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This Hero was proposed and approved by Heroes Wiki's Pure Good Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this hero from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a "villainous" attempt to demonize said character) and the user will have a high chance of being | ||
| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Batman from The Batman animated series. The version from the live-action movie of the same name can be found here: Batman (Reevesverse). |
| “ | It doesn't matter what he thinks. It's the code you live by that matters. And you don't want to cross a line you can't uncross. | „ |
| ~ Batman to Ethan Bennett |
The Batman, real name Bruce Wayne, is the titular main protagonist of the TV series, The Batman. He is a masked vigilante and the protector of Gotham City and one of the many members of the powerful Justice League; as his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, he is the billionaire CEO of Wayne Industries.
He was voiced by Rino Romano, who also voiced Spider-Man in the PlayStation 1 Games, as well as his Unlimited Counterpart.
History[]
Early life[]
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 (possibly Joe Chill), leaving Bruce an orphan. The family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, picked Bruce up at the police station and soon became his legal guardian. 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".
Becoming 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.
Creation of his Rogues Gallery[]
The Batman first encounters Joker
In his third year of crime-fighting, Bruce encountered an individual who proved to be his most dangerous adversary to date – Joker. He first met the Joker after the latter escaped from his cell at Arkham Asylum. He prevented the Joker from releasing a deadly nerve gas over the city which would cause all the citizens to laugh resulting in a frozen smile on their faces, 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, such as dressing up as his archenemy Batman, hijacking the airwaves and broadcasting a show where he infects Mayor Grange and Cash Tankenson with laughing toxin, stealing a special Venom chemical and using it to go on a rampage throughout Gotham City, stealing black siberian tigers for Kilgore Steed and then betraying him and trapping Batman, and his allies in a maze as well as many more schemes.
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. More and more colorful villains popped up in Gotham City, and Batman developed a veritable rogues gallery of foes including the likes of former aristocrat-turned-crime boss the Penguin, a mutant scientist named Man-Bat, a human/crocodile monster named Killer Croc, a maniac who calls himself Cluemaster and a female burglar named Catwoman.
Batman fighting Bane
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.
A New Partner[]
Sometime 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 Police Commissioner James Gordon, took it upon herself to adopt her own costumed identity – Batgirl. 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.
Robin Begins[]
Batman and Robin working together to take down Tony Zucco
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, as he had 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. 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.
Fighting The Joining[]
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 robotic alien armada called the Joining. 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.
Teaming up with Superman[]
After defeating the Joining, Batman would cross paths with the world's most powerful superhero Superman, when he becomes targeted by members of his rogues gallery lead by the villainous crime boss Black Mask, and although he is able to defeat them, he learns that Black Mask was working with Superman's archenemy, the evil billionaire Lex Luthor in an attempt to turn Superman evil and taking over the world.
Due to Superman's powers making him practically invincible, Batman is able to snap him out of the hypnosis by creating a gun he invented specifically for him should he turn to the dark side, and when Lex launches a robot army to take over the world, the duo & Robin take them down and send Lex to jail, with Batman (who initially had doubts about the alien superhero; hence the gun) gaining newfound trust in the kryptonian and invites him to join the Justice League.
Defeating Strange & stopping an alien invasion[]
During another team-up with the Justice League to stop two villains named Toyman & Mirror Master, Batman & Superman get attacked by surprise bombs where the latter mysteriously disappears along with the speedster Flash, when the remaining heroes go back at the area to look for clues, Martian Manhunter & the green defender Green Lantern get kidnapped as well, leaving Batman and the archer Green Arrow around. While trying to find his friends later that night, Batman has a dream with his friends chained up and Martian Manhunter gives him a lead on who knows who kidnapped them.
Heading to Arkham, Batman, Robin, & Green Arrow head to the cell of it's former psychiatrist-turned-supervillain Hugo Strange, where they discover that it's not only a robot clone of him, but also realize that the Joining are coming back, having deduced that their last invasion was just a test. Tracking Strange's location to an abandoned bunker, Batman discovers that not only Strange is responsible for the League's kidnappings, but also willingly sold humanity out to the Joining in exchange for all the knowledge in the universe; he tried warning them about Batman, they only feared those with superpowers. While successful in freeing the League, Batman frighteningly discovers that Strange had also drained them of their powers and had given them to robotic-duplicates of themselves he built before turning them on the duo, Green Arrow, and the now-powerless league members.
