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Batman has one of the darkest and most interesting histories in DC Comics. Historically, his books have been a healthy combination of crime noir, Gothic horror, and action, with touches of science fiction and the supernatural added in. Throughout Bruce Wayne’s tenure as Gotham’s Dark Knight, the hero has fallen prey to his enemies many times and has grown accustomed to death.

As the protector of Gotham, perhaps the single most dangerous city in comics, Batman has one of the most perilous jobs in the DCU. Surrounded by powerful enemies, corrupt cops, resourceful crime families, and supervillains, Batman has his life threatened on a regular basis, sometimes even by his own allies. It should come as no surprise at all that the hero’s life has been claimed, both in and out of continuity, many times. Whether it was in deadly fights with his worst nemeses or succumbing to a zombie apocalypse, Batman is far from immortal, and stories like Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? have played with this fact. DC will never let Batman stay dead, but some of his best stories feature his horrific fates.

Batman’s Best Deaths

Though many of Batman’s worst fates come from modern comics, the idea of The Dark Knight dying is far from new. One of Batman’s earliest deaths was in the story “The Death-Cheaters of Gotham City.” Here, the hero poisoned himself in order to join a mysterious club of men who had cheated death. However, his death streak didn’t stop there. In the story Birth of the Demon, Batman fought Ra’s al Ghul in a desperate bid to save the world from the villain’s plans. Here, Ra’s delivered perhaps the most brutal blow ever dealt to Batman when he drove a shovel into Bruce’s chest, leaving the hero with no choice but to turn to the Lazarus Pits for survival. It was a fatal blow, even if it wasn’t quite a death.

In the Superman/Batman story “Absolute Power” (Jeph Loeb & Carlos Pacheco), readers saw a world where the two titular heroes became tyrants. Here, Wonder Woman stood up to her oppressors and drove a sword through Batman’s chest in the name of freedom. It’s hard to not give credit to perhaps the best “death” of Batman in The Dark Knight Returns (Frank Miller & Klaus Janson), where Batman fought Superman to the bitter end and his heart stopped just as he delivered the final blow to the Man of Steel. It was a fake-out so Bruce could begin anew, but it was still a great “death” for the Dark Knight.

Events Are Fatal To Batman

Batman is often the focal point of DC’s biggest events. This makes sense considering how many of these stories end up being Gotham-based, covert Bat-books anyway. For example, the New 52’s Endgame (Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo) culminated in Batman’s duel with The Joker. Here, Batman had perhaps his single most intense duel with the Clown Prince of Crime, where he was stabbed numerous times and blinded in one eye by one of Joker’s deadly playing cards. After their fight ended, they both were left dying in a pool of blood. Of course, Bruce Wayne did return, though with no memory of his life as Batman. The story remains one of the best showcases of the rivalry between Batman and Joker, a villain who works best when he’s truly out for blood.

Perhaps the best-known deadly event in Batman history was Final Crisis (Grant Morrison & JG Jones). Here, Darkseid arrived on Earth after murdering his son, Orion, with a powerful god-killing Radion bullet, and sought to impose his will on Earth. This included robbing half of humanity of their free will, including some heroes. As the story drew to a close, Batman broke his cardinal rule of no killing, firing the Radion bullet into Darkseid, delivering a fatal shot. However, the villainous god’s deadly Omega Beams struck Batman before the bullet took full effect, leaving him a burned husk of his former self, and Superman carried his body away from the scene. And, of course, Batman had to die along with the rest of the Justice League to set up Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere’s Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Batman’s Many Elseworlds Deaths

Many of Batman’s worst deaths aren’t found in the pages of the DCU but in Batman’s Elseworlds stories and alternate realities. Most notably, one of his worst non-canon deaths occurred in DCeased. Here, Darkseid triumphed in his quest for the Anti-Life Equation, only to discover that it was, in effect, a technological zombie virus. When the Equation’s effects spread to Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne was attacked by his own adoptive sons, leaving him on the verge of becoming a zombie. Though his transformation was slowed by one of Mister Freeze’s cryo-suits, it only delayed the inevitable. The outcome was a zombified Bruce Wayne who was gunned down by Alfred Pennyworth, Wayne Manor’s sole survivor.

