Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Character Spotlight: BATMAN

After witnessing the brutal murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne dedicated his life to ridding Gotham City of crime. Years of intense physical and mental training, and a vast family fortune, helped him become a symbol that strikes fear into the hearts of criminals. He is Vengeance, He is the Night, He is Batman!!


REAL NAME: Bruce Wayne
OCCUPATION: Indusrialist Philanthropist
BIRTHPLACE:  Crest Hill, Bristol Township; Gotham County
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Gotham City, Batcave
MARITAL STATUS: Single
HEIGHT: 6' 2"
WEIGHT: 210 lbs.
EYES: Blue
HAIR: Black

EDUCATION: Studied at various universities; extensive training in chemistry, criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, escape artistry, and other disciplines

KNOWN RELATIVES:   Thomas and Martha Wayne (parents, deceased), Simon Hurt (ancestor), Alfred Pennyworth (former guardian),Damian Wayne (son), Dick Grayson (adopted son), Tim Drake (adopted son), Jason Todd (adopted son), Cassandra Cain (adopted daughter), Wayne Family

FIRST APPEARANCE: Detecive Comics #28 (May, 1939)

ORIGIN:
A wealthy philanthropist, Thomas Wayne, his wife Martha and their 8 year-old son, Bruce Wayne, were coming out of a movie theater. The time was 10:47 p.m. As they stepped onto Park Row (now called Crime Alley), a masked gunman named Joe Chill came out of the shadows wanting Martha's pearl necklace she was wearing. Before young Bruce's eyes, Chill shot and killed Thomas Wayne in cold blood and then Martha as she was screaming for help. Bruce, traumatized at the sight of his parents' death, would never be the same. After his parents' death, Bruce was raised by his the wise and loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, and inherited his family's vast fortune as well as his father's company Wayne Enterprises. Facing his parents' gravestones, Bruce made a solemn oath to avenge his parents' deaths.

He toured the world looking for experts on various fields, training himself mentally and physically. Despite fiscal security, happiness eluded Bruce. Young Bruce was comforted by Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who helped him to mourn his parents and find a purpose in life. At age fourteen, Bruce started a twelve year walkabout around the world to study and learn various subjects. For academics, he studied at Cambridge in England, the Sorbonne in France, as well as other famous European universities. A Frenchman named Henri Ducard taught him man-hunting, a ninja named Kirigi taught him stealth, an African bushmen trained him in the art of the hunt, and Nepalese monks taught him healing.

He would return to Gotham City, where he decided to become a vigilante. But despite all his honed skills, he knew something was missing. Bruce believed criminals to be a "superstitious and cowardly lot", and in order to rid Gotham of evil, he needed to reinvent himself into a terrifying symbol that would strike fear in the hearts of criminals. While in his father's study, a large bat came crashing in. Bruce saw this as an omen, and recalled his fear of bats as a child and decided to use the bat as his symbol. Using his vast wealth, Bruce designs a costume and state of the art equipment based on bats. From this point on he lead a double life. By day, the playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne, and by night, vigilante crime-fighter Batman.

WEAPONS/EQUIPMENT: 

Batman's weapon of choice are his customized boomerangs or "Batarangs" they have razor sharp edges for cutting and scaling shear surfaces and blunt edges for use as a blugeoning weapon generally Batman uses his Batarangs as throwing weapons to knock out his opponents. Batmans other main offensive weapon is his cape which has weighted tips.
Batman's current costume is derived from his Troika costume which was all black and added leg fins, the new version has electrically resistant fabric, is fire resistant and bullet proof, the colour scheme is black and grey, and no longer has leg fins.
Batman's utility belt contains Batarangs, decel jump lines, grapnels, a short term rebreather, forensic tools, gas and smoke capsules, stun grenades, flash capsules, as well as a one time high voltage electric shock device. The Cowl contains several magnification lenses as well as Starlight and infra red lenses as well as the headset for secure communications
Batman has access to a great deal of high tech equipment curtesy of Wayne Tech. The most recent addition to his arsenal is the new Batmobile, and the Subway Rocket built during Jean-Pauls time as Batman. The Bat-Humvee and the first Batmobile have both been destroyed in the Earthquake. The Batcave is equipped with the best crimelab money could buy, athletic equipment, and a bank of cray super computers that hold a massive criminal database and is accessable from the new

