Wikia

Bruce Wayne was orphaned as a child when he witnessed his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, brutally gunned down in a random mugging. He made a solemn vow at the grave of his parents that he would commit his life towards bringing wrongdoers to justice. After the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce Wayne became the legal ward of the family butler Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred and he lived at the family estate in Gotham City known as Wayne Manor.

Bruce Wayne drew upon the influences of others in order to create what would one day become his dual identity as Batman. One of his earliest inspirations was taken from a character from old movie serials known as the Gray Ghost. Little did Bruce know that he would one day meet his childhood hero.

As a young man, Bruce Wayne had already mastered several martial arts forms. He had discovered an immense cavern beneath Wayne Manor, and Alfred and he began furnishing it as a secret crime laboratory. In short order, Bruce began operarting as a street-level vigilante, donning a black ski-mask and going out into the night to foil crimes. Though he was marginally successful, Bruce grew frustrated by the fact that his foes were not afraid of him. He realized that he would need something else in order to inspire terror into the hearts of Gotham's underworld.

During this time, Bruce met and fell in love with a woman named Andrea Beaumont. He even considered abandoning his crusade for justice to devote himself to her, but he was haunted by the memory of his slain parents. Bruce proposed to Andrea, who readily accepted. Unfortunately, as Bruce would later learn, her father, Carl Beaumont, had borrowed money from Sal Valestra and his mob gang (including a young Jack Napier) Andrea chose to flee with her father overseas, and sent the ring back to Bruce with a letter not telling the real reasons. Heartbroken, Bruce Wayne committed himself entirely towards fighting crime. However, he had yet to develop the means by which to instimidate his adversaries.

A few nights later, Bruce Wayne was in his father's study mourning the loss of his parents when a bat crashed through the study window. Inspired by this incident, Bruce realized that he would garb himself in the visage of a bat... and thus, the Batman was born.

Partners

Batman's first partner was Dick Grayson, a circus acrobat whose parents were murdered by gangster Tony Zucco. With training by Bruce Wayne in both fighting and criminal science, Dick became the first hero to bear the mantle of Robin. Later on, as a young adult, Dick abandoned his Robin identity and adopted that of Nightwing, mostly working solo but assisting Batman and his new partner Tim Drake, who was the second Robin, from time to time. Tim's career came to an end when the Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped him and tortured him into revealing secrets about Batman, eventually using genetic technology to transform Tim into J.J., a youthful version of what years later would become the second incarnation of the Joker. When the Joker had Batman on the ropes, he handed Tim one of his BANG! guns and told him to "Make Daddy proud...deliver the punchline!" Tim struggled with his conscience as he aimed the gun first at Bruce, then a split second later fired the flag projectile at the Joker, killing him. Though Tim was restored to sanity, Bruce forbade him from ever being his partner from that point on.

Bruce on occasion also worked with Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, in her costumed identity of Batgirl. The two also briefly dated.

Justice League

Bruce became one of the founding members of the Justice League, teaming up with six other powerful heroes to deal with an alien threat that had devastated the people of Mars, whom J'onn J'onnz was a part of, and was now threatening Earth. He chooses to mostly work part-time with the League due to Gotham City's need for him to be their protector. During his time in the Justice League, he met his Justice Lord counterpart in an alternate reality, who through his companions had made even his Gotham City a peaceful place to live in, though with the residents of Arkham Asylum lobotomized by Superman's heat vision and with armed police handling even the most minor transgressions such as a disgruntled restaurant customer complaining about a miscalculated check.

Batman Beyond

As he got older, Bruce started to getting plagued by heart problems. After his heart started acting up doing an attempt to save a rich girl held hostage by a group of crooks, and almost got him killed, Bruce decided to hang up the mantle of Batman for good. Shortly after, he was bought out from Wayne Enterprises by Derek Powers in a hostile takeover. After all this, Bruce choose to retire to Wayne Manor, living a life of solitude with his dog Ace.

