Last Updated on September 6, 2024
The Dark Knight. The Caped Crusader. The World’s Greatest Detective. He goes by many different names but none as popular as Batman. Created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, Batman is undoubtedly one of the most popular characters in the DC universe.
His Dark Past
Batman is Bruce Wayne in a sleek black bat suit. Aside from being the billionaire head of Wayne Enterprises, he is widely known to have two contrasting characteristics–that of a playboy and a philanthropist.
Bruce Wayne’s thirst for justice stems from his dark and painful past. When he was 8 years old, he witnessed his parents, Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne, brutally murdered by a street criminal. Besides leaving him orphaned and lonely, this traumatic incident is what spurred him to dedicate his life fighting crime.
From Bruce to Batman
Growing up, Bruce had the wealth and access to anything he wanted. Dead set to fight crime, he exerted all effort to achieve this goal he had set for himself.
He excelled at school and was known to have genius-level intellect. Even after graduating at 14, he continued his quest for knowledge going to prestigious schools to gain more understanding of the mysteries of science.
To achieve physical strength, he underwent brutal exercises that conditioned his body to withstand pain and hardship. Training with martial artists from different parts of the world, he mastered many disciplines of martial arts. This has made him one of the best hand-to-hand combat fighters in the entire DC universe.
Already armed with inherent knowledge and physical prowess, he further trained to be mentally tough as well. He went to remote lands in the East to learn how to have control over his mind, making him immune to telepathy and mind control.
Even with his tragic past and grave demeanor, Batman personifies compassion for other people, regardless of who they are. In fighting crime, he strives to stick to his self-imposed rule of never killing anyone.
Superhero Status
While some citizens of Gotham consider him a vigilante, Batman is a superhero to many.
Although he has no special superpowers, his physical prowess and mental agility are far beyond an ordinary man’s level–a level that the average Joe can only hope to achieve in a lifetime. Coupled with great wealth that enables him to acquire the most technologically advanced equipment, Batman became a formidable superhero.
Batman not only has the coolest gadgets in the DC universe but also has amazing qualities that stamp his mark as a superhero. He is a master of disguise, a polyglot fluent in over 40 languages, and an expert in gathering even the most classified information.
To top it all off, Batman has this innate ability to be always one step ahead of any situation. He’s never without any contingency plan. Indeed, all these traits make him well deserving of his superhero status.
The Batman Franchise
Since his first appearance in DC comics in 1939, Batman’s legacy has scattered through various media and significantly impacted pop culture.
Debut in Comics
Batman was first introduced in Detective Comics #27 then went on to share the limelight with Superman and Spiderman as the best-known Superheroes.
Popularity Film and Television
In the big screen, Batman first starred in a self-titled movie in 1943. This was followed by a sequel in 1949 which included his famous sidekick, Robin.
Since then, over a dozen films have been produced featuring different aspects of his life and character. Among those who have played this titular role are Christian Bale, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and, the most recent caped crusader, Ben Affleck.
From 1966 to 1968, a live-action television show was aired on television with Adam West playing the role of Batman. Although no other Batman live-action series was aired after this, several animated series were aired throughout the years.
Legacy
80 years after he was created, Batman continues to rake in millions of dollars on merchandise alone. Fans never tire of amassing comic books, collectibles, toys, video games, and apparel that feature the Dark Knight.
Like his calculating personality, Batman’s quotes are often weighed and filled with purpose. Although they may display witty humor once in a while, they always give us a glimpse of who this enigmatic caped hero really is.
