For the eponymous film of the same name, see Batman (film). For the Earth-97 version, see Batman (Earth-97).
- "Don't kill me! Don't kill me, man! Don't kill me! Don't kill me, man!"
"I'm not going to kill you. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to tell all your friends about me."
"What are you?"
"I'm Batman." - ―Nic and Batman[src]
Bruce Wayne is a billionaire from Gotham City and the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He became Batman in response to the sudden and brutal murder of his parents by the gangster Jack Napier when he was ten. He sees himself as the protector of Gotham, aiming to clean up the city's crime and corruption while bringing its criminals to justice by any means necessary. One of his first enemies was Napier, who Batman accidentally transformed into the far more dangerous "The Joker". Battling against the Joker's plan to poison Gotham with "Smylex", they had a final confrontation in which the Joker fell to his death, avenging Batman's parents.
Over the years to come, Batman would fight many other eccentric criminal masterminds, including the monstrous Penguin, the seductive Catwoman, and the twisted Two-Face.
Bruce also later became engaged to Selina Kyle.[1]
Biography[]
Early life[]
Bruce Wayne had been born to wealthy but civic-minded parents in 1955. The noble Doctor Thomas Wayne and the philanthropic Martha Wayne had worked tirelessly to reverse Gotham City's urban decline, and had become renown for their glittering charity fundraisers and their support of initiatives to stimulate the city's growth as a place without crime and poverty.
At one point, Bruce attempted began taking riding lessons from Alfred, but stopped after one lesson due to a sprained ankle.
In 1963, on one cold late October night when he was ten years old, Bruce urged his parents to take him to see a movie and his father gave in. The family went to the Monarch Theatre to see Footlight Frenzy.
Bruce staring down the barrel of Napier's pistol
After the movie, his father had decided they should walk for a bit before taking a cab back to Wayne Manor. The family happily walked down the sidewalk and it wasn't long before his mother had noticed someone following them. Attempting to evade the followers, who turned out to be two hoodlums, Bruce and his parents found themselves cornered in a dead-end alley as the hoods, on orders to kill the Waynes due to their meddling in mafia affairs, confronted them. One of them goes up to them and tore Martha's pearl necklace off of her neck, and Thomas struggled with that thug. The second hoodlum pulled out a gun and shot down Thomas. Martha screamed, and she was then shot down by the same thug. As the first hoodlum that Thomas had struggled with began to run away, the second with the gun approached Bruce, saying, "Tell me kid.... you ever dance with the Devil by the pale moon light?" The hoodlum with the gun came out of the shadows wearing a wide, demented, devilish grin that Bruce would never forget. The cops could be heard coming and the first hoodlum shouted, "Oh, Man, let's go!" Just as the second cocked the gun, he then turned upon hearing, "Let's go, Jack!" Jack then turned back to Bruce and said, "See you around, kid", and began to walk away, leaving Bruce alone in the alley.
A photo of Bruce Wayne with Gordon and other GCPD officers at the scene of his parents' murder.
Little did he know that his prediction would come true -- that he and Bruce would meet again. Bruce went down on his knees between the dead bodies of his loving parents and began to cry. He prayed that he would eradicate crime from Gotham's streets so that no one else would suffer the same pain. Beat cop Jim Gordon was the first official on the scene and attempted to console Bruce, but to no avail.
When Bruce grew up, he studied combat, science, psychology, and criminology. With the assistance of his butler and guardian, Alfred Pennyworth, he developed new technologies and weapons in the "bat caves" beneath Wayne Manor, and a new persona for himself -- that of "the Batman," a frightening, phantom-like vigilante whose self-appointed mission was to lurk the darkened streets of Gotham, meting out rough justice to criminals.
Facing the Joker[]
To be added
Facing Catwoman and the Penguin[]
To be added
Personality[]
- "You see... my life is really... um... complex."
- ―Bruce Wayne to Vicki Vale[src]
Bruce Wayne is a deeply traumatized man due to having witnessed the death of his parents at a young age. His psyche scarred, he has pledged to fight criminals for the rest of his life. Though he is socially withdrawn, he genuinely cares about the citizens of Gotham. However, he has difficulty forming relationships with other people, particularly with women.
Abilities[]
- "Look, sometimes I don't know what to think about this. It's just something I have to do."
"Why?"
"Because nobody else can." - ―Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale[src]
- Peak Human Condition: As a vigilante with years of experience, Bruce Wayne is in peak physical condition for a man of his age, height, and weight.
- Peak Human Strength: Bruce can generate low-level superhuman strength. As Batman, he can kick with a force of 34 psi/3,520 newtons/358.94 kilograms/791.33 pounds.[2] He is able to easily overpower other grown men; he sent one mugger crashing through a wooden door with a single kick and held his partner up off the ground. He knocked out a corrupt police officer with just one punch, and lifted the Joker off of his feet. When he was ambushed in an alleyway, he was able to send a man sliding over the trunk of a car with a punch, and he also threw a man over the roof of the car. He also caused a swordsman to do a backflip when he kicked him. Using his grappling hook, Batman ripped out a chunk of a wall and slammed into the back of a goon's head. He was also able to punch a hole through the bottom of the Batmobile Mk I.
