Batman (Jace Fox)

Pre-Crisis

Timothy Fox was the son of Wayne Enterprises CEO Lucius Fox. The two fell out due to Wayne's competitor Gregorian Falstaff, who fabricated evidence that Bruce Wayne was a slumlord. Protesting his father and his business, Tim joined a gang led by his friend Ron Watkins, who was secretly an employee of Falstaff. After learning the truth about Watkins and Falstaff, he left the gang and made up with his father.^[6]

Later on, Tim fell in with the criminal group called the Terrible Trio, taking on the identity of The Vulture and attempting to rob guests of Bruce Wayne's penthouse, but was subdued and captured by Batman.^[7]

Infinite Frontier

After years of absence, Fox returned under DC's Infinite Frontier relaunch.^[8] In his rebooted origin, Tim, due to his family's immense wealth, became a hedonistic playboy, indulging in a jet set life of non-stop partying and promiscuous affairs. On the night before his seventeenth birthday, an angry Tim stormed out of his party after a failed attempt to seduce a girl who had caught his eye. While driving on the phone with another girl, Tim failed to notice a man crossing the street, ramming into him with his car. Tim went to check on the man, who was terribly injured, and, despite the man's pleas, Tim ran away to his father. Lucius hired a team of lawyers and private investigators to protect his son from the legal consequences. It was discovered that the victim was an alcoholic domestic abuser, and the team made the case that he was too drunk to notice the traffic light change. When Tim protested his father's actions, he was shipped off to military school.^[9]

After a decade abroad being trained by multiple teachers, including that of Katana, Timothy, now going by his nom de guerre of "Jace", returned home as his father inherited the Wayne Family's fortune. His return home briefly upended the family, with his sister Tamara falling into a coma, his brother Luke refusing to acknowledge him, and his sister Tiffany becoming estranged from Luke. Eventually, Jace discovered one of Bruce Wayne's old Batsuits in an abandoned area in Wayne Enterprises.^[2]

New Batman

Jace officially takes up the mantle of Batman, choosing to operate under the premise that both his father and Bruce Wayne represented a corrupt status quo. Following subsequent skirmishes with the Magistrate, Jace reconciled with Lucius and relocated to New York City to oversee his sister Tamara's medical recovery. Upon his arrival, Mayor Villaneuva forced Jace into a reluctant partnership with the NYPD's Special Crimes Unit, colloquially known as "Strike Force Bat" During this period, he faced his first major rogue, Manray; after a humiliating initial retreat, Batman defeated the villain in a subsequent encounter, which strained his relationship with the local police department.

Concurrently, Jon Kent—operating as Superman—approached Jace to join a new Justice League following the presumed death of the original team, though Jace rebuffed the offer to maintain his independence. Later, Jace teamed up with Renee Montoya (The Question) to investigate the murder of Anarky. The investigation revealed that while a youth named Morris Caulfield had shot Anarky, a radical group called "The Rest of Us" had already inflicted the lethal wounds. Following the case, Montoya passed the Question mantle to Jace's ally, Hadiyah. Meanwhile, Jace's sister, Tiffany Fox, began operating as a vigilante, drawing the attention of Strike Force Bat. Shortly thereafter, Jace was targeted by Sinestro, who used constructs and psychological manipulation to temporarily trick him into believing he had murdered a police officer.

Dark Crisis and aftermath

Despite his previous reluctance to join a team, Jace eventually allied with Earth's remaining heroes during the Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, helping defend the planet against the Dark Army and Deathstroke's forces. Following the resolution of the crisis and the conclusion of his activities with the NYPD Strike Force, Jace's localized series concluded, though the character remained established as the Batman of New York City within the broader DC Universe continuity.

Dark Crisis

Being quickly defeated by Sinestro prior to the "Dark Crisis" storyline, Jace resolved to face his fears, going to confront him directly. Though Sinestro employed numerous constructs to whittle down the new Batman's hope, handing him a ring to end his own life, Batman used the ring to defeat him before Pariah retrieved him through a portal. Recognizing that Superman needed a Batman, he traveled to the Hall of Justice, where the heroes and Deathstroke's forces were having their final battle.^[10]

Arriving at the Hall of Justice with multiple other heroes, Batman worked with Mr. Terrific to alter Pariah's Anti-Matter Cannon, while Yara Flor used her lasso to distract him, and Superman held off his Dark Army. Batman successfully altered the machine, using it to defeat Pariah, and then joined the other heroes in the final battle, along with the returned Justice League.^[11]

I Am Batman

Amidst the killing of Tanya Fox's assistant, Lucius Fox came home to New York City. After a period of turmoil involving his biological mother Elena Aiko being kidnapped, and the circumstances of Jace's birth coming to light, the Fox Family was fractured. Despite this, Tiffany became an official partner of Batman's, and Hadiyah came into her own as the hero Nobody.^[12]

Rise of the Power Company

In the midst of facing down a group of thugs in New York City, the Signal jumped into the fight. Unfamiliar to the specific teamwork fighting style that the Bat-Family used, Batman was annoyed and initially rebuffed the Signal's attempted introduction after the fight. However, the two quickly bonded over their shared struggles and became friends.^[13]

After defeating the villain Geppetto and his zombies in New York City, Batman was contacted by the Signal for assistance in finding the murderer of his cousin Aaron. However, when they met, the Signal had brought Josiah Power, Vixen, and Black Lightning, the members of the newly reformed Power Company. The team was headquartered in downtown Atlanta, and dedicated to fighting against the anti-metahuman hate spurred on by the Sons of Liberty following Amanda Waller's struggle against the superhero community. Despite continually refusing Josiah and Black Lightning's offers to join, Batman conducted his own investigation of the murder. He later coordinated with Vixen and the Signal after they foiled the Sons of Liberty's attempt to kidnap Aaron's friend, Aki. Finding the killer, Agent Liberty, the Dark Knight defeated him alone. Batman would resolve to help metahumans, joining with the Power Company in order to protect their communities.^[14]

Equipment

Supplied by his friend Vol, Jace has a Batsuit designed with Non-Newtonian fluid, allowing his armor to be powerful but lightweight.^[16]