Batman | |
---|---|
Bruce Wayne in his Batman Garb | |
Name | Bruce Thomas Wayne |
Born | Crest Hill, Bristol Township, 1982 |
Died | Batcave, 2062 (aged 80) |
Family | Batman Family, Alfred Pennyworth, Thomas Wayne, Martha Wayne |
Race | Human |
Citizenship | American |
Headquarters | Wayne Tower, Batcave |
Aliases | Batman, Matches Malone |
Affiliation | Wayne Enterprises, Justice League, Batman Incorporated, the Outsiders |
Earth | 0 |
“ | You always seem like the smartest guy in the room. | ” |
Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman, was a costumed vigilante who is known to be cruel and brutal in his methods. After having his parents murdered in cold blood in front of him, Bruce vowed to avenge them by cleansing the streets of Gotham City, a city he deemed corrupt. Due to the rise of the Supervillain populace in Gotham, Bruce became the Batman and faced those who became known as the Gotham City Rogues, The leader of the Justice League, and He is the overall main protagonist of the DC Universe.
In order to accomplish his mission, Bruce trained with various martial artists, escape artists and others internationally. Upon his return to Gotham he became the Caped Crusader. Since then he had had his back broken, fought evil gods, gone through time, created international Batmen and fought against terrorist organizations. Bruce had also been a part of various metahuman teams.
Although honoured outside of Gotham for his presence in metahuman teams, inside his own city, he was looked down with a more negative light, even being hunted by the police at times. This had mostly been due to the ruthless aggression that Wayne often utilizes in his vigiliantism.
Despite being a mere human with no powers among others in the Justice League, the Batman was continually the most feared being. The reason for this was that Bruce was not only the most unpredictable member, but also the only one who planned everything in advance. Due to this, not only was he feared, but held in high regard simply due to the fact that he was probably the only being able to take down the entire League single-handedly.
Biography[]
Hidden[]
Upon returning to Gotham City, a young and bearded Bruce began to discuss his ideas about vigilantism with Alfred, starting the Zero Year of Gotham City. Although Alfred chose to believe in and support Bruce, the young playboy billionaire became obsessed with the idea at taking his revenge on crime. Despite Alfred's pleas, Bruce refused to have his return be publicly known, or even return to Wayne Manor, instead living in the brownstone outside of Crime Alley. This new heartless attitude often put Bruce at odds with his paternal figure. Bruce did take the time to place his How to Move On journal in a safety deposit box.
Learning of the new criminal style occuring in Gotham, Bruce, as a nameless vigilante, immediately waged war with the Red Hood Gang. To find information on supervillain Red Hood One, Bruce broke into Arkham Asylum and fought the Anchoress. After being tracked down by his uncle, Philip Kane, Bruce refused to debut publicly and take over Wayne Enterprises and was later questioned by Gordon on Kane's business with the Red Hood. Continuing the fight with the Red Hood, Bruce was tricked into publicly returning and was subsequently attacked by Red Hood One, who did not deduce that Bruce was the vigilante. Savagely beaten, Bruce was left for dead.
Choosing to crush the Red Hood Gang, Bruce barely made it to Wayne Manor where Alfred patched him up and the two came on talking terms. Shortly afterwards, Bruce rediscovered the caves beneath the manor and after having a "conversation" with a statue bust of his father, was inspired to become the Batman by a bat that flew into the manor. After starting construction on the Batcave, Bruce became the Batman and started his activities in secret, becoming shrugged off as myth. During the Showdown at A.C.E. Chemical, Batman managed to beat Red Hood One, although the supervillain fell in a vat of acid. Almost immediately after the Showdown and before the Blackout, Batman helped Lieutenant Gordon deal with the Black Mask Gang and stopped the 99%ers.
As he began to investigate a grisly murder as Batman, Bruce also had to attend Philip's funeral as a pallbearer. Between Philip's funeral and the wake, Batman conducted a quick patrol and headed to the Batcave before the reception. While discussing Liam Distal and the identity of Red Hood One with Alfred, Bruce watched the Riddler trigger the Blackout in order to challenge the city. Despite the Riddler's attack, Bruce took a few hours to play host to his guests at the reception and caught up with some of his cousins.
Researching the scenario that went down between Harvey Bullock, Barry Allen and Spencer Thompson, Batman was unable to approve of Bullock's actions but was also unable to do anything about them. When Gordon was tossed over the Trigate Bridge by the Black Mask Gang, Batman quickly saved him. With the impending Hurricane Rene set to worsen the Blackout, Batman watched as the USMC arrived to fight Anarky and approved of the methods used by John Stewart to quell the situation.
After finding a second grisly murder, Batman escaped from the cops by use of the Batmobile. In the Batcave, Bruce was informed that his primary suspect should be a mad scientist known as Dr. Death. Afterwards, Bruce had another tense conversation with Gordon, still unable to get past his childhood perception of the officer. Heading to Gotham State University, Bruce met with Lucius Fox. Lucius stabbed Bruce with the vaccine to Dr. Death's serum but it was Gordon who saved him from the deformed mad scientist. Waking up in the hospital, Bruce had another angry confrontation with Gordon and accused him of being just as corrupt as the other officers. Leaving and suiting up as Batman, the Dark Knight went off to investigate Dr. Death's murders once more. However, while investigating, Batman was attacked by Commissioner Loeb and riddled with bullets.
Ironically it was Lieutenant Gordon that ended up saving Batman, and while wounded and his identity a secret did Bruce learn what actually happened the day his parent's died. His faith in Gordon as an honest officer restored, Batman made his way to Alfred to recover. When visiting millionaire Moira Queen was attacked by Killer Moth, Batman arrived to fight the supervillain and was aided by the debuting Green Arrow.
Locating Dr. Death's lair beneath some Gotham catacombs, Batman was attacked by the Riddler who set off a flood. After escaping the catacombs, Batman realized that restoring power to the city would give the Riddler full control and warned Gordon of the consequences. Getting in his Bat-Blimp, Batman boarded Riddler's weather balloon with a jammer. Attacked by Dr. Death, Batman was forced to try and manually stop the weather balloon. Although Batman destroyed the weather balloon, Batman was unable to stop the Riddler from gaining control and could not escape the weather balloon before it crashed.
Quickly ditching the Batsuit, Bruce slipped into a coma but was recovered by the Thomas Family. After staying in his coma for shortly under a month, Bruce woke up and made contact with Alfred. Creating a crude version of his costume, Batman located Gordon with a DEVGRU strike team and offered his assistance. Batman then saved Duke Thomas from the various gangs now in Gotham, allowing the boy to inform the public of his survival. Accepting the Riddler's public riddle challenge, Batman was unable to stall the Riddler for long enough and was forced to fight two lions. After realizing that the Riddler was never in Gotham, Batman made his way to the outskirts of the city and defeated the supervillain, saving the city.
After updating his costume, the Batman secretly tried to protect Henry Claridge from a debuting madman named the Joker. Failing to stop Claridge's death due to Joker Venom, Batman met Joker face to face for the first time and defeated him before the Gotham Reservoir could be poisoned. With Gordon appointed police commissioner by Sebastian Hady, Batman's working relationship with the GCPD improved tremendously. Also taking over Wayne Enterprises, Bruce assigned Lucius Fox as his right hand man at a public conference. Learning from Alfred that Julie Madison wished to rekindle her with him, Bruce realized that his duties as Batman were more important than his own happiness.
Lured into an international conflict by Dr. Darrk, Batman got involved with the League of Assassins and rescued Talia al Ghul from the mad scientist. Becoming infatuated with Talia, Bruce started a whirlwind romance with her but realized that in order to defeat the League of Assassins, he would have to defeat the immortal Ra's al Ghul. Losing his sword fight against Ra's due to a scorpion, after being given antivenin by Talia, a rejuvenated Batman attacked the Demon's Head and became the first man in centuries to evoke fear in al Ghul. Consummating his relationship with Talia, Bruce unknowingly impregnated her, although she kept the child a secret from him. Not able to maintain a relationship with Talia, Bruce eventually ended contact with her.
The Man Who Falls[]
Deciding to run Wayne Enterprises full time, one of Bruce's first decisions was to limit the work of Victor Fries. Deciding Gotham's mafioso factions were getting out of control, Batman started working with Gordon and Harvey Dent to take down the Mob. Visiting Harvey, Bruce decided to push him to run for the position of District Attorney. After Dent became the DA, Batman and he began to work more often to take down the McKillen Family.
Injured during an adventure, Batman ended up in the care of Leslie Thompkins who discovered his identity as Bruce Wayne. Due to her maternal connection with Bruce, Leslie decides to keep it a secret, despite Bruce not visiting her as often as he did as a child. Officially ingrained into Gotham's elite, Bruce had caught up with childhood friends Gilda Dent and made the aquaintance of the likes of Maxwell Dossey.
When a criminal riot erupted in the GCPD Headquarters, Batman arrived and quietly quelled the situation. Batman then had a misunderstanding with Officer Henry Wallace. When Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot turned on Carmine Falcone, a gang war erupted which the Batman fought to stop with Gordon and Harvey Dent, much like they did with the McKillen Family. As the gang war went on, Batman started his feud with the Cluemaster. After an escaped Joker attempted to gas an entire city with his blimp, Batman stopped him but found a joker playing card in the Batcave afterwards. Although he dismissed the idea that the Joker could have entered the Batcave, Bruce entered a plethora of high tech defenses. To make his partnership with the GCPD public, Batman allowed Commissioner Gordon to plant the Bat-Signal.
The gang war ended up getting personal for Bruce when Tony Zucco killed the Flying Graysons, orphaning Richard "Dick" Grayson. After talking to Gordon, Bruce offered Dick residency at the Wayne Care Center. Empathizing with Dick's loss, Bruce revealed himself as the Batman to Dick and offered to train him as a vigilante, promising that they could apprehend Zucco together. Giving Dick a part-time job at Wayne Manor, Bruce used it as an excuse to train him in hand-to-hand combat, acrobatics and blindfolded obstacle course running. After Joker escaped again, Batman defeated him and obtained a pair of giant dice for the Batcave. Deciding to visit Arkham Asylum under the auspices of a Wayne Enterprises visit, Bruce snuck off to visit the Joker and presented him with a playing card but was unable to get a response. Continuing to keep a close eye on Victor Fries' projects, when Bruce learned of the scientists dementia and obsession with Nora Fields, he terminated the man. Bruce also introduced Dick to Lucius Fox and would occasionally bring him to Wayne Enterprises. After Pamela Isley presented her idea of using pheromones to sway people to Wayne Enterprises' products, a disgusted Bruce terminated her on the spot. On Valentines Day, Batman met the leather clad burglar, the Catwoman, for the first time. With some quick research, Batman quickly identified her as Selina Kyle.
While out in Gotham, Bruce watched as bullies beat up a poor kid. Approached by journalist Clark Kent, Bruce was questioned on three murders that occured in the Metropolis branch of Wayne Enterprises. Heading to Metropolis to investigate Ralph Mangubat, Batman was forced to deal with experimental WayneTech robotics and a possessed Catwoman until the Superman showed up. While trying to hold off Superman, though, Batman was teleported to Earth 2 where he met his counterpart and learned of his alternate history. Learning of Kaiyo the Trickster and the Chaos Shard, Batman and Superman found themselves disagreeing with their Earth 2 counterparts. Although they failed to stop the destruction of the Chaos Shard, Batman and Superman managed to convince Kaiyo to retreat to Earth 0. Taking Batman and Superman back to Earth 0, Kaiyo also wiped their memories of their adventure on Earth 2. Heading back to watch the poor kid stand up to his bullies, Bruce again chatted with Clark Kent, none the wiser about Kaiyo's manipulations
A few days later, Batman found himself chasing a member of the Parademon Army on the rooftops of Gotham. Assisted by Hal Jordan of the Green Lantern Corps, Batman and Green Lantern managed to retrieve a Mother Box. Heading to Metropolis, the Dark and Emerald Knights found themselves trying to hold off Superman. When Green Lantern called the Flash to help them hold off the Kryptonian, the heroes soon found themselves joined by Wonder Woman and holding off the Parademon Army. The ragtag team of heroes was then joined by Aquaman and Cyborg, with all of them being forced to defend Earth from Darkseid. After Superman was captured by the Parademon Army, Batman allowed himself to be captured in order to free the Man of Steel from DeSaad and Steppenwolf on Apokolips. Bringing Superman back to Earth, Batman and the rest of the heroes managed to defeat Darkseid in his Parademon Invasion of Earth and shunt the evil God back to Apokolips. Later, the heroes were officially hailed as such in a press conference led by the president of the United States of America.
After recovering a Mother Box from the battlefield, Batman continued Dick's training. Finding Tony Zucco's acid, Batman was finally able to link him to the murder of Dick's parents but unfortunately, Zucco ended up presumed dead by this time. With Dick's training almost done, Bruce deputized him as Robin, the Boy Wonder. After defeating the Monk in Gotham, Batman joined up with the rest of the heroes and the Martian Manhunter to defeat Starro the Conqueror. After defeating Starro, Batman and the rest of the heroes began to operate under the moniker of the Justice League.
Against Carmine Falcone, the alliance of Gordon, Batman and Dent was joined by Catwoman. Managing to successfully shut down the Roman's Mob operations in Gotham, Batman inadvertently allowed Penguin to win the gang war. Batman was unable to apprehend Falcone, though, and the Roman fled to Hong Kong. In order to dispel rumors that Bruce Wayne was Batman, Bruce orchestrated several ruses to the public to dissociate his two identities.
Bruce's former employee Pamela Isley returned as the eco-terrorist Poison Ivy. Batman was only able to stop Poison Ivy through sheer willpower alone, barely able to withstand her pheromone powers. Realizing that despite his termination, Victor Fries had continued to toil away at WayneTech, Bruce showed up personally to stop the mad scientist from reanimating Nora Fields. However, in the accident that ensued, Fries' metagene activated and he dubbed himself the supervillain Mr. Freeze. Realizing Freeze to be his most powerful enemy yet, Batman was only able to defeat the manic madman by running him over with the Batmobile.
Batman's next target ended up being none other than Penguin, who due to the departure of Falcone had become Gotham's top gangster. After a brutal murder in a jewelry heist, Batman immediately suspected the notorious Cobblepot. Finally tying Cobblepot to a crime, Batman managed to provide the GCPD enough evidence to finally arrest the mobster. Although the arrest only lasted one day, Batman's war with the Penguin prompted him to march straight into the Iceberg Lounge to stop the gangster. Once again, though, Batman was unable to make sure that Oswald Cobblepot stayed in prison for too long but did prove that nobody in Gotham was untouchable anymore. After the arrest of Cobblepot, Batman was faced with fighting another monstrous metahuman: the former movie star Clayface. After publicly announcing the rebuilding of poor neighborhoods in the Narrows, Bruce was personally approached by Peter Duggio to help deal with the gangs. However, due to the audience, Bruce was unable to hear all of Duggie's pleas. Shortly after defeating Killer Croc, Batman found the body of Duggie in a swamp and immediately suspected the Penguin of the murder. After determining Penguin's innocence, Batman was informed by Duggio's cousin, Daryl Gutierrez, that Peter went missing after meeting with Mr. Bloom. Changed by his experience with Peter Duggie, Bruce launched the Wayne Foundation and the Victims Incorporated Program.
Batman then fought a Talon, but dismissed it as somebody playing on the legend of the Court of Owls. Two small time gangsters, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum caught Batman's attention and he easily defeated them. With his cases growing more and more bizarre, Batman started recording these in the Black Casebook. With the Justice League, Batman helped defeat Xotar and Amazo. After creating a Robin costume for Dick, Batman fought Lady Shiva but was outmatched and rescued by Dick in his debut as Robin. Choosing to give Dick a break, Bruce sent him to Camp White Fawn. With Dick away, Batman defeated Blockbuster, got the GCPD to arrest Roland Desmond and stopped the debuting Mad Hatter.
When Dick returned, the team of Batman and Robin fought against the debuting supervillain, the "Scarecrow" and quickly identified him as GCPD confidante Jonathan Crane. After a disagreement with Robin over the metahuman villain Tusk, Batman temporarily fired his partner but after Robin helped stop Tusk, gladly rehired him. Introducing Robin to Gordon, Batman's interactions with the commissioner would be tense whenever Robin was around. After the Scarecrow attacked Gotham State University, Batman and Robin were doused in Fear Toxin for the first time. Tracking Scarecrow to the Church of Saint Elijah the Thunderer, Batman learned of Scarecrow's intentions to head to Prague. Unable to prevent Scarecrow from leaving, Batman calmed down a self-deprecating Robin. Putting on their suits, the two ascended to Wayne Manor where Alfred was hosting a police fundraiser gala. While Dick met up with Barbara Gordon, Bruce decided to chat with Maxwell Dossey. Learning Dossey had bought his wife in Prague, a suspicious Batman soon discovered Maxwell and his wife Alicia Dossey to have been murdered in their apartment by David Cain. Briefly questioning as to whether he was raising Dick or using him as a soldier, Bruce put his worries aside and headed off to Prague. Setting up a makeshift Batcave in some catacombs, Batman and Robin fought some of scarecrows thugs. Attending a black and white gala, Bruce received an invitation to meet with a woman known only as Mother.
