Batman Who Laughs once again showed how scary and dangerous he is, and this time he proved it in his biggest battle. In the pages of Dark Knights: Death Metal #6, he was fighting his last battle with the most powerful villain in the entire universe, Perpetua, the mother of the multiverse.
Both were in space, attacking each other with Crisis Energy. Meanwhile, Batman Who Laughs told Perpetua his dangerous thoughts and then gave that last, decisive blow.
This comic has been written by Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo’s brilliant art has made it even more alive. Now it is available in comic stores.
How a Hero Became the Biggest Villain
This laughing Batman actually came from the Dark Multiverse — which is the dark, corrupted form of the DC Universe. The storyline began when Bruce Wayne (Batman) became infected with the Joker’s toxin in his last fight. This toxin made him a dangerous mixture of Batman and Joker — that is, the person who was once a symbol of justice has now become the face of anarchy.
He had both Bruce’s sharp-minded abilities and the Joker’s madness. This combination made him the most dangerous person on Earth. He created a team of evil Bruce Waynes just like himself and attacked DC’s real world. He became even stronger during the events of Death Metal. He acquired cosmic powers, allowing him to challenge even god-like cosmic powers such as Perpetua.
The Secret of His Thinking and Victory
Even after gaining so much strength, his pessimistic thinking did not change. This thinking kept provoking him to end everything. He wiped out almost the entire multiverse — there was just one Earth left. All the other heroes were preparing for the last battle against him and his army of the dead. Meanwhile, the Batman Who Laughs and Perpetua clash was going on in space. At the same time, he told Perpetua that people believe humans want to avoid their bad feelings, but the truth is the opposite — they want to drown in them. He says to Perpetua —
“The real truth is that God himself wants to run away from us. So know this before you die — we’re looking at you, you who brag about your good qualities… And we’re laughing.”
This dialogue of his spreads over two entire pages and completely reveals his thinking.
Those who call themselves ‘protectors’ are the ones who make fun of us in front of forces that beg for goodness — and then, they laugh.
He said these things just before his victory, which makes them spine-chilling.
The Beginning of Batman Who Laughs
The story of this scary character started about two years ago.
On another Earth, the Joker provoked Batman so much that he crossed the limits he had vowed never to cross. The 2017 comic Dark Knights: The Batman Who Laughs – Special Edition #1 shows the Joker getting parents murdered in front of their children. Seeing this, Batman brutally hits the Joker and breaks his neck. But as soon as the Joker died, the poison that had criminalized him was released from his body, and that poison now spread inside Batman.
He didn’t even get time to understand what was happening. When Superman tells him that a child infected with Joker’s poison tried to slit a scientist’s throat, Batman suddenly starts laughing. He apologized — and that’s it, that’s where his bloody madness began. After destroying everyone in his world, he was chosen by a satanic god named Barbatos to destroy the main world of the DC Universe. Since then, he has been continuously spreading his terror against heroes — and his laughter is still echoing.
Secret Behind the Name: ‘The Man Who Laughs’
You might be wondering — why is the name of this villain so long? “Batman Who Laughs” means Laughing Batman. The name is great, but why not short like the rest of the characters?
After all, why didn’t someone give him a name like “Batjoker” or “Bat Jester”? Like “money-making Lex Luthor” or “joke-making Thanos” — likewise, “Laughing Batman” sounds a little different, right?
In fact, there is a special cinematic secret hidden behind this name.
The creators named him in honor of The Man Who Laughs, a silent film from 1928. In this film, Conrad Veidt played a character named Gwynplaine — a man who had a permanent smile on his face forever. He lived a strange and sad life, working in a circus, but his smile could not hide his pain.
The Man Who Laughs is often considered the inspiration for the character Joker.
Even Grant Morrison (who has also written for Batman) wrote in his book Supergods that the “Joker” was born directly from the light of this silent film.
He even said that when the Joker was first introduced in Batman #1 in 1940, the creators should have put the legal note for The Man Who Laughs — because that’s where the inspiration came from.
