Thomas Wayne

Thomas Wayne is a fictional character in the Batman series of comic books. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the father of Bruce Wayne, and husband of Martha Wayne, as well as a gifted surgeon and philanthropist. He was also the inheritor of the Wayne family fortune, which was built through industry and real estate by previous generations.

He is first introduced in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) in the first exposition of Batman's origin story. In the story, he and his wife are murdered by a mugger as young Bruce looks on helplessly. This trauma influences Bruce to become Batman when he grows up. Decades after he was murdered, the character of Thomas Wayne would play a major role in Geoff Johns' Flashpoint crossover series.

Fictional character background
Thomas Wayne is seldom shown outside of Bruce Wayne's and Alfred Pennyworth's memories of him, and often through Bruce's dreams and nightmares. He is frequently depicted as looking very much like Bruce Wayne, but sporting a thick mustache.

A notable occurrence in Thomas Wayne's biography was when Bruce fell through a fissure on the Wayne property, into what would one day become the Batcave (sometimes the fissure is replaced with an abandoned well). Thomas Wayne eventually rescued his terrified son from the cave.

Thomas Wayne's role in his son's future vigilante career is expanded upon in The First Batman, a Silver Age tale which reveals that Dr. Wayne attacked and defeated hoodlums while dressed like a "Bat-Man" for a masquerade ball. According to the story, Thomas Wayne's actions resulted in crime boss Lew Moxon being imprisoned; ten years later, Moxon orders Joe Chill to murder Dr. Wayne. When Batman realizes Moxon ordered his parents killed, he confronts Moxon, who now suffers from amnesia and thus has no memory of Thomas Wayne. When Batman's costume is torn, he wears his father's in order to frighten Moxon. Sure enough, the costume restores Moxon's memory; the former crime boss panics, believing that he is being attacked by Thomas Wayne's ghost, and flees into the streets where he is struck and killed by a truck. These events were retold in the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dr. Wayne as the "First Batman" was retconned - he instead attended the masquerade ball as Zorro. This was retconned once more in the pages of Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering change in the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving out Halloween candy in the original Batman costume.

In many of the modern interpretations of the character, such as those by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, Thomas is portrayed as having been a distant, stern father, bestowing kindness and generosity on his patients rather than his son.

Thomas Wayne was once suspected to be the father of Bane, a man who, in the Knightfall story arc, breaks his son's back; however, DNA testing proved this to be false, and Bane's real father was recently revealed to be King Snake.

It is revealed in Batman: The Long Halloween that, shortly before his murder, Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone. Falcone's father, Vincent, came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot in a gangfight by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting; the surgery was thus performed in the dining room with Alfred assisting. After saving Carmine Falcone's life, he was offered a reward or favor but refused to accept any form of payment. Unbeknownst to Thomas, young Bruce watched this all in silence from afar. Years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had his father let Falcone die, to which Alfred explains that he would have helped anyone in need.

In Superman/Batman #50, it is revealed that, while on a drive with a pregnant Martha, Thomas witnessed a strange object fall to Earth. As he inspects it, Thomas' consciousness is transported to Krypton, and presented in a holographic form. There, he encounters Jor-El, who wishes to know what kind of a world Earth is, as it is one of many possible candidates for him to send his son, Kal-El, to. Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of Earth aren't perfect, but are essentially a good and kind race, who would raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Upon returning to his body, Thomas uses the technology in the Kryptonian probe to revitalize a failing Wayne Enterprises. Years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batman's crimefighting technology. Thomas recorded his encounter in a diary, which was discovered by Bruce in the present day.

Murder
When exiting a theatre, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered by a mugger right in front of their son, Bruce. This tragedy shocks Gotham, leads to Park Row (the street where it occurred) being labeled Crime Alley, and most importantly, serves as the motivation for Bruce one day becoming Batman.

Due to the many writers who have worked on Batman stories, and constant references due to the central importance of the murder to the Batman mythos, many of the factors concerning the event have varied.


