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. He also secretly operated as the vigilante known as Batman before leaving Gotham City in 2015 after killing The Joker.

Childhood
Bruce Wayne was born in Gotham City to billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. After his parents were murdered in front of him by a mugger, he was raised by Alfred Pennyworth in Wayne Manor.

During his childhood, Wayne became best friends with Tommy Elliot, who became so obsessed with being like him that he tried to murder his mother to also become an orphan. Eventually, the two stopped being friends and Elliot grew to hate Wayne to the point where he spent over a decade trying to kill him. Wayne also learned over forty languages at some point in his life.

Wayne Enterprises
During his adulthood, Wayne became the CEO of his family company, Wayne Enterprises. He eventually developed an inner circle which included the Head of Public Relations, Charlie Clarke, and Lucius Fox, whom he considered to be a partner. At some point during his tenure, Wayne had a heated exchange with Jeturian Industries CEO Jada Jet after he poached one of her most valued employees.

Becoming Batman
In or around 2001, Wayne became the vigilante known as Batman, setting up a base of operations beneath Wayne Tower known as the Batcave and developing a superhero code which included a strict rule against killing his opponents. To fund this endeavor, he embezzled around $30 million from Wayne Enterprises.

In this crusade against crime, Wayne worked alongside Lucius Fox, who created most of the Battech, Alfred Pennyworth, who he gave the alias of "The Eagle", and a fellow vigilante known as Robin, though he was eventually beaten to death by The Joker and Kiki Roulette using a crowbar. At some point, Wayne also met and worked alongside Superman, who came to trust him so much that he gave him a shard of green kryptonite for safekeeping, which he kept in a puddle in the Batcave.

During his early years, Batman had a strained relationship with Commissioner Loeb, who once sent almost the entirety of the GCPD to capture him. Despite this, the police eventually came to trust him enough to install a customized searchlight known as the Batsignal to contact him when needed.

Mad Hatter
In 2001, Batman fought Jervis Tetch aka the Mad Hatter, a tiny and insecure neuroscientist who embedded mind control technology into his hat in an attempt to force people to listen to him. He eventually defeated Tetch, confiscating and deprogramming his hat before placing it in a trophy case in the Batcave.

Killer Croc
Some time later, Batman fought Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc, a former professional wrestler who suffered from an infection that gave him the appearance of a crocodile. Believing that his violent tendencies were a result of the infection, Wayne had Wayne Tech work on a cure, but Jones was killed by the GCPD before this could be completed. Batman later recovered his tooth from the scene of his death, the only part of him that remained, and placed it in the trophy case in the Batcave.

The Joker
At some point, Batman became the arch-enemy of Jack Napier aka The Joker after his mental state was altered following an incident involving acid. During one encounter, Batman confiscated his acid flower and placed it in the trophy case in the Batcave.

On January 26, 2003, The Joker hijacked a school bus full of children as part of his plan to detonate an acid bomb which would rain chemicals down on Gotham City and cause everyone to look like him. The bus was pursued by Batman and in an attempt to escape, the Joker rammed it into the Kane family car. Despite trying to save the car, Batman failed, resulting in the death of Gabi Kane and the subsequent kidnapping of Beth Kane. However, he did manage to capture the Joker, locking him in Arkham Asylum, and confiscating his joy buzzer, which he gave to Lucius Fox to study. Despite also trying to apprehend Joker's toymaker, Kiki Roulette, she evaded capture and disappeared.

Catwoman
At some point, Batman entered into a romantic relationship with an individual known as Catwoman. This allowed her to steal some of his nanotechnology, which she wove into her whip to make it indestructible. However, Batman eventually confiscated this whip and placed it in the trophy case in the Batcave.

