Batman

* Main
* 2001
* 2008
* 2016

Jeremiah Arkham (uncle)

**Bruce Thomas Wayne** is an American businessman, the current owner of Wayne Enterprises, and secretly the nightmarish vigilante known as **Batman**. A tortured, brooding figure, he strikes fear into the hearts of criminals in Gotham City.

Born into the wealthy Wayne family, Bruce had an idyllic childhood, although he was given a strong sense of justice by his moralistic and philanthropic parents, Thomas and Martha. When his parents where gunned down in front of him, 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. Dressing as a Bat to prey on criminals’ fears, Batman fights crime with the aid of specialised gadgets and vehicles, operating out of his secret Batcave below Wayne Manor.

## History

### Background Information

Bruce Wayne was born to wealthy physician Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, who were themselves members of the prestigious Wayne and Arkham families of Gotham City, respectively.

At the age of six, Bruce fell through a hole on the Wayne estate, leading to a huge cave which would later become his headquarters as Batman.

Sometime in 1997, Martha had become pregnant with a second child. However, Martha was later caught in a car crash and was rushed into premature labour, and the baby was lost. After this, Thomas gifted Bruce a bell to ring when he needed the assistance of the new family butler, bodyguard and former combat medic, Alfred Pennyworth.

On the night of September 19, 1997, at 10:47pm, the Waynes were leaving the Monarch Theatre after seeing *The Mark of Zorro*, having exited through the back door to avoid press attention after their lost child. Pennyworth was nowhere to be seen with their lift as a result of the early departure, so they decided to go for a family walk and catch a cab home. Instead, an assailant attempted to rob them at gunpoint. In retaliation, the distraught Thomas lashed out at the mugger, prompting the assailant to shoot both Thomas and Martha dead.

### Part 1 - Teenage Years and Grief

#### Later Childhood

In the aftermath of his parents’ passing and the capture of the murderer, Joe Chill, Bruce developed an introverted shell in order to not become close to anybody ever again. He promised himself that he wouldn’t feel the pain of that loss again, and wouldn’t let anybody else hurt him. This isolated Alfred, whom he refused to get close to and began to reject as a father figure.

At the age of 12, Bruce attempted to get a homeless man to sign paperwork under Pennyworth’s name, consenting to Bruce wiping his memory via an alternative medical procedure. The procedure nearly took place, however an overwhelming and ghostly force compelled the young Bruce to leave the medical centre before it began.

At the age of 13, Bruce made plans to commit suicide with a razor blade. However, he soon decided that it was something that his parents would hate to see, and so he saw it necessary to do something else with his anger and negative feelings; he quickly decided it best to use these feelings of hatred and loneliness against criminals responsible for attacks like the one that took his parents’ lives.

After this, Bruce began to beat up bullies at school, and had become obsessed with guns, violence and revenge. On one occasion, the 14-year-old Bruce beat up a bully at school who was picking on another boy. Suspended from school for a week, Alfred encouraged him to make his parents proud by not participating in violence, but a reckless Bruce instead argued that his actions would make the bully stop. Alfred snapped that the boy should’ve stood up for himself; in retaliation, Bruce punched his legal guardian in the face and stormed off. Bruce tried to burn his own hand following this incident but got caught by Alfred; Bruce confessed he blamed himself for his parents’ deaths, which is why the comment about not fighting back was so hurtful to him. Due to this, Alfred forced Bruce to read from his parents’ library to study how to control his anger and rage, and Alfred also reluctantly began to encourage the fighting and began to teach Bruce to fight, himself, accepting that it could be both controlled and encouraged positively instead of condemned entirely. Alfred also encouraged Bruce’s new trainer, Ted Grant; a formerly world-famous boxer nicknamed Wildcat. Grant had learnt a lot of different martial arts in recent years, including Capoeira, Krav Maga, and Muay Thai, and began to teach Bruce almost all the basics he needed to learn as a martial artist. Around this time, Alfred also hired a personal therapist for Bruce, Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Also as a result of his newfound interest in reading, Bruce encountered his first influence in the art of deduction; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Bruce by many accounts became an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, arriving at the solution to a given mystery before it was revealed by the end.

