Batman/Characters/Supporting Cast

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Batman has built up a large cast of allies over the years. These are his allies that are either considered to be "unofficial" Batfamily members or allies from outside the Batclan.


Commissioner Jim Gordon

Probably Batman's only law-abiding ally, Jim Gordon was a rare one - an honest cop in a city so full of corruption that everyone treated him as if he were corrupt. Though his first meeting with Batman was on shaky terms, he eventually grew to accept that for the time being, Gotham needed the vigilante to keep order.

Like every other member of Batman's supporting cast, he has suffered many tragedies that would drive any normal man to suicide and/or insanity. Perhaps The most extreme example came from Alan Moore's The Killing Joke where he was kidnapped by the Joker and tortured both mentally and physically for hours on end. Almost as mind-shattering was the killing of his second wife by the same man during the No Man's Land story arc. The implication has been that you kind of have to be a little crazy to try to be an honest cop in Gotham to begin with, and Gordon's success at it has made him tough enough to survive anything the world has thrown at him.

Recently, his battle against crime has taken its toll on him, and he temporarily retired from the police force. He has since returned to his position as Gotham PD Commissioner, and continues to help out Batman as much as he can.

Catwoman I (Selina Kyle)

Meow.

She started out as pretty much a run-of-the-mill villain, but Catwoman is known by ninety percent of the world today as Batman's love interest. Pretty much the definition of a "cat burglar", Selina was, in many ways, as much of a dark counterpart to Batman as the Joker was (she's even got an animal theme!). Time after time, she would steal valuable jewels and the like (often items with a cat theme), and time after time, the Dark Knight would put a stop to her. As these "dates" went on, she became more and more infatuated with Batman, an attraction he mostly reciprocates but that he hates to admit.

Out of all of Batman's love interests, Selina is probably the most supported one, mainly because she's one of the few who can actually fight. By The Nineties, she had moved out of "supervillain" territory and become more of an anti-heroine. Various origin stories by authors such as Frank Miller and Ed Brubaker suggest that before she became Catwoman, she was a Street Urchin who suffered a variety of (often sexually-related) troubles before becoming who she is today. Nowadays, she is a wealthy socialite who steals for the hell of it (and help out the Bat-Family on occasion).

For a while, Selina went straight, and even had a baby, but soon enough, the reluctance of the DCU to let anybody in the Bat-universe have a happy life returned her to her costumed persona after a tragic event involving B-list villains Angle Man and Film Freak. Additionally, it is revealed that her going straight may have had something to do with Zatanna's magic instead of her own will. Either way, she makes a very effective hero when she wants to be. Her experience, skill, and social influence are second only to Bats himself, and she has no qualms using lethal force to get the job done.


Catwoman II (Holly Robinson)

Catwoman's pal Holly Robinson first appeared in Batman: Year One as a child prostitute who lived with Selina Kyle. Later, Holly returned as Selina's Girl Friday in Ed Brubaker's relaunch of the Catwoman title. Over the course of the series, Holly worked as Catwoman's spy on the streets, learned boxing moves from Wildcat, got a nice girlfriend, and became a den mother to a bunch of street urchins. Holly later became the second Catwoman when Selina temporarily retired.

After ending her brief stint as a replacement Catwoman, Holly left Gotham and was thrown into the cast of Countdown to Final Crisis. Holly spent most of Countdown in a state of constant facepalming, as she began an Odd Friendship with Harley Quinn and tried to make sense of a plot involving fake Amazons and Granny Goodness. Post-Countdown, Holly ran away to Comic Book Limbo, where she currently resides.

Huntress (Pre-Crisis / New 52) (Helena Wayne)

Batman and Catwoman finally confessed their love for one another, then got married and had a daughter. The daughter, Helena, had all the benefits of being rich (an excellent education, etc.), was trained by her parents to be an excellent athlete, and joined Dick Grayson's law firm. However, tragedy struck and Selena was blackmailed into donning the Catwoman suit for one more heist, which led to her death. Swearing vengeance on the blackmailer, Helena Wayne became the costumed heroine, the Huntress. No, this was not a badly written fan-fic, this was what happened on Earth-Two, during the Pre Crisis era. Even after her father, the Earth-Two Batman, died in battle with a villain after coming out of semi-retirement one last time, she continued crimefighting with Dick Grayson (still going by Robin even though he was well into middle age), and joined the Justice Society of America. Then Crisis on Infinite Earths happened, and all of the Earth-Two characters "never existed".

