Bruce Wayne

* Civilian
* Batman

Philanthropist (formerly)

Vigilante (formerly)

Dick Grayson (adoptive son)

Jason Todd (adoptive son)

Tim Drake (adoptive son)

Kate Kane (maternal cousin)

Beth Kane (maternal cousin)

When his parents were gunned down in front of him, young **Bruce Wayne** resolved to rid Gotham City of the criminal element that took their lives. He trained extensively to achieve mental and physical perfection, in addition to mastering martial arts, detective techniques, and criminal psychology. When he returned, Bruce was inspired by a bat in his ancestral home of Wayne Manor. He then became **Batman** who fought crime with the aid of specialized gadgets and vehicles and operated out of a secret Batcave underneath Wayne Manor. Batman led a successful twelve-year, crime-fighting career until he was publicly unmasked by Scarecrow during the Arkham Knight Incident. Following the incident, with his identity fully exposed, Batman initiated The Knightfall Protocol and disappeared from the public eye. Despite that, his legacy lived on with the citizens of Gotham, with his cousin taking up his mantle.

## History

### Early Life

When he was 8 years old, Bruce watched helplessly as his parents were gunned down in front of him. The first person to talk to him after the tragedy was a kind police officer named James Gordon. He offered the boy what little comfort he could. The family's faithful butler, Alfred, became Bruce's legal guardian and tried to help. Bruce forever had his childhood stolen from him. Bruce became obsessed with avenging his parents' murder and created a plan for the rest of his life.

For the next several years from his childhood to young adult life, Bruce trained extremely extensively to the height of mental and physical perfection. He studied various detective techniques, criminal psychology, invention, computers, disguise, escape arts, tracking, acrobatics, weapons, and marksmanship to name a few.

Bruce went on a journey to learn and master the many highly refined forms of Asian martial arts and eventually traveled to North Korea. There, Bruce discovered a secret Korean monastery where he met martial arts master, Kirigi of the League of Assassins. At first nothing more than servant and a foreigner, Bruce was eventually allowed to train with his students in Tokagure-Ryu and other Shinobi arts similar to the Japanese Ninjutsu. Mastering all of them, and even managing to defeat Kirigi's best student Shiva, Bruce earned the sensei's respect and was allowed access to the knowledge that he had been seeking as well as more advanced training.

### Becoming Batman

Returning to Gotham after several years abroad, ostensibly to reclaim his inheritance and become the CEO of his family's company, Bruce realized that he needed to become a symbol to fully utilize everything he'd learned on his journey. He chose the image of a bat, an old childhood fear, and began crafting an identity to prey on both of the superstitions and the cowardice of criminals. He confided this plan to Alfred, who did not initially approve but faithfully stood by his charge and helped him renovate the caves beneath Wayne Manor into a base of operations: the Batcave. Bruce befriended Lucius Fox, though he didn't share his plans with him at first, and used his position to develop or "borrow" custom-made items that could be useful in his crusade. He assembled his first armored Batsuit and Utility Belt out of various materials from the Batcave and Wayne Enterprises, and re-purposed a prototype stealth jet to act as the "Batwing", a means of transport and an aerial delivery system, with plans to develop the future Batmobile.

He also undertook an investigation into a brutal serial killing incident around the time of Halloween of his first year, which Alfred later referred to as "a long one". Bruce's younger maternal cousins, Beth and Kate Kane, with whom he was very close to, often visited Wayne Enterprises or tried to sneak into his office.

For over two years, Batman waged a covert war on Gotham crime, and focused on everything from typical muggings and robberies to powerful figures such as Carmine Falcone, his rival Sal Maroni, and up-and-coming crime lords, Black Mask and the Penguin. He also solved several cases beyond the police's capability to handle, such as the holiday themed killer named Calendar Man and a crime wave perpetuated by the mysterious Red Hood, which Batman suspected of being a cover identity assumed by more than one person. His first and only confrontation with the Red Hood ended in disaster during a break-in at the Ace Chemicals Plant. The villain fell into a vat of chemicals, either by accident or on purpose to escape justice, which marked the first failure in the young vigilante's career. The Red Hood's body was never found.

Batman continued his war, gained more confidence with each victory and continued to develop his arsenal. Most criminals believed him to either be an urban legend or some kind of supernatural entity, both of which gave him a psychological edge to exploit as they began to realize that someone or something out there was an active threat to their stranglehold on Gotham. Batman avoided media attention for as long as possible, and added to the power of his chosen symbol. As a new year drew closer, Batman believed himself to be the only thing that stood between the innocent and the predatory, and that he could handle any opponent.

This would be challenged soon.

### Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in Gotham began with a bang when Black Mask led a sudden and seemingly random all out attack on Blackgate Prison, and took Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, hostage. Batman responded immediately. His first act upon entering the facility was to rescue Warden Martin Joseph from being beaten by one of Black Mask's Henchmen. After following a trail of destruction and subduing several of Black Mask's thugs and the escaping inmates, Batman noticed that a drone was tracking Black Mask through the prison. He finally caught up to Black Mask in the Death Row Execution Chamber, but was too late to prevent the mobster from releasing Calendar Man and executing Loeb in his place. Batman stopped pursuing Black Mask and his escort to retrieve the damaged drone's memory card before he headed to the roof. Black Mask escaped via helicopter while Batman confronted the first of eight hired assassins: Killer Croc. After defeating Croc, Batman interrogated him for information about Black Mask's whereabouts to no avail, and left him for the GCPD.

Batman returned to the Batcave, scanned the damaged drone's memory card on the Batcomputer, and learned that some of the world's deadliest assassins had come to Gotham to claim a $50 million bounty that Black Mask had placed on his head. He headed into the city to track down the drone's operator, Oswald Cobblepot: the Penguin. As the Batwing neared the city, Batman noticed a jamming signal interfering with the plane's systems and entered the Coventry GCR Tower to investigate further. Finding it under siege by armed thugs, Batman rescued the hostages and investigated the murder of a Gotham Optics employee named David Shannon, who had been killed by an explosive placed in an access panel. Further scanning indicated that it had been placed there by a criminal named John F. Baker who had mysteriously turned up dead later in the Diamond District.

Batman shut down the jamming signal and was contacted by Enigma, a mysterious hacker who had jammed the Batwing's signal in all the GCR towers in Gotham. Batman tracked the signal to Enigma's hideout, but was met with a television conversation with Enigma instead; Batman learned of relays protecting Enigma's main server and of datapacks held by his hired help that would be used to blackmail powerful people in Gotham.

### The Penguin

Batman then made his way to Jezebel Plaza to interrogate Penguin's arms dealer, Ricky "Loose Lips" Leblanc and observed him and the Penguin's Henchmen selling weapons until he interrupted their deal. The vigilante attempted to interrogate the terrified Leblanc, only to unintentionally choke him into unconsciousness. Not long after, Batman started to interrogate him on the roof of the Gotham Merchant's Bank before Cobblepot texted Loose Lips to check the progress of the deal. Batman took the phone's memory card to hack into Penguin's communications, and dropped the now unnecessary Loose Lips off the roof and straight into the plaza's Christmas Tree.

However, he soon found that he needed to triangulate the signal by using the relay stations Penguin used for his private radio. Once this was done, he overheard Penguin talk about the Boiler Deck Fights, which were being held on his ship, The Final Offer. Batman believed that Cobblepot would give up a lead on Black Mask's location. There, Batman faced the would-be assassin, the Electrocutioner, and knocked the loud mouth out with a kick to the face. After Batman went after Penguin's assistant, Tracey Buxton, he received a message about Electrocutioner, who left the arena and claimed that he would be back for him. Batman found Penguin torturing his rival's son, Alberto Falcone. He learned from Penguin that Black Mask had "problems of his own" that was related to a murder that was committed at his Lacey Towers safe house before he was interrupted by another assassin, the far more capable Deathstroke. Batman managed to defeat Deathstroke and purloined his Remote Claw. Batman contacted Alfred to arrange an anonymous tip about Deathstroke's whereabouts to the GCPD before his manservant informed him of police band chatter that indicated the Lacey Towers murder victim may have been Black Mask himself.

