| Batman | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vital statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home World | Earth | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Species | Human | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age | 33 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Production details | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Appearance | The Return | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed By | Roger Craig Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Thomas Wayne is a human from Earth and one of the main protagonists of Ben 10/Justice League: The Series. Orphaned from the deaths of his parents in a mugging in an alley, he would travel the world to gain the skills needed to perfect himself, returning home and becoming the vigilante Batman, before later going on to become a founding member and co-leader of the Justice League.
Appearance[]
Bruce has tan skin, black hair, and black eyes.
Bruce wears a costume that is primarily grey, with a black cape that has a cowl with white eyeholes and black pointed ears that covers most of his face, leaving only the lower part of his face exposed, black gloves with three sharp straps on the back of each glove, black outer underwear with a gold Utility Belt, and black boots.
History[]
Bruce Wayne was born into a wealthy family in the crime-ridden city of Gotham, under the care of his parents, the philanthropists Thomas and Martha Wayne, who used their vast fortune to aid people whom were less fortunate. One night, when he was only eight, he was walking home at night with his parents when a mugger named Joe Chill approached them, demanding money and his mother's pearl necklace. The mugging went awry when the mugger shot both of his parents, causing them to die from their wounds while the mugger escaped. Bruce was left alive to witness the tragedy, traumatized by what had happened to them.
The family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, took Bruce home to Wayne Manor to raise as his own son. As he grew older, Bruce would leave Gotham and travel the world, to learn various skills he would need to prevent what happened to him from happening again to anyone else, to protect the city and clean out its corruption. Some mentors were more unscrupulous than others, but nonetheless agreed to teach him his skills. One such mentor he met within Gotham was Ted Grant, the boxer and retired Justice Society member known as Wildcat, and it was during his period of training under him that he met another of Ted's students, Dinah Laurel Lance, whom he would form a close friendship with. Another mentor he met was O-Sensei, who trained Bruce, as well as several other students, in martial arts. He traveled with these two to Japan and subsequently learned ninjutsu.
Once Bruce had trained in everything he needed to know, bringing his body to peak condition, he returned home to Gotham, taking over his father's company, Wayne Enterprises. Bruce would use it to help people out as his family once did, through charities, and through financing the creation of various advanced tools which he would use as Batman, a vigilante inspired by his memory of seeing a bat crash through the window of Wayne Manor. He would also use the Batcave, a cave underneath the mansion, as a base of operations to launch missions into the city.
Over time, the organized crime that ran rampant in the city would decline, and even the corruption among the police would be purged. However, supervillains that served as a dark reflection of some aspect of Bruce would begin to take the place of the mob bosses, with colorful criminals such as his archenemy Joker, his former friend Two-Face, Penguin, Riddler, and Bane going on to become personal adversaries in his war on crime. One such criminal, Catwoman, would instead become his primary love interest as he gradually convinced her to take his side.
His battle against Gotham's criminals would not be one fought alone forever. Bruce would adopt a boy named Dick Grayson, watching him suffer a similar tragedy to the one he faced as a child when a mobster caused the deaths of his circus family, and eventually trained him in the mantle of the first Robin. Dick outgrew this mantle to become Nightwing, and Bruce would take in street urchin Jason Todd as the second Robin, only for him to be killed by Joker in the line of duty. While Jason would later be revived, returning as the antihero Red Hood, the grief-stricken Bruce was approached by Tim Drake, a prodigy detective who offered to be the third Robin out of a belief that Batman needed a Robin to keep him in line, which Bruce agreed to, allowing Tim to become Robin, and adopting him as well when his father was killed. He also would take in Cassandra Cain, the remorseful daughter of the assassin David Cain, who subsequently became Orphan. Other allies that Bruce would eventually encounter include Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham's police commissioner Jim Gordon who became Batgirl, Stephanie Brown, the runaway daughter of Cluemaster who became Spoiler, his cousin Kate Kane, who became Batwoman, Luke Fox, the son of Wayne Enterprises executive Lucius Fox who became Batwing, and Jean-Paul Valley, a former operative of the Order of St. Dumas known as Azrael. He would even reunite with Dinah, who had completed her training and become the second Black Canary, before leaving Gotham to go to Star City.
