Batman’s 10 Weirdest Batsuits in DC History, Ranked

Batman’s character design is truly a pop culture icon: the long black or blue cape and the Bat-symbol on his chest make it hard to imagine a more recognizable character. But there are tons of variances in his iconic design. Over the decades, Batman has worn lots of different Batsuits. Sometimes they’re absolutely amazing, but sometimes they’re just downright bizarre.

Batman always has a contingency plan, no matter what absurd situation he finds himself in. This hyper-planning often results in him wearing tons of different Batsuits, each required for a specific situation. Sometimes these are absolutely amazing, like the Hellfire Batsuit, and sometimes they’re completely absurd, like the Zebra Batsuit. One thing unites Batman’s costumes throughout history: they’re always, without fail, fun to look at for all superhero fans.

10 Absolute Batman

Absolute Batman #1 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta

Batman’s always been a big guy, but Absolute Batman takes his size to an insane level. Batman is built like a brick house in this alternate DC world — and speaking of bricks, one of the design aspects that plenty of fans have decided to make fun of is the unbelievably thick bat on Batman’s chest. People used to make fun of Zack Snyder’s Batsymbol for being a bit thick, but Absolute Batman takes it to the next level with his bat symbol being little more than a brick-shaped bat.

If his Batarangs are shaped the same, then Bruce will essentially be throwing bricks at the criminals of Gotham, which would be pretty effective. While this suit isn’t the strangest readers have seen, it’s a pretty weird departure from Batman’s classic appearance.

9 Batman versus Predator Suit

Batman versus Predator by Dave Gibbons, Andy Kubert, and Adam Kubert

Batman is sometimes referred to as the perfect predator or the ultimate hunter. He stalks through the night and captures criminals with few problems. He’s one of the best ninjas and fighters on the planet, so naturally, the idea of setting him up against a real predator had to happen eventually. This saw Batman going up against the iconic Predator from the 80s movie of the same name.

Batman was heavily outmatched the first time the two fought, but as usual, Batman always learns from his mistakes. He creates his Anti-Predator Batsuit, which looks like something straight out of Judge Dredd. It has a bizarre armored helmet that obstructs his eyes. Considering just how dangerous the Predators are, it makes sense that Batman would need some upgraded armor, but it was definitely a bizarre-looking outfit.

8 Batman One Million

JLA #23 by Grant Morrison and Val Semeiks

In the iconic Batman design, his cowl always exposes his chin. That’s how the character has looked for decades, so naturally, any Batman design that’s going to go against this looks weird by default. That was certainly the case with Batman from DC One Million, a far–future version of the DC Universe set in the 853rd century.

Here, Batman watches over the prison planet of Pluto, where the majority of dangerous criminals are imprisoned. This Batman was so strong he even defeated the original timeline Batman with a single strike, but even with all those cool feats in mind, his costume still looked weird. It honestly seems more fitting for Black Panther than Batman. This Batman wasn’t used much, but he certainly made an impression when he appeared.

7 Azrael’s Batman Costume

Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 by Dennis O’Neil and Joe Quesada

Batman has had a few successors over the years, and typically, they just wear the iconic Batsuit. When Dick Grayson took over as Batman, he didn’t feel the need to create an entirely new suit; he just wore the iconic Batsuit. Azrael didn’t feel the same. When Azrael took the role of Batman, he created his own suit, and it was certainly a strange one. Aside from the bat ears on the cowl, there’s really nothing about this suit that screams “Batman.”

It is bright blue and gold, and it’s heavily mechanical. It honestly looks like something more out of Gargoyles than it does Batman. It was certainly an odd suit, and it instantly made Azrael’s version of Batman recognizable, but there’s still no real explanation for why Azrael, a religious zealot, went for such a technological appearance.

6 Citizen Wayne

Batman: Legends of the Dark Night Annual #4 by Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn

This Citizen Wayne version of Batman wasn’t Bruce Wayne at all; instead, it was Harvey Dent. Harvey had absolutely no issue using guns or brutally going after criminals. This comic was a strange mash-up of Batman and Citizen Kane. It ultimately ended with Bruce Wayne fighting Harvey Dent as he tried to prevent Harvey from continuing on as Batman in such a violent, unhinged manner.

