History
Earth-Two
Some of the eldest members of the Wayne Family can be tracked to the 18th Century and among them are Winslow Wayne who fought besides Theodore Roosevelt, Herkimer Wayne who fought in the war of 1812 and Silas Wayne who was a Philadelphia silversmith and allegedly a highwayman. Their descendant, Bruce Wayne found a document written by Benjamin Franklin which exonerated Silas and cleared his name.[1]
Dr. Thomas Wayne is the father of Bruce Wayne and the husband of Martha Wayne. He was an inheritor of the Wayne family fortune, until he was murdered by a mug called Joe Chill. The criminal shot Thomas in front of Martha, which caused her to die of a heart attack, leaving Bruce orphan at a very young age.[2] Scarred and traumatized, Bruce decided to train his mind and body to become the vigilante, Batman.[3]
After Thomas & Martha's deaths, Bruce was raised by Thomas's brother Philip Wayne.[4] Thomas and Phillip's frail sister Agatha helped when she could, and continued to visit Bruce occasionally into adulthood.[5] Bruce has a cousin Jane who is roughly the same age, and when they were adults Bruce once babysat her son Junior (their exact relationship is not known).[6]
Bruce Wayne eventually married the reformed villain Selena Kyle (Catwoman)[7], and they had a daughter Helena Wayne.[8] Years later, Selena was killed by a former criminal associate, and Helena became the vigilante Huntress to bring her mother's killer to justice.[9]
Earth-One
In the waning days of the Crusades, a man named Harold served as the first lord of Waynemoor Castle in Northern England until he died, childless and unmarried, at which point his brother Lorin took over the estate. Centuries later, it was discovered by Lorin's descendant - Bruce Wayne, the Batman - that Harold was actually murdered by Lorin.[10]
In medieval times, Lancelot Wayne constructed a pair of wings and tried to emulate the flight of bats, risking death by gliding from a high cliff into a river.[11]
Many Waynes took part in the United States' war for independence. Pennsylvania native Anthony Wayne joined the war in 1775 and became a brigadier general within two years, as part of George Washington's own army. In 1779 he helped recapture a British outpost in Stony Point, New Jersey. Eventually earning the nickname "Mad Anthony," he retired in 1783, dabbled in politics, returned to the military in 1791 and was involved in raids against Indians in 1794, then died in 1796 at the age of 51.[citation needed] At one point he also encountered a time-travelling Batman, Robin, and Superman.[12] His resemblance to Bruce Wayne was so uncanny that Bruce surmised Anthony must have been one of his ancestors. A man named Horatio Wayne also served in the Revolution, as a general.[13]
At one point, Caleb Wayne led a wagon train through Native American territory.[13]
Modern Times
Silas Wayne would often berate his great-nephew, Bruce Wayne, over the bored playboy lifestyle he had chosen in contrast to the achievements of his ancestors. Bruce attempted a number of brave feats in order to impress Silas, but he finally conceived a plan that involved both Bruce Wayne and Batman without revealing his identity to the public. Moments before Silas died, Bruce privately confided that he actually was Batman, and Silas was at peace. Ismael Wayne, the great whaling captain, was a contemporary of this generation.[13]
Silas's brother Elwood Wayne was lord of Waynemoor Castle in England. At his deathbed, he summoned a few of his remaining relatives - Wilhemina Wayne, his orphaned niece from South Africa; Emelyn Wayne, a reverend and missionary among the Asians; Jeremy Wayne, an Australian ranch hand; and great-nephew Bruce Wayne from Gotham City - to get his affairs in order. While there, the castle was plagued by a mysterious knight, who was eventually revealed to be Asquith, Elwood's retainer and valet. Asquith had delusions of being a reincarnation of Harold, the castle's original master who was murdered by his brother, Lorin. Asquith inexplicably died, and at the exact same moment, Elwood died as well.[10]
