Batman (Terry McGinnis)

The Animated series Batman Beyond lasted three seasons containing 52 episodes. This is where the character first originally appeared.

Bio
Terry McGinnis is a good-looking 17-year-old high-school senior with an edgy, rebellious nature. A latchkey kid for much of his youth, Terry developed a sense of independence that often put him at odds with the world long before he became Batman. Terry hasn't come to terms with the death of his father who was killed by some thugs. When he saw the opportunity to become Batman and avenge his father's death, Terry grabbed it--despite Bruce's initial objections.

Prior to the tragedy, Terry lived with his dad because he was too much for his mom to handle. Now that he's moved back home with his mom and younger brother, he knows he has to behave. In order to facilitate being Batman, as well as bring in some extra income for his family, Terry works for Bruce Wayne and the pair share an uneasy mentor/protégé relationship.

As Batman, or the Tomorrow Knight (as the citizens of Gotham have donned him), Terry is fearless -- and he detests guns (he absolutely never uses them). Although he respects Bruce and looks to his years of experience for guidance, Terry has a tendency to defy his bounds, and overstep Bruce's instructions. Quite often, Terry learns the hard way that he should listen to his mentor.

Terry's suit is host to a lot of technologically advanced gadgetry. His suit can turn invisible, plus he has grappling hooks, a wide array of batarangs, circular spinning blades. Also on the tips of his gloved fingers are two amplifiers which, when pressed against a window or wall, can help Batman hear the conversation in the next room. Also his cowl has a two way radio, as well as special settings in his eye mask.

Biography (Cartoon Network): Like Bruce Wayne, Terry McGinnis understands what it is like to lose a loved one to a criminal act. After a fight with his father, 17-year-old Terry stormed out of his house, only to return and find his home trashed and his father murdered. Having earlier discovered Bruce Wayne's dark secret, Terry asks Batman to help avenge his father's death. But the millionaire tycoon has become too old to fight. Reluctantly at first, Bruce hires Terry as his new assistant and successor, bestowing upon him a new Batsuit to help fight crime in Gotham. The Batsuit is an elaborate piece of crime-fighting technology. Using the Batsuit's communication devices, Terry is able to link back to the Batcave so he is in constant contact with Bruce. He is also able to control the Bat Vehicles remotely. The Batsuit contains dense, micro fiber mechanical muscles that give Terry the strength of 10 men. It also possesses a Camo-Mode that allows Terry to blend in with his environment and become virtually invisible. And of course, the Batsuit has a utility belt that carries all of the gadgets Terry needs.

Origin
Terry was born in Gotham City on August 18, 2023, to Warren and Mary McGinnis, a research scientist at Wayne-Powers and an astronomer at Astro-Tech respectively. By his own admission, Terry was once a "bad kid." A member of a street gang with his close friend Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow, Terry has his fair share of run-ins with the Gotham City Police while in his early teens, even serving a 90 day sentence for shoplifting at age 14 and a three-month stint the next year, both in juvenile hall. Years after the Batman had disappeared from the streets of Gotham, Terry finds himself on the run from another gang, the Jokerz, a street gang modeling themselves after the deceased Clown Prince of Crime. Finding himself cornered on the grounds of Wayne Manor, to his surprise an old and decrepit Bruce Wayne comes to his aid and together they defeat and chase off the gang. The strain of the fight places substantial stress on Bruce's already weak heart, and he nearly collapses. After helping Bruce make his way back to the mansion, Terry gets him his medication; although with the strain from the fight having exhausted him, Bruce falls asleep immediately. On his way out Terry notices a bat stuck inside a grandfather clock. Trying to free the creature, Terry stumbles upon the secret entrance to the Batcave. Entering the Batcave, Terry realizes who the old man actually is, but his discovery is interrupted by a now-awake Bruce, who abruptly chases Terry out with his cane.

