Thomas Wayne

Thomas Wayne
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Detective Comics #33 (November 1939)
Created by	Bob Kane Bill Finger [1] Jerry Robinson Gardner Fox[1]
In-story information
Full name	Thomas Wayne
Team affiliations	Wayne Enterprises
Supporting character of	Batman

Thomas Wayne is a fictional character in the Batman series of comic books. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the father of Bruce Wayne, and husband of Martha Wayne, as well as a gifted surgeon and philanthropist. He was also the inheritor of the Wayne family fortune, which was built through industry and real estate by previous generations.

He is first introduced in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) in the first exposition of Batman's origin story. In the story, he and his wife are murdered by a mugger as young Bruce looks on helplessly. This trauma influences Bruce to become Batman when he grows up.^[2] Decades after he was murdered, the character of Thomas Wayne would play a major role in Geoff Johns' Flashpoint crossover series.

Fictional character background

Thomas Wayne is seldom shown outside of Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth's memories of him, and often through Bruce's dreams and nightmares. He is frequently depicted as looking very much like Bruce Wayne, but sporting a thick mustache.

A notable occurrence in Thomas Wayne's biography was when Bruce fell through a fissure on the Wayne property, into what would one day become the Batcave (sometimes the fissure is replaced with an abandoned well). Thomas Wayne eventually rescued his terrified son from the cave.

Thomas Wayne's role in his son's future vigilante career is expanded upon in The First Batman, a Silver Age tale which reveals that Dr. Wayne attacked and defeated hoodlums while dressed like a "Bat-Man" for a masquerade ball. According to the story, Thomas Wayne's actions resulted in crime boss Lew Moxon being imprisoned; ten years later, Moxon orders Joe Chill to murder Dr. Wayne. When Batman realizes Moxon ordered his parents killed, he confronts Moxon, who now suffers from amnesia and thus has no memory of Thomas Wayne. When Batman's costume is torn, he wears his father's in order to frighten Moxon. Sure enough, the costume restores Moxon's memory; the former crime boss panics, believing that he is being attacked by Thomas Wayne's ghost, and flees into the streets where he is struck and killed by a truck. These events were retold in the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dr. Wayne as the "First Batman" was retconned - he instead attended the masquerade ball as Zorro. This was retconned once more in the pages of Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering change in the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving out Halloween candy in the original Batman costume.

In many of the modern interpretations of the character, such as those by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, Thomas is portrayed as having been a distant, stern father, bestowing kindness and generosity on his patients rather than his son.

Thomas Wayne was once suspected to be the father of Bane, a man who, in the Knightfall story arc, breaks his son's back; however, DNA testing proved this to be false, and Bane's real father was recently revealed to be King Snake.

It is revealed in Batman: The Long Halloween that, shortly before his murder, Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone. Falcone's father, Vincent, came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot in a gangfight by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting; the surgery was thus performed in the dining room with Alfred assisting. After saving Carmine Falcone's life, he was offered a reward or favor but refused to accept any form of payment. Unbeknownst to Thomas, young Bruce watched this all in silence from afar. Years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had his father let Falcone die, to which Alfred explains that he would have helped anyone in need.

In Superman/Batman #50, it is revealed that, while on a drive with a pregnant Martha, Thomas witnessed a strange object fall to Earth. As he inspects it, Thomas' consciousness is transported to Krypton, and presented in a holographic form. There, he encounters Jor-El, who wishes to know what kind of a world Earth is, as it is one of many possible candidates for him to send his son, Kal-El, to. Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of Earth aren't perfect, but are essentially a good and kind race, who would raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Upon returning to his body, Thomas uses the technology in the Kryptonian probe to revitalize a failing Wayne Enterprises. Years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batman's crimefighting technology. Thomas recorded his encounter in a diary, which was discovered by Bruce in the present day.

Murder

When exiting a theatre, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered by a mugger right in front of their son, Bruce. This tragedy shocks Gotham, leads to Park Row (the street where it occurred) being labeled Crime Alley, and most importantly, serves as the motivation for Bruce one day becoming Batman.

Due to the many writers who have worked on Batman stories, and constant references due to the central importance of the murder to the Batman mythos, many of the factors concerning the event have varied.

