10 Times Batman Was The Worst Superhero

source// DC Comics

I love Batman, but you know what, he’s kind of a d*ck! Whether it’s constantly disappearing on Jim Gordon during their conversations above the GCPD or alienating his fellow heroes by keeping so many secrets, the Caped Crusader has some serious personality issues. Unlike Superman, Batman doesn’t try to be perfect, but does he really need to be such an a**hole all of the time?

While he doesn’t really face world ending threats while fighting crime in Gotham City, Batman tendency to not act all that heroically has seriously damaged the iconic character’s credibility and the safety of those around him, and he’s committed some genuinely despicable and unbelievable acts over the years. In fact, for someone who tends to look down on his Justice League members, the Dark Knight might be the worst of the lot!

There’s no denying that Batman has done a lot of good and that he’s easily one of the greatest DC Comics characters ever created, but these are the moments Bruce Wayne wishes everyone would forget!

Whether we’re talking about the times he’s gone way too far in his crusade against evildoers or just acted like a complete and utter jerk, here you will find the ten best examples of this hero at his very worst…

10. Starving One Of His Enemies To Death

Batman is known for having a strict no-kill policy, but just like the time he left Ra’s al Gul to die in Batman Begins, he doesn’t seem to have too much of an issue with not stepping in to prevent the deaths of his enemies.

In Batman #420, the Caped Crusader faces off with KGBeast, and after an epic battle in the sewer, Batman tricked the villain into a dead end, quickly ended the fight, and ran off before locking the door behind him. As a result, KGBeast was left trapped beneath Gotham with no food and only sewer water to survive off, and readers were left to assume that as he remained undefeated, the police were never sent to retrieve him, effectively meaning he would have starved to death. Of all the ways Batman has chosen to deal with his enemies over the years, this was by far one of the worst and most un-Batman like examples of his methods.

When a new writer took over the title, the story was retconned when a line about the hero calling the police was thrown in, but even if that was the case, this is a terrible way for a so-called hero to act. As I mentioned, Batman never defeated the hulking KGBeast, so if he really did just send some cops down there to deal with the bad guy, it would have been up to them to subdue him because Batman clearly couldn’t be bothered!

9. Becoming A Heroin Addict

When Batman came up against a mysterious organisation known as The Black Hand, they formulated a plan to take down The Dark Knight by drugging him so far out of his mind that he would forget who he was. If it sounds ridiculous, then you probably won’t be surprised to learn that it happened when Grant Morrison was writing Batman, but what happened next is easily one of Batman’s most embarrassing moments.

You see, it turns out that Bruce Wayne always knew one of his enemies would try to pull a stunt like this, so he created the Batman of Zur-En-Arhh, a panic room of sorts in his psyche where his mind could retreat if things became too much for him. The problem was that it turned him into a violent and out of control lunatic stumbling around Gotham City looking for his next heroin fix, hardly the actions of a superhero.

Of all the ways Batman could and should have handled being drugged, it turns out that saving himself by becoming as insane as The Joker was his master plan. For a hero who is this resilient, seeing him fall victim to a bit of heroin in such an extreme way is truly cringeworthy, especially as it unleashed a lunatic on the city he’s supposed to protect. Who knows how many people Zur-En-Arhh could have hurt had things gone differently!

8. Painting Himself Yellow To Beat Up Green Lantern

Batman and Green Lantern don’t really seem to get on in any continuity, but that was particularly the case in the world of All-Star Batman. This version of the Caped Crusader is a real jerk, and while this was an admittedly cool moment, it also showed off what a sociopath the hero is. You see, there was a time when Green Lantern was vulnerable to the colour yellow, and when Hal Jordan decided to confront Batman about the questionable way he fights crime and drags a little boy around with him while he does so, the Dark Knight decided to paint himself, his sidekick, and the bar they were sitting in yellow from head to toe.

Why? Well, rather than having an adult decision with the Green Lantern Corps member, he decided to just beat the sh*t out of him instead, egging Robin on to do the same. In fact, the two of them had a good laugh why they were knocking seven bells out of the hero, and while hero vs. hero fights are a common occurrence in comic books, this one sided battle showed this Batman up as a malicious coward and all round a-hole.

7. He P*ssed His Pants

So, Batman is supposed to be a badass, right? After all, he spent years training before returning to Gotham City and deciding to fight crime, but one story revealed that he actually ended up soiling himself due to a “bladder spasm” during the now iconic events of Batman: Year One. Now, we all know that he’s just a regular guy beneath that costume, but the fact is that he wasn’t even doing anything worth being frightened of!

This went down when he confronted some of Gotham’s most corrupt residents, and the Kevin Smith penned story this took place in has since become one of the most widely ridiculed and hated Batman stories ever.

Is it too harsh to declare Batman an a**hole and terrible superhero for wetting himself during his first few weeks of suiting up and fighting crime? Maybe, but while Year One may have portrayed him as something of an amateur, the fact that he couldn’t control him own bladder doesn’t exactly say much for his abilities as a crime fighter. Now, we’re just left to wonder how many other “accidents” he’s had in the years which followed!

6. Sucker Punching Nightwing

You know what, it’s no wonder Dick Grayson gave up being Robin to go off and do his own thing as Nightwing. When Bruce was hot on the heels of the mysterious Court of Owls, he became increasingly paranoid upon discovering that they may have ties to Haly’s Circus, the same place his former sidekick grew up. Realising that Dick may have been chosen as a youngster to be inducted into their leagues as an assassin, he realises that he needs to check to see if one of their seals has been hidden in one of his molars. Now, bear in mind here that Bruce took Dick in years before he could have been recruited, so he knows Nightwing isn’t a traitor!

