< Batman < Characters

Batman/Characters/And Bat Family


This page has Batman and his allies that are "officially" part of the Bat-family. Bold indicates currently[when?] held identities.

Tropes shared by the whole Batfamily


Batman (Bruce Wayne)

"Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on -- none of you are safe."

Bruce Wayne was a carefree child born into the humongously wealthy and prominent Wayne family, but one night, after seeing a movie (usually something to do with Zorro - if you know the background of Zorro, you'll know why that's important), he and his loving parents took a shortcut through a dark alleyway, inevitably leading to a mugger (usually named Joe Chill in most versions) shooting both of them dead.

The distraught Bruce was raised in current continuity by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, as well as the family doctor, Leslie Thompkins. (Pre Crisis, Bruce was raised by his uncle Philip Wayne, with Alfred only joining the Wayne household in Bruce's adulthood). The memory, however, would never fade, and Bruce, realizing what a Crapsack World Gotham was, decided to do something about it.

As soon as he was of age to inherit the family fortune, Bruce engaged on a world-wide journey, rigorously studying mathematics, science, martial arts, you name it. Many years later, he returned to Gotham, ready to fight crime as a vigilante, but on his first night out, realized that he lacked one element: fear.

Remembering an incident in his youth when he stumbled into a cave full of bats and the sudden appearance of a bat that had crashed into his sitting room, he decided to adopt a bat motif and become the legendary figure Batman. This has worked to some degree, as most common criminals are scared shitless of him, and organized crime began to lose its hold on the city, but nearly as soon as Batman made his debut, a new breed of criminals began to pop up... ones dressed in garish costumes and bearing colorful masks... which unfortunately causes many people to wonder if Batman is directly responsible for the criminals he faces.

As years went on, Bruce has joined many superteams in the fight against crime, most notably the Justice League of America and the Outsiders. Unfortunately, due to the growing cynicism in the DC Universe, Batman began to distrust others more and more, which was ultimately addressed in Infinite Crisis, where the Brother Eye satellite he created was responsible for the creation and control of the metahuman-hunting cyborgs, the O.M.A.C.s. Following his Heel Realization, Bruce took off for a year in order to rebuild Batman. Recently, he was the target of the villainous organization, the Black Glove, who wished to break him utterly and kill him. Barely escaping, he was tortured by the New God Darkseid to be used as a template for new soldiers. After an attempt to kill Darkseid, Bruce Wayne was ultimately 'killed' by the Omega Sanction which sent his soul into an endless loop of lives, each one worse than the last. As expected of as popular a character as he, he came back, and he decided to make the Batman idea an international organization called Batman, Inc, while leaving the title of Gotham's Batman to his first Robin Dick Grayson. After the New 52 reboot, Bruce is back to being Gotham's Batman.

Note that while Bruce Wayne is the most famous and most shown Batman, he is by no means the only one. Various other characters have taken up the mantle. But make no mistake: he is THE Batman. If anyone ever just refers to "Batman", they're referring to Bruce. Terry, Azrael, and Dick typically need an addendum to the name if you're talking about them.

  • The Ace/Broken Ace: While Bruce stands head and shoulders above the greater majority of heroes in the DCU, it's fairly obvious that in doing so he's not the most well-adjusted or emotionally mature individual, has great difficulty forming close relationships, and frequently experiences friction with people whom he is close to. This is also occasionally acknowledged by Bruce himself; in one instance, Nightwing laments over the belief that he can never match up to Bruce, who assures him that despite living a very similar life in the same line of work Dick hadn't allowed it to mess him up as much, having a much more positive personality and maintaining a good relationship with just about every fellow hero he knows, and as such was already better than him.
  • Adult Child: A rather subtle version, believe it or not. Never mind the fact that dressing up as a giant bat and swearing to exterminate crime seems like a rather childish thing to do, it could be argued that Bruce's emotional development was stunted the moment his parents died. Add to the fact that he seems to relate to young people (re: the Robins and Batgirls) better then he does adults and many stories also make note of the fact that while all criminals fear Batman, children do not.
    • This was Lampshaded in a Marvel/DC crossover with The Punisher, where the Joker mused that Batman must have had a similar tragedy to that of Frank Castle, but Batman's tragedy must have happened when he was a child -- dressing up in a costume, and nifty gadgets are more a child's ideas than Castle's skull motifs and machine guns.
    • Made more apparent in Flashpoint. The Batman of that universe is essentially the same tragedy, but with Bruce dying instead of his parents.
  • All Guys Want Bad Girls: Bats likes his women tough, dangerous and morally ambiguous. Hence his clear preference for villainesses such as Talia Al Ghul (whom he got over) and Catwoman (whom he likes much more than he would ever admit). He actually used this to figure out that someone was actually a villainess.
    • You forgot about Jezebel Jet
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: After Selina got badly hurt by Hush who was trying to get to him through her, Bruce visits her at the hospital, unmasked, and eventually confesses that she's the only woman to have ever held a place in his heart.
  • Anti-Hero: Generally a Type II or III. In his earliest days, he was a Type IV and actually willfully killed criminals, a stark contrast to his Thou Shalt Not Kill attitude in modern times.
  • Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Most of his major rogues.
  • Badass: This is a given. No other normal human has ever given Superman such an ass-kicking as Batman.
  • Badass Cape
  • Badass Normal: He is the very embodiment of this trope. Those who do not realize this usually end up learning it all too well.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space: Trope Namer.
  • Batman Gambit: Trope Namer. Again.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension / Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Catwoman, mostly. And, even though he hates to admit it, he thoroughly enjoys it. So does she.
  • Berserk Button: Don't hurt his sidekicks. Or any children in front of him.
  • Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: In Superman: Red Son. Also, he's been described as an "idealist anarchist" (of all things) by Frank Miller. So did one of the actors who played him.
  • Bruce Wayne Held Hostage: Trope Namer.
  • Building Swing: Goes hand in hand with his Grappling Hook Gun.
  • Byronic Hero
  • Captain Ersatz: On his first appearance, he was basically The Shadow in a bat costume. There's also quite a bit of Zorro in his DNA, which has been acknowledged in most recent versions by establishing that it was a Zorro movie he and his parents went to see on the fatal night.
  • Characterization Marches On: To be expected with over 70 years of comics. It may be particularly jarring for some readers though, upon seeing some of his earlier incarnations. The 60's version with Camp springs to mind, but even further back, in his first published adventures, Batman killed people, and had no problems whatsoever using a gun. While it is understandable, given both the time period, as well as that this was just the first incarnation of the character, it's still a far cry from the Batman known by most people today.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower: Like you wouldn't believe.
  • Chest Insignia: Either it's just a Bat logo, or the Bat logo in a yellow circle. Depends on who's drawing it.
  • The Chessmaster: One of the most intelligent superheroes and an utterly brilliant tactician. If you don't have a superpower then improve your smarts instead.
  • Clear My Name: occupational hazard of having dubious PR, plot of the major storyline Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive.
  • Combat Pragmatist
  • The Comically Serious: Especially in storylines featuring the JLA.
  • Cool Car, Cool Plane, Cool Boat, and Cool Garage
  • Covered with Scars: His body is often shown to be covered in scars from his multiple fights.
  • The Cowl
  • Crazy Prepared: A good thing for the most part, but unfortunately this led him to create the rogue program Brother Eye.
  • Creepy Good: Some interpretations of Batman's membership in the Justice League are portrayed this way. Everyone has their seat at the table, and Batman's off in a corner being quiet (if you notice him at all).
  • Dark Is Not Evil
  • Dating Catwoman: With the obvious, but also with Jezebel Jet, Lady Shiva (well, maybe that was more UST), Talia Al Ghul and a few others. He's well aware of his penchant for this trope and it's actually an important plot point in R.I.P.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes. For example, from his DCAU iteration:

Batman: [on dating within the Justice League] One: dating within the team always leads to disaster. Two: you're a princess from a society of immortal warriors; I'm a rich kid with issues... lots of issues.