After Bruce kicks him out, Terry returns home, only to be greeted by police and his mother, and he is told that his father is dead. The apartment is covered in graffiti, which seems to clearly be the result of the Jokerz getting revenge for their humiliation earlier that day. Terry moves in with his mother, heartbroken that his last conversation with his father was a fight, just prior to his run in with the Jokerz. While looking at a small framed photo of his father, Terry discovers a small data disc hidden in the frame, left by his father right before his death. Terry takes the disc to Bruce, who checks the contents with the Batcave's computer. The data disc contains information on a biological weapon, and raises questions as to whether or not his Dad was killed by Jokerz. Bruce has a reluctant Terry take the disc to the police commissioner Gordon, but before Terry can deliver it to her, he is intercepted by Derek Powers, his Dad's boss and the one who would be exposed if the data reached the police, as well as Powers' bodyguard Mr Fixx, who attempts to capture Terry and the disc. Terry escapes, but has to use the disc to distract them, and leaves empty handed. With nothing to take to the police and no way to do anything but escape, Terry tethers Bruce's dog Ace to the perimeter fence, and goes back into the Batcave. Stealing the newest Batsuit, He heads for the Wayne-Powers headquarters, intent on taking revenge for the murder of his father. Bruce discovers the theft, and contacts Terry demanding he return the suit. Bruce admonishes him through the suit's communicator, and even shuts down the suit, leaving Terry helpless in a fight. Terry, however, is able to convince Bruce to help him confront Powers, after all, he sees himself in Terry, they both lost their parents and Terry in stealing the suit has a chance to stop Powers.. In the end, Terry stops Powers from shipping the bio-weapon, Powers shoots a canister trying to hit Terry, resulting in him becoming the radioactive Blight. Mr Fixx boards the transport and tries to escape with it and the load of gas, Terry boards it to stop the shipment and in doing so is confronted by the real murderer, Mr Fixx, and after defeating Fixx, he destroys the transport Fixx was guarding, and Fixx goes down with it.

Convinced that there is still a need for a Batman, Bruce hires Terry as his "personal assistant" and begins secretly training him for his new role as Batman. In addition, Bruce assists Terry in the field primarily by keeping in continual contact with the boy at the Batcave.

After Powers' criminal identity is revealed to the public and he finally brings retribution to his father's killers, Terry decides to continue his role as Batman to make up for his past sins, in hope that his heroic role is his chance at redemption.

Terry goes on many adventures as the Batman, growing into his role to the point where eventually even Bruce accepts him as his heir as the Bat. Eventually, he is recruited by Superman to root out a traitor in the team... who turns out to be Superman himself, under the control of the extraterrestrial creature Starro. Though initially the rest of the team distrusts him due to his perceived inexperience, Terry gains their trust by saving their lives and freeing Superman from the alien's mind control. However, he says that he would prefer to be like his mentor and only partially serve on the Justice League.

Power and Abilities
Throughout his time as a delinquent and becoming Batman, Terry has shown to be an able street-fighter. Along with the training he has received from Bruce, he has become an extremely adept hand-to-hand combatant, but not to the high levels of Bruce's other surrogate sons Tim Drake and Dick Grayson, let alone Bruce himself. Terry's fighting style also different from the original batman he somewhat less dependent on the formal fighting styles Bruce employed, and willing to use dirty tricks if necessary.Terry has beaten enemies much stronger and with greater numbers. Because of his age and training, Terry is in brilliant human condition and has shown to be a good gymnast. Because of his father he has a high intellect. Terry has been trained to be a detective by Bruce and has learned to mix chemicals and herbs to healing agents and medicine from him (in the future, Terry has a special interest in becoming a doctor because of it ). When Terry is a young adult, (when Terry is in his late twenties) he is shown taking on highly trained guards and winning with ease and being almost unprotected even without the aid of the Bat suit (showing that his skills may be rivaling Bruce's own) and fully understands how to be Batman.he also posses some talent that Bruce didn't have.

The most shining example of this was shown during his confrontation with the Joker, when Terry unsettled the villain through mind games instead of physical combat, taunting the Joker with biting wit and finally laughing at the Joker — something beyond the old Batman.

