Bruce Wayne is poor.

[Fenwick]

The moment batman was created according to every comic, and almost anyone who knows the character, is when his parents where gunned down.

WI after the death Wayne industries in a sinister move buys out Bruce's shares, and then takes as much of the Wayne fortune as they can. That leaves Bruce poor.

Can Bruce Wayne become Batman without his fortune?

[MerryPrankster]

I suppose he could still be a vigilante, although his resources would be more limited. No high-tech Batmobile, Batcave, etc.

He might end up more like the Punisher. He did try to join the police force at one time, but was turned off by some stupid laws (a passenger in a car being legally responsible for the driver hits someone, for example). Police training with karate lessons on the side could still make him powerful enough to cause trouble for criminals.

[Mike Stearns]

Maybe he becomes more like Clark Kent or Peter Parker then.

[Evil Opus]

Maybe he'd be like a violent Robin Hood: robbing the rich to give to the poor, then robbing the poor to give to himself. What do you think?

[NapoleonXIV]

They actually did this with Green Arrow, having someone do him out of his fortune. And the original Green Lantern was conflicted because his girlfriend owned the aircraft company he was a test pilot for.

Wayne would still have contacts, and Albert, he could make the money back.

[birdy]

Maybe he becomes more like Clark Kent or Peter Parker then.

yes, but they had superpowers... Batman doesnt, just loads of high tech funded from his fortune.

he could still try and become a crime fighter, i suppose but it would probably be more hanging around streets looking for trouble- it would be harder for him to try and tackle the supervillains i reckon

[Fenwick]

I wonder if he would get the training OTL batman had. Would he grow up in the streets and learn to fight there, or would he hop on a cargo plane and go about Asia learning his skills.

yes, but they had superpowers... Batman doesnt, just loads of high tech funded from his fortune.

he could still try and become a crime fighter, i suppose but it would probably be more hanging around streets looking for trouble- it would be harder for him to try and tackle the supervillains i reckon

Batman greatest weapon was his mind. Which he got from years of training, but most comics show him learning it by himself from books. A Batman year one story showed him going to colleges, disgused, and sitting in on classes soaking up what he could from the law, crime, and science teachers.

For some reason a comic about a poor, yet determined crime fighter seems cool to me. Bruce Wayne living in a crappy little apartment, paying the rent with day jobs around the city, and at night dressing in all black maybe a black mask to hide his idenity, fighting crime. I think this version of Bruce would get hurt alot. No longer striking fear, he is the guy in the costume who gets shot at and limps into the shadows after defeating the criminals.

It would be just Bruce, maybe Alfred working as a headwaiter, and tending to Bruce whenever he stops by injured, hungry, and curious about what someone has said. Getting help from Commisoner Gordon, who does not rely completely on Bruce, but finds a costumed crime fighter useful for going after people his police cannot get to legally. Jason Todd a petty criminal, who keeps an eye to the ground for Bruce, Dick Grayson a police officer who distrusts vigilantes. Tim Drake learns who Bruce is after a brief period when Alfred was the Butler for his family, and Alfred's "son" would show up. Tim wants to be a crime fighter, but Bruce brushes him off seeing no need for children to undergo what he barely survies.

Instead of poor Spiderman, who always had Aunt May and odd success with women, or any number of heroes who are down on their luck, but keep a personal life. Bruce would be crime fighting as he is now, but without the income to back it up.

[Mike Stearns]

yes, but they had superpowers... Batman doesnt, just loads of high tech funded from his fortune.

he could still try and become a crime fighter, i suppose but it would probably be more hanging around streets looking for trouble- it would be harder for him to try and tackle the supervillains i reckon

I meant that maybe he becomes a reporter for a Gotham newspaper and takes up martial arts and discovers that he's uncommonly good at it, in additon finding that its gotten him out of a few sticky situations that arose because of stories he's written and becomes Batman in that way instead of basically being a billionaire who's hobby happens to be fighting crime.

[luakel]

Dick Grayson a police officer who distrusts vigilantes.
I don't know about this... There's a good chance Dick's parents will still get killed by a gangster, but Batman won't be there to take him in. Maybe he becomes a vigilante as well, and the two eventually meet up?

[Fenwick]

I don't know about this... There's a good chance Dick's parents will still get killed by a gangster, but Batman won't be there to take him in. Maybe he becomes a vigilante as well, and the two eventually meet up?

I'd say there is a 100% chance of Dick's parents dying. Batman had nothing to do with their deaths, he just took Dick from foster care.

Dick is said to be a natural athlete, and smart person. His detective skills come from training under Batman, as well as his knowledge of martial arts. So in my mind a child who, raised in foster care and not a determined crime fighter, who wants to protect people would become a cop. He would get the training he needed and probably grow to like it.

he would still feel bad about overhearing the death threat to circus preformers and not telling anyone about it. He would see Bruce as a vigilante and nothing more. Every now and then Bruce Wayne would do something noble in Dick's eyes, but they would still clash on how to fight crime.

[King Gorilla]

I could see Bruce Wayne pulling off an ozymandias, leaving the country via the merchant marines and buming around Euro-Asia before returning as a much change person influenced both by eastern thought and martial arts (wait isn't that practically what happened)

Anyway the poor batman would probably end up being the natural counterpart to Catwomen and I could see them having less of a rivalry and more or a partnership.

[Fenwick]

I could see Bruce Wayne pulling off an ozymandias, leaving the country via the merchant marines and buming around Euro-Asia before returning as a much change person influenced both by eastern thought and martial arts (wait isn't that practically what happened)

Anyway the poor batman would probably end up being the natural counterpart to Catwomen and I could see them having less of a rivalry and more or a partnership.

I could see that happening. The only problem I keep running into is how smart would Batman be? Ozymandias traveled the world at 18, already he was a rich kid who went to good schools so he already had thi base to build up upon.