Batman Beyond (DC Beyond)

Batman Beyond is a comic book series published by DC Comics as a part of its DC Beyond. The series is inspired by the Batman Beyond animated series, though it reimagines certain elements, such as making protagonist Terry McGinnis a college student. However, both have the basic concept of Bruce Wayne being forced to retire as Batman and training Terry to become the new Batman.

Main Characters

 * Terrence "Terry" McGinnis/Batman - a 20-year-old college student attending Neo Gotham Academy. After discovering Bruce Wayne's identity as the first Batman and the death of his father, he is trained by Bruce to be his successor and continue the Batman legacy. Terry has a bad reputation among most due to his past as a juvenile delinquent, but is attempting to outgrow his past.
 * Bruce Wayne - Terry's mentor and the original Batman who was forced to retire after suffering from a heart attack. Now in his 60s-70s, he keeps his mental skills and trains Terry as his replacement.
 * Maxine "Max" Gibson/Oracle - Terry's best friend and student at his college who eventually discovers his identity as Batman and begins aiding him from behind the scenes. She had a rough childhood with divorced parents and an absent mother, but she has a strong sense of justice.
 * Matthew "Matt" McGinnis/Robin - Terry's 13-year-old younger brother who has a friendly rivalry with his older brother. He is lighthearted and enjoys goofing off. He eventually discovers Terry's identity and is trained to become his Robin.

Supporting Characters

 * Dana Tan - Terry's on and off girlfriend who is hoping to become a surgeon and, while very kind and brave, is often annoyed by Terry's flaking on her and others, unaware that this is due to his duties as Batman. Despite this, she has great love for Terry and he eventually reveals his secret identity to her, with her beginning to patch him up after missions.
 * Mary McGinnis - Terry's mother and the former wife of his father, Warren. After Warren's death, she was left as the only caretaker of her family, which often leaves her stressed, though she has great love for her children.
 * Commissioner Barbara "Barb" Gordon - the daughter of the deceased James Gordon who, along with the rest of the Batfamily, left Batman due to a complicated series of events. She now serves as Neo Gotham Police Department's commissioner and has a device in her spine to allow her to walk, as her spine was previously shattered by the Joker.
 * Ace the Bat-Hound - a dog adopted by Bruce not long after retiring. Ace had a hard life, as he was repeatedly abused and was eventually forced into dog fighting matches, but he was saved and taken in by Bruce.
 * Tiffany "Tiff" Fox/Batgirl - the 16-year-old daughter of Lucius Fox who attends Hamilton Hill High School. She initially seems vein and ditzy, but proves to be much smarter than first assumed, deducing Bruce Wayne's identity as the first Batman and being trained as Terry's partner and sidekick.
 * Mayor Richard "Dick" Grayson - the mayor of Bludhaven and its former protector, Nightwing. He is a generally respected political figure and has a big influence in Neo Gotham, but has become skeptical of Bruce and, by extension, Terry.
 * D.A. Samuel "Sam" Young - the current District Attorney of Gotham City and the husband of Barbara Gordon. He is a good man who is tough but fair. However, during the story arc "Revenge of The Joker", half of his face is burned as an homage to Harvey Dent, which sets him on an arc of choosing to either follow in Harvey's footsteps or be a bigger man than him.
 * Selina Kyle - the ex-wife of Bruce Wayne and owner of the Cat's Meow, a very popular Neo Gotham-based brothel. Despite getting up there in age, she is still flirty and has a "will they, won't they" relationship with Bruce.
 * James "Jim" Tate/Armory - a former enemy of Terry's who was the supplier of criminals all throughout Neo Gotham, taking the job to support his family. After reconsidering his actions, he fills a Lucius Fox-type role and begins building equipment for Terry while doubling as a part-time vigilante.
 * Lian Harper/Red Hood - the daughter of Roy Harper and the villain Cheshire. After witnessing the death of her father, she was adopted by his sometimes friend Jason Todd and grew up idolizing him, mimicking him in personality and methods.
 * April Moon - the ex-wife of Dr. Peter Corso who left him for the criminal Bullwhip. Corso proceeded to torture Bullwhip into madness, with her staying him him until realizing the extent his trauma had affected him. Later, she begins trying to redeem herself and is seen working at a soup kitchen, but is a frequent target Bullwhip.

