Current Events

Batman - Batman has escaped his knightmares, only to find himself locked up in Arkham with his worst enemies.

Detective Comics - Batman is searching for Damian who was kidnapped by the Arkham Knight.

- Batman is searching for Damian who was kidnapped by the Arkham Knight. Justice League - Batman, along with the rest of the league is trapped in the sixth dimension by the World forger.

Origin

Young Bruce grieving over his parents' bodies

A wealthy philanthropist, Thomas Wayne, his wife, Martha, and their 8-year-old son, Bruce Wayne, were coming out of a movie theater at 10:47 p.m. As they stepped onto Park Row (now called Crime Alley), a thug called Joe Chill, armed with a gun, approached them from the shadows to steal the pearl necklace Martha was wearing. Thomas, moving in to protect his wife, was shot and killed by Chill, causing Martha to scream in terror. Chill then shot and killed her, while shouting, "This'll shut you up!" Bruce, traumatized by the deaths of his parents, would never be the same again.

Afterwards, Bruce was raised by his wise and loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and inherited his family's vast fortune as well as his father's company, Wayne Enterprises. Standing at his parent's gravestones, Bruce made a solemn oath to avenge their deaths.

Despite the fiscal security, happiness eluded Bruce. Young Bruce was comforted by Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who helped him to mourn his parents and find a purpose in life. At age fourteen, Bruce started a twelve-year walkabout around the world seeking experts in many fields, training himself mentally and physically. From an academic standpoint, he studied at Cambridge in England, the Sorbonne in France, and other famous European universities. A Frenchman named Henri Ducard taught him man-hunting, a ninja named Kirigi taught him stealth, an African bushman trained him in the art of the hunt, and Nepalese monks taught him healing.

Bruce returned to Gotham City, where he became a vigilante. But despite all his honed skills, he knew something was missing. Bruce believed criminals to be a "superstitious and cowardly lot," and in order to rid Gotham of evil, he needed to reinvent himself to become a terrifying symbol that would strike fear into the hearts of criminals. While in his father's study, a large bat crashed through the window. Bruce saw this as an omen and recalled his fear of bats as a child. This would be his symbol; the Bat would strike terror into the Gotham underworld. Using his vast wealth, Bruce designed a costume and state of the art equipment, thus beginning a difficult double life: by day, he would be the billionaire playboy and businessman, Bruce Wayne, and at night, he was The Batman.

Creation

Bob Kane's original design.

Batman, one of the most influential comic book characters to be penned, was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, though Kane, who designed the character, often receives credit as the sole creator. After the success of Superman in early 1939, DC Comics started requesting more superheroes for its titles. Bob Kane had an idea for a character called "Bat-Man." There is a large controversy that suggests Kane came up with a "Birdman" and Finger is the one who actually suggested the name "Bat-man." The character's alter-ego's name was influenced by the names of the Scottish patriot Robert the Bruce and revolutionary U.S. Brigadier General Mad Anthony Wayne (who, in the comics, is an ancestor of Bruce). For the character's costume, Kane drew inspiration from a flying device designed by Leonardo da Vinci: the ornithopter, a glider that had bat-like wings.

Most of the Bat costume designs were suggested by Bill Finger. Kane initially drew Batman with a red and black costume, a domino mask, and wings. Finger suggested the character's costume be coloured black and grey to make the character look more "ominous." He also suggested replacing the domino mask with a "cowl" (hood) and the wings with a cape. Finger also wanted Kane to change the way Batman's eyes appeared behind the mask and urged him to turn them into white spots. Later Finger admitted that he was influenced by the comic character The Phantom, who also wore a mask with no visible pupils. Gloves were also added so that Batman would not leave fingerprints behind.

Batman's First appearance

Like Superman, various aspects of Batman's personality, character history, visual design and equipment were inspired by a contemporary popular culture of the 1930's, including movies, pulp magazine, comic strips, newspaper headlines, and even aspects of Kane himself. Notable sources of inspiration were two of Kane's favourite movies, The Bat Whispers (1930), the film was a screen adaptation of Mary Robert Rinehart's mystery novel that featured a character named The Bat, a detective who has a secret alter ego known as the Bat. The other movie that influenced Kane was The Mark Of Zorro (1920). One might point out that in the movies young Bruce Wayne is often shown to have seen a Zorro movie before his parents were murdered. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #27, published in 1939, and later became popular enough to spawn his own comics. Along with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman has provided many of the core story arcs for the DC brand since his creation.

Batman is unique for the simple reason that he has no super-human powers and is an ordinary human employing an M.O., a modus operandi, and relying on his intelligence, money, inventiveness, detective skills, martial arts, and fear to defeat his opponents. He currently makes the most money for a single publishing character and is widely considered to be one of the most popular super-heroes in all of comics.

In the original version of the story and the vast majority of retellings, Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American millionaire (later billionaire) playboy, industrialist, and philanthropist. Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, he swore revenge on criminals, an oath tempered with the greater ideal of justice. Wayne trains himself both physically and intellectually and dons a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in the fictional American Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his crime-fighting partner, Robin, his butler Alfred Pennyworth, the police commissioner James W. Gordon, and occasionally the heroine Batgirl. He fights an assortment of villains such as the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, Ra's al Ghul, the Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and the Catwoman, among others. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any super-human powers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, martial arts skills, an indomitable will, fear, and intimidation in his continuous war on crime.

Batman became a very popular character soon after his introduction and gained his own comic book title, Batman, in 1940. As the decades wore on, differing interpretations of the character emerged. The late 1960s Batman television series used a "camp" (actually action-comedy) aesthetic which continued to be associated with the character for years after the show ended. Various creators worked to return the character to his dark roots, with varying results. The comic books of this dark stage culminated in the acclaimed 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, written by Frank Miller, as well as Batman: The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore. and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, among others. The overall success of Warner Brothers' live-action Batman feature films has also helped maintain public interest in the character. (Warner Brothers' parent company, Warner Communications, became the parent company of DC Comics in the 1970s.)

Pulp Influences

Batman, as a character, was heavily influenced by "pulp" magazines, cheaply-printed prose magazines that were a popular form of mass entertainment in the first half of the twentieth century. Pulp genres varied from romance to horror, but mysterious heroes featured heavily. And as Bill Finger later said, Batman was originally written in pulp style. One famous pulp character that inspired both Finger and Kane--in different mediums--was The Shadow. Finger liked the magazine version of the character: a gun-toting, no-nonsense crime fighter whose real identity was a mystery. Kane preferred the radio version of The Shadow: a wealthy playboy named Lamont Cranston who had the hypnotic power "to cloud men's minds," to prevent them from seeing him.

Character Evolution

Golden Age

Golden Age Batman

During the Golden Age of Comics, when he was first introduced, Bruce Wayne was already the vigilante known as Batman. Batman's first appearance was in Detective Comics #27. In Detective Comics #33, the origin of the character was told. Bruce Wayne was the son of Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha Wayne. His parents were wealthy philanthropists in the high society of Gotham City. Bruce grew up in Wayne Manor and experienced a privileged life until one fateful night. Bruce and his parents went to the movies and were walking home when suddenly they were confronted by a gun-toting small-time crook called Joe Chill. At first, Chill demanded Martha's jewellery, but instead, he ended up shooting and killing both of Bruce’s parents. After the deaths of his parents, Bruce swore to rid Gotham City of evil forever. He began an intense mental and physical training and mastered many skills including martial arts, criminology, and escape artistry.

Upon completing his training Bruce realized that his skills alone were not enough to do the job; he needed the criminals to fear him. That was when a bat flew through the window, scaring Bruce. He was inspired by the symbolism of the bat and used this to become Batman. Batman witnessed the death of the Flying Graysons, high-flying acrobats that were killed by mobsters after the owner of the circus refused to pay "protection money" for the crooks to be their bodyguards. Bruce takes in young Dick Grayson as his ward and trains him as his protege, Robin. Bruce and Dick first hunt down and defeat Tony Zucco, the crime boss who had been responsible for the deaths of John and Mary Grayson. It is never stated why Bruce took in Dick, but it could be due to how Dick lost his parents at a young age, and to crime, just like Bruce. Together the "Dynamic Duo" face off against many enemies such as the Riddler, the Scarecrow, the Penguin, and the Joker, the last of whom was to become Batman's greatest enemy.

Batman eventually becomes one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America. Batman continued working with the Gotham City Police Department in fighting crime and is later legally deputized as a civilian police agent. Later Alfred Pennyworth is introduced and serves as his butler. Alfred eventually learns the identities of the Dynamic Duo and aids them in keeping their identity safe. Love interest Vicki Vale debuted during the 1940's as one of the numerous "flavours of the month" for Bruce Wayne. (Other heroes were shown to have a girlfriend. But this could not be so with Bruce Wayne; to say that he was a playboy was to mean it. In his various incarnations, he has had a number of girlfriends, but none have lasted long, and his Batman incarnation was too obsessed and too angst-consumed to be able to commit to anyone; besides, Batman had been specifically created to be more of a fighter than any true lover.) Vicki was created as a mirror of Lois Lane of Metropolis, and she often spent her time trying to figure out the identity of Batman. Whenever she got close to figuring out that Batman was Bruce Wayne, Batman would often trick her into believing he was not Bruce Wayne. (Secret identities nearly being found out was a common occurrence in the Golden Age.) Batman was first shown as a cold-blooded vigilante who was willing to use a gun and kill his enemies to rid the city of crime. But this revolted some readers, who made it clear that they hated the idea of their hero going around killing people. At the same time, DC Comic's new editor, Whitney Ellsworth, was already drafting, and eventually implemented, a moral code for Batman that prevented him from ever killing or using a gun. One in-comics rationale for this was that having witnessed his parents being killed with guns was enough to turn him against their usage.

Silver Age

Silver Age Batman

During the Silver Age, DC Comics introduced the Multiverse continuity to its characters. It established the fact that all the Batman stories told during the Golden Age actually took place on Earth-Two. The Earth-Two Batman marries Catwoman and fathered a daughter named Helena Wayne who grows up to be the Huntress. Earth-Two Batman retires to take the job as Commissioner of the GCPD. Dick Grayson of Earth-Two became a lawyer with his own practice and continued his career as the Earth-Two Robin. Eventually, he dies during his final adventure against a criminal named Bill Jensen, who had acquired super-human powers. Batman's backstory was expanded upon to include his uncle, Philip Wayne, who raised Bruce for a while after his parent's deaths. He also had an older brother named Thomas Wayne Jr., who had had to be institutionalized after the death of Thomas and Martha. In addition, it was revealed that his parents' killings had not been chance, but instead an assassination ordered by gangster Lew Moxon.