  • Death Glare: Quite famous for using these.
  • Death Is Cheap: Bruce's set to return in The Return of Bruce Wayne and it was recently revealed in the tie-ins to Blackest Night that the corpse Superman found and was buried was an Ax Crazy Darkseid-created clone.
  • Depending on the Writer: Having a seventy-year history will result in massive amounts of this.
  • Doesn't Like Guns: Post Golden Age. Missiles, lasers, and other things, particularly weapons systems mounted on his vehicles, seem to be fair game, as long as they don't resemble pistols. He'll also pick up a gun under extremely dire circumstances, such as shooting Darkseid in order to save the universe.
  • Double Consciousness
  • The Dreaded: Is feared even by many superpowered criminals and those who don't fear Superman.
  • Elseworlds: Batman has had quite a few Elseworld stories about him, but the one that was most memorable (and actually influenced the mainstream Batman and the comics medium in general) was The Dark Knight Returns. That besides, he may be the single most popular subject of Elseworlds tales.
  • Escape Artist: Go find a collection of Batman comics and count the number of times he's successfully escaped a trap. We'll wait.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: In Final Crisis, Darkseid blasted Batman with the Omega Sanction and puts Bruce in a loop of horrible lives.
  • Fiction 500
  • Foe Yay: He has this with most of his Rogues Gallery. But no one else gets as much as the Joker does.
  • Genius Bruiser: One of the most intelligent heroes in comics and can stand toe-to-toe with many superpowered characters.
  • Genre Savvy: Part of what makes him such an excellent tactician.
  • Good Is Not Nice: In the comic book world, he's the epitome of the trope.
  • Grandfather Clause: Probably one of the only characters to not get laughed at for placing "Bat" in front of his equipment.
    • Though in recent years he has done this a lot less. He refers to the Batmobile and Batcave as "The car" and "The cave", and it's his sidekicks who employ the funny names. He does still call his favored weapons "Batarangs", though.
  • Grappling Hook Gun
  • Guile Hero: Oh yea. He's one of the sharpest heroes in DC universe of them all. Of course, if you lack superpowers than make them up with wits and smarts. There's a reason why he's called the "World's Greatest Detective".
  • He's Back: And HOW. After his adventures to get back to the present, Batman is back in the saddle and ready to give Dr. Hurt the beat-down of his life.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: His Bruce persona is generally portrayed this way.
  • Identity Impersonator: He's probably done it as much as Superman!
  • It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Has been forced to give up many a love interest because of this.
  • I Work Alone: Suuuure you do.
  • Jack of All Trades: Among the members of the Bat-Family, Bruce is this in terms of overall ability (at least when writers aren't going full-on 'Bat-God' mode). He isn't the natural acrobat or leader Dick Grayson is, he doesn't have the level of computer and intel-gathering skills Oracle has, he lacks Cassandra Cain's incredible martial arts ability, and even admitted to himself that Tim Drake would eventually surpass him as the World's Greatest Detective. But the fact that he is still very good in all such fields allow him to more then pull his own weight whatever the circumstance. Fairly reasonable, considering the implications that would result in him actually being the best at everything.
  • Jerkass: Four words - I'm the Goddamn Batman!
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice
  • Latex Perfection: He's ripped off masks to reveal his entire costume underneath, ears and all.
  • Lethal Chef: He even screws up tuna sandwiches.
  • Morality Chain: Jim Gordon has pulled him back from the brink of Knight Templardom more than once, including shooting him to keep him from killing the Joker.
  • My Greatest Failure: Bruce has had a few, although he believes that every failure he encounters is his fault. The top five that stick out most though are (in chronological order): The "creation" of The Joker, the descent of Harvey Dent to Two-Face, Jason Todd and his death, losing control of Gotham's gangs during War Games that lead to the torture of Stephanie Brown and forced her to flee, and allowing his suspicions of his fellow supers to overcome him and building Brother Eye, which then hi-jacked by Max Lord and led to the death of Ted Kord.
  • Nineties Anti-Hero: Ever wonder why Azrael (AKA Batman Az Bats) was brought in? It was due to Bats demonstrating way too much of this trope in the eighties (The Killing Joke is a prime example).
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: His guise as Bruce Wayne pretty much demands it.
    • Depending on the Writer, Bruce Wayne is still a well-respected philanthropist and (occasionally) scientist. It's just he's also an international playboy.
  • Offhand Backhand
  • Offscreen Teleportation
  • Orphan's Ordeal: He watched his parents die as a kid...
  • Overprotective Dad: According to fandom, he's this.
    • Pretty much canon when Batgirl III was dating Superboy.
  • Papa Wolf: Don't hurt his sidekicks. That's all.
    • Friend to All Children: Don't hurt kids, period.
    • Hurt his actual, biological son? He'll water board you. With acid.
  • Parental Abandonment: HIS PARENTS ARE DEAD DEEAAAAAAAD!!!
  • Parental Substitute: You may be discerning a theme there.
  • Precision-Guided Boomerang: Batarangs have got to be related to Captain America's shield.
  • Rich Idiot With No Day Job: Bruce Wayne is the poster boy, though the trope was recognizable in pulp before him.
  • Roof Hopping: One of his many specialties.
  • Rogues Gallery: One of the most recognizable in all of comics.
  • Secret Identity Identity
  • Shadow Archetype: Of Superman. Most of his rogues are ones of himself.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: It should be obvious. Seeing your parents shot can give you psychological scars but believing that dressing up as a bat and act all vengeance and justice will honor their memories sure is a given proof that you need help.
  • The Smart Guy: When he's with the Justice League. Not so much on his home turf, where everyone he hangs out with is also a genius.
    • Though Fridge Logic sets in when Superman is supposed to be super-intelligent. Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern have a lot more experience with aliens, Wonder Woman's been on earth the longest, The Flash is a scientist and Aquaman has a comprehensive knowledge of everything water-related. Probably he's the only one who'll 1) look into actual criminology and 2) remember to think things through.
    • Superman is not currently super-intelligent in canon (he was during the Silver Age canon); Wonder Woman may have been on Earth the longest but was mostly on Paradise Island and until the present times has little experience with people other than Greek mythology and Amazons; and The Flash is a forensic scientist (not skilled in all forms of science like Batman). Batman knows a lot about many topics, including crimonology, and not only thinks through but in cynical situations is highly Genre Savvy and sometimes even Dangerously Genre Savvy. Hence, he is still The Smart Guy to the Justice League.
    • There's also that Bruce Wayne is simply one of the smartest people on Earth. His only real intellectual peers outside of his own family of geniuses seem to be Lex Luthor and Mr. Terrific, who are themselves perhaps the first and second most intelligent human beings alive.
  • Sobriquet: The Batman has been known by the following nicknames: The Caped Crusader, the Masked Manhunther, the Darknight Detective which would evolve into his most distinctive title - the Dark Knight.
  • Socially Awkward Hero: Social skills isn't one of his strong points. He doesn't seem to know how to behave like a Rich Idiot With No Day Job as Bruce Wayne.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Possibly the Trope Codifier.
  • The Strategist: He has no peer as a combat strategist and plan-maker in The DCU. Quite simply, if Batman cooks up a plan, it's probably the BEST plan.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality
  • Super Reflexes: Acquired through training.
  • The Team Normal: In superhero ensembles.
  • Terror Hero
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: Nearly every version has this, a notable exception being the Burton movies. Of course, What Measure Is a Non-Human? is in full effect.
    • Other exceptions include anyone who is truly immortal, such as Solomon Grundy or Clayface. Lethal force is necessary against them, but they can come back from even the worst of blows. And when Batman does have to exchange blows with Darkseid, you can damn well bet that Batman is doing is absolute best to hurt the bastard.
  • Two First Names
  • Underwear of Power: Just like Superman. Attempts to "update" his look hold better than those done to Superman (as emphasizing the utility belt can serve their artistic function of breaking up his body) though haven't stayed around that long.
  • Unstoppable Rage: He might not show much emotion, but his attack on the Joker in Hush is one of the few times that he does. And it's not pretty to look at (the art itself was gorgeous, though).
  • Warrior Therapist
  • Weapon of Choice: Batarangs are his signature weapons.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: He does say it. It's just that he only says it when you've been perfect.
  • Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: From his family fortune. An analysis on the history of said wonderful toys can be found here.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Well, not first but if she's coming at him with the intent to fight or kill him, she's fair game.
  • Wouldn't Hurt a Child: A good way to make him pissed off for real is to hurt or threaten children in front of him.

Alfred Pennyworth

"Teacher, mentor, partner, but never a father... of course, Master Bruce, of course."

Probably the most famous butler in existence (even though he's often closer to being a valet), in current continuity Alfred and his ancestors have served the Waynes for generations; when Thomas & Martha Wayne were shot, he was the one who raised Bruce. (In the Golden and Silver Ages, Alfred joined the Wayne household shortly after Bruce had started his Batman career.) It seemed natural, then, that Bruce trusted him the most. From the start, Alfred knew that Bruce was Batman - in fact, he has often assisted his master with his latest experiments/inventions, even though he sometimes wishes that his master will settle down and live a normal life.

During several critical junctures in Batman's career, Alfred was the key factor in his survival. A master surgeon, Alfred was almost always the one to patch him back up after particularly gruesome battles, since Batman couldn't very well simply go to the hospital. Alfred can be said to be the closest thing to a father figure that Bruce has - his advice is the often the only one that Bruce gives a second thought about. Or, as Michael Caine has said, he's more of the replacement mother figure in contrast with Gordon's replacement father.

  • Badass Normal
  • Battle Butler: Perhaps the ur-example.
    • Just for Pun, most incarnations of him are (semi)retired military, making him Batman's Batman.
  • Characterization Marches On: Alfred started out as a goofy, clean-shaven, overweight butler.
    • This is a minor case of Ret Canon. In the 1943 Batman film serial Alfred was played by William Austin, who was tall and thin, and had the moustache. To match this, comic book Alfred promptly went off to a health resort to lose weight and grew a moustache.
  • Combat Pragmatist: When he has to fight, he either prefers to strike from behind or to be the only member of the household who's perfectly willing to bring a gun to a fistfight. One issue of Nightwing had him save Nightwing from a hulking metahuman via both, by shooting the villain in the back with rubber bullets... which he only used instead of the normal kind because Robin pestered him to.
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Drop What You Are Doing: When he sees that Stephanie Brown is still alive, he drops a tea tray. Steph comments that it's good to see him lose his cool demeanor.
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair: Subverted; the pencil mustache that he's normally portrayed with is usually associated with villains.
  • The Jeeves: What do you expect from one of the most classic butlers in existence?
  • The Medic
  • Old Retainer
  • Parental Substitute: Openly acknowledged in a holo-message Bruce left to play in the event of his death. He refers to Alfred as his father and thanks him for raising him.
  • Retired Badass: Former S.A.S soldier who still can kick ass if he wants to.
  • Secret Keeper
  • Servile Snarker: We actually considered naming this trope after him.
  • Team Dad
  • Undying Loyalty: Alfred will never EVER abandon Batman.
    • ...Except for the one or two arcs where he temporarily retires, because he thinks he's holding Batman back from growing the hell up ("Officer Down", for example).

The Robins

Robin I / Nightwing / Batman III (Richard "Dick" Grayson)

"If you want Robin to stay dead, that's okay with me. But you've trained me too well -- made me what I am. You can't keep me from pursuing my own destiny."

[1]

Easily the most famous of the Robins, Dick Grayson was the poster boy for Sidekick page in the Golden Age and Silver Age. With a similar backstory to that of his mentor, Batman (parents murdered by a racketeer who, unlike the mugger in some versions of Batman's origin, was brought to justice or died depending on which story you read), Robin was always there to provide lighthearted commentary and ask questions that the readers themselves are wondering.

Eventually, however, he grew out of his role as a sidekick, and began to argue with the Dark Knight over crime-fighting. This lead to him establishing himself as a solo hero, Nightwing, and became the leader of the Teen Titans, and after Bruce needed further time to recover after kicking Jean-Paul Valley (see below) to the curb, even took over the Batman role himself for some time. He then received a comic book series of his own, detailing his adventures in Gotham's sister city, Bludhaven (even more of a Crapsack World than Gotham). Blüdhaven has since been destroyed (twice!) and after a sojourn back in his Titans' base of New York, Nightwing has now officially moved back to Gotham, being back on good terms with his former mentor. In the wake of Batman RIP and Final Crisis, Dick has since stepped up to the role as Gotham City's official protector, and has once again officially become Batman, this time with an open mandate. When Bruce came back, he even retained his role as Gotham City's Batman for one year of Comic Book Time.

