Who I'd like to meet: in the darkness and looked deeply into his own soul through induced hallucinations.[146]
Face the Face
Main article: Batman: Face the Face
Batman returned to Gotham after his year of training, completely renewed and reinvigorated. Harvey Dent was trained to fight crime in his stead, and had become the city's resident vigilante protector. Commissioner Gordon turns on the Bat-Signal again and cheering breaks out in the streets. Harvey Bullock begins investigating a new serial killer taking out minor villains with two shots to the head, starting with KGBeast found dead in an alley.[147] Poison Ivy is the first villain who appears again, holding new political motives that lead her to attack corporate executives like Lucius Fox. Magpie is also found dead.[148] Ventriloquist is the next victim, alongside his puppet Scarface. Batman decides that he needs someone working for him who can operate regularly during the daytime, and hires detective Jason Bard permanently on retainer.[149] Dent is the main suspect and grows enraged when he is accused, although Batman believes it was not really him.[150] Orca is the next victim found dead in the sewers, where her corpse was mutilated by a hungry Killer Croc. The only connection is that all victims were former enforcers for the Penguin, who recently fled town. Bard discovers the assassin is a new Tally Man when he's attacked.[151] Driven back to insanity by internal conflict, Harvey Dent pours acid over one side of his face and reverts to the Two-Face persona.[152] Bard defeats the new Tally Man, and has him sent to Arkham Asylum.[153] Batman is forced to take down Two-Face, who now blames him for turning evil again. Great White Shark is revealed to be the mastermind behind the shootings, having taken over the underworld and started running it for himself out of Arkham. Bruce decides to adopt the recently orphaned Tim Drake legally as his son.[154]
Batman and Son
Damian Wayne
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Batman and Son
Having virtually eliminated all super-crime in Gotham with the energy from his recent vacation, Bruce goes abroad. Alfred explains that he's become so consumed by Batman he's forgotten how to act as Bruce Wayne, and must relearn.[155] At a charity function in London he meets Jezebel Jet, an intelligent fashion model and ruler of an impoverished African nation whom he falls in love with immediately. The League of Assassins attacks him using a legion of ninjas transformed into Man-Bats by a serum stolen from Kirk Langstrom. Talia al Ghul takes him prisoner and reveals that they had a son together she never told him about, introducing him to Damian Wayne.[156] Bruce must take care of the child and teach him respect while figuring out her plans, as Damian proves to be spoiled and petulant. Raised by the League he is a master martial artist and proves extremely difficult to control, beating up Tim Drake and beheading the Spook to prove he can be Robin.[157] Batman agrees to let Damian fight at his side rather than leave him alone, with the understanding that he will follow their no killing rules and obey orders. Talia is in Gibraltar, and they take the Bat-Rocket to get there before she can follow through with her terrorist attack. This turns out to have been an elaborate ploy to bring them together as a family, in the hopes that Bruce will return to her so they can put an end to all crime by ruling the planet together. Batman refuses, she declares war on him and they both disappear during an explosion.[158]
Three Ghosts of Batman
Three Ghosts of Batman
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Three Ghosts of Batman
Bat-Cop, a strange man dressed as Batman wielding guns, fights the Joker and shoots him in the face before disappearing.[155] Joker believes the real Batman has changed the rules of their game, and is taken to the hospital where he psychologically transforms. Reinventing himself in a much darker and more brutal persona, he becomes an uncompromisingly malevolent creature of hatred.[159]
Jezebel Jet pursues a relationship with Bruce, sensing a deep connection between them. Looking into the mysterious disappearance of several prostitutes involving corrupt GCPD officers, Batman finds they are trying to control and cover up a massive Bat-Bane on venom and monster men serum. Reminded of the other twisted impostor, he fights the huge man and is pounded into the pavement.[160] After a nightmare promising that a third ghost from his past will yet haunt him, he recalls the Black Casebook; a diary documenting all of the strange and bizarre adventures from his early career which couldn't be logically explained, including a similar situation. Bat-Devil
