Follow

    Batman

    Character » Batman appears in 23535 issues.

    Bruce Wayne, who witnessed the murder of his billionaire parents as a child, swore to avenge their deaths. He trained extensively to achieve mental and physical perfection, mastering martial arts, detective skills, and criminal psychology. Costumed as a bat to prey on the fears of criminals, and utilizing a high-tech arsenal, he became the legendary Batman.

    Batman: What the hell?

    Avatar image for blacklightning13
    Blacklightning13

    937

    Forum Posts

    411

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #1  Edited By Blacklightning13

    Why is it that he is meant to be some selfless Superhero and yet he lives in a mansion and is a billionaire? Sure he needs money for his "other life" but why doesn't he spend some of his money on all the people starving in the world? Like when Hush posed as Batman and gave away I believe 1 billion dollars a month. Of course he would run out of money quickly at that speed but he could donate at a slower rate. He would also need some in reserve like about 100million dollars. But he can still donate a hell of a lot.

    Here's another one. Why doesn't he use a powered suit? I know for street level and patrolling it is better to just go with his costume but what about the rest of the time? He could where a suit for people like killer croc and Clayface. Also why does he need to train a youngster for several years when he can find the most morally appropriate adults and give them powered suits. He once claimed (can't remember issue number) he had reverse engineered the suit of every powered suit villain in the JLA database. He normally uses it to disable the suits but he could also use it to build some powered suits by taking the best parts from several different villains designs.

    Avatar image for fodigg
    fodigg

    6244

    Forum Posts

    2603

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 7

    #2  Edited By fodigg

    Batman is a big philanthropist. Sure, he also dresses up like a vampire and beats up poor people, but what can you do?

    Avatar image for saren
    Saren

    27947

    Forum Posts

    213824

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 14

    User Lists: 12

    #3  Edited By Saren

    He gives tons of money to charity. Read something.

    He has several powered suits. He doesn't use them because his whole character revolves around being one of the best despite not having any powers. He has tech to fight people like Croc, Clayface and Ivy. He doesn't just seek out random youngsters to train. He trained Dick because he'd lost his parents to crime and so was most likely to support his cause. He trained Jason in an effort to keep him from entering a life of crime. He trained Tim because he'd broken into the Batcave and found out who Batman and Nightwing were. He trained Damian because he didn't want his son to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandfather.

    Avatar image for skunkstein
    Skunkstein

    644

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #4  Edited By Skunkstein

    @CitizenBane said:

    He gives tons of money to charity. Read something.

    He has several powered suits. He doesn't use them because his whole character revolves around being one of the best despite not having any powers. He has tech to fight people like Croc, Clayface and Ivy. He doesn't just seek out random youngsters to train. He trained Dick because he'd lost his parents to crime and so was most likely to support his cause. He trained Jason in an effort to keep him from entering a life of crime. He trained Tim because he'd broken into the Batcave and found out who Batman and Nightwing were. He trained Damian because he didn't want his son to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandfather.

    This...

    And on the whole powersuit thingy. Thats really a question to you ask to ALL superheroes without any real superpowers, i mean in most universes (Not only DC) youre in a world with aliens, ''super'' tech and much more advanced tech than that you have in our ''universe''... That and most heroes know at least 1 or have connections to at least few super geniuses, who is able to build a superpowered suit, so really.. why dont all non-superpowered heroes not get a suit. Because it would ruin their character and they would be boring to read.

    - On a side note.. Bruce Wayne does use a power suit in a lot of his future versions, but i think thats due to old age more than actually wanting to use it.

    Avatar image for jrock85
    jrock85

    2882

    Forum Posts

    2684

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 8

    #5  Edited By jrock85

    Wow.

    Avatar image for batteredarmor
    BatteredArmor

    6234

    Forum Posts

    44

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 0

    #6  Edited By BatteredArmor

    After No mans land Bruce has poured tons of dough into Gotham in hopes of transforming it. Not only that but he it's also mentioned off hand in several occasions that he helps people outside of Gotham, like how he provides body armor for U.S troops and how he's in discussion with Russia about improving there healthcare system. And while there's no canon reason for him to not use power suits from a real life perspective it destroys the characters purpose

    Avatar image for wildvalentine
    WildValentine

    306

    Forum Posts

    3

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 2

    #7  Edited By WildValentine

    /facepalm

    Avatar image for revamp
    ReVamp

    23014

    Forum Posts

    8330

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 13

    #8  Edited By ReVamp

    lol.

