Batsuit
From Batman Wiki
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| Batsuit | |
| Official Name: | Batsuit |
| First Appearance: | Detective Comics #27 (May, 1939) |
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Type: | costume |
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Used by: | Batman |
One of Batman's most recognizable items among his prized possessions in fighting crimes in Gotham City is his unique costume. It is popularly known simply as Batsuit.
The Batsuit has an electrical system that can shock assailants as a last resort. The Batsuit is made of triple-weave kevlar centered around the most obvious target, the chest-mounted Batsymbol. Though the suit has been drawn many different ways by different artists, and the stories themselves have described Batman as modifying the details of his costume from time to time, it is most often depicted as consisting of a scalloped cape, a bat-like cowl, a pair of gloves, boots, a yellow utility belt, and a tight-fitting body suit with the image of a bat emblazoned on the chest.
Batman wears this costume both to conceal his identity, and to frighten criminals. Most versions of the Batsuit incorporate some form of body armor, and often night-vision, gas filters, and other aids to combat effectiveness or protection. All versions of the outfit incorporate a utility belt containing a variety of crimefighting equipment.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origin
While brooding in his study over how to be a more effective crime fighter, Bruce Wayne saw a bat come through his window (in the earliest Detective Comics portrayal simply flying in an open window, in Post-Crisis continuity such as Batman: Year One, dramatically crashing through the glass) and perch on the bust of his father. Realizing that "criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot," Bruce adopts the persona of a bat in order to conceal his identity and strike fear into his adversaries. Subsequent origin tales have had Bruce terrified by bats as a child, and observing a bat costume worn by his father at a costume ball, but the primary impetus of his decision to adopt the bat persona has always been the incident of the bat coming in the window of his study. It is as a result of this incident that the batsuit was developed.
[edit] Color scheme
It was a basic convention of comic books at the time of Batman's creation that black needed a highlight color (usually blue) in order to show detail and give the illusion of three-dimensionality. Over time, the initial blue highlight spread out over the previously black cape and cowl to become the dominant color. Thus artists renditions depict the costume as black and gray or blue and gray. During the 1990s following Bruce Wayne's return to costume after the events of the Knights End storyline, he utilized an all black costume that incorporated some armor advancements that Azrael had created. The bat symbol on the chest has also alternated from a simple black bat to a bat design on a yellow ellipse. The yellow ellipse was introduced in 1964 as part of the "New Look" Batman stories as a way to copyright the symbol, and was meant to be a connection to the Bat-Signal. In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns it is revealed that the yellow ellipse design was deliberately meant as a target, attracting a potential gunman's aim to the heavily armored chestpiece, and away from Batman's unarmored face. While TDKR is not considered DC "Canon," a subsequent issue of Shadow of the Bat re-established the concept. Other elements, such as the utility belt and the length of the cowl's ears, have been changed by various artistic teams.
[edit] Basic suit
The basic foundation of the Batsuit is a tight-fitting bodysuit, similar to many superheroes. In early depictions, it was similar to the garb of early 20th century circus performers. Batman #1 revealed that there is a ballistic vest sewn into the costume. In modern depictions, the briefs are integrated into the main costume, so that section of the costume constitutes only a seam and color change from the rest of the suit. The bodysuit has varied in color and style as depicted by different artists.
The Post-Crisis version of the bodysuit is not constructed from simple fabric, but from Kevlar thread and carbon nanotube fibers. This imparts it with a unique sheen and makes it heavily resistant to tearing. In addition, the suit also is constructed with a full body electric shock delivery system, which is also layered into the suit's fabric. The basic version of the Batsuit is insulated against electricity and is mildly fire resistant. Batman utilizes many different body armor designs, some of which are constructed into his Batsuits, and others which are separate. In its most basic version, the suit is bulletproof around the upper torso and back and can withstand a point blank range blast from a 12-gauge shotgun. Other versions are entirely bullet proof to small arms fire, and have advanced flexible armor plating made from Carbon composites and lightweight metal polymers.
