The Dark Knight is a symbol of justice, and the crime-fighting masked vigilante is frequently shown as a righteous superhero who puts Gotham City’s interests ahead of his own. There are numerous accounts of his bravery and sacrifices, and criminals have learned to fear Batman as a nemesis for all kinds of evil. If there is one thing we have learned about the DC universe over the years, it is that they have a propensity for making heroes fallible. They have their flaws, which makes them more human than their heroic stories would lead you to believe! Batman is no exception, and there are a few moments that will astound fans!
We have always known him for having a big ego and being eccentric, but there are some things about Batman that are completely insane. His personal life is just as tangled as the filthy alleys of Gotham, and some of his dubious activities are even more sinister than you might think! We bring you some of these controversial Batman facts in this video, which test the superhero’s moral bounds to the utmost!
Impregnates Batgirl
You may have noticed the absence of Barbara Gordon or Batgirl in the animated series “Batman Beyond”. The comic book “Batman Beyond 2.0 #28” explains the absence, with a disturbing narrative about the past. Batgirl has often been shown to be in an on and off relationship with the first Robin Dick Grayson, and surely, Batman, the world’s finest detective has an idea about that!
The narrative in this comic book suggests that Robin was fighting crime elsewhere when Batman ended up having an illicit affair with Batgirl. To make matters worse, she also ends up pregnant after their night of passion. She requests the Dark Knight to keep their affair a secret from Dick Grayson, but his righteous side forces him to come clean. Honesty cost him dearly because the two former partners had a huge rift when Dick learned about the betrayal.
The climax to the end of this story is even worse! As Batman and Robin fight it out, Batgirl takes on a criminal on the streets. She wins the fight, but the stress on her pregnant body is a bit too much for the unborn baby. She has a miscarriage in the streets, and that is the end of an affair gone horribly wrong. What is particularly disturbing about this storyline is that Batgirl is just about young enough to be Batman’s daughter! Besides the sheer betrayal to one of his most loyal partners, Nightwing certainly raises a question mark on the ethical boundaries of the caped crusader.
Justice League Contingency Plans
This was Batman’s arrogance at its finest! He was a member of the Justice League, and yet, he took a decision without consulting anyone else about it. As you all know, Batman is the only member in this superhero alliance, who doesn’t have any superpowers. This led him to wonder about the possible mayhem if one of the superheroes went rogue. Their powers would then be used to destroy the same people they swore to protect, and in order to safeguard the people from such an incident, Batman had a contingency plan in place for each of the teammates of Justice League.
We learn more about this in the animated film titled “Justice League: Doom”, which is based on the “JLA: Tower of Babel” comic series. Batman kept his contingency plans a secret from everyone else, but the enemies of the Justice League discovered these plans. The secret files are found by Ra’s al Ghul and he decides to use them to take over the world. They put them into action, and it brought about a situation where the lives of all the superheroes were endangered.
Aquaman gets a dose of Scarecrow’s fear gas which makes him scared of water, Wonder Woman gets trapped in a computer simulation, and all the other heroes are troubled with their greatest weaknesses. Superman, in particular, was in deep trouble after he was shot with a Kryptonite bullet. Batman is confronted for his secrecy about the Contingency Plans, but he is not apologetic in the slightest!
He supports his actions for being justified and even goes on to criticize others for not understanding the gravity of the situation. It turns out that he had a contingency plan for himself as well, and it was the Justice League itself. However, that certainly does not redeem the masked vigilante for the trouble that he got his allies into! It almost led to the downfall of the Justice League and only the Dark Knight was to blame for the disaster.
Batman has Sex with Black Canary while Criminals Burn Behind them
Frank Miller and Jim Lee painted a side of Batman in “All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #2”, which we have never seen before. This Batman is a mean sadist, and often a lunatic in some of his actions. His rude behavior with Dick Grayson, moments after he interacts with the young boy whose parents were killed shows this devilish side of the superhero.
There are plenty of questionable things that Batman does in this storyline, and he is shown to enjoy causing pain to the criminals. However, one of the worst instances of his strange behavior is seen in #7 of the comic book. He is teamed up with an extremely sexualized Black Canary, and the duo takes on a bunch of criminals at the docks.
Batman fights fiercely and launches his improvised Molotov Cocktail in the middle of the crowd of goons. They are set ablaze, and Black Canary is turned on by this ruthless gesture of Batman. Soon, they are seen making out passionately and they proceed to fornicate in their costumes at the same time as the criminals are burning to their deaths in the background. This was not only morbid, but it pointed at the disturbing side of Batman, where he seems to get turned on by violence.