Ms. Thompkins helped Bruce navigate through stages of his depression during the times he first started navigating towards the East End. The worst of the worst in the city helped permeate an atmosphere of depression, isolation and dread; and during this time, he would find it easy to become depressed and dispirited. His therapist would help him channel these feelings into motivation for something else; becoming a police officer or a detective, or giving back to the poor through the Wayne estate and legacy.

When Bruce turned 16, he would make a statement confronting his parents’ deaths, and create the Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne Foundation charities, including a home for orphaned children. He would also discover corruption in his father’s company; firing the acting CEO, his uncle, Phillip Kane; instead encouraging his father’s old friend and professed first choice as successor - Lucius Fox - into taking his position.

The young prankster would enact his own form of justice on the criminals and unjust of Gotham, and he would eventually allow himself to open up to a girl by the name of Julie Madison. At this point, his relationship with Alfred had improved significantly; Alfred helped encourage his way of life and even began providing him with some prankster materials.

#### Early Adulthood

At the age of 17, his girlfriend Julie moved away to attend University, while Bruce planned to attend Yale University to study law. Upon confessing to his friend and new potential love interest, Silver "Dana" St. Cloud, that he aimed to become a police officer and clean up the police force, Dana laughed it off; Dana thought that the idea of a millionaire police officer would be ridiculous, instead planting the seed that he should think on a grander scale. Following this, Bruce Wayne donned a colorful, red and yellow suit to shadow GCPD detective Harvey Harris, whilst Wayne used the alias ‘Frank Dixon’ in order to learn from one of the country’s greatest detectives. Harris taught Bruce the basics of detecting, as Bruce eventually sought to join the FBI. They began investigating a string of grisly murders in a town called Huntsville, near Harvey’s hometown of Birmingham. Harvey and Bruce discovered that the murders were related to a group of white supremacists that terrorized a nearby town. The pair realised that, in order to get revenge upon the surviving members of the supremacist group, former member Dr. Malcolm Falk had hired a maniac named Ben Carr to systematically slaughter them one by one. In an ensuing firefight with police, a bullet struck Harris and he was nearly killed. As he recovered and left hospital, Harvey told Bruce that he knew who he really was behind the Frank Dixon persona.

After this, Bruce graduated college; and Yale University awarded Wayne an honorary degree in law. Bruce subsequently got involved in underground fighting rings which he first encountered when he was 14. There, he met a girl who promised she could lead him to Joe Chill, who was up for parole and who she confirmed was to be released. This sparked triggering flashbacks for the first time since his childhood, and Bruce subsequently began driving recklessly under the tutelage of a Brazilian career criminal he met in the fighting rings. In a deluded and delirious state Bruce retrieved his grandfather’s pistol from it’s case in preparation for a confrontation. Soon, with the address, Bruce visited Chill’s apartment. Chill knew Bruce was coming and welcomed him in, confessing to the murder for him. He was clearly a remorseful man who had led a terrible life, knowing he had suffered and would continue to suffer for his biggest crime; orphaning a young Bruce Wayne.

This made the young Bruce believe that anybody could be redeemed. Somebody he had seen as the ‘biggest monster on the planet’ had seen some redemption; it hurt and also gratified him to see Joe Chill so regretful and sincerely apologetic, and it filled him with a trusting hope. The murderer’s guilt was proven furthermore when Bruce departed the apartment and overheard a gunshot; Joe Chill committed suicide after Bruce’s visit. Bruce called Alfred to get picked up from the area, where he confessed his previous plans and showed him the gun. Alfred slapped Bruce at this point, telling him that his parents would be ashamed of him. Bruce had taken the gun that took his parents’ lives from the apartment, but after some contemplation, threw it in a flowing river.