    Avatar image for thegoldenone
    TheGoldenOne

    38932

    Forum Posts

    55541

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 12

    #9  Edited By TheGoldenOne
    @CitizenBane said:

    He gives tons of money to charity. Read something.

    He has several powered suits. He doesn't use them because his whole character revolves around being one of the best despite not having any powers. He has tech to fight people like Croc, Clayface and Ivy. He doesn't just seek out random youngsters to train. He trained Dick because he'd lost his parents to crime and so was most likely to support his cause. He trained Jason in an effort to keep him from entering a life of crime. He trained Tim because he'd broken into the Batcave and found out who Batman and Nightwing were. He trained Damian because he didn't want his son to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandfather.

    ^
    Avatar image for deactivated-5d1828448d5f0
    deactivated-5d1828448d5f0

    6064

    Forum Posts

    398

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 6

    User Lists: 21

    @WildValentine said:

    /facepalm

    Avatar image for billy_batson
    Billy Batson

    62287

    Forum Posts

    1286746

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 11

    #11  Edited By Billy Batson

    lol.
    BB

    Avatar image for superbatprime
    superbatprime

    130

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #12  Edited By superbatprime

    Ok, I'll have a crack at it.

    For question one, why doesn't Bruce Wayne give away tons of money?

    Uh.. he does, this is basic Bruce Wayne character trait 101, Bruce Wayne is an internationally renowned philanthropist and the sheer scale of his charitable work requires that both him and his company are worth billions, economics man, it's technical.

    I don't see any reason he should beggar himself for charity and considering the amount of times the man has literally saved the entire planet... I'd say the money used to finance Batman is money well spent.

    Also his own (refreshingly realist) answer to that question can be found in a conversation he has with Jezebel Jet at an art exhibition, I'll leave it to you to find it (you know the one, it's about 5 minutes before a bunch of ninja Manbats attack, "alarming twist").

    Powered armour?

    Dude... He's already wearing it.

    Kevlar/nomex reinforced suit, plating underneath, cooling systems, the cowl contains AR HUD, communications suite and some nifty gas vents, the cape as we all know is flame-proof, weighted tips, ribbed and capable of gliding and slowing descent.

    The gauntlets contain a wrist top computer (ref: TAS), sap knuckles, probably more but I'm not going through every book on the shelf here just what I can remember.

    The entire suit contains enough of an electrical charge to knock a person out cold and obviously therefore can be used to power external devices.

    And all that is before we even mention the belt, which I'm sure we all know is not just a bunch of pouches with gadgets in them.

    All of the above is supported by many many Batman stories over the years, details may change but I assure you the message is clear...

    Do not be so naive as to think this man is running around in just a spandex suit with a tool-belt around his waist.

    But if you do think that, Bruce would be satisfied because that's exactly what he wants you to think.

    As for why he trains youngsters instead of adults... Bruce never asked for nor sought out any of the Robins (with the debatable exception of Jason).

    They all came to him through circumstances of fate (and writing) and after Jason died he vehemently resisted the idea of ever taking on another Robin, I'm sure you can remember the hell Tim went through to get accepted.

    Dick wouldn't have become Robin if Bruce Wayne had not gone to the circus that night, just dumb luck or fate that Bruce Wayne witnesses a boy go through exactly what he did... It's not a great stretch of psychological reasoning to see how that kid ended up as his sidekick.

    Jason... Well as I said, debatable and not exactly well written (more like "we want a new Robin, write any old crappy reason for them meeting, just do it fast").

    Damian is his son and became Robin in his absence.

    Steph... well let's not even go there. >.> But those were exceptional circumstances and had a lot more to do with Tim leaving than Steph joining (or Bruce wanting her to) at the time.

    Anyway I don't really count Steph as a Robin, she was just a rebound (sorry Spoiler fans!).

    Anyway, that's all just my opinion, agree or disagree it's always fun to think about these things.

    Avatar image for deactivated-5d1828448d5f0
    deactivated-5d1828448d5f0

    6064

    Forum Posts

    398

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 6

    User Lists: 21

    @superbatprime said:

    Ok, I'll have a crack at it.

    For question one, why doesn't Bruce Wayne give away tons of money?