• Bruce's age has varied, usually between six and ten years old.
• The murderer is consistently identified as Joe Chill, though the mythos alternates between versions where Batman learns the killer's identity, and ones in which he never finds out. Chill has also alternated between being a mere mugger who randomly selected the wealthy Waynes, and a hitman who murdered them intentionally (the former is the most common interpretation). Tim Burton's Batman departs from the most common interpretation by portraying a young Jack Napier, the future Joker, as the murderer.
• The reason given for Chill leaving Bruce alive has varied. Sometimes it was because Chill couldn't bring himself to kill a child, and sometimes because Chill heard a policeman's whistle, police siren, or a rapidly approaching policeman. Often, it is because of the cold, frightening look the young Wayne boy gave Chill as he kneeled beside his dead parents; Chill hesitated and ran away. In the version presented in The Untold Legend of the Batman, Batman theorizes that Chill, a hitman hired by gangster Lew Moxon, deliberately left Bruce alive to report that his parents were killed by a robber. In Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Chill of the Night!", a dying Moxon says that he only intended for Thomas to die, and even expressed regret over the death of Martha, especially as it left Bruce an orphan.
• Exactly whether or not Chill was hired to murder the Waynes or if he acted alone is still unknown. An original script draft of the 1989 Batman film had Rupert Thorne hire Chill to assassinate them, because he was running for mayor against Thomas Wayne. In most other variations, Chill is 'just some punk with a gun'.
• The movie that the Waynes went to see has fluctuated between the 1920 version of The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks and the 1940 version starring Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone. A fictional third version has starred "Tyrone Fairbanks." Tim Burton's Batman has the Waynes leaving The Monarch Theatre having seen Footlight Frenzy. Batman Begins has the Waynes leaving an opera house showing Mefistofele at the time of the murder, which they leave early due to Bruce being frightened by the bat-like costumes, giving Bruce the additional guilt of leading his parents to Chill. In The Dark Knight's Visual Guide says that Bruce would rather have seen The Mark of Zorro at a movie house.

Interestingly, Batman #430, which portrays the aftermath of Jason Todd's death, includes a scene in which Thomas Wayne was having trouble with some investments, and was going to sell short. Bruce thought that he needed some exercise to take his mind off of it and so offered to play catch with him, but Thomas angrily said no, striking him across the face. A hurt and resentful Bruce declares to his mother that he wished Thomas were dead. In an ironic twist of fate, Bruce's parents would be murdered that night.

Batman: Dark Victory asserts that the Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City; once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, citizens began to lose faith in the police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force.

Consistent elements have included Thomas Wayne being murdered by a pistol, and Martha Wayne's pearl necklace being torn, with the pearls falling into the gutter. In comic continuity, the murder took place at 10:47 p.m.^{[citation needed]} (the Batcave is accessed by Batman through his manor by turning the hands of a grandfather clock to this time), on the 26th of June.^[3]

Thomas and Martha Wayne are notable as two comic book characters who have remained dead. Since his death, Thomas Wayne has only appeared in the Batman series in flashback and in the occasional out-of-body experience or hallucination. His most significant appearance in this latter category is in the miniseries Batman: Death and the Maidens by Greg Rucka. In this story, Batman ingests an elixir given to him by his enemy, Ra's al Ghul, and believes he is having a conversation with his dead parents. Interestingly, both Thomas and Martha disapprove of their son's costumed crusade, but Thomas admits that he merely disapproves of what being Batman has cost his son rather than actually disliking the concept itself. As she and Thomas depart, however, they assure Bruce that just because the passing of time has lessened his grief does not mean that he no longer cares for them, and, as a result, Bruce is able to accept that he is Batman because he chooses to be, not because he has to be.

In the alternative timeline of Flashpoint, where Bruce died instead of Thomas and Martha, causing Thomas Wayne to become Batman and Martha the Joker, the alternative versions of the characters share the same point of view of their post-mortem counterparts in Death and the Maidens: while Thomas Wayne, despite knowing the burden Batman put on himself, shows to be proud of the sacrifices his son did in the correct timeline (having Flash bring a letter to his alternate-timeline son), Martha is further driven mad with grief and sadness, killing herself because she's unable to accept the suffering Bruce would be fated to bear.