As of the New 52, Dick is back to being Nightwing.

  • The Ace: Bruce has said, even to Dick's face, that not only has Dick come into his own using his teachings and excelling at them, but that he exceeds him in talents like leadership, and keeping contacts. Dick is often seen as probably one of, if not the, best connected character to major heroes like in the JLA and JSA and lesser known heroes like the Outsiders or Birds of Prey. He's been called "the linch-pin of the DCU".
    • To drive the "linchpin" comment home: remember, this was one of the major reasons DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Dan Didio wanted to kill off Dick--because his death would send the biggest shockwave throughout the DCU. The other editors/writers convinced him to keep Dick alive, but the idea of how close he came, especially in light of what Dick's been doing lately, makes one shudder to think what would've happened if the decision had been pushed through. You really want to shatter the DCU? You don't target Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman--you target Dick Grayson.
    • Further lampshaded in one issue of Teen Titans, where various Titans band together to take on a more dangerous Dr. Light. In Superboy's inner monologue, he marvels at how when Nightwing shows up, no one questions his leadership and everyone automatically follows his lead.
    • And used in an issue of The Brave and the Bold, when he is able to convince every single superhero in the world to jump into a pocket dimension without questioning if it was necessary or if at least one of them should stay behind.
  • All Up to You
  • Badass Biker: As both Robin and Nightwing, he often rides a motorcycle alongside the Batmobile, though recently, he has received his own Cool Car.
  • Beta Couple: Him and Oracle.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Dick has had a few dark moments under extreme provocation/stress - he beat the Joker to death with his bare hands at the end of the Last Laugh storyline (although Batman managed to revive Mistah J.
  • Big Brother Mentor: to his fellow Robins, Tim and Damian. He used to be like this with Jason before he died.
    • The Joker lampshades this calling Dick 'The Big Brother You Never Had' to Damian.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Happened to him a few times. Mainly when he was with the Titans.
  • Breakout Character: Dick was originally suppose to be killed off in Infinite Crisis, but he was spared because he was considered the "heart and soul" of the DC characters.
  • Charles Atlas Superpower
  • Chick Magnet: there is no female in-universe who has met Dick and not commented on either his good looks or his charm except maybe Batwoman.
  • Circus Brat
  • Cool Car: While operating as Nightwing, Dick painstakingly built a high-performance vehicle that could "camouflage" itself with a variety of exterior shells. He promptly blew it up less than a year later.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Especially as Nightwing, following in his mentor's footsteps, although Dick is always portrayed as somewhat more flamboyant than Batman, owing to being a better natural athlete.
  • Domino Mask: Even as Nightwing.
  • Dual-Wielding: His Weapon of Choice as Nightwing is dual Escrima Sticks.
  • Mr. Fanservice: It's blatant and unrepentant, and it works.
  • Face on a Milk Carton: In All-Star Batman & Robin. Like everything else in that series, it makes no sense, as Batman had abducted adopted him that very day.
  • Fan Nickname: Fans refer to Dick as Batman only as Dick Bats, since as noted above, THE Batman is Bruce.
    • And yet when Bruce came back, the fans still supported Dick Bats.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: When Jason originally became Robin II, he didn't have a very good relationship with Dick. This is changed when the two end up in a situation where they save Alfred's life.
    • The same happened for Damian as their partnership became more solid after each arc in Batman and Robin, to the point the other would be willing to save the other's life.
  • James Bondage
  • Kid Sidekick
  • The Heart: Of the entire DCU, arguably.
  • The Hero: While serving in the Teen Titans.
    • Hell, even in some of the main Batman books, Dick comes off more as The Hero while Batman is a particularly dark version of The Lancer.
  • Heroes Want Redheads: His two most frequent love interests have this in common.
    • "Redheads. What is it about redheads?"
  • Heroic BSOD: After he allows vigilante Tarantula to kill Blockbuster.
  • Important Haircut: Several times whilst serving in the Teen Titans.
  • Legacy Character: Nightwing is the name of one of two superheroes from Kryptonian legend (the other being Flamebird), borrowed from a story that Superman told him. And of course, he was the first Robin and is now the new Batman.
  • Love Martyr: Is one of the very few people that genuinely supports and believes in Damian.
    • It pays off when Damian actually grows to respect and care for Dick, which begins to shape him in a much more heroic person then he was when introduced.
  • Morality Pet: All of the Robins are this, but Dick in particular is very special to Bruce. Being the "firstborn son" and all, he has helped Batman from being a far worse man, just by being there.
    • In a fascinating example, Dick is this to 10-year-old Damian Wayne.
  • Missed the Call: In the New 52, Dick missed a villainous call in his backstory. The Court of Owls wanted to make Dick into a Talon, but Bruce adopting him on the eve of his parents' deaths put him out of their reach.
  • Must Make Amends: Batman does this on Nightwing's behalf toward the tail end of The Joker's "Last Laugh" storyline: Batman doesn't want Nightwing to think of himself as a murderer.
  • One Head Taller: Inverted; both of his main love interests (Starfire and Oracle) are taller than he is.
    • Granted, by the time he actually slept with Oracle, she... aw, hell, that joke's too tasteless even for this site.
    • It's also been commented on that as the new Batman, he's significantly shorter than Bruce.
  • Parental Abandonment: Like Bats, his parents are DEEAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!!!
    • He's had rough patches with Bruce as well, but have since become closer then ever with his adoptive father.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: In the 40's, 50's, and 60's. Even today, far wittier than his mentor is ever portrayed as.
    • Even as Batman, Dick is still cracking wise, even at gunpoint.
  • Technicolor Ninjas: Played straight as Robin. Eventually subverted as Nightwing (his first two Nightwing costumes were bright blue and yellow, before he settled on black with a hint of blue).
  • Sidekick Graduations Stick: Do they ever. You'd think, with Bruce Wayne coming back, he'd stop being Batman and go back to being Nightwing, right? Not so much.
    • However, as of DC's post-Flashpoint reboot, Dick will once again resume the identity of Nightwing.
      • He'll never go back to being Robin, even though he's by far the most famous. (Ask someone who doesn't read comics what Robin's real name is. If they know any name, it'll be Dick Grayson).
  • Simple Staff: Uses them as both Robin and Nightwing.
    • Although, as Nightwing, he tends to favor Escrima sticks.
  • Underwear of Power: Probably what started all the Ho Yay Shipping is because he wore these without any other form of trousers.
  • Urban Legend Love Life
  • Unknown Rival: Shrike, a member of his Nightwing Rogues Gallery who claims to be his Arch Enemy, but isn't even considered a threat.
  • What Could Have Been: Was going to be Killed Off for Real in Infinite Crisis. For the same reason that saved him in fact. See his entry in The Ace above. Considering how much emotional weight came from Barry Allen's death he could have been gone a while...
  • Working with the Ex: There are some UST with Barbara Gordon in the Batfamily, and Starfire in Teen Titans.

Robin II / Red Hood II / Red Robin I (Jason Todd)

"I don't wanna learn to be no crook. I just boost what it takes to survive."

After the first Robin left, executives realized that he was a crucial element to the Caped Crusader's popularity. Hence, they introduced Jason Todd, a near-clone of the first Robin (except with strawberry-blond hair). At least, that's what the Pre Crisis version was like, but who remembers him? (except for the time he defeated Mongul)

When the name Jason Todd is said, the post-crisis version comes to mind. A reckless, angry street youth whose first encounter with Batman came from him trying to steal the Batmobile's tires to sell. This Robin proved to be extremely unpopular with readers, so writer Denny O'Neil set up a 1-900 telephone poll as a publicity stunt, asking readers if they wanted Jason Todd to be killed off (the final tallies were 5,343 for his death, 5,271 against it). Interestingly, O'Neil insists he had no idea they would vote for his death.

Jason attempted to find out who his mother really was, and was shocked to find that she's still alive and in the Middle East. He follows her there and reunites with her, but runs afoul of the Joker, who kills both of them, bumping him straight over the Moral Event Horizon (as if the thousands of other murders don't count). Jason's death has had a lasting impact on the Bat-mythos to this day, reminding the Dark Knight of the dangers of having a sidekick in the Darker and Edgier world of modern comics.

Recently, due to Superboy-Prime punching time, he has returned to life and resurfaced as the Red Hood, who comes into conflict with hero and villain alike.

