"Imagine Batman, then aim... lower."
— Number Five about Diego, The Umbrella Academy (2019)
As one of the most famous superheroes of all time, Batman seems to be the most frequent target for direct parody, more than any other character, including Superman. This may have something to do with the 1960s TV series Batman, which widely increased his pop culture notability outside the US, as well as the high-profile blockbuster movies from 1989 on. Thus, more people on Earth, even those who aren't fans of superhero comics, will be familiar with aspects of the Batman universe than any other superhero franchise.
Typical elements for this Stock Parody will be the bat ears, the bat mask, the bat symbol shining across the street, the bat mobile, the Batman Cut, a younger Sidekick much like Robin, a trustworthy butler who helps the superhero out, wacky villains built around one defining gimmick (The Joker, The Riddler, etc.), onomatopoeic words flashing to the screen during fight sequences, the phrase I'm Batman! said with a husky voice, and (in some versions) a comically excessive Dark and Troubled Past and over-the-top angst Played for Laughs.
Often the superhero in question will have a Punny Name based on Batman, like "Fatman", "Bartman", "Catman", ... As an extra joke his theme song will be a direct parody of the Batman theme song from the 1960s TV show.
For a similar, if less satirical tropes, see Superman Substitute and Spider-Man Send-Up.
For the non-parodical examples of the archetype Batman codified, see The Cowl.
Examples Subpages:
Other Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Berserk, provides a worthy non-comical example, with its own dark knight Guts. Like Batman Guts is The Cowl, a brooding maladjusted short-dark haired hunky loner and an orphan who’s got Charles Atlas Superpower and a Badass Cape. Though the similarities become truly overt when Guts (thanks to Schierke) gets control of the Berserker armour making him look well like… Batman
(particularly the movie versions in regard to the cowl). It also helps Guts like Batman has his own Crazy-Prepared gadgets and weapons including miniature bombs and even has his own lighthearted Robin-like Kid Sidekick Isidro whom he mentors in combat. Their respective attitude towards killing couldn't be more different though.
- The Big O features an extremely overt comparison with its hero Roger Smith who is a deadringer for Bruce Wayne, has his own Battle Butler like Alfred Norman Burg and teenage girl sidekick R. Dorothy Wayneright who's akin to Batgirl if she was an android. If that wasn't enough one of Roger's villains Alan Gabriel is similar to the Joker. All of these connections are less of a surprise if you consider The Big O's creators Sunrise worked and helped out on Batman: The Animated Series.
- Code Geass: Lelouch particularly◊ when in his cowl-like mask and Ominous Opera Cape is somewhere between Batman and Darth Vader. It helps like Batman he's an aristocrat, an Manipulative Bastard, The Strategist and The Stoic who wants to avenge a deceased parent (just his mom, not his dad) and like Bruce despite his numerous characters faults he does actually care for his allies and love interests. Still unlike Batman Lelouch is far more willingly to sacrifice others and kill and he's not a badass in phyiscal combat like Bruce is either as barring his Magical Eye and strategies he generally gets his ass kicked in one-on-one fights.
- Hei of Darker than Black while he lacking the cowl fits the bill. He's an orphan who Used to Be a Sweet Kid but after great tradegy became a brooding Anti-Hero in a dark outfit with a mask whom has incredible Charles Atlas Super Power, a Grappling-Hook Pistol and is a Genius Bruiser as well as a formidable strategist. Most notably like most versions of Batman he has a extreme reluctance towards killing as despite his nickname being "Death" he hates taking lives and tries to avoid it when he can, ultimately being a case of Dark Is Not Evil.
- Franken Fran Frantic features Sleuth Rockwood as "Crab-Knight", whose costume is about as transparent a Palette Swap of Batman as you can get. While reasonably effective at keeping street-crime down (it helps that he retains Fran as an emergency medic), he starts going nuts when his city is ravaged by an enemy he can't punch away: Covid-1... errr, "QX Fever".
- Genji Tsuushin Agedama: The synthetic beast of episode 26 is a humanoid gunman named Batmanjuu. As you'd expect, he has Batman's cape and cowl, but one of his arms is a gun that allows him to shoot out Japanese sweets called manjuu.
- Karas according to Word of God Keiichi Sato (who also worked on BTAS with his company Sunrise) took inspiration from Batman with its titular dark warrior. He is a badass and vengeful local hero who defends Shinjuku from the rooftops and streets as The Cowl like DC's Dark Knight. Their powers are different though, Batman being a Badass Normal while Yousuke Otoha aka Karas is a yōkai empowered ninja who can turn into a car and aircraft without the need for billionaire money. Comes full circle in Batman Ninja, which along with the 3D animation takes a fair amount of ques from Karas, in regard to Batman's outlandish presentation.
- My Hero Academia: Shota Aizawa — Eraser Head is a downplayed case, mostly seen in contrast to All Might's Superman Substitute. Eraser Head uses skill and tactics over brute force and power, is a Perpetual Frowner and The Stoic, along with being The Comically Serious, and overall deals with threats in a more brutal nature akin to The Cowl. The main difference is that, unlike Batman, he has powers, though they are of limited use.
