The Batman Who Laughs (Bruce Wayne) is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Created by writer

Scott Snyder Scott Snyder (born January 15, 1976) is an American comic book author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his work for DC Comics, including series such as ''American Vampire'', ''Detective Comics'', a highly acc ...

and artist

Greg Capullo Gregory Capullo (; born March 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and penciller, best known for his work on ''Quasar (comics), Quasar'' (1991–1992), ''X-Force'' (1992–1993), ''Angela (comics), Angela'' (1994), ''Spawn (comics), Spawn'' ...

, he is an evil counterpart and alternate version of

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

within the Dark Multiverse. He is depicted as a hybrid of both Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Batman's arch enemy Joker, and is a member of the Dark Knights and the overarching antagonist of the Dark Multiverse Saga, alongside cosmic deities

Perpetua Perpetua and Felicity (; – ) were Christian martyrs of the third century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son she was nu ...

and Barbatos, from 2017 to 2021, following

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

. His first appearance was in the crossover storyline '' Dark Nights: Metal'', before receiving his own series and serving as the main antagonist in ''

Batman/Superman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly American comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ' ...

'' in 2019 and DC Comics' ''

Year of the Villain ''Year of the Villain'' was a crossover comic book event published by DC Comics. Beginning May 2019, the event narrated the aftermath of '' Dark Nights: Metal'' and the prelude to '' Batman/Superman vs. The Secret Six'' and '' Dark Nights: Death ...

'' alongside

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

. His name is an allusion to the original Batman's seriousness and to the 1928 film ''

The Man Who Laughs ''The Man Who Laughs'' (also published under the title ''By Order of the King'' from its subtitle in French) is a Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, originally published in April 1869 under the French title ''L'Homme qui rit''. It takes place in Engl ...

'', which served as inspiration for the Joker.

Publication history

The Batman Who Laughs was created by

and

, first appearing in the comic book ''Dark Days: The Casting''. The character was depicted as an alternate universe

who does not have a code against killing. Snyder explained his intent on the character in an interview by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'': "He's basically Batman's worst nightmare come to life: Batman, if he was infected by the Joker toxin and lost all sense of ethics. What he wants to do in Gotham is bring Bruce's worst nightmares to life". Snyder's hope was that his character would be popular enough to get his own comic book series, and Snyder believed that " Jock would be the perfect person to do it".

Fictional character biography

The Batman Who Laughs is an alternate universe variant of Batman from Earth-22 in the Dark Multiverse, who was transformed into a Joker-like form as part of the original Joker's dying scheme. He then takes over Earth, killing most of his allies and turning his son

Damian Wayne Damian Thomas Wayne is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. He was created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert. Damian Wayne is the biological son of Bruce Wayne/Batman. His mo ...

into a mini-Joker. After arriving on Prime-Earth, the Batman Who Laughs attempts to destroy reality using the

Anti-Monitor The Anti-Monitor is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He served as the main antagonist of the 1985 DC Comics miniseries ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and later appears as an enemy to the Green Lantern Corps ...

's brain, but is defeated and imprisoned in the Hall of Justice. In '' Dark Nights: Death Metal'', The Batman Who Laughs becomes Perpetua's lieutenant, aided by an army of evil alternate Batmen called the Dark Knights.

Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...

kills him, but the Dark Knights preserve his brain and transfer it to the body of "Batmanhattan", a variant of Batman who possesses

Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan "Jon" Osterman) is a fictional DC Comics character created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons. He debuted in the graphic novel, limited Limited series (comics), series graphic novel, ''Watchmen.'' Follo ...

's reality-warping abilities. Now known as the "Darkest Knight", he attempts to remake the universe before Wonder Woman destroys him by pushing him into the sun.

