Batman

Bruce Wayne is known as something of a hedonist, a womaniser and a drunk. He's well liked in his way, charming witty and even engaging when he wants to be, he's just got next to no attention span for anything that doesn't bring him pleasure. That said few people will deny that he's gone to great lengths as a philanthropist.

Batman has little known about him beyond the fact that he seems to fight crime in Gotham. And the footage of him carrying an injured girl out of a school during the recent gang violence.

Background
Bruce was born to Thomas and Martha Wayne, born to wealth and power young Bruce would find himself a loved and happy child, even if he didn't get the time and attention from his busy parents he might like.

At the age of four Bruce would already be noticed as both physically and mentally exceptional, many years ahead of his peers he'd be the pride of his parents and his teachers. It was around the age of four that he'd take a fall into an old and poorly covered well on the estate. Trapped in an old cave but unhurt Bruce would have to endure the bats and darkness until his father and Alfred his fathers Valet could get him out.

His father would help Bruce to overcome this fear by convincing the boy to turn it to fascination. Bats would become the focus of study for young Bruce a boy who absorbed knowledge at an incredible rate. His other great obsession would be Zorro and the other heroes of Legend. Yet always it would be Zorro that captured his attention.

At the age of eight Bruce would go with his parents to a speical screening of Zorro in one of Gothams Landmark movie theatres. It would be during the walk home from the movie that the Waynes would pass through Crime alley and encounter a mugger who'd shoot Thomas and Martha dead. It was here that Bruce would vow to stop such a thing from happening again.

The years would pass, yet Bruce would spend them in a detached state, his interests would turn to solving crimes and learning martial arts. Those around him would of course justify this as an understandable reaction to the murder of his parents. Only Alfred who had become his guardian would know the truth of his intention to one day turn these skills to fighting crime. And even he'd think young bruce would out grow it.

At 16 Bruce would begin a ten year journey around the world. He'd study under the greatest detectives and learn the secrets of martial arts, meditation and stealth. He'd also begin to create an image to show the world, that of a Bruce Wayne who care for nothing beyond his own pleasure, who was intelligent yet lacked the desire, or focus to achieve anything.

A decade of work and Bruce would return to Gotham fighting crime for the first time. His efforts would almost get him killed, giving him his first glimpse of what was ahead of him. Realising he'd need to be better equipped and that he'd need to strike fear into his enemies hearts he'd become the Batman, building a base under Wayne Manor and equipping it with vehicles weapons and armour that would allow him to survive his battles.

The first years as Batman would see him manage to do serious damage to the organized crime in Gotham, taking out the heads of each of the organized crime families and managing to all but cripple them in general. Yet he'd see a rise in a new type of criminal, psychos who sought the crime more than the reward, crazy killers such as the Joker, to flamboyant gangsters like Two-Face.

Yet the largest change in his life would be taking Dick Grayson as his ward, a young acrobat whose parents had died in front of him. Bruce would learn that their death was no accident and Dick would choose to join Bruce in his war on crime becoming Robin.

As years continued to pass Bruce would meet with and agree to work along side the other heroes of the world, becoming a respected, if somewhat less than social member of the Justice League and the superhero community in general. Dick would likewise make contact with the teen heroes of the world, befriending them and becoming a leader of his own team.

Robin would become more confident in his abilities, eventually he'd choose to leave for College in New York, the pairs relationship having become strained by that point.

Batman would adapt poorly to the change, having grown used to having Robin by his side he'd begin to become reckless, darker and more violent. Yet this would only begin when Batman met a young boy named Jason Todd, trying with little success to steal the tires off the Batmobile. Batman would learn the boy was an orphan his father having been a criminal killed by Two Face.

Batman would see the chance to fill the void that was left when Dick left. He'd offer to train Jason as he'd trained Dick. Eventually Jason would become the second Robin.

Time would roll on and for a while things would be good, yet Jason was more aggressive and disobidenent than Dick, he was reckless and less skilled. Batman would end up forcing him to give up being Robin and more importantly. Jason would come to believe he knew who his mother was and where to find her. The hunt would result in Robins death at the hands of the Joker.

Batman would become darker than ever, violent to the point that he risked his life and that of those around him. It would only be Tim Drake a young man who had worked out Batman and Nightwings identity alone that would pull him back, insisting that Batman needs a Robin, he would reluctantly agree to take the role.

Yet more years would pass. Tim would prove to be skilled, intelligent and obident. Nightwing and Batman would have their share of arguments yet they would still have a bond. Then came Bane, a villain of incredible genius and physical ability he would enact a plot that would drive Batman to the edge of his mental and physical limits and then Bane would face him directly and break his back.

During his recovery Bruce would charge an ally to take over as Batman, a skilled if somewhat troubled man Jean Paul would slowly become increasingly violent and unstable as Batman. Robin would be forced to leave the Batcave and eventually Nightwing would be contacted to help.