The Murder of the Bat-Family and Beyond
As soon as Batman learns that he has been infected by the Joker’s poison, his companions — Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Tim Drake (Robin) — visit him. They were all wondering how to keep Bruce under control until a cure was found. Someone even raised the issue of giving him a Venom injection (which is a strength-enhancing drug).
But everything changed in a scene from Dark Knights: The Batman Who Laughs – Special Edition #1.
The all-mad Batman Who Laughs brutally murders his own Bat-Family. We later learn that he had destroyed his entire world — i.e., other Bat-Family members like Oracle, Batwoman, and Signal may have also been killed.
The only exception was his son, Damian Wayne, whom he made one of his crazy Robins.
Later, we see Batman Who Laughs arrive at the Justice League Watchtower with his crazy Robins.
Almost all the powerful members of the team there had been killed; only Superman was left.
But it was clear that he too would not survive for long.
Bruce Wayne (i.e., Batman Who Laughs) brings Lois Lane and Superman’s son John to the Watchtower and uses an altered piece of Black Kryptonite. Although the scene was not shown directly in the comic, the gesture was clear — the effect of this Kryptonite drove Superman crazy, and he attacked his own family.
Crazy Robins (The Rabid Robins)
Wherever Batman Who Laughs goes, he is accompanied by his pack of scary Robins. These Robins are children infected by the Joker’s poison, who follow his every order — even if it is to catch an innocent person and tear him apart. Even before they became the Batman Who Laughs’ followers, most of these children had already been infected by the Joker. The Joker had made them murder their parents — and that was the incident that made Batman finally cross the line and kill the Joker. Even after the Joker died, these children survived the same infection — and Batman Who Laughs made them his army of death.
As far as we know, only one of these Robins was infected by Batman Who Laughs himself — and that was Damian Wayne.
He told Superman that it took him “little effort” to change his son — that is, perhaps Damian’s training in the League of Assassins helped him change even more easily. This infection of the Joker is not just about the mentality of children; it also changed their appearance. Their skin turned white, their teeth became sharp, and their ears also began to look pointed, almost animal-like. Everywhere these mad Robins appeared, all that could be heard was blood, fear, and laughter.
The Batman Who Always Wins
Comics fans have an old belief — Batman always wins. This was further confirmed after the famous 1986 comic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, when an old Bruce Wayne defeated Superman himself.
People say — it doesn’t matter how powerful the enemy is; if Batman gets even a little preparation time, he finds a way to victory.
Now just look at Batman Who Laughs. He slaughtered on such a large scale in his dark multiverse that he wiped out the entire world. Author Scott Snyder proves it right — “Batman always wins.” But the only difference was that this time his victory was not for any noble cause. Our main world’s Bruce Wayne follows his principles, but there was only one rule for Batman Who Laughs — “to win, no matter how.”
It did not matter to him what limits he had to cross for this. For him, victory was everything — and that’s what makes him the scariest.
Batman Who Runs the Gun: The Grim Knight
We all know the real Batman has a strict rule — he never fires a gun. Because he saw his parents being killed by guns as a child. That accident is the biggest wound of his life and the root of his identity.
But then comes another story — The Grim Knight — in which we meet a Bruce Wayne who is just the opposite. This Batman is not afraid of guns but considers them his biggest weapon.
The Grim Knight has so many weapons that it looks like a full stock from a Hollywood action movie!
He’s a Batman who doesn’t hesitate to shoot — and maybe that’s why Batman Who Laughs made him his partner. The comic The Grim Knight #1 features a scene where The Grim Knight, having imprisoned Jim Gordon, tells his story. The story starts with the same traumatic moment — when little Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed by Joe Chill. But here the game of luck was something else —
While Joe Chill was trying to pull Martha Wayne’s necklace, his gun fell out of his hand. And little Bruce picked up that gun — and shot Joe Chill before he could escape. That moment changed everything.
Now when he grew up, he had a way not to eliminate fear, but to create fear.His utility belt contained a lot of guns, and he destroyed his enemies without any mercy. The Grim Knight was the Batman who did what the real Batman could never do — and that made him even more awesome.
