Post by Batman on Sept 6, 2011 13:30:52 GMT -6
Canon Character Application
Character Name: Bruce Wayne
Nickname/Alias: The Batman
Version: Comics
Race: Human
Alignment: Hero, Batfamily
Occupation/class: Adventurer, Crime Fighter, Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Philanthropist
Physical Appearance:
Bruce Wayne stands at an impressive 6'2'' and weighs 210lbs. With his black hair, blue eyes, chiseled good looks and smartly tailored business suit, Bruce Wayne has crafted himself into every woman's dream man. But under his tailored suits lies the sculpted body of one of the most dangerous men in the world. Bruce’s body is littered with scars from the years that he has spent fighting crime. While Bruce Wayne is known for being fashionable man of the town. In truth the Playboy cares little for the clothes that he wears as he is bouncing around time with a random collection of women on his arm.
When Darkness falls Batman slips into the all black armor of the Batman, and takes to the streets to right the wrongs that are all too often committed in Gotham.
Personality:
Calculating: Life is a game of chess, and Batman is a grand master. Like a skilled chess player, he thinks ahead, picturing how the 'game' will resolve if he moves one way, envisioning all possible scenarios and picking the action which is most likely to result in the scenario he most wants to see. It's a necessity in his life - his enemies are powerful, sometimes far more powerful than he is himself, and without super powers to rely on like his allies in the Justice League, Batman must think far ahead to keep from giving his enemies an advantage.
Cunning: Most super heroes are very straightforward people. They act in a simple and direct fashion: somebody does something bad, they stop that somebody by whatever means are necessary that conform to their personal moral code. Batman isn't like that. Batman is a hidden threat, a creature of fear. His attack begins before he even sees the enemy - they're in Gotham, and they know the stories of the Batman that lurks in the city, preying on criminals. His attacks are well planned, and he is capable of adjusting them on the fly to make them still more effective. It's hard to plan against such a varying and shifting arsenal.
Discerning: Batman is an utter master of deduction, one of the greatest detectives that the world has ever known. He understands human nature and can pick up on subtle shifts in a person's mood and attitude very quickly if his attention is focused on them. His tendency is to cut through the chaff of a conversation and guide it to its logical conclusion, finding the questions that will get him the information he needs in the least amount of time. His tendency to push off small talk and get right down to the meat of the issue can be off-putting, particularly for those who don't know him well and don't expect his more direct approach.
Enigmatic: One of Batman's greatest assets is his ability to hide what he is thinking and feeling. He is a puzzle to those around him, never quite letting them get a read on him. He has deliberately cloaked himself in mystery to the point that for much of his career, despite his supposed involvement with the Justice League and his activities in Gotham, many people in his own city believed him to be no more than a legend to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Even if one comes to know Batman, even if they know his secret identity, the layers of mystery that separate him from others are almost impenetrable. Keeping his friends at arm's length can keep them from getting hurt, he figures - and sometimes even he isn't even sure about what's really beneath all of those layers of enigma.
Heroic: No matter what horrors Bruce Wayne has witnessed in his life, at heart he is a hero. He is a champion of those who cannot defend themselves against the darkness of Gotham City and the greater dangers of the world at large. He protects all of those he can as Batman, and if he had never put on his costume his heroic nature would have come through in other ways - he tends toward philanthropy even now, giving away millions of dollars as Bruce Wayne annually via the Wayne Foundation and other such associations. No matter what the trouble, a children's program burdened with debt or an alien invasion threatening to overwhelm the world, Bruce Wayne will be there, in or out of costume, to protect those who need his protection.
Obsessive: Batman is driven by some inner fire, forced to confront the horrors that haunt Gotham City and the ghosts of his own past. He is obsessed with the vow he made in childhood to prevent tragedies like his own. He may narrow his focus when a given enemy has presented him with a particular challenge, and will often go without sleep or food for much longer than he ought to without somebody to remind him to rest or eat. He has ruined more than one relationship when he showed up for a date two days late after finally tracking down an enemy. Without having a friend on hand to make him slow down, his obsessions will push him to his limits and over.
Pragmatic: Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. Batman is always prepared. Guided by practical experience, Batman is almost always a few steps ahead of his enemies simply by virtue of the fact that he has planned and prepared for every foreseeable problem. He has little patience with people who let life come at them without taking the time to consider their future needs. A little planning would protect them from so much heartache and heartbreak down the line.
Background/History:
Bruce Wayne was the only son of Thomas Wayne, a renowned physician and heir to Gotham City's Waynes, who had lived in the city for centuries, and Martha Wayne, a socialite and philanthropist. The Waynes were important figures in Gotham, both of them going out of their way to make the city a better place not just for themselves and their friends, but for the city's inhabitants as a whole. Thomas's medical work was often done for free if his patients could not afford his fees, and Martha organized many charity functions that were huge boons to the less fortunate in both Gotham and the world.
One night, when Bruce was eight years old, he accompanied his parents to the theater to see the classic 1940s film, "The Mask of Zorro". With their son in tow, Thomas and Martha decided to leave the theater by a side exit, stepping into an alley. In that alley something happened that would change the course of Bruce's life and Gotham's future. The Waynes were assaulted by a man who demanded their money and jewelry. Ever the hero, Thomas tried to grapple with the man and was shot. Martha screamed and was shot as well, even as the mugger grabbed for the string of pearls around her neck. The string broke and pearls clattered to the pavement. The mugger ran. Bruce was left with his parents' dying bodies. He was found there, kneeling by their corpses, staring into the darkness.
It was not long after their funeral that Bruce Wayne made a vow that would grow into an obsession, making him the dark hero of Gotham City in later years. He swore that he would never allow such a tragedy to happen, never let another family be shattered the way his own had been. He vowed upon his parents graves that he would stop crime and evil wherever they reared their ugly heads. Someday.
Alfred Pennyworth, the Waynes' butler, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a friend of the family and professional associate of the late Thomas Wayne, took the raising of Bruce upon themselves, becoming a surrogate father and mother to the boy. Still very young he nevertheless put aside his toys and games and devoted himself to the promise he had made. The Waynes had a comprehensive library and access to tutors in many fields, and it was in these directions that Bruce first turned his attention. He trained himself in speed reading and forced himself to develop a photographic memory. He began a physical regimen that exercised his body to perfection. And only Alfred knew the whole of it, or the driving vow behind it.
Alfred and Dr. Thompkins were concerned for Bruce and his obsessive routines. Bruce, though, arranged through a lawyer to become an emancipated minor. Though Alfred still worked for him, Bruce was no longer subject to any sort of rules laid down by anybody but the law, and he was able to direct his own education as he saw fit. At the age of fourteen he planned out a trip around the world to meet with educators and experts in all manner of fields, all with the intention of fulfilling his promise to his parents.
