Bruce Wayne (Earth-1: Pre-Crisis)

"If anyone can help us, it's you."

- Mary Hamilton to "Bruce Wayne"

Bruce Wayne is a famous billionaire playboy and former CEO of Wayne Enterprises who operated as the vigilante known as Batman, before leaving Gotham City in 2016 after killing The Joker.

Early life
Bruce Wayne was born in Gotham City to billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. One day his parents were murdered by a mugger in front of him which left him traumatised and to be raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in Wayne Manor.

During his childhood, Bruce and Tommy Elliot became best friends. However, Tommy would eventually come to hate Bruce to the point of spending over a decade trying to kill him. Bruce would also learn over forty languages at some point.

Early Years
At some point in the early 2000s, Bruce became the vigilante known as Batman, setting up a base of operations beneath Wayne Tower which became know as the Batcave and developing a superhero code which included a strict rule of no killing. He also took over his family's company, Wayne Enterprises.

During his early years as Batman, he had a strained relationship with Commissioner Loeb, who once sent almost the entirety of the GCPD to capture him. Despite this, the police would eventually come to trust him enough to install the Bat-Signal, which allowed them to call him when they required his assistance.

Allies
Despite being forced to push people away to avoid them getting hurt, Bruce did allow numerous people to work alongside him including his best friend, Lucius Fox, who created most of the Bat-Gadgets such as the Batsuit and Batmobile in his role as manager of Wayne Enterprises Research & Development. He would also work alongside "Robin", Alfred Pennyworth who he gave the alias, "The Eagle" and Alfred's daughter, Julia Pennyworth, who he sent to watch over his cousin, Kate Kane when she wasn't in Gotham City. At some point, Bruce also met Superman who gave him a shard of kryptonite for safekeeping which he kept in a puddle in the Batcave.

Enemies
On January 26, 2003, his nemesis, The Joker, hijacked a school bus which he crashed into Gabi Kane's car. Despite trying to save the car, he failed, which led to Gabi's death and Beth Kane's kidnapping. He did however capture The Joker after pursuing the bus.

During his career, Batman would fight numerous other villains such as Bane, Clayface, Killer Croc, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze, Penguin and Poison Ivy, all of whom he locked in Arkham Asylum alongside other villains such as Lazlo Valentin, Riddler, Scarecrow, and Victor Zsasz who he would give a kick that he would remember for years. He also became obsessed with catching the terrorist known as The Detonator, with him keeping a long list of suspects before the trail went cold.

He collected many trophies from these villains including Bane's Venom, Clayface's mud, Joker's acid flower and joy buzzer, Killer Croc's tooth, Mad Hatter's hat, Mr. Freeze's cannister, Penguin's umbrella and Poison Ivy's vine all of which he stored in the Batcave.

During the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, Batman was given the Suit of Sorrows by Talia al Ghul and was told that it's able to impart heightened strength and speed on its users at the cost of corrupting anyone who was not pure of heart. Dubious of the legend, Batman started using the armour during patrols of Gotham City, but soon found that he experienced aggressive behaviour while wearing it. He later learned from a member of the Order of the Pure that a knight named Geoffrey de Cantonna massacred hundreds of people in an alpine valley in 1190 due to wearing the suit. This resulted in Bruce placing the suit in the Batcave as one of his trophies as a reminder that he must be ever vigilant as himself as well as in his crusade against crime. He later gave the armour to an individual known as Azrael.

Later Years
In 2012, Bruce Wayne was named "Playboy of the Year" by Business Intuition.

In 2015, Lucius Fox was murdered by Miguel Robles which led to his son, Luke Fox, taking over as head of security for Wayne Enterprises and subsequently learning of Bruce Wayne's identity as Batman and the existence of the Batcave.

Later in 2015, Batman killed The Joker after numerous encounters which led to him leaving Gotham City. Just before leaving, Bruce hid the Batmobile in the Batcave so well that even Luke didn't know where it was.

First Batwoman
After years of Batman being gone, Gotham City's crime rate would dramatically increase which led to his cousin, Kate Kane, taking up the mantle of Batwoman in 2018 through the use of his technology, She would also frequently write to Bruce in her journal.