Here are 90 of his most popular quotes:
Batman Quotes
“If I have to have a past, then I prefer it to be multiple choice.” – Alan Moore, Batman: The Killing Joke
“Adults…struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multi-billion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it’s not real.” – Grant Morrison, Supergods
“You don’t get heaven or hell. Do you know the only reward you get for being Batman? You get to be Batman.” – Neil Gaiman, Batman
“Don’t talk like one of them. You’re not! Even if you’d like to be. To them, you’re just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these… these civilized people, they’ll eat each other. See, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.” – Christoper Nolan as The Joker
“Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You’ve eaten Gotham’s wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on…none of you are safe.” – Frank Miller, Batman
“I’m the goddamn Batman.” – Frank Miller, All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” – Harvey Dent
“Batman: a force of chaos in my world of perfect order. The dark side of the Soviet dream. Rumored to be a thousand murdered dissidents, they said he was a ghost. A walking dead man. A symbol of rebellion that would never fade as long as the system survived. Anarchy in black.” – Mark Millar, Superman
“Alfred: Hmf. I suppose you’ll take up flying next, like that fellow in Metropolis.” – Frank Miller, Batman
“Batman is easily my most favorite character beside Spawn.” – Todd McFarlane
“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” – Batman
“Sometimes the truth isn’t good enough, sometimes people need more.” – Batman
“A hero can be anyone, even a man doing something as simple as reassuring putting a coat on a young boy’s shoulders.” – Batman
“I have one power. I never give up.” – Batman
“Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.” – Batman
“All men have limits. They learn what they are and learn not to exceed them. I ignore mine” – Batman
“Everything’s impossible until somebody does it.” – Batman
“If you can carry it to the top of the mountain you may find what you were looking for in the first place.” – Batman
“But I know the rage that drives you. That impossible anger strangling the grief, until the memory of your loved ones is just poison in your veins. And one day you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed, so you’d be spared your pain.” ? Christopher Nolan
“’Show some respect. They were your grandparents.’ ‘Just names and dusty frames on the wall to me.’ ‘I take exception to that. There is not a speck of dust collecting on those portraits.’” – Peter J. Tomasi, Batman and Robin, Volume 1
“Fear clears the mind. Panic clouds it.” – Marie Lu, Batman
“[At his parents’ graves] I’ve brought a young man — a boy, actually — to stay at the house. He’s … lost his parents at roughly the same age that I … That I lost you. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t see myself as any sort of father figure. But … I think I can make a difference in his life.” – Jeph Loeb, Batman
“Gotham may have lost its king and queen, Bruce, but it could still have its prince” – Geoff Johns
“And yes, it all might end at any moment for any of us, in violence or not, but what matters is what we do before that. The lives we lead.” – Scott Snyder, Batman, Volume 4
“Batman’s not a hero. He’s a complicated character. I don’t think I could ever play a real hero — there’s always got to be something a little bit wrong. I think it’s because one of my eyes is smaller than the other one.” – Robert Pattinson
“There are no heroes and there are no villains. There are just opposing points of view. That’s all history is… the viscously long battle between world views. And eventually -Finally- no matter how much it may hurt, Truth wins out. Every. Damn. Time.” – Peter J. Tomasi, Batman
“Sometimes people identified too strongly with the famous—it was one of the prices of notoriety, especially when so many considered you to be a hero. Batman sometimes filled much too large a hole in people’s lives.” –Craig Shaw Gardner, The Batman Murders
“Harvey. Grundy. Myself. Each of us lost pieces of our lives……and hid what was left in the dark, is this what I want for myself? A world that exists only in darkness?” – Jeph Loeb, Batman
“This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren’t you? You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won’t kill you because you’re just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.” – The Joker
“Bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies share my dread.” – Batman
“Perhaps the knife was too slow.” – Batman
“Tell me where the trigger is, then you have my permission to die.” – Batman
“Drive sports cars, date movie stars, buy things that are not for sale… who knows, Master Wayne? You start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident.” – Alfred Pennyworth
“The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” – Harvey Dent
“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed, but as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.” – Bruce Wayne
“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” – Batman
“I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be.” – Batman
“Because we have to chase him. Because he’s the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now, 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.” – James Gordon
“Run, Bruce! Run from the truth! Run like you always have…but when you feel that prickling on the back of your neck, know that I’m coming for you! Reaching you from the other side of your reflection!” – Scott Snyder
“Desire becomes surrender. Surrender becomes Power.” – The Joker
“You’re not a superhero. You’re a spy. With a gun. You’re not Wing-Knight or Nightwing or whatever. You’re agent 37.” – Tom King, Grayson, Volume 1
