Batman is the quintessential human superhero. He has no innate superpowers, nor special abilities granted by chemicals, radiation, or accidents. Just a strategic mind, a strong sense of justice, and a lot of money for his wonderful toys. Other heroes have followed his example, but after 80+ years of comics, The Dark Knight remains the most popular of the bunch.
That said, just because he doesn’t have superpowers by default doesn’t mean he’s never had them. For one reason or another, Batman has gained different abilities over the years. Some of which have been stranger than others, and these are the oddest of the bunch.
9 Magic Armor
It’s said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. In comics, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Batman’s wide range of suits have included some sets of armor that have been enchanted in some way or another. Like the Suit of Sorrows, a suit made from a Crusader's set of armor gifted to Batman by Talia Al-Ghul in The Resurrection of Ra’s Al-Ghul.
It increased his senses and improved his defenses, while putting his sanity at risk. The longer he wears it, the more warped his mind becomes. Likewise, the Hellbat Armor from Batman & Robin Vol 2 #33 gave Batman super speed, strength, and nigh-on invulnerability to keep up with his super-powered foes. The downside was that it was fueled by his metabolism. If he wears it for too long, he’ll die.
8 Bat-Giant
What’s stranger than Batman becoming a giant? The fact that it happened twice. In Detective Comics #243, Batman is hit by a Maximizer Ray that makes him 30ft tall. He becomes too tall to investigate crimes without wrecking the city, so Robin has to fit him with a siren to warn passers-by as he works outside Gotham.
Then in Detective Comics #292, it happened again! He gets a whiff of a magic space gas that makes him giant again. As well as making crime fighting difficult, it makes socializing as Bruce Wayne difficult too as he goes into hiding. It makes Kathy Kane (aka Batwoman) suspect Wayne and Batman may be the same person. He had to find the criminal ‘Rockets’ Rogan to shrink back down, while having Superman masquerade as Wayne.
7 Uncontrollable Magnetic Powers
Fans of the Superdickery website back in the day may remember coming across the cover to this odd story. Batman suddenly gained a zebra color scheme all over his suit and body, causing everyone to panic while Robin warns everyone that “Batman has become a menace!”. Turns out it’s not just for being a fashion disaster either.
In Detective Comics #275, Batman and Robin had to take down Zebra-Man, a criminal who turns all stripey when he uses his magnetic charge, which he controls with his belt. While investigating Zebra-Man’s power source, Batman gets charged up as well. Without Zebra-Man’s belt he can’t control how strong his magnetic waves get, making him a danger to others. It's not until he gets Zebra-Man's belt that he can discharge and go back to normal.
6 Bat-Elemental
In Detective Comics #308, Batman and Robin were on the trail of a criminal called Peter Dale. He used an old shaman’s relics to gain power of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Thus making this comic the closest fans will get to an official Batman/Avatar: The Last Airbender crossover thus far. Batman uses the same relics, so he can literally fight fire with fire.
He cues Robin to cover them with sand while they’re still flaming, which turns into a solid glass trap. The airtight seal snuffs their fire out and, by the time they break out, they discover they’ve both lost their powers permanently. The Dark Knight got the idea from an insect trapped in amber found among the relics. Impressed by Batman’s ingenuity, Dale never commits a crime again because “there’s no greater power than the power of the law”.
5 Vampire Batman
Writer Doug Moench has had a weird run with Batman. Take his Batman: Vampire Trilogy for example, consisting of Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist. The first story sees Batman discovers Count Dracula is real, alive, and feeding on Gotham City’s homeless with his minions. He’s turned into one of the undead by a rogue vampire, so he can get an advantage over Dracula.
It works, but it leaves Batman with an uncontrollable bloodlust that he struggles to get to grips with. The second story had Vamp Bats team up with Catwoman, now a literal werecat, against the Joker, leading to him avenging Catwoman's death by draining the Joker dry. While the finale sees Two-Face and Killer Croc join forces to overcome a revived Batman after he starts slaughtering his rogues' gallery.
4 Man-Batman
With a name like 'Batman', writers have been tempted to make it a literal definition by turning Batman into a Manbat. Batman Incorporated #10 saw Bruce Wayne inject himself with the Manbat serum and put the Suit of Sorrows back on to avenge the death of his son on the Heretic. It left him too angry and feral for Heretic’s attacks to hold him back, and he won the fight fairly quickly.
He wasn’t as hideous as his Bat-Monster hallucination in New 52 Batman #6, but Batman/Dark Joker: The Wild makes up for that. It reimagines Batman as a bat-person born to two magicians who were killed by their nemesis Dark Joker. Batman gets civilized by his long-lost sister Saressa, though once Dark Joker kills her too, his feral side wins over, and he kills the Joker brutally before vowing to help the city whenever it's in need.
3 Bat-Genie
Let’s lighten the mood back up. In Detective Comics #322, a gang of criminals stole a lamp and some magic powder. Whoever gets struck by the powder is bound to the lamp and becomes a genie, who has to grant the lamp bearer three wishes. The criminals did that to Batman and, lo and behold, he became their own personal, cosmic being.
He had near-infinite magic powers, conjuring anything out of thin air, being bulletproof, and growing into a giant (again!). Neither Robin nor Batgirl could overcome him. Luckily, getting hold of the lamp proved to be an easier proposition. The Boy Wonder managed to get hold of it and use its last wish to turn the Bat-Genie back into Batman.
2 Absolute Knowledge
The Mobius Chair gives anyone who sits in it absolute knowledge of everything in the universe. During the Darkseid War storyline, the New God Metron gave it up to the Justice League in a bid to escape the Anti-Monitor’s reach. Since it was unoccupied, and no one else was claiming it, Batman parked his bat-butt on the seat and discovered a way to overcome the Anti-Monitor.
The problem is that its power is addictive, as Batman used it to overcome all his challenges, even petty crime in Gotham City. He’d hover around the city in his chair, visit Commissioner Gordon in it, and fight criminals by dropping it on top of them. It wasn’t until Hal Jordan gave Batman his Power Ring that he gained the extra willpower to break free of its pull.
1 Bat-God
Currently, DC’s been on the back foot compared to Marvel thanks to iffy creative decisions and business practices among others. Still, no one can take away the legacy of their Trinity: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. DC certainly thinks so, as they’ve named multiple comics focusing on them Trinity. One of which saw the villains Enigma, Morgaine Le Fey, and Despero use magical keystones to replace Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman with themselves.
They succeed, but the remaining heroes discover their friends didn't disappear. The three just became gods in another reality, with Batman becoming Atmahn the Night Judge, who fought the Laughing Chaos with his chosen one Rabat. He has the same Bat-personality with the omnipotence of a god, and he's brought over with Kellel (Superman) and Dinanna (Wonder Woman) to put everything right.