Alleged double life

During Batman R.I.P., it is alleged that Thomas and Martha Wayne were leading a double life, secretly partaking in criminal endeavors, drug abuse and orgies while presenting a façade of respectability to the outside world. The alleged evidence is revealed to be doctored in the aftermath of the storyline, however.

Doctor Simon Hurt, head of The Black Glove and the mastermind behind Batman R.I.P., actually claims to be Thomas Wayne to both Bruce and Alfred Pennyworth. Although both of them rebuke him without hesitation, Hurt never explicitly drops the claim.

In the ongoing follow-up series, Batman & Robin, it is suggested that some, if not all, of these allegations have begun to circulate around Gotham; Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne attend a high society function where a few party guests vaguely mention the existence of rumors surrounding the family, and Dick tries to tie Bruce's absence from the public eye with being occupied with clearing his family's reputation.^[4] Matters come to a head when Hurt returns to the city, claiming to be Thomas Wayne in order to take control of Wayne Manor and establish himself as the new Batman, but Grayson and Damian outsmart him.

It is hinted at during the course of the Batman and Robin series that Simon Hurt's actual identity is Thomas Wayne, albeit one from the 17th century who was a 'black sheep' of the Wayne family and prolongs his life through occult rituals. The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries and its fallout Bruce Wayne: The Road Home cements Hurt's status as the elder Thomas Wayne from the Puritan Ages, driven insane by his meeting with Barbatos, the Hyper-Adapter sent through time along with Bruce Wayne to ensure the effectiveness of Darkseid's "Omega Sanction".

Other versions

Batman: Castle of the Bat

In Batman: Castle of the Bat, Doctor Bruce Wayne discovers the preserved brain of his father deep below the research university he works at. He steals this and other body parts in a desperate attempt to revive his beloved father from death. This doesn't work out well due to various factors outside his control but the part of the creature that still recognizes and loves his son does it's best to help Bruce escape his enemies.^[5]

Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty

In Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty, Thomas and Martha are saved from death when 'Valentin Sinclair'- really Vandal Savage, who in this reality has a long-standing interest and admiration for the Wayne family despite the fact that they often end up opposing him when they learn about his plans- scared off Joe Chill, Sinclair becoming a partner in Wayne Enterprises, only for Sinclair to have them killed when they threaten to expose his plan to divert a meteor that gave him his powers back to Earth so that he can study it. Their deaths- triggered by Sinclair's fear-inducing henchman Scarecrone causing them to remember the mugging, driving them to flee Chill by running off their balcony- prompt Bruce to become Batman to investigate, Gordon having written their deaths off as an accident and Bruce unwilling to investigate himself because of the risk to his new wife, Julie Madison.

Batman: Earth One

In the graphic novel written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank, Batman: Earth One, Thomas was a physician who had run for mayor against Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblepot had attempted to arrange his opponent's murder during the latter's outing to a movie with his family, but a mugger got to them first and killed Thomas and his wife. It is also implied that both he and Alfred are keeping a traumatic secret.

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint reality, Thomas Wayne - rather than Bruce - appears as Batman. Thomas is shown to have Joe Chill's gun in the Batcave's trophy display, from when he killed Chill in a brutal beating. Thomas is more violent than Bruce and willing to kill to achieve his goals, as shown when he throws a young villain named Yo-Yo off a rooftop after she refuses to cooperate with him to stop the Joker. When Barry Allen enters the cave, Thomas attacks him, but is surprised to hear Barry call him Bruce.^[6] Allen reveals to the elder Wayne that the timeline has been altered. Thomas stops fighting and asks him the details of his son's life after his own death. Willing to change history and ready to sacrifice his life to restore his son's, Thomas helps Barry build a device to recreate the accident that gave Barry his speed.^[7]