He studied with Henri Ducard, a skilled private investigator, in Paris. From this man he learned investigation and marksmanship, though he quickly decided that he did not wish to use firearms in his quest for justice. Guns destroyed lives. He took classes at top universities in such diverse fields as chemistry, criminology, history and psychology. He worked with a cat burglar to learn about criminals, making a temporary place for himself in the underworld.
At twenty Bruce entered the FBI, but it did not take him long at all to realize that the rules by which law enforcement agents were bound were too restrictive for the vow he had made. He left on another trip, this time to Asia, traveling to masters of the martial arts in Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, learning karate, ninjitsu, kung fu and savate, among other arts and skills. He traveled through Africa on his way back to the United States and learned from master hunters and trackers who could track their prey across the savannah or desert. In America he met with Ted Grant, a boxing champion (and the Justice Society's Wildcat), John Zatara, a stage magician and escape artist, Oliver Queen, an expert archer (also known as the Green Arrow), David Cain, the world's foremost assassin, and the Sensei, who was, at the time, considered one of the world's greatest martial artists. From each of these men he learned the skills that would turn him into the champion he wished to be.
During his travels Gotham City had become more and more corrupted. Bruce returned to find the city in the clutches of organized crime bosses like Carmine Falcone and the Maroni family. The police were corrupt, and average citizens lived in fear of their supposed protectors as well as the obvious villains. Bruce was determined to prove himself. He went to a slum neighborhood, where he was almost killed by a pimp and prostitutes, then taken by police officers who shot him and considered dumping his body in a remote location. He broke free of his cuffs and his attempts to free himself from the car made the driver crash. He rescued the police from the burning vehicle, then left them there and retreated to Wayne Manor.
Faint from blood loss and exhaustion, Bruce made his way to his father's study. It was there that he sat down, on the verge of giving up his vow then and there. In despair he begged his father for a sign, any sign, to show him how to fight the darkness that gripped Gotham and how to make his enemies fear him. And he received a sign as requested.
A bat flapped through an open window and came to land upon a bust of his father.
In his youth, Bruce had been playing on the grounds of the Wayne estate when he fell through a rotten well cover and into the cavern system that would become the Batcave many years later. This came back to him now. The bat reminded him of the horror he felt when he found himself in that darkness, staring up into the glowing eyes of hundreds of bats, listening to their screeches of rage. He could become the bat, become the darkness, and take back the city in that guise.
He jumped up, ringing for Alfred, who was quick to attend him. Here he explained his plan to Alfred, how he would become a hero for the city, using the mantle of the bat to strike fear into his opponents' hearts. With Alfred's help Bruce was able to find the perfect headquarters in the caves beneath Wayne Manor, to craft a new identity and build the weapons he would need in his fight. The caves already had an entrance into the mansion - one of Bruce's ancestors in the years prior to the Civil War had opened his home to the underground railroad. With equipment borrowed from the subsidiaries of Wayne Enterprises, a cape and a cowl with pointed ears, Bruce began to stalk the streets of Gotham City. He first confronted petty criminals, people low on the food chain of crime, and his legend began with them as they rushed back to their superiors, reporting on the strange "bat man" who had attacked them.
The crime families that controlled Gotham and the corrupt police who worked for them were concerned with Batman's appearance in the city. They put together a task force dedicated to finding Batman and taking him down. The leader of this group was Lieutenant James Gordon, a new cop from Chicago who was already seen as honest and trustworthy - and not at all corruptible, which was a problem in Gotham City. Gordon pursued Batman until the latter was trapped in a building with a SWAT team full of thugs and a bomb, neither of which tactic had Gordon called for. Batman escaped the building in a flock of bats.
Gordon had already noticed the corruption in the city. When his wife and infant son were threatened by gangsters, Batman intervened and stopped the criminals, earning him Gordon's trust and admiration - which had already been blooming. The Lieutenant realized that though they were technically on opposite sides of the law,Batman represented a force for good and Gordon wanted to be a part of that. He told Batman that he would not try to arrest him anymore, and together they, along with a young district attorney named Harvey Dent, began to clean Gotham City of its corruption.
Batman's association with Gordon and Dent led to promotions for Gordon, first to captain, and then to commissioner. Batman found other allies as well, such as the enigmatic Catwoman. A burglar by trade, she had a personal vendetta against the Falcone crime family and frequently aided Batman on cases involving organized crime - whether he wanted her help or not.
Superman, the defender of Metropolis to the south, heard of Gotham's dark protector and came to seek him out. They had differing methods and their opinions of each other weren't the highest at first, but they came to respect and like each other all the same, and their activities inspired a generation of heroes, the likes of which had not been seen since the Justice Society of America disbanded after being confronted by Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. They later teamed up with Wonder Woman, and became part of the Justice League, a team of some of the greatest heroes the world had to offer.
As Batman, Gordon and Dent began to dismantle Gotham's crime families, new villains began to appear as if by magic. These new enemies were seriously deranged and dangerous, ranging from the deadly self-pronounced Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker, who first appeared as the masked Red Hood, to the plant worshipping Poison Ivy, the fear-obsessed Scarecrow, and the frigid Mr. Freeze. New crime families began to rise as well, led by the likes of the Penguin, a twisted human being who carried a variety of guns built into umbrellas as combined weapon and shield.
A new killer began to strike at the crime families directly. He attacked on holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day - earning the name Holiday, and it took a very long time for Batman to track him down. Another date-related villain, the Calendar Man, was asked for assistance by Batman, but gave very confusing answers to Batman's questions, referring to Holiday as both a man and a woman. In the end it was determined that Holiday was Alberto Falcone, son of mob bose Carmine Falcone, but before Holiday was found out, Harvey Dent was attacked at the trial of one of Falcone's underlings, Sal "The Boss" Maroni. Maroni threw a vial of caustic acid into Dent's face, permanently scarring him. After Holiday was behind bars, a gang of villains attacked Carmine Falcone's home under the leadership of a new villain calling himself Two Face. Two Face turned out to be none other than Harvey Dent, and was jailed when Batman caught him, but not before he managed to kill Falcone with two bullets to the head.
In the year following what the organized criminals of Gotham called the Long Halloween, another killer began stalking the Gotham City police, killing them on the same holidays as Holiday had killed his victims. These murders were done by hanging, rather than by gun like Holiday, and lost games of Hangman were attached to the victims as well. As a result, this killer was given the name Hangman in the press. Batman turned to the Riddler, another of his enemies, to help explain the puzzles - something that temporarily made the Riddler feel like Batman wasn't so bad, as his own goal was to feel superior to Batman mentally.
With Hangman still at large, one of Gotham's remaining underworld leaders, Anthony "Fats" Zucco, came up with a plan to use circus trucks to transport contraband. He approached the owner of Haly's Circus who wanted nothing to do with the deal. Zucco arranged an accident for the stars of the circus, the Flying Graysons, who fell to their deaths after acid ate away at the trapeze that held them in the sky, leaving their son, Dick, an orphan. Batman took the boy into his home, and soon Dick began aiding him as the brightly colored Robin.