  • Anti-Hero: type IV in his solo series, Type V or even an Anti-Villain when a heel.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: One of the key reasons to his newfound popularity among readers after his ressurection.
  • Back from the Dead: Sloppily Explained as an effect of Superboy-Prime punching the source wall.
  • Black Sheep
  • Costume Copycat: There has always been someone using the costume before Jason. Dick Grayson as Robin I, the Joker as Red Hood I, and Kingdom Come Grayson as the first Red Robin.[2] Red Hood and the Outlaws even reveals that his current costume is actually one of Grayson's.
  • Darker and Edgier: Jason stands out from the rest of the Bat-Family thanks to his willingness to take criminals' lives.
    • After the Crisis, his origin was revised to make him different from Dick Grayson. Specifically, a criminal.
  • Death Is Cheap: Averted for a long time, but eventually played painfully straight.
  • Domino Mask: It seems to be a requirement for Robins.
    • Most depictions even show his wearing the mask under the Red Hood mask.
  • Expy: His initial origin was essentially a rehash of Dick Grayson's; he also grew up in the circus until his parents were murdered. Fans weren't amused, so he was given a rebooted origin after Crisis on Infinite Earths.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: When Jason originally became Robin II, he didn't have a very good relationship with Dick. This is changed when the two end up in a situation where they save Alfred's life.
    • Fast becoming this with his Outlaws, Roy in particular.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: Writers seem to have finally settled on Face.
  • Groin Attack: Gave these to both Dick and Tim in a Teen Titans storyline.
    • Tim returns the favor at the end of the issue.
  • Kid Sidekick
  • Legacy Character: Jason dabbles in this a lot. Of course he's the second Robin, he took the mantle of Red Hood (originally used by the Joker), but the Red Robin title (first appearing in Kingdom Come) was given to him by an alternate Batman (which a villain took using the now discarded costume; now Tim is Red Robin). He also stole Nightwing's identity for a while, and he's been playing Batman in Battle for the Cowl.
  • Middle Child Syndrome: So what motivated Jason's Roaring Rampage of Revenge is that he thinks Batman didn't love him enough to do what he felt was necessary after his death, and forgot about him.
    • As of the new Batman and Robin series, it's revealed that Bruce asked Jason to dye his naturally red hair black to look like Dick's, and Jason admitted that Bruce expected him to be just like Dick. This is the kind of thing that will have adverse effects on the mental health of a normal child, never mind a troubled one.
  • Parental Betrayal: Views Bruce not avenging him as this. Also, his biological mother, in A Death in the Family
  • Redheaded Stepchild: Quite literally, thanks to recent retcons. Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was naturally reddish-blond and dyed his hair black, and afterwards his hair was just naturally black. After Final Crisis, Grant Morrison retconned his hair into a deep red, which he dyed black again (to fit better with the red/black color motifs of the author's stories). Currently, his hair is naturally black once again.
  • Retcon: Jason's origin (and hair color) changed substantially Post-Crisis. And then there's the matter of his resurrection...
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After being resurrected for real, one of his first acts is to take vengeance on the Joker (who killed him) and Batman (who he's mad at for not killing Joker).
  • Straw Man Has a Point: Jason's Armor-Piercing Question about why Batman's One Rule should have an exception for the Joker:

"Why? The entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands of who have suffered, the friends he's crippled. I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him. Just him."

Robin III / Red Robin III (Timothy "Tim" Drake)

"I thought I'd left that world behind me. That maybe I could do more good working from the shadows. Apparently I was wrong. I'm going to need help."

[3]

Despite the setback of Jason's unpopularity and the killing-off that came along with it, Denny O'Neil was not convinced to give up on the character of Robin. Thus, Tim Drake was born, and this time, the writers were careful to make him much less similar to Dick.

At age nine, Tim was able to deduce both Batman and Robin I's identities, but kept it to himself, until years later, when Dick went solo and Jason died. Realizing how deeply Jason's death had affected his idol, Batman, Tim tried to convince Dick to reprise his role as Batman's partner. Although he agreed, Dick would only do so as Nightwing, despite Tim's insistence that Batman needed a Robin.

It took multiple trials, but finally, Tim was able to gain both Bruce and Dick's respect, along with the permission to become Robin. He proved to be much more popular than Jason ever was, and like Dick, got multiple spin-off series. Following the Bat-Family shakeup following R.I.P. & Battle For The Cowl, he has taken the role of Red Robin. With the return of Bruce & the founding of Batman Incorporated, Tim has become a more tech-savvy hero, using the first Anarky in a sort of "Oracle" tech role.

  • A Man Is Not a Virgin: Averted.
  • Ascended Fanboy: He was a massive fan of the original Dynamic Duo.
  • Badass Biker
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: In one of the arcs in the Young Justice comic, the team fell victim to this, but Supergirl helped snap them out of it.
  • Celibate Hero: Whether this is an intentional editorial decision or many writers independently not wishing to age the teenage character is a matter of some debate. He's certainly had opportunities, though not as many as Robin I.
  • The Chessmaster: How he defeated Ra's Al Ghul. It was such a victory that Tim himself earned the title, "Detective." That was something Ra's reserved only for The Goddamn Batman! Goes to show you how much the boy matured once Bruce Wayne... left.
  • Crazy Prepared: Batman's rubbed off on him, obviously. During his time spent with the League of Assassins, Tim exploited his access to their database to pinpoint secret League locations in Gotham. That enabled him to orchestrate a Big Damn Heroes moment with his allies, to suppress the attempted assassinations on everyone that mattered to Bruce Wayne.
  • Chick Magnet: Could give Dick a run for his money, if he was more willing to seal the deal.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Not above using any advantage he can get in a fight. One story had him posioning his opponent with a substance that would only take effect during the fight, before said opponent even sent him her challenge.
  • Dating Catwoman: Despite being a Chick Magnet as opposed to Casanova Nightwing, Tim Drake has UST with: Spoiler, one that started when she hit him in the face with a brick, Darla "Warlock's Daughter," one of his classmates who was brought back from the dead to kill Robin, Evil!Cassandra Cain when she was Brainwashed and Crazy, and, appropriately, both of the gangleaders named Lynx, the latter of whom will tackle him out of a window, start kissing him in mid-air, and trust in him to actually stop their fall with a grappling hook while she's massaging his tonsils with her tongue. Sometimes, there's an advantage to being the Dogged Nice Guy.
  • Determinator: "I'll never give up, Dad. Not while there's a breath in our bodies -- neither one of us will ever give up."
  • Deus Angst Machina: To lose one parent, Mr. Drake, may be regarded as misfortune; to lose four...
  • Domino Mask: Keeping in with the fine tradition. He ditched it for a time when he was kicked out of the Robin mantle and wore a round-headed cowl-mask, but his New 52 Red Robin costume has it again.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: He somehow overcomes Cass with this in a recent story.
  • Guile Hero: Seems to be the only son that has really inherited this part of Batman's repertoire. Specifically noted that his ease in taking the adopted Wayne name was for all the advantages it gives him.
  • Future Me Scares Me: Did not have a good experience with his possible future as a gun-toting Batman in Titans Tomorrow.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: With both Conner Kent and Bart Allen.
  • Informed Ability: His supposed leadership skills with the Teen Titans.
    • Better portrayed when he was with Young Justice. That team was like herding superpowered cats. Impulse alone would try the patience of a saint.
      • Hell, even when Wonder Girl took over leadership, everyone still treated Tim like he was the one in charge.
  • Irony: When he was a member of Young Justice, the editors of the Bat-family comics only allowed him in after denying his entry into the tried and true Teen Titans because they were trying to keep the Bat-family separate from the rest of DC. For a while, Young Justice was the only non-Bat-family book he would ever appear in. Cue the New 52, post-Flashpoint, and Tim's only book is Teen Titans, and you'd be hard-pressed to find an appearance of him in Bat-family comics past a brief cameo in Scott Snyder's first issue of Batman. So whereas before you'd only ever see him in Batman comics, now you can't find him at all.
    • To put this into perspective, the cover and solicit for the Batman: The Dark Knight tie-in issue to the May 2012 Night of the Owls crossover featured him prominently. He is in all of ONE panel. And he doesn't even have dialogue!
  • Legacy Character: The third Robin, obviously. Following Battle for the Cowl, Tim has taken up the role of Red Robin like Jason before him, now that the General is in jail.
  • Lonely Rich Kid: In stark contrast to the DCAU version, which was more based on Jason Todd.
  • My Greatest Failure: Just after the Black Glove fiasco, an old enemy, The General (who is an intelligent adolescent supervillain), returned to Gotham, terrorizing it under the Red Robin moniker. In an attempt to get him to surrender peacefully, Tim got the General's family (mother, father, and two siblings) to come. While his parents were trying to calm him down, one of the bombs that the General had hidden detonated, killing the both of his siblings. Tim blames himself as he brought the family into the situation in the first place.
  • Name's the Same: The name "Red Robin" sure would sound more intimidating if it weren't the name of a fast food franchise. Especially if their slogan weren't:

Red Robin! Yuuuuuum!

  • Parental Abandonment: Left alone for most of his childhood, then mother died and father died and stepmother disappeared soon after he took the job.
  • Phrase Catcher: One of the catchphrases of Young Justice was "We can tell you were trained by the world's greatest detective" said by any character when Tim points out something obvious.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: With Damian Wayne, Batman's son with Talia Al Ghul.
  • Sidekick Graduations Stick: Dick Grayson is to Nightwing as Tim Drake is to Red Robin, except Tim never truly deviated from the Robin name.
  • Simple Staff: His Weapon of Choice.
  • Single-Stroke Battle: Engages in one with Lady Shiva. The result would've made Batman proud.
  • Sugar and Ice Personality: As a result of the massive amounts of angst the come with the job.
  • The Smart Guy: When he was part of Young Justice and Teen Titans. Kid Flash even commented that being around Tim makes him feel stupid after he had memorized every book in a library.
  • Teen Genius
  • Trauma Conga Line: He has had many of his closest friends and family killed over recent years (though most of them do get better). They include: Stephanie Brown (gets better), Conner Kent (gets better), Bart Allen (gets better), Bruce himself (not really dead/gets better), and his parents (stay dead). He has started to slide toward the cynical end because of this massive series of deaths.
  • Underwear of Power: Averted; Tim was the first Robin to actually wear a decent pair of pants. "Solomon Grundy wants pants too!"
    • It's been Retcon-ned that Dick wore the revised version of the costume (or something very similar to it) for winter missions.
  • Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: At first, his career as Robin was a part-time endeavor. Following the deaths of his parents at the hands of Flash rogue Captain Boomerang, he was adopted by Bruce and became Robin full time until Dick kicked him out of the position.
  • Working with the Ex: His relationship with Stephanie Brown ended pretty badly right before she took up the mantle of the fourth Batgirl and him becoming Red Robin. Now, whenever they run into each other (or sometimes, forced to work together), old feelings are surfaced.
    • Lampshaded when Tim acknowledges the original Robin/Batgirl (Dick/Barbara) sexual tension when he sees Stephanie in her Batgirl costume. It doesn't help that Dick/Barbara are also currently in the same situation as Tim/Stephanie.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: In Batman #626, Tim, in order to get to a dead body held at Gotham General Hospital, briefly took up the identity of Caroline Hill. Despite his complaints, the disguise is pretty effective, alright. Attractive Bent Gender, indeed.