As a child, Bruce's father had worn a bat costume (similar to Batman's future costume) to a masquerade party, where he encountered and stopped the mobster. Moxon swore revenge against Dr. Wayne and hired Joe Chill to orchestrate the "mugging" that would result in their deaths. At some point in Bruce's training, he wore a costume similar to the future Robin's, and he was trained by Harvey Harris, a Gotham City Police detective. During this time Batman would regularly team up with other heroes to fight evil (these adventures were published in World’s Finest Comics from the 1950's through the 1980's), and many of the team-ups featured Batman, Superman and, occasionally, Robin and led to the formation of the Justice League of America.

After Robin (Dick Grayson) sustained an injury, Batman insisted on going without a field partner. Dick left to attend college and moved out of Wayne Manor. Batman primarily worked solo, but occasionally he would team up with Robin and Batgirl. It was during this period where Batman started becoming a bit darker; this was partly due to the loss of Robin's presence, but mainly because times were changing in the real world. Violent crimes increased in Gotham, and the Joker returned with a darker, more sadistic nature; this was shown in the fact that he was again commencing to kill his victims, as he had been doing when first introduced.

The Batman also comes face to face with Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head. Ra's has lived for over 600 years and is one of the few people who deduces that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Ra's saw their ideas as being the same, but the two became rivals quickly when Batman realized that Ra's did not value the lives of others as he did. During this time Bruce's older brother, Thomas Wayne, Jr., reappears. Thomas becomes an assassin, but his body was taken over by the anti-hero Deadman. Batman was able to remove Deadman from his brother's body, but Thomas soon dies trying to save his younger brother's life. Batman later quit the Justice League to form his new group called the Outsiders. Batman leads the group for a while, but he eventually quit the Outsiders as well.

Modern Age

Modern Age Batman

After the story called Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Batman of Earth-Two was erased from history. DC Comics attempted to reboot many major characters' origins including Batman. The re-tooled history was recounted in Frank Miller’s run on the Batman: Year One story arc, or, at least the more serious, less campy sides of The Dark Knight. This made Batman darker and more believable and showed how much Batman dominates Bruce Wayne's psychology, so much so that Bruce has fully transformed into the Dark Knight, both physically and mentally. The character of Jim Gordon was portrayed in greater detail, and the corruption of the Gotham City Police Department was more pronounced, giving more of a reason for Gotham City to need Batman. Dick's backstory remains the same, but Jason Todd's origin was changed, turning the boy into the orphan son of a petty crook, who tries to steal the tires from the Batmobile. Philip Wayne and Thomas, Jr. were removed from continuity (up until the New 52 Relaunch where different versions of both characters returned) and Bruce was raised by his father's trusted friend and butler, Alfred Pennyworth.

In addition, Batman was no longer a founding member of the Justice League. During the Son of the Demon story arc, Batman marries Talia, and she becomes pregnant with their child. When Talia was attacked, Batman nearly dies trying to save her. Talia concludes that she was a hindrance to Batman and pretends to have a miscarriage. The two annulled their marriage, but Talia delivered the baby and gave him up.

Dick Grayson retires the Robin mantle to become Nightwing, and Batman replaces him with orphan Jason Todd to become the new Robin, but he ends up getting killed by the Joker. After losing Jason, Batman becomes self-destructive until Tim Drake enters his life and convinces him to make him the new Robin.

The 1994 company-wide crossover Zero Hour changes aspects of DC continuity again, including those of Batman. Noteworthy among these changes is that the general populace and the criminal element now considers Batman an urban legend rather than a known force. Similarly, the Waynes' killer is never caught or identified, effectively removing Joe Chill from the new continuity, rendering stories such as "Year Two" non-canon.

Batman once again becomes a member of the Justice League during Grant Morrison's 1996 relaunch of the series, titled JLA. Also under Morrison, its revealed that Batman had a child with Talia Al Ghul known as Damian, who was raised to be a ruthless assassin by the age of three.

During the events of Final Crisis, Batman is apparently killed by Darkseid, and he is replaced by Dick Grayson as Batman who enlists Damian as Robin. It eventually revealed that Batman is alive and after his return, he forms Batman Incorporated, where he attempts to use the Batman mantle as an international force for good.

The New 52

Batman's New 52 re-design

With the New 52 relaunch, Batman retained a large part of his mythos but there were some changes. Batman has been active for around seven years and is presently portrayed to be more tech-based. Catwoman no longer knows his secret identity, Grayson is back to being Nightwing, Tim Drake is now Red Robin and leader of the teen titans, Barbara Gordon is now Batgirl and Damian now operates as Bruce's sidekick. He is also a founding member of the Justice League and acts as the team's leader. He first appeared during the event known as Zero Year when Gotham was taken over by the Riddler.

Years later he fought the Court of Owls, a group of criminals who have been controlling Gotham from behind the scenes for many years, and new character Harper Row is introduced as an ally. Also, a violent encounter with the now faceless Joker strained the relationship between the Batman Family. To make matters worse, Damian is later killed by the Heretic during Batman's war with Talia Al Ghul's terrorist organization Leviathan. Batman is consumed by depression and continues to alienate himself from his allies until he discovers a mystical shard that gave him the ability in the story to bring Damian back.

During the events of the weekly series called Batman Eternal, Gordon is framed or murder and Gotham plunge into chaos. Batman's home is turned into an Asylum after the destruction of Arkham, and Bruce loses all of his money after the criminal known as Hush takes over Batman's weapon bases and blows them up, killing many people. Batman is forced to rely on limited resources and ends up living in a penthouse, once belonging to the Court of Owls, in the middle of Gotham.

During Endgame, the Joker reveals he knows Batman's secret identity and orchestrates a plot that sees turn the citizens of Gotham into Joker-ized psychos. In that story, the Joker almost convinces Batman that he is immortal, but it is later revealed that the Joker discovered a substance that allowed him to heal wounds. In their final battle under the bedrocks of Gotham near a pool of dinoseum, the entire cave collapses, and both men apparently die. Months later, Jim Gordon becomes the new Batman and dons a robotic suit, operating within the law. But it is revealed that Bruce is alive but has lost all memory of his days as Batman, and is currently living a rather peaceful life with Julie Madison.

DC Rebirth

Batman's Rebirth re-design

The launch of DC Rebirth intends to reestablish the universe as it was prior to the events of Flashpoint while incorporating elements from the New 52. In the aftermath of the Darkseid War, Batman discovers from the Mobius Chair that there are three different Jokers.

Major Story Arcs

Some of the major story arcs of Batman have been Hush, Knightfall and No Man's Land. For a full list of Batman's key story arcs, please visit the Batman story arc page.

The Man Who Laughs

Gotham City got its first taste of Batman's greatest enemy, the Joker when the police found an abandoned warehouse filled with mutilated corpses, all having ghastly rictus grins on their faces. While Batman was tracking down the killer, the Joker himself appears on live TV, on a news report on Arkham Asylum, killing the reporter with his mysterious laughing venom and predicting the deaths of some of the richest individuals in Gotham. Bruce wonders whether the Joker is a deformed version of the Red Hood, a criminal who fell into chemical waste while being engaged by Batman. The Joker carries out his hits as promised, using his venom, despite Batman's efforts to stop him. The city is thrown into chaos when he invades a prison facility and sets its inmates free, providing them with weapons and killing all of its guard personnel in the process. The criminals wreak great havoc throughout the city but are apprehended by Batman. Joker's next target is Bruce Wayne. Thus, Wayne Manor is under strict surveillance and guard by the police, making Bruce unable to act as Batman. He secretly injects himself with some Joker venom he had gathered. The venom takes instant effect and Bruce is rushed to the hospital. But on the way, Alfred administers him with the antidote he had made after careful study and as Bruce recovers, he understands the Joker's true plan. He had gained an understanding of what drives the Joker while under the effects of the venom and realized Bruce Wayne's assassination is only a diversion from his real mission, which is killing everyone in Gotham by poisoning its water reservoir, which Batman deduces from the clues he had gained in the last few days while tracking the Joker. He finds and stops Joker at the reservoir and refrains from killing him, though not without giving him a severe beating. The Joker is put in the reopened Arkham Asylum.

The Long Halloween

Batman, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent

In Batman's early years, his main objective was to take down Gotham's biggest crime lord Carmine "The Roman" Falcone. To do this, Batman required the help of two of Gotham's finest, "hero cop" Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent. Despite dealing massive blows to the criminal empire, the Roman still stood tall until a killer by the name of Holiday started making his move and killing a member of the Falcone Crime family on every occasion.

Over the course of the story, the trio's morals are put into question, notably Dent's, who has let it be known that he does not care for the deaths of criminals and even contemplated stealing some of the weakened Roman's money. Jealous by the attention Holiday has received, the Joker attempts to release his gas on Gotham Square on New Year's Eve to kill everyone in attendance, and hopefully Holiday but he is stopped by Batman.

Later on, it is revealed that Dent was in possession of the same type of gun that was used in the Holiday murders, turning him into a prime suspect. Despite Gordon's suspicions, Batman refuses to believe that his friend, who shares his love for justice, would be a killer. On th Roman's birthday, Sal Maroni, Falcone's rival, is set to testify against Carmine, prosecuted by Dent. Just as things seemed to go Dent's way, Maroni ends up throwing acid in the attorney's face, physically and mentally scarring him. After being rushed to the hospital, Harvey escapes in a crazed state and kills a doctor. Gordon moves Maroni to a new cell, suspecting that he may be Holiday's next target.

Surely enough, Holiday makes his move and kills Maroni and just as he is about to kill Gordon, who was escorting the gangster, Batman appears just in time to save his friend and take down the killer, and he is revealed to be Falcone's son, Alberto, who holds a grudge against his father for neglecting him and keeping him out of the family business. A while later, Dent makes his return, with half his face disfigured, now calling himself Two-Face. He regroups all the costume freaks including Joker, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy, among others and bursts into the disgraced Roman's penthouse to signify the change that has come to Gotham. Batman appears and takes down the villains with the exception of Dent who holds Falcone hostage. Despite Batman's pleads, Two-Face ends up killing Falcone and then surrenders himself. In the end, when confronted by Batman and Gordon, Dent claims that his methods were the most effective in taking down Falcone. Despite witnessing the corruption of their friend, Batman and Gordon's resolve remains strong and they both vow to never give up on ridding Gotham of evil.

