So why do you think The Dark Knight has endured for 75 years when others haven't?

I personally think because he's a Chameleon, he can change to fit the decade, environment or story whatever the writer, artist, animator or director feels fit for him.

Not only for the reasons you mentioned but also because he is cool, badass, and relatable. Plus he has been pushed for the entirety of those 75 years. All the movies and shows and games

He's constantly being pushed out to the public. Movies, Cartoons, Toys, Comics, you name it. It's hard to fade away when you're always there especially when you put your best people on that property.

Because he's Batman.

He's flexible in a way most characters in his tier of pop culture saturation aren't.

Pretty much what everyone else has said. Batman's one of the most flexible and enduring characters in all of fiction, and has deep ties to every part of pop culture.

@saren: Stop posting such legitimate and agreeable answers! It's weird...

He has gone through things that people care about and even as strange as it sounds he is pretty relateable.

He's just cool. Everything about him reeks with awesomeness.

I think there is something incredibly pure about Batman. Having the suit, tech, and vehicles is also a very cool. Love the tech!

This

^this

Because he can be interpreted in different ways that work.

As cool as Batman is, it's not just about him. It's also that he is surrounded by the best ensemble cast. All of the supporting characters have depth: Alfred, Gordon, Bullock... I haven't even named a rouge yet. Batman wouldn't be as interesting if all he did was interact with flat, two dimensional characters.

..I think its the fact that he has had optimal exposure to successive generations, through the TV Show, Films in every decade since the 80s and brilliant comic books like those by Frank Miller that really catapulted him to the top of the popularity tree. Plus people these days like darker, grittier more realistic stuff, hence Bats has got more popular and Supes a bit less popular. Overall, he's a great character!

Simple. Movies. Majorly pushed more than other DC characters. No other reason. He is not intrinsically cooler than Wonder Woman Flash Shazam or most superheroes in the DC cannon.

the character change alot thru out the years is my guess

It's not really that simple. Batman's had seven movies. Superman's had six. Batman hasn't had a live-action TV show for over 40 years. Superman had a live-action TV show that lasted ten seasons and still continues in comic book form. Does the one extra movie account for the gap so wide Batman's eponymous series currently sells as many issues as Action Comics, Superman and Superman/Wonder Woman all put together?

Batman is pushed more than other DC character, true; but the reason for that is that he's easier to push, and that goes back to the fact that he's more flexible than any of the other DC characters in his popularity tier. Look at Superman and Wonder Woman, for example: they're archetypes. They represent certain things and are meant to always represent certain things, and so people come to automatically expect a certain portrayal from each of them. People don't like it when Clark or Diana get moody or nihilistic or perpetually grim --- they pick up Superman or Wonder Woman because they know what to expect and they want what they expect. Those expectations are looser with Batman because he's not restricted to any one portrayal. A writer can write a heartwalming story about Batman saving Christmas for orphans and people will like that, or he can write a grim story about Batman hunting down macabre killers, or he can write stories where Batman's friends all moan about what a pain in the ass he is, or he can write stories about Batman just spending some quality time with his son, and all of those things will fit portrayals of Batman that fans have grown comfortable with. Batman can be things Superman and Wonder Woman are not allowed to be because fans do not like them being those things, and that allows a greater variety of stories to come out of Gotham.

A writer can't decide he wants to start his run with a story about Superman abandoning his Clark Kent identity for good and refusing to have any contact with Lois or Perry or any of his friends because it's just a useless mask he feels he doesn't need anymore. A story like that will go down as one of the worst Superman stories ever written. On the other hand, Ed Brubaker can write exactly that for Batman in Fugitive and people will not find much of a problem with it. Flexibility.

The last point is entirely subjective. Whether Batman is cooler than anyone else comes down to what someone thinks is cool; I could say that Wonder Woman is a terrible character whose message and values are basically redundant as long as Superman is around, and it would have as much veracity as your statements about Batman.

@saren: Hey, just wanted to ask you a question Batman related. How was the recent Detective Comics #30 with the creative team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccelato? I'm going to my comic shop tomorrow, and I don't usually read many comics Batman related, but I'm pretty keen on the creative team really. Is is something you'd recommend checking out?

He's relate-able in some areas. Not the super hero crime fighting aspect but that he has so much baggage he has to deal with so many problems but he finds a way to endure through all of that and make something out of life. Most people would have given up on life but Bruce made a difference with his life. He didn't turn over and give up. That's something people can relate to and can motivate themselves to try and replicate.

@wolverine08: It's a good jumping on point. I'd recommend it.

@wolverine08:

Batman is the ultimate underdog and the ultimate tale of effort>talent. He also represents the best of humanity so you want to cheer for him. It is like watching your national team in the Olympics, you know you have no chance of doing it but you still fill an affinity with them despite it.

@saren: Thanks.