What if Batman was poor?

[The Romulan Republic]

Much is made of Batman- the mortal man who, through shear brilliance and resolve, is able to hold his own with Superman and Darkseid. But, let's be honest- Bruce has a leg up over most humans, beyond whatever innate abilities he possesses, in the form of massive inherited wealth.

So, a simple question comes to mind: What if Bruce were poor? Or even middle class? Suppose he had no vast Wayne Enterprises fortune to start with. Suppose he was just some kid who's parents were murdered, like thousands of others. What would he have done? Could he still have become one of the greatest superheroes of the DC universe through personal ability alone? Could he have built his own business empire from the ground up? How would his path have changed? What would have taken longer or been more difficult? Or would he have remained more of a just a pure street-level hero, or gone a different path altogether?

[Batman]

I don't work without effectively infinite money. I couldn't afford the gadgets, but above all, I couldn't afford the training. The travels.
You can't build a Batman without a lot of money. And you don't build something like the Wayne Fortune from scratch. That takes decades, possibly generations. Could a poor Bruce Wayne become a hero? Possibly. But he'd be nothing like the Batman we know.
Superheroes have either money or superpowers because you need one of those to make a difference on that level

[The Romulan Republic]

Its possible that if Bruce made the right connections, he would still be able to access various forms of power-ups/technology. Likewise, there are other routes to gaining at least some of his extraordinary training and experience, especially with someone of Bruce's obvious physical and mental gifts (serving a tour in the armed forces/special forces, for example, or getting into the best college on an athletic scholarship). But he'd have to take slower and different routes, and above all, he'd probably have to be better at being a team player.

I actually wonder if that might lead to a more psychologically healthy Bruce, or if a poor Bruce, without the resources at his disposal to actually take on crime, would just rush ahead and end up getting himself killed in some low-level street fight before he hits twenty.

I could see him becoming a cop in this scenario, actually, and working with Gordon to reform the GCPD from within.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Go read "Gotham By Gaslight"
Its victorian steampunk Batman.
the Bruce Wayne of that world set exactly "poor" bu the is by no means wealthy.

[Batman]

Its possible that if Bruce made the right connections, he would still be able to access various forms of power-ups/technology.

Possible? Yes. Likely? Hardly. Unless poor Me manages to pull a Smallville Clark and find a Lex Luthor to pay for all of it that seems highly unlikely.

Likewise, there are other routes to gaining at least some of his extraordinary training and experience, especially with someone of Bruce's obvious physical and mental gifts (serving a tour in the armed forces/special forces, for example, or getting into the best college on an athletic scholarship).

Some. And I'm inclined to say little.

I actually wonder if that might lead to a more psychologically healthy Bruce, or if a poor Bruce, without the resources at his disposal to actually take on crime, would just rush ahead and end up getting himself killed in some low-level street fight before he hits twenty.

With the only change being no/little money I'd consider this the most likely outcome.

I could see him becoming a cop in this scenario, actually, and working with Gordon to reform the GCPD from within.

As the only difference in this scenario seems to be I no longer have money I suspect I'd still go on my silly crusade and, without the resources and training that allowed me to wage it in canon, would die on short notice

[Starglider]

A budget of $10M would suffice for the world travel, training, a couple of black sports cars and a warehouse to keep them in. A budget of $100M, which is a fairly regular jackpot win for US-wide and EU-wide lotteries, would suffice for a most of the gadgets (assuming Bruce Wayne is designing and building them) and a reasonably sized underground lair. It's only the crazy comic book stuff such as dozens of fully custom batmobiles and private jets in a vast cave complex that would take multiple billions. So while Batman can't be poor, he could be written without massive inherited wealth (you could retrospectively justify a lottery win with a typical fate / mysterious magical benefactor arranged it storyline).

[K. A. Pital]

It would be Bat-ass - a lower class hero without gimmicks.

[madd0ct0r]

I think we can say batman has types of superpower.

He is clearly intelligent, retentive memory, physically fit and capable of using many fighting and weapon styles. He appears to be able to be a competent technician and maker. Even in settings where bat masks are ordered from china he is the one putting the costume together.