Dark Victory and Robin

Batman & Robin - The Dynamic Duo

In the aftermath of the Roman's death, Falcone's daughter, Sofia Gigante has taken over the family business and vows to kill Two-Face who managed to escape from Arkham Asylum. Meanwhile, a killer by the name of Hangman has been killing various cops and implying that Two-Face is responsible. A gang war erupts between the crime families and the costumed freaks, recruited by Two-Face, and in the crossfire, circus acrobats, the Flying Graysons are killed by Falcone associate, Tony Zucco, leaving the performers' son, Dick, an orphan. Feeling sympathy for the child and remembering his own trauma, Bruce Wayne adopts Dick as his son. However, since Bruce was too busy trying to stop the war as Batman, Dick would often sneak out at night looking for his parent's killer. A terrified Tony Zucco, who knows that Batman is looking for him, is confronted by Dick and due to his poor health, ends up dying of a heart attack. Realizing the boy's vigilante tendencies, Bruce reveals his identity and decides to train him in order to avoid his death. It is later revealed that Hangman is actually Sofia Gigante and sets Gotham on fire to bring Dent out of hiding but before she could kill him, Batman saves him, giving Dent the opportunity to kill her and escape into the sewers with the rest of the super-villains with Batman in pursuit. In the climactic battle, Two-Face and his villainous group find themselves in the bat-cave but Dick's presence prevented them from discovering Batman's secret. Batman and Dick end up fighting off and defeating the villains once and for all. In the end, Batman offers Dick a chance to live a normal life away from vigilantism, but Dick insists on joining his war, and so, he becomes Robin, assisting Batman in his mission, and thus the Dynamic Duo was born.

Tales of the Ghul

Batman passes Ra's Al Ghul's test

While trying to stop the criminal Doctor Darrk, who was leading the League of Assassins at the time, Batman meets the enigmatic Talia Al Ghul, who was kidnapped by Darrk in an attempt to blackmail her father, the wealthy Ra's Al Ghul. Batman saves Talia and she ends up falling in love with the Dark Knight. One night, Batman discovers that Robin has been kidnapped and then, Ra's Al Ghul, who has used his immense resources to discover Batman's secret identity, appears to him in the Bat-Cave to ask for his help, as his daughter has also been kidnapped, possibly by the same person who kidnapped Robin. The two work together and, accompanied by Ra's' faithful bodyguard Ubu, travel the world looking for the kidnapper. Batman solves various puzzles and obstacles thrown in his path, and after finding both Talia and Robin, he deduces that Ra's was behind the entire ordeal as a personal test, which Ra's declares he has passed. Ra's reveals that he wants to change the world into a better place, but to that, he wants to eradicate most of mankind. However, he is growing old and reveals that this machination took place because he was in need of a successor, and Batman has proven himself worthy of that position as well as the affections of his only daughter, Talia. However, Batman, appalled by his view of the world, sees him as a dangerous criminal mastermind and vows to stop him at all costs.

Batman vs Ra's Al Ghul

In his crusade to take down the criminal mastermind, he discovers in the story that Ra's has lived for centuries due to the mystical Lazarus Pit, which restores Ra's youth as well as give him immense strength that allowed him to defeat Batman in a fight. In his pursuit of Ra's and his league, Batman finds himself in Nanda Parbat where Ra's challenges him to a sword-fight. After fighting to a stalemate, a scorpion stings Batman, leaving him incapacitated. Though Ra's sees Batman as a worthy foe, because he refused his offer, he leaves him to die. However, Talia, still having feelings for the Dark Knight, gives him a final kiss which contained the antidote. Batman recovers from the scorpion's poison, and in a fit of rage, confronts Ra's, who was immobilized with fear at the sight of the recovered vigilante, and defeats him in decisive fashion. In the end, Batman embraces Talia and offers her the chance to come back with him, but she refuses, because, despite her feelings for Bruce, she feels that she must remain by her father's side.

Just Another Kid on Crime Alley

Batman meets Jason Todd

During an encounter with the Joker, Robin is seriously wounded and the media believes him to be dead. Worried for Dick's safety, Batman decides to keep it that way and retires the Robin mantle, but Dick's insists that he will remain a crime-fighter and he would, later on, become the super-hero known as Nightwing. On the anniversary of his parents' death, Batman, as is his tradition, keeps watching over Crime Alley, the site of that tragic night. However, on his way back to the Batmobile, he finds a young street orphan by the name of Jason Todd attempting to steal the tires of the car. Though impressed by the kid's courage, he decides to take him to a school for the homeless, but when it is revealed that the school housed criminals, Batman, with Jason's help, takes it down. With nowhere for Jason to go and at the risk of him becoming another criminal on the streets, Batman decides to take Jason in as his own son, and seeing his potential to be a hero and also partly due to the loneliness he experienced after Dick Grayson's departure, offers Jason the mantle of Robin, which Jason gladly accepts. Batman later discovers that Jason's mother died of an overdose and his father was a reluctant partner of Two-Face, who ended up getting killed by the criminal. Although Batman attempted to hide this from Robin, fearing what he may do, his faith in Jason is restored when Robin, having discovered Two-Face's acts, spared him even though he had the chance avenge his father's death. This made Batman see Jason as a worthy sidekick.

A Death in the Family

Death of Robin

As time passed, it quickly became evident to Batman that Jason was far from the ideal crime-fighter. His conduct on the field was in stark contrast to that of Batman's cold professionalism. Jason would often thrust himself into exceedingly dangerous situations, endangering both student and mentor, giving vent to his inner emotions, which seemed to be dominated by rage. This became even more evident when Jason seemingly killed a serial rapist who had walked free after causing the death of one of his victims. Batman soon realized Robin hadn't coped with the death of his parents and felt it was best to make him inactive.

Back at his birthplace in Crime Alley, Jason finds his birth certificate and learns that his mother wasn't the late Catherine Todd, but that there are three women who could be his mother, and all there are out of the country, so he left off in search of the first one, in the Middle East where he coincidentally meets up with Batman who was there tracking down the Joker. Together, they thwart the Joker's plans and take down the terrorists, but to Jason's dismay, the suspected woman is not his mother.

Continuing their investigation, and after an encounter with the deadly assassin Lady Shiva, they eventually track down Sheila Haywood, who was working in famine relief efforts in Ethiopia and it is revealed that she is, in fact, Jason's real mother. Bruce leaves Jason to spend time with his mother while he chases after the Joker, but it is later revealed that Sheila was being blackmailed by the Joker into giving him shipments of medical supplies that he can sell in the black market while transferring his deadly Joker gas to relief destinations. Batman orders Jason to stay put while he chases the Joker, but Jason defies Batman's orders and leaves for the warehouse to find his mother. Jason manages to find her and reveals his secret identity to her, but she turns him over to the Joker in an attempt to save her own life. Joker savagely beats Jason with a crowbar, then detonates an explosive that kills both Jason and his mother.

Batman arrives just as the explosion goes off, and as he searches through the rubble, he finds, to his horror, the lifeless corpse of Jason. Batman grieves over the horrible site and vows to avenge Jason's death and take down the Joker once and for all. Batman vengefully tracks down the Joker, and though he manages to stop his latest death plot, the madman escapes, ending this counter the same way as others, unresolved. Batman continues grieving over Jason's death, considering it to be his greatest failure and vows to never endanger anyone else in this line of work. Since then, he keeps Jason's costume in a glass casing in the Bat-Cave as a memorial, underneath it reads "A Good Soldier".

A Lonely Place of Dying

Tim Drake the new Robin

After Jason's tragic death, Batman became more violent and almost self-destructing when he battled crime. Tim Drake, a young boy who witnessed the death of the Graysons, noticed the dark nature of the Batman after the loss of Robin. Tim once idolized the Flying Graysons and was in attendance when Dick's parents were killed. He also idolized Batman and Robin, as he saw them as heroes. Tim was able to deduce that Dick Grayson was, in fact, Robin when he noticed the costumed fighter perform an acrobatic move that only Dick could do, and knowing that the former acrobat was adopted by Bruce Wayne, he pieced things together and deduced that the millionaire is indeed Batman. He had figured out that the original Robin was Dick Grayson and thus, Bruce Wayne had to be Batman. Tim knew that Batman needed an ally in his war and after being unsuccessful in convincing Dick to return to the role, Dick petitions Bruce to train Tim to become the next Robin, in order to keep Batman sane, but Batman refuses, vowing to never endanger anyone but himself in his war on crime. Meanwhile, Two-Face is on the loose and has prepared a plot to kill Batman once and for all, and this would have happened if not for the timely intervention of Tim Drake, wearing the Robin costume with Alfred's blessing and providing the necessary distraction for Batman to defeat his foe. In the end, both Alfred and Nightwing insist that the boy is capable of doing much good, especially under the guidance of Batman, and after much reluctance, Batman ends up agreeing. After a gruelling training regime, Tim finally becomes the new Robin.

Knightfall

Batman meets Bane

After a long time of hard work, Batman and Robin finally succeed in placing all of the worst villains in Arkham Asylum and thus apparently ensuring peace for Gotham. At one point he also encounters Jean-Paul Valley who is called Azrael, a victim of "The System" who was brainwashed into becoming an assassin for the sinister order known as The Order of Dumas, but Batman comforts Valley and takes him in as an ally to fight crime alongside him and reject his previous life. Just when it seemed that Gotham was at peace, a new villain makes his way to Gotham seeking to conquer it and defeat its guardian, the Batman. The villain, known only as Bane, destroys the walls of Arkham and frees every single inmate to rage havoc on the city. Batman, who was also sick at the time, is forced to run a gauntlet of his worst enemies, putting both his body and mind to the test. After a series of plots and encounters that weigh heavily on him, mentally and physically, fighting the likes of the Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist, Amygdala, Victor Zsasz, Firefly, Riddler, Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Joker and Two-Face, as well as encountering Bane's henchmen Zombie, Trogg and Bird, Batman finally manages to put them all back in prison however still oblivious to the mastermind behind this Gauntlet.

