Victoria "Vicki" Vale is the deuteragonist of Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman and a mentioned character of its 1992 sequel Batman Returns. She is the former love interest of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne.
Vicki Vale is a photojournalist who comes to Gotham City to investigate Batman. She partners with reporter Alexander Knox on the assignment, and begins dating Bruce Wayne, not knowing at first he's actually the same man she's investigating.
Batman's nemesis the Joker becomes obsessed with her, and tells her of his plans to "make art until people die". The Joker pursues her to her apartment, where she is spending time with Wayne, and shoots Wayne right in front of her (fortunately, he had been wearing body armor). Later on, Knox shows her an old news story about the murder of Wayne's parents.
Seeing that she is in love with Wayne, his butler Alfred Pennyworth lets Vicki into the Batcave, where she discovers that Wayne and Batman are one and the same. They promise each other they will try to make their relationship work, but only after Batman defeats the Joker.
Vicki is covering Gotham's bicentennial parade when the Joker kills dozens of people with his Smylex gas; he then kidnaps Vicki and takes her to the top of Gotham City Cathedral's belfry. She sees Batman out of the corner of her eye, and distracts the Joker by flirting with him, giving Batman the opportunity to take the supervillain by surprise. The Joker attempts to escape via helicopter, but Batman ties a grappling hook around his leg and attaches it to a stone gargoyle, causing the Joker to fall to his death when the statue breaks loose of its moorings. At the end of the film, Alfred chauffeurs Vicki to Wayne Manor to await Wayne's return once the night's crime fighting is done.
In the sequel, Batman Returns, Wayne tells Selina Kyle that Vicki eventually left him because she could not handle his "problems with duality".
Trivia[]
In the 1989 Batman movie, Vicki Vale is depicted as a blonde, but in the comics, she is depicted as a redhead.
Before Kim Basinger was cast as Vicki Vale, Sean Young was considered for the role, but had to drop out, due to an injury in a horse riding accident.