So.

Bruce grew up in the slums of gotham. It wasnt a nice place, but his parents had local respect as good people. They organised fixing the blocked drains, street parties and their house was always full of people needing a roof, or just a coffee and some warm advice.

That all ended of course. Wrong place. Mistaken for rival gang member. Shit happens.

The house went back to the landlord. Bruce, age 10, was supposed to be sent upstate to a distant relation. Instead he dissapeared.

He wasnt on the streets long, a few months perhaps, but with winter pushing in he talked his way on to a tramp steamer, and worked his way across the world, visiting hong kong, singapore and dozens of small exotic ports. He grew up in these years, learned to fight on a rolling deck, learbed a trick or two off sailors who woke up each morning to kata through the rising sun. He learned to fix things on the steamers and scavenge, salvage and recycle. He learned the measure of men, the buckling of cowards and the loyalty of the best crews.

It was an old second hand paper that announced "the superman" had caught a falling plane in mid air and helped arrest the saboteurs. A single man as a hero that changes the world? Bruce was already primed for role models and the article sank deep into his dreams. The start of a plan drifted up.

It was a winters morning when he docked back in Gotham. The house his parents had lived in was long gone, part of an abandoned metro scheme, so siphoning project that had fallen apart when the city's finances did in the recession. It was just a boarded up site above a deep dank manmade cavern.

Batman was home.

[Solauren]

If Batman was poor, but managed to get any training, he's basically just be an exceptional Ninja.

Really, the only thing that separates Batman from a ninja is the quality of his gadgets.

[Broomstick]

A poor batman would be sort of like Daredevil, except he'd be able to see.

[Solauren]

Probably worse off then Daredevil. Daredevil at least has social skills. I really don't think Batman/Bruce Wayne has alot of those.

[The Romulan Republic]

Probably worse off then Daredevil. Daredevil at least has social skills. I really don't think Batman/Bruce Wayne has alot of those.

Yeah, that's the thing. To go really far with his crusade in this scenario, he would need all his canon abilities plus the ability to actually work with other people better.

[Batman]

I wonder how much of that is the result of not needing to work with other people because I could just have them work for me. A poor/Middle Class Bruce Wayne with my social skills (read: none whatsoever) isn't going to get very far in the world so if he wants to go on his crusade he pretty much needs to learn to work with others.

[FaxModem1]

"Hi, welcome to Walmart.... I'm Batman"

[ray245]

Batman has more social skills than some of you are giving him credit for. He prefers to work alone, but in his Bruce Wayne persona, he can pretty do all the socialising bits ( at least pretend to do so) without much problem.

So even if Batman starts off poor, there is no reason why he has to stay poor. There is still a potential for him to escape the poverty and craft something for himself if he really wants to. He's one of the smartest individual in the DC universe after all.

[LadyTevar]

I think we can say batman has types of superpower.

He is clearly intelligent, retentive memory, physically fit and capable of using many fighting and weapon styles. He appears to be able to be a competent technician and maker. Even in settings where bat masks are ordered from china he is the one putting the costume together.

So.(SNIP)

This could work. It's well thought out, and the travel would give Batman the social skills to make allies. Also, this helps with the Matches Malone personna he uses at times.

Of course, there's also the Ra's al Ghul angle to play on. We have one movie where he did train under Ra's as a Assassin, before rejecting Ra's extremism and fleeing. As a poor man, Bruce's access to Ra's resources would be very tempting. You might run with Bruce being more of Ra's man in this instance.

[Raw Shark]

This may be my personal biases showing, but I'd sort of like to see Poor Bat. The one who works with what I've got - Brilliance, athleticism, and no cash. Bring it.

[Elheru Aran]

Strikes me that Rorschach from Watchmen is basically what you're looking at. At least if you keep the antisocial attitude, anyway.

[K. A. Pital]

So even if Batman starts off poor, there is no reason why he has to stay poor. There is still a potential for him to escape the poverty and craft something for himself if he really wants to. He's one of the smartest individual in the DC universe after all.

