Real Identity: Bruce Wayne
Affiliation(s): None Appearances: Public Enemies and Apocalypse Powers/Skills: Knowledge of Sciences, Martial Arts, Unarmed Combat, Armed Combat, Electronics, Above Average Physical Attributes, Escape Arts, Deduction, Polylingual, and Infiltration Voiced By: Kevin Conroy
A family of three left their favorite movie theater in Gotham City's Park Row. The couple's son mimics a scene from "The Mask of Zorro". They take a wrong turn into an unlit alleyway. A desperate man with a gun demands the group's valuables. A scuffle follows. Within seconds, Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne are dead. Their son, Bruce Wayne has 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.
Once old enough, Bruce Wayne traveled the world and honed his body and mind to the highest physical peak. Along the way, he studied every known science including criminology, forensics, chemistry and psychology. Wayne trained under manhunters and martial arts masters and in time, became an unrivaled master, himself.
Years later, Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham City. He took on what most critics called a figurehead position as joint CEO in Wayne Enterprises, as he maintained a public image of a billionaire playboy. All the while, he stalked the night as a nameless vigilante. He struggled to win every fight, intent on trying to find a way to strike fear from the start. Wayne investigated the den of bats and discovered a system of caverns that stretched beyond his 150 acre estate into most of Gotham. He converted the caverns into his alter-eog's base of operations, complete with state of the art technology pinched secretly from Wayne Enterprises Research and Development. Chemistry and forensics lab, a high-tech computer database, a secret driveway, dock and shrines decorated the cave. Wayne then created a suitable identity for himself. It was something to use the darkness as a weapon, to strike fear in the hearts of criminals, Batman.
In the early years, Batman was aided by his confidante, Alfred Pennyworth. He soon became the ward of an orphan named Dick Grayson. At age nine, Grayson was first of Batman's partners. Originally an aerial performer, Grayson was personally trained by Batman and soon donned a costume of his own, Robin. Batman also befriended Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon. Though Gordon didn't approve of Batman's methods, he recognized that Gotham would need all the help it could manage as the city began to witness the advent of bizarre monstrosities and murderous psychopaths in addition to the corrupting force of organized crime already present. In addition to his allies in Gotham City, Batman began to work closely with other superheroes on joint missions. Among them, he developed a bond with Superman. Although both don't agree on how to enforce the law, they both believe in justice.
Batman also began to monitor the coming Kryptonite meteor. He reached out to Toyman and worked on a solution to destroy it before impact. However, when President Luthor issued a modest $1 Billion bounty on Superman. Superman was forced to go underground but was aided by Batman, who then became a target of the government, as well. They broke into S.T.A.R. Labs to gather intelligence on the meteor but were found by security guards. After escaping, they were attacked by a legion of supervillains and a squad of superheroes led by Black Lightning. After convincing them to let them go, Batman, Superman, and Powergirl arrived at a secret government outpost to find the only other source of intelligence on the meteor. The dup then rushed to Tokyo to give Toyman the last bit of data he needed to program his solution to the meteor, a giant composite robot of Superman and Batman. However, Luthor arrived in a warsuit and tried to stop the launch. Batman elected to launch the robot manually. Luckily, Batman survived the head on collision. In the aftermath, Batman disappeared back to Gotham.
Weeks after President Luthor was defeated, Batman made no public comment on the impeachment trials and went back into seclusion. However, once a giant meteor crashed into Gotham Harbor, Batman arrived and investigated the rocket ship only to find a mysterious woman. He deduced her Kryptonian physiology and used Kryptonite to render her unconscious. Batman was cynical of Kara Zor-El's claims and thought it may even be a ploy engineered by one of Superman's enemies. Zor-El returned the sentiment to Batman and later questioned why he wore a lead-lined cowl. While Superman took Zor-El to Metropolis, Batman was contacted by Wonder Woman about visions about the girl. He convinced Superman to allow Wonder Woman to take her to Themyscira for training. After two months, Superman's patience wore thin and even Batman accused him of letting his guard down around Zor-El. The sudden appearance of Doomsday Animates prompted a battle but Batman realized it was all a distraction. He arrived too late and discovered Harbinger was dead and Zor-El missing.
After constructing a multi-pronged plan, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda boomed to Apokolips in search of Kara Zor-El. Batman donned the Astro Harness and used the Mother Box to track down Darkseid's Hellspore reserve. He encountered two Dog Calvary troopers and their Demon Dogs instead. After finding the reserve, Batman was swallowed whole by a Demon Dog. Ever adaptable, he administered a smoke pellet and emerged unscathed. Batman then demanded the trooper's armor. Using the Mother Box, Batman reprogrammed the Hellspore's encrypted arming code to a new combination. With the weapons as leverage, Batman convinced Darkseid to foreswear Kara Zor-El. After Superman and Zor-El defeated Darkseid, Zor-El debuted as Supergirl and even earned Batman's approval.