BATMAN (Bruce Wayne)	BIOGRAPHY
Created by Bob Kane; Bill Finger

Batman by Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia

PERSONAL DATA

Real Name: Bruce Wayne
Aliases: Matches Malone
Identity: Secret
Status: Active;Alive
Homeworld: Earth-0
Citizenship: American
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Thomas Wayne (father, deceased); Martha Wayne (mother, deceased); Damian Wayne (son); Henry Wayne (great-grandfather); Alan Wayne (great great-grandfather, deceased); Catherine Wayne (great great-grandmother, deceased); Solomon Wayne (great great great-grandfather)
Base of Operation: Gotham City
Group Affiliation (current): Justice League; Batman, Inc.; Justice League of America
Group Affiliation (former): Justice League International
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 210 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Flashpoint Vol. 2 #5 (October 2011)
First Appearance (historical): Detective Comics Vol. 1 #27 (May 1939)
Creators: Bob Kane; Bill Finger

OVERVIEW

Traumatized by his parents' murder, Bruce Wayne became the Batman, a man with a mission, not of vengeance but a long-term plan to rid Gotham from the evil that holds it. As a philanthropist he supports charities and bodies that seek to rehabilitate criminals while as the Batman he removes those that persist in offending. Those in the suburbs and country consider him an urban legend, yet the transient criminal population of Gotham and the country know him from rumor and experience. As a member of the Justice League, the Batman is the brains behind the operation. He has also trained a number of young protégés, most of them serving under the name of Robin.

HISTORY

Bruce Wayne is the son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. In his youth, Martha would again become pregnant with another child, Thomas Wayne, Junior. Bruce was raised much by his butler, Jarvis Pennyworth. One night, Martha, Thomas, and Bruce left the Manor to discuss political reform in Gotham. This led to a car crash organized by the Court of Owls. Shortly after, Thomas Wayne, Junior was born. However, Bruce's brother soon died. Jarvis himself would later die at the hands of the Court of Owls. As a child, Bruce often explored Gotham, getting him in trouble with his father. However, on the same day his father scolded him, Thomas introduced the Witch's Eye to Bruce: A black orb with a 360 degree camera to create holographic panoramas of spaces. Bruce went out and tested this on a cave near Wayne Manor, falling into it. His father soon rescued him. The event with the bats in the cave traumatized Bruce, and he would often scream in his sleep.

One day in September, he again went to explore the city, this time going to the theater to watch "The Mark of Zoro", his dad's favorite film. However, Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth noticed the boy gone, and called the police. Bruce was found by Police officer James Gordon. Gordon took Bruce to the station, making various stops along the way with partner Dan Corrigan. Jim received a trenchcoat, and he told the inquisitive Bruce that it was a gift by the people to thank is work. Though Bruce was inspired by this, he eventually realized the coat was a pay-off. Thomas and Martha Wayne picked up Bruce at the police station, and Thomas decided to all go out and see the movie again after Bruce called it corny. While leaving the theater, Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed by a criminal Joe Chill for money to buy more alcohol. Jim Gordon and Leslie Thompkins were the first to come to Bruce's side. This murder traumatized Bruce. He painted over his room with black paint. This painted over his favorite color his mother had painted for him, to Alfred's dismay. As a child, he would question the meaning behind his parents' deaths, and conducted his own personal investigation. This lead him to Crime Alley where he met a homeless man named Clancy, who bribed Bruce, promising to exchange information on the man who murdered the Waynes for Bruce's watch, one that used to belong to Thomas Wayne. Bruce gave in, and gave the man his watch, but Clancy instead told Bruce to get lost. Bruce would regardless continue his investigation, looking into the legend of the Court of Owls, starting by killing an owl that lived in Wayne Manor. Bruce would pinpoint a Court of Owl house , a Harbor house. Bruce entered, but only found dust, and he was trapped there for a week, being comatose when he was discovered. Bruce learned to never let his emotions guide a case, and he no longer believed in the Court of Owls.

In his youth, Bruce Wayne attended Gotham University. There, he would date Julie Madison, but his psychological issues with his parents' death ultimately led to the end of the relationship. One day while at the University, he was asked by a professor to answer a problem involving a projectile being fired at a target. The triggered Bruce would answer the question by burning the answer in fire in the professor's front yard. Bruce found that he couldn't function in life the way he was, so he hired a homeless man to pretend to be Alfred to approve of the paper work for Bruce to be medically zapped into another personality. However, at the last minute, Bruce called off the operation.

At some point, Bruce no longer was attending Gotham University, but instead Roxbury Fielding Academy. There, he was part of Boxing and Fencing clubs and graduated with honors. During all this time, he studied the relations his parents held, trying to find a clue to their murderer's identity. He would find Clancy again, take his father's watch back, and demand the information, intimidating Clancy enough for him to tell him a name: Joe Chill. Bruce eventually found Chill, who admitted that he just wanted Martha Wayne's pearl necklace to pay for another bottle of alcohol. He didn't know who the Waynes were until he saw their names in the paper the next day. Bruce, unsatisfied that his parents died for no reason, immediately took a plane to Tibet, where he began his worldwide expedition, training himself.

Training Worldwide

In Tibet, Bruce trained under Shihan Matsuda, a Japanese martial artist in Tibet. During his time there, he fell in love with a woman named Mio. However, Mio was hired by Matsuda's wife to assassinate Matsuda for his inheritance. In the middle of the night, after a scuffle, all three died, and Bruce learned the danger of letting someone close to him. Continuing his journey, Bruce was studying under the Brazilian criminal Don Miguel at age 19 who taught Bruce how to drive in high-speed chases (Bruce later had Miguel arrested). At age 21, Bruce studied under a Russian named Sergey, who taught him engineering and innovation (including a life-or-death test under the Sphinx). At age 24, Bruce fought in Harstad, Norway, practicing his fighting skills. He once went to Nigeria where he trained with various nomads. There, he received a call from Alfred Pennyworth stating that Philip Kane, Bruce's uncle, was searching for him. This gave the silent Bruce an opportunity to flee. He also trained under Chu Chin Li and Tsunetomo, two martial arts masters of the Far East. After training with Chu Chin Li and Tsunetomo, Bruce went to France and met up with Henri Ducard. Bruce would be close training partners with his son, Morgan Ducard. However, when Bruce found that Henri killed his targets, he left. This caused Henri to send Morgan after him, but Bruce defeated Morgan, throwing him into the office of Henri. At some point, Bruce even acclimated himself to as much toxins he could. Fifteen years following the death of his parents, Bruce returned to Gotham, creating a base in Crime Alley to serve has hid headquarters against crime. Alfred Pennyworth, his butler, came to his side and served his former master once again despite Bruce being declared legally dead. Bruce's first target was the new Red Hood Gang, which was ruling the city through fear. Bruce would infiltrate Arkham Asylum for information of the Red Hood Gang when he was attacked and driven out by the Anchoress. At this time, Bruce's uncle, Philip Kane, the new head of Wayne Enterprises, tried to get Bruce to join the land of the living once again and become chairman. However, Bruce refused, wanting to keep up his crime fighting.

Zero Year

Bruce would try again to foil the Red Hood Gang by disguising himself as Oswald Cobblepot, a business man in league with the gang. However, he was discovered, but he got a sample of Red Hood One's blood for a DNA search: A search that proved fruitless, as the man's identity was still unknown. However, Bruce did learn from this endeavor that the Red Hood gang had access to Wayne Tech weaponry. Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce would get into a fight over Bruce's cloak-and-dagger style of fighting crime, causing the butler to leave his side.

Bruce would then meet Philip at the museum of Gotham. Philip, however, set up Bruce with a welcome party, causing his status of being alive to be known. Bruce left the museum, meeting Edward Nygma along the way. At his base, the Red Hood Gang, tipped by Nygma, stormed in and beat Bruce into submission. However, Bruce managed to get to Wayne Manor where Alfred returned and stitched Bruce back together. Bruce wandered the manor, activating the Witch's Eye from his childhood, inspiring him to become a bat.

