The traditional uniform associated with the Batman, the Batsuits are each tailored to inspire fear while resembling the silhouette of a bat.
Batman utilizes many different body armour designs, some of which are constructed into his Batsuits, and others which are separate. In its most basic version, the suit is bulletproof around the upper torso and back and can withstand a point blank range blast from a 12-gauge shotgun. Other versions are entirely bullet proof to small arms fire, and have advanced flexible armour plating made from Carbon composites and lightweight metal polymers.
All feature varying degrees of body armour and are primarily combat uniforms designed around each individual’s way of fighting crime in Gotham City. Though there are numerous suit variations designed to contend with a variety of situations, the following uniforms are the traditional suits worn on a regular basis by the Batmen.
Inspired by a bat that had broken into Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne had his uniform tailored to resemble the winged creature’s silhouette, theorizing that the frightening visage would strike fear into the superstitious and cowardly criminals preying on Gotham City’s citizens. |
By 1995, the suit was eventually modified, the cloak becoming a scalloped-edged cape and the gloves becoming gauntlets with three “fins” with claws imbedded in the fingers for climbing. Eventually he created a unique fire-retardant and chemical-resistant triple-weave Kevlar thread for the suit. The material had carbon nanotube fibers that imparted it with a unique sheen and made it heavily resistant to tearing. This material would go into the creation of all following batsuits and other suits in the Bat Family. |
After Bruce Wayne was defeated and crippled by Bane, he nominated Jean Paul Valley to take up the mantle of Batman while he recovered. While initially wearing Bruce Wayne’s uniform he would eventually begin to succumb to his “programming” and replaced the suit with his own tailor-made armor with razor disks, blades and hidden weapons, becoming a more aggressive and unstable Batman known among fans as the “Azbat”. |
After reclaiming his mantle from Jean Paul Valley, Bruce altered the suit with sturdier armour and changed the colour-scheme to an all-black ensemble. |
Following the period that Gotham City became a No Man’s Land, Bruce opted to return to the colour scheme and logo design of the suit’s first version, most notably with the removal of the yellow chest oval. While keeping many of the technology and weapons of the version 2 suit, he enlarged the utility belt in order to carry additional equipment. |
After surviving several attacks by The Black Glove, Bruce Wayne is hit by a psychological keyword attack uttered by Jezebell Jet. Thought dead, Bruce Wayne soon returns under a persona that was developed as a back up personality manufactured by Bruce to keep "Batman" active in case he was mind-wiped, or driven to insanity. Zur-En-Arrh Batman describes himself as being Batman "when you take Bruce out of the equation". In addition to using a baseball bat as his primary weapon, this Batman possessed a Bat-radia device that scrambled security systems. |
When Bruce Wayne was thought to have been killed by Darkseid, Jason Todd donned a Batsuit in his bid to become the new Batman. This suit, though extremely similar in colour scheme Bruce Wayne’s version 3 suit, is modified to be a more aggressive combat suit with stronger body armour, gauntlet fins turned into blades, cowl-ears moved forward to resembling devil-horns, eye lenses constantly glowing red to inspire fear and the mouth piece covered by a piece of armour plating. |
Defeating Jason Todd, Richard Grayson would take up the mantle of his fallen mentor as he did previously after the defeat of Jean Paul Valley. However, while he wore Bruce Wayne’s version 2 Batsuit previously, this time he would modify the suit to better fit his methods while keeping close enough to Bruce Wayne’s version 3 suit to make people believe that he was the same Batman. |
Returning from being sent back in time thanks to Darkseid, Bruce Wayne allows Richard to keep the mantle as the Batman of Gotham City while Bruce donned a new suit as part of his plan to take the team and mission global. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The various incarnations of the Batman uniform stand on display in the Batcave as either memorials much like the Robin Uniforms and Batgirl Uniforms or simply as storage to be used again if they are required.
- Bruce Wayne kept his initial suit designs, as well as designs of other suits and vehicles, in a book that became known as the Knight Gallery.