So? Unless he has luck and rolls twelves in a row like an unbalanced RPG character, “smart” has shit all to do with “rich”.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6103 ... st-chance/

Poor Battie would likely die before collecting enough cash to buy a home. That is, unless he inherits one from dead parents.

[ray245]

So even if Batman starts off poor, there is no reason why he has to stay poor. There is still a potential for him to escape the poverty and craft something for himself if he really wants to. He's one of the smartest individual in the DC universe after all.

So? Unless he has luck and rolls twelves in a row like an unbalanced RPG character, “smart” has shit all to do with “rich”.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/6103 ... st-chance/

Poor Battie would likely die before collecting enough cash to buy a home. That is, unless he inherits one from dead parents.

I know. This is why I said there's a potential for him to do so? Rather than asserting it will definitely happen? Batman isn't just smart smart, but he is extremely resourceful. He's a highly capable person that can act his way around the right people for his advantage.

Whether Batman do become the richest person in the world is a matter of luck, but there is no reason why he can't take advantage of the system and be a decently well-off individual. He can be extremely manipulative of people if he feels like he has to.

[K. A. Pital]

Technically with his skills he could pull off a heist. In Gotham - the way it is described-, it would not be even that hard to find a bank that hoards mafia cash, I think.

[ray245]

Technically with his skills he could pull off a heist. In Gotham - the way it is described-, it would not be even that hard to find a bank that hoards mafia cash, I think.

He could always mine and trade bitcoins or stocks as well. Batman isn't just smart, he's resourceful. So even if he starts from ground-zero, he can accumulate bits of influence and wealth overtime. With his networking and manipulative skills, he could easily convince a venture-capitalist to invest in some of his ideas/ventures.

It's not that he's smart, it's that he's far too capable (he's often called out by people for being a Mary-Sue with very good reasons) to stay at the bottom. He's certainly willing to bend the rules of law to get what he wants as well.

[The Romulan Republic]

I think we can say batman has types of superpower.

He is clearly intelligent, retentive memory, physically fit and capable of using many fighting and weapon styles. He appears to be able to be a competent technician and maker. Even in settings where bat masks are ordered from china he is the one putting the costume together.

So.(SNIP)

This could work. It's well thought out, and the travel would give Batman the social skills to make allies. Also, this helps with the Matches Malone personna he uses at times.

Of course, there's also the Ra's al Ghul angle to play on. We have one movie where he did train under Ra's as a Assassin, before rejecting Ra's extremism and fleeing. As a poor man, Bruce's access to Ra's resources would be very tempting. You might run with Bruce being more of Ra's man in this instance.

Or trying to take over Ras's organization from within.

That could be an interesting story, actually. Bruce slowly working his way up until his in a position to coup Ras, having to maintain his cover long-term in the League and trying not to lose his soul in the process. With a romantic side-plot with Talia, of course.

Strikes me that Rorschach from Watchmen is basically what you're looking at. At least if you keep the antisocial attitude, anyway.

Well, except Rorschach is a nasty little man who has zero problem with murdering people he doesn't like. Whereas the thing that arguably defines Batman as a hero is his reluctance (in most versions anyway) to kill.

[Elheru Aran]

Strikes me that Rorschach from Watchmen is basically what you're looking at. At least if you keep the antisocial attitude, anyway.

Well, except Rorschach is a nasty little man who has zero problem with murdering people he doesn't like. Whereas the thing that arguably defines Batman as a hero is his reluctance (in most versions anyway) to kill.

Granted, however the MO would likely have been similar enough. The main difference is Bruce is probably more intelligent and capable of figuring out how to live a relatively normal civilian life while engaging in vigilante justice.

[Gandalf]

Granted, however the MO would likely have been similar enough. The main difference is Bruce is probably more intelligent and capable of figuring out how to live a relatively normal civilian life while engaging in vigilante justice.

Or a lifetime in Gotham's shitty neighbourhoods, as opposed to stately Wayne Manor, gives him a different outlook on things and he becomes more like The Punisher.