Batman (Zero Year)

After some preparation by him and Alfred (including re-purposing the cave Bruce fell into as a child into a Batcave headquarters), Bruce took to the streets of Gotham becoming the Batman. As Batman, many of the Red Hood Gang as well as the GCPD thought him to be a myth. Bruce went to Philip and found out that his uncle was the one leaking weapons to the Red Hood Gang, but through Philip he got into the Red Hood Gang systems, identifying that the gang was making a chemical bomb at Ace Chemical. Bruce Wayne went and officially announced that he was alive outside Ace, and inspired the people of Gotham to have no more fear, before the Red Hood Gang attacked. Bruce infiltrated the building, and was held by the Red Hood Gang. Alfred shut down the power to a huge area of the city (Creating a bat symbol) and Bruce used the opportunity to turn into Batman (The Red Hood Gang saw Batman save Bruce Wayne through a hacking made into the Wayne Tech night vision goggles by Batman), saving Bruce Wayne and taking on the gang. Batman saw Philip die, as well as met Lieutenant James Gordon for the first time. The battle ended with Red Hood One falling into a vat of chemicals. Later on that day, as Alfred and Bruce put aside their differences, the Riddler put Gotham under a blackout, beginning the Zero Year. During the early stages of the blackout, Bruce held a party with other Waynes and Kanes (Including Katherine Kane. There, he held a toast to Philip Kane, before letting his guest go to be prepared for the coming storm Rene. From that point on, Bruce stayed low-level, instead focusing on his Batman persona, heading out to help people. A refugee center was attacked by a man who inspired by Batman, as well as his love for moths. This "Killer Moth" attacked Moira Queen, a key member of Queen Industries. However, Batman stopped the attacked, joined by a new archer named Green Arrow. As Gotham continued to brace for the storm, Batman worked on securing the peace. He came to an incident at a stadium a man named Anarky was ruling, but observed the US Marines under John Stewart keep the peace in the situation. Batman also saved a young Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox, from a gang called the 99%ers. However, most of his time was diverted to stopping the Black Mask Gang that had risen to take the place of the Red Hood Gang. Gordon was thrown off a bridge by GCPD Members who were in with the Black Mask Gang, but Batman came to his rescue.

At the beginning of the black out, Batman was more occupied with various murders committed by the new villain, Doctor Death. The GCPD Commissioner Gillian Loeb focused the GCPD's efforts into taking down the Batman rather than Doctor Death or the Riddler. During all this, Batman created a signal jamer, suspecting that if the power was turned back on, the Riddler would use that as an opportunity to take over the city. After leaving the Batcave after some planning with Alfred, James Gordon was present. Bruce successfully convinced Gordon that the only thing in the cave was generators for power. Bruce visited Lucius Fox, a former employee of Wayne Enterprises, for information on Karl Helfern (Doctor Death.) Fox injected a vaccine to Death's infection just as Doctor Death arrived. Bruce was critically injured, but James Gordon saved the two men. While in the hospital recovering, Gordon approached Wayne for assistance on the Helfern case, but Bruce refused, calling out Gordon on being corrupt (see the trenchcoat story above), and Bruce promptly left.

Batman visited a supposed weather control outpost where targets of Doctor Death would be, only to find that he was too late. The GCPD then ambushed him, tipped by the Riddler, and Gordon successfully rescued Batman. Gordon told Batman the story of how he got his trenchcoat, on how he stands up against corruption before Batman left the boat. Batman then investigated the catacombs under Gotham, finding Doctor Death's base of operations, but also finding that he was creating devices to take over the city for the Riddler. Just then, the Riddler buried Batman in the bones of the catacombs. Batman escaped, and told Gordon to not let the Riddler win: to not turn on the power, and to go to Wayne Tower and stop him. Batman then took the Bat Blimp with his signal jammer, and landed on the Riddlers airship. After a fight with Doctor Death that ended in the later's death, Batman lost the signal jammer, and tried to manually abort the signal, but failed. Soon, Gotham flooded after the loss of the flood walls. The Riddler had the city. As the Riddler's balloon went down, Batman discarded his batsuit and fell, only to be retrieved and cared for by Duke Thomas. After Bruce was prepared, he left Duke's home and went to the rescue of Lieutenant Gordon and a team of special US Seals from the Riddler's drones, an army Riddler had placed to enforce his occupation of the city. Soon after, Batman had his force fully assembled with the addition of Lucius Fox. The team decided to track the signal Riddler used to ask the people of Gotham for a Riddle he cannot solve daily. While the Riddler talked, Batman arrived and challenged the Riddler, intending to stall him for 19 minutes while Fox traced the signal. Batman was eventually dropped into a pit with lions by the Riddler, but he soon defeated the animals. The Riddler responded by dropping surrounding cars into the pit. However, Jim Gordon arrived at the last second and saved Batman. Shortly afterwards, Batman saved Duke Thomas from a group of bandits.

Later, Batman went to Old Wayne Tower along with his team of the Seals, Gordon, and Fox, only to have the realization that the Riddler intended to use the Seals' communications connections with Robinson Air Force Base to launch a strike on Gotham. Batman met up with Lucius and deducted where the Riddler was, and went to him. The Riddler kept Batman at bay with an Egyptian board game he forced Batman to play (using motion lasers that would cause gas to fill Gotham), but soon the equipment was not functional, and Batman took down Riddler, discovering a mechanism on the Riddler's chest that controlled the power to the city. Batman took the device and shock himself with it, turning the power back on in Gotham (also cancelling a US Air strike on the city), and Alfred arrived on the scene to give Batman medical attention.

A month after the Zero Year, Bruce Wayne held a fair to celebrate the reconstruction of Gotham, and also hired Lucius Fox into Wayne Enterprises. He also made peace with Gordon, and the two became friends. Julie Madison arrived to speak to Bruce, but Bruce was not interested, preferring to keep the focus of his life Batman. Shortly after the Zero Year, Bruce Wayne would work to re-assess his company's holdings, including the cyrogenics ran by Victor Fries. Bruce had the frozen bodies moved off site, and cancelled the projects, enraging Victor Fries who freaked out and tried to attack Bruce Wayne, but damaged equipment in the lab wounded him. Batman eventually pushed out the Mob (led by Carmine Falcone) out of Gotham. Bruce Wayne kept up his public appearances, being a competitor on the show Quiz Bowl hosted by Arthur Brown. Arthur Brown would become the Cluemaster, and Batman would take him down. During this incident, Stephanie Brown saw Batman take down her father.

Cross World

Shortly after the Zero Year, Bruce began watching the city disguised as an old veteran. During one of these observations, he was approached by Clark Kent, a reporter from Metropolis' Daily Star. Clark informed Bruce of the many Wayne Enterprises employees dead in Metropolis. Naturally, Bruce went to Metropolis as Batman, discovering the perpetrator of these crimes to be Catwoman (a burglar Batman had encountered before), possessed by the Apokolips agent Kaiyo, the Trickster. As Batman fought Catwoman, Superman intervened, leading to a fight between the two. Kaiyo discovered that these two men were the most powerful in the universe, and thus transported them to Earth 2. Batman came to the Batcave of Earth 2 where he fought the Catwoman of Earth 2, eventually tying her up. Just then, Batman of Earth 2 arrived, and they fought, being equals. They stopped fighting after confirming that they both had their fathers read "The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury for a month when they were five years old. Bruce ate with the Wayne family of Earth 2, discussing their current situation, heading out in the Batplane. During this flight, Batman noted that the Gotham of Earth 2 was better than the one of Earth 0, and Earth 2's Batman attributed that to cyroprisons. The Batmen came into contact with Superman, Earth 2's Superman, and Wonder Woman of Earth 2. Earth 0's Superman immediately attacked Batman, but the fight was called off by their Earth 2 counterparts, who began to discuss the existence of the Chaos Shard nearby. Kaiyo, who had been possessing Wonder Woman, teleported the Batmen and Supermen to the Chaos Shard, and told them to fight for the fate of their universe when Darkseid would invade. Though Earth 2 Batman and Superman wanted to destroy the shard, Earth 0 Batman and Superman decided to take it for themselves. The subsequent fight would end in a draw (partly due to the intervention of Earth 2 Slade Wilson and also due to Kaiyo's fight with Lois Lane and Earth 2 Catwoman, as well as the Chaos Shard beginning to resurrect Earth 0 Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent and turn Batman into a literal bat creature). Batman ultimately pushed Superman to the point of flight to save their Earth 2 Counterparts' lovers. Kaiyo then appeared, declaring that the universe of Earth 2 would soon meet its fate by Darkseid while the Earth 0 universe would be able to defend themselves with Superman and Batman. Kaiyo then wiped everyone's memory of the event, and sent Batman and Superman back to their universe.