Added by Mrblonde267
Beating the Bat-Bane in their next fight, Batman is stopped from finding further answers by the corrupt officers and leaves him to be taken into custody.[161]
Bat-Devil makes his appearance by storming into GCPD Headquarters demanding the Commissioner when he is woken up as a sleeper agent. Shooting Batman in the chest, he sends him into cardiac arrest and near-death Bruce begins to hallucinate Bat-Mite.[162] Strapped into an operating chair in Bat-Devil's sanctum, he deliriously dreams of his encounters with Joe Chill and having tormented him into committing suicide. This begins flashbacks to his prior experiences with hallucination, including the 30 Days of Th�gal[146] and the isolation chamber experiments conducted by Doctor Hurt.[163][164] The three men are revealed to have been part of an experiment that tried and failed to create another Batman in case of his death; it was conducted by Doctor Hurt, who is said to be the devil himself trying simply to destroy good men and make slaves of others. Batman breaks free of his restraints and attacks Bat-Devil, who escapes as police arrive and Bat-Bane is shot dead. Bruce considers the extreme hypothetical of an ultimate villain targeting his weaknesses through vast conspiracy unseen until it's too late, and wonders if this adversary is showing itself to him.[165]
Club of Heroes
Club of Heroes
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Batmen of All Nations
Many years ago Batman had been part of a club involving super-heroes inspired by his legend from around the world.[166] Knight and Squire from England are legacy heroes after the original Knight's death at the hands of his nemesis. The Musketeer from France accidentally killed an enemy and was sent to prison, then wrote a book about it. Sioux Indian hero Man-of-Bats is a doctor and has a strained relationship with his side-kick and son Raven Red. Wingman from Sweden refuses to admit his origins and claims that he was crime-fighting a year before everyone else. El Gaucho of Argentina has become a greatly-respected hero in his own right. The Ranger from Australia has developed a darker and more violent persona to keep up with the changing face of crime. Legionary from Rome has gotten way past his prime and now lives in his glory days. They are all called together to a reunion at the island mansion of billionaire John Mayhew, although no one greets them. A man appears on video screen wearing Mayhew's severed face, challenging them to solve the mystery of his murder and save their own lives. They are fighting the Black Glove, an organization that places bets on the struggle between good and evil. Legionary is stabbed to death twenty-three times like Caesar by an assailant.[167] Everyone's a suspect as the house turns into a giant death-trap, using methods common to all of their respective villains. Wingman is the next body found burned to death.[168] Ranger is discovered to be Wingman in disguise, having faked his death by switching bodies. Mayhew is still alive and they are revealed to have worked together, taking revenge on Batman for ruining their chance at greatness by dismissing the team. After shooting Wingman in the head, Mayhew dies when the Black Glove punishes him for his failure and blows up the island as everyone else escapes in his plane.[169]
Heart of Hush
Main article: Batman: Heart of Hush
Hush reappears in Gotham to destroy his nemesis before the Black Glove can take his victory, establishing an abandoned hospital as his headquarters and filling it with loyal mental patients. Shooting Doctor Aesop unexpectedly during a fight, he promises Bruce that no other villain will be allowed to harm him.[170] Batman cautions his allies to become paranoid, and Hush sets his plans in motion teaming up with Scarecrow.[171] A young orphan named Colin Wilkes is pumped full of venom and set on rampage to distract attention from the main plot. Hush kidnaps Catwoman and surgically removes her heart, leaving her barely alive on life support.[172] The two men fight at the hospital, and Hush explains that he will shut off Catwoman's heart if attacked again. Then he reveals that he has undergone plastic surgery to look exactly identical to Bruce Wayne.[173] Their fight takes them to the Batcave after Batman secures the heart with Doctor Mid-Nite and Mister Terrific. Hush escapes permanent defeat after an explosion cripples him, although Catwoman uses her resources to hunt down his entire fortune and destroy it, leaving him bankrupt. Bruce tells Selina in her hospital bed that he loves her.[174]
Batman R.I.P.
Batman of Zur-En-Arrh
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Batman R.I.P.