With the acceptance of his parents’ deaths not being his own fault, and safe in the knowledge that anybody could be redeemed and that he would be a disappointment to himself and his parents if he were to pull a trigger, he left Gotham to embark on a journey of discovery.

### The Man Who Falls

At the age of 19, Bruce left Gotham City to pursue a journey of discovery and obtain skills in the art of investigation and forensics. Bruce Wayne attended Princeton university, however he eventually dropped out. Bruce had a disillusioning experience in training with the FBI upon turning 20, dropping out after 6 weeks due to all the red tape and restrictions and the fact that in his eyes, justice would take too long. This experience led to Bruce realising that to achieve justice the way he saw fit, he couldn’t work "within a system".

Bruce, operating under the name of ‘Frank Dixon’ joined up with a private investigator named Dan Mallory, despite his Mallory’s condescending and judgemental attitude towards his student and Bruce’s still fledging skills. Mallory taught a young Bruce the tools of the trade, and Bruce learned the tricks of a private investigator. Certain private investigators don’t do the same things as detectives do, and learning from a PI allowed Bruce to learn things that detectives wouldn’t teach him. Private eye Dan Mallory was investigating the Kensington kidnapping case alongside "Frank Dixon". They followed the kidnapper after he collected the ransom money, hoping to trail him back to his headquarters and find the kidnapped girl, but when the kidnapper outsmarted them, Dixon tried to outrace the getaway car. He failed, but he managed to grab the kidnapper's shoe. The creosote and ticket punches on the sole pointed Bruce to the Illinois Western Railway Yards.

Arriving at the Railway Yard, Mallory became occupied freeing Miss Kensington whilst Bruce fought the criminal gang, and while Bruce was eventually able to stop the kidnappers almost single-handedly even without a gun (which he refused to use), he was still severely beaten in the fight and Mallory had to save him and patch things up. The cops eventually arrived, and Miss Kensington was returned to her parents. In the aftermath, Bruce and Mallory they began to respect one-another in a way that they couldn’t or didn’t beforehand. Following this, Mallory told Bruce that he would be the best of detectives and that his own harsh methods were just to motivate him. He advised Bruce to stick to the shadows whilst investigating which while Bruce was a natural; he could always be better. (Dan Mallory’s words became a big motivating factor for Bruce moving forward and also contributed to his own mentorship style of the Robin’s).

Now wishing to attain more skills in the art of stealth, Bruce travelled to Italy to train with world-renowned magician and escape artist Giovanni "John" Zatara; and subsequently travelled to Thailand, where one of his earliest tutors was a young street thief named Mekhala, who taught him how to disappear into thin air suddenly. Bruce subsequently spent time training at a monastery, hidden in the Paektu Mountain region of North Korea. After nearly a year of training, Master Kirigi told Bruce he had exceptional intelligence and physique, but his traumatic past had made him self-destructive. Soon after, Bruce Wayne decided to leave Master Kirigi's training after Master Kirigi taught Bruce (as well as a brand new wave of students) a technique able to kill people in one hit. Kirigi’s new students chased Bruce as he fled Kirigi’s temple and nearly caught him but Bruce managed to evade them using his escapology training.

Whilst training in Norway, following 28 hours of fighting a new opponent each hour, Bruce spent time with a nomadic people in the Nigerian desert enduring grueling training. It was during this time that Alfred attempted to contact him, but when Bruce received the phone call, he couldn't bring himself to answer.

In years training in the East, Bruce mentored under figures such as the Japanese martial artist Tsunetomo, and the Chinese Chu Chin Li; both connected to ex-communist authority. Under Chu Chin Li, Bruce continued to train well and was praised highly for his martial arts prowess and record, becoming Chu Chin Li’s favourite student having mastered various martial arts, taoism, learnt acupuncture and mastered the idea that pain is a symptom from the mind instead of the body, and also explored the wisdom and mysticism of Eastern culture. Despite being asked by Chu Chin Li to stay with him permanently, Bruce was still wanting to be a private detective, and had recently learned of a man named David Cain; both a vicious fighter as well as a detective and people-tracker, whom Bruce wished to find after another student, Anton, pointed Bruce in Cain’s direction.