Broken by Bane

Batman finally returns home to rest only to be confronted by Bane, whose plan has come full circle and has come to Gotham to conquer it and defeat its protector. Though having almost no strength left, Batman accepts Bane's challenge and has one final fight. However, he is no match for this skilled foe, whose strength has also increased due to a drug known as Venom, and despite his best efforts Batman is horribly beaten and has his back broken by Bane in his own Batcave, paralyzing him. Bane throws Batman's body in the middle of a crowded street so that everyone sees the fall of the Dark Knight. Before his identity is compromised, Alfred and Robin quickly take him back to the manor to nurse him back to health. However, his will is just as broken as his body, as he realizes that he cannot don the costume again, and since Gotham needs a protector, he entrusts the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley and instructs a distraught Robin to be his ally.

Knightquest and Knightsend

After his paralysis, Batman is tended to by Shondra Kinsolving, a doctor whom Bruce met before and the two shared romantic feelings. However, one night, Shondra is kidnapped along with one of her patients, Jack Drake, Robin's father, and so, despite being in a wheelchair, Bruce, along with Alfred go after the kidnappers, and track them down to London, leaving Gotham under the care of Robin (who is oblivious to his father's kidnapping) and the new Batman. It is revealed in the story that Shondra had psychic powers, and was kidnapped by her brother Asp who intended to use those powers for his own gain. Bruce is caught in a telepathic exchange between Shondra and Asp, and the energy released causes Bruce to regain mobility of his legs. Now healed, he defeats Asp and saves Drake and Shondra, but the doctor's mental state was regressed to childhood due to the drugs given to her by her brother and she loses all memory of her relationship with Bruce. Preparing to get back into shape and regain his strength, Batman seeks the help of the skilled martial artist and assassin, Lady Shivam who agrees with the condition that he must kill. After several weeks of intense training, when it was time for Batman to kill, he refuses, causing Shiva to send variously skilled assassins after him to force his hand. Bruce defeats the assassins and appears to kill the final one, much to Shiva's delight. However, he had used a technique that appeared to be lethal even though it was not. With his strength now regained, Batman is ready to come back to Gotham.

Batman vs Batman

Meanwhile, back in Gotham, Valley, now operating as Batman, attempts to track down Bane, who has now taken control of Gotham's underworld. However, Valley's brainwashing by the Order resurfaces, causing him to become more violent and to start losing control over his sanity. Donning a new tech-heavy costume and refusing Robin as a partner, Valley becomes a far darker and much more violent Batman and eventually manages to defeat Bane and end his reign of terror. As the new Batman watches over Gotham, his vicious and reckless methods became intolerable by Robin, especially when he caused the deaths of the villain the Abattoir and his victims. When Robin tried to reason with him, Valley lashed out at him, almost killing him as he now considers himself to be superior to the real Batman. When Batman returns, having healed from his back injury, Jean-Paul tried to kill him to prove his superiority but Batman defeats and tricks him into removing his costume, thereby getting rid of "the system" in his head. Humbled and regretting his actions, Valley admits to Bruce that he (Bruce) is the one and only Batman and vows to redeem himself in his eyes. Though having regained the use of his legs, Batman decides to travel the world to fully regain his strength, and in his absence gives the mantle to the man he should have given it to in the first place, Nightwing until he comes back.

No Man's Land

Batman watches his city in ruins

Gotham is struck by a massive Earthquake, one which claims the lives of many people in Gotham. Batman had anticipated the arrival of an earthquake and had all Wayne-funded buildings be protected from such an event, including Oracle's Watchtower and Tim Drake's home, however, his own house did not receive such protection because that may compromise his identity as Batman. Bruce and Alfred barely survive the earthquake, and once out of the rubble, Batman watches in horror his city in ruins and there's nothing he could do about it. With most of the city destroyed, criminals run rampant around the remains and chaos ensues to the point where Gotham is declared a No Man's Land by the government and it is cut off from the rest of the country. Batman travels to Washington, and as Bruce Wayne does his best to convince Congress to help the city he loves, but he fails to do so, causing him to be distraught and almost loses all hope himself in exile until he is motivated back into action by Talia Al Ghul.

Batman marks his territory in NML

Meanwhile in Gotham, with very limited food and resources, new rules are applied and the criminals divide the city into territories and use spray paint to claim ownership of said territories. Members of the GCPD that stayed in Gotham are now known as the Blue boys and they try to maintain order in Gotham. Others join the fight as well, including Oracle, who monitors the entire city and serves as information broker while Helena Bartinelli aka the Huntress, dons a Batman-inspired costume to be more effective as a crime-fighter. Batman eventually returns and adapts to the new rules of Gotham, using spray paint to mark his territory and does everything he can to help his city. He allows Huntress to operate as Batgirl for a while until Two-Face's gang invades his territory and kill several people. Helena was forced to flee and when she refuses to follow Batman's orders anymore, he forces her to relinquish the Batgirl mantle. When things become more dire Batman assembles all his allies including Nightwing, Robin, Jean-Paul Valley and Oracle as well as new Batgirl, the mute Cassandra Caine, who proved herself when she saved Gordon's life from her father the assassin David Caine, and they all fight to take back their city.

No Man's Land comes to an end thanks to Lex Luthor, who used legal and illegal means as well as political machinations to fund the renovation of Gotham city all in an attempt to take over himself. Batman allows Luthor to do his work while having Catwoman collect necessary evidence against Luthor regarding his illegal business, thereby preventing Lex from claiming ownership over Gotham.

Hush

Batman finds himself to be the target of a mysterious conspiracy that pits him against some of his worst villains. While giving chase to Catwoman who was under Poison Ivy's mind control, his bat-rope is cut, causing him to fracture his skull though he is eventually saved by his childhood friend and surgeon Thomas Elliot. Later on, Batman and Catwoman track down Poison Ivy to Metropolis and despite using a mind-controlled Superman against them, Batman manages to get past the Man of Steel and stop the villain. Over the course of this adventure, Batman and Catwoman start to develop a relationship and Batman even reveals his identity to her.

Later on, after encounters with Killer Croc, Ra's Al Ghul, Joker and Scarecrow, all seemingly manipulated under the same conspiracy as well as the apparent death of his friend Tommy, he is confronted by someone claiming to be Jason Todd, Batman's old sidekick who was killed years ago, however it turned out to be another ruse.

Batman meets Hush

Frustrated and desperate to know who has been manipulating all these villains, Batman investigates further until the villain known as Hush finally makes his presence known and reveals that he is in fact, Tommy Elliot. Tommy had always hated his parents and wanted them dead to collect his inheritance, so he staged a car accident that caused his father's death but Bruce's father managed to save his mother, and because of this Tommy held a grudge against the entire Wayne family. He faked his death using Clayface to throw Batman off his trail, as he was the mastermind behind the entire ordeal. After the intervention of Gordon and a recovered Harvey Dent, Hush falls into a river and manages to escape.

In the aftermath, Batman learns that Riddler was the one who told Hush his secret having learned it after using the Lazarus Pit to cure himself of cancer. However, Batman warns Riddler that if he ever decides to reveal this information again, he will feel the wrath of Ra's Al Ghul, ensuring his silence. After all these events, Batman has become more suspicious, causing him to drive Catwoman away as he won't allow himself to fall in love again.

War Drums and War Games

The new Batman and Robin

When Tim Drake's father discovers his alter-ego, Tim is forced to retire as Robin and Batman goes back to working alone, that is until Stephanie Brown, aka the young vigilante known as Spoiler and Tim's ex-girlfriend, petitions to be the next Robin, and though reluctant at first, as he previously didn't see her as hero material, Bruce ends up accepting with the condition that she follow his every order. After training her, he hands her a costume and she officially becomes the fourth Robin. Though initially there were some problems, especially when she used lethal force on the villain Mr. Zsasz, she starts proving herself when she handily takes down Tiger Moth. Stephanie's infectious energy and enthusiasm grow on Batman and he starts to see her as a worthy partner. However, while tracking down the assassin Scarab, she disobeys Batman's order to stay put and ends up getting herself held hostage and almost compromising the mission. Because of that, Batman ends her tenure as Robin. Determined to win back Batman's trust, Stephanie steals from the Bat-cave one of his contingency plans that was supposed to take place in case of crime in Gotham got too out of control. The plan, which she put into motion behind Batman's back, dealt with unifying all the Gotham crime-families under one man, Matches Malone. What Stephanie didn't know was that Malone is actually one of Batman's underground alter-egos, and because Malone was not present at the staged meeting between crime-lords, things went awry and a huge gang war raged in Gotham, causing the deaths of many. Batman's reputation takes a major hit when he is seen by the media in broad day light holding the dead body of a young student who was killed in the crossfire of the gang war, and even more so when makes several morally questionable actions, including forcefully taking over command of the GCPD (which the results in the death of many), and attempting to put his underground ally, Orpheus, as the leader of all the gangs, but the Black Mask makes his move, kills Orpheus and becomes Gotham's kingpin of crime instead. Another consequence of this war was Stephanie Brown's death after intense torture at the hands of Black Mask. Batman was at her side in her last moments and comforted her with the fact that she did earn her place as Robin.

Under the Red Hood

Batman vs Red Hood

After the recent war, Batman has lost too much. Robin, Batgirl and Oracle have left Gotham City, Stephanie Brown is dead, Nightwing is injured, the GCPD sees Batman as a criminal and the Black Mask controls all crime in Gotham. However, a mysterious figure known as The Red Hood has been making his move on Black Mask's operations and taking control of his gangs. While intercepting one of Black Mask's shipments, Batman and Nightwing encounter Red Hood for the first time, and as they chase after him, they encounter the cyborg Amazo, which they barely manage to defeat. The Red Hood then steals another one of Mask's shipments tries to blackmail him, but the meeting turns sour with Freeze and Batman and Nightwing getting involved, and all the villains end up escaping. However, during the battle, Batman is intrigued by Red Hood's skills, as he sees something familiar.

While intercepting another one of Black Mask's operations, Red Hood is confronted by Batman where they fight to a stalemate. Red Hood finally takes off his mask and to Batman's horror, reveals that he is in fact, Jason Todd, the Robin who apparently died many years ago and even gives him samples of his DNA to prove it before escaping. It is revealed in the story that Jason came back after he was dipped in a Lazarus Pit by Talia Al Ghul. After this revelation, Alfred offers to remove Jason's memorial from the Cave, but Batman refuses, claiming that the recent developments don't change anything.