During a dinner date where she considers breaking up with him, Jezebel Jet is captured by a terrorist named the Fiend with Nine Eyes and discovers that Bruce is Batman when he rescues her.[175]
The Black Glove invites Batman and Jezebel Jet to a dance of death called the Danse Macabre, having clearly discovered his secret identity. Doctor Hurt has organized villains and madmen from across the world including the Joker, Le Bossu and the Club of Villains to finally put an end to Batman. Robin believes that Bruce is slowly starting to lose his grip on reality, although Alfred insists that there is no stronger mind in the world.[176] Hurt announces to his team that they will be creating a work of art in the complete and utter ruination of a noble human spirit; Thomas and Martha Wayne are discredited through slander published in the Gotham Gazette and the Club is sent out to attack his allies. Bruce finally collapses into a mental break-down when he hears the trigger phrase Zur-En-Arrh spoken aloud, and villains storm the Batcave[177] The attack completely destroyed his mind, he's injected with weapons grade crystal meth and street heroin then wakes up as an amnesiac derelict on the streets. A homeless man named Honor Jackson takes him in and gives him a small radio he believes to be the Bat-Radia, although this is a hallucination and Jackson had died of a drug overdose the previous day. Nightwing is captured by Scorpiana and taken to Arkham Asylum where Bossu plans to lobotomize him. Pierrot Lunaire and Swagman go after Robin. Bruce stitches a new costume called the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh with Bat-Mite as a spiritual guide.[178] This is a contingency plan he had prepared in case there was ever a direct attack on his mind, a stream-lined back-up personality that exists as Batman without Bruce Wayne. Taking out criminals across the city at unheard of speed, he defeats King Kraken and interrogates Charlie Caligula. Hurt begins wearing Thomas Wayne's Batman Costume and claims that he is the real Thomas Wayne, having faked his own death years ago. Jeremiah Arkham is beaten and the Black Gloves takes over his asylum. Commissioner Gordon comes to investigate Wayne Manor personally and finds himself caught in one of El Sombrero's death traps.[179] The Black Glove prepares Arkham Asylum while its richest members gather to gamble on whether good or evil will triumph. Batman fights his way inside through henchmen, although he must make the final journey alone as Bat-Mite is his last voice of reason and cannot enter the door. Damian and Talia al Ghul get involved and rescue Gordon. Batman brutally fights the enraged Joker and then unmasks in front of him when he finally saves Jezebel, although she is revealed to have been part of the conspiracy all along.[180] Joker kills a member of the Glove and places his bet on good triumphing over evil. Buried alive in his cowl to be raised from the grave after incurring brain damage, Batman wakes up and breaks out of his coffin and rises through the dirt. The Bat-Radia is activated and it has been converted to send signals instead of receive, putting the asylum into lock-down through the Batcomputer. Nightwing wakes up in time to break his restraints and punch out Bossu seconds before his lobotomy. Robin brings the Club of Heroes in to help clean up the city. Hurt tries to escape in a helicopter driven by Bat-Devil after swearing to continue destroying Batman unless he submits, but Bruce refuses and takes the chopper down with his bare hands. There is a massive explosion over the water, but Batman survives and continues his fight against evil.[181]
Final Crisis
Bruce Wayne's corpse
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Final Crisis
Batman must solve the murder of a New God when Orion is killed in Metropolis by a Radion Bullet. This is part of a greater plot by Darkseid to control the Multiverse using the Anti-Life Equation during Final Crisis.[182] Libra, prophet of the Religion of Crime, kills Martian Manhunter. At the funeral, he pays his respects by placing a Choco on his departed friend's grave.[183] Investigating the killings, he was taken prisoner by another dark servant Granny Goodness posing as Kraken of the Alpha Lantern Corps.[184] Omega Sanction
Added by Mrblonde267