- My Hero Academia: Vigilantes: Compared to the main series, the spin-off introduces the Batman equivalent of The 'Verse with Iwao Oguro aka Knuckleduster, whom Hideyuki Furuhashi confirms is MHA's Batman to All Might's Superman (as well as having some similarities to Punisher). Like Batman, Oguro is a Badass Normal with a black mask and white eyes who acts as The Cowl regularly taking on opponents often well out of his weight class and has a darkly sardonic yet ultimately heroic personality and takes in a colourful Kid Sidekick as his protégé. Oguro also acts as a deconstruction of Batman-like characters as it's revealed that his body has been ravaged by his reckless exploits, and he's constantly using painkillers to shrug off his intense exhaustion and pain from various injuries. Oguro's backstory reveals that he was was originally a Pro Hero called O'Clock, MHA's' counterpart to The Flash, before having his Quirk stolen by All For One. That's what turned him into a Batman-style Badass Normal vigilante. Additionally, his daughter Tamao is similar to Barbara Gordon, being a rebellious girl who has a traumatic encounter with a supervillain, leaving her hospitalised and an invalid.
- One Piece:
- A character called Batman shows up in Wano arc as one of Kaido's SMILES and true to form he's got the dark outfit, pointy ears, mask-like face, and wings... but he's also overweight and completely ridiculous◊ (albeit he actually gives Luffy some trouble in the anime). Considering Oda is a fan of the 1966 series (the most popular incarnation of Batman in Japan) with the character Caesar taking his name from Cesar Romero, this goofier Shout-Out to the Dark Knight should be expected.
- Patrick Redfield the Big Bad of One Piece: Unlimited World Red user of the Batto Batto no Mi, Model: Vampire Devil Fruit, in comparison to the aforementioned example provides a decidedly cooler non-silly example, with his hybrid form making him look very similar to Batman◊ (with his face looking like a mask). Redfield also naturally has similarities to the Batman Vampire version being a vampire himself, on top of the obvious Dracula allusions.
- On the topic of Wano, much like how Sentai Black of Super Sentai is likened to Batman when it comes to Sentai teams, Stealth Black of the In-Universe Germa 66 legend is pretty much the Batman of the group, relying on stealth with his Invisibility powers. Fittingly when Sanji (despite understandably hating Germa, his evil family) takes the Stealth Black aka Soba-Mask mantle with the Raid Suit he acts like The Cowl saving people as a superhero, and like Batman has variety of gadgets including a black techno cape that can protect him from harm. It also helps out of the mask Sanji is a womanizer aristocrat like Bruce Wayne, albeit former aristocrat in Sanji's case.
- A character called Batman shows up in Wano arc as one of Kaido's SMILES and true to form he's got the dark outfit, pointy ears, mask-like face, and wings... but he's also overweight and completely ridiculous
- Pokémon the Series:
- Pokémon: The Original Series: In The Johto Journeys episode "The Superhero Secret", Ash and his friends meet an aging Batman parody named Gligarman, who switches out the bat motif for one based on the bat-scorpion Pokemon Gligar.
- Pokémon the Series: XY: Meyer, Clemont and Bonnie's father, patrols Lumiose City with Mega Blaziken at night as the heroic vigilante Blaziken Mask. Like Bruce Wayne, his civilian identity is so unassuming that he even has a different Pokémon partner, Ampharos, by his side. And his Blaziken Mask costume is based on Mega Blaziken, giving him bat-like ears on his cowl.
- Kotetsu Kaburagi aka The Tiger in Tiger & Bunny has the similar costume complete with pointy eared cowl and Badass Cape and even has his own Kid Sidekick and Red Baron of "Crusher for Justice". He's got some differences though actually having superpowers, no dead parents and a distinct lack of money, forcing him to have work for others.
Asian Animation
- Back in the 90s, a Malaysian cartoon called Keluang Man (keluang being the local name for fruit bats) directly spoofed the caped crusader. In his civilian identity, Borhan, he's a patient in a mental hospital who sneaks out at night to fight crime. There's even a whole list of characters which are expies lifted from Batman, including Keluang Man's trusty sidekick "Tiong Man" (the show's counterpart to Robin, being a toucan-themed superhero in a bird suit), local police commissioner Inspector Shahab (the hero's Friend on the Force much like Commissioner Gordon), a clown-themed supervillain named "Badut" (lit. "clown" in Malay) and a female crime-fighting cat burglar called Meow The Cat Girl. An episode can be found here.
Audio Play
- The Dutch comedy series Ome Henk features a parody named Stressman. When a random terrorist took two of the main characters hostage, the narrator exclaims that when the need is highest, help is nighest. This is followed by the arrival of Stressman, who is accompanied by a parody of the 1960s Batman theme song. After Stressman saves the day, the narrator also states he hands out free cars and houses. The story ends with one of the main characters breaking the fourth wall, saying the story doesn't make any sense anymore.
Comic Strips
- Suske en Wiske. The album Wattman is a direct parody of the 1960s TV series, which was popular when this story was published. A wattman is an old Belgian term for a streetcar driver, like the one in the story. He has a similar bat mask and cape and sings his own theme song Wattman whenever he attacks somebody. In one gag he is standing in the lights of his streetcar, causing his silhouette to parody the Bat signal. The child character Suske even dresses up like him at one point, causing him to resemble Robin.
- De Kiekeboes. During Kiekeboe's funeral many characters from different franchises are present, including Batman.
- Urbanus. In one album Urbanus plays the superhero Badman (a bad is Dutch for bath) who rides through the street in a bath tub, accompanied by his sidekick Robin soap.
- MAD Magazine. Batman was spoofed as early as 1953 as Battyman.
