For those who say Bruce Wayne is 'obviously' Batman

[Jorriss]

Bruce Wayne isn't even the only reasonably wealthy, tall, white, buff male in Gotham or adjacent areas. It does not seem obvious to me that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but it does seem solvable given time. Many people here are saying it wouldn't be solved because "my first thought would be..". But your first thought is wrong, so when that doesn't pan out, then what? They'll try something else. It's possible Bruce wouldn't be outed but given time there are clues leading to him, and once you have the inkling that Bruce is Batman, it is fairly obvious from there (obvious meaning it will definitely be figured out conclusively).


By the way, this is a bit off topic, but anyone else notice that the way "Robin" determined Bruce's identity in TDKR was very similar to how Cassandra Cain did? I didn't notice that until yesterday when I was rereading Batgirl.

[The Kid]

My guess is Bruce has other people like Dick or Clark dress up as Batman while Bruce Wayne is speaking publicly enough times that people aren't sure he's Batman

[Radix]

-The death of the Waynes was over 15 years before Batman debuted, they wouldnt be on most people minds unless they look at Bruce.
-With Zero Year, Batman makes his debute by "saving" Bruce Wayne.
-The Riddler in Zero Year, deduces that Batman is ex-military. This seems much more likely than the rich playboy who gets drunk at parties a lot.
-Yes the FBI could probably figure it out, but only with their level of resources. In Justice League, Lex comments that Batman set a bunch of false trails and covered true paths. THese would be enough to stop all but government organizations; and in the comics, the government knows. At least Waller does.

[bella]

Anyway, the idea that Bruce Wayne is Batman is only obvious in hindsight. We, the readers, know more about Bruce Wayne than the average DC citizen does. To the average DC citizen, Bruce is just a spoiled rotten playboy just like Paris Hilton.

[Powerboy]

-The death of the Waynes was over 15 years before Batman debuted, they wouldnt be on most people minds unless they look at Bruce.
-With Zero Year, Batman makes his debute by "saving" Bruce Wayne.
-The Riddler in Zero Year, deduces that Batman is ex-military. This seems much more likely than the rich playboy who gets drunk at parties a lot.
-Yes the FBI could probably figure it out, but only with their level of resources. In Justice League, Lex comments that Batman set a bunch of false trails and covered true paths. THese would be enough to stop all but government organizations; and in the comics, the government knows. At least Waller does.

Also, if this is Post-Crisis Luthor, he's the guy who rejects that Superman is Clark Kent even knowing they are exactly the same height and weight to the smallest fraction of the inch and the pound, have precisely the same build to the fraction of an inch, have a connection both to Smallville, seem to hang out with the same normal folks (Lois, Jimmy, Perry), have a "one vanishes and the other appears" thing going on, etc. Yet he still rejects it because he "knows" that nobody of Superman's power would pretend to be a normal human who has to take orders from another person who he could crush like nothing if he wanted to.

Sorry, sidetrack. But that sort of psychological denial is actually a pretty good reason for not being able to figure it out compared to most of the comic genre reasons.

As you said though, Batman's secret identity works well enough for the general public but not for the serious government organizations. I think what it comes down to is that, when the super hero genre began, it was for children. Nobody conceived there would come a day when the readership would be mostly adults and this stuff would be subjected to adult scrutiny.

[JBatmanFan05]

That the government would figure it all out quickly enough and end it, because govts don't like threats to their tyranny (democratic or not)...ends my interest in the question.

[Powerboy]

That the government would figure it all out quickly enough and end it, because govts don't like threats to their tyranny (democratic or not)...ends my interest in the question.

Well, the answer was inevitable from the start. Removed from the conventions of the genre, none of this stuff works. The genre is supposed to be enjoyable and fun. The silliness of Lois not being able to figure out who Superman is and so on is part of the genre. You can sometimes mess with the genre. Personally, I think the more realistic it gets, the less fun it gets.

NOT saying I want to go back to the Silver Age. But there is a point where everything is subjected to such real world scrutiny that the whole fantasy is ruined.

[zhris]

Didn't Bane figure it out on like his second day in Gotham back in Knightfall?

[LoneNecromancer]

Didn't Bane figure it out on like his second day in Gotham back in Knightfall?

Yeah, but he has that magic superpower of reading body language.

