These Are Batman’s 7 Biggest Mistakes

It is often lauded that Batman can do anything if given enough time to properly prepare. It’s easy to see why. Batman is one of DC’s greatest heroes, even without powers. He’s a phenomenal detective, one of the best martial artists of all time, and has enough plans and gadgets to fight just about anyone or anything. However, Batman is far from perfect. In fact, although the hero will always stick to his staunch code, he has been known to make plenty of mistakes along the way. Batman has pushed away those he loves and hurt those he’s sworn to protect, and sometimes even nearly ended the entire world.

From poor personal choices to serious errors in judgement when it comes to those closest to him, Batman has some pretty big mistakes under his utility belt. Here are seven of the biggest.

7) Using Venom

Although Bane is the best known user of this hyper-addictive super-drug, Batman himself has used it too. In fact, Batman became addicted to it before Bane was even introduced. After failing to save a little girl from drowning because he couldn’t dig her out of rubble, Batman sought a way to make himself stronger. The girl’s father offered Batman use of his experimental drug Venom, and in a moment of weakness, the Dark Knight accepted. He was instantly addicted, and within a few weeks neglected every other part of his life in favor of using Venom. Charity, philanthropy, and detective work were cast aside so he could work out and take more Venom. At his lowest point he even threw aside his costume and beat several criminals to within an inch of their lives, and let other criminals get away after they threw some venom into the street and he chased it like a dog with a bone. Batman had to go to a dark place in himself to overcome his addiction, locking himself inside the Batcave for an entire month to detox himself.

6) Leaving Jason Todd Alone

The classic mistake that led to Jason’s death, and inevitably, the creation of Red Hood. It’s ranked here because Batman’s decisions make perfect sense, and there weren’t many other options at the time. By this point in “A Death in the Family,” Batman and Robin had tracked the Joker and Jason’s mom to a warehouse, but before they could charge in they noticed trucks carrying tons of Joker’s toxin driving away. They had to pursue to save countless lives, but the only vehicle they had on hand was a gyrocopter that would only fit one of them. Batman made Jason swear to stay put while he stopped the cargo trucks. We all know the rest of the story. Batman regretted his decision the instant he left, but had to chase down those trucks. He saved thousands of lives, but in turn, he couldn’t stop his son from making his own tragic mistake.

5) Letting Azrael Become Batman

In the classic “Knightfall” storyline Bane broke Batman’s back, and his ally Azrael was chosen to stand in for Bruce as Batman, and ultimately succeed him as Gotham’s protector. The problem is that Jean-Paul Valley was insane, and eventually lost himself to his delusions and assassin programming and led a bloody campaign against Gotham’s criminals. This led to the death of the villain Abattoir and his numerous innocent hostages. Eventually, the healed Bruce was forced to fight Jean-Paul for the cowl in a war that tore all across Gotham. While there weren’t many options for a successor to Batman at the time, there was still Nightwing, although Bruce refused to ask Dick to do so. Their relationship was on the rocks at the time, and Bruce said he wanted Dick to be his own man. Still, between an unhinged ex-assassin and an angry Nightwing, I’d still have picked Nightwing.

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4) Creating Zur-En-Arrh

Zur-En-Arrh is Batman’s secret alternate personality, created by Batman in case his mind was ever compromised. Zur is the embodiment of Batman’s dedication to his mission, but lacks Bruce’s compassion and heart. He is constantly toeing the exact line of not killing his enemies, brutally maiming them, and will hurt any ally or civilian that gets in the way of him punishing criminals. More recently, Zur possessed the robot he made to take down Batman, Failsafe, and teamed up with Amanda Waller to try and capture every single superhero in the world. This was after Zur took over Gotham City and killed Jason Todd a second time. Zur is the worst parts of Batman manifest, and now Bruce definitely understands that this level of paranoia is just detrimental to everyone.

3) Making Stephanie Brown Robin

While Stephanie Brown is an incredible character and deserves to have the title of Robin under her belt, and deserves way more recognition than she currently gets, Batman did not make her Robin for the right reasons. This was when Tim Drake was still Robin, and after Tim’s dad found out and forced Tim to choose between Batman and himself, Tim quit being the Boy Wonder. Batman got petty in a way that only a rich man can, and hired Stephanie to be Robin exclusively to spite Tim, as the two famously have an off and on relationship. Batman never really trusted Stephanie, however, keeping her at arms length while he waited for Tim to come back. This resulted in Stephanie trying to prove herself and accidentally kicking off the “Gang War” storyline, leading to her and Orpheus’s apparent deaths, although she came back. Needless to say, if Bruce had trusted Stephanie no one would have been hurt and he’d have had a great partner.

2) Abandoning Gotham

It came after the 7.6 magnitude earthquake shook Gotham City to its core, devastating its infrastructure and leading to the government declaring it a No Man’s Land. Bruce Wayne petitioned Congress to support Gotham, but he was laughed and ridiculed out of it, and Batman lost hope in Gotham. For months he stayed away, depression at how Gotham has failed to change for the better even after all his efforts like a weight around his neck. As he always does, Batman would return and save his city, but the three months he left it without its protector when it needed him most had transformed it into a lawless, chaotic land run by the rules of the jungle. For the first real time Batman lost his faith in a better future, and it nearly cost Gotham everything.

1) Inventing Brother Eye

In the wake of the “Identity Crisis” story event, Batman discovered that several members of the Justice League wiped his mind once he opposed their lobotomy of Dr. Light. This shattered Batman’s trust in other heroes, and he created the Brother Eye satellite to constantly surveil and catalogue the movements of meta-humans and other superheroes all around the world. It also catalogued Batman’s plans to disable other heroes should they ever turn rogue. This Big Brother style observation not only was a clear violation of every privacy and trust others put in Batman, but also extremely dangerous. Ra’s al Ghul has used its information to try and eliminate the Justice League, Maxwell Lord has used it to control his O.M.A.C. army and nearly eliminate meta-humans across the globe, and the satellites itself nearly brought about the apocalypse in the “Future’s End” storyline. Brother Eye is the physical embodiment of Batman’s worst paranoia and pessimism disguised as caution. Even though he had no idea what it would eventually become, after all the death and destruction this satellite has caused, it’s hard to imagine Batman doing something worse.

So there are the worst mistakes Batman has ever committed in comics. As is clear, Batman is far from a perfect man, he’s hurt people and been horrifically short-sighted, but that is part of what makes him so endearing as a character. He is a man who is constantly bathing in the darkness, but will always use it to try and make the world a better place. He’s flawed, but those flaws help us connect to him, and allow him to learn. His mistakes teach him to be better, and Batman is nothing if not a great student.

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