Random Worst Things That Have Ever Happened To Batman (20 items)

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  (#1) His Mentor And Oldest Friend, Alfred, Had His Neck Snapped

  Tom King's final twist of the knife before riding off into the sunset came in 2019's Batman #77, where Bane takes out Batman's trusted confidant Alfred Pennyworth in front of Damian Wayne's eyes. Alfred pleads with Bane, "not in front of the boy." With an unmerciful twist of his arms, Bane snaps the neck of Bruce's oldest friend.

  When Bruce discovers the body of Alfred in Batman #83, he is beside himself with pain. As tears come to his face, he can barely utter a word. Though some fans assumed Alfred wasn't really gone or, at least, wouldn't be for long, DC seemingly solidified the passing of the butler with 2020's Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P.
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  (#2) The Joker Killed The Second Robin, Jason Todd

  "A Death in the Family," the 1988 Batman storyline from Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo, was controversial for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it took the life of Jason Todd, the second Robin, for a significant amount of time until he was brought back in the mid-'00s. This brought media attention as offing the kid sidekick to one of the most famous superheroes in the world surely would, but it was not the only item of contention surrounding the story.

  DC set up a 900-number calling system for fans to call in and vote on whether Robin would live or not at the end of the story. As if giving fans that kind of choice in the first place didn't rub the creative minds at the company the wrong way, imagine how they felt when fans decided they would like to end a character. The first great impact of a burgeoning comic book fandom was to call for the demise of Robin. Interestingly enough, after years of speculation, we finally know what would've happened had the poll gone the other way thanks to Polygon's Susana Polo.
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  (#3) His Parents Were Slain During A Robbery When He Was A Child

  In what might be the most well-known origin story in all of popular culture, Bruce Wayne's parents were slain during a robbery-gone-wrong when he was just a child. This events was first shown in the pages of 1939's Detective Comics #33 and serves as the impetus behind everything Batman does.

  The Wayne family is walking down an alleyway after seeing The Mask of Zorro at a movie theater when Joe Chill tries to rob them at gunpoint. Chill panicks, the Waynes are killed, and the rest is history. This is the genesis of the Batman, the inciting incident of one of the most influential icons of the past century; two gunshots and a legend was born. 
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  (#4) He Was Slain And Brought Back To Life Repeatedly By 'Emperor Joker'

  The 2000 Superman-based crossover storyline "Superman: Emperor Joker" doesn't have all that much to do with the Caped Crusader. The story surrounds the Joker after he obtains the ability to alter reality after duping Mister Mxyzptlk, the supremely powerful trickster villain who has been a comedic thorn in Superman's side for decades. Batman is shunted off to the side here, though his torment at the hands of the Joker is no laughing matter.

  At one point, Superman finds the corpse of the Dark Knight and throws together a makeshift grave for his close friend. Batman eventually bursts through the freshly packed soil and reveals the truth to the Man of Steel: the Joker torments him to death every day and every night he comes back to life to do it all over again. "I've reached the point... where I've come to doubt my own existence," he explains to Superman.

  Talk about breaking the Bat.
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  (#5) The Joker Paralyzed Barbara Gordon

  The enduring legacy of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's infamous 1988 Batman tale The Killing Joke is the crippling and violation of Batgirl/Barbara Gordon's at the hands of the Joker. The events of the story would eventually spur the newly wheelchair-bound Gordon into becoming the fan-favorite Oracle, but The Killing Joke itself has been saddled with a tumultuous legacy over the past three decades.

  While it won an Eisner Award at the time and was critically lauded as one of the best Batman stories ever told, the tables have turned a bit on the iconic tale. Writer Alan Moore has reflected on the story by saying "it is far too violent" and called the book "a regrettable misstep on my part."

  An extremely controversial 2016 animated film adaptation stirred the pot even further. Coupled with Frank Miller's legendary 1986 bat-tale The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke would send Batman comics down a dark path that continues to this very day.
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  (#6) The Heretic Slayed His Son, Damian Wayne

  In a move that was undone not all that long after it happened, Bruce Wayne's son Damian is slain in 2013's Batman Incorporated #8. Damian is taken out by The Heretic - who just so happens to be a rapidly aged clone of Damian himself. 

  Though this is clearly not the first murder of a loved one Bruce Wayne has suffered through in his life, it is the demise of his biological son and hit him quite hard. Through some serious comic book-ery, Damian is brought back to life in 2014's Batman and Robin #37. 
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  (#7) His Back Was Broken By Bane In A Brutal Fight

  One of the most well-known Batman covers of all time belongs to 1993's Batman #497. The sight of seeing the Dark Knight's back bending the wrong way in the hands of an absolutely monstrous Bane certainly is a striking one. It was even given an homage in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises. 

