Batcave
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The Batcave is the secret headquarters of fictional DC Comics' superhero Batman, (the alternate identity of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne), consisting of a series of subterranean caves beneath his residence, Wayne Manor.
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[edit] Publication history
Originally, there was only a secret tunnel that ran underground between Wayne Manor and an old barn where the Batmobile and Batplane were kept. Later in Batman #12 (Aug-Sept 1942), Finger mentioned "secret underground hangers". In 1943, the writers of the first Batman movie serial gave the Caped Crusader a complete underground crime lab and introduced it in the first chapter entitled "The Bat's Cave". Bob Kane, who was on the movie set, mentioned this to Bill Finger who was going to be the initial scripter on the BATMAN Daily Newspaper strip. Finger included with his script, a clipping from POPULAR MECHANICS that featured a detailed cross section of underground hangers. Kane used this clipping as a guide,adding the crime lab,stalactites,stalagmites and bats. Thus,the Dark Knight's creators introduced the definitive Batcave in the BATMAN newspaper strip on October 29, 1943 [1]. The "Batcave" made its comic book debut in Detective Comics #83 (Jan 1944)[2]. Scource: BATMAN:THE DAILIES 1943-1944. Intro by JOE DESRIS, published by Kitchen Sink Press and DC COMICS 1990
[edit] Fictional history
Discovered and used long before by Wayne's ancestors as a storehouse as well as a means of transporting escaped slaves during the Civil War era, Wayne himself rediscovered them when he fell through a dilapidated well on his estate.
Much like Superman's Fortress of Solitude, the Batcave serves as a place of privacy and tranquility where Batman can be himself.
[edit] Use
Upon his initial foray into crime-fighting, Wayne used the caves as a sanctum and to store his then-minimal equipment. As time went on, Wayne found the place ideal to create a stronghold for his war against crime, and has incorporated a plethora of equipment as well as expanding the cave for specific uses.
Often, Bruce Wayne is depicted as having discovered the cave as a child, falling into it during youthful exploration of the grounds. This was shown in the movies Batman Forever and Batman Begins, as a young Bruce Wayne fell through wood that was covering an abandoned water well.
The cave is accessible in several ways. It can be reached through a secret door in Wayne Manor itself, which is almost always depicted as in the main study, often behind a grandfather clock which unlocks the secret door when the hands are set to the time that Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered, 10:47. Alternately, the study entrance has been shown to be behind a bookcase which slides to the side when a secret button is pushed, revealing the "Bat-Poles", which allow Bruce Wayne and his ward to change into their Batman and Robin costumes en route as they slide down to the cave. There is also an entrance under Bruce Wayne's chair in his office in Wayne Enterprises, as shown in Batman Forever. In Batman Begins the cave is accessible through a secret door disguised as part of a large display case and unlocked by pressing a sequence of keys on the nearby piano.
Another secret entrance, covered by a hologram or a camouflaged door, allows access to a service road for the Batmobile. Another alternate entrance is a dry well, highlighted especially during the Knightfall storyline. At one point, Tim Drake and Dick Grayson use the dry well to get into the cave, which they had been locked out of by Jean Paul Valley during his time as Batman.
[edit] Design
The Batcave serves as Batman's command center, where he monitors all crisis points in Gotham and the world.
The cave's centerpiece is a supercomputer whose specs are on par with any of those used by leading national security agencies; it permits global surveillance and also connects to a massive information network as well as storing vast amounts of information, both on Batman's foes and his allies. A series of satellite link-ups allows easy access to Batman's information network anywhere in the globe. The systems are protected against unauthorized access, and any attempt to breach this security immediately sends an alert to Batman or Oracle. Despite the power of Batman's computers, the Justice League Watchtower is known to have more powerful computers (composed of Kryptonian, Thanagarian and Martian technology), and Batman does occasionally use them if he feels his computers are not up to the task; on occasion he also consults Oracle for assistance.
The Bat Computer as presented in Batman and Robin is powerful beyond the realm of realistic computer systems, as Alfred is able to program a replication (his "brain algorithms") of himself that can be conversed with.