Barely escaping the robots, Batman & the others meet up with Batgirl and determined to stop the Joining for good, he gives the powerless members guns that produces the weaknesses of the respective members, after a long-battle the league are able to get their powers back, and find that while Hugo was able to get his wish, the process of obtaining universal knowledge was so much for him to handle that it permanently breaks his brain leaving him in a catatonic state. But things take a turn for the worst when the Joining mothership arrives and kickstart a new invasion, and while Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash, & the hawk-themed hero Hawkman take care of the invasion force, Batman is able to use Strange's knowledge to shut down the Joining's mothership & places the former behind bars forever.
With the Joining defeated for good, Batman & Green Arrow are congratulated by the others for despite lacking powers, they were able to save the world; Green Arrow happily saying that "some heroes need powers, some heroes don't". Afterwards Batman joins Robin & Batgirl as they witness the sunrise on a new day, while also hearing their intention to start the Junior Justice League, which is something he smiles at.
The Batman vs. Dracula[]
Batman faces his most magical & challenging foe yet which starts when Joker & Penguin break out of Arkham where they believe there's money in a crypt in Gotham cemetery, while Batman was able to subdue Joker, Penguin escapes by jumping into a river and into the cemetery, afterwards he continues battling Joker, but when he falls of a roof and tries to electrocute him, the rain causes the electricity in his buzzer to go crazy and seemingly shocks him to death when he falls into a body of water.
Little did he know was that while Batman was fighting Joker, Penguin arrives at the cemetery where he enters a crypt where he believes the money's hidden, but when he foolishly tries to find it inside the coffin, he accidentally cuts himself which causes some of his blood to fall onto the carcass inside it. This causes him to discover that body in the crypt is that of no human, but that of a Vampire, but it's not just some random vampire, but the legendary vampire himself Dracula; his body was moved to Gotham after his previous death at the hands of Abraham Van Helsing. As soon as he's been awakened, he turns a bystander into a vampire before hypnotizing Penguin into being his sentinel over his crypt before going to build an army & conquer the world.
While hearing about the Vampire attacks, Bruce still decides to continue on with his plans in hosting a corporate party he and Alfred planned, but during the party Dracula enters the party under the guise of a cultural anthropologist Dr. Alucard (basically his name spelled backwards), tries to bite him, but when he fails, he instead bites a waiter that causes him to deduce his identity as a Vampire, unfortunately, due to Dracula's bat-like appearance, the media begins to suspect Batman is responsible for all the disappearances & begin sending SWAT teams after him. After being chased away by the SWAT team when he tries to find Dracula's base, Batman is confronted on the rooftops by the Vampire king himself, despite covering his weapons with Garlic, Dracula proves to be to powerful for him to handle, but during the fight, Dracula offers to let Batman join him in his conquest; he believes his legacy inspired him to dawn his dark persona, but he boldly refuses, and just before he kills the vampire, the sun comes out which forces him to disappear, making the vampire king vow to kill him when they meet again.
Determined to find a cure for those turned into vampires, Batman confronts a very much alive & now-vampirized Joker, after knocking him down, Batman successfully cures him of his vampirized state before mass-producing it to use it on all the citizens-turned-vampires, but he shockingly learns from Alfred that Vicky Vale, a news-reporter he was dating at the time, was kidnapped by Dracula to be used as a sacrifice for a ritual that he will use to revive his deceased bride Carmilla Karnstein.
Racing to Dracula's tomb to save everyone hurt by Dracula, Batman slowly but successfully turns all the "Lost Ones" back to normal humans before stopping the ritual & saving Vicky. He soon confronts Dracula in a full-on showdown that goes from his grave to the Batcave where he has the advantage over the vampire, in an attempt to help his master, Alfred injects the vaccine into Dracula, but fearfully discovers that it doesn't work on natural vampires. This fortunately gives Batman the opportunity to blast the vampire king with a prototype solar energy-storing machine his company built that reduces Dracula to nothing but ash, ending the reign of the emperor of vampires once & for all.
With Dracula dead, his hold over Penguin is destroyed and while he finally finds the treasure he was searching for, he is framed for Dracula's crimes while Batman's status as a hero is restored, Batman then watches Vicky assure the media that everything is fine as he resumes his hero-duties and disappears into the night.
The Future[]
At some point later, in the year 2027, the ice-themed supervillain Mr. Freeze had attacked an airport in Gotham City. Bruce Wayne, now much older, took up the mantle of Batman again. Using a now tank-like Batmobile, he confronted Freeze, who overpowered the aging Dark Knight. Notified by Barbara Gordon, who was confined to a wheelchair, Dick Grayson arrived, now the superhero named Nightwing. Nightwing and Batman fought Freeze, and succeeded in stopping him, but not forever.
