For others who used the "Bat" identity, see Bat.
- "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain."
- —Bruce Wayne to Kate Kane.[src]
Bruce Thomas Wayne (born February 19, 1987) is the former CEO and owner of Wayne Enterprises and secretly the vigilante that watches over Gotham known as Batman. He is also the leader of his team. When he was eight years old, his mother and father were both shot and killed right in front of him, driving him to grow up and become a protector of Gotham. Bruce is the son of surgeon, Dr. Thomas Wayne and philanthropist, Martha Wayne, on again/off again lover of Selina Kyle, adoptive father of Dick Grayson, ex-boyfriend of Vicki Vale, ex-lover of Talia al Ghul and the ex-boyfriend of Vesper Fairchild. He later assembled his own team and they fight crime in Gotham together. After Bruce's parents were gunned down in front of him. He went to a very dark place and fought and trained himself in order to find who he really was. In his teenage years, Bruce travelled all over the world, training himself to intellectual and physical perfection and learning a variety of crime-fighting skills, including chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, and escape artistry. He eventually returned to Gotham, made himself a suit, and began to fight crime. He didn't get his name instantly, with the media referring to him as the Man in Black and also the Caped Crusader.
Over the years of fighting crime, many enemies of Batman arose within the city, including the Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Riddler, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Mad Hatter, and Harley Quinn. During his seventh year as Batman, after, Bruce's identity was stolen by burned childhood friend, Tommy Elliot, who then framed him for several serial murders and for working alongside the Joker, resulting in Bruce pleading insanity and being incarcerated within Arkham Asylum alongside so many of the supervillains he had put there himself.
Biography
Early Life
Bruce Thomas Wayne was born to Thomas and Martha Wayne on February 19, 1987. He grew up very close to both of his parents and had great relationships with them both. He also became best friends with both Veronica Vreeland and Tommy Elliot, who both haled from the equally wealthy Vreeland and Elliot dynasties respectively.[1] He also became friends with Oliver Queen at some point due to the Waynes and the Queens being close.[2]
When Bruce was eight years old, he and his parents were on their way home from a movie at the Monarch Theatre and took a shortcut through Crime Alley. Once in the alley, they were confronted by a masked assailant who gunned down Thomas and Martha in front of Bruce, leaving him distressed and in shock.[1]
Jim comforts a young Bruce.
After the incident, the GCPD arrived and began to investigate the crime scene and put a shock blanket around Bruce, putting him to the side. A rookie detective then arrived and noticed Bruce distressed and crying and he went over to try and comfort him. He introduced himself as Jim Gordon and tells him how he lost his father when he was young and knew exactly how Bruce felt. He then promised Bruce that he would find his parent's murderer and gave him a hug. However, Gordon failed in finding the shooter, leaving Bruce to believe that he had to stop crime in Gotham himself.[1]
Training Around the World
In 2005, Bruce graduated from high school and went to Gotham City University, where he studied law for three years and eventually obtained a degree, graduating in 2008. During university, he met and began dating Vicki Vale. However, she noticed that he had become extremely cold and detached and they broke up. After University, Bruce began travelling around the world, constantly training to become top conditioned both physically and mentally.
League of Assassins
He even trained with the League of Assassins at one point and became an extremely well-trained fighter.[3] During his time with the league, he became acquainted with Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia, of whom he had a short intimate with relationship.[4]
David Cain
During his time with the League, Bruce also became acquainted with David Cain, who trained him in advanced martial arts away from Nanda Parbat.
Return to Gotham
Becoming Batman
After three years of training and travelling, Bruce finally returned to his home city and whilst walking down the streets he received from a call from one of his oldest friends, Harvey Dent, who insisted on hosting a welcome back party for Bruce, who agreed. He later returns to Wayne Manor and discussed his next move with Alfred who Bruce told about his training. The two then went below the manor to the cave that Bruce fell into as a child and Bruce told Alfred about his plans to take the law into his own hands as a vigilante, with Alfred disapproving at first. Later that day, Bruce fashioned a makeshift outfit that would hide his identity if he went out on the streets. Alfred then came down into the cave to see that Bruce had already set up a computer system and linked it up to the GCPD criminal database and he had also obtained a cop radio that could tell him about crimes in progress. He also spotted that Bruce had already begun researching a crime involving the murders of many actors. Alfred then asked if Bruce knew what he was doing but before he could answer the radio went off and mentioned a clay-like creature seen near the building of Bobby Young. Bruce then quickly suited up and travelled to the scene.