- The comic strip and subsequent animated series Bananaman contains numerous elements parodying the 1960s TV series.
- A Beetle Bailey Sunday strip from circa 1966 featured Sgt. Snorkel dreaming he was Fatman and Beetle was his sidekick Blubber.
- Big Nate: One of the many comics drawn by the titular character was "Kit and Kaboodle", about a pair of superheroes directly based on Batman and Robin.
Fan Works
- Titanic Valley: Eraser Head (Shota Aizawa) is considered to be one In-Universe by many. Even Damien Wayne says that Eraser Head is the closest thing that Japan has to having a Batman.
Films — Animation
- Syndrome from The Incredibles 1 is an impressive double example starting off as a Corrupted Character Copy of Robin being a wannabe and obsessed Kid Sidekick (who almost gets killed by Bomb Voyage) before evolving into a caped billionaire Badass Normal and Gadgeteer Genius like Batman... if he was a Psychopathic Manchild willingly to kill every superhero in the world so he can be the "hero" of the world. It helps that Syndrome's Crazy-Prepared tactics including having the means to bring down every hero is very similar to Batman and his foil Mr Incredible is a Superman Substitute. He's also akin to Doctor Doom being the tech-heavy nemesis to The Fantastic Faux of the film.
- In Lilo & Stitch (2002) after raiding the laundry basket Stitch becomes this, using one of Nani's bikinis for his ears and a red tablecloth for his cape. Nani is not amused.
- Megamind: The eponymous Villain Protagonist turned Anti-Hero is Batman fused with Lex Luthor and Brainiac. Despite being an alien, he has no superpowers and relies on gadgets and his genius intellect to get by. His wardrobe is all black complete with Ominous Opera Cape and he has his own Cool Car. He also has an alter ego Bernard (an actual guy whom he replaced) who does the "dating beautiful women" part like Bruce Wayne. His sidekick Minion operates similarly to Alfred right down to doing the cooking and cleaning. Megamind's rivarly with Metro Man as well as his fights with Beware the Superman Hal aka Titan are reminiscent to Batman's dynamic and many fights with Superman.
- Briefly in Mulan Mushu and Cricket do a Batman impression to intimidate some workers into giving them fireworks. Mushu's line though "I'm your worst nightmare" is a reference to Rambo rather than Batman.
- Raphael becomes one of these in TMNT while in his "Nightwatcher" persona who's The Cowl though he eventually ditches the identity. It helps that the turtles in general were inspired by/are a parody of the aforementioned Daredevil, who's a Batman pastiche and they have even crossed over with Batman himself in more recent years.
Films — Live-Action
- The 1960s Batman series has become so popular and well-remembered in the Philippines that it inspired a number of mockbusters featuring unauthorised or parodic depictions of the character, namely Alyas Batman En Robin, the James Bond crossover James Batman, and even the lost film Batman Fights Dracula.
- In Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the Bat Gremlin crashes through a wall after being created, leaving the silhouette of the "Batinsignia".
- The titular hero from Aussie film Griff the Invisible is a Batman-expy but only in his poor, highly deluded mind.
- Big Daddy in Kick-Ass, even MORE than the comic version, as this hero's costume is much darker and resembles that of the Dark Knight; also this time his backstory of the killed wife he wants to revenge isn't made up as in the comics.
- Gerard Butler's take on the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera (2004) has been noted to be extremely Batman-esque thanks to ultizing his Badass Cape far more often than other Phantoms and having Adaptational Attractiveness so that he's more Bruce Wayne than Lon Chaney. It helps that Batman has operatic origins anyway and the film is directed by Joel Schumacher. He even has a fight with Raoul played by Patrick Wilson who would go on to play other Batman-expy Nite Owl II in Watchmen.
- James Gunn's earlier Black Comedy Super runs rampant with this idea with the insane protagonist taking up the identity of "The Crimson Bolt" to fight crime as The Cowl Vigilante Man similar to Batman or Daredevil but in a highly twisted and subversive deconstruction fashion. His Robin/Batgirl-esque partner Boltie manages to be even more messed up, taking the "sexual deviancy" underpinning to dressing up in costumes that early Batman was often accused of to a very disturbing reality.
- Funnily enough Darth Vader of Star Wars fame is often thought to be reminiscent to Batman both being badass caped dark knights which is only more apparent if you read the Star Wars comics. It also helps they are both orphans who got Training from Hell and whose initial mentors in the films (Ra's Al Ghul and Qui-Gon Jin) are both played by Liam Neeson. Not to mention both Bruce and Anakin's children/protégés/successors run the gamut from wise and compassionate (Dick, Tim, Barbara, Cassandra — Luke, Leia, Ahsoka, Jaina, Rey) to edgy and rageful (Jason and Damian — Jacen, Kylo and Starkiller).
- Rat Pfink A Boo Boo starts as a straight crime drama before a Halfway Plot Switch turns into a parody of the 1966 Batman TV series.
- Similarly The Wild World of Batwoman is a Batman 66 knock off starring the "Bat Girls" who go and have some utterly bonkers adventures.
Literature
- Angels of Music reinvents Dr Falke from Die Fledermaus as a vengeful crusader in a bat costume, with a variety of bat-shaped weapons and gadgets.
Live-Action TV
- The Iraqi live action comedy series "Akbar Chathab اكبر جذاب (Biggest Liar)" is about an old man named Hooby who tells his friends a made up story about how when he was young he had an adventure that parodies famous stories, one episode parodies Batman.
