"Batman takes command, he has to, for the good of the League."
— Aqualad[5]
Batman (real name Bruce Wayne) is a legendary crime-fighting vigilante in Gotham City, and a founding member of the Justice League.[6] He is Robin's mentor, and is responsible for assigning missions to the Team.[7]
Batman has a strict by the book personality. He rarely smiles and keeps a cool head in almost every situation. Despite this, he is not above showing kindness, as he raised Robin like his son.[8]
His role and personality as a mentor to the Team shows him to be a very stern general and taskmaster, yet surprisingly understanding authority figure. He is quick to issue orders and expects them to be followed with no questions asked, but he does listen and at times even accept the opinions of younger heroes. His natural commanding presence and intimidating personality commands respect from the Team, but he rarely if ever abuses or lords his authority unfairly over them. In fact, even when the Team makes mistakes on their missions, he makes certain to still praise them on what they did right, as well as educate them on what they didn't.[9]
Bruce Wayne
Batman also seems to take a personal interest in the young heroes beyond their work as covert agents for the Justice League. Aside from Robin, he's taken an interest in trying to help Superboy and Superman connect, suggesting to Clark to try and help the newly born clone, and playing the role of a father figure.[10] He also helped set up Artemis for her superhero career,[11] and via the Wayne Foundation, got her a scholarship to get enrolled in Gotham Academy.[8] He is incredibly serious, and assertive, traits often displayed when he takes command on missions, and when with the Team.
He is particularly fatherly towards Robin, setting aside time once to play basketball with him when sensing that he is jealous of Aqualad, who gets attention from Batman as the leader of the Team.[8]
Physical appearance
Batman is a tall Caucasian male, a dark and imposing figure with short black hair and dark brown eyes.[10] He wears a dark gray costume with the symbol of a bat spread over the chest. Batman also wears a black cowl at all times to hide his identity.
History
Early life
Bruce is the son of Thomas and Martha Wayne. When he was young, his parents were murdered by Joe Chill.[12]He began his crimefighting career at the age of 21.[13] Batman was a founding member of the Justice League,[14]and has been formally elected to be the League's leader.[7]
During his career, he had struck up a relationship with Talia al Ghul, but he broke off on August 27, 2009 because she could not help him fight her father.[15]
They later met up with Aquaman, Aqualad, Green Arrow, Speedy, Flash and Kid Flash, intent on giving the four sidekicks a tour of the Hall of Justice, the Justice League's faux headquarters. But when Batman attempted to conduct a meeting amongst the fellow League members, Speedy exploded in anger at the adults and to a lesser extent the other sidekicks, stating he wanted full League Membership, instead of being treated like children.
Soon after Speedy's departure, the Justice League was called away on a mission, while a secondary situation involving a fire at Cadmus Labs occurred. Batman in particular was concerned about the Cadmus situation, but the other mission was a more immediate threat. Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash decided to infiltrate Cadmus where they uncovered the hidden genomorph project and more importantly Project Kr, a successful attempt to clone Superman.[14]
The four teen heroes defeated Cadmus and their leader Mark Desmond, shortly before the League showed up. The young heroes confronted their mentors about the way they had been treated and stated that together they had formed a powerful team, and that it was time they were treated as partners rather than sidekicks. Batman was left to ponder this.[16] He said that he would make a decision in three days.[17]
Batman spent most of the three days working out a solution in the Batcave, alone. Robin was not happy at being ignored, and was impatient for an answer.[17]
Batman and the League eventually conceded to the idea, and opted to turn the group of teen heroes into the Justice League's covert black-ops team. They then gave them the new team their own headquarters in Mount Justice and introduced them to their fifth member: Miss Martian.[16]
On July 22, Batman's first mission for the Team involved them going to the island of Santa Prisca to investigate mysterious activity involving the Neo steroid Venom. Prior to leaving, Robin asked who would lead, but Batman and Red Tornado both opted to let the Team figure that out for themselves.
