The Batman (real name Bruce Wayne) is a technologically aided but inexperienced vigilante in Gotham City, using humor to mask his closed-off, insecure nature, and fighting crime alongside Batgirl, Robin, and the Justice League.
History
Early Life
The Wayne Family.
Bruce Wayne was born a child of wealth and privilege to Thomas and Martha Wayne of Gotham City. As the Waynes' only son, Bruce was the sole heir to the family fortune as well as his father's business Wayne Industries. When Bruce was a young boy, his parents were brutally gunned down by a mugger, leaving Bruce an orphan. The family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, picked Bruce up at the police station and soon became his legal custodian. Alfred raised Bruce in Wayne Manor as if he were his own son. Upon visiting his parents' graveside, Bruce made a solemn vow that he would devote himself to combating crime in Gotham City.
As a teenager, Bruce developed a friendship with a fellow student named Ethan Bennett. The two enjoyed a friendly rivalry with one another, one that often demonstrated itself on the basketball court. As they grew older, Wayne devoted more of his time towards the management of Wayne Industries, and Ethan went on to become a detective for the Gotham City Police Department, but they kept in contact with one another, and Bruce would occasionally invite him over to the estate for a game of "one-on-one".
The Batman
As time progressed, Bruce found the means by which he could keep the promise he made at his parents' graves. He fashioned a dark costume for himself to conceal his true identity and took on the guise of the Batman. With the reluctant help of his butler Alfred, Bruce established a crime fighting command center in a cave beneath Wayne Manor. This soon became known as the Batcave. His connection to Wayne Industries provided him access to technology that he used to develop his crime fighting arsenal. He installed an advanced computer network in the Batcave, dubbed the Bat-Wave, and he also designed weaponry, which he incorporated into a utility belt. In addition, he also developed an array of vehicles such as the Batmobile, the Bat-Glider, and the Batplane, as well as a manned set of robotic armor which he called the Bat-Bot.
For the first two years of his career, Bruce mostly fought common street-level thugs and members of organized crime. Reports of the Batman's activities quickly circulated throughout the city. Chief of Police Angel Rojas took a rigid stance against acts of vigilantism and entrusted his detectives, including Ethan Bennett, to do everything in their power to bring the Batman to justice. Ethan and his new partner, a detective from Metropolis named Ellen Yin, committed many man-hours investigating the Batman. Secretly though, Ethan actually advocated the Batman's ability to clean up the streets of Gotham.
Gotham Villains
Batman's arch-nemesis: Joker.
In his third year of crime-fighting, 26-year old Bruce encountered an individual who proved to be his most bizarre and dangerous adversary to date – Joker. He first met the Joker after the latter escaped from his hospital room at Arkham Asylum. He prevented the Joker from releasing a deadly nerve gas over the city, after which, he promptly returned him to Arkham Asylum. The Joker, never one to stay in captivity for long, returned time and time again to plague the Batman with outrageous new schemes.[1]
The Rogues Gallery.
The emergence of the Joker appeared to have inspired many members of Gotham's underworld to likewise take up costumed identities, many of whom adopted various trademarks or gimmicks that set them apart from the common criminal. Batman's first super-powered adversary was a Brazilian mercenary named Bane. Gang leaders brought Bane into the United States in the hopes of destroying the Batman through superior muscle power, but fortunately for Bruce, the Bat-Bot armor proved an adequate foil against the oversized behemoth.[2] More and more colorful villains popped up in Gotham City, and Batman developed a veritable rogues gallery of foes including the likes of the Penguin, Man-Bat, Killer Croc, the Cluemaster and the Catwoman.
One of the most traumatic experiences in Bruce's career as the Batman not only cost him a friend, but also gave rise to a powerful new villain. The Joker, having once again escaped custody, developed a special vaporous gel that could transform everything it came into contact with into putty. The Joker kidnapped Ethan Bennett and held him captive at his lair where upon he forced him to inhale the vapors from his gel. Bennett survived the incident thanks to the intervention of Batman and Ellen Yin, but exposure to the chemicals altered his physical structure, slowly transforming his body into liquid clay. Driven insane, Ethan Bennett became the villain known as Clayface.[3]
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Partner
Enter Batgirl.
Some time later, a new character entered the Batman's life, but this one came not as a foe, but as an ally. Barbara Gordon, the teenage daughter of Gotham City commissioner James Gordon, took it upon herself to adopt her own costumed identity – Batgirl.[4] While keeping her identity safely hidden from her father, Barbara aided Batman in stopping her former friend Poison Ivy from terrorizing the Chlorogene corporation. Batman was reluctant to accept Barbara's aid, and provided little encouragement, but the enthusiastic youth persevered and continued to assist Batman as his unofficial partner. After several harrowing adventures, including one which required Batgirl to man the Bat-Bot armor, Batman finally accepted her as his partner and provided her with her own utility belt.
