Bruce Wayne

Batman is the protector of Gotham City, a man dressed like a bat who fights against evil and strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere. In his secret identity he is Bruce Wayne, billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy.

Overview
Bruce Anthony Thomas Wayne (Born February 19th, 1974) is a playboy-turned-vigilante in Gotham City known as the Batman. After his parents' death on November 25th, 1984, Bruce trained his body and mind to fight the crime that took his parents from him. Debuting as Batman in 1997, Bruce took Gotham by storm and inspired others all across the country to rise up and fight against evil, teaching several to do the same.

Bruce was one of the seven founders of the Justice League of America on New Years Day 2012 when he and six others fought off the forces of Darkseid.

Bruce has four adoptive children (Dick, Jason, Tim and Cass) and one biological child, Damian.

Bruce Wayne: 1974-1984
Bruce was born on February 19, 1974, as the son of Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha as the sole heir to the Wayne Fortune. By all accounts, Bruce had a blessed childhood where his natural intelligence and athleticism were praised by his parents, though his mother also insisted he use his skills to better the world. Bruce developed a close relationship with the butler of the Wayne Estate, Alfred Pennyworth and his father’s best friend, Leslie Thompkins.

Sometime in 1977, Bruce is three-years-old. The centuries-old illuminati group known as The Court of Owls causes Jarvis Pennyworth to get into a car accident while transporting a pregnant Martha Wayne. Both Jarvis and Martha survive the crash, but Martha loses the baby, whom she was going to name Thomas Wayne Jr.

The next spring, four-year-old Bruce falls through the earth in his garden, finding himself within a gigantic cave. This is the first time he sees what will become the Batcave. Afterward, Bruce’s dad comforts him. Bruce’s mom has the traumatized Bruce draw a picture about his experience, which features scary evil bats and the word “No” scrawled about.

A couple weeks after that incident, little Bruce poses for a photograph, which will eventually get framed and hung in Wayne Manor. Likewise, Bruce is captured in a couple candid photos with his mom and dad, exemplifying the idyllic childhood he leads.

A few days later, little Bruce meets his dad’s best friend, Professor Bruner, for the first time. Bruner, as Thomas’ best mate, will be around quite often. Bruce will have the utmost respect and admiration for the professor.

That night, Martha and Thomas see a movie in the theater, taking Bruce with them. There, Bruce meets and plays with young Kirk Langstrom, whose parents are also there to watch the film. This is the only interaction that Bruce and Kirk will have until they are adults.

Days after that, Martha Wayne tells Bruce, “When all is lost, have dinner—a traditional nine course French dinner.” (Jarvis is a culinary master that can deliver such a dinner.) Martha’s staid motto is that the Art of Eating, when done right, can save one’s soul. Young Bruce scoffs at this seemingly ridiculous bourgeois ideology, but a nine course French dinner is had nevertheless. And wouldn’t you know it? After fancily filling his belly, Bruce will feel tip-top.

Tragedy would strike when Jarvis Pennyworth died under mysterious circumstances. Shortly thereafter, Jarvis’ son Alfred Pennyworth—a former soldier, former MI6 secret agent, theater actor, mechanic, and gourmet chef—moves into Wayne Manor to replace his father as butler of the estate. Upon moving into Wayne Manor, Alfred meets a four-year-old Bruce. Like his pop before him, Alfred will care-for and help raise Bruce. Alfred will also continue his father’s work by cooking nine course French dinners for the Waynes and various party guests. Alfred’s moral code and values (and his passion for dramaturgical arts) will rub off on young Bruce over the years.

Alfred had only been working as the Waynes’ butler for a week, but he decided to resign, feeling he’s only working because he made a promise to his father on his deathbed. Bruce returns home with a black eye, but won’t say how he got it. His father sends him to his room without supper. Then, Alfred sneaks in to bring him some food anyway, and also gives him a pulp magazine featuring Zorro.

At school Bruce steps in again when another kid is bullied, but this time he lures the bully into a trap he prepared, so that a bucket of molasses falls on him, and the bully is humiliated. At home Bruce tells Alfred about it, and also asks Alfred to stay, causing Alfred to change his mind. When Martha Wayne discovers the Zorro magazine (something they forbade Bruce to have, thinking it “corrupts the growing mind”), Alfred takes the blame.

That summer, a jovial four-year-old Bruce plays with mom, dad, and Alfred on the front lawn of Wayne Manor. Bruce will cherish this memory for the rest of his life, eventually recalling it as his first ever childhood memory.

Thomas begins a nightly routine of reading to Bruce before bedtime, after which Bruce snuggles up with his favorite stuffed animals and goes to sleep. Sometimes Thomas, as most fathers do, will sit with Bruce until he slumbers. Bruce’s favorite tale is the story of “The Animals and the Pit,” a grim-dark Russian folk-tale by Alexander Afanasyev. Bruce will often ask his dad to read him this story before bedtime.

The next year, Bruce’s cousin (US Army Colonel Jacob “Jake” Kane) and (Gabrielle “Gabi” Kane) give birth to twin girls (Katherine Rebecca “Kate” Kane and Elizabeth “Beth” Kane). Young Bruce is introduced to his baby cousins.

Later, while reading a Crimson Avenger comic, Bruce first hears about the mystical Himalayan city of Nanda Parbat. Five-year-old Bruce plays with the family’s well, attracting the attention of several bats that make him aware of his own mortality for the first time.

A couple days later, family doctor Leslie Thompkins visits the Waynes to look after Bruce, who has pneumonia. At Wayne Manor, Leslie meets Alfred.

About a month later, Bruce gets an Irish nanny named Dora, who will work for the Waynes for a short while. She will tell Bruce many Irish folktales, fairy tales, and myths, and tell him all about the magick of the Faerie Folk. Bruce also learns about some Irish-American history, specifically about an eccentric Gaelic cult—known as “The Gotham Druids”—that existed in Gotham many years ago.

While Bruce’s dad finishes a late shift, Bruce’s mom takes Bruce to the top of the hospital. She gives him words of inspiration and shows him the city lights from high above, noting each visible neighborhood. For the next few years, Martha will often take Bruce atop the hospital (although we’ll have to imagine these occurrences scattered invisibly below). Young Bruce will familiarize himself with the location, look, and vibe of many Gotham neighborhoods, growing to truly love the city in which he resides. A new subway line is planned in Gotham, but due to bureaucratic red tape it will never get finished. Bruce, despite being a young boy, will pay attention to this infrastructural failure with keen interest. For the rest of his life, Bruce will be very interested in urban planning, transportation, and all things city-related in this vein.

That August, Bruce began Kindergarten. Being the only kid not intimidated by the Wayne fortune (due to his own family’s vast fortune), Tommy Elliot approaches Bruce in school and befriends him. (Tommy’s mom and dad are famous Gotham couple, Roger Elliot and Marla Elliot.) The boys bond over their shared interest of strategy board games. They also play hide-and-seek around a graveyard. Despite Tommy being a bit off, Bruce will hang out with him quite often, moving forward.

During an assault by childhood bully Sionis, Bruce would meet Selena, a street urchin, whom came to his aid. Smitten with her, he would help her in return by finding the orphan girl a new family to live with, the Kyles, through connections of his mother’s.

The next Halloween, Bruce’s mom softened on her anti-Zorro stance, realizing that Bruce loves the character so much. She allowed Bruce to dress-up as Zorro for Halloween.

As Bruce grew older, he went on unspecified travels with his parents, during which time he befriended young Zatanna Zatara, daughter of stage magician (and secret legit magick user) John Zatara, who is on tour. Bruce will hang with the Zataras every so often (although invisibly on our timeline), moving forward.

As he developed, Bruce took a liking to classic film Westerns, which is certainly in-line with his love of Zorro. As a result, Bruce’s favorite actor, long into adulthood, will be Gary Cooper. He also has a secondary interest in Marx Brothers comedies. Generally, Bruce will be an avid film buff.

The summer after, eight-year-old Bruce sees a show about spelunking and attempts to imitate by rope-ascending to the ceiling and then rappelling down from a chandelier. This results in a bad scapular injury that will leave a permanent scar and require weeks of bedrest. During this time, Alfred reads to Bruce Robinson Crusoe, which the boy comes to love (except for the ending).

The November after, about a year before the death of the Waynes, Thomas attends a costume party dressed as Zorro. Thomas briefly leaves the party to help save the life of Lew Moxon‘s nephew, who has a bullet wound from an attempted robbery. Thomas saves the man’s life but refuses to take any hush money, angering Lew Moxon. Back at the party, Bruce, impressed by the Zorro costume, asks his dad to take him to see a Zorro movie next time it plays.

That December, On a visit to Metropolis, Bruce Wayne and Tommy are entranced by a glimpse of Green Lantern (Alan Scott) battling The Icicle. On his birthday, a couple months later, Bruce received that last gift he would get from his parents: a wooden train.

Right before the end of the school year, ten-year-old Bruce gets mercilessly beaten-up by an older school bully named Bart Lambert over the course of months. Skinny Bruce is unable to put up a fight or defend himself, so he decides to dedicate his life to exercise, fitness, and bulking up with weight training. Bruce continues taking a wallop from Lambert, but he begins working out. Eventually, Lambert moves to the other side of the country before Bruce is ever strong enough to confront him or get revenge. Bruce will have nightmares about Lambert for years to come

In the early summer, while his dad relaxes in an easy chair in one of Wayne Manor’s living rooms, Bruce plays with some Wild West action figures modeled off of real-life historical cowboys Jonah Hex and The Gray Ghost.

Later, Bruce finds a framed picture of his dad in a military uniform with other uniformed men, including Red Larken, Ron Thurgood, Bruno Clark, and Xavier Simon. Thomas explains that, when he was only a teenager, he was a medic in WWII. Thomas tells Bruce that Simon “mistreated” a woman, so they all testified against him, sending him to jail in 1942.

That fall, Bruce is sent to an upstate private school, a breeding ground for scandals involving perverted teachers and bully prefects. He makes a friend, Robert, until he promptly disappears, presumably having been killed by the school’s headmaster, Manfred Winchester (aka “Mr. Whisper”). Scared, Bruce asks to leave the school the 24th of November, and his father arrives the following day. After talking to the headmaster, Thomas figures out that Mr. Winchester has killed several children and plans to expose him, but a tragedy happening the following day prevents him from doing so.

The Death of the Waynes
The Court of Owls sends a Talon to assassinate the Waynes. Thomas and Martha Wayne take Bruce to see the 1940 film The Mark of Zorro at the Monarch Theatre on Park Row. The Waynes, leaving the cinema below, only decide to go down a dark Park Row alley because they hear the gunfire above and are trying to avoid it. This, of course, leads them directly to small time crook Joe Chill, who murders Thomas and Martha before young Bruce’s horrified eyes. For the rest of his life, Bruce will be able to recall, in great detail, every moment of this horrific moment.

A shell-shocked Bruce takes a pearl from his mother’s necklace, which Chill was trying to steal. Bruce will keep this pearl, regarding it as priceless, long into adulthood. Both Leslie Thompkins and Gotham City Police Department Officer Jim Gordon are on the scene and they both try (and fail) to provide some comfort to Bruce. Alfred picks-up Bruce and takes him home. Bruce is catatonic with grief. Alfred stays by his side the whole night through.

Despite having living relatives on the Arkham/Kane side of the family (notably his two uncles and Aunt Gabi), the orphaned Bruce is left in the primary guardianship of Alfred. This is partly due to the fact that the Kanes have long been estranged from the Waynes. Dr. Leslie will also care for Bruce time-to-time as well.

A funeral is held and the Waynes are buried in a Gotham cemetery. Bruce stops believing in God and won’t ever return to the church after this. Bruce’s Aunt Agatha Wayne (Thomas’ sister) is at the funeral. The details as to why she wasn’t involved in Bruce’s childhood—or wouldn’t be in line to become Bruce’s guardian—are never told to us. Bruce and Aunt Agatha will remain on good terms, moving forward, but she won’t be around. It’s possible she lives far away.

Alfred—with the support of Leslie—begins the tough challenge of raising a troubled boy that has lost everything. A depressed Bruce pushes-back immediately, always wanting to be alone and brood in his room. Alfred and Leslie, in an effort to help Bruce overcome his demons, push back, urging him to play and go outside. Moving forward, Alfred and Leslie will be a bit (understandably) overbearing, constantly telling Bruce what to do for the next decade-plus. While Bruce will rarely follow their advice, he will always listen. Alfred and Leslie will become Bruce’s loving surrogate parents, and Bruce will quickly come to see both of them that way too. Alfred and Leslie will be more influential in shaping Bruce’s life than anyone, both now and decades into his adulthood (and both as Bruce and Batman).

Also of note: Not long after the funeral of the Waynes, a will reading his held. Bruce’s cousin Philip Kane takes full control of Wayne Enterprises, but everything else—a vast fortune, multiple properties (including Wayne Manor), a couple Learjets, and a small fleet of cars—goes to young Bruce.

Alfred retains power of attorney over the estate until Bruce is of age. Alfred accompanies young Bruce to the cemetery in the pouring rain. Bruce grieves by the side of his parents’ tombstone.

Bruce Wayne: 1985-1996
On Bruce Wayne’s first birthday after his parents’ deaths, Zatara the Magician (Giovanni “John” Zatara) performs at the party. He worked with the Waynes on many children’s charities, so when he became a father himself he was more than willing to help children in need like Bruce. Bruce meets and befriends his young daughter Zatanna Zatara. Zatanna and Bruce will hang out from time to time and become very close.

That spring, Bruce learns about a dark part of Gotham’s history involving the religious sect known as the Hellerites. In the early 19th century, the ascetic Hellerites settled in Gotham, but were immediately ostracized for their strange customs. After their settlement was burned to the ground, the Hellerites departed for the West, but not before their leader Josiah Heller put a curse—the Hellerite Prophecy—on the city, vowing to one day return.

The summer following the Wayne deaths, Bruce is forced to attend the Du Lac Resort again, where he sees Mallory Moxon again. She tries to cheer him up throughout the rest of the summer, to no avail.

Later that summer, Bruce begins collecting rare books, a hobby he will continue long into adulthood. Bruce’s omnium-gatherum of literature will constantly grow, although we won’t see any of the actual collection process on our timeline moving forward. Not only is Bruce an avid collector, he truly loves reading and will become well-versed in poetry and literature as well. The pride-and-joy of his collection will be rare and original Shakespeare editions, stage-play handbills, and a bust of the Bard himself, which covers a hidden safe. Bruce will also become a big fan of the works of Don Marquis, John Dickson Carr, Tom Paine, Edgar Allan Poe, and Archer Beaumont. Oh, and tangentially related, Bruce also starts learning how to speed-read, in which he will become an expert.

The summer before his 12th birthday, Bruce travels to Africa to visit Leslie. Her clinic is attacked by the military, and Bruce attempts to stop them, but he’s too inexperienced and too little. In the end, Alfred saves the day, and Leslie returns to Gotham within a year.

Bruce, now 12-years-old, continues his studies at one of the most expensive academies in Gotham. He studies with the best private tutors, learning the Classics in Latin and Greek. At Wayne Manor, the extremely bookish Bruce takes up chemistry, yoga, collecting and listening to opera records, and model rocketry as his primary hobbies.