Having Dick scout for Scarecrow at a ballet, Bruce secretly met with Mother and pretended to be seeking a wife. After sending Dick to deal with Scarecrow's henchmen, Bruce had another meeting with Mother who revealed her knowledge of his activities as Batman. After being attacked by David Cain, Bruce was offered a better Robin by Mother but after being injured, was forced to escape. After having an argument with Dick, Bruce suited up as Batman, and met with Mother at the Nursery where he accepted her offer. Finding Scarecrow's factory on the outskirts of Prague, Batman decided not to attack until he could use Crane against Mother. Getting Robin to defuse Scarecrow's already defused Fear Bomb, Batman met with Crane and ordered him to become a mole against Mother. After Scarecrow retreated to Cairo, Batman was also invited to the city by Mother, told that if he killed a child's parents he could have his perfect Robin. Arriving in Cairo, Batman and Robin immediately defeated Scarecrow and Batman ordered Robin to take the supervillain back to Gotham and have Harvey Dent incarcerate him. Remaining in Cairo, Batman used rubber bullets to stage an execution of a child's parents to try and fool Mother. After his ruse was discovered, Batman fought back against Mother and David Cain but was unable to stop the murder of Miranda Row. Thinking Mother to have commit suicide via a cyanide pill, Batman fled the Cairo police and later snuck into a morgue to affirm that Mother was indeed dead.
Returning to Gotham City, Batman and Robin proceeded to have a number of adventures including fighting Deadshot and the Penguin. After Erin McKillen escaped from prison, Batman tried to stop her but was unable to catch her. As a consequence, Batman was forced to chase Erin out of Gotham after she transformed Harvey Dent into the supervillain Two-Face. Fighting Two-Face, Batman forced the former District Attorney to be locked away in Arkham Asylum.
Unable to get Mother off of his mind, Batman arranged for Superman to watch over Robin as he linked Mother to the former state of Gardevia. Learning of Mother's origin from Ms. Marchenko, a satisfied Batman returned to Gotham. Thinking to take in Miranda Row's children, Batman decided against it and instead tried to strongarm her criminal husband Marcus Row into legitimacy. With Mother's case wrapped up, Batman deleted a flash drive containing information on her, although he did archive one part of the file. With the Mother case all wrapped up, Batman began to search for Cassandra Cain and set up another Batcave in Belgium.
Batman and the Family[]
After cult leader Harry X took over GCPD headquarters, Batman was impressed by the athleticism of Barbara Gordon and the fact that she managed to stop the man.Offering to train Barbara as his protégé, Batman and Robin watched over the debuting Batgirl as she stopped Killer Moth. With Batgirl joining him, Robin and Alfred, Batman began to refer to his closest allies as the Batman Family.
Batman's next nemesis ended up being Hugo Strange, a famous psychiatrist and former friend of Dr. Death. Although Batman stopped Strange, he was unable to keep him incarcerated. Shortly afterwards, Batman was forced to apprehend Paul Dekker, another friend of Dr. Death.
After officially introducing Robin to Superman, Batman teamed up with the Man of Steel to defeat a recently escaped Blockbuster. Building a hypothalamus inhibitor, Batman and Robin managed to use it to use it to significantly weaken Blockbuster enough for Superman to stop him. Batman then introduced Robin to the Green Lantern. Learning Lew Moxon to be responsible for high profile murders, Batman and Robin pursued the old time gangster. However, Batman was unable to apprehend Moxon as the murderer was run down by a car during the encounter. Batman and Robin's next target was the Cluemaster and after cracking the Cluemaster's Code, the Dynamic Duo fought the villain at the Sprang Bridge but were unable to apprehend him. Eventually figuring out the Cluemaster's secret identity, Batman allowed the villain to get away with it when learning of the Cluemaster's daughter, Stephanie Brown.
After taking down Despero, the Justice League allowed the Martian Manhunter to imprison him on Mars. Afterwards, though, the League ended up having a disagreement and then a fight with the Martian Manhunter that ended their alliance. Meeting with the League at a warehouse, Batman discussed with Superman the Justice League's responsibility in dealing with international situations. After Superman's public identity of Clark Kent was assumed killed by Nimrod the Hunter, Batman told him to find a way to return to the identity. Not long after, Batman was introduced to Superman's ally Jimmy Olsen. Batman and the rest of the Justice League soon founded a headquarters known as the Hall of Justice.
On patrol with Robin, Batman was encountered by Catwoman who noted how happy he seemed. Soon after, Batman saved his cousin Kate Rebecca Kane from a mugger. Batman and Superman later teamed up to fight the Supremacists, with Batman having to save Jimmy Olsen. Batman and Robin then stopped the Joker and several other supervillains from killing genius Carter Nichols. The Family was then joined by Kathy Kane, who suited up to aid Batman as the Bat-Woman. After helping the Justice League easily defeat the Key, Batman apprehended the Ventriloquist and took up the identity of Matches Malone to infiltrate the Gotham underworld. Despite falling in love with Kathy, Bruce's heart was broken when Kathy decided to retire as Bat-Woman and leave the Family. Batman later learned that Kathy got involved with the League of Assassins and was killed by Bronze Tiger.
Billionaire John Mayhew attempted to recruit Batman and Robin into his Club of Heroes, but once assembled, the venture failed and the Club disbanded in half an hour. During an encounter with agents of Spyral, Batman was sprayed with a strange gas and lucidly dreamed that he was on a planet called Zurr-en-Arrh. Batman underwent sensory deprivation and psychoanalysis tests led by Simon Hurt, who used Zurr-en-Arrh as the trigger for a post-hypnotic suggestion planted in Bruce's brain. After a lengthy deprivation test, Batman dreamed that Robin had been killed by an alien. Afterward, due to hypnosis, Batman forgot even meeting Hurt and went on to resume his normal life. Although groggy, when pitted against three imposter Batmen, Batman still managed to easily defeat them. Managing to retain some memory of the fight, Batman wrote it off as a hallucination in the Black Casebook.
Bruce and Dick soon started operating out of a penthouse atop Wayne Tower with the Bat-Bunker below the building. The Family did not stop using the Batcave, though, and soon returned to using it much more over the Bat-Bunker. After an escaped Joker poisoned the Wayon Housing Projects, the Family teamed up to bring the clown prince of crime to justice. Batman then took down and apprehended the Joker's insane sidekick, former Arkham psychiatrist Harley Quinn. Batman and Robin then faced their biggest challenge to date: a teamup between the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, the Riddler and the Penguin. Despite the odds being stacked against them, the Dynamic Duo emerged victorious. Batman and Robin later dealt with the Reaper.
After the Justice League defeated the Royal Flush Gang, they moved out of the Hall of Justice and started operating in a satellite called the Watchtower. Bringing Robin with him to the Watchtower, Batman was called with the rest of the League to a mission to aid Superman deal with threats from the Bleed. After saving the day, Batman told Robin that one day he would take over the Justice League. Batman then stopped several villains, including the Cavalier, the Signalman, Ezra Jimson, Adam Cornelius, the Spook, the Gentleman Ghost and Doug Garth. After Batman and Robin teamed up to stop Calamity, Batman used his credentials as Bruce Wayne to get the supervillain's daughter, Olive Silverlock, admission to Gotham Academy by presenting her with the Wayne Foundation Scholarship. After stopping Dr. Phosphorous, Batman joined up with the Justice League and ended up being too busy to help Robin and some of his fellow teenage superheroes fight Mr. Twister. Ultimately, this started to put a strain on Batman's relationship with Robin and he subsequently refused to let Dick aid him on a case involving Catwoman. The Family later teamed up to defeat the supervillain team of the Cavalier, Clayface, Gentleman Ghost, Killer Croc, Killer Moth, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, the Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, Signalman, the Spook, Tweedle-Dum, Tweedle-Dee and the Joker. After the battle, the Family failed to capture the Joker prompting Batman and Robin to head after the supervillain. In the subsequent entanglement with the clown prince, an injured Robin realized that he had been driven away by Batman and quit. With Dick abandoning the title of Robin, Bruce put the uniform on display in the Batcave and watched as Dick became Nightwing.
Continuing his pursuit of the Joker, Batman fought Willis Todd, one of the clown prince's lead henchmen. Willis' son, Jason Todd, ended up in the care of Leslie Thompkins but when he tried to steal from her, Batman caught him red handed. Convinced by Leslie to be lenient on Jason, Bruce took the boy in as his legal ward and revealed to him his operations as Batman while also offering Jason the position of Robin. Starting an intensive six month training course with Jason, Bruce began to mold the boy into an incredible athlete. Bruce also made sure to include education and schooling as a part of Jason's training. Batman also watched Nightwing patrol with Batgirl from afar but could not bring himself to fix the fractured Family. Throwing a dinner party at Wayne Manor, Bruce introduced Jason Todd to Barbara Gordon.
In between fighting Chimera and Deadshot, Batman met Aquaman's wife Mera. After stopping Vortex, Bruce was called to Scotland by Morgan Kilbec to save the ancestral Wayne Castle. Batman then had an encounter with Deathstroke the Terminator and defeated the Spellbinder. After going out on patrol with Batgirl, Batman watched her mess up and retire as a vigilante, weakening the Family by a tremendous degree. After returning from a Justice League battle with the Construct, Batman took Jason Todd on patrol as Robin for the first time. Even though Batman himself could still not bring himself to patch up with Nightwing, he did give Robin the approval to team up with his original protégé.
The new Batman and Robin teamed up to fight the Riddler and then Ra's al Ghul. With Catwoman, Batman stopped the Film Freak. Batman then introduced Robin to Superman and together they defeated an alien threat, with Jason even saving Superman's life. After Jason expressed mistrust with Superman, Bruce revealed that he and Jason had not gained each other's full trust. Batman then easily defeated the "master" assassin KGBeast. Trying to repair his relationship with Jason, Bruce decided to skip patrol one day to watch a movie with his sick ward. Batman and Robin then fought Nocturna, an escaped Joker, Killer Croc, Black Mask and the False Face Society, Amygdala and Maxie Zeus. Batman also founded the strike team known as the Outsiders, but his involvement in their operations was shortlived. After another battle with Black Mask, Batman fought and defeated the Boss.
After an adventure with Booster Gold, Batman ended up admiring the man from the future. Batman was then kidnapped and held prisoner by Deacon Joseph Blackfire, but managed to break free in time to watch Blackfire be killed by his followers. After the Joker stole the psychic siphon and teamed up with Catwoman, Clayface, Mr. Freeze, Penguin and Two-Face, it was the team of Batman and Robin that stopped the heinous partnership.
Batman and Robin's partnership ended up strained when Robin decided to take down Two-Face by himself. On a mission in Santa Prisca, Robin screwed up so badly that Batman refused to speak with him for a week. As Robin started to get overly angry and use excessive violence, Batman tried to gain control of his partner but was unable to do anything. Bruce's attempts at connecting with Jason also failed miserably and the two ended up arguing instead. With Jason's arrogance and unwillingness to follow orders having had reached an apex, Batman temporarily suspended him from night patrols and relegated him to monitor watch. After Jason went missing, Batman realized that he had gone off to save his mother, Catherine Todd, from the Joker. Finding Jason's location, Batman arrived seconds too late to stop Robin from dying. Holding a solemn funeral for Jason attended by Alfred, Dick and Barbara, a depressed Bruce placed Jason's Robin uniform on display in the Batcave. Only days after, the Joker paralyzed Barbara and tortured Commissioner Gordon, further shattering the Family despite Batman finally bringing his arch-enemy to justice.
Rot in Purgatory[]
Visiting Barbara in the hospital, Batman held her hand in a solemn silence for the entire night, contemplating his future. After being visited by Nightwing in the Batcave, Bruce, who had begun to rot in purgatory, rejected his original partner. Losing control over his actions, Batman began to wound, injure, maim and disfigure criminals to an excessively violent degree. Although he tried to push Nightwing away once more, Batman was surprised when Dick refused to let him go.
Alerted by Alfred to the activities of a boy named Tim, Bruce was impressed by the young boy's intelligence. Due to Jason's recent death, Bruce refused to listen to Alfred's suggestions of training Tim as Robin. Nonetheless, Batman was impressed by Tim's tenacity. After Tim made enemies with the Penguin, Batman arrived to save his family from the death squad sent by Cobblepot. With Tim's parents forced to go into witness protection, Tim became Bruce's legal ward and Batman's newest partner: Red Robin. Unlike Jason or Dick, Bruce allowed Tim to join him on patrol right away but still made him complete a training course. Together, Red Robin, Nightwing and Batman managed to bring Two-Face to justice and the Family finally began to recover from its tragedies.
Placing an emphasis on detective work while training Tim, Bruce taught him how to use several cipher codes to crack encrypted information. After stopping Victor Zsasz, Batman learned that the villain was manipulating the Arkham system and teamed up with Nightwing to stop him once again. While continuing Red Robin's training, Batman also had to deal with the Electrocutioner.
After Superman died fighting Doomsday, Batman aided the rest of the Justice League mourned for their friend. After Superman's resurrection, Batman and the rest of the League built a cell capable of holding Doomsday, despite it being trapped in the Phantom Zone. Batman then faced off against his most powerful and intelligent villain to date: Bane. Using Venom, Bane managed to defeat Batman and inflict severe spinal injury. Spending nearly four months rehabbing his spine, Batman reached out to Nightwing and Red Robin, finally repairing the bond of the Family. Fully healed, Batman bounced back, defeated Bane and forced his rival out of the city.
After dealing with Steeljacket, Batman was faced with Ra's al Ghul and the threat of Ebola Gulf-A. In order to defeat the League of Assassins, the Family went on a global battle in which they ultimately ended up victorious. When Hal Jordan went insane and evil due to Parallax, Batman was present alongside John Stewart to watch Jordan reclaim his heroism and defeat the parasite. However, Jordan's time with Parallax prompted Batman to start assembling emergency contingency items to use against his fellow superheroes in case they too went evil. Batman also started assembling several different Batsuits to use against the members of the Justice League, specifically Superman. Batman also began to create several Bat-Bunkers all across Gotham and more Batcaves across the country, with weapons caches giving him access to aid almost anywhere in the city. When a large earthquake struck Gotham, despite the city not facing severe damage, the Family became occupied fighting off looters taking advantage of the situation.
During a riot in Arkham Asylum, Batman had to face off against his newest enemy, the Great White Shark. Batman later became aware of Nyssa Raatko temporarily wresting control of the League of Assassins from Ra's al Ghul. Batman fought supervillains Philo Zeiss and the Mortician while also meeting the superhero Orpheus. After years of flirting, Batman finally gave in to Catwoman's advances and began a sexual relationship with her, much to the dismay of the Family. Batman was then personally attacked by a new supervillain, Hush and barely managed to come out victorious. Upon beating Hush, Batman was faced with a sobering revelation, that the villain was none other than his childhood friend Thomas Elliot. Batman and Red Robin then defeated Fright and the Family was introduced to Supergirl by Superman.
While fighting Clayface, Batman received aid from Superman who told him of a dead alien that crashed on the moon. While Superman headed off to the Scorch Space, Batman fought against the dead alien's father and Lobo. As Superman tossed Lobo into deep space, Batman manipulated the dead alien's father into getting arrested by the Green Lantern Corps.
Launching the Human Kinematic Program, Batman provided the Family with the means to surveil Gotham how they pleased before leaving to undertake a Thogal Ritual. The first stage of the ritual was a vision quest, taking place in a desert and keeping Bruce there for a few days. The second stage, called Yangti, took Bruce to Nanda Parbat and allowed him to remember the Zurr-en-Arrh trigger word although he still could not remember Simon Hurt. Fearing the trigger word would allow him enemies to take control of him, Batman created a backup persona which would activate when his own mind failed. While undergoing the ritual, Batman had a horrifying vision of the dystopian 666 Future and became determined to stop it from ever coming true. Returning to Gotham City, Batman was attacked by Talia al Ghul who subdued him with an army fueled by the Man-Bat Formula. Revealing to Batman their son, Damian Wayne, Talia gave Bruce an opportunity to bond with his child. Bruce was shocked, however, that Damian was a killer who injured Alfred, murdered the Spook and nearly killed Red Robin. With Damian ending up back in the care of Talia, Batman took his mind off things by teaming up with Jim Corrigan to stop a supernatural threat.
Attending a high society gala at Arkham Asylum, Bruce learned firsthand from the drunken ramblings of Byron Meredith the sadistic treatments used by the doctors under Jeremiah Arkham. Bruce also began to date Jezebel Jet, a high profile model, but refused to reveal to her his identity as Batman. Attacked by Josef Muller, a Batman imposter, Batman easily won but was rushed and defeated by Branca, another Batman imposter. Consulting the Black Casebook, Batman realized his first fight with three imposters was real and not a hallucination. Invited to a reunion of the Club of Heroes by John Mayhew, Batman and the rest of the heroes were attacked by the Black Glove. Although he survived the attack, Batman had no idea how to fight the Black Glove and returned to Gotham. Just as he made it back, though, the Family was spurred into another conflict with Ra's al Ghul and were forced to team up with the Seven Men of Death to stop the Sensei.