### GCPD

Arriving at Lacey Towers, Batman learned that the police believed that Penguin had killed Black Mask and investigated the murder scene where Black Mask and his girlfriend had been murdered several days ago. Piecing together the evidence, Batman concluded that the victim was not Black Mask and Penguin had visited the scene after the murder was committed. An unknown intruder had attacked the real murderer, and that murderer may have been a new criminal known as "The Joker".

Needing more information to solve the case, mostly a DNA analysis to confirm who the murder's assailant had been, Batman infiltrated the GCPD Building in order to access the National Criminal Database. He came across a wall of pipes, which had Captain Gordon's office on the other side. Gordon was arguing with his daughter over Batman's efforts to try bringing justice to Gotham City, but Gordon was adamant that only the police were the ones who could be responsible for that. Batman continued through the walls and next saw Gordon ordering the GCPD to be on the look out for the seven other assassins, who could possibly cause more destruction and mayhem that night in their attempts to draw out and kill the Batman.

Making his way through the building, he learned that the corrupt SWAT leader Howard Branden was determined to claim the bounty and, with Loeb dead, the other corrupt officers were concerned that James Gordon would be considered for Commissioner, and they were already discussing ways to damage his reputation. Finding his way to the Server Room barred by a set of electronic locks and a jamming device, Batman sneaked into the Interrogation Room to confront Loose Lips again about a Disruptor. He learned that it could jam weapons and override security protocols.

With advice from Barbara, Batman entered the sewers beneath the GCPD to secure permanent access to the database. There, he found Black Mask's Gang planting explosives under several buildings, including the GCPD. This was strange since most of the force was in the crime lord's pocket. After he subdued Black Mask's thugs, Batman finally reached the terminal that would allow him to access the database and complete his investigation. The database allowed him to deduce that Black Mask was the third person on the scene, and had sent in a body double as a decoy before he attacked the murderer, only to be subdued and kidnapped by the mysterious Joker, who intended to use Sionis's bio-metric data to access the Gotham Merchant's Bank.

### The Joker

As midnight struck, Batman and Alfred exchanged Christmas well wishes before the Dark Knight came face-to-face with the greatest challenge of his career. Batman found the bank already broken into and full of the dead bodies of Black Mask's men. Batman caught Black Mask in the middle of escaping with the bank's money. In a stand off, the leader of the operation revealed himself to be the Joker in disguise: the Joker had replaced Black Mask days earlier, seized his criminal empire, and placed the bounty on Batman. Before Batman could stop him, the Joker escaped with a captured Black Mask and an ambulance full of cash, which left Batman to catch the strangely hysterical, Bank Manager and escape the exploding vault after the Joker blew up the vault while he departed. Batman survived, stunned by the blast, and found the Bank Manager dead with an enormous grin on her face, the first of the many victims of Joker Toxin. Batman dispatched Deadshot and interrogated him to learn that the Joker had killed members of Black Mask's Gang who wouldn't join him and had taken Black Mask to the Steel Mill.

Batman pursued the Joker to the Steel Mill, and intended to capture either the Joker or Sionis. Infiltrating the building, he hacked into Black Mask's computer and found that Sionis had a pacemaker installed and was having the Joker followed. In the elevator, Batman found and scanned the corpse of one of Joker's men, and discovered that he had been poisoned by a neurotoxin that caused powerful hallucinations before eventual death. Continuing toward Black Mask's Office, Batman freed then interrogated the crime boss for the Joker's whereabouts, until the venomous assassin, Copperhead, attacked and poisoned him.

Delusional and fading fast, Batman scanned traces of the poison and sent them to Alfred to hastily manufacture a cure. Batman then forced himself to stagger through a gauntlet of hallucinations that consisted of a disappointed Alfred, the Bank Manager, and Commissioner Loeb. Finally making it to the upper floor drop-off point, Batman was forced to fight, from his fevered point of view, multiple illusions of Copperhead, and kept her at bay through sheer willpower. After the container arrived, Batman cured himself, easily defeated Copperhead, and locked her in one of the shipping crates.

### The Royal Hotel

Tracking the Joker through the specific electromagnetic signal that was generated by the Electrocutioner's Shock Gloves, led Batman to the Royal Hotel. Batman found that the lunatic and his men had taken control of the building, filled it with explosives, murdered the staff, and had taken the guests hostage. To make things even more complicated, SWAT had arrived on the scene and were making sure that Gordon and the rest of the GCPD didn't know about the takeover. Joker was using the building to hold a meeting with the remaining assassins about their failure to kill Batman, and ended it by kicking the Electrocutioner out of a window to his death. The assassins all departed, except for Bane who believed that Batman would soon be coming for the Joker.

Batman recovered the Electrocutioner's Shock Gloves and used them to charge deactivated electrical equipment throughout the hotel and deliver powerful shocks to the army of Joker thugs in his way. Batman worked his way through the building, helping save what was left of the staff and was horrified by the corpses that the Joker had left defaced with numerous Christmas decorations. A concerned Alfred called him, due to the spike in Batman's biometrics. Batman told him that he was fine, but the Joker was something beyond all the crime that he's fought in Gotham.

Reaching the top floor, Batman confronted Joker, and fought Bane. Concerned that his charge was outmatched, Alfred alerted the GCPD for help, who interrupted the fight. Batman placed a tracker on Bane as he escaped by helicopter, pausing only to fire a rocket at the Joker. The concussive force sent the Joker falling from the hotel balcony. Batman dived after him and saved the Joker before he left him with the GCPD.

### Bane

Returning to the Batcave, a weary Batman learned that Bane was gunned down by the GCPD and left to investigate the body at the GCPD Morgue. Alfred implored Batman to abandon his crusade, and feared that he would die, but Batman refused to listen. After he entered the GCPD Morgue, Batman discovered the body of a Venom user instead of Bane, and scanned the body to find that it was dosed with chemicals that may have caused both heart and brain damage. Batman heard over the GCPD radio that criminals were fighting over chemical weapons that were orchestrated by Bird, Bane's lieutenant. This lead Batman to the docks, where he found a matchbook from My Alibi, and headed to the night club, where Bird had taken over. Batman subdued bird and left him for the GCPD to imprison.

Batman then entered Bane's Field Headquarters, finding a recording left by the brute; Bane was aware that his addiction to Venom could kill him, so he was working on a compound that could give him a permanent increase in strength. Unfortunately, the new formula damaged the brain and left the host with severe memory loss and decreased intelligence. He then discovered computers that were full of evidence: Bane knew that Batman was Bruce Wayne. Enraged, Batman destroyed the computers and warned Alfred that Bane was most likely on his way to Wayne Manor and that he would be safer in the Batcave.

Before Batman could return home, Firefly launched an assault on the Gotham Pioneers Bridge, which forced both Batman and Captain Gordon to work together to overcome the assassin and his bombs. In the middle of defusing them, Batman saved Branden from Firefly's thugs. Branden then repaid the vigilante by attempting to attack him, only to be thwarted and left unconscious, naturally. Batman defused all but one of the bombs, but then had to battle the pyromaniac himself. Gordon ignored the vigilante's advice to let him handle the entire operation solo and prevented Firefly from detonating the last bomb. Batman defeated Firefly by damaging his jet pack and left him hanging for the police to arrest. He and Gordon then had a secret met in the aftermath, in which they both admitted they wouldn't have been able to salvage the affair without the other.

Meanwhile, Bane broke into the Batcave and beat Alfred nearly to death; Batman was contacted by Bane, who told him that Alfred could say a few last words if the Dark Knight hurried. Batman returned to find the Batcave in ruins and Alfred dying in the rubble. Alfred passed away in Batman's arms, and uttered his final request that Bruce not "add [him] to the weight that he had carried." A desperate Batman managed to resuscitate Alfred by using the Shock Gloves. As they returned to the medical bay, a call came in over the police band: the Joker had taken over Blackgate.

### Blackgate Prison

Finally accepting that he needed allies, Batman worked with Gordon and the GCPD to retake the prison. He helped free Dr. Harleen Quinzel and some guards from the men loyal to Joker, who now ordered him to be brought in alive. Listening to the Joker over the intercom, Batman learned that the clown enjoyed their last fight and wanted to continue fighting with him as long as possible. Batman found Deathstroke still in his cell after defeating several escapees, but the mercenary had no more interest in the vigilante unless another price were to be put on his head. This was at least one less thing to worry about that night.