Eventually, one day, he teamed up with Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman, Cyborg, and Martian Manhunter to repel an invasion from the planet Apokolips, leading to the formation of the Justice League. As this happened, Bruce, alongside Flash, would help Cyborg, who made his debut around the time of the invasion, come to terms with his new condition. The eight heroes would fight various enemies that no hero could take on alone, adding many more new members, Dinah among them, with plans to expand to something bigger. In one such encounter with an enemy, Bruce, alongside the rest of the Justice League, would meet Ben Tennyson and Rook Blonko.
Bruce was wary of the two individuals, but as Superman convinced him to give them a chance, he eventually began to trust them as both teams united to fight the same enemy. He would go on to play a role in helping Ben find his surviving extended family as he and Rook settled on Earth. In time, the eventual expansion of the Justice League would take place, with both new heroes also added to the lineup.
Personality[]
Bruce is very serious and grim, taking any mission he goes on seriously and never stopping to ignore a threat. As such, he can obsessively try to think one step ahead of his enemies, paranoid for any situation and prone to a relentless pursuit of justice, even if his personal life suffers for it.
Underneath his darkness, Bruce is empathetic and compassionate, showing concern for innocents and the victims of crime. He also shows an idealistic side, refusing to kill people, whether innocent or guilty, to show he is better than the criminals he fights.
Bruce typically prefers to work alone, however, he closely values the few close bonds he has formed with family and allies. Deep down, however, the trauma from the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne still haunts him, occasionally making him take risks if his trauma resurfaces.
Powers and Abilities[]
Bruce's training with various individuals has brought his body up to peak conditioning, granting him greater strength, agility, endurance, and reflexes compared to an ordinary human. He also possesses knowledge of multiple forms of martial arts that make him a proficient hand-to-hand fighter, such as ninjutsu, jiu-jitsu, kung fu, karate, judo, muay thai, boxing, and others.
The World's Greatest Detective, Bruce possesses vast knowledge of psychology, forensics, and the study of criminals, among other sciences. He uses his intellect to devise tactical strategies for outsmarting his enemies and analyzing situations carefully, and possesses great deductive reasoning.
Bruce is a stealth expert who can easily disappear from sight with his ninjutsu training. Using this, he can infiltrate any location unseen, often with the aid of disguises. Bruce is also shown to be good at wielding weapons and understanding technology, especially advanced technology, in the form of tools like batarangs and his grappling hook that he wields in battle, and other devices he designs within the Batcave.
Equipment[]
Bruce wears a Batsuit, which is armored and equipped with gadgets he can use for utility when the situation needs them. Other natural features of the suit include a series of straps on his gloves, designed to help cut rope should his hands be tied by it.
His Utility Belt stores a wide variety of items he can use in the field. The most notable of these include batarangs, boomerang-like weapons he can throw as a ranged weapon, sometimes modified to dispense gas, and a grappling hook, among others such as night vision goggles, forensic kits, and tools to hack into servers.
Bruce possesses two vehicles he uses to get around, the Batmobile and the Batplane, which are respectively more advanced versions of a car and a plane. Both possess military upgrades allowing them to be used to attack opponents.
Within the Batcave, Bruce has access to a highly sophisticated computer, the Batcomputer, which he uses to track opponents and other items of urgency to a mission.
Weaknesses[]
Bruce may be enhanced by his training, but he's still only a human, with conventional weapons being able to damage him if he is caught off guard.
If his trauma were to resurface, his judgment would be clouded by it, making it harder for him to focus emotionally. In addition, his stubbornness can make him very resistant to change, while his obsession with completing a mission can lead Bruce to push himself too far, risking his own health in the process.
Bruce's tendency to work alone causes him to have a difficult time trusting others, leading to him preferring to isolate himself to a point where he cannot rely as extensively on allies.
Trivia[]
- This is an adaptation of Batman, inspired by multiple portrayals of Batman across DC Comics media, many of which are similar.
- Of all these portrayals, Batman's design and personality are inspired by his portrayal in the DC Animated Universe, though adjusted to match with other portrayals of the character.
- Had his voice actor in the DCAU, Kevin Conroy, still been alive, he would have shared his voice as well. Instead, Roger Craig Smith, who voiced the interpretation from the Arkhamverse in Batman: Arkham Origins, is brought on instead.
- His backstory of training with O-Sensei is inspired by his portrayal in the film Batman: Soul of the Dragon.