What separates Batman from most of his superhero contemporaries is that unlike them, the man behind the mask is not his true identity. Rather, the driven vigilante Batman is the true persona of the man named Bruce Wayne; his public persona of an affable  playboy is the mask he wears, not the cowl he wears on his nightly outings.

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As such, it's only fitting that Batman's two most enduring love interests are Catwoman and Talia al Ghul, super-villains he knows from his life as Batman, an inverse of most superheroes who try to keep their costumed lives separate from their romantic lives. But which of these two women is the Caped Crusader's true love? Let's compare them and find out.

10 Catwoman: She Came First

Our first love is often the strongest, and in this contest between Selina and Talia, it's Miss Kyle who made the first impression. Debuting in 1940's Batman #1 alongside The Joker, Catwoman is thus the first of Batman's iconic villains (besides the Clown Prince Of Crime) to debut. Not only was Catwoman fighting and flirting with Batman in equal measure on the pages of comic books before Dennis O'Neil even conceived of Talia and her father, she was also one of the premier villains of the 1966 Batman series (played by Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Eartha Kitt in successive order).

9 Talia: Knew Bruce's True Identity First

One aspect that makes Ra's Al Ghul such a deadly adversary for Batman is his knowledge of the Dark Knight's true identity, having deduced it prior to their first encounter in Batman #232; naturally, Talia shares her father's knowledge of who her beloved is behind the mask. As such, Talia has had a more whole understanding of who Batman is for a longer portion of their relationship, whereas it took Catwoman until the Hush storyline to find out who it was behind her sparring partner/lover's mask, 30 years in real time after Talia had already learned.

8 Catwoman: Bruce Proposed To Her

In 2017's Batman #24, Bruce does the seemingly unthinkable; he pops the question to Selina. Bruce reveals that he returned the diamond Catwoman had tried to steal in their first encounter, he purchased it; he then presents it to her, confesses his love for her, and asks her to marry him.

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While Selina ultimately leaves Bruce at the altar after initially accepting his proposal, the idea that the man who may very well be both the most emotionally guarded and neglectful of his non-masked life was willing to put himself in a position of such vulnerability says a lot about the depth of his love for Selina.

7 Talia: The Mother Of His Son

damian-wayne-robin

It was revealed in Batman #655 that a tryst between Batman and Talia in 1987's Son Of The Demon storyline had resulted in the birth of a sonDamian Wayne, a son she kept secret from his father for almost 10 years. Despite the deception, Damian soon becomes the newest incarnation of Robin shortly after being introduced to his father, and the two become as close as, well, father and son despite some initial friction. Their shared parenthood of Damian means that Bruce shares a bond with Talia so personal that even his relationship with Selina doesn't compare.

6 Catwoman: Movie Appearances

Batman Returns Batman and Catwoman

Batman's cinematic outings are a huge part of his place in the public consciousness, and if you asked movie-goers unfamiliar with the comics who Batman's love is, almost all would answer Catwoman. After her appearance in the movie spin-off of the aforementioned 1960s series, Catwoman returned to the silver screen in 1992's Batman Returns, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer's take on the character proved only one of Batman's love interests in the quadrilogy with a more than incidental connection to Batman, the two sharing a bond with their "split down the middle" personas. Catwoman appeared again 20 years later in the finale of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, where it's the Anne Hathaway-portrayed Catwoman who Bruce ultimately ends up with after faking his death and retiring from Batman's cowl.

5 Talia: Animated Appearances

1992's Batman The Animated Series, the root of the DC Animated Universe that culminated in Justice League: Unlimited, is viewed by many a Batman fan to be the definitive interpretation of the titular character. Both Talia and Catwoman featured prominently in the series, though it was the former who wound up having a stronger claim to Batman's love. Debuting in episode "Off Balance," Talia was much the same character as the comics, up to and including being torn between her loyalty to her father and her love for Batman.

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She returned in Batman Beyond's "Out Of The Past," which provided closure for her character; the episode revealed Ra's al Ghul had hijacked his daughter's body to continue living once the Lazarus Pits failed him. Though Talia and her father were killed for good by the episode's end, Bruce's parting words, "Rest easy, beloved," demonstrate that his feelings for her long outlived the woman herself.

4 Catwoman: Ended Up With Earth-2 Batman

When the superhero boom of the Silver Age asserted itself in the late 1950s, DC, desiring to reinvent their classic characters, declared the earlier stories published in the 1930s-40s had taken place on "Earth-2," whilst the currently published ones took place in the similar but different universe "Earth-1." The Batman and Catwoman of the Golden Age thus got the happy ending continually eluded by their modern counterparts; as detailed in The Brave and The Bold #197, the two teamed-up to stop an escaped Scarecrow and confided their innermost feelings in each other. Once the case was closed, the two married and finally found happiness in each other, with Selina even giving birth to Helena Wayne, the future Huntress.

3 Talia: Saved Jason Todd

Talia training Red Hood

The Joker's murder of Jason Todd was one of the most brutal attacks a super-villain has ever inflicted on a hero, and Batman's failure to save his ward was one of failures he took closest to heart; his next encounter with The Joker brought him closer to breaking his one-rule than ever before or since. It was out of her love for Bruce that Talia took it upon herself to rectify his evil, restoring Jason to life via the Lazarus Pit. While the returned Jason would prove to be an adversary to Batman before becoming an ally again, the greatest pain a parent can suffer is the loss of a child; that Talia alleviated Bruce's anguish and restored his surrogate son to him speaks to the depth of her love for Bruce.

2 Catwoman: Born Of Gotham

Gotham City isn't just where Batman dwells; the city he spends his night protecting is a central part of his identity. The Wayne family has a long-standing connection to Gotham, and Bruce's assumption of the role of the city's guardian is just the latest in that line. As Scott Snyder writes in his acclaimed storyline The Court Of Owls, "Batman IS Gotham."

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As such, Bruce and Selina share an intrinsic connection by both being Gotham natives, their lives being continually shaped along different paths by the city they call home.

1 Talia: Wants To "Save" The World As Well

While Catwoman is content as a jewel thief, Talia shares her father's grander ambitions. The League of Assassins (or Shadows, for those who prefer the Nolanverse name) is convinced humanity's evil is a virus slowly killing the world they inhabit, and that radical action, including mass death is needed to solve this problem. This a dark reflection of Batman's own quest for justice, though Talia and her father see Bruce's moral code as a weakness that prevents him from bringing about change on the scale the world needs. This ideological conflict makes their star-crossed romance all the more compelling.

NEXT: Catwoman: 10 Things The Movies Get Completely Wrong About Her