Bruce Wayne's Civilian Friends

[Restingvoice]

I realize this after seeing a Tumblr post bringing up this topic, which they settle by making an original character for their fanfic

Does he have a civilian friend in canon? I mean friends friends. Not a professional friend/employee like Lucius. Someone he can hang out with that is not Clark.

The first thought is Commissioner Gordon in the Golden Age where he regularly hangs out, but even then he's in his lazy playboy billionaire persona.
Then of course Harvey Dent before Two-Face.
Tommy Elliot showed up in the book where he became a villain, and we don't see them until they start hanging out.
I thought he's about to be friends with Lincoln March, but nope, villain again.

Leslie Thompkins... he doesn't hang out with her. I kinda want a hangout peer.

The story pattern that his friends turn to villainy or death fits the theme of Batman is always lonely that DC wants to sell, but it doesn't always have to be that way.

The problem of course is his Brucie Playboy persona where that means he's gonna pretend to hang out with suckups, and even if he's not in Brucie mode, his own character as Batman doesn't allow people outside to get close, either to keep his secret or keep them safe.

[babyblob]

I would love to see Bruce have a civilian friend. it would be cool to kind of balance him out. Someone who is not a cop or former crimefighter. Someone who does not help him with his bat gadgets. Like Bruce says "Man that fight with Scarecrow took a lot out of me. It would be cool to hang with my bro have a pizza and watch the game."

But sadly if they did give him one it would turn into a Bruce looking down on the person because he is soft who has not seen the horrors he has and does not understand how the real world works, or the guy will be the next villain they are trying to push for the next arc etc...

[witchboy]

Since his public persona is all an act, I can't see how a healthy friendship would come about. Batman wouldn't want to be friends with anyone who wanted to be friends with Bruce.
His friends are his Batfamily and teammates from the JL and Outsiders.

[Frontier]

I mean, if he presents Bruce as enough of a nice guy I think he'd probably engender some good people in his social circle (with the assumption that some of the rich people he hangs out with are genuinely nice people and not suck-ups) but he probably doesn't want to get close to anyone.

The only time I can remember normal civilians who Bruce knows come into relevancy is when something bad happens to them or they turn out to be behind whatever case Batman is on.

[LordMikel]

I would love to see Bruce have a civilian friend. it would be cool to kind of balance him out. Someone who is not a cop or former crimefighter. Someone who does not help him with his bat gadgets. Like Bruce says "Man that fight with Scarecrow took a lot out of me. It would be cool to hang with my bro have a pizza and watch the game."

But sadly if they did give him one it would turn into a Bruce looking down on the person because he is soft who has not seen the horrors he has and does not understand how the real world works, or the guy will be the next villain they are trying to push for the next arc etc...

That. Immediately I would think, "what villain are we about to introduce?"

[Restingvoice]

So it would be a good subversion if they stick around

[batnbreakfast]

Where would Bruce put in time for friends? Is it possible? He has two jobs, kids, a wife and no butler. He probably is happy to have no one around for a Minute.

[spatterdasher]

I can't believe that ALL of Bruce Wayne's rich socialite buddies are shallow suckups. Surely he'd still automatically gravitate towards hanging out with people who aren't complete shitheads, just for his own sanity.

Personally I have a soft spot for Veronica Vreeland from BTAS. Well, okay, she was pretty shallow, and not a great friend, but she was an honestly fun character. She seemed to hang out with Bruce semi-regularly, and she wasn't a love interest, so Bruce didn't seem to have the full playboy mask on around her. I liked that she was a normal person who just kept getting sucked into rogue-centric stories. I wish they had continued the trend of her developing odd little friendships with rogues like in "Birds of a Feather" and "Harley's Holiday". Sort of a fun foil/contrast to both Bruce AND Batman.

[Frontier]

I can't believe that ALL of Bruce Wayne's rich socialite buddies are shallow suckups. Surely he'd still automatically gravitate towards hanging out with people who aren't complete shitheads, just for his own sanity.

Personally I have a soft spot for Veronica Vreeland from BTAS. Well, okay, she was pretty shallow, and not a great friend, but she was an honestly fun character. She seemed to hang out with Bruce semi-regularly, and she wasn't a love interest, so Bruce didn't seem to have the full playboy mask on around her. I liked that she was a normal person who just kept getting sucked into rogue-centric stories. I wish they had continued the trend of her developing odd little friendships with rogues like in "Birds of a Feather" and "Harley's Holiday". Sort of a fun foil/contrast to both Bruce AND Batman.

Agreed.

Bruce needs more friends .

[Restingvoice]

I can't believe that ALL of Bruce Wayne's rich socialite buddies are shallow suckups. Surely he'd still automatically gravitate towards hanging out with people who aren't complete shitheads, just for his own sanity.

Personally I have a soft spot for Veronica Vreeland from BTAS. Well, okay, she was pretty shallow, and not a great friend, but she was an honestly fun character. She seemed to hang out with Bruce semi-regularly, and she wasn't a love interest, so Bruce didn't seem to have the full playboy mask on around her. I liked that she was a normal person who just kept getting sucked into rogue-centric stories. I wish they had continued the trend of her developing odd little friendships with rogues like in "Birds of a Feather" and "Harley's Holiday". Sort of a fun foil/contrast to both Bruce AND Batman.

Yeah, he gravitated towards Lincoln March and Harvey Dent because of their good plans for the city, so it won't just limited to suckups. Problem is the good one is turned to villains

Never heard of VV, gonna look it up.

[Mark Trail]

Back in the pre-grimdark age, once in a while you'd see that Bruce had casual friends, typically people he knew from the country club or a charitable foundation. And Gordon, of course. Of course, back then, Bruce was less an act and more a different side to his personality. At the end of the day, I think his best friends were always Robin and Superman and, like a lot of men of a certain age, his best friends were "work buddies."