Batsuit

The Batsuit was the suit of armour worn by the vigilante known as the Batman. It had gone through several different revisions before it came to it's modern look. The suit was most well known for containing a shield which had Batman's insignia embedded on it.

Versions[]

First Version[]

The Batsuit mask was outfitted with a specialized metallic lock system, making it impossible for anybody other than Bruce to remove. The mask also had a video camera, recording everything the Batman did for a while. This feature was abandoned about halfway through this iteration of the Batsuit, though the option to put others under surveillance did return. The most notable features of this suit were the exposed padding along the shoulder and ribs areas as well as the violet gloves. This suit also featured a slightly smaller utility belt. Over the padding of the suit was a bodysuit which was seamed into nomex. This was the only version of the batsuit to contain no kevlar armour when discounting the mask and cowl.

Backup Suit - The Batsuit's backup was quite different. It consisted of a nomex suit with the sleeves cut short. Kevlar padding was less to allow for the extra tools carried on the utility belt and other areas. The military combat boots were shorter to allow for a small pouch containing an escrima stick. The cape was removed to allow for a backpack containing a crossbow among other tools.

Second Version[]

The second version of the Batsuit created as an upgrade, and while not a major revision, it was much more militaristic and armoured. It was made of hardened kevlar plates on titanium-dipped tri-weave fibers and was broken into multiple pieces of armor over a more flexible bodysuit seamed into nomex for greater mobility. The gloves contained three recessed louver-like shapes on the topside and palm sides. They were made of a dense but malleable leather with ribbing on fingers, for the palm side, and raised piping and convex metal knuckles, for the topside. Mesh detail appears just beneath the palm and inside the louver details. The fins could be released from the gloves, made of a razor-sharp metal capable of penetrating solid rock. The cape was made of a durable lightweight leather fabric that supported Batman with short gliding capability. The boots contained recessed louver detail with mesh interior on the back of the boots. Raised leather surfaces conformed to the shape of the calves, ending in an angled point. This Batsuit was noted for covering up all exposed padding visible on the earlier rendition.

Third Version[]

The cowl of the third Batsuit descended down into the armour, which itself was not of much different than the two previous versions in terms of material. It was, however, of a lighter grey colour than the second and first versions. The armour also contained less seams than the previous Batsuit, giving it a cleaner and more vibrant look. The inner lining of the cape was made of violet fabric, which gave purple pop to Batman's silhouette. The bat symbol on the chest was slightly larger, had a different shape and a yellow outline. The utility belt was also altered, as opposed to previous designs it was made out of a black coloured metal with yellow piping. The shape of the utility belt was also altered, to make it resemble the shape of a bat more than the previous one had. Batman only used the black coloured utility belt for a short period as he soon reverted to using the new design with a yellow colour.

Project Batman Suit[]

Eventually, Powers International created their own Batsuit to be used by James Gordon. Made of a graphene armour exoskeleton, this Batsuit possessed 1020 HD Retinal imaging, nightvision and thermal imaging. The exoskeleton possessed a defibrillator to act as an ambulatory response system. At the trapezieus, the exoskeleton had flashers and strobes, also on the rear. Bundled into the vanes of the exoskeleton was a remote override operating system. In the mask itself was a neural guidance system, a vocal projection system, an audio defense system and a retractable thermo-resist blackout visor. On the shoulders were retractable multi-response rocket launchers, which also contained live round magazines, armor pierces, smoke pulses and tear gas. The arms possessed cannons, fire heat and sonics as well as mech ventilation and exhaust manifold. Also in the arms was the programming for the mech's camoflouge capabilities. The fingers were built with a 100 pounds per square inch tactile response prosthesis and could deploy a cape-shaped bomb shield. The legs contained nitrous oxide propulsion, ejector/rocket thrust boots and anti-grav magnivolt all terrain stabilizers. The back of the mech contained a rechargeable hybrid power cell fuel pack while the front had a spina link digital core processor.

After Jim Gordon retired from being Batman and Bruce Wayne returned to the role, Bruce confiscated the suit who then stored in the Batcave, with the intention of upgrading it over the years. During the Eye War it was used by Tim Drake after Barbara Gordon led him to the Batcave. The suit was also capable of creating an adjusting the color of the suit itself. When Terry entered the suit, it had the capability to adjust to the wearers body frame and Barbara Gordon changed the color of the suit to black and adjusted the size of the bat symbol on the chest and changed the color red.

Despite the upgrades that Bruce Wayne did to the suit, after battling Brother Eye's forces and eventually Brother Eye itself, the suit was heavily damaged far beyond repair. Tim Drake eventually ejected from the suit itself before leaving the Justice League Watchtower, which destroyed both the Brother Eye and the suit itself.

Specialty Suits[]

"Superman Suit"[]

In case Superman ever went rogue, Bruce was very careful, building a new Batsuit just so he could combat the Man of Tomorrow. Like his Kryptonite Ring, Bruce had considered throwing it away several times, but knew that he could not, simply because of Superman himself. The Batsuit was much more light and versatile than other iterations, it was also missing a utility belt. The suit's main function was to be able to cloak Bruce from Superman's sight. It was equipped to operate along the entire electromagnetic spectrum, giving it the ability to sense anything trying to detect it and reacting accordingly. Due to this, the suit was laced with rivets that glowed yellow along with the shield and they eye lenses.