- Community had Abed dressed and acting like the Nolanverse Batman. It Makes Sense in Context.
- The Russian sketch show Gorodok (The Little Town) had a few sketches called "Batment" ("Ment" is a Russian slang word for a policeman).
- The Brit Com Only Fools and Horses has a famous shot of Del Boy and Rodney running through London in costume as Batman and Robin. The '60s Batman theme is used for the soundtrack.
- In a sketch on The Benny Hill Show they're shooting a military film. One of the officers calls for his batmannote , and Hill enters dressed as Batman, having obviously missed the point of the piece. A moment later Jackie Wright comes in as Robin.
- The Avengers (1960s) had an episode around a comic studio making "The Winged Avenger". The climactic fight has Mrs. Peel and Mr Steed hitting the Big Bad with Hit Flash panels while a Musical Pastiche of the Batman theme plays.
- The UK kids' comedy Coppers and Co had one episode with the two leads as Catman and Dobbin, whose enemies included the Jester and the Parrot.
- British puppet character Roland Rat once had an entire series called Ratman where he was a costumed crimefighter battling villains like Wombatwoman.
- Burnistoun has a series of sketches featuring The Doberman, a dog-themed superhero with a growl, cape, and costume that resembles Batman. Unlike Batman, The Doberman seems more concerned with getting back at his school bullies than fighting crime.
- One of Cha Cha Cha's skits was Juan Carlos Batman, involving an Argentine, fat, and lacking in money Batman (as well as Robin), that is more often than not caught in everyday situations (such as sending his "Batmobile" for repairs, going off to meet the Argentine Superman in a bar, or doing a Bat-Walk to reach a TV studio and get an interview)) rather than fighting crime. Funnily enough, one skit involved a conference between all the Batmen in the Mercosur member nations (and picking up a loud argument with the Supermen that were having a meeting next door), where the Argentine Batman is trying to get an international Batman organization to give them financial support... a good 20 years before Batman (Grant Morrison) and Batman, Incorporated (2010)
- More like an Actor Allusion, but still. Adam West appeared in the 1990s Zorro series as "Dr. Henry Wayne", who is astounded at the idea of riding out from a cave under the mansion to fight crime. Zorro has been a chief inspiration for the creation of Batman.
- The Boys (2019):
- While the series features Black Noir is a Corrupted Character Copy of Batman, the series also features another Corrupted Character Copy of Batman in the form of Tek Knight who is more of a Sherlock Holmes-level parody of Bruce Wayne rather than the Iron Man-ified caped crusader from the comic material. He is both a Great Detective and a Millionaire Playboy with a personal butler named Elijah who supports his superhero career. But unlike the original, this version of Tek Knight is a ruthless and racist/sexist Psychopath without any redeeming qualities who racially mistreats his butler as well as having a secret sex dungeon called the "Tek Cave" where he gets off on sexually degrading supes, including his former sidekick Laddio whom he subjected to being a chained gimp.
- Butcher to some degree can be seen also as a Batman parody, at least the versions of Batman we see in some comics as the opposite of Superman living underground and recruiting people for La Résistance (as in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Superman: Red Son, Injustice: Gods Among Us).
- El Chapulín Colorado has been compared to Batman, as he has no superpowers of his own, only gadgets like his Chipote Chillón and Chicharra Paralizadora. In some episodes, he's shown he has to be rich as he has a company and even his own space agency. In the animated show, he has his own Chapulin-themed car, lair, jet, etc.
- Odd Squad: Schmumberman is a comic book superhero all the agents love reading about. He has a few traits in common with Superman but he has a lot in common with Batman as well, such as having a secret base with all sorts of gadgets and vehicles, a butler, and a scientist friend who builds his equipment.
Music
- The Music Video for Without Me has Eminem as a caricature of the '60s Robin called "Rap Boy", who stops kids from listening to explicit music with Dr. Dre in a Men-In-Black-esque outfit (he didn't want to wear a Batman outfit.)
Podcasts
- The Thrilling Adventure Hour: Phillip Fathom, the Deep Sea Detective from "The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam" can be best described as Christian Bale's Batman in Adam West's world, with a dash of Aquaman thrown in. He plays up the quirks of the Dark Knight Trilogy's Batman, calling himself "the hero the ocean deserves" and speaking in a voice his actor describes as "screaming a hoarse whisper", but does so in a campy setting styled after the Silver Age, with comical plots to Take Over the City and kid sidekicks galore, such as Captain Laserbeam's Adventurekateers and Philip Fathom's own Investigateens.
Radio
- Our Miss Brooks: In the episode "New School TV Set" (aired 1951), Miss Brooks and Mrs. David criticize the television set at school as scholastically and culturally useless. All the students were watching were westerns, murder mysteries and horror stories. Miss Brooks remarks that there was one semi-educational program on the day before, "The Batman Eat Up The Dean of Harvard" - suggesting Miss Brooks is joking, but doesn't realize who or what Batman is.
Tabletop Games
- The "Supertoon" setting for Toon has Splatman, who is generally seen as a complete idiot for attempting to fight supervillains with no powers.
- During Paranoia's Audience-Alienating Era, pop culture parodies began to dominate over the game's trademark Black Comedy. The character of Vatman in More Songs About Food Vats is a forgettable example.
- One of Pathfinder's Iconics is Red Raven, a darkly clad vigilante that patrols the street of Galt, who's parents were executed.
