Batman is the most careful and guarded character in the DC Comics Universe. It's difficult to earn the Dark Knight's respect and even harder to earn his trust. Few heroes, allies or even family members make their way into Batman's inner circle, and those that do understand it to be an honor and a sacred trust.

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There have been times over Batman's 80-plus-year history, though, that the Caped Crusader's trust has been broken. When that happens, getting back within the Batman's good graces is an arduous task. Batman has a long memory, and those who break his trust aren't very easily forgiven.

10 Alfred Refused To Mistreat Robin

Alfred tested Batman's trust by refusing to allow Dick Grayson to hunt for rats

There has been no more loyal ally in Batman's war against crime than Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's trusted butler, medic and confidant. However, even Alfred has lines he won't cross. In All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #4 by Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair and Jared K. Fletcher, Batman brings a traumatized Dick Grayson back to the Batcave.

He insists the young boy feed himself by catching rats. Alfred refuses to allow this and prepares a meal for young Dick. Batman remarks that the boy might "ruin everything," suggesting that, for the first time, he isn't sure how much he can trust Alfred to help advance his crusade against crime.

9 Batman Wouldn't Forgive Hal Jordan

Scene from Rebirth where Batman is punched by Hal Jordan

In the early 1990s, Hal Jordan betrayed the Green Lantern Corps and the DC Universe in general when he became Parallax and attempted to rewrite history to his own ends. In Green Lantern: Rebirth, writer Geoff Johns revealed that Jordan had been under the control of a fear-based entity.

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This was not enough to sway Batman toward forgiving Jordan. Even after Jordan regained control of his mind and body and reclaimed his place as a Green Lantern, Batman regarded Jordan with considerable mistrust, promising to keep an eye on his former Justice League teammate.

8 Batman Never Forgave Superman For Giving Up In The Dark Knight Returns

Armored Batman punches Superman in DC's Dark Knight Returns

Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns is, to many readers, the definitive portrait of Batman and Superman's fractured relationship. In Miller's seminal Batman tale, the Justice League is forced into seclusion by the U.S. government, all except Superman who is allowed to continue his activities in secret, provided he aids the military when required.

Prior to the climactic battle between Batman and Superman, Batman makes clear his distrust of the Man of Steel and his motives. The notion of Superman being a government lapdog and overly beholden to authority has remained a staple in their uneasy friendship. However, in Miller's pages, the animosity was deeply rooted in Batman's own feelings of betrayal.

7 Tommy Elliot Went From Childhood Friend To Bitter Enemy

Thomas Elliot/Hush in Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's Hush series

Batman: Hush introduced Dr. Thomas Elliot into Batman's history. A childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, Elliot was called in to help repair Bruce's body after an attack by the mysterious Hush. By the end of the story, however, it was revealed that Hush was, in fact, none other than Dr. Elliot.

The pages of Hush saw Batman constantly wondering who he could trust, as it seemed any one of his vast array of enemies might have information about his secret identity. When it was ultimately revealed to be Thomas Elliot, Bruce's narrow capacity for trust was thinned even further.

6 The Justice League Pushed Batman To Develop Brother Eye

Images of heroes whose memories were altered by the JLA in DC Comics

During the events of Identity Crisis, Batman discovered that the Justice League was using Zatanna's powers to wipe the minds of villains who had learned the League's true identities. As a result, Batman's own memory of the events were wiped, leaving a lingering distrust in the Dark Knight's subconscious.

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When Batman became fully aware of what happened to him, he decided that the League could no longer be fully trusted, and he developed the Brother Eye satellite to spy on superhuman activity. The technology was co-opted by Maxwell Lord, resulting in the OMAC Project, which - in turn - played heavily into the events of Infinite Crisis. Batman's mistrust carried huge ramifications for the DCU.

5 Trusting Selina Kyle Is Never Easy For Batman

Batman and Catwoman's wedding in DC Comics

Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle have had a rocky relationship over the years, to say the least. Batman's trust in Catwoman has never been ironclad, but it seemed it was as close to certain as possible when the two were set to be married in 2018. However, Selina threw a wrench into the couple's plans by stranding Bruce at the altar, a humiliating ordeal for the Batman.

Selina's reasoning was that a happy, contented Batman could not be an effective guardian for Gotham City. However pure her motives may have been, though, Bruce's trust in her was shaken and has yet to truly recover.

4 Two-Face's Credibility Was Too Stretched To Trust

Batman Face The Face Cover Art

It seemed for some time in the DCU that Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two-Face, had reformed his criminal ways. He revealed in the aforementioned Hush that he had undergone plastic surgery to repair his scarred face and was determined to make a go of it on the right side of the law.

In the pages of the "Face The Face" storyline after the events of Infinite Crisis, all signs for a recent string of murders point to the supposedly-reformed Two-Face. As it turns out, Dent was being framed, but the trauma of the surrounding events sadly forced Dent to scar his face again and resume his career as Two-Face. It's arguable that Batman is himself the betrayer in this case, but Dent's scarred reputation certainly didn't help matters.

3 Jason Todd Betrayed Batman's Teachings

Batman vs Robin 3 Red Hood Tim Drake Spoiler Header

For years, Batman regarded the tragic death of Jason Todd as his greatest failure. When Todd reemerged in "Under The Red Hood" using the guise of the Red Hood to exact violent vengeance as Gotham's new vigilante, Batman was terrified and disappointed.

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Batman always regarded young Jason as too violent and reckless, but he tried to instill the Dark Knight's own sense of honor and morality onto the boy. For Jason Todd to employ lethal force as the Red Hood was a break from his teachings that Batman could never quite recover from.

2 Bruce Wayne's Own Father Tried To Break Him

An alternate Thomas Wayne tries to break his own son

The Thomas Wayne of the Flashpoint universe became Batman as a result of his universe's Bruce having been murdered. Thanks to the machinations of the Reverse-Flash, this darker, scarier version of Batman wanted to ensure his son gave up the crusade against crime.

By conspiring with Bane, the alternate Thomas Wayne attempted to psychologically break his son down to the point that Bane was able to physically break the Batman. Even after this plan fails, Thomas holds Bruce at gunpoint, demanding he give up his war on crime. Even though the plan failed, being betrayed by Thomas Wayne - the man whose loss inspired him to take up the Batman mantle in the first place - was a betrayal of a sort that Bruce couldn't quite reconcile.

1 An Alternate Dick Grayson Became A Batman Foe

Batman was challenged by his own protégé in 'The Dark Knight Strikes Again'

In Frank Miller's Dark Knight continuity, Dick Grayson was so psychologically traumatized by his training and indoctrination at Batman's hands that he became a deadly adversary. In The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the ultimate villain is revealed to be Dick Grayson, so scarred by his experiences as Robin that he attempts to dismantle the Dark Knight.

In hindsight, it was Batman's own treatment of his former ward that led Dick to this lowly state. But in Batman's eyes, Dick Grayson had betrayed his oath to be a soldier and part of the Dynamic Duo in Batman's war on crime. Batman essentially viewed Dick's plight as dereliction of duty and had no compunctions about sending Dick to a grim fate at the story's end.

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