Elwood and Silas's nephew Thomas Wayne, who was once an army doctor,[13] was married to Martha Wayne and together they had two sons, Thomas Jr.[14] and Bruce. Thomas had a cousin named Bruce N. Wayne, a well-known private detective living on the West Coast. This man would serve as the namesake for Thomas's second son.[15]
When Bruce was an infant, Martha and Thomas Jr. were in a automobile accident, leaving Thomas Jr. brain damaged and a danger to himself and others. Thomas Jr. was committed to a mental institution.[14]
The Waynes' fate was similar as their Earth-Two counterparts as they were shot and killed in front of their younger son, Bruce, who took the same path to become Batman. Bruce was raised to adulthood by Thomas's brother Philip Wayne.[16]
Bruce would not learn of Thomas Jr. existence until they were both adults, when Bruce was Batman and Thomas Jr. was the Boomerang Killer.[14] Thomas Jr. would later die taking a bullet for Batman, in a rare moment of lucidity.[17]
Other contemporary, living Wayne family members (besides Bruce, Bruce N., Wilhemina, Emelyn & Jeremy) include Vanderveer Wayne, who once visited Gotham City and impersonated Robin in an attempt to impress Bruce,[18] and three unnamed family members (two women and one man) seen at a family meeting called by Silas.[13]
New Earth
The Waynes are a family of Norse, French, Scottish, and English descent who emigrated to colonial America and settled in what would one day become Gotham City. They grew to be one of the city's most prominent families, building an empire on real estate, railroads, shipping, technology, and other businesses. One of their remaining heirs, Bruce Wayne, secretly operates as the superhero vigilante Batman.
"The Bat Man"
Around the 10th century A.D., a Norse hero known only as "the Bat Man" is purported to have existed and defeated Hrothgar the Frost Giant with the help of the Viking Prince. In celebration of this feat, a medallion was carved and split in two, with one half being passed down to descendants of the Bat Man, and the other to descendants of the Viking Prince.[19]
The Crusades
During the Crusades, a knight called geVain was tasked with the retrieval and defense of the Holy Grail.[20] In the 14th century, Sir Gaweyne de Weyne, a Frenchman and knight of the Scottish court, gave his life in the crusade to free the Holy Land. Per his wishes, his heart was embalmed and returned to Scotland. Almost 600 years later, upon the rediscovery of his grave, the knight's heart was finally laid to rest in his tomb.[21]
Within or shortly after the timeframe of the crusades, a man named Contarf Wayne was the first master of Castle Wayne in Inishtree, Scotland.[22][23] It is not clear if Castle Wayne and Waynemoor Castle are one and the same.
Colonial Times
In 1640, Nathaniel Wayne adopted the name Malleus in order to hunt witches in the Gotham colony. A supposed witch named Annie fell in love with a time-displaced Bruce Wayne who had recently arrived and adopted the guise of Mordecai, a witchhunter from Boston. After Bruce was whisked to another time period, Annie placed a curse on Nathaniel and all his kin moments before being hanged for witchcraft.[24]
In 1765, Thomas Wayne led a cult of devil-worshippers and dabbled in human sacrifice in order to unleash the demon Barbatos and cheat death itself. Over 200 years later, he would return to wreak havoc on Batman's life as the villainous Dr. Hurt.[25]
The American Revolution
Darius Wayne was a Revolutionary War hero, depicted in one portrait as burning British ships.[26] In 1795, Nathan van Derm designed a manor for him[27] which Darius began constructing in Bristol.[28] However, the manor was not completed during Darius's lifetime and his family would not move in for another two generations.