    Uh.. he does, this is basic Bruce Wayne character trait 101, Bruce Wayne is an internationally renowned philanthropist and the sheer scale of his charitable work requires that both him and his company are worth billions, economics man, it's technical.

    I don't see any reason he should beggar himself for charity and considering the amount of times the man has literally saved the entire planet... I'd say the money used to finance Batman is money well spent.

    Also his own (refreshingly realist) answer to that question can be found in a conversation he has with Jezebel Jet at an art exhibition, I'll leave it to you to find it (you know the one, it's about 5 minutes before a bunch of ninja Manbats attack, "alarming twist").

    Powered armour?

    Dude... He's already wearing it.

    Kevlar/nomex reinforced suit, plating underneath, cooling systems, the cowl contains AR HUD, communications suite and some nifty gas vents, the cape as we all know is flame-proof, weighted tips, ribbed and capable of gliding and slowing descent.

    The gauntlets contain a wrist top computer (ref: TAS), sap knuckles, probably more but I'm not going through every book on the shelf here just what I can remember.

    The entire suit contains enough of an electrical charge to knock a person out cold and obviously therefore can be used to power external devices.

    And all that is before we even mention the belt, which I'm sure we all know is not just a bunch of pouches with gadgets in them.

    All of the above is supported by many many Batman stories over the years, details may change but I assure you the message is clear...

    Do not be so naive as to think this man is running around in just a spandex suit with a tool-belt around his waist.

    But if you do think that, Bruce would be satisfied because that's exactly what he wants you to think.

    As for why he trains youngsters instead of adults... Bruce never asked for nor sought out any of the Robins (with the debatable exception of Jason).

    They all came to him through circumstances of fate (and writing) and after Jason died he vehemently resisted the idea of ever taking on another Robin, I'm sure you can remember the hell Tim went through to get accepted.

    Dick wouldn't have become Robin if Bruce Wayne had not gone to the circus that night, just dumb luck or fate that Bruce Wayne witnesses a boy go through exactly what he did... It's not a great stretch of psychological reasoning to see how that kid ended up as his sidekick.

    Jason... Well as I said, debatable and not exactly well written (more like "we want a new Robin, write any old crappy reason for them meeting, just do it fast").

    Damian is his son and became Robin in his absence.

    Steph... well let's not even go there. >.> But those were exceptional circumstances and had a lot more to do with Tim leaving than Steph joining (or Bruce wanting her to) at the time.

    Anyway I don't really count Steph as a Robin, she was just a rebound (sorry Spoiler fans!).

    Anyway, that's all just my opinion, agree or disagree it's always fun to think about these things.

    No Caption Provided
    Avatar image for superguy0009e
    Superguy0009e

    2404

    Forum Posts

    2663

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 2

    User Lists: 0

    #14  Edited By Superguy0009e

    This is how I put it:

    Bruce Wayne is still a billionaire out of symbolism

    Think, the stereotype of rich people is that they never work, yet Bruce has put more effort into his work than anoyne. It's symbolism

    As for armour, idk, personal preference

    Avatar image for ssejllenrad
    ssejllenrad

    13112

    Forum Posts

    145

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #15  Edited By ssejllenrad

    @superbatprime: Wow! Great post!

    Avatar image for r3d_rob1n
    r3d_rob1n

    543

    Forum Posts

    90

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #16  Edited By r3d_rob1n

    @Blacklightning13 said:

    Here's another one. Why doesn't he use a powered suit?... He once claimed (can't remember issue number) he had reverse engineered the suit of every powered suit villain in the JLA database. He normally uses it to disable the suits

    One of the possible reasons that Bruce does not wear a power suit can be answered right here in your post. If he wore a suit like Luthor or even Iron Man from Marvel, then there is the possibility that it can be hacked by villains and be used to effectively shut down Batman. Now you may be saying, well then why doesn't Bruce just take off the armor and fight normally after his armor is hacked? What an amazing question you had there OP, let me tell you why. If he is wearing a power suit the whole time then there is a good chance that his martial arts skills will deteriorate, as these skills need to be constantly practiced to keep up technique. Also the odds of him wearing a utility belt under the suit is extremely unlikely, losing that tactical edge that makes Batman so damn sexy. If Bruce is not wearing a utility belt under the powered exo suit, then odds are that he also isn't wearing a secondary cowl. This would expose his alter ego as Bruce Wayne. Not only would this seriously compromise Bruce from evil threats while the poor overworked man is trying to sleep, but it would also introduce the problem of every ungrateful Gothamite who may have been injured as a bystander in a Batman fight to attempt to extract money from Wayne Enterprises. Not only would this end up depleting Bruce's wealth faster than you would imagine, but it would prevent him from using his wealth to update his armor, making it easier to hack, and resulting in the main reason why he should not have a powered exo-suit.

