In almost any version of the DC Universe, Batman is one of the world's greatest heroes, even though he uses the cover of darkness to bring down his enemies. Within Gotham City, Batman's iconography and nocturnal missions have given many residents the impression that he is actually a supernatural creature of the night. But while he's a mostly human man in the core DC Universe, some stories from the other worlds of the DC multiverse -- such as Elseworlds and Flash Forward -- explore that concept.

Now, we're taking a closer look at what happened in the worlds of the DC multiverse when Batman transforms into a true creature of the night, a vampire.

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BATMAN & DRACULA TRILOGY

The Batman & Dracula trilogy takes place over the course of three Elseworlds graphic novels - Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist by Doug Moenich and Kelley Jones. In this reality, Batman ended up coming up against a number of vampires, who had made their home in Gotham. One of the vampires, Tanya, reveals the truth of Dracula and his vampires to Batman, and works with him to lure the vampires into the Batcave. The hero wipes out the vampires and Dracula, although he is transformed into a vampire himself.

Batman: Bloodstorm centers around Batman trying to protect Gotham as a vampire, and dealing with the Joker and his new band of vampiric killers. Although he does his best to resist the darker influences that his new vampiric form allows, Batman lashes out and kills the Joker after he kills Catwoman. Batman has Alfred and Gordon stake him - putting Batman into a catatonic state.

But when the criminals of Gotham quickly use his absence to take over the city in Batman: Crimson Mist, Alfred and Gordon restore Batman. Having been driven to madness by his isolation, this new bloodthirsty Batman quickly wipes out most of his enemies in bloody form, drinking their blood in the process. In the end, he's killed by Alfred, Gordon and Gotham's final villains -- Killer Croc and Two-Face -- in an effort that leaves everyone involved dead.

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EARTH-43

Earth-43 began in a similar way to the Batman & Dracula trilogy, with Batman being transformed into a vampire while fighting Dracula. But while that version of Batman appeared to die once and for all in the finale of the trilogy, Earth-43 of the current DC multiverse features a version of the vampiric Batman who was restored to life. He was then able to spread his vampiric infection to many of the other heroes of the Justice League, turning them into monsters like himself. The Blood League quickly grew to include Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern and Batgirl among its infected heroes. The former heroes quickly turned their now demented attention on the world around them, infecting many of the regular humans they once protected.

Some heroes like Nightwing fought back, but they didn't last long before falling to the superhuman vampires. The Blood League now threatens the Raan Empire, which is defended by Adam Strange. However, some recent defeats have seen the Blood League somewhat humbled. After encountering the magically empowered League of Shadows in an attempt to attack other realities, Earth-13's Annataz is said to have used her powers to change the vampire's hunger for blood to coffee. In Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth's Flash Forward #3, the core DC Universe version of Wally West ended up in this reality. Working with the still-human Roy Harper of Earth-43, Wally was able to kill the vampire Flash and trap the vampire Batman in a radioactive core, hopefully containing him long enough for someone to reverse the curse.

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BATMAN: NOSFERATU

Batman: Nosferatu is the second part of the trilogy that combines DC characters with concepts from the classics of German Expressionist cinema. Following the events of Superman: Metropolis (where Clarc Kent-son and Lois Lane took over the massive strange city of Metropolis), the twisted Dr. Arkham tries to resist the changing times by using his twisted creation known as the Laughing Man to kill his enemies - including Eschevin Gord-son and Dirk Gray-son. Dirk's friend Bruss Wayne-son and Gord-son's daughter Barbera try to suss out what happened, which ends with Bruss thrown into a pit. But rather than dying, Bruss is changed by the sentient computers at the core of the city into a creature of the night to protect the city - Nosferatu.

Transformed into a bat-like creature that appears like a twisted vampire, Bruss hunts down Arkham and his allies, even killing the Laughing Man in battle. Bruss ends up actually coming into conflict with Super-Man, who sees no place for Nosferatu's darker sensibilities in his world. However, Super-Man eventually comes to terms with the idea that Nosferatu will protect the city in the night and take vengeance from the shadows, while Super-Man defends the people in the light. In the end, they come to an understanding, and Bruss even ends up in charge of the Asylum in his civilian identity, with Arkham -- the only person who knows his true identity -- as one of his patients.

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