Villains

 * Derek Powers/Blight - a corrupt businessman turned superhuman crime lord, Blight is initial CEO of Wayne-Powers, which he created shortly after a hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises. After what should have been lethal exposure to nerve gas, Powers irradiated his body to keep himself alive, gaining the ability to generate and manipulate radiation in the process. He is the mastermind behind the murder of Warren McGinnis, which has made him the archenemy of Terry.
 * Jessica Foxworthy/Inque - a mercenary and thief-for-hire who was poor from an early age and was forced to become a thief to survive. While attempting to steal an experimental substance from Wayne-Powers, the substance was accidentally spilled on her, mutating her genes and turning her body into a semi-solid black liquid that she is able to shapeshift at will. It is later revealed she became pregnant as a teenager but due to her wretched lifestyle, she was forced to give her baby up for adoption.
 * "Skinny" Willie Watt/Rewire - a former schoolmate of Terry who was often bullied for his small stature and thin frame, as well as having a verbally abusive father. After stealing a headband communicator for the "GLM" construction bot for revenge, the headband overloaded and broke. In the process, his cells were supercharged, giving him the power to generate electricity and he was also given a telekinetic link to all forms of machinery.
 * Walter Shreeve/Shriek - a genius inventor at Wayne-Powers who lived a double life as a mercenary. After his identity was exposed by Terry and he was deafened in the process, he swore revenge. He wears a suit that allows him to both hear and manipulate sound in many different ways, though the most common is creating supersonic bursts of sound.
 * Dr. Hakaru Suzuki/Repeller
 * Brother Eye
 * The Jokerz
 * J-Man - one of the heads of the Jokerz who is infamous for his idolization of the original Clown Prince of Crime, who has modeled himself after in both ideology and appearance. This version of the character is loosely inspired by Heath Ledger's version of the Joker, taking ques from his version's willingness to use military weapons such as machine guns and explosives.
 * Carter Wilson/Terminal - one of the heads of the Jokerz who was one of the best students at Gotham Academy before his true identity was exposed by Terry. Due to a combination of a traumatic childhood, an overbearing mother, and a poor school life, he snapped and became one of the Jokerz most psychotic members.
 * Douglas Tan/Joker King
 * Charles Buntz/Chucko
 * Delia & Deirdre Dennis/Dee Dee
 * Stewart Carter Winthrop III/Ghoul
 * Ben Knox/Bonk
 * Woof
 * Dr. Ira Billings/Spellbinder - a psychopath obsessed with power and dominance. He is a doctor specializing in the human mind, which he uses to his advantage by creating a levitating eye that is able to hypnotize people, cast real-feeling illusions, and also act as a weapon. His genius and mastery of psychology has caused many to consider him one of the new Batman's most deadly and unhinged villains.
 * Patrick Fitz/Ratboy - a man around Terry's age suffering from a mutation that makes him resemble a rat. Turned into a social pariah due to this, he hid himself underground and discovered he had the ability to communicate with rodents, most notably a race of mutant rats in the sewers. He is a frequent stalker of Dana Tan and has a hate for both Terry and Batman, believing both are in the way of his love quest.
 * Kenneth "Kenny" Stanton/Payback - a teenager attending Hamilton Hill High School who was often neglected by his workaholic child psychologist father. Believing helping his father would get his attention, Kenny donned a costume and began wielding an energy-based whip, hunting down the adults that tormented his father's patients. This would eventually grow into a hatred of those that abuse their power as a whole, with Kenny transforming into a bloodthirsty vigilante.
 * Harold Armit/Bullwhip - a gang leader who blackmailed scientist Peter Corso into turning him into a cyborg under the belief that he had his wife, April Moon-Corso, hostage. In reality, Bullwhip and April were having an affair. After Corso found out, it is later revealed he had placed Bullwhip's mind in an android body and had been torturing him since. Despite being saved by Batman, Bullwhip returned to his life of crime, more insane and sadistic than ever due to his trauma.
 * League of Assassins - a worldwide organization of assassins and murderers. Under new leadership, it has also become a secret society dedicated to the secret conquest of the world.
 * Damian Wayne/Ra's al Ghul - the new leader of the League of Assassins, succeeding his own grandfather. He was first thought to be dead and his death split the Batfamily apart, though his corpse was resurrected by his mother, Talia, and he was taken in by the League. Suffering from Lazarus Pit induced madness, he has become to believe it is his destiny to bring order to the world, which he plans on doing via world conquest and controlling both political figures and the criminal underworld. Despite often being a villain, he is willing to play the role of an anti-hero or hero if need be.
 * Curaré - a Tibetan woman who is the League's most deadly assassin. Abused at a monk temple at a young age, she was found and adopted by Lady Shiva around the same time Damian was taken by the League. The two trained and grew up together and she would become his occasional lover. She never speaks, supposedly taking a "vow of silence" in honor of the League, and her face is always covered, though it is implied that she is heavily deformed.
 * Paxton Powers
 * Felix Fixx
 * Edward Nygma/Enigma - an old enemy of Bruce Wayne's and the unquestioned head of crime in Neo Gotham. Over the years, he has become much more sadistic and ruthless, more willing to get hands-on with opponents. He has retained his love of puzzles and making puzzle-themed death traps, though they have since become much more complex and even deadlier than before.
 * Shaka Okoro/The Stalker
 * The Royal Flush Gang - the self-proclaimed "elite of crime". They are a rich and powerful family who commit crime for fun, seeing themselves above every other criminal.
 * Joseph Walker/King of Spades
 * Donna Walker/Queen of Spades
 * Jack Walker/Jack of Spades
 * Melanie Walker/Ten of Spades - the youngest child of the Walker family around Terry's age. She is by far the smartest member of the Walker family, able to hack into even the most protected of devices. Growing up, she had an unhappy childhood where her parents were constantly moving due to their criminal career, which caused her to have conflicted feelings about their way of life. She is in love with Terry, though is unaware he is Batman.
 * Ace of Spades
 * Stanley Labowski/Mad Stan
 * Charles "Charlie" Bigelow/Big Time
 * Robert "Billy Bob" Armstrong/The Mutant
 * Don & Rob Cook
 * Jackson Chappell/Pain - a nurse who was hired to attend an elderly Bane, discovering how to replicate Venom from him. After this, he would become a drug kingpin, selling the super steroid "Slappers" which he himself would become addicted to. He is borderline immune to pain and has incredible strength, though a side effect of the Slappers has left him prone to fits of rage, during which he is unable to think clearly.
 * Dr. Abel Cuvier/The Doctor
 * Richard "Richie" Grayson (clone)/Hush - a clone of Dick Grayson made by Project Cadmus and commissioned by Amanda Waller who was meant to eventually replace Bruce as Batman. However, his mind degenerated fast and he was driven insane by the belief he was inferior due to his clone nature. Determined to prove himself, he set out on a quest to rid Neo Gotham of crime via murder and bloodshed while also clashing with Terry due to him supposedly "taking" his birthright to replace Bruce Wayne as Batman.