25 Strongest Versions of Batman (Ranked)
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Batman has always been one of the most iconic comic book characters of all time, as he has been one of the poster boys of DC for decades already. In that regard, there are plenty of different fans of Batman, as he has had a lot of different adventures throughout his entire existence as an iconic comic book character. Of course, because he has been around for decades, he has one of the longest-running storylines of all time.
Because Batman has been around for nearly a century already, it is unavoidable for him to have a lot of different versions that come from different universes, timelines, or even the same universe. Yes, there are many different versions of Batman, and these different versions have their own powers, traits, and abilities. So, with that said, let’s look at the strongest versions of Batman.
25. Sorcerer Kings Batman
This version of Bruce Wayne hails from the ‘Sorcerer Kings’ Universe, and even though the storyline is not that important in the large scheme of things, it has given rise to the version of Batman that can use magic. Bruce Wayne teams up with other magic-based superheroes to take down the evil mages who have changed the past. This version is ranked rather low because we don’t really know that much specifics about his powers abilities.
24. Batman Red Son
After witnessing his parents’ murder by Stalin’s police force, the young man who would become Batman vowed to avenge their deaths by targeting Pyotr Roslov, the captain of the police. Over the course of twenty years, Batman became a wanted figure in the Soviet Union, constantly challenging the authority of Superman’s regime and skillfully evading capture. He became a legendary figure, known as the “ghost of a thousand murdered dissidents,” and a symbol of resistance against Superman’s collectivist society.
23. Owlman
Owlman might not be the most powerful version of Batman around, but he is certainly one of the most evil. Known as Thomas Wayne Jr. from Earth-3, Owlman became an evil counterpart of Bruce Wayne. Thomas wanted to get ride of his own parents due to a belief that they managed the family wealth poorly.
Thomas killed his own brother, while Alfred killed his parents. Instead of becoming the caped protector of Gotham City, Owlman became its menace and a supervillain.
22. Damian Wayne
The first non-Bruce Wayne Batman on this list is Damian Wayne, who is the only Robin that has the blood of Bruce himself. That’s because Damian was the result of the union between Talia al Ghul and Bruce Wayne. As such, Damian was trained to be an assassin at a very early age by the League of Assassins, headed by none other than Ra’s al Ghul. That means that he received training that’s similar to what Bruce did but at a very early age.
It is the very fact that Damian was born in an assassin clan and was trained by the best assassins in the world that makes him the most dangerous Robin to ever exist. Of course, in Batman #666, he becomes Batman when Dick Grayson dies. This version of Batman has mystical powers that turn Damian into a powerful being that doesn’t hesitate to kill.
21. Justice Buster Batman
This is not a version of Batman as much as it’s a special version of the suit. Justice Buster Batman had to design a special suit to face and defeat members of the Justice League. The suit was incredibly expensive but was efficient at tanking whatever Justice League could throw at him.
The most impressive thing about this suit are nuckles called “Red Giants”, which contain microscopic red suns designed to weaken Superman.
20. Thomas Wayne
Thomas Wayne is another non-Bruce Batman. But the twist here is that this version of Batman is actually Bruce’s father during the Flashpoint timeline that resulted when the Flash unwittingly changed the course of history. In this timeline, Thomas became Batman when he, instead of Bruce, died. Out of revenge, he became a masked vigilante that was far more brutal than his son could ever be.
This version of Batman is not allergic to killing and isn’t too shy about using guns. He was known to be effective at hunting and killing suspected criminals. Of course, due to his amazing skills as a killer, he was the one that ended up killing Zoom in this alternate timeline, as not even the Flash was capable of defeating this villain.
19. Dark Claw
What do you get when you fuse Batman with Wolverine? Well, you get a guy named Dark Claw, who emerged from the Amalgam Comics as the result of a crossover event between DC and Marvel Comics. As such, he is basically Bruce Wayne with Logan’s abilities, and that means that he is incredibly strong and powerful.
Dark Claw has Wolverine’s healing factor and adamantium claws, and that makes him far stronger than the regular version of Batman. He still has the same kind of training, fighting abilities, detective skills, and resources that Wayne has. As such, he has almost everything he needs to fight crime as an unstoppable hero.
18. Green Lantern
There have been a lot of different instances wherein Batman became a Green Lantern as he was able to become one in the events of Batman: In Darkest Knight, when Bruce Wayne was the one chosen by the Power Ring instead of Hal Jordan. As such, he obtained all of the abilities of the Green Lantern.
It is the very fact that Bruce has an indomitable will that allows him to use the Power Ring to its fullest potential, as he ends up inheriting everything that a Green Lantern is capable of. In addition to that, he still retained his martial arts prowess and detective skills. Simply put, it’s like giving Bruce Wayne the powers of Hal Jordan’s Green Lantern.
17. Black Lantern Batman
This version of Batman that got raised by Nekron and Black Lanterns wasn’t actually Bruce Wayne at all. It was a clone created by Darkseid, and due to that, it lacked some standard powers that are regular Batman would have.