November 25, 1986. On the anniversary of his parents’ deaths, 12-year-old Bruce visits Crime Alley (formerly known as Park Row) to pay his respects, leaving a single rose on the ground. While there, young Bruce is accosted by members of The Street Demonz, one of Gotham’s most notorious and longest-running biker gangs. The Street Demonz beat up Bruce, but he gets saved by a homeless bag lady. Alfred then picks up Bruce.

Bruce picks up several fighting styles, teaching himself self-defense, boxing, and mixed martial arts. He also begins learning the art of meditation and taking professional art classes. Bruce will train and study all of these things, moving forward, slowly perfecting his craft in each field.

13-year-old Bruce continues his studies at Roxbury Fielding Academy for Boys. His friendship with Harvey Dent continues to bloom. He also continues journaling, training sneaking around campus using his grappling gun, studying with private tutors, and taking short trips across the country. Bruce’s school days will continue much like this until Early 1988.

Shortly after graduating high school from the prestigious private Roxbury Fielding Academy, Bruce Wayne celebrates his 14th birthday. Shortly thereafter, Bruce learns that Joe Chill, his parents’ murderer, is back in Gotham for the first time since the incident.

In an effort to confront Chill and find out if there was a greater conspiracy involved with happened to his folks all those years ago, Bruce hits the violent Gotham streets in search of him. After interrogating homeless career-criminal Clancy (the only witness to the Wayne murders other than Bruce) and a few other ruffians, Bruce quickly locates and shakes down the man he is looking for. Bruce angrily prepares to execute Chill but doesn’t when he realizes that Chill was just a down-on-his-luck drunk that randomly attacked his parents. The next day (again, a conjectural but seemingly appropriate guess), Bruce departs for Tibet to begin training. (Bruce doesn’t bring much with him on his trip, but,he does bring a “How to Move On” journal that Leslie Thompkins had him write immediately after the deaths of his parents.)

The Training
After an initial stay in Japan, young Bruce goes through several colleges, including Cambridge University, the Sorbonne, the Berlin School of Science, and a dozen others. At some point during his various college forays, Bruce turns sixteen-years-old and learns to drive. While attending one of these colleges, Bruce also dates and gets his heart broken by Dawn Golden. During this time period, Bruce also seeks private tutoring from Europe’s greatest experts in such subjects such as gymnastics (with Peter Allison), toxicology (with Aurelius Boch), chemistry (with Kingsley and Webber), and electronics (with Campbell).

Training course: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bruce, age 16, spends six weeks learning how to stunt drive with international criminal Don Miguel in Rio de Janeiro. Presumably, Bruce also studies auto-mechanics with Don Miguel. After six weeks, Bruce turns Miguel over to the cops.

Bruce studies toxicology, learning about poisons and creating their antidotes. He also begins working to make himself immune to as many poisons as possible—a task that will continue for the entire course of his life. (As Batman, Bruce will get poisoned and endure various toxins from super-villains galore, which will only serve to enhance his knowledge of poisons and increase his overall immunity to a number of toxins as well.)

Bruce trains in combat under David Cain—whom he leaves after discovering that Cain wants him to become a killer.

Bruce is trained in ventriloquism and escape artistry under Zatara the Magician. Zatara also teaches Bruce about the occult. It is around this time that Bruce learns various other methods of escapology as well.

At age 18, Bruce earns a pilot’s license. He also learns airplane mechanics, repair, and engineering. While not specifically noted via this reference, we can assume that Bruce now also learns to skydive and how to use a parachute as well. A pilot takes Bruce a hundred feet higher than the safe limit for parachuting. Bruce skydives wearing only a glider-suit.

Bruce studies in the morgue and learns how to perform autopsies and coroner analysis related to different types of wounds. Bruce, being quite autodidactic, begins studying chemistry on his own. He also continues hitting the gym constantly. NOTE: While not linked to any specific issue (but instead generally acknowledged and made obvious in dozens of arcs), the polymathic Bruce also begins studying physics, biology, medicine, carpentry, architecture, industrial design, auto mechanics, and nearly all forms of engineering. He will become a master in almost all of these fields.

Training course: Afghanistan. Bruce begins training with a Russian escape artist and military inventor named Sergei Alexandrov (and his pet monkey Maxwell). This training will last for six months. Presumably, Bruce also studies computer science, computer engineering, robotics, data systems analysis, code-breaking, and hacking during this period. (The final stop before Shihan Matsuda is Afghanistan, hence the reasoning for linking Afghanistan with Sergei.)

At age 20, Bruce visits New York City and tries to join the FBI. He scores perfectly on every test except gun handling, so he gets a desk job. Unsatisfied, Bruce quits after six weeks and heads East.

Bruce appears briefly in Gotham to see Harvey Dent as he’s finishing law school. Harvey shows off his nasty side, punching out rival Mort Weinstein. Harvey’s classmate Vernon Fields is also present.

Bruce studies under FBI Agent Arthur McKee, learning about the importance of maintaining a criminal alias.

After heading East, Bruce first stops in Korea where he visits the Paektu-San Mountains to train with master Kirigi for nearly a year, learning karate and other martial arts. Bruce doesn’t know Kirigi is also a trainer for Ra’s al Ghul‘s League of Assassins. Many of the martial arts techniques that Bruce learns from Kirigi are fatal, but he will tweak them to make them non-lethal.

Bruce goes to Huntsville, Alabama for an apprenticeship under detective Harvey Harris, an old acquaintance of Chu Chin Li (who Bruce will train with later). Using the false name “Frank Dixon,” Bruce studies with Harris and helps him work a multiple murder case. Bruce’s time with Harris is cut short, however, when Harris is killed by serial killer and klansman Ben Carr. Before leaving Huntsville, Bruce breaks into the police department and steals all photos of himself. He also takes a small gold cross, evidence from the Carr case, as a memento, which he will keep into adulthood.

Bruce’s training continues as he learns the following: Savate from a convicted killer living as a beach bum on an island off Borneo; Judo and Jiu-Jitsu after spending six months in a Japanese hermitage; hunting and tracking in Africa with unnamed bushmen; how to employ psychology and how to use the shadows by ninjas in an unknown Asian locale; and knife-handling with an unknown teacher. Bruce will study many different martial arts forms and also go through military-style training.

Training course: Nagoya, Japan. This training period was under the tutelage of Tsunetomo. While the main portion of the training occurs in Nagoya, a flashback shows an Tsunetomo training Bruce in the Hida Mountains. Since the austral part of the Hida range is in Gifu, only about an hour north of Nagoya, it makes sense for part of Tsunetomo’s training to occur at a Hida mountain temple as well as in Nagoya.

Training course: Mount Qingcheng, China. This training period was with Chu Chin Li. The flashbacks from Batman Vol. 3 #18 that feature his time in China are comprised in two separate panels. The first depicts Bruce tightrope walking in-between two tall buildings in what is likely Dujiangyan City or some other neighboring municipal area near Mount Qingcheng. The second depicts Bruce free-climbing a near vertical cliff, likely the side of Mount Qingcheng itself.

Bruce begins training in the art of tracking with Henri Ducard in Paris. While in Paris, Bruce meets Lucius Fox, saving him from some muggers and then dining with him. Bruce ends his training with Henri Ducard and leaves France, deciding that Ducard is too amoral.

Bruce Wayne begins a roundabout journey back to the Far East, along the way learning esoteric arts in India from Shastri, a snake handler. Bruce trains in China, where he follows the trail of a serial killer named Huairen. Huairen actually manages to kill Bruce, but he’s resurrected by a metahuman named Ri. Bruce joins Ri’s movement to take down Huairen, a team called The Zhuguan (the Chinese version of the Justice League, which pre-dates the existence of the JLA). As a member of the Zhuguan, Bruce drinks from a magickal elixir that grants him temporary super-powers. Calling himself “Hei An Wushuh” (aka “The Dark Knight”) after gaining the power to become invisible in the dark, Bruce joins the Zhuguan in battle to take down Huairen.

During this period, Bruce learns the usefulness of fighting on a team and further improves his throwing-weapon skills using proto-Batarangs. However, when he learns the metapower elixir is made out of opium and creates an addiction, Bruce decides to quit and continue his path alone. Bruce learns Taoism (and hang-gliding) under the Chinese monk Shao-La, in the Tangula Shan Mountains, near the border of China and Tibet.

Batman trains with kung fu master Richard Dragon. Bruce seeks out and trains with additional tutors in a wide range of disciplines. He studies with experts in fields as diverse as car racing (with Mark Jenner), explosives (with Frederick Stone), archery (with Raphael DiGiorda) and bodybuilding (with LaSalle). Bruce learns boxing from Wildcat (Ted Grant). Bruce studies escapology under Max Dodge.

Bruce, using his “Frank Dixon” moniker, learns detective work from Dan Mallory. Bruce learns secret fighting techniques, specifically how to kick through tree trunks, from an unknown master martial artist. Bruce learns a rare martial arts style in Kenya.

Bruce trains in North Africa with The Ten-Eyed Tribes of the Empty Quarter (aka “The Ghost Tribes of The Ten-Eyed Brotherhood”). He learns how to defeat his inner demons, but it almost costs him his life. Superman #710. tells us this training takes three months, whereas Batman #673 tells us this training takes six months. Split the difference and say four-and-a-half months?

Bruce learns how to tame lions at the traveling Hill’s Circus (aka Hills Brothers Circus). Boston Brand and his twin brother Cleveland Brand are the star trapeze artists at Hill’s Circus. On occasion, the Flying Graysons perform for the Hills Brothers, although their primary gig is at Haly’s Circus. In any case, Bruce doesn’t meet the Flying Graysons or the Brands at this time.

Bruce studies with the Rhana Bhutra of Bhutran. When the Bhutra dies, his daughter asks help to Bruce and to reporter Clark Kent to help her face the army of Vandal Savage. In this adventure, Bruce first uses bats as a psychological weapon. He also sees the advantages of working with a partner.

Bruce returns to Afghanistan and trains with Sergai Alexandrov for a few more weeks. Bruce escaping from chains in a scene that is likely a part of Sergei’s training. On the final day of his training, Bruce—now freshly age 21—escapes from an “inescapable” room hidden beneath the Sphinx in Gaza, Egypt.

Training course: Himalayas. Bruce travels to Himalayas where he begins training with Shihan Matsuda. Bruce moves in with Matsuda and his wife, Sama Matsuda.

Bruce has been living with and training with Shihan Matsuda for six months. Bruce meets shopgirl Mio, who is actually a League of Assassins killer-in-training.

Three more months of training with Shihan Matsuda have passed. Bruce starts dating Mio. He continues training with Matsuda.

Bruce’s training with Shihan Matsuda continues. Mio attacks Shihan Matsuda on behalf of his wife Sama, who no longer loves her husband and wants him dead. Mio and Sama successfully murder Shihan, but Sama gets betrayed and killed by Mio. Bruce enters and fights Mio, who is left for dead after the encounter—(Spoiler: She survives).

Mio waits for Bruce to depart and then returns to Ra’s al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins. Ra’s al Ghul aka “The Demon’s Head” is an immortal international terrorist. Sometimes his name is spelled with random macrons, like “Rā’s al Ghūl” or “Ra’s al Ghūl.”

With Bruce missing and incommunicado, he is presumed dead. Alfred sends various private investigators all over the globe in search of him. Meanwhile, an attorney named Mr. Shaw begins a campaign of harassing Alfred on behalf of Bruce’s cousin, Philip Kane, who wants Bruce’s personal fortune and property and full control of Wayne Enterprises.

Philip Arkham is able to have Bruce, according to state law, declared legally dead. Arkham takes full control of Wayne Enterprises, but is unable to gain access to Bruce’s personal wealth and property due to the fact that Alfred was made full custodian of Bruce’s material possessions as per the deceased Waynes’ wills. Arkham also makes Edward Nigma (aka Edward Nygma aka Edward Nashton—real name unknown) his chief business strategist.

Lagos, Nigeria. Bruce trains by fighting a “deathmatch” in Lagos and by undergoing a course under the tutelage of a nomadic tribe in the Owami Desert. With the tribe, Bruce goes through unspeakable tortures, including living in a tiny orb-shaped hanging cell. Back home, Alfred learns from Philip Arkham that Bruce is somewhere in the Nigerian desert. Alfred spends every penny he has to find out Bruce’s exact location and actually manages to arrange a phone call with him! However, Bruce remains cagey and refuses to speak. Alfred gives up hope that he had actually found him. Meanwhile, Uncle Philip sends a hired paramilitary unit to Nigeria to fetch Bruce, but the entire unit is killed by mine explosions. Karl Helfern’s son is one of the killed soldiers.

Bruce successfully acclimates himself to every toxin he can, meaning he now becomes semi-immune to almost all known poisons.

Bruce learns how to use a crossbow and other non-gun projectile firing weaponry.

Bruce is led by an unknown female guide into the frostbitten wilderness of Alberta, Canada. There, he strips naked and stands under a freezing cold waterfall for as long as he can endure.

Bruce trains in an unknown location with an unknown bearded warrior. They sword duel near what appears to be an active volcano.

Training course: Norway. Bruce—age 21, still bearded, and going under the assumed name “Banion”—trains with a warrior woman called Queen. Also in Norway, Bruce fights another “death match,” this time for 28 hours straight, defeating dozens of men single-handedly.

While Bruce has been finishing-up his training abroad, crime-boss Liam Distal has become Gotham’s first ever super-villain called The Red Hood (aka Red Hood One), commander of the vile Red Hood Gang. At some point, Distal is murdered and replaced with the man who becomes the Joker.

Bruce goes to Washington DC where he weight trains with coaches Christian Fox and Jessica Fox.

Bruce visits London and purchases some old criminology books, including a book by Sir Maxwell Floppy, which includes the quote: “Criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot.” Bruce has the books shipped to Wayne Manor.

Bruce realizes that he has trained with every great master but one: bounty hunter Willy Doggett. Bruce parachutes into North Alaska and then dog sleds and hikes through the icy wilderness to find Doggett. Upon finding the elusive Doggett, Bruce gets a two-day crash course in manhunting and survival techniques. While tracking the killer Thomas Woodley, Doggett is murdered and Bruce gets lost in the mountains. He is saved by members of the Alaskan Native Otter Ridge Tribe, remaining with their shaman and his granddaughter in recovery through December 1996. The shaman, in tune with the cosmic beyond, links Bruce to a Native American bat myth. The shaman tells Bruce an ancient bat folktale, hinting at his future to come. Bruce decides that, when he is healthy enough to travel, he will finally go back to Gotham to put his training to practice.

On his way to Gotham, Bruce travels to Gila, New Mexico to train with costumed-showman and master escape artist Mr. Miracle (Thaddeus Brown). Bruce will remain friends with Brown for the rest of his life.

Zero Year: 1997
Attorney Shaw, on behalf of Philip Arkham, is still harassing Alfred on a regular basis regarding access to Bruce’s personal wealth and property. After a particularly frustrating encounter with Shaw, Alfred dejectedly answers the door at Wayne Manor. Much to his surprise, a bearded Bruce stands before him! Bruce has secretly returned to Gotham to reunite with Alfred. He reveals plans to begin a war on crime to avenge the deaths of his parents.

Bruce arrives back in his hometown of Gotham City and reunites with his trusted friend and butler, Alfred Pennyworth, at Wayne Manor. Meanwhile, Lieutenant James Gordon and his pregnant wife Barbara Gordon arrive in Gotham on the same day. Jim has transferred back to the extremely corrupt Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) from the Chicago PD. The vile Commissioner Gillian Loeb pairs Gordon with the loathsome Detective Arnold Flass. It’s not long before the entire Gotham Force hates Gordon for doing honest police work.

