Batman is one of the most popular superheroes ever created, and as such, has starred in more comics than just about any other hero. The Dark Knight has led story after story, and is a mainstay in nearly every version of the Justice League. This extends not just to the main DC Universe, but alternate versions as well. After all, interesting characters inspire us to think of new scenarios, and Batman being so popular obviously means that he’s a prime candidate for Elseworld stories. Some of these, like The Dark Knight Returns, are some of Batman’s best ever stories. Some, however, are either far worse, or just really, really weird.
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Creativity is often a game of trial and error, just testing things to see what works, so sometimes that means trying things that are entirely different from what you’re used to. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s not the point. For this list, we’re not looking at quality, we’re looking at just how absurd and strange some alternate versions of Batman have gotten. And oh boy, have they gotten strange. So without further ado, let’s look at ten of the weirdest, craziest, and strangest alternate versions of Batman ever created.
10) Goddamn Batman (All-Star Batman and Robin)
This version of Batman isn’t strange in the traditional sense. His backstory, design, and identity are identical to the main universe’s Batman’s, after all, but he earns his place on this list for how absolutely insane he acts. Every bad argument you’ve heard about Batman; that he’s a fascist, treats his Robins like soldiers, is obsessed with violence, and is crazy himself, all of these arguments easily apply to him. To give just a few highlights, this Batman locked the just-orphaned Dick Grayson in the Batcave for a month and forced him to eat rats to survive, doused several criminals in bleach then lit them on fire, and had sex with Black Canary about ten feet away from the burning criminals, in the rain. And that’s not even getting into how this Batman has the emotional intelligence and vocabulary of a thirteen year old in a Call of Duty lobby. He’s the Goddamn Batman for a reason. This might be the most “normal” Batman in concept, but he’s easily the craziest in personality and worst in story quality. The weirdest part is that somehow this psychopath becomes the hero in The Dark Knight Returns, which is crazy to think about.
9) Bat-Prince (Dark Knights of Steel)
In the fantasy-inspired world of Dark Knights of Steel, the entire El family survived Krypton’s explosion and became rulers of a country after the death of its rulers, the Waynes. The Waynes’ only heir, Bruce, was a bastard and thus ineligible for the throne, but still became a knight and dedicated himself to protecting his homeland. The crazy part came into play when it was revealed that the man Queen Martha had an affair with was Jor-El, making this Batman the half-brother of Superman. Batman and Superman have always been close, being as close as brothers in the actual DC Universe, but this revelation is insane because it gave Bruce Wayne all the powers of a Kryptonian, and created all kinds of familial drama between what are normally two best friends. It’s crazy to see Batman both with superpowers and a brother, especially when he and Superman are both so young, being around nineteen. The whole thing is made even weirder by the fact that all of the Robins are just a few years younger than Bruce himself. This version of Batman is at least consistent with the idea that he can’t have a dad, as Jor-El is killed in front of Bruce literally the second after he reveals he’s his father. The universe really waited for that revelation, didn’t it?
8) The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh (Batman #113)
This character is actually a special case on our list as he is the only one who existed in the main DC Universe. Tlano, the Batman of the planet Zur-En-Arrh, actually debuted three years before the multiverse was introduced in DC. One night, Batman woke up unable to control himself, flying the Batplane to the middle of nowhere, where Tlano teleported Batman to his home, saying he needed the Dark Knight’s help. Tlano is actually a near perfect replica of our Batman, except that he wears an outlandish costume and has far more advanced technology, and he abducted Bruce because on Zur-En-Arrh humans had Kryptonian-like powers. Regardless, Tlano earns his spot on this list because of how insane the idea that there exists a near perfect replica of Batman on a planet billions of lightyears away from Earth, having both evolved and come to the same conclusion in the same way. His existence highlights DC’s original multiple-world idea, which was that alternate versions of people we knew existed out in space due to cosmic probability, which is just kind of funny at how crazy it sounds.
7) FrankenWayne (Batman: Castle of the Bat)
This Frankenstein-inspired Elseworlds of Batman actually isn’t Bruce, but his father Thomas Wayne. After the death of his parents, Bruce became obsessed with death and resurrecting them, and rebuilt his father out of corpse parts. Eventually, he gave him a facsimile of life once again, but also a fear of bright lights and loud sounds. Bruce injected him with “bat energy” and made him a bat costume, but this transformed Thomas’s head into that of a bat. He was dubbed the Bat-Man, and wound up sacrificing himself to save Bruce and his fiance Julia at the end of his adventure. Mary Shelly’s foundational work has obviously been referenced a thousand plus times in comics, but this homage is particularly strange to see, given how obsessed with death Bruce was and how it transformed Thomas. It was a unique take on the character, even if the explanation for why he had a bat motif definitely felt tacked on.
6) Dr. Batman and Mr. Joker (Batman: Two Faces)
Much like our previous entry, this version of the Dark Knight takes inspiration from classic literature, specifically Robert Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Bruce was obsessed with ridding himself of sin, and developed a potion to create an idealized version of himself. This manifested in Bruce becoming the Batman, but it had a distinct side effect of creating an alternate personality constructed only out of the evil inside his heart. So while Bruce became Batman, he also turned himself into the Joker. Batman battled himself, spending the whole book tracking down the pale serial killer, eventually realizing he was the villain and throwing himself off a building to save Harvey’s life, who drank the potion to become Batman himself. A Victorian-era Batman who is also the Joker is definitely strange to see, giving a lot more credence to the whole “Batman makes his own villains” argument. This is one timeline where it’s actually true.