Robin IV

  • For Robin IV (Stephanie Brown), see The Batgirls

Robin V / Batman IV (Damian Wayne)

"I'm sure you didn't leave your hole tonight thinking you'd get your ass kicked by a ten-year-old!"

The ten-year-old son of Bruce and Talia al-Ghul was raised by the League of Assassins (and has been implied to be the subject of genetic experimentation); as such, he's a ferocious warrior and quite skilled at martial arts in spite of how young he is. Talia only recently revealed his existence to Batman, when her father Ra's tried to take over Damian's body. Talia, Batman and the rest of the Batfamily joined forces to rescue the boy; since then, Damian has apparently been staying at Wayne Manor.

Damian is a violent, often bratty child, but he's genuinely proud to be Batman's son and wishes to play his part in his war against crime. His relationship with the Robins and particularly Tim is heavily conflicted, and he has more than a few entitlement issues. After his father's death, he becomes the new Robin when Dick becomes Batman full-time.

A flash-forward episode revealed that in a possible future, Damian follows in his father's footsteps as the Batman.

  • Annoying Younger Sibling: Ask Tim what he thinks of Damian. Just try it. It's also presented this way in Stephanie Brown's Batgirl series (though they get along better than Damian and Tim).
  • Anti-Hero: Type III, but with Dick and Bruce's guidance, he's growing into a Type II.
  • Badass
  • Bratty Half-Pint: Like you couldn't imagine.
  • Clark Kenting: Badly attempted in Streets Of Gotham where he doesn't even try to hide his skills or real name; it doesn't end well.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: While not evil per se, he's established as an extremely pragmatic child... and vomits upon seeing the corpses of all the children Zsasz has murdered.
  • Fire-Forged Friends: By the time of Batman and Robin Must Die! Damian fully embraces Dick as his partner, because their adventures together have let them bond.
  • Friendship Moment: He has a roundabout one with Dick after returning from the Titans. He tells Dick not to apologize for sending him to the Titans and that it doesn't matter if he makes friends, because he has one in Gotham, and that is more than enough for him.
  • Future Badass: Batman #666 has a possible future where he DOES become Batman, though not in a way he wanted. He's a brutal fighter who has booby-trapped the entire city to compensate for his skills not quite measuring up to Bruce or Dick's, and takes the Thou Shalt Not Kill rule to near breaking point (and sometimes outright breaks it). However, he also owns a very cute cat he's affectionately named Alfred and drives a Batmobile the size of a Go-Kart. Make of it what you will...
  • Girls Have Cooties: He turns the brattiness up to 11 every time he has to deal with Batgirl or Supergirl (and when it's both of them at once...). They're both trim blondes with blue eyes. Awww, little Damian's got a type!
  • Goggles Do Nothing: Despite all the tactical flaws in having one, Damian adds a hood to his costume.
  • Gone Horribly Right: His backstory eerily mirrors Cassandra Cain's - the diverging point lay in the fact that while the League treated Cassandra as a weapon, they treated Damian as a prince. As a result, while she is disgusted with killing, Damian is rather ambivalent towards the act if it will further an end.
  • Gonk: With the best will in the world, he's rarely portrayed as a handsome child. Unusually so, given his parents.
    • Gates of Gotham being an exception.
    • Though recent artists seem to be diverging from that, especially Marcus To.
  • Hilariously Abusive Childhood: Went through years of hellish mental and physical training to become the "Warrior King of a New Dark Age" and received things like a Jetliner, a Hydrofoil, and an ENTIRE ISLAND for Christmas. You want a loyal Tykebomb? Spoil it rotten.
    • Now played straight, because all Damian wanted was his mother to love him, and found being Robin and with the Bat-Family to be far more fulfilling then being the heir to the Al Ghul legacy.
  • Hope Spot: "Batman vs. Robin" sets him up for several of these in a very, very cruel fashion. To illustrate: wow, Damian, your father might still be alive, but wait, does that mean you'll lose your place as Robin? That's all right, the man you've come to respect believes in you and is excited to have you helping him solve an old school mystery complete with secret passages and ancient clues! Isn't that wonderfu- SPINE HACK!!!!
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's slowly becoming more mature and more empathetic, especially towards kids.
    • Damian drops most jerkass tendencies when Dick either impresses him or is in trouble. The greatest example of this is when he tries to save Dick during 'Batman and Robin Must Die!' arc.
  • Karma Houdini: Hey, remember the Spook? The D-list villain who Damian decaptitated? Neither does anyone else, apparently...
  • Lamarck Was Right: He's been trained from early childhood to kick ass; Talia leaves Damian with Bruce to just enhance it.
  • Leeroy Jenkins
  • Licked by the Dog: Alfred and Dick actually believe that Damian can grow up to do his father's legacy justice. So far, they seem to be right, as he finds being Robin and doing good to be best thing he's done with his life, eventually breaking away from his mother completely.
  • Luke, You Are My Father: More like "Batman, I'm your son."
  • Master Apprentice Chain: In Batman #700, it shows not only the chain of Bruce > Dick > Damian, but Damian will later teach Terry McGinnis from Batman Beyond; the chain keeps going all the way to Batman One Million.
  • Multi Melee Master: As the 99 Fiends find out.
  • My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad: Fine, when your dad is Batman, you can have bragging rights.
  • Parental Abandonment: He had never met his father until recently (though he did know about him) and his mom wasn't very proactive in his rearing. His mother has abandoned him now as well, because he chooses to side with Dick, Alfred and his father's ideals over Talia.
  • Pet the Dog: Is genuinely horrified at the hundreds of dead children he and Dick find on Christmas Day, and has a soft spot for cats. The latter must run in the family.
    • We also found out that he's been visiting Hush (who had surgery to make him look exactly like Bruce Wayne) in his prison at the Wayne Tower and playing chess with him. But Hush himself suspects it's Damian's form of grieving for his father's death and a way for him to spend more time with his "father".
    • His giving Colin/Abuse the Cycle Of Abuse, as a roundabout way of thanking him for his assistance.
    • In Batman #666, he owns a cat that he named Alfred.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Supergirl asks Damian how he knew about a crime before, she told him he only replied "Son. Of. Batman."
  • Redemption Demotion: He's still as agile and intelligent as he was when he first appeared, it's just the fact that he can't kill tends to render most of the stratagems he was taught moot; cue many beatdowns.
  • Reckless Sidekick: His superiority complex from his League of Assassins training and being Batman's son has made him a very reckless child, but he's developing out of it.
  • Royal Brat: Alright, technically he's not royalty, but his maternal grandfather is Ra's Al Ghul and his father is Batman.
  • Shadow Archetype: His composition makes him basically one to the entire Bat Clan (Bruce's age when his quest for vengeance began wit h many of the skills he would come to acquire but none of the maturity, Dick's being formally trained before being Robin with the loving parents replaced with sinister assassins, Jason's violent tendencies, Tim's intelligence minus the patience and rationale to utilize it properly, and, as mentioned above, Cassandra's general origin of being raised by the League of Assassins, minus all the stuff that made Cass want to avoid that origin in the first place).
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Subverted, he really is as deadly as he says... he's just not allowed to kill.
  • Sour Supporter: He'll sneer and chide to the moon, but he rarely disobeys an order.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: When Supergirl succumbs to Scarecrow's fear toxin.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Well, he's getting better, but it's still part of his dynamic.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Starting with killing criminals to help with Batman's work. He's outgrowing it, though.
  • Verbal Tic: *'tt'*
  • Tsundere: Damian refuses to admit it to Dick's face, but he respects him greatly, even standing up to his Mother when she bad mouths him. They have a more brotherly relationship then he'd care to admit, despite his snarky comments to Dick. He also seems to be this way for Stephanie, the current Batgirl and with Alfred.
    • By "Batman and Robin Must Die!", Damian openly shows concern and tries his hardest to save Dick from Dr. Hurt. He even outright apologies to Dick for failing to save him. Maybe he's outgrowing it.
  • You Can't Go Home Again: By choice, as he found being a part of the Bat-family to be a more fulfilling life than being the prince of the League of Assassins.

The Batgirls

Batgirl I / Oracle (Barbara "Babs" Gordon)

"A little over a year has passed since my old life ended, since I died and was reborn. The shadows remain, but only to give contrast to the light. I am no longer a distaff impersonation of someone else — I’m me, more me than I have ever been. I embrace it, and the light, with a deep, continuing joy."

[4]

The most popular and recognizable of the Batgirls, mainly due to originating in the 1960s television series and then appearing on the animated series before being the only Batgirl to appear in a feature film. Barbara Gordon was the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon, who debuted by foiling a kidnapping attempt made by Killer Moth. Unlike Batman and Robin, who were possessed of pasts filled with angst, Barbara was a relatively lighthearted and cheerful crimefighter whose motivation was completely altruistic.

Unlike Batwoman and Bat-Girl (characters introduced during the Silver Age), who were merely female counterparts to the Dynamic Duo, Barbara was completely independent of male superheroes, being a representation of the feminist movements of the 1960s (she even had a PhD; however, she was only allowed to be a brown belt in judo).

Anyone who pays sufficient attention to the comics nowadays, however, knows that she has passed on the mantle of Batgirl and taken up the motif of the computer expert Oracle. Why? It all started in The Killing Joke, which had the Joker shoot her, paralyzing her from the waist down. Alan Moore intended for it to be a non-canon one-shot, but the story proved to be so influential that DC decided to adapt it into the mainstream continuity. John Ostrander's lauded Suicide Squad series then set her up with the Oracle role, with Ostrander's wife Kim Yale being instrumental in her progression.

Incidentally, Barbara's identity as Oracle is arguably more important in the DC universe than her role as Batgirl ever was. Of course, despite being primarily the brains of the Bat-family, she can still fight off anyone who's not a world-class martial arts expert, thanks to tutelage under Richard Dragon. She later became the de facto leader of the Birds of Prey team.

Recently, though, she has returned to her role as Batgirl in light of the events of Flashpoint. It is not yet known how exactly she regained the use of her legs, but it has been confirmed that the events of the Killing Joke still happened.

