Gotham has done a great job of taking pre-existing comic book characters (like Edward Nygma and Selina Kyle) and mixing them with members of a brand-new cast (like Fish Mooney). The show especially listens to the fans, engaging with them on not only what they want to see, but all of the fan-led theories they come up with. Gotham recently brought the character of Kristen Kringle into the fray. She works with Nygma (who will eventually become the Riddler) at the Gotham City Police Department as an archivist, and, boy, is he in love with her. His attempts at courting Kristen have left many things to be desired. He’s so… awkward, constantly asking her a series of riddles, rearranging her carefully calculated files to a system he deemed better suited to the room, and gifting her with a cupcake with a bullet in it. The explanation for the last one? It’s a riddle (of course), meaning that a woman can be just as dangerous as she is beautiful. Um, yikes.
Needless to say, that didn’t go over too well with Kristen, and Edward must carry on to convince her of his love another day. Though Kristen has acted solely as a love interest for Edward so far, the Gotham writers must have something more in store for her. Of course, the Internet has its fair share of theories, so let’s see what the buzz is on Kristen Kringle.
She’ll Turn Into Harley Quinn
The Hollywood Reporter suggested the possibility of Kristen turning into Harley Quinn, a character who debuted in the Batman comics as a funny female sidekick to the Joker. Her origin story is that of a psychiatric intern, Harleen Quinzel, falling in love with the deranged Joker and vowing to follow him wherever he goes. Reasons why this may not work for Kristen? She’s been introduced as a counterpart to Riddler (not Joker), we haven’t even been introduced to the Joker yet, and Kristen doesn’t seem capable of the violence that Harley Quinn was. I know it’s the quiet ones that you have to watch out for, but still.
She’s Santa Claus’ Daughter
In the DC Comics world, Santa isn’t the jolly old soul he’s portrayed to be in popular culture. Instead, he had an army of elves and was decapitated by intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo (who then shot poor, innocent Rudolph). Observer suggested that Kristen could be this Santa's daughter, since her last name is Kringle, but (so far) she’s not carrying the tendencies of a girl out to avenge her father’s death. Dubious at best.
She’s Related To Mr. Freeze
On Reddit, ericarlen theorized that Kristen's name suggests she's connected to the Batman villain. This is along the same lines as the Santa Claus theory, because Kringle = Santa = North Pole = Mr. Freeze. But does Kristen seem like the type to Elsa-fy all of Gotham? I don’t think so, either.
So what will be Kristen’s story? Like many of the other Gotham characters (both new and old), it looks like we’ll have to wait to find out.
Images: FOX; gothamgifs/Tumblr; giphy (3)
