Thomas and Martha Wayne

"We have lived through dark days, and no doubt there are more to come, but it is the good and great men who stand up for Gotham when others turn and run. In death I will love you forever, your father....Thomas"

- Thomas Wayne in the "Father to Son" trailer.

Thomas Wayne was a gifted surgeon and heir to the Wayne fortune. Dedicated to philanthropy as much as medicine, he and his wife Martha were well-known and respected in Gotham. Martha Wayne née Kane shared her husband Thomas's charitable nature, and was dedicated to her son Bruce's upbringing. She was well-regarded in Gotham City's social circles, and helped host lavish charity balls at Wayne Manor. Their tragic murder at the hands of a desperate burglar, Joe Chill, in Gotham's Crime Alley shook the city to its core, and led to years of urban blight. It also inspired their son, Bruce, to eventually become the Batman.

Before Arkham Origins Incident
Dr. Thomas Wayne is a brilliant surgeon and billionaire CEO of WayneTech. He lives with his family at Wayne Manor on the outskirts of Gotham City. He is married to Martha Wayne and the two had a son Bruce Wayne.

Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone. Falcone's father Vincent Falcone came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting; the surgery was thus performed in the dining room with Alfred assisting. After saving Carmine Falcone's life, he was offered a reward or favor, but refused to accept any form of payment. Unbeknownst to Thomas, young Bruce watched this all in silence from afar.

However when Bruce was 8 years of age, his world changed. When the family of three were just done seeing a movie, they were ambushed by a petty thief named Joe Chill. Joe just wanted the pearls around Martha Wayne's neck, she was handing them over when Thomas stepped in and got shot in his chest. In shock, Martha screamed for help so she was shot to death also. Joe then ran into the shadows of the alley, young Bruce kneeled in his parents' blood.

Bruce was taken into the legal care of his family butler Alfred Pennyworth, a small funeral service was held shortly after his parents death at the Wayne Manor. Thomas and Martha Wayne were buried in a family mausoleum on the Manor's grounds. Bruce then swore an oath on his parents grave to rid Gotham of evil and created a plan to do so for the rest of his life.

Arkham Origins Incident
Having returned to the Batcave after his brutal confrontation with The Joker in the Royal Hotel, a visually disturbed Batman experiences a brief but intense flashback of his parents being murdered by Joe Chill, being able to see the entire crime in progress. Before Alfred dies after Bane wrecked the cave and nearly beats Alfred to death, Batman kneels over Alfred's body, experiencing the flashback of his parents' bodies. Batman revives Alfred with his Shock Gloves, but almost gives up hope of saving Gotham after doubting he is its savior. He experiences several more flashbacks of his parent's deaths, as well as other deaths he has witnessed. Alfred refuses to let Bruce give up and reassures him, teaching him to rely more on his allies than just brawn and intelligence. Their murder was later given a very painful reminder when Bruce Wayne's friends Clarissa Rodriguez and Horace Riley were gunned down by Ian Chase at Crime Alley in a very similar manner to how Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, even their being killed just a few feet away from their place of death, which also incensed Batman enough to nearly kill Ian Chase upon discovering his role in the murder in part because of this. Interestingly during his scan of the crime scene the bodies of his father and mother can briefly be seen (likely minor flashback caused by the case reminding him of his parents murder).

Arkham Asylum Incident
While infected with Fear Gas while in the Medical Center morgue, Batman experiences hallucinations of both his father's and his mother's corpses lying on the morgue tables. The pair ask him why he didn't saved them in the alley, accusing Bruce as being responsible for their deaths. Under further influence of the Scarecrow's fear toxin while in the corridors of Arkham Mansion, Batman experiences a flashback of his parents' murder, and hallucinates being back in Crime Alley as a child, listening to the police officers talk around him as he kneels over his parents' bodies.

Arkham City Incident
When Batman begins succumbing to the Titan infection that the Joker infected him with, he sees Thomas and Martha appear before him standing inside a tunnel of light, calling for him to stop fighting and come into the light, but they dissappear as Batman regains his senses. Also within Arkham City is the Monarch Theatre, and behind it is the alleyway that they were murdered, with a white chalk outline of them marking the murder scene, with flowers on each side. There is an option at the crime scene for the player to pay their respects to the couple. Beside some of the flowers is a collectable recorded tape from Hugo Strange, tormenting Batman with the memories of their death.

