Messed Up Things You Never Realized About Batman

Batman isn't the kind of hero that other heroes enjoy being around. While Bruce Wayne is a handsome, affable billionaire, Batman is a bit of a jerk, known to punch out his fellow heroes as easily as he does supervillains. He's creepy, he's abrasive, and he's definitely insane, like that goth kid in the back of your French class. We get it, you like Rasputina. Since Batman's first appearance in 1939, his messed up behavior has been no secret. So, how messed up is he?

Gotham City is the worst place in the world, populated by murderous villains and a police force that doesn't appreciate Batman's vigilantism. If you fall asleep in Gotham, your organs will be sold the the local deli, no questions asked. Bruce Wayne has the resources to relocate Wayne Enterprises anywhere in the world, leaving behind the mansion haunted by memories of his dead parents—but he won't, because he's an obsessive who enjoys torturing himself. Gotham isn't worth saving.

Batman is just a normal guy who's in way better shape than everyone else, thanks to healthy diet, exercise, and probably a Shake Weight, but at one point, he began taking a drug called Venom. A super-steroid that caused mega-rage and probably really bad pimples, it allowed Batman to break through his normal limitations and fight crime with greater ferocity. He became addicted to the drug, but he eventually forced himself to detox by locking himself in a room for a while, fighting off the toxin with sheer willpower.

Batman is always a few steps ahead of everyone. As the most unpredictable member of the Justice League, Batman assumed the worst of the rest of the League and planned countermeasures in case any of them became too dangerous, including everyone from Superman to the harmless Plastic Man. Like a total dingus, Batman wrote down all of his plans, which were stolen by bad guys who used them to pull a Batman on the heroes. Oh, and they also dug up Batman's parents' bodies, because why not.

In one of the most questionable Batman twists of all time, Batman somehow created a backup "personality" for himself called "The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh." Tied to a 1958 story in which Batman visits a purple-and-red wearing Batman living on another planet, insane author Grant Morrison revisited the concept in 2006, retconning the unusual event into modern Batman canon in the weirdest possible way. So, when Batman lost his mind, Zur-En-Arrh took over Batman's brain, making sure that there would always be a Batman in Gotham... no matter how insane or stupid.

Despite Batman's no-gun and anti-murder stance today, he was no stranger to guns during his earlier appearances, and had no problem killing bad guys who crossed his path in creative ways, including (but not limited to) hanging them from his Bat-Plane and crushing them. While most writers respected Batman's honorable no-slaughter policy, madman Frank Miller depicted a remorseless killing machine in 2005's All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, a title written only for sociopaths. And Batman may have also convinced his parents' killer to shoot himself. Way to find that loophole, Bruce.

Batman is a normal dude with the power of an awesome bod, a genius brain, and a lot of money. One of these things is more powerful than the others. Still, Batman is perfectly adept at fighting alongside any hero, going toe-to-toe with the most powerful beings in the galaxy without blinking, which requires a certain amount of psychosis. He kicked Spectre in the face, he shot Darkseid in the chest with a poison bullet, and he even crossed the border between the DC and Marvel universes just to beat up the Hulk. So, if you thought that Batman just fought clowns and plant-women, think again.

Arkham Asylum gets a steady stream of crazy inmates from Batman's daily roundup of the criminally insane, but in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Batman himself spent some time in the asylum to rescue a hostage. Realizing the staff to be just as nuts as the criminals, Batman opened the asylum's doors to allow the murderers to go free. Everyone but the Joker, who thrived on the madness, was so broken down that they were unable to leave the walls, and they remained inside. Because releasing murderers is easier than hiring new staff, apparently.

It may not be immediately apparent, but Batman's whole deal is that he scares the living pudding out of criminals. The possible presence of Batman is enough to deter most crime, and if Batman gets ahold of a scofflaw, they usually have to change their pants and rarely return to crime. Batman has created such an atmosphere of terror in Gotham that it's probably a worse place than if he just captured criminals quietly. Batman's never made his set of rules public. Can he throw you off a building for stealing a Twix? You don't want to find out, kid.

Batman's methods of instilling fear are so powerful that he was once asked to join the Sinestro Corps, an intergalactic organization of bad guys who use magic rings that harness the power of pure fear to kill their enemies. When cosmic powers headhunt you to join their company because you're scary throughout the known universe, you're either doing something very right or very wrong.