“The Joker as sadistic chaos, the Batman as merciless order. This mirror-image theme would come to define the two characters’ relationship in the comics and across all media for the next forty years.” – Glen Weldon, The Caped Crusade
“The whereabouts of Batman remain unknown. And yet… I can see him now, in the grip of implacable forces, innumerable foes. Somewhere without hope. In a place where all seems lost. And I know this… the enemy will look away, for just a moment, underestimating him for that single fraction of a second too long. And no matter how dark the night… there will be no hiding place for evil.” – Grant Morrison, Batman
“Batman was human. He had no powers. He stood next to Gods and said, “I handle my city.” – Scott Snyder, Batman (2011-2016) #46
“A gun is a coward’s weapon. A liar’s weapon. We kill…too often because we’ve made it easy…too easy…sparing ourselves the mess.. and the work..” – Frank Miller
“We all look for meaning behind the tragedies that befall us. And sometimes the meaning is there. But sometimes, Master Bruce, terrible things just happen. No sinister plots. No secret societies. They just happen.” – Batman vs. Robin, Alfred
“Live bravely in the time you have and smile at the void.” – Scott Snyder, Batman (2011-2016) #40
“I always claimed I became the Batman to fight crime. That was a lie. I did it to overcome the fear.” – Jim Starlin, Batman
“This city just showed you that it’s full of people ready to believe in good.” – Batman
“You cannot lead these men unless you are prepared to do what is necessary to defeat evil.” – Batman
“Why do we fall, Bruce? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” – Batman
“Criminals are like weeds, Alfred; pull one up, another grows in its place.” – Batman
“I respect the mind’s power over the body. It’s why I do what I do.” – Batman
“I knew Harvey Dent, I was his friend and it will be a very long time before someone…Inspires us the way he did.” – Batman
“Gotham, take control… take control of your city. Behold, the instrument of your liberation! Identify yourself to the world!” – Batman
“Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded” – Batman
“Targeting me won’t get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn’t go down without a fight, but this is different. They crossed the line.” – Batman
“Gambol: You’re just a freak in a cheap suit. Joker: The suit, it ain’t cheap, you oughta know you bought it.” – Gambol/Joker
“This city just showed you that it’s full of people ready to believe in good.” – Batman/Bruce Wayne
“Some men aren’t looking for anything logical like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.” – Alfred Pennyworth
“You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time! But you were wrong. The world is cruel.” – Two-Face
“It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” – Jim Gordon
“The first time I stole so that I wouldn’t starve, I lost many assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong. And when I traveled, I learned the fear before a crime and the thrill of success. But I never became one of them.” – Bruce Wayne
“A criminal is not complicated. What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own power. You fear your anger, the drive to do great or terrible things. ” – Ra’s Al Ghul
“Justice is balance. You burned my house and left me for dead. Consider us even. ” – Ra’s Al Ghul
“Bruce…if you turn yourself in, they’re not gonna let us be together.” – Rachel Dawes
“You care about justice? Look beyond your own pain, Bruce. This city is rotting. People talk about the depression as if it’s history. It’s not. Things are worse than ever down here.” – Rachel Dawes
“Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, then always be Batman.” – Shadowtext
“Any negative trait, if known, becomes your ultimate trait. Unless you are Batman.” – Nikhil Sharda, Sans Destination
“Say, what’s the question mark for? Sexual identity?” – Dan Slott, Arkham Asylum
“The antidote to joy is dread.” – Sam Hamm, Batman: Blind Justice
“Does Batman ever NOT have a plan…?” – Mark Waid, Kingdom Come #2
“We must not remind them that giants walk the Earth.” – Frank Miller, Batman
“Gotham City. Clean shafts of concrete and snowy rooftops. The work of men who died generations ago. From here, it looks like an achievement. From here, you can’t see the enemy.” – Frank Miller, Batman: Year One
“I made a promise to my parents that I would rid the city of the evil that took their lives.” – Jeph Loeb, Batman: The Long Halloween
“I’m thinking of killing everyone whose name is a palindrome” – Dan Slott, Arkham Asylum
“Lots of folks would argue that Bruce hides behind his perfectly coiffed hair and ever-easy smile far more than Batman does underneath his cowl.” – Paul Asay, God on the Streets of Gotham
“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy.” – Batman
“Sometimes it’s only madness that makes us what we are.” – Batman
“I wear a mask. And that mask, it’s not to hide who I am, but to create what I am.” – Batman
“If I have to have a past, then I prefer it to be multiple choice.” – Batman
“Without warning, it comes…crashing through the window of your study, and mine…I have seen it before…somewhere. It frightened me as a boy… frightened me. Yes, father. I shall become a bat.” – Batman
“I won’t kill you, but I don’t I have to save you.” – Batman
“If you need to stop an asteroid, you call Superman. If you need to solve a mystery, you call Batman. But if you need to end a war, you call Wonder Woman.” – Batman
“You finally learned to do what is necessary.” – Batman
“You are as precious to me as you were to your own mother and father. I swore to them that I would protect you, and I haven’t.”
– Batman
“It’s obvious. Only a criminal would disguise himself as a licensed, bonded guard yet callously park in front of a fire hydrant.” – Batman