Batman finally managed to track down Hangman, discovering that it was Carmine Falcone's daughter, Sofia. Before he could arrest her, Two Face showed up and killed the woman. Batman had been hoping to redeem Dent, but at this point began to realize that the man who had been his friend was gone forever.
Shortly after the Hangman's death, Batman's gained another ally. This was Barbara Gordon, James Gordon's adopted daughter, who took the name of Batgirl.
Through a mysterious woman named Talia, Batman met Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head, an ecoterrorist and leader of the League of Assassins who saw in Batmanthe opportunity to have a grandchild who could follow in his footsteps. Ra's kidnapped Dick Grayson and lured Batman to a confrontation, revealing that he wantedBatman to wed Talia, his daughter. Though Batman and Talia have had a relationship over the years, Bruce refused (though he felt genuine love for the terrorist's daughter). Ra's al Ghul has returned time and again to cause trouble for Batman, each time with deadlier force than the last.
As a teenager, Dick joined a small group of young sidekicks called the Teen Titans. When a confrontation with Two Face almost cost Dick his life, Batman decided that he could no longer risk the life of his ward and broke off their partnership. Somewhat aimless and angered, Dick cast off the mantle of Robin and became Nightwing. Batman discovered that he needed a partner shortly thereafter, but while Dick would always be his ally, he refused to become the latter half of 'Batman and' again. Batman found his new partner in the form of a young street kid named Jason Todd, who would become the second Robin.
He impressed Batman when the Caped Crusader discovered him trying to steal the Batmobile, then by helping him to stop a robbery planned by the head of the school that Bruce Wayne was paying for him to attend. Bruce offered Jason the opportunity to be Robin against his own better judgment, but recognizing that Jason would continue to get involved in such things anyway. He adopted Jason, as he had adopted Dick before, and they worked well together for awhile.
But then the Joker escaped from Arkham. With the intent of proving that circumstances could destroy any man's sanity, the Joker set out to destroy James Gordon. He shot Barbara Gordon in the stomach when she answered the door at Gordon's house. Her career as Batgirl was over - the bullet shattered her spine, and she would never walk again. He then kidnapped Gordon, showing him pictures of his daughter in such a state, soaked with blood, broken, perhaps dead. Batman tracked down the Joker and saved Gordon, returning the Joker to the asylum. Barbara would later become Oracle, a hacker and information gatherer who aided Batman and many other heroes.
After Batgirl's injury, Jason's reckless behavior was too much for Batman. He made Jason stop being Robin for a time, which caused much anger and tension between them, and then went off to try to stop the Joker, who had escaped from Arkham again. Jason decided to take this opportunity to search for his mother. He helpedBatman to stop the Joker from selling a nuclear warhead to terrorists in Beirut, then discovered that his mother, Dr. Sheila Heywood, was living there. Batman gave Jason permission to find her, but learned that she was working with the Joker and revoked his permission. Jason ignored Batman and went to rescue his mother from the killer as Robin. The Joker attacked him with a crowbar, then killed both mother and son with a time bomb.
For some reason, the Joker was picked as Iran's ambassador from the United Nations, and Superman had to tell Batman that this post granted him immunity from prosecution. The Joker foolishly (insanely, even), lost his immunity when he released a deadly gas within the United Nations building. He was stopped by Superman and Batman, and apparently died in the attempt. Batman returned to Gotham, and with no sidekicks his darker side began to take over.
When Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, was kidnapped by Baron Bedlam, Batman first went to the JLA for help in saving his old friend. He was rebuffed. Needing help, he recruited his own team of heroes and named them the Outsiders. Katana, Halo, Geo-Force, Metamorpho and Black Lightning were pretty much unknown (and aren't much better known now), were supported by Bruce Wayne's wealth, but the relationship between Batman and the other five fell apart after Bedlam took over Markovia, Geo-Force's home country and in which country he was heir to the throne. Batman left the Outsiders, promising himself he would not get involved in such a team again.
Not like that lasted long. The Martian Manhunter requested his help in forming a new Justice League, and Batman agreed. He was the team's field leader for a time, but while the group was effective, they were not serious enough for Batman's taste, containing such clownish heroes as Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, Fire and Ice, and even, from time to time, the canine Green Lantern G'nort. He left the team not long after its inception, deciding to focus his attention on Gotham where it was most needed.
With no allies in Gotham, Batman found himself losing his balance. A young man named Timothy Drake worked out his identity, and Nightwing's by extension, and set out on a campaign to bring them back together. He aided them in a fight against Two Face, and once more launched into his spiel that Dick should take back the Robin costume and become Batman's partner again. Batman and Nightwing asked Tim to be the new Robin instead.
This was not with some reluctance on Batman's part. He was not sure about having another partner after the death of Jason Todd. However, Batman agreed to Tim becoming his partner on the condition that Tim would agree to a training period. Tim was clearly intelligent, but did not have the physical abilities that either Dick or Jason had had when they joined Batman's fight. During the training period, Tim's parents, Jack and Janet Drake were kidnapped by a villain calling himself Lord Obeah.Batman tried to rescue them, but though he managed to save Jack, Janet died of poisoning after ingesting poisoned water. Jack drank the same water and survived, but was paralyzed.
Tim was resilient. He grieved the loss of his mother and his father's mobility, but bounced back in time to save Batman from a plot by the Scarecrow. He was sent byBatman on a trip to meet with several of Batman's teachers, and when he returned to Gotham, Batman accepted Tim Drake as his new partner.
A new ally appeared in the form of Jean Paul Valley, Azrael. At first Batman and Azrael were on opposite sides. Azrael had been trained as an enforcer and assassin by the Holy Order of St. Dumas. With Batman's support, though, Valley turned his back on the Order and became a janitor at Wayne Enterprises, still aiding Batmanin the guise of Azrael.
The arrival of Bane in Gotham brought little attention, which was exactly what Bane wanted. He took his time studying Batman's ways, wanting nothing more than to break the hero. Finally he blew open the gates of Arkham Asylum. Over the course of days, Batman and his allies had no sleep, no time to rest for more than a few minutes, as Arkham's lunatic murderous inmates were scattered and up to no good. Batman took down Maxie Zeus, the Ventriloquist, Mr. Zsasz, was put on trial by Two Face, fought the Joker. He was exhausted to the point of breaking anyway when Bane finally confronted him. Bane attacked him in the Batcave and broke his back.
Confined to a wheelchair, Bruce asked Jean Paul Valley to take over as Batman while he recuperated. His recuperation didn't last long, as Jack Drake was kidnapped once more, this time by a man named Benedict Asp, brother to Shondra Kinsolving who was acting as doctor to both Bruce and Drake. On Robin's behalf, Batmantraveled to England to find Drake and Kinsolving.
