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ā€œ As usual, you're already late, Flash. It's time you let someone else have the Speed Force. ā€ž
~ Bruce, seconds upon battling Flash for the Speed Force.
ā€œ My name is Bruce Wayne. I am vengeance. I am justice. I am Batman: the Red Death. ā€ž
~ Bruce, moments before killing all of his rogues gallery on Earth -52.

Bruce Wayne, better known as the Red Death, was a supporting antagonist in Dark Knights: Metal. Although he began as a hero in his world, Earth -52, he snapped and tries to stop crime through obtaining the Flash's Speed Force. After merging with the Flash and gaining his powers, he kills his rogues gallery before joining the Dark Knights to try to save his world from destruction. His world's Flash later ends up regaining his consciousness through the House of Darkness. Red Death shortly then dies from a dose of baby Dark Matter, causing him to explode in a bright light.

The character was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.

His Evil Ranking[]

His Villainous Deeds[]

  • Although he was originally a hero, after going insane from witnessing all his Robins perish during his crusade against crime, he snaps and tries to get the Speed Force's powers to fight against crime. To start, he confiscates all the weapons of Flash's rogues before fighting the Flash.
  • After defeating the Flash, Bruce ends up chaining him in the Batmobile and merges his consciousness into his soul, leaving Barry trapped inside Bruce's consciousness, which is a fate worse than death.
  • After merging with the Flash and gaining the Speed Force, he goes on a killing spree and slaughters all of his rogues gallery. While they were villains, this doesn't excuse Bruce's actions.
  • Accepts the Batman Who Laughs's offer to join the Dark Knights in an attempt to save his world from destruction. In reality, he was going to plunge the multiverse in darkness for Barbatos.
  • Aids the Murder Machine in subduing Cyborg and hacking the Justice League Watchtower.
  • After arriving in Prime Earth, he speeds across Central City and uses his powers to exponentially age people, and even mocks Prime Earth's Flash for aging Iris West.
  • Attempts to kill Flash with his Flashmobiles, and would have succeeded if it wasn't for Doctor Fate intervening.
  • Within a week, he ends up conquering Central City and produces a storm that causes people to age to death within seconds should they touch it.
  • Tries to kill Flash once more via trapping him in an hourglass construct before taking him hostage with the rest of the Justice League.
  • Prepared to torture the Justice League with the Tuning Fork by using them as batteries.
  • When trying to stop the Justice League from using Nth metal against them, he gloats that the Justice League will soon be exposed as cowardly and weak. This sadism causes the Drowned to angrily beat him down to the ground, with her declaring she will have her world back.
  • Although his death was portrayed sympathetically, this was after Barry took over his physical body. Therefore, the sympathy goes to Barry only, as Bruce died as nothing more than a simple pawn in the Dark Knights' plans.

Why Doesn't He Stand Out?[]

  • Though Red Death passes the general standards through giving people fates worse than death and his high kill count, he fails the in-story standards to the Batman Who Laughs, as he was a simple pawn in Laugh's scheme to plunge the multiverse in darkness, not to mention other Dark Knights like the Dawnbreaker and Drowned have also induced far higher kill counts and have played more active roles in the story (to which they also fail the heinous standard).
  • He has a sympathetic backstory, as he lost all of his Robin sidekicks in his crusade against crime, causing him to go insane and extreme in his tactics. While the mainstream Flash calls him upon his actions, Red Death's mind was clearly twisted from the trauma he suffered, meaning his Freudian Excuse holds up, albeit weakly.
  • For the reasons stated above, he is a well-intentioned extremist trying to stop crime and save his world from destruction.
  • His rule over Central City relies on Fridge Horror, as while it was implied to be bad, the depth isn't given much weight to the story. This also applies to his storm of aging people to death, as it's not confirmed how many people died from it.
  • He has moral agency issues, as besides his insanity, his consciousness is split between his and Flash's, constantly fighting for control. However, given Bruce's crimes and how he always remains dominant over Barry's consciousness, this makes for a minor prevention.

External links[]

Navigation[]

           TheBatman Villainous Benchmarks

Comics
The Devastator | Joe Chill | Red Death

Theatrical Movies
Bane | Two-Face

Television
Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures
Two-Face | Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn
Poison Ivy | King Shark

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