Bat-Family Members Who Died and Never Came Back

It has been a well-known trope for superhero comic books that it never takes long before a seemingly dead character is brought back from the beyond. Whether it’s Superman, Batman or Green Lantern, DC has proven itself to favor this approach most of the time.

Especially within the fan-favorite Bat Family, it is rare that any of its roster remains deceased forever, with fan outrage over a beloved character’s death sure to follow. Yet, there have been some notable exceptions to this rule, with DC Comics committing to the deaths of a good few Bat-Family members in the past which shocked fans with its unprecedented permanence.

15 Robin II (Lance Bruner)

Before Jason Todd came into the picture, the role of ‘the delinquent second Robin’ was taken up by teenager Lance Bruner in The Brave and the Bold #83 (Bob Haney, Neal Adams, Petra Scotese, and Ben Oda). Adopted by Bruce Wayne after his father –a close friend of the Wayne Family– had died, Lance proved himself to be an ungrateful brat who stole and damaged property, oftentimes blaming his surrogate brother Dick Grayson for his misdeeds.

However, when Dick Grayson (as Robin) was wounded after he saved Lance from being shot by the crimelord Grantland Stark, Lance dropped his delinquent personality and immediately tried to make it up to his brother. He donned the Robin costume and attempted to take out Grantland himself. Sadly, while his heart was in the right place, Lance was mortally wounded by Grantland and died in Batman’s arms. Despite the importance the Robin mantle has in the DC Universe, the technical second Robin never reappeared after he died in the 1969 comic issue.

14 Silver St. Cloud

One of Bruce Wayne’s many love interests, Silver St. Cloud met the billionaire during an attack by the villain Dr Phosphorus. She later became privy to his secret identity as Batman after uncovering a plot from the mad scientist, Hugo Strange. She was properly brought into the Bat Family during the Batman: The Widening Gyre miniseries (by Kevin Smith, Walt Flanagan, Art Lyon and Art Thibert) after Bruce let her into the Batcave and introduced her to his many crime-fighting colleagues.

Tragically, one of the crime-fighting colleagues Silver was introduced to happened to be the Green Arrow villain, Onomatopoeia, who at the time was disguised as the vigilante Baphomet; all it took was a moment alone in the Batcave for Onomatopoeia to sneak up behind Silver St. Cloud and murder her. Despite having a few non-canon cameo appearances in such comics as The Batman/Elmer Fudd Special and Harley Quinn: Role Players, she never truly returned after her shocking death at the hands of Onomatopoeia.

13 Wingman III (Willis Todd)

A major story of redemption within the Bat Family was when Willis Todd, the deadbeat father of Jason Todd, gave up his life as a goon for criminals and chose to fight crime as the third incarnation of The Wingman. Whether helping his son take out the Penguin’s criminal empire or helping the vigilante Ghost-Maker in reorganizing Batman Incorporated, Willis quickly found a new lease on his life.

His continued appearances in modern stories such as the Batman: Shadow War event and Ed Brisson’s Batman Incorporated comic run made it seem like Willis’ Wingman was here to stay. However, when the Australian criminal Corvus Cawl was running amock in Melbourne, Wingman found himself at the wrong end of a sword. Given all the build-up for Willis Todd’s inclusion in Ed Brisson’s Batman Incorporated storyline and his growing friendship with the vigilante Dark Ranger, it was a surprise to see him axed off so quickly without any hint of a return.

12 Anarky (Lonnie Machin)

While his relationship with the Bat Family has been tenuous at best, there is no denying that the anti-hero Anarky was at one point a part of the Bat Family during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He became a close friend to both Red Robin and Spoiler during his occasional bouts of heroism.

But despite his connections to the Bat Family, he could not be saved when the paranoia caused by Scarecrow and Seer’s ‘No Masks’ scare campaign resulted in Anarky being shot dead by frightened civilian Morris Caulfield in I Am Batman #2. Thanks to his appearance in the beloved Batman Arkham game franchise and his two comic book series, one would have thought Anarky would be popular enough to see a quick return. Yet as it stands, the young anti-hero remains deceased, ironically the victim of a fellow anarchist.

