Dwight Pollard was a supporting antagonist in the third season of Gotham. He was fanatically obsessed with the psychotic criminal Jerome Valeska, so much so that he not only founded a cult dedicated to the madman, but even tried to bring him back from the dead, an endeavour that he actually succeeded in.
History[]
Past[]
Dwight was previously a researcher at Indian Hill, a secret facility that conducted genetic experiments on humans and even practiced resurrecting the dead. When Jerome Valeska terrorized Gotham as leader of the Maniax, Dwight was one of many Gothamites who became enamoured by Jerome's chaotic worldview. After Jerome was killed by Theo Galavan, his body was obtained by Indian Hill. Before Hugo Strange could conduct any experimentation upon Jerome, Indian Hill was shut down and Strange was arrested. Dwight, however, was able to evade the authorities and secured the cryogenic capsule containing Jerome's body, moving it to a secure location.
Dwight eventually started a new job at the Gotham City Morgue. With the knowledge he obtained during his time at Indian Hill, Dwight started to experiment on the corpses for testing purposes - his true goal being the resurrection of Jerome. Although he managed to revive people, they were only able to remain alive for a short amount of time before collapsing to the ground dead again. Also, one of these experiments escaped into Gotham and, after dying again, was found by the GCPD.
Resurrecting Jerome[]
After Lucius Fox analysed the corpse and found out that it was supposed to be in the morgue, Detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock headed there to investigate. At the morgue, they met Dwight whom they informed about the corpse. Dwight acted as if he did not know anything and feigned surprise when the drawer supposed to contain the corpse was empty. While inside the morgue, Jim witnessed several stickers of a smiling face on Dwight's personal belongings. Noticing Dwight's strange behaviour, Gordon and Bullock decided to follow him.
Gordon and Bullock followed Dwight to an abandoned movie theatre. Inside the cinema, they witnessed a large group of Jerome supporters, most of them dressed to look like Valeska. Although Bullock noted the weirdness of the cult, Gordon reminded him that nothing they were doing was illegal. Eventually, Dwight climbed on the stage and addressed the crowd, ranting that the people of Gotham were slaves of the media and the politicians and that the people were not doing anything about it. He then reminded the group that there was someone who stood up to the evil oppressors, a man who knew no fear. He then pressed a button and a projector played the tape Jerome had made when he attacked the police precinct. While the tape played, the cult laughed maniacally and applauded once it was finished. Gordon and Bullock then made their presence known to the cult, causing most of the members to panic and flee the building, including Dwight, who successfully escaped. Gordon and Bullock attempted to pursue him, but they were forced to stop the pursuit when they were attacked by Victor Zsasz.
Dwight returned to a secret laboratory where he talked to his associate Gus. The two discussed their plans of resurrection and came to the conclusion that it was time for Jerome to return. Back at his secret lab, Dwight started the procedure to revive Jerome, but seemingly failed. After Gus turned up and realized that Jerome was still dead, he blamed Dwight who had told the cultists that he would be able to revive Jerome. He claimed that everyone left their old lives behind based on Dwight's promises and that the followers wanted to see Jerome's face. This caused Dwight to kill Gus with a lethal dose of electricity but, remembering his words, cut off Jerome's face afterwards. Dwight later approached the cult while wearing Jerome's face over his own like a mask, but they immediately saw through it and angrily demanded Jerome. However, Dwight calmed them by claiming that each of them was Jerome and that they kept him alive in their hearts.
With his followers, Dwight stormed a news station, killing the anchor and taking everyone inside hostage. After the building was secured, the followers prepared for a show of their own. Before they could go live, Dwight was informed that the police were outside and that Detective Gordon was on the phone. During the conversation, Gordon realized that Dwight was just repeating the words Jerome said to him during their previous face-off. After Dwight claimed to be Jerome, Gordon told him that at least, Jerome never bored him and hung up the phone.
Dwight and his men then started the show, during which, Dwight addressed the city in the role of Jerome. During this speech, Gordon, Bullock and a task force stealthily infiltrated the building and eventually stormed the newsroom. Dwight attempted to flee, but he and all his surviving followers were captured and arrested.
Betrayal and death[]
After Dwight and his men had been stopped by Gordon and the GCPD, the newly-resurrected Jerome, disguised as a police officer, intercepted the policeman bringing Dwight away. He murdered the officer and kidnapped Dwight, whom he took to an abandoned facility. After getting his face back and attaching it back on with a stapler, he turned to Dwight. Dwight asked whether Jerome was mad to which Jerome sarcastically replies by asking what he could possibly be mad about. However, he then attacked Dwight and tied him to a self-built bomb.
Jerome then took a camera stolen from the news station and broadcast live. He revealed himself to Gotham, telling the city that he was back from the dead. Jerome also addressed his fanatics, telling them to do what they want and to kill who they wanted. He then approached Dwight and ignited the fuse for the bomb. Claiming that he didn't forgive Dwight for stealing his face, Jerome then walked off while leaving the camera focused on Dwight. Gordon realized that Jerome was at a power plant and tried to send men there, but the bomb then went off, killing Dwight and creating a city-wide power outage.