POWERS/ABILITIES/SKILLS:
Batman has no powers, he has a powerful will and has made himself into the epitome of human perfection. He has mastered more fighting styles than most people alive including Akido, jut-nee-do and boxing and melded them into a style that is all his own, only Lady Shiva may have more martial arts knowledge than Batman. Batman learned boxing from former Golden Age hero and heavy weight champion Ted Grant A.K.A. Wildcat and other skills from men who were similarly experts in their fields.
Batman is a master detective, probably the best in the world with an IQ of over 200 and with great knowledge in key fields of interest such as ballistics, criminal pshycology, chemistry, toxicology and various forensic sciences. Batman is fluent in half a dozen languages and has studied many more. While having great concentrations of knowledge in areas important to Batman's existance he also has a wide field of general knowledge but does not funtion well as Bruce Wayne with out Alfreds help.
Batman always has a plan and uses every resource available to him.


BATMAN ALLIES/FAMILY TREE: The Batman Family, is a group of characters closely associated with Batman, generally costumed vigilantes who either have been trained by Batman or operate in Gotham City with his tacit approval. The group functions like a tactical unit of similarly-minded superheroes who operate in and around Gotham, with Batman as its team leader and, in many cases, its dispatch. Various members of the group are usually seen interacting with one another and assisting in each other's cases, even within their respective series. The most recognizable allies in include Alfred Pennyworth, Nightwing, Red Robin, Robin, Red Hood (Jason Todd), Batgirl, Zatanna, Catwoman, Huntress and Superman.


BATMAN ROGUE GALLERY: Batman comics have introduced many classic villains. His rogue gallery is one of the most identifiable in modern fiction. The Joker, Two-Face, and the Penguin are some of the most recognizable foes; other notable villains include Catwoman, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Ra's al Ghul, Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn, the Scarecrow, Bane, Killer Croc, the Mad Hatter, and Clayface, among others. Some of Batman's rogues gallery are notable for sometimes functioning as allies as well as villains. Some examples of this are Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Two-Face (Harvey Dent), Red Hood (the Joker), and Talia al Ghul.

TEMPLAR NOTE: For most of my life, I've always been Marvel Comics fan but mainly a Huge Batman fanatic at heart. But now that I am older and have grown more fond for comics, I have become more of a Huge and devoted fan to DC Comics ever since a friend of mine introduce me to the story arc known as "Identity Crisis" almost two years ago and from that point on I was hooked into DC Comics net. Batman is the reason why DC Comics is so great, not only that Batman has no powers but is able to go up toe to toe against any super-villain with the powers to take down even Superman himself and still come out on top. He also has one of the greatest super villain collection in the comic book world.  I am super stoked for the upcoming "The Dark Knight Rises" movie coming this July and is very curious on how Director Christopher Nolan is going to finish the trilogy and how is he going to TOP OFF "The Dark Knight" flick especially after the great performance by Heath Ledger for his role as "The Joker". Now with that said: all I want to say is that Batman is the most legit superhero in the world in both the Marvel and DC universe and that no one can match him in anyway..Batman is more than just a man. Batman is an ideal a symbol, a synonym for justice, a man who walks with kings and keeps the common touch. In a world where most superheroes have to be born on another planet, to be blessed with power rings or magical abilities, or to be chosen by the gods, Batman gives us all someone that we can relate to. He is more than just a man, He’s the Batman.
Pictured right: Me and The Dark Knight at MegaCon 2012
Video below: Proof on why Batman is a BAMF

Video Below: Batman from beginning to retirement to beyond
Source: Batman Wikia


-Brian Lansangan
follow me on Twitter @MrSnugglenutz84



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