Bruce subsequently met and began training with detective, hunter and assassin, David Cain; and met with his brutal, seemingly nameless daughter. Bruce discovered Cain to be a brutal man, seemingly training his daughter purely to be an assassin who could not speak a word, while bruce pitied his daughter and even conspired among himself to take her and release her from her father’s demanding and entrapping grasp. Training under Cain, Bruce managed to defeat his other fighters after completing a round of training. Taking on Cain, however, Bruce was at first heavily beaten half to death as a result of Cain’s bitter rivalry and mentoring style, promoting fierce competitiveness. However, Bruce accordingly got up and again and again, challenging David Cain to a fight time and time again. Eventually, Bruce emerged victorious. During period of peace following their final battle, Cain let Bruce know in private that his daughter was secretly named Cassandra, but that she did not know it. Cain also told Bruce he would not face off against her as a result of her instinct to kill; Cassandra was a groomed warrior and was set to remain that way, shielded from the public and incorporated as a lethal weapon for the League of Assassins. Seeing a promising student in Wayne, Cain informed Bruce of Henri Ducard; a sociopathic French tracker who would continue his path.

Heading to bed for the final night before departure to France, Bruce pondered abducting the young nameless child, Cassandra, but instead decided to sneak into her bedroom and gift her a small token of compassion; to which she appeared confused but gave a half smile as Bruce left the room.

Bruce Wayne left and headed to France, where Bruce trained with a bounty hunter named Henri Ducard, who showed him "the uses of brutality, deception [and] cunning". When Ducard killed a fugitive he had been tracking one night, Bruce abandoned his training, disgusted. Later, Bruce (then 23) located tracker/bounty hunter, Willy Doggett. The two of them started a manhunt across the mountains of Alaska, looking for an assassin named Tom Woodley; who appeared and killed Doggett, while greatly injuring Bruce. Bruce fought back, and during the struggle, Tom slipped from his perch and fell to his death. Without any means of survival, Bruce wandered the frozen mountains until he collapsed of exhaustion and dehydration, which caused him several hallucinations.

A Native American Alaskan Shaman and his daughter found Bruce, rescued him and nursed him back to health. When Bruce awakened, the old man told Bruce he had the mark of the bat, an animal sacred in his tribe. The Shaman told Bruce an ancient Native American folktale about a bat to heal him; and by the time Bruce departed, he made Bruce promise to never tell the story to another living soul.

After leaving the Shaman’s shelter stubbornly a broken man, Bruce traveled through Alaska once again and eventually escaped and met martial arts expert Richard Dragon, who helped Bruce pick up the broken pieces of himself as he taught him how to heal his body.

Following this, Bruce still found himself unready to return home and boarded the first ferry out of America, which happened to be for Shanghai.

### Part 2 - Becoming the Batman

#### The Lazarus Affair

Acting as a secretive vigilante and mercenary dealing with petty crooks and violent scumbags in Shanghai, Bruce made use of his expert martial artist and gymnast training, able to traverse buildings at a quick pace without injury or interruption.

While in Shanghai, Bruce and a deckhand named Stocky took a taxi to an airport on the city outskirts, where a job was to hijack a truck full of crates being loaded onto it by labourers; and sell the profits on behalf of Shanghai’s homeless. The plan eventually succeeded, but both he and Stocky were cornered in a warehouse by police, who detained Bruce in a Bhutanese prison for the theft (ironically of Wayne Enterprises cargo), where he brawled with the inmates.

On his final day in jail, he was approached by a man going by the name of Shihan Matsuda but revealed himself in private to be Ra’s Al Ghul, the leader of the ‘Society of Shadows’; a secretive cult residing in Eastern Asia, but operating in secret all over the globe. The cult and it’s leader promise a better future, especially for Gotham, “The Most Dangerous City in America”. Ra’s promised Bruce that the Society could offer him a path to becoming not just a man or a vigilante but instead a symbol and a legend.