Video Games
- The Adventures of Fatman's eponymous Fatman is an obese parody of Batman.
- Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012, a Spiritual Successor to Twisted Metal 1-2, features a driver called Ratman who is a spoof of Batman mixed with Mickey Mouse.
- Temper from Best Fiends is an insect parody of Batman, wearing a leaf-made mask with pointed ears, and gaining a utility belt and cape with further evolution levels. He has an unlockable costume known as "The Dark Mite", which colors him in shades of black. The final icing on the cake of his parody is him originally being voiced by Mark Hamill in the webseries, who is one of the go-to voices of the Joker, Batman's biggest adversary.
- Murk Man from Cyberpunk 2077 side mission Murk Man Returns Again Once More Forever has V come accross his shard. He has Batman's backstory of losing his parents, his embracing the darkness, and becoming a Vigilante Man. He also has his own vechilce called the "Murkmobile".
- Dispatch:
- Sonar is a brilliant Affectionate Parody, being essentially a combination of Batman, Man-Bat and a Crypto Bro. He’s got the educated and wealthy background of Bruce Wayne but is also a half-human half-bat hybrid like Kirk Langstrom while also being a drug addicted Yuppie.
- Coupé being The Cowl with her own throwing projectiles is highly akin to Batman or more specifically Huntress with a lot of Hawkgirl thrown in. Depending on the player’s choices she will either be Dark Is Not Evil or Dark Is Evil and become a full on Corrupted Character Copy.
- Robert has a fair amount in common with Batman being the Badass Normal, a master of the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique, a genius hacker, owning a Mecha, having his two major love interests be a Statuesque Stunner Flying Brick (Wonder Woman/Blonde Blazer) and a sneaky short-haired bad girl (Catwoman/Invisagirl) and having a strained dynamic with The Cape Phenomaman like Batman with Superman. Other than that though, Robert is more like Ted Kord the second Blue Beetle or a working class Tony Stark.
- Batoro from DragonFable. He has a near identical outfit, two sidekicks called Roblos and San Robin, and a Rogues Gallery that parodies that of the Dark Knight's. Completing Batoro's questchain also earns the badge "The Arch Knight".
- One case in Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy involves Katrielle investigating the disappearance of a superhero named Ratman, who was mostly based on the '60s version (but some '90s movies references, like "Ratman Forever", were made as well).
- No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle: Jasper "Pizza" Batt Jr. is Corrupted Character Copy, being a young boy, family murdered by a thug for cash, who vows revenge, uses his money to further that revenge, takes up the cowl of the bat in order to fight against his kind... and became a revenge-fueled killer instead of a superhero. Really, he's basically what would happen if Batman had none of his morality, honor and general human decency.
- Plants vs. Zombies: Heroes: Green Shadow has characteristics, similarities, articles and differences with Batman, like him, she watches over the city at night, she has a plant-shaped sign and has a purple cape very similar to Raven's, but despite that, she serves as a reference to him, even in her comics she is depicted watching over the city from above.
- Along with the infamous Majin Sonics, a Batman version of Sonic is hidden deep within the Sound Test of Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
Web Animation
- Society of Virtue has three separate Batman expies in their cast, each meant to represent a different part of Batman.
- Black Badness is meant to represent the general archetype of The Cowl. His style of dress and facial hair makes him more resemble Green Arrow but his role as the Society's second in command and his archnemesis Pierrot being an obvious Joker stand-in make him more Batman-like.
- Bernard (AKA Ratman) is supposed to be more of a parody of Silver Age/Adam West era Batman. Bernard is portrayed as a rich manchild with a drinking problem who drags a frightened teenager with him on life-threatening missions.
- Urban Crow is used to parody more modern appearances of Batman. He's The Comically Serious with a strained relationship with the local police commissioner and flashy but horribly impractical tactics.
- JK! Studios has the animated sketch "Bat Guy", where the titular hero stops a thief but then gets accused of mugging said thief. A woman living nearby threatens to shoot him and some cops arrive on the scene and try to sort things out while Bat Guy fails at discretely disappearing from the scene.
Web Video
- American High Digital: "Batman In High School" has Hyde in a Batman mask doing the typical impression and beating up students over minor misdemeanors. Tommy would call his parents... but they're not in the picture.
Webcomics
- The Adventures of Dr. McNinja:
- Dr. McNinja is rather similar to Batman already (as they're both American ninjas who fight crime), but the comic occasionally leans on the similarities extra hard. For example, he begins investigating a mysterious dinosaur in his office by asking "What would Batman do?" (As it turns out, the answer is: jump through a skylight to interrogate some thugs, then get a crucial clue from a random TV broadcast.) Doc's backstory reveals that Batman comics were his inspiration to become a crime-fighter in the first place — his parents used them to get him interested in doing ninja stuff, but he unintentedly picked up the heroism as well.
- The comic later introduces (and promptly kills) the Beeman, who's an even more direct parody. He wears Batman's costume — just with all the bat design elements replaced by bee stuff — and he was inspired to fight crime by the death of his parents. It's so overt that it's a parody of the Batman Parody trope — an excerpt from a print-only story shows his opponents lampshading the heck out of it.
- Dr. McNinja is rather similar to Batman already (as they're both American ninjas who fight crime), but the comic occasionally leans on the similarities extra hard. For example, he begins investigating a mysterious dinosaur in his office
- In El Goonish Shive, a fantasy panel involves Justin as The Commissioner Gordon, Grace as the Batman expy and a Bat Signal expy.