The same day as Bruce’s return to Gotham. Bruce puts his “How to Move On” journal into a safety deposit box in a small Gotham bank. Bruce vows never to retrieve the journal until he has successfully accomplished every item on the “How to Move On” list.

Ever since he was a teenager, Bruce has kept a personal journal/diary. Batman now begins the added practice of keeping a scrapbook. As we have already done in regard to his nearly constant journaling, we must imagine—sprinkled invisibly on our timeline below—Batman obtaining old photos, new photos, flat historical artifacts, dossiers, schematics, blueprints, and clippings, all of which get inserted into the scrapbook. Besides Batman-related materials, much of Bruce’s scrapbook ephemera is found among the remnants of his parents’ old stuff at Wayne Manor, which Bruce presumably combs through at this juncture. A significant portion of the scrapbook ephemera is also newspaper articles, magazine articles, flyers, police documents, psyche profiles, and hospital papers, which Bruce presumably seeks out and obtains at this juncture as well.

Detective Arnold Flass and a few buddies, on orders from Commissioner Loeb, beat up Jim Gordon with baseball bats. On that very same night, Bruce ends his training and attempts his first act of vigilantism. In disguise as a facially-scarred US Army veteran, he takes to the worst streets of Gotham’s East End, getting in a fight with sex worker/martial-arts expert Selina Kyle,her young friend Holly Robinson, and the lowlife Stan the Pimp before getting shot by some bad cops. Bruce barely makes it home alive. As Bruce sits slumped over and bleeding out in Wayne Manor, an injured bat crashes through the window and lands on a bust, inspiring him to become a costumed vigilante.

Bruce examines the entrance to the caverns beneath Wayne Manor, which he had fallen into as a child. He also finds a map of the caves in the Wayne Manor library. Bruce decides to use the network of natural tunnels as his headquarters, which will be called “The Batcave.” Note that the Batcave includes a complicated series of connected underground rivers that run into Gotham Bay. This system surely must comprise some of the longest underground waterways in the world, so keeping it hidden will be no small task. We can assume that Batman will use various camouflaging means and use his computer resources to erase geological history records in order to keep his secret safe. Likewise, we can assume that Batman will install false seismic echo generators to fool any future radio frequencies or ground-penetrating radar scanning.

Bruce, having recently returned to Gotham, begins the first challenge of his war on crime, which is to utilize non-lethal tactics to fight Gotham’s worst villains: The Red Hood and his Red Hood Gang. The Red Hood Gang has completely usurped power from the previous top dogs in Gotham, the Falcone Mob. Bruce moves into a brownstone on Crime Alley (the street formerly known as Park Row, on which his parents were murdered). Bruce connects the basement of the brownstone to an underground bunker/armory containing a vast arsenal, several motorcycles, supercomputers, tons of crime-fighting toys, experimental facial disguise technology kits, and various armored costumes. Alfred loyally assists him as he goes on routine patrols against the Red Hood Gang. While communicating with Bruce in the field, Alfred will eventually (sometimes) use “Penny-One” as his radio call-name. Alfred begins the practice of serving Bruce coffee upon his return home from a dangerous patrol or mission. This practice will continue over the course of the next decade and beyond. Bruce likes coffee.

Bruce defeats bazooka guy. Bruce now takes out three teens trying to steal a TV on a fire escape, but nearly gets killed in the process. Clearly, he needs more practice. Across town, Lieutenant Gordon shares a strained exchange with his ever-distant pregnant wife Barbara. One of Gordon’s underlings, Officer Stan Merkel calls him at home with reports of a “bat-man” sighting.

Bruce breaks into Arkham Asylum to raid the files for any information about possible Red Hood Gang members. While there, he is attacked by Arkham’s first ever patient, a near immortal metahuman called The Anchoress, who has been in the asylum since the early 20th century. Bruce flees the scene after the scuffle. The Anchoress will come to blame Batman for the deterioration of Arkham that will occur in the years to follow.

Bruce still hasn’t gone public about his return to Gotham. Bruce’s war on the Red Hood Gang continues. The RHG tries to kill some business execs, but Bruce saves them. Surprisingly, Philip Kane shows up at the Crime Alley brownstone and greets Bruce. Philip chats with Bruce and escorts him to Wayne Enterprises where he asks him to take over the business, but Bruce refuses. Bruce then visits a rundown Wayne Manor and recalls mapping the vast caves beneath the property as a child. At Wayne Enterprises, Edward Nygma suggests that Philip have his nephew murdered, sensing that Bruce will soon fight for control of the company.

Bruce, who still hasn’t gone public about his return to Gotham, continues his war on the Red Hood Gang. Bruce infiltrates the Red Hood Gang and goes undercover as Red Hood’s “number five henchman.” However, Bruce is exposed during the robbery of the Gotham National Bank. Bruce fights off the gang and escapes. Later, Bruce tests his first boomerang weapon and is paid a visit by Lieutenant James Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). While not explicitly stated, we learn here that Gordon, as the ultimate super-cop, has been aware of Bruce’s return to Gotham for the entire three months he’s been back. Gordon is less interested, however, in blowing up Bruce’s spot, and more interested in interrogating him privately. Gordon questions Bruce about vigilante activity and also about the possibility that his uncle and current head of Wayne Enterprises, Philip Kane, might be a corrupt businessman. Outside, the Red Hood Gang, which has also learned of Bruce’s return thanks to Edward Nygma (although they don’t know he is the person that has been battling against them), discovers the location of Bruce’s brownstone. The Red Hood plans to blow it up in the near future.

Bruce continues his war against the Red Hood Gang, despite the fact that the gang’s numbers continue to grow larger by the day. Aboard a blimp, Bruce ties-up Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot and disguises himself as Cobblepot to confront the Red Hood. Bruce beats up a bunch of Red Hood gangsters, takes a blood sample from the Red Hood, and makes his escape. Unfortunately, the blood results are a dead end. Back at the brownstone, Bruce tests a grappling gun and argues with Alfred until the latter storms off angrily. (Bruce will adapt this grappling gun into an even smaller version that will be a permanent utility belt fixture, accompanying him on every patrol and allowing him to ascend to great heights and swing from building to building.) Later, Bruce meets with Philip Kane at the museum only to learn that Uncle Philip has finally alerted the media to his return. Bruce is swarmed by reporters, including Vicki Vale, before running off. Before exiting the museum, Bruce chats with Edward Nigma, who tells Bruce that his uncle has been giving weapons to the Red Hood Gang. Bruce returns to the brownstone to discover that someone has broken into his home. Outside, the Red Hood detonates a bomb that destroys the building. The Red Hood enters the burning building and delivers a monologue about how the randomness of the Bruce’s parents’ murders was a direct inspiration on his becoming a criminal. Meanwhile, his gang beats up Bruce, puts a couple slugs in his belly and leaves him for dead. The brownstone burns to ashes and Bruce drags his bloody self to Wayne Manor. Back at Wayne Tower (aka the Wayne Foundation Building), Nigma admits to having given the Red Hood Gang Bruce’s address to an irate Philip Kane. Nigma terminates his relationship with Wayne Enterprises, leaving Kane down-and-out. (Batman Vol. 2 #30 tells us that Nigma immediately takes a new job at Powers Industries, working for Joseph Powers and Maria Powers. Note that Powers Industries will also be interchangeably referred to as “Powers Industry” and “Powers Industrial.”) Back at Wayne Manor, a badly injured Bruce regains consciousness on the operating table. Alfred has fixed him up as to the best of his abilities. Bruce wanders the catacombs of the mansion and activates the 3D laser-image mapping-orb that once scanned the caves beneath the property. A holographic digital image of the cavern projects across a grand hall. Among the stalactites and stalagmites are the ghostly images of hundreds of bats. Bruce slumps in a throne-like chair as the orb shatters, deactivating the image display. However, a real bat remains perched on a bust of his father, having flown in through the window. Bruce now knows how to strike fear into the hearts of the Red Hood Gang. He will become a bat.

Bruce and Alfred begin construction of the Batcave. Bruce uses super-high technology to allow his own personal computer system to hack into and gain access to nearly any surveillance camera or security camera in Gotham in real-time. Bruce will use this tech over and over again down the road.

Now that Bruce has been outed as having returned home to Gotham, plenty of folks have tried in vain to reach out to him. However, inventor Jervis Tetch catches Bruce’s ear. Tetch hopes to find a donor to fund a new speculative virtual reality experience of his own design: “Looking Glass Hats.” Bruce peeks into Philip Kane’s records and sees that Tetch has already pitched the idea to his uncle. The idea, however, was rejected because it was shown that the hats could likely cause brain damage and permanent hallucination. Nevertheless, intrigued, Bruce meets with Tetch and hears his pitch. Like his uncle before, Bruce also rejects Tetch’s concept, declining to give him any monetary support. Before leaving, Tetch slips one of his mind-control VR cards into Bruce’s baseball cap. Tetch watches Bruce for a couple days as he fights Red Hoods in the alleyways of Gotham.

Bruce designs and makes the first Batman costume, which features an all black-and-grey ensemble with visible arm and leg padding, purple gloves, and an early version of what will become his signature utility belt. The Batman costume is heavily influenced by a bat costume that Bruce’s father once wore at a costume ball when Bruce was just a young boy. Bruce also finalizes various dangerous (although non-lethal) weaponry, including various throwing projectiles and boomerangs, which he names “Batarangs.” (Bruce, obsessed with his motif, will add a “Bat” prefix to the name of just about every item related to his crimefighting enterprise.)

Bruce Wayne debuts as Batman, the dark avenging superhero vigilante of Gotham City. With this bizarrely scary costume and the assistance of faithful Alfred, Bruce significantly upgrades his fight against the Red Hood Gang. On his first night out, Batman takes down seven Red Hood Gangsters and leaves them for the whole world to see. Despite his bombastic and audacious public debut in Gotham, it’s important to realize that Batman will relatively keep to the shadows as he battles the Red Hood Gang. And, despite being spotted by many people, Batman will be largely regarded as an urban myth both during and after this campaign, especially outside of Gotham. In fact, it won’t be until he joins the Justice League years from now that the true majority of people start believing in his existence. When they do, the mainstream media will label Batman with several nicknames, including “The Dark Knight,” “The Caped Crusader,” “Dark Detective,” and “The World’s Greatest Detective.”

Still his first night out in-costume, Batman has an “intimate” and “unfortunate affair with a city bus,” which results in an innocent victim getting hurt.

Alfred and Bruce, now sporting a military crew cut, continue their massive construction of the underground Batcave. At dusk, Batman hits the streets again and wraps up a bunch more Red Hoods, tying them to a “Sebastian Hady for Mayor” campaign billboard.

Batman busts each Red Hood in this group, he dodges some gunfire and bullets hit an innocent man and his husband in a nearby tenement. Later, in the Batcave, Batman and Alfred study a map and realize that all of Red Hood’s crimes have been ostensibly random in order to mask the fact that he has been stealing a lot of chemicals to make deadly dirty bombs. Bruce, realizing that Uncle Philip is one of the blackmailed Red Hoods, visits him. Philip gives Bruce access to Red Hood’s computer system, which allows Bruce to figure out what they are planning. Bruce then shocks Gotham by appearing on live TV—they thought he had died months ago during his brownstone explosion. Bruce delivers a heartfelt speech about his love for Gotham and reveals that the Red Hood Gang plans to blow up ACE Chemicals using a series of dirty bombs, which would ultimately poison the entire city. The Red Hoods start attacking the news media and the GCPD led by Jim Gordon, who has been sent by Commissioner Gillian Loeb. Bruce enters ACE Chemicals and confronts The Red Hood while Alfred mans a high-powered proto-Bat Computer and shuts down a large chunk of the city’s power grid (in the shape of a bat, of course). Using some Wayne-designed tech that messes with night vision goggles, Alfred delivers a holographic show that makes it seem like Batman swoops in and rescues Bruce (in order to distance the two characters from each other, just in case). The real deal Batman then begins kicking some serious Red Hood Gang ass. Philip betrays Red Hood in order to save Bruce’s life, an act that results in his execution. Gordon then confronts Batman for the first time and attempts to arrest him, but Batman escapes by plugging him in the chest with a cork gun. Batman winds up fighting Red Hood high atop a scaffolding as parts of the factory begin to crumble. Red Hood falls into the toxic vat below and washes via a drainage system into the bay.

Bruce looks into the couple that was accidentally shot during Bruce’s second night out as Batman. They are badly injured. Bruce sets up funds to cover the couple’s medical bills for a year. Batman takes down two gun-toting crooks and leaves them tied-up on the doorstep of the GCPD.

The Batcave is now mostly completed. Batman collects Red Hood One’s helmet and puts it on display in the Batcave, complete with a tuxedo and cape-wearing mannequin.

Batman and Alfred set up the Batcomputer, one of the most technologically advanced machines on the planet. Batman secretly registers an alarm that will alert him, via the Bat-computer, should any unusual activity occur at the bank where his “How to Move On” journal is stored in a safety deposit box. From this point forward, Batman and Alfred will update the databases in the Bat-computer system/network. This includes ongoing case-file archives and detailed dossiers on friends and foes alike.

Bruce donates a fleet of dirigibles to the GCPD. Of course, Bruce can secretly monitor the movements of every single dirigible.

Batman captures four Falcone Mob members and drops them off on the doorstep of the GCPD, earning the ire of the corrupt Commissioner Loeb.

Batman investigates a grisly murder scene where a scientist has literally been torn to death by his own bones, which have seemingly chemically expanded into a tree-like form. Batman takes-off when the cops show up.

Kate Kane returns to Gotham to attend Philip’s funeral, accompanied by her father. Bruce is a pallbearer at the funeral.

In between Uncle Philip’s funeral and the wake, which is to be held at Wayne Manor, Bruce does a quick patrol and heads home for the reception. In the Batcave before the reception, Batman chats with Alfred about recent police news regarding the Red Hood: a crook named Liam Distal has been revealed as the original man under the mask. However, Distal’s body was found in a barrel full of lye, creating quite a mystery as to when he was killed. Whoever fell into that vat of toxic chemicals, and who Batman has likely been fighting this entire year, was someone who replaced Distal as leader of the Red Hood Gang at some unspecified time (probably late last year before Bruce even came back to Gotham). Alfred gives Batman a passionate speech about how he will support him forever as a teammate, but is interrupted by a live video feed on TV. Edward Nygma has decided to debut as The Riddler. He sets of a chain of downtown bombs and sends the entire city into darkness. Thankfully, with Wayne Manor being miles outside of the city limits, the blackout does not effect Bruce and Alfred.

Despite Riddler’s attack upon the city mere hours ago, Batman must play his family role as Bruce Wayne and host Uncle Philip’s wake at Wayne Manor. Bruce chats affectionately with his cousin Kate Kane. With Riddler clearly on his mind, Bruce ends the reception early, citing the impending Super-storm Rene as his reason for doing so. That night, the adventurous Kate Kane ventures into the heart of Gotham, which is devoid of most people thanks to a weather-alert curfew. (Note that this weather curfew must be a bit over-precautionary since the real storm won’t start for another 36 hours or so). Kate winds up fighting and defeating some would-be jewelry thieves, but gets beat up pretty bad in the process and gets hauled into Gotham General Hospital by rookie Metropolis Police Officer Maggie Sawyer (who is helping out in Gotham as a part of storm relief). Besides a few bruises and stitches, Kate is A-OK and goes home with dad.