Finally catching up to the Joker in the Panopticon, Batman was forced to fight Bane to the death as Joker strapped himself, with a hostage Captain Gordon, to an electric chair that would automatically kill him unless a heart beat monitor attached to the chair registered Bane's death. Batman used the Shock Gloves to shock Bane into cardiac arrest. Satisfied, Joker left to detonate his bombs all around the city.

Asking Gordon and Warden Joseph for help, Batman revealed that he tricked Joker; seeing that Batman didn't want to kill, Gordon agreed to help. Batman used the Shock Gloves to resuscitate Bane, which was his plan all along, but Bane was enraged because he'd been denied peace. Bane attempted to turn his Venom back on, but found Batman had tore off the control pad. Seeing that the had no other choice, Bane regretfully injected himself with the latest version of his attempt at a super-Venom: TN-1. Bane turned into a hulking beast, which Batman tried to knock out by blowing up the floor underneath them. However, both of them ended up in the cells below.

Learning from Alfred, who had been given Bane's research notes, that TN-1 would reach full effect in 10 minutes, Batman managed to force Bane into the electric barriers and knock him out. However, Bane recovered and tossed Batman into another room. Batman set a trap, handing Bane up by his foot and giving him a painful zap. As a bonus, Batman heard Bane mumble that he needed to find the Batman. Wishing him a sarcastic "good luck", Batman left to find the Joker.

Upon hearing Gordon call for a paramedic to treat Warden Joseph, Batman rushed over to find them. Finding Joseph on the ground, Batman was grabbed by the head from behind by Killer Croc; at the same time a sniper was aiming at him. Luckily, Gordon hit the sniper as soon as he took a shot; the shot instead grazed Croc's arm. The beast left Batman alone, rushing off into the chaos; he had enough of getting hurt by helping the Joker. Gordon arrived next them, helping Batman fend off inmates seeking to harm the warden. Batman was surprised to see how well Gordon could handle the inmates; the captain explained that he had a rough childhood, so he had to learn how to defend himself against thugs.

With the warden under Gordon's watch, Batman fought his way to the Joker in the Prison Chapel. The clown was laughing at the chaos he causes, saying that night is best he's had. When it looked like Batman would kill him, the Joker laughed that he was ready so soon after Bane; however, Batman told him that Bane was still alive. Dismayed to learn that Batman had saved Bane, the Joker tried to goad Batman into killing him, but Batman subdued him with a ferocious beatdown and let the clown live, once again. Gordon decided to let Batman go and believed that the vigilante could help the city.

Before the end of the night, Gordon contacted Batman to apprehend the 20 escaped Blackgate Prisoners that were all over Gotham. After Batman apprehended the 20 inmates, Gordon thanked Batman for his help. Batman then asked a favor: tell the GCPD to back off and let him do his job. Gordon offered to think about it and Batman told him to not take too long: he had a feeling that they would be doing this again soon.

Alfred later discovered the identity of Enigma, a Cyber Division officer of the GCPD named Edward Nygma. Nygma had also informed the Dark Knight that he would reveal the greatest secret of all soon.

### A Cold, Cold Heart

One week later, on New Year's Eve, a week into the city's recovery, Bruce Wayne hosted the Humanitarian of the Year Awards Ceremony at Wayne Manor and fully supported the winner, GothCorp CEO, Ferris Boyle. The party was interrupted by a startling temperature drop and then a gigantic ice explosion in the Ballroom. Wayne Manor was soon under siege by Penguin's thugs, who wielded strange cryogenic weaponry and took the guests hostage. Their leader, a man in a mechanized suit that they called "Mister Freeze", marched in and demanded that Boyle be brought to him. Amid the panic, Bruce slipped away and attempted to contact Alfred with no success. He walked into an ambush set by several thugs, subdued them easily, and rescued Alfred. Bruce left Alfred to take care of the guests in the Manor's Study and entered the Wine Cellar to access another entrance to the Batcave, after he subdued several more of Penguin's thugs along the way. Donning the Batsuit, Batman returned to locate Boyle and found the Manor in flames. Returning to the Library, Batman rescued Alfred, Vicki Vale, and several other guests who had been taken hostage. After he left them in the Study, Batman had a terse conversation with Vale, who had advised him to "manage that image before someone else managed it for him."

Batman rescued Boyle from more of Penguin's thugs, but was blind-sided and immobilized by Freeze. The latest of Gotham's new class of criminal expressed no interest in finishing off the vigilante and dragged Boyle away. Batman managed to break free of the ice that had trapped him, disappointed some opportunistic thugs who had thought a half-frozen vigilante would be easy pickings, and confronted the last of the invading force in the Ballroom, which included two thugs in thick padding and another who wielded a scaled-down version of Freeze's own weapon. He interrogated the last remaining thug and learned that one of Penguin's South Gothamdealers might know where Freeze was taking Boyle. Sickened that anyone would attack such a humanitarian, Batman rode the Batwing into the city and vowed to take Freeze down.

Batman found South Gotham mostly deserted but chaotic. For starters, the entrance to the Gotham Pioneers Bridge was blocked off by a wall of ice that was erected by ambitious freeze gun thugs, and Anarky's Henchmenwere continuing the riots all over the city. While he tried to find Penguin's dealer, Batman found a frozen cop and learned that Penguin's thugs had used cryogenic weapons to freeze people in ice. If he was going to break them all free, Batman needed his Thermal Gloves. After he followed the trail, Batman interrogated Penguin's dealerabout Freeze's location and learned that Freeze was located at GothCorp. Batman entered GothCorp to search for Freeze and learn where he was taking Boyle. Batman found Freeze, who had been betrayed by Penguin, and Boyle, who was still Freeze's hostage. Batman distracted Penguin by taking out some snipers as Freeze created a wall of ice behind him as he departed, and trapped Penguin within it. Batman learned from Penguin that the only way to break the ice, was with a cryodrill that his men had stolen and hidden at My Alibi.

After he arrived at My Alibi, the Extreme Environment Batsuit arrived from Alfred, and Batman donned the suit. Batman then entered the nightclub to search for the cryogenic drill. He found Loose Lips in the private back room and interrogated him for the drill, but learned that the drill was in pieces. After he retrieved the cryodrill pieces, Batman needed a supercoolant that was used in a lab that was run by a Victor Fries. Batman returned to GothCorp, found Fries's abandoned lab, and learned the truth behind Fries's transformation into Mr. Freeze while he retrieved the supercoolant to use for the cryodrill. Batman returned to the Propellant Lab to break the ice with the cryodrill and left Penguin there, frozen. Batman entered the Cryogenic Testing Facility and found Freeze, Boyle, and Freeze's wife, Nora. Batman disabled the three generators that powered the cryogenic pods. After the generators were disabled, Batman fought Freeze. When Nora was in danger, however, Freeze went to save her, and gave Batman an opening. Batman grabbed Freeze from below and took him down. Boyle was released and activated some coolant pipes. Batman pushed Freeze out of the way and got frozen. Boyle attacked Freeze with one of the pipes, but Batman thawed out just in time to rescue him. Batman brought Boyle to justice by knocking him out and saved Freeze. Batman then saved Nora by restoring her pod and told Freeze that he couldn't give him peace, but justice. Batman then placed the supercoolant into Freeze's suit to restore it to subzero temperature.

### Kane Car Crash

Later, Bruce was in pursuit of a school bus that had been hijacked by the Joker in January 2003. Through happenstance, the bus impacted a car that contained Kate, Beth, and their mother, Gabi, which caused the car to crash on a bridge. He tactically shot two hooks with his grapple gun at his family's car, which was about to fall off of the bridge, securing it to the bridge and allowing Kate to escape, then quickly left to save the 34 children on the bus that crashed into the Kanes' car, managing to capture Joker, leaving him to be tried the following month. However, the part of the car his grapple was attached to separated from the rest of it, causing Beth and Gabi to fall into the river below.

Guilt-ridden over his failure to save his aunt and cousin, Bruce was left haunted for years and spent hours searching for their bodies, but try as he may, he was only able to find his aunt's. With Kate thinking that Batman didn't care about the rest of her family, most likely deepening Bruce's guilt, Bruce took it upon himself to comfort his cousin, which she greatly appreciated. However, Bruce never told Kate his secret identity.