War of Jokes and Riddles

Almost a year after the end of Zero Year, Riddler, who is now helping the G.C.P.D. escapes prison. Meanwhile, Joker evades the police after blowing up a comedy club, the Joke Factory. As Batman tries to track them down, they meet, with Riddler trying to form an alliance with the Joker. Riddler concludes that he can solve every riddle except Batman, and the Joker can't laugh as long as Batman is still alive. Joker shoots him and leaves right before Batman finds Riddler. Batman leaves Riddler and he manages to leave and get medical assistance. Batman begins to investigate a murder committed by Riddler. Joker listens to the news and tries to smile, but can't. He tells Carmine Falcone and forces him to kill Riddler in one hour. Riddler meets with Poison Ivy and both are confronted by Carmine Falcone's men. Poison Ivy kills them and Batman finds the bodies. Joker, now at Carmine Falcone's mansion, lays out Carmine's mother's teeth, revealing that he killed his mother because Carmine failed at killing Riddler. Penguin tells Joker that Carmine Falcone's mother lived in Metropolis, three hours away. Riddler and Joker begin recruiting Batman's rogues gallery to each of there sides. They begin fighting each other in controlled battles, with the new villain, Kite-Man teaming with another member of Joker's side trying to do individual attacks. Batman stops Kite-Man every time, telling him to stop fighting in this war. James Gordon tries to reason with both sides, trying to create peace, but finds out that the reason they are doing this is to kill Batman. Deathstroke, who was on Riddler's side, and Deadshot, who was on Joker's side, start a five day firefight, killing many civilians. Batman tries to stop this war a different way as Bruce Wayne. He invites both opposing sides to dinner. He studies each side to see who he'll invest in, giving them the ability to destroy the other side. Batman sends Catwoman to find the Joker. Once she does, Riddler and his side fly into the building, using Kite-Man's kites. Riddler fights Joker and Batman pulls him away. The villains fly out of the building because of a fail safe Batman and Kite-Man came up with. Riddler punches Kite-Man and starts his final battle against Batman and the Joker. They begin fighting and Batman tries to end the war by killing Riddler. He pushes out a knife towards Riddler's head, but Joker stops it with his hand. He begins laughing hysterically and they both get sent to Arkham as the war ends.

Justice League

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Batman

Batman continued his crime fighting career, studying the new metahumans rising up like Superman and Green Lantern. He also began to see more forms of evil, including Lex Luthor, head of LexCorp. About a year after Zero Year, Batman engaged a Parademon who was planting a Mother Box by the Gotham Docks. During his chase of the Parademon on the rooftops, the GCPD arrived to take him down, as Gotham still could not allow a Vigilante, despite Batman's actions in Zero Year. However, Green Lantern arrived, to Batman's dismay. Green Lantern and Batman continued to chase the parademon into the sewers, where the Parademon killed itself, shouting "For Darkseid!" Deciding that it was likely extraterrestrial, Green Lantern and Batman went to Metropolis to speak to Superman about the incident. However, Superman had fought his own Parademon, and pegged Green Lantern and Batman as collaborators. After a fight that caused the intervention of Flash, the four heroes calmed down and fled from the MPD. While trying to figure out the origins of the Mother Box, the Mother Box activated, initiating Darkseid's invasion of Earth. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash began to fight the Parademons. They were joined by Wonder Woman, and later the cyborg Victor Stone and Aquaman. Darkseid soon touched down on Metropolis, beating the heroes into submission. Superman was taken by Parademons, and Batman decided to retrieve him after giving a motivational speech to Green Lantern (Revealing he was Bruce Wayne as well.) Batman infiltrated a tower where he retrieved Superman, coming back to Metropolis. Together, the heroes pushed Darkseid back into his Boom Tube, and effectively saved the world. Later, the heroes would be honored at Washington, DC. Batman decided that the team should keep working together to keep the GCPD off Batman. While initially declared to be the Super Seven by the Flash, the team eventually came to be known as the Justice League. As part of their early adventures, the Justice League defeated Starro.

Later Adventures

Later that year, Bruce attended Haly's Circus when it was in Gotham. He witnessed the Flying Graysons fall to their death, orphaning their son, Richard John "Dick" Grayson. Bruce, feeling sympathetic for the boy, later adopted him as his ward. Later, as Batman, Bruce would find that Dick was sneaking out fighting crime looking for the man responsible for his parents' death, Tony Zucco. Batman decided to continue following Dick each night, helping him fight criminals and thugs. Eventually, Batman took Grayson to the Batcave, but the real surprised one was not Dick, but Batman when Dick revealed he knew Batman was Bruce Wayne. Batman and Dick trained to help Dick be ready for when he would meet Zucco. Months later, Batman would fight with the assassin Lady Shiva who was going after a Councilman Writh. Shiva killed Writh, and poisoned Batman. However, Dick Grayson came to his rescue in a uniform made of spare Batsuits: He was now Robin. Despite the fact that Shiva escaped, and Batman's reluctance to accept Dick, eventually, Robin was Batman's other half in their dynamic duo.

Batman's early career would be plagued with criminals a psychopaths: Particularly the Joker, who came on TV, claiming Diamond Magnate Henry Claridge would die at midnight. Despite Batman's efforts, Claridge would die, being poisoned 24 hours earlier by a new toxin: Joker Toxin. Joker then attempted to poison the water supply of Gotham City. However, Batman stopped him though a few people still died who got to their water before the poison was shut off. Not long later, Joker used a dirigible to poison Gotham, but Batman stopped him by knocking him into the water below. Batman searched for Joker's body, but he was gone. Batman returned to the Batcave, but noticed a Joker Card in the water of the cave. He would later make a large copy of the card and put it into the cave. Bruce Wayne went to Arkham Asylum with the Joker card, and went to the Joker's cell in Arkham. Bruce wanted to return the card, thus giving away his identity. However, Joker refused to see him as he was. Batman was always Batman to the Joker. Nothing else.

In the early days of the Justice League, they added Martian Manhunter to the team. However, they paid for this decision as the Martian betrayed the League to prepare them for an unknown event. After a difficult fight with the Martian, Martian Manhunter left the team.

Batman came to the GCPD headquarters when it fell under attack by a gang seeking to liberate one of their comrades. Upon arrival, Batman met Barbara Gordon dressed in a makeshift batsuit. She had taken out the comrade of the gang on her own. Eventually, she would become Batgirl, and Batman would accept her into his little "Bat family" he had, along with Robin. However, Batgirl would eventually retire to focus on college. However, the Joker would shoot and paralyze Barbara, causing her to be restrained to a computer serving the Bat family as Oracle. Robin would also eventually retire his title after a falling out with Batman. This would ultimately lead to Dick becoming Nightwing.

Later, Batman would catch young Jason Todd stealing prescription drugs from Dr. Leslie Thompkins' clinic. Batman responded by attacking Todd, but Dr. Thompkins broke up the fight. Shortly after, Jason Todd was brought under the care of Bruce Wayne. Bruce would eventually tell Jason that he was Batman, and allowed Jason to become the second Robin. However, Robin's increased violence caused Batman to keep him in the Batcave on monitor duty. When Batman next saw Jason, however, it was as a body: Robin had found his mother alive in the Middle East, and went there to meet her, but it was a set up by the Joker who killed Robin.

Batman once was on a case involving a valuable called "the Dragon Egg Ruby", belonging to a Babs Chantell, who was murdered and had the trinket stolen. Batman came to the Penguin, the owner of the Iceberg Casino, and asked him if he knew anything about the murder. Penguin denied any knowledge, and Batman left. Later, singer Dame Kelly had her earrings stolen, and Batman and Commissioner Gordon met about the incident. Batman believed there was a connection between the jewelry thefts. Gordon then mentioned how citizen had his life destroyed due to some suspicious connections with the Iceberg Casino. Batman would continue his investigation, suspecting the Penguin to be the root of this, even going as far as to stalk the Penguin and his new lover, Cassandra. Another jewelry theft occurred with the murder of an upper class Gothamite, with their ring stolen. However, Batman found fingerprints to the murders, and he proceeded to find and interrogate them. Batman would later meet Cassandra (defining meet as taking her from her seat at the opera beside Penguin and grappling her up to the booth above) and tell her that the Penguin was a bad man, but she refused to believe him. Shortly after, Penguin launched an attack on Gotham, releasing a mass of birds to attack its populace. While the attacks subsided, Batman told Penguin he would find him guilty. One day.

Batman had put the mantle of "Robin" aside after the death of Jason Todd, but Alfred asked Batman to look into Timothy Drake, an outstanding young man who was trying to find out the identity of Batman. Alfred took Batman to one of Tim's performances of physical capabilities, and Bruce recognized the talent, but he did not with to involve Tim who still had a family. Batman did however plant clues for Tim to follow, leading him on a false trail thinking that Batman was a man named Enrique Fluente. However, Tim and Batman did meet, and Tim showed interest of becoming the next sidekick to Batman. Batman rejected him, but Tim continued looking for Batman's identity (even when Batman remotely hacked to stop him). However, when Batman learned that Drake had stole money from the Penguin, he immediately went to Tim's home as the Penguin's thugs attacked. Batman saved the Drake family, but Tim's parents had to go into witness protection services, and Tim was allowed to work alongside Batman. After revealing to Tim that he was Bruce Wayne, their partnership truly began. Out of respect for Jason, Tim did not take the mantle of Robin, but instead became Red Robin, and worked alongside Batman. Batman would at some point save Kate Kane, inspiring her to become Batwoman.

