Thomas Wayne

Character History
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 moustache.

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 was also the "first Batman" according to The First Batman, a Silver Age tale where he attacked and defeated hoodlums while dressed like a "Bat-Man" for a masquerade ball with flying creatures as a theme (the costume resembles the original Batman costume from 1939). This was recognized as one of the inspirations for Bruce becoming Batman. According to the story, Thomas Wayne's actions resulted in Lew Moxon being imprisoned and ordering the murder of Thomas Wayne ten years later through Joe Chill. Though this would make Bruce 12-15, the Silver Age Batman tales were known for their inaccuracies. When Batman realizes Moxon ordered his parents killed, he confronts Moxon, who can't remember what he did due to amnesia. When Batman's costume is torn, he wears Thomas Wayne's. Moxon remembers his crime, believes that he is being attacked by Thomas Wayne's ghost and flees into the streets where he is 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 furtherly retconned in the pages of Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering alteration to the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving candies to children (it's Halloween] Night) in the original Batman costume, and thinks at how Bruce told him about a costume his father wore at a ball, that inspired his Batman identity later.

In many of the modern interpretations of the character, such as those by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, Thomas is portrayed as distant or stern towards his son prior to his demise, although his kindness and generosity are unequivocal.

Thomas Wayne was once suspected to be the father of Bane, a man who would one day break his son; 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 Thomas Wayne saved the life of future crime lord and gangster Carmine Falcone shortly before the Wayne's murder. 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 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 from death, he was offered a reward or favor, but he flatly refused, in that "to a doctor, a patient is a patient." Young Bruce Wayne watched this all in silence from afar. Years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had his father let Falcone die.

In the Superman/Batman #50, it is revealed that, years ago, while on a drive with a pregnant Martha, Thomas witnessed a strange object fall to earth. Inspecting it, Thomas's 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 revitalise a failing Wayne Enterprises. Years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batman's 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 were murdered during a mugging that occurred in front of a young Bruce Wayne. This tragic event shocked Gotham, led to Park Row (the street where it occurred,) being labelled Crime Alley, and most importantly, was the motivation for Bruce one day becoming the Batman.

Due to the many writers who have written 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. It has mostly been accepted that he was eight by many writers.
 * The murderer is consistently identified as Joe Chill, though the mythos alternates between versions where Batman finds out and where Batman 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).
 * The reason given for Chill leaving Bruce alive has varied. Sometimes it was because Chill couldn't kill a child, 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 after the crime; Chill hesitated and ran away.
 * Exactly whether or not Chill was hired to murder the Waynes or if he acted alone is still unknown. An original script draft of Batman 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." Batman Begins has the Waynes leaving an opera house showing Mefistofele at the time of the murder. Although the Dark Knight Visual Guide says that Bruce would have rather seen The Mark of Zorro movie house.

Interestingly, Batman #430, the aftermath of Jason Todd's death, depicts a situation where Thomas Wayne was having trouble with some investments, he was going to sell short. Bruce thought that he needed some exercise to take his mind of it and so offered him to play catch, but Thomas said no and in his anger, struck Bruce across the face, leading Bruce to declare to his mother that his wished Thomas were dead. In an ironic twist of fate, Bruce's parents would be killed that night.

Batman: Dark Victory asserts that the Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City, as, once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, the people began to lose faith in its 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 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.

Batman R.I.P.
During the Batman R.I.P. storyline, accusations are levied against Thomas Wayne. Claims arise that Martha's parents, always unconvinced about Thomas' intentions, hired a detective to prowl around his life. Much later a man claiming to be the detective returns, giving Commissioner Gordon a dossier in which Thomas Wayne is described as living a dual life: a respected and honest doctor in public, a drunken, abuser and abusive husband in private, indulging in orgies and drugs, and addicting Martha herself to heroin to get their marriage going, thus becoming able to embezzle her part of the Kane household. The hired detective then formulates a new theory about Thomas' death: when Thomas discovered that his wife, becoming accustomed to a life of excesses, betrayed him with his butler, no more certain about Bruce Wayne's real parentage, and willing to get revenge over his wife and further hide the secret of his dual life, he used an hired gun to kill her and fake his own death in front of the little Bruce. Gordon dismisses the final theories, and keeps the dossier private. While speaking to Alfred Pennyworth, Dr. Simon Hurt claims to be Thomas Wayne, even wearing the original Batman costume worn by Thomas Wayne, and accuses Alfred of fathering Bruce, although Alfred dismisses Dr. Hurt's purported identity. The story is ongoing and the truth or falsehood of the claims has yet to be revealed.

Burton/Schumacher Series
See: Thomas Wayne (Burton & Schumacher films)

Nolan films
See: Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache)

Batman: The Animated Series
See: Thomas Wayne (BTAS)

The Batman
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."

Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne was murdered after taking Bruce to watch a movie, The Cloaked Rider, 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.