### Later Adventures

Batman eventually became the target of District Attorney Harvey Dent, the White Knight of Gotham, for working outside of the law. However, with Gordon's help, he managed to convince Dent that if they worked together, crime in the city would be eradicated within a year. This worked well, with Batman apprehending criminals that the GCPD couldn't and collecting more obscure evidence for cases, Gordon as police commissioner to help fix the corrupted police department, and Dent prosecuting the thugs and unwilling to be bribed or threatened. Unfortunately, their alliance broke when Carmine Falcone was put on trial; he threw acid at Dent, terribly disfiguring the left side of his body. As a result, Dent's mind fractured and released a new second personality obsessed with duality - Two-Face. Two-Face became convinced that Batman was used him as a scapegoat for criminals to lash out at since the Dark Knight could never be found. Little did the former D.A. know, Batman regretted not being able to protect him, and felt worse when the original Harvey surfaced to speak to him.

After Arkham Asylum was reopened, Batman kept a close watch on the facility just in case another riot like the one at Blackgate every occurred again. While patrolling Arkham, Batman visited Deadman's Point - a cliff suicidal patients favored jumping off of; after saving a patient from jumping, Batman found a secret cave system that ran under the the island. Discovering that it connected to the sewers under Intensive Treatment, Batman decided to make a "home away from home"; over the years, he secretly shipped equipment to the island, building walkways and a main platform. A new bat-computer was built, allowing Batman to transfer data to the original one back at Wayne Manor. Additional equipment was left alone, ready for use if Batman needed it. To ensure the Batcave MK2 would remain secret, Batman kept its existence to himself.

Batman also maintained an ally in Barbara Gordon. GCPD attempted to prove that Batman was human and not a mythological being by creating a prototype copy of the Batsuit and gadgets; they reasoned only someone with money to spare would be able to take on the identity of the Batman. However, was Gordon taken hostage. To Batman's surprise, Barbara stole the prototype suit and became Batgirl to save her father. Impressed, as Bruce Wayne, Batman invited the Gordons to a ball at Wayne Manor, where he allowed Barbara to hack into his private internet and thus break into the Batcave and learn about his secret identity. Batman chose to have her as his crime-fighting partner, training her extensively; they kept this hidden from Gordon, as he would not be too pleased to hear his daughter was fighting crime with a vigilante.

Attending Haley's Circus one night, Batman watched the Flying Grayson's acrobat act. Unfortunately, all but Richard "Dick" Grayson fell victim to sabotage by criminals trying to extort money from them. Feeling a kinship with Dick, Bruce adopted him and trained him as his second crime-fighting partner, Robin. They fought crime together for years, until Dick decided to go by the new moniker Nightwing as a fresh start as a new hero in Bludhaven. As fate would have it, Batman caught Jason Todd, a petty kid thief, attempting to steal the Batmobile's tires. Batman trained him as the next Robin, but found it harder to keep Jason under control as the boy's sense of justice was so strong, that he had an urge to wipe out criminals instead of reforming them.

Eventually, Jason sought to kill the Joker for all his murders and ending being captured. Batman later received a video of Joker torturing and seemingly killing Jason before he could tell who Batman was under the mask. Batman mourned for months, but was later surprised by the arrival of Tim Drake, a teenager who had figured out his true identity and that of Nightwing, as he had been in the circus crowd the night the Flying Graysons were killed. Impressed, Batman was convinced to train Tim as the third Robin, unaware that Jason was very much alive and burning with a monomaniac hatred of him for seemingly abandoning him.

As the years passed, Batman fought off an increasing amount of new super criminals. Batman fought and imprisoned these criminals many times over the years at both Blackgate and Arkham, only for them to escape repeatedly to reek havoc upon Gotham. Using his civilian identity Bruce Wayne, Batman began shipping better equipment to Arkham to ensure the inmates couldn't escape; however, many like Joker took delight in trying to continue escaping from Arkham, which he considered a second home. Between the Mad Hatter and the Scarecrow, Batman only considered the latter a real threat, as the Hatter was too delusional to pose any more of a threat than being an annoyance; Scarecrow attempted many times to break Batman's mind with his Fear Gas, but the Dark Knight's iron will protected him from the extreme effects.

At some point, he met Amanda Waller, who he was not very pleased with; he had connected her to several other crimes with criminals under her control, which resulted in large messes he often had to clean up. Waller didn't care what was legal or morally sound, preferring to "break a lot of eggs to make an omelet."

Likely due to his past training with Kirigi, Batman was sought out by the leader of the League of Assassins - Ra's al Ghul. This mysterious man claimed to be over 600 years old, which Batman immediately believed as Ra's seemed like a man who wouldn't lie; however, how he was able to do so remained a mystery to Batman. Batman found some mutual respect for him, as they both sought to put an end to criminal activity, but was disgusted to find out Ra's wanted to eliminate crooks rather than rehabilitate them. Ra's sought to have Batman join the League as his successor and groom to his daughter Talia; though there was a mutual attraction between them, which resulting in a one-night stand in Metropolis, Batman held no desire to join the League. Batman knew Ra's died a few times over the years, but was brought back.

### Hush

Batman is rescuing a boy kidnapped by Killer Croc, but Catwoman steals the ransom money. As Batman swings through Gotham City in pursuit of her, his grapple is cut and he falls to the ground, fracturing his skull. He is nearly killed by a group of criminals before he is saved by Batgirl. Alfred follows his instructions to summon his childhood friend, Thomas Elliot, who is now a renowned brain surgeon. Dr. Elliot removes the skull fragments from Bruce's brain. Batman recovers, and discovers that Poison Ivy used Catwoman to steal the ransom, and took it from her. Catwoman is furious that Ivy used mind-control powers on her. Batman rescues Catwoman, and a tenuous romance blooms between them. He eventually decides to trust Catwoman and reveals his identity to her. Batman deliberately allows Croc to escape from Arkham, so he can track him. Croc leads Batman to one of Poison Ivy's abandoned greenhouses. Before he can interrogate Killer Croc further, Croc is captured.

Batman and Catwoman track Poison Ivy to Metropolis and capture her, where she reveals she's working for someone called Hush/

Later, in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Leslie Thompkins, and Dr. Elliot are attending the opera *Pagliacci*, when Harley Quinn tries to rob everyone in the theater. In the ensuing struggle, Dr. Elliot is apparently shot dead by the Joker. An enraged Batman begins to brutally beat the Joker, knocking out Harley Quinn and even Catwoman in the process when they both tried to intervene. Batman attempts to finally kill the Joker but is then dissuaded by former police commissioner James Gordon who intervened by superficially wounding Batman with a gunshot.

Dick Grayson returns to Gotham City for Elliot's funeral. Batman tells him of his suspicions that some mastermind is behind all his enemies behaving so out of character. Behind the scenes, a man with a bandaged face appears at all of the crime scenes, and seems to be orchestrating the plot. He comes to be referred to as Hush.

After foiling an armored car robbery by the Riddler, Nightwing and Batman discover evidence that Ra's al Ghul is also involved in what Batman has come to think of as a grand plot. Batman kidnaps Ra's' daughter Talia and leaves Catwoman to guard her while he seeks out Ra's, who tells Batman that someone from his past has used one of the Lazarus Pits. Catwoman is overpowered by Lady Shiva who has been sent to rescue Talia, but Talia knocks Shiva out and helps Catwoman recover from the attack, later relating these events to Batman. Returning to Gotham, Batman finds Catwoman being attacked by a delusional Huntress. Batman is able to have her knocked out, but then encounters the cause of the Huntress' attack, the Scarecrow, but he overpowers him in a graveyard. He discovers that the current Robin, Tim Drake, has been captured by the former second Robin, Jason Todd, who had previously perished. While fighting Jason, it becomes apparent that Clayface is mimicking the identity of Jason.

Batman then finds a device planted in his computer, which lead him to seek his old friend (and trusted mechanic) Harold. He has a late-night meeting with Harold, who has been missing. Harold admits that someone had treated his disfigured condition in exchange for planting that device, but he is shot and killed by Hush before he can name the mastermind. Thomas Elliot is discovered to be the trigger-man, and the face behind the bandages of the mastermind (it is later implied that Clayface had been mimicking Elliot when he appeared to be killed). Elliot held a grudge against the Wayne family since Batman's father, Dr. Thomas Wayne, had saved the life of Elliot's mother after a motor vehicle accident; Elliot had sabotaged his parents' vehicle in order to gain their inheritance, and considered Bruce's father as the one who did not allow his plan to be completed. In the ensuing confrontation, Elliot plummets into the water, with Batman never having a chance to unmask him (it is only assumed it is Thomas Elliot). His body is unable to be recovered.