Seeing his replacement causing such damage Bruce would work harder than ever to recover from his injury and train with the assassin Shiva. More capable than ever Bruce would fight and defeat Jean Paul and take back the mantle of the Bat.

It would be some time after that when Gotham would suffer an earthquake that would all but destroy the city. The government would declare the city a No Man's Land, allowing no one in or out. Crime would flourish and for a year Batman, his family and those members of the GCPD would be the only protectors of the citizens who had remained.

The No Man's Land sanction would lift when Lex Luthor invested in the city heavily. It was then that Bruce would learn it had been his doing that had prevented aid coming earlier. Yet Wayne Enterprises managed to move quickly and prevent Luthor from taking over the city, instead Wayne Enterprises would have more influence in Gotham than ever.

There would come a time when Bruce would be seen as too reckless Wayne Enterprises couldn't afford to lose Bruce and so they'd insist that he get himself a body guard. Sasha Bordeaux would be Bruce's bodyguard and learn of his identity as Batman.

She'd still be working with Batman when he was accused of his former girlfriend Vesper Fairchild. Bruce and Sasha would be taken into custody for the murder and after a time Bruce would come to the conclusion that it was enough to be Batman, that Bruce Waynes life was no longer worth the toll it demanded from Batman and so he'd disappear.

Eventually with the help of his team the real Killer would be discovered and Bruce Wayne would be free to return, an act that led to Batman evaluating a number of aspects of his life.

He'd have little time to think before he began to notice that his enemies were acting out of type. Suffering a serious injury while chasing Catwoman, Batman would require medical attention beyond Alfreds ability. So Thomas Elliot Bruce Waynes best friend from childhood would be called in. A top surgeon he'd save Bruces life, only to seem to die later at the hands of the Joker. Seeing that the whole thing was a plot Batman would eventually learn that Thomas Elliot and the Riddler were the masterminds behind it, but only after it had turned his life upside down.

During the course of the investigation Batman and Catwoman would finally act on the feelings they'd always shared for each other and a romance would begin. Bruce would agonise over revealing his identity to her. Yet he'd eventually break off the relationship out of fear she'd be used against him by his enemies. They remained on good terms however and it seemed they both acknowledge their feelings would need to be addressed at some point.

Tim would evntually be forced to either retire from being Robin, or disobey his father. He'd choose the former. Driving Batman to take drastic measures. Batman would manipulate events taking Tim's girlfriend Stephanie on as Robin she'd do well for a short time, though she'd eventually break the rule that she was never to disobey Batman. Returning to her previous costumed identity of Spoiler Stephanie would put into play one of Batmans plans to take control of the criminal element of the city, unaware that it was both only for emergencies and required him to play the central role.

Without Batman to take control things soon spun out of control and a city wide gang war sprang up in Gotham, the war would last some time and see a number of casaulties. Tim would return to being Robin. Yet stephanie would be left comatose.

Personality
Batman is a deeply conflicted individual, in many ways he's stuck in the moment of his parents death, unable to shake those feelings and having become little more than the masks he wears to protect himself from being hurt again. Yet his drives and desires are constantly in conflict. He fears being hurt by the lose of those he cares for again, yet at the same time he feels a strong sense of survivors guilt and feels he deserves to suffer. He is a man of compassion who seeks to protect those in danger and values life. Yet he has within him a rage that without his constant self-control could easily lead him to murder.

Of course one of the most complex and vital aspects to understanding Batman is to understand the masks he wears. Everything about him every aspect of himself revealed is to one degree or another a mask. Yet each shows a part of the man, or at the very least a desire that's supressed. First is Bruce Wayne, Bruce is the most superficial and constructed of the masks, he's shallow self-centred and apathetic. He drinks gambles and chases women. Yet he's also known as a philanthropist and capable businessman when he can be bothered. While Bruce Wayne is mainly a public face so that Batman can get funding Bruce Wayne also feeds Batmans need for human contact. Bruce Wayne is the part of Batman most likely to express what he feels, or to form a genuine human connection with someone. This rarely goes well, but it's still important for Batman.

After this we come to the most simple, of the masks. The Bat. The Bat is the image of fear Batman has created to face crime. The Bat displays no emotion other than rage, cold calculating and aggressive. This is both a vent and a symbol for Batman allowing him to let out that part of himself that needs at times to be let out. While also allowing him to strike the tone of fear in the hearts of criminals that he requires.

Lastly we come to Batman, possibly the nearest to the real man. He works hard to suppress his feelings, to keep himself in complete control, he fears connections to other that can be exploited or may lead to their harm, he's a paranoid who believes most people are either going to betray you or fail you, yet he has a strange charisma. And those that get close to him are valued far more than he would ever admit even to himself. He's also a thinker weighing every decision and always trying to work out every possible eventuality.

Logs

 * 2011-07-23 - Hawkgirl's Epic Failed Visit to Gotham - Hawkgirl stops in on Gotham City in her U.S. Tour, and has an a-typical unpleasent run-in with Batman.