5 Weakest Alternate Versions of Batman

For a hero that doesn’t have any actual superpowers of his own, Batman is one of the most powerful characters in comics. From his intelligence and training (he is the World’s Greatest Detective, after all) to his technology and his gadgets, Batman can hold his own against just about anyone and he’s a hero most villains really don’t want to go toe-to-toe with.

But while Batman is a force to be reckoned with, there are actually different versions of the hero and not all of them are quite as powerful. In some cases, there are people who have taken up the Batman mantle at various points when the real deal was out of commission. In other cases, you’re dealing with outright alternative versions of the character or previous iterations that are just different enough that they seem weak in comparison to the contemporary Batman we know and love. here are five of the weakest versions of Batman in comics. They all have their strengths, but none of them stand up to the Dark Knight of today.

5) Batzarro

If Superman can have his own strange opposite version of himself with Bizarro, it stands to reason that Batman could and would have his own as well. Enter Batzarro. Properly first appearing in Superman/Batman #20 in 2005, Batzarro’s origins aren’t specifically known, though it’s supposed that he was created in a similar fashion as Bizarro resulting in a strange backwards version of the Dark Knight. Calling himself the World’s Worst Detective, Batzarro is pretty much the worst. Where Batman is quiet and of few words, Batzarro is loud. Where Batman refuses to use guns, Batzarro embraces them, even going so far as to gun down couples walking down Crime Alley in a dark reverse of Batman’s actual origin story.

While one could argue that Batzarro has some physical prowess and actual power, his backwards thinking, lack of any real detective skills, and his loyalty to “unjustice” rather than justice makes him not only a terrible alternative version of Batman, but also one of the weakest. He’s not particularly intelligent and is more chaotic than anything else. You definitely do not want him on your side.

4) Jim Gordon’s Batman

First appearing in Batman #41, former police commissioner Jim Gordon took up the Batman mantle via an armored robotic mech suit in the “Superheavy” arc after it appeared that both the Batman and the Joker had perished in Batman: Endgame. Nicknamed the “Rookie”, the Superheavy Batsuit gives Gordon a lot of power as Batman, including things like cloaking and plenty of weapons like tear gas launchers. However, the suit was a heavy, complicated piece of armor, but that wasn’t the biggest issue.

Jim Gordon lands as one of the weakest alternative versions of Batman because he simply doesn’t have the training and instincts that Bruce Wayne’s Batman has and those are things that all of the armor, gadgets, and technology in the world can’t make up for. Without the unique qualities that make Batman a force to be reckoned with, even in his armor Jim was nearly killed by some regular, run of the mill street criminals proving that Batman is much more than his stuff.

3) Jean-Paul Valley’s Batman

To be very clear, no one is saying that Jean-Paul Valley is weak. Physically, He’s a very powerful character and is intelligent as well which makes it understandable why he would stand in for Batman after the hero’s defeat by Bane. But power is not defined by physical attributes alone. The mind and mental health matters, too, and that’s why Jean-Paul Valley lands on a list of the weakest alternate versions of Batman. Not only does Jean-Paul decides that Bruce’s tactics as Batan are outdated so he takes it upon himself to be far more brutal, but there’s also the whole issue of his Azrael conditioning.

Jean-Paul’s Batman grows more and more unstable, violent, and even delusional because of his Azrael conditioning. It leads him to become more of a problem for the Bat Family as well as the police, causing more issues than he is able to solve. His descent into madness makes him unpredictable and a liability when it comes to being Batman.

2) Bruce Wayne, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Amalgam universe is a fascinating one, giving readers fresh takes on iconic characters in a fun “what if” sort of scenario where the DC characters and Marvel characters existed in the same universe. That means that the Amalgam universe does have their own version of Batman, a figure known as Dark Claw but that isn’t Bruce Wayne. It’s a mashup of Batman and Wolverine largely in costume alone with Logan behind the mask. As for the man who is Batman in the proper DC Universe, Bruce Wayne is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Amalgam universe instead.

It’s a swap that fits and no one would argue that this version of Bruce Wayne isn’t great in that his intellect and S.H.I.E.L.D. training make him formidable. But part of Batman’s strength is that as Batman and not necessarily part of a formal organization, Batman is able to operate by his own rules (not to mention his really cool gadgets). That’s not the case with this version of Bruce and while no one would want to be on Amalgam Bruce’s bad side, take away the Batman part of the equation and you just have a really interesting super spy of sorts.

1) Golden Age Batman

We love Golden Age Batman. He’s the version of the character that started it all when he arrived in Detective Comics #27, picking up the cape and cowl when Bruce Wayne vowed to end crime in Gotham City. Golden Age Batman gave us lots of adventures as he took on the bad guys in his efforts to clean up his city and the character was a key component in making DC what it is today.

That said, Golden Age Batman operated very differently than the contemporary version of the character. His access to technology was very different and if you were to pit this version of Batman against the current one in a fight, it’s a fight that wouldn’t even be fair. Batman has come a long way since his debut, but the original version just doesn’t have the power later versions boast.

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