Batman discovers that the true mastermind behind the conspiracy is the Riddler. He had used a Lazarus Pit to cure himself of terminal disease, and during his time in the pit, deduced Batman's identity as Bruce Wayne. Having first approached Thomas Elliot with a cure for his mother's disease (the Lazarus Pit), the Riddler had instead allied with Elliot against Wayne. Riddler was also the only villain who Batman did not believe acted in an unusual way during the entire saga; the robbery Batman foiled was fairly typical of Riddler at the time. The Riddler also tells him that he and Elliot referred to the plot as the "Hush" plot. He further reveals that he knows Batman's identity as Wayne, but Batman is unfazed because a riddle which everyone knows the answer to would be worthless to Riddler. In addition, Batman warns that if Riddler reveals his secrets, it exposes Riddler as the culprit who used Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit, who would then send the League of Assassins after him.

Another mystery begins troubling the Dark Knight. Even though the man he fought at the graveyard was revealed to be Clayface, Jason Todd's remains are still missing from his grave. The Riddler even taunts Batman of his greatest failure to save Jason's life, and refuses to tell him where Jason's body is, prompting Batman to knock out the Riddler.

Later, Batman and Catwoman meet. He continues to mistrust her and cannot be sure that she is not more aware of the plot than she admits. While trying to console him, Catwoman inadvertently tells him to "hush" seconds before trying to kiss him, provoking a fierce reaction from Batman that compels her to end the relationship. Before leaving, she says that she does not care if their relationship started out as a "spell". It works because of who they are, and someday he will learn to trust that. Batman also thinks that it may be possible "someday".

### Arkham Asylum Incident

Years into his crimefighting career, The Joker took the Mayor hostage at City Hall and was captured by Batman, who transported him back to Arkham Asylum. The situation at City Hall took place at the exact same time as a 'mysterious fire' at Blackgate Prison, causing many of the prisoners to be sent to Arkham, among them a great number of Joker's own gang.

The Joker's plan is revealed as Harley Quinn takes control of the security and the Joker escapes into the facility, aided by a corrupt guard who kidnaps Commissioner Gordon. The Joker threatens to detonate bombs hidden around Gotham City if anyone tries to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone. Tracking Quinn to the medical facility to rescue Gordon, Batman is exposed to the Scarecrow's fear toxin and hallucinates, seeing Gordon's death and the corpses of his parents talking to him. After fighting off Scarecrow, Batman finds and subdues Quinn before rescuing Gordon. The Joker then directs Batman to the captured Bane, who has been experimented on by asylum doctor Penelope Young. The Joker frees Bane and Batman is forced to fight him, during which Quinn escapes. Afterward, he goes to a secret Batcave installation he had hidden on the island, where Batman restocks his gadgets.

There, Batman learns that the Joker returned to the asylum to gain access to Young, who has been developing Titan—a more powerful version of the Venom drug that gives Bane his strength—intending to use it to help patients survive more strenuous therapies. Young learned that the Joker had been funding her research to create an army of superhuman henchmen; her refusal to hand over the formula precipitated Joker's return to the Asylum. While searching for Young, Batman is again attacked by Scarecrow and the fear toxin, and hallucinates the night of his parents' deaths. After he recovers, Batman destroys Young's Titan formula and rescues Young from Victor Zsasz. An explosion kills Young and the Joker obtains the completed batches of Titan.

At the Penitentiary, Quinn releases Poison Ivy from her cell before being imprisoned by Batman. Quinn accidentally reveals that Joker has a Titan production facility in the Arkham botanical gardens. Batman travels there and learns that Titan is created by genetically modified plants. He enlists Ivy's help to create an antidote and learns that it can only be made from spores found exclusively in Killer Croc's lair in a sewer. En route to Croc, Batman is again attacked by Scarecrow and overcomes several doses of fear toxin.

Meanwhile, Joker injects Ivy with Titan, enhancing her powers. Ivy begins ravaging Arkham Island with giant mutant plants. Pursued by Batman into Croc's lair, Scarecrow is attacked by Croc and dragged underwater. Batman recovers the necessary spores and subdues Croc before returning to the Batcave, but can only synthesize one dose of the antidote before Ivy's plants breach the cave and destroy his equipment.

Batman returns to the botanical gardens and defeats Ivy, halting the rampaging plants. The Joker announces that the preparations for his party are finally complete and Batman travels to the asylum's visitor center where the Joker's applauding henchmen welcome him. The Joker reveals he has recaptured Gordon and tries to shoot him with a Titan-filled dart; Batman leaps to Gordon's defense and is shot instead. Batman attempts to resist the change, and an upset Joker takes an overdose of Titan, mutating into a massive monster. In a makeshift arena on the building's roof, the Joker challenges Batman to a fight as Titan-induced monsters in front of news helicopters. Batman refuses to transform, uses the antidote on himself, and defeats the Titan-affected Joker and his henchmen, knocking his nemesis unconscious with an explosive gel-enhanced punch.

### A Hero's Work Is Never Done

Outside the Visitor Center, Gordon tells Batman that the effects of Titan are starting to wear off the Joker and his men, and that they are being taken back to their cells. The Medical Facility is being used as a makeshift hospital for the injured Arkham staff. At that moment, Batman is informed that Two-Face is raiding a bank in Gotham, and flies away into the night in the Batwing.

### Arkham City Incident

Eighteen months after the Joker's takeover of Arkham, the inmates of both the Asylum and Blackgate were relocated to Arkham City, a project that Bruce Wayne protested against. Wayne, as the latest focus of Sharp's vendetta, is kidnapped by TYGER Security operatives working for Hugo Strange, who is privy to his dual identity as Batman. Strange intends to unveil new plans for Arkham City before the night is up, an operation codenamed Protocol 10, which will establish himself as supreme ruler of Gotham. Now an inmate, the Dark Knight manages to have Alfred Pennyworth deliver his crimefighting equipment to him directly via an airdrop, and he prepares to save Catwoman from Two-Face for the sake of their past relationship while uncovering the true nature of Protocol 10.

### Saving the Cat

Hacking TYGER communications, Batman overhears a report indicating that Catwoman is being held in the old city courthouse. Making his way there, the Dark Knight comes upon her standing trial before a kangaroo court, with Two-Face as judge and executioner. The mock courtroom is promptly crashed and the villain's gang defeated.

### Return of the Joker

Believing that the Joker, as one of Arkham's prominent gangleaders, may know about Protocol 10, Batman then proceeds to track the Clown Prince of Crime to his hideaway within a steelworks mill. Inside, he uncovers a doctor kidnapped to treat his enemy, who claims that Titan’s unstable properties are mutating in Joker's blood, slowly killing him. The latter is subsequently able to capture Batman and perform a blood transfusion, thereby striking him with the same potentially fatal disease. He uses this as leverage against the Caped Crusader, forcing him to find a cure for him or they perish together.

### Search for the Cure

Batman deduces that Mr. Freeze is the only person who has the knowledge to develop this cure, and so hurries to secure his assistance and the necessary elements for the antidote while consistently coming into conflict with Ra's al Ghul, the Penguin, Solomon Grundy, and Freeze himself, who is at best an unwilling ally. To complicate matters, Harley Quinn steals the formula once it has been completed, leading to a head-on battle with the Joker, who wishes to stabilize his own condition while allowing Batman to die.

### Protocol 10

Hugo Strange, meanwhile, initiates Protocol 10: A scheme to wipe out the entire inmate population of Arkham City and thus, "save" Gotham from its criminal element. TYGER troops, who have been brainwashed to serve only Strange and his insane interests, begin mass executions of political prisoners while launching air strikes on Arkham from attack helicopters. The last hours of Batman's life are ticking away but he decides that saving innocents is more important than his own welfare. When Protocol 10 is finally deactivated, however, the hero has a surprise confrontation with Ra's al Ghul, who mortally wounds Strange for his failures while revealing that he is the mastermind behind Arkham City; Protocol 10 was to be the first stage of a plan to 'cleanse' the Earth by killing undesirable inhabitants. With his dying breath, Strange then activates a self-destruct program for his command center, as Batman and Ra's fall from Wonder Tower Ra's tries to kill Batman by shoving a sword through his body.