 * Bruce's age has varied, usually between six and ten years old.
 * The murderer is consistently identified as Joe Chill, though the mythos alternates between versions where Batman learns the killer's identity, and ones in which he never finds out. Chill has also alternated between being a mere mugger who randomly selected the wealthy Waynes, and a hitman who murdered them intentionally (the former is the most common interpretation). Tim Burton's Batman departs from the most common interpretation by portraying a young Jack Napier, the future Joker, as the murderer.
 * The reason given for Chill leaving Bruce alive has varied. Sometimes it was because Chill couldn't bring himself to kill a child, and sometimes because Chill heard a policeman's whistle, police siren, or a rapidly approaching policeman. Often, it is because of the cold, frightening look the young Wayne boy gave Chill as he kneeled beside his dead parents; Chill hesitated and ran away. In the version presented in The Untold Legend of the Batman, Batman theorizes that Chill, a hitman hired by gangster Lew Moxon, deliberately left Bruce alive to report that his parents were killed by a robber. In Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Chill of the Night!", a dying Moxon says that he only intended for Thomas to die, and even expressed regret over the death of Martha, especially as it left Bruce an orphan.
 * Exactly whether or not Chill was hired to murder the Waynes or if he acted alone is still unknown. An original script draft of the 1989 Batman film had Rupert Thorne hire Chill to assassinate them, because he was running for mayor against Thomas Wayne. In most other variations, Chill is 'just some punk with a gun'.
 * The movie that the Waynes went to see has fluctuated between the 1920 version of The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks and the 1940 version starring Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone. A fictional third version has starred "Tyrone Fairbanks." Tim Burton's Batman has the Waynes leaving The Monarch Theatre having seen Footlight Frenzy. Batman Begins has the Waynes leaving an opera house showing Mefistofele at the time of the murder, which they leave early due to Bruce being frightened by the bat-like costumes, giving Bruce the additional guilt of leading his parents to Chill. In The Dark Knight ' s Visual Guide says that Bruce would rather have seen The Mark of Zorro at a movie house.

Interestingly, Batman #430, which portrays the aftermath of Jason Todd's death, includes a scene in which Thomas Wayne was having trouble with some investments, and was going to sell short. Bruce thought that he needed some exercise to take his mind off of it and so offered to play catch with him, but Thomas angrily said no, striking him across the face. A hurt and resentful Bruce declares to his mother that he wished Thomas were dead. In an ironic twist of fate, Bruce's parents would be murdered that night.

Batman: Dark Victory asserts that the Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City; once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, citizens began to lose faith in the police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force.

Consistent elements have included Thomas Wayne being murdered by a pistol, and Martha Wayne's pearl necklace being torn, with the pearls falling into the gutter. In comic continuity, the murder took place at 10:47 p.m. (the Batcave is accessed by Batman through his manor by turning the hands of a grandfather clock to this time), on the 26th of June.

Thomas and Martha Wayne are notable as two comic book characters who have remained dead. Since his death, Thomas Wayne has only appeared in the Batman series in flashback and in the occasional out-of-body experience or hallucination. His most significant appearance in this latter category is in the miniseries Batman: Death and the Maidens by Greg Rucka. In this story, Batman ingests an elixir given to him by his enemy, Ra's al Ghul, and believes he is having a conversation with his dead parents. Interestingly, both Thomas and Martha disapprove of their son's costumed crusade, but Thomas admits that he merely disapproves of what being Batman has cost his son rather than actually disliking the concept itself. As she and Thomas depart, however, they assure Bruce that just because the passing of time has lessened his grief does not mean that he no longer cares for them, and, as a result, Bruce is able to accept that he is Batman because he chooses to be, not because he has to be.