The corrupt Commissioner Loeb, in league with Roman Sionis, wants to throw Lieutenant Gordon off the trail of Sionis’ criminal activities involving the Black Mask Gang. It’s not long before Gordon finds himself under the murderous attack of corrupt GCPD cops and crooked internal affairs officers amidst the rainy darkness of Riddler’s blackout. These bad cops rough up Gordon and toss him over the Trigate Bridge. Luckily, Gordon is spotted and saved by Batman. Gordon returns and, along with Detective Harvey Bullock, kicks some dirty police ass and exposes Sionis as a criminal, forcing him to go underground for years to come while Jeremiah Arkham takes over the gang.

Two days have passed since Batman investigated the weird tree-skeleton murder scene, meaning that two days have also passed since Riddler’s blackout blanketed all of Gotham. The news reports of an impending super-storm headed straight for the city. Batman now investigates a second similar skeleton-tree death and flees from the cops again, this time debuting the first ever prototype Batmobile, a hotrod that can drive on the ceilings of tunnels. Back at the crime scene, Lieutenant Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock interview eyewitness lab assistant/botany intern Pamela Isley, who describes the murderer as a skeletal monster-man that clearly is taking doses of whatever he’s been testing on his victims. Later in the Batcave, Alfred tells Bruce that former Wayne Enterprises scientist Karl Helfern, known as Dr. Death due to his research on animals that caused gross skeletal expansion, should be the prime suspect in the murders. Bruce and Alfred climb out of the Batcave and into the field adjacent to Wayne Manor only to run into Lieutenant Gordon, who chats them up suspiciously.

Bruce then visits former Wayne Enterprises scientist (fired by Uncle Philip) Lucius Fox at his new digs at Gotham University. Bruce lobs some questions about Dr. Death only to get stabbed in the neck with a syringe by Fox. Out of the shadows emerges Dr. Death, who has an extreme valgus deformity and grotesque skeletal protrusions all over his body thanks to taking “monster serum.” Lucius explains that he’s just administered a vaccine to the monster serum. Bruce and Lucius then try to flee Dr. Death, who claims he knows secrets about Bruce’s past. Dr. Death then grabs Bruce and cracks his skull with his giant bony hands, knocking him unconscious. Lieutenant Gordon arrives and shoots Dr. Death in the shoulder, causing the villain to flee. While out-cold, Bruce has a vivid dream of his time training in Nigeria. A day later, Bruce wakes up in the hospital handcuffed by the ankle to his bed courtesy of Gordon, who wants to question him. Alfred tells Bruce that the police think they can restore the city’s power within 24 hours. Bruce easily breaks free and reminds the entering Gordon of what happened the day his parents were killed. Earlier on that very same day, Gordon had taken ten-year-old Bruce into custody because he was skipping school. En route to the police station, it appeared as though Gordon and his partner Dan Corrigan were making stops and collecting police bribes. Bruce darts off and suits up in his Batman gear. The Dark Knight heads across Gotham Bay in a jet-ski toward his late Uncle Philip’s weather center, which is actually an advanced research lab dedicated to weaponizing weather. At the facility, Batman finds several of Dr. Death’s former colleagues in the final stages of horrific monster serum death. Commissioner Loeb and the cops then show up and riddle Batman with a hail of bullets as the super-storm begins to rage outside.

Batman is about to be killed by the insane Commissioner Loeb and his GCPD cronies, but Lieutenant Gordon saves his life and boats him to safety, all the while telling the Dark Knight a story about how he (Gordon) was almost killed by crooked cops the night Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered. In this way, Batman learns that Gordon was always an honest cop and never took bribes like the others. Gordon also reveals that Riddler told Commissioner Loeb that he (Riddler) was partnered with Batman—the reason that Loeb has now cracked down hard against the Dark Knight. Batman spends the following day refueling with an IV needle and stitches courtesy of Alfred. At night, as the storm picks up in intensity, Batman spies on Gordon and his young daughter Barbara “Babs” Gordon.

In the Batcave, the Caped Crusader tinkers with an electronic jamming device and listens to Alfred monologue about Bruce’s anger and the necessity to accept help in the war on Gotham’s crime. Batman then visits an underground 18th century cemetery, one of Gotham’s many catacomb tourist attractions, suspecting it of being Dr. Death’s lair. Sure enough, it is. However, Riddler is ready and waiting. Riddler, via pre-recorded video message, explains that Dr. Death works for him. Not only that, Riddler has a “doomsday machine” floating over Gotham that is set to detonate. A bomb then goes off immediately flooding the catacombs with Batman trapped inside.

Batman escapes the catacombs and calls Lieutenant Gordon, who is busy escorting Gotham citizens—including Harper and Cullen Row— onto an evacuation bus. The Dark Knight warns Gordon that if the power is switched back on, Riddler will gain immediate access to all of the city’s electronics and public works thanks to technology he stole from Helfern’s murder victims. Batman also has deduced that Riddler is operating from his old office in Wayne Tower. Gordon phones the corrupt Dan Corrigan and begs him not to restart the power, but Corrigan hates Gordon and gives him the blow-off. Batman then takes to the skies in the impressively large Bat Blimp, which is seen by nearly all of Gotham, including young Barbara Gordon. Batman, with an electronic jammer that he hopes will disable Riddler’s plan, leaps onto Riddler’s weather balloon where the “doomsday device” is located. There, Dr. Death awaits Riddler’s complete control so that he can douse the entire city with his “monster serum.” Batman fights Dr. Death, restrains him, and snaps off one of his protruding bone horns. However, during the process, the jammer is lost. As Batman attempts to smash up the foul machine with the bone, Dr. Death shockingly reveals that he decided to become his current twisted self when his son died searching for Bruce in Nigeria a few years ago. After smashing up a control panel aboard the balloon, it explodes and sends shrapnel into Dr. Death. His bones grow rapidly in an effort to protect his body, killing him in an instant. Despite the control panel explosion, the “doomsday device” activates when Corrigan plugs the city back in. After Gordon is unable to stop Riddler at Wayne Tower, the villain gains the access he needs and immediately detonates the retaining walls, causing massive tidal waves and flooding to wash through Gotham. Riddler also causes all of the GCPD blimps to crash instantly. The weather balloon that Batman is aboard crashes and explodes.

Batman crawls out of the wreckage of the downed weather balloon as fire reigns over Gotham. He ditches his Batman costume and blacks out, slipping into a coma. Luckily, Bruce is found by the Thomas family—Doug Thomas, Elaine Thomas, and their young son Duke Thomas. The Thomases take him into their home and put him on an IV. Bruce will remain in a coma for about twenty-five days.

Bruce wakes up from his coma at the Thomas residence. Duke Thomas explains that Riddler now controls the city and has moved the calendar back to “Zero Year.” Bruce immediately calls Alfred, who thanks the maker that Bruce is okay. Alfred then further explains the situation. All of the water borders of Gotham are destroyed. Riddler has gained control of all the communications satellites, caused rampant plant growth all over the city using Pamela Isley’s formulas, has flooded the tunnels, rigged the bridges with explosives, and filled the sky with balloons filled with deadly chemicals. Riddler also has complete surveillance over the city and uses both an army of ex-Red Hood gangsters and Powers Industries robots/drones to maintain his order. No one gets in or out of Gotham. Each day, Riddler appears on a giant TV screen atop his skyscraper HQ at the center of Gotham to accept riddle challenges from Gothamites, saying that if anyone can stump him, he will release his hold over the city. Bruce departs the Thomas home to figure out a game plan. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Gordon has arranged a secret rendezvous with a DEVGRU SEAL strike team that has been sent in by the US Navy. Unfortunately, the strike team only consists of six men, much to the chagrin of Gordon. But even worse is when the Powers-robots spot them and the DEVGRU team reveals its true mission: to offer $50 million bucks on behalf of the US Government to Riddler in exchange for the release of Gotham. Riddler scoffs at the deal and orders his men to knock down a tall tenement building with a demolition crane, which starts a domino effect of falling buildings heading straight for Gordon and the DEVGRU team. As the buildings near, Riddler offers a cryptic riddle about how to defeat the Powers-bots and escape unscathed. A returning Batman calls out from the shadows, instructing Gordon. Gordon blows-up the robots. Batman, wearing a crude makeshift costume, appears before the seven men and officially offers his assistance.

Batman, Lieutenant Gordon, Lucius Fox, and the DEVGRU SEAL Team all chart a course of action to bring down Riddler. Batman departs to fix-up a new DIY costume that includes lots of crime-fighting gear, a short-sleeved shirt with spray-painted Bat-symbol, and purple gloves!

Batman, sporting a steam-powered-motorcycle and his new short-sleeved costume, saves Duke Thomas from a shark-masked gang. (Numerous new masked or themed gangs have continued popping up all over Gotham ever since the fall of the Red Hood Gang.) Duke is overjoyed to see Batman back in action, especially since Riddler has told the public that the Dark Knight is dead.

Batman accepts Riddler’s public riddle challenge. The plan is to distract Riddler for nineteen minutes while Lucius Fox and Lieutenant Gordon hack into his network. But Batman can only keep Riddler verbally occupied for eleven minutes before getting dumped via trapdoor into the garages below Wayne Tower, which has been turned into a literal lion’s den. Eight minutes with two lions is a cakewalk for Batman, who takes the felines down, arousing cheers from the audience watching the live feed above. Once Lucius cracks Riddler’s code, Gordon meets with Batman underground, having swum through a flooded subway to reach his position. With Lucius guiding them via radio, Batman infiltrates deeper into the Riddler’s HQ while Gordon leads the Navy SEALs into what appears to be Riddler’s tech hub. The SEALs explain that they can contact the outside via a special “rip code” that will authorize a targeted missile strike that will destroy the entire city if need be. Batman quickly realizes that Riddler has the upper hand as has led them into a trap. Batman fends off some Riddler drone robots and saves Lucius’s life, then realizing that Riddler is not in his HQ, but actually on the outskirts of the city. After some screwaroundery involving riddles, Lucius has knocked out Riddler’s power using Philip Kane’s giant penny as a conductor for the electronic blocker. Meanwhile, Gordon signals the oncoming fighter jets with a makeshift Bat Signal. Batman beats-up and kayos Riddler, but there is one task left. In order to return power to the city, Batman must attach an electrode to his own chest and pump 1,000 volts of electricity into his own heart. With no other choice, Batman hooks a defibrillator to himself and plugs in. After a moment of blackness, Batman is resuscitated by Alfred. The city is saved, the power is restored, and Riddler goes to Arkham Asylum, officially starting the trend of incarcerating super-villains there.

Batman displays the famous giant penny in the Batcave. The penny is a sculpture designed by Bruce’s late uncle Philip Arkham. Additionally, Batman puts his father’s old bat costume on display in the Batcave.

Batman makes some much needed improvements to his costume and begins wearing the standard togs that we are more familiar with—all grey and black with a large black bat insignia on the chest. He also makes a few mega-important tweaks. First, the new cowl and mask includes a specialized metallic lock system, so that if he is captured or knocked unconscious, it is nearly impossible for anyone else to remove it from his face. Not only that, but the mask is connected to a central computer system that runs through the Batsuit. Forced removal of the mask causes complete erasure of data. If tampered with, the mask also emits high voltage electric shocks. In regard to Batman’s utility belt, he invents the gold standard of portable personal munitions. Batman’s belt can hold upwards of 130 different item types—some of which include multiples of said items. Back to the cowl, it also contains a 3D holographic video recording device

Batman will record every single bit of everything he does while out-and-about (and while training). Put bluntly, Batman’s costume is beyond state-of-the-art in every way imaginable. The original purple glove costume goes into a display case in the Batcave

Batman boards a boat to prevent the theft of some diamonds. Batman recovers the diamonds and busts Selina Kyle, who is disguised as an old woman. After unmasking her, the Dark Knight notes Selina’s beauty, but she escapes and he doesn’t get her name. Batman will ultimately come to remember this as his first genuine encounter with Selina, even though he first actually met (and fought) her on the street not long ago.

When Red Hood fell into a vat of toxic chemicals while fighting Batman earlier in the year, he emerged as the white-skinned green-haired evil clown known as Joker. Joker now finally debuts on live television and announces that diamond magnate Henry Claridge will die at midnight. Sure enough, despite massive GCPD protection—and secret watch from Batman—Claridge dies with a rictus grin on his face. The Joker had already poisoned him with Joker Toxin twenty-four hours prior. This is the first use of Joker Toxin aka Joker Venom. From this point on, Joker will use many different variations of Joker Toxin, and each time Batman will create an antidote by running his “Joker protocol,” which simply means running simulations with antitoxins, antibios, and steroids. By 2019, Joker will have used nearly a hundred different versions of Joker Toxin. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Joker will function as Batman’s primary arch-enemy over the course of the next decade. The Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime will have multiple encounters, many of which we have to imagine occurring randomly on this timeline. In fact, by 2001, Joker will have killed over 114 people

An unknown person is wronged or injured during an unspecified Batman mission and comes to blame the Dark Knight for their condition. This person will return twenty three years later as the evil villain known as “The First Victim.” Since we don’t have much information about the First Victim’s origin, they could be attached to the prior Joker attacks in some way. Or they could be attached to a something else. All we know for sure is that they were hurt in the very early days of Batman’s career, hence placement here.

Alfred begins serving his special cucumber sandwiches to Batman whenever he comes back to the Batcave from patrol. Alfred will serve these cucumber sandwiches to all members of the Bat-Family for decades to come.

Bruce sets up his office at Wayne Enterprises, adding the decor of wall art, books, and a framed family picture from his youth to his desk. He also acquires an antique motorcycle, which he puts on display as a showpiece in the room.

Shortly after this, Bruce meetsd Katrina Netz, the widow of Nathan Kane, who also masquerades as the heroine, Batwoman.

Bruce takes over as head of Wayne Enterprises and assigns Lucius Fox as his top man at a public press conference. Newly minted Commissioner Jim Gordon is in attendance. Bruce gives a new jacket to Gordon. Julie Madison visits Wayne Tower in an attempt to rekindle a romance with her high school sweetheart, but Bruce is busy chatting with Alfred. Bruce tells Alfred about a time when he was in high school where he went off the deep end and couldn’t deal with the tragic memory of his parents’ murders. He went a little crazy and paid a homeless man to pretend to be Alfred and then checked himself into Arkham, paying the doctors there to incarcerate him and give him shock therapy. However, right before the first session, Bruce changed his mind and left. Alfred tells the patiently waiting Julie that Bruce won’t be seeing her as he is “spoken for.” Out in the Gotham night, Batman soars through the air.

