When it comes to heroes with a moral code, there are few more well-known and discussed than Batman. Gotham City’s dark protector has firmly established himself as the sort of vigilante hero who doesn’t cross certain lines, namely the killing line as he’s infamous for his no-killing rule when it comes to dealing with threats. Despite this, however, the Dark Knight isn’t exactly known for living up to his own code. Batman has a history of questionable acts and decisions, including behavior that can only be described as brutal or even downright cruel in how he deals with not just threats, but the people closest to him as well.
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While no hero is spotless, when it comes to Batman these aren’t just lapses in judgment or moments where the between heroics and villainous behavior become blurred. These are moments where Batman has done some reprehensible things, things so problematic that it calls into question if he’s really the hero we think he is or part of the larger problem plaguing Gotham City. Here are seven of the worst, moments so bad that it makes us question everything about the Dark Knight.
7) Batman and Black Canary’s Rooftop Hookup
Frank Miller’s All-Star Batman and Robin is a notoriously problematic run when it comes to Batman. It’s an unsettling repository of bad Batman moments that are, for many readers, just wildly out of character for the hero but one of the worst is his hookup with Black Canary. All-Star Batman and Robin #7 sees Batman dealing with a group of armed thugs and to say that things go badly for those thugs is an understatement. Batman ends up beating them and then lighting them on fire with a Molotov cocktail but killing these men horribly is just the start. Black Canary has been watching and the two “heroes” end up hooking up right there in front of the burning men and corpses. It’s deeply unsettling and, frankly, villain behavior.
6) The Mistreatment of Stephanie Brown
Batman and his Robins has long been a touch subject when it comes to whether Batman is a hero or not. After all, recruiting children to his crusade isn’t exactly hero behavior, however when it comes to moments that really made us question things, a big one is his entire treatment of Stephanie Brown. When Tim Drake quit as Robin, Batman recruited Stephanie despite previously doubting her abilities. When Stephanie makes a mistake, he fires her and then bans her from doing any crimefighting. This leads Stephanie to attempt to prove herself which has disastrous results when the girl ends up so badly hurt that she dies. Not only is Batman’s approach to working with Stephanie just bad, but it’s also strongly implied that he only brought her on to make Tim jealous, which makes the girl’s death and suffering the price of Batman’s pettiness.
5) Batman Hangs Someone From His Jet
Now, a little disclaimer: early Batman stories were very different from what readers are used to today, but that doesn’t make something that the hero does in Batman #1 okay. The issue sees Batman dealing with some “monsters” — men that Hugo Strange has modified with distorted bodies and minds to do his criminal bidding. That’s pretty grim, but the moment that makes us question Batman as a hero comes in how he deals with one such “monster”. He captures the man, strings him up by his neck, and then flies off with him dangling from his plane. The man dies, meaning Batman is functionally flying a dangling corpse over the city. Things get even darker when Batman just casually cuts the corpse down and lets it fall to the earth below. While Batman stories change a great deal going forward — Batman #1 is the issue prompted the editorial dictate that Batman would be against killing — but this moment is very dark and very unheroic.
4) Brother Eye
They say Batman is prepared for just about anything, but it is also just as accurate to say that Batman is paranoid and the Brother Eye system is proof of that. Batman’s love of contingency plans goes to the next level when he builds a secret satellite — Brother Eye — to essentially keep tabs on superheroes. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Brother Eye ends up compromised and, eventually Brother Eye ends up sentient and rogue with the intent to kill every metahuman on Earth. While Batman himself admits that Brother Eye is his greatest mistake, the idea that Batman really thought that he could (or should) monitor his fellow heroes with dangerous surveillance that ended up being deadly just really calls into question Batman’s judgement.
3) Leaving KGBeast to Die
Yes, Batman has a no killing rule, but he also likes to split hairs with what that rule actually means. A big example of that comes in Batman #420. In that issue, when Batman realizes he can’t actually beat KGBeast in a fight, he simply locks the villain away in a secure room underground, leaving him there to starve to death. While the moment is ultimately retconned, the fact that it happened together shows that Batman is willing to push the definition of “no killing” to some questionable places and feels like something some of the Dark Knight’s own villains would do.
2) Abusing Dick Grayson
When we said that All-Star Batman and Robin was problematic, we meant it and that brings us to another moment from that book. While Batman and Black Canary’s hookup was, well, gross, it’s his abusive treatment of Dick Grayson that is perhaps the worst of all. Batman does some awful stuff to the traumatized young man, including hitting him, verbally abusing him and even locking him in the Batcave as part of his overall training. Batman leaves the young Robin alone in the cave and forces him to eat rats if he wants to survive. It’s psychological torture on top of the physical abuse he’s putting the child through and it’s horrifying. Oh, and to make things worse? When Alfred tries to help the child by giving him food, Batman freaks out. It’s bad.
1) Laughing With the Joker
Love it or hate it, Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke is a classic, but it’s also not without its awful moments or problematic elements — and we’re not talking about what happens to Barbara Gordon. One of the most unsettling moments in the comic comes when Batman faces off with the Joker. While Batman has had enough, the Joker does what he does best — he cracks a joke. But instead of being repulsed, Batman smiles and then full on starts laughing with the monstrous villain as though it’s the funniest thing ever. It is deeply unsettling considering the horrible things that the Joker has done and even though the story ends with it being implied that Batman has killed the Joker, the fact that he actually shared a laugh with arguably the most twisted villain in DC is just gross.
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