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For someone as busy as he is fighting crime in his city, Batman still found the time for pursuing romantic relationships. He has had romances with heroes and villains alike, proving that when it comes to love, even Batman doesn’t discriminate. Of all the love interests Batman had, some stand out more than others.
Updated January 13, 2023 by Kath Leroy: Throughout his long existence in the comics, movies, and TV shows alike, Batman has continued to romance both heroes and villains, despite his devotion to his vigilante crusade and his lack of time for his personal life. Both of these factors caused that even though Batman had many love interests over the years, most of them didn’t last for a long time.
While the caped crusader might not be so lucky at making his relationship work, he certainly has no problem getting beautiful women to date him or fall for him, something many other superheroes could be envious of. Batman’s best love interests include names that many people wouldn’t expect.
9 Harley Quinn
Of all Batman’s love interests, Harley Quinn is one of the most surprising ones. For years, they stood on opposite sides of the law and were sworn enemies since Harley was the Joker’s right hand, Batman’s greatest enemy. However, Harley didn’t always hide her attraction to both Batman and Bruce Wayne, even when she didn’t know these two were the same person.
She flirted with Batman and Bruce and even kissed them both on separate occasions, like in Batman: The Animated Series. Considering all the build-up between them, the fans of the couple finally got their wish when Batman and Harley Quinn got together in the comics. And even though their relationship had its downsides and dangers, they kept each other on their toes, and it created a fascinating new dynamic between them.
8 Andrea Beaumont
Andrea Beaumont played a prominent part in the 1993 animated movie Batman: Mask of Phantasm. In a way, she is the closest to Bruce Wayne, character-wise. Andrea experienced a similar type of family loss that he did, as the mafia had murdered her father. Their shared grief brought Andrea and Bruce closer, but ultimately was also the thing that drove them apart.
Andrea became obsessed with getting revenge. She took on the identity of the masked vigilante Phantasm and went after criminals, which ultimately led to the destruction of her and Bruce’s relationship. Andrea didn’t get as much space as other Batman’s love interests, but considering how detailed her origin story was, she still became one of the most intriguing female characters connected to Bruce Wayne.
7 Zatanna
Considering Batman’s distrust toward all things magical, it’s even more surprising that he and the powerful magician Zatanna had a brief romance in the past. Even after their relationship ended, they managed to remain friends which is more that can be said about other DC superheroes and their exes.
Batman: The Animated Series revealed that Bruce and Zatanna got together even before Bruce became Batman, while he trained with Zatanna’s father. It later turned out their short relationship was important for Bruce as he was shown keeping a picture of Zatanna in Batman: Beyond where he trains the new Batman as an old man.
6 Vicki Vale
Superman isn’t the only Justice League member who fell for a journalist. The same happened to Batman when he started dating the photojournalist Vicki Vale. Vicki has a long history in the comics, having first appeared in 1948. Despite that, she’s best known thanks to her live-action portrayal in the Tim Burton movie Batman (1989).
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Vicki and Bruce seemed evenly matched when it came to their intelligence and determination. Vicki was devoted to her job, just like Batman was devoted to stopping criminals and protecting his city. The downside of their relationship was that Bruce hid the truth about his secret identity from Vicki. Fortunately for him, when Vicki finally found out who Batman was in Batman: The Road Home, instead of choosing to publish it, she kept it secret and decided to help Batman instead, proving that he could rely on her.
5 Wonder Woman
Other occasions that hinted at feelings deeper than friendship between Batman and Wonder Woman include Batman giving her a rose in the comics, flirting in the Justice League animated series, or falling in love in several alternate universes. Finally, there’s also the chemistry between Batman and Wonder Woman in the DCEU that helped to further cement the notion these two should become a couple.
4 Julie Madison
Julie Madison was Bruce’s first major love and the one woman he seemed willing to give up being Batman for, at least for a time. He only came back to his superhero identity when Alfred asked him to return after his absence led to the crime rate spiking in Gotham.
Just like most of Bruce’s relationships, his and Julie’s romance wasn’t without difficulties. Julie had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Bruce kept disappearing somewhere. Ultimately, the discovery of his true identity pushed them apart, since Julie realized that her father died because of what Batman did. However, considering their close bond, it’s likely they could have made it work under different circumstances.
3 Talia Al Ghul
Batman’s romance with Talia al Ghul, the daughter of his enemy Ra’s al Ghul who leads the League of Assassins, is another example that Batman is capable of giving a chance even to those who are presumably evil. Unfortunately for Talia and Bruce, their relationship turned sour. When Talia fell for Batman, she let go of her evil plans for a while, and they even had a son together, Damian, who would later go on to become Batman’s new Robin.
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But Talia was unable to escape her family’s influence and she and Bruce eventually parted ways. There’s also the fact that even though Talia claims to still care for Batman, she was willing to hurt him multiple times. From the storytelling point of view, this relationship is great reading material, but it wouldn’t most likely end well for Talia and Bruce.
2 Silver St. Cloud
Even though she’s not as iconic a character as Catwoman, Silver St. Cloud could easily be considered one of the best Batman love interests. She was one of the few women who know who Batman was, and accepted Bruce nonetheless.
Initially, Silver had a hard time coming to terms with the discovery that Bruce Wayne was Batman. She didn’t hate him for what he was doing, but she was worried he would get hurt. Eventually, Silver suppressed her worries and the couple even got engaged, proving that even the double identity of Bruce/Batman wasn’t enough to drive a wedge between them. Sadly, Silver later died in the comics.
1 Selina Kyle (Catwoman)
Unsurprisingly, Batman’s most popular love interest is the antihero and occasional villain Catwoman. Even though they often stand on opposite sides of the law, Batman and Catwoman still understand each other. That doesn’t equal a perfect relationship, as they argue and leave each other from time to time, only to come back.
Despite their occasional conflicts and differences, whenever the situation required it, Catwoman and Batman joined forces and were able to work well together as a team. As such, Catwoman is one of few people, if not the only one, who can keep up both with Bruce Wayne and Batman. They even got engaged at one point in the comic book series by Tom King, but Selena later changed her mind. Their engagement worked out much better on Earth-Two, where they went through with it. They even had a daughter together, Helena, who would later become the superhero Huntress.
This couple drew even more attention because it was portrayed in multiple live-action Batman movies. In Batman Returns (1992), it seemed like Batman and Catwoman parted ways for good in the end as she was presumed dead. However, the Christopher Nolan trilogy was more merciful to the couple and suggested in The Dark Knight Returns (2012) that Bruce and Selina finally found peace together, away from Gotham and its criminals.
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