Batman deals with the threat of the League of Assassins led by Ra’s al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul, also known as “The Demon’s Head,” has stayed alive for centuries due to the life-extending powers of bathing in the magickal Lazarus Pits. With an army of ninjas, assassins, and the cult-like devotion of the Ubu Clan, Ra’s al Ghul has come to dominate the global underworld. Impressed by his new adversary, Ra’s al Ghul enacts a plan to partner the Dark Detective with his daughter, the beautiful and intelligent twenty-one-year-old Talia al Ghul. Ra’s al Ghul fakes a civil war within the ranks of the League of Assassins. Dr. Darrk (Ebeneezer Darcel), leader of a “splinter League faction,” kidnaps Talia from the University of Cairo, where she studies. Batman initially botches Talia’s rescue, winding up in Darrk’s Himalayan dungeon alongside of her. There, the Caped Crusader fends-off a wild fighting bull and eventually saves Talia. Batman immediately becomes infatuated with Talia and they begin a whirlwind affair, fueled by the thrill of adventure. It is at this point that Batman first discovers The League of Shadows“—an elite group within the League of Assassins, which wields greater power and poses as a greater threat. The League of Shadows, consisting of an army of sleeper cells hiding in plain sight, has been secretly responsible for the largest acts of terror in human history. Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows capture Batman and wipe his mind of all knowledge of the organization via magickal means.

A week or so after Batman’s first encounter with Ra’s al Ghul, Batman recruits a team—consisting of champion skier Molly Post, scientist Harris Blaine, and assassin Lo Ling—to help him attack Ra’s al Ghul head-on once again. In the end, a shirtless Dark Knight sword-fights Ra’s al Ghul in the Sahara Desert. During the fight, Batman discovers the existence of the League of Shadows for the second time. Batman loses the sword duel—he gets stung by a desert scorpion—but defeats Ra’s al Ghul after being given a revitalizing drop of anti-venom by Talia. Once again, the League of Shadows uses a magick mind-wipe to erase Batman’s memories of their group.

Bruce is handed the keys to the Wayne Enterprises kingdom by WayneTech’s recent re-hire and new chief executive officer, Lucius Fox. After Fox gives Bruce the rundown of all WayneTech’s scientific projects, Bruce tells Lucius he is not comfortable with experimentation on cryogenically frozen corpses. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Bruce butts heads with one of his scientists Dr. Victor Fries, who deals primarily with cryogenics. Bruce doesn’t shut down Fries, but tells him that he will be watching. Unknown to Bruce, Fries has been specifically studying a woman with congenital heart failure, his wife Nora Fields, who died of McGregor’s disease and has been cryo-frozen since 1978.

Noticing that all of Bruce’s wealth is tied directly to Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox gives the young and inexperienced CEO some sound business advice: Make sure to diversify your investments! Unfortunately, as smart as Bruce is, this is a piece of advice that he doesn’t heed. Bruce loses a ton of company cash, forcing Lucius to intervene and get it all back. Lucius will echo this “play-it-safe” sentiment for years to come (invisibly on our timeline), but Bruce will never listen, often losing vast sums of capital in different business ventures, each time forcing Lucius to lawyer-up and rescue his fortune.

Due to existing in the same wealthy socialite circles, Bruce (as Bruce Wayne) officially meets the detestable Penguin. Their paths with cross many times over the course of the next decade, but Penguin will have no idea that Bruce and Batman are one and the same.

Despite Dent’s mob connection to the McKillen family, Bruce sees potential for goodness in Dent due to their long history together. Plus, Dent has also been working with Gordon and Batman to help curtail the criminal actions of Carmine Falcone and Penguin for the past month-plus. But Batman is Batman and he must uphold the law no matter what. Thus, the Dark Knight brutally takes down a thug working for the McKillens. In court, Dent, as he always does for the McKillen family, expertly gets the thug off due to the fact that Batman is a vigilante that operates outside of lawful jurisdiction. Later that afternoon, the McKillen Sisters, via a Spanish death squad, authorize a hit on Commissioner Gordon. The hit men attack Commissioner Gordon and his family (visiting Barbara, Babs, and James Gordon Jr), but the Commissioner defends his fam and kills the would-be killers. In a panic, the McKillen Sisters arrange a meeting with Dent, who chastises them for such a reckless and disgusting act. Dent quits their employ, but the McKillens threaten that they own him. Later, Bruce visits Harvey and his wife Gilda at their home. (Harvey is married to an old friend of Bruce’s, Gilda Gold, who he was introduced to by Bruce a few years ago). Bruce gives Harvey an “I believe in Harvey Dent” speech and says that he wants to back him as candidate for the next District Attorney of Gotham (since the corrupt DA Stevens is retiring, presumably because of his link to the ousted Commissioner Loeb). Harvey doesn’t make his decision right then and there, but we can assume he agrees immediately thereafter.

Harvey Dent wins and becomes the DA of Gotham City. Batman and Commissioner Gordon congratulate Dent and they begin planning on how to bring down Dent’s former employers, the McKillen family.

In order to contact Batman, Commissioner Gordon and DA Harvey Dent come up with a special phone/hotline pager number that signals the Dark Knight to secretly meet them atop the Beacon Tower in downtown Gotham. This trio of crime-fighters will meet equally atop the Beacon Tower and secretly in Commissioner Gordon’s office. A few days later, Bruce gives his “criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot” speech to Jim Gordon.

Batman collaborates with Commissioner Gordon and DA Harvey Dent to tackle the criminal empire run by the McKillen family. Erin McKillen and her twin sister Shannon McKillen have just recently become the new official leaders of the clan, following the death of Erin’s husband. Right off the bat, both Erin and Shannon get sent to jail courtesy of Harvey Dent Dent has no qualms about using illegal and unlawful tactics to stick the McKillens with a raw deal in court, which results in long sentences for both sisters.

Batman begins the practice of memorizing every detail about every single Arkham Asylum inmate, whether or not he was responsible for their committal there.

Batman realizes that the entire time he fought Red Hood this year, he was fighting the man who would later become Joker. Part of this realization that pre-Joker murdered and replaced Liam Distal as the Red Hood in late 2006 before he (Bruce) even returned to Gotham in early 2007 likely stems from the fact that Red Hood’s blood sample was linked to an unknown person (as opposed to a known criminal like Distal). Also, the behavior patterns of the Red Hood that Batman fought were relatively consistent with Joker’s behavior patterns.

Batman, still mostly considered to be a myth by most of the public, captures a dozen gang members and leaves them for the cops.

Batman, while still distrustful, becomes closer with Detective Harvey Bullock.

Batman is mortally wounded and winds up in the care of Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who not only saves his life but discovers his secret ID!

Batman obtains a mammoth robotic Tyrannosaurus rex after an adventure at a dinosaur theme park and displays it in the Batcave.

The Wayne family has long collected various artifacts and antiques from across the globe. Bruce moves several warrior costumes—Roman soldier, samurai, and others—into display cases in the Batcave. Bruce also creates some alternate Batman costumes and puts them into Batcave display cases as well. Some of these alternate Batman costumes are specific-scenario-use costumes, but others, like the zebra costume, are likely just artist Easter Eggs that function narratively as mere test uniforms.

Bruce begins closely studying the strange botanical work of one of his company’s youngest and brightest scientists, Pamela Isley. He will continue to do so for months to come

The Early Days (1998-2000)
After seizing his company back, Bruce began using his resources to establish a plan of attack to rid Gotham of its criminal element. Making use of his John "Matches" Malone identity he had assumed while with the League, Bruce began to infiltrate several gangs, but soon he realized he would need an ally in the most corrupt GCPD. Bruce turned to the only honest cop, the man who caught his parents killer, James Gordon. Gordon and the media began getting anonymous letters with tips about the operations of criminal enterprises signed by 'Insider'. But Bruce underestimated the influence that Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni had over them. So, Bruce returned to the persona he had begun to build during his time within the League. But first, he would need some help.

Bruce installed Lucius Fox as President of Wayne Enterprises and brought him, Alfred and Leslie in on his plans. While Leslie vocally disapproved of his choice, they all agreed to help. Going into full-blown theatrics, Bruce went public with the Batman, using him to strike fear in Gotham's criminal element.

The Caped Crusader (2000-2004)
With Lucius providing tech for Bruce, the Batmanquickly became a name that criminals feared, while some just believed it to be a modern myth. That is, until he rescued reporter Vicki Vale from Tony Zucco, where she managed to get the first picture of Batman. With the help of Jim Gordon, his wife Sarah Essen-Gordon and his partner Harvey Bullock, Batman took down Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni, exposing corruption within City Hall and GCPD and leaving a giant power vacuum that would be filled with the likes of Frank Bertinelli and Tony Zucco.

Batman inspired the vigilante movement, leading to the arrival of the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and an old friend Vic Sage as the Question. He even began to inspire the youths of America. In 2000 during an ‘Elect Dent’ campaign event organized by Silver, Bruce watched as the Flying Grayson's performed an acrobatic act, and continued to watch as they plummeted to their deaths due to their act being sabotaged by Tony Zucco, leaving only their orphaned son Dick. Bruce kept tabs on the boy as he hunted down Zucco. Upon learning that Dick had no living relatives, Bruce saw himself in Dick and adopted him thanks to Silver’s political connections.

During this time, Bruce met Superman at somepoint after Mr. Mxyzptlk merged them into a Composite-Superman. Bruce is still weirded out by this and doesn't like talking about it too much, instead considering the time they battled Magpie to be the actual start of their friendship.

Dick eventually discovered the Batcave during a fit of rage and attempted to persuade Bruce to let him join his crusade. Bruce rejected his offer multiple times, but upon recognizing the need for justice against his parents killer, agreed to train the boy in order to make sure he didn't get himself killed in his pursuit. Due to his acrobatic skills, Dick already had a foundation to build on and by Summer of 2001, Gotham’s Dynamic Duo was born with the first outing of Batman and Robin, beginning the age of young heroes.

The appearance of the teen hero inspired many, but none more than Jim and Sarah Gordon’s daughter Barbara. The accomplished martial artist and hacker debuted in a makeshift costume as ‘Batgirl’ and nearly got herself killed. Disobeying Batman’s orders to quit, they eventually brought her into the fold and gave her an armored suit and more training, establishing the ‘Bat-Family’ with their headquarters in the high tech Batcave below Wayne Manor.

But Batman’s appearance not only inspired several heroes to wear costumes but several villains as well.

Dynamic Duo (2004-2007)
Several costumed villains began to appear in Gotham after Batman’s debut such as Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Black Mask, but none gave them more trouble than the Joker. A malicious and deadly clown, he made his psychotic debut by giving Sal Maroni the acid he used to burn half of Harvey Dent’s face, turning one of Gotham’s greatest heroes into the mentally insane villain Two-Face. In order to combat these criminals, Batman and some of the other heroes established the Super-Friends, where he often sent Robin and Batgirl as his representatives. With the teens out of town most of the summer, Bruce spent more time alone, eventually leading to Silver discovering his operation. Unable to bear the thought of him in danger, she ended their relationship in 2003.

After a brief tryst with Wonder Woman and several encounters with the elusive Catwoman, Bruce decided to reconnect with Julie Madison. Bruce even adopted another young orphan, a streetwise boy Jason Todd, who lost his parents to drugs. Things took a turn for the worse when the Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara in an attempt to drive her father mad in August of 2005. Robin returned to Gotham and angered by the fact that Bruce still refused to cross the line and kill the Joker, quit his role as Robin and left Gotham for the Super-Friends full time. Bruce got closer to Jason as a result and he eventually learned of his identity as Batman and with persuasion from both Barbara and Alfred, began expanding his skills to become the second Robin.

Things took a turn after Jason’s debut as Robin in 2005 when he met the mysterious Helena Bertinelli, the daughter of mob boss murdered by Black Mask. She quickly noticed Jason’s injuries and got him to give her a tour of the Batcave where they were caught by Alfred. After a very long and awkward dinner at Wayne Manor, Huntress and Robin 2.0 proved to be a challenge to Bruce as they often considered blurring his line. They proved to be capable crime fighters and joined the Super-Friends during a time of bliss, where the two developed a romance, Bruce and Dick (now the hero Nightwing) reconnected and he became engaged to Julie. But then the clown ruined everything once again. Jason became wrapped up in a scheme which involved Ra’s Al Ghul hiring the Joker to serve as a distraction to his own plans. Ra’s overestimated his own skills in controlling the Joker and the Joker created a convoluted plot to manipulate Jason into finding his mother and traveling to Ethiopia. Once Jason reunited with his mother, Joker locked them in a warehouse and held an online livestream torturing Jason and had people vote on whether or not to kill him. Batman figured it out, but was too late. Joker had set off a bomb, blew up the warehouse and ran off. In anguish, Bruce killed a group of terrorists near the area, signalling a darker point in his life.

The death of Jason led to the break up of the Super-Friends. Bruce became a violent, angry and depressed man, which led to his breakup with Julie (who was actually pregnant at the time) and the loss of his partners. Soon, the Thrillkiller Protocol began, a joint effort between the Bat Family and the senior superheroes to bring in the Joker.

The Dark Knight (2007-2009)
After the death of Jason, Bruce became depressed, drinking himself to death during the day and beat criminals near-death at night. However, luck seemed to have changed for the better, when Andrea Beaumont, the Phantasm returned to Gotham in 2007. It turned out, however, that Andrea had only returned to Bruce to gain access to Gotham’s newest corrupt DA, Arthur Reeves,  at his inaugural banquet. Andrea, now operating as the masked mercenary The Phantasm, used this opportunity to poison Reeves and when Bruce realized, he rushed in to save the man. Later, Batman confronted Andrea in her disguise as the Phantasm and the two fought. Batman got stabbed and unmasked. Seeing Bruce there, bleeding out, Andrea rushed Bruce to the Batcave and in the confusion, left. She left her one-time lover a simple locket to remember her by. That locket remains in the Batcave's trophy room to this day.

After the League of Assassins started a take-over of Gotham, Barbara Gordon returned, now calling herself Oracle. This helped Bruce a little bit, as he was now able to keep much better watch over criminals. Additionally, Bruce's bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux stepped up to help him.

Still, Bruce was weak and vulnerable, making him susceptible to the League when they sent the Tigress to assassinate him as part of her initiation. Bruce Wayne would have died right there if she hadn’t had a change of heart, sparing his life. Bruce's trauma also made him susceptible to Jezebel Jet.

Jezebel and Bruce met at a Wayne Foundation charity fashion show where she used her charms to seduce a depressed and vulnerable Bruce. The two were very much hot and heavy. Three months into their relationship, Bruce proposed…in the Batcave! Sasha, however, didn’t trust Jezebel and kept tabs on this model. As it turned out, Jezebel was a spy sent by the League of Assassins to assess Bruce before they put their master plan into effect. When Sasha discovered evidence of Jezebel’s plans, she and Bruce confronted her, where he allowed her to leave. Jezebel Jet hasn’t been seen since.

Not long after, a young teen named Tim Drake showed up at Wayne Manor asking to speak to Batman. Having deduced his identity years prior to connecting him to Dick (who used the same acrobatic moves as Robin). Tim was also the young boy that had informed the original trio of his criminal dealings that led to the rescue of Helena Bertinelli all those years ago. When Black Mask discovered it was Tim that had messed up his operation, he hired a hitman to kill the Drakes. While Tim's’ mother were killed, his quick wit allowed him and his father to escape.

At some point, Helena vowed to kill the Joker after what he did, and after a fight with Bruce, she abandoned began to hunt down every last associate of the Jokers, leaving Bruce all alone.

Persuaded by Alfred, Bruce took Tim in and kept him safe. Tim asked his guardian to train him to become the third Robin and avenge his parents, but Bruce denied him. He would never lose another son again. However, Alfred took note of the boys wit and, disobeying his employer, began to train the boy in secret with the help of Dick Grayson. Alfred had hoped that having another Robin in the field with Batman would help Bruce, but it would come too late. For Bane was watching Bruce, and he knew how to destroy him...