Poison Ivy
In 2011, Batman encountered eco-terrorist Poison Ivy and spent months attempting to stop her from wreaking havoc on Gotham City. During one encounter, he confiscated some of her vines and stored them in a trophy case in the Batcave. In early June, he was contacted by her lover, Renee Montoya, who asked for his help to prevent her from flooding the city by destroying Gotham City Dam. He then created a desiccation serum capable of mimicking the process a plant goes through when deprived of water and sunlight, and gave it to Renee. She injected Ivy with the serum, which reduced her to a dehydrated gray husk and left her in a comatose state. Batman then buried her deep underground in the Batcave so that she couldn't wake up.

League of Assassins
During the Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, Batman was given the Suit of Sorrows by Talia al Ghul and was told that it is able to impart heightened strength and speed on its user at the cost of corrupting anyone who was not pure of heart. Dubious of the legend, Batman started wearing the suit during patrols of Gotham City, but he soon found that he experienced aggressive behavior while doing so.

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 suit to an individual known as Azrael, who was seemingly able to wear it without any side effects.

Rogues Gallery
Over the course of his career, Batman fought numerous other supervillains and confiscated items from most of them. These include Bane, from whom he confiscated a Venom Pump, Clayface, from whom he confiscated a sample of mud, Condiment King, from whom he confiscated his Condiment Gun, King Shark, from whom he confiscated a tooth, Mr. Freeze, from whom he confiscated a canister of his liquid nitrogen formula, Penguin, from whom he confiscated a hypnotic umbrella, Phantasm, from whom he confiscated a mask, and Scarecrow, from whom he confiscated a sample of Fear Toxin. At some point, he also fought The Riddler, who he apprehended after a stand-off with the GCPD, and Victor Zsasz, who he gave a hit that he would remember for years to come. He also became obsessed with catching a terrorist known as The Detonator, although the trail eventually went cold.

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 that year, Batman killed The Joker, which led to him leaving Gotham City. Before leaving, he hid the Batmobile 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 Fox 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 Wilder 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 Fox entered his Mindscape where he saw his father watching Gotham from Wayne Tower. Wayne 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. Fox eventually decided to see his father and began to approach him when Wayne 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 Wayne as a way to forgive herself for not finding Beth years prior.

Abilities

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Wayne 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.
 * Leadership: Wayne is an excellent leader, being able to successfully run Wayne Enterprises for many years.
 * Intimidation: Wayne is an extremely intimidating individual when operating as Batman, even being known for his intimidating and commanding voice.
 * Multilingualism: Wayne is fluent in over forty languages.
 * Peak of Human Physical Condition: Wayne is at the peak of human physical condition due to years as a vigilante.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat: Wayne is a master martial artist, even being able to fight and defeat expertly trained assassins such as Victor Zsasz.
 * Marksmanship: Wayne 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

 * Battech: Wayne used various bat-themed gadgets when operating as Batman.
 * Batmobile: Wayne used a high-tech sports car called the Batmobile when operating as Batman.
 * Batsuit: Wayne wore a high-tech protective suit whilst operating as Batman. It was later re-purposed to fit his successors.
 * Utility Belt: The Batsuit had a utility belt which Wayne used to store various items.
 * Batarangs: Wayne 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: Wayne used a baton which can be extended into a bo-staff.
 * Grappling Gun: Wayne used a gun which is capable of propelling him up to a surface above or pulling an object or person towards him.
 * Voice Filter: Wayne used a filter to disguise his voice when in the presence of those who did not know his secret identity.
 * Crossbow: Wayne owned a crossbow and titanium arrows which were stored in the Batcave.
 * Laser Saw: Wayne owned a laser saw which was capable of cutting through anything.
 * Line Launcher: Wayne owned a line launcher which could grapple him across buildings.
 * Rebreather: Wayne owned a device known as a rebreather which allowed him to breathe underwater.
 * Sticky Bomb Launcher: Wayne owned a device which launches adhesive explosives.
 * Tranq Gun: Wayne owned a tranquilizer gun which was stored in the Batcave.
 * Green Kryptonite: Wayne owned a shard of green kryptonite which was given to him by Superman for safekeeping.
 * Suit of Sorrows: Wayne owned a suit of armor 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: Wayne kept numerous trophies from the supervillains he had faced over the years.