Top 5 Batman Heroes
Greetings fellow Batman fans! Since we are all still getting to know each other and I am still pretty new here at Caped Crusades I thought it might help you to get to know me if I did an editorial piece on my Top 5 favorite Batman heroes. I’ll list each character with a little background and why I like them so much. I have done them in descending order with #5 being my least favorite and #1 my most beloved.
5) Helena Bertinelli/ The Huntress
Helena Bertinelli has a lot in common with Bruce Wayne, as children both lost their parents through senseless violence (Helena’s father was a Mafioso commanding one of the notorious “Five Families” of Gotham, he and his wife were murdered by a rival family in the Palm Sunday Massacre). However The Huntress exhibits a violent ruthlessness that is a perennial irritant to the Dark Knight. After the death of her family Helena fled to Sicily where she was trained in combat skills by her cousin Sal. She donned the cape and cowl of the Huntress upon returning to Gotham, vowing revenge on the assassin who killed her parents. Though Batman nominated the Huntress to join JLA, he later revoked her membership when she threatened to kill the villain Prometheus. I have to recognize The Huntress in my top five for being a more violent female version of the Dark Knight and a Gotham Protector. She is also the field leader of Oracle’s crime fighting team the Birds of Prey and I consider her to be a member of the Batclan ( a family of Gotham heroes who have connections to and/or training from Batman) all of which ranks her as number five in my top five list
4) Richard “Dick” Grayson / Robin I/ Nightwing
Richard Grayson was the youngest member of the circus act The Flying Graysons, who were murdered by “Boss” Zucco when the owner of the circus refused to pay him protection money. Bruce Wayne happened to be at the circus the night and he took in the orphaned boy seeing himself in the young man. Bruce offered Dick more than just a place to live, he offered him a chance to see that his parents killer got justice by training him as his squire Robin also known as the Boy Wonder. For years the two worked well as the Dynamic Duo but when Dick was a teenager and Bruce attempted to force him to give up leading the Teen Titans in order to fulfill his promise to aid Batman, Dick gave up his role as Robin and took on the name Nightwing. As Nightwing he continued to fight crime and remained a close ally to Batman. Really, who doesn’t like Dick Grayson, he brought a ray of hope to Batman and Gotham, he was the comedy to Bruce’s tragedy, and frankly the civilians they saved were less afraid of Batman with Robin around. As the first Robin, Dick was also the original Boy Wonder and truly earned the title. Every Robin after him has used this title but it was he who, through his skills as a crime fighter proved himself to be the Boy Wonder and an important half of the Dynamic Duo.
3) Barbara “Babs” Gordon/ Batgirl I / Oracle
Daughter of Police Commissioner James W. Gordon, and on again off again girlfriend of Richard “Dick” Grayson, Barbara Gordon took on the persona of Batgirl when her overprotective father refused to admit her to the G.C.P.D. Batgirl fought at Batman’s side for years until the Joker shot her in the back and paralyzed her from the waist down. (read The Killing Joke) Now she goes by the title Oracle and aids Batman by giving him a constant stream of information when he is in the field. Batgirl has always been a favorite of mine, as the main female sidekick to Batman, when I wasn’t dreaming about being him, I dreamed of being her. In the 1970s Batgirl was a symbol of women’s rights and she is THE COOLEST female hero ever! The fact that instead of dropping into obscurity when she was paralyzed she overcame her disability and became an even greater force for good just goes to show you that we women are more powerful than we seem.
2)Tim Drake/ Robin III/ Red Robin
Tim Drake excels in the role of Robin even as he struggles to maintain the balance between his life as a crime fighter and his life as a normal teenager. Robin III is the member of the Batclan most similar to the Bat himself. Though Tim Drake’s parents were not murdered as Bruce and Dick’s were, Tim’s personality is closer to Bruce’s than Dick’s. As a result of that Robin III and Batman had fewer conflict’s than either of the two Robin’s before him. Robin once led the team Young Justice, now that this team has disbanded he is a member of the current incarnation of Teen Titans. (In teen Titans the animated series the Robin leading that group is supposed to be Dick Grayson but more closely resembles Tim Drake, being broody and Bat-like) As the Batman hero who most closely resembles Batman, Tim, who I believe is the only person truly capable of replacing Bruce Wayne as Batman, (Dick did the best he could and better than I could have hoped) will always be my second favorite Batman character. Tim is an excellent detective with a genius-level intelligence, an adept fighter and computer expert, all of which almost rival the Bat’s attributes.
1) Bruce Wayne/ Batman
We all know Bruce Wayne’s back story pretty well and know plenty about Batman so I’m not going to give a history for him and I’ll just go into why I think he is awesome.I believe that the Batman Arkham Asylum guide said it best when describing the Dark Knight’s attributes
“trained to physical and mental peak; arsenal of gadgets, vehicles and advanced technology; inventor, detective, genius-level intelligence; expert in most known forms of martial arts; trained in all aspects of criminology; mastery of the physical sciences; computer expert; master of disguise; photographic memory; trained in stealth and espionage techniques; expert escape artist” Let’s face it when you say DC Comics you think of Batman, after all, DC stands for Detective Comics and who better to represent them as their greatest hero than the Dark Knight also known as The World’s Greatest Detective. Plus, he’s the Godd*mn Batman!
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