Knightfall
Bruce's life appeared to have another change with the arrival of Azreal. Jean-Paul Valley tried to escape the brainwashing of the Order of St. Dumas, and at least at first, tried to become a hero. Then Bane arrived. Bane started off as a steroid-enhanced drug dealer. Then came the venom.

Bruce was dealing with a mid-life crisis. First he had to deal with the Black Mask (Jeremiah Arkham) and his gang, who targeted Bruce and Lucius.Then there was Metalhead and a sharpshooter who tried to kill Jim Gordon. Bruce feels ineffective after his failure to defeat Black Mask and finds himself unable to meditate as a result. As Bruce Wayne, he contacts holistic therapist Shondra Kinsolving for treatment. He also assigns Robin to train Jean-Paul Valley in detective work to aid them as an ally, hoping to guide Valley's brainwashing away from making him a villainous threat. Despite the advice of everyone in his life, including Dr. Kinsolving, Bruce refuses to rest and continues to pursue his self-imposed duty despite his worsening condition

After this, Bruce battled against Ulysses Armstrong. Meanwhile, Bane is interfering with encounters pitting villains Killer Croc and the Riddler against Batman, and, to test Batman's limits, goes so far as to inject the Riddler with the Venom drug. This escalation culminates in an assault on Arkham Asylum where Bane breaks the inmates free and supplies them with numerous weapons to escape. Meanwhile, Robin found it difficult to work with Jean-Paul, due to the man's violent subconscious training and lack of social skills, and also finds himself being shut out from working alongside Batman.

Bane then freed all of the maximum-security inmates of Arkham. Aware that he would lose in a direct assault against Batman, Bane's plan consists of weakening Batman by forcing him to deal with the deadly villains simultaneously. Among the freed inmates, there are numerous high-profile villains, such as the Joker, the Scarecrow, the Riddler, and Poison Ivy, as well as many of the lesser-known creeps, such as the Mad Hatter, the Ventriloquist, the Firefly, the Cavalier, the Film Freak, Mr. Zsasz, Cornelius Stirk, Abattoir, and Amygdala. The scenario creates a rift in the relationship between Robin and Batman, as Batman irrationally seeks to face the outbreak alone—in later issues, Robin asks Batman if he is even needed as his sidekick anymore.

Batman becomes weaker and weaker as each criminal is put away. The rescue of Mayor Krol from the teaming of the Joker and Scarecrow pushes Batman to his mental and physical limits: a dose of Scarecrow's fear gas makes him relive the murder of Jason Todd, which he considers to be his greatest failure. After this encounter, Bane's men assault Batman before he himself makes his move and attacks him at Wayne Manor, his home as his alter-ego—by this time; Bane had deduced the secret identity of Batman. By this time, Brucd is so exhausted from the exertion of catching the escaped criminals that he cannot even defend himself; Bane beats him mercilessly before breaking Wayne's back over his knee inside the Batcave below the manor, symbolically "breaking" Batman. Bane takes the grievously-wounded Bruce (still costumed in the Batman outfit) downtown to Gotham Square and throws him from a rooftop to demonstrate his superiority to the populace. Quick action by Robin and Alfred spares Batman's life, but at great cost - he is left a paraplegic. With Batman incapacitated, Bane assumes control of Gotham City's underworld and takes over several illegal operations within it.

After his defeat, Bruce Wayne enlists the aid of Dr. Shondra Kinsolving to rehabilitate him and asks Jean-Paul Valley to take up the mantle of Batman so that Gotham has a protector. Tim Drake argues with Bruce to allow Dick Grayson (the former Robin and then-current Nightwing) to become Batman, as he is more experienced and mentally competent. Bruce replies that Grayson has his own responsibilities and would only take up the mantle of the Bat reluctantly (Dick later expressed resentment at not being asked to stand in as Batman). Bruce's rationale for this decision is revealed in later issues - secretly, he does not want Dick to have to face Bane, as he knows Dick's character will compel him to try. Indeed, Bruce gives Jean-Paul strict orders never to engage Bane in combat—and when Jean-Paul does face Bane, only his modified gloves save Jean-Paul from being thrown to his death.

Soon after, Kinsolving and Tim's father Jack Drake are kidnapped and Bruce and Alfred leave the country to find them. Jean-Paul is shown to be a different, but not dangerous, Batman until an encounter with the Scarecrow, which results in Jean-Paul being infected by Scarecrow's fear gas and "The System"—his programming as Azrael—taking over, in order to combat Jean-Paul's fear. Following this, Jean-Paul is unable to shake the influence of the System, giving in to it completely after his first defeat at Bane's hands and being increasingly influenced by it during the rest of his tenure as Batman. Gradually, Jean-Paul alienates Robin with his paranoia and arrogance.

Jean-Paul, in his new mechanical Batsuit (which is an amalgam of the Azrael costume with the Batman's) then confronts Bane in an arduous battle and prevails, although many bystanders are put at risk. Jean-Paul leaves Bane broken mentally and physically, though he struggles with the choice of whether to simply kill Bane or hand him over to the police. He decides that he will let Bane go to Blackgate Prison. Jean-Paul continues to watch over Gotham after the fight, but grows increasingly unstable.

Knightquest
Meanwhile, Jean-Paul becomes increasingly violent and mentally unbalanced. During this time, he drives Robin away because he believes Gotham to be so tough that only violence could answer its criminals. In several issues, Robin is left horrified as Jean-Paul ferociously attacks common criminals, often with a weapon and sometimes nearly to death. This surge of violence from Gotham's defender puts pressure on Batman's relationship with Police Commissioner Gordon, who begins to distrust and even fear the new Batman and eventually comes to realize he is not the same man he has known.

All of Jean-Paul's actions are compelled by "the System"; on numerous occasions, he experiences the ghosts of his father and the patriarch Saint Dumas giving him guidance and he is driven to near-insanity by the time the saga ends. He repeatedly redesigns his Batman costume, adding more gadgets and lethal weapons, including metal claws, a laser, razor-sharp batarangs and a flamethrower. Eventually, he also adds a Bat-symbol, matching the one used for the series' logo. Valley becomes compelled by a desire to be a better Batman than Bruce Wayne, especially when he discovers his lack of interest in detective work caused him to make false assumptions about Catwoman (he thought she would sell a powerful nerve gasto terrorists, when she merely wanted to dispose of it so it could not be used to hurt anyone).

His questionable behavior climaxes when he encounters the serial killer Abattoir, who is keeping an innocent prisoner in a secret torture chamber: Jean-Paul purposely lets Abattoir die, thereby condemning the prisoner to death as well. Other villains Jean-Paul faces include Mr. Freeze, the Trigger Twins, Gunbunny and Gunhawk, the Tally Man and Clayface III and IV; the most notable encounters are with Catwoman and the Joker, both of whom could tell that Valley was not the original Batman.

Bruce and Alfred searched for Jack Drake and Shondra Kinsolving, the father of the current Robin and the physical therapist with whom Bruce Wayne had fallen in love during his rehabilitation sessions, respectively. Their investigation leads them to the Caribbean and then Great Britain. Kinsolving's brother-by-adoption Benedict Asp kidnapped her to use her special powers to kill people at a distance. Asp demonstrates this new form of mass murder on a small English village. When Bruce Wayne finds Kinsolving, he finds himself caught in the middle of a telekinetic tug-of-war between Asp and Kinsolving. The battle climaxes with her refocusing her energy to defeat Asp; as a side effect of the energy, Bruce's broken spine becomes healed. However, the drugs forced onto her by Asp, combined with the effects of the fight with Asp, reduce her mind to that of a child as Shondra's traumatised mind regresses to the past to escape her unhappy present, and Wayne reluctantly puts her into a mental institution.

Bruce eventually leaves England to return home to a civilian life in Gotham, but Alfred remains in England, not wanting to see Bruce Wayne damage his body further. He does not return to Gotham until a while later, when Dick Grayson persuades him to do so in later issues.

Knightsend
Jean-Paul Valley sees visions of his dead father, who had programmed him at birth to be a deadly weapon. These visions tell Jean-Paul to avenge his father's death, and Jean-Paul searches Gotham for his father's killer. Though the killer, Carlton LeHah, had already been encountered and defeated,, Jean-Paul's conditioning had warped his mind to the extent that he no longer remembered the incident. He eventually comes to believe that Penn Selkirk, a Gotham mobster turned weapons dealer who has taken over the remnants of LeHah's organization, is his father's murderer. Valley now spends his time doggedly pursuing him.

Returning to Gotham, Bruce meets with Tim. Even though Jean-Paul disobeyed Bruce's order to refrain from attacking Bane, Bruce is sufficiently impressed with Jean-Paul's results. Bruce decides to retire and allow Jean-Paul to continue as Batman. But when Robin tells Bruce of the circumstances surrounding Abattoir's death, Bruce sneaks into the Batcave and demands that Jean-Paul step down. Jean-Paul refuses and tells Bruce to leave the cave and never come back.

To rehabilitate his skills due to his lost reflexes after so long out of action, Bruce asks the famed assassin Lady Shiva to retrain him, using a mask to conceal his identity and arguing that she will do it for the same reason that she does anything; it might be interesting. After helping him regain the essentials of his combat reflexes, Shiva then pits Bruce against several vengeful expert martial artists, having killed their master while wearing a distinctive tengu mask that carries a motif of a bat that she subsequently gives to Batman. Shiva's caveat is that these attacks will continue indefinitely until Bruce Wayne breaks his vow to never kill. Finally, in the midst of an attack by the final martial artist, Bruce feigns using the "Leopard Blow" fatal maneuver Shiva had taught him, leaving his would-be assailant apparently dead. Shiva finally declares him worthy of fighting her at some point in the future, with Bruce only revealing his adversary's survival to Nightwing and Robin after her departure.

Now back in fighting shape, Bruce returns to the Batcave and resumes his role as Batman. Along with Robin and Nightwing, he tracks Valley down to Selkirk's penthouse. Coincidentally, Catwoman is chasing the same man because he owns a neural enabler which might allow her paraplegic friend to walk again. Selkirk already wants to kill Jean-Paul for destroying a valuable weapons cache in Gotham Harbor.

When they eventually all meet, mass fighting and gunfire ensue. The battle ends with Selkirk's helicopter crashing into the Gotham Narrows Bridge while Bruce and Jean-Paul fight on the attached Batrope; Jean-Paul falls aflame into the Gotham River. Bruce and Catwoman save Selkirk and his aides just before the helicopter explodes from the leaking fuel, his decision to protect criminals affirming to Catwoman that the true Batman has returned. When Bruce tries to find Jean-Paul using the Batmobile, it explodes due to a planted booby-trap. Nightwing fears Bruce dead and takes his vengeance out on Jean-Paul on a party boat. The police arrive in time to prevent Nightwing from committing murder, but Jean-Paul escapes. However, to his shock, Jean-Paul finds Bruce waiting at Wayne Manor; Bruce had managed to escape the Batmobile before Jean-Paul's trap destroyed it, reasoning that he would have done the same thing with a less dangerous trap.

The final battle takes place between Jean-Paul Valley and Bruce Wayne in the caverns surrounding the Batcave below Wayne Manor: rather than beating Jean-Paul at hand-to-hand combat, Bruce outwits him by escaping into a passage too narrow for Jean-Paul to go through in his armor, thus forcing Jean-Paul to remove most of it. Bruce then opens a hatch to the outside, which covered the very hole he fell into as a child, allowing sunlight to enter the night lenses in Jean-Paul's helmet. After being momentarily blinded, Jean-Paul removes his cowl, sees Bruce standing over him in the original Batman costume and concedes defeat, saying "You are the Batman... You've always been the Batman... and I am nothing..." Bruce comforts Jean-Paul, who leaves to wander the streets of Gotham, homeless and destitute. Bruce decides not to take Jean-Paul to the police because it was his decision to make Jean-Paul the Batman, leading to his subsequent breakdown. Later that night, Jean-Paul took his own life.

Cataclysm
Seismologist Dr. Jolene Relazzo believes the Gotham area is due for a major earthquake as her gear begins registering hits nearing the city. Oracle lost connection with the Batcave at 7:03 p.m. while giving a report when a 7.6 earthquake hits Gotham City. Batman is swept up by the rising currents from an underground stream and Alfred falls into the cave from the crumbling Wayne Manor above. Oracle heads to Gotham City Police Department HQ to find her father and rally the troops.

Shortly after the quake, it appears Wayne-owned buildings are the only ones left without major structural damage. Bruce Wayne had seen to it that all of his buildings were quake-proof up to 8.5. However, unable to quake-proof his own home without exposing his secrets as Batman, Wayne Manor and the Batcave are destroyed. With all the exits blocked, Batman straps on scuba gear and promises Alfred that he'll be back soon. Barbara Gordon rallies the police force, and Detective Harvey Bullock finds Commissioner Gordon. At 8:52 p.m., the first aftershock hits.

Dick learns of the earthquake from TV while at work. He bolts, grabs a boat, and heads to his former home. Taken aback by the sheer destruction in Gotham City, he begins helping victims trapped under a collapsed highway as soon as he gets ashore.

Helena Bertinelli is on the subway when the quake hits. She quickly changes into her Huntress garb and begins getting survivors to safety. Batman surfaces in Gotham Harbor and is horrified by seeing the city he loves in flames.

Catwoman was stealing night-vision binoculars for an up-coming job when the department store is destroyed by the earthquake. After having a young girl die in her arms, she begins getting the survivors to safety. Later, she starts tracking Poison Ivy and stops her from spreading super-fertilizer into Gotham City's water supply.

Robin performs CPR on Lady Shiva as Dava attacks Dorrance and his men. Shiva is revived by the drug still in Robin's system. Dava is shot in the melee and Shiva goes berserk on Dorrance's people. Robin gets Dava to her people and leaves her there. Tim's flight home is diverted to Blüdhaven. He sees Gotham City on fire from the plane. He steals a motorcycle and heads toward his home.

The quake and the ensuing tidal waves hit Blackgate Prison hard. The island and many cells are flooded, and prisoners escape. A land-bridge forms from the island all the way to mainland Gotham City. Batman, just surfacing in Gotham Harbor, realizes what's going on and makes his way to the prison. He quiets the rioting prisoners, though many had been killed and others escaped via the land-bridge. The aftershocks remove the land-bridge as S.W.A.T. helicopters arrive. Batman reaches the mainland and begins helping victims. Later, he speaks with Penguin about his "enterprises."

At Arkham, many inmates are freed into the public areas of the facility when the quake hits. Joker, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Riddler, and others take three guards hostage and kill two of them. They decide to tell stories to the third man, a new guard going to school to become a psychiatrist. They scare him into dementia before Arkham's generator kicks in and they're rounded up.

An odd band of small-time crooks hired by WayneCorp save a group of people trapped in a building. A young boy is convinced that Batman sent them. Penguin, walking through the rubble, decides which people to help based on how they can repay the favor. Robin arrives and helps out in the excavation while thinking of his own family and friends.

Nightwing and Robin meet at the clocktower to see if Oracle is okay — it's the first time Barbara and Tim meet face-to-face. No one had seen Batman because he was saving victims from rubble in the guise of a police officer. Nightwing and Robin then check out the destruction at Wayne Manor and the Cave. Tim rushes off to check on his father, while Dick locates Alfred and Harold.