Batgirl III / Black Bat (Cassandra Cain)

"I'll never take another life. Not even hers. So I'll pretend to go all out... and then I'll die. I don't have to do this. I can still study Batman's method. I can be good enough for the costume. I can be... mediocre. For a lifetime. Or perfect. For a year."

First introduced during the No Man's Land arc, Cassandra quickly gained the approval of both Batman and Oracle (who was the original Batgirl) to become Batgirl after saving Commissioner Gordon's life. Come the turn of the century, much of her past was explored, and it was revealed that she had assassin roots, was mute, and killed a man at the age of eight. Oh, and she was an expert body-reader as well.

Miraculously, mainly due to good writing, the character managed to avoid earning the ridicule of the fans, and ended up pretty well-liked by the fandom (well, most of them). She eventually gave up the mantle of Batgirl after a long storyline in which she tries to discover if the infamous assassin Lady Shiva really is her mother.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. When she resurfaces in the One Year Later continuity jump, she has, for some reason, joined Deathstroke's "Titans East" as a villain and re-donned her Batgirl costume. What's more, her personality was twisted into that of a stereotypical Dragon Lady, all due to Executive Meddling. Attempts to explain this away with Deathstroke's brainwashing drugs generally proved fruitless.

Eventually, she regained the mantle of Batgirl. As of the latest "Batgirl" series, Cass has relinquished the mantle to the Spoiler following Bruce Wayne's "death". Upon his return, Wayne has founded Batman Incorporated, and he and Tim have approached her to become the Black Bat, a member of the team operating in Hong Kong.

Spoiler / Robin IV / Batgirl IV (Stephanie Brown)

"I think I can... I think I can..."

Daughter of the Cluemaster (a second-rate Riddler copycat), Stephanie was enraged when her father, who claimed to have gone straight, returned to committing crimes (only without his compulsion to leave clues). Donning a costume of her own, Stephanie became the Spoiler, at first only showing up whenever Cluemaster did and spoiling his plans, hence the codename. She eventually became a full-fledged vigilante, partly because of her attraction to Tim Drake, the third Robin.

Of course, she then found herself the target of every female misfortune that DC could think up. Her relationship with Robin became strained (mainly due to Bats not letting her know their secret identities), she was revealed to be the victim of an Attempted Rape by her babysitter, she went on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge after her father was killed while working with the Suicide Squad, she got captured and tortured by Black Mask, and infamously, she was withheld medical treatment for said torture by Dr. Leslie Thompkins. This was, of course, later retconned to having her smuggled out of the country for her safety. Has a page for when she assumed the identity of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain; post-Flashpoint, Stephanie was reverted to Spoiler due to Executive Meddling giving Barbara Gordon back the identity.

(Don't let her attire fool you; she's not Raven.)

  • Action Girl
  • Affirmative Action Legacy: Subverted. It looked like she was going to be the standard continuity's first female Robin, but more recent interviews reveal that her run as Robin was mainly a publicity stunt: DC did it fully intending to bring back Tim's Robin and kill her. Both DC and some fan contingencies claim that she 'doesn't count' as a Robin, she was never given a memorial in the Batcave like the other dead Robin, and according to the new reboot, there's only been four Robins... guess which one they left out?
    • It's acknowledged in story as well. Tim Drake quit the job after Batman tricked him into some convoluted training exercise involving a false future. Alfred thinks Batman just took Stephanie in to make Tim jealous (not helped by the fact that he compares everything she does by how Tim would do it).
  • Black Sheep: Batman alternated between accepting and training her to treating her like one of these so often that it's a wonder the poor girl's head didn't explode. Now that Oracle has accepted her, she'll hopefully be able to put that phase behind her.
  • Cool Big Sis: Towards Damian.
  • Determinator: Batman or his subordinates have told her to stop being a hero a LOT, and she ignores them every time. You'd think they'd learn after a while...
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: In her "The Road Home" one shot, while meeting Bruce for the first time since his "death", she breaks down and slaps him for putting her through another one of his 'tests' to see whether she is competent enough.
    • Then she runs off, saying "I'm glad you're not dead!" thinking "OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod!"
  • Fun Personified: Arguably the most upbeat member of Batman's "family".
  • Good Girls Avoid Abortion
  • Groin Attack: She's pretty fond of it - she's done it at least three times.
  • Kid Sidekick: And sometimes, she's the Kid Sidekick to the Kid Sidekick.
  • Legacy Character: As the fourth Robin, a position held by young men. Then she was Put on a Bus. Sigh.
    • Fourth Batgirl is working out for her.
    • You jinxed it.
  • Pettanko: According to Damian. Though while not quite at Most Common Superpower level, she isn't exactly lacking...
    • He implies that she pads her bras.
      • Damian's lying. As anybody who remembers the original ROBIN title[5] knows full well, Steph is stacked.
  • Plucky Girl: Very much so. She is referred to by Batman as the most hopeful of his organization, and a What Could Have Been scene shows her as a Blue Lantern.
  • Retcon She did die, and then she didn't.
  • Teen Pregnancy: She became pregnant by one of her ex-boyfriends, and this resulted in Give Him a Normal Life after the child was born and she gave it up for adoption, and she didn't even want to know what gender the kid was so she wouldn't get attached and back out.
  • The Pollyanna: During her appearances in the Robin series, she was sort of a troubled and mildly cynical teenager having hardships about her villain father's death. However, once she's become Batgirl, her attitude changed for the better, being a more lightheart and upbeat girl compared to the rest of the Batclan family.
  • Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: Her dynamics with Tim Drake/Robin III.

Other Central Batfamily Members

Batwoman (Katherine Kane)

Before you ask, no, Batwoman was not Batman's wife. Not even in the Silver Age (no matter what that one comic cover on Superdickery.com says). Kathy was, however, designed to be a possible romantic interest for the Dark Knight (mainly to dispel the Ho Yay Shipping between him and Robin), as well as an attempt to cash in on the popularity of Superman's "family members", such as Supergirl. As a rich heiress and a former circus performer, Kathy's life was rather untouched by tragedy, and she mainly became a crimefighter because of her attractions to Batman. Eventually, her niece Betty joined in on the fun as well, as Robin's love interest Bat-Girl.

Although rather sexist by our standards (she had a utility purse!), Kathy and her niece, the original Bat-Girl, were fairly popular back in the fifties and sixties. So, of course, when the Dark Age ensued, she, her niece, and a handful of other characters were wiped from the Caped Crusader's life (it's actually more complicated than that, as Kathy existed on both Earth-1 and Earth-2, and when Crisis on Infinite Earths is brought into the equation...)

Come the Modern Age, Kathy has been revamped as Katherine "Kate" Kane, a lesbian and a Jew who is much less of a Distaff Counterpart to Batman. During the 52 weeks following Infinite Crisis, she filled in for the Caped Crusader while he went on his self-discovery journey. In the wake of Batman's recent death, she has become the star of Detective Comics. The first issue sold out despite the notoriously low popularity of female-headed superhero comics and the old claims that gay characters don't sell.

Previous to her series, in 52, DC had some trouble fleshing out the character. She was basically a Lipstick Lesbian with Combat Stilettos. However, when she got her own series, both these traits were promptly dropped. While Kate is definitely not butch, she does wear her hair short out of costume and insists on wearing tuxedos to dances. She also now wears practical flats in costume. Now the tropes that define Kate are:


Batman II (in Batman Beyond universe) / Batman V (Terry McGinnis)

Forty years into the future, Batman hasn't been seen in Gotham for decades, but 16-year-old Terry McGinnis, an ex-juvenile delinquent whose father was murdered on the orders of Derek Powers, the corrupt CEO of Wayne Enterprises after a hostile takeover, accidentally stumbles upon the secret that the reclusive billionaire, Bruce Wayne, was in fact the legendary Batman. Bruce isn't happy about the kid finding this out and is especially unhappy when said kid calls him out on his inaction over the corruption that still plagues Gotham. But after some bonding over some breaking and entering and stopping chemical weapons from being distributed, Bruce eventually decides to offer Terry the chance to be trained as the new Batman in Neo-Gotham.

Later, about 15 years into Terry's career as the Tomorrow Knight, it is revealed that Bruce is Terry's biological father. The head of Project Cadmus, Amanda Waller, had over written Terry's father's reproduction DNA with Bruce's. Her reasons being that she believed the world needed a Batman once Bruce was gone and she was hell bent on creating one. However, the next step in the process, to kill Terry's parents in front of him as a child, fell through and Project Batman Beyond was abandoned thereafter. The fact that Terry became Batman anyway was completely a coincidence.

In his crime fighting, Terry usually has Bruce's help via radio as well as quite a few advanced toys in his combat suit, including flight, limited invisibility, enhanced strength, and a whole lot more. Unlike his predecessor, Terry likes to talk and rile his opponents. He is decidedly less cynical and jaded and has a far healthier view of the role of Batman. Terry sees being Batman as an active redemption for his past sins as a criminal and a "bad kid". But he's also not afraid to enjoy the perks of the job and how it can be the coolest thing in the world.

The Terry McGinnis character started out in the animated series Batman Beyond, a show that was pitched as Batman in high school. Defying all odds, the show was a runaway hit. After nearly a decade of lobbying and one or two teaser appearances, DC, in 2010, officially made Terry and his future world part of the DCU multiverse with Terry officially appearing first in Superman/Batman Annual #4, then in his own now ongoing series titled Batman Beyond.

These adventures, however, only took place in the alternate world of Earth-12 of the DC multiverse. Terry has since been adopted into the current mainstream DCU continuity where he is the fifth known incarnation of Batman (after Bruce, Jean-Paul, Dick, and Damian) and is now under the guidance of Damian Wayne instead of Bruce. The poor kid.

