know now.

1, 1 month has passed between episode 3 and episode 7 of the second season.

2, Bruce and Silver are both attending "prep school". ThePhantasm mentioned some preparatory schools accept children but the usual age range is 14-18. However this is the same as Bruce's school in season one, the "Anders Preparatory Academy".

3, As ALittlePush said "one year ago" can mean less than one year ago, but it can also mean more than one year ago. The average is exactly one year ago.

ThePhantasm called my attention to this article https://www.thewrap.com/foxs-gotham-meet-bruce-wayne-age-12/ where it says Gotham introduces Bruce at the age of 12. I am not sure if we can immediately accept this as show canon given that it hasn't been presented on screen but I am willing to go with it.

At the moment Gotham is 2 months after the end of season 1.

1 month after Bruce finds the bat cave and 1 month passed between episodes 3 and 7.

We know only days passed between episode 2 and 4/5 (whichever one Barnes made his debut as he talked about Jerome killing Essen as "a few days ago")


At the very least, Bruce must be due a birthday soon, it would be a missed opportunity not to show how emotional he still is over his parents' death when he has to spend his first birthday without them.

 

[Kathemy]

https://twitter.com/GothamTVWriters/status/662660641438703616

 

[ALittlePush]

Well done on getting an answer Kathemy.

So Bruce is 14 (guess he turned 13 not long before his parents death then) It's a shame they ddn't show his first birthday after his parents' murder as that would have made a great emotional scene between him and Alfred.

 

[DigificWriter]

Bruce was already 13 when his parents were murdered, which we know from the initial character description released by FOX.

 

[Kathemy]

Documented dialog from the promo to episode 13: "We met before. You looked right at me. Two years ago."

 

[Kathemy]

Documented from episode 15: The Gordon trial took 4 weeks. We don't know how long it took from him getting arrested to the trial starting.