Bruce Wayne

* Civilian
* Vigilante

"*My parents died protecting me. My time away was spent searching for a reason to return. A way to avenge them. The only thing that matters now is clearing up this city... for them.*"
—Bruce Wayne to Alfred Pennyworth.[src]
**Bruce Thomas Wayne** (born February 19th, 1995) is the last surviving member of the wealthy and prestigious Wayne family as the son of the late Thomas and Martha Wayne. Returning home after nearly a decade, Bruce became a costumed crimefighter known to the public as **Vigilante**.

## Biography

### Early life

Bruce Wayne was born to billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne on February 19th, 1995. During his infanthood, their family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, would take care of him when his parents were away, with the two developing a strong bond as a result, as well his father's friend Dr. Leslie Thompkins. During his childhood, he also developed chiroptophobia, the fear of bats.

### Death of his parents

On June 26th, 2003, eight-year-old Bruce and his parents had a night out and visited the East End's Monarch Theatre to see a showing of *The Mark of Zorro*. During the film, Bruce noticed a trio of bats in the theatre and, due to his fear of them, requested to his parents to leave, to which they obliged.

As they crossed an alleyway, the three bumped into a man, who turned out to be a thief. The man demanded that Bruce's parents hand over their valuables, though the confrontation turned into tragedy as Bruce witnessed the man shoot his father as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. In response, his mother rushed to his aid, though was fatally shot too as her  pearl necklace broke in the conflict, showering small pearls across the pavement. Bruce watched as the man, fearful and shocked at his actions, run away, leaving him a lone orphan.

Bruce stayed next to the bodies of his parents until the G.C.P.D. arrived. Officer Jim Gordon comforted him, with Alfred arriving soon after to pick him up from the station. Despite a lengthy investigation into the robbery, the man was never caught and Bruce developed heavy trauma as a result, even contemplating suicide prior to his parents' funeral. However, this was stopped by Alfred, and Bruce grew up under his care alongside the aid of Wayne family friend Leslie Thompkins, though he became known as a troublemaker obsessed with finding the man who killed his parents. He started his academics at Gotham Academy, where he befriended Harvey Dent. However, his constant mischief led to Bruce being expelled.

### Ten year absence and training

At the age of 16, in 2011, Bruce Wayne left Gotham City, with Alfred being notified of his decision beforehand. In his time away, the world concluded that he had likely died, when in fact Bruce was travelling across the world training under the most infamous, experienced and best mentors.

Between 2011 and 2020, Bruce had travelled to Nanda Parbat to train in discipline, martial arts and theatrical deception under the League of Assassins members Talia al Ghul, David Cain and Sandra Wu-San, Paris where he learned the art of manhunting and assassination from Henri Ducard, Paektu-San Mountain where he learned ninjutsu from Kirigi, New York City where he developed detective skills from Slam Bradley, London, where he learned psychology and trickery from Giovanni Zatara and. At some point in-between, Bruce made a brief return to Gotham, learning boxing from Ted Grant, before resuming his ten-year trip.

Some point during this time, Bruce had created a makeshift suit, where he sporadically fought crime under the aforementioned mentors. Eventually, after nearly a decade of training, Bruce returned to Gotham City, where the world discovered he was alive.

### Coming home

His first act upon returning home was to don his suit and do a stakeout, where he rediscovered the underbelly of Gotham and the criminals that inhabited it. Under his alter-ego, Bruce paid a visit to the known locations mob bosses Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni and Rupert Thorne often reside at, warning them to cease their operations.

Alfred discovered that Bruce hadn't slept in his bed and caught him returning to Wayne Manor. Bruce, upon being pressed, admitted to Alfred that he had changed in his time away, becoming more disciplined as a result of his training. Though he refused to offer up any details, Bruce promised Alfred that he'd one day tell the story of his time away.

The next day, Alfred continued his butler duties, though visibly worried for Bruce. The two were then visited by the current CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Philip Kane, who offered Bruce a tour of the building in order to see how things have changed in his family's company. Bruce, pushed by Alfred, accepted.

Later in the day, Philip gave Bruce a tour of the building and informed him that Lucius Fox was working on something new in the R&D department. Bruce kept note of the changes in the company and extended his trust to Philip, thanking him for continuing his parents' work.

Bruce returned to Wayne Manor, where Harvey Dent was waiting for him with Alfred. The two caught up, with Dent revealing that he's the new district attorney and reminiscing about their childhood together. However, they were interrupted by the television, where Mayor Hamilton Hill and police commissioner Gillian Loeb revealed how Falcone had received threats by a masked vigilante and condemned the man for it. Dent took the opportunity to leave, though not before expressing disgust at Gotham's corruption.

That night, Bruce scoured the internet to gather information about Falcone and decided to create his base of operations underneath the manor. With the aid of Alfred, Bruce laid out the foundations in the caves under and began fashioning new tools for his vigilante crusade whilst paying attention to the news on TV.

### War on crime

***This section is currently a stub. More information will be added soon.***

## Personality

### As Bruce Wayne

In his infancy, Bruce Wayne was a very timid and shy boy, being particularly afraid of bats. However, he was very outgoing, social and bright, having the luxury of knowing nothing but a good and wealthy life without struggle. Unfortunately, the murder of his parents would permanently change the young Bruce. Becoming more recluse, angry and depressed, he began distancing himself from everything he once loved and, at one point, even considered suicide. Some time later though, Bruce forced himself to try and return to normal, though he was prone to being troublesome, picking fights and refusing to listen to others, especially his legal guardian and butler Alfred. Upon leaving Gotham to travel the world, Bruce radically changed once again, finding ways to repress and direct his anger at more useful things, and picked up many ways to deal with his trauma and pain, such as meditation and combat. Despite becoming more disciplined and level-headed as a result, Bruce retained his reclusiveness and anti-social behaviour upon returning home, though he was able to deal with having to keep up appearances as a famous billionaire. This façade of living two lives has already taken its weight upon him regardless.

