10 Comics Heroes Who Lost Themselves (But Saved The Universe)

DC's Final Crisis storyline was the culmination of various plot lines involving the New Gods, and it explored the ramifications of Darkseid's quest to control all life using the Anti-Life Equation. The dark deity's actions were felt far and wide across the DC universe, and it took all of its heroes to stop his apocalyptic scheming.

Ultimately, the fate of all creation fell to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flashes (Barry Allen and Wally West), as they worked in tandem to stop the Lord of Apokolips' plans from taking permanent shape in the structure of the universe.

Unfortunately, due to having to deal with various challenges posed by Darkseid's actions, the heroes were split up across space and time and this meant that Batman had to confront the tyrant by himself.

Bruce shoots Darkseid with a Radion bullet (the only substance that can kill a New God), but is in turn killed when he is hit by Darkseid's Omega Beams. Fortunately, Bruce's sacrifice set the stage for Darkseid's eventual defeat and the restoration of the universe to its original form. It was also later revealed that Bruce hadn't died at all, but had instead been blasted back through time, which was covered in The Return of Bruce Wayne mini-series in 2010.