[edit] Cape
As different artists have taken over the responsibility of drawing the character, the details of the suit have changed considerably. The original incarnation of the cape was a wing-like structure inspired by drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci. This eventually evolved into a more cape-like design of varying length. Some artists draw the cape with protrusions on the shoulders, likely representing the "thumb" part of a bat's wing, though this is not a consistent addition. The cape is occasionally depicted as bulletproof.The cape varies according to the current writer, sometimes being depicted as bulletproof and fire resistant, and other times being nothing more than simple fabric that tears easily and sustains constant damage and is continuously replaced. For example, in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Robin's Reckoning", Batman fell through a floor heavily compromised by machine-gun fire and landed badly, hurting his leg. He ripped up his cape and used some pieces of broken wood to make an impromptu ankle splint.
In film adaptations the cape has also incorporated Nomex fire-resistant/retardant material (as demonstrated in the film Batman Forever) and a Kevlar weave to slow the impact of bullets. The cape ends also contain lead weight tips that prevent the cape from getting tangled or blowing in his face in windy conditions{. The weights can also be used for offensive purposes, like striking an enemy by whipping the cape around. This device was expanded in The Dark Knight Strikes Again where the ends of the cape contained razor-sharp blades which Batman used to slice through several corrupt government officials. In the film Batman Begins, the cape was also used as a sort of hang glider; when an electric current was applied to the cape, the shape-memory fibers aligned into a semi-rigid form resembling a bat's wings, allowing Batman to glide over the streets and rooftops of Gotham. A more primitive version of this hang-glider concept was presented in Batman Returns, in which a harness folds out of the cape to make it a rigid wing-like structure, then folds back when the wearer rolls forward on the ground after landing. In the show Justice League Batman ejected from the Batplane with his cape acting as a parachute using a harness.
[edit] Gloves
In the earliest Batman stories of Detective Comics, the costume featured a few curiosities before it evolved in to its more or less standard style. The first gloves were purple in color, ordinary looking, and lacked any sort of scalloped fins or other stylings, and only came to the wrists. The second Batman adventure depicted the character wearing no gloves at all. A few issues later the gloves became longer, and by 1940 the familiar fins were added (in early stories, these pieces originally resembled miniature, scalloped bat wings, but eventually became three simple triangular fins). In some later incarnations, the scallops are attached to a separated bracer worn below the glove around the wrist. In Batman Begins these bracers are part of the costume of the ninja sect Wayne trained with, painted black. Traditionally, the scallops serve a defensive purpose and are used to defend against bladed weapons, such as swords or knives. Additionally, the gloves have been specially treated to be both shock-proof as well as radiation-resistant.The glove designs that incorporate fingertip blades also have joint armor-reinforcement in the glove, from the wrists and knuckles to the fingers. He also has electrical shockers in the fingertips of his gloves, which are used to control the structure of his cape. Additionally, Batman hides a few pieces of his arsenal in his gloves, such as a lock pick.
In The Dark Knight, Batman's new, lighter suit has separate bracers that have a double row of fins, which can also be fired off to act like flechettes.
[edit] Armor
The Batsuit has been repeatedly updated in order to reflect advances in technology. Originally the costume contained no protective armor, since the creative talent felt that it made Batman seem too powerful to see him shrug off bullet hits. However, the real world advent of various forms of personal protective materials like Kevlar and the realization that being shot while wearing such protection still should be avoided, has led to the costume being re-imagined with varying forms of bulletproof protection which employs the aforementioned use of the suit's chest symbol to lure shots at the armor's strongest point. Despite the armor, Batman almost always evades gunfire and is very rarely actually shot. After recovering from his spinal cord injury (the result of Bane's attack), Batman reinforced the armor with a material to dampen shocks and impact, along with a spinal brace, to protect him from such abuse.