11 The Hood (George Cross)

The Hood first met Batman during the Batman: Knightquest event as the vigilante protector of Britain in the same vein as Batman in Gotham. He has since gone on to become a long-time member of both Batman Incorporated and the British-exclusive Knights Incorporated team. He remained a consistent member of Batman Incorporated’s roster for ten years, a testament to his capabilities as a vigilante and reliability amongst the extended Bat Family.

This, however, came to a tragic end in Batman #123 when Batman Incorporated got involved in the Shadow War event. During the event, the Hood was killed by the League of Assassins after attempting to persuade Deathstroke to work alongside Batman against the Assassins. Sadly, this marked the end of The Hood’s career as a crime-fighter, and he has not reappeared since.

10 Jochi (Son of Mongul)

Perhaps one of the most bizarre and unexpected additions to the Bat Family was the son of the intergalactic tyrant Mongul, Jochi. When Batman and Red Hood managed to best the alien in combat, he quickly abandoned his loyalty to his father for the sake of joining “The Batman Clan.” As a member of the Bat Family, Jochi sought to bring a more merciful way of life to his home planet Warlord, moving away from Mongul’s gladiator-based society.

Unfortunately, neither Mongul nor the Warworld population were willing to follow Jochi’s so-called ‘radical’ political notions. After being trapped in the Phantom Zone, he was butchered by his father for infecting Warworld with the morals of Batman. Despite being the Bat Family’s first major alien member and the son of a major Justice League villain, Jochi remained among the dead.

9 Batwoman I (Kathy Webb-Kane)

One of the most important legacy characters within the Bat Family, Kathy Kane was the original Golden Age incarnation of Batwoman. Spiraling from her original appearance, Kathy and her Batwoman persona have gone through numerous depictions and reimaginings, going from a rich thrill seeker using vigilantism as a hobby to a serious secret agent working for Spyral.

But regardless of how she was depicted, Kathy stood out as an iconic part of Batman lore, even after other characters have taken on the Batwoman or Batgirl monikers in her stead. Because of this, it is incredibly surprising that after she died in 2014’s Grayson #19 (by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Roge Antonio, Jeromy Cox and Carlos M. Mangual) she ceased to appear in any comic book stories.

8 The Legionary I (Alphonso Giovanni)

The Ancient Rome-inspired crime-fighter known as The Legionary was inspired by the myth of Batman to create his vigilante alter-ego and become the protector of the City of Rome. His crime-fighting prowess eventually earned him enough of a reputation to become a part of Batman’s Club of Heroes, which would eventually be renamed to the more famous Batman Incorporated.

Sadly, despite being a founding member of the Club of Heroes, The Legionary was unable to see the team thrive into the internationally recognized conglomerate it is today. He was murdered by the nefarious Black Glove Society, who planted a double agent on the team to kill off various members. While The Legionary’s legacy is left secure thanks to his daughter Pippi Giovanni taking up the mantle, the original hero remains dead.

7 Dark Ranger I

Another founding member of Batman’s Club of Heroes, the Golden Age superhero Dark Ranger was the protector of the City of Melbourne in Australia. he wore a suit inspired by notorious criminal Ned Kelly to act as a symbol of justice to protect the second-largest city in Australia. Compared to his other –often grim– teammates, Dark Ranger acted as the lighthearted voice of reason among the Club of Heroes, making sure cooler heads prevailed when faced with the overall chaos of battling supervillains.

Sadly, much like his teammate Legionary, Dark Ranger was also murdered thanks to the Black Glove Society’s secret spy, leading Batman on a murder mystery case. In the modern day, the Dark Ranger mantle has been passed on to his sidekick Jonathan Riley has continued to wear the Ned Kelly-inspired costume with pride as he remains one of the most consistent members of Batman Incorporated.

6 Ballistic (Kelvin Mao)

Formerly a SWAT Officer for the Gotham City Police Department, Kelvin Mao had his entire body replaced with a red exoskeleton during the 1992 Bloodlines event. A parasitic alien named Angon ate his spinal fluid but accidentally left some of its mutated DNA on the officer, transforming him into the superhero Ballistic. As a superhuman vigilante in Gotham City, Ballistic frequently teamed up with Batman and other Bat-Family members, He became particularly fond of the ex-assassin Azrael and appeared in events like Batman: Knightquest, Batman: Aftermath and Infinite Crisis.