When the Team returned to Mount Justice, Batman drilled them on what they did wrong, telling them that they would each be getting a report on their many mistakes. The Team failed to perform the recon that they had initially be ordered to, but they did keep Bane and Kobra from succeeding in their schemes, to which Batman commended them and their leader Aqualad.[9]
Bruce was in his office when he saw that a bus was about to plummet from a bridge. He prepared his batsuit, but Superboy and Superman appeared in time. Bruce observed Superboy attempt to help Superman deal with a disaster on a Metropolis bridge. He watched with disappointment as Superman rejected Superboy's pleas for help in learning about his powers, and then flew off. He made a note to talk to Superman about it later.
Batman assigned the Team to move the debris of the dismantled android Amazo. As the rest of the League members departed, Batman made sure to stop Superman, intending to talk to him.[10]
At Bibbo's Diner, Bruce confronted Clark about Superboy, stating that the boy needed help and more importantly his father. Clark exploded with anger, denying that he was Superboy's father and refused to take responsibility for him, instead pushing that duty on Batman and Red Tornado.[10]
The Team succeeded in their mission (eventually), with Batman again commending the Team on the League's behalf stating they were impressed. He also told them that there was no shame in asking for help, as that was the purpose of the League. Robin interjected, as even if they did, they would never have the opportunity to ask, because the League was constantly following and babysitting them. Robin brought out an arrow as proof of Green Arrow's interference. Green Arrow denied this by showing his arrows, which was different from the one Robin held. The Team came to the conclusion that it was Speedy, but Batman and Green Arrow looked at each other, seemingly knowing whose arrow it actually was.[10]
Batman and Green Arrow tracked down the one who shot the arrow that saved Kid Flash: Artemis. Impressed by her skill and dedication to break free from her parents' life of assassins, they offered her a place in the Team. Green Arrow created a cover story for her, that she was his niece and new protégé.[11]
Batman and Robin were on the trail of Ra's al Ghul at the launch of a rocket. The Shadows had hijacked the rocket's control, and replaced it equipment with a lens that could serve as a weapon of mass destruction. Batman headed to the rocket, but was stopped by Ubu. Only with Robin's help was he able to get past Ra's' servant. At the base of the tower, he was halted by his old lover, Talia al Ghul. But forced with the choice between the two men she loved, she backed down and Batman was able to continue. He faced off with Ra's at the rocket's nosecone. He distracted Ra's, allowing Robin to take the lens out. As Robin threw it to the ground, Ra's jumped after it.[18]
Batman attended the funeral of Kent Nelson at the Tower of Fate. Afterwards, Green Arrow and he had a mission for Artemis for which she had to be arrested.[18]
Lucius Fox called Bruce and Dick over to investigate a mysterious canister that was delivered. It had already been scanned; it was not toxic, explosive or radioactive, just mud. At that moment, Clayface jumped out and attacked the guards. Bruce and Dick quickly changed and took on the monster, but were outmatched. Nothing they could throw at him, not even strong tasers, worked. Clayface fled into the sewers.[15]
Gotham City August 26, 21:08, EDTTime Zone
Batman contacted the Team to track Clayface, and not engage him. They would meet with Robin at the rendez-vous point; Batman would work up a solution to stop Clayface.[15]
After the mission, Batman confronted Aqualad about him not concentrating on the job. Aqualad apologized for the Teams failure, but Batman interjected. He told him the Team performed adequately and that it was his failure to lead that made them fail. Aqualad admitted this, and revealed that his thoughts for quite a while had been on Atlantis. Batman coldly told him that if his mind was not on his job 100 percent of the time, he should just walk away. He allowed Aqualad to make the decision of where he wanted to be: with the Team or back home in Atlantis.[8]