After Red Hood blows up Black Mask's penthouse, the desperate crime lord seeks the help of Deathstroke of the Secret Society, who sends Hyena, Captain Nazi and Count Vertigo to kill the Red Hood. Batman intervenes and together they manage to take down the trio of super-villains, but not without Red Hood killing one of them and escaping.

After tricking Black Mask into killing the last of his lieutenants, Red Hood, who has been holding the Joker captive, challenges Batman to come to Crime Alley to end things once and for all. After apprehending Black Mask, Batman complies and meets up with Jason. After an intense back and forth fight, Batman defeats Jason and apologizes for failing him. Disgusted, Jason reveals that the reason he holds a grudge against Batman is that he never killed Joker to avenge his death. He then holds Joker hostage and throws Bruce a gun, and challenges him to make a choice: either kill Joker or kill him. Batman refuses both choices and ends up incapacitating Jason with a Batarang. An ecstatic Joker ends up blowing the entire place and in the aftermath, Jason manages to escape.

Infinite Crisis

Bruce also becomes more suspicious of other heroes, creating a super satellite called Brother Eye, which is stolen and eventually causes the death of Ted Kord. Things then hit a personal low for Bruce during the story Infinite Crisis when he almost murders megalomaniac Alex Luthor. Bruce realizes his morality is at an all-time low and decides to take a sabbatical from fighting crime.

Batman and Son

Batman meets his son

After cleansing himself of personal demons and returning to his role as Batman fully re-energized, allowing him to cleanse Gotham of all crime. After that, following Alfred's advice to re-learn how to be Bruce Wayne, goes on a vacation. He travels to London where, at a charity auction, meets and develops feelings for Jezebel Jet, a fashion model and leader of an African Country. The auction is then attacked by a horde of League of Assassins Man-Bats and despite fighting off a large number of them, he is eventually captured and brought before his former lover Talia Al Ghul. She reveals that they have a son together named Damian, who was raised in the ways of the League. Talia leaves Damian under Bruce's care, and the boy proves to be very troublesome and very hard to control. Damian takes an instant disliking to Tim Drake, as he considered him to be an impostor and that the Robin mantle is his right. In an attempt to prove himself to his father, he goes so far as to murder the villain known as The Spook, and brutally attacks and almost kills Robin. Batman starts to teach Damian respect and discipline and agrees to keep him by his side as long as he conducts himself properly and refrains from killing. Damian agrees and together they travel to Gibraltar where they attempt to stop Talia from executing a terrorist attack. However, Talia reveals that her plan was to get Batman acquainted with his son and they can all be united together as a family. She offers Batman to rule the world by her side, but he declines, and so she declares war on him and escapes, taking Damian with her.

Soon Bruce is tested in new ways both by a conspiracy to kill him and a journey through time caused by Darkseid.

Final Crisis

Batman shoots Darkseid

During the crossover story-arc Final Crisis, where Darkseid launches an attack on Earth, Batman gets captured by the possessed Alpha Lantern Boodika. Batman is experimented on by Darkseid's followers in an attempt to form an army of cloned Batmen that would serve Darkseid.

Batman escapes from captivity and uses the time-gun Darkseid killed Orion with to shoot the Lord of Apokolips with a radion bullet, fatally wounding him and paving the way for his defeat. However, Darkseid manages to strike Batman with his Omega Beams, seemingly killing Wayne. In reality, the Omega Beams had banished Bruce to the early prehistoric age, forcing him to periodically time-travel and build up enough energy to become a living bomb that would unravel time when it detonated.

The Return of Bruce Wayne and Batman Incorporated

After Final Crisis Bruce is assumed dead leaving Dick Grayson and Damian to become the new Batman and Robin in his absence. With Damian as Robin and Dick as Batman, Tim Drake decides to leave his Robin mantle and find clues to prove that Bruce was not dead, but lost in time. He proves his theory by becoming Red Robin, a mantle that was used by Jason Todd years ago.

After surviving his journey of time trials, Bruce Wayne returns with a greater sense of responsibility. He decides to take his crime-fighting mission to a global scale with an organization called Batman Incorporated while Dick and Damian remain protectors of Gotham and also dedicated members of Batman Inc. Over the course of this series, it has become clear that Bruce's reasons for forming an international army of Batmen have been to combat an old global brainwashing terrorist force called Leviathan.

New 52

New 52 Batman

In September 2011 DC Comics relaunched 52 new #1 titles throughout the month featuring several changes to the universe. Batman plays a key role in the relaunch, and one of the biggest changes in the universe is Bruce Wayne's return as Batman and Dick Grayson's return as Nightwing.

Part of the New 52 relaunch involved a condensed timeline of the DC universe, which slightly affected Batman's origin story. However, unlike most characters, Batman has retained a certain amount of his Post-Crisis history, while some have been retold.

Early Life

Like his Post-Crisis counterpart, Bruce was born into the prestigious and wealthy Wayne family to a surgeon and philanthropist Thomas Wayne, and social worker Martha Wayne of the Kane Family. When he was very young, Martha was expecting a second child, but after a mysterious car accident, was forced into premature labour and the baby died. After that, the family went on a vacation to forget that traumatic event, but the family butler, Jarvis Pennyworth was mysteriously killed, and his son, Alfred, a former actor and military medic, took his father's place as the butler, a position he continued to hold in Bruce's adult life. As a child, Bruce felt under pressure because of his family's reputation, and so he had a habit of sneaking out into the city and explore, to feel what it's like to be just like everyone else.

One night, Bruce and his parents went to the movies to watch The Mark of Zorro, and on their way back, they were held at gunpoint by a mugger named Joe Chill, who attempted to take Martha's pearl necklace, but, in a state of panic, ended up shooting and killing both Thomas and Martha, leaving young Bruce traumatized by the event.

Bruce was convinced that his parents were the victims of a nefarious conspiracy and made it his goal to find meaning to their deaths and apprehend their killer. After witnessing certain signs, Bruce started digging into the mythical Court of Owls, an old-wives-tale about an underground society that secretly controlled Gotham, whom he thought was responsible for his parents' deaths, but in his search for clues, he had himself trapped in an abandoned warehouse for several days before he was found by Alfred. As he grows older, Bruce would constantly be haunted by this tragedy, often making him awkward among his teachers and classmates, and straining his relationship with his high school girlfriend, Julie Madison. Unable to cope with the pain, he had himself enlisted in Arkham Asylum in order to remove his memories using electro-shock therapy, but he was unable to go through with it and decided to use his pain as fuel. At the age of 18, he once again attempted to find his parents' killer and started weightlifting and training in martial arts. He befriended his schoolmate Erin Mckillen, daughter of Irish Mobsters from the Mckillen Crime Family, and he used this friendship and her connections to track down Joe Chill. However, to his shock, he learns that there was no secret conspiracy, Chill was simply a poor, desperate man who needed money, and killed the Waynes out of panic. Bruce, crushed by this revelation, leaves Chill and decides to travel the world on a journey to train and vowed to fight and end crime in Gotham.

Travelling Around The World

At the age of nineteen, Bruce found himself in Rio De Janeiro, where he met a criminal by the name of Don Miguel who taught Bruce high-speed driving and several insane driving tricks. In their final lesson, however, Bruce was instructed to lose the Policia in a bright red custom-made convertible car and during an intense car chase, Miguel attempted to kill the cops using a dangerous weapon, but Bruce, having learned everything he needed from the criminal and wanting to prevent him from causing any more damage, crashes the car, trapping Miguel before finally knocking him out and leaving him to be apprehended by the authorities.

At the age of twenty-one, in Egypt, Bruce seeks out an old Russian scientist named Sergei to teach him what they call the impossible. Sergei challenges Bruce to a test by trapping him under the Sphinx, where he has limited supplies and oxygen. Bruce spends six months preparing for this test, tinkering with tools and planning for every scenario in order to survive, but Sergei tells him that he needs to go beyond planning and what is called possible in order to survive. Indeed, once Bruce is actually trapped, most of his preparations weren't operational and he was forced to improvise and go beyond what he thought was possible in order to escape and he manages to pass Sergei's test.

At the age of twenty-four, Bruce found himself in the middle of a pit in the Northeast of Harstad, Norway, fighting for twenty-eight hours straight in a death match, defeating every fighter to challenge him but avoided killing anyone despite the insistence of the Pit Queen. Bruce came to this pit seeking to use his body to wage war, but the Queen claims that he cannot win this war without killing, and he will continue to fight until he dies. However, Bruce persists, winning battle after battle but without killing anyone, and in the end, there were no more fighters to challenge him because they were all afraid of him.

At one point, Bruce travelled to France seeking out famed manhunter Henri Ducard, in order to learn stealth and tracking. Impressed by the fact that Bruce was capable of finding him and son, Morgan, Ducard agreed to take him under his wing. Bruce would learn a lot from Ducard, while also developing a rivalry with Morgan, but when Bruce discovers, that the Ducards were also mercenaries and would kill their targets, Bruce cuts all ties from them. Henri orders Morgan to kill Bruce, an attempt that fails, and a vengeful Bruce beats down Morgan in a fit of rage, almost killing him.

Towards the end of his training, Bruce travels to the Himalayas to train with Shihan Matsuda where he learned swordsmanship, healing and meditation. During his stay, he develops feelings for a young woman named Mio and though he was warned by Shihan to avoid personal ties, those feelings caused Bruce to inadvertently allow an assassin, hired by Matsuda's wife, into the household and attack and gravely injure Mio and the Matsudas. Though Bruce managed to fight him off, Shihan's injuries were fatal and before he died, he warned Bruce to avoid personal relationships or they will have him killed. Bruce took this lesson to heart, as he decides to cut himself off from everyone, and so, after four years of travels, Bruce returns to Gotham.

Return to Gotham

Back in Gotham, with nothing but his war on crime on his mind, and no regard for his legacy as a Wayne, Bruce sets up a secret headquarters in an old brownstone in Park Row where he is joined by his faithful butler Alfred, who disapproves of this whole endeavour. One of his first missions deals with taking down The Red Hood Gang, a group of criminals who endorse random violence. However, he has been having a hard time winning his war due to his inexperience, carelessness and uncontrolled anger. In Bruce's absence from Gotham, his Uncle, Philipe Kane, who had declared Bruce legally dead while keeping tabs on him, has taken control of Wayne Enterprises and is using it to produce weapons. In an attempt to improve the company's public image, Philip attempts to convince Bruce to take control of his family's company, but Bruce refuses, as has no interest in living as "Bruce Wayne".

