Highlights

• Batman's romantic relationships have not just been with superheroes, but also with villains like Harley Quinn and Talia al Ghul.
• Rachel Dawes, an original character from The Dark Knight Trilogy, had a significant impact on Batman's story and relationships.
• Catwoman, Batman's most popular love interest, has a complicated relationship with him but also understands him on a deep level.

For the most part, Batman prefers to work and fly solo in the comics — so much so that it might come as a surprise to many of the fans how many women he dated over the years. Some of Batman's romances were brief flings, such as Black Canary; others, though, lasted for a long time.

For someone as busy as he is fighting crime in his city, Batman still found the time to pursue romantic relationships. He has had romances with heroes and villains alike, proving that when it comes to love, even Batman doesn't discriminate. Of all the love interests Batman had, some stand out more than others.

Updated December 11, 2023, by Paul Romano: Batman is known for many things, from his decades-long comic book history to his various adaptations. To this day, he is one of the quintessential superheroes of all time, but one area that he is very well known for is his plethora of love interests. In both the comics and outside media, Batman has been associated with plenty of women, though not all of his relationships have gone to plan. Whether it's civilians, fellow superheroes, or even supervillains, the best Batman love interests have left a lasting impression on the caped crusader over the years.

11 Nocturna

First Appearance: Detective Comics #529

Nocturna has had a couple of names in the comics, but in the pre-Crisis continuity, readers are introduced to Natalia Knight. Created in 1983, Knight initially grows up in a hard life before turning to a life of crime. Due to an astronomy-related experiment, her skin turns pale and she becomes sensitive to light, leading to her adopting the name Nocturna. Her activities, of course, bring her into conflict with Batman. The two eventually become lovers, and Knight even wishes to marry Bruce Wayne. Of course, that never happened. The character was later tweaked a few times in both DC's post-Crisis continuity and The New 52, but she maintained her villainous roots, even becoming a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

So far, Nocturna has only been adapted outside of the comics once, appearing in the first season of The CW's Batwoman. Her one-episode appearance depicted Knight as a vampiric foe, before being defeated by Batwoman. Additionally, the creative team of Batman: The Animated Series sought to adapt her during that series' run, but considering the story's vampire-centric focus and inclusion of bloodletting, the network's censorship kept it from happening. Still, Nocturna is an interesting character and one that is notable in Bruce Wayne's gallery of love interests.

10 Rachel Dawes

First Appearance: Batman Begins

While many of Batman's love interests originated from the comics, one of his most popular adaptations went the original character path - at least initially. For the acclaimed The Dark Knight Trilogy, Christopher Nolan decided to create an original character to serve as Bruce Wayne's sweetheart. Rachel Dawes was friends with Bruce since childhood, and in the years of Bruce's travels outside of Gotham, she became a city Assistant District Attorney. She and Bruce work together on a couple of cases, but ultimately, she chooses not to be with him as long as he is Batman. She later dates Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight, spawning a love triangle between the three. Rachel is ultimately killed during The Joker's chaotic actions in Gotham, but not before choosing Harvey over Bruce.

Rachel is initially played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins, before Maggie Gyllenhaal took up the mantle in The Dark Knight. The trilogy's third movie, The Dark Knight Rises, also references Rachel, specifically the ramifications of her death and decision on Bruce. The character received a mixed reception among fans in Begins but was a little more favorable in The Dark Knight. Ultimately, despite not being adapted to any comics or media beyond this trilogy, Rachel Dawes is still at the heart of Batman's most iconic movie saga. For that alone, she is a difficult character to forget.

9 Harley Quinn

First Appearance: Batman: The Animated Series (Joker's Favor)

Of all Batman’s love interests, Harley Quinn is one of the most surprising ones. For years, they stood on opposite sides of the law and were sworn enemies since Harley was the Joker’s right hand, Batman’s greatest enemy. However, Harley didn’t always hide her attraction to both Batman and Bruce Wayne, even when she didn’t know these two were the same person.

She flirted with Batman and Bruce and even kissed them both on separate occasions, like in Batman: The Animated Series. Considering all the build-up between them, the fans of the couple finally got their wish when Batman and Harley Quinn got together in the comics. And even though their relationship had its downsides and dangers, they kept each other on their toes, and it created a fascinating new dynamic between them.

8 Andrea Beaumont

First Appearance: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Andrea Beaumont played a prominent part in the 1993 animated movie Batman: Mask of Phantasm. In a way, she is the closest to Bruce Wayne, character-wise. Andrea experienced a similar type of family loss that he did, as the mafia had murdered her father. Their shared grief brought Andrea and Bruce closer but ultimately was also the thing that drove them apart.

Andrea became obsessed with getting revenge. She took on the identity of the masked vigilante Phantasm and went after criminals, which ultimately led to the destruction of her and Bruce's relationship. Andrea didn't get as much space as Batman's other love interests, but considering how detailed her origin story was, she still became one of the most intriguing female characters connected to Bruce Wayne.