As the Black Glove began to make waves in the Gotham underworld, Batman was attacked by Michael Lane, his third imposter, and finally remembered the name Simon Hurt. Attacked directly by the Black Glove and the Club of Villains, of whom Jezebel Jet was allied with, Batman's mind was wiped by the Zurr-en-Arrh trigger. However, his backup persona, the Batman of Zurr-en-Arrh allowed him to eventually regain enough of himself. Shaking off the backup persona, Batman and the Family teamed up to finally defeat the Black Glove. In the aftermath, Bruce was once again given custody of Damian and began to make serious attempts to nurture his son. Teaching him how to operate in Gotham, the two fought Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc together. Just as the two began to bond, though, Batman was called on a Justice League mission where Cyborg's Boom Tube malfunctioned. Sent to Apokolips, Batman was captured by Darkseid and a false cloned corpse was sent back to Earth. Hit by the Omega Sanction and bonded to the Hyper-Adapter, Bruce was sent back in time and slowly began to make his way back to the present.
First arriving in prehistory, Bruce time jumped to a Puritanical Gotham and eventually time jumped to the era of piracy. After continually evading the Hyper-Adapter and clawing his way to the 1800s and then 1992, Bruce manipulated Simon Hurt and Carter Nichols to get to the Vanishing Point. From there he finally returned to his time, where the Justice League helped him defeat the Hyper-Adapter, allowing him to return to Gotham just in time. Discovering Dick to be the new Batman and Damian his Robin, Bruce aided them in finally defeating Simon Hurt and the 99 Fiends.
After a short vacation, Bruce revealed to the Family about the Thogal Ritual, the hellish 666 Future, his time travels. Maintaining that the Family had to do anything necessary to stop the 666 Future, Bruce also returned to his head position at Wayne Enterprises. In a private board meeting, Bruce announced his plans to unveil a global network of crime fighting agents called Batman Incorporated with himself and Lucius Fox in charge of the operation. Shortly afterwards, Bruce and Lucius launched the GI Bat-Robots, Batman Incorporated's first, albeit non-human, operatives. Having dinner with Damian and Alfred at Wayne Manor, Bruce desperately attempted to connect with his son like Dick did but found it difficult to do so.
Learning of Leviathan, a decades old criminal group constantly at odds with Leviathan, Bruce suited up as Batman and Damian did so as Robin to investigate. Heading to Yemen, the two met the metahumans Traktir and Spidra. While Batman tried to reason with Traktir, Damian ended up heading elsewhere, disobeying Bruce's orders. Convincing Traktir and Spidra to join Batman Incorporated, upon returning to the Batcave, Bruce found working with Damian as his Robin to absurdly difficult. Reaching out to the Outsiders, Batman reincorporated his strike team to be a part of Batman Incorporated. After acquiring a giant photonic crystal made out of meta-materials, Bruce gave it to Lucius Fox for study.
Heading to Tokyo to recruit more agents for Batman Incorporated, Batman came at odds with Lord Death Man. After launching Lord Death Man into space, Batman recruited Batman Japan into his crime fighting network. Originally desiring to make Luke Fox Batwing, out of respect for Lucius, Batman instead gave it to David Zavimbe. Recruitng Knight, Squire, Dark Ranger and Ravil into the fold, Batman still tried to work things out with Damian as his Robin.
While working in the Batcave, Batman was met by the Flash who revealed to him his adventures in Flashpoint and of the Flashpoint Timeline. Before leaving, the Flash gave Bruce a letter from Thomas Wayne, the Batman of the Flashpoint Timeline, which was subsequently framed. With Tim moving out of Wayne Manor and heading to New York City, Bruce and Alfred said goodbye to Red Robin but allowed him to leave. With Damian left as his only Robin, Batman and son tried to stop a robbery at Gotham State University but were once again unable to function together. Heading to France to try and recruit the Musketeer, Batman ende dup instead making the Nightrunner Batman Incorporated's newest agent. Batman also sent an invitation to Man-of-Bats and Red Raven, which was accepted. After teaming up with Dark Ranger in Australia, Batman worked with Batman Japan to take down Veiniac. In Buenos Aries, Batman and El Gaucho worked to defeat Scorpiana and El Sombrero, while also learning of the Leviathan weapon the Oroboro. Teaming up with the Hood, Batman and El Gaucho went to the Falkland Islands where they met the new Batwoman. Stopping the threat of Otto Netz at the Falklands, Batman learned that the mad Nazi had secretly been free and running Leviathan for a while. Following the event, though, Batman inducted El Gaucho and Hood into Batman Incorporated.
On a Justice League mission, Batman and the rest of the heroes were again accidentally sent to Apokolips when Cyborg's Boom Tube malfunctioned. Upon returning to Earth, the Justice League fought and defeated N'rrssshk't the Conqueror. Shortly after, Dick returned to his identity as Batman, leaving Bruce to be the sole Dark Knight. Bruce also teamed up with various domestic firms to start a major gentrification project called the Philip Kane Memorial Projects to rebuild some of Gotham's most derelict Industrial neighborhoods. At the opening ceremony, Wayne Enterprises was faced with many protestors whom Bruce decided to meet with personally. Mind controlled by Gretel, Bruce was saved by Batgirl, an identity Barbara had resumed after her paralysis was cured. The following day, Batman and Batgirl teamed up for the first time since Barbara retired to defeat Gretel.
Taking advice from Alfred on being a better father to Damian, Bruce decided to buy his son a Great Dane that was named Titus. Threatened face to face by Nobody, Batman decided to go on patrols alone but after Robin disobeyed his orders they were both captured by Nobody. Saved by Alfred, Batman tried to tell Damian of Nobody's connections to Henri DuCard. After arguing with Damian, Bruce was unable to find his son and tried using the Human Kinematic Program and then personally suited up as Batman. Finding Nobody to be torturing Robin, Batman brutally beat down the villain who was then executed by Damian. Dismayed that his son was still a killer, Bruce forgave Damian and decided to teach him with kindness to never use lethal force. With that, father and son began to grow close once more.
Return to Gotham[]
With the initial stages of Batman Incorporated complete, Bruce decided to once again devote the majority of his time to protecting Gotham City. Upgrading the Batmobile and some Batman Incorporated mechs, Batman learned that his enemies formed a secret pact to meet at ACE Chemicals should he ever die. Batman also met the genius Michael Holt, with Bruce becoming fast friends with Mr. Terrific. Much to Bruce's annoyance, Red Robin set up several of his Robin's Nests around Gotham City. Offering Batwoman a position in Batman Incorporated, Batman was turned down but made sure to warn Batwoman about associating with DEO. Batman was later told by Batwoman that she had been strong armed into joining DEO by Director Bones.
After the Joker escaped from Arkham Asylum, Batman began to hunt his arch enemy once more. Batman also restarted his sexual relationship with Catwoman but was eventually forced to save Louis Ferryman from her. After watching the Enchantress separate from June Moon, Batman tried to interfere but was stopped by Zatanna and watched to formation of Team Dark. After Catwoman came into trouble with the GCPD, Batman decided that it was ultimately time to end their romantic relationship.
After members of the mafia were killed by a mysterious mercenary calling himself the Red Hood, Batman and Nightwing found themselves dealing with the killer in addition to the Black Mask. After playing the Red Hood's mind games for a while, Batman was attacked by the assassin directly. Horrified to learn that the Red Hood was none other than a ressurected Jason Todd, Batman was faced to question whether he had done the right thing by letting the Joker live. Ultimately, Batman was saved from the Red Hood's onslaught by an arriving Nightwing. Jason returned immediately afterwards with a "sidekick" of his own, Scarlet. Fighting against the anti-Dynamic Duo, the Family's first battle against them ended in a draw. The second battle also ended in a draw due to the arrival of Eduardo Flamingo of the Penitente Cartel, forcing the Family to capture that killer and let Jason escape.
Bruce then began to date investigative journalist Charlotte Rivers just as he finally got leads on the Joker. Finding the clown prince just as the uncle of Olivia Carr was murdered, Batman was unable to catch him on the first attempt. Easily locating Joker once again, though, Batman defeated his arch enemy after a brief scuffle and sent him back to Arkham. Much to Bruce's surprise, though, the Joker's face was cut off by the Dollmaker and subsequently once again let free. While at Wayne Enterprises, Bruce and Lucius managed to find a new business partner in Hugh Marder. As soon as night fell, Batman chased after the Dollmaker and although he rescued Commissioner Gordon from the grotesque killer, was unable to actually capture him. Deciding to take a brief respite, Bruce and Charlotte went on a small vacation in Colorado thereafter.
Returning to Wayne Enterprises just in time to deliver a speech at a corporate gala, Bruce was forced to leave and don the Batsuit when a riot occured at Arkham Asylum. Finding many of his enemies juiced on Venom, Batman was able to quell the riot but not before many criminals escaped. Getting the Family to take care of most of the inmates, Batman went after the White Rabbit and defeated Clayface. Finding Poison Ivy's location at Harmon Island, Batman was attacked by the White Rabbit's partners: Scarecrow and Bane. Easily defeated by Bane, with the help of the Flash, though, Batman managed to emerge victorious.
With Scarecrow still at large, Batman began to track Axel Bellamy while keeping tabs on Andrew Bennett. Although he knew Bennett and the vampires to be a big deal, Batman took more priority in groups of mass protestors who were Pro-Joker. After seeing Bellamy deal with Jill Hampton, Batman stumbled upon a scheme between the Penguin, Mayor Hady, Snakeskin and Mr. Mosaic where they planned to use Mr. Combustible, Mr. Toxic, the Imperceptible Man and Hypnotic to get Hady reelected. Although Batman was able to stop the plot, he was unable to stop Charlotte Rivers from getting stabbed and Hampton from being killed. With time to confront Andrew Bennett once more, Batman agreed to help stop the Queen of Blood and became embroiled with the Vampire War. Fighting the Queen of Blood, Batman was able to stop Bennett from executing her but was unable to stop the return of Cain. With Cain taking control of a vampire army, the Family was forced to defend Gotham from the undead monsters.
With Charlotte in the hospital, Bruce visited her frequently visted her but the two began to grow more distant. Eventually, Scarecrow resurfaced and Batman was able to capture him and Eli Strange as well. With the Pro-Joker protests persisting and getting more violent, Batman began to catalogue them to make sure he could stop potential troublemakers when the Joker would undoubtedly return. When a group of subway passengers massacred each other, Batman and Commissioner Gordon busted the Mad Hatter but could not stop the Tweeds from escaping.
Deciding to check on his Batman Incorporated agents, Batman recruited Pippi Giovanni and helped Man-of-Bats and Red Raven bust the Coyote. After Batwing was attacked by Masscre, Batman began to help track the supervillain while also catching the Tweeds. When Blockbuster returned, Batman and Robin reluctantly teamed up with Hawk and Dove to beat the monster. To try and lure Massacre, Batman held a gala with Josiah Kone. After Kone turned out to be a traitor, Batman consoled the sorrowful Batwing. Back in Gotham, Bruce took pity on and began to keep tabs on Lonnie Machin. By the time Halloween came around, not wanting to deal with villainy, Batman set Scarecrow, Penguin and Mad Hatter up to scare each other.
After learning the United Nations unveiled the Justice League International, Batman personally decided to investigate the project and act as a liasion between the JLI and the Justice League. Trying to convince Guy Gardner to work with Booster Gold, Batman aided the JLI in taking down Peraxxus. When Spore stole the Orb of Ra, Batman helped the Justice League recover it while also confusing Steve Trevor about his position on the JLI. After quelling an uprising at Arkham Asylum, Bruce headed back to Wayne Manor to host a gala where he unveiled the latest step in the Philip Kane Memorial Projects: the Beacon Tower. After meeting Lincoln March at the gala, Bruce suited up as Batman to investigate a stabbing victim. Meeting Lincoln March at the Corolla Building, Bruce was attacked by Talon and thrown off the tower. Although Talon was presumed dead, Bruce survived the fall and was able to go suit up as Batman to aid the Justice League in defeating AMAZO. Returning to Gotham, Batman fought the Whisper Gang for information on Talon and ended up finding Talon's lair in the Corolla Building. Investigating the murder of Alan Wayne, Batman was captured by Talon and taken to the underground labyrinth of the Court of Owls. Drugged and injured, Batman spent little over a week being mentally tortured by Talon within the labyrinth before being presented to the Court of Owls. Mustering up his strength, Batman brutally attacked Talon before escaping the labyrinth and passing out.
Batman was rescued by Harper Row and made it back to the Batcave. There Alfred began to patch him up and he revealed to Dick their history with the Court. Unfortunately, the Night of Owls started and several Talons attacked Bruce at Wayne Manor. Defeating them and suiting up as Batman, the Dark Knight headed off to Arkham Asylum where he quelled the situation there regarding Black Mask and the Talons. With most of the Talons stopped, Batman, Nightwing and Robin headed off to Wayne Tower to stop Mr. Freeze, who was enraged that the Court was using his supplies. After defeating Freeze, Bruce realized that the now deceased Lincoln March was associated with the Court. Heading to the Willowwood Home for Children, Batman confronted an undead Lincoln who revealed himself to be the ultimate Talon while also claiming to be Bruce's long lost brother. Although Batman defeated Lincoln, he was unable to apprehend him and confirm the Talon's claims.
To deal with the fallout of the Night of Owls, Batman attacked Tiger Shark, who had formed an alliance with the Court. This led to further involvement with Harper Row, who kept getting more interested in Batman's business. Batman, while not wanting another war with the Court, began subtle tactics to try and draw them out. Batman also began to create several Bat-Bunkers and safehouses around Gotham. With his intense new focus on security, Batman met up with Mr. Terrific and together, the two used Mother Box technology to create Brother I. With Brother I, they intended to monitor superhumans and protect humanity. I, however, went rogue and caused havoc. While it did not result in loss of life, I did become Brother Eye and was exiled from Earth. Batman and the JLI later took down the Fox. Not long after, Batman gave Booster Gold his blessing to lead the JLI. Batman then proceeded to take down Black Mask and the Mad Hatter, ending the resurgence of the False Face Society. After Bruce finally ended things with Charlotte, he investigated mysterious bombings and was brought on the trail of Mr. Toxic. After Mr. Toxic was revealed to be a clone of Hugh Marder, Professor Radium, Batman defeated the two who eventually fused back together. Heading off to Metropolis, Batman spied on Project Cadmus, who were attempting to use a Mother Box to create an OMAC. Batman once again teamed with the JLI to help them take on terrorists Lightweaver, Intersek and Breakdown. When discussing how to deal with the terrorists, the JLI were attacked by OMAC and Batman learned that Cadmus was succesful. After helping Firestorm in Paris, Batman helped the JLI deal with the terrorists.
Bruce, now single again, began to date Natalya Trusevich. From the Batcave, Batman helped Batwing and Nightwing recover a nuclear missile. After an assault on St. Hadrian's Finishing School for Girls, Bruce and Jason finally forgave each other for their mistakes. Offering Jason the mantle of Wingman, Bruce inducted his former apprentice as the newest member of Batman Incorporated. After a terrorist attack by Leviathan with the potential to leave the world in ruins, Batman launched an attack on the organization. Nearly defeated by Otto Netz, Batman was saved after Robin killed Dedalus. All of the Family was shocked, when Talia al Ghul revealed herself as the true leader of Leviathan and placed a $500,000,000 bounty on Robin's head.
When Damian went too far afield by himself, an angry Batman lamented his concerns to Alfred, especially with the recent bounty on Batman's head. Batman and Robin evaded Ethiopian snipers hoping to collect the bounty and forced them to leave the country. After Scarecrow abducted Commissioner Gordon, Batman tried to intervene but ended up captured himself. Subjected to a sever dose of a new strain of Fear Toxin, Batman eventually escaped and used his own blood to make Gotham immune. When a terrorist called Terminus attacked Gotham, the Family worked together to stop him and divert a nuclear missile.
Attacked by the Ghost Dragons at a public event, Bruce was surprisingly saved by Oswald Cobblepot. Before he could turn his attention to the Penguin, Batman made his way to the GCPD which had come under attack by a returned Joker. Heading to ACE Chemicals, Batman was distracted by Harley Quinn and by the time he returned to Wayne Manor was too late to save Alfred from being kidnapped by Joker. Learning of a supposed zombie uprising at a cemetary, Batman and Robin learned them to actually be innocnet people dosed with Joker Venom. After defeating the "zombies", Batman tried to apprehend Poison Ivy and after failing, used herbicide to fight and free Clayface from Ivy's influence. Heading off to Commissioner Gordon, by the time Batman arrived the honest cop had been poisoned by the Joker. Confronting the clown prince at the Gotham Reservoir, Batman was knocked out but rescued by the Family.
Called in by the Justice League to help deal with H'El, Batman was temporarily sidetracked from going after the Joker. Fighting various Kryptonian Woker Drones among other defenses at the Fortress of Solitude, when H'El began to overcome the League, Batman retreated with Cyborg to the Watchtower to reconvene with the Flash. From the Watchtower, Batman coordinated various rescue efforts across the globe. After Supergirl defeated H'El, Batman allowed himself to return to Gotham where Joker-inspired violence was tearing the city apart.
Quickly apprheending many of the small time gangs hailing the Joker's return, Batman turned his attention to the worst of the bunch: the Merrymaker and the League of Smiles. Realizing the Merrymaker was none other than Arkham's former Dr. Byron Meredith, Batman exposed the lunatic psychiatrist in front of his cronies to disband the gang. Learning the horrific truth behind the Joker's Crew and the clown prince's control over Arkham, Batman made his way into the craziest place on Earth and made short work of Mr. Freeze, Clayface and Scarecrow. Forced to surrender by the Joker, Batman awoke in the caves below the Batcave. Finding the Family captured, Batman initiated the Skirmish Below Gotham to save them and defeat the Joker. However, the damage the Joker had done to the Family had irreparably damaged Bruce's relations with everyone save Alfred. Depressed, Bruce realized that the Joker had "killed" the Family.