[edit] Cowl
In addition to concealing his features and contributing to his imposing appearance, Batman's cowl has sometimes served other purposes. Occasionally, the cowl is depicted as having defense mechanisms such as electric shock or stun gas in order to prevent unauthorized removal (as shown in The Dark Knight and Justice League of America #24). In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne mail orders the materials to build the cowl through a maze of untraceable shell companies. To avoid suspicion, Wayne orders very large quantities of 10,000, each part sent to different location, and under different aliases. Because some meta-human criminals have the power to see through solid objects, Batman also lines the cowl with lead to protect his identity.The cowl also contains shifting lenses that identifies suspect's identities, as well as their weak points (through medical records), while simultaneously avoiding the possibility of eye identification. The cowl has special visions, like infrared vision (heat sensors), night vision, and ultraviolet vision. Also, in The Dark Knight, Batman uses a sonar concept introduced by Lucius Fox. This technology is utilized by using echolocation to triangulate objects via cell phones. It is implied that Oracle manages his cowl's computer. Recently (in Detective Comics #838), it's been revealed that Batman also has an echolocation system in the cowl. In Batman: The Animated Series, Batman wears a special motorcycle helmet when riding his Batcycle that is molded with bat ears to accommodate his cowl's ears.
In addition, one of the cowl's ears carries a high-gain antenna for an internal comm-link on the left side of the cowl, allowing Batman to stay in contact with his allies.[1] The comm-link can also scan police radios and other communication frequencies. It also carries an inertial navigation unit to keep him in balance when facing foes such as the Scarecrow or Count Vertigo.[2] The cowl's Kevlar panels provide a level of protection for his head against firearms. The front of the skull and the sides of the temples also have small armor inserts to increase the effectiveness of skull strikes and protect from concussive blows. Repeated encounters with the Mad Hatter also forced Batman to shield his cowl against the villain's mind control. Its basic design has remained unchanged; however, it has been frequently updated to advance Batman's crusade. The one aspect of the cowl that does undergo variations is the ears, although the length and pointiness of the ears is supposedly primarily due to the style of the artist drawing Batman, and tends not to be tied to the functionality of the cowl in any wayTemplate:Fact. However artist Karl Kerchl has drawn Batman's costume vault showing that he has a wide selection of cowls with ears of different lengths.[3]
[edit] Boots
In Batman: Year One, it is depicted that Batman hid a few pieces of his arsenal in his leather boots, such as a blow gun with fast-acting anesthetic darts and an ultrasonic device built into his left heel. Batman's boots are highly unique. The basic design of the boots are modeled on Tactical boots, but they are made from lightweight rubbers and are much more flexible to allow for full extension when kicking. The boots feature a unique "slingshot" ankle reinforcement design that acts as both armor and as reinforcement for the ankle joint when kicking or landing from high distances. The bottom is a flexible split sole design and is textured for a variety of surfaces. The boots also have steel toes, making them much more effective when on the offensive. Although Batman is already an accomplished Olympic level swimmer, during the Batman: Hush storyline, it is revealed that he installed underwater propellers in the heels. In Batman Begins, a boot heel is revealed to contain a ultrasonic signaling device capable of calling live bats to it as a form of protection and cover for Batman during a getaway. This device was originally introduced in the Batman: Year One series. In Batman & Robin, the boots have ice skates built into them. These can be seen in the scene when the hockey players attack Batman and Robin.
[edit] Utility belt and other equipment
Batman's utility belt is his most characteristic prop, much like Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth, or Green Lantern's ring. The exact contents of this belt are not known because Batman usually changes it to suit his needs. His uncanny ability to carry unusually appropriate tools is legendary. Batman's enemies are especially interested in the utility belt as they believe it will give them an advantage over him, but the belt's pockets are locked and only Batman knows how to open them. Occasionally, the utility belt is depicted as having defense mechanisms such as electric shock or stun gas in order to prevent tampering.