Three years ago, Batman was captured by Deacon Blackfire, but Batman escaped and beat Blackfire down, causing his followers to attack Blackfire for being a fake.

Jason Todd would return from the dead thanks to Talia al Ghul and the Lazarus Pit, and would take the name of Red Hood. Upon returning to Gotham, Red Hood came into conflict with Batman, shocking Batman with his identity. Eventually, these two did make up and the Red Hood was now part of the family. Batman would however remain in conflict with the al Ghul family, but Batman did fall in love with Talia after saving her from enemies of her father one day, and fought with Ra's al Ghul for her love, winning. The following evening would ultimately result in the birth of Damian Wayne. It wasn't until a couple years later that Talia revealed the child to him, giving him Damian to destroy him from the inside out. She sent the Black Glove after Batman as a distraction, but ultimately revealed Damian to him. However, Batman took Damian in and tried to teach him a sense of justice, training him to become the third Robin. The family would all meet on a submarine, where Talia made Damian choose. Damian was hesitant, and the submarine was sunk. Damian would come under the possession of Bruce.

At some point, Batman began to use the alias "Matches Malone" to infiltrate the criminal world. However, he killed Malone in a fight with Scarface.

In another conflict with Darkseid, Batman would die, hit by the New God's Omega Beams. This "Death" however, was not true death, but instead sent Batman's soul back through time. Batman fought his way through time eventually returning to the present: to a distant and angry son and a Gotham protected by Dick Grayson as Batman. Bruce would have the title be returned to him, but he still had to repair the damage that had been done between him and his son.

Bruce Wayne would eventually fund an international crime-fighting effort called Batman, Incorporated, where many "Batmen" across the world would fight crime in their respective regions (Including David Zavimbe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was given a special armor suit to fight in Africa as Batwing.) As part of this initiative, an army of "RoBats" were created to assist Batman. Around this time, Batman would come to find that an organization by the name of Leviathan was on the rise, and Batman prepared Batman, Incorporated and its members for the fight.

One day, Batman was visited by the Flash, who told Batman of an incident where Flash changed the multiverse through the Speed Force when he wanted his mother to still be alive. He told him of the Flashpoint, and the alternate Batman he met: A Thomas Wayne who became Batman after the death of his son, Bruce Wayne. The Flash then gave Batman a letter from that Thomas Wayne. The letter moved Bruce to tears, and he would display it in the Batcave.

Justice League International

As the United Nations began to construct the Justice League International to deal with the political duties the Justice League are unable to do, Batman eavesdropped on their first meeting to find the agenda of the UN. When Guy Gardner stormed out, angry that Booster Gold was appointed leader, Batman asked Gardner to have faith in Booster: Advice Gardner doesn't take as he flies away. Batman snuck into the JLI's transport and piloted the team (made of Booster Gold, Fire, Rocket Red, Ice, Godiva, Vixen, and August General in Iron) to Peru to investigate a missing UN team. Booster Gold accepted Batman's presence as a team member even if the UN was not aware of it. While in Peru, the JLI was attacked by rock creatures as well as a massive armored humanoid: a Signal Man. Booster Gold ultimately led the team in a retreat to get medical attention for Ice. While in Washington, DC, Batman asserted his role on the team to the UN delegation. The JLI then learned that four Signal men had risen across the world. Batman joined Booster Gold's group in Peru to take out the Peruvian Signal Man. While in Peru, Batman and Booster Gold were taken by surprise by the rock creatures. Batman and the rest of the Justice League International were teleported into the ship of the alien Peraxxus who wished to destroy Earth to collect its resources. The Justice League International broke out and fought Peraxxus, but Peraxxus escaped and began the process of destroying the planet. Batman and Rocket Red took out the ships control while the rest of the League fought Peraxxus, but the ship crashed before the alien could be defeated. However, with the help of Guy Gardner, the Justice League International landed safely on Earth.

Due to their incompetence, the United Nations began a vote on whether to continue the JLI. During this, Booster Gold and Batman took down the criminals who blew up the Hall of Justice while the JLI was on the Peru mission. The United Nations ultimately decided to continue the JLI, and officially announced them in public on stage, with Batman watching from a nearby rooftop. He watched as the stage blew up. Batman immediately went to work in rescuing civilians and wounded JLI members as strange energy beings attacked the survivors. Fire, Ice, and Vixen were all hospitalized, and Rocket Red was found dead. Batman then went on his own investigation to find the perpetrators of the attack. Batman brought Batwing over to serve as a reinforcement to the JLI. At this point, he and David had been working for a few months together. Batman also investigated a man named Roland Norcutt who may had been behind the attacks. Batman met up with Booster Gold and Batwing to share the information to continue the investigation. The three heroes then got word that similar activity was occurring in Paris, and also the remaining JLI members were engaging in a fight nearby. The three met with the rest of the team in battle with OMAC who had arrived to get Batman's help in removing the OMAC program from him, as Batman had a role in developing the nanotechnology that turns Kevin Kho into OMAC OMAC joins the team as the JLI goes to Paris, where they become under attack by rogue Firestorms. The JLI joined forces with the actual Firestorm and Firehawk and worked on saving Paris from the rogues. After the situation was quelled, the JLI returned to America, in New York City. Batman continued his investigation, using the Justice League's sensors, detecting another plot conspirator, Lightweaver. Tracking him, the JLI went to Washington, DC where they fought Lightweaver as well as his fellow terrorists Breakdown, Intersek, and Crosscut. However, these metahuman terrorists gained the upper hand on the Justice League International, and held them captive in public in Washington DC, but with OMAC's help, the League broke free and defeated the terrorists (notably ending in the unintended death of Lightweaver.)

Batman and the JLI traveled to Russia to burry Rocket Red, but they were attacked by Malik, Lightweaver's brother who had his powers. Soon, the entire JLI was defeated and it was only Batman vs Malik. Batman and the recovered League eventually talked Malik out of his attack. Batman took the opportunity to show Booster the new headquarters made for the JLI, though both Batman and Batwing announced their resignation. Batman would continue working on looking for a cure for OMAC

Post-JLI

Zatanna would come to Batman when she needed help against a magical being known as the Enchantress, who was causing multiple copies of June Moone to be killed throughout the world, creating a panic. Batman ordered Justice League members Superman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg to the Enchantress' cabin, but after being weakened by the magic surrounding the place, the League realized that infiltrating and stopping the Enchantress would be impossible. Batman was about to go stop the Enchantress himself, but Zatanna bound him in the Batcave, and left. Zatanna would ultimately become part of a ragtag team of supernaturals that would become known as the Justice League Dark, and together they would stop the supernatural events.

Batman would offer Batwoman a position in Batman, Incorporated, but she told him she would think about it. Batman would make contact with her again, and she still was not certain, but she did get the opportunity to ask Batman about some details on her own case she was dealing with. Batman also advised her to retire her less-competent sidekick Flamebird, believing she would ultimately die. When Batwoman's identity was discovered by the Department of Extranormal Operations, Batwoman ultimately decided to work for them and turned down Batman's Batman, Incorporated offer. Batman visited Kate Kane while she was visiting Flamebird in critical condition at the hospital, warning her that her decision to work for the D.E.O. was a bad idea.

Bruce's involvement with Batman Incorporated extends to helping Batwing set up operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as they investigate Earth Strike's murder.

Batman would try to train Damian to not kill during this time, but Robin still killed the likes of Otto Netzt, and the Spook.

NoBody

One evening, Batman took Robin out under Crime Alley, where he built a paper boat and sent it away, telling Robin that from that point on, he would honor his parent's wedding anniversary rather than their death. They then went to Gotham University and tried to stop some thieves. Robin accidentally burned the thieves up by setting their fuel tanks on fire. Batman reprimanded Robin for this. Batman decided to continue working on his parenting of Damian, taking him with him to stop an illegal weapons shipment. When Alfred told Bruce that he needed to congratulate Damian more, Bruce went to Crow Kennel and adopted Titus, a Great Dane. While there, Morgan Ducard, the son of Henri Ducard, arrived. Bruce learned that Morgan had been killing the criminals Batman had been catching, as well as Batman, Incorporated member Ravil. Morgan revealed how he planned to kill his enemies, and left. Soon, Batman worked on the security of Wayne Manor, irritating Damian who felt left out. Batman went out on patrol where he eventually found Morgan as his alias Nobody, along with a frozen Damian and several near-brain dead criminals. Nobody eventually had Batman knocked unconscious as well, and brought the dynamic duo to a field with a movie screen, showing various villains, taunting Batman as to why he didn't kill them. Batman and Robin were saved by Alfred remotely piloting the Batplane, attacking Nobody. Robin asked to learn the freezing move Nobody used on him, but Batman refused his request as the move, if done incorrectly, could kill someone. Soon, Damian ran away with Nobody, and Bruce panicked, and went out on patrolling, looking over the entire city for any sign of Damian. Batman eventually had a lead, and Nobody broadcasted his torturing of Damian to Batman. Batman located Nobody, and beat him. However, Damian killed Nobody using the move Batman had refused to teach him, to protect the family from Ducard. Bruce was heartbroken, but he still always accepted Damian. They played catch in the yard like a traditional father-son relationship.