In the alternative timeline of Flashpoint, where Bruce died instead of Thomas and Martha, causing Thomas Wayne to become Batman and Martha the Joker, the alternative versions of the characters share the same point of view of their post-mortem counterparts in Death and the Maidens: while Thomas Wayne, despite knowing the burden Batman put on himself, shows to be proud of the sacrifices his son did in the correct timeline (having Flash bring a letter to his alternate-timeline son), Martha is further driven mad with grief and sadness, killing herself because she's unable to accept the suffering Bruce would be fated to bear.

Alleged double life
During Batman R.I.P., it is alleged that Thomas and Martha Wayne were leading a double life, secretly partaking in criminal endeavors, drug abuse and orgies while presenting a façade of respectability to the outside world. The alleged evidence is revealed to be doctored in the aftermath of the storyline, however.

Doctor Simon Hurt, head of The Black Glove and the mastermind behind Batman R.I.P., actually claims to be Thomas Wayne to both Bruce and Alfred Pennyworth. Although both of them rebuke him without hesitation, Hurt never explicitly drops the claim.

In the ongoing follow-up series, Batman & Robin, it is suggested that some, if not all, of these allegations have begun to circulate around Gotham; Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne attend a high society function where a few party guests vaguely mention the existence of rumors surrounding the family, and Dick tries to tie Bruce's absence from the public eye with being occupied with clearing his family's reputation. Matters come to a head when Hurt returns to the city, claiming to be Thomas Wayne in order to take control of Wayne Manor and establish himself as the new Batman, but Grayson and Damian outsmart him.

It is hinted at during the course of the Batman and Robin series that Simon Hurt's actual identity is Thomas Wayne, albeit one from the 17th century who was a 'black sheep' of the Wayne family and prolongs his life through occult rituals. The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries and its fallout Bruce Wayne: The Road Home cements Hurt's status as the elder Thomas Wayne from the Puritan Ages, driven insane by his meeting with Barbatos, the Hyper-Adapter sent through time along with Bruce Wayne to ensure the effectiveness of Darkseid's "Omega Sanction".

Batman: Castle of the Bat
In Batman: Castle of the Bat, Doctor Bruce Wayne discovers the preserved brain of his father deep below the research university he works at. He steals this and other body parts in a desperate attempt to revive his beloved father from death. This doesn't work out well due to various factors outside his control but the part of the creature that still recognizes and loves his son does it's best to help Bruce escape his enemies.

JLA: Earth 2
In JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, the Thomas Wayne of the antimatter universe is the father of the supervillain Owlman. Like his original counterpart, he married Martha Kane and fathered Bruce Wayne. However, this version also had a second child, Thomas Wayne Jr. After Martha and Bruce are gunned down by a crooked policeman when Thomas Sr. refused to accompany him for questioning (when Thomas Wayne performed an "illegal medical operation."), Thomas Jr. becomes Owlman to get revenge on the justice system. It is later revealed that Thomas Wayne Sr. is currently acting as commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, seeking to bring his son to justice with the help of a cadre of idealistic officers. Owlman finds it his goal to "punish" his father for letting his mother and brother die.

Superman: Red Son
In Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son, the parents of Batman (never named) are anti-communist protesters in the Soviet Union. They are executed in their home by NKVD Commissar Pyotr Roslov for printing and distributing anti-communist pamphlets. Their son witnesses the murders and attempts to overthrow the Communist Party of the Soviet Union when he is an adult.

Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty
In Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty, Thomas and Martha are saved from death when 'Valentin Sinclair'- really Vandal Savage, who in this reality has a long-standing interest and admiration for the Wayne family despite the fact that they often end up opposing him when they learn about his plans- scared off Joe Chill, Sinclair becoming a partner in Wayne Enterprises, only for Sinclair to have them killed when they threaten to expose his plan to divert a meteor that gave him his powers back to Earth so that he can study it. Their deaths- triggered by Sinclair's fear-inducing henchman Scarecrone causing them to remember the mugging, driving them to flee Chill by running off their balcony- prompt Bruce to become Batman to investigate, Gordon having written their deaths off as an accident and Bruce unwilling to investigate himself because of the risk to his new wife, Julie Madison.