Requiem for a Dream[]
Despite the tension between everyone and Bruce, most of the Family met up at Wayne Manor where Jason had a heart-to-heart with Bruce. After Jason was burned by his Red Hood mask, Bruce quickly made the save. When Jason woke, Bruce embraced him as his son. Bruce also quickly patched things up with Damian, participating in an international scavenger hunt with him and Alfred. After returning to Gotham, Batman and Robin teamed up to defeat the Reaper.
Chasing down some goat-masked henchmen, Batman and Robin realized that Goatboy was trying to collect on Talia's bounty. When one of Gotham's mobsters was dropped in front of them by a Man-Bat, Batman realized taht Leviathan had resurfaced and that Talia meant to go to war. Trying to use Goatboy to fake Robin's death, Batman donned his Matches Malone identity to try and find more information on Leviathan's operation in Gotham. Ambushed by the a cell of the Leviathan led by Merlyn, Matches was captured but quickly rescued by his Batman Incorporated agents and allowed to become Batman again. Leading the charge, Batman easily trumped Merlyn's cell. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce revealed to the Family that the new Wingman was none other than Jason and that Damian could start the 666 Future.
Heading to Crime Alley to fight more Leviathan agents, Batman was attacked by the Heretic and easily defeated. Locked in a safe, Batman was thrown in a pool at the top of Wayne Tower. Escaping, Batman arrived moments to late to prevent Damian from being murdered by the Heretic. Joining up with Nightwing and Red Robin, Batman managed to force Heretic to flee and made off with Damian's corpse. Holding a solemn funeral for Damian with Tim, Dick and Alfred, Bruce ordered his butler to take a vacation until he finished up with Leviathan. With Batman Incorporated shut down by the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, Batman and the Family were once more rendered outlaws. After telling Nightwing to handle the Dealer, Batman made his way to Commissioner Gordon to tell him that Robin had been killed. Continuing to mourn his son, an anguish filled Batman captured over one hundred criminals in a night before returning to Wayne Manor and having a breakdown. Making it to the Batcave, Batman shared a primal scream in memory of his son before heading out for his revenge.
Stealing the Man-Bat Serum from Kirk Langstrom, Batman then took the Suit of Sorrows from Michael Lane and put it on underneath a robotic combat-suit. Attacking the Heretic, Batman brutalized his son's murderer and was then aided by Nightwing and Knight in restraining the terrorist. Horrified to learn the Heretic was a clone of Damian's, Batman allowed the murderer to flee. Making his way to the Batcave, Batman confronted Talia one last time to end the Battle of Gotham City. Poisoned and near death, Bruce was saved by Jason and Talia was killed by a still-alive Kathy Kane.
Even though the Battle of Gotham was won by the superheroes, Batman Incorproated was outlawed and due to its public connection to Wayne Enterprises, Bruce was taken into custody by Commissioner Gordon. After a brief interview, Bruce was set free to go. Upon returning, however, Bruce was enraged to find that Talia and Damian's corpses had been stolen. Deducing Ra's al Ghul to be the thief, even though he wanted to, Bruce did not start the search right away. With the Joker having had pushed away the Family, Bruce realized that without Damian he alone once more, with only Aflred by his side. Despite the shuttering of Batman Incorporated, Bruce decided to allow the operatives to keep serving their respective cities.
With Arkham Asylum finally restored following the Joker's attack, Batman realized that all prisoners except for Victor Zsasz had been accounted for. Continuing to mourn for Damian, Bruce tried to takes mind off of the tragedy by going out on patrol. When the Penguin shot up the Iceberg Casino to try and attack Emperor Penguin, Batman quickly arrived and handed his old enemy over tot he GCPD. In trying to reach out to the Family to find stop a Man-Bat contagion, Batman realized that they were still struggling with the Joker's attack and were unresponsive. Finding Batwoman aiding him, Batman took down a Man-Bat Zsasz and learned that only Kirk Langstrom could stop the contagion. Aiding Langstrom, Batman was surprised when the good scientist himself transformed into sole Man-Bat. Understanding that the Man-Bat incursion and several other robberies to be facilitated by Emperor Penguin, when Batman as challenged directly, he answered the call but was defeated in single combat. Ironically, Batman was rescued by the Penguin and in his second attempt, easily bested Emperor Penguin.
When Felix Harmon started operating again, Batman realized that the Court had become active once more. Trying to apprehend Calvin Rose, Batman was unable to secure the escape artist or find him immediately thereafter. Meeting Oswald Cobblepot, Bruce was surprised to learn that the criminal was allowing for the construction of the Martha Wayne Children's Center. After Harmon resurfaced and attacked Casey Washington, Batman easily dispatched of the Talon. After Calvin Rose attempted to fight the Court by himself, Batman intervened and pummelled Sebastian Clark. Although he was unable to find the location of Lincoln March, Batman did defeat the Court of Owls for a second time.
Investigating a supernatural mass murder, Batman was confronted by Superman over the death of Robin. Together, the World's Finest fought and exorcised Will o' the Wisp, the Soul Eater. Thanking Superman for his compassion in regards to Robin, Batman decided he would remain in control and not become the monster he did following Jason's death. After Batwoman fought Mr. Freeze, Batman argued with the DEO agent over Freeze's weaponry. When Gotham was attacked by Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Riddler, the Tweeds and Bane, Batman was surprised when the Family decided to help. After defeating Bane, Batman learned DEO to be behind the whole plot and was attacked by Batwoman. Reasoning with Batwoman's sensible side, Batman teamed up with Batwoman to take down Director Bones. After purchasing Securitus, Bruce placed Casey Washington in charge and gave her control of the remnants of Batman Incorporated. Inviting Luke Fox to one of his Bat-Bunkers, Batman offered him the chance to be his latest apprentice and sent him on a training course with Tsuenomoto and Chu Chin Li.
As the stark realization that Damian was lost to him forever began to sink in, Batman decided to fight crime for a full week with no sleep. When he received help from Harper once more, Batman violently ordered her to back off. When Harper approached him as Bruce Wayne at the reopened Wayne Tower, feeling sorry, Bruce agreed to accept her electrical grid blueprints. Meeting Harper as Batman, the Dark Knight was surprised to see the effectiveness of her electrical system. Despite his promise to Superman to not lose control, Bruce began to keep his emotions bottled and slowly began to grow desperate.
When mass kidnappings began to occur from large mobs, Batman had to improve to save as many lives as he could. Meeting Natalya at Wayne Manor, Bruce discussed his inattentive attitude, mysterious nature and overall lack of being a real partner in their relationship. Unable to deny any of it, Bruce was forced to let Natalya go. After interrogating the Penguin, Batman realized that the Mad Hatter was behind the kidnappings. After fighting Tweedle-Dee, Batman tried to capture the Mad Hatter but failed. Returning to Wayne Manor, Bruce contemplated his life and decided to make a huge decision. Going to Natalya, he revealed to her his secret life as Batman and gave her a tour of the Batcave.
When brooding in the Batcave and remembering Damian, Bruce learned that his friend Brian Wade to have killed himself. Suiting up, Batman confronted a man whom he thought to be Wade, but learned that it was none other than Clayface. The next day, Bruce went off to a Wayne Enterprises meeting with Lucius Fox but when Fox turned out to be Clayface, was thrown in a trash compactor with the real Lucius. Escaping and getting Lucius to safety, Bruce returned to the Batcave and got in his Haz-Bat suit. Trapping Clayface in a containment cell, Batman handed over the shapeshifter to the GCPD. When a bunch of trained assassins attempted to kill a foreign prime minister, Batman easily disposed of them. Informed by Alfred that Harper Row was being attacked by Penumbra in Wayne Tower, Batman fought the shadow powered assassin and was shocked to discover she was none other than Mio - the love of his life when he trained with Shihan Matsuda. After Penumbra disappeared, Batman had a brief talk with Harper and gave her some of her gear. With Natalya comfortable with Bruce being Batman, he began to recover a little bit inside and the two started to find happiness together. Even considering stopping being Batman to be with Natalya, Bruce's plans were halted when she was kidnapped and killed by the Mad Hatter. With Natalya's death compounding the loss of Damian and his inability to get the Family to trust him again, Batman brutalized the Mad Hatter and nearly killed the supervillain. Finally losing control, his emotions bottling out, Batman's execution was only stopped by Alfred's pleas.
After student Carrie Kelly stopped by at school to meet Damian, Bruce visited her at Gotham State University to learn of her connection with his son. With Natalya's recent death causing him to go over the edge, Batman hacked into SHADE to locate Frankenstein. Kidnapping the undead monster and taking him to Castle Frankenstein, Batman begged the agent for help but was denied. Vivisecting Frankenstein for information on resurrection, an unhinged Batman was approached by Red Robin and after an argument, sent him away. After Red Robin destroyed his equipment, an enraged Batman returned to the Batcave alone. Sending Carrie Kelly a check for her association with Damian, Bruce tried to tell her off and was mildly annoyed when Alfred kept in contact with her.
Asking Jason to accompany him to Ethiopia to get revenge on the snipers who tried to collect the bounty on Damian, Batman even gave Red Hood permission to use guns so long as was non-lethal. Taking Jason to the exact place the Joker killed him, Batman ordered the Red Hood tell him everything about the resurrection. After Jason refused, the two ended up having a brawl with Bruce finally pushing Jason away from him once more. Returning to Gotham, Batman tested out the new Tartarus Wing at Arkham Asylum. Attacked by the Anchoress, Batman was saved by the orderly Eric Border and allowed to leave. Meeting Commissioner Gordon, Batman was punched in the face by his old friend and learned that James Gordon Jr. may have accidentally been killed by Batgirl. Finding Batgirl attacking heroin dealers, Batman helped her out but could not bring himself to talk to her. After being confronted by Batgirl on his violent behaviour, Batman ended up in an argument with his apprentice and kicked her out of the Batcave.
Batman was then faced with investigating a cop killer and an identity thief, but was unable to find the former and apprehend the latter. Having a business meeting with E.D. Caldwell, Bruce was surprised to learn that the business magnate wanted to purchase Wayne Enterprises. Learning the killer's name to be Wrath, Batman continued to investigate the crime scenes but still could find no trace. Running into Scorn, Wrath's partner, Batman later found Scorn dead as well. After an escaped Clayface kidnapped Commissioner Gordon, a makeshift Bat-Signal alerted Batman to the shapeshifter's location. Encasing Clayface in an airtight cell, Batman shipped him back to Arkham. Noticing Harvey Bullock's behaviour to be off, Batman realized that Bullock was actually being impersonated by the identity thief. Fighting the thief, Jane Doe, Batman defeated her and had her sent to Arkham. Suspecting Caldwell to be Wrath, Bruce met with him under the false pretense of a business trip while Alfred confirmed his suspicions. After Wrath kidnapped Alfred, Batman rescued his butler and blew up the Batplane to escape. Confronting Wrath once more, Batman bested the killer in single combat but allowed the GCPD to defeat him.
When a string of murders that could be attributed to a Man-Bat turned up all over Gotham, Batman was consulted by Harvey Bullock about the deaths. When Clayface broke out of Arkham yet again, Batman requested the help of the Birds of Prey to yet again defeat the shapeshifter. By the time Christmas arrived, Batman uncovered illegal sweatshops operating in Gotham. Allowing himself to be captured by the Penguin's goons, Batman broke out and systematically defeated Cobblepot and his thugs. The next day, Bruce started a Wayne Enterprises program to sponsor sweatshop workers for American citizenship.
After learning that Key broke into Arkham Asylum, Batman teamed up with the Justice League and learned that several of their enemies were being tortured for information on them. After Steve Trevor was kidnapped, the Justice League were directly attacked by Graves, the kidnapper. Tracking Graves to the Valley of Souls, Batman was forced to overcome his own demons to defeat the desperate supervillain. The fight against Graves, however, resulted in tension among the members of the Justice League and Green Lantern leaving the team. After the JLI was decimated by OMAC, Batman travelled to STAR Labs to meet with Kevin Kho. There, Batman was confronted and threatened by Brother Eye. Worried, Batman began to develop the Palin Protocol and began to think that he had placed Brother Eye back under his control. Learning from Cyborg that a new Green Lantern called Simon Baz had emerged, Batman joined up with the rest of the Justice League to try and find out how Baz got his Green Ring of Willpower. Batman and Cyborg also began to discuss recruiting more superheroes into the Justice League. After Wonder Woman's fight with the Cheetah, Batman and Aquaman broke into an ARGUS Medical Facility to probe Steve Trevor for information. After helping the Justice League beat the Cheetah, Batman began to look into Superman and Wonder Woman's budding romance. Assisted by Aquaman in Gotham, Batman was shocked when the forces of Atlantis began to invade the surface and was conflicted with Aquaman's desire to deal with the Ocean Master alone. Captured by Ocean Master, Batman and several other members of the League were imprisoend at the bottom of the Trench. Rescued just in time, the Justice League united just in time for Aquaman to defeat Ocean Master. With the severity of Ocean Master's attack in mind, Batman convinced the rest of the League that the time to expand membership had come.
Called to Tinasha by David Zavimbe, Batman met with his agent at the grave of Matu Ba. With Zavimbe retiring as Batwing, Batman decided that the ideal candidate for a replacement would be Luke Fox, whose training was nearly completed. Officially deputizing Fox, Batman gave him the new Batwing armour at a Bat-Bunker. Superman, having had believed a superpowered being could have downed a satellite, brought it to Batman for investigation. Discussing the rise of the Ascension with Superman, Batman sent him on the path to discovering the Machine. Batman then learned of Wraith from Superman and was asked to develop a synthetic mineral to weaken the alien based on its energy structure. When Wraith attacked the Batcave, Batman called Wonder Woman for help and the two were eventually joined by Superman.
After Catwoman stole several paintings, Batman angrily chased her down and the two discussed the Joker's actions towards her when he returned. When Catwoman implored Batman open up, he coldly left her like usual. Batman later learned of ARGUS launching the Justice League of America. Approached by Catwoman, Batman learned more details about the JLA and then aided Catwoman in rescuing a young girl from metahumans at a Chinese embassy. Locating Damian's "Robin Cave" within Wayne Manor, Bruce found a small box addressed to Dick and called him in. After giving Dick the box, Bruce began to plug himself into an Internet 3.0 simulation to see if he could have saved Damian but continually failed. Eventually Dick joined the simulation as well and together, the two were able to enact a scenario in which Damian lived.
Via radio, Batman guided Batwing as he took on the Marabunta and after Batwing defeated Lion-Mane, Bruce purchased the Marabunta's diamond mine in the Congo. When visiting the mine, Bruce discovered Seclorum wished to buy it off of him. Returning home, Bruce was visited by Jeremiah Arkham about the Wayne Family's history with Jonah Hex. When Arkham was kidnapped by Hex, Batman learned that the Marabunta had come to Gotham and quickly contacted Batwing. When the Marabunta kidnapped Lucius Fox, Batman and Batwing teamed up to defeat the militia. Batman then ordered Batwing to fight the Marabunta's employer, Charlie Caligula. When Jonah Hex arrived in prison, Bruce met with a legal team ready to defend the man. Freeing Jonah and learning of his connection to Katherine Wayne, Batman brought Jeremiah Arkham back to Gotham.
When a new supervillain calling herself the Joker's Daughter began to try and draw Batman out, Batman instead led her to the place where the Joker disappeared during the Skirmish Below Gotham. After failing to talk sense into her, Batman handed her off to the GCPD. When Batman's own consciousness began to get altered by the contentment sedative, Batman and the rest of Gotham began found themselves in the mysterious Gothtopia. As the contentment sedative began to take hold, Batman began to investigate a murder occuring under the New Trigate Bridge. Linking it to Man-Bat, Batman teamed up with Kirk Langstrom to defeat the Bat-Queen. By the time Batman returned to Wayne Manor, though, the sedative had taken hold and Gotham City was fully enveloped in Gothtopia.
With Gothtopia a reality, Batman believed Catwoman actually called "Catbird" and also be his partner. When Poison Ivy began to rampage through the streets, Batman defeated her but was stabbed by one of her thorns. When Ivy's thorn took effect, Batman realized that reality had been altered but when attempting to tell Catbird was restrained by the Family, who were also stuck in Gothtopia. Ending up straight in Arkham Asylum, Batman teamed up with Poison Ivy to create an antidote to Scarecrow's contentment sedative and the new strain of Fear Toxin. Sabotaging Scarecrow's operation and ruining the illusion of Gotham City, Batman restored order once more but was once again forced to end things with Catwoman.
When the supervillain Menace kidnapped Tamara Fox, Batman and Batwing desperately searched for her and other missing girls. Forced to break the news to Lucius, when Tamara did show up, Bruce was there to comfort his mentor when her brain damage was revealed. When Batwing eventually rescued Tiffany Fox, he and Batman had a discussion on the loss of family. Visiting his maternal figure, Batman was shocked to learn that Leslie Thompkins had been drugged and interrogated by Spyral. Suspicious of Spyral's intentions, Batman began to plot to bring down the super spy organization for good. When another streak of Man-Bat murders plagued Gotham, Batman immediately suspected Kirk Langstrom but later discovered it to be Abraham Langstrom. Fighting Abraham twice, Batman lost the first battle but manipulated the Man-Bat and claimed victory the second time. After purchasing Taylor Pharmaceuticals, Bruce suited up as Batman and hired Catwoman to steal a cancer treatment based on Venom after which he erased all traces of it.