### As Vigilante

***This section is currently a stub. More information will be added soon.***

## Physical description

### As Bruce Wayne

Initially a scrawny and slim, yet attractive, man, Bruce's training across the world allowed him to develop much muscle, weighing at 200lbs (90kg). At the age of 25, Bruce is 6'2" and was noted by the public as being "tall, dark and handsome" thanks to his chiselled physique. He has often been compared to his father in looks, with both having the same hair, eyes and facial structure.

### As Vigilante

When participating in vigilante activities as the Vigilante, Bruce dons a grey-and-black armoured tactical suit with red-lens googles. Often keeping to darkness, enemies rarely see the Vigilante.

## Abilities

"*Wait until Gotham City hears that their favourite fraternising billionaire became a crimefighting ninja.*"
—Alfred Pennyworth[src]
* **Genius level intellect**: Going across the world and picking up countless skills, Bruce has become well-versed in mathematics, science and other knowledgeable topics. In addition, he has shown the ability to rapidly learn anything in a short period of time, being keen, adaptable, analytical and witty.
	+ **Engineering/gadgetry**: When deciding to make his base of operations under Wayne Manor, Bruce was able to devise the plans and method to do so. In addition, Bruce developed his own gadgets and technology on the fly, even without financial aid.
	+ **Escapology**: Bruce was able to figure out how to escape various traps at ease during his training against Henri Ducard, Sandra Wu-San and David Cain, using his expertise to counter them.
	+ **Investigation**: Bruce's detective and investigatory skills are almost unparalleled thanks to training through Slam Bradley. In one day, Bruce was able to discern the various hideouts used by mob bosses Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni and Rupert Thorne, as well as track their organisations' movements across the city.
	+ **Multilingualism**: Having trained in various countries across the world, Bruce became fluent in at least English, Korean, French, Arabic, Tibetan and Russian.
	+ **Polymath**: Bruce has studied technology, mathematics, physics, geography, forensic science, chemistry and engineering. He stated to Alfred that he attained almost a dozen degrees in many topics. He is able to calculate various equations in his head at remarkable speed and under duress.
* **Expert hand-to-hand combatant**: As a result of his training, Bruce became an extremely skilled fighter, capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the world's most lethal and skilled fighters, such as David Cain, Sandra Wu-San, Talia al Ghul and Ted Grant.
	+ **Skilled martial artist**: Bruce was able to successfully learn various forms of martial arts from the likes of the League of Assassins and Kirigi, such as ninjutsu, kung fu, dim mak, karate, tae kwon do and judo. He also learned the skill of boxing through known champion Ted Grant and was able to fight the aforementioned mentors to a stalemate.
* **Master marksman**: Bruce has displayed perfect aim with ranged weapons and objects, able to hit his mark without even looking and calculating the trajectory in order to ensure the accuracy.
* **Master of deception/manipulation**: Bruce has been able to deceive the world into thinking he was dead for nearly a decade and, upon his return, was able to hide his true motives from some of his closest friends.
* **Peak human condition**: Thanks to insane and rigorous training over the course of a decade, Bruce has honed his body and senses to the highest degree, training alongside many of the most skilled and experienced assassins, hunters, detectives and martial artists. As a result of this, Bruce's physical attributes far exceed that of an average human.
	+ **Acrobatics**: Upon returning to Gotham, Bruce, under his vigilante guise, was able to parkour through Gotham City at ease and manoeuvre himself through difficult areas without much strain.
* **Prestidigitation**: Taught by the stage magician Giovanni Zatara, Bruce mastered the art of prestidigitation, able to manipulate objects with a sleight of hand as a form of deception or trickery.
* **Stealth**: Capable of sneaking across places undetected, even in highly fortified areas, Bruce is impressively elusive and silent, able to mask his presence and taking note of scents, wind changes and weight fluctuations in order to be invisible to the most alert foes.

## Equipment

"*I need to armor myself if I'm going to protect this city.*"
—Bruce Wayne to Alfred Pennyworth[src]
* **Vigilante suit**: As the masked crimefighter known as Vigilante, Bruce adopts a makeshift grey-and-black suit made from various scrap material, paired with goggles with red lenses that allow him to see in the dark.
	+ **Grappling gun**: Bruce has a grappling gun containing in a holster within the suit, able to be used as transportation across the city.
	+ **Utility belt**: Alongside the suit, a utility belt is worn, containing a large and diverse arsenal of non-lethal gadgets and technology.
		- **Shuriken**: Within the utility belt houses various shuriken as part of his ranged arsenal.
		- **Smoke pellets**: Adopting deception, disguise and trickery, Bruce utilises smoke pellets to mask his presence or to blind enemies.

## Weaknessess

* **Chiroptophobia**: Bruce has been afraid of bats ever since he was a child, with him leaving Monarch Theatre early with his parents due to witnessing a trio of them during a showing of *The Mark of Zorro*.

## Trivia

* Bruce's biggest fear is bats.
* Bruce's middle name is Thomas, after his late father.

## Behind the scenes

* In DC Comics, **Bruce Wayne** is the orphaned billionaire philanthropist who operates as the vigilante hero **Batman** in Gotham City. He debuted in *Detective Comics* #27 (May, 1939).

## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 *Pilot*