Overall, this costume is another one of those “doesn’t look anything like Batman” suits, with the only real giveaway being the giant gold bat symbol on his chest. If it wasn’t for that, anyone would be hard-pressed to imagine this golden bat with duel guns would be the Caped Crusader of Gotham, who is often recognized the world over. This isn’t the first time that Harvey Dent has been Batman, but it is certainly the weirdest.

5 Zur-En-Arrh Batman

Batman #113 by Ed Herron and Dick Sprang

Zur-En-Arrh is a Batman who is inherently weird just from his concept. He originally appeared as a Batman on an alien planet who was inspired by the Batman of Earth. Instead of the classic blue and gray, this Batman wore bright orange and dark purple mixed with yellow. It’s truly a hideous sight, and the tradition was kept alive when Batman developed his own Zur-En-Arrh personality during the pre-Flashpoint timeline.

In this timeline, Zur-En-Arrh is a backup personality that Batman keeps in his head in case his mind is ever broken. This “pure” version of Batman eventually causes massive problems by trying to take over Batman’s life. Thankfully, the errant personality didn’t bring back the ridiculous costume.

4 Stan Lee’s Batman

Just Imagine: Batman #1 by Stan Lee and Joe Kubert

When it comes to important people in the history of comic books, Stan Lee is usually one of the greats. He was a giant of the industry, and he helped create unbelievably popular characters such as Iron Man, Hulk, and even Spider-Man. But some people couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if Stan Lee had been with DC instead. What would a Batman created by Stan Lee look like? This question was finally answered with the Just Imagine series.

It was here that readers got to see a Batman as envisioned by Stan Lee, and as is typical of Stan, he took the name Batman very seriously. Instead of wearing an outfit that only vaguely resembles a bat, Stan Lee went all in and just put Wayne Williams in a full bat costume, truly turning him into a literal Batman of Gotham.

3 Mummy Batman

Detective Comics #320 by Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff

Golden Age are a special time because unbelievable scenarios unfold all the time. One of the most bizarre was the time Batman and Robin were splattered with green energy from an alien device, causing their skin to turn green. Naturally, if Batman and Robin were spotted with green skin and then Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne were spotted with the same, it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who the mysterious protectors of Gotham were.

Because of this, the duo are forced to simply use giant mummy bandages to keep all of their skin concealed. It’s a fairly wild idea, but it did ultimately work. No one discovered that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were Gotham’s sole protectors, and it was entirely due to this absolutely ridiculous outfit.

2 Rainbow Batman

Detective Comics #241 by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff

During one of their regular crime-busting sprees, Dick Grayson injures his arm. Fearful that people might notice Robin and Dick Grayson sporting the same injury, Batman takes it upon himself to become the center of attention. Every single night, Batman goes out in a different brightly colored and garish outfit, because he correctly deduces that if he’s wearing bright pink, no one will be looking at Robin.

It’s an extremely simple line of reasoning, but it’s also complete madness. Ultimately, this plan does work, and everyone is so confused by Batman’s rainbow wardrobe that no one notices that Robin has been injured. It’s unclear why Batman didn’t just have Robin stay home, though.

1 Zebra Batman

Detective Comics #275 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff

Zebra Batman nearly caused the destruction of Gotham City. While fighting a villain known as Zebra-Man, Batman is struck by a spark from the machine that gave Zebra-Man his powers, resulting in Batman transforming into the Zebra-Batman. Unfortunately, Zebra-Batman did not have the belt that Zebra-Man had. Without this belt, Batman couldn’t regulate his newfound Zebra powers, and he began magnetically repelling all matter near him.

Batman nearly years Gotham City apart, but thankfully, with the help of Dick Grayson, he was able to use his new powers to capture Zebra-Man, steal his belt, and remove his own powers, finally ending the curse of Zebra-Batman. While Batmanhas had tons of odd batsuits over the years, none of them can compare to the pure absurdity that was the Zebra suit.