- Ennui GO!: Miss Mantis is basically a female Batman except with a mantid theme and having zero reservations over killing criminals (in fact, as befitting a mantis, she cuts their heads off). She even has a sidekick called Scarab (real name Robin Redman) who's also a female Robin in both origin and appearance. Scarab eventually decides to strike out on her own to be a solo hero similar to how Dick Grayson became Nightwing, and Miss Mantis in turn would get a new Scarab who resembles Jason Todd.
- League of Super Redundant Heroes: Flying Fox Man is Batman... except he's rather ugly, and his parents are still alive, with him evidently doing the "night-lurking superhero thing" for kicks.
- Love and Capes: Darkblade is obviously based on Batman.
- One-Punch Man: Drive Knight of the Hero Association effortlessly fufills this role within the OPM universe. He's a black-clad and scary-looking, ruthless Anti-Hero with a great habit of gathering intel on his targets and relies heavily on a variety of tactical tools and vehicles to achieve victory more effectively. He also has a Dark and Troubled Past with losing his loved ones and is driven by tragedy. Two of his vehicles: his bike and plane bear heavy resemblance to the Batbike◊ and Batwing respectively. Unfortunately, it's completely subverted as his Dark and Troubled Past is a complete lie, and that Drive Knight is actually an android named Zero who was built to infiltrate the Hero Association for the Organisation as of Chapter 156 of the webcomic. Sadly, Drive Knight hasn't interacted with either of the Superman Substitutes of the universe, Saitama or Blast, and when he did do so with the former in the webcomic, it ends with his possible death.
- Problem Sleuth: After his mother is gunned down by mobsters, Sonhearst swears vengeance and becomes Bathearst.
- PvP: LOLbat is a Batman pastiche who always speaks in internet memes.
- Shortpacked! loved making Batman jokes, declaring that Batman can make anything funny due to his status as The Comically Serious. The strip's version of Batman also constantly said "I'm Batman" as a Verbal Tic.
Web Original
- The Nostalgia Critic. Doug Walker has parodied Batman countless times, partly because Batman is one of his all-time favorite characters. Usually, he plays the part himself.
- Demo Reel. The first episode had the characters spoofing the Batman franchise, particularly The Dark Knight Trilogy.
- Epic Rap Battles of History. Batman is pitted against Sherlock Holmes in one episode, with many references to the franchise.
- The Cinema Snob. Brad has featured quite some porn parodies of Batman in his show, including the infamously awful Batpussy and Batman & Throbbin'.
- The Angry Video Game Nerd dresses up as Batman and does some of his Batman impressions ("I'm Batman!") while reviewing shitty Batman games in a two-parter episode. Taken up notch when Mike Matei shows up as a Cesar Romero-based Joker. The first part includes a 'tune in next episode' based on the 60's Batman (Tune in next time, same Nerd-Time, same Nerd-channel!), while the second part's opening is a custom animation based on that Batman opening (with Luigi taking the place of Robin).
- Random Encounters: In "The Zubat Song", the singer finds a shadowy figure in the cave full of the titular Pokemon and begs for the latter's help... only to discover that the shadowy figure is Zubatman, complete with a parody of Christian Bale's Batman voice.
- While Videl was already a rich Badass Normal who fights street crime in canon, the Buu Bits of Dragon Ball Z Abridged doubles down on it by having her tell a false story of being motivated from losing her mother to criminals (it was actually cancer). It also serves as a nice Foil to Gohan, who was basically a Superman Substitute during that arc anyways.
Western Animation
- The Simpsons
- The character of Radioactive Man is a combination of almost every superhero, but some of his attributes are directly spoofing Batman (and some of Fallout Boy's attributes spoof Robin). In "Radioactive Man", a film is made about him, directly parodying the Batman blockbusters of the 1990s, including a call-back to the 1960s Radioactive Man TV series, where they face a wacky Sissy Villain named the Scoutmaster and the fight scenes have weird onomatopoeic Hit Flashes like "MINT!" and "SNUH!" flashing across the screen.
- Similarly, Bart imagines himself to be the superhero "Bartman", particularly in the last third of the anthology episode "Revenge is a Dish Best Served Three Times", entitled Bartman Begins.
- In "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer", Homer's silhouette is projected in the light of a lighthouse, causing Bart and Lisa to see it as something the resembles the Bat signal.
- In the episode "Lisa's Sax", Bart sings a song called Buttman.
- In the episode "Dark Knight Court", Mr. Burns becomes a vigilante known as "Fruit Batman" after reading some comic books, fighting a Rogues Gallery almost entirely consisting of his employees being paid by Smithers to act the part of the villains Fruit Batman defeats. Despite Mr. Burns being an occassional Card-Carrying Villain, he's quite good at playing the role of a superhero, as he managed to take down one legitimate supervillain offscreen, and he defeated Groundskeeper Willie, proving Bart's innocence of a prank that Willie committed in the A-plot.
- Captain N: The Game Master: "I Wish I Was A Wombatman" stars Wombatman, a character in a Show Within a Show similar to the 1966 Batman series, complete with a similar-looking suit. As his name suggests, he's based on wombats.
- South Park. Cartman's outfit of "The Coon" also mimics the bat mask and cape of Batman. Kenny as "Mysterion" is also a parody of Batman, specifically the Nolanverse version in how he affects an exaggerated growl.
