In the Flashpoint Timeline, Thomas Wayne was the man who became Batman rather than his son Bruce Wayne. As opposed to his son, he used more brutal methods to fight crime, even go as far as killing his enemies. Though initially confined to the universe, Thomas was brought to Earth Prime by the Reverse-Flash. Wanting his son to leave the role of Batman, Thomas set into motion plans to convince Bruce to give up the mantle and let him operate in Gotham City.
History[]
Origins[]
The Flashpoint reality is a world which was created when Barry Allen travelled back in time to save his mother from being murdered by Professor Zoom. This caused a butterfly effect that rewrote the entire history of Earth-Prime and the Multiverse. As a result, Barry became trapped in this universe with his original memories but no memory of having caused the universe's reboot.
Like his most of his counterparts, Thomas Wayne was a billionaire surgeon in Gotham City. Living in the ancestral Wayne Manor, he married to Martha Kane and had a son, Bruce. While travelling through an alleyway after attending a film in the Monarch Theatre, the family were ambushed at gunpoint by Joe Chill. As opposed to most versions, Bruce was killed by the mugger, shattering both parents' sanity.
After months of searching, Thomas located Chill and beat him to death whilst trying to inject him with a lethal drug. Upon returning, he learned that Martha had carved a Glasgow Smile into her face and begun calling herself Joker. Soon afterwards, she murdered Alfred Pennyworth after he failed to find her pearls. With their marriage damaged beyond repair, he had her committed to Arkham Asylum.
Thomas became the timeline's Batman, operating from the cave underneith Wayne Manor. He also abandoned the house, letting it fall into severe disrepair. To cover suspicions, he invested in Gotham City's casinos, becoming a major gambling mogul during the daytime. Thomas also kept Joe Chill's gun in the Batcave's trophy display, reminding him why he had initially begun his crusade.
Thomas fought many criminals in Gotham's underworld, many of which resulted in their deaths. One exception to this was Selina Kyle / Catwoman, who simply requested him to pull the trigger. Recognizing her loneliness and the similar age with his son, Thomas instead took her under his wing as his crime-fighting partner. His relationship with Selina helped mend the psychological scarring from Bruce's death. However, this ended when Martha broke into the Manor and shot Selina, paralyzing her from the waist down.[1] Rather than let her retire, Thomas set her up as the information broker Oracle.
Flashpoint[]
After Joker kidnapped the twin children of Harvey Dent, Thomas interrogated her associate Yo-Yo. When she refused to cooperate, he let her drop from the building, though she was saved by Cyborg and the Justice League. Refusing to cooperate with them, Thomas returned to the Batcave, where he discovered Barry Allen.
Attacking the man, Thomas stopped when Allen referred to him as "Bruce", leading him to reveal his identity. Learning of Barry's role as "the Flash" and Bruce's fate to become Batman, Thomas agreed to help him restore the proper timeline and discover the perpetrator. Creating a device to recreate the accident that gave Allen his powers, Thomas helped him rally the Justice League to stop Wonder Woman and Aquaman's war.
During the investigation, Thomas located Martha at Wayne Manor, saving the Dent's twins. During the fight, he informed her of a timeline where they died in Bruce's place, asking her help to ensure it happened. However, when he revealed that their son would become the timeline's Batman, Martha refused and fled the scene. Chasing her, Thomas watched as she fell into the caves, killing her.[2]
Motivated to help Barry, Thomas took part in the final battle, helping fend off Aquaman and Wonder Woman's forces. During the final stages, he stabbed Eobard Thawne through the chest to save Allen's life. Mortally wounded by the Enchantress, Thomas gave him a letter to give to Bruce when he restored the timeline. As he left, he thanked Barry for giving him hope and let him restore the timeline.
Doomsday Clock[]
Father vs. Son
Breaking the Bat[]
Following the events of DC's Doomsday Clock, the entirety of the Flashpoint universe was erased from existence. Thomas survived however as he was saved by the Reverse-Flash as a means of revenge for Thomas having aided in stopping his plans.
In this new world, Thomas hated the fact that his idolized son Bruce had grown up to become the Batman and wished to push Bruce out of the dangerous vigilante lifestyle. Thomas hunted down Bruce and tried to convince him to give up his life of super heroics and instead retire to marry Selina Kyle and settle down. When Bruce didn't listen, Thomas held him at gunpoint to try and convince him to hang up the cowl, only to be incapacitated by Catwoman from behind.
Bruce and Selina had Thomas sent to Arkham Asylum where within he allied himself with the recently imprisoned Bane who wished to break Bruce's mind and personal life. Thomas's reasoning here being that he wanted to emotionally torment Bruce into giving up his life of vigilantism. Together they ruined Batman and Catwoman's wedding causing her to leave him at the alter, nearly had Batman send Mr. Freeze to the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit, and made people think he was insane by having Bane convince the doctors of Arkham he was incapacitated while in reality he was racketeering the events.
After kidnapping Damian Wayne, hiring the KGBeast to seemingly assassinate Dick Grayson, and having Bane murder Alfred Pennyworth, Thomas incapacitated Bruce with fear-toxin and kidnapped him. Thomas dug up the coffin of the Prime Universe's Martha Wayne and took it along with a drugged and kidnapped Bruce to the deserts of Ra's al Ghul. Thomas wished to use the Lazarus Pit to resurrect Martha so that they could all be a happy family again.
When Bruce figured out what Thomas was planning, he secretly removed Martha's corpse from the coffin and buried her in an unmarked grave in the desert before filling her coffin with her corpse's weight in rocks. When they finally reached the Lazarus Pit, Bruce revealed this information and beat Thomas to a pulp before taking his supplies and leaving him there.
Back in Gotham, Bane had taken over the city and used the powers of the Psycho Pirate to replace the authorities with the super-criminals of Arkham and Blackgate. When Thomas returned to Gotham, he became its new Batman with Hugo Strange as its commissioner and Bane as its ruler. Thomas still had Damian Wayne as a hostage and he operated out of Wayne Manor where he used Arnold Wesker as his butler due to Wesker being relatively immune to Psycho Pirate's powers.
Paraphenelia[]
Elseworlds variations[]
- Batman: The Adventures Continue: While never appearing in DC Animated Universe, a figure known as "Thomas Wayne as Batman" was created for the The Adventures Continue figurine-line. In addition, the character appears in the tie-in comic-line, set to continue The New Batman Adventures.
Background Information and Notes[]
Adam Kubert's original design sketch with no gun hostlers
Adam Kubert created the original design sketch for the Flashpoint batsuit. At some point it was decided to add hosterled pistols to the thighs, adding more of the red color.
In Other Media[]
- Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox: Thomas appears in the adaptation of Flashpoint, maintaining the same role as the original comic with minor alterations.
- Batman: Arkham Knight: Thomas' Batman costume is available as DLC for Arkham Knight.