The Court of Owls

Batman would work alongside the Justice League and A.R.G.U.S. in Baltimore to defeat Samuel Street, A.K.A. Spore. After defeating Spore, Batman was present on the new Justice League Watchtower in space when Justice League liaison Steve Trevor called Wonder Woman. While Steve was present, Batman took the time to request that Justice League International be shut down. As the Justice League continued their escapades, they came to find that Cyborg's teleportation technology from a Mother Box was unreliable, and often led to the League being stranded in Apokolips several times. As the Justice League were beginning to settle down as a more professional team, they took out Professor Ivo's Amazo Android. Around this time, the US Government sent Green Arrow to fight alongside the League, but the Justice League did not take him seriously. One week after the event with Amazo, Batman investigated a weak link in Arkham, pinning the criminal as one of the guards. Batman stormed Arkham Asylum, fighting alongside Nightwing (disguised as the Joker). After meeting with Gordon for a time, Batman then became Bruce Wayne an announced at a party at Wayne Manor that he would be working on rebuilding Gotham (with a few added Bat-bunkers). At the party, Bruce met Lincoln March, a man campaigning to become Mayor. Bruce noticed Gordon talking about a murder scene, and Bruce left as Batman to investigate. He met with Harvey Bullock and investigated a dead body with Court of Owl knives in his body. Sending DNA from the knives to the Batcave for analysis, Batman found a secret message: Bruce Wayne will die tomorrow. The DNA claimed to belong to Dick Grayson. Later, Batman saved the children named Harper Row and Cullen Row (inspiring Harper to try to work with Batman), and Batman took out a human trafficking gang and then met with Gordon at the morgue using a 3d holographic camera to do an autopsy remotely. Finding more info alluding to the Court of Owls, Nightwing entered the cave, telling Batman he recognized the dead man: Someone who grabbed his arm tightly, telling him that "they were coming." Bruce later met Lincoln March at the top of Old Wayne Tower, where Lincoln again told Bruce that something terrible is in Gotham. Then, a Talon entered the tower, taking out Lincoln, and sending Bruce through the window. However, Bruce managed to hold on to a gargoyle while the Talon fell to the ground, getting up, and driving away.

Batman began to interrogate the gangs that rule the subways underneath Old Wayne Tower, interrogating them for information on the Talon. He hit the gang of Tiger Shark, where Harper Row arrives to try to help him. The last gang he hit was the Whisper Gang. Shortly after, Batman found Harper and told her to stop trying to help him. After realizing that no gang has any information, Batman investigated the "13th floor" of various Gotham buildings. He found Court of Owl nests dating as recent as 2006. Triggering a tripwire set by the Talon, Batman escaped and began an autopsy on the remains of Alan Wayne who was rumored to have been killed by the Court. Dick arrived, and Bruce revealed why he did not believe in the Court of Owls, citing his investigation he held as a child. Batman then investigated the sewers of Gotham, looking into minerals present in Allan's bones. However, a Talon took Batman out, and he awoke in the Labyrinth. For eight days, Batman wandered the Labyrinth, loosing sanity. Batman ultimately beat the Talon and fled, and was saved by Harper Row in the ice. Batman then returned to the Batcave, doing an investigation on the Talon kept frozen in the cave by Alfred. Batman learned he was William Cobb, Dick Grayson's great-grandfather. Nightwing arrived to Batman's dismay, and when he told Dick the information about his ancestry, Dick yelled at him for keeping secrets. Batman punched Nightwing, revealing that he had a Court of Owls tooth, telling Dick that he was supposed to be a Talon as well, due to his involvement in Haly's Circus.

While Bruce was in thought in Wayne Manor, the Night of the Owls began as the Court of Owls sent out all their Talons to assassinate many of Gotham's key figures. The Talons attacked Wayne Manor. Bruce ran into the Batcave along with Alfred. Locked up in the armory, Bruce donned one of his more armored Batsuits while Alfred put out a call to the Batfamily to assist in liberating Gotham. In the cave, Batman defeated the Talons. Batman went to Arkham Asylum, fighting Talons and inmates, including Jeremiah Arkham as well as Roman Sionis. Batman went to save Lincoln March, who shot a Talon that was about to assassinate him. However, Lincoln died, but gave Batman a list of suspected members of the Court. The Talon stood back up, but Batman sent him through the window. Batman then met up with Robin, Nightwing, and Red Robin, telling them to find the Talon. Batman, Robin, and Nightwing fought Mister Freeze who was trying to take Nora back, but Batman defeated him. Batman went to the Harbor House where he found that the Court of Owls had been poisoned. While Batman dealt with the crisis, he dispatched the Justice League to save targets of the Talons. While the Justice League saved them, they were joined by Green Arrow, who they promptly left at the side of a road.

Soon after the Night of the Owls, Bruce realized that Lincoln March had some sort of connection to his family. He found out that March was still alive, and he followed clues to the Willowwood Home for Children. There, he met Lincoln March, wearing an advanced Talon suit. Lincoln claimed to be Thomas Wayne, Junior, but Batman did not believe him. They fight throughout the city, ending in March escaping. Batman later flooded the Labyrinth. After reconciling with Dick, Bruce declares that he is Gotham, not the Court of Owls. He later visited Jarvis Pennyworth's grave, reflecting on the role the Court of Owls may have had in his death.

Terminus

One week after the Night of the Owls, Batman was present with the Justice League fighting cultists when Green Arrow joined the fight again. The Justice League once again rejected Green Arrow. However, this did cause the League to question whether or not to expand membership, the scars of Martian Manhunter's outburst still present.

Bruce would try to have a family portrait one day, but they never could get it down as Bruce kept changing the positions and ultimately, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne couldn't stop arguing over Damian's ways. Later that evening, Bruce and Alfred discussed the many secrets Bruce was keeping from everyone over Damian's murder of Morgan Ducard.

Batman would then deal with criminals who branded the Bat symbol on random citizens of Gotham. Soon, Gotham came under attack by an army of branders, causing Batman and Robin to fight them in the streets of Gotham. As buildings exploded around them, Batman challenged the leader of this army: Terminus. However, during the fight, Terminus' heart stopped, and a nuclear warhead was fired to Gotham by his suit. Batman used his augmented batsuit to fly up onto the nuclear warhead, and steered it into Gotham harbor, safely detonating it.

The Villain's Journey

In Arkham Asylum, Justice League villain the Key broke into the mental institution. Batman brought Superman and Cyborg along to stop the Key, but instead found the Key afflicted by intense fear: A man named David Graves explored his mind and stole everything the Key knew about the Justice League. Batman instantly called a meeting with the Justice League to discuss the threat of Graves: A man saved by the League five years ago in Metropolis during Darkseid's invasion who went and wrote a book on the League that gave it its popularity. During this meeting, Graves infiltrated the Watchtower and defeated the Justice League, feeding off their loses. Batman had flashbacks of his parents' deaths, but still pushed on to recover the League after Graves fled. Knowing that David Graves had kidnapped Steve Trevor, the Justice League teleported to Steve's sister's house, where Graves had just fled. Steve's sister, Tracy, yelled at the Justice League, especially Wonder Woman, for involving Steve. As the League left the house, the differences between the League shone as Wonder Woman got into a fight with Green Lantern and Superman, causing Batman to lead the remaining Leaguers to do damage control. As Graves broadcasted the fight, the League teleported away into Grave's cabin, and they learned that Graves blamed his family's death on the League, and that he went to the Valley of Souls. The Justice League went in and found Graves and with Steve Trevor's help, they defeated him, locking him away in Belle Reve. After the incident, Batman was present on the Watchtower, watching reports of the people concerned over the Justice League following the Green Lantern-Wonder Woman fight. Green Lantern decided the quit the team, to Batman's dismay.

