Everyone knows Batman's story: the Waynes were mugged on a dark Gotham night. A young Bruce Wayne closed his eyes as shots rang out and Batman opened them. It took him years to become what he was meant to be and begin his mission to eliminate crime. Since then, Batman has taken his place among the greatest heroes ever.
While Batman's rogues' gallery is one of the most formidable around, oftentimes his greatest enemy is himself. The Dark Knight has done as much to ruin his own life as his greatest foes have, ruining things that would have made his quest easier.
10 Batman's Entire Mission Has Been Ruinous To His Life
Batman's mission to eliminate crime has been the biggest way he's ruined his own life. The truth behind this is outlined in I Am Suicide, by writer Tom King and artist Mikel Janin, when the hero acknowledges that he's always known that being Batman was just a way to kill himself without actually doing so.
Bruce Wayne choosing to devote his life entirely to stopping crime in Gotham is a completely hopeless quest and he knows it. He's traded any ability to have a normal life for this mission, making things worse every time he puts on his costume.
9 In JLA: The Nail, Batman Kills The Joker And Plays Into The Secret Foe's Plans
JLA: The Nail, by writer/artist Alan Davis, is a 90s Elseworlds classic. In a world where baby Kal-El was never found by the Kents, the Justice League is enmeshed in a master plan from a hidden foe using Kryptonian tech. Part of this plan involved arming the Joker and unleashing him on Arkham Asylum. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl respond, and then tragedy strikes.
Joker brutally slaughters Robin and Batgirl, making Batman watch. He breaks free and destroys Joker's weapon. Batman is caught on camera beating the criminal to death, playing into the public's fear of him and superheroes, handily providing the League's secret enemy a major victory.
8 In Cold Days, Batman Brutalizing Mister Freeze Made His Life A Lot Harder
After Catwoman left Batman at the altar in Batman #50, he threw himself into his work and almost made ruined his entire career. In Batman #51-53, by writer Tom King and artist Lee Weeks, Batman got a little too violent with Mr. Freeze. This beating almost led to Freeze being released on a technicality and made Batman look bad to the people of Gotham.
Batman has always been rather violent, but exorcising his demons on Mr. Freeze had some pretty grave consequences for him. Bruce Wayne had to do jury duty on the case and was forced to confront his actions in a way he never had before.
7 Breaking Bane In I Am Suicide Led To City Of Bane
Bane is one of Batman's greatest foes and the main villain of Tom King's Batman run. Their rivalry began in earnest in I Am Suicide, when Batman led a team of villains to Santa Prisca to retrieve Psycho-Pirate from Bane in order to help Gotham Girl. In the ensuing battle, Catwoman and Batman did to Bane what Bane did to him during Knightfall, forcing him to start taking Venom again. This single act led Bane to enact the plan that led to him taking over Gotham, forcing Batman out, and eventually killing Alfred.
6 Batman Allowed The Black Glove To Destroy His Life In R.I.P.
Grant Morrison's Batman run was full of amazing stories and one of the highlights was Batman R.I.P. Joined by artist Tony S. Daniel, Morrison crafted a yarn that saw the mysterious Black Hand finally make their move against Batman. The group more or less destroyed Batman's life, taking everything away from him, leaving him a junkie aimlessly wandering the streets of Gotham.
All of this was a ploy by Batman to get them to reveal themselves. He was playing them from the jump, allowing them to destroy him in order to embolden them to come out of the shadows. While this was more of a controlled demolition of his life than anything else, Bruce still lost everything for months just to defeat The Black Hand.
5 In No Man's Land, Batman Refusing The Justice League's Help Made Everything Worse
No Man's Land was the most ambitious Batman story of the 90s. The city was always a dangerous place, but the decade saw Gotham infected with a deadly virus and then devastated by a massive earthquake. The US government wrote Gotham off, decreeing it a "no man's land," severing its ties with the rest of the country.
Batman and the Bat-Family struggled to hold things together inside the wrecked city, but they could've had help. Superman offered his services and those of the Justice League to Batman, but he completely refused them. Partly pride and partly not wanting the government to come down on his friends, Batman's actions made things worse on himself and the city of Gotham.
4 Creating The Brother Eye Satellite Ruined His Relationship With His Friends
Infinite Crisis was one of the best events of the 2000s and its build-up was just as great as the story itself. In The OMAC Project, by writer Greg Rucka and artist Jesus Saiz, it was revealed that Batman created the Brother Eye satellite as a means of watching the world's metahumans and making sure they were doing the right thing.
Brother Eye gained sentience and threw in with Checkmate and Alexander Luthor. The satellite's action played a big role in driving a wedge between Batman and his friends, making the eventual battle that much harder as no one trusted him anymore.
3 After Jason Todd's Death, Batman Cut Himself Off From Any Help For Years
The Robins are a huge part of Batman's life and Jason Todd's death had a huge effect on him. The guilt over leading a young person to his death ate away at Batman, so he decided to stop having sidekicks, preferring to work alone and take all the danger on himself. This state of affairs would last for ages until Tim Drake was able to figure out Batman's identity.
Having a Robin brought something special to Batman's life and depriving himself of a sidekick made things much worse. It wasn't just a matter of having a backup, but having a partner, someone Batman could trust and could be close to. Without that, his life just wasn't as good.
2 Batman's Anti-Justice League Plans Cost Him His Friends For A Time
Batman is a pragmatic man and his anti-Justice League plans made a lot of sense: superheroes go bad and someone needs to deal with them. The problem came about when Batman kept the plans secret instead of telling his friends. When this was discovered in JLA: Tower Of Babel, by writer Mark Waid and artist Howard Porter, the League lost trust in the Dark Knight. Batman was kicked out of the Justice League for a time and none of his friends trusted him even after he came back. The whole situation made his life a lot harder and hurt the Justice League as well.
1 It Took Batman Years To Trust Catwoman
Catwoman is Batman's greatest love but it took ages for him to realize it. His inherent distrust of criminals meant he could never really see her as anything more than a thief for a long time. Even in stories where they did work together, like Hush by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee, he couldn't bring himself to trust her completely because of her past. Batman and Catwoman could have been together much sooner if he would have dropped his foolish prejudice against her being a thief and just loved her.