But he lost Alfred. The butler had had enough of Bruce doing what he wanted with no concern for his safety. Bruce returned home without Alfred to find that Jean Paul Valley had gone insane in Batman's guise and had almost killed a man. He didn't rescue the serial killer Abattoir and the villain fell to his death in a pit of molten steel. He was no longer accepting help from Robin. Bruce was not yet able to take back the name, though, still injured. He left the country and turned to Lady Shiva, one of the world's greatest fighters (if not the greatest) to help him regain his ability and desire to fight. She tried to make him kill an opponent, and he used a technique that simulated the man's death, fooling her, then returned home to confront Azrael.
With the help of Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman, Batman was able to defeat Jean Paul Valley. He showed theman where he had gone wrong. Jean Paul left Gotham to search for a life and purpose for himself, and Bruce asked Dick to be Batman for a time, promising to return soon, but feeling he needed to change some things before he became Batman again.
When he finally returned to Gotham, he and his allies quickly found themselves forced to deal with a different kind of horror. A virus was spreading quickly through the population. Known as the Clench, the virus was a variant of the uncurable Ebola. It killed thousands of Gothamites, infecting even Robin. Batman discovered that the plague was the work of Ra's al Ghul, and with the aid of Nightwing, Oracle, Catwoman, Robin, Huntress and Azrael, Batman managed to put an end to the plot, finding a cure and taking away Ra's ability to make more.
Yet another Justice League formed shortly thereafter, brought together by the reality shaping powers of the villainous Doctor Destiny and a strange enemy named Know Man. Batman admitted, once they managed to overcome the plot, that the team was a necessity with the world-threatening enemies they all faced regularly, and that he had a part to play in the team. The JLA fought such threats as an invasion of White Martians and the villainy of the Injustice Gang of the World, a team comprised of some of the worst enemies of each of the Leaguers - Lex Luthor, the Joker, Ocean Master, Circe and more. He may have been the weakest member of the team, but he was unparalleled as a tactician.
Disaster on a grander scale struck Gotham in the form of a massive earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. The quake devastated the city and the government was quick to write it off as a No Man's Land, leaving the trapped citizens to their own devices and even going so far as to mine the waters around the city to prevent escape. Batman and his allies worked long and hard to combat the gang war that began when various villains, pouring from a newly decimated Arkham, decided to claim the city as their own. And as Bruce Wayne he fought to have the borders opened up again and for Gotham to be accepted back into the United States. He proved that the city was not a lost cause. The border was reopened, but Jim Gordon's wife, Sarah, was murdered by the Joker as one of the last criminal acts in No Man's Land.
A new ally was found in No Man's Land. The adopted daughter of the notorious assassin David Cain had made the city her home. Though she had no verbal skills, Cassandra Cain was an incredible martial artist. She came to the attention of Batman through Oracle, and working alongside him in the devastated city she proved herself. After Batman made Huntress remove the Batgirl costume she had taken to wearing, he offered it to Cassandra, making her the new Batgirl.
When Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia, stole Batman's plans to fight the Justice League should the need ever arise, the result was the complete defeat of the Justice League by Ra's. Batman fought Ra's and his terrorist associates, though the Demon's Head had stolen his parents' bodies and offered to regenerate them in his Lazarus Pit. He saved the day, but the League voted him out in anger at his perceived betrayal. He returned briefly at Superman's request, then left the team again.
Batman developed a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne's bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux, who became a vigilante at his side, first as Cover, then as Sparrow. Batman aided Superman in fighting Lex Luthor's schemes as president. He helped to combat the Imperiex invasion and fought zombies powered by the Egyptian gods when the gods went to war with humanity. When the very forces of nature rose against the Earth, Batman was there to help stop them, preventing Lex Luthor from setting off an explosion that might well have torn the world in two. The failures and disappointment he felt in others began to have a profound effect on the Batman. He had withdrawn from all of his friends, reminded of how important it was that he keep bonds with his Allies by his Robin Tim Drake Bruce realized that he had to make a change. For the last year he has been trying to reestablish and strengthen his associations with friends around the world. He went with Superboy, Supergirl and Wonder Woman to rescue Superman from Maxima on the planet Almerac, and has found that some of his allies, such as Spoiler, have developed in ways he never foresaw.
Batman still fights for Gotham every night. He is unlikely to live a long and happy life, and he is fully aware of this fact. But the most important thing, to him, is that he is keeping his promise. And somewhere, he is sure, his parents are smiling at him
Role-play Sample
Bruce let the buzz of the police scanner go for some time in his ear. He was sure that Oracle was sorting thorough the calls and would be there to forward the important ones to him. He trusted her to do so after all. But Bruce was also aware that there had been no sight of the Joker for the past two months, so he was keeping an ear out for anything that might sound like the opening play from that madman himself. He had escaped from Arkham so it was only going to be a matter of time before he showed back up. If the Batman might be able to get a jump on him before time, that was worth the extra police chatter his scanner would pick up.
The sound of ammunition being loaded into assault rifles drew Bruce back from his thoughts and gave him a chance to focus on the here and now. Though being back in the present did not do much for the hero. Crouched on on of the many rooftops, within the old warehouses in the Tricorner, Dick knew that he was going to have to get ready to make his move. The rain beat heavily around him rolling ever so gently off of his suit. Behind the white lenses of his mask Bruce was counting trying to figure out just how many of these guys were down there. When dealing with high rates of fire and high impact shells it never hurt to know how many people wanted you dead.
Perched easily on the balls of his feet Bruce crouched down his hands bracing his form against the left and right outer edge of the previously busted skylight. He was alone and outnumbered. He had not called in for back up, he should not need it for something like this and he was not willing to pull the others away from what they were doing. This was a shipment he had been tracking out of Bludhaven. Dick had been working so hard on keeping up with the crime there that when Bruce came across something that carried over here, he liked to take care of it himself before it got to his young protege
Releasing his handhold on the sides of the skylight The Batman allowed himself to drop into the building. He caught onto a beam running down the length of the roof and pulled himself up into a small nook created by a joint in the roof's construction. The clock was running now as Batman gave a pause trying to understand why they would load the weapons now, there was more going on here than meets the eye and he was rather curious as to what it could be.
Depressing a small trigger set inside his glove a taser charge that he had set before entering went off overloading the circuit breaker. On cue all the lights went out, and Darkness enveloped the warehouse.
"Damn"
A lone gun runner swore, the fear evident in his voice. But there was a storm outside, so that meant that unlike most nights in Gotham you would not assume that there was a hero sitting just above your head with starlight lenses watching you and your crew fumble in the dark getting ready to strike.
"You two go check the fuse box"
A different voice called out as three flashlights came to life. Bruce noted the place meant of the lights as well as those that did not. As one of the lights and another figure started to head in the direction of the door, he knew that it was time to make his move.
Leaping into the air Batman aimed for the first of the flashlight bearers, landing softly behind the man Batman laid into him with a swift combination that fists that left the man unconscious well before he hit the ground. Granted The Batman was already on the move shortly after finishing the attack. He was already sliding into the darker shadows preparing to take out the next man. Here in the dark he was the hunter and these men where his prey, they did not stand a chance.