Hellbat Suit[]

The Hellbat Suit was designed by Batman for travelling in space, specifically in Apokolips. Although it was officially built with the help of the Justice League, the Batman was the only one who knew how to operate it. Much like his previous suits it featured a utility belt, although it's design appeared much more advanced in comparison. Featuring no mouthpiece and only a red slit for an eyepiece, the suit's Batman emblem was different than those found on normal suits and coloured red. With a slightly violet hue, the suit's "gloves" extended into claw like fingers and had several fins which ran up the arm pieces. The two largest of these fins extended into giant vanes which held up the cape. The suit also gave the Batman an enlargened height, extended durability, power and agility.

Batman Beyond Suits[]

Original Incarnation[]

The original incarnation of what would become the suit worn by Terry McGinnis was created by Lucius Fox shortly after the Battle of Gotham City. This suit was rustic, featuring no mouthpiece, and a reason it was discarded shortly after it's creation was that it would take at least twenty years for the suit to even be properly productive. It had basic functionality as a Batsuit, giving heavier armour and protection but also had a few of it's own niche features, being able to extend out a jetpack from it's boots and have a retractable cape to allow assistance in guided flight. Despite all of these advancements, the suit was ultimately scrapped.

Second Incarnation[]

The Batman Beyond suit was brought up twice in history once more, although the histories it was brought up from never came to be: the 666 Future and the End Future.

End Future - This suit was a major revision from the original Lucius Fox suit as it was much sleeker and acted more as a bodysuit rather than as armour, and it slightly enhanced the user's strength. As such, it was only aesthetically similar to Fox's design, being a true expansion of Powers International's Project Batman suit. It expanded upon the original jetpack design by advancing them with thrusters in the boots as well as making for a more sleek retractable cape to allow for full flight. The most notable feature that this Batsuit contained was it's morphing technology, allowing Terry to transform the tip of his finger into anything ranging from a USB drive to a laser. Bonded within the suit was the ALFRED intelligence, which was linked directly to the USB capabilities. The morphing capabilities extended to an advanced cloaking system, allowing Terry to transform the suit into several different articles of clothing. To allow for these abilities, the Batsuit contained a magnetic field, which was symbiotic and bonded to Terry's nervous system, and several anti-magnetic charges, to repulse bullets. These anti-magnetic charges were of the most important features as they allowed for Terry to fry the Nanotech Ebola carrier bugs that attacked him. This Batsuit was the fifth incarnation of Project Batman mechs and remained so even after the wiping of the End Future.

666 Future - This suit too was an improvement, although it was not as advanced as the one from the End Future. A bodysuit that adjusted itself to the wearer's body type, it similarly featured thrusters for flight. However, instead or a sleek retractable cape, part of the cape was always present and could only retracted up to a certain point. The suit, unlike the one from the End Future, did not possess any magnetic fields or anti-magnetic charges, acting simply as a removable suit. It did, however, contain a cloaking mechanism, allowing the user to turn invisble.

Utility Belt[]

All editions of the Batsuit have contained a utility belt from which the Batman has brought out his gadgets and tools to use in battle. The utility belt is light, but contains many gadgets, primarily a grappling hook and several batarangs. Handcuffs are also in employ with a small first aid kit occassionally being carried. Some more unconventional tools are acetylene torches, rebreathers and tear gas. The belt also contains a jumpline, though this is rarely used.

After the second version of the suit was created, the belt was redesigned to be more compact. As many of the belt's features were transferred in directly to the suit, the belt was made much lighter. Despite this, the use for the belt did not fade and it during this time period continued to bear great significance. Most of the tools removed from the belt were grappling hooks. Despite the suit's new ability to project smoke, smoke grenades were nonetheless packed in the belt.

End/Eye Future[]

In the End Future and the Eye Future, the third version of the Batsuit was again not a major revision, simply a more effective upgrade. Much like the previous Batsuit was more armored than the third, this one too was much more militaristic. The shoulder pads were armoured with several plates of reinforced Kevlar, while a sleek bodysuit still existed on the underside, it was covered with a heavier utility belt with several pouches lining up the ribs for extra equipment. The shoulder pads delved into the cowl and although the cape as still made up of the same dark fabric, the cowl was much more heavily armored, leading up to the mask. The cowl was also lined with a gaseous lighting which gave the suit a reddish hue above the bat emblem. This lighting was now always turned on and likely played a part in allowing the bodysuit to shift it's colors. The arms delved into large gauntlets, which replaced the gloves found in previous editions of the Batsuit, composed of several layers of kevlar plating. These gauntlets were more powerful and heavier, which made up for the lack of fins. The boots too were more armored and much like the gauntlets, but possessed a magnetic capability which allowed them to attach Batman onto surfaces and substances like gliders. Perhaps the most notable change was in the bodysuit itself, featuring a grey plated bat-emblem which was larger than previous editions and much more contact. While the bodysuit was still grey, during nighttime it could shift it's colors to appear darker than it really was.