Batman

"'So we'll hunt him... Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A Dark Knight.'""―Jim Gordon"Batman is the superhero protector of Gotham City, a man dressed like a bat who fights against evil and strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere. In his secret identity he is Bruce Wayne, billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy. Although he has no superhuman powers, he is one of the world's smartest men and greatest fighters. His physical prowess and technical ingenuity make him an incredibly dangerous opponent. He is also a founding member of the Justice League.

Childhood
Bruce Wayne was born to the wealthy doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, who were themselves members of the prestigious Wayne and Kane families of Gotham City, respectively. Young Wayne lived with his parents and butler, Alfred Pennyworth, at Wayne Manor on the Wayne Estate. Bruce lives in this large mansion to this day.

The Waynes' Murder
As he grew older, his family's reputation made Bruce restless, and he began sneaking out of school to visit Gotham City, where he wouldn't be so easily recognized. On one such outing, when he was ten years old, he was picked up by Officer Jim Gordon and his partner on their patrol. En route back to the station, Bruce witnessed Jim accepting a trenchcoat as a bribe from a tailor - though neither realized it was a bribe at the time - but Bruce would remember it as an indicator of Jim's character. After his parents came to retrieve him, the Waynes went to see The Mark of Zorro at the Monarch Theatre. After the film, a mugger named Joe Chill attempted to rob them at gunpoint, and panicked, shooting both Thomas and Martha dead.

Later Childhood
Following his parents' deaths, Bruce attempted to commit suicide with a razor blade. However, just before he went through with it, he realized that this wasn't what his parents would want, and it was at that moment Bruce vowed to spend the rest of his life warring on crime.

Bruce became obsessed with the search for meaning in the loss of his parents. He thought perhaps the mythical Court of Owls was responsible, but he never found anything to prove it.

Shortly after their deaths, Bruce became obsessed with using toy guns and killing the man who murdered his parents. Because of this, Alfred sent Bruce to an Arkham boys' rehabilitation home upstate where he first met Harvey Dent. The boys became good friends but wouldn't realize their identities until years later.

In his youth, Bruce attended Gotham Academy. It was there that he dated Julie Madison, but his psychological issues with his parents' deaths ultimately led to the end of their relationship. One day, he was asked by a professor to answer a problem involving a projectile being fired at a target. This triggered Bruce to answer the question by burning the answer on the professor's front yard. Bruce was later expelled from Gotham Academy and began attending Roxbury Fielding Academy.

Troubled by grief, Bruce found that he couldn't function the way he was, so he hired a homeless man to pretend to be Alfred to approve of the paperwork so that Bruce could erase his memory with electroshock therapy, but chose not to go through with it, and to use his pain as a motivator. At the age of 18, he used his relationship with Erin McKillen, an Irish mafia daughter with whom he attended Roxbury Academy, to track down Joe Chill and discover that he'd just wanted the money and that his parents' deaths had no greater significance.

Traveling and Training
Fueled by the loss of his parents, Bruce began a global sojourn, his first stop being in Tibet where he trained in martial arts and sword fighting under Shaolin monks.

At age 19, Bruce travelled to Japan and the Hida Mountains where Don Miguel, a Brazilian convict, taught him how to race cars in life-or-death situations. In the Hida Mountains, he was also taught stealth by an unnamed master.

At age 21, Bruce studied the ins and outs of technological gadgetry under the guidance of the brilliant inventor, Sergei Alexandrov.

At age 24, Bruce was training in Norway, and after 28 hours of fighting a new opponent each hour, Bruce's determination struck fear into all the Queen's men. Bruce spent time with a nomadic people in the Nigerian desert enduring grueling training. It was during this time that Alfred attempted to contact him, but when Bruce received the phone call, he couldn't bring himself to answer.

Sometime during his time abroad, Bruce also trained with Chu Chin Li and Tsunetomo, two martial arts masters in the Far East and was also arrested for illegal base jumping at Meru Peak.

Bruce traveled to Paris, France, to find Henri Ducard, a skilled manhunter. Bruce also became close training partners with Ducard's son, Morgan. However, when Bruce discovered that Henri killed his targets, he left. This caused Henri to send Morgan after him, but Bruce managed to defeat him, throwing him into Henri's office.

Throughout Bruce's training, he constantly crossed paths with a man known as Ghost-Maker, who was learning skills to become a vigilante too. Bruce and Ghost-Maker were rivals, having fought on a few occasions due to their differing opinions on killing criminals.

Near the end of his travels, Bruce went to the Himalayas to train with Shihan Matsuda, who taught him to fight with the katana. He soon struck up a romance with the sword-sharpener's daughter, Mio. Matsuda warned him against creating personal ties with others, and to embrace his darker side. Matsuda's wife, though encouraged it, and because of Bruce's feelings for her, he inadvertently let an assassin into the Matsuda household. In the following course of events, Bruce discovered that Mio had been hired by Matsuda's wife to seduce him and then kill Matsuda. Both women and Matsuda himself were gravely injured, but before he died, Matsuda warned him that death is what would come of fostering close personal relationships. Taking this lesson to heart, and after seven long years of absence, Bruce finally returned to Gotham at the age of 25.

To formally end his training, Bruce climbed to the top of Wayne Tower and did a base-jump off the top, resulting in a concussion, road rash, & a dislocated shoulder and elbow.

Year Zero
TO BE FINISHED