Batman is an enigma, the only original Justice Leauge member that has no powers but has proven time and time again to be formidable enough to beat any of the most overpowered heroes in DC. He is also someone that has always been advertised as a loner yet seems to, not only have a sidekick, but also his very own Bat Family.
Most of the members of the Bat Family were trained by Batman himself, which makes them some of the most powerful members of the DC Universe. With the Bat Family growing bigger over the years, here is a look at the 10 most powerful members of the Bat Family, ranked.
Updated on February 5, 2020, by Shawn Lealos: The Bat Family has added so many members over the years that have helped the Caped Crusader in his mission to save Gotham City. With Joker in the Oscar mix and a new Batman movie coming with Robert Pattinson, here is a look at more of Batman's most loyal family members.
15 15. COMMISSIONER GORDON
One of the earliest members of the Bat Family was Commissioner James Gordon, who appeared for the first time in Detective Comics #27 in 1939, the same issue that Batman made his debut. For years, the two worked in sync, with Gordon as the law enforcement officer who would call on Batman for help when needed.
In more recent years, Gordon became a little more hand's on and even took on the role of Batman at one time. However, Gordon remains best-known as Batman's man on the inside of the otherwise corrupt Gotham PD.
14 14. ALFRED PENNYWORTH
If there is one member of the Bat Family that helps Batman more than almost any other, it is Alfred Pennyworth. For years, he served as the butler for Batman, a carryover from his parent's days in the living world who took it upon himself to help raise Bruce to be a good man.
However, retcons over the years made Alfred even more powerful. It turns out that he was, at one time, a member of the British secret service agency, the MI-5, trained to become their Dark Knight. He ended up taking his father's place at Wayne Manor after his dad died and has been working with Batman ever since.
13 3. CATWOMAN
For many years, Catwoman was not a member of the Bat Family. She was, at one time, one of his greatest rogues, but soon they two began a flirtatious relationship. Despite this, Catwoman continued her life of crime, which usually frustrated Batman.
However, over the past few years, Catwoman started to change and no longer a villain as much as she was an antihero. When she finally admitted her love for Batman, she became a member of the Bat Family — a former villain turned ally.
12 12. JEAN-PAUL VALLEY
Jean-Paul Valley is best known as Azrael, but he was also, at one time, one of the most controversial characters in the Bat Family. After Bane broke Batman's back, Jean-Paul took over the role and became the new Batman. However, unlike Bruce Wayne, Valley ended up as a very violent hero.
Jean-Paul had no problem killing, and he even almost killed Tim Drake at one point when he tried to get his Robin equipment back out of the Batcave. Bruce Wayne, as a returning Batman, had to step up to stop him.
11 11. DUKE THOMAS
Duke Thomas is one of the newest members of the Bat Family. He is known in comics as The Signal and is a teenage metahuman, one of the few members of the family with superpowers. He originally started as part of the We Are Robin movement but left and ended up making it on his own.
Batman took him in, helped train him, and then sent him out to be part of the new Outsiders team with Black Lightning. Ther are some who believe that Duke might be immortal, but he also has the power to manipulate light to see things that happened in the past through shadows.
10 10. BATWING
Batwing is Lucas Fox, the son of Wayne Enterprise's Lucius Fox. He joined up with Batman while the Caped Crusader was putting together his Batman Incorporated team. When the original Batwing (David Zavimbe) retired, Luke was Batman's first choice to be his face in Africa.
Luke is not only a competent martial artist, as trained by Batman, but he is also a genius -- a former MIT student with strong engineering skills. He is also a tactical genius, something that even Batman pointed out. It was Lucas that helped figure out how to deal with Azrael when he redesigned a new suit for his ally.
9 9. KATE KANE
Fans of the DC Universe on The CW will get to know a lot more about Kate Kane as her Batwoman will get her own television show. While she is best known as being one of the first major lesbian superheroes in DC Comics, there is a lot more to Batwoman than just her sexual orientation.
Her sister and mother were killed when she was a child by terrorists and she dedicated her life to becoming the best she could be, first at West Point in the military and later as Batwoman. As a child of military parents, she has a soldier's mentality to add to her amazing fighting skills and an intense desire to succeed.