The array of devices Batman carries have become more complex over time. The simple coiled rope and batarang scaling equipment became a rocket powered (or compressed air powered) grapple gun.[4] The suit has also carried on different occasions a re-breather device, flash and gas grenades, explosives and a detonator, lockpicks, a signaling device for the Batmobile, electronic surveillance equipment (including video camera and monitor), a forensic kit for gathering crime scene evidence, a medical kit, a cache of money and, in early incarnations, a pistol in a holster. On any occasion where Batman anticipates encountering Superman, he has also carried (in a lead case) a Kryptonite ring given to him by the Man of Steel as a weapon of last resort (in some instances, Batman has acquired - or manufactured - the kryptonite himself, such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight graphic novels). One exception to this is seen in Kingdom Come, since in that novel, Superman has become impervious to kryptonite.
[edit] Variants
Batman keeps variant costumes for dealing with extraordinary situations; for example, he has been shown in a Scuba variant of his costume, a fireproof version for fighting his enemy Firefly, a thermal insulated version for fighting Mr. Freeze, as well as others. Many versions of the hero, including those shown in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, Batman Beyond and Batman versus Predator, show him swapping his cloth costume for a suit of powered armor.
[edit] Jean-Paul Valley's Batsuit
In the Knightfall story arc (1992-1994), the character Jean-Paul Valley redesigned the batsuit during his tenure as Batman. Rather than appearing as a new costume, Jean-Paul developed it over time. Valley created an armored suit that contained more gadgets, including a shuriken launcher, flamethrower and other, more lethal weapons. This version of the suit did away with the traditional cape and cowl. It featured armored and bladed wings and was highly bullet proof, capable of sustaining direct machine gun barrages as well as enduring the explosions from grenades and high intensity fire. The suit also featured an underwater rebreather. A circular ammo feeder affixed to the back of the suit provided Valley with continuous bat-shaped shuriken. This suit has often been seen as a reaction to occasional fan criticism that the batsuit was not high-tech enough for the modern ageTemplate:Fact. In the end, the suit became Valley's vulnerable point, as Bruce realized that his replacement had become too reliant upon the suit's gadgetry. In their final confrontation, Wayne, in his traditional bat costume, tricked Valley into discarding the armor by leading him into a narrow tunnel that forced Valley to remove most of the armour to follow Wayne. Upon seeing Wayne revealed in his batsuit under blinding daylight after being forced to remove his helmet- the last part of the armour Valley had kept-, Valley's fragile mind collapsed, and he acknowledged Bruce Wayne as the true Batman.
The gauntlets from this costume are now being used by Kate Spencer, the current Manhunter, who obtained them from an LAPD evidence room. They had been used by a small-time crook who unsuccessfully robbed the safe of a Gotham lawyer who keeps information on all his supervillain clients' loot.
[edit] Troika
While no different in terms of gadgets, the batsuit that Batman wears, first in the Troika storyline, is noticeably darker than his default costume, comparable to the batsuits worn in the Tim Burton moviesTemplate:Fact. The costume is also much sturdier than his regular costume, as it is made of Kevlar for added protection. The gauntlets and boots for this Batsuit are also one piece, connected seamlessly to the arms and legs. By Robin #14, Batman substitutes the original gloves and boots for ones of more protective quality, citing his encounter with the Russian Troika.
[edit] Other media appearances
[edit] Television
[edit] 1960s Batman
The Batman television series of the 1960s featured a blue-purple and gray version of the batsuit with a noticeably shorter cape and tiny ears. There were also white eyebrows painted on the cowl. In keeping with the campy nature of the series, the devices on the utility belt were often used as gags, with one of the most bizarre items being a thermos for storing alphabet soup. In one episode, Bruce Wayne carried two capsules that when dropped in a glass of water became full-sized costumes for Batman and Robin, complete with utility belts. In the crossover episode featuring The Green Hornet, Britt Reid refers to Batman's costume as a "goofy purple cape."
