If the Flash finds himself in trouble, he has his super speed to get him out of a tight situation. Spider-Man has often faced multiple enemies at once, and thanks to his agility and spider-sense, he's able to defeat numerous enemies at the same time and walk away virtually unscathed. But what about Batman? At the end of the day, he's just a man. Granted, he's a man that's considered the world's greatest detective, as well as someone who's mastered over 100 different fighting styles, but he's still just a flesh and blood human being. How does Batman get out of trouble? Simple: he's Batman. Being able to defeat the toughest foe, escaping the deadliest trap and solving the most complex crime is what Batman is known for. However, the man has to lose every once and awhile... right?

Can the man who has a contingency for almost any situation actually lose? In the JLA storyline Tower of Babel, we learned that Batman had a plan to take out every member of the Justice League. If a human is able to take out Martian Manhunter, Flash and Superman, that pretty much makes him unbeatable, no? Actually, there have been a number of times in which Batman got stomped. Some of these losses make sense (fat chance he's going to defeat Darkseid or Reverse Flash), but other losses are quite surprising. In some cases, his defeats are also quite... ungraceful. Even Batman has to watch someone else do the victory march, and we've decided to collect 20 such examples in which Batman walked away taking a big L.

20 JUDGE DREDD

Believe it or not, Judge Dredd and Bats had a total of four crossovers. The first time was back in 1991 in the comic Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham. Batman is accidentally transported to Mega-City One and almost immediately encountered Dredd. Did Batman have a contingency plan for defeating the cop from the dystopian future?

Judge Dredd tells Batman to put on cuffs, which Batman naturally refuses to do. One panel later, Dredd has knocked Batman unconscious by hitting him with a baseball bat and then unmasked him just as fast. Kudos to Dredd for taking out Bats with a bat. Batman certainly didn't see that coming, and neither did audiences!

19 PREDATOR

Batman may have his origins in Gotham City, but in his many years of fighting crime has met Gods, traveled off-world and fought alongside as well as against a variety of aliens. Just because Batman is fighting someone from another planet doesn't mean he's going to get stomped, right?

Batman had three crossovers with the alien from the 1987 film Predator. The first comic premiered in 1991 and was titled Batman Versus Predator. In their first encounter, the Predator beats Batman so badly that he has to wear a power-armor version of the batsuit just to walk. Even worse, he has to be rescued by Alfred!

18 RA'S AL GHUL

Perhaps you're familiar with Ra's Al Ghul from the 2005 film Batman Begins. Disguised as Henri Ducard, Ra's serves as a mentor for Bruce Wayne on his path to becoming Batman. He trains Bruce, who is unable to defeat him until the climax of the movie. In the comics, Ra's is a much different and much more deadly villain.

Translated from Arabic as "the Demon's Head," Ra's Al Ghul is over 500 years old, prolonging his life by using something called the Lazarus Pit. Whereas Batman has trained all his life, Ra's has lived several lives and fought in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. He's bested Batman at sword fighting and knocked Batman out after grabbing him midair while Bats was jumping.

17 SWAMP THING

In a scene from Justice League, all of the heroes talking with Commissioner Gordon disappear, except for the Flash, who is just as surprised as Gordon that everyone left. Batman's rooftop disappearing act first occurred in 1973 in Swamp Thing #7. Since he's completely aware of his surroundings, Batman is able to seemingly vanish in mid-conversation. Well, maybe he's not always aware of what's around him.

Speaking of Swamp Thing and Batman, they met again in 1986 in Swamp Thing #53. Swamp Thing's wife was in a Gotham Prison and Swampy was not happy about that. Batman confronted Swamp Thing, who got the drop on Batman by surrounding him with Swamp Thing duplicates, who beat him silly.

16 TALON AND THE COURT OF OWLS

When DC Comics did a massive relaunch in 2011 with the New 52, readers saw a variety of changes to their beloved characters. Superman lost his red trunks, Aquaman became cool again and introduced into the Batman mythos was the Court of Owls. Young Bruce Wayne thought there was a conspiracy behind what happened to his parents and thought that the Court was involved.

Batman went into Gotham's sewers to gather info and was ambushed by an agent of the Court of Owls. They trapped him inside a giant maze and Batman spent a week without food trying to escape. Amazing that this group could exist without Batman knowing, and even more amazing how quickly they abducted and defeated him, albeit temporarily.