Phase Shift[]
Convincing the Justice League to have a recruitment drive aboard the Watchtower, Batman invited Nightwing, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Blue Devil, Element Woman, Firestorm, Goldrush, Platinum, Vixen, Zatanna and Atom. Although the meeting was going well, eventually Platinum went berserk and required to be destroyed. With that, the Justice League chose to induct Atom, Element Woman and Firestorm into their ranks.
While in Gotham, Batman attacked a rampaging Metal-Zero and was approached by Superman who revealed that the real Metal-Zero was in prison. Realizing that he was actually fighting virtual avatars designed by the Toymaker, Batman confronted the child genius and soon learned that the technology was actuall armed by Mongul. Teaming up with Superman, Batman defeated Mongul and banished him to the Phantom Zone. Not long after, though, Mongul's son Jochi arrived and brought Warworld into Earth's orbit. With the Batman Family ordered to compete in the tournament, Batman brought along Red Hood and Batgirl. Facing off against the Superman Family in the tournament finale, after Batman refused to kill Superman, the work of Batgirl and Steel caused Warworld to deactivate. With the space station plummeting down to Earth, Batman escaped just as Superman launched Warworld into the Phantom Zone. Radioing Superman in from the Watchtower, Batman and he talked about Clark's new intimate relationship with Wonder Woman. When the news of the relationship became public, though, Batman expressed concern on how public reception might change.
When Shazam entered Kahndaq, the Justice League brought Zatanna with him to order the metahuman to stand down. When the JLA arrived in Kahndaq to stop the Justice League, both teams did battle but were neutralized by Superman after Arthur Light was killed. Although he was unwilling to believe Superman would kill Light, Batman was forced to assemble an impromptu team of heroes with Steve Trevor to stop Wonder Woman from going after Pandora's Box. Along with some other heroes, Batman was led by the Phantom Stranger to Heaven's Basement to talk to the recently deceased Arthur Light. Returning to the Earth through the House of Mystery, Batman and his group of heroes headed off to Athens. Due to Pandora's Box, the Justice League, the Justice League Dark and the Justice League of America all fought each other, with the chaos ending after Superman fell unconscious and the Outsider opened a portal to Earth 3 to summon the Crime Syndicate.
When the Crime Syndicate trapped nearly all of the superheroes in the Firestorm Matrix, Batman and Catwoman escaped through the sewers with an unconscious Cyborg. Making their way to Detroit, Batman and Catwoman went to STAR Labs and gave Cyborg to Silas Stone. Learning that Nightwing had been unmasked and exposed, Batman left for the Batcave to find a way to save Dick. Taking his contingency briefcases to use in the ARGUS Insurgency, Batman and Catwoman left for Wayne Enterprises to find something to power up some of his items. Running into Lex Luthor and a group of supervillains, Batman was forced to team up with Superman's arch-enemy to defeat a squadron of the Secret Society. Joining forces with Luthor's Injustice League to defeat the Crime Syndicate, Batman joined Luthor in making it to the downed Watchtower. Shocked to find Dick attached to the Murder Machine, Batman was detained by Bizarro and made to watch as Luthor killed his first protégé. Much to Batman's relief, though, Luthor then proceeded to restart Dick's heart. Leaving with Dick and Catwoman, Batman met up with Cyborg and used Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth to free the heroes from the Firestorm Matrix. After the Crime Syndicate was defeated, the Justice League was met by Luthor who ended up saving Superman by performing brain surgery.
With Catwoman having been pardoned from her previous crimes, Batman tried to get her to make the most of it but when he made her realize that they would have no future together, the two once more ended things on uneasy terms. Retreating to the Batcave with Dick, Bruce discussed the fact that Dick had been ousted as Nightwing and was presumed dead to the rest of the world and requested Dick be his mole in Spyral. Giving Dick a fake funeral, Bruce was joined by only Alfred and Barbara. Calling the rest of the Justice League to the Batcave, Batman discussed the threat of other beings from Earth 3 with them. With Bane having had taken over Gotham City during the Arkham War, Batman returned and easily defeated the tyrant and his new allies in the Court of Owls. In the Batcave, Bruce sparred with Dick while trying to convince him to join Spyral. Eventually, the two collapsed and Dick agreed to keep his survival a secret to join Spyral. Calling Clark, Bruce discussed with him how Luthor was being hailed as a superhero by the world. Convening the Justice League in the Batcave, Batman received an electronic message from Luthor who gifted them League a new Watchtower while also expressing a desire to join the League.
Visited by Lex at Wayne Manor, Bruce was accused of being Batman. After denying it, Lex exposed the entrance to the Batcave forcing Bruce to admit to it. After Lex tried to blackmail Bruce into letting him into the Justice League, Bruce and Alfred ejected the egomaniac from Wayne Manor. Getting a call that Jessica Cruz had been turned into Power Ring, Batman joined the Justice League in trying to calm her down. With the Doom Patrol and Luthor arriving on the scene, matters became complicated prompting Batman to calm Jessica down with a humane approach. Meeting with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman convinced them to let Luthor join the Justice League so that they could keep tabs on him. Bruce then brokered a deal between WayneTech and Lexcorp, creating a semi-merger of some of their assets. Telling Luthor to do everything legally, Bruce warned him of the consequences should the egomaniac revert to being a criminal once more.
With Luthor, Captain Cold and Shazam joining the Justice League, Batman located the Secret Society of Supervillains and together, the reformed Justice League took down the remnants of the once powerful organization. Adding Jessica Cruz to the League's roster as well, Batman, Aquaman and Luthor rescued people from a sinking ferry in Indonesia. Bruce and Luthor then made the deal between WayneTech and Lexcorp public knowledge and was invited into Lexcorp's laboratories. Shocked when he was unable to discover anything public, Bruce also met Lena Luthor. When Neutron attempted to assassinate Luthor, the Justice League stopped him but were unable to prevent the accidental release of the Amazo Virus. With several citizens gaining metahuman powers, Batman was exposed to the virus in a battle with Patient Zero and had his metagene improperly activated. Eventually succumbing to the virus, Batman was freed and his powers removed after the virus was contained.
After the Wrath's weaponry was stolen by the Bastards of Blackgate, Batman went after the mercenaries. Learning the Bastards to be headquartered in a salt yard due to Aden Day, Batman also learned Aden to be a neglected child and put on his Matches Malone disguise. Locating Julian Day, Matches beat him down for choosing to be a criminal over taking care of Julian. Heading over to the Gotham Rock Salt Depot, Batman shut down the Bastards of Blackgates before advancing to the Gotham Rail Yard to rescue Aden from the Big Bastard.
When Erin McKillen returned to Gotham and was assaulted by the GCPD, Batman aided them in arresting her. Locating Two-Face, Batman confronted him but before he could detain the villain was distracted due to hostages. Learning that Erin requested a jailhouse visit from him, Bruce found her and learned she wanted Batman Incorporated help. Denying her request, Bruce ultimately did suit up as Matches Malone to break her out before leaving her in Wayne Manor. Talking with Erin for a second, Bruce ultimately released her to the care of Kieron McKillen. Suiting up, Batman confronted Two-Face and Erin at the grave of Gilda Dent where he attacked both Two-Face's Crew and the McKillen Family. Forced to team up with Two-Face and Erin to escape the McKillen Family, Batman was able to keep Erin in custody but Two-Face was captured by the mobsters. Dumping Erin off at the GCPD, Batman made it to the Gotham Movie Studios to rescue Two-Face. Shocked to learn Two-Face was aware that he was secretly Bruce Wayne, Batman defeated the McKillen Family but was unable to find Two-Face afterwards.
After the Huntress broke into the Batcave, Batman was surprised to learn that she was the daughter of the Bruce Wayne of Universe 2, a revelation that brought back a glimpse of the blocked memory of his first adventure with Superman. Agreeing to help her with Power Girl, Batman realized that Kaizen Gamorra was behind the girls' troubles and headed off to New Gamorra with Huntress. Getting Superman's help, the World's Finest found themselves facing off with the Army of Gamorra and Brutaal. Defeating Gamorra and Brutaal, Batman and Superman trapped the villains in Universe 2. Almost immediately thereafter, Superman and Batman to repair a Chinese Space Station. Slipping into a coma, Batman was saved by Atom and helped defeat Dr. Smashhammer and Titan Super Gladiator. With more of their blocked memories returning, Batman and Superman were confronted by Kaiyo and made to watch parts of the Apokolips War. With their actions angering Kaiyo, Batman and Superman had their memories wiped and developed strange new personalities. After kissing Lois Lane, though, Batman regained his memory and restored Superman's as well. Now fully aware of Universe 2, Batman reached out to Brother Eye and told the satellite to put the alternate world under watch.
Gotham Cold War[]
Ordering Alfred to begin a search for the missing Two-Face, Batman himself began a comprehensive search for the new headquarters of Ra's al Ghul. Locating it, Batman was joined by Aquaman and the two were attacked by the Sons of Batman. With Aquaman taking the Sons of Batman to Atlantis, Batman tried chasing Ra's al Ghul and Algon but was unable to stop him. Approaching Wonder Woman in London, Batman informed her of Ra's plans in Paradise Island and the two teamed up to try and stop the immortal's plans. When Ra's accidentally awoke the Neekta, Batman and Wonder Woman allowed the creature to have a final rest under the sun. Heading to Nanda Parbat, Batman was ambushed by Frankenstein but quelled the undead's rage by apologizing for their previous encounter. Before Ra's plan could succeed, Batman attacked and in the subsequent Battle of Nishapur, Batman was forced to team up with the League of Assassins to fight the arriving Parademon Army. When Ra's was defeated, Batman called in the Justice League but was unable to prevent Glorious Godfrey from taking Damian's sarcophagus to Apokolips.
Heading to the Watchtower, Batman declared that he would don his Hellbat suit and go to Apokolips. Stopped by the Justice League, Batman was then personally met by Superman who tried to dissuade him from trying anything rash. Heading to the Batcave, Batman confronted the Family, with Dick watching in secrecy, and finally apologized to them for his attitudes to each of them after the Joker's attack. With their differences put aside, Batman explained to them that despite the Justice League's warnings, he was going to head to Apokolips. When most of the Family left, Bruce told Dick to retake the mantle of the Bat should he perish and used Dick's Spyral connections to distract the Justice League. Getting his Hellbat suit, Batman headed off to Apokolips to retrieve the body of his son.
Attacking the Parademon Army, Batman began to locate Glorious Godfrey and after finding the New God, brutalized him before acquiring his next target: Kalibak. With the Siege of the Chaos Cannon underway, Batman attacked the son of Darkseid. Joined by the Family and Cyborg, Batman defeated Kalibak but was finally attacked by the Dark God himself. Although he tried to fight Darkseid, Batman was easily defeated but managed to use the Chaos Shard to absorb the Omega Sanction and upon returning to the Batcave, used it to resurrect Damian. Reuniting with Damian and healing the wounds of the Family once more, Batman and Robin teamed up to defeat Kalibak once more before joining each other on patrol.
With Robin now possessing superpowers, Batman tried to stop him from over exerting himself or causing havoc. After testing Robin's powers, Batman and the Justice League put a plan into motion to drain Damian's abilities. With Cyborg remote controlling a giant Mister Roboto, Batman invited Damian to help stop it. Batman's plan working, Damian passed out from sheer exhaustion following the fight. With Damian no longer a metahuman, Bruce suited up as Batman to properly join his son on patrol as the Dynamic Duo.
When battling the Percentages Trio, Batman found unwelcome help from the hands of the Bat-Mite. Telling Bat-Mite to leave, Batman later found a batmobile ruined by the imp and sent Robin to dispose of the ruined vehicle. When a new Justice League teleporter was delivered to the Batcave, Batman and Robin decided to investigate strange signals on the moon. Following strange aliens, Batman and Robin defeated the deformities and then enjoyed their victory in Hawaii. When Powers International was taken over by Geri Powers, Bruce started a working relationship with her and started working with her in a business capacity. When apprehending Tristan Grey, Batman decided to improve the youth's life and had him enrolled at Gotham Academy.
When Professor Pyg attacked, Batman teamed up with Commissioner Gordon to fight the supervillain. After escaping one of Pyg's death traps, Batman reconvened with Gordon to rescue would-be Dollotrons. Sending Gordon after Derek Grady, Batman himself went to apprehend Pyg but after attacking the supervillain was informed by Alfred that Gordon needed help. Just as Batman made his way to Gordon, though, the police commissioner had accidentally caused a train accident killing hundreds. Understanding that Gordon had somehow heen hypnotized, Batman became embroiled in the Gotham Cold War. Telling Batgirl about the accident, Batman headed to the Gotham Central Booking to let Gordon know of his support. Confronted by Catwoman at the Gotham MTA Building, Batman realized that Carmine Falcone had returned to Gotham and informed Catwoman. Attacking the Penguin, Batman interrogated Cobbelpot for information on the Roman. Just as the Penguin's weapons depots started to get attacked, Batman was told that the GCPD was not responding to anything related to the Roman. Confronting Batgirl as she attacked Pyg's henchmen, Batman ordered her to stand down. Crashing into Falcone's penthouse, Batman confronted and threatened the Roman. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce found Barbara investigating Gonzolo Dominiguez, a member of the Brazilian Drug Cartel present at the train crash.
Saving some kidnapped kids being forced to act as drug runners by Jonny Lo, Batman was attacked by the Kings of the Sun. Meeting Elena Aguila at the Gotham Arena, Bruce agreed to her Healthy Families Initiative and shunned Sam Young. While working on one of Damian's bikes in the Batcave, Bruce was alerted by his sensory alarms and found Elena Aguila burned to death on his doorstep. Accused of forcing Aguila to overdose on Icarus by Harvey Bullock, Bruce started his own investigation by going undercover. Accused once more by Bullock at Aguila's funeral, Bruce suited up as Batman and followed his leads to Sumo and learned Mr. Squid to be behind Aguila's death. Attacking Squid's hideout, Batman wound up in the middle of a shootout between Mr. Squid and the Kings of the Sun. Just as Mr. Squid was killed, Jonny was kidnapped and Batmanw as forced to leave when the GCPD arrived. Confronting Harvey Bullock at the Kane Power Plant, Batman accused the officer of covering up Spencer Thompson's crimes but was distracted when the Icarus Man destroyed the East End Waterfront. Defeating the Kings of the Sun and letting Icarus Man leave, Batman quickly left when Bullock tried to arrest him. The next day, Bruce made sure to meet with Annie Aguila before she left Gotham for good.
Told by alfred that Red Robin was pursuing his own leads, Batman met up with him to see if they could work together. After telling Red Robin that sick kids were infected by a Nanobot Swarm, Batman left to quell some violence between the Penguin and Falcone's forces. Teaming up with Batwing, Batman helped exorcise the Gentleman Ghost. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce was informed that Jim Corrigan was waiting in the library. Although unable to assist Corrigan in his troubles, Batman ordered Batwing to help aid the detective. While dealing with collateral damage from the gang war, Batman drove the Batmobile straight into an explosion caused by Dr. Phosphorous. Attacking Professor Pyg's hideout, Batman was surrounded by Dollotrons but defeated the mad professor. Attacking both Penguin and Falcone's men, Bruce learned upon returning tot he Batcave that Interim Commissioner Jack Forbes refused to book any of them. Confronting Forbes at GCPD Headquarters, Batman found the interim commissioner hoping to arrest him but also found a new ally in Jason Bard. Leaving for Hong Kong, Batman teamed up with Batman Japan and Kanaria to attack Shen Fang and the Ghost Dragons. After a Special Reconnaissance Regiment agent was stabbed by Fang, Batman quickly interrogated the Triad and took the agent with him. Learning her to be Julia Pennyworth, Bruce left her in Alfred's care while also ordering Jason to follow Barbara and prevent her from making rash decisions. Learning from Alfred that Catwoman and Falcone had been kidnapped by Professor Pyg and the Farm Hands, Batman rescued Catwoman and learned from her that Falcone was merely a pawn in the Cold War.
Meeting Catwoman at the grave of Lola Macintire, Batman offered her consolation but was rebuffed. Posing as a prison guard, Batman accompanied Gordon to his trial and later switched out of his disguise to watch the trial in the Gotham District Court. Meeting Harvey Bullock and Jason Bard at the top of the Beacon Tower, Batman listened to Bard's plan to stop the gang war. Working with Bard, Batman managed to actually frame some of Falcone's thugs and ensure that Forbes would have to book them.
After Bard arrested Forbes, Falcone and the Penguin, Batman headed off to Blackgate Penitentiary and found Gordon closing a door left open by James Gordon Jr. to provide an escape. Going to meet Bard, Batman accosted the officer because while the gang war may have ended, twelve men died because of it. Refusing to shake Bard's hand, Batman left but later met with him again at a crime scene and did shake Bard's hand. Receiving a report from Batwing, Batman falsely believed that the situation at Arkham was secure.
Still on the fence about Bard, Batman began to track the officer's movements but was distracted by the kidnapping of Jade McKillen. When Bard noticed it as well, they both followed the kidnapping underground and were attacked by Killer Croc. Reluctantly teaming up with Killer Croc, Batman and Bard followed the supervillain to a point far below the depths below Arkham Asylum where the Ten-Eyed Man was about to kill Jade. Rescuing Jade, Batman, Bard and Croc retreated to safety. When Bard tried to arrest Killer Croc, Batman finally began to put his faith in Bard and watched as Jade was turned over to paramedics.
Receiving a call from Batgirl requesting help against Knightfall, Batman was unable to assist at the time but did send some superheroines to aid Batgirl. With Dick firmly embedded in Spyral as Agent 37, Batman used the identity of Mr. Malone to establish contact with him, learning of Mr. Minos and Elisabeth Netz. Attacking the Cycles of Violence, Batman received another message from Dick and learned that Minos intended to retrieve the organs of the Paragon Protocol. When the Teen Titans temporarily disbanded, Batman joined Red Robin on patrol properly for the first time in months.
When a Justice League emergency meeting was declared, Batman met with his fellow superheroes to discuss the return of Doomsday. Although Superman killed Doomsday, he was infected by the Doomsday Virus, forcing Batman to take a sample of the infected Kryptonian blood. Meeting Wonder Woman, Batman told her to look for Clark in his Metropolis apartment. After heading there himself, Batman was shooed off by Diana. After Clark began to succumb to the virus, Batman, Wonder Woman and Steel visited the Fortress of Solitude and were guided by Krypto into the Phantom Zone. In the Phantom Zone, the group of heroes was joined by the Ghost Soldier and fought off Mongul and Non. Learning from Xa-Du that the Tower was responsible for Doomsday getting free, the group of heroes captured Xa-Du and Non for interrogation. Heading to the Utah prison holding Superman, the Justice League was unable to stop an out of control Man of Steel from breaking free. When Brainiac and Zor-El arrived, the Battle of Earth began as the Justice League discussed the Coluan's incoming invasion fleet. Assembling a think tank, Batman came to the conclusion that Brainiac had been manipulating the Tower the entire tim. Forcing Xa-Du to remove Kryptonite from the atmosphere, Batman tried to help the Justice League fight Brainiac and cure the Doomsday Virus within Superman. Realizing that Brainiac was going to send out a mind control pulse, Batman tried to warn the Family but was unable to get the message out early enough. Despite holding out, eventually Batman too was assmiliated by Brainiac. When Superman broke free of the virus and defeated Brainiac, Batman broke free but with Superman missing, set up a WayneTech satellite to detect the Kryptonian's inevitable return.
When an evil splinter faction of the Red Lanterns began to ravage parts of Gotham City, Batman was assited in fending them off by Guy Gardner. Coming to an agreement with Lex Luthor, Bruce and he decided to travel to Seattle to extend their offer of partnership to Oliver Queen and have Queen Industries merge part of its assets with Lexcorp and Wayne Enterprises. Arriving in Seattle, the two found Oliver unwilling to listen to their business proposal. Ironically, Green Arrow later called in Batman and Lex Luthor to help defeat John King. Returning to Gotham, Batman fought Julian Day, now the Calendar Man, and defeated him.
Meeting with the Family, Batman was given a knife that belonged to Carmine Falcone that was used to execute Dr. Falsario. Learning Falcone was to be extradited to Hong Kong, Batman met with Agatha Zorbatos and made it clear he wanted to meet the Roman directly. Allowed to carry the Roman up to a rooftop, Batman brutalized the mobster but was only able to learn that Falcone was invited to return to Gotham by a higher power. With Jason Bard officially appointed the new police commissioner, Batman went to meet the new leader of the GCPD and provide him with evidence to clear Gordon's name. While returning to the Batcave, Batman noticed that the Architect was attacking the Beacon Tower. While heading off to attack, Batman was contacted by Julia on comms and learned that Alfred had been hospitalized and made Julia take his place. While fighting the Architect, Batman realized that it was Hush who had hospitalized Alfred and made Falcone return. As the Architect escaped, Batman was left to deal with a minor earthquake caused by Hush.
Responding to a call at a modern art gallery, Batman was attacked by a ghost and exorcised it using Nth Metal. Realizing that the situation at Arkham had not been quelled, Batman ordered Julia too look into Simon Ecks. With Catwoman, Batman quelled a gang situation involving the Hasigawa Family and the Sons of Forster Lane. Contacting by Dick, Batman provided Agent 37 with information on the Old Gun. With chaos erupting all around Gotham City, Batman learned from Julia that Jason Bard was the one who released the Architect. Going to Bard's apartment to look for him, Batman was met by a hologram of Hush who blew up the apartment. Rescued by the Family, Batman was returned to the Batcave where Julia helped patch him up. With martial law being declared for Gotham City, Batman finally went to visit Alfred in the hospital while explaining to Julia his previous friendship with the man who became Hush.
Working with Catwoman, Batman fought the men working for Dragos Ibanescu to try and find the location of Hush. When accusing Catwoman of causing trouble, Batman realized that he was driving her away. While driving in the Batmobile, Batman noticed Eduardo Flamingo just driving in the streets of Gotham and neutralized him. Reading a message attached to Flamingo, Batman was given notice of a new vigilante acting in Gotham, the Spoiler. Placing a tracker on Flamingo, Batman began to follow the hitman to the headquarters of the Ferryman but arrived too late to stop the death of Jade McKillen and a massacre by Killer Croc.
Bruce attended a Gotham Academy assembly as a keynote speaker and witnessed Mia Mizoghuchi nearly fall to death. Realizing that Hush was behind the police corruption, the nano-swarm, the water shortage, traffic problems and Arkham's haunting, Batman was forced to quell a situation of police brutality before it could even start. While piloting a GCPD helicopter Batman noticed the giant beam of light that shot out of Arkham Asylum. Summoning the Batplane, Batman stopped a plane from going down due to the beam before heading for Arkham. Before he could make it, though, the entire asylum collapsed before Batman. Jumping down into the wreckage of Arkham, Batman was attacked by and easily defeated the Joker's Daughter. Learning that his rogues gallery, now free, were attacking the firefighters above, Batman ascended and neutralized Clayface, Victor Zsasz and Mr. Freeze. Informed by Julia that Alfred had been transferred to Arkham before the explosion, Batman was forced to leave and go after Hush.
When Alfred resumed communications from a Bat-Bunker, Batman stopped Hush from executing Spoiler. After Hush threw a grenade, Batman was unable to pursue his nemesis. Returning to the ruins of Arkham, Batman rescued Batwing from the rubble and returned with Alfred to the Batcave. Realizing that the McGregor Database had been compromised, Batman deduced that Hush had access to all of his Bat-Bunkers. Bruce's fears were realized when Hush used the weaponry in a bunker to cause explosions. Working with Julia to secure the weapons cahces, Batman was attacked by a SWAT officer trained specially to take him down. Briefly returning to the Batcave to try and help Dick figure out the identity of Mr. Minos, Batman immediately jumped out into the field where he was informed by Lucius that the weapons caches would have adverse effects on Wayne Enterprises. Alerted by Alfred that another detonation occured in the cache Julia went to secure, Batman quickly swooped in and saved her. When Hush activated the cache at the Martha Wayne Foundation Hospital, Bruce understood that Hush was calling him out. Meeting his nemesis, Batman fought an armoured Hush and after a brief but brutal fight, defeated him. Just as he learned that Hush too was partnered with a higher power, Bruce was shocked to learn that the operating functions of Wayne Enterprises had been internationally seized by the federal government. With his company lost to him, Bruce placed Tommy in a holding cell in the Batcave.
The unthinkable then happened to Bruce as Wayne Manor was seized by Mayor Hady to be ransformed into Arkham Manor. Placing his valuables in storage and sealing off the entrance to the Batcave, Bruce was given a month to stay in Wayne Manor before it would be taken by the Arkham Asylum staff. Visiting Gotham Academy to check on Olive Silverlock, Bruce ended up running into Isla MacPherson. Crashing into the North Hall of Gotham Academy, Batman attacked the squatting Killer Croc and then confronted Olive for the journal of Millie Jean Cobblepot. Given the diary by Damian, Bruce enrolled him as a student at Gotham Academy. Alerted of Superman's return by his WayneTech satellite, Bruce was later visited by Clark at Wayne Manor.
Informed by Harley Quinn that Deathstroke the Terminator was operating in Gotham, Batman met the assassin at an abandoned building. Their extremely brutal and bloody battle ended inconclusively, though, due to the interference of Harley. Despite recovering after the Terminator, Batman did not pursue him afterwards. After mysterious natural disasters began to level villages across the globe, the Justice League banded together to solve the mystery. Finding all of the missing villagers captured by aliens, the Trinity teamed up to defeat the aliens responsible. Nonetheless, Batman was agitated that Diana chose to strike first at the aliens. After training with Damian, Bruce went on patrol as Batman alone and told Robin to stay home. Upon returning, Bruce learned that Damian had decided to go on a globe trotting quest called the year of atonement. Handing over the keys of Wayne Manor to Jeremiah Arkham, Bruce moved into a city apartment owned by Alfred. Convinced by Alfred to take a vacation, a plane crashed at the airport just as Bruce was about to leave. Suiting up, Batman learned the attack to be caused by Magnus Magnuson prompting him to contact Dick for some Spyral information. Defeating Magnuson and stopping his plans, Batman quickly changed back into Bruce and took his vacation with Alfred.
After returning, Bruce and Lucius met outside of Wayne Tower to discuss the collapse of Wayne Enterprises and Commissioner Bard seizing Batman Incorporated's assets. Riding the Batmobile into the city, Batman found Jason Bard forcing Lucius to hack into and take control of the Batmobile. Unable to get out of the Batmobile or retake control, Batman was driven through Wayne Tower and ended up in a near freefall. Escaping when Julia activated the Blue Rose Protocol, Batman quickly ascended atop the GCPD Headquarters and attacked Bard. When Bard still tried to arrest Batman, but was met by the Family who threatened Bard to do the right thing. Returning to the Batcave, the Family prepared to celebrate and Bruce allowed Julia to take the night off to attend a concert.
Contacted by Leslie Thompkins, Batman learned that some of her patients had begun to go missing. Unearthing that several of Leslie's patients had been abducted and murdered by the Meek. Setting a lure, Batman trapped the Meek and forced him into a cell at Arkham Manor reserved for the Joker. When two Arkham Manor inmates were murdered, Batman visited with Harvey Bullock to investigate. Going undercover as Jack Shaw and getting admitted into Arkham Manor, Shaw checked in on Sybil Silverlock. Witnessing the near-murder of Seth Wickham, Shaw as saved from the Spider by orderly Eric Border. When Clayface was doesed with Joker Venom, Shaw recruited Mr. Freeze to help him take down "Clownface". Returning to Arkham Manor as Batman, the Dark Knight apprehended and defeated the Spider and recaptured Seth Wickham.
Hoping to capture more escaped Arkham inmates, Batman confronted a human trafficker and was himself met by Killer Croc. Distracted by an impromptu Bat-Signal made by Catwoman, Batman made his way to her apartment and learned that Bane, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Clayface and the Joker's Daughter were hiding out in the abandoned Tartarus Greek Restaurant. Receiving a phone call from Dick, Batman learned that Mr. Minos had been deposed as leader of Spyral by Helena Bertinelli. When his enemies relocated to the Willowwood Home for Children, Batman tracked them there and defeated Joker's Daughter, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Clayface and found Bane already defeated by Killer Croc. Working with Julia and Red Robin, Batman tracked down the Riddler to the Bullseye Casino Resort at Miller Mountain. With Riddler claiming to know who was behind the Cold War but refusing to reveal it, Batman captured him and sent him back to prison. When Batman returned to Gotham, the Family had been taken over by the Mad Hatter and the nanovirus. Arriving just as Harper Row as Bluebird took down Mad Hatter, Batman learned that Mad Hatter too was working for a higher power.
After Mad Hatter quickly escaped and joined up with the Tweeds, Batman tracked them and took them down. Batman then began investigating the murder of Jeb Lester and connected it to a new Anarky. As Matches Malone, the Dark Knight questioned Lonnie Machin about Lester and Anarky. Connecting Lester to the Mad Hatter and councilman Sam Young, Batman saved the Hatter from execution at the hands of Anarky whom he then exposed as Councilman young.
Obtaining the password to the Egyptian Club, Batman broke in with Bluebird and attacked the members of the resurrected Calabrese Family before he was made to stand down by Catwoman. Calming Selina down, Batman got her to take him to a captured Stephanie Brown. Telling Bluebird to take care of Stephanie, Batman agreed to think about giving Harper proper training. Authorizing the Family to initiate a manhunt for Achilles Milo, Batman found the professor trying to leave the city at the airport and tried to interrogate him to find out who caused the haunting of Arkham Asylum. Attacked by Mr. Bygone and demonic spirits, Batman fended them off and took Milo into custody. Taking Milo with him to the Gotham Cemetary, Batman met up with Jim Corrigan and Batwing and learned Milo was given magic by a "dream bird". Returning to the Batcave, Bruce researched the division of the sales and assets of Wayne Enterprises and was enraged to discover that most of his former holdings had been purchased by Arabic companies belonging to Ra's al Ghul.
Locating Ra's in Pakistan, Batman found a safehouse of the League of Assassins in Pakistan. However, Batman was isntead subjected to glimpses of Dick one day retaking the mantle of Batman, Damian's bloodthirsty version of Batman and an unknown student from the far future. Attacking Dr. Darrk and Lord Death Man, Batman made his way to a hospitalized Ra's who denied being behind the Cold War. While returning to Gotham, Batman was informed by Julia that several of his enemies had been given dangerous high-level resources prompting him to order Julia to tell the Family to take them down once more. By the time Batman returned, though, the Cold War had reached its apex and Gotham City was ablaze. When someone initiated a self-destruct on the Batplane, Batman was injured in his escape and forced to borrow an army jet.
Riding the jet back into the city, Batman was attacked by an armoured Bane and used the explosion to easily neutralize the terrorist. Heading to Batwing, Batman saved his apprentice from Scarecrow and then advanced to helping Bluebird stop Mr. Freeze. Batman then aided Red Robin in stopping in Clayface. Despite being worn out, spent and injured, Batman decided to head to the Beacon Tower where the mastermind behind the Cold War was summoning him. Electrocuted and defeated, Batman was shocked to discover that the mastermind was the Cluemaster. Chained to an impromptu Bat-Signal, Batman was unmasked by the Cluemaster who threw his cowl to the firey depths below. Breaking free of his chains, Bruce was too weak to take Cluemaster down on his own and was nearly executed.
Before Bruce could be killed by the Cluemaster, the Cluemaster was himself killed by Lincoln March. Carried out into the burning city by Lincoln, Bruce damaged the Talon's jetpack and made them both crash. Adorning an impromptu mask, Batman was unable to defeat Lincoln alone but still managed to thwart his plans when an exonerated Gordon pumped the sky full of Bat-Signals. Before Lincoln could execute him, though, Batman was rescued by the Family who forced the evil Talon to retreat, ending the Gotham Cold War.
Endgame[]
One week after the Cold War ended, Batman discovered Eiko Hasigawa to have taken on the mantle of Catwoman and advised her to take another career path. Discreetly visiting Selina, Batman warned her that she had begun treading a dangerous path by becoming the leader of all crime in Gotham. When Selina initiated an arms deal, Batman rained down to stop it but later learned that she was trying to get the GCPD to bust heroin dealers. After Selina went to war with Black Mask, Batman met with her and learned she had retaken the mantle of Catwoman. After learning that it was Selina who distributed his equipment to his enemies during the Cold War, Batman angrily accosted her for keeping the company of the Penguin and Killer Croc and officially declared that he would no longer look out for her. Meeting up with Jim Gordon, Batman and the ex-commissioner teamed up one more time to take down Scarecrow.
To solve supernatural murders, Batman met up with Jim Corrigan to discuss the Midnight Shift. Later, Batman, Gordon and Corrigan all met up to discuss the kidnappings of the Atwoods. After getting information on the case, Batman handed it over to Corrigan. When Ikkondrid the Corpse attacked Gotham City, Batman tried to aid the Midnight Shift in fighting it but was mostly useless in the fight. Working with Batgirl, Batman built a cell to contain Livewire that was given to Stryker's Island. When a near undetectable killer started attacking Superman, the World's Finest teamed up to find the murderer and ruled out Hector Hammond and Lobo. Realizing that the attacks were being perpetrated by miniature evil Kandorians, Batman enlisted the help of Atom and soon realized that Xa-Du was behind the attack. Using the Atom's technology and Lois Lane's help, Batman forced Xa-Du back into the Phantom Zone.
After learning of Superman's solar flare ability, Batman warned his friend of the possible consequences of overusing the ability as it caused him to temporarily lose his powers. When Bane, Killer Croc and Cheshire set out to assassinate a powerless Clark Kent, Batman set out to save his best friend. Realizing that his enemies were being mind controlled, Batman manipulated Bane and Killer Croc while capturing Cheshire. When Telos leaked out into Unvierse 0, Batman witnessed the ending of the Convergence. Returning to Earth, the Justice League made their way to a power plant where they fought Parasite. Joined by Superman, the Justice League defeated Parasite and looked into the Infinity Corporation. Working with Cyborg in the Batcave, Batman tried to find out more about the Infinity Corporation. Batman publicly expresed his mistrust of the recently arrived Kryptonian Sun-God Rao and after surveilling Arthur Spinks, expressed his voice to Superman. Deducing that Rao was reprogramming DNA to indoctrinate the people of Earth, Batman was attacked by Rao's Prophets and forced to flee. Working with Cyborg, Batman initiated a plan to take down Rao and with the help of Superman was succesful.
When Superman began to continuously test out the solar flare, Batman was forced to pick him up from random remote locations across the globe. A powerless Clark then had dinner with Bruce, Diana, Arthur and Barry. After Superman's secret identity of Clark Kent was exposed by Lois Lane, the entire Justice League watched uncomfortably. With Wonder Woman and Shazam, Batman helped Cyborg fight the Tekbreakers. With Deadman, the Justice League teamed up to defeat the Galactic Golem. A panicked Cyborg later met with the Justice League to discuss the Cybernetic Regulation Act, prompting Batman to later personally meet with him in the Batcave to discuss a company called Cyber-Tech. With Cyborg, Batman ultimately concocted a plan to infiltrate Cyber-Tech's detention centers. When the Thule attacked Amnesty Bay, the Justice League descended down to the town to help Aquaman and Wonder Woman fend them off.
Using technology taken from Niles Caulder, Bruce initiated perhaps his most powerful plan ever and made a cloning machine which would create clones of his that kept his memory until the day he decided to become Batman. Despite Alfred's disapproval, Bruce went ahead with the project but when his computer simulations told him that host bodies would die, the project was abandoned. When Cyborg initiated his plan to defeat Cyber-Tech, Batman received updates on the plan from Shazam.
In a battle with Scarecrow, Batman was doused with the Cassandra Strain of Fear Toxin. Returning home, Bruce passed out and was subjected to strange dreams and visions of possible, horrible alternate futures. After recovering, Bruce was attacked by a crazed Wonder Woman wearing her old suit. Activating Plan Fenrir, Bruce suited up in his Justice Buster Batsuit and got Alfred to clear ten square blocks in Gotham. A possessed Flash and Aquaman, also wearing his old armour, also attacked Batman. After defeating them, Batman fought a possessed Superman whose crazed condition who was wearing armour resembling his old one. Realizing that his friends had been infected by Joker Venom, Batman stopped Superman using Kryptonite gum. Quickly developing a cure for them, Batman delivered them and the cure to the ARGUS Headquarters.
After regrouping, Batman visited the ruins of Arkham Asylum and was met by Eric Border. After telling Border to return to Arkham Manor, Batman was locked in a cell by the orderly who revealed himself to be the Joker. Gassed by a paralytic, Batman realized that a new strain of Joker Venom had infected the city. Rescued by Alfred, Bruce was brought back to the Batcave where he learned that Gotham had descended into chaos. Tracing the first victim of the Joker Venom to the Gotham Presybterian Hospital, Batman also sent out a call to Jim Gordon while heading there. Finding the entire hospital staff and all of the patients to be Jokerized, Batman loked the patient zero and was shocked to discover it was Joe Chill. When the Joker Venom began to force Chill to try and kill the parents of Duke Thomas, Batman was able to save the boy but his parents ended up Jokerized. While escaping the hospital, Batman received another call from Gordon who was then attacked and the call hijacked by the Joker.
Heading to Gordon's apartment, Batman found Jim barely alive and with an axe in the chest. When Gordon Jokerized, Batman was approached by Julia who informed him of the severity of the new strain of Joker Venom. Sending Dick a sample of the Joker's blood, Batman's suspicions that whatever was allowing the Joker to regenerate was causing the Venom to give the infected a decay. Deducing that the Joker had taken his regeneration formula from Crazy Quilt, Batman started to make his way towards the insane scientist and admitted to Dick that he had no plan. Finding Crazy Quilt, Batman learned that the Joker was using dionesium to heal. After Crazy Quilt commit suicide, Batman was faced with the very real possibility of the Joker possibly being immortal.
Realizing he needed to verify Quilt's claims, Batman summoned Cassandra Cain to Gotham and recorded a message for Dick explaining his battle with Mother in case he died. Bruce also saved all of his memories in a backup drive for his cloning machine, labelling it the Alfred Protocol. Meeting with Cassandra, Batman told her that there was a real chance that the Joker could kill him, embraced her and told her to give the flashdrive to Dick if he died. Heading down to the labyrinth of the Court of Owls, Batman attacked Uriah Boone, one of the very first Talons, and demanded to know if the Joker was active as the Pale Man when Uriah was alive. Returning to the surface, Batman learned that Alfred had been attacked by the Joker and watched as the clown prince used the equipment in the Batcave to launch a demented parade through the streets of Gotham.
Assembling the Family, Batman also enlisted the help of his rogues gallery to fight the Joker. Getting Dick to put on a Batsuit and join the attack, Bruce himself travelled underground to find a sample of the dionesium to allow Julia to make a cure. As Bruce collected the dionesium, the caverns around him were rattled by explosives. While leaving, Bruce was stabbed through the shoulder by the Joker, starting the Second Skirmish Below Gotham. Sending the dionesium up, Batman was then stabbed in both shoulders by the Joker. While brutalizing the Joker, Bruce's face was set on fire by the clown prince. Stabbed in the arms and the left eye by the Joker's cards, Batman refused to relent and even bit the Joker's ear off to knock the clown down. Before the Joker could kill him, Batman dodged and allowed his arch enemy's spine to be snapped by a falling stalactite. With the cavern collapsing, Batman denied the Joker a chance to get to the dionesium and let the cave entomb them both.
Batman Returns[]
Wounded, but still alive, the dionesium seeped into Bruce's brain and he made it out of the cave and dropped dead. For three weeks the dionesium began to rework Bruce's brain and he awoke an amnesic in a bodybag with Julia Pennyworth at his side. With his memories lost, Bruce was taken to Wayne Manor where Alfred told him his life story but nothing of his time as Batman. After wandering around Gotham City for two days, Bruce returned to Alfred to inform him that he would be taking a job helping people. Offered a job at the Lucius Fox Center for Gotham Youth by Julie Madison, Bruce took the job and rekindled his high school romance with Julie. Of the children that Bruce interacted with at the youth center, the one who remained the most guarded from him was Duke Thomas. Doing some research to fill in knowledge about himself, Bruce discovered that Julie's father, Mallory Madison, was the man who provided Joe Chill with the gun to murder his parents. Bruce also began a ritual of sitting at a park bench by the youth center to contemplate his life and with the kids, happily wrote his name onto the wall of the youth center.
While in the park, Bruce was visited by journalist Jon Clark who asked if he would ever get back into his old occupation. While watching television, Bruce learned of the new Batman: Jim Gordon in a mech suit designed by Powers Industries. At the youth center, Bruce stumbled into Selina Kyle with whom he had a fleeting conversation. When knowledge of his amnesia became public, Bruce agreed to attend a tribute to him at the Beacon Tower. Told by Alfred that Mr. Sparrow had come to meet him, Bruce and he had an emotional meeting but halfway through was knocked unconscious by an intruder.
With Arkham Asylum being rebuilt, Wayne Manor was legally returned to Bruce by Geri Powers. Visiting the mansion with Alfred, Julie and Geri, Bruce was attacked by the Riddler, Clayface and Mr. Freeze. Despite having no memories of his time as Batman, Bruce managed to destroy a signal blocker to defeat all three villains. Despite having Wayne Manor in his possession, Bruce continued to feel only emptiness. When the items of the Joker's parade floated down next to the youth center, Bruce checked them out and was distrubed, requesting Alfred to try and get rid of them. While looking a picture albums of himself as a kid, Bruce and Alfred were interrupted by the arrival of the Justice League and his amnesia was verified by the Lasso of Truth. When a funeral service was held for Sybil Silverlock, Bruce attended and offered consolation to Olive. Attending the gala honouring him at the Beacon Tower, Bruce was invited to the kitchen where dozens of knife wielding people tried to assassinate him. Rescued by a group of teenagers calling themselves the Robins and Mr. Sparrow, Bruce was taken to safety and later talked to Mr. Sparrow about the event.
While working at the youth center, Bruce was met by the new Batman, Jim Gordon, who requested help due to Bruce's former connections with Batman Incorporated. Unable and unwilling to help, Bruce was still left with a seed of Mr. Bloom by Gordon. Putting the seed away, Bruce instead decided to do something about the damaged parade items and transformed them into a playground. Informing Julie that he did not care about her dad's connections to Joe Chill, Bruce proposed marriage to her, finally finding happiness with another person.
Clocking in to work at the youth center, Bruce was told of Mr. Bloom's attack on Powers International and realized that the seed given to him by Gordon was missing. Looking in the youth center's computer history, Bruce was able to track Duke tot he Iceberg Casino. Armed with a baseball bat, Bruce rescued Duke from two of the Penguin's goons and the two headed to a safer place. Taken to a subway terminal by Duke, Bruce was confused and depressed when the boy tried to force him to acknowledge himself as Batman. Saving Duke from a train on instinct, a sorrowful Bruce returned to the park as if on instinct and found another seed.
Interruped, Bruce was met by a similarly strange man who also had an accident by the park. Told by the man that the fish in a lake were infected by a louse, when Bruce tried to leave the man requested that Bruce not become who he was before. Believing the man to be talking about Batman and the Joker, Bruce was relieved when the man clarified he was talking about the lake. When the man was about to commit suicide, Bruce was startled by an explosion in Gotham City. Turning to face the man, Bruce was shocked that the strange person had disappeared but ran to the youth center to make sure Julie and the children were okay. Arriving, Bruce made it right when a girl named Olivia began to mutate in a misguided attempt believing she would become a hero by using one of Bloom's seeds. Returning to Wayne Manor, a bloody and battered Bruce demanded a teary-eyed Alfred to open up the Batcave. Despite Alfred's pleas, Bruce embraced himself as Batman and looked for a memory backup in the Batcave, finding the Alfred Protocol. Even though he neared brain death, Bruce was still transformed into Batman, but by Julie and not Alfred.
Putting on a new Batsuit, Batman found Jim Gordon and fought off Mr. Bloom's cronies. Reuniting with Gordon, Batman noticed the Powers International Hadron Collider was exploding to create an energy pulse to create a strange matter reaction. Trying to get Gordon to go to the hospital, Batman headed off to stop Mr. Bloom and attacked the supervillain directly. With the GCPD's Batman mechs under Bloom's control, Batman was distracted by them and a giant mech stylized after the Joker. Hijacking the mech, Batman once more directly attacked Bloom, preventing the metahuman from stopping Gordon from deactivating the energy pulse. Just as Bloom began to take control of the fight, Batman was aided by Duke Thomas and given the opportunity to destroy Bloom's transmitter. When Duke magnetized Bloom to a blimp and jumped out, Batman abandoned his mech and rescued the boy as Gordon stopped the energy pulse.
Meeting with Duke at the hospital, Bruce approached the boy and gave him an offer to train under him as the newest member of the Family. Having Alfred fill him in of the times he was still unable to remember, Batman headed off to the destroyed youth center. Moving the pink dinosaur slide to the inside of the center, Batman quietly thanked Julie in his own way for having had made him happy.
When Gordon woke up in the hospital and was reinstated as commissioner, Batman met him on the fire escape to let him know that they had work to do. Congratulating Gordon for beating Bloom and thanking him for keeping the city safe, Batman also forgave him for not quelling the situation before the real Batman's return was necessary.
Batman Reborn[]
Having Alfred update him on the current events of the world, Bruce learned of Damian's exploits, Talia's resurrection and the Family's battle with Mother. When Gorilla City went to war with the Lu'un Darga clan, Batman was alerted of it by the Justice League's Watchtower and descended down to confront Talia. With Talia, Batman interrupted Robin's duel with Suren Darga and reunited with his son. Due to Damian's insisting it, Batman agreed to team up with Talia to help Robin save the world and headed off to Dinosaur Island. While disarming a bomb under Maya DuCard, Batman let Damian and Talia go confront the Darga without him. Making it to Damian just in time, Batman interrupted the fight to give Robin a chance to talk sense into Suren Darga. Although the Darga's plan was stopped, Batman was unable to stop himself from arguing with Talia but the two did eventually have a private discussion.
Taking Gordon's Project Batman suit, Bruce stored it in the Batcave with plans to improve and upgrade it over the years. Finding Bluebird by her mother's grave, Batman met Harper and finally embraced her as a member of the Family. Just as Harper left, Batman greeted Cassandra Cain who adopted the codename Orphan and also joined the Family. Finding Dick, the two were joined by Jason, Tim and Damian, allowing Batman and all his Robins to go out and fight crime together.
Officially moving back into Wayne Manor, Bruce also reacquired some of his penthouse suites. Requesting that Lucius help him regain control over Wayne Enterprises, Bruce used Crazy Quilt's healing stitch to repair Alfred's hand. Building a new Batmobile, Batman arrived in Gotham just as an earthquake knocked out the city's power. Heading to Arkham to stop a riot, by the time Batman arrived the prisoners had been quelled. Suspecting the Court of Owls to be behind the power outage, Batman realized that they too were keeping quiet. Spying on the Penguin and his cronies, Batman was surprised that they too were not behind the outage. As the night ended, Batman realized that the outage was nothing more than a natural event. After Crypsis stole from the Wayne Family safety depsoit box, Batman tracked down the thief, defeated him and recovered the only stolen item: his How to Move On journal.
While investigating the murders of a string of Myrina Blacks, the Justice League was attacked by Grail and became embroiled in the Darkseid War. Systematically defeated by Grail, who then summoned Mobius, the League was rescued by Metron and taken to the Rock of Eternity. In the ensuing scuffle, Metron was removed from the Mobius Chair and Batman seated himself atop it, becoming the God of Knowledge. To test out the chair, Batman asked for the real identity of the Joker and was instead told that there were actually three different Jokers. To try and find the past of Mobius, Batman and Green Lantern headed off to Qward in Universe 3 where he discovered that Mobius was cursed due to the Anti-Life Equation. Sensing that Mobius had killed Darkseid, Batman told Green Lantern to head for Oa while himself returning to Gotham.
Beginning a several day purge of Gotham's criminal element, with the Mobius Chair Batman began to arrest criminals who were yet to even commit the crime. Sensing Green Lantern merging with a Mother Box, Batman approved of Hal's decision but also led to Hal rejecting being a New God. Refusing to listen to Commissioner Gordon, Batman continued his crime purge and eventually confronted and brutalized an imprisoned Joe Chill. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce was told by Alfred that he had become addicted to the Mobius Chair and was unable to remove himself from it.
Meeting with Green Lantern, Batman headed off to Wonder Woman and Superman, revealing that Superman was dying due to his contact with the Fire Pits. To decide on a course of action, the Justice League reluctantly teamed up with the remnants of the Crime Syndicate to fight Mobius, who demanded Batman give the chair back. After Superwoman's child became the new host of Darkseid, Batman was forced off the Mobius Chair by Green Lantern and a Green Ring of Willpower. After Wonder Woman calmed Grail down, the Darkseid War ended and Batman returned to the Batcave. Meeting with Green Lantern, Bruce told Hal what the Mobius Chair revealed about the Joker.
After stopping Tusk and a gang of metahumans, Batman was approached by Superman, who revealed himself to be suffering from a terminal illness. Given the responsibility of finding Supergirl, Batman traced her to New York City where he and Superman fought off dragons. Heading to China with Superman and Wonder Woman, Batman helped fight off the Great Ten while trying to find Superman's imposter. After learning of an energy spike in California, Batman led the Trinity to the city of Salinas and brought Superman face to face with his counterpart from a dead timeline: Clark White. Despite trying to help Superman defeat Denny Swan, in the end, Superman conducted the ultimate sacrifice to defeat the imposter. Realizing that the next seconds would be Superman's last, Batman made sure to tell his best friend the pleasure it was for them to serve and save people together.
Retreating to the Batcave to monitor news reports of Superman's death, Batman was informed by Alfred that the Joker had been sighted in Civic City. However, Batman also learned that the Joker had been apprehended in Baltimore and was being transferred to Arkham. Realizing that the Mobius Chair was right and that three different Jokers were present, Batman was faced with a new mystery and decided he needed to find out what that meant. Just then, though, Batman was confronted by Wally West and was told by him to head to the Flash. Not long after, Batman found the Comedian's Badge deep within the Batcave. As if on cue, just as Batman began to run tests on the badge, the Flash arrived and the two discussed how the new mystery was connected to Thomas Wayne's letter from the Flashpoint Timeline. Although no conclusions were reached, Bruce and Barry agreed that they needed to work on the case together. When Lex Luthor returned from Apokolips bearing the crest of the House of El, the Justice League descended down to Earth to confront him.
When Dick returned to Gotham City from Spyral, Bruce was informed of a bomb planted in Damian's brain by the Parliament of Owls. After Dick took care of the bomb, Batman was surprised to learn that his former apprentice was returning to the Nightwing identity. Along with the rest of the Justice League, Batman agreed to help train Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. Back in Gotham, Batman fought Calendar Man and destroyed the villain's seasonal spores. Met by Duke in the Batcave, Bruce started his new partner on an intense training program. Called to a business meeting with Lucius, Bruce was informed that control over Wayne Enterprises had finally been returned to him and all assets had been reacquired from the government. Tailoring a new costume for Duke, Batman went into action with Duke as Lark. Finding Calendar Man's weather machine, together, the two destroyed it before returning to Wayne Manor to train.
After Azrael was attacked by the Colony, Batman revealed his secret identity to Batwoman and gave her a strike team to help solve the mystery. After being attacked and ambushed by the Colony, Batman was captured and taken to the Colony's Cave. Escaping and realizing it was his Uncle Jacob leading the Colony, Batman confronted him and learned of the threat of the League of Shadows. Resuced by Batwoman's strike team, Batman continued to lead the fight against the Colony but was horrified when he believed Red Robin to have been incinerated by his uncle's drones. Angry and sad, Batman found Spoiler and comforted her, while learning that Tim had planned to quit being Red Robin.
With the rest of the Watchtower, Batman was introduced to Clark White's son, who had taken the identity of Superboy. After a mysterious new Clark Kent showed up, Batman met up with Clark White to discuss this man, who claimed that the deceased Superman had sent him into hiding. Disguised, Batman administered the new Clark Kent's polygraph to see that the man genuinely believed himself to be a separate person from the deceased Superman and Clark White.
With Clark White having had taken the identity of Superman, Bruce and Diana decided to help out the Timeline Remnant by helping them move to Hamilton County and take up the surname Smith. Batman and Wonder Woman later met up with the new Superman outside of the Hamilton County residency, with Batman noticing that Jonathan White was spying on their meeting. When one of the Reapers attacked New York City, the weakened Justice League called in the help of Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. When the aid of the Green Lanterns still was not enough, the League managed to defeat the Reaper with the help of the new Superman. When earthquakes began to cause cities all across the globe to crumble, the Justice League decided to split up to maximize relief efforts. While defending Gotham City, Batman found himself face to face with a giant alien spaceship. Quickly calling on the Flash for assistance, Batman used the help of his teammate to collect samples of the alien. As the situation calmed down, Batman headed to convene with the rest of the Justice League on the Watchtower and learned from Wonder Woman that the attack was facilitated by the Kindred. As the Kindred began to touchdown on Earth, Batman headed to request the help of Superman, telling the Man of Steel to head to the center of the planet. Heading to Superman's family, Batman stayed with them and protected them while the Kryptonian enacted the mission. Learning the Kindred's plan from Cyborg, Batman joined Cyborg, Flash and Wonder Woman at the sight of the Kindred's ritual. Learning a little more of the Kindred's plan, the Justice League managed to defeat the invaders and save the people they attempted to assimilate.
While fighting a mutated villain, an annoyed Batman was aided by Superman. The Justice League then fought a strange black blob and were all infected by something. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce began to feel more aggressive than usual. Invited to Clark White's farm with Wonder Woman, Batman arrived there and found a portal in the barn showing a young Clark Kent in Smallville.
Learning Kobra hijacked three surface to air missiles, Batman met up with Commissioner Gordon to discuss the thievery. Learning that the GCPD had recovered two of the three missiles, Batman watched as the third struck a plane. Requesting help from Green Lantern and Superman, Batman used rocket boosters to propel himself up to the plane. Facing his probable death, Batman and the plane were rescued by two new superheroes calling themselves Gotham and Gotham Girl. Watching the superheroes, Batman helped them stop Solomon Grundy and advised Gotham to improve his methods. While leaving the scene, Batman was pursued by Gotham who requested the Dark Knight teach him. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce began to contemplate Gotham's powers while missing a gala he was supposed to host. Attending the gala, Bruce was disturbed by the Bat-Signal and decided to leave in order to test out Gotham and Gotham Girl's prowess. Bringing the superheroes with him, Batman introduced the two of them to Commissioner Gordon. Investigating Gotham and Gotham Girl's origins as Matches Malone, Bruce was alerted to an incident involving the Monster Men by Alfred. Heading to a collapsing bridge, Batman found Gotham and Gotham Girl already helping out. Working together, the three of them saved the bridge and Batman, finally trusting Gotham, applauded the new vigilante.
Later finding a frightened Gotham Girl alone at the site of an explosion and surrended by dead soldiers, Batman brought her down to the Batcave. Locating Gotham, Batman calmed down and confronted the superhero who then flew off. Informed by Duke that the Suicide Squad was involved with the explosion, Batman quickly confronted Sam Lane and Amanda Waller, knocking the former out. Learning that Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate were the masterminds behind the explosion, Batman located Gotham but was unable to stop the hero from committing intentional murder. Crashing the Batplane into Gotham, Batman called in the Justice League to fight the fallen hero but it was Gotham Girl who ended the battle by killing her brother.
While training Robin, Batman discussed the Parliament of Owls and gave Nightwing permission to defeat the Parliament by any means necessary. After a public fight with Black Mask, Batman was contacted by Batgirl and informed of Nightwing's activities with Raptor. Confronting Nightwing about Raptor, Batman was forced to deal with Dick bailing on him. Contacted by Deadshot, Batman agreed to help rescue Zoe Lawton from Kobra. When Red Hood botched a mission, Bruce once again found himself lacking trust in Jason. After Deadshot killed several Kobra agents, Batman quickly sent him back to Belle Reve Prison.
As a hurricane began to flood Gotham, Batman assembled the Family and began to fight the Monster Men. After Nightwing and Gotham Girl were transformed, Batman and Clayface teamed up to cure them. Activating the Wayne Watchtowers, Batman was told by the Family that Hugo Strange wanted to meet him face to face. Visiting the Birds of Prey, Batman warned Batgirl to be careful but was told off.
After Two-Face resurfaced and launched a devastating attack on Gotham City, Batman was forced to accept the help of Penguin, Black Mask and Great White Shark to capture his enemy. Taking Two-Face to cure the supervillain's physical injuries, Batman learned that his enemy was blackmailing thousands with meta-data and placed a bounty for his rescue. Heading in the Batplane, Batman was downed by drones and defeated Killer Moth, Firefly, Black Spider, Gentleman Ghost, Orca and Egghead while continuing to take Two-Face to their destination. Taking Two-Face with him to a train, Batman was attacked by Amygdala, Killer Croc, King Shark, Cheshire and Copperhead. Continuing to their destination, Batman was shocked that Two-Face threatened to expose his secret identity but was attacked by KGBeast.
Eye War[]
With the business relationship of Wayne Enterprises and Powers International blooming, Bruce and Geri Powers eventually decided on a merger and created the Wayne-Powers Corporation. Due to his distrust of Derek Powers, however, Bruce made sure to keep all of his technology encrypted using ciphers.
When the Eye War started, Batman was called to New York City and arrived at the Terrifitech Tower to assist Mr. Terrific. Trying to use the Palin Protocol to bring Brother Eye under control, Batman failed and was forced to fend off the Seeds. To fight back against Brother Eye, Batman joined the Resistance alongside Mr. Terrific, Ray Palmer and Madison Payne. To stay one step ahead of Brother Eye, Bruce made sure that the Wayne-Powers Corproation massively renovated Gotham City, transforming it into Neo Gotham.
When Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris had their first child, Bruce made sure to go and declare the baby Martin Jordan Jr as beautiful. After an exhausted Red Robin returned from a mission with the Teen Titans, he told Bruce that he was going to take some time off but just disappeared. An obsessed Bruce was unable to locate Red Robin and eventually gave up, putting his apprentice's armour on display in the Batcave. After the Joker died, Batman made sure to confirm the clown prince's death.
After retiring, Bruce took in a dog he named Ace. When Terry McGinnis was orphaned, Bruce took the frustrated teenager under his wing and traine dhim to be the new Batman. Aiding Terry over comms, Bruce watched as the new Batman took on a slew of supervillains including Inque, Shriek, Spellbinder and Rewire. Bruce continued to guide his new Batman, helping McGinnis defeat the Jokerz and Terminal. When Terry's identity as Batman was exposed to Maxine Gibson, Bruce eventually agreed to let her help Terry. Asking Terry to start documenting his case files, Bruce became frustrated when Batman started to research the case of Tim Drake. When a new fad of genetic self manipulation resulted in the Splicers descending on Gotham, Bruce and Batman defeated Abel Cuvier together.
After Brother Eye attacked the Global Peace Agency headquarters in Neo Gotham, Bruce was forced to remain inactive as Justice League fell in Europe and were turned into Bugs. Realizing that Neo Gotham would fall next, Bruce launched the Veil to keep his home hidden. Bruce also developed the Time Band in case he would need to time travel to win the Eye War. After Shriek began to rampage through Neo Gotham, Bruce guided Batman but was not able to prevent the city's systems from being taken offline. Although Brother Eye's attack on the city was only momentary, Bruce was forced to retreat when Terry was presumed dead after the attack.
Personality[]
Although often seen as cold, calculating and brooding, Bruce was also loving and caring of those around him. Loving Alfred like a father, Bruce cared about his butler dearly. Richard Grayson was also the person he cared for the most in the world, although he rarely ever expressed that he cared for Dick as a son. Nonetheless, Bruce saw Richard as the perfect version of Batman and his dark heir. Bruce cared a lot for his family, more than any, willing to go all the way to Apokolips to retrieve the body of Damian. The deaths of his parents at an early had a profound effect on Bruce that forced him to distance himself from the world, resulting in an aggressive attitude that only the closest of his friends were able to see past.
Powers[]
Although noted for being one of the few superheroes who possessed no powers, Batman had in fact gained superpowers on several occasions. Well versed in magic, Batman, although hardly ever, utilized spells on several known occasions. When infected with the Amazo Virus, Batman's metagene was improperly activated and he was blinded, but given a form of echolocation. In addition, Batman was also able to shoot sonic waves from his mouth. However, given that the Amazo Virus forced the activation of the metagene, upon being cured, Batman was restored to being a normal human.
Physique[]
Despite being a simple human, unlike the rest of the Justice League, Batman has pushed himself to his physical limits and is extremely strong on a scale to other superheroes, such as a red ant compared to an elephant. He is also very intelligent, having graduated high school years early and being coined the World's Greatest Detective by beings from other worlds. Over time Batman has graduated from defeating small thugs, to crime bosses, to super-powered beings to overworld warlords. This prowess was most evidently seen in Batman's deadly battle against Deathstroke, being able to go toe to toe with the mercenary despite having no powers.
Bruce's extreme durability was often credited to his even more extreme willpower and determination to do the right thing. The ability to prowl was attributed to his intense study of Ninjitsu and other martial arts, making him great at stealth and sneaking. The ability to instill fear in others was Bruce's greatest quality during his vigilante activities. As the Batman he was able to instill fear in his foes simply by appearing, others he often tortured. Most of the time, though, his torture was simply psychological and no true physical harm ever came to anybody. Bruce also had an understanding of magic, and though he is unable to cast spells by memory, he could with a parchment or written spell in front of him.
Alternate Futures[]
After Brother Eye initiated the Battle of Space, the armies of Apokolips chased the refugees of Earth 2 onto Earth 0. To win the war, however, Batman found himself forced to betray and trick Superman. After a fight with Superman over the ethics they had used, Bruce found himself in a colder place than before. Coming out of a coma and realizing Superman to have retreated away from the world, Batman visited the Toymaster and despite his injuries, attacked Metallo. Although he defeated Metallo, Batman was once again injured and his spine permanently destroyed.
Nonetheless, with the help of robotics and cybernetics, Bruce again managed to get back into fighting condition. Taking Duke Thomas on as his new Robin, Bruce handed over Batman Incorporated to Batwing. Helping Batwing set up a criminal organization known as Leviathan and a prison on Dinosaur Island, Batman once again took his operation international. Learning of the Caulder Component, Bruce desperately tried to find a way to save himself. Aware that a fatality would be imminent, Bruce sought life saving tech, but was unable to fix himself despite the help of WayneTech, Ted Kord, Will Magnus and Mr. Terrific. Eventually Bruce found himself in a derelict condition and close to death and launched a suicide mission to recover the Caulder Component. With the Caulder Component, Bruce was finally able to begin to recover from his injuries. To ensure that Gotham would always have a Batman, Bruce used the Caulder Component to create a fetal clone of himself that would activate with the memories he had until he decided to become Batman.
Bruce and Alfred then watched Mr. Terrific unveil the uSphere, curious, Bruce sent out an agent of his to the Key and Plastique, offering to pay them if they could break into Terrifitech and retrieve it. After his first clone was completed, Bruce began to start working on more but learned that the Heretic had returned. Confronting the monster, Bruce struggled with comprehending whether or not it was a clone of the being that killed his dead son. Unable to win, Batman's life was saved by Robin, after which the new Heretic simply self destructed. After this, Bruce stopped using the nano-mesh suit and donned a more armoured version of the Batsuit and turned his attention to Julian Day, who had taken control of Arkham Island and was threatening to recreate the Blackout from the Zero Year. He revealed that he would only let go if the man who had ruined his family was brought to him. Realizing that Day's wife had died during the Zero Year, Batman used the Riddler to break into Arkham Island and proceeded to hand Nygma over to the Calendar Man. With the threat of a second Zero Year evaporated, Bruce turned his attention to a more pressing matter: the strained partnership of Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. Using a meeting with Mr. Terrific as an opportunity to head to New York, Bruce also took note of the presence of a strange Batman figure operating in the city. Immediately brushing Terrific off, Bruce quickly reuinted Jason and Ronnie, revealing to them the ruse of Oliver Queen and ordering them to become Firestorm once again. Tracking the Batman figure to the apartment of Tim Drake, the real Batman attacked him quickly but they were quickly broken apart by the interference of Plastique. When the imposter fled, Batman tried to catch him, but the futuristic technology prevented him from properly doing so. Later arriving at the Terrifitech Tower, Bruce tried to discuss the ethics of the uSphere with Terrific, but was quickly turned down. Later tracking his imposter, Bruce hacked into the vigilante's "ALFRED system" and tried to follow the imposter, only to be attacked by the "Bat-Joker", which easily dispatched Bruce. Deciding to keep on spying on the Batman figure, Bruce once again attacked the Bat-Joker when it tried to shoot Tim Drake and the figure. The Batman figure explained himself to be from the End Future and sent Plastique with Bruce and Tim to stop Brother Eye. Arriving at Terrifitech during the invasion of the Brainiac God, Bruce found all the employees except a crazed Mr. Terrific to be dead. Believing Terrific to be responsible for the attack of the Brainiac God, Bruce disregarded the warning of the End Future and used the Palin Protocol to give Brother Eye access to world security systems and called Ray Palmer down for assistance. After Brother Eye helped contain Brainiac, Bruce and Terrific tried to get it to deactivate, only for it to disengage from the Palin Protocol. Given the Time Band by the Batman figure, whose name was learned to be Terry McGinnis, Bruce and Palmer got to work trying to repower it. Eventually, with the help of Madison Payne, they repowered it and Bruce allowed Tim to go back in time to stop Brother Eye, thus preventing the End Future.
Had, this future continued, however, Bruce would have eventually started to train the teenage Terry McGinnis as his successor. With Brother Eye turning on the population, Bruce's training of Terry robbed the boy of a proper childhood. Eventually, Brother Eye obliterated New York City, Central City, Metropolis and Gotham City.
Trying to stop Brother Eye, Bruce had Terry send Grifter and Amethyst to unplug Firestorm. After this failed he tried to go back in time and stop the future from ever happening, however, he was maimed before he could do anything, forcing Terry to go back in time instead. With his arm cut off, Bruce quickly began to fall unconscious due to lack of blood, but was recovered by Frankenstein, now the lead agent of Brother Eye. Placed on life support and brought into Arkham Asylum, Bruce gained relative consciousness around the same time Frankenstein brought him face to face with the Joker, who ended up bursting out in laughter. Bruce's scalp was then torn off as data from his brain was extracted to determine the location of Terry. Frankenstein then performed a horrific surgery on Bruce, "merging" him with the Joker to repurpose him as a soldier to murder Terry. In his new horrific form, Bruce was brought by Brother Eye and presented to Mr. Terrific. Although Terrific tried to force Bruce to maintain himself, the former Batman was slowly losing hope upon realizing he had been turned into a monster. After being sent back in time, the Bruce Wayne side of the Bat-Joker had completely lost hope, finally giving in to Brother Eye.By the conclusion of Futures End, however, the Bat-Joker finally located and critically wounded Terry. With a last ounce of defiance, Bruce fought past Brother Eye and urged Terry not to die. In Terry's last moments, the Batman finally destroyed the Bat-Joker and put Bruce to rest.
After retiring, Bruce gave the mantle of Batman back to Dick Grayson. However, shortly after doing so, Dick was killed in a terrorist plot. After Damian, enraged by Dick's death, decided to take matters into his own hands started to kill, Bruce set out to stop his own son. In the fight between father and son, though, Bruce was not the one who prevailed. While healing, a nurse was given to Bruce. The nurse, however, ended up being an Imposter Joker who kidnapped the injured Bruce. Rescued by Damian, Bruce decided to allow his son to become the new Batman.
External links[]
Alternate Universes[]
On Earth 2, a Bruce Wayne existed as well. Along with that Earth's version of Superman and Wonder Woman, this Bruce Wayne was the top protector. Although much of this "Bruce 2's" history was the same, he was much older, trained with the League of Shadows, had become Batman earlier and had married Selina Kyle. The marriage with Selina produced a child, Helena Wayne. Bruce was also much better friends with Superman, having had met him as a child. The biggest difference in the history of this Bruce was that his father, Thomas Wayne, did not die. Although Bruce spent most of his life believing this, he learned this to be false when he began investigating the murder of Joe Chill. Angered at his father for choosing revenge over him, Bruce shunted Thomas out of his life. Bruce had teamed up with the Bruce Wayne of Prime Earth on one occasion, to take down Kaiyo the Trickster who was swapping in between the Multiverse. Bruce had made Gotham City much more safe, making it essentially a utopia. Bruce fought valiantly to save Earth 2 in the Apokolips War, in the end, he sacrificed himself and destroyed Steppenwolf's link to Apokolips.