Batman: Who Could Possibly Defeat the Grim Knight?

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1 by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Eduardo Risso, Dave Stewart and Sal Cipriano, on sale now.

As if The Batman Who Laughs wasn't twisted enough, the current miniseries introduced another evil Batman in the form of the Grim Knight. In Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV and Eduardo Risso's appropriately titled one-shot The Batman Who Laughs: The Grim Knight #1, the Darker Knight gets his own origin story. And just like almost every other incarnation of Batman, his grim career begins on the fateful night his parents were murdered. But the path that career takes puts him against a foe he never had to face in the mainstream DC Universe.

That Defining Moment, Altered

A wrong turn after a night at the theater results in the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as usual. The young Bruce Wayne of this Dark Multiverse world is understandably traumatized, just as he is in other realities, but a key divergence changes his response to his parents' unexpected murders. When this incarnation of Joe Chill stops to search for Martha's broken pearl necklace, Bruce grabs the distracted criminal's gun, and in turn shoots him in cold blood. There's a bit of instant street justice in this dark world, as Chill has now met the same fate as Bruce's parents. But that moment transforms the broken Bruce into a wholly different kind of dark "hero."

While this tragedy fostered an aversion to guns in our Bruce, it instead induces an obsession in this one. While Bruce trains himself in an array of fighting techniques, he comes to realize that his mission as a dark crusader isn't complete without a complimentary array of firearms to go with it. Rather than using his intellect to create an inventive arsenal of non-lethal weaponry, he simply confronts his foes, or would-be foes, with deadly force. As a result, his classic and colorful rogues' gallery comprised of foes like the Joker, Riddler and Penguin never come to be in this world.

But there's another who rises to become the Grim Knight's one, true enemy.

His Ally, His Enemy

The Grim Knight's wanton criminal murder spree draws the attention of the man who's been one of his greatest allies across the rest of the multiverse: Gotham Police Lieutenant Jim Gordon. While some of Gordon's fellow cops are all too cool with the Grim Knight's homicidal methods -- it is the Dark Multiverse, after all -- Gordon himself remains stoic and just. He doles out justice the way law enforcement is sworn to: By the book, just like his mainstream counterpart.

This mindset has historically made Gordon Batman's perfect crime-fighting ally. While Gordon and the GCPD keep order as they best can, Batman handles the foes they cannot, and in ways that they cannot. But in this world, their polarizing differences make Gordon the Grim Knight's perfect enemy -- and the only one who dares stand up to him. Despite the misgivings of some of the officers under him, he actually proves to be a formidable match for this evil Batman, more so than his subordinates working for him.

NEXT PAGE: Why is Gordon the Grim Knight's One, True Foe?

Why Gordon is Batman's Nemesis

In normal continuity, there are few of Batman's enemies who ever get the drop on him. On this world, though, Gordon does exactly that -- twice.

Gordon constructs a Bat-signal for a totally different purpose: Not just to draw Batman in, but to capture him. When The Grim Knight takes the bait, Gordon activates a hidden, powerful magnet within the signal, trapping him. Like our Batman, though, this one isn't easily caught. The Grim Knight activates bombs planted in the GCPD's bulletproof vests, taking out all present on the GCPD's roof -- save for the unadorned Gordon, who Batman willingly spares.

Batman also manages to disable the magnet and escape. But this allows Gordon to eventually and covertly put his own detective skills to work and deduce that Batman is actually Gotham's well-respected Bruce Wayne. That enables Gordon, in conjunction with the FBI this time, to confront Batman again, only confronting him as a largely unprepared Bruce. Gordon takes Bruce down by hand and arrests him. Even though Bruce pulls a gun, no shot is ever fired.

The Grim Knight's Weakness

As Gordon's crusade against the Grim Knight is told in flashbacks, clearly Batman at some point escapes again. How that happens isn't known, although it could be inferred that this is when he first crosses paths with The Batman Who Laughs, and perhaps escapes with his aid. The fate of the alternate Gordon isn't known either. While the Grim Knight spared his life previously, it's not certain that The Batman Who Laughs would have shown the same mercy, if the two had their own encounter.

Gordon's held his own against the Grim Knight, and more than once. It not only shows Gordon's strength, but this Batman's own weakness. The so-called deadliest Batman of all might have a lot of guns, but that's the problem. His reliance on his weapons makes him weak when he's not armed to the teeth. For all of Bruce's training as a fighter, Gordon still defeats him with nothing but his fists.

Our Batman relies on his wits and his skills more so than his weapons, but the Grim Knight is the opposite. His obsession with guns leads him to rely less on his other talents -- talents that have arguably atrophied somewhat for this very reason. And like our Batman, Jim Gordon, both of them, can use this to his advantage.

Whatever the fate of the Grim Knight's version of Gordon, the like-minded Gordon of the "bright" multiverse already has the skills to take out this Dark Multiverse incarnation, something our Batman has yet to do.

The Grim Knight's next move takes place in The Batman Who Laughs #4, on sale April 10.