Clayface, Batman's first enemy.
Once he got there, he entered the building and heard screams of terror from the floor above him and rushed upstairs. When there, Bruce saw what appeared to be a giant clay monster about to kill Bobby Young, however, he managed to use his grappling hook to pull Young out of the way but anger the creature. He then threw several batarangs at the creature but it just ended up absorbing them into it's body and then turned it's hand into a blade and attempted to cut Bruce in two but he dodged it and the creature hit a water cooler, spilling water everywhere and revealing it's weakness. When the water hit the creatures body, it began to melt into a liquid state but managed to retreat out of the window and escape. When Bruce heard sirens outside he left Bobby for the police to take him into protective custody.
When Bruce returned to the cave, Alfred demanded to know if he was alright and began to check for injuries with Bruce constantly explaining that he was fine. The two then researched into the victim's backgrounds and discovered that they were all actors and also cast in the same movie together, however, one person was cut from the movie who hadn't been spotted in months, Basil Karlo. They then came to the conclusion that Basil had somehow transformed into the creature and was taking out all of his past co-stars. Bruce then got a call from Harvey again, telling him that the party in ten minutes and that he should be there as soon as he can. Bruce replied that he would be there and told Alfred to keep looking for Karlo. Whilst Bruce was at the party, Karlo kidnapped a cop and shape-shifted into him and managed to get into GCPD without suspicion and grabbed Young from witness protection and brought him to the roof, looking to get the Bat's attention.
Alfred then saw the news report Vicki Vale was hosting, coming up with the villain name "Clayface" and called Bruce, telling him to get to GCPD and leave the party. He told Harvey that something had come up and ran off without any other explanation. When he got there, the two began to fight. As Clayface choked Bobby, he turned his other hand into a blade and sliced at Bruce, tearing off a bit of his cape. Bruce then managed to jump onto Clayface and grapple Bobby out of his hand and the two fell back onto the roof, however, Bobby was stabbed in the back by Clayface and was knocked out. However, Bruce threw several tiny bombs that Clayface absorbed again and they blew him into several pieces. Bruce then ordered Alfred to fly the Batwing over the roof and a large amount of water dropped onto the GCPD, turning all the pieces of Clayface to liquid. Bruce then put them in vials but kept them separated and they were sent to Arkham Asylum. Later in the cave, Bruce watched Commissioner Loeb speaking about his acts of vigilantism on a television. Just then. Alfred entered and asked Bruce if he was ready for the responsibly being a vigilante brought to the table and he only replied with a slight nod and left the cave.[1]
After the incident with Clayface, Bruce began training himself excessively and would spend over six hours in the cave training. When Alfred came down to give Bruce food that he had made himself, Bruce refused and pointed out that he would have needed to eat healthier. Before Alfred could argue his point further, the doorbell to the manor rang and Alfred travelled upstairs to answer it as Bruce got ready. Once Bruce reached the living room, he was greeted by his ex-girlfriend from college, Vicki Vale. She asked if she could get an exclusive interview with Bruce discussing where he had been whilst being away from Gotham for so long. He explained that he had been travelling the world in order to visit famous landmarks. He then quickly changed the subject and asked if she would like to have a drink to catch up since they hadn't spoken in years and she accepted. The two walked around the grounds of the manor and talked about everything they had been up to the past few years. She acted cold towards him at first, due to him cheating on her several times whilst in college, however, Bruce insisted that he had changed and that he was a better man. By the end of their trip, he asked her out on a date, willing to give it a chance, she accepted.
That night, whilst stalking a drug deal, Bruce was notified by Alfred that an attack had happened on the GCPD award ceremony by a criminal that had been identified as "The Riddler". He quickly took down the drug dealers and headed for the ceremony. When he arrived the Riddler was still on stage and had just began to release a type of gas into the room with over a dozen cops in danger. Bruce quickly dropped onto the stage and threw Riddler across. He went in for a final swing but Riddler quickly pressed a button on his cane that caused the whole stage to explode, knocking Bruce to the other end of the hall, hitting the door. He spoke to Alfred and asked him to synthesise an antidote to the gas and release it from the vents. Alfred managed to to do this in an extremely short amount of time the cops were saved with only a few needing a trip to the hospital. Before Bruce left, he discovered a riddle that had been left behind and took it back to cave for analysis.
