When you’ve been around for eighty years and are one of the most beloved pop culture icons of all time, you’re bound to find more than a few classic stories. Bob Kane and Bill Finger should be heralded as national treasures for creating the Batman. The Dark Knight has become a neo-myth, his story passed on from generation to generation and adapted into any and all forms of media.

In animated form, anything and everything has been done to the world’s greatest detective. He’s fought vampires, Jack the Ripper, and has teamed up with the Ninja Turtles. No matter what the story and there are plenty of them, here are the Top 10 Animated Batman Stories Of All Time.

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10 TAS - Robin’s Reckoning

Batman The Animated Series has remained a stalwart in animation, much less the Bat-Mythos practically since the series’ inception. Episodes like “Robin’s Reckoning, Parts 1 & 2” is one of the reasons why.

We finally learn through flashbacks exactly what happened to Dick’s parents and now they were murdered by Tony Zucco. Meanwhile, a young Batman was on Zucco’s tail and as Bruce, adopts Dick to protect him. The two-parter won an Emmy Award For Outstanding Animated Program.

9 TAS - Mask Of The Phantasm

To some fans, The Mask Of The Phantasm isn’t just the best bast animated Batman movie, but one of the best comic book movies out there. Bruce rekindles the old flame with ex, Andrea Beaumount. She left Bruce once, and he rose to become Batman.

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In the present, someone’s offing mob bosses all over Gotham and framing Batman for it. As Batman investigates, both he and the Joker find out the terrible truth.

8 Beyond - The Return Of The Joker

In the sequel to The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Terry McGinnis has taken up the mantle of Batman. In the series’ long-awaited Return Of The Joker, the Future Bat does battle with the Joker.

Meanwhile Terry and his mentor, Bruce uncover a dark past and learn what happened to Tim Drake. It’s up to Terry to save Tim’s soul and defeat his mentor’s greatest foe. It’s by far one of the darker Bat-stories and Mark Hamill is at his most terrifying here.

7 Year One

Before he became Gotham’s Jim Gordon, Ben McKenzie voices a young Batman in the adaptation of Frank Miller’s OTHER landmark Bat-story. After returning to Gotham for the first time in 12 years, Bruce begins his war on crime. The story has influenced several of the live actions Bat-films over the years, including the Nolan films.

He takes on Selina Kyle, Commissioner Loeb, and the mob while establishing his partnership and friendship with then Lt. James Gordon, who he himself is trying to put his life back together.

6 1966 - Return Of The Caped Crusaders

There is a love for the 1966 “Batusi” era campy Batman TV show that puts a smile on plenty of fans’ faces. For plenty of fans, this is THEIR Batman. So, when it announced that Adam West and Burt Ward were going to voice the dynamic duo in a new animated movie, Return Of The Caped Crusaders, interests immediately piqued like Batears.

The Dynamic Duo once again have to suit up to do battle with the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and the Riddler, with cameos from just about every other villain on the show.

5 TB - Batman Vs. Dracula

Batman Dracula: Red Rain and its sequels are one of the really fun Elseworlds stories that came out in the nineties. The Batman Vs. Dracula is a loose adaptation but does draw inspiration from that trilogy.

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After being awoken inadvertently by the Penguin, the ancient vampire Dracula studies Batman, thinking he’s influenced the Dark Knight’s existence and turning Gotham’s citizens into vampires. Batman races to find a cure for Gotham and to stop the original Vampire once and for all.

4 TDK - Gotham Knight

In between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, producer Bruce Timm gathered up a ton of animators and storytellers for the anthology film, Gotham Knight. The film highlights one of the coolest things about Batman - so many fans the world over have their own interpretations of what the Dark Knight could be.

One story cast him as a living shadow looking for the ominous Man In Black. The story continues with a more traditional version of the Detective. Then a flashback to early ballistics tests for Batman to reinforce his aversion to guns. It all leads up to him fighting Deadshot in a harrowing finale.

3 TAS - Almost Got Im

For all of the action-packed, dark episodes of The Animated Series, the series also finds ways to have humor injected into the series. In “Almost Got Im,” the show meshes humor, and action together perfectly.

Croc, Harvey, Joker, Penguin, and Ivy all gather ‘round for a game of poker all while sharing their stories of how each one of the villains had a great plan to defeat the Dark Knight.

2 JLA - Justice League: Doom

In case you didn’t realize it, Batman has contingency plans on top of contingency plans. Then he has backup plans should those contingency plans fail. Unbeknownst to his teammates in the Justice League, he even has plans on how to stop each and every member of the League should they ever go rogue.

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In Doom, those plans are stolen by the Legion Of Doom and the League realizes that its worst enemy and nightmare is actually their own - the Dark Knight.

1 The Dark Knight Returns

The epic stand-out for comic book storytelling, The Dark Knight Returns has always been looked at fondly for its grim take on the final days of the Batman. Peter Weller and Ariel Winter are the voices of Batman and Carrie Kelley, but the standout voice is Michael Emerson, providing a dark and strange take on the Joker.

Clocking in at over two hours and twenty minutes, the film is as faithful adaptation of any comic series you’ll ever find.

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