Password: ********
Character Name: Bruce Wayne
Nickname/Alias: The Batman
Version: Comics
Race: Human
Alignment: Hero, Batfamily
Occupation/class: Adventurer, Crime Fighter, Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Philanthropist
Physical Appearance:
Bruce Wayne stands at an impressive 6'2'' and weighs 210lbs. With his black hair, blue eyes, chiseled good looks and smartly tailored business suit, Bruce Wayne has crafted himself into every woman's dream man. But under his tailored suits lies the sculpted body of one of the most dangerous men in the world. Bruce’s body is littered with scars from the years that he has spent fighting crime. While Bruce Wayne is known for being fashionable man of the town. In truth the Playboy cares little for the clothes that he wears as he is bouncing around time with a random collection of women on his arm.
When Darkness falls Batman slips into the all black armor of the Batman, and takes to the streets to right the wrongs that are all too often committed in Gotham.
Personality:
Calculating: Life is a game of chess, and Batman is a grand master. Like a skilled chess player, he thinks ahead, picturing how the 'game' will resolve if he moves one way, envisioning all possible scenarios and picking the action which is most likely to result in the scenario he most wants to see. It's a necessity in his life - his enemies are powerful, sometimes far more powerful than he is himself, and without super powers to rely on like his allies in the Justice League, Batman must think far ahead to keep from giving his enemies an advantage.
Cunning: Most super heroes are very straightforward people. They act in a simple and direct fashion: somebody does something bad, they stop that somebody by whatever means are necessary that conform to their personal moral code. Batman isn't like that. Batman is a hidden threat, a creature of fear. His attack begins before he even sees the enemy - they're in Gotham, and they know the stories of the Batman that lurks in the city, preying on criminals. His attacks are well planned, and he is capable of adjusting them on the fly to make them still more effective. It's hard to plan against such a varying and shifting arsenal.
Discerning: Batman is an utter master of deduction, one of the greatest detectives that the world has ever known. He understands human nature and can pick up on subtle shifts in a person's mood and attitude very quickly if his attention is focused on them. His tendency is to cut through the chaff of a conversation and guide it to its logical conclusion, finding the questions that will get him the information he needs in the least amount of time. His tendency to push off small talk and get right down to the meat of the issue can be off-putting, particularly for those who don't know him well and don't expect his more direct approach.
Enigmatic: One of Batman's greatest assets is his ability to hide what he is thinking and feeling. He is a puzzle to those around him, never quite letting them get a read on him. He has deliberately cloaked himself in mystery to the point that for much of his career, despite his supposed involvement with the Justice League and his activities in Gotham, many people in his own city believed him to be no more than a legend to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Even if one comes to know Batman, even if they know his secret identity, the layers of mystery that separate him from others are almost impenetrable. Keeping his friends at arm's length can keep them from getting hurt, he figures - and sometimes even he isn't even sure about what's really beneath all of those layers of enigma.
Heroic: No matter what horrors Bruce Wayne has witnessed in his life, at heart he is a hero. He is a champion of those who cannot defend themselves against the darkness of Gotham City and the greater dangers of the world at large. He protects all of those he can as Batman, and if he had never put on his costume his heroic nature would have come through in other ways - he tends toward philanthropy even now, giving away millions of dollars as Bruce Wayne annually via the Wayne Foundation and other such associations. No matter what the trouble, a children's program burdened with debt or an alien invasion threatening to overwhelm the world, Bruce Wayne will be there, in or out of costume, to protect those who need his protection.
Obsessive: Batman is driven by some inner fire, forced to confront the horrors that haunt Gotham City and the ghosts of his own past. He is obsessed with the vow he made in childhood to prevent tragedies like his own. He may narrow his focus when a given enemy has presented him with a particular challenge, and will often go without sleep or food for much longer than he ought to without somebody to remind him to rest or eat. He has ruined more than one relationship when he showed up for a date two days late after finally tracking down an enemy. Without having a friend on hand to make him slow down, his obsessions will push him to his limits and over.
Pragmatic: Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. Batman is always prepared. Guided by practical experience, Batman is almost always a few steps ahead of his enemies simply by virtue of the fact that he has planned and prepared for every foreseeable problem. He has little patience with people who let life come at them without taking the time to consider their future needs. A little planning would protect them from so much heartache and heartbreak down the line.
Background/History:
Bruce Wayne was the only son of Thomas Wayne, a renowned physician and heir to Gotham City's Waynes, who had lived in the city for centuries, and Martha Wayne, a socialite and philanthropist. The Waynes were important figures in Gotham, both of them going out of their way to make the city a better place not just for themselves and their friends, but for the city's inhabitants as a whole. Thomas's medical work was often done for free if his patients could not afford his fees, and Martha organized many charity functions that were huge boons to the less fortunate in both Gotham and the world.
One night, when Bruce was eight years old, he accompanied his parents to the theater to see the classic 1940s film, "The Mask of Zorro". With their son in tow, Thomas and Martha decided to leave the theater by a side exit, stepping into an alley. In that alley something happened that would change the course of Bruce's life and Gotham's future. The Waynes were assaulted by a man who demanded their money and jewelry. Ever the hero, Thomas tried to grapple with the man and was shot. Martha screamed and was shot as well, even as the mugger grabbed for the string of pearls around her neck. The string broke and pearls clattered to the pavement. The mugger ran. Bruce was left with his parents' dying bodies. He was found there, kneeling by their corpses, staring into the darkness.
It was not long after their funeral that Bruce Wayne made a vow that would grow into an obsession, making him the dark hero of Gotham City in later years. He swore that he would never allow such a tragedy to happen, never let another family be shattered the way his own had been. He vowed upon his parents graves that he would stop crime and evil wherever they reared their ugly heads. Someday.
Alfred Pennyworth, the Waynes' butler, and Dr. Leslie Thompkins, a friend of the family and professional associate of the late Thomas Wayne, took the raising of Bruce upon themselves, becoming a surrogate father and mother to the boy. Still very young he nevertheless put aside his toys and games and devoted himself to the promise he had made. The Waynes had a comprehensive library and access to tutors in many fields, and it was in these directions that Bruce first turned his attention. He trained himself in speed reading and forced himself to develop a photographic memory. He began a physical regimen that exercised his body to perfection. And only Alfred knew the whole of it, or the driving vow behind it.
Alfred and Dr. Thompkins were concerned for Bruce and his obsessive routines. Bruce, though, arranged through a lawyer to become an emancipated minor. Though Alfred still worked for him, Bruce was no longer subject to any sort of rules laid down by anybody but the law, and he was able to direct his own education as he saw fit. At the age of fourteen he planned out a trip around the world to meet with educators and experts in all manner of fields, all with the intention of fulfilling his promise to his parents.
He studied with Henri Ducard, a skilled private investigator, in Paris. From this man he learned investigation and marksmanship, though he quickly decided that he did not wish to use firearms in his quest for justice. Guns destroyed lives. He took classes at top universities in such diverse fields as chemistry, criminology, history and psychology. He worked with a cat burglar to learn about criminals, making a temporary place for himself in the underworld.