5) Bat Walker (The Jurassic League)
The vigilante protector of Growltham City, Bat Walker is the allosaurus counterpart to Bruce Wayne, and founding member of the Jurassic League. In case you couldn’t tell, this entire universe’s Justice League are sentient dinosaurs, and it’s beautiful. It’s literally just Batman as a dinosaur, but instead of a man he is a dinosaur that dresses like a bat, and that will never stop being funny to me. Beyond the amazing idea of a hulking behemoth like this allosaurus being scared of bats, he also adopts a fully human boy who will one day become Robin, because there are still plenty of humans in this world, and one of the main themes is the dinosaurs and humans learning to live together. This is such a simple shift in character, but so darn effective at making the child inside of me light up every time I look at him. I mean, it’s Batman as a dinosaur! That’s cool!
4) Reverend Wayne (Batman: Holy Terror)
In this universe, Bruce Wayne splits his time between being Batman and a Puritan preacher for the theocratic state of England. This timeline saw Oliver Cromwell recover from the malaria that killed him in real life, which apparently translated into England not only becoming a theocracy but also inducting the Americas into their empire, which is insanely wild alt-history to study if nothing else. Either way, this Batman is definitely strange just for the fact that this Bruce is a preacher, which is about as far from a Batman job as I could imagine, personally. The main DC Universe usually portrays Bruce as agnostic, so seeing him be so devoutly Puritan specifically certainly leaves an impression. Batman going on tirades about fighting in God’s name by battling the corrupt clergy and state is weird, but that does not mean bad at all, and gives a lot of Daredevil vibes. Still, Reverend Batman will never not be weird.
3) Batwraith (Tangent Comics)
This alternate version of the Dark Knight appeared in DC’s imprint Tangent Comics, an alternate universe which created entirely new characters based around DC’s best established characters. Although the Tangent Comics released back in the late ‘90s, a new story set in their reality called Green Lantern Dark revived the IP, as well as another take on this version of Batman. Batwraith’s true name is Sir William Walwyn, a knight who served under the mythical King Arthur, who was seduced by Morgan La Fey into attempting a coup. Unsuccessful, he was cursed by Merlin to never be able to leave his home, Castle Bat, until he atoned for his sins. In the modern day he is nothing but a spirit, but still the curse subsists, and he possesses suits of armor to continue fighting to redeem himself for his dishonorable actions long ago. This Batman is a literal ghost knight who possesses armor to keep fighting the good fight, and speaks exclusively in Shakespearean monologues. Words cannot express how awesome this is in practice, or how darn strange it is when you remember this is Batman. None of this makes sense for his character, but darn if it isn’t cool.
2) Nosferatu (Batman: Nosferatu)
This Elseworlds Batman, if you can believe it, takes inspiration from F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. In this world, the remnants of humanity live in the futuristic Metropolis, where Bruss Wayne-son and attorney Dirk Gray-son competed for the affections of Barbara Gord-son. After Dirk and Eschevin Gord-son were murdered by the Laughing Man of Arkham Asylum. While investigating their deaths, Bruss was tossed into the pits beneath the city, where the sentient machines that built Metropolis, known as Those Who Live Below, reconstructed him as Nosferatu, and sent him back up to wreck vengeance on Arkham and the Laughing Man. He became a sort of psychic vampire, fit with super strength, regeneration, and psionic blasts. Nosferatu became the leader of Arkham Asylum after killing the Laughing Man, leading the insane inmates as a way to turn their darkness into a force for good, almost like a less lethal, way more gothic League of Assassins. This Batman is definitely one of the strangest ever, being a literal monster created in one of DC’s most esoteric worlds. One look at this guy should tell you everything you need to know about how crazy he is, and how much crazier he acts in the actual comic.
1) Castle Bat (Dark Knights: Death Metal)
No, not the home of Batwraith or FrankenWayne, but Castle Bat the character. This Dark Multiverse Batman lived to retirement, where Damian Wayne took over as Batman in his stead. However, crime continued to spill out and grow worse, so Bruce sacrificed Damian to perform a ritual to merge his soul with the very city of Gotham, letting him control every aspect of it, making the brick, mortar, and buildings themselves into his new body. This Batman literally became Gotham City. There are plenty of absurd Batmen from the Dark Multiverse, from Batmobeast the living Batmobile to Baby Batman, but Castle Bat takes the cake for me, because how much wilder can you get than becoming a living city? It’s over the top, it’s crazy, and it’s so darn beautiful. Where else but comic books are you going to find something this insane taken this seriously, played this straight? It’s literally Batman as a city. It’s stupid and I love it.
So there we have ten of the craziest alternate versions of Batman. Trust me, there are still dozens of others that could have easily earned a place on this list, but these are the ones that stuck out to me the most. Which Elseworlds Batman do you think is the strangest, or which one just always strikes you more than the others? Let us know in the comments below!
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