One of the reasons fans love Batman is that he’s a regular person who has made himself into something amazing. He doesn’t have super-strength or speed, he isn’t bulletproof, and he doesn’t have any powers at all. However, he has tactical genius, a highly trained body, and an ironclad will. He also happens to have billions of dollars to create specialized equipment when necessary.
Iron Man has powered armor, but he is not the only one who equips himself with special suits. Batman has created a wide variety of costumes for fighting enemies, especially those stronger than he is. Since he doesn’t have superpowers, he sometimes needs an extra edge to take on some of the most powerful DC threats.
Updated on July 4, 2025, by Guillermo Kurten: Batman has donned exciting and stylistically interesting variants of the batsuit in 80-plus years. These suits span everything from TV, movies, games, and the comic book source material, with each having its respective perks and drawbacks. Whether they’re more situationally useful, like Arkham Origins’ XE Suit, or the surprisingly sturdy Pattinson suit from The Batman, the Dark Knight has plenty of powerful iterations of the cape and cowl.
35 The Batman's Suit Was Technically Impressive in a Grounded World
First Appearance: The Batman (2022)
Robert Pattinson’s Batsuit in the 2022 movie The Batman isn’t something to outperform its more fantastical contemporaries in other series and mediums. Even so, as far as more grounded, live-action suits go, it’s worth noting how surprisingly strong Pattinson’s Batsuit was in the movie. Director Matt Reeves depicted a Dark Detective still relatively early into his career, which reflected in the suit’s less refined aesthetic.
But that didn’t reflect on the suit’s defensive qualities, as Bruce was able to take a shocking amount of melee and even ballistic punishment throughout The Batman. He put the Batsuit through its paces, shaking off handgun rounds and even assault rifle shots up close. Even the devastating point-blank shot he took from one of the Riddler’s followers saved his life from otherwise lethal range. Arguably similar to the younger Batman in the Arkham Origins video game, this suit thematically reflects a more vengeful hero, one more concerned with the punishment he inflicts on villains than with what they do to him.
34 Arkham Origins Batman Had a Tough Default Suit
First Appearance: Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
While Rocksteady was working on the climactic final installment in the Arkham series, WB Games Montreal created a prequel in the form of Batman: Arkham Origins. Roger Craig Smith took the reins for the Dark Knight to follow a more vengeful, reckless and younger version of the hero. Such a portrayal required a new Batsuit to match, and this one more than matched the character, with its heavily armored plates, compared to Bruce’s suit years later in Arkham Asylum.
The default Arkham Origins Batsuit featured tough armor more than capable of withstanding melee-based punishment, but it could also impressively defend against blades and had heavy ballistic protection. Batman is seen throughout the game taking the brunt of handgun and even sniper rifle-based rounds. On the offensive, this suit was eventually equipped with shock gauntlets after Batman defeated the Electrocutioner and incorporated his tech into his suit. But for all the blunt defense and equipment the Arkham Origins suit could carry, it sacrificed flexibility that a more seasoned Batman would use. It was a thematically fitting choice for the suit, given how bull-headed this young Bruce Wayne was.
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Batman: Arkham Origins
Action Adventure Systems
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33 The XE Suit Was Built for a New Threat
First Appearance: Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
In keeping with the Batman Arkham series’ customs, the Cold, Cold Heart DLC for Arkham Origins also took place in one night. The DLC expansion was set a week after the main game on New Year’s Eve and introduced the classic villain Mr. Freeze, compelling this younger Caped Crusader to adapt with a powerful new Batsuit. Dubbed the Extreme Environment Suit (or XE Suit), Batman could endure and even circumvent the subzero temperatures of Freeze’s technology.
Most importantly, Batman’s XE Suit from Arkham Origins had the heating necessary to tank hits from Mr. Freeze’s weapons and navigate the frozen hazards left behind without succumbing to the uninhabitable cold. However, the suit also came with notable offensive upgrades. On top of the suit’s defensive bulk, it featured thermal gauntlets to break through the ice and deal some brute-force damage to Freeze in his cryosuit. Additionally, the suit also featured thermal Batarangs, which allowed Batman to launch projectiles to counter this new threat.
32 Batman Upgraded to Tactical Armor to Save the World
First Appearance: Justice League (2017)
Ben Affleck starred as an older, grizzled take on Batman largely inspired by The Dark Knight Returns. When this version first appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it was with a fairly comics-accurate batsuit. He even upgraded to a similar armored form that he wore to take on the Man of Steel in the comic.
However, Zack Snyder put his own touch on the batsuit in Justice League, which hit theaters in 2017, and then again in his renewed vision as Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Batman donned his Tactical Batsuit for the fight against Steppenwolf and his parademons. The Tactical Batsuit was streamlined but still armored. He also wore goggles with heads-up displays that allowed him to operate his various vehicles more efficiently.
31 Batman's Suit Reaches Peak Functionality in Arkham Knight
First Appearance: Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)
Fans of the Batman Arkham series could see the progression of Bruce generally cutting back on the bulk of his suit. That said, a new threat called for some exceptions early in Arkham Knight’s story, as Scarecrow and the titular rogue’s paramilitary forces brought fear and war to Gotham’s streets. To respond to the onslaught of the Arkham Knight’s militia, Batman had Lucius Fox ready the Batsuit Version 8.03, a suit that was not only heavily armored but also equipped with sci-fi technology.