Eventually Terry McGinnis figured out that Bruce Wayne used to be Batman. Wanting revenge on Derek Powers for killing his father, Warren McGinnis, Terry stole Bruce's advanced Batman suit and went after him as he was about to strike a deal with a foreign weapons dealer about a shipment of chemical weapons. At first Bruce used a remote command to lockdown the suit, but after Terry pointed out the parallels in their pasts, Bruce felt sympathy for him, and begrudging agreed to help him. After Terry managed to stop the deal, Bruce, impressed with his performance, offered him to take up the mantle of Batman under his guidance, to which Terry agreed.

As one of Bruce's kidneys started to fail, Terry signed up as a donor. Finding out that their DNA was suspiciously similar, Terry started questioning his origins, which lead to a fallout between him and Bruce and him stopping to work as Batman. Terry sought out Bruce's enemy and later ally from the Justice League days, Amanda Waller, and learned that he was created as a biological son to Bruce Wayne through the use of Project Cadmus nanotechnology injected into his father, for the sake of creating a Batman to take over for Bruce Wayne. After this Terry decided to reconcile with Bruce, and take up the Batman mantle again.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Abilities

Indomitable Will

Master Martial Artist

Expert Acrobat

Throwing

Intimidation

Interrogation

Peak Human Conditioning

Master of Stealth

Genius-Level Intellect

Master Detective
Multi-lingual: Known to be fluent in French, German, Kaznian and Spanish.
Escapologist: Batman was taught the arts of escapism by Zatara.
Master of Disguise: Batman used various aliases, including Gaff Morgan and Matches Malone, to infiltrate gotham's underworld.
Ventriloquist: Learned the basics from Zatara.
Lip-reading

Expert Driver and Pilot

Strength level

In his prime, Batman was the peak of physical perfection, capable of lifting above his own bodyweight. He possessed the strength level of a man his age, size and weight who engaged in intensive regular exercise. Even as he grew older, his strength levels still surpassed other men his age.

Weaknesses

Restricted Mobility: The physical punishment of a lifetime of crimefighting began to take its toll on Bruce Wayne as he grew older. As an elderly man, Bruce developed a heart condition and required the use of a cane to ease mobility.

ParaphernaliaEdit

Equipment

Utility Belt

Batsuit: While his first batsuits were low-tech, as he grew older, he designed a batsuit with neuro-muscular amplification and flight capabilities.

Batcomputer: The Batcomputer was cutting edge even in the 2040's.

Transportation

Batmobile

First Batmobile: Batman's first Batmobile was an adapted car of his own design.
Second Batmobile: After the first car broke down, Batman acquired the services of Earl Cooper, a car designer who had been fired for whistle-blowing, to design him a new one.
Third Batmobile: An upgraded version of the second one after its destruction at the hands of the Penguin.
Fourth Batmobile: Also known as the KnightStriker, the fourth Batmobile served Batman during his years in the Justice League.
Fifth Batmobile: A flying Batmobile, primarily used by his successor to the mantle, Terry McGinnis.

Batboat

Batwing

First Batwing: A sleak experimental flying wing.
Second Batwing: A more conventionally shaped fighterjet. He made spares; several of them were destroyed in battle.
Third Batwing: During his later years in the Justic League, Batman designed a more futuristic jet that was up-to-date with the latest aeronautical innovations.

Javelin: During his years in the Justice League, Batman would occasionally travel in one of the League's Javelins rather than his own vehicles.

Weapons

Batarang: Batman wielded a wide array of Batarangs, from simple metal throwing weapons to explosive versions.

Bolos

Batrope

NotesEdit

The voice for Batman in the various animated programs was provided by Kevin Conroy, who currently voices the character in various animated films and video games.

TriviaEdit

Bruce's identity and costume were inspired by the character of the Gray Ghost. In Batman: The Animated Series, the Gray Ghost was voiced by actor Adam West, who also played the role of Batman in the 1966 Batman live-action television series.

LinksEdit

Batman at the DC Animated Universe Wikia

Discover and Discuss

Search this site for: Batman · Bruce Thomas Wayne · Bruce Wayne (DCAU)
Search the Forums for: Batman · Bruce Thomas Wayne · Bruce Wayne (DCAU)
Discuss this and other characters on the forums

Footnotes

Batman Family member

This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category.

Justice League member

This character is or was a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from both interstellar and domestic threats.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Start a Discussion Discussions about Bruce Wayne (DCAU)

You can find discussions about everything related to this wiki on DC Database Forum!