Batman

The story of Batman begins when, as a child, Bruce Wayne, the son of billionaire Thomas Wayne, and his wife Martha, sees his mother and father get gunned down in front of him by Joe Chill in Crime Alley. Raised by his butler Alfred Pennyworth at Wayne Manor, the trauma of the event causes Bruce to seek a way to avenge his parents deaths. On this quest, he is trained by a ninja assassins guild known as the League of Shadows led by Ras Al Ghul, mastering every form of martial arts. He also spends many years studying forensic analysis and detective skills. With these combined skills he is often called the “World’s Greatest Detective“.

After his training, Bruce returns to the corrupt Gotham City and becomes the masked vigilante Batman. He manages to keep his identity a secret by pretending to be an irresponsible billionaire playboy. Initially, his relationship with the Gotham City Police Department is a tense one, but he eventually befriends Police Commissioner Gordon who utilizes Batman’s ability to operate outside of the law to deal with the city’s most notorious criminals.

Technically, Batman has no superpowers – but his intellect, fighting prowess, and extreme wealth make allow him to operate as a superhero. He uses an assortment of “bat” themed items and equipment. He wears an armored Batsuit with a utility belt full of gadgets, including boomarang like objects called batarangs. He operates out of his secret liar known as the Batcave which houses a Batcomputer to help solve cases. He gets around in various vehicles including the Batmobile, Batcycle, and Batwing. Most of his equipment is supplied by Lucius Fox. When the GCPD need to get ahold of Batman they summon him using a bat shaped skylight known as the Batsignal.

In the early days, Batman went up against the thugs and gangsters of Gotham like Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. Bruce sometimes disguises himself as a criminal himself named Matches Malone to infiltrate the underbelly of Gotham. Overtime, he is less driven by vengeance and becomes a symbol of Justice.

Batman’s theatricality eventually leads to criminals adopting similar theatrics themselves. His arch nemesis is a clown themed villain known as The Joker. The Batman mythos has one of the most iconic rogues gallery’s in all of comic books, including: The Riddler, The Penguin, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and many more. One of Bruce’s closest friends, attorney Harvey Dent, becomes the villain Two-Face after half of his face is scarred. Many of his captured foes are held in either Blackgate Prison or Arkham Aslyum.

While Batman’s list of foes grows so do his allies in the form of the Batfamily. He took in the orphan Dick Grayson, a member of the circus act The Flying Graysons, after his family was killed. Grayson goes on to become Batman’s sidekick Robin, and later Nightwing. There have been several other Robins including Tim Drake, Jason Todd (who later becomes Red Hood), Stephanie Brown, and Damien Wayne, Bruce’s biological son with Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra’s. Gordon’s daughter Barbara Gordan becomes a crime fighter herself known as Batgirl. Batman also has a sometimes adversarial, sometimes romantic, relationship with the cat burglar Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman.

First Appearance:
All Star Comics #8

Mythological Analogue:
Hades

Powers:
Master Martial Artist, Genius Intellect, Renowned Detective Skills, Brilliant Tactician, Near Limitless Wealth to Supply Equipment and Technology

Weaknesses
As a human Batman is essentially vulnerable to anything an ordinary person is.

Associations:
Thomas and Martha Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Catwoman, Robin, Batgirl

Villains:
The Joker, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Bane, Hugo Strange, Clayface, Hush, Killer Croc, Man-Bat, Solomon Grundy, Victor Zsasz, Ra’s al Ghul

Notable Universes:
DC Comics Universe
Batman 66′
Burton / Schumacher Verse
Timmverse
Nolanverse
Arkhamverse
The DCEU (Snyderverse)
The New DCEU (Hamadaverse)
Gothamverse
Reevesverse
All Universes…

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