[Tupiaz]

If Batman showed up in our reality tomorrow, would you accuse him of being random Billionaires like Donald Trump, Mark Cuban or Mark Zuckerberg. Is that really where we'd start guessing?

I find, mostly non comic fans, want to poke fun at Batman's identity being as stupidly obvious as Kal-el hiding behind glasses. It's not. Unless you are commissioner Gordon or hold the omniscient perspective of the reader, I don't see how you could logically arrive at that conclusion.

You took out a very important element. Batman's is primarily fighting crime in Gotham which would make people look at Gotham's wealthiest and not the countries most weathiest which make the number of people even smaller. Unfit people like Donal Trump would also rather quickly be eliminated as candidates.

[ParticleFreezer]

There are 103 Billionaires currently living in Gotham, and by Gotham I mean present day New York City. http://www.businessinsider.com/citie...s-live-2014-10

Now I still think the biggest stretch here is believing that the Billionaire Benefactor and the guy carrying out these crazy amazing acts are the same person. We know, because we are Readers with all the facts. But in the real world, things don't work like that. Mohammed atta didn't do 9/11 by himself, he is funded by a greater power. Real billionaires don't carry out their own dirty work.

[Powerboy]

There are 103 Billionaires currently living in Gotham, and by Gotham I mean present day New York City. http://www.businessinsider.com/citie...s-live-2014-10

Now I still think the biggest stretch here is believing that the Billionaire Benefactor and the guy carrying out these crazy amazing acts are the same person. We know, because we are Readers with all the facts. But in the real world, things don't work like that. Mohammed atta didn't do 9/11 by himself, he is funded by a greater power. Real billionaires don't carry out their own dirty work.

Yes assuming the billionaire is merely the benefactor is reasonable. So our FBI organization or some organization with even better resources (though why the FBI and other real world organizations would have only their real world tech and resources in a comic book setting boggles me) has 103 suspects as a starting point to lead them to Batman. So they need motive for financing a vigilante. With only about a hundred people to go with as a starting point, how long do you think it's going to take an organization like that to narrow it down to a few people with motive? This is how criminal investigation organizations work. Personally, I'd just go after the guy whose original sidekick looked exactly like Dick Grayson wearing a little mask just around his eyes and cut through the rest of it. But, even ignoring that, you have to brush off virtually every aspect of reality and how criminal investigation really works and how sophisticated it has gotten to seriously believe his secret identity could work in reality or in any world where investigators actually had real investigation methods and didn't have those strange mental blocks that prevent the drawing of any conclusion that leads to figuring out a secret identity.

I just remembered something someone pointed out a long time ago, that Batman has several times been wounded and investigators at the scene knew it was his blood at the scene. Game, set, match right there

Now, yes, bringing shapeshifters and androids and telepathic mind manipulation into it, Batman could keep his identity a secret. I'm not arguing against that. I'm arguing with the people who seriously believe he wouldn't be tracked down relatively easily in the real world.

[Jorriss]

There are 103 Billionaires currently living in Gotham, and by Gotham I mean present day New York City. http://www.businessinsider.com/citie...s-live-2014-10

I don't think it's necessary to assume that he is a billionaire. It would be understood that there is some type of financial backing to Batman, but one might not necessarily assume he is a billionaire, it would be reasonable to assume a much lower level of financing. Within the context of the comics, I think we know it's unnecessary since I don't believe Batman has spent billions on his mission?

[T'Challa Bruce Von Doom]

I don't think it's necessary to assume that he is a billionaire. It would be understood that there is some type of financial backing to Batman, but one might not necessarily assume he is a billionaire, it would be reasonable to assume a much lower level of financing. Within the context of the comics, I think we know it's unnecessary since I don't believe Batman has spent billions on his mission?

In "The Cost of Being Batman," the cost of his costume was estimated at $50,000, the Batmobile at $2,090,000, and his standard equipment gear at $9,562. Some of his gear needs to be replenished as necessary, and the Batmobile needs repairs and maintenance like any other car. That's without taking into account anything else.

[NexusTenebrare]

People focus on the money, but I always found the most identifying mark to be how well the appearance and disappearance of Bruce's wards lines up with that of Batman's Robins.
They could easily be recognised based on age and general appearance.
At least Kate Kane has the sense to wear a wig as part of her costume.

It's also worth noting that that was a good part of how Vickie Vale figured it out at the end of the pre-flashpoint universe.