The 1800s
In the years after the Revolution, Charles purchased a large amount of real estate and property, including swampland, for extremely low prices. He wisely managed his growing fortune and was in control of a thriving enterprise when he died of tuberculosis at the age of 52, passing his legacy on to his two sons, Joshua Thomas Wayne and Solomon Zebediah Wayne.[29] They bought Wayne Manor after the tragic suicide of its former tennant, Jerome K. van Derm.[30]
In addition to managing the many Wayne companies, Joshua was an abolitionist who ferried countless slaves along the Underground Railroad (even passing through the caves beneath Wayne Manor) to freedom in Canada. A Harvard graduate, Solomon became a prominent federal judge, partially through the patronage of Senator Nugent Bolle.[29] Solomon also commissioned the architect Cyrus Pinkney to design much of Gotham's infamous and eccentric gothic architecture, much to the chagrin of certain critics.[31]
Joshua Wayne
On November 4, 1860, tragedy struck the brothers' lives. Unbeknownst to Solomon, Joshua was killed while trying to fend off bounty hunters who had arrived at Wayne Manor seeking the Underground Railroad outpost they believed was nearby. His remains would not be discovered for more than a century, until Bruce Wayne found them and finally laid Joshua to rest.[30]
Solomon Wayne was married to a woman named Dorothea, who was roughly forty years younger than him. She bore him a son named Alan, when Solomon was around 77 years old. At or around the age of 104, Solomon died.[29]
Alan Wayne continued to grow his family fortune. When he was about to commit suicide in the late 19th century, he met Catherine van Derm and also briefly encountered a time-displaced Bruce Wayne. Alan and Catherine would later marry. Together, they completed the construction of Wayne Manor. Catherine died while delivering her and Alan's only son, Kenneth.[32] Alan spearheaded the growth of the Gotham Railworks, and used Wayne Shipping to foster the growth of Wayne Enterprises, the family's "umbrella" company.[29]
In 1870, the Gotham Botanical Gardens were established courtesy of a grant from C.L. Wayne.[33]
The early 1900s
Kenneth Wayne was Alan's son and another shrewd Wayne businessman. He foresaw America's coming industrialization and also guided the creation of Wayne Chemical. His early death left the Wayne fortune in the hands of his 37-year-old widow, Laura Elizabeth Wayne, who raised their infant son, Patrick, in addition to advocating staunchly for the cause of Prohibition.[29] Although not much is known about them, Benjamin and Abigail Wayne may have been contemporaries of this generation of Waynes.[30]
Patrick Morgan Wayne inherited Wayne Enterprises after his mother's death and guided the company through two World Wars. In the wake of the Great Depression, he built WayneCorp and later WayneTech, whose ships and aircraft aided the war effort. Patrick's savvy grew the Wayne name and brand further than ever before.[29]
Modern Times
Thomas Wayne was the sole son of Patrick Morgan Wayne, although he did have an older sister, Agatha Wayne[34]. Uninterested in a career in finance, after his college years Thomas served as a missionary administering humanitarian aid to impoverished nations in the Caribbean. Thomas escaped Cuban forces enacting their "domino" charge in attempt to unite the region in communism, and eventually made his way back to Gotham, at which point he entered Gotham University's Medical School. Thomas would go on to become a successful, well-respected doctor and surgeon, in addition to managing Wayne Enterprises' numerous philanthropic efforts with the help of his wife, Martha, a member of the wealthy Kane family.[29]
Thomas and Martha married and together, they had a son named Bruce, but their lives ended tragically when their son Bruce was around ten years old.[35] After leaving a showing of The Mark of Zorro at the Monarch Theater, the family was walking down an alley called Park Row (now known as Crime Alley) when a gunman emerged and demanded Martha's pearl necklace. Accounts of this event are numerous and conflicting, but most of them have this gunman - a man named Joe Chill[36] - shoot Thomas and Martha dead while leaving their son, Bruce, alive and traumatized.
Young Bruce vowed to spend the rest of his life waging war on criminals, and left Gotham to study and train under various masters around the world, honing his mind and body for his mission. Upon returning to Gotham in his mid-20s, Bruce was inspired by the image of a bat to become the dread vigilante superhero, Batman.[37] Bruce uses his considerable resources and technology from Wayne Enterprises to aid in this war on crime, while mostly maintaining the image of a bored playboy in the interest of protecting his identity and the safety of those around him.