Bruce eventually made his way to Ra's Al Ghul's crystal fortress in the heart of the Rub' Al Khali Desert, accepting his tutelage. Ra’s offered a drug to his ambitious protégé; a toxic flower grounded into a powder, which would allow the user to see and confront their biggest and darkest subconscious fears in order to conquer them with help from Ra’s and the group.

Upon accepting, Bruce was placed under the drug and was confronted with overwhelmingly intense feelings of loneliness, a swarm of angry and blood-sucking bats, and body-freezing experiences of disappointing his father, Thomas. Due to this, he also remembered Alfred’s words to him about disappointing his father.

Bruce trained with Ra’s Al Ghul in an equally-matched sword-fight on ice; however when Bruce forced Ra’s to the ground, Ra’s broke the ice so Bruce fell down into it. That night by a fire, Ra’s confided in Bruce his philosophy that emotional isolation was the ideal way to live and people were impossible to trust. Ra’s also shared his own origins and life story, the passing of his wife and the fact that the Lazarus baths resulting in his immortality were beginning to turn and have a negative affect, fast-forwarding his decay. Bruce realised he was being groomed into becoming the next leader of the Society but saw it as a good thing, now believing this was to become his destiny and legacy and that he could turn the society into a peaceful one.

During this period, Bruce was introduced to Ra's daughter, Talia Al Ghul, who assisted in the training of Bruce as well as Minhkoa, another student. Ra's told the pair that he intended to change the world using the principles of 'Lazarus', intending to build entirely self-sustained 'Lazarus Cities'. While training, despite his rejection of the Demon Head's principles, Al Ghul became very certain that Bruce would one day become the true heir to his ideals and organization. As such, he gifted him a small box, supposedly containing the eye of a god.

Talia and Bruce became close during this time, but Bruce's distrust of her father's methods and goals resulted in the bond turning frosty. Towards the conclusion of their training, Ra's revealed the truth of his intentions to Bruce and Minhkhoa, and made them duel for the right to replace Harris Zuma as second in command, the Demon's Hand. Bruce defeated Minkhoa, and Ra's allowed Zuma, Bruce's ostensible predecessor, to remain alive, requesting that he take the unconcious Minkhoa Khan from the Crystal Hills.

Ra’s then declared Bruce to be the Demon's Heart, though Bruce recognised that their plans involved mass death and did not wish to remain with the organisation. After this, Bruce was tested and tasked with killing a a petty thief. He refused, however, instead burning and collapsing the structure of the temple; therefore destroying the cult’s headquarters. In the ensuing chaos, he fought Ra's and defeated him, before dragging him out of the collapsing cave system and saving the life of his mentor and leaving him in the hands of a local villager to heal.

In the aftermath of his encounter with the Society of Shadows, Bruce had been confronted with his father; specifically, haunted by visions and hallucinations of his father, hearing his voice and seeing his ghost, and feeling his father’s spirit when he’d picture him in his mind.

Bruce subsequently became especially anxious when his father would remind him of the sacrifices he had made for Gotham, and that he felt his son was abandoning his home and that it would eventually burn itself to the ground. Bruce felt his own isolation and specifically, the isolation after his parents’ deaths and he pictured Alfred and Silver; particularly the isolation in the aftermath if they were to perish, and he wished his pain were to go away. Confronting these major fears, Bruce decided to return to Gotham and help save the city his father and his ancestors helped build; he would emotionally and psychically distance himself and create a clear detachment from others.

#### Returning to Gotham

Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham on January 4th, 2016, after 8 years travelling abroad. His whereabouts were often unknown by the public and his fate was theorised over for the most part of the decade, with theories regarding his status only being ended upon his return after having been declared dead.