Ballistic’s superhero adventures even saw him expand beyond his hometown of Gotham and travel internationally alongside such superhero teams as the Bloodpack and the Forgotten Heroes. Unfortunately, when Superboy Prime was driven into a murderous frenzy during Infinite Crisis, Ballistic found himself vaporized by the superhuman’s heat vision. While he briefly returned as a zombified Black Lantern to take his revenge against Superboy-Prime in Adventure Comics #4 (by Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, Jerry Ordway, Bob Wiack and Brian Buccellato), Kelvin Mao never fully escaped his death.

5 Batman of Moscow (Ravil)

A neophyte member of Batman Incorporated, the Batman of Moscow was selected by Batman for his incredible strength and durability to become the Caped Crusader for the City of Moscow. Not much is known about his origins or civilian identity, but he took his position as a Russian crime-fighter with great pride, declaring himself an “ally of The Bat and Moscow” and a bridge between Western Superheroism and Russian culture.

This burning spirit was unfortunately extinguished when legendary assassin Morgan Ducard took it upon himself to destroy Batman’s legacy by killing those close to him. He used the Batman of Moscow as a test run and violently bludgeoned the vigilante to death.

4 Orpheus (Gavin King)

Dance student and tech whiz turned vigilante, Orpheus initially started his crime-fighting mission in Washington D.C. but quickly found his way to Gotham City. He adopted a unique method of defeating crime that caught the admiration and occasional criticism from the rest of the Bat Family. Instead of taking out gangs, Orpheus formed his own street gang called the Hill Street Gang and used it to absorb other gangs in Gotham and control the flow of criminal activity towards lesser crimes that had little effect on civilians.

Just when Orpheus’ vigilante career was finally looking upwards, he had his throat slit by the Black Mask, leaving the Hill Street Gang under the command of his ally and friend Onyx. While Orpheus has been dead for nearly twenty years now, the return of his ally Onyx during the Infinite Frontier era has opened up the potentiality that he may one day return.

3 Knight II (Cyril Sheldrake)

The very first member of the Club of Heroes inspired by Batman to take up vigilantism, Cyril Sheldrake had a long history working alongside Batman and Robin well before the Club of Heroes was even formed. But once the team did form (and later become reorganized into Batman Incorporated), Cyril became the most prominent member with his Knight moniker alongside his fun-loving sidekick, Squire.

However, tragedy struck when the cloned son of Batman, Heretic, came face to face with Knight and Squire and snapped the neck of the armor-clad Steel Bat. Unlike many of the other Batman Incorporated members, Knight expanded beyond his appearances within the team, featuring prominently in Battle for the Cowl (even being considered to replace Batman). He even featured in his own Knight and Squire miniseries in 2010; thus the fact that he’s never been revived or retconned back to life is incredibly strange.

2 Jack Drake

One of the things that helped make the third Robin, Tim Drake, so much more unique than his predecessors was that he was not an orphan. He had to juggle his crime-fighting career alongside his home life with his father, Jack Drake. This created an incredibly interesting dynamic with Jack always being around to worry about his son’s safety and comfort him at his lowest point.

Jack was such an important part of Tim’s character that when his father finally found out he was Robin, he was forced to quit the job for almost a year. Because of his importance to the very foundation of Tim Drake’s character, it was an immense shock when in Identity Crisis #5 (by Brad Meltzer, Rags Morales, Michael Bair and Alex Sinclair), Jack was murdered by Captain Boomerang; what increased that shock tenfold was that this death was permanent, radically changing Tim Drake forever.

1 Alfred Pennyworth

What could not be more overstated was the shock in Batman: City of Bane when Alfred Pennyworth was killed by Bane. The ever-faithful butler was a part of Batman’s life since the very beginning, raising him as a son when his parents were killed and becoming his most trusted confidant when he began his crime-fighting crusade.

Alfred has been the heart of the Bat Family since its very conception, and a main part of the Batman Mythos for well over fifty years. As such, even after he died, the DC fanbase could not have fathomed that his death would be anything other than a brief moment before a quick resurrection. Yet, Alfred’s death has astounded the fandom with its seeming permanence as the butler has stayed dead for four years, far longer than any would have expected for such a beloved and integral member of the Bat-Family.