Even though Black Lantern Batman is one of the most terrifying versions, it’s not nearly the most powerful one.
16. Vampire
Yes, Batman finally lived up to the bat part in his name as he ended up becoming a vampire himself during the events of Batman and Dracula: Red Rain. In this storyline, Batman investigated a series of murders happening all over the city as the homeless of Gotham had their throats slashed. But Batman ended up discovering that the murders were committed by a family of vampires led by Dracula.
As such, Batman takes down Dracula with the help of a once-loyal vampire named Tanya. But she had to give Batman vampiric powers so that he could match Dracula’s own strength. In that regard, Batman obtained vampiric powers that allowed him to take down Dracula. But he ended up becoming a murderous vigilante that had to kill all of the rogues that he fought in the past.
15. Dark Knight Returns
Dark Knight Returns occurs in an alternate future where Batman is already older. As such, he had to give up his life as Batman as he was already an older man who no longer had the same kind of vigor he once had. But a gang of violent men known as The Mutants started wreaking havoc all over the city, and that was when Bruce was forced to come out of retirement in his last adventure.
Of course, the government had to take action by sending Superman to take him down because of the things that Batman was doing as a masked vigilante. This caused a battle between the two former friends, as Batman used his exoskeleton armor and Kryptonite to try to defeat Superman. Bruce dominated Superman, only for his heart to give out in what was a fake death so that he could continue to help the city of Gotham in secret.
14. Alternate Dick Grayson
One of the characters that inherited the Batman cowl was Dick Grayson, who is better known as the first Robin and arguably Batman’s favorite sidekick. Of course, this version of Batman is an alternate version of Dick Grayson instead. In this storyline, Booster Gold got stuck in a twisted timeline where he stopped the death of Bruce’s parents so he could show Batman what his life would have been had his parents been around.
In that regard, Bruce lived a good life, but the rest of Gotham suffered. Dick Grayson never became Robin because he became the timeline’s Batman as he was forced to rely on deadly weapons because he never received formal training from Bruce’s Batman. He was an effective Batman that fought crime in a harsh and brutal manner.
13. The Broken
The Dark Multiverse comic books allowed us to see twisted versions of some of the best DC characters ever seen, and Batman saw a twisted version of himself in the form of the Broken Batman, which is a retelling of the Knightfall event involving Bruce’s battle with Azrael. In this storyline, Bruce was tortured for 30 years while Azrael ruled Gotham.
Three decades of torture took its toll on Batman’s body as he was clinging to death. But he was saved by Lady Shiva and the son of Bane, as they used nanotech to rebuild his body into an even more powerful version of itself. As such, Bruce obtained powers that allowed him to manipulate the swarm of nanotech machines that were injected into him. He became the Broken and killed Azrael to take back Gotham as a powerful yet darker version of his old self.
12. Kingdom Come
Kingdom Come occurs in an alternate timeline where Batman’s identity is no longer a secret, as everyone knows that he was Bruce Wayne. However, he became quite vulnerable because the bad guys already knew his secret, and that was when he made use of his Bat-Knight robots to keep Gotham safe.
Because decades of fighting had taken their toll on Bruce’s body, he had to come up with a special exoskeleton that allowed him to move as effectively as he once did. He even created an armored suit that allowed him to get back to the field as a vigilante so that he could once again keep the streets of Gotham safe from crime.
11. Bat-Mite
Bat-Mite is a character that was introduced a long time ago during the Silver Age of Comics as he is a being that comes from a different dimension and is one of Batman’s biggest fans. In that regard, he is merely a powerful dimensional being that idolizes Batman so much that he begins calling himself Bat-Mite.
Of course, normally speaking, he should be at the top of this list because of the fact that he is capable of performing magical feats that are right at the top of the standings in terms of some of the most powerful DC characters. But while he may be very powerful, he isn’t Bruce Wayne and lacks the fighting and detective skills that made Batman the hero that he is.
10. DC One Million
The DC One Million event is one of the most celebrated events in the history of DC, as we got to see powerful versions of the most iconic characters in the history of this comic book company. While DC One Million is often known for introducing Superman Prime, the powerful version of the character, it also introduced a powerful version of Batman.
Batman in DC One Million is far stronger than the regular Batman as he exists in a future timeline where he is far stronger due to his advanced physiology and superior technology. He has all of the regular Batman’s abilities but is smarter and has telepathy. In many ways, he is a haxxed version of Batman.
9. Red Death
Batman is already dangerous enough without any powers, but obtaining the powers of a speedster made him an incredibly powerful entity known as Red Death. This version of Batman is from the Dark Multiverse storyline and worked with the Batman Who Laughs after he stole the Flash’s speed because he believed he could use it better.
While Red Death was indeed better at using the Flash’s speed because he took down multiple villains, the problem was that he was an evil version of the character. He was also forced to deal with Barry Allen’s conscience the entire time as the Flash was messing up with his head while he was using the powers of the speedster.