  • The Atoner: Terry believes his time as Batman makes up in some small part for all the trouble he caused as a delinquent.
  • Badass Normal: He can still kick ass outside the suit.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Canon Immigrant: He was very popular, but his future setting as well as being a new Batman were significant roadblocks in allowing him to be included in the comics, delaying it for over a decade.
  • Clothes Make the Superman: The suit isn't invulnerable, but it was at first the only thing allowing Terry to be in the field without being torn to shreds before he got more training.
  • Cool Car: His Batmobile flies.
  • Dating Catwoman: Terry had his own version of this on the show and now there's an actual (new) Catwoman in the new comic.
  • Deadpan Snarker: "A huge smoking hole. Could be a clue."
  • Delinquent: Terry used to be a criminal when he was a kid, but seemed to be scared straight by juvie hall.
  • Depending on the Writer
  • Genre Savvy: Terry has the advantage of knowing a lot about the past Batman's history and is sometimes pretty Genre Savvy because of it. At one point in the Batman Beyond comic, he was happy to learn that he had his "own Catwoman".
  • Hannibal Lecture: Terry pulled one of these over on the Joker.
  • High School Sweethearts: Terry and Dana. In the future, Dana will eventually know Terry is Batman and they'll get married.
  • Legacy Character: He's the second or fifth Batman depending on the continuity you follow.
  • New Neo City: Terry operates in Neo-Gotham
  • Ordinary High School Student
  • Secret Legacy: Thanks to DNA replacement therapy Warren McGinnis unknowingly went through, Terry is actually Bruce Wayne's son.
  • Shiny Midnight Black: One of the biggest signs that he was really Bruce's son given that his mother was a redhead and his father had nut brown hair.
  • Spell My Name As It Sounds, Not As the Beer: The people in fandom always seem to spell Terry's last name wrong even though he's been around for over a decade.
  • Troubled but Cute: Following the trend of the Bat-family, if the not the entire comic book genre, Terry is a handsome guy with a troubled past.
  • You Fight Like a Cow: Terry likes to talk when he's kicking your ass.

Ma Mayhem: This is getting old, Batman.
Terry: Look who's talking.


Bat-Girl / Flamebird (Bette/Betty Kane)

During Pre-Crisis, Betty Kane was the niece of Kathy Kane and dressed up along with her aunt in order to meet their heroes (and potential love interests) Batman and Robin. She was routinely turned down by Robin, as seen below, but that didn't deter her! That is, until the Crisis on Infinite Earths occurred. Post-Crisis, Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane (pronounced the same way, mind you!) was a teenaged tennis prodigy who, after becoming infatuated with the red and green fellow with a cute butt and a domino mask, decided to become a superheroine herself. From there, she created the identity of Flamebird, making a metajoke on "Nightwing and Flamebird", a Kryptonian superhero legend that there really wasn't a way for Bette to know about.

She was part of the Teen Titans for a while and did her best to attract that cutie Dick Grayson, eventually failing and giving up on the whole superheroine thing. But not being a superheroine and just being a tennis prodigy with perfect grades and lots of money got boring after a while and so she attempted to reignite her Flamebird identity. So far, it's not going so well.

Additionally, Post-Crisis Bette Kane is the cousin of new Batwoman Kate Kane and looks up to her greatly, even not knowing she's that red and black bat-shaped thing running about Gotham. Although that may change sometime soon...

  • Action Girl: At some points, written as practically being in it partially for the thrill of it all.
    • Faux Action Girl: Though alternatively, her Pre-Crisis Bat-Girl incarnation as well as her initial Post-Crisis appearances came off as these.
  • All Love Is Unrequited: To her dismay.
  • Blue Eyes
  • Canon Immigrant
  • Girls Have Cooties: Robin's attitude to Bat-Girl, which rather undermined the whole "See? Love interest! Not gay!" thing.
  • Plucky Girl
  • Stepford Smiler: Implied in her appearance in the Hawk and Dove Annual, by Dove's analysis of her personality that she's actually a lonely and depressed girl desperate for company and contact with others.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In the Beast Boy mini-series.
  • What Could Have Been: Almost got featured, alongside Beast Boy and a host of other 1970s characters, in a spin-off called Titans L.A. As Bat-Girl, she was initially set to be part of the main '70s Teen Titans team and be involved in a love triangle with Robin and Duela Dent, but DC pulled the plug on the title before Bob Rozakis could get to those plans.

Ace the Bat-Hound

Ahh, the Silver Age. In this era of lightheartedness, sidekicks were abound, both human (or at least humanoid) and animal. Over in the Superman titles, Krypto the Superdog had made his debut, so a question was raised, "Why can't Batman have a canine sidekick as well?" And so Ace the Bat-Hound was born.

With his identity as Bruce Wayne's guard dog, Ace fought alongside his master and his ward in their never ending crusade against crime... at least until Crisis on Infinite Earths where he was by and large abandoned by DC. Ace re-appeared in 1991 as a dog living in the Batcave, no longer wearing the Bat-Hound mask, but disappeared again after the No Man's Land storyline. In more recent times, Ace has made regular appearances on the animated Krypto the Superdog television series. Bruce Wayne also had a dog named Ace in Batman Beyond, who even got to be the focus of one rather touching episode.

  • Multiple Choice Past: Each time he's adapted to a new continuity, his origin is heavily revised to justify Batman having a dog. Did he help Batman anytime his owner kept him at Bruce's care? Batman got him from a Native American? Was he a dog trained for illegal fights who escaped and was found by Bruce?
  • Nineties Anti Hero Detecting Dog: He didn't trust AzBats and remained away from him, in a hidden section of the Batcave, alongside Harold.

Azrael II / Batman II (Jean-Paul Valley)

"I'm not him -- I'm a lot more -- and a lot worse."
—Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley)

Azrael first debuted in 1992 with the Batman: Sword of Azrael miniseries. The reason Azrael was created was to introduce a replacement for Batman during the Knightfall arc.

So, anyway, Jean-Paul Valley was just an ordinary postgraduate student in Computer Science at Gotham University, when his father stumbled into his dorm, bleeding to death. Just before he died, good ol' dad informed him that he was actually the most recent in a long line of enforcers/assassins who worked for the Sacred Order of St. Dumas. So, after a series of misadventures involving a trip to Switzerland, training with a short old guy, allying with Batman, and defeating the weapons dealer that killed his father, Jean-Paul had learned that every Azrael was trained by being subjected to a series of subliminal messages (known as "the System," this training was "programmed" into an individual, and remained latent until activated by hypnosis) since childhood. Inspired by Batman, he rejected the Order of St. Dumas and saved the Caped Crusader from death. He even filled in for Batman for a while during the Knightfall arc, while the Dark Knight was incapacitated. Unfortunately, Azbats went crazy due to the System, and made a suit of armor to replace the Batsuit, which included adding a frikkin' flame-thrower and claws to it. The whole point of the arc was to show fans who wanted Batman to be more like The Punisher what would happen if that want became reality. Anyway, when the fan reaction was largely negative, they had Batman reclaim the title in a battle where he outwitted Jean-Paul, who finally came back to his senses when he took off the Azbatsuit's helmet.

So he went back to being Azrael, and even got his own title, which ran for a solid 100 issues (retitled Azrael: Agent of the Bat at issue #47 in an attempt to boost sales by tying it in with Batman). He even changed his costume a few times, and was a major player in the Batman: No Man's Land arc. His comic was okay for the majority, but all good things must come to an end eventually. Unfortunately, the writing and art got really crappy, despite Denny frikkin' O'Neil and Sergio Cariello being the main creative team, killing off Jean-Paul in the final issue, after which he was never mentioned or heard from again, aside from popping up in Blackest Night for a single page. Some have speculated that the reason Azrael: Agent of the Bat was never really popular was because O'Neil and Cariello were the only creative team the book ever had, which often resulted in old ideas recycled, and an almost complete lack of character development for Jean-Paul.

Also, word on the street is that Azrael will be appearing in DC Universe Online, though it remains unknown whether it's Jean-Paul Valley or Michael Lane. No one seems to have found either of them yet.

