Batman is an incredibly prepared hero, who seemingly has a plan for every scenario. But did the Caped Crusader have a plan to escape death at the hands of Darkseid?
Darkseid was introduced during Jack Kirby's Fourth World saga as one of the New Gods. Darkseid is the ruler of Apokolips and is considered the greatest threat to New Genesis, the home-world of the more heroic New Gods. Though Darkseid and the Highfather, the ruler of New Genesis, had a treaty between the two worlds (involving trading their sons Orion and Mr. Miracle at birth), the former would secretly find ways to attack and hurt the citizens of New Genesis. Darkseid was a ruthless and cunning dictator who would stop at nothing to acquire the "Anti-Life Equation," a formula that would enable him to conquer the entire universe and bend all beings to his will. Of course, time and time again Darkseid's efforts would be thwarted by the DC Heroes, whether they were fellow New Gods, or the Justice League. Despite Darkseid's insurmountable strength and stamina, making him a truly frightening foe, he could never truly achieve the victory he desired, until DC's Final Crisis.
Final Crisis opens with Orion, Darkseid's son and protector of New Genesis, who arrives on earth after being mortally wounded by Darkseid. A bullet was found in Orion's corpse, one that contained Radion Toxins, a poison that can harm New Gods. Once the Justice League becomes aware of the looming threat coming to earth, Batman gets captured by an Alpha Lantern (a robotic Green Lantern) and brought to Darkseid. Darkseid had finally attained the Anti-Life Equation and began to use it to subjugate all of Earth to his will, though some heroes remained unaffected and tried to either fight back or simply survive this new world. Batman had actually played a role in Darkseid's plan, as he planned to create a clone army of Batman (as Darkseid admired Batman's intelligence and strength). However, Batman, as a result of the trauma he endured for most of his life, was unable to be properly cloned, and every clone created had died. Once Batman had made his escape from Darkseid's prison, he managed to recover the bullet used to kill Orion, with the intention of killing Darkseid. Once Batman encountered Darkseid, he taunted him for giving him the means of the latter's defeat. Darkseid however, was ready to fire his Omega Sanction, an eye beam attack that cannot miss and will either destroy the target, or trap them in an endless cycle of life and death.
Batman decided that he would break his "no-gun" rule in favor of stopping Darkseid, deciding that the latter's cruelty was enough to warrant an exception. When the two fired their attacks, Batman managed to hit Darkseid, greatly wounding him, but Darkseid also managed to strike Batman, apparently reducing him to a skeleton. Shortly afterward, Superman reached Darkseid's headquarters himself and found the corpse of his friend, and with this revelation, Batman was declared dead.
Though Batman was declared dead, Darkseid was ultimately defeated and the Anti-Life Equation was undone, with the world gradually returning to normal. However, as with most deaths in comic books, Batman's demise was greatly exaggerated, as the caped crusader managed to cheat death. Batman, who had amnesia, was actually sent back to the pre-historic era, and would gradually be sent forward in time until he reached the present day. Darkseid however, had a backup plan in the event that his plan in Final Crisis would fail, and he had sent a creature known as a Hyper-Adapter after Batman. This creature would chase him throughout time until the two reached the present day and, when it caught up to him, would eradicate all life on earth. Darkseid had essentially transformed Batman into a ticking time-bomb, one that would unknowingly kill his friends and family without them being aware of it. However, Tim Drake and Dick Grayson had found evidence that Bruce was alive and well in the past, and the heroes prepared for Bruce's return. Bruce, as he made his way forward in time, would gradually remember who he was, and was able to recognize the situation he was in. Once he returned to the present day, Bruce and the Justice League managed to disarm the threat of the Hyper-Adapter, ensuring that Darkseid's last-ditch effort to eradicate all life would be for naught.
Though Batman may not have truly been dead, Darkseid was one of the few villains to truly overwhelm Batman and defeat him. Darkseid was also the one character that Batman chose to use a firearm against, a line he swore he would never cross with any villain, including vicious foes like the Joker. Given the circumstances, Batman's actions were understandable, but given Batman's devout "anti-firearm" rule, his willingness to break it demonstrated just how much of a threat Batman considered the New God. Furthermore, Batman's "Death" had a profound impact on the DC Universe, with heroes like Superman and Dick Grayson grieving for a long while. After a fierce battle for the cowl, Dick Grayson, the first Robin, took on the mantle of Batman and would protect Gotham City in his mentor's memory alongside Damian Wayne, Bruce's son. While Darkseid is not the first villain to defeat Batman in combat, he might be the only one who killed him.
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