### Death of the Joker

Batman learns that the Joker is hiding inside the old Monarch Theatre and enters it searching for the antidote. There are two Jokers present, however, and the real twin explains that his double is Clayface, who has been impersonating him for some time. In the struggle that follows the theater is destroyed, although Batman is able to retrieve the formula and save himself. Joker attacks him, causing the remaining antidote to spill. He succumbs to his illness while Batman looks on, maintaining that he would have saved his foe. Soon after, Batman carries Joker's corpse out of Arkham City into a breaking dawn.

### Closing Arkham City

Bruce continued to assist the GCPD in subduing the criminals of Arkham City, including the Riddler, Mad Hatter, Bane and Hush, as the prison was now being shutdown after the activation of Protocol 10.

Two months later, Robin searches for Batman, who has disappeared while infiltrating Harley’s headquarters in the Industrial District to free several cops that Harley has kidnapped. During the search, Oracle confides in Robin that she’s worried about Bruce, who hasn’t been the same since the Arkham City incident and refuses to talk about Talia or Joker. Eventually Robin discovers Batman's Utility Belt, discarded. Two days earlier, Batman learned from Gordon that Harley has taken several officers hostage. Before Batman left, Gordon warned him that Harley still blamed him for Joker’s death, and that it could be a trap. Batman rescued one cop from the Steel Mill, who tells him that the others were dragged elsewhere. After attaining location and access codes to Harley’s secret base, Batman infiltrates the shipping yard and attempts to rescue another cop, but is rendered unconscious when Harley attempts to shoot the officer, which Batman intercepts. One of Harley’s thugs removes Batman’s belt, only to drop it when the belt’s countermeasures electrocute him, leaving it for Robin to find.

Continuing his search, Robin encounters a giant Joker Statue, made of scrap metal holding a bubble with Batman meditating inside. After examining the device, Robin learns that the bubble is quickly running out of oxygen and learns that Harley Quinn has the only key to release the ball. Robin tracks Harley and several more of her thugs to a dry dock not far away, along with several cops who were taken hostage. After dispatching the thugs and Harley and saving the cops, Robin returns to Batman's prison and is attacked by several waves of thugs, including one Titan thug.

After beating all of the thugs into submission, even the Titan henchman, Robin frees Batman and returns his belt. Harley then reveals over the speakers that she has planted bombs in the building. Batman orders Robin to get the cops to safety and he will deal with the bombs. After successfully defusing the bombs, Batman confronts Harley and several Mechanical Guardianspainted to look like Joker. After destroying the robots, Harley reveals the Giant Joker Scrap Statue is housing a large bomb and is set to go off any second.

After escaping with Harley, Batman is unable to find Robin and frantically asks Gordon if he has seen Robin, to which Gordon thought he was with Batman. Fearing Robin was killed in the blast, Batman lets his guard down and begins to mourn. Harley pulls a knife and prepares to kill Batman, however she is stopped by Robin, who not only survived the blast but managed to rescue all of the officers. Realizing everyone is safe (and secretly hiding his relief that his adopted son is okay), Batman tells Robin he is done here and leaves the area. Gordon asks Robin if Batman is okay, with Robin uncertainly telling Gordon that Batman will be fine.

Nine months after the Joker's death, crime rates in Gotham City have dramatically declined, but Batmananticipates a new threat and maintains a vigil over the city. Before his death, the Joker sent his mutated blood to Gotham's hospitals, and several patients were infected. While most were cured, the patients who were not treated are starting to look and act like the Joker. Batman researches a cure for the mutations, and orders Robin to watch over the infected.

### Arkham Knight

On Halloween night, Scarecrow unleashes his newest strain of Fear Gas in a diner, and threatens to release it throughout Gotham. Six million civilians are evacuated, but the city's criminals and supervillains stay behind, leaving Commissioner James Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department outnumbered. Batman investigates Scarecrow's presence, and searches for him in a rooftop safehouse, but instead finds and saves Poison Ivy, who was being held captive by Scarecrow's henchmen. In a makeshift Batcave in Gotham's Clock Tower, Barbara Gordon is collecting information on Scarecrow's new toxin, and traces its production to Ace Chemicals. Batman goes to investigate, but is confronted by the mysterious "Arkham Knight" and his militia, which has a massive army of unmaned tanks. Batman fights his way through the militia, learning from workers that Scarecrow is planning to produce a chemical explosion so large that it will cover the entire eastern seaboard in fear toxin. Batman reaches Scarecrow, who reveals to him that Barbara has been abducted by the Arkhan Knight before escaping. While reducing the blast radius, Batman is exposed to the fear toxin, which reacts with his own mutated blood to cause hallucinations of the Joker. Escaping from the exploding Ace Chemicals, Batman is forced to tell Gordon about his daughter's involvement in his crime-fighting, and the outraged Gordon swears that he will find Barbara without Batman's help.

### Scarecrow's PlansEdit

Batman tracks the Arkham Knight to an underground tunnel network, hoping to learn Barbara's whereabouts from him, but instead gets ambushed by him. Batman then gives chase to the escaping convoy, only to learn that the driver is a decoy, using a voice synthesizer that makes him sound like the Arkham Knight. Batman interrogates the driver and learns that they are heading to the NorthRefrigeration. He and Nightwing interrogate the Penguin, who tells them that the Knight and Scarecrow are meeting with a businessman named Simon Stagg, who runs a pharmaceutical company. After boarding Stagg's airship, Batman discovers that Scarecrow paid Stagg to create a device known as the "Cloudburst", but Stagg tried to double-cross them and has been doused with fear toxin as punishment. After reaching Scarecrow and interrogating Stagg, Batman is again exposed to the toxin, which triggers a powerful hallucinogenic response. Scarecrow escapes with the Cloudburst. Batman receives a message from Scarecrow revealing that Barbara is in the same safehouse where Ivy was held, but before Batman can save her, Barbara is doused with fear toxin and shoots herself in the head. Batman and Alfred Pennyworth are devastated, but Alfred convinces Batman to not lose hope, for Barbara's sake. Alfred explains to Batman that the Cloudburst is a dispersal device designed to flood all of Gotham with the fear toxin. To counteract this effect, Batman enlists the help of Ivy, who takes control of a large tree which develops giant flowers capable of neutralizing the toxin.

### Joker MutantsEdit

Travelling to Batman's quarantine base in the Panessa Movie Studios, Batman speaks with Robin about his progress in finding a cure for the Joker mutations. Later, Batman learns that Harley Quinn has taken over the studios, planning to gather the mutated citizens and keep the Joker's legacy alive through them. Batman and Robin captured the infected and Harley, but the infected are killed by Henry Adams, a seemingly immune patient (whom Batman was relying on for a cure) that has fully succumbed to the mutations and desires only the best of the infected to be the new Joker. When he confronts Batman, Henry realizes that he is infected and commits suicide, believing Batman will be the perfect Joker. Robin attempts to imprison Batman before the Joker completely takes over, knowing he will not be able to stop him if that happens. However, Batman refuses to be apprehended until Scarecrow has been stopped, and locks Robin in a holding cell.

### City of Fear

Batman searches for the Cloudburst to no avail, and aids Ivy in propelling the Arkham Knight's drones when they find her. The Arkham Knight subsequently activates the Cloudburst device, flooding Gotham City with fear toxin. The toxicity overwhelms Ivy, and the Batmobile, which is disabled. Batman heads back to Stagg's airship and acquires a nimbus power cell, allowing him to repower the Batmobile, but is exposed to the toxin yet again, strengthening Joker's control. After awakening another large tree to help Ivy fight the toxin, Batman goes to destroy the Cloudburst, hoping Ivy will be able to clear out Gotham then. Batman succeeds in destroying the Cloudburst, but the Arkham Knight escapes. While Ivy succeeds in saving Gotham and clearing the toxin, the toxin proves too much for her handle, and she dies in Batman's arms. Alfred and Batman lament her death, acknowledging she redeemed herself in her final moments.