Additionally, the cave contains state of the art facilities such as: crime lab, various specialized laboratories, mechanized workshops, personal gymnasium, a vast library, parking, docking and hangar space (as appropriate) for his various vehicles as well as separate exits for the various types, trophies of past cases, a large bat colony, and a Justice League teleporter. It also has medical facilities as well as various areas used in training exercises for Batman and his allies.
The cave houses Batman's vast array of specialized vehicles, foremost being the famous Batmobile in all its incarnations (mostly for nostalgia as well as for contingencies, as all are serviceable and in excellent working condition). The 1990s animated series gave rise to the idea that Batman keeps a fleet of regular cars of various models and utility vehicles such as an ambulance as well when the Batmobile would be too conspicuous for a mission. Other vehicles within the complex include various motorcycles, and various air and watercraft such as The Bat-Wing, a single occupant supersonic jet. Another vehicle found in the Batcave is the subway rocket, debuted in Detective Comics #667, during the time when Jean Paul Valley was substituting for Bruce Wayne after Bane broke his back. It let Batman get into Gotham very fast, and could electronically clear a path via Gotham Rail.
The cave is sometimes powered by a nuclear reactor, but most often by a hydro-electric generator made possible by an underground river.
Later comics, specifically the Cataclysm storyline, suggest that Batman has incorporated safeguards against earthquakes and even a potential nuclear catastrophe, outfitting the cave as a virtual bomb shelter or an enhanced panic room. The city's earthquake redesigned the caverns of the Batcave, with eight new levels now making up Batman's secret refuge of high-tech laboratory, library, training areas, storages, and vehicle accesses. It also includes an "island" computer platform with seven linked Cray T932 mainframes and a state-of-the-art- hologram projector. With the cave's amid limestone stalactites and stalagmites, Batman built multi-walkway bridges and elevators to access its facilities.
What is allegedly the world's last Lazarus Pit was constructed inside the cave, although this has been contradicted by events in the pages of Batgirl.
[edit] Memorabilia
Three memorabilia items often seen in the cave are a defunct full-size mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex, an equally large U.S. penny and a Joker playing card. The origins of these trophies are explained in Batman #256: the T. rex comes from an adventure on "Dinosaur Island"; the penny was originally a trophy from Batman's encounter with a penny-obsessed villain named The Penny Plunderer (in World's Finest Comics #30, 1947). Other "keepsakes" in the cave include Two-Face's original coin, Deathstroke's sword, the shroud of the Vampiric Monk, and over-sized ten-pins.
There is also a glass case display of Jason Todd's Robin costume as a memorial to him, with the epitaph "A Good Soldier". Barbara Gordon's Batgirl costume also remains on display. In the Comico two part crossover, Grendel/Batman II, The skull of Hunter Rose is also put on display in the memorobilia room.
[edit] Other Batcaves
When he lived in the penthouse of the Wayne Foundation building, Batman had a secret basement there equipped as a Batcave as well. After Bane's attack during the Knightfall storyarc, Bruce Wayne swore that he'd never be caught unprepared to defend Gotham City ever again. When Dick Grayson assumed the Mantle of the Bat during the Prodigal storyline, Bruce establishes satelite Batcaves throughout the city on areas either own by him, his company, or unknown or abandoned by the city in the event that he needs a place to hide and/or resupply, which were pivotal during the No Man's Land storyline. One such Batcave was given to Batgirl, below a house owned by Bruce Wayne himself, during a point where her identity was compromised and she could not walk around without a mask. Another one featured on the Fugitive storyarc: an abandoned submarine.