...until the 'New 52' reboot, where Earth-Two is not the previous Earth-Two. In the New 52 Earth-Two, Helena Wayne was trained by her father to be the perfect Robin. Somehow or another, she ended up in the main 52-verse, where she took on the identities of Huntress and Helena Bertinelli.

Huntress (Post-Crisis) (Helena Bertinelli)

Main Article: Huntress

The Post-Crisis version of the Huntress. Her name is Helena Bertinelli, the daughter of one of the Gotham's major Mafia families. At the tender age of eight, she was forced to witness the brutal massacre of her entire family. After spending years training (one of her masters was Richard Dragon, who trained the Question and Barbara Gordon), she returned to Gotham to become the costumed vigilante, the Huntress. Unlike most members of the Bat-Family who eventually built a level of trust with her, Batman held a deep distrust of Huntress for a long time, believing to be too much of a loose cannon, although he eventually trusts her enough to sponsor her for the Justice League (her original JLI membership apparently having been forgotten).

Notably, she helped maintain order in Gotham during the No Man's Land storyline, as a temporary Batgirl (and eventual Batman) when she discovered that criminals feared the Bat more than her Huntress costume. She has since been forced to resign from the Justice League, although she still operates as a member of the Bat-Family and the Birds of Prey team.

Azrael III (Michael Lane)
"I am the Dark Knight of God! I am Azrael."
—Azrael (Michael Lane)

Ex-cop Michael Lane has since succeeded Jean-Paul Valley as a new Azrael working for Sacred Order of St. Dumas splinter group the Order of Purity (written by Fabian Nicienza, and later David Hine), following a Deus Angst Machina that rivals that of Tim Drake. Unfortunately, the series was the embodiment of You Fail Religious Studies Forever & Darker and Edgier, and ran a lot like your average Dan Brown book. He also fought Theme Serial Killer The Crusader. This series was cancelled at issue #18.

Azrael II later appeared in the Judgement On Gotham, a Bat Family Crossover which ranged across Batman, Red Robin, Gotham City Sirens, and the Batman again. It featured Azrael working with the Crusader (though both were under the influence of Ra's al Ghul) to judge Batman, Red Robin, and Catwoman, in order to find one righteous person in Gotham City, or they would destroy it. Exactly why they just didn't go take a poll of the attendees of the local Christian churches is not known. They both disappeared after end of the arc. The storyline in itself was motivated solely by the fact that Michael Lane, apparently, failed religious studies, which is pretty ironic seeing how he's supposed to be a "Soldier of God."

Bat-Mite

Batman's #1 fan is actually an alien from Another Dimension with magic powers. Technically a hero, but he often ends up causing more harm than good. Sometimes gets into fights with Mr. Mxyzptlk, a Superman villain of the same species. He vanished at the dawn of the more "realistic" Bronze Age, but Grant Morrison brought him back after Infinite Crisis, explaining that he is a figment of Bruce's imagination that serves as a voice of reason should he somehow lose his grip on reality.

Harvey Bullock

Perhaps the most controversial member of the Gotham Police. He has a reputation for taking bribes and wrangling Miranda Rights, yet Commissioner Gordon and his partner Renee Montoya trust him unconditionally. Bullock was a "bishop" in the government agency Checkmate, but eventually returned to Gotham. He was one of the few who stayed in Gotham during No Man's Land. After Jim Gordon retired after being shot during the storyline Officer Down - when the man who shot him walked free - Bullock killed the culprit and left the force. He became a PI.

After Infinite Crisis and the return of Jim Gordon as Commissioner, Bullock returned to the force as well.