Collected editions

Powers and abilities

The Batman Who Laughs is depicted as having the same abilities as Batman, combined with the twisted nihilism of the Joker. Furthermore, he has a futuristic visor made out of "Dark Metal" that gives him a form of precognition, and wields various weapons, including machine guns, knives, and a bladed chain. The Batman Who Laughs also uses batarangs made of "Dark Metal" that can bring out the worst version of the victim. In ''Dark Knights: Death Metal'', The Batman Who Laughs gains the powers of Doctor Manhattan by having Dr. Arkham surgically integrate his mind into that of a Bruce Wayne with Manhattan's powers, granting him nigh-omnipotence, flight, and teleportation among other powers. Like other inhabitants of the Dark Multiverse, The Batman Who Laughs is vulnerable to

Nth Metal Hawkman (Carter Hall) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the first character to use the name Hawkman. There are two separate origins of Carter Hall; the Golden Age origin and the Post-Hawkworld (or curr ...

Reception

The Batman Who Laughs has been commonly described as "horrifying" by website authors.

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

describes The Batman Who Laughs as comprising all the "best" parts of Batman and the "worst" parts of the Joker. The character has been compared to

Judge Death This is a list of characters in the British comic strip ''Judge Dredd'' appearing in '' 2000 AD'', ''Judge Dredd Megazine'' and related publications. They are listed alphabetically by surname, in categories. (Major characters have their own art ...

in design. The character's creator,

, noted that the two characters have a similar aesthetic.

In other media

Video games

* The Batman Who Laughs appears in ''

DC Universe Online ''DC Universe Online'' (''DCUO'') is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game set in the fictional universe of DC Comics. Developed by Dimensional Ink Games and co-published by Daybreak Game Company and WB Games, the game was initiall ...

''. * The Batman Who Laughs appears as a playable character in ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game and game platform developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in seven distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: '' Fortnite Battle Roy ...

''. * The Batman Who Laughs appears as a DLC skin for

Noob Saibot This is a list of Player character, playable and boss (video games), boss characters from the ''Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise and the games in which they appear. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the series depicts conflicts between ...

in ''

Mortal Kombat 11 ''Mortal Kombat 11'' is a 2019 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the eleventh main installment in the ''Mortal Kombat'' series and a sequel to '' Mortal Kombat X'' (20 ...

''. * The Batman Who Laughs appears as a skin for the Joker in ''

MultiVersus ''MultiVersus'' (''MVS'') is a 2024 free-to-play platform fighting game developed by Player First Games and published by Warner Bros. Games. In the game, players battle on different stages as characters from Warner Bros. franchises, including ...

'', voiced by

Roger Craig Smith Roger Craig Smith is an American voice actor. He is known for his voice roles in video games such as Chris Redfield in the ''Resident Evil'' series (2009–2017), Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series (2009–2011), Kyle C ...

''.'' * The Batman Who Laughs appears as the primary antagonist in ''DC: Dark Legion'', voiced again by Roger Craig Smith.

Board games

The Batman Who Laughs Rising
is a 2020 cooperative strategy dice game from The Op. The character appeared as an expansion for the second edition of the board game ''

Zombicide ''Zombicide'', is a collaborative adventure board game with a modern zombie theme, created by Guillotine Games. It was launched on Kickstarter by publisher CoolMiniOrNot and raised $781,597 from 5,258 backers. In the game, each player contr ...

''.

Merchandise

Knight Models has a line of gaming miniatures based on the DC comics run.

Funko Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures Brand licensing, licensed and limited popular culture, pop culture collectibles, known for its licensed Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces li ...

has released action figures of the character. Various figures from companies such as

Diamond Select Toys Diamond Select Toys and Collectibles, LLC was founded in 1999 by sister company Diamond Comics Distributors to create collectibles for adult collectors, and has since licensed a variety of pop culture properties, including Marvel Comics, ''Star Wa ...

and Prime 1 Studios have produced figures as well.

McFarlane Toys McFarlane Toys is an American company founded by comic book creator Todd McFarlane which makes highly detailed model action figures of characters from films, comics, popular music, video games and various sporting genres. The company, a subsidia ...

has also made a version of The Batman Who Laughs for their new

DC Multiverse In most of the DC Comics media, the Multiverse is a "cosmic construct" that is composed of the many fictional universes the stories of DC media take place in. The worlds within the multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure h ...

line of 7-inch figures. McFarlane Toys also made a 5-inch Super Powers figure of The Batman Who Laughs in 2022..

References

External links