    Avatar image for fadetoblackbolt
    FadeToBlackBolt

    23389

    Forum Posts

    8725

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 25

    User Lists: 6

    #17  Edited By FadeToBlackBolt

    I hate threads where the answer is as simple as;

    READ THE DAMN COMIC

    Avatar image for blacklightning13
    Blacklightning13

    937

    Forum Posts

    411

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #18  Edited By Blacklightning13

    @r3d_rob1n: You do realize you are making batman sound stupid. He is possibly in the top 5 smartest people in the DC Earth. He of course knows his suit could be hacked so he would where his utility belt under his armour, he would where a cowl and finally I did say:

    I know for street level and patrolling it is better to just go with his costume...

    So his skill wouldn't deteriorate because he would only use the suit maybe 1 in 50 fights.

    @superbatprime: First of all he has lots more money then what he spends on batman. Also think about it why does he need 20-50 (depends on the artist and writer) bat-mobile's? He needs I would say 5-10. Then he has all his other vehicles which is fine beecause he tends to only have 1 for each of them and they are all pretty much necessary (except maybe the bat-trane which he had for a period in the 80's). Also think about his life style he has more then enough money to get by.

    Second of all you seem to think i don't know his armour. It is probably the thing i have spent the most of my time drawing (am sort of an engineer). But think of the level his suit is on then look at what could be. It could give him super strength, he could shoot projectiles (like baterangs and stuff), jet pack to fly and finally increased speed (i mean like running speed).

    Thirdly and finally, I may have made it unclear in the OP but what I meant was not that he shouldn't have child sidekicks but it was more that he could find adults that have the morality (so nothing like Jason or Damian will happen again). Then give them a powered suit instead of training them for 5 years. This way he could quite quickly add people to the fight against crime. He could even have the suits on standby until he needs the assistance or the city does. Such as when there is a big threat that requires either a lot of power or many hands to assist.

    Avatar image for static_shock
    Static Shock

    53208

    Forum Posts

    12480

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 0

    #19  Edited By Static Shock
    @FadeToBlackBolt said:

    I hate threads where the answer is as simple as;

    READ THE DAMN COMIC

    Chill. 
    Avatar image for superbatprime
    superbatprime

    130

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #20  Edited By superbatprime

    @FadeToBlackBolt said:

    I hate threads where the answer is as simple as;

    READ THE DAMN COMIC

    Woah easy Tiger.

    You're not wrong however as all 3 points have pretty much been answered in the comics, but it's fun to hammer these things out anyway and less work than going through backissues.

    Anyway back to the topic.

    Now I'm going to contradict what I just said... OP I urge you to read (the DAMN COMIC! , j/k :P) the conversation Bruce has with Jezebel about being rich and philanthropy etc, it's brief but gets the point across. It's in Batman & Son (I think it's B&S... Ninja Manbats show up if that helps any)

    Also you need to understand that Bruce and Wayne Enterprises are a single entity economically, look at real world examples of philanthropic rich dudes who own mulitnational corporations, Branson and Virgin for example, it's far more complex an issue than you are painting it.

    Why doesn't Tony Stark do the same?

    Hell, why doesn't superman just crush piles of coal into diamonds and make everybody on the planet a millionaire? (once again I direct you to Bruce and Jezebel at the art show).

    On the armor question, fair enough, you understand the suit and it's various functions... But I think you don't quite understand the man wearing it.

    The answer is nothing to do with the practicalities of crimefighting and everything to do with the psychology of the man himself.

    Bruce and the city, Batman and the myth he has created.

    You should reread act one of Year one.

    He has created this icon, this creature... Most street level thugs don't even think he's human, they think he's a monster, a shade, a demon.

    He could wear armor and hover in the air on jetboots and zap all the bad guys with stun rays or rapid fire batarangs shooting out of his gauntlets ( where have we seen that before?).