They intend to use Bruce Wayne to create a clone army of Batmen, using his body and mind as the template for perfect soldiers. Simyan and Mokkari hold him in their Evil Factory where they sedate him and slowly drain his character. Recognizing what is happening to him, Batman breaks his psyche out of telepathic restraints and fights back against the system. Making his own mind into a weapon, he uses all of the pain and trauma he's experienced to destroy their machines. Every single memory that Batman has driving his motivations, all of the raw emotional energy, is more stress than anything else can tolerate and the entire complex destroys itself and nearly everything inside.[185] Batman goes to the Command D bunker and challenges Darkseid, the ultimate personification of evil, as the Anti-Life destroys reality around them. Although he made a very solemn vow about firearms, he says that he is making a once-in-a-lifetime exception... and shoots Darkseid in the chest with the Radion Bullet. This is a reversal of the moment when evil struck down his parents in the streets... and this time, Batman stands with his smoking gun pointed at evil himself. The last thing he says is "gotcha." Right before dying, Darkseid blasts Batman with an Omega Sanction that seemingly kills him. Arriving moments too late, Superman recovers Batman's skeletal burnt corpse.[186] Bruce Wayne is shown to have survived the Omega Sanction, and his body has been flung backward thousands of years in time. He is trapped in the Prehistoric Era, where he is present for the death of the first man Anthro, and draws cave paintings of his own insignia.[187]
Battle for the Cowl
Main article: Batman: Battle for the Cowl
Naturally, following the events of "Final Crisis" that left the Batman Family without their leader, Batman's allies were in disarray, Gotham criminals took advantage of his absence, and the question stood, "Is Batman gone?" Feeling a combination of obligation and hesitation, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake Wayne, Alfred, and Damian Wayne debated as to what the future of the Dark Knight should be, until an estranged Jason Todd turned up as having taken a twisted cowl (which seems reminiscent of Jean-Paul Valley) for himself. Todd decommissioned an arrogant Damian, making Dick, Tim, and Alfred feel an even greater sense of urgency to send the Caped Crusader back on the streets. However, Dick still refused, prompting Tim to hijack an old Batsuit himself and seek out Jason and his twisted Batcave. Jason managed to defeat Tim and severely injure him, leaving only Dick and Jason as the heir to the cowl. As Alfred provided medical care for Damian and Tim was barely escaping with his life, Dick and Jason fought long and hard until Jason, vowing that he would see Dick "much sooner than you think," plummeted off of a moving train into the depths of the river below. The conclusion of this struggle found Dick accepting his role as the new Batman, with the darkest Robin yet, Damian, by his side. Tim, however, is far away from Gotham, believing that Bruce is not actually dead. He has taken the mantle of the Red Robin, and is currently exploring the globe for clues as to where his adoptive father is.
Blackest Night
Black Lantern Corps
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Blackest Night
Superman later returned the cowl on the remains to Nightwing and Robin, to be left in a memorial similar to the one Batman made for Jason. At Alfred's insistence, no public funeral was held for Batman, and Robin, refusing to believe he was dead, prevented them from declaring Bruce Wayne dead. Wayne's body was buried in an unmarked grave next to Thomas and Martha Wayne.
Some weeks later, as Gotham City was going through a rampant crime wave following Batman's disappearance, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, the second Flash, who had returned during the Final Crisis, met each other at Wayne's grave for a private farewell to their friend. Although Hal was somber given the loss, coupled with the earlier losses of Arthur Curry and J'onn J'onzz, Barry reminded Hal that they, Superman, and Green Arrow all died and returned, and if anyone could beat the Reaper, it was the Dark Knight. Unfortunately, soon after they left, the criminal Black Hand, dug Wayne's skull out of the ground while reciting the Black Lantern Oath.[188] Nekron later uses a Black Lantern Ring to revive the skull and build it a form to tether an emotional connection to the heroes present and has it spit out Black Lantern Rings that attach themselves to the resurrected heroes; Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Superboy, Kid Flash, with two more failing to reach Flash (Barry Allen) and Hal Jordan. Almost immediately after, much to Hal Jordan's surprise, Nekron releases the skull from the ring and it returns to normal. After the Blackest Night, Hal and Barry return to Bruce's grave to talk about what transpired. After stating that "dead is dead from here on out," Hal says that Batman is the exception because the Black Lantern Batman they fought did not recognize any of them and was not really Bruce, proving that Tim Drake was right; Bruce is still alive, somewhere.
Sometime after the Blackest Night, at Jason Todd's behest, Dick (apparently unaware of Hal Jordan's post-Blackest Night conclusions) immersed Bruce's body in a Lazarus Pit. The body turns out to be one of Darkseid's Batman clones that he decided to keep as perfect replica of Batman. However, its memories are warped and unstable and it goes mad. After attacking Damian, the clone burns out and dies. Dick finally accepts that Bruce is still alive somewhere.
