10 Comic Characters Who STOLE Batman's Identity

10. Azrael - Knightfall

Starting off with perhaps the most obvious and iconic version of someone stealing the Bat-mantle is Azrael.

During the Knightfall event first released back in the early 90s, the series saw Bruce Wayne battle against a smarter, more cunning version of Bane which resulted in the infamous breaking of the bat. This powerful imagery of Bane snapping Bat's back like it was a glowstick on rave night remains one of the most important pieces of DC history.

Shortly after, the rest of the Bat-Family decided Gotham still needed its Dark Knight while Bruce was in recovery. Despite being the obvious choice, Dick Grayson opted out and helped the crew find a different successor.

The vigilante, Azrael was picked and all seemed well... for about two issues. It turned out Azrael was not a big fan of Batman's no-killing rule and took matters into his own hands, going from temporary Batman to someone who had well and truly stolen the title. That said, he wouldn't keep it for long, as the minute Bruce was back in action he'd come to fight Azrael for the rights to the mantle.

This storyline became so beloved that DC recently revisited those events in its compilation of alternate versions of comic history dubbed the Dark Multiverse.