15 WONDER WOMAN

In the JLA storyline Tower of Babel, Batman devised a way to defeat Wonder Woman by having her fight an enemy that would never tire. Due to an implant, Wonder Woman was trapped in a virtual reality in which she would keep fighting until she would expire from exhaustion. If Batman could plan that, then how could he lose to her?

In the graphic novel Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia, Wonder Woman and Batman fought when Batman tried to bring a woman named Danielle Wellys to justice. Wellys was under Wonder Woman's protection, and Batman thought he could take Diana in a fist fight. Batman was then punched off of a second story balcony. Ouch.

14 BRONZE TIGER

Warriors that have been fighting for centuries, amazons, hunters from outer space and super-powered aliens are just some of the many people that Batman has had to fight against. However, there are a select few people that are regular flesh and blood humans that rank as simply the best combatants on Earth. Besides Batman and Lady Shiva, there's the Bronze Tiger.

Just like Batman and Lady Shiva, he is not a metahuman and has received no enhancements. Early in his career, the man named Benjamin Turner wore a full tiger mask. He fought and soundly defeated Batman, and has even bested Deathstroke in combat.

13 REVERSE FLASH

When Batman fought Reverse Flash in the 2017 issue of Batman #21, he exploited an observed weakness. Reverse Flash was vibrating his body so that Batman couldn't touch him, but he wasn't vibrating his feet so he could stand on the ground. Batman jabbed a batarang into RF's foot then got in some good punches. What happened after that?

What do you think happened? Reverse Flash messed up the Batcave, shredded a letter that Batman's dad wrote to him and had enough time to beat up Bats some more before Flash was supposed to arrive. Just like Mike Tyson said: everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face.

12 DARKSEID

We don't think anyone is going to be shocked when we say that Batman lost in a battle to Darkseid. He is the ruler of the planet Apokolips and has fought against not only Superman but Zeus as well (yes, that Zeus). Batman actually fought Darkseid hand-to-hand wearing a special suit called the Hellbat armor, but what about the time that Batman shot a gun at Darkseid?

In the crossover Final Crisis, the situation was so dire that Batman violated his one rule and decided to use a gun (that had a god-terminating bullet in its chamber) to end Darkseid. That already showed how defeated Batman was. Before he was shot, Darkseid hit Batman with his Omega Beams, lasers shot from his eyes that never miss and obliterated its target (sending him through time, sure, but dude still got dropped).

11 NIGHTWING

Batman sure does have a complex, love/hate relationship with his sidekicks. Jason Todd came back from the grave to beat up on Batman, and Bruce has tussled with both Tim Drake and his own son Damian. Dick Grayson is also a special case, leaving Batman's shadow and assuming the identity of Nightwing. Just when Dick thought he moved on, Batman came knocking at his door.

At one point, Dick Grayson joined the covert spy agency called Spyral. Batman was concerned about him being an agent for the group and the two men had an epic fight in the Batcave. The fight culminated with Dick giving Bruce a powerful left hook, proclaiming that he wasn't his boy. It was enough to remind him that the Boy Wonder was long gone.

10 JOKER

When you think about the Joker, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Do you envision a stark raving mad lunatic that laughs at the most sadistic actions? When you think Joker, you don't think formidable fighter, but he actually is. In Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker, he's able to defeat and permanently hobble Batman with a knife.

In the plotline Going Sane featured in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, Batman was investigating the kidnapping of a councilwoman named Elizabeth Kenner. Batman tracked the Joker to a cabin upstate, but at the last moment realized it was rigged to explode, proving that Joker beat Batman both physically and mentally.

9 BANE

Just when you think you have Batman beat, he has one trick up his sleeve that allows him to emerge victorious. During the storyline Batman R.I.P. Doctor Hurt was able to capture Batman, dose him, and leave him mentally unhinged in an alley. What was Batman's contingency? He actually had a backup personality dubbed "Zur-En-Arrh" that helped him recover.

The villain known as Bane learned Batman's secret identity in the storyline Knightfall. Bane organized over half a year a relentless gauntlet of assaults upon Batman, so that when Bane fought Bruce Wayne in the Batcave, the Dark Knight would have nothing left to fight back with. Bane was correct, and with no fighting spirit left Bane broke Bruce Wayne's back, temporarily ending his career as Batman.

8 DEATHSTROKE

As the expression goes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Batman doesn't care if you're faster or stronger, the Dark Knight has a dedication and focus that is almost unmatched. How do you beat someone who's trained their entire life to fight? You beat them with someone who's trained to kill.