### The Identity Of The Arkham Knight

Batman heads back to the GCPD and learns from SWAT transmissions that Gordon has found Scarecrow, and intends to kill him as revenge for Barbara's death. After fighting his way through the militia and heading underground in the Batmobile, Batman is pursued once again by the Arkham Knight, who is manning a giant excavator. The Arkham Knight destroys the Batmobile, forcing Batman to eject and reach Gordon on foot. The Arkham Knight catches up, and reveals himself to be Jason Todd, the second Robin, whom Batman believed was murdered by the Joker. Jason had instead been traumatized by torture at the Joker's hands, and believes, incorrectly, that Batman deliberately abandoned him. Jason takes a sniping position, and after an intense fight, Batman disarms Jason and offers to help him recover. Jason lowers his gun in shame, but then disappears.

### The Final Battle

Batman and Gordon then proceed to meet Scarecrow on the building's roof. Gordon apologizes for his anger and says he has never forgotten how he met Bruce Wayne on the night of his parents' death, since he now knows Batman's identity (having heard it from Jason). As they confront Scarecrow, Barbara is revealed to still be alive, and her suicide was a fear toxin-induced hallucination. Having made a deal with Scarecrow for his daughter's life, Gordon shoots Batman in the chest, who falls from the roof. Scarecrow goes back on the deal and pushes Barbara off the roof. Batman, whom Gordan deliberately shoot in his body armor, rescues Barbara and returns her to GCPD in a second Batmobile. Batman learns that the Arkham Knights Militia (now working for Scarecrow) have gone to the Clock Tower and started to destroy the servers. Needing the servers to track down Gordon, Batman goes to the Clock Tower and defeats the militia. Scarecrow then launches an all out attack on the GCPD, using all the remaining militia. After incapacitating the remaining militia, Batman learns Gordon's voice was just used to access the movie studios and races back there, only to find that Robin has been kidnapped by Scarecrow, who threatens to kill Robin and Gordon unless Batman surrenders.

He complies, and is driven to the long-abandoned ruins of Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow forces Gordon to remove Batman's cowl in front of a live video feed, revealing his true identity to the world. Scarecrow injects Bruce with fear toxin and Joker finally manages to take control over Batman's body. Scarecrow injects more fear toxin into Batman's body to break him in front of the public, but this fails as Joker is now in control and taunts Scrarecrow. Inside his mind, Batman grapples with Joker over control of his body. Thanks to the toxin now being applied to Joker instead, Batman manages to gain the upper hand and uses the Joker's greatest fear against him: the fear of being forgotten. Batman regains control and locks Joker away in his mind forever.

Jason arrives and frees Bruce, who subdues Scarecrow with his own fear toxin, and locks him up at the GCPD. Before Batman goes to neutralize the remaining threats to Gotham's safety, he contacts Alfred and grimly tells him to activate The Knightfall Protocol, using the voice code "Martha".

### Fire And Ice

Batman receives reports that the Station 17 fire crew had gone missing. As Batman rescues the crew, he deduces that serial arsonist Firefly and chief Raymond Underhill have been working together to keep Chief Underhill's fire crew working. Firefly was given a list of abandoned buildings by Underhill which he could set fire to. Underhill's crew would then respond to the calls to keep working. After rescuing all the firemen, Batman locates Underhill, who admits to his actions and apologizes before Batman turns him in to the GCPD. Later, Batman uses his Batmobile to douse the firehouses with water and attack Firefly. The first two attempts to apprehend Firefly fail, but Batman manages to capture him the third time and lock him at GCPD.

While clearing out the milita strongholds, Batman is informed by Alfred that the Arkham Knight's replacement as leader of the milita is demanding to speak to him. The replacement is revealed to be Deathstroke, who was hired by the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow to fight Batman. Though Batman points out the Knight gone, Deathstroke has already received advance payment, and is more than eager to avenge his defeat at Batman's hands long ago. Deathstroke owns the remaining APCs, watchtowers, checkpoints and bombs in Gotham City. Alfred also warns Batman that a vessel called the Nora was ransacked by Deathstroke's militia. After taking down the milita there, Batman discovers Mr. Freeze, who explains that the militia has kidnapped Nora after he refused to help them kill Batman. His cryo-generator, which he needs to maintain is progress on a cure for Nora, has been damaged, and asks Batman to get Nora back while he repairs it.

Batman uses a tracker to locate Nora's containment unit, and after he takes out the milita guarding her, Nora's cryo-tube fails and she finally awakens. Meanwhile, at the Nora, the cyro-generator fails and freezes the landscape, attracting the milita's attention. Batman and Nora race back to the ship in the Batmobile, but the amount of drones are too much to handle. Mr. Freeze is forced to allow the generator to explode, losing all of his work and progress on a cure to take them all out. With no hope left, Nora and Freeze agree to leave Gotham City and spend their final days together. Later, after destroying Deathstroke's forces, Batman and Deathstroke go face-to-face at Grand Avenue. The two engage in a tank battle, with Batman disabling Deathstroke's tank and subduing the assassin when he leaps out of the tank. After regaining consciousness and being locked up, Deathstroke declares that Batman has earned his respect, that he will dedicate his life to killing him, and he'd do it for free.

### The New Savior

Three organizations have been trying to lay claim to Gotham City to further their own ends; The League of Assassins, The Order of St. Dumas and The Cult of Blackfire. Alfred informs Batman that there is a sighting of the League of Assassins on a rooftop in Miagani Island. This leads him to Elliot Memorial Hospital which has an extremely weak Ra's al Ghul, who is dying from the lack of Lazarus, due to the old Lazarus pit being destroyed, and is barely staying alive through machines. Batman uses his Batmobile to track another Lazarus pit which leads him to Nyssa al Ghul. After giving Batman the Lazarus sample, Nyssa implores Batman to let Ra's die and asserts that he is too far gone to be saved, encouraged by Alfred. Nyssa also promises to leave Gotham with the League if he does this.

After returning to Ra's, Batman chooses to destroy the machines, he defeating the enraged League and stops Nyssa from killing her father, instead taking Ra's to the GCPD lockup. As Batman leaves, Ra's tells him that he is proud of him for breaking his one rule.

Meanwhile, Azrael returns to Gotham City and tells Batman that his previous predictions have come true. He explains to Batman that he wants to become his successor and promises to honor his code not to kill, giving his sword away. Batman gives Azrael four tests to see if he is a worthy successor and notices his fighting style is similar to his own. After Azrael passes each test, Alfred tells Batman that his real name is Michael Lane, a former GCPD officer, and notices an irregularity in his brain. At the Clock Tower, Batman analyzes Azrael's tampered memories and learns he has been assigned to kill him and take his place as the savior of Gotham, killing criminals as "divine justice" Azrael subsequently appears, and Batman gives him the choice of either attempting to kill him with his sword, or leave the Clock Tower and disobey the Order.

Reporter Jack Ryder has gone missing while pursuing a story of the Cult of Blackfire and its highly religious leader, Deacon Blackfire. Following a tip from Barbara, Batman follows the religious fanatic to the Lady of Gotham, where Blackfire intends to sacrifice Ryder in a bid to seek immortality. Batman takes down Blackfire and his men, saving Ryder, and locks up the powerful priest at GCPD.

### Old Enemies

Nightwing gives Batman a report that a prison transport ship has crashed in the ocean of Gotham. Batman arrives there and helped free Warden Ranken from an even more beastly Killer Croc, who recaptures the warden and escapes into the lower levels. Batman learns that he needs two key cards from two guards of Iron Heights, who have parachuted off the airship to escape, to access the lower levels. After obtaining the cards, Batman discovers that the warden has been torturing and experimenting on Croc and the other prisons in an attempt to enhance soldiers for the military. After defeating Croc with Nightwing's help, Batman sends both the warden and Croc to GCPD in separate cells.

As part of Scarecrow's alliance, Two-Face and Penguin are exchanging money and firearms. Batman learns from Alfred that Two-Face and his crew are robbing three banks across Gotham. Batman used his stealth techniques to stop the thugs robbing all three banks. At the third bank, Batman manages to capture Two-Face and send him to jail. Batman and Nightwing also work together to destroy Penguin's weapons caches. Nightwing helps Batman locate most of the caches, but is captured by Penguin while hitting the final cache. Batman uses a tracker to locate Nightwing, rescues him, and sends Penguin to jail.