Perhaps the most shocking death of a seemingly “real” Batman was the version of Bruce Wayne from Earth-2. This was the world the Justice Society moved to that housed the original Golden Age versions of DC’s heroes. Here, a man named Bill Jensen challenged a retired Bruce Wayne to don the cape and cowl once again. The villain used rage-fuelled magic to weaken Batman, which turned into a ball of fire that engulfed both hero and villain, burning The Dark Knight to death. This demise was surprisingly dark considering it was the final fate of the original 1930s Batman. Many of the Earth-2 heroes wound up having grim fates but characters like the Golden Age Superman at least got to die as heroes, not in pointless battles against forgettable foes. Conversely, in Mark Millar’s Red Son, Batman didn’t die in a gruesome way — his own explosion — but to avoid a horrifying fate when the Soviet Superman threatened to lobotomize the hero and he chose a quick death instead.

Across the multiverse, Batman’s deaths don’t stop with Bruce Wayne. Thomas Wayne, the Batman of the Flashpoint timeline, has died twice since his first appearance in 2011. First, he died in his mission with Barry Allen to help the speedster restore the timeline and bring his son Bruce back to life. After he crossed into the regular DCU, Thomas joined the Justice League Incarnate, a team of heroes from across the multiverse. After an encounter with the Great Darkness, Thomas was possessed by the entity, and Darkseid used his Omega Beams to kill him, just as he someday would Bruce.

For Batman, Sometimes, Death Is Better

As bad as Batman’s many deaths have been, he’s actually experienced fates arguably worse than death throughout both canon and the multiverse. In Batman: Last Knight On Earth, which took place on a future Earth where justice died and humanity embraced doom, a cloned younger Batman set out to discover the truth behind his new world. His journey led him to the real Bruce, a scarred old man. This Batman suffered arguably the worst fate when he tried to help people take refuge in the Hall of Justice as the world was coming to an end. For his troubles, Batman was met with blind violence and was literally pulled apart. As he put it himself, “I remember a father helping his son cut pieces off me to keep,” and how a little girl set him on fire after he’d already lost his teeth and his tongue.

Understandably, the Last Knight On Earth Bruce Wayne was unable to handle his suffering, and it drove him to become the biggest force of evil in the apocalypse. In possession of Martian Manhunter, the rebranded “Omega” mantle of Batman transmitted a signal that kept Gothamites under his control. A similarly dark fate happened in the Dark Multiverse, on a world where Azrael triumphed over Bruce Wayne and held onto Batman’s mantle. He forced Gotham to become his theocratic fiefdom while keeping the dismembered Bruce Wayne alive on a life support system. It’s hard to deny that just about any other fate would have been more merciful for Bruce.

Batman also suffered a litany of deaths in the “Emperor Joker” storyline. Here, Superman found himself in a world where Joker had Fifth-Dimensional powers and created a scenario where he could keep killing and reviving Batman without end. This world was, by far, the worst fate Batman has ever endured, as an unending source of amusement for The Joker. Her, the villain’s methods of murder ranged from campy and whimsical to straight-up evil. However, Superman pointed out to the villain that, when all was said and done, Batman still had the last laugh as even an omnipotent Joker couldn’t move past him.

Batman Will Never Stay Dead

Batman’s many deaths continue to shock readers, but everyone knows these deaths are either temporary or relegated to Elseworlds tales. The Dark Knight is DC’s most valuable character, and letting him die for good would be untenable for the company. As a part of DC’s Trinity, he’s basically indispensable and he’s been the source for many of comics’ greatest stories. From mega-events to one-off graphic novels, Batman has some of the best and worst deaths in comics.

Batman is protected, whether by magic, skilled writing, IP value-based plot armor, or just his own strengths as a hero. However, his many deaths are nothing if not creative and brutal. Sure, the hero is always destined to return, but that doesn’t make him safe from mutilations, burnings, stabbings, and torture. Across the multiverse and throughout DC’s history, Batman has given his life many times over to save his friends. Unfortunately, not every death is as dignified and noble as going out in a blaze of glory.