Will the real Batman please stand up

[Dînadan]

This was inspired by a discussion on another site I frequent. Which is the 'real' persona and which is the 'mask' - Batman or Bruce Wayne? What do people think?



Personally I'm in the Batman='real', Bruce='mask' camp, although I'll admit that I don't think it's quite as clear cut as that. I think that it'd be more accurate to say Batman is the 'truer' of the two and the actual 'real' one is probably a mix of the two, albeit predominantly Batman (think Ive heard it described as there's three identities, Bruce Wayne the playboy millionaire, Batman the vigilantly, and Bruce, the man in the five minutes between the cowl coming down and the Armani suit going on (basically how he is in the cave with Alfred).

I'll also admit that this'll probably vary greatly depending on what continuity you're discussing (hence that meme where Batman fills all nine slots on the D&D alignment chart).

[SlackerinDeNile]

I think it depends on the continuity and the writer to be honest.
There's no denying that when Frank Miller is writing him, Bruce Wayne is just a thinly veiled cover over Batman's 'dark crusader' personality.

In Tim Burton's first Batman movie, the Batman persona seemed more like a disturbing coping mechanism for an awkward, traumatised and somewhat neurotic man with too much time and money on his hands.

[MithrandirOlorin]

Batman and Playboy Bruce are both Masks.

I hate the Batman is the real Person idea, it's stupid Frank Miller nonsense that needs to stop.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'd tend to go with both Batman and the playboy being masks, yes.

The real Bruce Wayne likely being the boy who never got past losing his parents in Crime Alley.