One thousand years later, Freeze began terrorizing the future Gotham City. Archeologists unearthed the Batcave with hopes of stopping Freeze. After theorizing that Thomas Wayne was Batman, and that his son Bruce was Robin, as well as several other theories, the archeologists discovered binary code inscribed in the Batcave's titanium structure. Using holograms, they defeated Freeze, and imprisoned him, making sure that Batman's legacy survived into the future.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Master Acrobat: Excellent in gymnastics and acrobatics.
- Peak Human Conditioning: Through intense training, Batman represents the pinnacle of human physical ability. His physical characteristics are greater than that of even an Olympic level athlete. His strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, durability, senses and coordination are at peak human perfection as possible for one of his age, to improve even further with continued physical and mental growth. Batman engages in intense regular rigorous exercise (including aerobics, weight lifting, gymnastics, and simulated combat) to keep himself in peak condition, and has often defeated opponents whose size, strength, or other powers are much higher than his own.
- Peak Human Strength: He is arguably one of the "strongest" Non-metahumans on Earth. He has been seen punching out opponents that are larger than him and that are nearly invulnerable.
- Peak Human Reflexes: Batman's reflexes are amazing. He can leap large distances and he can dodge point blank projectile fire and has done so many times in the series.
- Peak Human Speed: Batman is shown to be able to run at above average speed.
- Peak Human Endurance: Batman's endurance is greater than any human shown in the series.
- Peak Human Durability: Batman has been shown to be able to handle the worst hits and impacts without giving out.
- Martial Arts Master: Batman is one of the finest human combatants on Earth, his skills honed to such a level even superhumans and armed adversaries can be overpowered by them.
- Master of Stealth: Batman is a master at stealth, capable of breaching high security facilities with ease, without being detected.
- Expert Marksman: Batman almost never misses a target with his various weapons.
- Master Detective: Batman is an expert detective and logical thinker, able to solve cases before anyone else.
- Master Tactician and Strategist: Batman comes up with excellent strategic plans to expose and defeat criminals, always aiming to "work smarter, not harder."
- Escapologist: Batman is shown to be able to escape even the most elaborate of traps.
Gadgets/Vehicles[]
- Batarang: Batarangs are Batman's signature weapons. These are throwable projects which are used to disarm or take down enemies and cut down objects.
- Batwave: The Batwave tells Bruce Wayne when his needed to be Batman.
- Batrope: The Batrope is similiar to the Grapple Gun which is a almost indestructable cable connected to a Batarang which he uses to get to higher places.
- Bat-Bot: The Bat-Bot is a specialized giant machine which Batman pilots. It has a number of combat moves and it's primary function was to battle more powerful enemies such as Bane.
- Mini-Bomb: Mini-Bombs are small capsules which release explosions when triggered.
- Smoke Pellet: Smoke Pellets are small capsules which release smoke when triggered. Batman often uses these as a get-away when cornered.
- Remote Control Batarang: A Remote Control Batarang is a Batarang which Batman is capable of remotely controlling. It was first used against Catwoman.
- Explosive Batarang: Explosive Batarangs are Batarangs which can explode when triggered.
- Hacking Device: The Hacking Device is a device that Batman uses to get past doors through hacking.
- Ice Mini-Bomb: The Ice-Mini Bomb is a small grenade which can transformed targets it hits into ice.
- Batlight: The Batlight is a small flashlight.
- Communication Device: The Communications Devices is a small device which Batman uses to communicate with his allies including Alfred Pennyworth.
- Kryptonite: Batman keeps Kryptonite to use against Superman if he goes rogue.
- Batmobile: The Batmobile is Batman's car which he uses to get around on land.
- Batwing: The Batwing is Batman's ariel vehicle which he uses to fly with.
- Batboat: The Batboat is Batman's boat.
- Bat-Glider: The Bat-Glider is Batman's glider which uses to fly.
- Bat Bike: As a backup vehicle in case if something happens to the Batmobile.
- Utility Belt: The Utility Belt is a golden-colored belt which Batman keeps his gadgets in.
Gallery[]
Symbols[]
.png "Batman symbol (2004 Animated TV Series).png (157 KB)")
Renders[]
.jpg "The Batman (2004).jpg (38 KB)")
.jpg "Bruce Wayne (The Batman).jpg (17 KB)")
Trivia[]
- This is one of the youngest versions of Batman.
- Bruce's Batsuit resembles the Batman: The Animated Series Batsuit, but with shorter ears.
External links[]
- Batman on the Pure Good Wiki