At twenty Bruce entered the FBI, but it did not take him long at all to realize that the rules by which law enforcement agents were bound were too restrictive for the vow he had made. He left on another trip, this time to Asia, traveling to masters of the martial arts in Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, learning karate, ninjitsu, kung fu and savate, among other arts and skills. He traveled through Africa on his way back to the United States and learned from master hunters and trackers who could track their prey across the savannah or desert. In America he met with Ted Grant, a boxing champion (and the Justice Society's Wildcat), John Zatara, a stage magician and escape artist, Oliver Queen, an expert archer (also known as the Green Arrow), David Cain, the world's foremost assassin, and the Sensei, who was, at the time, considered one of the world's greatest martial artists. From each of these men he learned the skills that would turn him into the champion he wished to be.
During his travels Gotham City had become more and more corrupted. Bruce returned to find the city in the clutches of organized crime bosses like Carmine Falcone and the Maroni family. The police were corrupt, and average citizens lived in fear of their supposed protectors as well as the obvious villains. Bruce was determined to prove himself. He went to a slum neighborhood, where he was almost killed by a pimp and prostitutes, then taken by police officers who shot him and considered dumping his body in a remote location. He broke free of his cuffs and his attempts to free himself from the car made the driver crash. He rescued the police from the burning vehicle, then left them there and retreated to Wayne Manor.
Faint from blood loss and exhaustion, Bruce made his way to his father's study. It was there that he sat down, on the verge of giving up his vow then and there. In despair he begged his father for a sign, any sign, to show him how to fight the darkness that gripped Gotham and how to make his enemies fear him. And he received a sign as requested.
A bat flapped through an open window and came to land upon a bust of his father.
In his youth, Bruce had been playing on the grounds of the Wayne estate when he fell through a rotten well cover and into the cavern system that would become the Batcave many years later. This came back to him now. The bat reminded him of the horror he felt when he found himself in that darkness, staring up into the glowing eyes of hundreds of bats, listening to their screeches of rage. He could become the bat, become the darkness, and take back the city in that guise.
He jumped up, ringing for Alfred, who was quick to attend him. Here he explained his plan to Alfred, how he would become a hero for the city, using the mantle of the bat to strike fear into his opponents' hearts. With Alfred's help Bruce was able to find the perfect headquarters in the caves beneath Wayne Manor, to craft a new identity and build the weapons he would need in his fight. The caves already had an entrance into the mansion - one of Bruce's ancestors in the years prior to the Civil War had opened his home to the underground railroad. With equipment borrowed from the subsidiaries of Wayne Enterprises, a cape and a cowl with pointed ears, Bruce began to stalk the streets of Gotham City. He first confronted petty criminals, people low on the food chain of crime, and his legend began with them as they rushed back to their superiors, reporting on the strange "bat man" who had attacked them.
The crime families that controlled Gotham and the corrupt police who worked for them were concerned with Batman's appearance in the city. They put together a task force dedicated to finding Batman and taking him down. The leader of this group was Lieutenant James Gordon, a new cop from Chicago who was already seen as honest and trustworthy - and not at all corruptible, which was a problem in Gotham City. Gordon pursued Batman until the latter was trapped in a building with a SWAT team full of thugs and a bomb, neither of which tactic had Gordon called for. Batman escaped the building in a flock of bats.
Gordon had already noticed the corruption in the city. When his wife and infant son were threatened by gangsters, Batman intervened and stopped the criminals, earning him Gordon's trust and admiration - which had already been blooming. The Lieutenant realized that though they were technically on opposite sides of the law,Batman represented a force for good and Gordon wanted to be a part of that. He told Batman that he would not try to arrest him anymore, and together they, along with a young district attorney named Harvey Dent, began to clean Gotham City of its corruption.
Batman's association with Gordon and Dent led to promotions for Gordon, first to captain, and then to commissioner. Batman found other allies as well, such as the enigmatic Catwoman. A burglar by trade, she had a personal vendetta against the Falcone crime family and frequently aided Batman on cases involving organized crime - whether he wanted her help or not.
Superman, the defender of Metropolis to the south, heard of Gotham's dark protector and came to seek him out. They had differing methods and their opinions of each other weren't the highest at first, but they came to respect and like each other all the same, and their activities inspired a generation of heroes, the likes of which had not been seen since the Justice Society of America disbanded after being confronted by Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. They later teamed up with Wonder Woman, and became part of the Justice League, a team of some of the greatest heroes the world had to offer.
As Batman, Gordon and Dent began to dismantle Gotham's crime families, new villains began to appear as if by magic. These new enemies were seriously deranged and dangerous, ranging from the deadly self-pronounced Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker, who first appeared as the masked Red Hood, to the plant worshipping Poison Ivy, the fear-obsessed Scarecrow, and the frigid Mr. Freeze. New crime families began to rise as well, led by the likes of the Penguin, a twisted human being who carried a variety of guns built into umbrellas as combined weapon and shield.
A new killer began to strike at the crime families directly. He attacked on holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day - earning the name Holiday, and it took a very long time for Batman to track him down. Another date-related villain, the Calendar Man, was asked for assistance by Batman, but gave very confusing answers to Batman's questions, referring to Holiday as both a man and a woman. In the end it was determined that Holiday was Alberto Falcone, son of mob bose Carmine Falcone, but before Holiday was found out, Harvey Dent was attacked at the trial of one of Falcone's underlings, Sal "The Boss" Maroni. Maroni threw a vial of caustic acid into Dent's face, permanently scarring him. After Holiday was behind bars, a gang of villains attacked Carmine Falcone's home under the leadership of a new villain calling himself Two Face. Two Face turned out to be none other than Harvey Dent, and was jailed when Batman caught him, but not before he managed to kill Falcone with two bullets to the head.
In the year following what the organized criminals of Gotham called the Long Halloween, another killer began stalking the Gotham City police, killing them on the same holidays as Holiday had killed his victims. These murders were done by hanging, rather than by gun like Holiday, and lost games of Hangman were attached to the victims as well. As a result, this killer was given the name Hangman in the press. Batman turned to the Riddler, another of his enemies, to help explain the puzzles - something that temporarily made the Riddler feel like Batman wasn't so bad, as his own goal was to feel superior to Batman mentally.
With Hangman still at large, one of Gotham's remaining underworld leaders, Anthony "Fats" Zucco, came up with a plan to use circus trucks to transport contraband. He approached the owner of Haly's Circus who wanted nothing to do with the deal. Zucco arranged an accident for the stars of the circus, the Flying Graysons, who fell to their deaths after acid ate away at the trapeze that held them in the sky, leaving their son, Dick, an orphan. Batman took the boy into his home, and soon Dick began aiding him as the brightly colored Robin.
