Personality
Batman's primary character traits can be summarized as "wealth; physical prowess; deductive abilities and obsession."[66]The details and tone of Batman comic books have varied over the years due to different creative teams. Dennis O'Neil noted that character consistency was not a major concern during early editorial regimes: "Julie Schwartz did a Batman inBatman and Detective and Murray Boltinoff did a Batman in the Brave and the Bold and apart from the costume they bore very little resemblance to each other. Julie and Murray did not want to coordinate their efforts, nor were they asked to do so. Continuity was not important in those days."[104]
The driving force behind Batman's character is his parents' murder. Bob Kane and Bill Finger discussed Batman's background and decided that "there's nothing more traumatic than having your parents murdered before your eyes."[105]Despite his trauma, he sets his mind on studying to become a scientist[106][107] and to train his body into physical perfection[106][107] to fight crime in Gotham City as Batman, an inspired idea from Wayne's insight into the criminal mind.[106][107]
Another of Batman's characterizations is a vigilante; in order to stop evil that started with the death of his parents, he must sometimes break laws himself. Although manifested differently by being re-told by different artists, it is nevertheless that the details and the prime components of Batman's origin have never varied at all in the comic books, the "reiteration of the basic origin events holds together otherwise divergent expressions".[108] The origin is the source of the character's traits and attributes, which play out in many of the character's adventures.[66]
Batman is often treated as a vigilante by other characters in his stories. Frank Miller views the character as "a dionysianfigure, a force for anarchy that imposes an individual order."[109] Dressed as a bat, Batman deliberately cultivates a frightening persona in order to aid him in crime-fighting,[110] a fear that originates from the criminals' own guiltyconscience.[111]
Bruce Wayne
The Batman is, in his everyday identity, Bruce Wayne, a wealthy businessman living in Gotham City. Wayne averts suspicion by acting the part of a superficial, dim-witted playboy idly living off his family's fortune (amassed through investment in real estate before the city became a bustling metropolis)[112] and the profits of Wayne Enterprises, his inherited conglomerate.[113] He supports philanthropic causes through his nonprofit Wayne Foundation, but is more widely known as a celebrity socialite.[114] In public, he pretends to be a heavy drinker, using ginger ale to suggest champagne and liberally serving alcohol to guests that he never actually consumes himself. In reality, he is a strict teetotaler concerned to maintain top physical fitness and mental acuity. In public, he appears frequently in the company of fashionable women to encourage tabloid gossip. In reality, there is less than meets the eye: though he leads an active romantic life, crime-fighting accounts for most of his night hours.[115]
Bruce Wayne's calculated persona as a vapid, self-indulgent son of privilege finds literary precedent in Sir Percival Blakeney, hero of The Scarlet Pimpernel stories by Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1903), and Don Diego de la Vega, hero of the Zorro tales by Johnston McCulley (1919). Like Bruce Wayne, Sir Percy and Don Diego are each members of gentry who invite contempt by publicly playing the fool. Also, like Bruce Wayne, each performs heroic deeds in secret and marks his work with a signature symbol.
The name "Bruce Wayne" was chosen for certain connotations. According to co-creator Bill Finger, "Bruce Wayne's first name came from Robert Bruce, the Scottish patriot. Wayne, being a playboy, was a man of gentry. I searched for a name that would suggest colonialism. I tried Adams, Hancock...then I thought of Mad Anthony Wayne."[116]
Writers of Batman and Superman stories have often compared and contrasted the two. Interpretations vary depending on the writer, the story, and the timing. Grant Morrison[117] notes that both heroes "believe in the same kind of things" despite the day/night contrast their heroic roles display. He notes an equally stark contrast in their real identities. Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent belong to different social classes: "Bruce has a butler, Clark has a boss." T. James Musler's book Unleashing the Superhero in Us All explores the extent to which Bruce Wayne's vast personal wealth is important in his life story, and the crucial role it plays in his crusade against crime.[118]
Modern stories tend to portray Bruce Wayne as the character's facade and the Batman as the truer representation of his personality[119] (in counterpoint to the post-Crisis Superman, whose "Clark Kent" persona is the 'real' personality, and "Superman" is the 'mask').[120][121] In Batman Unmasked, a television documentary about the psychology of the character, Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and an adjunct behavioral scientist at the Rand Corporation Benjamin Karney, notes that the Batman's personality is driven by Bruce Wayne's inherent humanity; that "Batman, for all its benefits and for all of the time Bruce Wayne devotes to it, is ultimately a tool for Bruce Wayne's efforts to make the world better".
Will Brooker notes in his book Batman Unmasked that "the confirmation of the Batman's identity lies with the young audience...he doesn't have to be Bruce Wayne; he just needs the suit and gadgets, the abilities, and most importantly the morality, the humanity. There's just a sense about him: 'they trust him... and they're never wrong."[122]
Bruce Wayne is a graduate of Yale Law School, as seen in Detective Comics #439 (1974), in which the final page shows a Yale Law School diploma hanging in Bruce Wayne's office.[123]
Dick Grayson
Main article: Dick Grayson
On two occasions former Robin Dick Grayson has served as Batman. He served briefly while Wayne recovered from spinal injuries caused by Bane in the 1993 Knightfall storyline. He assumed the mantle again in a 2009 comic book while Wayne was believed dead, and served as a second Batman even after Wayne returned in 2010. As part of DC's 2011 editorial mandate, he returned to being Nightwing following the Flashpoint crossover event.
In an interview with IGN, Morrison details that having Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin represented a "reverse" of the normal dynamic between Batman and Robin, with, "a more light-hearted and spontaneous Batman and a scowling, badass Robin." Morrison explains his intentions for the new characterization of Batman: "Dick Grayson is kind of this consummate superhero. The guy has been Batman's partner since he was a kid, he's led the Teen Titans, and he's trained with everybody in the DC Universe. So he's a very different kind of Batman. He's a lot easier; He's a lot looser and more relaxed."[62]
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