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.

Early Life
Bruce Wayne was born in Gotham City to billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. Eventually, his parents were murdered by a mugger in front of him, leaving him to be raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, in Wayne Manor.

During his childhood, Bruce became best friends with Tommy Elliot, though the latter eventually came to hate him so much he spent over a decade trying to kill him. He also learned over forty languages at some point in his life.

Wayne Enterprises
During his adulthood, Bruce became the CEO of his family company, Wayne Enterprises, and developed an inner circle which included the head of public relations, Charlie Clarke, and Lucius Fox, whom he considered a partner. During his tenure, Bruce 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, Bruce began operating as a vigilante under the codename of Batman, setting up a base of operations beneath Wayne Tower known as the Batcave and developing a superhero code which included a strict rule of no killing. To fund this crusade against crime, Bruce embezzled around $30 million from Wayne Enterprises.

Despite pushing others away to avoid them getting hurt, Bruce did allow numerous people to work alongside him including manager of Wayne Enterprises Research & Development Lucius Fox, who created most of the Bat-Gadgets such as the Batsuit and Batmobile, his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who he gave the alias of "The Eagle", Alfred's daughter, Julia Pennyworth, who he sent to watch over his cousin, Kate Kane when she wasn't in Gotham City, and an individual known as Robin. He also worked alongside Superman at some point and was given a shard of 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 customised searchlight known as the Batsignal to contact him when needed.

Mad Hatter
In or around 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 defeated Tetch and deprogrammed 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, Bruce 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
Batman eventually became the arch-enemy of Jack Napier aka The Joker, defeating him in one encounter and taking his acid flower and joy buzzer, which were then stored in the trophy case in the Batcave.

On January 26, 2003, The Joker hijacked a school bus, which he then crashed into Gabi Kane's car. Despite Batman trying to save the car, he ultimately failed and this led to Gabi's death and Beth Kane being kidnapped. He did however capture The Joker after pursuing the bus.

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.

Poison Ivy
Batman encountered Pamela Isley at some point after her transformation into Poison Ivy and fought her on numerous occasions, taking some of her vines in one such encounter. Eventually, Renee Montoya called Batman and convinced him to trap her deep underground away from water and sunlight.

Ra's al Ghul
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 behaviour 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.

Other Villains
Batman confiscated items from several other supervillains over the course of his career, including Bane's Venom, Clayface's mud, Penguin's umbrella, and a canister of Mr. Freeze's liquid nitrogen formula. He also fought other supervillains including The Riddler, Scarecrow, and Victor Zsasz, giving the assassin a hit that he would remember for years to come. At some point, Bruce 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 after numerous encounters 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 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.
 * Master tactician/Leader: 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.
 * Master Martial Artist: Bruce is an master martial artist, 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 canister, Penguin's umbrella and Poison Ivy's vine.

Trivia

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