Impersonated by Tommy Elliot
In 2020, Tommy Elliot was given a disguise by Alice which made him look like Bruce Wayne, so he could take a shard of kryptonite from Wayne Tower as it was the only material that could penetrate the Batsuit. He invented a story that he was back to search for his cousin who had disappeared days prior, which was able to fool most people including Luke who showed him the Batcave. He then went to Crows Security headquarters, where he spoke to Jacob Kane and had a drink in his office. While there he also spoke to Julia Pennyworth who noticed something was off, so she scanned the fingerprints on the glass and found out that he was not Bruce Wayne. He then stole the shard of kryptonite and the Batmobile and followed Ryan Wilder in an attempt to steal the Batwoman suit and become Batman, but he was defeated by Ryan and sent back to Arkham Asylum.

Second Batwoman
After becoming the second Batwoman, Ryan Wilder established a set of rules for the Bat Team to follow which was modelled after Batman's code.

Luke's Hallucination
After being shot by Russell Tavaroff, Luke entered his Mindscape where he saw his father watching Gotham from Wayne Tower. Bruce appeared and explained to him that he was in hospital after being shot and that he could either go see his father and die or return to the real world. Luke eventually decided to see his father and began to approach him when Bruce disappeared alongside the Mindscape as he woke up after being given the Desert Rose.

Kate's Search
In 2021, Kate Kane decided to leave Gotham City to search for Bruce as a way to forgive herself for not finding Beth years prior.

Abilities

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Bruce is an extremely intelligent individual as he was able to fight crime for years within Gotham City all while keeping his identity a secret from most individuals including his own family.
 * Leadership: Bruce is an extremely capable leader, as he was able to successfully run Wayne Enterprises for many years until leaving Gotham City.
 * Multilingualism: Bruce is fluent in over forty languages.
 * Intimidation: Bruce is an extremely intimidating individual when operating as Batman, even being known by Black Mask for his intimidating and commanding voice.
 * Peak of Human Physical Condition: Bruce is at the peak of human physical condition due to years as a vigilante protecting Gotham City.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Bruce is an expert in hand-to-hand combat, even being able to fight and defeat expertly trained assassins such as the League of Assassins and Victor Zsasz.
 * Marksmanship: Bruce is an expert marksman as he was able to use various devices such as batarangs and the Batmobile, which fires rubber bullets and bolas, all with perfect aim and accuracy.

Former Equipment

 * Bat-Gadgets: Bruce used various bat themed gadgets when operating as Batman.
 * Batmobile: Bruce used a high-tech sports car called the Batmobile when operating as Batman.
 * Batsuit: Bruce wore a high-tech protective suit whilst operating as Batman. It was later re-purposed to fit his successors.
 * Bat-Belt: The Batsuit had a utility belt which Bruce used to store various items.
 * Batarangs: Bruce used bat-shaped projectiles known as batarangs as a non-lethal weapon which served to either disarmed, distract, confused or warn his enemies.
 * Expandable Baton: Bruce used a baton which can be extended into a bo-staff.
 * Grappling Gun: Bruce used a gun which is capable of propelling him up to a surface above or pulling an object or person towards him.
 * Voice Filter: Bruce used a filter to disguise his voice when in the presence of those who did not know his secret identity.
 * Crossbow: Bruce owned a crossbow and titanium arrows which were stored in the Batcave.
 * Laser Saw: Bruce owned a laser saw which was capable of cutting through anything.
 * Rebreather: Bruce owned a device known as a rebreather which allowed him to breathe underwater.
 * Sticky Bomb Launcher: Bruce owned a device which launches adhesive explosives.
 * Tranq Gun: Bruce owned a tranquilliser gun which was stored in the Batcave.
 * Green Kryptonite: Bruce owned a shard of green kryptonite which was given to him by Superman for safekeeping.
 * Suit of Sorrows: Bruce owned a suit of armour which was able to give enhanced speed and strength to the wearer, but also corrupted those who were not pure of heart. He stopped wearing this after becoming more aggressive and later gave it to Azrael.
 * Trophies: Bruce kept numerous trophies from his villains in the Batcave including Bane's Venom, Clayface's mud, Joker's acid flower and joy buzzer, Killer Croc's tooth, Mad Hatter's hat, Mr. Freeze's cannister, Penguin's umbrella and Poison Ivy's vine.

Trivia

 * Bruce did not go to military school.
 * Diane Moore thought Batman was cute.