Batman searches for Dr. Rellazzo, who was abducted earlier. GCPD reviews a videotape delivered to them claiming responsibility for the earthquake: the "Quakemaster" wants $100 million. Barbara Gordon readies a fake ransom payment and Batman stows away on the pick-up helicopter with it. He gathers the henchmen who picked up the ransom, but their boss gets away. Later, he meets with Robin and Nightwing to discuss the situation.

Stephanie Brown, caught in a mall during the earthquake, quickly changes into her Spoiler outfit. She slips after rescuing a small child, but Huntress swoops down and catches her. Cluemaster, Ratcatcher, Firefly, and others make their way to Gotham City after crossing the land-bridge from Blackgate. They arrive at the mall and begin looting. Huntress and Spoiler battle them, capturing all but Cluemaster (Stephanie's father).

Robin continues to investigate the Quakemaster's tape while Nightwing and Batman head out. Quakemaster's people kidnap Detective "Hardback" Bock and hold Commissioner Gordon and Mayor Grange hostage in the Mayor's office. Believing he has a lead on the Quakemaster, Robin heads out and meets up with Bullock and Renee Montoya. Robin rescues Bock, and together they take down Quakemaster, who was Arnold Wesker's newest puppet. Nightwing saves Commissioner Gordon and Mayor Grange, while Batman continues helping survivors.

No Man's Land
Gangs and various supervillains Batman had battled over the years swiftly carve up the city. The city's police's commissioner, James Gordon, and several members of his department, who dub their gang the Blue Boys stay behind to protect civilians. Oracleand Huntress also end up on the inside. Bruce Wayne leaves the city to lobby the government to continue aid to Gotham, but fails. Gordon and his men wait for Batman's return, but he disappears for months, leading the police to believe that he has abandoned Gotham. A bitterly disappointed Gordon denounces Batman and refuses even to speak his name.

Huntress attempts to keep order, fashioning a Batgirl costume. She soon discovers that criminals fear her more as Batgirl than they do as Huntress and succeeds in holding territory of her own. When Batman returns, he allows her to continue to use the costume. However, when she fails to hold off Two-Face and his army of men and loses Batman's territory, she abandons the costume.

Batman and the police work separately to reclaim Gotham, piece by piece, by battling and subduing the gang leaders and then marking the reclaimed territory with graffiti. However, a schism erupts between Gordon and SWAT Lieutenant William "Billy" Pettit, whose militaristic, take-no-prisoners methods shock and outrage Gordon; the Blue Boys subsequently break into two separate factions, with most of Petit's officers siding with him to form the Strong Men.

Various subplots emerge through the battles. Poison Ivy takes up residence in Robinson Park, and Batman — after helping her defeat Clayface's attempts to control the park and thus Gotham's fresh fruit supply — allows her to remain there as long as she cares for various orphans who had retreated to the park, as well as distributing food to the rest of the city. In addition, Victor Zsaszclaimed a territory in Gotham City while Mr. Freeze did the same thing where he even competed against Gearhead whose armless and legless body was being carried around by the thuggish Tommy Mangles. Superman briefly visits the city to restore some degree of order, but quickly realizes that the city's current state of anarchy and 'might-makes-right' requires a greater effort than the 'quick-fix' he had been expecting and departs. He later returns as Clark Kent to visit Batman and advise locals on how to improve their burgeoning agriculture.

Robin's father, Jack, discovers that his son is in Gotham, and believing Tim entered the city for some sort of dare, petitions the government for a search and rescue for Tim which inadvertently attracts media attention and further public support for the city's revival.

Gordon briefly allies himself with Two-Face to reclaim vital territory, but Two-Face betrays the alliance to claim a greater amount of land for himself. Two-Face also hires David Cain to kill Gordon, but his mute daughter Cassandra, who has become one of Oracle’s agents, thwarts Cain. Cassandra later becomes the second Batgirl to help clean up No Man's Land. Later, Two-Face kidnaps Gordon and puts him on trial for breaking the alliance. Police officer Renee Montoya reaches out to Two-Face's Harvey Dent persona, whose defense leads to Gordon's acquittal. While cross-examining himself, Dent concludes that Two-Face had essentially blackmailed Gordon into the alliance; hence, any agreement between them is null and void.

Through the efforts of Lucius Fox, Batman succeeds in getting the attention of Lex Luthor, who arrives in Gotham with plans to completely rebuild the city. Attempts by the Joker to disrupt construction are thwarted by Bane, who has been hired by Luthor in exchange for his own private country. Bane, who has been causing trouble in No Man's Land before, is looking to get revenge on Batman, who convinces him to leave and claim his payment before Luthor reneges on their deal.

Bowing to intense pressure from the people and the media, the government reverses the No Man's Land order and allows Gotham to rejoin the United States. Gordon and his surviving officers are promoted. On Christmas Day, the Joker attacks Pettit's compound. Pettit is killed and the Huntress barely survives a battle with the Joker's men. The Joker later kidnaps all of Gotham's babies, hiding them in the police station. When Sarah Essen Gordon stumbles upon the scene, the Joker shoots her in the head as she scrambles to catch a baby he dropped. Batman convinces a grief-stricken Gordon to refrain from killing the Joker, in order to prove that their city can still maintain its morale. When the Joker, who in the course of the Post-Crisis narrative has harmed Gordon's entire family, mockingly asks Gordon if he has a son, Gordon shoots the Joker through the kneecap instead; the Joker laments that he may never walk again, but then laughs hysterically upon realizing that he did the same thing to Gordon's daughter Barbara. Gordon then breaks down as Batman comforts him.

Luthor's philanthropy is revealed to be a cover for his true intentions: to destroy the deeds to much of the property in Gotham and claim it for himself under false names. Lucius Fox, acting on a tip, discovers copies of the original documents and notifies Luthor. Luthor, feigning ignorance, attempts to kill Fox, but Batman intervenes and reveals that he is the one who anonymously tipped the Wayne Enterprises' CEO. He tells Luthor that Gotham is not for sale and warns him to leave.

The story ends with the citizens of Gotham ringing in the New Year and fireworks exploded, while Gordon says his last goodbyes to his wife. Batman, placing roses at his parents' grave, prepares to spend another year as Gotham City's protector.

World's Greatest Detective (2011-2014)
After the Cataclysm, Bruce's life started to change for the better. He also began an investigation into S.T.A.R Labs after their Particle Accelerator exploded. This investigation led him to researching Cadmus and he slowly discovered that their was some work done with metahumans inside the U.S Government. Meanwhile, Bruce also became a fugitive after being framed for murder, but was quickly exonerated.

Bruce’s romantic life wasn’t going as great. In 2011, Chase Meridian was hired as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. That same year, she became a consultant for the GCPD and began to profile Batman. Noticing Chase’s interest in his Batman persona, Bruce began to keep an eye on Chase and even once, in a moment of weakness, stopped by Chase’s balcony and after she kissed him, Bruce let himself give in to Chase’s advances. Having regained his senses after Chase had fallen asleep, Bruce got dressed in his suit and fled, forced to leave his cape and cowl behind in a panic as Chase woke up. To this day, Bryce isn’t entirely clear if Chase realized Batman and Bruce Wayne were the same people due to the poor lighting and the fact that two were rather…preoccupied with other matters. Then Bruce began dating Jaina Hudson after meeting at a social function for Gotham’s elite. Bruce and Jaina had no less than forty intimate dates, spread out over the course of 2012. However, due to the Holiday Murders, Batman’s developing nightlife with Catwoman, and his investigation into the mysterious White Rabbit, the two’s relationship seemed like a strictly social convenience. When the Birds of Prey caught White Rabbit, they used Zatanna to discover that Jaina was behind the White Rabbit’s crimes as well and both Jaina and her White Rabbit partner were sent to Arkham Asylum.

On New Year's Eve, Bruce saw an insectoid being in Gotham. He then began to see hundreds of them. While Bruce managed to fight them off, more kept coming out. Bruce was then introduced to Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. Bruce and Hal continued their fight, soon being aided by Superman and the Flash. After Superman was taken by the aliens, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Black Canary arrived. They traveled through the portal to a planet called Apokolips where they encountered Darkseid. After a long fight, Darkseid was defeated and the alien invasion was prevented. These seven heroes would go on to form the Justice League.

Shortly after this, Tim went to infiltrate the League of Assassins for six months as "Redbird." Stephanie Brown woul become the new Robin. The culmination of these war games with the LoA was when Bruce confronted his ex-wife, Talia, in Arkham alongside Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. It was there that Talia bargained with her beloved for her release, revealing her secret. If Bruce released her and allowed her to take over the League and stop a civil war between the assassins, she’ll give Bruce their son. Bruce accepted and was reunited with his long-lost son, Damian.

It was difficult for Damian to adjust to life as the son of Bruce Wayne. Damian felt entitled as the “true son” of Batman, feeling that his siblings were pretenders. So much so that after his arrival at Wayne Manor, he spent his first month is Gotham besting his siblings in some way, putting Tim in the hospital after an impromptu sword fight. When Bruce scolded him, the boy rebelled further, running away. Dick tracked him down to the Narrows where he was beating on gangbangers. After getting his attention by defeating him in combat, Dick talked some sense into the teen, marking the start of Damian rejecting the League’s programming. Following this, Stephanie decided to give Damian a chance to prove himself by passing the mantle of Robin onto him. Meanwhile, Catwoman would severely assault Jeremiah Arkham after seeing what he was doing to the patients in Arkham, and realizing that he was the Black Mask.

In 2013, Bruce broke off from the League and formed his own superhero group. The Outsiders. Based in Markovia, Bruce would recruit Halo, Katana, Black Lightning, Metamorpho and Markovian Prince Geo-Force. The Outsiders would handle situations the League couldn't be involved with, including vampires in Europe.

In late 2014, the skies turned red and a horrible crisis had arrived. Bruce led the Justice League and the Outsiders against the Anti-Monitor's forces, and ultimately the battle was won.

The Goddamn Batman (2015-Present)
Shortly after the crisis, Bruce encountered his old friend Tommy Elliot. Bruce soon discovered that as Hush, Tommy manipulated the villains of Gotham City, shot Catwoman and even hired Clayface to impersonate Jason Todd. Little did Bruce know that the real Jason had returned, and that this was all a ruse by Ra's al Ghul.

Black Mask is informed of the criminal activities in Gotham being threatened by a person called the Red Hood. Promptly, the Red Hood appears and destroys the top floor of Black Mask's fortress with a long-range explosive. After this, Black Mask teams up with other criminals (Deathstroke, Captain Nazi, Hyena, Count Vertigo) to combat Red Hood. When Batman arrives, the pair defeat Black Mask's hired hit-villains, but the Red Hood's deadly tactics leave Batman and Red Hood to end on bad terms.

After the fight, Alfred receives a package with a lock of green hair and a note from Jason asking for Batman to meet him. In the next scene, Black Mask calls a meeting of all his top associates and murders them under the eye of Red Hood. Once this deed is completed, Black Mask and Red Hood engage in combat, ending with Batman arriving just in time to see Red Hood stabbed in the heart with his own knife. When Black Mask removes Red Hood's helm, he sees that it isn't Jason Todd, to which Batman recoils loudly enough to be detected by Black Mask. The two talk for a moment, then Batman traps Black Mask and flees to the point Jason wished to meet him at.

Jason has kidnapped the Joker and administers a savage beating, only to be frustrated by the villain's maniacal laughter. When Jason tells the Joker that he sees through the latter's crazy act, the Joker for once falls grimly silent. Then enters Batman. The following fight is brief, and is interrupted by a bomb being dropped on Blüdhaven, where Dick Grayson now fights crime as Nightwing. Then, Jason reveals the place where he has hidden the Joker. He tosses a gun to Batman and takes one for himself. Using the Joker as a human shield, Jason points his gun at the Joker's head and tells Batman that he must either kill Jason, or let Jason kill the Joker on a count of three. At the last half-second, Batman drops the gun and throws a batarang at Jason's shoulder. The Joker then triggers the explosives wired throughout the building.

It is then revealed that Jason was resurrected by Ra's al Ghul. Ra's felt sorry for Bruce after the Joker broke his promise and killed Jason anyway. So Ra's placed Jason in a Lazarus Pit and brought him back to life. Ra's al Ghul, with the help of his daughter, Talia, kidnaps Jason and holds him in care for a year. Ra's then tells his daughter that he is going to send Jason away. Then he takes the short trip to his Lazarus Pit. Talia, angered, pushes Jason into the pit as well, unleashing and empowering a new, stronger, more violent creature. Talia then smuggles him out of the estate and gives him a bag containing money, a computer and memories of Batman, the Joker, and Red Hood. Jason attempts to reconnect with Batman, but his former mentor fights and defeats him. He proceeds to reveal the empire he has built for himself as he decides to don an old mantle of the Joker: the Red Hood.

A short time after, Bruce started a mission with the Outsiders to find Jason.

They eventually found Jason. It took a while, but eventually, Jason was brought back into the family, this time as the Red Hood. Though he still needs to be reminded not to go too far, Bruce is glad to have his son back.

Meanwhile, Bruce was getting tired of the game he and Selina played and decided to end it. Bruce told Selina that if they were ever going to be together, she’d need to reform. Selina turned herself into Arkham the next day.

Selina was released two months later,and for once in his life, Bruce was satisfied. Meanwhile, Jason, Roy and Kori formed the Outlaws to go hunt down the remains of Black Mask's criminal empire.

Shortly after this, the Court of Owls took their endgame on Gotham and released the full-force of Talons. Bruce and the rest of the Bat-Family managed to prevent the Night of the Owls from succeeeding, but the Court still plans their revenge to this day.

The Joker then returned, attacked the GCPD and killed several officers, signalling his return. The Joker then threatened to recreate one of his first recorded murders with Gotham's Mayor, but he killed all of the guards outside the Mayor's office instead, leaving disturbing frowns instead of the trademark Joker smiles on their faces. Seeing a pattern in Joker's twisted recreations of past crimes, Batman went to the A.C.E. Chemical building, where a distraction provided by a reluctant Harley Quinn allowed the Joker to go to Wayne Manor and attack Alfred.

Next, Joker kidnapped the entire family, and threatened to kill them all within 72 hours if Bruce didn't come to fight him. Bruce won the fight and also got something else. Bruce got a blood sample of the Joker, which revealed traces of Dionesium. Joker was a metahuman.

Afterwards, the Crime Syndicate invaded Earth and Nightwing faked his death to go undercover as Agent 37. The Cluemaster then set up a series of plots, including the attempted resurrection of Deacon Blackfire in order to wear down the Batman.

Following Arkham Asylum's destruction, Batman allowed Wayne Manor to be the temporary home to its inmates, and even went into the new asylum undercover as the dead man "Jack Shaw" to investigate a series of murders. Despite solving the mystery, and having the opportunity to get his home back, Bruce let the city keep the Manor until they were able to erect a permanent replacement in the wake of the recent attack on Gotham.

It was recently revealed that Bruce had built Brother Eye on that secret Level 7 of the Batcave when Jason, Roy and Helena broke into the Batcave. They uncovered the Babel Protocols, counter-measures to defeat each member of Justice League member in case they went rogue. After Justice League learned about it, they called Bruce to explain this. He returned to the Outsiders and returned to his role as their Commander.

Shortly after this, Bruce encountered Professor Pyg and the Circus of Strange. A couple weeks later, Bruce was severely damaged after a battle with the Joker, and went missing. Returning as the Batman of Zur-en-Arrh, with Bat-Mite as a spiritual guide. He battled the Black Glove, and eventually recovered from this break down with the help of the Club of Heroes.