Return of Bruce Wayne
Prehistoric Batman
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
Trapped in the past with no memory, Bruce is forced to fight his way through time back to the present day. Darkseid used the Hyper-Adapter monster to aim him like a doomsday weapon through history, picking up Omega Energy until he reaches the modern era and explodes. Rip Hunter and his Time Masters, including Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman become a time traveling search party to stop him from ending the world. Starting in the Prehistoric Era, he is given the name Man-of-Bats and defeats Vandal Savage's Blood Tribe in combat. This inspiration drives Anthro's people to call themselves the Bat Tribe.[189] Pirate Batman
Added by Mrblonde267
Several hundred years later he became a colonial witch-hunter, using detective work to disprove supernatural explanations for local crimes using the identity of Mordecai Wayne. His name went down in legend as a mythical dragon-slayer when he disappeared while fighting the monster.[190] Bruce is mistaken for the Black Pirate when he washes up on an unfamiliar shore next to the real Jack Valor, and is taken hostage by Blackbeard. They force him to guide them through a cave system to reveal his treasure, but he fights them off with the Pirate's cowl and is assisted by the native Bat-people. Valor is entrusted to write down a mysterious message in a box, and give it to the Wayne family for safe-keeping over the centuries.[191] As a masked avenger in the old west he protects his future family from Monsieur Savage and another ancestor named Thomas Wayne, attempting to steal the box for themselves. This is supposed to bring about the end times through a dark god named Barbatos. Succeeding in his mission, Batman is shot off a bridge by the bounty hunter Jonah Hex.[192] Returning to Gotham shortly after his parents' murder, a friend of his mother named Marsha Lamarr enlists him as a private investigator looking into the shooting. There are accusations made that Thomas Wayne staged the killing to fake his own death. Marsha betrays Bruce to Doctor Hurt's devil-worshiping Black Glove organization who have attempted to destroy his parents' souls through their reputations, and set him on fire as a human sacrifice. Carter Nichols' prototype time machine allows him to escape into the future, to the end of time at Vanishing Point.[193] Hyper-Adapter
Added by Mrblonde267
Bruce regains his memory at the end of time, having worked out his plan to thwart Darkseid's revenge. Memory loss gave the monster nothing to go on, and the clues he planted for himself all along helped him work out how to get through everything. Merging with one of the great Archivists, he briefly gains omniscience and creates a Time Sphere to travel back to his own time. Bruce Wayne goes public
Added by Mrblonde267
Possessed by the Hyper-Adapter and overwhelmed with dangerous amounts of Omega Radiation, he allows the Justice League to defeat him. They induce clinical death to separate Bruce from the beast and dissipate the radiation, then send it back through time again using the sphere. Experiencing a hallucination in the Fifth World, Batman is confronted by a vision of Darkseid urging him to accept Anti-Life and Metron urging him to defeat the ultimate evil by accepting the first truth of Batman: he has never been alone. Bruce revives after two minutes of clinical death, Red Robin explains that Gotham is in terrible trouble and he suits up to go.[194]
Doctor Hurt and Professor Pyg have taken Gotham by siege, fighting Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne. After defeating the 99 Fiends together, Bruce goes after Hurt and the others go after Pyg. Trapping him in his own interrogation room to listen to Alfred's death, Hurt proclaims that he is the devil and Batman will rot in purgatory. Bursting out of the prison, he delivers a final beat-down to Hurt and goes to rescue Pennyworth. The doctor escapes outside where he is defeated by the Joker and buried alive with a giant grin on his face. Having come to a new conclusion about the direction of his fight against crime, Bruce reveals in a press conference that he has been privately financing Batman for years and goes public with Batman Incorporated.[195]
Batman Incorporated
Redesigned Costume
Added by Mrblonde267
Main article: Batman Incorporated
Batman gathers his closest associates in the Batcave and gives them all new assignments as the start of an army against crime, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne. They will make their battle ideological, fighting the idea of crime with the idea of Batman and making sure there is nowhere for evil to hide. Lucius Fox is commissioned to make a private army of Batman Robots. Bruce tries Damian out and determines that they will not work well together on missions, insisting that he continue his position with Grayson as the Batman and Robin of Gotham City. These actions draw the attentions of the Leviathan organization.[196] His first visit takes him to Japan alongside Catwoman, where he tries to recruit Mr. Unknown and finds him murdered by a villain named Lord Death Man.[197] Jiro Osamu is the hero's successor and avenges his mentor before being sworn in as the first new member.[198] Nightrunner is the next member chosen, a Muslim who becomes the Batman of Paris.[199][200]
Flashpoint
This section of the history takes place during Flashpoint, a massive crossover event set in an alternate timeline to the mainstream DCU. History was completely changed when Professor Zoom finally found a way to erase his nemesis the Flash without harming his own legacy.