Once he arrived, Bruce and Alfred were both able to deduce that Vicki was being held hostage but they did not know where. He spent the whole day searching for a solution to finding Vale but he managed to overhear on the police radio that the co-ordinates had been discovered and that the police were on their way. Bruce quickly suited up and managed to arrive before the police. When he entered, Bruce was shot several times by a remote machine gun but was saved by the body armour he was wearing and quickly through a batarang at the weapon, causing it to explode. However, two harpoon guns came out at each side of him but he managed to dodge both sharp weapons but as he landed, Bruce was attacked by several robots which Riddler had playfully named "Riddler Bots". Luckily, they were no match for Bruce as he was able to defeat all of them with only a few punches. He then entered the control room to see Vicki tied up in a chair in the middle of the room but before he could run to her, Riddler ambushed him with a knife from behind but was ultimately held in a chokehold. It was then revealed that he had one final plan as he pressed a button on his cane, causing a TV screen to appear and begin a countdown. Realising what was about to happen, Bruce grabbed Ed, untied Vicki and jumped out of the building's window as it exploded behind them, launching them forward. Their fall was broken by Bruce's cape which allowed them to briefly glide. Riddler was then handcuffed to a lamppost and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.
Later that night, Bruce was in his study going over the last two unusual attacks when the doorbell rang. When he answered it, a distressed Vicki stared him in the face with tears in her eyes. He rushed to hug her and brought her to the kitchen to calm her down. She explained how she was traumatised with the events that transpired between her and Riddler and that she had contact with a mysterious vigilante. Bruce made sure she was alright and asked her if she wanted to leave but she simply shook her head. They both then leaned in for a kiss that grew deeper. Bruce then carried her up to his bedroom where they slept together.[5]
The next morning, Bruce woke up whilst Vicki was getting dressed. When he called her she smiled and leaned over to kiss him, explaining she needed to go to work. When he asked if they could meet up later for coffee she happily agreed and left the manor. After Vicki left, Bruce got dressed and travelled down to the Batcave to check the police radio for any nearby and was asked by Alfred if his night with Vicki was pleasant and he only smiled. The two the discussed the links between the attack of Riddler and Clayface, both previously below average criminals but becoming extremely powerful in recent times. Just as they were beginning to investigate how they were linked, they heard a police alert about the Maroni crime family attempting to deal weapons and Bruce quickly suited up.
When he arrived on the scene, Lieutenant Gordon had beaten him to the warehouse and the police were attempting to retrieve the illegal weapons off the assailants, who were shooting. Bruce quickly threw a batarang at a power box, which darkened the entire warehouse, alerting Gordon of the Bat's presence. Bruce managed to take out most of Maroni's thugs until he threw a grenade in the direction of the police and ran off with the weapons, forcing Bruce to quickly get the cops out of the warehouse but not catch Zucco. When he returned to the cave to start tracking the Maroni crime family, Bruce realised he had missed his coffee date with Vicki and quickly changed and travelled to the Gazette.
When he arrived, he apologised to her several times but she simply stated that they had dated before and that she was used to it. However, he assured her that he was not that man anymore and that they could meet that night to go on a date to a circus that was in town. At first, she was skeptical but ultimately couldn't resist and accepted. Later that night, he picked her up and the two entered Haly's Circus. The first act was a family group of gymnasts known as "The Flying Graysons". The father flipped first, followed by the mother, then the son. However, when the father swung on the rope and the mother grabbed his legs too, the rope snapped and the two began to plummet to the bottom of the circus tent, eventually hitting the ground and dying. The whole crowd was shocked, including Bruce and Vicki but before anyone could move, a huge group of thugs ripped through the tent and began shooting at the crowd. Bruce quickly grabbed Vicki and the two ducked down and he attempted to crawl to the exit with her. Before they could get anywhere, more thugs crashed through the upper parts of the tent into the crowd and began shooting, one bullet hitting Vicki in the bottom of her spine. Bruce quickly picked her up and managed to sneak out of the tent and past the thugs outside putting her in his car and driving to Elliot Memorial Hospital.