  • Adventure Towns: Ossaville (Population 56 less than 28. Have A Nice Day), the new homebase for Jean-Paul Valley after the "Losses" arc (73-75), became one of these after ol' Az settled down there.
  • Alternate Company Equivalent: Besides the obvious differences, he has a LOT in common with Daredevil.
    • AzBats was deliberately designed to be a Straw version of Marvel's Punisher and other ultra-violent heroes. The comparison is especially noticeable in a Batman / Punisher crossover published during his tenure.
  • Anti-Hero: Slides all the way down the scale in Knightfall.
  • Anti-Hero Substitute: For Batman during the Knightfall arc.
  • Arch Enemy: Jean-Paul Valley had two; Carleton Lehah and Nicholas Scratch.
  • Ax Crazy: Jean-Paul Valley as Azrael could get pretty Ax Crazy, though he wasn't as nearly as crazy as Michael Lane, who makes of habit of killing people deemed as "sinners".
  • Badass Boast: Most of the Azraels have a penchant for this, combined with a strong case of Large Ham.
  • Badass Bookworm
  • Beard of Sorrow: Jean-Paul Valley sported one of these following the "Losses" arc, while in mourning for his "brother," the Faux-Azrael, though he soon shaved it after a pep talk from Batman.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Jean-Paul Valley has this towards Batgirl (Cassandra Cain).
  • Blond Guys Are Evil: Averted, as Jean-Paul Valley was gentle and friendly when not acting as Azrael.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: This happens to Jean-Paul when he's under the influence of The System.
  • Character Development: Sister Lilhy turned evil and allied with Faux-Azrael in order to re-found the Sacred Order of St. Dumas.
  • Chest Insignia: Jean-Paul's first costume had the fleur-di-lis on it, and his second costume had a red bat-symbol.
  • Clear My Name: Jean-Paul Valley had to do this at least three times, and it got more and more stale every time it happened.
  • Clueless Chick Magnet: Jean-Paul, you dork. Oracle has a stuffed doll of you next to her computer (Check issue #82 of Azrael: Agent of the Bat if you don't believe me). Huntress considers your team-ups dates (but perhaps that's cutting it a bit fine). And you have the balls to wonder why you can't get a girlfriend.
    • But then again, seeing as how he has a somewhat tense relationship with Nightwing, maybe he just doesn't want to tick him off even more by going out with either of Nightwing's exes.
  • Christianity Is Catholic: Apparently, the DCU just doesn't have any Protestants, or Lutherans, or Calvinists, or even Greek Orthordox...
  • Church Militant: Sacred Order of St. Dumas? Check.
  • Costume Porn: Jean-Paul Valley's first costume.
  • Cool Car: Averted. Apparently, nothing says "angel" or "agent of the bat" like a navy blue sports car with some slight modifications. The authors turned down the suggestion that he be given wings (Get it? Wings? Angel?) with the excuse "What? And get rid of his car?" Just read the "Az you like it" column in the back of Azrael: Agent of the Bat #81.
  • Deprogram: The System is some form of this.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Jean-Paul Valley has his moments....
  • Did Not Do the Research: Ehh... Joe Quesada? Azrael is the name of the Islamic angel of death.
  • Dirty Old Man: Subverted for Brian Bryan, though he has stated concerning Lilhy, "If I were twenty years younger..."
  • Canon Discontinuity: Jean-Paul Valley stated at the end of the Batman: Sword of Azrael mini-series that he and his father shared the same name. However, according to Azrael: Year One, his father's name was Ludovic Valley. This could be explained as simply Jean-Paul being mistaken, considering his somewhat strained relationship with his father... or the writer forgot.
  • Doing In the Wizard: What wizard?
  • Dual-Wielding: Jean-Paul Valley had two flaming blade things on his wrists. See picture.
  • Exiled From Continuity: Mostly because the book only had one creative team for its entire run. To this troper's knowledge, Jean-Paul Valley has never appeared in another book aside from his own that was not a Bat-book, with the sole exceptions of Blackest Night #1 & #4 and the frankly obscure Plus #1. Also partially because a lot of people hate him for some reason.
  • Face Heel Revolving Door: Lilhy.
  • Fan Nickname: Let's see here...
    • There's "Az".
    • A lot of people refer to Jean-Paul Valley as Batman as "Az Bats".
  • Flaming Sword: Most of the Azraels had at least one, or a variation thereof.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Does this guy even have a memorial in the Batcave? Poor guy's only made one page cameos since his death in Blackest Knight and Neil Gaiman's continuity pornographic (but out of continuity) Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? story.
  • Freudian Excuse: And a pretty darn good one at that. I'm sure extensive Sleep Learning combined with "the System" and becoming a "Well Done, Son" Guy like Jean-Paul did would mess most people up pretty bad. See entries for Sleep Learning, Deprogram, and "Well Done, Son" Guy for more information.
  • The Glasses Come Off: Jean-Paul used to wear glasses prior to becoming Azrael, and still did occaisonally afterwards.
  • Heroic Sociopath: Sometimes with Jean-Paul... (see Azrael II's Heroic Sociopath section)
  • In the Blood: Averted for Jean-Paul Valley, who's father was basically an old-school version of Michael Lane, though Jean-Paul did become the new Azrael.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: Sister Lilhy, oh so much.
  • Killed Off for Real: For the past ten years or so anyway.
  • Knight Templar: The Sacred Order of St. Dumas was actually a splinter group of the original Knights Templar.
  • Legacy Character: This whole Azrael thing has been going on since the 15th century, apparently, passing from father to son, and ending with Jean-Paul Valley.
    • Later on the identity was picked up minor character Michael Lane who even got an ongoing series for about five minutes.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Jean-Paul Valley was infamous for only wearing jeans and T-Shirts in most of his civilian appearances.
  • Mask of Power: After a fashion for Jean-Paul - only his Azrael persona (see Split Personality entry below) has his Badass combat skills, and he can only activate this persona by putting on his Azrael mask.
  • Mass "Oh Crap": All of the Azrael's are very good at instigating these. Take this example found in Plus #1, were Azrael (Jean-Paul Valley) teams up with The Question:

Azrael: Know that you are evil. Know that you are abhominations. Know that you will be punished.
Terrorists: (Mass "Oh Crap" expressions)

(Curb Stomp Battle ensues)

  • Mook Face Turn: Lilhy used to work for the Order of St. Dumas before deciding to help out Jean-Paul, but then she was "Sister Lilhy".
  • Naughty Nuns: Lilhy is implied to have turned into this.
  • Nerd Glasses: Though he did look okay in his round glasses.
  • Nineties Anti-Hero: Well, with Jean-Paul Valley at least, and only sometimes.
    • A lot, actually. Notably one of the first to actually be treated as... bad.
  • Ninja Angel Knight Vigilante : Frequently lampshaded in Jean-Paul Valley's early days. In the words of the Hitman:

Hitman: He about half-thinks he's an angel... an angel with a Bullet Proof Vest.

  • No Social Skills: Jean-Paul Valley suffers from this.
  • Oblivious to Love: Lilhy couldn't take any of Jean-Paul's hints, so the poor guy just gave up.
  • Offscreen Afterlife: When Jean-Paul dies in the final issue of his series, he says "It looks just like the earth." And he was sporting his famous smile, so that's a good thing.
  • Oh Crap: Not only are the Azraels good at instigating these, but it occasionally happens to them too. For instance, Jean-Paul is going about in a run-down part of town as Azrael in issue #32 of his series. He's just been fixed up by this old woman, when he realizes that he left his car unattended. His sudden realization and reaction to this are priceless.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Jean-Paul Valley, thanks to "the System," is an incredible fighter, but he lacks the experience and finesse of Batman, making him inferior to him. However, the Caped Crusader has acknowledged that if Jean-Paul could just get his head screwed on straight, he could have the potential to become an even better fighter than him.
  • Outdated Outfit: After a fashion. Ludovic Valley's decidedly more crusader-esque costume was one of the factors that contributed to his death.
  • Our Angels Are Different: Apparently, the residents of the DC Universe's idea of an angel is either someone dressed up in crusader armor or someone dressed up, well, like in this entry's picture.
  • Powered Armor: The final version of the Azbatsuit was this.
  • Scary Impractical Armor: Jean-Paul Valley's final Azbatsuit was very much this.
  • Sleep Learning: How "the System" works. Or, to be accurate, Subliminal Messages Played While You Are Sleeping Throughout Your Childhood Learning.
  • Split Personality: Jean Paul's Azrael persona is significantly different from his civilian identity of Jean-Paul Valley. As the the sect that trained him was a largely medieval organization, he would often take a course of action would could have been more easily accomplished using modern technology. For example, during the Contagion arc, when a deadly plague was spreading through Gotham City, Azrael had to get the recipe for a cure to the hospitals. His solution to this was a mad rush across military lines, and though he succeeded, he discovered upon arriving at his destination that his allies had already sent the cure recipe to the hospitals by email. This is contradictory to the mindset of Jean-Paul Valley, who, being a student of programing, would be completely aware of such a solution.
    • A third, though less developed, personality is Batman. This personality manifested during Jean-Paul's stint at the Caped Crusader, and remanifested near the end of his series. It combined the intellect of Jean-Paul Valley and the bloodlust of Azrael, but lacked the compassion of Jean-Paul.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Jean-Paul's inability to pull this off during his stint as Batman was Commissioner Gordon's first clue that there was a new Batman in town. The below scene doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.

Gordon: [...] ...Blame him... My God.
Azbats: Something wrong, Commissioner?
Gordon: You're still here.
Azbats: So?

Gordon: Usually I turn and you're gone.

Azbats: I wasn't certain we were finished talking.

Gordon: That never stopped you before.

Azbats: I'll be going then.

  • Suck Sessor: Jean-Paul Valley to Batman during the Knightfall arc. The whole reason it ever happened was to show fans why Bruce Wayne's Batman wasn't a brutal Anti-Hero like The Punisher.
  • Take Up My Sword: Batman (Bruce Wayne) appointed him as his Suck Sessor after Bane broke Bruce's back.
  • Tomato in the Mirror: This happened to Jean-Paul a few times, what with "the System" and all.
  • Temporary Scrappy: Jean-Paul Valley was promoted as this when he turned into Azbats and the majority of the fans were not pleased.
  • Tragic Hero: At varrying points in his series, though most significantly in the end.
  • Tyke Bomb: Apparently, Jean-Paul was subjected to subliminal messages and other mental conditioning since he was a little kid.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: Jean-Paul Valley, Brian Bryan, and Sister Lilhy, again.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: With Nightwing.
  • Voice with an Internet Connection: Oracle. Who else?
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Played straight. Jean-Paul had terrible issues with both his real father, Ludovic Valley, and his adoptive father figure, Bruce Wayne. The elder Valley had always been distant from Jean-Paul, and rarely even saw him, let alone had extended interactions with him. Even in Jean-Paul's "system" induced dreams and visions, Ludovic is condescending and unsatisfied with Jean-Paul's actions. But then again, it was revealed in Azrael: Year One that Ludovic was actually trying to get him to safety, away from the Order of St. Dumas when he mentioned the instructions, so maybe he wasn't such a bad father. And then there's Batman. Imagine if your father was Batman. (Maybe Jean-Paul could identify with Damian) Indeed, their relationship has been compared to a very athletic father looking down on an intelligent but physically lacking son. On the other hand, Jean-Paul's father issues led him to identify with a lot of the villains he fought.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Jean-Paul Valley got this with Sister Lilhy a lot.
  • Wolverine Publicity: Why do you think they renamed Jean-Paul's series Azrael: Agent of the Bat at issue 47?


Batwing (David Zavimbe)

David Zavimbe was a child soldier from the fictional city of Tinasha who's parents both died of AIDS. He and his younger brother Isaac were drafted into General Keita's army at a young age, and soon became prodigies in the art of murder. Disgusted by all the needless bloodshed, David eventually fled the soldier life and became an honest cop in Tinasha, doing everything he could to uphold the law. Once Bruce Wayne announced the Batman, Incorporated initiative, David became one of his hand-picked recruits.

Batwing first debuted in 2011, with the fifth issue of the first volume of Batman, Incorporated. He was one of the latest recruits to Batman's cause of combating the combined forces of Leviathan and Doctor Dedalus. He was seemingly killed by a legion of Talia al Ghul's Man-Bats in the one-shot Leviathan Strikes!, but was given his own ongoing series in the New 52.

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Though, technically, Jason was the first New Earth Red Robin.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Most particularly issue #58, which shows us what she looks like when awakened in the middle of the night wearing only pajamas.
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