To make matters worse, the Red Hood gang is stealing the weapons produced by the company to further terrorize the city. Phil's leading strategist, Edward Nygma, advises Phil to kill Bruce in order to solve their problems but Philip refuses and still tries to convince Bruce to lead the company.

However, following a surprise party for Bruce by his uncle, the Red Hood Gang, thanks to a tip from Nygma, ambush Bruce and give him a vicious beating. Bruce barely survives and manages to makes it back to the manor where he is nursed back to health by Alfred. Enraged by Nygma's actions, Philip attempts to kill the villain, admitting that Bruce is a better man than both of them, but Nygma incapacitates Philip and ends their alliance.

Bruce comes to terms with the fact that he is losing this war and asks his father for guidance. Then a bat crashes through his window, and Bruce finally decides that he will become a Bat.

Becoming Batman

Finally realizing his purpose, Bruce and Alfred set up their base in a cave under Wayne Manor, and Bruce sets off to strike fear into the hearts of criminals as Batman. He starts by methodically taking out members of the Red Hood gang, quickly establishing his reputation and finally getting the attention of Red Hood One, the gang's leader. While investigating the gang's operations, eventually, with some help from a guilt-ridden Phillip, who was forced into becoming a member of the gang, Bruce discovers that the Red Hood gang are planning to use dangerous toxins from the Ace Chemical factory to terrorize the city. He holds a press conference in front of the factory and exposes the gang's plans, forcing them to invade the factory right away. As Batman, Bruce fights off the Red Hood gang, but not without the death of Uncle Philip, who was killed by the leader for attempting to stop him. As the GCPD round up members of the gang, the factory burns down and Batman goes after the leader, preventing him from escaping and defeating him, but despite Bruce's efforts to save him, the Red Hood allows himself to fall into a large acid container.

In the aftermath, Batman continues setting up his Bat-Cave and establishing himself as a hero in Gotham. Edward Nygma, now calling himself The Riddler, makes his presence known and knocks out all power from the city, in an attempt to challenge the people to get smarter.

The Zero Year

Following Riddler's blackout, a huge storm hits and the city plunges into chaos. To make matters worse, Batman, now declared a fugitive by Commissioner Loeb, investigate a series of gruesome murders committed by a disgruntled WaynTech employee, Dr. Helfern, who had injected himself with a dangerous formula, turning himself into the terrifying Dr. Death. As Bruce continues his investigation, he seeks the help of Lucius Fox, an old friend of his father's an engineer who used to work for WayneTech. However, both are attacked and almost killed by Dr. Death had it not for the timely intervention of Officer Jim Gordon. Realizing that Dr. Death is more than he can handle on his own, Batman begrudgingly teams with Gordon, as Bruce had once thought to have witnessed Jim receive a bribe (though that was not the case) years ago and he sees him as nothing more than a corrupt cop. They split up and discover that Helfern is Riddler's pawn as part of Riddler's plan to take over the city's power grid. Despite both men's valiant efforts, including a violent face-off between Batman and Dr. Death over Gotham Harbor, Riddler's plan works, as the power returns to the city, but under Riddler's control.

In the following months, known as The Zero Year, the city's vegetation overgrows, and it falls into ruin, turning it into a "Savage City", with Riddler operating as the City's ruler, challenging the people to best him in a riddle in order to prove their intellectual worth and win back their city. Having recovered from his battle with Helfern, Bruce teams up with Gordon and Lucius Fox in an elaborate plan to determine his location and take him down, where Batman even attempts to take on Riddler's riddle challenge himself. In the end, Batman manages to locate Riddler, but not before the villain arranges an airstrike against the city and challenges Batman to solve his riddles in order to stop it. Though Batman is successful and defeats him, Riddler gives him one final test, which involves sending a current of electricity through a device that sends the signal that calls off the airstrike, but the device is attached to Riddler's heart, so that would kill him. Batman knocks out Riddler and uses the device on himself, thus stopping the air-strike, but stopping his own heart as well had it not for the timely intervention of Alfred, who resuscitated him. With Riddler defeated, thanks to the efforts of Gordon and Fox, the power to the city returns.

In the aftermath, Nygma is placed in Arkham Asylum, Gordon becomes the new Police Commissioner, and Bruce embraces his legacy as a Wayne, and with Lucius Fox, re-builds Wayne Enterprises and restores its good name. Bruce is paid a visit by his old flame, Julie Madison, giving him a chance at a happy life, but, despite Alfred's insistence, Bruce instead chooses to live his life as Gotham's Guardian, The Batman.

Early Adventures

As Batman's legend grew, so did his Rogues' Gallery, and in these days, Batman has many adventures with some being loose adaptations of Post-Crisis stories while others being complete retellings. In The Joker's first appearance, not unlike his Pre-New 52 version, he announced plans to kill several key figures and attempted to poison Gotham's Reservoir, which Batman managed to stop. Batman's history with Ra's Al Ghul and his daughter Talia have mostly remained intact, including fighting Ra's in the desert, stopping him from unleashing a deadly virus, and fathering a child with Talia (without his knowing). It was also confirmed that Bane had once made his move on Gotham and even broke Batman's back. In another adventure, the cult leader called Deacon Blackfire had assembled Gotham's poor as his followers and had Batman chained in his dungeon, tortured and drugged for days in an attempt to convert him into one of his followers, an attempt that failed. Batman manages to break free of Blackfire and convince his followers into turning against him, and Blackfire ends up getting killed by his own followers.

In Batman's early days, he formed a partnership with Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, an old classmate of Bruce's whom he had convinced into becoming Gotham's District Attorney. In their combined efforts, they targeted Carmine "The Roman" Falcone and his Crime Family, which sparked an immense gang war that ended with Falcone retreating to Hong Kong, and The Penguin, a rising crime lord himself, took his place as Gotham's ruler of organized crime. Batman keeps the Penguin in check, waiting for him to slip in order to take him down, but also uses him to gather information about the underworld.

Batman's partnership with Dent put him at odds with Bruce Wayne's old friend Eren Mckillen and her twin sister Sharon, daughters of the Irish Mob, who have followed in their family's footsteps and even attempted to assassinate Jim Gordon. After their capture, the Mckillen Twins are given a life sentence thanks to Dent's efforts, and Sharon ends up committing suicide in order to give her sister, Eren the chance to escape and exact revenge on Dent. She does so by killing Dent's wife, Gilda, and burning half his face with acid before leaving the country. Dent would become Two-Face, one of Batman's most prominent enemies.

The Court of Owls

The Court of Owls

After stopping an outbreak in Arkham Asylum with Dick Grayson’s help, Bruce attends a formal gathering in Wayne Manor and announces Wayne Enterprises' new goal of rebuilding certain districts of Gotham City as well as improving the train system. Later on, Batman investigates a crime scene with Harvey Bullock where he discovers a message saying “Bruce Wayne will DIE tomorrow” and after returning to the Bat Cave finds out from the analysis of some DNA samples found in the area, that the killer is Dick Grayson.

The following day, while meeting up with Lincoln March, Gotham City’s new mayoral candidate, for a conversation in the Old Wayne Tower, Bruce is attacked by a mysterious assassin who overpowers him and throws him off the window. Bruce struggles with the assassin in mid-air and manages to grab on to a gargoyle while the assassin falls down. He discovers that his attacker is an assassin sent by the Court of Owls known as the Talon, but does not believe it as the Court of Owls is simply an old nursery rhyme.

Batman manages to escape from a trap set by the Court of Owls during his investigation into whether they really exist or not. After returning to the Bat Cave, he tells Dick of how he investigated the existence of the Court sometime after the death of his parents and discovered nothing. Continuing his investigation in the sewers of Gotham City, Batman is suddenly knocked out by the Talon; after waking up, he finds himself trapped in the Court’s labyrinth.

Batman has been missing for days, but Commissioner Gordon refuses to turn the Bat Signal off, using it as a source of hope for their allies and Gotham City. Batman is unable to escape the labyrinth and keeps finding himself returning again and again to the same places and is slowly being driven insane. The Talon then suddenly attacks Batman. Beaten and battered, all hope seems lost for Batman, but he manages to fight back and eventually defeats Talon. He finally escapes the labyrinth through an opening he causes after an explosion and it leads him back to the Bat Cave.

Night of the Owls

Batman defends his home against the Talons

Soon after escaping the labyrinth, the Court of Owls sends out all of their Talons to attack the public figures of Gotham City in order to take it back. In the Bat Cave, Bruce reveals to Nightwing that the Talon who attacked him is William Cobb, Dick’s great-grandfather, as well as the fact that he was meant to be a Talon as well. Later on, numerous Talons then attack Bruce in his home, and after making his way to the Bat Cave attempts to fight them off using a special armour. While analyzing the data found on a Talon’s gauntlet, Alfred finds a list of assassination targets for the Talons. Alfred calls the rest of the family (Red Robin, Red Hood, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey), asking for their help to save Gotham City.

Batman deduces that the Talons are weakened by cold and has Alfred reduce the cave temperature, giving Batman the chance to finish them off. Batman then goes to Arkham Asylum in order to save Dr. Arkham; Talons attack them both until the inmates are released who then proceed to attack the Talons. He then proceeds to Lincoln March’s location to save him but is too late; he finds a dying March who gives him a message, the names of three members of the Court of Owls.

After scaring off one of the members of the Court in their own house, Batman goes to Harbor House, a building he investigated in search of the Court back when he was a child. He swears to end the Court of Owls once and for all. However, he finds them all dead in the dining room and realizes who was behind this attack and goes to Willowood Home for Children, a hospital for children suffering from mental illnesses and neurological disorders. He finds Lincoln March, who staged what looked to be the Court of Owls suicide.

As he dons a new advanced armor, March reveals that he is Bruce Wayne’s brother that never was, Thomas Wayne Jr. He claims to have been placed in Willowwood, back when it was a premier hospital, after being born early and hurt due to a car accident. After Thomas and Martha Wayne died, Willowwood lost its funding and eventually became a mental hospital for mentally ill, lost and forgotten children.