The Question II (Renee Montoya)

Renee Montoya was an officer of the GCPD. She was Harvey Bullock's partner until he was promoted to lieutenant and stayed in Gotham during No Man's Land; it was then that a connection between her and Harvey Dent/Two-Face was first established. After No Man's Land, her new partner is Crispus Allen, a cop from Metropolis. When she is outed due to Two-Face's machinations - Two-Face being in love with her - she is disowned by her family. Renee struggles with anger issues for more than a year until Infinite Crisis breaks and Cris is murdered by Dirty Cop Jim Corrigan. She comes close to crossing the line once more, and leaves the force. However, Victor Sage took her in during this stressful time and made her his protégé.

The events of 52 reveal that she has become the new Question after the death of Vic Sage, where she saved her friend (and ex), wealthy socialite Kate Kane, the new Batwoman.

Lucius Fox

The acting CEO of Wayne Industries: Fox essentially runs the company, since Bruce obviously has other things to occupy his time. He and Bruce are very good friends, and similarly to Jim Gordon it is often implied that he has figured out Jim's secret, though again like Jim it is never outright stated.

Vicki Vale

One of Batman's earliest love interests, Vicki Vale is a skilled and determined reporter for the Gotham Gazette. Her typical subject of writing is Batman: she reports on his exploits and occasionally tries to puzzle out his real identity, but she's always foiled. She has a hidden crush on Batman, and less so on Bruce Wayne, creating a Love Triangle out of two people, though she sometimes suspects that they're one and the same...

...What? No, she is not Lois Lane! She has red hair! She is completely, 100% different!

What with being a blatant Plagiarism of the Superman comic books who appeared primarily during Batman's Dork Age in The Interregnum, Vicki seldom shows up today. She disappeared in 1963, resurfaced in 1977 (and was promptly forgotten by the editors), and finally resumed love interest status in The Eighties...right before the Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped her history from existence. Post-Crisis, her appearances are primarily limited to the occasional cameo. She's done better in alternate continuities and media, having featured in All-Star Batman and Robin, the 1989 film (in which she was intended to be 1970s love interest Silver St. Cloud, whose name was deemed too silly), and The Batman vs Dracula. She also has an Expy in the form of Summer Gleeson.

All of which give her a leg up on...

Julie Madison

...the other oldest love interest, and the first. A kidnapping-prone socialite/actress, and Bruce Wayne's fiancee, Julie appeared in the earliest Batman stories in Detective Comics and remained engaged to Bruce for two years before breaking it off, due to stress from, you know, being kidnapped so often. She then became an actress, then a princess, and then ceased to be of any importance whatsoever.

Again, only appears as The Cameo, if ever. Writer / Artist Matt "Grendel" Wagner has done a fair amount of work with the character in a pair of excellent Batman mini-series exploring the time period during the Year One era, just before the "first" Joker story, "The Man Who Laughs" and The Long Halloween arc.

You might (but probably don't) remember her from Batman and Robin, where she proudly continues her tradition of being Bruce Wayne's beard arm candy loving girlfriend and having virtually no personality or plot-relevance. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Man-Bat

AKA: Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom

Doctor Kirk Langstrom created a serum which would give humans powers of echolocation, which he tested on himself due to him growing deaf. However, the serum instead transformed him into the Man-Bat, who would sometimes terrorize Gotham City. His wife, Francine, had taken the serum later on, and she became the She-Bat, and they flew through the night together. The transformation has been treated like a curse at times, but sometimes Kirk Langstrom is in full control of Man-Bat, becoming an ally of Batman and other superheroes. In recent comics, he is more often shown to be a hero. He and his wife have two kids, the first born daughter, Becky, being able to change into a She-Bat, and the second born, a boy named Aaron, was born in Man-Bat form due to his parents' exposure to the serum.


The Creeper (Jack Ryder)

Main Article: The Creeper

Much like Vicki Vale, Jack Ryder is one of Gotham’s most well-known reporters, infamous for his aggressive, truth-seeking nature he displays in his controversial talk show aptly named You Are WRONG! After researching a famed biochemist named Dr. Yatz and his breakthrough in nanocell technology, Jack sought the doctor out only to find him held captive by a group of mobsters who intended to use his discovery for their own ends. His attempts at rescuing Yatz failed and he was shot in the head, but not before being injected with Yatz’s last sample of nanocells. The cells saved Ryder’s life, granting him a healing factor as well as enhanced agility and strength, turning him into an insane yellow skinned, green haired creature that took to calling itself the Creeper. Although unpredictable and considered deranged even by the standards of the other nutcases who plague Gotham, the Creeper is still moral at his core and fights on the side of good, even becoming an ally of Batman whenever their paths cross.