However, that still doesn’t stop him from sucker punching his sidekick just to prove to Dick that the Court of Owls planned on turning him into an assassin. Rather than explaining this or telling Nightwing he needed to remove one of his teeth, he just punched him in the jaw when he wasn’t looking. I mean, how did he even know he’d knock out the right tooth? It’s easy to see why half the Bat-Family ignores Bruce these days anyway.

5. Conspiring Against The Justice League

Batman isn’t exactly someone who puts a lot of faith or trust in even his closest of allies, but after working with the Justice League for years, you have to wonder why he’d create an arsenal of weapons to take them out!

That’s exactly what he has in the Batcave anyway, and The Dark Knight is so arrogant that he’s never really taken into account the downsides of keeping that stuff lying around. Yes, he’s just a man, but when the hero has the means to stop heavy hitters like Superman and Wonder Woman in their tracks, Batman could become the most dangerous person in the DC Universe if he were to fall under the control of a psychic bad guy.

The danger of keeping tabs on his fellow heroes became evident in the Tower of Babel storyline when Ra’s al Ghul got his hands on Batman’s files and used them to take down every member of the Justice League. Needless to say, they were all furious with his betrayal, especially as it had put the world in danger. While you can understand why he’d want to be cautious, the fact that Batman risks so many lives because he’s unable to trust those around him is far from heroic and generally just a real d*ck move. After all, it’s not exactly like the Batcave is the most secure of locations as plenty of villains have found their way in over the years!

4. He’s A Blanket Hog

In all honesty, this entire list could have been made up the times Batman has provoked Superman into fighting him for no reason, but taking the focus away from the Caped Crusader being a terrible superhero to generally just an utter a**hole, and surely we can all agree that anyone who hogs the blankets like this isn’t worthy of our time? After Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent coincidentally found themselves on the same cruise ship, they even more coincidentally ended being double booked into the same room and were forced to share a bed. Now, most people in this situation would make the best out of a bad situation, but not Batman.

No, he instead decided to hog the blankets, though to be fair, this story did take place before the two heroes learned each other’s secret identities. Of course, that makes them sharing a bed even stranger (but does explain why Clark is lying there with his glasses on), and Bruce not even having the courtesy to share the blanket or use his immeasurable wealth to pay one of the housekeepers for an extra one is just plain mean.

3. Making Robin Live Off Rats In The Batcave

I’ve already mentioned the fact that the All-Star Batman is a seriously f***ed up dude, but after essentially kidnapping Robin following the death of his parents and labelling him a “retard”, the Caped Crusader takes the traumatised youngster back to his Batcave and leaves him to fend for himself. That includes having to capture and eat live rats, something you just know is further psychologically scarring Batman’s future sidekick.

In fact, the “hero” is so infuriated to learn that Alfred has taken the poor boy a burger and fries, he physically assaults his butler and chastises him for showing Dick any sort of kindness or mercy. It’s just so twisted!

Things do get at least a little better from there, but Batman still treats Robin pretty appallingly throughout, and it’s not hard to see why Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s take on the Caped Crusader here has become one of the most unpopular in history (they even revealed that he suffers from premature ejaculation at one point). Regardless, as levels of douchebaggery go, child abuse definitely makes Batman stand out as a real jerk.

2. Killing The Joker

That’s right, it’s not just in the comic books that the Caped Crusader’s actions have been questionable. Tim Burton’s Batman got a lot wrong when it came to its portrayal of The Joker, but chief among them was the Dark Knight essentially murdering the Clown Prince of Crime when he tied his leg to a gargoyle as he attempted to escape. However you look at it, Batman must have known he would die because even if that piece of the building hadn’t broken away, the fall from the ladder which would have sent him careening into the building would also have no doubt killed The Joker instantly. So much for that no kill rule of his, right?

Of course, this version of Batman is basically a serial killer anyway as he takes out several crooks with extreme prejudice throughout. However, it’s his decision to kill The Joker which is the biggest problem.

Batman not murdering The Joker despite the horrific acts he commits is what separates them, so by allowing him to fall to his death here, the hero is every bit as bad as the villain he’s trying to stop. Not cool, Bats.

1. Sharing A Laugh With The Joker

Seriously Batman, what the f**k?

For those of you unfamiliar with it, The Killing Joke is one of the most disturbing Batman stories of all-time and features The Clown Prince of Crime shooting and crippling Barbara Gordon, only to then strip her naked and take photos of her which he uses to try and mentally break her father Jim Gordon. That makes the fact that Batman shares a laugh with The Joker at the end of the story all sorts of messed up and is just wrong.

Yes, there are a plethora of fascinating theories as to why the hero and villain end this story laughing, but the fact is that instead of giving his arch-nemesis a well deserved beating, Batman stands in the rain laughing wildly at one of his jokes. While his decision to offer The Joker help is pretty heroic, enough has happened between these two by this point that that shouldn’t even be an option; it’s just a very, very odd decision.

Regardless, the fact that he spent these final moments before the police arrived laughing instead of using his fists on the unremorseful Joker really doesn’t put Batman in a particularly good light as a so-called hero!