Batman vs March - Art by Andy Clarke & Tomeu Morey

Batman and Lincoln March fight all over the city and despite being overpowered, Batman manages to plant a small bomb on March’s back to stop him. March survives the explosion and manages to capture Batman once more, this time in a building where he begins to plant explosives. Batman manages to escape just in time as the explosives detonate, leaving March behind as he taunts him, telling him to run away from the truth.

Bruce has returned to Wayne Manor and is slowly healing from his wounds. He tells Commissioner Gordon that he privately searched the wreckage of the destroyed tower but didn't find anything. Dick arrives and Bruce tells him the truth: for one night, Bruce Wayne had a brother. His brother was born premature and with neurological damage and only lived for a single night. He explains his investigation on the matter, stating that the medical records were not faked and his parents would have told him if Thomas Wayne Jr. did survive. He says that the truth is a mystery for now until he finds the evidence that will answer it. Bruce then declares that when the Court of Owls re-emerges, he will always be watching.

Born to Kill

Batman is now adopting his own son Damian as Robin, but has trouble coming to terms with his violent upbringing and is trying to overcome his son's nature with proper nurture, and at the same time, Damian thinks his father doesn't trust him and attempts to prove his worth to him.

The villain known as Nobody, who is, in fact, Morgan Ducard, son of one of Bruce's trainers, Henri Ducard, makes his presence known and confronts Bruce over the ineffectiveness of his crime-fighting methods. Nobody prefers to kill his enemies, and since Batman refused to see things his way, vowed to kill Batman and take Robin as his apprentice. After a deadly encounter with Nobody, the tension between Batman and Robin grows, as Damian does not like how Bruce constantly hides things from him, notably his violent past with Ducard. Damian then leaves Wayne Manor to learn under Nobody who takes him on a mission to hunt down a corrupt ambassador in order to prove his new found will to kill. However, Damian reveals that this was a plan to draw out Nobody and allow Batman to track him down. Learning this, Nobody starts to torture Damian and forces Batman to hear the sound over the radio. An enraged Batman eventually tracks down Nobody and defeats him in a savage fight before leaving him for the police. However, realizing that Nobody will return to torment them, Damian kills him much to Bruce's horror.

Back at the manor as Alfred heals their wounds, Bruce, instead of being angry, tells Damian that he understands Damian's struggle of whether or not to kill, but tells him they can't build a better world by repeating a cycle of violence, and he vows that he will never give up on his son.

Shaken by the encounter with Nobody, Damian wants to prove to his father that he is capable of compassion while also proving that he is the best Robin, even challenging his predecessors. After several months, Damian returns to his father with a pearl from Martha Wayne's pearl necklace, which had fallen apart and into the sewers on the night Bruce's parents were shot. This gift touched Bruce, and despite some initial problems, brought the two closer than ever.

Death of the Family

Over a year ago, Joker had escaped from Arkham and after tracking him down, Batman defeated him and put him back. There, Joker arranges for the Dollmaker to cut off his face before escaping, and his face is left in the GCPD. A year later, Joker makes his return by breaking into the GCPD, killing 19 police officers and reclaiming his face. He then proceeds to make a live broadcast saying that the mayor will die at midnight but ends up killing the mayor's entire staff instead.

After an encounter with Harley Quinn at ACE Chemicals, Batman goes back to Wayne Manor where he learns that Alfred was kidnapped. He realizes that Joker is reenacting his previous crimes, so he goes to the Gotham Reservoir to confront Joker. There, Joker paralyzes him with his venom, blows up the reservoir and tells him that he knows his secret identity before escaping.

Batman is brought back to the Batcave by the Bat-Family, where he confesses that after an early battle with the Joker, he discovered a joker playing card in the Batcave but denies the fact that Joker knows their identities. However, they are still unconvinced.

Dinner Time!

Further investigation leads Batman to Arkham Asylum where he is attacked by Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow and Clayface, whom Joker has labelled as Batman's loyal subjects. He easily beats them and finds Joker with Two-Face, Riddler and Penguin , but before he can stop them, Joker shows him a video of Robin, Red Hood, Nightwing, Batgirl and Red Robin captured.

Batman is knocked out and later wakes up to find himself in the Batcave, sitting at a dinner table, alongside the other members of the family. The Joker reveals that Alfred is alive, but poisoned by Jokers venom and has him serving them all their apparently cut-off faces as "dinner". The Joker then sets the table on fire, but Batman breaks free and manages to put out the fire. Batman removes Damian's bandages and it's revealed that it was all a sick joke and everyone was fine. Batman goes after the Joker and defeats him. He tells the Joker that he knows who he is but an angered Joker refuses to believe that and jumps down the cave's waterfall. The next day, Batman says that the Joker didn't care who he was under the mask because it would ruin his fun. However, this entire ordeal caused a schism between the Bat-Family, as they no longer trust him because of his secrets.

War with Leviathan and Death of Damian

Death of Damian

Batman's war with Leviathan continues where it is revealed that the mastermind is none other than Talia Al Ghul in another attempt to have Batman by her side in her quest for world domination. Both Batman and Damian refuse, and Talia places a bounty on Damian's head and lures Batman into a deathtrap. One of Batman's agents, Knight is killed by Talia's lieutenant, The Heretic as he goes on a rampage. Going against Batman's order to lay low, Damian enters the field to combat Talia's forces and manages to save many people, but he is killed by The Heretic. Arriving too late, Batman is horrified by his son's death and attempts to fight his killer himself but he was eventually defeated. Thanks to the efforts of Red Robin and Nightwing, the Bat Family escape from the Heretic and Leviathan after recovering Damian's body.

"I shall become a Bat"

A funeral is held for Damian where Bruce Wayne vows to get his revenge on Talia by himself, and even instructs Alfred to take a vacation. To fight the Heretic, Batman obtains the Suit of Sorrows from Michael Lane, wears a specialized exoskeleton suit and doses himself with the Man-Bat serum.

Meanwhile, Gotham City has been held at ransom by Leviathan who has demanded the arrest of Bruce Wayne, the end of Wayne Corps support for Batman Incorporated and the surrender of Batman. Batman travels to confront Leviathan, Talia, and the Heretic who have taken control of Wayne Tower. Batman unleashes his attack and quickly goes after the Heretic in a fight to the death. After a brutal fight, Batman defeats the Heretic and unmasks him, only to discover in the story that he is actually a mutated clone of Damian. Talia then finishes off the Heretic for killing Damian without her permission and then blows up Wayne Tower before escaping.

The Final Battle

Later on, Talia confronts Batman in the Bat-Cave and challenges him to a fight to the death to end this feud once and for all. During the fight, Talia ends up poisoning Bruce but then Jason Todd, who was working undercover for Batman Incorporated, appears and convinces Talia to give Bruce the antidote in exchange for a doomsday weapon trigger. Talia agrees but she is unable to activate the weapon as a healed Batman explains that his allies have already dismantled it. All of a sudden, Kathy Kane, agent of Spyral, a rival organization of the League of Assassins, comes in and shoots Talia in the head. Kathy, long thought to be dead, has been working with Batman in his war against Leviathan since the beginning and made a deal with him that once the war ends, Batman Inc. is disbanded.

Later on, Batman disbands Batman Incorporated and thanks his allies for the help and urges them to remember those who were lost including his son Damian. Bruce considers retiring the Batman mantle but realizes that there should always be a Batman.

However, he later discovers that Damian and Talia's bodies have been dug up and taken by none other than Ra's Al Ghul.

Batman Eternal

The event that started it all

Commissioner Jim Gordon is arrested for manslaughter when he is tricked into shooting an electrical box, causing a massive train crash which kills hundreds of people. Gordon's arrest is followed by the return of Carmine "The Roman" Falcone, who sparks a massive gang war with his old rival the Penguin and uses his influences to place corrupt cop Jack Forbes in Gordon's place as the commissioner who turns the entire GCPD on Batman.

Jason Bard, new cop and an apparent ally to Batman forms a successful plan to arrest Falcone, Forbes and the Penguin but at the cost of the lives of several men, causing Batman to be wary of Bard. At one point, Batman and Bard team-up with Killer Croc to save some homeless orphans from being kidnapped by the Ten-Eyed Man for an evil ritual.

Batman vs Hush

However, Bard reveals his true colours when he destroys data, brought to him by Batman, that clears Gordon's name, and instead releases the Architect from jail. The Architect attempts to destroy Wayne Tower but Batman manages to stop him. However, it is revealed that Bard has been working with the villain Hush, who infiltrated Wayne Manor, incapacitated Alfred, and stole from the Bat-Computer information about the locations of all of Batman weapon caches that are hidden around the city, and then detonated them, killing many people. In response, since all these depots are Wayne funded, Lucius Fox is forced to have Wayne Industries severe all ties with Batman, and as a result, Bruce Wayne loses much stock in his company and ends up bankrupt.

With Alfred injured, his daughter Julia Pennyworth, an S.A.S agent whom Batman previously met in Hong Kong, joins the fight and takes Alfred's place as his communication from the cave. With her help, Batman tracks down Hush and defeats him, but he discovers that Hush is merely another pawn, like Falcone. Bard, who holds a personal vendetta against Batman because a copycat vigilante caused the death of his partner and girlfriend, attempts to kill him by taking control of the Batmobile, but Batman survives and ends up threatening Bard. Because of his actions, the GCPD turns on Bard.

Mystical forces are at work at Arkham Asylum as part of an old villain known as Deacon Blackfire's machinations, in which his followers attempt in the story to bring him back. Batman sends Batwing and Jim Corrigan to investigate, but things go awry and Corrigan is forced to release the powerful fictional being called The Specter who destroys Arkham Asylum and puts an end to Blackfire's plans. Batman would later rescue Batwing from the wreckage.

Meanwhile, the Arkham escapees (Freeze, Scarecrow, Bane, Clayface, Joker's Daughter), who were taken down by Batman earlier, are freed by the mysterious benefactor, and they, along with other c-list criminals like Cluemaster, Signalman and Firefly, are presented with all of Batman's weapons and are told to use them in any way they please.

Batman is sent on a wild goose-chase, chasing down false leads and taking down rampaging enemies while his city burns. In the end, he receives an invitation to Wayne Tower where he is confronted, much to his surprise, by Cluemaster, who reveals himself to be the mastermind and that he had also deduced Batman's identity. Batman beats down Cluemaster, but the villain manages to gain the upper hand on the tired hero, but before the finishing blow, he is killed by the true mastermind, Lincoln March, who used Cluemaster, funded his plans and now wants to kill Batman himself.