Flashpoint
In the Flashpoint event, Thomas Wayne rather than Bruce appears as Batman. Thomas is shown to have Joe Chill's gun in the Batcave's trophy display, from when he killed Chill in a brutal beating. Thomas is shown to be far more violent than Bruce and willing to kill to achieve his goals, as shown when he throws a young supervillain named Yo-Yo off of a building after she refuses to cooperate with him to stop The Joker. When Barry Allen enters the cave, Thomas attacks him, but is surprised to hear Barry call him Bruce. Allen reveals to the elder Wayne that the timeline has been altered, Thomas ceases his attack on Barry and asks him the details of his son's life after his own death. Willing to change history and readily to sacrifice his life if it means restoring his son's, Thomas helps Barry build a device to try and recreate the accident that gave Barry his speed.

The character is the subject of the mini-series, Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance, which was written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Eduardo Risso, in a story set in after Thomas's first attempt of restoring Barry's powers. Azzarello has stated that Thomas Wayne does not care about any sort of crime outside of Gotham, which explains his refusal to aide Cyborg's team of heroes, and that he funds his war on crime through a series of successful casinos. Thomas is also shown to be working with James Gordon, the chief of Gotham's privatized police, who appears to be aware of his identity as Batman. Oswald Cobbelpot appears as his security chief, mainly handling the casinos while Thomas fights crime. The local judge Harvey Dent is distressed when his twin children are kidnapped by the Joker, causing him to threaten Wayne with legal action. Batman is called by Gordon, who tries to convince him that he does not have to fight villains by himself, but Thomas refuses. Later, Batman is shocked when the Joker sends him footage of Gordon dying at the criminal's hands. Batman locates the Joker in old Wayne Manor and rushes in, yelling out for Joker, revealing that it is Martha Wayne. The death of their son and resulting breakdown between them lead to the couple becoming the enemies they are now. After Batman successfully saves one of Dent's children, who had been shot by Gordon during his rescue attempt by accident, he resumes pursuing his wife. In the final battle, Thomas reveals his recent discovery that they were supposed to die that night at Crime Alley and how they are alive now. Thomas promises her that he would do whatever it takes to undo what Professor Zoom has apparently done in order to bring their son back to life, despite being aware that it will cost him and Martha their lives. The revelations apparently restore Martha's mental stability, and she seemingly reconciles with Thomas, but when Martha asks her husband what Bruce becomes after their death, Thomas reluctantly reveals that their son would become Batman. Martha is driven hysterical, in fear of her husband and son's shared persona, fleeing from Thomas and falling through the same hole that Bruce once fell into as a child, falling to her death in the cave below.

After the second attempt successfully restores the Flash's powers, Batman works with the Flash to rally a new team of heroes to try and oppose Thawne's changes to history. Thomas contacts Cyborg for his help in tracking down "Project: Superman", the government branch responsible for 'raising' Kal-El after his rocket destroyed Metropolis upon its arrival, only to be disappointed at Kal-El's frail appearance. Kal-El's powers manifest as he is exposed to sunlight and he flies away.

After escaping the guards of Project Superman with the help of Element Woman, Flash's memories begin to change much more drastically, forcing Batman to seek measures to prevent the speedster's memories from altering. First, injecting the Flash with a drug that slows down electrical activity in the brain, and ultimately, seeking aid from the Marvel Family. When Barry finds out Hal Jordan died attempting to stop the War, Flash elects to try to save this altered world from the war, since there is no guarantee that they would win against Professor Zoom. Despite initial arguments, Thomas joins Flash as the group heads off to New Themyscira in Batman's plane and are joined by Enchantress. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are fighting one on one until Thomas, Flash and his team arrive. The battle seems to be in their favor until Billy Batson dies and Professor Zoom reveals himself to everyone. Batman stabs Professor Zoom in the back using an Amazon's sword and learns the altered timeline was actually created by the Flash himself as part of an attempt to save his mother. Before having time to act on this new information, Thomas is fatally wounded by the Enchantress. Before Barry attempts to undo everything, Thomas realizes what Barry is planning to do and thanks him for all he has done and gives the Flash a letter addressed to Bruce. Thomas accepts his fate, as he is eager to reunite with his wife in death. After the Flash apparently restores the timeline, he visits Bruce Wayne and gives him a letter from his father, telling Bruce that he could not have restored history without Thomas's help. Bruce is deeply touched by his father's sacrifice to ensure he would live, and is grateful to the Flash of informing him of the events of the Flashpoint.