Wayne is the subject of the mini-series, Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance, written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Eduardo Risso, in a story set in after Wayne's first attempt to restore Barry's powers. Azzarello stated that Thomas Wayne does not care about crime outside Gotham and that he funds his war on crime with his successful casinos.^[8] Thomas works with James Gordon, the chief of Gotham's privatized police, who appears to be aware of his identity. Oswald Cobbelpot appears as his security chief, mainly handling the casinos while Thomas fights crime. The local judge Harvey Dent is distressed when his twin children are kidnapped by the Joker, causing him to threaten Wayne with legal action.^[9] Gordon calls Batman and tries to convince him that he does not have to fight villains alone. Gordon tries to stop the Joker once and for all, but is trapped and killed. The Joker's identity is then revealed to the reader as Martha Wayne, who had become insane after her son's death. Thomas killed many other villains from Gotham, but wasn't able to do so with Martha, leaving him guilty for all her murders and crimes.^[10] After Batman saves one of Dent's children, who had accidentally been shot by Gordon during his rescue attempt, he resumes pursuing Martha. In the final battle, Thomas reveals his recent discovery that they were supposed to die that night at Crime Alley and how they are alive now. Thomas promises her that he will do whatever it takes to bring their son back, despite it costing him and Martha their lives. The revelations apparently restore Martha's mental stability and she seemingly reconciles with Thomas, but when Martha asks her husband what Bruce becomes after their death, Thomas reveals that their son would become Batman. Martha becomes hysterical, flees from Thomas and falls to her death through the same hole that Bruce once fell into as a child.^[11]

After a second attempt successfully restores the Flash's powers, Batman works with him to rally a team to oppose Thawne's changes to history. Thomas contacts Cyborg for help in tracking down "Project: Superman", the government branch responsible for raising Kal-El, only to be disappointed at Kal-El's frail appearance. Kal-El's powers manifest as he is exposed to sunlight and he flies away.^[12]

After escaping Project Superman with the help of Element Woman, Flash's memories change more drastically, forcing Batman to attempt to prevent the speedster's memories from altering. Wayne injects him with a drug that slows down electrical activity in the brain. When Barry finds out that Hal Jordan died attempting to stop the War, Flash elects to try to save this altered world, since there is no guarantee that they could defeat Professor Zoom in the original world. Thomas joins Flash as the group heads to New Themyscira in Batman's plane and are joined by Enchantress. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are fighting one on one until the team arrives. The battle seems to be in their favor until Billy Batson dies and Professor Zoom reveals himself.^[13] Batman stabs him in the back using an Amazon's sword and learns that altered timeline was actually created by Flash as part of an attempt to save his mother. Before he acts on this new information, Thomas is fatally wounded by the Enchantress. Before Flash attempts to restore the old world, Thomas thanks him and gives him a letter to Bruce. Thomas is eager to reunite with his wife in death. After the Flash apparently restores the timeline, he gives Bruce the letter, he tells Bruce that he could not have restored history without Thomas's help. ^[14]

The letter encourages Bruce to move on from his childhood tragedy, as well as encouraging him to pursue a closer relationship with his son Damian Wayne.^[15] It becomes a part of the Batcave's display dedicated to the memory of his parents.^[16] However, despite Bruce's attempts to follow his father's encouragement, Damian is later killed battling his own clone, leaving Bruce suffering and vindictive as Thomas had in Flashpoint.^[17][18]

JLA: Earth 2

In JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, the Thomas Wayne of the antimatter universe is the father of the supervillain Owlman. Like his original counterpart, he married Martha Kane and fathered Bruce Wayne. However, this version also had a second child, Thomas Wayne Jr. After Martha and Bruce are gunned down by a crooked policeman when Thomas Sr. refused to accompany him for questioning (when Thomas Wayne performed an "illegal medical operation."), Thomas Jr. becomes Owlman to get revenge on the justice system. It is later revealed that Thomas Wayne Sr. is currently acting as commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, seeking to bring his son to justice with the help of a cadre of idealistic officers. Owlman finds it his goal to "punish" his father for letting his mother and brother die.^[19]

Superman: Red Son

In Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son, the parents of Batman (never named) are anti-communist protesters in the Soviet Union. They are executed in their home by NKVD Commissar Pyotr Roslov for printing and distributing anti-communist pamphlets. Their son witnesses the murders and attempts to overthrow the Communist Party of the Soviet Union when he is an adult.^[20]

Smallville

In the fifth issue of the comic book continuation of the television series Smallville, written by executive story editor Bryan Q. Miller, reveals that Lionel Luthor invited Thomas to join the secret society Veritas with Virgil Swann, which Thomas declined.^[21]