Main article: Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance
The timeline was drastically altered by Professor Zoom during Flashpoint.[201] In this new version of history, Bruce is shot dead by Joe Chill in Crime Alley and his parents survive. Thomas Wayne swears revenge and becomes Batman after savagely beating Chill to death in the streets. Martha Wayne goes mad with grief and becomes the Joker after carving a smile into her own face.[202] Thomas Wayne meets Barry Allen and they work together to restore the timeline.[203] Batman kills Professor Zoom and they successfully restore history to the way it was meant to be. Before erasing himself, Thomas writes a message to his son and has the Flash deliver it. Bruce is brought to tears by the letter of how proud his dad would've been to see him grow up into the man he's become.[204]
DCnU
The DC Universe heavily changed its continuity into the DCnU following the events of Flashpoint in 2011. This was part of an effort to make storylines more accessible to newer readers, beginning with the New 52. This new timeline combines elements from the DCU, Vertigo Universe and Wildstorm Universe while drastically changing the origins and histories of characters.
In this new timeline, several details of the Batman mythos have changed. There is a new origin story for the Justice League, establishing that Batman has only been publicly active for five years although he was considered an urban legend before this.[205] Costume Redesign
Added by Smash Brawler
The GCPD are still hostile towards him as a vigilante, although he maintains an alliance with James Gordon.[206] Dick Grayson returns to his role as Nightwing, making Bruce the only Batman again.[207] Barbara Gordon recovers from her wheelchair and becomes Batgirl again.[208] Tim Drake as Red Robin becomes a founding member of the Teen Titans.[209] Jason Todd as Red Hood forms his own team of mercenaries, the Outlaws.[210]
Bruce is still a core member of the Justice League of America including Aquaman, Cyborg, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman.[211] He begins patrolling Gotham with his son Damian Wayne as Robin for the first time, and they fight his mentor Henri Ducard's son Nobody.[212] Despite their antagonistic relationship, he is sexually involved with Catwoman.[213] Bane organizes a massive breakout at Arkham Asylum, making the villains stronger using super-steroids.[214] Extending his involvement with Batman Incorporated, he helps Batwing track down a serial murderer named Massacre in Africa.[215] In their first mission, he assists Justice League International in taking down Peraxxus.[216]
The Court of Owls
Added by Hatebunny
Night of the Owls
Main article: Batman: Night of the Owls
Batman begins to investigate a conspiracy that is believed to have secretly controlled Gotham for centuries, the Court of Owls fabled in nursery rhyme. They send an undying assassin called the Talon to kill him after Wayne Enterprises announces a massive new direction for the city. Bruce is captured after learning too much and sentenced to death in their giant maze, where he spends a week alone without food and learns that they've killed many Waynes before. Regaining strength through the memory of his dead ancestor Alan Wayne, he defeats the Talon and escapes. It's revealed that Haly's Circus has been training assassins for years, and Dick Grayson was almost used by the Court before Bruce adopted him. The Court recovers from their encounter and decides to activate a small army of Talons they have decommissioned throughout the years.[217]
Later, a group of Talons attack Wayne Manor, but Bruce defeats some of them due to their outdated fighting style. Wearing a new armored suit, Bruce prepares to fight the Talons while Alfred discovers the Court's fourty targets and sends a radio message to the Batman Family and the Birds of Prey for help.[218]
After a short battle, Batman defeats the Talons and heads out to Arkham Asylum to save Jeremiah Arkham from Black Mask.[219] Then, Batman goes to save mayoral candidate Lincoln March, but is too late and March is mortally wounded. Before he dies, however, March gives Batman a package that will make Gotham a better place. Resolute, Batman decides to burn down the Court of Owls's house.[220]
Infiltrating the Powers Hotel, Batman interrogates Maria Powers, knowing she and her husband are members of the Court. Alfred traces Maria's phone call and Batman deduces the Court is at Harbor House, the old house he tried to investigate when he was a boy. When he enters the house, however, Batman finds that every member of the Court is dead. By the next day, Batman believes that the Court's death is some kind of setup, as all the Court's money was transfered to another account. Believing that the Court suffered a betrayal from the inside, Batman goes to the morgue, where he finds a note reading "Follow me to the Rabbit Hole?"