Years after a passionate love affair with Talia al Ghul, daughter of international criminal Ra's al Ghul, Talia informed Bruce that they had actually conceived a son named Damian.[38] Incubated in a laboratory, Damian was raised by the League of Assassins and trained in a number of deadly arts.[39] Talia left Damian under Bruce's guardianship. Bruce began a long and arduos journey to steer Damian on the path of right, and eventually Damian took his place by Batman's side as the latest Robin, the Boy Wonder.[40]
Prime Earth
In 1855, Solomon Wayne and Joshua Wayne purchased Wayne Manor. However, the brothers did not move in until two years later because of a bat infestation.[41]
Around the year 1922, Alan Wayne became increasingly senile and paranoid that the fabled "Court of Owls" was real and roosting in his very home. In the winter of 1922, he fell down a manhole. When his body was found several weeks later, it was concluded that he had drowned.[42] Years later, his great-great-grandson - Bruce Wayne, the Batman - would re-examine his corpse and discover that he was likely killed by a Court of Owls assassin known as a Talon.[43]
In modern times, Thomas Wayne was the only living descendant of the Wayne Family and he married Martha Kane. Together, they had a son named Bruce, and three years later after being involved in a car accident, Martha prematurely gave birth to another son, Thomas Wayne, Jr. Officially, the baby only survived for one night, but a mysterious figure would enter Bruce's life years later claiming to be this long-lost brother.[44]
After the Waynes's murder, Bruce started his training to become the Batman.[45]
As the Batman, Bruce Wayne was seduced by Talia al Ghul, daughter of his foe Ra's al Ghul. Bruce believed that they were in love, but Talia only wanted a child that combined the al Guhl and Wayne bloodlines. When Talia became pregnant, she ended the relationship, and had the embryo placed in an artificial womb to complete gestation. Bruce Wayne did not know he had a son until years later, when Talia sent the boy (named Damian) to live with Bruce for a while -- so Damian could learn additional skills from Bruce, and so Damien could disrupt Bruce's Batman career. This eventually backfired on Talia, with Damien choosing to live with Bruce permanently and oppose her criminal exploits as the latest Robin.[46]
Possible Futures
Batman of the year 3000
In the year 3000, a man named Brane dons the mantle of the long-forgotten Batman in order to fend off an invasion by the Saturnian warlord, Fura. Brane's real name is Bruce Wayne (first and last names are combined in this time period for simplicity's sake) and he says that he is the twentieth direct descendant of his family to bear his first and last name.[47][48] Fifty years later, a man named Brane Taylor operates as the new Batman.[49][50][48] Although never explicitly confirmed, it is possible that he is a descendant of Brane.
See Also
- 74 Appearances of Wayne Family
- 13 Images that include Wayne Family
- Organization Gallery: Wayne Family
Links
- None.
Footnotes
- ↑ Batman #44
- ↑ Batman #47
- ↑ Detective Comics #33
- ↑ Secret Origins (Volume 2) #6
- ↑ Batman #89
- ↑ Batman #93
- ↑ Superman Family #211
- ↑ All-Star Comics #66
- ↑ DC Super-Stars #17
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Detective Comics #412
- ↑ Detective Comics #306
- ↑ World's Finest #186-187
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Batman #120
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 World's Finest #223
- ↑ Batman #111
- ↑ Batman #208
- ↑ World's Finest #227
- ↑ Batman #148
- ↑ Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #35-36
- ↑ Batman: The Chalice
- ↑ Batman: Scottish Connection
- ↑ World's Finest #225
- ↑ Gotham Academy #7
- ↑ Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2
- ↑ Batman and Robin #16
- ↑ Batman and Robin #10
- ↑ Batman and Robin #12
- ↑ Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #86
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 Batman Secret Files and Origins #1
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Batman: Shadow of the Bat #45
- ↑ Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #27
- ↑ Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #4
- ↑ Batman #568
- ↑ Batman #656
- ↑ Batman Incorporated (Volume 2) #13
- ↑ Batman: The Dark Knight (Volume 2) #0
- ↑ Batman #404
- ↑ Batman #656
- ↑ Batman #666
- ↑ Batman and Robin #1
- ↑ Batman (Volume 2) #9
- ↑ Batman (Volume 2) #3
- ↑ Batman (Volume 2) #4
- ↑ Batman #11
- ↑ Batman (Volume 2) #23
- ↑ Secret Origins (Volume 3) #4
- ↑ Batman #26
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Batman #700
- ↑ Batman #67
- ↑ Detective Comics #216