- Freakazoid!. One skit featured overweight parodies of the Dynamic Duo called Fatman and Boy Blubber, who are accompanied by a spoof of the theme song to the 1960s TV show and defend a chubby kid named Louis from bullies before summarily attacking Louis when he refuses to give Fatman one of his sweet buns.
- Darkwing Duck. Darkwing has a similar bat mask, dark outfit, cape, automobile and even shows a similar light signal across the street. While he's more of a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass than a true Idiot Hero, Darkwing's Fatal Flaw is his pride. His Rogues Gallery also consists of gimmick-themed supervillains, such as a Villainous Harlequin and a Plant Person. However, Darkwing's Arch-Enemy is not a Joker transplant but his Evil Counterpart, Negaduck.
- The 1987 DuckTales episode "The Masked Mallard" features a kind of proto-Darkwing with Scrooge McDuck using this superhero identity to better his image. He's as much of a Batman parody as Darkwing - bonus points for also being a billionaire.
- The 2017 DuckTales series introduces Darkwing Duck as an old TV show which mostly resembles the campiness of the 1966 Batman series. The episode "The Duck Knight Returns" not only introduces a real-life Darkwing, but also features a planned Darkwing-reboot that parodies Zack Snyder and his Darker and Edgier reboot take on Batman with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
- Dynomutt, Dog Wonder features Radley Crowne as the Blue Falcon, a rich man who dresses up in a bird costume, complete with cape and cowl, to protect his city as a vigilante crimefighter.
- The Tick has a direct Batman parody in "Die Fledermaus" ("the Bat" in German). He has oversized ears, claws and nose, and is a massive coward, preferring to run away from evil rather than fight it. While he has a Bat Signal of his own, the Mayor is hesitant to light it to summon him, because he has noticed that whenever he does so, Die Fledermaus goes on a week-long tropical vacation.
- In The Tick (2001) they couldn't use "Die Fledermaus" so they have "Batmanuel", a Latino version. He doesn't have many skills nor is he seen crimefighting - even less than other heroes on the show.
- Arthur: The Show Within the Show "Bionic Bunny" is a version of Superman; later on he gets a cousin in the form of "Dark Bunny", who is Batman-like.
- SpongeBob SquarePants has Mermaid-Man and Barnacle Boy, an Affectionate Parody and/or Homage to 1960s Batman series (as well as Aquaman and Aqualad), who've since turned into Old Superheroes.
- The Loud House: One of Lincoln Loud's favorite comic book series to read is Ace Savvy, A playing-card theme crime fighter just like The Dark Knight himself who "deals out some justice" with his partner One-eyed Jack.
- Batfink is a parody of Batman and The Green Hornet, starring an actual bat.
- In the Adventure Time episode "City of Thieves", the section where Finn believes himself to have been spiritually "darkened" by the corrupt city is a visual and stylistic parody of, specifically, Batman: The Animated Series.
- In the VeggieTales episodes featuring Larry-boy, the titular super-hero is a parody/homage to Batman in the cases of a butler named Alfred, a dark and brooding personality, and teaming up with a League of similar heroes at one point. There are also similarities in gadgetry, such as a signal that shines into the sky with a silhouette of Larry-boy's head (similar to the bat-signal) and the Larry-mobile. Show creator, Phil Vischer, has stated that the Batman homage was going to be in the form of Bob the Tomato taking on the persona of "Batbob" with Larry-boy being similar to Robin and being Batbob's sidekick.
- Adam West himself has participated in some animated Batman parodies.
- The Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode "Batmantis" has Zorak dressing like the titular superhero to rescue Moltar, who has been kidnapped by a supervillain called Your Mother. Along the way, Zorak meets West, as well as two of the three actresses who played Catwoman in the 1966 series (Lee Meriwether and Eartha Kitt), and participates in a Written Sound Effect fight scene whose captions include "Obvious Parody!"
- Two Johnny Bravo episodes ("Johnny Bravo Meets Adam West!" and "Adam West's Date-O-Rama") have West voicing himself as a narcissistic, Cloudcuckoolander TV host who casually fights bad guys on a regular basis.
- The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Back to the Past" has Adam West voicing the younger version of Mermaid Man, in a homage to the character being a parody of Batman.
- An episode of Kim Possible has West playing Timothy North, who's secretly the retired superhero The Fearless Ferret. He convinces Ron to take up the mantle (an extra Actor Allusion, as Ron is voiced by Will Friedle, who also voiced Batman successor Terry McGinnis). Turns out The Fearless Ferret was just an old TV show North played the lead role in, and both he and an actor who played a villain on the show are just two senile old men who have gotten Lost in Character.
- Hell, he even did this on a Batman show. In Batman: The Animated Series, he played Simon Trent, a washed-up actor who played the title role in The Gray Ghost, a parody of the campy Adam West Batman show, which the young Bruce Wayne was a fan of. Enough of a fan that when he became Batman, he modelled his entire aesthetic and crimefighting style after the Gray Ghost, right down to the Batcave being an exact duplicate of the Gray Ghost's headquarters (with the addition of a hidden room full of Gray Ghost memorabilia). Trent is incredibly flattered when Batman shows it to him, and is happy that the show that single-handedly ruined his entire career at least inspired somebody to do some real good.
- Miraculous Ladybug has one Villain of the Week called Dark Owl who is like an evil Batman, with a similar suit, use of gadgets, and even a super computer called Albert.
