Who is the Batman? - A Gotham Sun Article
Batman, Gotham’s famed dark knight has been officially protecting our beloved city for 15 (note to self doing the maths canonically batman has been batman for 17 years) years. But it calls into question, who IS he? Over the years we have yet to find any information on the caped crusader as to who he possibly is or anything about his life so why don't we delve into the history of the Batman and the most popular running theories as to who’s behind the mask?
Now it would be criminal of me to not bring up the most prevalent at this time one of Gotham's most famed socialites, Mr. play boy billionaire, Bruce Wayne. The Wayne theory first started getting popular in the 50’s with the emergence of the heir of the Wayne fortune made his debut of the annual Wayne Gala and then started to gain more traction when our batman had brought the first birdie under his wing, coincidentally at the same time as our own Brucie Wayne adopted his first ward; Richard Grayson. This revitalised the conversation around Bruce Wayne as the batman with his traffic light coloured side-kick bursting into the scene, but this can be no mere coincidence! Every single time batman has taken on a new robin, Bruce Wayne gains a new ward and the death of the second robin aligns exactly with the date of the death of Mr. Wayne's second son, Jason Todd. (Also the butts match)
The truth is, the batman is a man with access to large amounts of funding and training, leading to many people to believe he is one of the many rich people within the city or somebody being funded by the government. This is important when you take into account the different factors for his funding many take into account Bruce Wayne's role in the funding of the justice league - despite the well known avoidance of anything to do with Mr. Wayne by the batman, leading many to believe that they are scorned lovers, rather than the same person.
Another popular theory as to who the man behind the mask is comes in the form of our own lovely commissioner Gordon. Of course, this is highly improbable anymore as this year commissioner gordon is celebrating his 68th birthday this year, however he may have passed his legacy onto somebody else. This theory is presented by the citizens of Gotham due to some very suspicious behaviour Gordon has displayed, such as his “meetings” with the bat on the station rooftop alone, as well as the access to police weapons and vehicles to be able to use along with his training. People have also noticed the striking resemblance of Gordon's daughter, Barbra to bat girl, and the disappearance of bat girl around the same time that Ms. Gordon had the tragic incident that landed her in a wheelchair.
Some honourable mentions are the theories that he may not be a well known figure and possibly an ex-special forces officer as we know there has to be some sort of connection to the government,otherwise they would have done something about him by now. Especially given the fact it is obvious that the bat has had some sort of training. He also may also not be a man at all! Many subscribe to the belief that the bat is a cryptid along the likes of the moth-man or Sasquatch who exists solely to protect the citizens of Gotham. However we must remember that this is unlikely, due to the use of sidekicks and also the rise of other vigilantes around the city, such as the Red Hood and Spoiler. This proves that despite the bats working alone upon his debut, he is not isolated and has connections which all but throws the cryptid theory out the window.
Despite the discourse over his identity we still have to thank the bat for all hes done for our city. These 15 years have been chaotic and we know about the constant break outs but we come together to thank the Batman for keeping us safe and for building the system of heroes we have today and the slow going job of reforming our villains with the success of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn; who still partake in vilianess activity on occasion but mostly act as vigilantes along side the bats now.