The Batsuit Version 8.03 maintained a similar lean form, allowing Batman to be as agile as possible, with flexible armored plates on the outer layer, a titanium-dipped fiber mesh on the inner layer, and a liquid-based armor layer between them. It was an astonishing piece of technology, allowing Batman to have the best of every world he needed without compromising too much — mobility, defense and power. The liquid armor would harden to absorb incoming damage as well as deliver even harder-hitting counterattacks. That’s in addition to the suit’s subsystems, such as being able to withstand the accelerated force of the Batmobile’s ejection function to launch straight into a glide over the city.
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Batman: Arkham Knight
Action Systems
With his back against the wall, Batman turns to his closest allies to help him save Gotham City from the clutches of Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight's army. A familiar face also returns to give The Dark Knight a message he cannot ignore.
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30 Absolute Batman's Costume Is a Weapon in and of Itself
First Appearance: Absolute Batman #1 (October 2024) by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin and Clayton Cowles
In the exciting new Absolute Universe, DC’s Earth is very different from other realities. That is thanks to this is a world where Darkseid influenced the world’s creation, so everything is a lot darker than normal. So Bruce Wayne in this world is not a multi-millionaire, but rather a working-class hero who found items to create his weapons from whatever he could find in his various jobs around Gotham City.
In the case of his costume, everything is functional as a weapon, including his cape, which can be used as a sort of prop, and a bridge, and weapon. This all came from a design that Bruce Wayne did as a young boy that won him a contest. Sadly, his father was murdered at the zoo where Bruce and his friends attended after winning the contest.
29 Luke Fox Inherited & Improved the Advanced Batwing Armor
First Appearance: Batman Incorporated #5 (May 2011) by Grant Morrison, Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn, Michel Lacombe and Pat Brosseau
David Zavimbe was a former child soldier who became the African version of Batman known as Batwing. He was one of the first to join Batman Incorporated, an initiative to turn the ideal of Batman into a global crime-fighting network. To help with his war on crime, Batwing had a new suit of armor jam-packed with gadgets for the crusade.
Luke Fox then modified the suit after Zavimbe to further increase the Batwing armor’s incredible power. It enhances his speed, strength, and durability, allowing the hero to fly with a jetpack and wings. The armor became even more sophisticated by adding limited medical enhancements and stealth technology, though Fox eventually retired the Batwing armor.
28 Jean-Paul Valley Improved Batman's Costume to Defeat Bane
First Appearance: Batman #500 (August 1993) by Doug Moench, Mike Manley, Adrienne Roy and Ken Bruzenak
During the Knightfall crossover, Bane broke Batman by literally breaking his back. This meant that Bruce Wayne could no longer be Batman. He needed someone to step in for him so that Gotham City wouldn’t believe that there was no longer a Batman to protect it, so he gave the mantle of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, a young man he had been working with. Jean-Paul had been brainwashed into becoming the assassin, Azrael, and Batman was training him to use his skills for good instead.
But when Bruce went down, Jean-Paul had to step up and become Batman. Since Jean-Paul had to take down Bane, and Jean-Paul didn’t know that he could defeat him «naturally,» he instead built up a new Batman armor, along with claws, and a device that could fire razor-sharp batarangs at people. Jean-Paul used the new armor to defeat Bane and take back control of Gotham City.
27 Batman's Nano-Mech Armor Shows He's Equipped for Any Situation
First Appearance: Superman/Batman #58 (May 2009) by Andy Lanning, Dan Abnett, Mike Johnson, Whilce Portacio, Richard Friend, Tanya Horie, Richard Horie and Rob Leigh
A battle with the Prankster forces Superman into the nanoverse, leaving Batman to chase after him. Of course, Batman had a plan even for this and entered the nanoverse with a special vehicle and armor to survive there. Batman’s Nano-Mech armor might not be the most stylish suit he’s ever had.
Even Superman called it ridiculous, but it got the job done. It increases the durability of his normal Batman costume and comes equipped with tons of gadgets his normal utility belt doesn’t have room for. His usage of high-powered explosives and the ability to hack into advanced technology is shown in the battle.
26 Batman Created a Stealth Suit to Hide from Superman's Advanced Senses
First Appearance: Superman Unchained #2 (September 2013) by Scott Snyder, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair and Sal Cipriano
Batman is a sometimes vulnerable hero since he lacks any superpowers. This has led him to create several suits over the years with different functions, including one with advanced stealth capabilities. He designed it with Superman specifically in mind, as he wanted to see if he could make himself undetectable to the Man of Steel’s enhanced senses.
When Superman visited the Batcave, he surprisingly discovered he couldn’t see Batman anywhere. Batman revealed his new stealth suit, a full-body armor that could adapt to any system used to detect it and adjust itself to hide from even Superman’s X-ray vision. The armored stealth suit was handy when Batman used it to fight Wraith alongside Superman.