[edit] DC animated universe
In Batman: The Animated Series (1992–1995) the Batsuit overall looks like the "New Look" costume except the cape, cowl, gloves, briefs and boots are colored black instead of blue, though they do feature a bluish lining and the cape's underside is blue. Occasionally the cape and cowl are also shown to be one piece and when he's not fighting, the cape is usually seen covering Batman's entire body below his head. The costume lacks any armor qualities, instead being merely a body suit with no apparent special features and it often becomes torn in serious fights. It is occasionally seen packed in Bruce Wayne's luggage or in his vehicles, and it is made clear that he has numerous spares. On episodes "P.O.V." and "Zatanna," shown that he hid lock picks and blades within his gloves in preparation of when his wrists being bond by handcuffs or ropes. Some changes in the design over time (the coloration, the chest emblem) were made, for both budgetary and aesthetic reasons. Flashbacks on episodes "Robin's Reckoning", "The Mechanic," and the motion picture Batman: Mask of the Phantasm shown that Batman's earliest Batsuit resembled the one as he first appeared on Detective Comics #27, except the utility belt used pouches instead of capsules or cylinders, the gloves had no fins, and the cowl's ears weren't longer.
In The New Batman Adventures (1997–1999) Batman's physical appearance was revamped. The Batsuit's colors became darker overall and the utility belt used pouches instead of capsules or cylinders. His suit also has extended razors on his gloves. The blue portion of his cape is changed to dark gray, and the cape itself is redesigned to reach over his shoulders. His bat emblem is replaced by larger bat without a yellow ellipse. He also has an alternate suit of black armor (debut in the episode "Torch Song") capable to withstand extreme heat and flame (such as Firefly's attacks) and presumably bulletproof as well.
In Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001–2006) Batman was again redesigned and the Batsuit was given a mixture appearance of the previous two suits. The costume is generally the same as in The New Batman Adventures, but has the brighter colors from Batman: TAS. Additionally, the artists added certain modifications to foreshadow the futuristic costume variant (see below), including the lengthening of the "ears" on the cowl and the addition of heels on the boots.
In Batman Beyond (1999–2001) an extremely different variant of the Batsuit is featured. The new costume does away with the traditional individual articles of clothing and appears to be a simple black bodysuit with a red chest emblem. However, this version is more than a simple costume. Form fitting and highly responsive, it's actually a "powered suit", similar to an artificial powered exoskeleton. Originally, Bruce designed the suit for himself and wore it to aid his aging body, as the series' storyline was set years after Justice League. When Bruce gave up on being Batman permanently, Terry McGinnis replaced him and became the suit's primary wearer from then on. Giving Terry increased strength, and equipped with sophisticated built in gadgets similar to Jean Paul Valley's variant, it's unlike any other Batsuit in the DCAU. This costume is used in the Superman/Batman comics in which Terry makes his first appearance. Of its several features, the most frequently used are a set of retractable wings and jet boots which, together, allow for flight, an active camouflage system which renders him nearly invisible, and a two-way radio and surveillance system that allows Bruce to see and hear everything Terry does and give him advice. It is also revealed in the episode "April Moon" that the suit's servo motors was designed by Dr. Peter Corso, a medical scientist who specialized in prosthesis. Repeated encounters with Inque led Bruce and Terry to add electroshockcircuitry to protect himself or to disable an opponent. In the episode "Disappearing Inque", Bruce showed Terry a prototype Batsuit that resemble the Bat-armor from DC Comics's award-winning comic book saga Kingdom Come; this Batsuit can increase Bruce's endurance and offer him some protection, but cramping his movements due to its size and give a strain to his weakened heart. There's no cape or wings on the suit, suggesting that Bruce hadn't finish building it before abandoning the project due to its flaws.
[edit] The Batman
In the animated show The Batman (2004–2008), the Batsuit looks almost like the one in Batman: The Animated Series, but has shorter ears on the cowl to make the Batman look more like a "boxer", has claws on the fingertips of the gloves, a slightly redesigned bat symbol with the yellow ellipse on his chest, a more high-tech computerized utility belt linking to the Batcave's computer system called the "Batwave", and a longer cape that, just like the Batman: TAS costume, sometimes covers his entire body below the head. In the episode "Fleurs Du Mal," shown that the suit is linked to the Batwave, to monitor his physical and mental activities. Despite this regular default Batsuit, Batman uses some other variations of the Batsuit as well in the series to tackle certain situations and villains.