New 52: Earth 2

In the revised Earth-Two alternate universe, Thomas Wayne is revealed to be the second Batman, having succeeded his son as the incumbent through use of Rex Tyler/Hourman's Miraclo pill strength and agility enhancement chemicals. He states that he is 65 years old. In contrast to his depiction on the mainstream Earth, he and his wife, Martha, were not shot due to random violence, but due to Thomas' mafia connection and subsequent efforts to "straighten out" when Bruce was born. Thomas hides the fact that he survived for many years, in order to shield Bruce from any further attacks. Eventually, when Bruce (as Batman) tracks Thomas down (due to Thomas' actions getting revenge on the people who killed his wife), he learns the truth and refutes Thomas' reason for being "dead" for most of Bruce's life, thus spurning him from ever having any future relationship with his son, and by extention his family. After Bruce's death saving Earth 2, Thomas honors him by taking up the "mantle of the Bat." ^[22]

In other media

Television

• Thomas Wayne appears with his wife in the Super Powers episode "The Fear". In a flashback, it shows them being confronted by an unidentified mugger, just after watching a Robin Hood movie with their small son Bruce Wayne. When Thomas ends up trying to fight the mugger, Bruce quotes "No Dad, he's got a..." and lightning is shown in the sky as his parents are shot. This was the first time Batman's origin was shown outside of the comics.
• Thomas Wayne made appearances in Batman: The Animated Series normally voiced by Kevin Conroy. In this version, Thomas and his wife are murdered in Crime Alley and their murderer is never identified. The murder is only occasionally alluded via nightmares. One nightmare has Batman seeing his parents walking towards a tunnel; he then runs towards them telling them to stop. They enter the tunnel, which is revealed to be the barrel of a giant gun, dripping blood. Batman screams as the world is bleached white and a loud shot is heard. Another dream sequence has Batman looking in horror after failing to save Two-Face and seeing his parents with Thomas (voiced by Richard Moll in this instance) asking Why couldn't you save us, son?. Later, the series mentions the murder explicitly and even shows the murder itself. The series also makes use of the rose motif that the films Batman and Batman Forever associate with the murder. Bruce Wayne leaves roses at the site of his parents' death on the anniversary of the event (as he does in the comic, except that he leaves the roses on their graves). Dr. Thomas Wayne was also close friends with some of his classmates, including Dr. Leslie Thompkins (one of the legal guardians of his son after his murder), Dr. Matthew Thorne (brother of notorious mob boss Rupert Thorne) and Dr. Long (faculty of Gotham University).
• In the Justice League animated series episode "A Better World", the alternate-universe Batman that allied with the Justice Lords refers to his mother's and father's murderer as "some punk with a gun", implying to be a random mugging.
• Thomas Wayne appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything" voiced again by Kevin Conroy. When Batman is temporarily trapped by the hallucinogenic plant Black Mercy, his perfect dream world shows his father puts up a good defense against the killer by disarming him and almost wins. However Batman's mind knows that this is not real and the Black Mercy plant is removed, ending the hallucination with a gunshot heard as Batman comes to.
• In many of the episodes in the first season of The Batman, Bruce Wayne goes over his parents' murder in his head. In the fourth season premiere, Bruce tells Alfred, "The man who murdered my parents was never brought to justice." After taking Bruce to watch a movie The Cloaked Rider, Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne was murdered by an unidentified mugger. Before his death, Dr. Wayne was a dearest friend of Marion Grange (Gotham City mayor for the first four seasons), Lucius Fox (CEO of Wayne Enterprises for the Wayne family), and Alfred Pennyworth (loyal family butler who took the custody of raising Bruce after he became an orphan). In the episode "Artifacts" (set in the distant future), he's believed to have been Batman alongside his wife as Batgirl and his son as Red Robin.
• Thomas Wayne was featured in several times in Batman: The Brave and the Bold. In a flashback of the episode "Invasion of the Secret Santas", he is voiced by Corey Burton (albeit uncredited). He also appears as a ghost in the episode "Dawn of the Deadman" voiced by Greg Ellis (also uncredited). He appears with a more central role in the episode "Chill of the Night" now voiced by Adam West (the actor that played Batman in 1960s TV series). The Phantom Stranger takes Batman back in time to a costume party he and his wife attended. Batman notes the similarity of the costume he wore at the time to his present day costume. The two team up to take down some robbers and Batman gets a lead in his case.
• Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder will be the main focus of the upcoming Fox television series, Gotham.^[23]