Secret of the Cheetah

Five days after the David Graves incident, Wonder Woman was troubled by her friend Barbara Minerva who had become the Cheetah. Batman and Aquaman broke into an A.R.G.U.S. Medical Care Unit in Washington, DC to meet with Steve Trevor, where they asked him about the Cheetah. After learning as much as they could, they went back to the Watchtower and then deployed to the Congo along with the rest of the Justice League to find the tribe responsible for the dagger that turned Minerva into the Cheetah. However, the Cheetah attacked (turning Superman into a Cheetah creature.) The tribe showed themselves, and Batman communicated with them via translation technology. Batman learned that the Cheetah was the protector to the tribe, and Barbara Minerva corrupted the Cheetah's spirit (not the other way around.) The League ultimately defeated and captured the Cheetah while Superman was cured. To help Wonder Woman calm down, Superman took her to Smallville, where they truly began their relationship, under the spying eyes of Batman.

End of the JLI

When Batman heard that the Justice League International had been destroyed, he went to check up on Kevin Kho, who was separated from OMAC and hospitalized in S.T.A.R. Labs. He learned of how the JLI came to an end by being told by Dr. Silas Stone: how many members left and how Booster Gold and Blue Beetle vanished. As Batman was leaving S.T.A.R. Labs, Brother Eye appeared on all the monitor screens: Brother Eye, the system that controlled Kevin into becoming OMAC Brother Eye threatened Batman, telling him that his true power with his new creator is coming. Brother Eye then told Batman that he would join him or die before leaving the screens.

Throne of Atlantis

Batman was dealing with an attack by Scarecrow's goons when he was alerted by Cyborg that a ship, the U.S.S. Mabus, had been hacked and fired into the ocean at the same time the Watchtower was hacked. Batman decided to investigate after dealing with the goons, but Aquaman and later Mera arrived and aided Batman. Aquaman informed Batman about the fact that fish were swimming away from the US eastern coast. Just then, Batman got a message from Cyborg: Boston and Metropolis had been flooded and a huge wave of water was headed towards Gotham. Aquaman remarked in horror how that it matched the Atlantean War Plans. Batman, Aquaman, and Mera worked swiftly to save people, including Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock. Batman and Aquaman got on the Batplane before being shot down (as Batman was perceived as a threat in the Atlantean War Plans.) Though Batman and Aquaman survived, they realized that Dr. Stephen Shin was another man on the Atlantean hit-list. Batman and Aquaman were brought to the Watchtower, where they met with Wonder Woman and Superman, as well as the Arthur-loyalist Vulko. Batman gave Aquaman one chance to try to talk Orm, the Ocean Master, out of the invasion, after finding out Orm had surfaced in Boston. However, as Aquaman failed at talks, Batman, with Superman and Wonder Woman, went to Boston to fight, but Aquaman turned on them. However, Orm intervened in the fight by knocking Batman unconscious, with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman following suit. Their bodies were put in pods and dropped in an underwater pit. However, Aquaman broke free and Batman regained consciousness. After fighting the Trench, Mera and Cyborg arrived, saving the Justice League members. Batman and the Justice League regrouped at the Watchtower and launched a counter attack at Boston where the Atlanteans were defeated and Orm was imprisoned. Noting on how crucial the Justice League Reserves were to the Battle of Boston, Batman decided to open up the ranks of the Justice League once more.

Death of the Family

One night, Batman went to the GCPD when he heard that the Joker had attacked, taking his face back. After arriving too late to save several policemen and policewomen, Batman did however save Commissioner Gordon. Batman would be at the Batcave when the Batfamily all called in asking about the Joker, but Batman told the family to work on their own cases. Just then, John Claridge came onto the TV as a hostage of the Joker's, claiming that Mayor Sebastian Hady would die at midnight. Batman and the GCPD kept lookout on Hady, but then all of the GCPD officers died with a frown: A modified Joker toxin had been used on their clothes. Chemical letters used in the modified toxin lead Batman to ACE Chemical, where he found "Joker" dressed as Red Hood One, and he fell into an empty vat. Batman realized that it was really Harley Quinn who was under the uniform, but the vat started to fill with chemicals. Batman eventually escaped and returned to the Batcave, putting out an alert to the Bat Family that the Joker may be targeting them. Bruce found Alfred was absent and a cassette tape was present. Playing it, Bruce found out that Joker had invaded Wayne Manor and had kidnapped Alfred. The tape had the name "Gordon" on it as a clue, and Batman went to Gordon's house to take him into his protection. As Gordon refused, he began to bleed everywhere. While Gordon was hospitalized, Nightwing and Batman met, having an argument over telling the Family about Alfred or not. Batman then went to the Gotham River where he expected Joker to reenact his poisoning stunt. However, he instead found that Joker went ahead and already poisoned people. Batman then was paralyzed by a toxin Joker used, and he declared on the radio to the Batfamily: He knew who everyone really was. Harvey Bullock arrived with GCPD forces, and in the ensuing battle, Joker escaped and Batman was knocked into the river, coming to in the Batcave, surrounded by Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Red Hood. During an argument with the family, Batman admitted to the incident with the Joker playing card in the Batcave. The family was upset at this.

Bruce had Damian do research on the Joker, and later the two went into space during an eclipse to work on modifying a satellite to keep the Batcomputer connections online. Batman then went to Mount Hope Cemetery where he investigated what was reported to be a "zombie attack" with Gordon. However, reports across Gotham of the attacks went wide. Batman then fought off the "zombies" in Gotham, eventually meeting up with Robin (who had a bounty placed on him by his mother.) Eventually, the crisis was subdued though it was revealed to be another layer of the Joker's plan. At the cave, Batman told Robin that he wasn't sure if having him be Robin was going to work. Damian responded by giving Bruce a pearl from Martha Wayne's necklace. Bruce responded by telling Damian that he was proud of him. Batman later went to Arkham Asylum, finding that it was run by the Joker and an assortment of villains like Two-Face, the Riddler, and the Penguin. Batman went through the horrors Joker had turned the place into, ending up shocked in an electric chair after being told to by the Joker who showed Batman footage of the Bat Family being defeated by his hands.

Batman awoke in a cave with the rest of the Batfamily, with bandages. Batman broke free, causing the Joker to flee as Joker Gas filled the room, but only after Batman revealed that the idea that the family had their faces removed was just a joke. Batman went after the Joker while the family dealt with their Joker gas problem. Batman told Joker he knew his true identity, and through trying to whisper it to Joker, Joker jumped of a cliff in the cave, his face coming off. After the whole escapade, Bruce saw to Alfred. He invited the Bat family to a talk, but they all turned him down. The family had effectively died.

Batman was with the Justice League, discussing how to add members to the League. Upon Flash's suggestion, candidates Black Canary, Black Lightning, Blue Devil, Element Woman, Firestorm, Goldrush, Nightwing, Platinum, Vixen, and Zatanna were brought onto the Watchtower. Nightwing was evidently annoyed at Batman's invitation, thinking it was an emergency. He then rejected his offer. Platinum went bezerk, being a project of Doctor Will Magnus. The Atom arrived and helped the League pacify her. After the meeting, the Justice League discussed the most eligible members: Firestorm, Atom, and Element Woman. However, the League noticed that someone hacked the Watchtower during their meeting.

Demon Star

Batman once took down the Reaper with Robin's assistance. During this time, he often recorded his sessions with Robin. Batman continued to prepare for the final push against Leviathan. He had several Batman, Incorporated members fake their deaths, under the command of Jason Todd (going by Wingman) to await for the final battle. Batman and Robin would go after a lead on Leviathan, discovering a slaughterhouse for cows that had been infected by a modified version of Professor Pyg's mind control drugs. Damian almost died, however, as a bounty hunter tried to kill him. Batman took in one of the cows to run an analysis on. (Robin would call this cow Bat-Cow). Batman then had Damian fake his death at the hands of an assassin to stop Talia from going after him. Damian was then (unhappily) kept in the Batcave. Bruce then went out as Matches Malone once again to investigate into Leviathan, meeting Lumina Lux. However, Dick Grayson as Batman arrived on cue, causing Malone to loose his lead. Malone went out once more, getting a call from Lumina. From that call, he learned of the Leviathan outpost. He went there, calling the Batman, Incorporated members as back up. He was captured but saved by Wingman (as well as Damian being Redbird.) Sadly, Batman told Damian he would have to give Damian to Talia, as if he didn't, Gotham would be destroyed. Batman thought this after seeing a vision of the future. However, just as this exchange went down, he received reports of a Leviathan base in Crime Alley. Batman went to the scene where he stormed a building with a legion of Ro-Bats. He learned that Talia didn't care about Damian, she was instead angry that Bruce did not love her. Batman was attacked by the Heretic, and though he and Squire fought him, Heretic captured Batman, putting him in a safe then throwing the safe in a pool on the top of Wayne Tower. Batman escaped just in time to find his son dead. After holding Damian in his arms, Batman and Nightwing fought Heretic, but had to flee.