Batman learns from Alfred that Lucius is out of contact and Wayne Tower is closed. Batman decides to investigate the tower. Batman finds out that Hush has taken Fox hostage and wants Bruce Wayne. Hush ordered Batman to bring him Wayne or Hush will kill Lucius and destroy the tower. Batman unmasks himself to Hush's surprise. Once Hush turns the gun on Batman and away from Lucius, Batman disarms him and knocks him out. Batman informs Fox that since Scarecrow unmasked him, everybody knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne. As a result, Batman tells Fox to lock Hush up inside the vault here and ensure the tower's security will be increased.

### Dragged To Insanity

Three villains that Batman encountered have become completely delusional: his old enemy Mad Hatter, a serial killer who chains bodies to walls, and a huge bat creature. At GCPD, Batman interrogates the Hatter, who currently speaks in rhyme and tells Batman to find three stolen officers, who have been locked up in police cars with explosives. After rescuing two offers, Batman receives a book called Batman's Adventures In Wonderland. Back at GCPD, the Hatter hypnotizes Batman and makes him believe he is inside the book to try and make him kill the third hostage. Batman resists the influcnce and rescues the third hostage, before locking up the Hatter, who is dismayed his failure and keeps calling Batman his Alice.

Later, Batman finds a dead body chained to a nearby wall and analyzes it, learning the victim died due to removal of unique conditions. Batman noticed the victim was not from Gotham. Batman found five other victims with the same cause of death. Alfred shows the suspect of the crime: Lazlo Valentin AKA Professor Pyg of the Circus of Strange, which has been traveling throughout all of the victims last known locations. Batman confronts Pyg at Pretty Dollars Parlor, where he learns that Pyg wanted to make his victims what he considered perfect, torturing them and transforming them into Dollotrons, which are immune to pain. After defeating the porcine professor and his Dollotrons, Batman sent him to jail.

While traveling across Miagani island, Batman is ambushed by a monstrous bat creature, and manages to get a sample of his blood before it flies off. Alfred tells Batman that the DNA is from a scientist named Dr. Kirk Langstrom. Batman goes to Langstrom's lab and learns that the doctor mixed his DNA with a vampire bat to end deafness, resulting in his transformation and him seemingly killing wife, Francine. After synthesizing a cure and tracking Man-Bat down twice, Batman manages to transform him back into Langstrom and locks him up at the GCPD, where he breaks down upon learning of Francine's fate.

Batman has to find nine keys to free Catwoman from an explosive collar, fitted by the Riddler. After obtaining all nine keys and freeing Catwoman, Riddler tells Batman to find and solve all 243 of his riddles to earn the privilege of battling him in the orphanage. Back at the orphanage, the Riddler sabotages the fight so the robots are invulnerable to Batman's attacks, but Catwoman returns to help Batman defeat the astute adversary. Batman shares a kiss with Catwoman after explaining that they cannot be together and his legend is ending. He then sends Nigma to jail for his intellectual torture.

### This Is How The Batman Died

After ensuring that every remaining super-villain threat is neutralized, Batman returns to GCPD and leaves his cowl next to the Bat-Signal before he left to begin The "Knightfall Protocol", while Gordon dispatches the police force to deal with the remaining rioting criminals. Bruce arrives at Wayne Manor and, as he goes in with Alfred, it explodes, presumably killing both of them.

## Legacy

At some point after his departure, Bruce's board of directors accepted get-rich-quick deals, but were scammed, causing the Wayne Enterprises to go bankrupt, though its subsidiaries seemed to be all still running. His cousin Kate was left in charge of Bruce's properties in Gotham, while Lucius' son Luke remained responsible for watching over the Wayne Tower.

Batman's disappearance led to the local crime rate rising higher than ever before. His iconic symbol, the Bat-Signal, was finally switched off in 2018 by the Gothamites to represent the permanence of his absence. After Kate Kane started to operate as a vigilante, many believed that Batman has finally returned to Gotham, prompting his former enemies to sent intimidating messages to challenge him, until Kate decided to change the costume and act publicly as "Batwoman".

Bruce also inspired others to continue on his legacy. Dick continued to operate as Nightwing, but rather than follow in Bruce's footsteps and go at it alone, he decided to work with other heroes, forming the Titans. Jason began a path to redemption as the Red Hood, while Tim worked with other teen heroes. His former partner, Barbara later founded another team to help protect Gotham.

## Abilites

* **Peak of Human Physical Condition:** Bruce was in exceptional physical form after intense years of training, obtaining a well-muscled and conditioned physique, which he maintained through intense and strenuous training. He was strong enough to swiftly incapacitate, hurl through the air, or even break the neck of much larger foes with ease, as well as push grown men through a door. His durability allowed him too endure blows from much stronger foes.
	+ **Acrobatics/Free-running:** Bruce was very maneuverable and graceful, able to chase and outrun enemies through various terrains with no wasted effort or time, even scaling buildings and running from rooftop to rooftop with ease. In battle, Bruce was proven very agile and evasive, able to fluidly dodge attacks from multiple directions with coordinated flips, twists, and sharp turns without losing balance.
	+ **Honed Senses:** Bruce was able to pick up danger before anyone else in his vicinity does, showing noticeably sharp hearing and sight. His acute skills of perception offered aid in otherwise detrimental situations.
* **Master Hand-to-hand Combatant/Martial Artist:** Bruce was an extraordinary hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, his skills only improving over time with training from multiple masters combat as well as self-training, allowing him to compete with and even outmatch some of the most dangerous combatants one-on-one.
	+ **Master Marksman:** Bruce had remarkably precise aim and skill, as shown with his batarangs.
* **High-level Intellect/Great Business Acumen/Master Tactician:** Bruce was very sharp-witted and methodical man, alert and adaptive to the situation. He was a quick learner, having gained great knowledge, if not mastery, in various fields. Bruce was highly tactical, both in preparation and while in action, able to quickly analyze the situation and how best to handle it. Even when operating solo, Bruce could effectively track down his targets and determine the best course of action in various missions.
	+ **Expert Investigator/Forensics:** Bruce could determine much of what transpired in an area with little evidence by searching for information and following clues. He was very precise with forensics, able to analyze a crime scene.
	+ **Skilled Engineer/Metalsmith:** Bruce was proven to be a very skilled engineer, creating various gadgets to use in his career in Batman.
	+ **Medical Knowledge:** Bruce could patch up most injuries on himself or others, including bullet wounds, knowing much on human anatomy.
	+ **Expert Driver/Pilot:** Bruce was capable of driving multiple vehicles, such as the Batmobile and the Batwing.
	+ **Computer Specialist/Expert Computer Hacker:** Bruce was an expert in computers, able to override multiple security systems whether it be on site or remotely from the Batcomputer.
* **Master of Deception/Manipulator:** Bruce could be very deceptive, effectively convincing all that he is not a vigilante for years through various, carefully-designed ruses.
* **Master Interrogator/Intimidator:** Batman was easily able to strike terror into the hearts of the criminals of Gotham, using a variety of tactics to scare criminals.
* **Multilingual:** Bruce was capable of speaking multiple languages fluently.
* **Stealth/Infiltration/Escape Artist:** The Batman is very elusive. He could sneak in and out of most guarded buildings without being detected, follow his targets for long periods of time unnoticed, and quickly disappear from sight even in broad daylight. He was also skilled in using pyrotechnics to create various subtle explosions and smokescreens to mask his escape.
* **Indomitable Will/High Tolerance for Pain/Master Survivor:** A driven and determined person, Batman was known to keep fighting to the end and never back down. He is quite resistant to pain and drugging, allowing him to continue fighting or even survive near-death situations.

## Equipment

* **Batsuit:**The protective suit worn by Batman was composed of reinforced Kevlar and a small percentage of titanium; it was bulletproof and resistant to various types of attack (explosions, impacts, falls, etc...). It was also flame-retardant and insulated. The gloves and the boots were reinforced to rebound the impact of punches and kicks. The cape was designed to allow Batman to glide through the air like a flying bat.
* **Batmobile:** Batman had an impressive fleet of Batmobiles for a variety of needs but most are armored and outfitted with upgraded engines and mobile forensic labs.
* **Utility Belt:** Batman kept most of his personal field equipment in a signature piece of apparel, a yellow utility belt. Over the years it 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.

## Trivia

* Few people actually believe that Bruce is dead.