The letter also encourages Bruce to take steps of moving on from his childhood tragedy, as well as encouraging him to pursue a closer relationship with his son Damian Wayne. It becomes a part of the Batcave's display dedicated to the memory of his parents.

Batman: Earth One
In the graphic novel written by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank, Batman: Earth One, Thomas was a physician who had ran for mayor against Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblepot had attempted to arrange his opponent's murder during the latter's outing to a movie with his family, but a mugger got to them first and killed Thomas and his wife.

Television

 * Thomas Wayne appears with his wife in the Super Powers episode "The Fear." In a flashback, it shows them being confronted by an unidentified mugger, just after watching a Robin Hood movie with their small son Bruce. When Thomas ends up trying to fight the mugger, Bruce quotes "No Dad, he's got a..." and lightning is shown in the sky as his parents are shot. This was the first time Batman's origin was shown outside of the comics.


 * Thomas Wayne made appearances in Batman: The Animated Series voiced by Kevin Conroy. Bruce Wayne's parents are, as in other versions, murdered in Crime Alley. In this version, the murderer is never identified. In fact, the anonymous killer is never visually shown at all; similarly, the murder is never even mentioned, only alluded to and is instead shown by metaphors, albeit occasionally graphic ones. For example, one nightmare had Batman seeing his parents walking towards a tunnel; he then runs towards them telling them to stop. They enter the tunnel, which is revealed to be the barrel of a giant gun, dripping blood. Batman screams as the world is bleached white and a loud shot is heard. In one episode, in a dream sequence, after failing to save Two-Face, Batman looks in horror as he saw his parents grieving, with Thomas asking, Why couldn't you save us, son?. Later, the series mentions the murder explicitly and even shows the murder itself. The series also makes use of the rose motif that the films Batman and Batman Forever associate with the murder. Bruce Wayne leaves roses at the site of his parents' death on the anniversary of the event (as he does in the comic, except that he leaves the roses on their graves). The incident is implied to be a random mugging, although the only reliable source is Batman himself, who refers to his parents' murderer as "some punk with a gun". Dr. Thomas Wayne was also close friends with some of his classmates, including Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who became one of the legal guardians of his son after his murder, Dr. Matthew Thorne, brother of notorious mob boss Rupert Thorne, and Dr. Long, faculty of Gotham University.


 * In the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything", Batman is temporarily trapped by a hallucinogenic plant called Black Mercy, which creates the perfect dream world in which to hold the victim. In the dream world, Batman relives his parents' death but there, his father puts up a good defense against the killer disarming him and almost wins. However Batman's mind knows that this is not real and the Black Mercy plant is removed, ending the hallucination with a gunshot heard as Batman comes to. Kevin Conroy again voiced Thomas Wayne for this scene as well as Joe Chill.


 * In many of the episodes in the first season of The Batman, Bruce goes over his parents' murder in his head. In the fourth season premiere, Bruce tells Alfred, "The man who murdered my parents was never brought to justice." After taking Bruce to watch a movie The Cloaked Rider, Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne was murdered by an unidentified mugger. Before his death, Dr. Wayne was a dearest friend of Marion Grange (who was mayor of Gotham City for the first four seasons), Lucius Fox (who's running Wayne Enterprises for the Wayne family), and Alfred Pennyworth (loyal family butler who took the custody of raising Bruce after he became an orphan).