- In the episode "Traction", the Batman is badly injured by the immensely powerful Bane, due to which he is forced to build a prototype called the "Batbot" to battle the villain. The Batbot is controlled by Bruce Wayne while sitting inside it's cockpit. It is shown to possess superhuman strength to match that of Bane, along with enhanced levels of agility and endurance. It has two turbo retro-thrusters for flight on its back as well. The Batbot is also shown to be controlled via the Batman's utility belt (for example, in "The Cat and the Bat" episode).
- In the episode "The Big Chill", when Mr. Freeze defeats the Batman in their first encounter, the latter's butler Alfred coats the Batsuit with a special white weather-proof material, that can withstand sub-zero temperatures and can be used by the Batman to camouflage himself in snow. It covers the Batman's facial part as well, which is usually the only exposed part of his regular Batsuit. Additionally, this arctic Batsuit is shown to be armed with retractable ice skates in the boots and two flamethrowers attached on either side of the waist. Also, the blades on the Batman's gloves emit high electric sparks to melt any ice in his path. The arctic Batsuit reappears in the episode "Fire and Ice", and is depicted to sustain heavy amounts of damage but protects it's wearer, when the villain Firefly maneuvers the Batman into a fuel tanker that is about to explode. The Batman survives, but injures himself and has the suit damaged.
- In the episode "Swamped", when the Batman has to battle Killer Croc, he uses a special hydro Batsuit, that doesn't get wet or allow water to enter it. It is totally black in colour, and the Batman somehow sheds or retracts his cape in his suit when he goes underwater to battle Killer Croc.
- On The Batman vs. Dracula, Batman briefly extended the design of his utility belt to his shoulders and chest for carrying a vast number of vampire-fighting gadgetry such as garlic bombs and vials of vaccine made to counteract a vampiric virus spread from the vampire lord Count Vlad Dracula. The extension of the belt would also create a shape of a cross, which also commonly known able to ward off the creatures.
- When arsonist Garfield Lynn's transformation from Firefly to a nuclear-powered Phosphorus on the "White Heat", Batman designed a black NBC suit, built by Alfred, to protect himself.
- On the episode "Artifacts", it is shown that, decades into the future, an elder Batman would adapt a simpler Batsuit resembling of Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel.
[edit] Batman: The Brave and the Bold
In the current animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Batman wears a slightly modified version of the blue and gray suit worn during the Silver Age stories and the 60's live action show. According to the show's creators, this was deliberately done to invoke a less dark and violent depiction of Batman following the release of The Dark Knight.
Though similar in appearance to the older costumes, this Batsuit is unique in and that it possesses a much larger amount of gadgetry than any other costume shown to date. Thus far, the Batsuit has been shown to not only contain multiple batarangs and other standard Bat-paraphernalia, but also a collapsable sword, wings, deep space gear, scuba equipment, and multiple rocket thrusters. Also, the emblem on Batman's chest can now transform into an emergency Batarang, becoming hard and riggid after being exposed to some sort of magnetic field emitted by the suit.
[edit] Animated films
[edit] Batman: Gotham Knight
In Batman: Gotham Knight, which is set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, details of the Batsuit along with Batman's attempts to improve it are shown. The suit has many characteristics of the Batman Begins suit, but on the segment "Field Test," Batman upgrades the suit with an advanced motion scanner that has an electromagnetic gyro which produces a magnetic shield capable to deflect small-arms fire before he abandons it. On "In Darkness Dwells," it is shown that there's an infrared scope built within the cowl, along with a rebreather that can be folded within it. There's a wireless relay communicator in the cowl. Its signals are locked with quantum cryptology and bounced through a dozen different satellites (presumably the WayneComs). As per the animation styles the suit varies between versions of the Batman Begins standard black suit and the Comic Book original.
[edit] See also
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