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The Batcave is a fictional subterranean cave appearing in the Batman franchise, first created for the 1943 Batman film serial. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman and his partners, and located beneath Wayne Manor, personal residence of Batman's secret identity Bruce Wayne.

The Batcave first appeared in the Batman film serial chapter entitled "The Electrical Brain." Bob Kane, who was on the film set, then portrayed the cave in the Batman dailies on October 29, 1943, in a strip entitled "The Bat Cave!" The Batcave made its comic book debut in Detective Comics #83 in January 1944. Over the decades, the cave has been expanded to include a vast trophy room, supercomputer,

In other media

Comics

Fictional history

thumb|The Batcave in Justice #5 (June 2006). Art by [[Alex Ross.]]

The cave was discovered and used long before by Bruce Wayne's ancestors as a storehouse as well as a means of transporting escaped slaves during the Civil War era. Bruce rediscovered the caves as a boy when he fell through a dilapidated well on his estate, but did not consider it as a potential base of operations until returning to Gotham to become Batman. In earlier versions of the story, Bruce discovered the cave as an adult.

Upon his initial foray into crime-fighting, Bruce used the caves as a sanctum and to store his then-minimal equipment. As time went on, Bruce found the place ideal to create a stronghold for his war against crime, and has incorporated a plethora of equipment as well as expanding the cave for specific uses.

Access

The cave is accessible in several ways. It can be reached through a secret door in Wayne Manor itself, which is almost always depicted as in the main study, often behind a grandfather clock which unlocks when the hands are set to the time that Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered, 10:48 pm. In Batman (1966), the cave entrance is behind a bookcase that hides firepoles which was opened when Bruce Wayne activated a control switch hidden in a bust of William Shakespeare, while Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth uses a separate service elevator. An entrance under Bruce Wayne's chair in his office in Wayne Enterprises, as shown in Batman Forever, connects to a mile-long tunnel that Bruce travels through in a high-speed personal transportation capsule. In Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises, the cave is accessible through a secret door disguised as part of a large display case and is unlocked by pressing a sequence of keys on the nearby grand piano.

Another secret entrance, covered by a waterfall, pond, hologram, or a camouflaged door, allows access to a service road for the Batmobile. Another alternate entrance is the dry well where Bruce originally discovered the Batcave, highlighted especially during the Knightfall comic book storyline. At one point, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake use the dry well to get into the cave, which they had been locked out of by Azrael during his time as Batman, and Bruce Wayne used it to infiltrate the cave and confront the insane Valley in the final battle between the two men for the title of the Batman. Lured into the narrow tunnel, Valley was forced to remove the massive Bat-armor he had developed, thus allowing Wayne to force Valley to remit his claim to the title.

Functions

The Batcave serves as Batman's secret headquarters and the command center, where he monitors all crisis points in Gotham City, as well as the rest of the world.

The cave's centerpiece is a supercomputer whose specs are on par with any of those used by leading national security agencies; it permits global surveillance and also connects to a massive information network as well as storing vast amounts of information. A series of satellite link-ups allows easy access to Batman's information network anywhere around the globe. The systems are protected against unauthorized access, and any attempt to breach their security immediately sends an alert to Batman or Oracle.

thumb|175px|The partially destroyed Batcave. Cover to [[Batman: Shadow of the Bat #79 (1998). Art by Glen Orbik.]]

Additionally, the cave features state-of-the-art facilities such as a crime lab, various specialized laboratories, mechanized workshops, personal gymnasium, parking, docking and hangar space for his vehicles as well as separate exits for each type, memorabilia of past campaigns, a vast library, a large bat colony, and a Justice League teleporter. It also has medical facilities as well as various areas used in training exercises for Batman and his allies.

The cave houses Batman's vast array of specialized vehicles, foremost being the Batmobile in all its incarnations. Other vehicles within the complex include various motorcycles, air- and watercraft such as the Batplane, a single-occupant supersonic jet, and the Subway Rocket.

During the Cataclysm storyline, the cave is seriously damaged in an earthquake, with the Bat-family relocating most of the trophies and equipment in the cave to offsite storage to conceal Batman's identity. During the later reconstruction, Wayne Manor incorporates additional safeguards against future quakes and even a potential nuclear catastrophe, outfitting the cave as a virtual bomb shelter or an enhanced panic room. The city's earthquake alters the caverns of the Batcave, with eight new levels now making up Batman's secret refuge of high-tech laboratory, library, training areas, storage areas, and vehicle accesses. It also includes an "island" computer platform with seven linked Cray T932 mainframes and a state-of-the-art hologram projector. There is also a selection of retractable glass maps within the computer platform. Kevlar shieldings are prepared to protect the cave's computer systems from seismic activity. With the cave's various facilities spread amid limestone stalactites and stalagmites, The letter was destroyed by the reborn Eobard Thawne as a way to hurt Bruce for Thomas's attempt to kill him.

"Batcave" safehouses

thumb|The "bat bunker" in Batman and Robin #1 (August 2009). Art by [[Frank Quitely.]]

When Jean-Paul Valley takes over the role of Batman, Tim Drake uses an abandoned barn nearby Wayne Manor and his own house to hide his own land vehicle, the Red Bird, and in time it becomes his own safe house after he adds his computer and portable equipment. After Bane's attack during the Knightfall story arc, Bruce Wayne swore that he would never be caught unprepared to defend Gotham City ever again. When Dick Grayson became Batman during the Prodigal storyline, Bruce established satellite Batcaves throughout the city to act as safehouses.

thumb|left|Four Satellite Batcaves used during No Man's Land. Clockwise from top left: Central Batcave, Batcave South, Northwest Batcave, and Batcave East. Art by Stan Boch.

Other satellite Batcaves, introduced during No Man's Land, include Batcave Central, located fifty feet below the bottom of Robinson Park Reservoir and accessible through a secret entrance at the foot of one of the Twelve Caesars statues at the north of the park; Batcave South, a boiler room of a derelict shipping yard on the docks across from Paris Island that is accessible through a number of false manholes planted throughout Old Gotham streets;

</references>

  • Movie Poop Shoot Article on Batman, including a Batcave section
  • The Origin of the Bat Cave—A blog post by Bill Jourdain about the earliest comics appearances of the Batcave
  • Top 10 Batcave Trophies ()—Article on Comics Bulletin about the Batcave Hall of Trophies