- Peak Human Speed: Batman is incredibly fast, able to disappear from sight instantly. He was able to deflect a bullet fired at him by the Joker, which ricocheted into the latter's face. He was also able to deflect the strikes from a swordsman who attacked him in an alleyway.
- Master Martial Artist: Bruce is a master hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist. His skill allows him to defeat the criminals of Gotham City with ease, such as Johnny Gobs, two muggers, corrupt police officers, and the Joker and his goons. He easily defended himself a against a man who was dual-wielding swords. He brought down many members of the Red Triangle Gang and contended with the highly skilled Catwoman in their duels.
- Stealth: As Batman, Bruce is master of stealth and can easily blend into the dark. Bruce was able to vanish away from Joker at Axis Chemicals when he went to pick up his gun.
- Intimidation: As Batman, Bruce commands a terrifying presence and instills fear into the hearts of criminals. A mugger gained a fear of heights after he heard that Batman sent Johnny Gobbs into the pavement from five stories up. He gained a reputation with the police as a "giant, menacing, supernatural form." According to Alexander Knox, every "punk" in Gotham City was "scared stiff," and rumors arose that Batman could not be killed and that he drinks blood, indicating that some believed him to be a vampire.
- Genius-Level Intellect: Bruce is a highly intelligent man. His intellect extends itself to his detective, tactical, deceptive and business skills. He is also very cultured.
- Master Detective: Batman is the world's greatest detective. He deduced that the Joker tainted hundreds of chemicals with Smylex at the source (based on the latter's psychological profile noting him for having an aptitude in chemistry) and figured out that the poison only works when the components are mixed, e.g. hairspray mixed with lipstick and perfume, making the toxin untraceable. He later proved that Penguin controlled the Red Triangle Gang.
- Master Tactician: Batman is a master strategist. He anticipated that the Joker would shoot him in the torso, so he hid a serving tray under his clothes. He also recorded the Penguin's words about the citizens of Gotham and used them against him by playing them during one of his speeches to ruin his reputation and any chances he had at running for mayor.
- Master Deceiver: Batman is a master of keeping his identity a secret. Furthermore, several criminals doubt that Batman exists, as well as Lieutenant Eckhardt.
- Expert Businessman: Bruce is a billionaire industrialist. His wealth has allowed him to travel across the world and fund his crimefighting campaign.
- Indomitable Will: Batman is a person of tremendous determination. Despite witnessing the murder of his parents, he resolved to avenge their deaths and fight crime.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
- Batsuit
- Grapple Gun
- Utility Belt
- Smoke Pellets
- Toxic Gas
- Air Filter
- Batarangs
- Gas Pellets
- Grappling Hooks
- micro-emergency transmitter
- bat-language translator
- gas masks
- Batrope
- Batcomputer: A computer capable of analyzing every sort of evidence from crime scenes. It contains a massive information database on criminal records and general information.
- Batmobile
- First Batmobile: Batman's first Batmobile was an adapted car of his own design.
- Batwing
- First Batwing: A sleek experimental flying wing.
- Batboat
Weapons[]
- Batarangs
- Conventional: Designed to incapacitate, disarm foes
- Exploding: Demolish obstacles/walls, handle opponents with greater durability than normal humans
- Electric: Electrocute/stun opponents, disable electrically sensitive beings.
- Bolas: Weighted cables designed to restrain foes
Behind the Scenes[]
Keaton as Batman.
Batman[]
- "Keaton's hero is dark, mysterious and melancholy--"the way I created Batman in 1939""
- ―Bob Kane
- In the script of the first film, Batman is referred to or described with such words as the Bat, Black Apparition, Black Figure, Human Bat and Black Spectre.
- This version of Batman coldly kills his enemies and criminals, which was an outcry among fans. This portrayal harks back to Batman's original depiction in the early issues of Detective Comics and his own series, where he used deadly weapons and didn't think twice about killing in order to serve justice. In response, Daniel Waters quoted: "We live in dark times. You can't just drop bad guys off in a spider web in front of city hall." "He was a grim figure in his first years, casually killing criminals, and Bob Kane liked this dark version best.".
- Before Michael Keaton was cast as Batman, Mel Gibson, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Bill Murray, Tom Selleck, Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Dennis Quaid, Patrick Swayze and Kyle MacLachlan were all considered for the role. Brosnan had met with Burton about playing the role, but he ended up turning down the role saying that "anyone who wears their underpants outside their trousers should not be taken seriously". Burton wanted to meet with Ray Liotta about playing the role but he refused, a decision that he later regretted.
- Michael Keaton's casting was caused with controversy among comic book fans, with 50,000 protest letters sent to Warner Bros. offices. Bob Kane, Sam Hamm, and Michael Uslan also heavily questioned the casting. "Obviously there was a negative response from the comic book people. I think they thought we were going to make it like the 1960s TV series, and make it campy, because they thought of Michael Keaton from Mr. Mom and Night Shift and stuff like that."
- Keaton studied the 1986 graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns" for inspiration.
Batman Returns[]
To be added
The Flash[]
To be added