Batman abandoned his only child
There has always been a connection to DC comics’ continuity in Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham’s graphic novel “Batman: Son of the Demon”. Grant Morrison added to the same when he introduced Batman’s son Damian Wayne in his Batman and Son storyline. The narrative explores the personal life of Batman when he married the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins.
Shortly after marrying his daughter Talia, he gets her pregnant and he seems to be thrilled about having a family. However, his happiness is short-lived after an attack on his wife by an assassin named Qayin. Batman barely manages to save her, and he decides that a life of crime-fighting will only endanger his unborn child further. He retires from his duties and plans to raise his child in a peaceful environment.
However, Talia doesn’t want him to give up protecting the innocent, and she fakes a miscarriage in order to convince him to continue his crime-fighting ways. They even get their marriage annulled and go their separate ways, as Batman comes back to Gotham City once again. Talia finally gives birth to their baby, and she drops him off at an orphanage. The only proof of his real identity lay hidden in a necklace that Batman once gifted Talia.
One could argue that Batman didn’t have a clue about his child being alive, but that would be a lousy excuse considering his ability to solve just about any mystery with his reasoning. It sounds ridiculous that he never probed into the matter and he never saw through Talia’s whole ploy in the first place. If he really wanted to know what actually happened to his son, there is no way that Batman wouldn’t have figured it all out!
Batman makes Robin Eat Rats
We have already spoken about the dark side of Batman that Frank Miller brought to life in his works. In his comic book titled “All-Star Batman & Robin”, he portrayed Batman as a sadistic, heartless, arrogant man who did not care about the consequences of his actions. One of the most terrible behaviors of Batman came against Dick Grayson, who was only 12 years old at that time. His parents had just been murdered, and the poor boy was struggling to grasp the changes in his life. After Batman takes him in, Dick has to go through a training regime that is truly sickening. It is far too rough and insensitive for a little boy, and he is locked up in the Batcave without any food.
Batman casually suggests that he could hunt Bats when he gets hungry, and of course, there are plenty of rats in the cave as well. This might have been a process to harden up the young mind, but such insane practices would traumatize a kid further. If you consider the fact that Dick had just lost his parents and he had been thrust into his new life without his permission, the treatment seems outright harsh. In fact, Batman acts as a criminal, in this case, kidnapping the young boy from the police and then forcing him to train according to his guidelines, for becoming a tough hero in the future.
Stephanie’s Death at the hands of Black Mask
If Batman wants something done, he gets it done by hook or by crook! The biggest example of this is how he handled Stephanie, Tim Drake’s girlfriend, who was the Robin at that time. Tim’s father had discovered his secret identity and he was forced to resign from his sidekick duties. His girlfriend Stephanie, however, saw this as an opportunity to work for the Dark Knight. She dressed up in a Robin costume and sneaked out to meet Batman so that he could hire her. She clearly lacks the skills and talent to become Robin, but to our surprise, Batman hires her nevertheless.
It is soon revealed that even he knows that she is not qualified for the job. When Alfred questions her hiring and asks Batman if he did this only to bring Tim back, he simply walks away without answering! Sometimes, silence does answer in the affirmative! As expected, Stephanie struggles with her Robin duties, and she is soon fired for disobeying a few orders. After being rejected, she is determined to gain back the trust of the superhero, and she starts off one of his top-secret plans of uniting all the criminals of Gotham under Matches Malone, who was one of Batman’s aliases.
She ends up igniting a violent gang war, and one of the gang leaders named Black Mask kills Stephanie. Meanwhile, Tim Drake’s school is also attacked and a few of his fellow classmates are killed as well. All this prompts Tim to join back his duties as Robin because he could no longer deny that Gotham needed him. In a way, Batman’s plan succeeded, but there was a terrible price to pay! It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Stephanie was sacrificed simply to fulfill Batman’s requirement of Tim Drake as Robin.
Dating Lois Lane
No matter what kind of dark universe you belong to, dating your best friend’s girlfriend is a strict no-no! Well, Batman seems to have complete disregard for such ethics because he repeatedly makes his moves on Lois Lane, despite knowing about Clark Kent’s feelings for her. Even when they were in a relationship, Batman was seen hitting on her, and it certainly cannot be termed as a cool stunt! In “Lois Lane #89”, Bruce Wayne reveals that he has had feelings for Lois for a long time, but he never acted on it. After Clark breaks up with Lois, Bruce finally gets into a relationship with her. They soon get married and even have a baby together. It is later revealed that the whole thing is an imaginary tale, but one incident does happen in reality!