Slade Wilson has been physically and mentally enhanced. He has a superhuman healing ability and an unbelievably sharp tactical mind. In the series Identity Crisis, he single-handedly took down the Justice League, including Green Lantern and the Flash. On more than one occasion, Deathstroke has stomped Batman into unconsciousness.

7 DEACON BLACKFIRE

Sometimes the defeat of an enemy doesn't have to be a physical one. Sometimes it's about destroying someone's beliefs. Batman's dedication to fighting crime and protecting Gotham is unmatched, so when cult leader Deacon Blackfire made Batman one of his minions, it was a defeat unlike Batman had ever experienced before.

Deacon Joseph Blackfire not only managed to capture Batman, he also was able to successfully break Batman's resolve. He brainwashed the Dark Knight and even made him a member of his cult through hallucinatory drugs. Although he broke the Deacon's conditioning, for a hot second Batman was a pawn of Blackfire.

6 LADY SHIVA

Batman has an impressive gallery of villains, and those that have beaten him aren't just common street thugs. Bane was powered by a super-steroid called venom and Deathstroke had healing abilities as well as mental enhancements that increased his tactical thinking abilities. Lady Shiva has no such boosts or modifications... she's just that good.

Sandra Wu-San isn't a metahuman and doesn't possess battle enhancements like the Midnighter or Black Widow. She's an incredibly capable assassin that even Batman himself has said is probably the greatest fighter alive. While fighting Batman, he reminded her that he's defeated her in the past, but her response was that she let him win. Ouch! Score one for Lady Shiva.

5 JASON TODD

After Dick Grayson stopped being Batman's partner and became the hero known as Nightwing, the mantle of Robin was picked up by Jason Todd. Todd was kidnapped and beaten by the Joker and readers got to vote on whether or not Todd would survive. By a small margin, Batman said goodbye to the second Robin in Batman #428.

Due to events in Infinite Crisis, Todd returned from the grave and he wasn't happy with Bruce Wayne. Todd took up the identity of the Red Hood, and without their masks Jason and Bruce wound up fighting each other. Batman let Todd beat him up, then Todd left in the Batmobile. The two characters first met when Todd tried stealing the tires off the Batmobile, bringing their relationship full circle.

4 MUTANT GANG LEADER

In the classic 1986 comic series The Dark Knight Returns, audiences got to witness the return of Batman to crimefighting at the age of 55. He's rusty and not in his prime, but is still able to defeat Two-Face and his attempt to detonate a bomb in Gotham. Batman is challenged by the nameless leader of a gang of mutated people. Easy work for Batman, right?

Perhaps it would have been decades ago, but the now older Batman finds himself in trouble when fighting the Mutant Leader. The Leader is a big bruiser who takes Batman's punches and retaliates by breaking Batman's arm. Batman is saved by a girl who self-adopted the Robin identity. Saved by Robin? Jeez!

3 PROMETHEUS

Heroes often find themselves fighting villains that are connected to them in some way. Prometheus is somewhat of a dark reflection of Bruce Wayne. The man that would grow up to be Prometheus saw his parents gunned down in front of him by police officers as a child, and dedicated his life to causing chaos and subverting the law.

Similar to Batman, Prometheus is in peak mental and physical condition. However, the technology he possesses allows him to download information and abilities the way that Neo did in The Matrix. He was able to defeat Batman by downloading into his body Batman's own fighting style as well as the styles of over two dozen martial arts masters.

2 SUPERMAN

Batman defeat Superman? Superman is practically a God, having enough power to fly across the universe and punch dimensions apart with his fists. However, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice shows Batman defeating Superman with the help of Kryptonite gas and an armored suit. So how often does Batman defeat Superman when they fight? Half the time?

In the New 52, when Superman first meets Batman, Superman beats down both Bats as well as Green Lantern. In Batman: The Dark Knight #5, Batman's strength gets boosted by a form of Venom, and he winds up taking on Superman in hand-to-hand combat. Several panels later, Batman is punched through a house and is taken down by the Man of Steel.

1 AZRAEL

If you're wondering why we said that Gargamel's pet cat stomped Batman when he wasn't chasing Smurfs, you've got the wrong Azrael. Jean-Paul Valley was the crimefighter known as Azrael, and after Bruce Wayne's back was broken by Bane took on the mantle of Batman. So who was the better Batman: Valley or Wayne?

Valley has enhanced physical abilities and when he was Batman modified the costume to that of battle armor. Batman and Azrael fought and due to Valley's increased speed and strength was able put down the Dark Knight. Does that make Valley the better Batman? Faster and stronger, yes, but not necessarily better!