- Dark Owl himself is an in universe knock off of a different Batman Parody hero Knightowl. In addition to the above gear, she has her own Kid Sidekick named Sparrow and until the New York special hid her identity in a masculine costume.
- SuperMansion has Black Saturn, who is a particularly useless crimefighter who fights by tossing rings similar to batarangs. While he has money, he's also a whiny Manchild completely lacking in skill or competence and, since his parents are still alive, relies solely on handouts. In the first few episodes he was portrayed to be a competent hero despite his personality defects, but was quickly flanderized into being The Load. Additionally, his Arch-Enemy is a skeletal clown called the Groaner.
- Kyd Wykkyd from Teen Titans (2003) seems to blur the line between this and Corrupted Character Copy, being a villain who's explicitly modeled after the Dark Knight's appearance.
- In Tiny Toon Adventures, there were a few shorts where Plucky Duck went out as a superhero called "Bat-Duck". Hampton acted as his Robin, "Decoy, The Pig Hostage".
- Captain Sunshine of The Venture Bros. is a combination of a Superman and Batman parody: He has the appearance, similar powers and Clark Kenting of the former and the social status and propensity for easily-killed boy sidekicks of the latter. For extra points, he is also voiced by Kevin Conroy. In a twist to the legend, it turns out that his predecessor is the Alfred expy and that the current Captain Sunshine was the former Wonder Boy.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) In one episode Donatello's gets personality is altered by the Shredder and he becomes a darker crime-fighting vigilante called the Dark Turtle who obviously based off of Batman.
- Nobody from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) is a homage to Batman. Like Batman, he possesses no innate superhuman powers, his principal antagonists are the corruption and organized crime, he broods and wears a predominantly dark outfit, including a cape.
- Wingnut from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012) adaptation is a direct parody of Batman. He is a comic book character that came to life, is a bat-themed superhero, has a sidekick who he refers to as "Old Chum", uses gadgets on his belt including the "Wingnut-a-rang", and his voice actor played Batman in a one-time role.
- OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes has Laserblast, who was P.O.I.N.T.'s resident Anti-Hero. He also wore a helmet with little ears on top, similar to Batman's cowl. Ability-wise, however, he was more like Cyclops.
- Wander Over Yonder: In "The Boy Wander", Wander adopts a Batman-like persona to face Dr. Screwball Jones, a Well-Intentioned Extremist villain whose idea of spreading happiness and laughter is through Tickle Torture. The episode, by itself, is one 11-minute long Affectionate Parody of the 60s Batman show, complete with the title being a pun on Robin’s nickname.
- The Bakshi Mighty Mouse featured Bat-Bat who, like Batfink, is an actual bat. His schtick is cracking jokes, a habit that becomes an addiction that he tries to beat with Mighty Mouse's help.
- The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty: In scenes that involve the neighborhood bird, Waldo envisions himself as Catman. Also includes an Expy of the sidekick (Sparrow) and each of the three core opponents (Jester, Poochquin, Puzzler).
- New Looney Tunes: Sniffles the Mouse becomes an Adaptational Badass with his alter-ego DarkBat. He even gets a deeper voice.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic featured the Mysterious Mare do Well, a very lighthearted take on The Cowl and homage to Batman who wears a full body dark purple and indigo costume, complete with a mask and cape as well as a fedora, who serves as an in-universe contrast against resident Smug Super Rainbow Dash over the course of the titular episode featuring her and even at one point wields a lasso similarly to how Batman himself has his grappling hook. For further parodic elements, the Mysterious Mare do Well is almost always shown operating during the daytime and in brightly lit environments instead of night or dark environments and turns out to be all five of Rainbow Dash's fellow Mane Six members.
- The Fairly OddParents!:
- One of the recurring characters is a fictional incarnation of Adam West who is famous for playing Catman, who is a clear parody of Batman as portrayed in the 1960's TV show. The Adam West of the Fairly OddParents universe is also depicted as under the delusion that he actually is the superhero he used to play on TV instead of just being an actor.
- The episode "Power Pals" has Timmy Turner wish for "super friends", resulting in him being accompanied by pastiches of the Justice League as depicted in Superfriends. Batman's stand-in is called Dark Mark and is described as a "mysterious brooding creature of friendship", his introductory scene humorously having him ask why they always run when he scares an old lady just by saying hello to her.
- The TV film Channel Chasers featured a Batman: The Animated Series parody called Blackbird, with the titular hero once again voiced by Adam West.
- Dexter's Laboratory featured a Batman ersatz in the Justice Friends segment called Ratman. Ratman is portrayed as a self-proclaimed mere child of 30 who was abandoned by his parents after they went to the movies when his mother and father were scared away by rats and became a costumed crimefighter, complete with a scalloped cape and a utility belt, after those same rats raised him as one of their own.
- The Robot Chicken sketch "The Wurst Script in the World" consists of a spoof of Batman Begins where a German man named Heimlich is motivated by his father choking to death to become a caped superhero who operates at night and uses the Heimlich maneuver to prevent people from dying as his father did. He even fights a Joker ersatz known as the Choker.
- The titular characters of Fanboy and Chum Chum wear costumes similar to those of Batman and Robin. This is more noticeable in the original Random! Cartoons pilot, where the green parts of Fanboy's costume were originally colored gray and Chum Chum had string ties on his tunic instead of a chest insignia resembling his face.