Earlier this year, Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora gave Batman a glimpse into the future and introduced him to his grandson, Alfred.
In DC K.O.: Knightfight #3, Bruce Wayne enters a simulation where he is visited by a grown Damian Wayne who not only saved Gotham but had a son named after Bruce’s butler. And for a few pages, Batman got to actually be a grandfather. Then the Heart of Apokolips forced him to fight his own son, Damian, in order to escape the simulation. Bruce lets Damian win and walks away from the family he’s always wanted because the real world needs him more.
This Father’s Day, that story feels more relevant than ever. DC was finally answering an important question: Was Batman a good father?
See, to this day, despite multiple comics, shows and TV appearances, it is hard to think of Batman as a father. We know that over the years, Batman has fathered children with Selina Kyle (Helena Wayne) and Talia al Ghul (Damian Wayne), but he has also had many adopted kids like Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, and Cassandra Cain. Then there is also the bizarre case of Terry McGinnis. But is Batman actually a good father?
Is Batman A Good Father To His Children?
Over the years, Batman has provided a home and a family for both his adopted and biological children. However, the truth is that a good father would never allow his children to dress in tights and go up against armed thugs and psychopathic serial killers at night. Never. And yet that’s exactly what Batman does. Over and over again.
Of course, the other truth is that Bruce Wayne is a broken individual, and most of the young men and women he employs to help him are broken, too. The only way Bruce knows how to deal with his feelings and the feelings of others is to fight and help bring justice to the world. In that way, he helps himself by helping the world at large.
Batman’s Tough Love
Batman offers tough love, but it might be the tough love his children need. Without Batman, most of these boys might have become criminals like the rest of Gotham. Look at Damian Wayne, for example. He is a complete mess when he arrives at Wayne Manor but slowly learns to use his abilities for the common good of Gotham. What Bruce Wayne offers is a purpose and a unique set of skills.
Damian was screwed up way before he met his father. Having spent his gestation in a laboratory, Damian was raised by his mother until ten years of age, at which point she left him in the care of his father, who had not been aware of his son’s existence until that point in time. Trained by the League of Assassins, Damian is violent and learns to kill at a young age. It’s only after Bruce helps him that Damian becomes a better person.
Batman’s Troubled Kids
Dick Grayson tried to revenge kill the mobsters that killed his family. Bruce tried to warn him about revenge, but the kid wouldn’t listen.
Jason Todd was a crook. He was bound to find a way to get himself killed somehow.
Cassandra Cain was a vagrant killer-child who couldn’t talk and wandered around Gotham.
Barbara Gordon went out in a Halloween costume untrained before becoming Batgirl.
After Jason, Bruce never wanted another Robin, but Tim Drake pursued the Robin mantle despite Bruce being very reluctant to allow him to have it.
Helena Wayne becomes The Huntress after Selina Kyle dies. She was a nuanced and flawed human being.
To be completely honest, they are all weird children.
How Many Children Does Batman Have? All Of Them, Explained
This is a bit of a tricky question because Batman has been known to adopt most of his “sidekicks” throughout the years, with each young apprentice becoming a part of the Batfamily. It’s also tricky because, like any DC character, Batman exists in plenty of continuities. That said, here are some of his children from the most common continuities.
Starting with his biological children, Bruce Wayne technically has seven of them running around in the many versions of the DC universe. Starting with the most well-known ones, Bruce was brought into the family of assassins thanks to his marriage to Talia al Ghul. Everyone knows about Damian Wayne, their son, but few know about his other siblings, Athanasia and Tallant.
Athanasia al Ghul is Damian’s sister, who appears in Injustice: Gods Among Us. Still, she only gets a little screen time throughout the DC universe. Their lesser-known brother, Tallant, also appears within the Elseworlds versions of DC. It would be interesting to see how Damian might interact with his siblings.
Coming from a different family entirely, on Earth 2, Bruce Wayne marries Selina Kyle, and the two go on to have a daughter, Helena Wayne. Things seemed good for a while, but when Selina passed away, Helena went on to become The Huntress – similar to the version of Helena seen in the TV show Arrow, Helena Bertinelli.