  As Bane breaks the Bat, he proclaims, "I am Bane and I could kill you... but death would only end your agony and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply... break you!"

  Unsurprisingly, this shatters Bruce Wayne's back and he passes the mantle on to Jean-Paul Valley. This would prove to be very temporary, as Wayne eventually returns as Batman around a year later during the "KnightsEnd" crossover storyline. 
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  (#8) The Joker Kidnapped The Entire Bat-Family

  The Joker is probably the most famous villain in popular culture this side of Darth Vader. His own movie grossed over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office in 2019 and his antics have delighted fans of comics, television, and film for decades. In light of this popularity, it can be easy to forget just how sadistic and truly bonkers the villain can get.

  During Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman "Endgame" storyline, the Joker kidnaps the Bat-Family and seemingly separates the skin from their faces and serves it to them at a dinner table. This is just a ruse, though, and he proceeds to try to burn them all alive. This doesn't come to pass, but the event highlighted that not even the Bat-Family themselves were safe from the Joker's antics.
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  (#9) Catwoman Left Him At The Altar

  The first big heartbreak of Tom King's landmark run on Batman came with the 50th issue where Bruce Wayne is set to marry Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman. King had spent dozens of issues building up the pair's relationship and DC had heavily promoted the wedding with numerous Prelude to the Wedding one-shots being released.

  But Selina leaves Bruce waiting at the altar alone with a comment from the Joker festering in her mind. In Batman #49, the Joker tells Selina, "He can't be happy. And also be Batman."

  This idea, that Selena and Bruce's marriage would stop him from fully committing to his life as Batman, is ultimately what stops their relationship in its tracks.
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  (#10) Dick Grayson, The First Robin, Got Shot In The Head And Lost His Memory

  In the aftermath of Bruce's failed wedding to Catwoman, his first partner in fighting evil, Dick Grayson, tries to cheer up the father figure that changed the course of his life after his own parents were slain. The pair are patrolling the streets of Gotham when the Bat-Signal lights up the sky.

  While talking to Commissioner Gordon next to the Bat-Signal, Grayson is shot in the head by old nemesis KGBeast. You'd be forgiven for assuming this would end the former Boy Wonder, but alas, he ends up making a full recovery outside of losing his memory after the demise of his parents. Dick Grayson is effectively deceased and "Rick" Grayson is born.
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  (#11) He Was Held Captive And Psychologically Tormented For A Week By The Court Of Owls

  When DC relaunched their universe line-wide with 2011's New 52 initiative, Scott Snyder was brought on board to head up the ongoing Batman title. Snyder started his run off with a bang, introducing the shadowy Court of Owls to the Bat-canon and grounding the hero after Morrison's more experimental run on the character.

  At one point early in Snyder's run, the Court of Owls traps the Dark Knight in an underground maze designed to ensnare and mentally break their foes. Batman spends over a week lost in the labyrinth without food and begins to hallucinate due to malnutrition. Of course, this being Batman, our hero eventually escapes the clutches of the Owls and rallies the Bat-Family against their bid to take full control of Gotham City.
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  (#12) Zatanna And The Justice League Altered His Memory

  A lot of questionable things happen in Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales' 2004 crossover event Identity Crisis, from the passing of a pregnant Sue Dibny to the slaying of then-Robin Tim Drake's father. But how about that time seven Justice Leaguers decided to wipe 10 minutes from Bruce Wayne's memory in a major betrayal?

  When Batman tries to stop Zatanna and six other Justice League members from wiping Doctor Light's mind and altering his personality after learning he sexually assaulted Sue years ago, the group decides to also erase the event from Batman's memory. Eventually, Green Arrow even divulges this information to The Flash and he is understandably horrified. "This is Batman we're talking about," he yells. "You can't do that to Batman!"
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  (#13) His Childhood Friend Tommy Elliot Grew Up To Become A Supervillain

  When Jeph Loeb writes Batman, fans tend to take notice. After all, this is the guy who wrote fan-favorite stories like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. So, when Loeb teamed up with superstar artist Jim Lee to put together the "Hush" storyline in Batman #608-619 in 2002, the comic book industry stood at attention.

  "Hush" introduces the supervillain of the same name whose true identity is Dr. Thomas Elliot, a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. The machinations of "Hush" ​​​​​​would be enough on their own, but the fact that one of Wayne's boyhood friends is the one trying to bring him down certainly rubs salt into the wound.
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  (#14) He Almost Became A Homicidal Maniac Due To Joker Venom

  Spinning out of the pages of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's 2017 crossover event Dark Knights: Metal, the outrageously cruel Batman Who Laughs has become a fan-favorite villain in a very short amount of time. Hellbent on bringing the main continuity's Bruce Wayne down to his level, The Batman Who Laughs is the Batman of Earth -22 and everything about him is nearly identical to the Bruce Wayne we know except for the eventual poisoning of his mind from Joker Venom.