Known Satelite Batcaves:
- Central Batcave: Located fifty feet below the bottom of Robinson Park Reservoir. It is accessible through a secret entrance at the foot of one of the Twelve Caesars statues at the north of the park. This safehouse was put out of commission by Poison Ivy, her "Feraks," and Clayface.[1]
- Batcave South: A broiler room of a derelict shipping yard on the docks across from Paris Island. This safehouse is accessible through a number of false manholes planted throughout Old Gotham streets.[2]
- Batcave South-Central: Located in the Old Gotham prototype subway station, a four-block stretch of track sealed in 1896 and forgotten.[3]
- Northwest Batcave: This safehouse is located at in the subbasement of Arkham Asylum. Batman secretly stocked it with emergency rations, all-terrain vehicles, and battery-powered communication equipments.[4]
- Batcave East: An abandoned oil refinery owned by Wayne Enterprises. It was fell out of use during a gasoline crisis when the company moved all of its holdings offshore decades ago.[5]
[edit] Other media
[edit] DCAU
In the Batman: The Animated Series episode Beware the Gray Ghost, the Batcave is revealed to be an exact replica of the lair used by the Gray Ghost, a fiction within fiction character and idol to Bruce Wayne. The Batcave gets introduced in this series as a large underground cavern. Bats are seen flying freely in the cave, with large naturally elevated platforms on which his sidekick Robin practices his balance. Batman often utilises the Batcomputer, impressive technology during the time the series was produced (early to mid '90s), to research information on villains, from an anti-venom to Poison Ivy's plant poison to newspaper articles on the origin of Killer Croc. Batman's numerous crime-fighting vehicles are seen parked in an adjacent compartment to the Batcave, with an adjoining not-so-secret subterranean garage which stores Bruce Wayne's mammoth collection of vintage and luxury cars.
In the episode "Almost Got 'Im", Two-Face uses a giant penny from the cave in an attempt to either crush Batman or kill him from the impact, whichever side the giant coin landed on. Batman managed to free himself from the coin by slicing open the ropes. While telling the story of this to other Batman villains, Two-Face commented that Batman got to keep the giant coin. It is seen later in the series, in the Batcave. This story was later retconned as the official comic origin of the penny.
In The New Batman Adventures episode "Mean Seasons", Batman and Batgirl are forced to fight a giant mechanical T-Rex. The comic book tie-in to the Justice League Batman -Batman Adventures issue 12- features a short short called "The Hidden Display" which tells how a young Dick Grayson persuades Batman into keeping a robot T-Rex early on his career, which eventually leads to the Trophy Room of the Cave. Either one of these tales could be how the animated Batman obtained the dinosaur.
In the animated television series Batman Beyond, the Batcave includes not only replicas of Batman's most famous enemies (both wax dummies and robot combat trainers) but also a display case which includes the many permutations of costumes of Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Batman himself. Other items which have been shown to be in the Cave include the Freeze Gun of Mr. Freeze, Harley Quinn's costume, the puppet Scarface, and a 'shrine' to Bruce Wayne's childhood TV hero, the Gray Ghost.
In the Justice Leauge animated series, the memebers of the Leauge seek refuge in the Batcave during the Thanagarian invasion. Later, they also confront Hawkgirl in the cave, and use the Batcomputer to track her movements. Batman also utilizes Mr Freeze's Freeze gun to attack an invading Thanagarian soldier
[edit] The Batman
The animated series that debuted in 2004 features a much more high-tech Batcave, with large computer displays and flashing blue lights. Among these displays are the "Bat-Wave" warning signals, an alternate way of calling upon the Caped Crusader before the Bat-Signal went into service. Bruce Wayne is seen mostly without his Batsuit or with his cowl removed while in the cave, unlike in the earlier animated series. The elevator system is featured quite a bit as well. A similar trophy room, this time storing memoribillia seen in earlier episodes such as The Riddler's giant hourglass and The Joker's giant playing card trap, appears in the series. The series also shows that it was Alfred who started the museum, hoping it would be useful if the city of Gotham ever fully accepted Batman, somewhat like the Flash Museum. The cave was also the location of Season 3's climatic finale, in which the villainous robot D.A.V.E attempts to kill Alfred using an array of trophies garnered by the Batman, allowing the Dark Knight to choose to reveal his secret identity instead. However, even the Batcave isn't impervious to damage. In one episode, a loose racoon causes a short circuit and subsequent blackout of electricity in the cave.
Batman also established a series of Satellite Batcaves across Gotham on the show. Batcave South-Central debuted on the episode Strange New World.
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Bob Kane • Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
[edit] References
- So When Did That Happen? from The BATMAN Magazine On The Web
- Batman Timeline from Bravepages.Com
[edit] External links
- Movie Poop Shoot Article on Batman, including a Batcave section
