There's no question that the best character to call himself Batman is the original caped crusader, Bruce Wayne. He spent most of his life training in order to become a defender of Gotham City and has proven his status as the strongest Batman many times over. However, he isn't the only character who has called themselves Batman over the years, either.
While quite a few members of the Batman Family like Dick Grayson and Jason Todd have all spent some time as Batman, it's worth taking a look outside of the core group to examine some of the most powerful characters who have worn the mantle of the bat over the years to see who was the strongest Dark Knight.
10 Hugo Strange Became Obsessed With Fighting Batman And Trained Himself To Peak Condition
Professor Hugo Strange was a psychologist who was one of the first of Batman's villains to deduce his secret identity as Bruce Wayne. While he originally created the genetically mutated Monster Men to challenge Batman, he soon became obsessed with the Dark Knight. His deep dive into Batman's psychology saw him create his own Batsuit and begin training his body to peak condition.
While he hasn't gotten strong enough to beat Bruce Wayne, he has still donned his batsuit a number of times over the years and even inspired his student Dr. Charles Nigaff to do the same in Batman: Orphans, though he relied on a team of Venom-doped teens to fight his battles for him while Strange was imprisoned.
9 Black Mask Once Posed As Batman To Discredit The Dark Knight During War Crimes
Roman Sionis was the son of a wealthy pharmaceutical industrialist who murdered his parents for their fortune before he turned to a life of crime as the crime leader known as Black Mask. Black Mask is a well-trained and ruthless fighter who has fought against other peak human characters like Nightwing and Batman over the years.
Following his torture of Stephanie Brown/Spoiler that led to her apparent death during War Games, he decided to impersonate Batman in order to increase the negative perception of the character after the news of Stephanie's death was leaked. He fought against both Batman and The Joker while dressed as Batman, though he was soon defeated and exposed.
8 The Three Ghosts Of Batman Were Trained And Experimented On To Replace The Dark Knight
The villain known as Dr. Hurt collaborated with the GCPD on a project to create potential replacements for Batman in case the real Dark Knight ever went missing or died. He was given the authority to conduct experiments on three officers in an attempt to create his own Dark Knights, though his techniques pushed each of them to their breaking point.
Josef Muller was an expert marksman known as Bat-Cop while Michael Washington Lane was forced to suffer the loss of his family to become Bat-Devil and then the new Azrael. The strongest member was an officer named Branca, who was injected with the Venom-filled blood of Bane to become Bat-Bane, though it drove him insane and he became a Venom-addicted murderer.
7 Thomas Wayne Was The Dark And Gritty Batman From The Flashpoint Universe
The DC timeline was rewritten accidentally by Barry Allen/The Flash during the Flashpoint event, which saw Bruce Wayne murdered in Crime Alley instead of his parents. This led Thomas Wayne to become Batman in his grief over the loss of his son, while his wife Martha was driven insane to become Flashpoint's version of The Joker.
Thomas Wayne used his skills as a former doctor to become a ruthless version of Batman who trained his body to peak condition, though he also used the gun that killed his son on his mission. Flashpoint Batman later escaped his original timeline and became a threat to his son, showcasing his strength as he teamed up with Bane during the "City of Bane" storyline.
6 Jace Fox Took Over As Batman During Fear State Using Wayne's Tech And Resources
Future State introduced a new Batman who followed in Bruce Wayne's footsteps after the events of Joker War cast doubt over Wayne's ability to keep control of his resources, which were inherited by Lucius Fox and his family. Lucius' oldest son Tim "Jace" Fox debuted as the next Batman during the Fear State after he discovered a secret cache of Bat-Tech.
Jace spent years training in a military academy before he became a covert operative while he lived on his own away from Gotham. While he only recently took on the role of Batman in the modern era, Future State showcased his strength as the newest Dark Knight.
5 Jim Gordon Used The Rookie Mecha To Replace Batman During Superheavy
Following the disappearance of Bruce Wayne/Batman after his climactic battle with The Joker during the "Endgame" storyline, Gotham City was left without a protector. Commissioner James Gordon was chosen as a replacement in a program funded by Powers International. They worked with the GCPD to create a new mecha-suit that Gordon piloted from within.
The suit would eventually become known as "Rookie," and while Gordon was one of the older characters to put on the cowl, his mecha-suit enhanced his strength and speed and made him a match for some of Gotham's heaviest hitters during his brief tenure as the Dark Knight.
4 Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael Took Over As Batman During The Knightfall Storyline
Following Bruce Wayne's near-fatal fight with Bane during the Knightfall event, Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael was asked to fill in as the Dark Knight while Wayne recovered from a broken back. As Azrael, Valley had been trained using a brainwashing program called the System that instilled him with years' worth of skills and knowledge and also amped up his physical capabilities.
Unfortunately, it also destabilized him, and the System began taking over his mission as the Batman. He created a powerful new armored batsuit and nearly took Gotham City as his own before Bruce Wayne was able to return and reclaim his cowl despite Valley's enhanced strength and abilities.
3 Deathstroke Once Masqueraded As Batman To Provide Jobs For Arsenal's Outsiders
Slade Wilson is usually better known as the high-priced and highly-trained mercenary Deathstroke the Terminator, though he briefly masqueraded as Batman in order to fool Roy Harper/Arsenal into taking on missions for his new group of Outsiders that was led by Nightwing.
Deathstroke has achieved peak human fitness and beyond, thanks to government experiments during the war that unlocked the potential of his brain to enhance his strength and speed to near-superhuman levels. While he only operated as Batman during secret meetings with Arsenal, he was still one of the strongest characters to put on the cowl.
2 Bane Donned His Own Tattered Version Of The Batsuit During Arkham War
The Forever Evil event from the New 52 took the Justice League off the map as they were imprisoned by the Crime Syndicate, which created a power vacuum in Gotham City that saw the villains eke out their own territories during Arkham War. Bane managed to become one of the strongest contenders in the war amongst the villains, which put him against Scarecrow.
During this period, he adopted his own version of the Batsuit, as he knew the only thing that the villains of Gotham feared more than him was the Bat. He wore this costume until the real Batman returned, stopped Bane, and took back his city during the aftermath of Forever Evil.
1 Clark Kent/Superman Has Worn The Batman Costume Quite A Few Times
The ongoing friendship between the World's Finest has seen Batman and Superman exchange costumes on more than one occasion for various reasons. On "Date Night," they swapped clothes to attend a costume-themed fair alongside Lois Lane and Catwoman. Batman magically gained Superman's powers during the "Super/Bat" storyline and was almost corrupted by the power.
Clark Kent was forced to put on his own version of the Batsuit in order to face off with the powerful Batman so they could reverse the magical spell before Batman was lost completely. There was also a version of Kal-El that landed in Gotham City instead of Kansas and was raised by the Waynes until their death led him to become the Dark Knight in Superman: Speeding Bullets.
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