  In the first issue of the Batman Who Laughs miniseries, the Joker and our normal Batman come to a truce of sorts to take down this new villain. However, the Joker takes his life by shooting himself in the heart, which releases the Joker Venom that poisons the Dark Knight. While dying, the Joker explains to Batman, "the only way you'll beat him... is to become him." This leads to Bruce fighting off the symptoms for the entire miniseries while trying to defeat the evil Batman Who Laughs, only barely escaping with his sanity by the end.
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  (#15) When Gotham City Became No Man's Land

  When Batman: No Man's Land #1 was published in early 1999, Gotham City had been declared as officially no longer being a part of the United States. After events including a high-magnitude earthquake and a deadly strand of Ebola being unleashed upon the city by Ra's al Ghul, Gotham is reported to be unsalvageable and things only deteriorate from there.

  Batman and the Bat-Family struggle to fight crime in Gotham City even when there is a degree of normalcy, so imagine the difficulty when surrounded by true and utter chaos.

  As is the case with most comic book stories, everything eventually returns to the status quo, but the legacy of No Man's Land lives on as aspects of it were adapted into 2012's The Dark Knight Rises as well as the fifth season of Fox's television series Gotham. 
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  (#16) The Justice League Was Defeated Due To His Mistrust

  The 2000 JLA (or Justice League of America) story "Tower of Babel" has proven to be one of the defining Batman stories of the modern era. It sees some of the Dark Knight's defining traits - mistrust of allies, extreme preparedness in all situations, genius-level intellect - get turned against him.

  One of the Bat's most notorious enemies, Ra's al Ghul, takes contingency plans Batman has created in the seemingly unlikely event that one of his fellow Justice Leaguers turns against the team. Using these plans, which make use of intimate knowledge of the heroes' private lives and weaknesses, al Ghul incapacitates the Justice League causing the team to doubt their belief in Batman. 
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  (#17) Doctor Hurt And The Black Glove Mentally Broke Him

  Comic book writer Grant Morrison is known to get a little bizarre with his stories, even when he is working on the most mainstream of mainstream characters. The Scotsman has brought his trademark weirdness to everything from Superman and Green Lantern to the Fantastic Four and X-Men. But no big-time character got as much of the Morrison treatment as the Caped Crusader in "Batman: R.I.P."

  Long story short, Doctor Hurt creates the phrase "Zur-En-Arrh" as a trigger to mentally switch off Batman and, after using that phrase to shut Wayne down, Hurt's Black Glove organization pumps Wayne full of substances and dumps his body on a random street in Gotham City. However, Bruce Wayne had created a back-up personality known as the "Batman of Zur-En-Arrh" as a safeguard and things only got nuttier from there.
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  (#18) He's Framed For The Murder Of Ex-Girlfriend Vesper Fairchild

  Vesper Fairchild is an oft-forgotten love interest of Bruce Wayne. She did have over 30 appearances in Batman-related comics throughout the late '90s and early aughts, though, and after her breakup with Bruce Wayne, she is slain in the pages of 2002's Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure #1 and left in Wayne Manor. 

  This kicks off the 30+ issue Bat-Family crossover storyline known as both "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?" and "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive." Though Bruce is hauled in for the deed and is even thought to be guilty by certain members of the Bat-Family for a little while, his innocence is proven in the end. It turns out Lex Luthor hired hitman David Cain to frame Wayne and he clearly did a pretty good job of it if Batman's closest friends believed he was guilty, even if only for a moment.
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  (#19) He Lost His Memory In A Battle With The Joker

  Batman, and therefore Bruce Wayne, were presumed dead after a battle with the Joker during the events of "Endgame." This sees Jim Gordon take on the mantle of the Bat, but an amnesiac Bruce Wayne is eventually discovered.

  Bruce rejects his life as the billionaire Bruce Wayne originally, as he has fallen in love with Julie Madison and begins working with her at the Lucius Fox Center for Gotham Youth. Bruce eventually agrees to have his memories restored and becomes the Bat again, but it is not easy for the man to give up his newfound happiness.
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  (#20) Darkseid's Omega Beams Sent Him Back In Time

  Grant Morrison and J. G. Jones's major 2008 crossover event Final Crisis was billed with the tagline "Heroes Die. Legends Live Forever." It was clear to readers that this event was going to have a major impact on the status quo of the DC Universe, and for a little while, it seemed like DC had let Morrison knock off the Batman.

  Batman faces Darkseid with a firearm in tow in Final Crisis #6, breaking his promise to never use one: "I made a very solemn vow about firearms. But for you, I'm making a once-in-a lifetime exception." Darkseid responds by firing his Omega Beams at the Dark Knight. This seemingly ends Batman, though it is revealed in the very next issue that Wayne has actually been sent back in time.

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