Robin, who was starting to feel resentful of Aqualad gaining more attention from Batman, began to demonstrate the resentment in the Wayne Manor gym. Wishing to try and ease his anger, Bruce had Alfred Pennyworth summon Dick to the basketball court, and offered to play a one-on-one game with the boy, claiming it to be "training". This did much to lighten Dick's attitude.[8]
Batman sent the Team to Bialya to investigate a power surge they detected.[8] The League had no clearance to enter the country due to Queen Bee refusing to allow League activity there, so the Team was sent instead. He ordered the Team to keep the radio silent at all times. While there, the Team suffered a mind-wipe at the hands of Psimon. Thankfully, Miss Martian and Superboy defeated him.[19]
Just after the attack on the Cave by Red Inferno and Red Torpedo, Aqualad told Batman about the possibility of a mole. The fact that he kept it to himself did not sit well with the rest of the Team, and undermined his authority as a leader. Batman prevented further chaos, and sent the Team on a mission to investigate news reports attacks on people in India, carried out by intelligent animals.[5]
When the Injustice League staged an attack on world cities with giant plant creatures, Batman devised a strategy that would take down both the villains and their plants. The entire Justice League would fight the plants, and in the meantime, the Team would take the fight to the villains.[21]
After the central plant was destroyed, the Justice League rushed to the Injustice League's hideout in the Louisiana bayou. Batman disarmed Joker with two batarangs.[21]
Batman and Martian Manhunter devised a telepathic training situation, but it went horribly wrong. The plan was to see how the Team would cope if the entire Justice League was killed by aliens, but after Artemis "died", Miss Martian's emotions took over the Manhunter's, and he lost control.[22]
With the Team still in shock, batman and Martian Manhunter kept them indoors, and Black Canary took them all for a private talk about their experience. He tried to stop Superboy from taking off on a bike ride, but Superboy had ditched his comm link, and had gone off in the newly transformed Sphere with Wolf. When Superboy returned and reported how he had met the Forever People and stopped Intergang, Batman called for closer inspection of Sphere.[23]
Batman called for a meeting with Red Tornado, Red Arrow, Aqualad and Robin about the possibility of a mole being on the Team. He defended Artemis after Red Arrow revealed part of her secret, and focused on Superboy, as they still had little knowledge of what Cadmus programmed into him.[24]
Powers and abilities
As a human, Batman has no superhuman powers, but has trained extensively and is shown defeating opponents far larger and more powerful than himself.[10] Batman is Robin's teacher, and has taught him numerous skills including lock-picking[14] and how to effectively disappear in jungle.[9]
Leadership: Batman is able to lead both the Justice League and supervise the Team at the same time and without flaw.
Intimidation: Batman leads a very powerful presence. His enemies know to fear him and his friends know to respect him.
Peak human conditioning:
Agility: Batman has proven to be at the peak of human agility, able to perform amazing feats such as leaping high into the air in his battle against Mr. Freeze.[14]
Strength: Batman's physical strength is above most men his age.
Master acrobat: Batman has proven capable of amazing aerial maneuvers and flips.[14]
Master of stealth: Batman is capable of disappearing and reappearing without anyone noticing.[9]
Escape artistry: Batman is capable of escaping from various traps and locks in impressive time, and has educated Robin in the art as well.[16]
Detective skills: Batman is a detective, and bases his method on logic.[25]
Excellent strategist: He is an excellent strategist having shown to take Clayface down in less than 10 seconds, making use of Clayface's weakness to electricity, when the entire Team were all defeated by Clayface.[8]
Expert pilot: Batman flies the Batplane with great skill.[21]
Master hacker and computer technician: Batman owns one of the world's leading technical companies in the world, Wayne Tech, and his company is responsible for much of the Justice League's technology.[2]
Multilingualism: In addition to English, Batman can speak a variety of languages.[26]
Equipment
Batman, being a normal human being with no super powers, carries a variety of weapons in his utility belt and relies on other custom tech, such as his Batarangs.