Upon his highly-publicised and photographed return home, Bruce Wayne made his first attempts at crime-fighting, but Bruce failed to strike fear into criminals and felt ashamed of his efforts. Seeing new opportunities, Bruce met Andrea Beaumont whilst visiting their respective parents’ graves, and subsequently formed a relationship. Bruce became conflicted about how to honour his parents; whether to defend Gotham City in a mask versus their likely wish to see him grow up to be settled and married. Bruce proposed marriage to Andrea who accepted; however, she abruptly left Gotham with her father, businessman Carl Beaumont, ending the engagement via letter. Heartbroken, Bruce began to fight crime on the streets with renewed vigour, and eventually assumed the mantle of **Batman**.

Soon after their breakup, Bruce Wayne established a name for himself as a self-absorbed playboy and philanthropist. Details regarding his personal life often make headlines today and Bruce Wayne has consistently been in the news or in the public eye since his return, and he has garnered a reputation as a rockstar-like figure.

#### Descent Into Mystery

In the months following his first appearance, rumours of the Bat-Man had not been not inspiring tales of courage and redemption or hope and optimism, but instead dark and twisted stories of violence and terror. The creature of despair hidden in the shadows, to strike at the perfect moment to generate fear and horror in those deemed “unjust”. The son of Gotham now become a creature of the night, a nocturnal animal.

Two petty thieves recount stories of the Batman to each other, with one a skeptic and the other a believer. After a tussle in the shadows, the skeptic wound up face-to-face with the creature before being thrown off a high roof and letting loose a yell which would echo and rebound through the city skies, alerting everyone to the terror of the shadows.

## GCPD Files

Suspect is believed to be responsible for multiple assaults against both criminals and law enforcement officials. Identity of suspect currently unknown - may be a single individual or multiple individuals working together. Conflicting reports of suspect physiology range from “Dark Spectre” to “large winged creature”. Lack of photographic and forensic evidence makes it difficult to confirm or refute these claims.

First sighting reported March 2016, though frequency has recently increased. Multiple reports of suspect employing custom-built armoured vehicle and unlicensed low-flying aircraft.

## Chronology

* 1989 - Bruce Thomas Wayne is born to Thomas and Martha Wayne in Gotham City, New Jersey.
* 1995 - Bruce discovers the caves underneath his parents’ house, and develops a fear of bats.
* 1997 - In June, Bruce’s unborn brother is lost in a car accident. Months later, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered, leaving Bruce in the care of Alfred Pennyworth. Joe Chill is found guilty of their murder and imprisoned.
* 2008 - After Joe Chill’s release and suicide, Bruce leaves Gotham to travel the globe in search of purpose.
* 2012-2014 - Bruce is imprisoned in Bhutan, South Asia.
* 2014-2015 - Bruce stays with the Society of Shadows, soon deciding to prepare himself to return to Gotham.
* 2016 - Bruce returns to Gotham and creates the mantle of **Batman**.
* 2020 - Bruce adopts newly orphaned Richard “Dick” Grayson; Grayson quickly creates the role of **Robin** and vows to fight by Batman’s side.

## Personality and Traits

Bruce, by all accounts, led a singularly idyllic childhood growing up as the heir to the Wayne fortune and the child of two wealthy and generous philanthropists and humanitarians. However, his childhood innocence and carefree life fell alongside his parents.

In his later therapy sessions with Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Bruce would process and state his earliest memory to be that of a traumatic one; where at the age of six he fell down into a deep cave and was scared and attacked by a swarm of bats for what felt like paralysing hours, only to be saved by his father, who’s light gave him some hope in the darkness. This early memory seems to have made an imprint on the young Bruce Wayne, always aiming to be the light shining through the darkness after analysing the memory at the age of 14.

Possibly stemming from this early memory and his firm belief that light always shines through, Bruce is also exceptionally tenacious, refusing to give up no matter how badly the odds are stacked against him, and marked with a refusal to let anybody get in the way of his own goals. This can make him difficult to reason with, and While Batman's stubbornness has served him well, it has at other times been his recurring Achilles' heel, making him act against his best interests.