When the two arrived in the hospital, Bruce called out for help and she was taken away by nurses and he quickly ran off to get his suit and return to the circus. When he got there, the GCPD were in a gun fight with the Maroni crime family and Tony Zucco himself, who caused The Flying Grayson accident. Before Bruce did anything to the thugs, he quickly picked up the young Flying Grayson who had just watched his parents die and got him out of the tent and into police protection. He then began to pick off Maroni's men one by one and eventually just fist fought the rest of them. When they were all defeated the vigilante was confronted by Captain Essen-Gordon who attempted to bring him in but he simply threw down a smoke pellet and escaped. A few days after this incident, Bruce attended the funerals of Mary and John Grayson and saw their son, Dick. The boy reminded Bruce of himself when he lost his parents and he decided to take him in and give him the chance no one gave Bruce. After signing adoption papers, Dick was legally Bruce's adoptive son and came to live with him in Wayne Manor, even getting his own room. The next morning, Bruce visited Vicki, who remained unconscious the whole time, Bruce only holding her hand.[6]
Personality
Bruce is an extremely motivated person and is always determined to do the right thing and to help people. However, to the public, Bruce acts as a rich, spoiled brat that wastes his money on expensive, fancy cars and dates any girl he meets. He puts up this fake image in order to hide his identity as Batman.
Abilities
- Genius-Level Intellect/Expert Tactician/Business Acumen/Leader: Bruce is an extremely smart man as well as exceptionally quick-witted and alert. He studied biochemistry in college and studied all around the world and gained a great amount of knowledge. He is able to quickly and thoroughly adapt to his surroundings. Bruce is also perfectly capable of running his company and gladly took the mantle of CEO after he returned to Gotham. He can also lead his own team as shown when he assembles a group of vigilantes to protect the city.
- Master Detective/Investigator:
- Computer Specialist/Expert Computer Hacker:
- Master of Deception/Manipulator:
- Toxicology:
- Skilled Engineer:
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: During his years away from Gotham City, Bruce trained with some of the world's most experienced and skilled individuals including David Cain, Ra's al Ghul as well as a plethora of others. After honing his skills in several arts of combat including but not limited to Eskrima, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Karate, Silat, Boxing, Systema, JuiJuitsu and Judo, Bruce built himself a reputation of being one of the most formidable combatants that anyone could go up against. Due to his unpredictability and diversity in combat, Bruce is able to go up against powerful individuals such as the meta-humans Killer Frost, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze and come out on top even though he is merely human.
- Master Batarang Wielder:
- Master Stick-Fighter:
- Master Swordsman:
- Peak of Human Physical Condition:
- Acrobatics/Free-Running:
- Honed Senses:
- Stealth/Infiltration:
Equipment
- Batman Suit: Bruce wears a special suit when protecting the citizens of Gotham and battling it's criminals. The suit is lined with several layers of kevlar, making it bullet-proof to regular guns. The cowl is also fitted with extremely advanced technology including
- Utility Belt: On the batsuit, Bruce has a belt that holds all of his gadgets such as batarangs, the grapnel gun and smoke pellets.
- Batarangs: Bruce created small boomerangs in the shape of bats that are also extremely sharp and are capable of stabbing someone.
- Grapple Gun: As Batman, Bruce uses a gun that shoots out a hook that can attach to anything. It is even strong enough to bust through concrete and he uses this to make his way around the Gotham rooftops.
- Bat-Bombs: Bruce created tiny bombs that can detonate through a button on his belt. He used them to take down Clayface.
- Utility Belt: On the batsuit, Bruce has a belt that holds all of his gadgets such as batarangs, the grapnel gun and smoke pellets.
- Batmobile: Created for Batman by Lucius Fox, the batmobile is a specialised road-based vehicle that Bruce uses to quickly travel throughout the streets of Gotham. It is equipped with top of art weapons filled with rubber bullets in order to take on incoming threats.
Appearances
Films
- Justice League
- Suicide Squad
- Titans
- Justice League: Legion of Doom
- Justice League: Apokolips
Batman: Anarky
Green Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3 |
Superman
Season 1
Season 2 |
Wonder Woman
Season 1
- "Pilot" (mentioned)
- "The Lonely Path" (mentioned)
Batwoman
Season 1
|
Behind the Scenes
- In DC Comics, Bruce Wayne is the vigilante and protector of Gotham known as Batman. As shown in the show, Bruce witnessed his parent's deaths at the hands of Joe Chill when he was only eight years old. Batman, along with Superman and Wonder Woman amongst other heroes, is one of the primary founding members of the Justice League.
References
| Other versions of Bruce Wayne |
|---|
| To see other versions of this character, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Bruce Wayne. |
| Earth: 1 • 2 • 10 |