This is revealed in “Batman & Superman Adventures: World’s Finest” by Paul Dini and Joe Staton. It is shown that there was a time when Batman didn’t know Superman very well. During this time, he was in a relationship with Lois Lane. The couple dated for quite some time before they broke up, but it still puts a question mark on his friendship with Superman! It turns out that even the toughest of superheroes cannot get over their vulnerabilities regarding women!
He Almost Killed Alfred
It is abundantly clear that Alfred brings the tiny bit of stability that exists in Bruce Wayne’s life. He has been a constant presence for the caped crusader and has stood by him in the worst crises. Ever since Bruce lost his parents, Alfred has been the guardian in his life and his help has been notable in several of Batman’s missions. We all know that Batman can turn to an unthinkable dark side if he is pushed over the edge. Such a thing happened in “The Batman Who Laughs” series, where Bruce Wayne was filled with feelings of revenge. Alfred tried to reason with him in this maniacal stage, and he refused to hand over the new visor that was made from the Nth metal. It made Bruce so angry that he almost strangled the old man to death! Hurting the most trusted companion and guardian certainly doesn’t bode well for the Dark Knight’s mental stability!
Batman Gets Addicted to Venom
Batman was once a victim of substance abuse, and to make matters worse, the substance was Venom! In “Legends of the Dark Knight #16”, we are witness to the death of a young girl. She dies because Batman couldn’t lift a heavy boulder that trapped her inside a flooded tunnel. He held himself guilty for his shortcomings and realized that he simply wasn’t strong enough. It started with a few extra hours at the gym, but when it wasn’t enough he resorted to taking steroids for enhanced strength. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Batman had no idea that his medication was actually Venom.
This was the same substance that was the secret behind Bane’s strength, and soon, Batman was freakishly strong himself. There are a few instances of his raw power and it also opens up a violent and ruthless side of his character. The scientist who was secretly administering Venom to Batman tried to use his addiction. He ordered Batman to kill Jim Gordon in order to get more of the substance, and thankfully, Alfred came to his rescue. He locked up Batman inside the Batcave for a month as rehab for the superhero. Finally, he was free from the addiction and went back to deliver his clean brand of justice. The scientist and his thugs were arrested and it did not require any special strength for Batman to complete the mission!
Killing the Joke
“Batman: The Killing Joke” changed the way Batman stories were perceived. This animated movie was based on a graphic novel of the same name, and the narrative is all about Joker’s efforts to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. There are some rather disturbing things that Batman does in this storyline. Firstly, there is an instance where he ends up having a physical relationship with Barbara Gordon, as she tries to attack him. Later, the disturbing narrative takes you through some of Joker’s traumatic past life. He was a lab technician and tried to become a standup comedian but failed. He is forced to join a life of crime to support his pregnant wife, and eventually, chemical exposure gives him a permanent clown-face.
There is a lot of debate whether the Killing Joke was a valuable addition to the Batman mythos. The ending is particularly disturbing after the Joker fails in his attempt to turn James Gordon into a crazy man. He is subdued by Batman, but he refuses any help and ends things with a joke that actually makes the Dark Knight laugh. Overall, the ending is ambiguous, but the narrative had elements that were criticized for being unnecessarily violent and dark!
Batman Swings a Murdered Corpse from his Batjet like a Pinata
In “Detective Comics #27”, Batman is far from the honorable superhero that we know him to be. He was shown to kill people quite regularly without breaking a sweat! This is contrary to what is usually believed about the caped crusader – that he would never kill the criminals no matter what!
In one such storyline, Doctor Hugo Strange escaped from prison and injected some escaped lunatics with his special drug. This drug transforms them into 15-feet monsters and they are almost bulletproof and invulnerable. It required some special measures from Batman to bring them down. The last survivor was hanged from his Batjet and flown high into the skies. He was hanged to death and Batman wasn’t shown to be bothered about it in the slightest. He simply sped off with the corpse dangling from the aircraft and even suggests that the crook is better off this way! You didn’t imagine your favorite superhero to be so ruthless, did you?
There are many other stories of questionable behavior from Batman, but that doesn’t make him any less popular. In fact, if anything, his flaws, his rage, and his troubled mental state only make him more relatable for the fans. The Dark Knight remains one of the most human superheroes and despite such disturbing stories around him, he is still the one Gotham turns to in its darkest hour!