Holding a funeral for Damian, Bruce vowed revenge, telling Alfred to go on a vacation. Batman visited Michael Lane where he put him in the (now defunct) Batman, Incorporated, borrowing the Suit of Sorrows from him. He then went to Lucius Fox as Bruce Wayne, where he took an exoskeleton Bat suit that supposedly was impossible to use. Batman then went to the office of Kirk Langstrom, taking the Man-Bat serum. Using all three of these new assets, Batman attacked Talia's base of Wayne Tower, fighting the Heretic, beating him into submission before stopping when he saw Damian's face in the Heretic. Batman then went to the Batcave where Talia found him. They had a sword fight until Batman was incapacitated by poison. Wingman arrived and got the cure to Batman. Then, Kathy Kane, an agent of Spyral, arrived and killed Talia. Talia was buried beside Damian, and Jim Gordon arrested Bruce Wayne for his involvement with the illegal Batman, Incorporated. In his interrogation by Gordon, Bruce told Gordon that the Batman was dead. However, Kathy paid his bail, allowing Bruce to go free and continue to rebuild Gotham from Leviathan's attack. Bruce then later found that the graves of Damian and Talia had been stolen.

Requiem for Robin

Batman would go out, taking down criminals with extreme means. He often did not stop when daylight occurred. Harper Row was worried about him and saved him from an attack by a criminal that infused his dog-fighting dogs with Venom. Batman responded by beating Harper, breaking her nose. Eventually, Bruce did manage to get some sleep at Wayne Enterprises where Lucius Fox found him and made him attend a few meetings. Harper Row arrived, and asked Bruce to put up a message on Wayne Tower. Bruce agreed. Batman then later met Harper Row where he apologized, and looked sadly at the first letter of the message: R.

One night, Batman reviewed the agents of Batman, Incorporated, and he observed an incident where Batcow saved some people with interest.

Batman would often stand in the Batcave, looking through recordings from previous missions with Robin, missing calls from a concerned Clark Kent. Alfred notified Bruce of employee Brian Wade's suicide, which shocked Bruce as Brian was fighting for his life from a fatal disease. Batman investigated, and found that Clayface had the ability to copy people's DNA now. Bruce went to Lucius Fox to request another batsuit for this challenge when it turned out Lucius was Clayface. Clayface captured Bruce, throwing him into a Crusher with the real Lucius. Bruce piloted an experimental Batsuit, and escaped with Lucius. He then got into a more sealed suit, and went to take on Clayface. Clayface was defeated and captured, and later on in the evening, Bruce and Alfred watched videos of him and Damian. Superman would eventually come to Batman, asking why he wasn't returning his calls. Batman told him that he wasn't ready to talk about Damian yet, and the two defeated a paranormal creature called a Will O'Wisp.

Batman was asked by Arkham Asylum to test out their new cell, the Tartarus Wing. During this, Batman met Eric Border, a new orderly at Arkham Asylum. The Anchoress broke free and tried to kill Batman, making him relive the death of his parents and Damian, as well as his "brother." Anchoress was eventually apprehended.

The Grid

Batman came to the Batcave to find it broken into, with Red Hood and Alfred wounded. Batman, Cyborg, and Aquaman investigated the cave to find out who broke in and why. They reached the conclusion that the intruder was human and did not set off any alarms when they received word that Wonder Woman and Superman were fighting in Kahndaq. Batman and Cyborg Boom-Tubed to Kahndaq and Batman criticized Superman and Wonder Woman for putting the Justice League in a negative public eye. Batman then mentioned that someone broke into the Batcave and stole a piece of Kryptonite Batman had. They then were alerted to a battle on board the Watchtower. the four heroes eventually made their way there after the Watchtower crashed in Happy Harbor, finding that Element Woman, Firestorm, and Atom had supposedly defeated Despero. Despero was found with a Kryptonite ring from the Batcave. The next day, Batman took Superman into the section of the Batcave with the various boxes he had for defeating the Justice League, showing that Wonder Woman did not have a weakness, and he also gave Superman a box to defeat Batman should anything happen to him.

Trinity War

Batman would continue efforts to clean up the mess of the Watchtower in Happy Harbor along with Cyborg, Atom, Element Woman, and Firestorm. Around the time Aquaman and the Flash arrived, they received word that the new hero Shazam had flown into Kahndaq. Thus, the Justice League went to Kahndaq to escort Shazam out of the closed-border country. However, after subduing Shazam, the Justice League of America led by Steve Trevor arrived to escort the Justice League out. The Leagues began to argue over who had the most authority. Batman commented that Kahndaq was no place for Catwoman. Dr. Light approached the Justice League when all of a sudden, he accidentally blasted Wonder Woman. Superman grabbed Dr. Light, but he then accidentally killed Dr. Light with his heat vision. This sparked an all-out battle between the Justice League and the Justice League of America. In this battle, Batman sparred with Catwoman before moving on to fight the Green Arrow. Superman stopped the fight by slamming into the ground, demanding to be locked up.

The Leagues went to A.R.G.U.S.' headquarters in Washington, DC. Superman was put in a containment machine, and Batman watched over him, noting that his best friend had been coughing since they got to DC. Superman asked if Dr. Light had a family, and Batman confirmed this when Wonder Woman came in, criticizing Batman for telling Superman that. Wonder Woman told Batman that Pandora's Box did this, and left in search for it. Batman, however, refused to believe this. He went to the autopsy on Dr. Light that Cyborg and Martian Manhunter were doing, with Steve Trevor observing. Zatanna was then called in by Batman, but she could not find anything that would have caused Superman to kill Dr. Light. Suddenly, the Phantom Stranger entered the room, warning the heroes that Wonder Woman was recruiting the Justice League Dark to find the box, and that they should be kept away from it. Batman led a team made of the Phantom Stranger, the Flash, Zatanna, Steve Trevor, Hawkman, Aquaman, Catwoman, Stargirl, Katana, Shazam, Vibe, and Green Lantern (Simon Baz) to confront Wonder Woman's team of John Constantine, Frankenstein, Deadman, and Black Orchid in the House of Mystery. The resulting argument lead to a team roster shuffle: Batman lost Hawkman, Aquaman, Zatanna, and Stargirl to Wonder Woman's team, and Shazam wandered off with Constantine. Zatanna then teleported her League away. The Phantom Stranger then decided to talk to Dr. Fate himself in the afterlife to find out the truth. The Phantom Stranger, Deadman, Katana, and Batman all went into the afterlife. After fighting through souls, Batman was separated from the rest of the team, sucked up into his own dream fantasy: A Christmas eve as a boy, enjoying it with his family. The Phantom Stranger and Katana arrived and helped Batman get out of that paradise. They got Deadman, and found Arthur Light's soul. Light did not know anything, but the heroes decided to take Light back to the land of the living. However, the angel Zauriel arrived, and kicked Batman, Katana, and Deadman back to the House of Mystery with the rest of the team. Phantom Stranger, with his last breath, told Batman that Madam Xanadu knows the truth about the box. Suddenly, Deadman underwent intense pain, stating he could feel where all magic people were. They then used this new knowledge to locate Xanadu. Batman's team arrived at the Temple of Hephaestus just as Constantine and Zatanna arrived. Superman and Wonder Woman's teams arrived as well, and all were subject to the box's influence. A large-scale battle took place over the box. Then, Atom revealed herself to be a traitor, on the side of the mastermind of this whole event, the Outsider. Cyborg's robot parts then revealed to be a sentient machine on the side of evil as the Grid, and separated from Cyborg. Batman, Simon Baz, and Catwoman saw to Vic as the Crime Syndicate of Earth 3 arrived due to Pandora's box being opened. They declared that the world now belonged to the Crime Syndicate, and attacked the heroes.

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Forever Evil

As the heroes began to be trapped within the Firestorm Matrix, Batman took Victor and escaped with Catwoman. They eventually made it to S.T.A.R. Labs in Detroit via a Justice League safehouse in the sewers, where they brought Victor into the Red Room with Dr. Silas Stone and Dr. Thomas Morrow. Batman then found out that the Crime Syndicate had captured Nightwing and unmasked him as Dick Grayson for the entire world to see. Batman's new priority was rescuing Dick. Batman brought Catwoman to the Batcave, and Batman gathered a lightning rod, a Sinestro Corps ring, a Kryptonite ring, and a motherbox to go to the Watchtower remains and defeat the Crime Syndicate. They then went to WayneTech where they found the Injustice Gang: Bizarro, Lex Luthor, Black Manta, Captain Cold, and Black Adam. A fight broke out between the two groups when all of a sudden, Power Ring arrived with Deathstroke, Copperhead, Blockbuster, Giganta, and Shadow Thief. To even the odds, Batman put on a Sinestro ring and became a member of the Sinestro Corps and fought off the Secret Society. However, Power Ring managed to get the ring off Batman. Sinestro, fused with Parallax, then arrived due to Batman's use of the ring attracting his attention. The fight ended with Deathstroke turning on the Society and Sinestro killing Power Ring. With Deathstroke and Sinestro/Parallax in their ranks, Batman and Catwoman teamed up with the Injustice League to fight back against the Crime Syndicate.

