While we all love the mainstream Caped Crusader, DC has created various other different yet neatly written iterations of him. In some of these stories, different people take up the mantle of the Dark Knight for reasons grimly similar to Bruce, while in some others Bruce Wayne is still the person under the mask, yet he is not quite the Bruce we know.
In some ways Terry McGinnis' life is similar to Bruce Wayne's. They both lost their parents to a brutal murder which they must witness. Yet in certain aspects, Terry realizes that he has a limit Bruce was willing to stride beyond.
In this epic tale, the figure of Batman is reinvented in a futuristic Neo-Gotham, which is still filling with rampant criminals despite its advanced innovations in technology.
In this beautifully written tale, writers tell us about an alternate theocratic United States of America through the eyes of Batman, here an upper-class orphaned priest.
The story emphasizes on the word "Knight" within the nickname "Dark Knight" as Reverend Bruce Wayne views himself God's hand of justice who will lead the crusade against crime.
Perhaps the gritty world of Flashpoint would not suffice without a more gritty Batman.
In a world where Bruce Wayne was killed in his place, Dr. Thomas Wayne assumes the mantle of Batman, here nicknamed Knight of Vengeance instead of Dark Knight. This Batman is more than willing to use any means, even killing, to further his ends.
Although published as a Superman Elseworlds, this tale actually amalgamates the origin stories of Batman and Superman. Bruce Wayne in this world is actually Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton yet also the Caped Crusader.
A beautiful cross from the superhero genre into the dark fantasy/horror genre. Here, Bruce Wayne plays the role of the dark hero who must utilize the burden he was accursed with as well as contain the evil which has corrupted him.
Jim Gordon intervenes Gotham's criminals to prevent the Wayne murders, but he and his wife are killed in their stead.
Bruce Wayne funds Barbara Gordon's crusade on crime, and although Gotham's crime waves are kept at bay, Batgirl maintains a "fascistic, non-American" Gotham as described by that world's Captain Marvel.
After his parents were killed by the NKVD, our nameless hero (Dave Johnson jokingly refers to him as 'Batmankoff') dons the mantle of the Dark Knight to terrorize the Soviet Union and bring down Superman's dictatorial communist regime.
In a twist of Batman and Spider-Man's origin stories, Wayne Williams becomes Batman after his father, a policeman, was murdered and he was framed for it.
Unlike most versions of Batman, Williams is unique for being an African-American.
Set in the Victorian era, this Elseworlds story emphasizes on the nickname "World's Greatest Detective" and weds the dark superhero theme of Batman and the mystery/detective genre reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed detective character Sherlock Holmes.
Also a nameless hero who dons the mantle of the Bat in the 853rd Century. This Batman resides in a terraformed Pluto, in this timeline a prison planet holding the universe's worst of the worst criminals.
Still similar to Bruce Wayne, this Batman uses technology and gadgetry instead of metahuman powers to combat crime.
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