10 Worst Things That Ever Happened To Batman

9. All The Times His Sidekicks Left Him - Numerous

For someone who's often typecast as a loner, Batman really does love family. Over the course of his 80-year history, Bruce Wayne has adopted/recruited various allies to his ranks, even raising several - Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne - as his own children. Factor in the likes of Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain, and it's sort of a wonder how people still maintain Bats is better off on his own.

Whatever the Bat-fandom's opinions of the Bat-family are, one thing that cannot be denied is that eventually, every Robin has to flee the nest... cave... thing. Just as any parent can usually expect their child to leave the house when they're older, so too has Batman had to brace himself for the day his sidekicks leave for good.

Only, these departures haven't always ended on good terms.

The post-Crisis version of Dick Grayson leaving Batman came about in the story "Did Robin Die Tonight?". In it, the Joker wounds Robin with the world's media looking on, with many speculating that he's died. Bruce, sensing his arch rogue is getting more and more dangerous by the day, opts to use the opportunity to get Dick to abandon the Robin identity, an idea the young Grayson obviously doesn't warm too.

Cue Dick leaving to join the Teen Titans, before eventually becoming Nightwing. It's one of the best arcs a comic book character has ever gotten!

Of course, there are other versions of how this went down. Batman: The Animated Series shows Grayson laying Batman out in one punch on his way to becoming Nightwing. Although again, there are worse ways to part with your guardian...