Batman Family
The Batman Family assembles.
The "Batman Family" gained another member only a short time later. Young circus aerialist Dick Grayson was orphaned when his parents were murdered by a criminal named Tony Zucco. Batman felt great empathy towards Dick, having experienced a similar horror as a youth himself. Recognizing Dick's acrobatic skill, he took him under his wing at the Batcave and Dick became his new sidekick Robin.[5] This relationship caused a rivalry between Dick and Barbara who felt that Dick was receiving preferential treatment over her. Over time however, the two teens mended bridges and became an effective fighting force.
Justice League
Batman joins the Justice League.
Some time later, Bruce discovered that Wayne Industries had begun secretly distributing alien technology to different locations across the world. While investigating the matter, Batman encountered a shape-shifting Martian who called himself John Jones. After a brief fight, Jones proved to him that he was actually here to aid the Batman and warned him of an encroaching alien armada called the Joining.[6] As predicted, the Joining entered Earth's atmosphere and attacked Gotham City. Batman, Batgirl, Robin, Jones and the Gotham City police department fought valiantly against the aliens, saving as many lives as possible. They were finally able to repel the invasion by way of a satellite relay system. Although humanity proved victorious, Gotham City suffered tremendous collateral damage. This event proved to Batman that he could be more effective by combining his efforts with other like-minded heroes. At John's behest, he joined a team of super-heroes called the Justice League.[7]
Later Life
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Batman in the year 2027.
In the year 2027, Bruce Wayne is still active as Batman. His sidekick Dick Grayson is now his own hero Nightwing. Barbara Gordon is now functioning as Oracle. Wayne is old in the future and not as fit as he used to be. In one of his final battles as the Bat, he is almost defeated by Freeze 2.0 who freezes all of Gotham. After the battle, Batman admits his limitations and begins his plans to help the city of Gotham in the future. He created a video and put the binary code to the videos inside the Batcave so that the people of the future may watch it.
In the year 3027, Batman's video saves Gotham from the cryogenically frozen Freeze 2.0. With the technology from the future, scientists are able to alter their appearance to that of the Batman so that a small amount of the population may become the Batman themselves. In the future, Batman is thought to be Thomas Wayne, while Bruce is thought to be Robin.[8]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Acrobatics
- Aviation
- Deception
- Driving
- Gadgetry
- Genius Level Intellect
- Computer Operation
- Science
- Investigation: The Batman is a keen investigator, capable of observation, forensic investigation, and inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber.
- Multilingualism: Batman knows American Sign Language[9] and Egyptian[10]
- Tactical Analysis
- Indomitable Will: Batman was able to resist Dracula's and Spellbinder's hypnosis.[11][12] Batman is also able of putting mental image in his brain in order to stop the telepath in reading his mind.[6]
- Intimidation
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
- Martial Arts: The Batman is an accomplished martial artist and can defeat nearly any opponent in hand-to-hand combat. The specific fighting disciplines that the Batman is proficient in are unknown.
- Mechanical Aptitude: The Batman possesses knowledge of mechanical engineering and often employs this talent when constructing or upgrading equipment for use in crime-fighting. He has often been seen effecting repairs on the Bat-Bot armor or making improvements to the Batmobile.
- Meditation
- Peak Human Condition
- Throwing
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Transportation
- Batmobile
- Batboat
- Batwing
- Bat-Glider
- Bat Jet-Ski
- Batcycle
Weapons
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the television series The Batman, related film, and the tie-in comic The Batman Strikes!. It is an adaptation of Batman. The original character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #27.
- Batman was voiced by Rino Romano.
Trivia
- When the show started, Bruce had been Batman for three years.[1]
- In the episode "A Mirror Darkly", Bruce notices that his mirror clone is left-handed, which implies that Bruce is right-handed.
- Bruce's birthday is in October.[1]
Related
- 124 Appearances of Bruce Wayne (The Batman TV Series)
- 46 Images featuring Bruce Wayne (The Batman TV Series)
- 6 Quotations by or about Bruce Wayne (The Batman TV Series)
- Character Gallery: Bruce Wayne (The Batman TV Series)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Bat in the Belfry
- ↑ Traction
- ↑ The Rubberface of Comedy
- ↑ Batgirl Begins, Part I
- ↑ A Matter of Family
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Joining, Part I
- ↑ The Joining, Part II
- ↑ Artifacts
- ↑ The Batman (TV Series) Episode: The Man Who Would Be Bat
- ↑ The Batman (TV Series) Episode: The Cat, the Bat, and the Very Ugly
- ↑ The Batman vs. Dracula (Movie)
- ↑ The Batman (TV Series) Episode: The Butler Did It
  This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category. |
 This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |