Batman

This article is about a comic book superhero. For the city in Turkey, see Batman (city).

Batman
A cosplayer of Batman
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #27 (cover-dated May 1939; published March 30, 1939)
Created by	Bob Kane Bill Finger
In-story information
Alter ego	Bruce Wayne
Place of origin	Gotham City
Team affiliations	Justice League Bat-Family Outsiders Wayne Enterprises
Partnerships	Robin (various) Batgirl (various) Alfred Pennyworth James Gordon Superman Wonder Woman Catwoman
Notable aliases	Dark Knight Caped Crusader Matches Malone World's Greatest Detective
Abilities	Genius-level intellect Expert detective Master martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant Master tactician, strategist, and field commander Uses high-tech equipment and weapons Peak human ability

Batman is a fictional character created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger for DC Comics. He is one of the most famous superheroes ever made. Batman is the secret identity of the very rich and successful businessman Bruce Wayne. He first appeared in comic books, and was later used in several radio series, movies, TV programs, books, and video games. There are also many toys and other merchandise items of Batman, as well as other characters and items from the world he lives in. Batman lives in the fictional city of Gotham. He often has a sidekick called Robin, a mantle used by several people.

Comic book

Actor Adam West as Batman in the 1960s

Batman was first named "The Bat-Man" by Bob Kane. Batman made his first appearance in 1939 in Detective Comics No. 27. He was the second DC superhero to be created. The first was Superman. Batman's origin story is that as a young child, Bruce Wayne saw a robber named Joe Chill murder his mother and father after they travelled through a dark alleyway. Bruce decided that he did not want that kind of violence to happen to anyone else and wanted to avenge his parents' death. He then dedicated his life to protect his city, Gotham City. While he was growing up, Bruce learned many different ways to fight and solve crimes. As an adult, Bruce used a costume that looks like bat to scare criminals, so that there would be less crime in Gotham City.

Batman's home base is the Batcave, which is located underneath Wayne Manor. In the Batcave, Batman has a super-computer named the Batcomputer, and uses it to analyse data and solve crimes. He also keeps a variety of costumes on display, as well as a giant dinosaur and penny.

Batman's car, the Batmobile

Batman uses many different tools to help fight crime. He has a car called the Batmobile, and motorcycle called the Bat-Cycl.. Batman has a special belt full of tools, most notably bat-shaped boomerangs called "Batarangs" He also has radio signals in his bat ears and can sometimes shoot them out as sharp projectiles. There are tasers built in his suit, shocking his foes if they try to remove his mask while he is knocked out. In the movie Batman & Robin, he has ice skates built into his boots. He also has a kryptonite ring and a kryptonite launcher. He has several power suits, all for different purposes. The most powerful one is called the HellBat, which Batman only uses in case of extreme emergencies, like when fighting Darkseid, or against an army of ninjas invading his home.

Friends

Batman is often helped out by other people in Gotham. His various allies are often referred to as the Bat Family. Some of these people also superheroes, though some are not. The most notable people who help Batman are his sidekick, Robin (a mantle held by various people, but is currently Damian Wayne), his butler Alfred Pennyworth, police commissioner James Gordon, Wayne Enterprises CEO and president Lucius Fox, and Gordon's daughter Barbara Gordon.

The mantle of Robin has been held by several people.

The first Robin was Dick Grayson, a circus performer whose parents were assassinated by a mobster. Bruce Wayne adopted Dick and trained him to become Robin. Dick was Robin for a very long time, being introduced in 1940, and retiring in 1984 to become the superhero Nightwing. Despite patrolling a new city, Bruce maintains a close friendship with Batman.

The next Robin was Jason Todd, a homeless orphan who Batman caught trying to steal the Batmobile's wheels. Batman took him in and trained him as Robin, but Jason had too much anger and often seriously hurt his enemies. He was later killed by the Joker after seeking him out to prove his worth to Batman, but was later ressurected by a Lazarus Pit and became the antihero Red Hood.

The next Robin was Tim Drake, an extremely intelligent boy who discovered Batman's identity. Impressed, Batman trained him to be the new Robin. Tim later went on to become Red Robin, and joined the Teen Titans.

Later on, a girl named Stephanie Brown became a superhero known as the Spoiler. She seeked to foil mobster crimes, and was romantically involved with Tim Drake. After falsely believing Tim was unfaithful to her, she demanded to Batman that she train him to become Robin, which he agreed to. However, she was only Robin for a very short time, as she was fired by Batman for being too reckless and disobeying his orders. She later became involved in a city-wide gang war she accidentally initiated, and died.

Later on, Batman discovered that a former lover of his, the assassin Talia Al Ghul, had raised a son he never knew about, named Damian. Batman took Damian in and he lived him for a while, until Batman was killed by Darkseid. Dick Grayson became Batman and trained Damian to be Robin. However, it was later revealed that Batman was not dead, but sent back in time. After returning, Bruce became Batman once again with Damian as Robin by his side.

The mantle of Batgirl has also been held by several people.

Betty Kane was the first Batgirl(then titled Bat-Girl), and was the sidekick to Batwoman. However, she was only briefly used in comics and was not seen until she appeared in the 1970s in Teen Titans, as the hero Flamebird.

Barbara Gordon is the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon. She had a fascination with Batman and used her high intellect and gadgets to become Batgirl. Eventually, Batman agreed to train her, and Batgirl worked alongside Batman and Robin for a long time. However, her time as Batgirl came to an end when the Joker shot and paralysed her spine from below the waist. Confined to a wheelchair, Barbara now mostly operates as Oracle, Batman's right-hand intelligence expert as well as one of the smartest in the superhero community.

Stephanie Brown was later revealed to have faked her death, and upon arriving back in Gotham, was trained by Barbara Gordon to become the new Batgirl. She briefly worked alongside Batman before DC comics rebooted the comic story, and returned her to being the Spoiler.

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of the assassin Lady Shiva, and was raised to be the perfect killer. After killing someone for the first time, she was heartbroken with guilt, and ran away. She later saved the life of Commissioner Gordon, and was taken in by Batman. Later in her life, she was further trained to become Batgirl. While later renaming herself as the Black Bat and then the Orphan, she eventually returned to the Batgirl name.

Commissioner Gordon is the police commissioner of the Gotham Police Department. He is shown to be the only cop that Batman trusts, and one of the few non-corrupt in the city. He and Batman have a working relationship, and he secretly provides information, as he believes Batman is good for Gotham. He uses a Bat-Signal which shines a light into the sky with a shadow in the shape of a bat when he needs Batman's assistance.

Batman is also friends with Superman. The two have a long history together and despite several stories where they are enemies, they are shown to be close, trusting friends in the main comics. Superman gave Batman a small amount of Kryptonite to use in case he ever became evil.

Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are often referred to as the "Trinity". They are the three most iconic DC superheroes as well as some of the most powerful.

Batman has joined many superhero teams that fight against evil, most notably the Justice League, the Justice League of America, and the Justice League Dark.

Batman's primary superhero team is the Bat-Family, comprised of him, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman, Oracle, Red Robin, Red Hood, Huntress, Spoiler, and Signal.

However, the Bat-Family sometimes has some unconventional "on-and-off" members, such as Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Clayface.

Enemies

Batman's "rogue's gallery" contains a colorful mix of crime lords, terrorists, and animal-themed criminals. As the city never gave Batman permission to fight crime, sometimes Batman is an enemy of the police. If the police ever do bad things or refuse to act, Batman will fight them to keep everyone else safe.

Batman's most famous enemies are:

The Joker, a crazed clown who loves to pull pranks in twisted ways, and is determined to prove anyone can be like him after one bad day.

Harley Quinn, the obsessed sidekick of the Joker. She was once a psychiatrist who fell madly in love with the Joker, and ran away with him. After years of abuse, she breaks up with the Joker and begins a partnership with Poison Ivy.

The Penguin, a short, greedy crime lord who uses an umbrella with hidden weapons and other bird-themed gadgets. He is the owner of the Iceberg Lounge, a club where Gotham's rich people can socialise, and is also the base of operations for the Penguin's crimes.

Ra's al Ghul, a power-hungry terrorist who uses a Lazarus Pit to achieve immortality. He was born a very long time ago, and seeks to get Batman to take his placeas leader of secret group of assassin ninjas, believing him to be a worthy foe.

Bane, a former wrestler and highly intelligent criminal who uses his brute strength and use of an addictive steroid named Venom to enforce his own brandish of justice upon Gotham.

The Riddler, the most gifted amongst Batman's rogue's gallery, but also obsessed with proving his intellectual worth. He commits crimes and leaves riddles behind as "clues", seeking to test the intelligence of those who try to solve them in order to find someone smarter than him.

Two-Face, a former District Attorney whose left side of his face was scarred by acid, permanently altering his psyche in order to reflect his obsession with order. He often uses a coin to decide the fate of his victims.

The Scarecrow, a psychologist obsessed with fear. He uses mind-altering toxins to cause his victims to experience their worst fears.

Poison Ivy, an alluring yet dangerous eco-terrorist who uses her looks to commit crimes, all for the welfare of "The Green", a nickname used by her for the Earth's collective plant life.

Catwoman, a highly talented cat burglar who mostly steals from the rich. She and Batman often share a romantic attraction, described as a game of "bat and mouse".

Mr. Freeze, an intelligent yet stoic cryo-scientist who commits cold-themed crimes in order to achieve his goal of curing his wife from a mysterious illness, while she is frozen in a cryopod.

Clayface, a former actor who uses a strange face cream in order to maintain his good looks. After becoming obsessed, his entire body became composed of the clay and permanently disfigured him, leaving him to commit crimes with his new shapeshifting powers.

Television

In the 1960s, Batman got a live-action television series, called Batman. In it, Adam West was the actor who portrayed Batman and Burt Ward portrayed Robin. There are also many cartoons with Batman as a character. These include, but are not limited to, Superfriends, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and Justice League. There are other cartoons and programs where Batman is a character, but is not the most important part of the story, such as "Birds of Prey". There was a live-action series that is about Batman's daughter, the Huntress. A 3D-animation show called Beware the Batman was made in 2013.. Most recently in 2024, a show made by Amazon called Batman: Caped Crusader was released.

Famous quotes

Batman is a superhero who has very strict rules, which he uses to set an example for justice seekers. In Batman Begins, when talking to Jim Gordon, he said "It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you." This means that actions speak loudest, and that good people can be seen as such through what they do, like Batman.

Another popular quote is "I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman!" used in several Batman appearances. It was first used in Batman: The Animated Series, as Batman assures himself of who he is. It was also used in the video game Batman: Arkham Knight, when faced against a hallucination of the Joker.

However, Batman's most famous quote is simply "I'm Batman", popularised by his first movie, Batman, released in 1989.

Movies

The actors who have played Batman in live action movies. Top from left to right: Lewis Wilson, Adam West, Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer. Bottom from left to right: George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson

Kevin Conroy (left) voiced the character in various animated movies, television shows and video games while Will Arnett (right) voiced the character in The Lego Movie franchise

• 1940s movie serials by Lewis Wilson and Robert Lowery.
• 1966 Batman, based on the TV series, and starring Adam West.
• 1989-2023 Tim Burton's film series
  • 1989 Batman by Michael Keaton
  • 1992 Batman Returns by Michael Keaton
    • 2023 The Flash by Michael Keaton
• 1995-1997Joel Schumacher's duology
  • 1995 Batman Forever by Val Kilmer.
  • 1997 Batman & Robin by George Clooney.
    • 2023 The Flash by George Clooney.
• 2005–2012 The Dark Knight Trilogy by Christian Bale
  • 2005 Batman Begins
  • 2008 The Dark Knight
  • 2012 The Dark Knight Rises
• 2014–2019 The Lego Movies by Will Arnett
  • 2014 The Lego Movie
  • 2017 The Lego Batman Movie
  • 2019 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
• 2016–2023 DC Extended Universe, played by Ben Affleck
  • 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
  • 2016 Suicide Squad
  • 2017 Justice League
  • 2021 Zack Snyder's Justice League
  • 2023 The Flash
• 2022–present The Batman Movies by Robert Pattinson
  • 2022 The Batman
  • 2027 The Batman Part II
• 2022 DC League of Super-Pets by Keanu Reeves