A few of the slightly weirder biological children, technically the brothers Terry and Matt McGinnis, who have the same birth parents, Mary and Warren McGinnis, are also the biological children of Bruce Wayne. How? A partial strand of Bruce Wayne’s DNA was supposedly used, making them partial clones that are actually biologically related to Batman.
According to Superman & Batman: Generations, there is also one last son of Bruce Wayne, simply named Bruce Wayne Junior from Earth 3839, who went on to follow in Dick Grayson’s footsteps and first became Robin and then took on the mantle of Batman in adulthood.
From there, Batman would go on to canonically and legally adopt four of the younger Batfamily members, including his first adoptive son Dick Grayson, followed by Jason Todd, and eventually Tim Drake. He also adopted a daughter, Cassandra Cain, the young orphaned assassin, daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain.
There are a few others who are thought to be his children, whom he treats like his own kin but aren’t actually legally his own. Those include Barbara Gordon (Commissioner Gordon’s adoptive daughter/niece), Stephanie Brown (daughter of Cluemaster, who loves to spoil his crimes), and Duke Thomas. The latter is a metahuman who came to be known as The Signal, who was legally Bruce’s ward but not actually adopted or biologically related to the Bat.
8 Ways Batman Actually Shows Up As A Father
1. He teaches his children to appreciate things. [Check]
2. He accepts that his kids aren’t exactly like him. [Check]
3. He spends quality time with his children. [Check]
4. He leads by example. [Check]
5. He is supportive and loyal. [Check]
6. He challenges his kids. [Check]
7. He protects his family. [Check]
8. He shows love. [This one might be difficult]
The Verdict: Is Batman A Good Father Or A Terrible One?
Seven out of eight isn’t bad. When you consider their lives individually, Batman did a pretty decent job with these kids.
“Mother may have given me life, but you taught me how to live.” — Damian Wayne
Batman didn’t raise heroes. He raised survivors. And DC K.O.: Knightfight just proved that even the world’s greatest detective never figured out how to be a father until the simulation showed him what he’d already lost.
What do you think of Batman as a father? Is he a good one? Is he a terrible dad? Should Batman be allowed to have kids? Let us know in the comments.
RELATED: Not All of Superman’s Children Are Heroes — One Was Created to Kill Him
Batman is a stern, Dark, strict and direct father when mentle the batman suit. But he is loving father when he is wayne
In my point of view,Batman is an extremely good father ? ❤️ well done.as Alfred would say,Jolly good sir
several things.
1. Cass was never a vagrant. She was duped into killing and was so traumatized from the act that she ran away from the man who trained her into the role the instant it went from practice dummies to real life.
2. Batman doesn’t let them vigilante. They vigilante. He saves their lives when they get in too deep most of the time. He moves heaven & earth to each time.
3. Jason Todd never wanted to be a criminal. Ma Gunn tried to groom all her “wayward boys” into being one, but none of these kids are blank slates.
4. good point about Dick.
5. that scene w/ Clark & Jon isn’t about ‘tough love’. That was done to get attention. To make ppl want to know what on Earth was going on. They’re yelling about control, but Bruce & Damian helped Jon w/ something that was completely out of his. They weren’t hurting him. Most of Bruce’s tough love tactics are geared towards having his duckies not do vigilanteing, but it never works. The poor bastich.
6. I’m not so sure that Bruce doesn’t show his kids love. Not everything they do as family is on the page. He gives them piggy backs when they’re small enough. Hugs. Hold’s them when they’re distressed & wanting to be held. 9 out of 10 his kids are the ones who are cold & distant, do emotional abuse, and then storm off. He gives them space. He lets them vent. He doesn’t lock them out. He doesn’t defend himself. DC doesn’t give any of them good dialogue on the killing thing. The best lines they’ve given Bruce is on how they aren’t licensed to, and how it’s not their right to decide who lives, and who dies.