Unlike Steve Ditko’s other staple creations like Blue Beetle and the Question, the Creeper never really achieved the spotlight that his fellow heroes had largely due to the number of retcons and inconsistencies that have grown in his origin story over the years (the above story is the newest and most used version in the Post-Crisis continuity so far). Mostly, he’s featured as a supporting character who’s had a number of small appearances in main and alternate canon alike, most notably in the DCAU where he had his own episode in Batman: The Animated Series as well as cameos in Justice League Unlimited. More recently, he was a member of the newly established but sadly shortlived Outsiders, getting some long overdue action during their Blackest Night arc.

Abuse (Colin Wilkes)

Colin was a ten year old orphan with a history of claustrophobia, chiroptophobia, abandonment issues, paranoia and violence. He had spent time in several foster homes, and underwent therapy sessions at the Children's Hospital. He was introduced to superheroes by George, a janitor at one of the orphanages he grew up in. He started collecting newspaper clippings, which was everything he had ever owned, along with his teddy bear Rory.

The Scarecrow abducted Colin and experimented on him with a synthetic Venom, hoping Batman would not fight children. But, realizing that despite Colin's grotesque appearance he was a child at heart, Batman used his Batrope to stick Colin's teddy bear to Crane causing him to attack Scarecrow instead of Batman. In the end, Batman prevented Colin from killing the Scarecrow by cutting his venom lines. Scarecrow was arrested, and Colin was moved to a hospital.

After the hospital, Colin was placed in St. Aden's Orphanage. He was still suffering from side effects of the Venom-treatment, and when he concentrated, he could activate it, changing into a giant behemoth. He decided to use this nearly indestructible form to fight crime, but knew he didn't look the part. He donned a trench coat and a hat, and ordered custom-made brass knuckle dusters that carried his new name: Abuse.

Though his first superheroing involved stopping robberies, he later turned to something bigger when he found children's bodies in the river. After investigating Humpty Dumpty's connection, he teamed up with Robin to take down the cause of the bodies: an illegal fighting ring for children, operated by Mr. Zsasz. Robin and Colin took him down, and shut down the operation. As a sign of gratitude, Robin gave Colin the Cycle of Abuse, a trike, because he thought Abuse looked stupid walking with his trench coat.

  • Badass Longcoat: When in Abuse form. Complete with a fedora.
  • Brains and Brawn: An argument can be made that he fits either or, with Damian fitting the opposite.
  • Brother Chuck: Hasn't been seen since the cancelleation of Streets of Gotham. And thanks to the recent DC reboot, it'll be a miracle if he ever shows up again.
    • And the Fandom Rejoiced: DC artist Dustin Nguyen said he had a lot planned for Colin that wasn't able to be fit in the original arc, but to keep an eye on the reboot. People are really hoping it happens.
  • Healing Factor: When Damian asked a few days later if Colin was okay from the fight, Colin said "I... Abuse heals quick." It turns out he was mostly wearing all those band-aids because he thought they looked cool.
  • Heartwarming Orphan: With his parents dead and moving from foster home to foster home, he's had to mature quicker than others. It doesn't stop him from being nice to other children and doesn't let his neuroses get him down.
  • Hulking Out: Albeit it doesn't require any Unstoppable Rage and he's still in full control.
    • He can also do it partially, at first only affecting his leg so it would grow and break a restraint.
    • Mild Nightmare Fuel here, since you see all his veins get really big before he grows with them and it looks creepy for the 3 panels before he's fully Abuse.
  • Morality Pet: Partially, to Damian.
  • Power Fist: Brass knuckles shaped in the form of the word: "Abuse".
  • Redheaded Hero
  • Secret Keeper
  • Super Strength: As Abuse, seemingly about to the same levels of Bane when he used Venom.
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