Batman finally managed to track down Hangman, discovering that it was Carmine Falcone's daughter, Sofia. Before he could arrest her, Two Face showed up and killed the woman. Batman had been hoping to redeem Dent, but at this point began to realize that the man who had been his friend was gone forever.
Shortly after the Hangman's death, Batman's gained another ally. This was Barbara Gordon, James Gordon's adopted daughter, who took the name of Batgirl.
Through a mysterious woman named Talia, Batman met Ra's al Ghul, the Demon's Head, an ecoterrorist and leader of the League of Assassins who saw in Batmanthe opportunity to have a grandchild who could follow in his footsteps. Ra's kidnapped Dick Grayson and lured Batman to a confrontation, revealing that he wantedBatman to wed Talia, his daughter. Though Batman and Talia have had a relationship over the years, Bruce refused (though he felt genuine love for the terrorist's daughter). Ra's al Ghul has returned time and again to cause trouble for Batman, each time with deadlier force than the last.
As a teenager, Dick joined a small group of young sidekicks called the Teen Titans. When a confrontation with Two Face almost cost Dick his life, Batman decided that he could no longer risk the life of his ward and broke off their partnership. Somewhat aimless and angered, Dick cast off the mantle of Robin and became Nightwing. Batman discovered that he needed a partner shortly thereafter, but while Dick would always be his ally, he refused to become the latter half of 'Batman and' again. Batman found his new partner in the form of a young street kid named Jason Todd, who would become the second Robin.
He impressed Batman when the Caped Crusader discovered him trying to steal the Batmobile, then by helping him to stop a robbery planned by the head of the school that Bruce Wayne was paying for him to attend. Bruce offered Jason the opportunity to be Robin against his own better judgment, but recognizing that Jason would continue to get involved in such things anyway. He adopted Jason, as he had adopted Dick before, and they worked well together for awhile.
But then the Joker escaped from Arkham. With the intent of proving that circumstances could destroy any man's sanity, the Joker set out to destroy James Gordon. He shot Barbara Gordon in the stomach when she answered the door at Gordon's house. Her career as Batgirl was over - the bullet shattered her spine, and she would never walk again. He then kidnapped Gordon, showing him pictures of his daughter in such a state, soaked with blood, broken, perhaps dead. Batman tracked down the Joker and saved Gordon, returning the Joker to the asylum. Barbara would later become Oracle, a hacker and information gatherer who aided Batman and many other heroes.
After Batgirl's injury, Jason's reckless behavior was too much for Batman. He made Jason stop being Robin for a time, which caused much anger and tension between them, and then went off to try to stop the Joker, who had escaped from Arkham again. Jason decided to take this opportunity to search for his mother. He helpedBatman to stop the Joker from selling a nuclear warhead to terrorists in Beirut, then discovered that his mother, Dr. Sheila Heywood, was living there. Batman gave Jason permission to find her, but learned that she was working with the Joker and revoked his permission. Jason ignored Batman and went to rescue his mother from the killer as Robin. The Joker attacked him with a crowbar, then killed both mother and son with a time bomb.
For some reason, the Joker was picked as Iran's ambassador from the United Nations, and Superman had to tell Batman that this post granted him immunity from prosecution. The Joker foolishly (insanely, even), lost his immunity when he released a deadly gas within the United Nations building. He was stopped by Superman and Batman, and apparently died in the attempt. Batman returned to Gotham, and with no sidekicks his darker side began to take over.
When Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, was kidnapped by Baron Bedlam, Batman first went to the JLA for help in saving his old friend. He was rebuffed. Needing help, he recruited his own team of heroes and named them the Outsiders. Katana, Halo, Geo-Force, Metamorpho and Black Lightning were pretty much unknown (and aren't much better known now), were supported by Bruce Wayne's wealth, but the relationship between Batman and the other five fell apart after Bedlam took over Markovia, Geo-Force's home country and in which country he was heir to the throne. Batman left the Outsiders, promising himself he would not get involved in such a team again.
Not like that lasted long. The Martian Manhunter requested his help in forming a new Justice League, and Batman agreed. He was the team's field leader for a time, but while the group was effective, they were not serious enough for Batman's taste, containing such clownish heroes as Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, Fire and Ice, and even, from time to time, the canine Green Lantern G'nort. He left the team not long after its inception, deciding to focus his attention on Gotham where it was most needed.
With no allies in Gotham, Batman found himself losing his balance. A young man named Timothy Drake worked out his identity, and Nightwing's by extension, and set out on a campaign to bring them back together. He aided them in a fight against Two Face, and once more launched into his spiel that Dick should take back the Robin costume and become Batman's partner again. Batman and Nightwing asked Tim to be the new Robin instead.
This was not with some reluctance on Batman's part. He was not sure about having another partner after the death of Jason Todd. However, Batman agreed to Tim becoming his partner on the condition that Tim would agree to a training period. Tim was clearly intelligent, but did not have the physical abilities that either Dick or Jason had had when they joined Batman's fight. During the training period, Tim's parents, Jack and Janet Drake were kidnapped by a villain calling himself Lord Obeah.Batman tried to rescue them, but though he managed to save Jack, Janet died of poisoning after ingesting poisoned water. Jack drank the same water and survived, but was paralyzed.
Tim was resilient. He grieved the loss of his mother and his father's mobility, but bounced back in time to save Batman from a plot by the Scarecrow. He was sent byBatman on a trip to meet with several of Batman's teachers, and when he returned to Gotham, Batman accepted Tim Drake as his new partner.
A new ally appeared in the form of Jean Paul Valley, Azrael. At first Batman and Azrael were on opposite sides. Azrael had been trained as an enforcer and assassin by the Holy Order of St. Dumas. With Batman's support, though, Valley turned his back on the Order and became a janitor at Wayne Enterprises, still aiding Batmanin the guise of Azrael.
The arrival of Bane in Gotham brought little attention, which was exactly what Bane wanted. He took his time studying Batman's ways, wanting nothing more than to break the hero. Finally he blew open the gates of Arkham Asylum. Over the course of days, Batman and his allies had no sleep, no time to rest for more than a few minutes, as Arkham's lunatic murderous inmates were scattered and up to no good. Batman took down Maxie Zeus, the Ventriloquist, Mr. Zsasz, was put on trial by Two Face, fought the Joker. He was exhausted to the point of breaking anyway when Bane finally confronted him. Bane attacked him in the Batcave and broke his back.
Confined to a wheelchair, Bruce asked Jean Paul Valley to take over as Batman while he recuperated. His recuperation didn't last long, as Jack Drake was kidnapped once more, this time by a man named Benedict Asp, brother to Shondra Kinsolving who was acting as doctor to both Bruce and Drake. On Robin's behalf, Batmantraveled to England to find Drake and Kinsolving.