Bat-Suit
Even though Bruce wore the same suit as Terry twenty years before him it is still considered "ahead of it's time". On this suit the cape has been removed and in its place two glider wings (much like Dick's second Nightwing costume) which are under his arms, and he also has small rockets built in to the boots. These rocket boots combined with the guilder wings enable Batman Beyond to fly some distances. The suit is also very durable. He is seen taking a punch from Big Barda and remaining conscious. He was stepped on by Micron who grew to near the size of a skyscraper and it left a giant footprint in the ground, but Terry remained conscious and even made a smart comment to Bruce. The suit is also able to withstand extreme heat and cold, high voltages of electricity, water pressure, vibrations, radiation. However, the suit can be pierced if enough force is applied or using a sharp or durable enough weapon. The cutting resistance seems to come into question. It has withstood Terry's own wrist discs before, but Terry was stabbed in the stomach with a knife then Stalker's spear by Hush. However, Hush did state that he had gear that could cut through the suit making it seem like the suit is indeed highly resistant to cutting damage and he bluffed by hiding the knife. The suit can also mold to its wearers height and body shape.

The Bat suit grants Terry the following abilities:
 * Increases the wearer's strength by a factor of 10.
 * Increased agility, speed and reflexes.
 * Night vision/infrared vision.
 * Personal communicator which allows Terry to keep in contact with Bruce in the Batcave.
 * Built in rebreather for under-water combat and exploration.
 * Enhanced ballistic protection
 * Dispensable Batarangs with a range of auxiliary functions. These include explosive batarangs, electro shock batarangs, and energy net batarangs. However, there is a limit to the amount of Batarangs the Batsuit can dispense; Batman has run out on at least one occasion. Also, the Batsuit has discs that can be fired from the tops of the hands.
 * Electrical discharge throughout the suit that can be activated by pushing a button on the suits belt. The discharge is enough to stun and hurt Big Barda incapacitating her for a few moments.
 * Grappling guns built into the forearms.
 * Flash grenades.
 * Smoke pellets.
 * Flexicuffs.
 * Launchable tracers and scanners.
 * A retractable password decipher in a key form on the right index finger.
 * Retractable wings under the arms to glide on.
 * The wings can dispense tear gas.
 * Rocket boots for flying.
 * Touch microphone in index and middle finger which allows Terry to listen in to other rooms through solid walls.
 * Drug identifier, utilized by dipping his finger's into the substance.
 * Built-in holographic and cloaking device that enables almost complete camouflage (this function possibly consumes a good deal of the Batsuit's power, as Batman minimizes its usage). It allows camouflage extending into the visible light and infrared frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. A countermeasure used by Commissioner Barbara Gordon to this in one incident where she was hunting Batman down was through tracking him using an ultraviolet light to illuminate him. The reason the invisibility plastic failed in the B:TAS episode was that sending electrical current through the material caused it to become toxic, affecting the mind as well as the body. Regardless, the original Batman may have saved samples of the plastic and/or the research notes and resolved the toxicity issues, incorporating them into the new Batsuit.
 * Retractable claws which can be used to fight enemies or cling to surfaces.
 * Retractable blades on the forearm that were capable of cutting through some robots.
 * Can link up to his Batmobile by remote.
 * Built in buzz saw on the belt buckle.
 * Electoshock that can be activated by touch to defend against enemies like Inque or protect Terry when he's knocked out. The maximum output is enough to stun Big Barda for a time.
 * Bat Bombs: Terry uses this to destroy ground, wall, etc. This is contained in the middle of his utility belt.
 * Bat cable is contained in Terry's right forearm. He can shoot this out when his wings or boots are damaged.
 * Terry mentioned the suit has sonics powerful enough to crack copper off hostages encased in the metal, but he did not use them.
 * The suit is able to pick up a person's vitals and heartbeat.
 * Terry is able to heat up the suit to 4000 degrees. Terry used this on Micron who stepped on him, and when Aquagirl trapped him in ice.
 * Various capsules. He's used rusting agent capsules to eat away metal and special dehumidifier capsules against Inque.
 * At the end of each fingertip, Terry has small taser wires that he can launch out and were said to defeat Killer Croc.
 * The suit also has a remote kill function that can be activated in the Batcave to shut down the suit if anyone were to get their hands on it.