8. Grim Knight
Grim Knight is another version of Batman that came out of the Dark Multiverse storyline as one of the Batman variants that worked alongside the Batman Who Laughs. This version of Batman is a very dark version of Bruce Wayne as it was more of a vengeful version of the classic Batman that ended up having to see his parents getting killed by Joe Chill.
However, instead of simply mourning the death of his parents, the young Bruce Wayne acquired a gun and killed the man who murdered his parents. This allowed him to have an understanding of what it meant to kill, as Grim Knight became a Batman that used guns in his attempt to keep Gotham safe. Think of this version as a combination of Batman and Marvel’s the Punisher.
7. The Batman Who Laughs
The Batman Who Laughs is an incredibly dangerous and twisted version of Batman. He was introduced in the events of the Dark Multiverse storyline, as he was the leader of the different Batman variants from the Dark multiverse. And this is the version of Bruce Wayne that ended up killing the Joker in his own universe.
After killing the Joker, the Batman Who Laughs ended up getting exposed to Joker’s own toxin, as he became a combination of Batman and Joker. In that regard, he has the same kind of twisted mind that Joker was always known for. On top of that, he became more twisted and as insane as the Clown Prince of Crime himself. While he didn’t obtain a lot of supernatural powers, the fact that he had a mind and morals that became twisted made him one of the most dangerous versions of Batman ever created.
6. Super/Bat
The Super/Bat is Batman in a storyline where he ended up switching his powers with Superman due to a magical curse by Silver Banshee. As such, in this storyline, Bruce Wayne obtained the powers of Superman, and that means that he basically became a hybrid of Superman and Batman.
However, Batman was corrupted by his Kryptonian capabilities, and he ended up becoming an unstoppable villain with the same tactical mind that Bruce was always known for. But Superman ended up donning the batsuit to defeat Batman with the help of the Justice League. As such, they were able to return Bruce to normal after reversing the power switch that happened.
5. Injustice
Injustice is a comic book storyline that happened in an alternate universe where Superman accidentally killed a pregnant Lois Lane after he thought that she was Doomsday as he was affected by the fear toxin that Joker laced with Kryptonite particles. In that regard, Superman killed Joker out of anger, as that was the trigger for him to finally realize how important it was for him to kill criminals. This led to a falling out between Batman and Superman as the Man of Steel decided to rule the world with an iron fist.
Batman, of course, became the leader of the resistance group composed of heroes and villains alike. He ended up using a synthetic formula that allowed him to temporarily obtain Superman’s superhuman capabilities. As such, Batman strength a few times in this comic book storyline before he and the other members of the resistance group had to call for help from the Superman and the Justice League of the mainline universe to defeat the corrupted Man of Steel.
4. Dawnbreaker
Dawnbreaker is another version of Batman that wore the Green Lantern Power Ring. This Batman is another product of the Dark Multiverse event. In this storyline, Bruce was chosen by the Power Ring after the death of his parents at the hands of Joe Chill. He wanted to use the ring to kill Chill but was prevented by the Power Ring from using lethal force.
However, Bruce’s will allowed him to dominate the ring’s programming, as he used lethal force to kill Chill. This allowed him to obtain complete control over the Power Ring, as the Green Lantern Corps tried to take the ring away from him, only for all of them to end up getting wiped out by Bruce Wayne himself.
3. Hellbat
Hellbat is one of the suits that Batman and the Justice League built together so that Bruce could fight the forces of Darkseid after Damian Wayne was killed by Heretic. The corpse was taken to Apokolips by Darkseid’s forces as Bruce went to that planet to reclaim the body of his fallen son.
In the Hellbat armor, Bruce was able to overpower Darkseid’s forces head-on because it allowed him to improve his capabilities drastically. He was so strong that he reached a power level he had never reached before. The only problem was that he could only use the Hellbat armor for a limited time due to how draining it was for him to use this overpowered suit.
2. White Lantern
There was a point in time when Batman temporarily obtained the powers of the White Lantern, which is one of the strongest lanterns in the world of DC. This happened during the Blackest Night event as he was resurrected by the White Lantern ring after he was killed by Vandal Savage. As such, he obtained the healing abilities of the White Lantern ring.
This allowed Batman to become one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe as the White Lantern ring not only gave him healing powers but also complete dominance over the entire emotional spectrum. He used the ring to defeat Vandal Savage, and that was when Batman and the ring decided to part ways.
1. Mobius Chair
One of the most dangerous things about Batman was always his tactical mind, as he could defeat almost any character as long as he had enough prep time to think of a strategy. But what happens if you give Batman knowledge of the entire universe? Then that would make him unstoppable. That was what happened when Batman became a New God when he took the Mobius Chair from Metron.
The Mobius Chair is a time-space vehicle allowing Batman to teleport and get to any part of the universe. It also allowed him to unlock the entire knowledge of the universe as he used the chair to learn more about the Anti-Monitor in an attempt to find a way to defeat the incredibly powerful foe. As such, Batman, armed with the knowledge of the universe, is an even more dangerous and powerful version that can think of strategies that can defeat any character in the DC universe.
What is your favorite version of Batman? Let us know in the comments
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