The Sensei is a major antagonist in the third season of Gotham. This character is an amalgamation of two characters from DC Comics, one being the Sensei - a member of the League of Shadows and father of Ra's al Ghul - and the other being an unnamed shaman who was one of Bruce Wayne's many mentors on his journey to becoming Batman. In Gotham, he is portrayed as the leader of the Court of Owls as well as being a high-ranking member of the League of Shadows, subservient only to Ra's al Ghul himself.
Biography[]
Early history[]
Very little is known about the Sensei's activities before the events of the series, though it is known that he was the leader of the Court of Owls, a shadowy organization that has secretly ruled Gotham City for centuries. He had previously known and respected Thomas and Martha Wayne and was outraged that the Court had arranged for their murder without his consent, executing the Court member that gave the order. Despite leading the Owls, the Sensei only used them as a tool to further the goals of the League of Shadows and his own master: Ra's al Ghul.
The capture of Bruce Wayne[]
After Bruce Wayne started to investigate the Court of Owls, the Court kidnapped Bruce and replaced him with a clone from Indian Hill, and delivered the real Bruce to the Sensei's mountain temple. When Bruce regained consciousness, the Sensei was there to greet him. Bruce claimed that he had to get back to Gotham City and the Sensei assured him that he would, but the Court's plan would have already succeeded by then. During his attempts to flee, Bruce found him in the same corridor again and again. Eventually, he walked past his cell and found the Sensei awaiting him inside. Bruce was surprised and asked the Shaman whether the corridors were all shaped the same.
Bruce and the Sensei sat down and the Shaman produced a set of acupuncture needles which had weirdly-shaped pins on their ends. When Bruce asked what the needles were for and the Shaman held one to Bruce's forehead. Bruce suddenly started hallucinating and found himself transported back in time into the alley where his parents were murdered. After emerging once again, a horrified Bruce asked the Sensei why he would transport Bruce back to that horrible night. The Sensei replied that Bruce had never left that alley and had lived there ever since that fateful moment.
When the Sensei turned up for another session, Bruce tried to ambush him but was swiftly overpowered. Although he apologized and begged for mercy, the Sensei drew another needle and took Bruce back into his mind, to the alley. There, Bruce attempted to attack the Sensei, but the old man easily blocked all of Bruce's attacks and eventually hit him in the chest, throwing Bruce back several feet. The Shaman claimed that there was still so much more that he had to teach Bruce and that he would shape Bruce into what he needed to be to become Gotham's protector.
Bruce's training[]
The Sensei also had one of his disciples training Bruce how to swordfight. Bruce was appalled and eventually refused to cooperate. The Sensei seemed annoyed but told Bruce to pick up his stick again. He promised Bruce that he would let him go when Bruce managed to defeat his opponent in battle. Bruce got back up and fought the man, but is easily defeated. In order to further shape Bruce, the Sensei brought him back into another memory: the wake of his parents. Bruce revealed to the Sensei that he left during the wake because he was angry that everyone was only concerned about him when his parents had been murdered. He stated that he kept his father's cufflinks from that day, claiming that he could not let them go. The Sensei was able to convince Bruce to let go of the cufflinks, placing them inside a vault so that he could rid himself of the pain they represented. Due to the immensity of the situation, Bruce passed out and the Sensei told the unconscious boy that together, they would make Gotham pay.
The next day, Bruce fought the Sensei's disciple again and won the fight. The Shaman asked what Bruce felt during the fight and was pleased when Bruce stated that he felt nothing. Bruce then asked whether he could go home and the Sensei stated that he could if he wished to. However, he also stated that if Bruce stayed, the Sensei would take the pain of his past away completely and that Bruce would return to Gotham with a power yet unknown to him. After considering for a moment, Bruce agreed to stay. The Sensei later called Kathryn Monroe, his right hand in Gotham, and informed her about the progress he had been making with Bruce. He told Kathryn that he and Bruce would be returning to Gotham shortly.
Return to Gotham[]
The Sensei and Bruce arrived in Gotham at night, taking residence in a mansion outside of the city. There, the two continued their sessions and the Sensei stated that there is a final memory. Bruce realized that the Sensei was planning to take the memory of his parents' murder from him. The Sensei urged him to do what was necessary in order to banish the memories, but Bruce was unable to do so. When Bruce tearfully told the Shaman that he could not do it, the Sensei decided that it was time to tell Bruce "the truth". To do so, he used another needle which, this time, transported both he and Bruce into his own memory.