7 Zatanna

First Appearance: Hawkman #4

Considering Batman’s distrust toward all things magical, it’s even more surprising that he and the powerful magician Zatanna had a brief romance in the past. Even after their relationship ended, they managed to remain friends which is more that can be said about other DC superheroes and their exes.

Batman: The Animated Series revealed that Bruce and Zatanna got together even before Bruce became Batman, while he trained with Zatanna’s father. It later turned out their short relationship was important for Bruce as he was shown keeping a picture of Zatanna in Batman: Beyond where he trains the new Batman as an old man.

6 Vicki Vale

First Appearance: Batman #49

Superman isn't the only Justice League member who fell for a journalist. The same happened to Batman when he started dating the photojournalist Vicki Vale. Vicki has a long history in the comics, having first appeared in 1948. Despite that, she's best-known thanks to her live-action portrayal in the Tim Burton movie Batman (1989).

Vicki and Bruce seemed evenly matched when it came to their intelligence and determination. Vicki was devoted to her job, just like Batman was devoted to stopping criminals and protecting his city. The downside of their relationship was that Bruce hid the truth about his secret identity from Vicki. Fortunately for him, when Vicki finally found out who Batman was in Batman: The Road Home, instead of choosing to publish it, she kept it secret and decided to help Batman instead, proving that he could rely on her.

5 Wonder Woman

First Appearance: All Star Comics #8

The Amazon Princess and Batman skirted around each other for a while. Even though they didn’t become a couple in the main comic book continuity, the pull between them was undeniable. The comic books addressed it multiple times, such as when Batman couldn’t stop himself and kissed Wonder Woman. However, the most notable example is their relationship in the Tom King Batman series. Batman and Wonder Woman are trapped in another dimension for what feels like decades, and as time progresses, they grow closer and closer, considering breaching the final gap and getting together even though Batman is with Catwoman.

Other occasions that hinted at feelings deeper than friendship between Batman and Wonder Woman include Batman giving her a rose in the comics, flirting in the Justice League animated series, or falling in love in several alternate universes. Finally, there’s also the chemistry between Batman and Wonder Woman in the DCEU that helped to further cement the notion these two should become a couple.

4 Julie Madison

First Appearance: Detective Comics #31

Julie Madison was Bruce's first major love and the one woman he seemed willing to give up being Batman for, at least for a time. He only came back to his superhero identity when Alfred asked him to return after his absence led to the crime rate spiking in Gotham.

Just like most of Bruce's relationships, his and Julie's romance wasn't without difficulties. Julie had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Bruce kept disappearing somewhere. Ultimately, the discovery of his true identity pushed them apart, since Julie realized that her father died because of what Batman did. However, considering their close bond, it's likely they could have made it work under different circumstances.

3 Talia Al Ghul

First Appearance: Detective Comics #411

Batman’s romance with Talia al Ghul, the daughter of his enemy Ra’s al Ghul who leads the League of Assassins, is another example that Batman is capable of giving a chance even to those who are presumably evil. Unfortunately for Talia and Bruce, their relationship turned sour. When Talia fell for Batman, she let go of her evil plans for a while, and they even had a son together, Damian, who would later go on to become Batman’s new Robin.

However, Talia was unable to escape her family’s influence and she and Bruce eventually parted ways. There’s also the fact that even though Talia claims to still care for Batman, she is willing to hurt him multiple times. From the storytelling point of view, this relationship is great reading material, but it wouldn’t most likely end well for Talia and Bruce.

2 Silver St. Cloud

First Appearance: Detective Comics #470

Even though she's not as iconic a character as Catwoman, Silver St. Cloud could easily be considered one of the best Batman love interests. She was one of the few women who knew who Batman was and accepted Bruce nonetheless.

Initially, Silver had a hard time coming to terms with the discovery that Bruce Wayne was Batman. She didn't hate him for what he was doing, but she was worried he would get hurt. Eventually, Silver suppressed her worries and the couple even got engaged, proving that even the double identity of Bruce/Batman wasn't enough to drive a wedge between them. Sadly, Silver later died in the comics.

1 Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

First Appearance: Batman #1

Unsurprisingly, Batman's most popular love interest is the antihero and occasional villain Catwoman. Even though they often stand on opposite sides of the law, Batman and Catwoman still understand each other. That doesn't equal a perfect relationship, as they argue and leave each other from time to time, only to come back.

Despite their occasional conflicts and differences, whenever the situation required it, Catwoman and Batman joined forces and were able to work well together as a team. As such, Catwoman is one of few people, if not the only one, who can keep up both with Bruce Wayne and Batman. They even got engaged at one point in the comic book series by Tom King, but Selena later changed her mind. Their engagement worked out much better on Earth-Two, where they went through with it. They even had a daughter together, Helena, who would later become the superhero Huntress.

This couple drew even more attention because it was portrayed in multiple live-action Batman movies. In Batman Returns (1992), it seemed like Batman and Catwoman parted ways for good in the end as she was presumed dead. However, the Christopher Nolan trilogy was more merciful to the couple and suggested in The Dark Knight Returns (2012) that Bruce and Selina finally found peace together, away from Gotham and its criminals.