In their final battle, the two found themselves in the middle of the city, with Batman too weak to fight, only to find Jim Gordon, having been cleared of his charges thanks to a guilt-ridden Bard, rallying Batman's allies and the entire city. March is then defeated but he manages to escape into the sewers, only to be caught by the Court of Owls, who intend to punish him for his betrayal.

Batman: Rebirth

I Am Gotham

While reestablishing his war on crime, Batman is dealing with a criminal who stole a missile and used it to knock a plane out of the sky. Batman manages to divert the plane away from the city but has to sacrifice his life in order to safely crash the plane. Before it crashes, Gotham and Gotham Girl, two new Superman-level heroes dedicating to saving Gotham City, save the plane and Batman. After the two are later seen fighting Solomon Grundy, Batman intervenes when the fight endangers a homeless man. At their request, he decides to show them the ropes. Along the way, Bruce wrestles with feelings of inadequacy over not having super-powers. While he helps them, he also tracks down their parents in hope of learning about their origins. He continues to help the two protect Gotham, but none of them is aware that Hugo Strange is behind the different incidents they have been tackling and that he has been monitoring them. While they team up to track down information on a suicide bomber, Batman leaves them to search for leads.

When he finds them again, he sees dozens of massacred soldiers, a missing Gotham, and Gotham Girl in a perpetual state of fear, a victim of Psycho Pirate and Strange working together. He then tracks down Gotham, who has become unhinged due to the Psycho Pirate altering his mind. Bruce tries talking him down, but when he mentions the dead soldiers, Gotham flies off. Seeking more information about what's happening to Gotham, Duke finds a lead connecting everything to Task Force X. Bruce then breaks into Amanda Waller's office demanding answers. Surprisingly, she is honest with him: she recruited Strange and Psycho Pirate to be her agents in Gotham, but they betrayed her and began driving people crazy, the most recent victim's being Gotham and Gotham Girl. She offers to help him if he says "please," leaving him disgusted that she could make light of 27 dead agents. Amanda corrects him, saying she had 28 agents. Batman then realizes why Gotham was in a rush earlier, and races to find him. He then returns to the residence of Gotham's parents and puts the pieces together. The last soldier secretly survived and managed to unmask Gotham long enough to track his face and find his parents, and went to kill the Gotham duo's parents to avenge his comrades.

Batman reaches the house to find he is too late: Gotham's parents are dead and Gotham himself is poised to kill the last soldier. Batman tries to talk him down, but Gotham kills the man anyway and leaves, as Psycho Pirate filled him with unquenchable rage that he now wants to unleash on the entire city. Batman is too far away to stop him, so he has Alfred dress up as him and stall. He then calls the Justice League, who arrive to subdue him. However, Gotham is too powerful, even for Superman. Unable to defeat him, Batman convinces Gotham that represents everything he hates about the city and to kill him instead. Before he can do so, Gotham Girl arrives, having temporarily beaten back the fear Psycho Pirate instilled into her. She then kills her brother, ending the threat.

In the aftermath, Gotham Girl resumes hero work, despite the fact that she is talking to her dead brother as though he is there. The following night, Duke monitors her progress from the Batcave and calls Bruce to let him know, and presses him about helping her. His response is simply, I know. Two days later, he catches up to Gotham Girl and tries to talk her down, and while he manages to reach her slightly, he fails to snap her out of her episode and she flies off. As he knocks out the criminal Gotham Girl stopped, he asks Alfred for advice on dealing with someone who has lost their family. However, seeing how Bruce turned out, he has no pertinent advice to offer. The next day, as she is flying over GCPD Headquarters, Batman shine the Bat-Signal on her to get her attention. This time, rather than offer her help, he asks her why she is ''helping'' the city. She explains that she is helping for a reason no one understands: because it eases the pain of losing their family. In a bid to reach her, he unmasks himself and tells her how he felt when his parents died. He hugs her and tells her that he still speaks to his mother to this day. With that, she finally opens, telling him she badly misses her brother. His response is, again, just I know.

The next day, Batman goes to talk to Waller again o find out where Psycho Pirate is. She explains that everything Strange did was part of a deal to trade Psycho Pirate for a supply of Venom large enough to have come from only one place Santa Prisca, home of Bane. Waller explains that to get to Psycho Pirate, he must invade a sovereign country, break into the most secure prison on Earth, and get his target away from Bane. However, she has a way to do it. However, it is a plan that is extremely risky, or as she calls it, suicidal.

I am Suicide

At Santa Prisca, Bane who is suffering from childhood trauma asks Psycho Pirate to use his mask and make him feel better so that he wouldn't have to use venom. Back in Gotham, Bruce decides to accept Amanda Waller's proposition and heads to Arkham Asylum to recruit members of his team.

The first one admitted is Arnold Wesker, a.k.a. The Ventriloquist. Batman has a friendly scuffle with an old acquaintance, Bronze Tiger, who joins the team. Next up is Jewlee, whose cause for her catatonic state seems to be the disappearence of her lover, Punch. Batman calls Gordon, who's been following since the beginning of the "tour" inside the cell and proceeds to punch him in the face. He is, in fact, Punch in disguise, who escaped from Santa Prisca and infiltrated Arkham Asylum today to see his loved one. Batman is actually impressed with this show of will for love and accepts them both along. Batman then enters one last cell and chooses his last entry in the team: Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman, who's been charged with death by lethal injection for the murder of 237 people.

Batman arrives in Santa Prisca by his batwing. There he is threatened to surrender or his plane will be brought down. Batman simply repeats a mantra: "Bane. I've come for Psycho-Pirate. I need him to save someone who needs to be saved. Turn him over, I go away. Refuse to turn him over... and I will break your damn back".

Personality

Batman

Witnessing the death of his parents traumatized Batman and shook him so greatly that he swore he would devote every breath for the rest of his life to eliminating crime and criminals from Gotham City. This has, in turn, transformed Batman into a dark, suspicious and brooding figure with a personal grudge against injustice. His traumatized childhood has made it difficult for him to trust people other than Alfred Pennyworth and his various proteges the Robins. Despite his cold demeanour, Batman genuinely cares for Alfred, who he sees as a father figure, and the Robins, who he loves as his own children, though these relationships have been strained at some points.

His dedication to fighting crime has gradually turned into a sort of obsession, something with which Batman himself has come to terms. He has vowed to end the evil that took away his parents permanently and is willing to do everything he can to accomplish this goal. This obsession is balanced with his strong ideals of justice and moral values, which were instilled in him by his humanitarian parents. His dedication is backed up by his indomitable will and his strong resolve.

Despite his lack of powers, Batman's immense will, combined with his inventive mind and resourcefulness has allowed him to hold his own against more powerful foes. However, the biggest aspect of Batman's personality is his moral code. Despite his inventiveness, he refrains from killing as he believes that will make him no better than the criminals he puts behind bars. Batman knows that he walks a very thin line between sanity and insanity, and he believes that the only thing that keeps him from crossing that line is that he will not kill. He has vowed to never take a life under any circumstances because he fears what he would become in case he ever did kill. When confronted by Jason Todd on why he never killed the Joker after all the atrocities that he has committed, Batman responded that, despite his desires to do so, he will never do it because that would cause him to go to a dark place and become what he has always fought against, and he would never be able to come back.

Batman also has a deep love for humanity, which also backs his no-killing rule, and he truly believes that deep down, people can be good. This is shown when he was willing to give the Joker a second chance and offered to help him cure his madness. (This failed because the Joker had already "re-insane-ized" himself in advance, specifically to stay evil.) He also has an extreme distaste for firearms, and always tries to refrain from using them, because he considers the gun to be the weapon of cowards, the same weapon that killed his parents.

Batman has also forged an alternative personality to conceal the secrecy of his dual identity, that being the persona of "Bruce Wayne," an irresponsible, clumsy, arrogant, womanizing, billionaire philanthropist. This personality contrasts with Batman's more serious demeanour in order to sway the public from ever deducing his secret identity. In order to complete his facade, Batman modifies many of his physical traits, including his voice tone, his body language, and, of course, his behaviour. However, even as Bruce Wayne, he has attempted to do good, through charitable campaigns, renovation projects and also the funding of Batman Incorporated.

Character Profile

Powers and Abilities

Though he does not possess any innate superhuman abilities, Batman is considered by many (even Superman) to be among the most dangerous men in the world. Throughout the many years that he has been around, Batman has become one of the most powerful human beings in the DC Universe, despite having no superhuman powers at any time in his life. Starting at the age of 14, Bruce began to train with brilliant minds on the planet to learn about biology, criminology, anatomy and other areas that would help him become the World's Greatest Detective.

Batman's Daily Routine

Master of Stealth arts

Batman is also a master of stealth, disguise, infiltration and escapology, using his Ninjutsu (which it's main focus for stealth is Shinobi-Iri and Intonjutsu) training. He has infiltrated high-security strongholds and systems including Lexcorp. He has vanished in plain sight from regular humans and metahumans, such as Azrael. His stealth and escaping skills are so great that that even groups of superheroes such as the Legion of Super Heroes have been unable to locate him. He is considered to be the second greatest escape artist, behind Mr. Miracle. Batman has escaped a straitjacket in 52 seconds, then stated that it was too slow for him. He always carries several lockpicks with him. He commonly uses multiple disguises to gain information for his detective works or as a part of his missions, his most notable one being the criminal for hire Matches Malone.

Near-Unlimited Wealth

To acquire all of these skills, Bruce needed money. When his parents died, Bruce inherited billions of dollars from the Wayne Fortune which he later turned into multi-billions through investing. Bruce owns and runs Wayne International, as well as Batman Incorporated.

High and Gifted Intelligence

Batman is considered to be the "World's Greatest Detective," solving the biggest secrets with small or large amounts of data and details. He is also fluent in many different languages such as English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Japanese, Chinese, and many more. Bruce has a vast and great knowledge of criminology, psychology, medicine, science, geography, history, chemistry, physics and anatomy. Batman is an excellent and seasoned strategist and tactician, always keeping himself steps ahead of his opponents and making contingency plans for any possible situation.This incredible ability is due to the fact he enjoys to study his opponents, not only physically but also mentally. He has led the Justice League, the Bat-fami