    But then he's just a man in an armored suit... No longer a myth, no longer seemingly doing the impossible, no longer more than a man (I know it seems like a self contradicting statement, Batman in powered armor becomes more human and ergo more vulnerable in his enemies eyes but think about it).

    Not only that but you have to understand the violence inherent in Wayne's personality... He likes to get down in the dirt, he likes to use his hands, to feel the battle up close.

    He likes to use the skills he has, he likes to push himself to the limit, he likes to take the hard path, that's a basic Batman trait.

    In short, I suspect Bruce would feel that the use of such an augmented suit as standard practice would make him soft.

    He has augmented armors aplenty and if needed he has no issues using them (as we've seen many times) it's just that 99% of the time... He simply doesn't need it.

    On to the final point, Bruce recruiting and equipping adult allies with power armor.

    First of all (and this goes back to my first point about sidekicks in my earlier post) Bruce has never ever asked for help, in fact (and please correct me if I'm wrong) up until Batman INC, Bruce has never directly sought to recruit anyone, except Jason Todd. (at this point I give you a meaningful look -.-)

    The Batman effect people often cite as the cause of super-villains in Gotham also applies to heroes imo.

    But that aside, he already has a large network of adult allies both in Gotham and on call to help Gotham.

    Huntress, Ragman, that bald assassin chick, Babs, Dick etc, plenty more I can't think of right off the bat (pun!) I'm sure.

    Remember the 'network' that came together to defend Gotham after Final Crisis?

    Anyway, I suspect if Bruce approached them with suits of power armor they'd politely decline (Imagine Dick wearing power armor? He could barely tolerate a cape!), they have their own styles and abilities.

    (Although to be fair, I never understood why Babs didn't wear exoskeleton support on her legs at least).

    Also you said instead of training them for 7 years or whatever he could just give them the armor...

    Are you crazy? They'd be dead on their first night out.

    Training for that kind of lifestyle is not just about causing destruction or beating people down... There is just as much mental preparation and discipline required to survive that kind of life, arguably far more than the physical requirements... Just look at poor old Jason.

    btw, is the correct spelling "armour" or "armor"? Because I always spell it "armour" but google spellcheck is busting me over it.

    Anyway... your turn OP. :)

    Avatar image for foxandwall
    foxandwall

    52

    Forum Posts

    12

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #21  Edited By foxandwall
    @superbatprime: I think it is because the spelling difference between American English and British English. 
    "Armour" is the one been used in British English. 
    Avatar image for blacklightning13
    Blacklightning13

    937

    Forum Posts

    411

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #22  Edited By Blacklightning13

    @foxandwall: That's correct except its just America that uses "America English" but all the other countries in the world that speak English as a first language speak the original English.

    Avatar image for blacklightning13
    Blacklightning13

    937

    Forum Posts

    411

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    #23  Edited By Blacklightning13

    @superbatprime: Ok i have read the comic, don't own the comic and i don't remember what they say. Could you refresh my memory. Also I'm not talking about him wearing the armour routinely but like when there is a crisis or some really heavy duty enemies. Like you said he has armour but doesn't where it most of the time. Or when there is somewhere he has to be quickly but doesn't have his other vehicles. What I meant by his armour is making it conventional. Such as having several armours each more heavy duty then the last. Also isn't driving in a car or flying a plane (not so much the plane, I an imagine that its quite intimidating). also kind of taking away the mysteriousness of it all. So I think a suit of armour wouldn't be to bad. Just in case anyway he won't wear it on patrol or anything just when he has to take down a big threat that requires the power set that goes with a powersuit.

    For the allies what I meant is find a police officer or someone who has the moral standing but has had the training so they will know what to do. Also I don't mean he should get his allies to wear armour but just have new allies with armour.

    Also on a final note why doesn't he be more like Prometheus. Batman has plans to take down all his allies but he mainly (he often uses sonic's on Killer croc and stuff like that.) just goes with normal Batman skill to take down his enemies. He could take down enemies faster if he moved with more specialized weapons. Why doesn't he make his suit have anti weapons like a poison for ivy's plants that he just has a couple of small pellets of in his utility belt (or go even more like Prometheus and shoot out the wrist for quick dispensing of damage).

    Avatar image for tunsieon
    Tunsieon

    322

    Forum Posts

    1

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #24  Edited By Tunsieon

    @superbatprime said:

    that bald assassin chick

    You mean Onyx?

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.