For transport and combat he has a jet plane equipped with custom weapons.
Batman took Dick Grayson in at a young age, and spent many years educating and training him in his role as Robin.[27] He effectively treats him like a son.[8]
Batman's general opinion of Robin, although rarely stated vocally, is high. When working in the field, they behave as a well-oiled machine, able to anticipate each other's moves, actions and plans, without the need to vocally communicate with each other.[9]
Superman and Batman seem to share a respectable working relationship, although they seem to rarely see eye to eye on methods to dealing with situations, both in the field and off, but they are willing to hear each other out, and defer opinion to one another depending on the situation. In recent time, Batman has grown concerned about Superman's behavior, regarding the introduction of his clone, Superboy. The fact Superman has actively avoided the boy and even attempted to pass him off on people like Batman and Red Tornado, has led Batman to attempt to talk to him about it, stating "This boy needs his father". Unfortunately, this statement resulted in Superman angrily denying responsibility for the boy before storming off. Still, Batman remains optimistic that Superman would eventually accept Superboy.[10]
Upon their initial meeting, Batman showed obvious signs of mistrust regarding Superboy, initially calling him "it" and not addressing him as a person. However, when Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash stood up for Superboy and made their intention to form their own team clear, Batman has apparently grown to respect the young clone.[16] Batman's initial intent of treating Superboy like an agent soon grew into concern for the boy's wellbeing after seeing Superboy attempt to seek mentorship from Superman after they saved a school bus in Metropolis.[10] Despite this, he does not fully trust Superboy and suspects him to be the mole, possibly unknowingly.[24]
For the most part Batman and Aqualad's relationship is a very formal one, due to the fact that in the Team dynamic, Batman is the general and Aqualad is the field commander. As such, Batman seems to take a great deal of interest in grooming Aqualad to be a proper leader (much to Robin's occasional annoyance and dismay), speaking to him often in private regarding issues in the Team's running. Due to the great responsibility regards as field leader, Batman also seems to expect a great deal more from Aqualad, and as a result is forced to question Aqualad's ability to lead when he becomes homesick. This results in Batman giving him the ultimatum of selecting between leading the Team or going back to Atlantis. In the end, Aqualad chooses to remain with the Team, which gains Batman's silent approval.[8]
Alfred is the butler of the Wayne family and primary caregiver for both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. After Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, Alfred did not act as a father toward Bruce, feeling it was not his place and maintained the distance of a proper English butler. It has been one of his biggest regrets, and his behavior towards Dick is vastly different because of it.[28]
Appearances
Background in other media
Batman's personality is in some ways softer than he is normally portrayed. Where in other versions of the character he is completely cold, manipulative and at times inconsiderate, here Batman seems more willing to listen to others, and is quick to compliment people on their actions. He also is more optimistic than other versions of the character.
Batman and Green Arrow are the only two Justice League members without any physical powers, just like their sidekicks, Robin, Speedy, and Artemis.
Batman's role as "general" for the Team is actually similar to his role in the comics as leader of the Outsiders.
Batman is voiced by Bruce Greenwood, who reprises his role from Batman: Under the Red Hood.
This is the 14th animated incarnation of Bruce Wayne as Batman. Previous versions have included The Adventures of Batman, The Batman/Superman Hour, Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder, a Scooby-Doo crossover movie, various Super Friends series, DC Animated Universe series (Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond, Static Shock), Batman Gotham Knight, The Batman, Justice League: The New Frontier, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman: Under the Red Hood, the Superman/Batman movies (Public Enemies & Apocalypse). Batman's shadow also made a very obscure "cameo" 15th animated appearance in an episode of Teen Titans.
Batman has appeared in numerous live-action series and movies including the 1943 Batman serials, the 1949 Batman & Robin Serials, the Adam West Batman TV series and film, the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher films (Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin), and the Christopher Nolan films (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises). He also had a cameo appearance in the short-lived Birds of Prey TV show.