Film

• In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, David Baxt portrayed Thomas Wayne in a flashback to the Waynes' murder. The Waynes are murdered by Jack Napier, the future Joker, and his partner; this is a departure from the comics, in which the Waynes are murdered by Joe Chill. Batman will later do battle with Napier and learns the real killer's identity years later when the Joker says to Bruce Wayne, "Tell me my friend, you ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?" when he is about to shoot him in Vicki Vale's apartment.
• Rather than use footage from the first movie, Batman Forever, the third film in the series, features a new flashback to the murder of the Waynes. Ramsey Ellis plays the young Wayne, Michael Scranton plays Thomas Wayne, Eileen Seeley plays Martha Wayne, and David U. Hodges plays Jack Napier.
• In the 2005 Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins, Dr. Wayne is played by Linus Roache and received a far more prominent role than Thomas Wayne had ever been given in any other media incarnation of Batman. Wayne was a surgeon at the Gotham City hospital, and of the fifth generation of the Wayne family to live in the Wayne Manor. He was the chairman of Wayne Enterprises until his death, a position that his friend Lucius Fox assumes at the end of the film, after Bruce gained control of the company. Bruce falling into the cave is included in this film, and Thomas personally rescues him by rappelling down into the cave. A frequent memory of Bruce's is Thomas' saying "Bruce, why do we fall?...So that we can learn to pick ourselves up again." Being one of the most prominent citizens in Gotham, he was trying to change the city into a better place, up until the end of his life. According to Alfred, he and Martha believed the example they set would help inspire the wealthy elite of Gotham to participate in helping the city. One of his endeavors included building an efficient public transit system in the form of raised trains, in order to provide free transportation to the people of Gotham. In this version, he and Martha are murdered at gunpoint by Joe Chill. They leave the performance of the Mefistofele opera early when Bruce is scared by performers dressed as bats. Dr. Wayne tries to protect his wife after Chill tries to rip off her necklace. Joe Chill then shoots and kills both of them. It is revealed in the movie that the deaths of two such prominent citizens encourages Gotham City's elite to bring it back from the brink of ruin (in the process temporarily foiling Ra's al Ghul's plan to destroy the city's economy). Dr. Wayne's last words to his son are "Bruce...don't be afraid."
• In the second sequel The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne is held captive in a The Pit, a prison in the middle east that superficially resembles the well that Thomas rescued him from as a child. The memory of Thomas helps to give Bruce the strength to climb out of the pit and escape the prison.
• Jason Marsden voices Dr. Thomas Wayne on Warner Premiere animated feature Batman: Gotham Knight (which takes place between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight).
• Thomas Wayne is referenced several times in the DTV The Batman vs. Dracula.
• Bruce Timm voices Thomas Wayne in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
• In the opening credits to Watchmen, a couple exiting a theater with their son are rescued from a gunman by the first Nite Owl. On a wall behind him are posters advertising the cover of Batman No. 1.
• Thomas Wayne appears as Batman in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (based on the Flashpoint storyline) voiced by Kevin McKidd.^[24][25] He appears as a major character as the alternate timeline's much more violent version of Batman.

Video games

• Thomas Wayne (along with Martha Wayne) makes a cameo in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
• Thomas Wayne is featured in Batman: Arkham Asylum voiced again by Kevin Conroy. Batman, while under the influence of Scarecrow's fear toxin, experiences flashbacks of his parents' murder. Additionally, a bench in Arkham Asylum dedicated to Thomas and Martha Wayne is the answer to one of Riddler's riddles, which leads to Thomas and Martha Wayne's unlockable biography.
• In Batman: Arkham City, The Monarch Theatre (the site of the Wayne murders) is featured in Arkham City.^{[citation needed]} Near the gates of Ra's al Ghul's hideout, Batman collapses from the effects of the poison in his blood and sees a vision of his parents in front of a light, imploring Bruce to come into it and reunite with them. However, Batman shrugs it off and continues on. If the player visits the site of the murder, Batman discovers a pair of chalk outlines resembling his parents bodies, as well as a bouquet of flowers and a tape recording from Hugo Strange, taunting him. The player then has the option to "pay respect" to the site, causing Batman to kneel at the site for a time. The murder of the Wayne's is also briefly mentioned in one The Penguin's interview tapes during which Cobblepot tells Hugo Strange that he was overjoyed when he heard the Wayne's had been murder, revealing his hatred of the Wayne Family, due mainly to the Cobblepot family's long standing feud with the Wayne Family.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, one of the playable skins for Batman (Bruce Wayne) is from Thomas Wayne's Flashpoint Batman attire.^[26]
• In Batman: Arkham Origins, Thomas Wayne's Flashpoint costume is an alternate outfit which can be used in challenge mode, online multiplayer, and story mode once the main story is completed. Following his capture of the Joker at the Royal Hotel and return to the Batcave, Batman has a vision of his parents murder in Crime Alley which actually shows Thomas and then Martha being gunned down by a mugger (assumed to be Joe Chill). The site of the Wayne's murder can be found in Park Row's Crime Alley behind the Monarch Theatre (in the same location as it appeared in Arkham City). The pair chalk outlines of Thomas and Martha are present along with a single rose.