8 8. DAMIAN WAYNE
Damian Wayne is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. He is a tenacious fighter and has a really bad attitude, likely a holdover from the fact that he was raised as the grandson of Ra's al Ghul and not as the son of Bruce Wayne.
If you ask him, he would top this list as he has said before that he is "light years" ahead of the past Robin's in skill and training. However, his arrogance and youth is also his undoing as he often rushes in without concern and often without thinking about what is ahead. He has a chance, when he gets older, to become the most powerful Robin but he is, for now, a child with an inflated ego.
7 7. BARBARA GORDON
Batgirl is as tough as they come. She was one of DC's strongest female characters for years before Joker shot her and paralyzed her in what remains one of DC Comic's most polarizing moments. However, the fact that she refused to remain down and became an even stronger hero as Oracle is a testament to the character.
Barbara Gordon is Batgirl again, and while not as complex and interesting as Oracle was, she is kicking butt again and can hold her own against just about anyone as one of the Bat Family's greatest heroes.
6 6. JASON TODD
Jason Todd was one of the most hated members of the Bat Family for years. After Dick Greyson moved on and started his own life as Nightwing, Batman went out and found a punk kid on the streets to rehabilitate and turn into the new Robin. This was Jason Todd and soon a fan vote caused DC to kill him.
However, when Jason returned from the dead and became Red Hood, he became one of DC's most interesting antiheroes. He was still angry all the time but was more vindictive than before and Damian Wayne proved that Robin could become even more annoying than Jason was. Honestly, his idea of justice makes him a powerful and more interesting character than he ever was as Robin.
5 5. HUNTRESS
Huntress is a very interesting member of the Bat Family. The daughter of a mobster in Frank Bertinelli who watched as a rival mobster brutally killed her father and brother. She ended up training as a fighter in order to protect others, a mission she believed her family upheld.
She joined Spyral and that is when she met Dick Grayson and began to integrate herself into the Bat Family. The biggest problem with Huntress is that she is very violent and often goes one step too far in battle. However, as a member of the Birds of Prey and the Bat Family, she is someone they would rather fight alongside than against.
4 4. RED ROBIN
When Jason Todd died, Batman soon found his third Robin and this might be the best version of Robin -- Tim Drake. Unlike Dick Greyson, who was an orphan, and Jason Todd, who was a street punk, Drake had a father and lived a semi-normal life. However, he set out to discover the identity of Batman and convinced him to train him as the new Robin.
Honestly, Tim Drake might actually be a better detective than even Batman, who is labeled the World's Greatest Detective. Drake ended up becoming Red Robin over time and is the most level-headed and intelligent member of the entire Bat Family.
3 3. NIGHTWING
The first Robin is still the best Robin, and honestly, Dick Greyson was even better when he became Nightwing. He was the first person that Batman trained and he has the years of experience behind it to remain one of the best fighters, and detectives, in DC.
He has led the Titans and did it his way, taking what Batman taught him and tailoring it to make him an even better man. When Batman was believed dead, it was Dick that took on the Cowl and became the new Caped Crusader -- and for some people, he was a better Batman than Bruce Wayne.
2 2. CASSANDRA CAIN
Cassandra Cain is Orphan and she might be the scariest member of the entire Bat Family. She was raised by an assassin in David Cain (the original Orphan) and that gave her a unique skill set that only Huntress shares. She is a master assassin in her own right as well as a master tactician.
As a trained assassin, she was taught how to read people's body language, which puts her at an advantage in any fight. She can mimic anyone's fighting styles and predict their next moves. She is a weapon, pure and simple, and is the most powerful member of the Bat Family outside of only one person.
1 1. BATMAN
When looking at the strongest members of the Bat Family, all discussions should begin and end with Batman. He trained just about every member of the Bat Family and a good teacher never teaches his pupils everything. There is also the fact that Batman trained with the best in every discipline from all over the globe before he ever took on the cape and cowl.
Batman has proven that he has a plan to defeat anyone -- friend or foe. He has the knowledge and know-how to beat Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and more. If Batman, a man with no superpowers, can beat anyone in the DC Universe, it is easy to see him as the most powerful character in the entire comic book line.