But he lost Alfred. The butler had had enough of Bruce doing what he wanted with no concern for his safety. Bruce returned home without Alfred to find that Jean Paul Valley had gone insane in Batman's guise and had almost killed a man. He didn't rescue the serial killer Abattoir and the villain fell to his death in a pit of molten steel. He was no longer accepting help from Robin. Bruce was not yet able to take back the name, though, still injured. He left the country and turned to Lady Shiva, one of the world's greatest fighters (if not the greatest) to help him regain his ability and desire to fight. She tried to make him kill an opponent, and he used a technique that simulated the man's death, fooling her, then returned home to confront Azrael.
With the help of Nightwing, Robin and Catwoman, Batman was able to defeat Jean Paul Valley. He showed theman where he had gone wrong. Jean Paul left Gotham to search for a life and purpose for himself, and Bruce asked Dick to be Batman for a time, promising to return soon, but feeling he needed to change some things before he became Batman again.
When he finally returned to Gotham, he and his allies quickly found themselves forced to deal with a different kind of horror. A virus was spreading quickly through the population. Known as the Clench, the virus was a variant of the uncurable Ebola. It killed thousands of Gothamites, infecting even Robin. Batman discovered that the plague was the work of Ra's al Ghul, and with the aid of Nightwing, Oracle, Catwoman, Robin, Huntress and Azrael, Batman managed to put an end to the plot, finding a cure and taking away Ra's ability to make more.
Yet another Justice League formed shortly thereafter, brought together by the reality shaping powers of the villainous Doctor Destiny and a strange enemy named Know Man. Batman admitted, once they managed to overcome the plot, that the team was a necessity with the world-threatening enemies they all faced regularly, and that he had a part to play in the team. The JLA fought such threats as an invasion of White Martians and the villainy of the Injustice Gang of the World, a team comprised of some of the worst enemies of each of the Leaguers - Lex Luthor, the Joker, Ocean Master, Circe and more. He may have been the weakest member of the team, but he was unparalleled as a tactician.
Disaster on a grander scale struck Gotham in the form of a massive earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. The quake devastated the city and the government was quick to write it off as a No Man's Land, leaving the trapped citizens to their own devices and even going so far as to mine the waters around the city to prevent escape. Batman and his allies worked long and hard to combat the gang war that began when various villains, pouring from a newly decimated Arkham, decided to claim the city as their own. And as Bruce Wayne he fought to have the borders opened up again and for Gotham to be accepted back into the United States. He proved that the city was not a lost cause. The border was reopened, but Jim Gordon's wife, Sarah, was murdered by the Joker as one of the last criminal acts in No Man's Land.
A new ally was found in No Man's Land. The adopted daughter of the notorious assassin David Cain had made the city her home. Though she had no verbal skills, Cassandra Cain was an incredible martial artist. She came to the attention of Batman through Oracle, and working alongside him in the devastated city she proved herself. After Batman made Huntress remove the Batgirl costume she had taken to wearing, he offered it to Cassandra, making her the new Batgirl.
When Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia, stole Batman's plans to fight the Justice League should the need ever arise, the result was the complete defeat of the Justice League by Ra's. Batman fought Ra's and his terrorist associates, though the Demon's Head had stolen his parents' bodies and offered to regenerate them in his Lazarus Pit. He saved the day, but the League voted him out in anger at his perceived betrayal. He returned briefly at Superman's request, then left the team again.
Batman developed a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne's bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux, who became a vigilante at his side, first as Cover, then as Sparrow. Batman aided Superman in fighting Lex Luthor's schemes as president. He helped to combat the Imperiex invasion and fought zombies powered by the Egyptian gods when the gods went to war with humanity. When the very forces of nature rose against the Earth, Batman was there to help stop them, preventing Lex Luthor from setting off an explosion that might well have torn the world in two. The failures and disappointment he felt in others began to have a profound effect on the Batman. He had withdrawn from all of his friends, reminded of how important it was that he keep bonds with his Allies by his Robin Tim Drake Bruce realized that he had to make a change. For the last year he has been trying to reestablish and strengthen his associations with friends around the world. He went with Superboy, Supergirl and Wonder Woman to rescue Superman from Maxima on the planet Almerac, and has found that some of his allies, such as Spoiler, have developed in ways he never foresaw.
Batman still fights for Gotham every night. He is unlikely to live a long and happy life, and he is fully aware of this fact. But the most important thing, to him, is that he is keeping his promise. And somewhere, he is sure, his parents are smiling at him
Role-play Sample
Bruce let the buzz of the police scanner go for some time in his ear. He was sure that Oracle was sorting thorough the calls and would be there to forward the important ones to him. He trusted her to do so after all. But Bruce was also aware that there had been no sight of the Joker for the past two months, so he was keeping an ear out for anything that might sound like the opening play from that madman himself. He had escaped from Arkham so it was only going to be a matter of time before he showed back up. If the Batman might be able to get a jump on him before time, that was worth the extra police chatter his scanner would pick up.
The sound of ammunition being loaded into assault rifles drew Bruce back from his thoughts and gave him a chance to focus on the here and now. Though being back in the present did not do much for the hero. Crouched on on of the many rooftops, within the old warehouses in the Tricorner, Dick knew that he was going to have to get ready to make his move. The rain beat heavily around him rolling ever so gently off of his suit. Behind the white lenses of his mask Bruce was counting trying to figure out just how many of these guys were down there. When dealing with high rates of fire and high impact shells it never hurt to know how many people wanted you dead.
Perched easily on the balls of his feet Bruce crouched down his hands bracing his form against the left and right outer edge of the previously busted skylight. He was alone and outnumbered. He had not called in for back up, he should not need it for something like this and he was not willing to pull the others away from what they were doing. This was a shipment he had been tracking out of Bludhaven. Dick had been working so hard on keeping up with the crime there that when Bruce came across something that carried over here, he liked to take care of it himself before it got to his young protege
Releasing his handhold on the sides of the skylight The Batman allowed himself to drop into the building. He caught onto a beam running down the length of the roof and pulled himself up into a small nook created by a joint in the roof's construction. The clock was running now as Batman gave a pause trying to understand why they would load the weapons now, there was more going on here than meets the eye and he was rather curious as to what it could be.
Depressing a small trigger set inside his glove a taser charge that he had set before entering went off overloading the circuit breaker. On cue all the lights went out, and Darkness enveloped the warehouse.
"Damn"
A lone gun runner swore, the fear evident in his voice. But there was a storm outside, so that meant that unlike most nights in Gotham you would not assume that there was a hero sitting just above your head with starlight lenses watching you and your crew fumble in the dark getting ready to strike.
"You two go check the fuse box"
A different voice called out as three flashlights came to life. Bruce noted the place meant of the lights as well as those that did not. As one of the lights and another figure started to head in the direction of the door, he knew that it was time to make his move.
Leaping into the air Batman aimed for the first of the flashlight bearers, landing softly behind the man Batman laid into him with a swift combination that fists that left the man unconscious well before he hit the ground. Granted The Batman was already on the move shortly after finishing the attack. He was already sliding into the darker shadows preparing to take out the next man. Here in the dark he was the hunter and these men where his prey, they did not stand a chance.
Password: ********
