10 Batmen Who Aren't Bruce Wayne
When The Dark Knight got the what-if treatment.
We all know the story, two doting parents take their only son to a night out at the movies, only to be tragically gunned down in front of him. This moment forever changes the boy, leading him down the path that would culminate in him donning the cowl of The Batman and waging his one-man war against crime in Gotham City.
Part of what makes Batman resonate with readers is that his powers don't define him. Anyone could be Batman, given a seemingly bottomless bank account and a couple decades of intensive training (or even just an obsessive hard-on for justice and an alternative fashion sense). He can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, he isn't faster than a speeding bullet, but he's got a will more powerful than a locomotive.
Really, there isn't anything stopping someone from putting on hockey pads and a Halloween mask and calling themselves The Batman (except Christian Bale that one time). If they believe it, who's to tell them they're wrong? Batman helps inspire us to be the people we can be through drive and determination, the best of ourselves. He displays the height of human potential.
At his core, Batman is just that, a man adopting the visage of a bat, doing everything in his power to save his city from injustice, and so are these men.
10. Harvey Dent - Legends Of The Dark Knight Annual #4
Citizen Wayne is narrated by an unnamed police officer investigating the deaths of Harvey Dent and Bruce Foster Wayne. The story is inspired by and includes multiple references to the classic 1941 film Citizen Kane.
Through the officer's investigation we learn that in this universe, The Waynes are confronted by Joe Chill in Crime Alley but only Thomas is killed trying to protect his wife and son. Bruce grows up alongside his best friend Harvey Dent who both idolize Bruce's father. Thomas’ death instills a strong sense of justice in the boys.
Harvey becomes District Attorney and Bruce focuses his efforts on running his family's newspaper. The men hope that through law enforcement and journalistic truth they can take Gotham back from crime boss Sal Maroni but Bruce believes Dent is too aggressive in his approach.
Dent becomes frustrated with the limits the law imposes on him until Maroni horribly scars Dents entire face with acid. Seeing no other recourse but to operate as a vigilante, Harvey becomes Batman and begins his crusade to stop Maroni.
What's odd is there isn't really a reason for why Harvey chose a bat as his totem. He just shows up one day in full costume with no explanation. We can only assume he just happened to already have the outfit for... other reasons.
In the stories epilogue we find our unnamed narrator has been Dick Grayson all along. After uncovering the truth and being inspired by Dent and Wayne, its implied he becomes Batman's successor in this reality as well.