Novels

• In Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Martha's past is explored; she fought crime in her own way as a social worker trying to protect sexually abused children. The novel suggests this was the motive for the murder of the Wayne couple.^{[citation needed]}

References

v t e Batman Creators Bob Kane Bill Finger Other creators Batman family Shared codenames Batman Robin Batwoman Batgirl Huntress Nightwing Red Robin Character names Ace the Bat-Hound Bat-Mite Helena Bertinelli Stephanie Brown Cassandra Cain Tim Drake Barbara Gordon Dick Grayson Betty Kane Katherine Kane Selina Kyle (Catwoman) Terry McGinnis Alfred Pennyworth Jason Todd Jean-Paul Valley (Azrael) Bruce Wayne Damian Wayne Helena Wayne Supporting characters Crispus Allen Harvey Bullock Lucius Fox Talia al Ghul Commissioner James Gordon Renee Montoya Lady Shiva Leslie Thompkins Professor Carter Nichols Vicki Vale Martha Wayne Thomas Wayne Mayors of Gotham City Adversaries Bane Catwoman Clayface Harley Quinn Joe Chill Joker Killer Croc Mad Hatter Man-Bat Mr. Freeze Penguin Poison Ivy Ra's al Ghul Riddler Scarecrow Two-Face Locations Gotham City Arkham Asylum Batcave Blackgate Penitentiary Gotham City Police Department Wayne Enterprises Wayne Manor Blüdhaven Equipment Batarang Batcomputer Batsuit Utility Belt Bat-Signal Vehicles Batboat Batcopter Batcycle Batmobile Batplane Redbird Miscellanea Publications Detective Comics Batman Alternative versions of Batman Alternative versions of Robin Alternative versions of Barbara Gordon Homosexuality in the Batman franchise In other media Batman in other media Robin in other media Barbara Gordon in other media Joker in other media

v t e 1989–1997 Batman film series Batman Batman Returns Batman Forever Batman & Robin Score Soundtrack Soundtrack Score Soundtrack Soundtrack Video games Batman home computer game Batman: The Video Game for the NES Batman: The Video Game for the Sega Mega Drive Batman arcade game Batman Returns Batman Forever video game Batman Forever pinball Batman Forever: The Arcade Game Batman and Robin Adapted characters Batman/Bruce Wayne Alfred Pennyworth James Gordon Robin/Dick Grayson The Joker/Jack Napier Penguin/Oswald Cobblepott Catwoman/Selina Kyle Two-Face/Harvey Dent The Riddler/Edward Nigma Mr. Freeze/Victor Fries Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley Vicki Vale Batgirl/Barbara Wilson Bane/Antonio Diego Jason Woodrue Julie Madison Martha Wayne Thomas Wayne Boss Moroni Miscellaneous Batman OnStar commercials Lego Batman

v t e Christopher Nolan's Batman film series Batman Begins The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Rises Soundtrack Video game Soundtrack Cancelled video game Soundtrack Adapted characters Bane Joe Chill Jonathan Crane John Daggett Harvey Dent Henri Ducard Carmine Falcone Arnold Flass Lucius Fox Ra's al Ghul Talia al Ghul James Gordon The Joker Selina Kyle Gillian B. Loeb Sal Maroni Alfred Pennyworth Bruce Wayne Martha Wayne Thomas Wayne Victor Zsasz Original characters John Blake Rachel Dawes Related Batman: Gotham Knight