Bruce Wayne died when the vigilante Batman was turned into a vampire. With now only one side of his dual life to take care of, the vampire haunts the nights fighting and biting criminals.



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History

After discovering that the fabled vampire, Dracula, was still alive and well in Gotham City, Batman realized that recent strange dreams were the result of him being visited by Tanya, a rogue vampire who managed to break free from Dracula's control. With Tanya biting him without actually draining blood, she had infused him with the powers of a vampire without destroying his humanity. Now possessing the power to kill Dracula, Batman and Tanya lured Dracula's minions into the Batcave, where Batman destroyed the roof of the cave to expose all of the vampires to sunlight, Tanya and her followers sacrificed themselves to decimate Dracula's ranks. With most of the vampires destroyed, Batman confronted Dracula and killed him by impaling the ancient vampire on a tree that was destroyed by lightning. However, the victory came at a cost - during the fight, Dracula successfully drained the last of Batman's blood, destroying his humanity. Nonetheless, Batman retained his sense of self and assured Alfred that only Bruce Wayne has died; the Batman will live on, and thanks to his new vampiric powers, he would be able to protect Gotham City forever.

Batman's life (such as it was) continued much as it had before in the wake of the battle with Dracula until the Joker took command of Dracula's remaining minions in a bid to monopolize Gotham's criminal underworld under himself. With the threat of an entire army of blood-sucking abominations looming on the horizon, Batman joined Catwoman (who had become a werecat after being bitten by a vampire that turned to a werewolf), Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, and a group of Gotham police turned vampire hunters to kill the remaining vampires.

While the humans destroyed the infected crime bosses during the day, Batman and Catwoman tracked the vampires to a warehouse and battled them during the night. Although they succeeded in killing all of the vampires, with Catwoman personally slaying the one that had turned her, Batman lost his supernatural companion when she took a fatal crossbow bolt aimed at him. Overcome with rage over the death of the only person able to control his bloodlust, Batman killed the Joker and drained all his blood. Horrified by his actions, Batman asked Commissioner Gordon and Alfred to drive a wooden stake through his heart, in order to prevent him from causing any more deaths.

Unfortunately for Batman, being staked through the heart only served to put him in a coma. Several months later, with Gotham City overwhelmed with crime, Alfred released his former master in an attempt to give Gotham a savior again. However, a combination of his decaying body, his long-abandoned humanity, and an unquenched thirst for blood had destroyed the last of Batman's sanity, reducing him to a vicious monster only concerned with satiating his literal bloodlust.

To this end, Batman begins systematically hunting down his old and new enemies (Penguin, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Black Mask, Scarecrow, Amygdala, and other Arkham inmates) and draining their blood, decapitating them afterwards to prevent them from rising as more vampires. The last two villains, Two-Face and Killer Croc, form a desperate alliance with Commissioner Gordon and Alfred to lure Batman into his new lair (the ruins of the Batcave) and set off explosives to expose Batman to the sun. However, during the struggle, Two-Face and Killer Croc attempt to kill Commissioner Gordon and Alfred, forcing the latter to offer his blood to Batman. The impromptu meal gives Batman the strength to save Gordon by killing Two-Face and Killer Croc, and also appears to have restored enough of his sanity to make him aware of what he had become.

In the end, Batman convinced Gordon to set off the explosives. Gordon is crushed by rubble in the explosion, and Batman walks into the sunlight, hoping that he will finally have the peace he's been seeking since his transformation.

For unknown reasons, the vampire Batman was resurrected, this time no longer distinguishing from guilty or innocent people to prey on, as evidenced by his murder of Dick Grayson's parents, and turning Barbara Gordon into a vampire. He also created a cave for himself underneath the Gotham sewers. He is pursued by Dick, now a vampire hunter obsessed with revenge for his parents' deaths, who is in turn being sought out by the Challengers of the Unknown. He is discovered resting in his lair by Dick and awakened when the Challengers attempt to convince him not to kill Batman. Although unwilling to heed their warnings, Dick finds himself unable to bring himself to kill Batman, who promptly bites him and carries him away. He is next seen with Dick, now his vampire "sidekick."