The Injustice League infiltrated the Watchtower, and Bizarro, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, and Batman found Dick, hooked up to a bomb connected to his heart. Lex Luthor ripped the bomb off, seemingly killing Grayson. This made Batman go bezerk, beginning to beat Luthor, possibly to death. However, Luthor managed to save Dick's life, to Batman's relief. Cyborg arrived, and as Batman and Luthor parted to deal with different threats in the Syndicate, Lex shook his hand, stealing the Kryptonite ring from Batman while he was distracted. Batman, Cyborg, Catwoman, and Dick found Firestorm, and Batman used Wonder Woman's lasso of truth to pull all the heroes out after dealing with Owlman, who defected to their side. With the Leagues free, the Crime Syndicate was eventually defeated, and order was restored to the world. Batman then sent Dick Grayson on another task, being officially declared dead to the world.

Injustice League

Three days after the Trinity War and the Crime Syndicate's attacks, Batman and the Justice League hunted down remaining Secret Society members. The world began to become pro-Luthor, and even Lucius Fox suggested Wayne Enterprises increased relations with LexCorp. The Justice League was then invited to a satellite by Lex Luthor, where they found that Luthor had a new Watchtower made as an offering to be accepted as a Justice League member. The League rejected him, but kept the new Watchtower. Shazam, who was part of Luthor's plan, also stayed behind with the League. Later that evening, Lex Luthor came to Wayne Manor, asking to speak with Batman. Bruce repeatedly rejected being Batman, but when Lex Luthor began to fight Bruce (complete with Alfred drawing a gun), the clock entrance to the Batcave was blown open, and Bruce had to admit to Lex Luthor that he was Batman. Lex then asked Bruce to convince the League to let him in, but Batman again rejected him. Batman then met with the Justice League when they found Power Ring, this time the ring having chosen Jessica Cruz in Portland. They saved civilians while Jessica could not control the ring while the Doom Patrol tried to take her in. During all this, the Justice League fought off the Doom Patrol as Lex Luthor arrived. Batman personally went to Cruz and calmed her down enough to silence her ring. After the mission, Batman decided it would be the smart idea to let Lex Luthor in the team, and thus, Lex Luthor was brought into the Justice League. Bruce even made stronger ties between Wayne Enterprise and LexCorp.

The Amaze-O Virus

Batman would continue his service to the Justice League, working with Lex Luthor and Aquaman in saving people in the ocean. Bruce would later enter LexCorp to see all that Lex was creating. Bruce had the Justice League stationed outside just in case. Bruce bluffed, and found out that Lex had a private lab where he had his sister, Lena Luthor. Suddenly, Neutron attacked and the Amazo Virus was set free. As the Amazo virus spread, Batman donned the Haz-Bat suit and went with Superman in taking down the infected. Soon, they found Patient Zero, a necessary element to find a cure. Batman and Superman followed Patient Zero to LexCorps where Wonder Woman assisted them in fighting Patient Zero. Batman's HazBat suit broke in the face, causing Batman to be exposed by the virus. Batman went blind but had abilities to create soundwaves, something he did to help Wonder Woman and Superman defeat Patient Zero before falling, saying that Luthor had been lying to the League, believing that Luthor made the virus to defeat Superman. Batman was brought to the makeshift-medical ward in LexCorp. However, the virus took over Batman and the rest of the infected into a hive mind-like entity, attacking the Justice League. Eventually, a cure was made and Batman was cured like everyone else.

Batman Eternal

One night, Professor Pyg struck, getting Batman caught in a death trap. Batman escaped, and met up with Commissioner Gordon. Batman went after Pyg while Gordon went after some of Pyg's men. However, Batman let Pyg go when he got word that two trains were headed for collision on Gordon's location. Batman saved Gordon, but the trains hit each other, creating massive casualties. Batman would find Gordon in jail later, getting a blood sample to find out if Gordon was affected by anything when he claimed to see a gun in a thug's hand that led to him shooting the train track control box. As Batman investigated the footage, Catwoman arrived, and Batman pinpointed that the thug was from Carmine Falcone's group. Batman found Penguin and found that Penguin was not working with Falcone. Batman then found that a gang war was erupting between Penguin and Falcone. As Batman defeated various sections of Falcone's men, he found that the police were not responding to calls on Falcone's men.

Later, Bruce was at Gordon's trial where he was found guilty. Later that evening, Batman had to try to calm down a violent Batgirl. Later, Batman went to Falcone personally and questioned him, but Falcone pinned blame on Penguin. Returning to the Batcave, Bruce found Barbara angry over her father's case, letting her emotions guide her. Batgirl then went off on her own investigation. Batman sent Jason Todd after her.

Another evening, Batman found Red Robin in Gotham, investigating a nano-machine infestation in the Narrows. Batman allowed him to work alone, though he encouraged working together. In an abandoned Truckyard, Batman and Batwing took down the Gentleman Ghost, and Batman assigned Batwing to Jim Corrigan to investigate paranormal activity in Gotham. Batman then ran into Professor Pyg, Batman captured him, but this was a distraction as Falcone made his move, destroying many of the Penguin's assets, including the Iceberg Casino. Batman spent the entire night gathering intel on the Gang War, and he found out that the new Commissioner, Commissioner Forbes, was letting criminals go free that Batman caught, wanting to show he would not work with Batman. Batman was then called by Forbes to the GCPD rooftop, where Batman tried to work out an agreement with him. Forbes, on the other hand, intended to bring Batman in. Thanks to the meddling of Police officer Jason Bard, Batman managed to escape and believed he had an ally in the GCPD. Batman then went to Hong Kong, where Falcone had ran to five years prior, to find out about the outcome of the gang war that occurred there. He met with Batman, Incorporated member Jiro, and infiltrated Shen Fang's penthouse (the criminal who supposedly bested Falcone.) There, Batman was met with Julia Pennyworth, who was then stabbed by Shen Fang. Batman beat Shen Fang, and learned that Falcone had received an invitation to Gotham, and that he was actually about to win the Hong Kong Gang War. Batman brought Julia to Wayne Manor to be attended to by her father, then went to save Carmine Falcone from Professor Pyg. Catwoman also helped in defeating Pyg, but all parties escaped the brawl. Batman would meet Selina in a graveyard, but she refused his emotional support offer.

Batman would disguise himself as a guard when Gordon was brought to another trial. There, he was sentenced to Blackgate Prison. Batman later met with Harvey Bullock and Jason Bard, and Jason Bard revealed a plan to stop the Gang War. The GCPD took out some of Falcone's men under the idea that they worked for Batman. Batman congratulated Bard on this feat. Batman also kept watch on Gordon in Blackgate before meeting Bard, who Batman distrusted for sicking the Penguin on Falcone. Yes, both men were arrested, but Penguin killed several of Falcone's men. However, Batman and Bard would reconcile later.

One night, Batman got a call from Batwing, telling him the case under Arkham was going fine. Batman and Bard then explored the sewers of Gotham with Killer Croc, investigating possibly another paranormal event. This turned out to be an invasion of aliens from another dimensions through a portal under Gotham. Batman, Bard, and Killer Croc stopped this, but Bard then attempted to arrest Croc for murder of GCPD officers. Batman took Croc's friend Jade away to an orphanage. At another point, Dr. Thompkins notified Batman that several of her patients were being killed. Batman helped with the investigation, catching the killer and putting him in the former cell of the Joker.

Batman later found Carmine Falcone and beat him for lying to Batman, saying that Falcone had no bad intentions for Gotham. Falcone then gave Batman the invitation to the fall of Gotham. Batman then gave Bard info Batgirl and Red Hood had compiled on data to prove Gordon's innocence.

Possible Futures

There are many possible futures for Bruce Wayne:

The Batman, Incorporated series told Bruce's fate as he was to be killed by Simon Hurt due to Damian "letting Hurt in." Damian would then become the next Batman.

POWERS AND WEAPONS

Batman maintains a utility belt with various weapons and gadgets including batarangs, a grappling hook and a Rob-Bat monitoring device. Batman also has a variety of vehicles such as a Batmobile and a Batjet. Batman is skilled in various fighting styles.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Batman in chronological order click here