During the events of the Darkseid War, Bruce would temporarily become the God of Knowledge and discover that there is more than one Joker. Shortly after, the Infinite Crisis would occur and Bruce would apparently die saving the universe from Alexander Luthor Jr.

Batman Incorperated (2020-)
Bruce was revealed to have been travelling through time and eventually managed to return to the present with the aid of the Time Masters. Following his return, Bruce created Batman Incorperated, seeking to spread justice throughout the world.

Bruce later proposed to Catwoman, and the two finally got married.

Romances

 * Julie Madison: Ex-Fiancée (2006); Dated (1984-1986 / 1993 / 2005 - 2006)
 * Zatanna Zatara: Crush (1988)
 * Andrea Beaumont: Ex-Girlfriend (1992-1993 / 2006)
 * Talia al Ghul: Ex-Wife (1995-1997); Dated (1993-1995)
 * Silver St. Cloud: Ex-Girlfriend (1997-2000)
 * Vesper Fairchild: Dated (2000)
 * Diana Prince: Brief Ex-Girlfriend (2003)
 * Vicki Vale: Cover (2013-2016); Ex-Girlfriend (2003-2004)
 * Jezebel Jet: Ex-Fiancée (2007)
 * Chase Meridian: One Night Stand (2011)
 * Jaina Hudson: Dated (2012)
 * Selina Kyle: Wife (2021-); On And Off (2009-2014); Engaged (2020-2021)

Personality
Most of the time Batman is a dark and grim hero with a personal vendetta against criminals. Traumatized by the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne has sworn to rid Gotham of the criminal elements that took his parents from him. He is very paranoid and obsessive, which often makes it difficult for him to trust other people that aren't Alfred, the Robins, or the Batgirls (and even then, he's not by any means trusting).

Despite this, Batman has proved to have a great love for humanity, which was instilled by his parents. His father was a doctor, while his mother was a crusader against child abuse and other social injustices. Indeed, Batman's oath of vengeance is tempered with the greater ideal of justice. He refrains from killing, as he feels this would not make him any better than the criminals he fights. He is also a very prominent member of the Justice League.

To protect his secret identity, Batman has constructed a fake persona he can use in his civilian identity. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is a self-absorbed, superficial, irresponsible playboy and philanthropist. The Bruce Wayne/playboy aspect of his character is a facade, while the masked and particularly dark, a grim vigilante is marked as the "true" man. Usually, Batman is further separated from Bruce Wayne by the raspy and stony bass voice he usually assumes while costumed. Although Bruce considers Batman his 'real' identity, he has contemplated abandoning Bruce Wayne to live only as Batman but the recognition he gets for his humanitarian work as Bruce Wayne has become equally important to him.

As far as how he comes off to other people, as the Batman anyway, he's very suspicous of others and generally not known for being very polite. But Bruce has shown kindness on rare occasions, shwoing that he does have some sort of respect for others, even if it is very little at time. He also is terrifyingly intelligent, which is a useful attribut of him, and generally his most dominating trait. In laymen's terms: he's a smartass, and everyone loves him for it.

Powers and Abilities

 * Indomitable Willpower: Although he has no superhuman powers, Batman's unstoppable determination and strength of will make him an extremely formidable opponent. This makes him able to function while tolerating massive amounts of physical pain, and also allows him to resist telepathy or mind control. His willpower is strong enough to operate a Green Lantern Ring when necessary as evidenced by his demonstrated ability to remove the ring of Hal Jordan, a feat only capable of doing by those who possess a more powerful will than the wearer (which is very hard to do).


 * Intimidation: It is widely known that Batman has the ability to instill fear in others, to the extent that even the people that know him best are intimidated by him, Batman regularly forces common criminals to flee in terror despite there being no evidence that he would actually kill anyone. Even those who aren't afraid of the likes of Superman fear Batman. His ability to inspire great fear has even impressed the likes of Sinestro.


 * Master Interrogator: Batman is adept at interrogation techniques, often using law enforcement methods as well as torture. Several methods seen include hanging a person over the edge of a building by one leg or chaining a person upside down and beating them. He usually just plain uses his frightening appearance to get answers. "Criminals are a supersticious and cowardly lot" he often says. That said, Batman has in his darker moments been known to utilize more brutal means of interrogation such as extracting teeth, breaking bones, and mutilating joints beyond recovery.


 * Peak Human Condition: Through intense training, specialized diet, and biofeedback treatments, Batman represents the pinnacle of human physical prowess. His physical attributes exceed that of an average Olympic level athlete. His Strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes, and coordination are all at peak, or near-peak, perfection. Bruce Wayne, since the age of 15, has created a strict diet to enable his body to develop and operate at its most proficient, along with biofeedback treatments (using machines to stimulate muscles to contraction). Batman has performed amazing physical feats due to his superior physique. He engaged in an intensive regular regimen of rigorous exercise (including aerobics, weight lifting, gymnastics, and simulated combat) to keep himself in peak condition, and has often defeated opponents whose size, strength, or other powers greatly exceeded his own. He has spent his entire life in pursuit of physical perfection and has attained it through constant intensive training and determination... even if he's slowed down a bit with age, you wouldn't dare say it to his face.
 * Peak Human Strength: Batman regularly bench-presses at least 300 lbs. during his exercise routine. This means, in his prime, he was capable of amazing feats such as knocking a thug through a brick wall.
 * Peak Human Reflexes: Bruce's reflexes were honed to such a degree that he has caught one of Green Arrow's arrows in mid-flight when he tried to shoot him. He has also been able to dodge point blank gunfire.
 * Peak Human Speed: In his prime, Bruce could run at speeds comparable to the finest competing athletes.
 * Peak Human Endurance: His endurance was comparable to that of the finest Olympic Decathlon participant. His lung capacity was so great that he could hold his breath underwater for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. He can survive in the airless vacuum of space for exactly 27 seconds, according to his calculations (untested).
 * Peak Human Agility: Batman's main phase of movement is Parkour which he learned in France and used that to scale the cities rooftops in an acrobatic manner.


 * Acrobatics: Though not as talented or skilled as Dick Grayson, Bruce is highly proficient in gymnastics and acrobatics.


 * World-Class Martial Artist: Bruce is well trained in multiple martial arts, he is known as the man who has mastered many forms of martial arts. His primary form of combat is an idiosyncratic admixture of Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Muay Thai, Dragon Style Kung Fu, Boxing, Jujitsu, Ninjitsu, and Capoeira. However, he has trained in a total of 127 different martial arts.


 * Weaponry: Through his League of Assassins training, he has become an expert on all melee weapons. Wayne has displayed exceptional sword fighting capability and proficiency with knives, sticks, and various other weapons. He practices during his combat sessions to keep his skills intact, but he prefers unarmed combat.


 * Stealth: Again, his League of Assassins training has made him a master at stealth and capable of breaching high-security facilities without being detected.


 * Marksmanship: Bruce Wayne is an expert marksman. He is skilled with throwing projectile weapons, archery and firearms. He has been practicing such skills since the early days of his training.


 * Genius Level Intellect: Batman is a brilliant, virtually peerless, detective, strategist, scientist, tactician, and commander; he is widely regarded as one of the keenest analytical minds on the planet. Given his lack of superpowers, he often uses cunning and planning to outwit his foes, rather than simply "out-fighting" them.
 * Polymath: He has studied Biology, Technology, Mathematics, Physics, Mythology, Geography, History, Criminal Science, Forensic Sciences, Computer Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Diverse Environmental Training, Security Systems, Slight of Hand, and Medical Sciences.
 * Eidetic Memory: Batman has total recall and can remember just about anything in great detail.
 * Investigation: He is widely considered as the World's Greatest Detective, capable of observation, forensic investigation, and inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber. Human intuition is an unlearnable trait and one of Batman's most effective tools. Given any mystery, he can arrive at the correct conclusions with a fraction of the data.
 * Polyglot: He is able to speak Spanish, French, Latin, German, Japanese, English, Russian, Cantonese, Mandarin, Greek, Portuguese, Arabic, Sanskrit, Hindi, Thai, Farsi, Atlantean, Kryptonian, Themysciran, and possibly more that he isn't letting on (18+ languages).
 * Tactical Analysis: He commonly utilizes cunning tactics to outwit his foes, relying on his plans and experience to outmaneuver many of his superhuman friends and adversaries. He is an excellent leader and at times commands the Justice League, Batman is known as one of the greatest strategists and tacticians.


 * Leadership: He is known for having great leadership. He is the leader of the Bat Family/Batman Incorporated. Also, he leads a successful multi-billion dollar company and charity organization, though he does leave most of the day to day operations to Lucius Fox.


 * Escapology: He has been described as second only to Mister Miracle as an escape artist. He has been seen escaping from a Posey straitjacket in less than 52 seconds and remarked afterward that the time was way too slow for him.


 * Driving: Bruce is proficient at driving many vehicles like cars, motorbikes, trucks and he is also skillful at driving jets, helicopters and auto boats and small ships.


 * Tracking: Expert in tracking, both in urban and wilderness environments.


 * Disguise: Batman has many aliases he uses to infiltrate the underworld or just to go undercover in public situations. The aliases he has used, which I am aware of, are Matches Malone, Thomas Quigley, Detective Hawke, Sir Hemingford Grey, Frank Dixon, Gordon Selkirk, and Mr. Fledermaus.


 * Master Businessman (Business Management): Bruce Wayne has extensive skills and experience in business management, has a thorough understanding of financial marketing and management and is often known as an example of successful industrialist and businessman on par to Lex Luthor.


 * Strength Level: Peak Human Strength. Batman engages in an intensive exercise regimen, and because of this, his strength, like all other physical attributes, is at the peak of human perfection.
 * Marksmanship: Wayne is an expert marksman. He is skilled with throwing projectile weapons, archery and firearms. He has been practicing such skills since the early days of his training and is almost on par with the Green Arrow in terms of accuracy
 * REM Sleep: Bruce has mastered the skill of compressing a full night's sleep into a little more than three hours
 * Prestidigitation: Bruce was taught sleight of hand by Giovanni Zatara

Equipment

 * Batsuit: The costume Batman wears is composed of reinforced Kevlar and a small percentage of titanium; it's bulletproof and resistant to various types of attack (explosions, impacts, falls, etc...). It's also flame-retardant and insulated. The gloves and the boots are reinforced to rebound the impact of punches and kicks. The gloves have also some metallic blades on their sides, which are used for climbing and to defend against melee attacks. The cape is designed to provide the wearer with controlled gliding functionality with the ability to change directions and heights while in mid-air. The mask has a little percentage of lead, which shields the face of Batman from x-ray powers or x-ray technology, and incorporates an infrared and night visor, auditory sensors and sonar. The mask is accessorized with some security systems (aggravating gas, electric blasts, etc.), like the utility belt, and integrates a transmitter-receiver device and video.


 * Utility Belt: Batman keeps most of his personal field equipment in a signature piece of apparel, a yellow utility belt. The utility belt has a button to call his Batmobile. Over the years it has contained items such as plastic explosives, nerve toxins, batarangs, smoke bombs, a fingerprint kit, a cutting tool, a grappling hook gun, torches, a "re-breather" breathing device, and lock picks. Superman had entrusted Batman with a ring made of Kryptonite, to be used should the Man of Steel ever need to be reined in (due to being mind-controlled by a villain, etc.). The Kryptonite Ring is contained in a lead pocket, in order to shield Batman from its radiations. The belt has also its own automatic security systems
 * Hellbat
 * Superhuman Strength
 * Superhuman Durability
 * Metamorphosis
 * Invisibility
 * Flight
 * Mobius Chair  (Formerly)

Transportation

 * Bat-Vehicles: Can't forget the car. Batman has an impressive fleet of Batmobiles for a variety of needs but most are armored and outfitted with upgraded engines and mobile forensic labs. Many of the Batmobiles are essentially tanks that drive like a sports car with a jet engine strapped to the back and have become Batman's signature vehicle. He also has a supersonic Batplane with spaceflight capability and a submersible Batboat. All of which contain the most state of the art equipment as Batman employs multiple of them, utilizing Harold to upgrade the back-ups regularly with even better tech.
 * Batmobile
 * Batwing
 * Batplane
 * Batcopter
 * Batboat
 * The Tumbler

Weapons

 * Batarang: Batman believes that the mind is a combatant's single greatest weapon, but he also bolsters his offensive capabilities with a supply of razor-edged, collapsible Batarangs.

Weaknesses

 * Single-Mindedness: Batman's drive to protect Gotham has been used against him on several occasions, most notably when Bane decided to confront Batman only after wearing him down by destroying Arkham Asylum, knowing that his foe would try and capture all the escaped inmates himself and thus push himself to the brink of exhaustion.


 * Loved Ones: According to Batman's Level 7 Protocols on himself, he considers Dick, Jason, Tim, Cassandra, Harold, Sasha, Alfred, Selina, myself, and both Helenas to be his primary weakness. I am not happy to be listed as a weakness as I feel we are the only thing that keeps Bruce from getting lost in some deep dark hole that he'll never be able to escape, but I can see his point. Bruce goes off the rails when we are threatened and absolutely goes bat[expletive] crazy (pun intended) when we are actually hurt or worse... Exploit this 'weakness' at your own peril.

Trivia

 * Bruce Wayne rarely drinks alcohol. Dick Grayson has mentioned that he's seen Bruce drink less times than he can count on one hand. When Stephanie Brown apparently died, he drank Purcell's 12-year-old bourbon.
 * Batman's online screenname is JonDoe297.
 * Bruce Wayne's favorite meal is Mulligatawny soup.
 * The book The Batman Files, list Bruce's parents death date as June 27th.
 * Notable nicknames for Batman include: The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader, The World's Greatest Detective, The Masked Manhunter, The Cowled Crimefighter, and simply The Bat.
 * Batman is the one who gave Bart Allen the heroic moniker of Impulse.
 * Atmahn is the name given Batman when he acquired the powers of a god and oversaw the proto Earth-1 with Superman and Wonder Woman
 * Less notable aliases are Bee Gee, Knute Broody, Dormouse.
 * Bruce eats hamburgers with a knife and fork.
 * If Bruce ever had a daughter, he would name her May as the name symbolizes new beginnings.
 * Bruce is an Atheist. Like his Mother, he used to be Jewish, but he stopped believing in God after his parents were killed.
 * Bruce is capable of lifting up to 1.5 tons. This is more than most metahumans can lift.
 * Bruce collects ancient coins.
 * Bruce's estimated networth is right in the ballpark of $80 Billion USD.
 * Bruce's favorite food is Mulligatawny Soup. It warms his heart and makes him seem almost... human.
 * Bruce eats hamburgers with a fork and knife. He gets made fun of relentlessly for it.
 * Bruce is a big-time movie buff.
 * Bruce Wayne is considered an enemy of the NRA.
 * According to rumors, he was so impressed by Elongated Man concluding Barry Allen is the Flash that he said "he's in."
 * After Jason's death, Bruce created the Babel protocols, a series of protocols on how to defeat any living being in the universe. He's experimented on everything from Kryptonite to the Phantom Zone. But his research is secret, even from me.
 * He collects cars.
 * Bruce refuses to admit whether or not he's actually killed anyone, but it's generally accepted that he doesn't kill.