5 Biggest Controversies in Batman History

There's no arguing that Batman is one of the greatest superheroes of all time. The Dark Knight has been an icon in the eyes of fans for generations, and with good reason. With little more than his brains and a massive bank account, the Caped Crusader is able to battle street thugs, supervillains, and even alien beings from other dimensions.

But there's also no arguing that Batman's methods are, at times, very questionable. The World's Greatest Detective doesn't always work well with others, and is often at odds with his fellow superheroes. His style makes a number of his allies uncomfortable, and his actions have stretched the limit of what they will accept on multiple occasions.

Batman is a controversial figure. There's no denying it. He may get the job done, but it isn't always pretty, and he's almost certain to hurt some feelings — and break some bones — along the way. But some of the things Batman has done in the past are truly scandalous, even when he was doing the right thing.

Batman Saved Joker's Life

Batman has made a promise to himself and the world that he would always fight for justice. To him, that means that he can not kill under any circumstances. It also means that he can not let someone pay for a crime they didn't commit. And when Joker's life was on the line, Batman's morals were tested.

In, Joker: Devil's Advocate, by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, Batman finds himself racing to save Joker's life when the Clown Prince of Crime is sentenced to death for a series of murder he didn't commit. As Joker counts down his last days, Batman searches for the real killer.

To many, including the citizens of Gotham City, Batman working to save Joker from paying for a crime he didn't commit when he has committed more murders than anyone can count is infuriating. After all, even if Joker didn't kill those specific people, there is no doubting that he has killed so many others.

But to Batman, justice is clear. If the state wishes to put Joker to death, that is the state's choice. But it must be done for a crime he actually committed. Anything else would be a desecration of justice, and Batman won't stand for that. At least, he won't stand for it when others do it. He may be more open to doing it himself, though.

Batman Sentenced KGBeast To Death

Batman's "no killing" rule has been tested countless times in comics, movies, games, and TV shows, but one of the most famous tests of the Dark Knight's stance came in Batman #420 by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. In the story, Batman faces off a very 1980s villain, KGBeast, who is killing people connected to America's Strategic Defense Initiative.

KGBeast has been sent by Russian operatives looking to cause problems for Mikhail Gorbachev, and killing the people behind Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" program - yes, that really is what they called it - would cause serious problems in the new relationship between the disappearing USSR and the USA.

KGBeast is an unstoppable killing machine, even cutting off his own hand to escape Batman's grasp. And when the assassin is down to his final target - Ronald Reagan - Batman does something he swore to never do: he decides to take a life.

Knowing that if he brings the killer in alive, KGBeast will be set free by his government, The Dark Knight lures KGBeast into the Gotham sewers and traps him in a supposedly inescapable room. The room is small, has no furniture, and, most importantly, no access to food or water. Batman has sentenced his foe to a slow agonizing death.

Of course, KGBeast somehow escapes, but at the time Batman was sure that he had killed a man, breaking his oath to the universe and to his dead parents. Readers were, to say the least, shocked by his decision.

Batman Created Plans To Take Out All Of His Friends

As the internet loves to say, given enough prep time, Batman can beat anybody. A big part of that belief/meme comes from Mark Waid and Howard Porter's JLA: Tower of Babel. The story sees Ra's al Ghul gain access to the Batcave and take control of the files and systems Batman has created to destroy the Justice League, including himself.

Having plans to take down the members of the League, some of the most powerful beings in the universe, is in itself not a bad idea, but doing it secretly is. Because Batman had never filled in the rest of the team, they are all left open to attacks that take them off the board, allowing Ra's to set his real plan in motion.

Being superheroes, the members of the League are able to overcome what has been done to them and stop Ra's al Ghul before his plan to wipe out a large portion of humanity can go into effect. But just because they saved the day didn't mean they were going to let Batman slide.

After a 4-3 vote to kick Batman out of the League, the team finds that the Dark Knight, knowing them all so well — as evidenced by his plans to destroy each of them — has already left. It be a long time before the members of the League would trust Batman again.

Batman Built A Secret AI To Spy On The Other Heroes

Learning next to nothing from the last time he almost killed his teammates, Batman built a spy satellite called Brother Eye to spy on the heroes of Earth. In fairness to Batman, he did it after he found out that an older version of the Justice League had erased some of his memories during Identity Crisis, so he wasn't totally out of order.

But, as with his schemes to take down League members if they ever went evil, he once again created his plan in secret, and it once again went very badly for everyone. While the other heroes may have been unaware of Batman's AI-powered eye in the sky, Checkmate and, more importantly, Maxwell Lord, weren't.

Lord took over Brother Eye, then had it command his O.M.A.C. sleeper agents to attack specific superheroes. When Wonder Woman killed Lord, Brother Eye initiated a special protocol, "The King is Dead," which commanded the O.M.A.C. army to systemically kill every hero on the planet.

And, making matters worse, Max Lord wasn't the only one who had gained access to Brother Eye. Alexander Luthor Jr. had hacked into the AI as well and began using it to initiate his plan to rewrite reality and bring back the multiverse. Needless to say, none of the heroes were all too happy with Batman after they saved the day.

Batman Keeps Training Child Soldiers

While teen sidekicks are common in the DC Universe, most of them, like Kid Flash and Wonder Girl, have superpowers, making them well suited to handle just about anything the world throws at them. But Batman's sidekicks are all powerless kids who tend to get really injured or even killed.

There have been five teenagers who have taken on the Robin mantle in the prime DC universe. Of them, three - Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne - have died. Not great odds.

To the people of Gotham, they don't know how many Robins there have been, but, as seen in Gotham Central story "Dead Robin," everyone is pretty sure there's more than one and that plenty of them have died in battle. Essentially, the world is certain that Batman is training child soldiers that he uses as cannon fodder.

From the outside, it would be hard to disagree with that stance. Batman wears all black and hangs to the shadows while these young boys and girl jump around in bright colors attracting the gunfire of thugs and super-criminals. And, in the timeline of the DCU, he has gone through a number of them in a few short years.

It's all very suspicious and certainly not a good look for Batman.