10 Times Batman Proved He Was No Hero

4. He's Abused His Adopted Children

Batman Red Sky
DC Comics

Bruce has been physically and emotionally abusive with every Robin since the Golden Age. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone; one of the internet's most overused memes is just an image of Batman smacking Dick. Even Stephanie Brown, who was only Robin for a day wasn't safe from his emotional abuse. In fact, she may have suffered more emotional abuse from Batman than anyone else.

It's pretty clear that Wayne Manor is the sort of house where children learn that talking back earns them a black eye, and not measuring up to Bruce's impossible standards earns a set of lifelong emotional scars.

There was a Teen Titans arc in the early eighties in which Dick, the first Robin, had to struggle to overcome his emotional trauma from living and working with Bruce. He had relationship problems with Kory, suffered frequent mental breakdowns, trained hard enough to injure himself for catharsis, and ultimately left the team because of the damage Bruce did to him.

And Bruce has only gotten worse in more recent stories.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Cross hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.