Despite his firm belief in hope and the people of Gotham, Bruce Wayne himself is extremely pessimistic and suspicious; a generally fearful and paranoid individual, Bruce fears and as a result prepares for the worst and most bizarre of situations with new gadgets, equipment and tactics. Possibly the clearest example of Bruce’s paranoia is the secret files containing contingency plans and a list of strengths and weaknesses of his allies, prepared in the case of a Justice League members’ betrayal; much to the distrust of many of his teammates. While his paranoia has saved his life on several occasions, it has also proven to be a source of social struggle and earns the distrust and anger of his allies.

Upon failing to strike fear into a group of thugs, Bruce initially saw his plans as a crime-fighter as thwarted and therefore his plans to be an isolated and lonesome figure to be compromised as well. Subsequently, Bruce met and began courting Andrea Beaumont and proposed to her extremely prematurely, to much shock and heartbreak when she would leave Gotham abruptly. Following this, Bruce began to cut himself off from people around him for a short time and become particularly harsh and blunt to those who tried to care for him, particularly Alfred. This is an indication of his initial reaction to traumatic situations, as best displayed after the death of his parents’. In his early youth post-trauma, Bruce emotionally cut himself off from Alfred and even began making plans to wipe his own memory; displaying an initial reaction indicating a need for escapism from the trauma, and also a compulsion to prepare for the case of another traumatic event. However, Bruce always through one reason or another ends up emotionally opening up again and even displaying his care and need for others.

To protect his secret identity and the lives of those around him, Bruce has constructed a fake persona he can use in his civilian identity. To the world at large, Bruce Wayne is a self-absorbed, irresponsible playboy and philanthropist. However, his closest allies know that this attitude is just an act. Bruce Wayne himself is a dark and brooding figure with a personal vendetta against crime and injustice. Psychologically traumatized by the death of his parents, Bruce as Batman has sworn to rid Gotham from the criminal elements that took his parents away from him, and aims to achieve his goals with a mixture of hopeful optimism, and frightful terror, incorporating theatrical and allusive tactics to scare the “superstitious and cowardly” criminals and perpetrators of injustice.

As the founder of the Justice League and the Outsiders, Batman has repeatedly proven a great love for humanity, presumably instilled by his parents; his father was a doctor, while his mother was a crusader against child abuse. Resulting from a twisted and strict understanding of justice, Batman's oath of vengeance is tempered with a refrain from killing. Batman claims that every criminal has a genuine chance to do good and find rehabilitation, which has been proven from time to time. Batman also seems to believe killing would not make him any better than the criminals he fights; however, an expansion on this is that Bruce has stated on multiple occasions that the true reason he does not kill is because he feels that once he crosses the line he would not be able to turn back, and that his unpredictable and temperamental nature would snap and he would turn into a monster.

## Deaths

### Murders connected to Batman/Bruce Wayne

* **Jason Todd**: Killed by the Joker. Bruce feels tremendous guilt over Jason’s death and believes himself responsible by not encouraging him to train enough before officially becoming the new Robin.

### Deaths connected to Batman/Bruce Wayne

* **Joe Chill**: After Joe orphaned Bruce, he spent the subsequent years trying to cope with his guilt whilst in prison. Upon a visit from an adult Bruce Wayne, everything would come back to haunt him and act as a vital contributing factor to his subsequent suicide.

## Appearances

* **Main Role**
	+ Who I Am - How I Came To Be
	+ The Long Halloween
	+ Dark Victory
	+ The Man Who Falls
* **Supporting Role**
	+ Turning Points
	+ Haunted Knight

## Trivia

* Bruce Wayne’s birthday is generally accepted as February 19, but has been known to fall on various dates in different universes and interpretations.
* This Bruce Wayne was born in 1989, the same year as the release of Tim Burton’s first *Batman* film.
* Batman’s debut is on March 25, 2016, the same date as the US release of *Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice*.