The Sensei showed Bruce how he killed the Court member who ordered the death of his family. The Sensei then stated that the Court's days were over and that they had to finally pay for their crimes. Fueled by this revelation, Bruce managed to seal his mind off from the pain of his parents' deaths, much to the delight of the Sensei. After they returned to the real world, the Sensei asked Bruce how he felt about the death of his parents and Bruce revealed that he fet nothing.
Back at the mansion, the two were interrupted by a Talon of the Court. The Shaman revealed to Bruce that the Talons were loyal servants of the Court and that they had been trained almost since birth. He told the Talon to cut off his finger which the man did without any hesitation. The Sensei then revealed that by sealing Bruce's memories, he managed to indoctrinate Bruce in a way similar to the Talons and when he asked whether Bruce would do his bidding from now on, Bruce told him that he would comply.
With Bruce in tow, the Sensei visited the lair of the Court of Owls where its council was in session. While Bruce remained in the shadows, the Sensei asserted his rightful place as the Court's leader and addressed his fellow councilmen. He claimed that three years ago, a great wrong was dealt by the Court's hands in the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. One of the Court members accused the Sensei of having left Gotham for years despite being the organization's leader and stated that choices had to be made. After listening to the man's arguments, the Sensei asked Bruce to come forward. Reminding him that it was his parents who were killed, the Sensei told Bruce to pass judgement. He urged Bruce to give the order to have the Court executed and when Bruce did not react, the Sensei clapped his hands, upon which a group of Talons emerged from the shadows and slaughtered the council.
Later on, the Sensei spoke with Bruce and asked him what he was thinking about. Bruce explained that he thought about his plans to avenge his parents and that now that it was done, he felt failure for not having been the one to give the order. The Sensei assured Bruce that he would have another chance to prove himself worthy. That same moment, a door opened and two Talons and Professor Strange enter the room. Strange was fascinated that Bruce was completely docile to the Sensei's demands and claimed that he would like to study the Shaman's techniques.
Strange showed the Sensei the bomb he had built to disperse the Alice Tetch virus upon Gotham and the Sensei handed Bruce the detonator. He explained that the bomb would affect thousands of people in Gotham and that from the cities' ashes, Bruce would be reborn as the city's dark hero. He told Bruce that it would be his task to press the detonator and Bruce promised that he would do so when the time came. While they prepared to leave, they were suddenly ambushed by Alfred Pennyworth and Harvey Bullock, who had learned the location of the mansion from the Whisper Gang. Alfred confronted Bruce and the Sensei and ordered the Shaman to step away from Bruce. However, the Sensei calmly told Alfred to drop his gun before Bruce stepped between them both. Bruce revealed that the Sensei had shown him his true destiny, to destroy Gotham with his own hands. The Sensei and Bruce then walked away while a Talon attacked Alfred.
Death[]
While the GCPD struggled desperately to find both Bruce and the virus bomb, the Sensei and Bruce visited Wayne Enterprises, looking out over the city from the top floor. The Sensei mentioned that Bruce seemed off and asked whether it was the meeting with Alfred that was bothering him. Bruce replied that it was nothing and that he wanted to be ready to fulfill his destiny. The Sensei explained that after Gotham had fallen, he would take Bruce to meet the man whose vision singled Bruce out to be the hero of Gotham.
As the time for the detonation drew near, the Sensei and Bruce looked out over the skyline of the city they were about to destroy. When the moment came, the Sensei told Bruce to press the trigger to detonate the bomb. Before Bruce could do so, Alfred stormed into the room, having obtained Bruce's location from Strange. He begged Bruce not to press the button while the Sensei urged Bruce to do exactly that. Once more, Bruce stepped in front of the Sensei to shield him. Realizing that Bruce was about to give in to Alfred, the Sensei jumped forward, grabbed Bruce's hand and pressed the detonator himself. As he did so, Alfred shot him multiple times. He slumped to the floor and Bruce rushed to his side. As he died, the Sensei told Bruce to find the Demon's Head at the Yuyan Building in order to fully understand his destiny. Although he died of his wounds moments later, the bomb still went off, thus the Sensei had achieved his goal.