Batman has long been one of the most popular fictional characters on the planet. The Dark Knight has been fighting his never-ending battle against evil for a very long time, using his wits, resources, and a core of stubbornness that some would consider extreme. He's done many great things for the DC Universe, but that doesn't mean that Bruce Wayne made the right decision when becoming Batman.
Batman has proven to be his own worst enemy on many occasions, and the greatest example of this could be his time as the Caped Crusader. Suffice it to say that his life probably would have been much easier and perhaps more beneficial for the general public if he had done otherwise.
10 The Wasted Potential
In his quest to become Batman, Bruce Wayne traveled the world, learning all he could and would learn even more during his time in the cowl. To know and understand the things he does, his IQ must be through the roof, yet he uses it to solve crimes and build cool Batsuits that mostly gather dust in the Batcave.
If he had put that knowledge to other uses, the things he could invent to help the people of the world would be astounding and honestly would have done way more for people than going out at night and beating up criminals. Bruce Wayne wasted many potentials to dress up like a bat and punch people.
9 The Cost
Wayne Enterprises' coffers seem to be pretty bottomless, which is a good thing because being Batman is prohibitively expensive. Just imagine the sheer cost of building the Batcave, a super cool crime lab/hangout that barely anybody has been in. For the money spent on the Batcave, Bruce Wayne could have built schools to lift people out of poverty and reduced crime that way.
The amount of money Bruce Wayne has spent on being Batman is pretty staggering, and all of that money could have been put to way better uses over the years, helping the poor and eliminating crime.
8 The Mental Cost
Before being Batman, Bruce Wayne was already in a fragile mental state, as losing one's parents at a young age would do to a person. Being Batman would only compound that, as he goes through on a nightly basis would are extremely harrowing. The mind games, the betrayals from people he thought he could trust, and the horrors he sees would not be good for someone in such a precarious mental condition.
Sometimes, writers like to intimate that being Batman is a therapy for Bruce Wayne, and it may help a bit, but so many bad things have happened to him because it could really only add to the problems he has.
7 His Love Life
Bruce Wayne has had a complicated love life over the years. He was either having short flings with Gotham socialites to give off an image of being a dashing playboy or getting into doomed relationships with superheroic colleagues and women he would reveal his identity to that would then meet a horrific fate. The lack of stability couldn't be good for him.
Even when he finds someone good for him, like Catwoman, their relationship is full of ups and downs that add to his heartache even more. A person like him needs love, and the things he's going through over the years to get it have been harrowing, to say the least.
6 The Brutality
On a nightly basis, Batman is exposed to some of the worst acts committed by the worst criminals anyone could think of. The atrocities committed by people like the Joker are terrible, and seeing them wouldn't do wonders for a person. That's on top of the horrific killings that run of mill mobsters get up to, the crimes of passion that leave whole families dead, and so many other terrible things.
The effect it's had on Batman over the years is pretty apparent- Batman has taken things very far in his battles against evil, sometimes almost crossing the line and killing. Even when he hasn't killed, he's taken some of his beatings pretty far. None of this has been any good for him over the years.
5 The Physical Toll
One of the most interesting scenes in The Dark Knight Rises was when Bruce Wayne had a physical after not being Batman for years and was told everything wrong with his body after his years of crimefighting. This scene really hit the audience with how hard being Batman is, and while the comics have glossed over this, there's no denying that the physical toll of being Batman would still be extreme.
The injuries would all add up to the extent that even with state of the art medical technology from multiple alien races, Bruce Wayne's body would be pretty broken down over the years. The number of scars he would have alone would be like a road map for a large city.
4 Having His Back Broken
Bane broke Batman's back, and the toll this took on him, both physical and mental, was extreme. The whole thing was a blow to the man- Bruce Wayne had never expected to be hurt so badly in his quest for justice. It took him ages before he was both physically and mentally ready to return to being Batman or even a regular life in general.
The effect that it had on him in later life was apparent during his later battles with Bane. He would take the fights farther and farther, trying to prove he was better than Bane, both to himself and others, which led to the war between them becoming damaging to both men and everyone around them.
3 Dealing With The Joker
The Joker is one of the evilest criminals in the DC Universe. Few take such glee in being evil as he does, and the things he's done over the years are quite terrible. He and Batman have been locked in a death spiral for years, with both men going to extremes to try and stop the other. The mental stress of being Batman is bad enough; with Joker adding to it, it gets pushed into untenable territory rather quickly.
Batman's dealings with the Joker have shown him things that he never wanted to see before and taken him to some extremely dark places, both because of what the Joker has done and also the lengths Batman has gone to stop him, none of which have been good for Bruce Wayne's psyche.
2 The Death Of Jason Todd
Death is an inevitable part of everyone's life, and Bruce Wayne already proved he wasn't very good at dealing with it- his way of dealing with his parents' death was to devote his time and money to beat up criminals. In his time as Batman, he's been around many deaths, but one of the ones that affected him the most was Jason Todd's death because it was his fault.
Jason Todd died a horrible death because he was Robin. Batman blamed himself for this state of affairs, and for years, it messed with him. The whole thing would be compounded when Todd returned to life as a villain, giving Batman even more to blame himself.
1 Losing Alfred
After his parents' death, Alfred Pennyworth was constant in Bruce Wayne's life. Alfred became like a parent to young Bruce, and the two of them shared an amazing bond, one that brought a lot of love to both of their lives. Alfred looked out for his young ward, and Bruce looked out for him. Without Alfred, there's a good chance Bruce Wayne would have ended up a very different person with a much darker life.
Alfred was killed by Bane and Batman, for the third time in his life, lost a beloved parental figure, something that never would have happened if he was never Batman.
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