Aliases: None

First Appearance: DETECTIVE COMICS #33, 1939

Team Affiliations: None

 

 

Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha Wayne, were the parents of Bruce Wayne, their only son, before they were brutally murdered in Crime Alley during a mugging one fateful night many years ago. Prior to their deaths, however, both Thomas and Martha were members of Gotham’s high society, a pair of wealthy philanthropists who used their vast fortune to try and influence the city for the better at the highest of levels—something that, unfortunately, netted them a fair number of enemies. 

 

In the years since their deaths, mysteries about the true nature of Thomas and Martha’s past and motives have surfaced time and time again, leaving Bruce in a constant state of both mourning their loss and investigating the truth. In some versions of their story, Thomas himself took on the mantle of Batman, having adopted a vigilante persona in secret to help effect change in Gotham outside of the public eye. In others, they were involved—however begrudgingly—with the infamous Falcone mafia, or, even worse, occult organizations.