Batman goes to the Willowwood Home for Children, a place that housed children suffering from mental illnesses. Suddenly, he is captured in a net, and Lincoln March stands over him. Batman deduces that Lincoln March does not exist, he is just a paper man set up by the Court. The man in front of him is the Court's betrayer, and he took the Talons's serum to survive death. March is aware of Batman's dual life and reveals himself to be Thomas Jr., Bruce Wayne's brother. Although Bruce believes he does not have a brother, Thomas says that an accident had caused him to be born early, and Thomas and Martha Wayne had hid him away at Willowwood to heal. When Thomas and Martha died, Willowwood lost its funding and the place began treating its children cruelly. Blaming Bruce for their parents's deaths, Thomas puts on an owl suit of armor and frees Batman so that the brothers can have a final fight.[221]
Possible Futures
See also: Possible Futures ■ Armageddon 2001
■ Execution 2001
■ The Last Batman Story
■ Succession
■ Batman in Bethlehem
■ Batman Beyond
■ JLA: Rock of Ages
PersonalityEdit
Batman, in most of his incarnations, is a dark and grim hero with a personal vendetta against criminals. Traumatized by the death of his parents, Batman has sworn to rid Gotham from the criminal elements that took his parents from him. He is very paranoid and obsessive, which often makes it difficult for him to trust other people that aren't Alfred, the Robins, or the Batgirls.
Despite this, Batman has proved to have a great love for humanity, which was instilled by his parents. His father was a doctor, while his mother was a crusader against child abuse. Indeed, Batman's oath of vengeance is tempered with the greater ideal of justice. He refrains from killing, as he feels this would not make him any better than the criminals he fights. He is also a very prominent member of the Justice League and the founder of the Outsiders.
To protect his secret identity, Batman has constructed a fake persona he can use in his civilian identity. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is a self-absorbed, superficial, irresponsible playboy and philanthropist. Only his closest allies know that this attitude is just an act.
Who is "The Real Man?"
The Bruce Wayne/playboy aspect of his character is a facade, while the masked and particularly dark, grim vigilante is marked as the "true" man. Usually, Batman is further separated from Bruce Wayne by the raspy and stony bass voice he usually assumes while costumed.
Another identity used by Batman is that of gangster "Matches Malone." Matches was a small-time arsonist who killed his brother and then committed suicide by burning himself to death. Becoming Matches allows Batman to operate within the criminal community as a respected member with pre-established credibility. Matches is often under suspicion of being a snitch to Batman however, and great lengths often have to be gone to maintain his "rep." Matches would later return to Gotham City, and reveal to Batman he had been innocent, and had faked his death. The real Matches was murdered by the Ventriloquist, for Batman's actions in his name, but Batman was able to preserve the identity and even avenge his death.[222] He has since, when in the Malone persona, pursued it to the point of even being incarcerated as him in Blackgate Penitentiary.
Secret Identity
Bruce Wayne at the opera
Added by Mrblonde267
Wayne guards his secret identity well, but several individuals know of his superhero alter-ego, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Lois Lane, The Flash (Jay Garrick, Barry Allen & Wally West), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner & Alan Scott), Plastic Man (Patrick "Eel" O'Brien), Arsenal (Roy Harper), Starman (Thom Kallor), Vixen (Mari McCabe), Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce), Aquaman (Arthur Curry), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Catwoman (Selina Kyle), Red Hood (Jason Todd), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Robin IV (Damian Wayne), The Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), and his butler Alfred Pennyworth. The kindly Doctor Leslie Thompkins also is aware of Bruce's secret identity.
Several villains have discovered his true identity over the years, most notably eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul, Hugo Strange, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and Bane.