The vampire Batman is taken from his home reality by Monarch, who pits him against two other versions of Batman for a place in Monarch's army to wage war against the Monitors. The vampire is declared the winner after a battle with his counterparts, turning The Bat of Earth-40 in the process. He is later seen with the rest of Monarch's army as they prepare for battle.



Powers and Abilities

Powers

After being bitten by Tanya, Batman gained all of the traditional powers of a vampire:

Vampirism : In addition to the various mental and physical benefits that vampires are heir to, they also possess the ability to turn others into vampires as well. Each new vampire is traditionally subservient to the one who "turned" them, but some strong-willed vampires have been known to rebel against their masters. Enhanced Senses : A vampire's senses are enhanced far beyond those of a normal human being. Enhanced Vision Enhanced Hearing Enhanced Sense of Smell Immortality : So long as vampires continue to consume blood, they will not age beyond the physical state they were in when they first became a vampire. Invulnerability : Vampires are invulnerable to most forms of injury (certain exceptions apply). Bullets, blades and blunt objects do little to no damage to a vampire's body. Regeneration : In addition to being virtually indestructible, whatever damage a vampire does in fact suffer can be healed through the consumption of human blood. Superhuman Strength : A vampire's strength level is several times that of a normal human being and they are considered superhuman. Superhuman Stamina : So long as they continue to consume human blood, a vampire can function tirelessly without rest or relaxation. However, a vampire's stamina wanes the closer it is to sunrise. Psychokinesis : Most vampires possess some form of psychokinesis. Some are clairvoyant, others can communicate telepathically, some possess mind control. Particularly powerful vampires can control the minds of several people at once. Hypnosis Transformation : Vampires often possess the ability to transform into a variety of creatures or effects such as bats, wolves, rats or even mist. While their physical attributes may fluctuate during such states, a vampire's mental acuity is the same as that when they are in their human shape. A vampire who transforms into an animal may also benefit from that particular animal's attributes including razor-sharp claws, fangs or the ability to fly. Metamorphosis : Vampires often demonstrate the ability to alter their appearance at will. Claws Fangs Phasing

: In addition to the various mental and physical benefits that vampires are heir to, they also possess the ability to turn others into vampires as well. Each new vampire is traditionally subservient to the one who "turned" them, but some strong-willed vampires have been known to rebel against their masters.

Abilities

Although somewhat dulled by his lack of need for such things given his Vampire powers, and the savagery gained during the loss of his humanity, Batman has all of the abilities the regular Batman would've gained up until about the mid 90's.

Weaknesses

Batman's transformation made him vulnerable to traditional Vampiric weaknesses, such as garlic, the cross, holy water, and sunlight; he was initially immune to holy artefacts so long as he abstained from human blood, but lost that advantage after he killed the Joker, although it is unclear if sunlight or garlic would have affected him before he drank human blood. He is also vulnerable to decapitation. A wooden stake through the heart can only place him into a coma-like state unless his head is removed at the same time, but he will remain aware of his physical condition in this state even if he will not be aware of his surroundings. Additionally, his mind degrades if he goes for long periods without feeding, reducing his tactical abilities while increasing his aggression.



Paraphernalia





Transportation

Initially, Batman got around Gotham using the Batmobile. After the destruction of Wayne Manor and the loss of the Batcave, along with the development of his vampire powers, Batman relied on his new bat-like wings to travel around, even turning into a large bat after his full surrender to his vampire sire.

Weapons

In his initial confrontation with Dracula, Batman used silver Batarangs. While stalking the remaining vampires, Alfred forged wooden throwing-daggers with silver interiors to help Batman stake his enemies. He abandoned these weapons after all other vampires were killed and he had completely surrendered to his vampire side.



Notes

Bruce Wayne (Earth-43) appears as Nightmare Batman a playable character in the Infinite Crisis video game.

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