 * Thomas Wayne was featured in a flashback in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Invasion of the Secret Santas" voiced by Corey Burton, but was uncredited. He also appears as a ghost in "Dawn of the Deadman", voiced by Greg Ellis but was also uncredited. He appears in "Chill of the Night", this time voiced by Adam West. The Phantom Stranger takes Batman back in time to a costume party he and Martha attended. Batman notes the similarity of the costume he wore at the time to his present day costume. The two team up to take down some robbers, and Batman gets a lead in his case.

Film

 * In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, David Baxt portrayed Thomas Wayne in a flashback to the Waynes' murder. The Waynes are murdered by Jack Napier, the future Joker, and his partner; this is a departure from the comics, in which the Waynes are murdered by Joe Chill.  Batman will later do battle with Napier and learns the real killer's identity years later when the Joker says to Bruce Wayne, "Tell me my friend, you ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?" when he is about to shoot him in Vicki Vale's apartment.
 * Rather than use footage from the first movie, Batman Forever, the third film in the series, features a new flashback to the murder of the Waynes. Ramsey Ellis plays the young Wayne, Michael Scranton plays Thomas Wayne, Eileen Seeley plays Martha Wayne, and David U. Hodges plays Jack Napier.
 * In the 2005 Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins, Dr. Wayne is played by Linus Roache and received a far more prominent role than Thomas Wayne had ever been given in any other media incarnation of Batman. Wayne was a surgeon at the Gotham City hospital, and of the fifth generation of the Wayne family to live in the Wayne Manor.  He was the chairman of Wayne Enterprises until his death, a position that his friend Lucius Fox assumes at the end of the film, after Bruce gained control of the company.  Bruce falling into the cave is included in this film.  Being one of the most prominent citizens in Gotham, he was trying to change the city into a better place, up until the end of his life.  In this version, he and Martha are murdered at gunpoint by Joe Chill, a petty criminal, after attending a performance of Mefistofele.  They leave the opera early when Bruce is scared by performers dressed as bats.  Dr. Wayne tries to protect his wife after Chill tries to rip off her necklace;  Chill then shoots and kills both of them.  It is revealed in the movie that the deaths of two such prominent citizens encourages Gotham City's elite to bring it back from the brink of ruin (in the process temporarily foiling Ra's al Ghul's plan to destroy the city's economy).  Dr. Wayne's last words to his son are "Bruce...don't be afraid."
 * Archive footage of Dr. Wayne rescuing Bruce from the well appears in The Dark Knight Rises.
 * Thomas Wayne is referenced several times in the DTV The Batman vs. Dracula.
 * Jason Marsden voices Dr. Thomas Wayne on Warner Premiere animated feature Batman: Gotham Knight.
 * Bruce Timm voices Thomas Wayne in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
 * In the opening credits to Watchmen, a couple exiting a theater with their son are rescued from a gunman by the first Nite Owl. On a wall behind him are posters advertising the cover of Batman No. 1.

Video games

 * Thomas Wayne (along with Martha Wayne) makes a cameo in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
 * Thomas Wayne is featured in Batman: Arkham Asylum voiced by Kevin Conroy, who also voices Batman. Batman (who was under the influence of Scarecrow's fear toxin) experiences flashbacks of his parents' murder. A bench in Arkham Asylum dedicated to Thomas and Martha Wayne is the answer to one of Riddler's riddles which leads to Thomas and Martha Wayne's unlockable bio.


 * In Batman: Arkham City, The Monarch Theatre, the site of the Wayne murders, is featured. Near the gates of Ra's Al Ghul's hideout, Batman collapses from the effects of the poison in his blood and sees a vision of his parents in front of a light, imploring Bruce to come into it and reunite with them. However, Batman shrugs it off and continues on.

Novels

 * In Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Martha's past is explored; she fought crime in her own way as a social worker trying to protect sexually abused children. The novel suggests this was the motive for the murder of the Wayne couple.