The villain Hush has attempted to take revenge on both sides of the Batman/Bruce Wayne persona, and he is noted throughout his run as a villain who has personal ties to Bruce Wayne and/or Batman; Hush is later revealed to be Thomas Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Fortunately, most of Batman's enemies have dismissed the notion of Bruce Wayne as Batman because of Wayne's apparent dim-wittedness and self-absorption while the ones who do know prefer to keep the information to themselves for their own reasons. The Joker has had opportunities to learn himself, but he has always refused them, since it would personally rob the mystique of his enemy.
The Batman
Added by Joshuamiguel
Relationships with allies
Batman is a normal human being who does not possess any superhuman abilities, but has character flaws that can be exploited by enemies.
As a young child, Bruce tended to be solitary and withdrawn, a condition only exacerbated by the murder of his parents. This lead to his current state as a loner who would prefer to be on his own rather than rely on others. His difficulty in trusting others is a constant issue for him to overcome, and perhaps his only weakness.
His longest and closest relationship is with Alfred, who represents a father figure, confessor, and advisor. Alfred and he have clashed in the past, but share a deep and unbreakable bond. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne looks like a rich, good looking, dim-witted playboy. But there are times when Bruce has found love -- the beautiful Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Talia al Ghul, Vicki Vale, Sasha Bordeaux, Zatanna and some others. They have all fallen in love with him. Bruce can love, it's just more difficult for him to after his parents.
Next to Alfred, his closest relationships are with his partners and students, the Robins and the Batgirls. Although they have not always been harmonious, due to his nature as an often harsh, strict and emotionally withdrawn mentor, it is clear that he views the Robins as his sons, although he views Jason Todd as the son he failed.
James Gordon remains a close friend and staunch ally, although their relationship has also been challenged by Batman's secretive nature. Still, Gordon remains arguably Batman's best friend.
His relationship with other superheroes and metahumans has been complex. Though a long time member of both the Justice League and the Outsiders, and a close associate of the Justice Society and the Teen Titans, he also does not fully trust them. This (warranted or not) has led to his keeping files on how to defeat allies and friends in case they ever cross the line. This stems from events revealed in the Identity Crisis incident where his memory was erased by other members of the Justice League to cover up their roles in the punishment of Doctor Light (Arthur Light), who had raped Ralph Dibny's (Elongated Man's) wife. In the past, this information has been used against him and his allies, first by Ra's Al Ghul, and then later by the OMAC Project.
Among the superhero community outside the Robins and Batgirls, he is closest to Superman and Wonder Woman, having a long established partnership with Superman and a romantic relationship with Wonder Woman. These relationships have never been smooth. Superman and Batman have often disagreed with each other over methods and trust. A particularly sour point was the arrival of Kara Zor-El; Superman believed Batman was being unnecessarily cautious about a potentially dangerous Kara, and Batman was shocked at Superman's willingness to reveal his secret identity to a girl with little actual memory of Krypton. Despite their disagreements, the two hold a deep respect for each other.
Batman has occasionally been arrogant, treating many of his allies with various degrees of disrespect. He often imposes his exacting standards on others as he does himself. He also sometimes overestimates his own abilities, allowing foes to take advantage of that.
Romances
For the most part, Bruce does not engage in a serious romance, preferring to focus in his superhero duties instead. However, Bruce occassionally softens his heart and has been involved with the following women:
Batman and Catwoman
Added by Mrblonde267
■ Catwoman: Quite possibly Batman's best-known romance, Catwoman has been Batman's lover at several points of his life. Although they are clearly in love with one another, a relationship between the two has been proven difficult to maintain, due to Batman's commitment to justice and Catwoman's occassional returns to thievery. Despite this, they remain close friends and reliable allies
Greetings Mr Wayne....I am Driving Automatic Robotic Kar....But you may call me D.A.R.K. or Dark for short....I have some of your stolen tech in me....It was stolen by Black-Widow3....Secret Identity know as Cassandra Carina Johnson.
[Thank you for the add. It is appreciated. It also is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I just wanted to stop by to say hello. If you want to discuss a possible storyline or connection feel free to message me. I prefer to keep OCC inbox if possible. I do have a set of rules if you would be so kind to check them out. Rules I also will be sure to read and sign yours if you have them.]