Arkham Knight Incident
Nothing is known what Thomas Wayne has to do with Arkham Knight but his voice is heard throughout the Father to Son trailer, reading a final will and testament that he has left to Bruce, which as follows:

''The last will and testament of the deceased: Thomas Wayne. In the event of my death, I hereby declare that all my worldly possessions pass to my son, Bruce Wayne. Bruce, I ask that you honor the Wayne Family legacy, and commit yourself to the improvement of Gotham City, its institutions, and its citizens. Please, be strong. You are young, but destined for great things. Make the most of your opportunities. Use them to give back to a city that has given us so much; to change the lives of millions of people. Do not be frivolous with this wealth. Please, do not waste it all on fast cars, and outrageous clothes, and the pursuit of a destructive lifestyle.''

''Invest in Gotham, treat its people like family. Watch over them and use this money to safeguard them from forces beyond their control. My deepest regret, as I will not see you grow into the good man I know you will become. And finally my son, I ask that you never abandon this city to fate.''

''We have lived through dark days, and no doubt there are more to come. But it is the good and great men who stand up for Gotham when others turn and run. In death, I will love you forever. Your father, Thomas.''

Thomas Wayne's final will and testament to his beloved son, Bruce, expressing his love and faith in him.

During the finale of the game, when Bruce is in transit to Arkham Asylum to be exposed as Batman and exposed to the fear toxin, he returns to Crime Alley after his transport vehicle seemingly crashed in his mind and sees the dead bodies of his parents lying in the same position before Joker invades his mind and causes Batman to kill the numerous imaginary Jokers.

Dr. Hugo Strange
Thomas & Martha Wayne

Attributes

 * Highly gifted and well-trained surgeon
 * Heir to the Wayne family fortune
 * Dedicated philanthropist
 * Mother to Bruce Wayne, wife to Thomas Wayne

Trivia

 * In the Flashpoint Timeline universe, Bruce Wayne is shot dead and Thomas and Martha Wayne live. Thomas Wayne becomes a more brutal version of Batman. His suit is used as a skin in the Arkham Knight game.
 * A bench in Arkham Asylum dedicated to Thomas and Martha Wayne is the answer to one of the Riddler's riddles which leads to Thomas and Martha Wayne's unlockable bio.
 * The murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne is depicted differently in the games Arkham Asylum, Arkham VR and the Arkham Knight comic series. Besides differences in dialogue, there are a few notable deviations. In these three examples the story is told through Bruce's perspective, which may indicate a flawed recollection of the events that happened that night.
 * The Arkham Asylum game indicates Bruce loved the experience of watching the film and that Thomas Wayne was shot almost instantly after exchanging words with Joe Chill who then got into a brief exchange and struggle with Martha Wayne before shooting her.
 * The Arkham VR game emphasizes Bruce's fearful state from the experience of watching the film, with his parents reassuring him in the alley right before Chill ambushes them. When Chill appears, there is a long period where Thomas appears to accede to Chill's demands, seemingly unable to remove Martha's pearls and trying to reassure Chill before suddenly ambushing Chill who finally shoots Thomas and then shoots Martha barely a second after. Chill then warns Bruce that that is what happens when one tries to act heroic.
 * The Arkham Knight comic series has Chill demanding Bruce's watch with Thomas Wayne trying to placate him, but Joe Chill losing his patience and shooting Martha a second after. Crying out in horror, Thomas is shot immediately after. As Bruce is crying and shouting with tears in his eyes, Chill demands the watch and Bruce gives it up.
 * Martha's original maiden name was "Kane"; she was heiress to the Kane Chemical family fortune.
 * The Monarch Theatre, the location of the Wayne murders, is present within Arkham City. Behind the building are chalk outlines of where Thomas and Martha fell, with a bouquet of flowers and a tape that has a taunting message from Hugo Strange as well a note on the flowers saying "It will end where it began". It is presumed that Strange had re-sketched the chalk outlines to disturb Bruce. The player has the option of paying their respects by having Batman kneeling by the outlines. Doing so for about three minutes will get the "Pay Your Respects" achievement/trophy.
 * Strangely, the same chalk outline appears again in the prequel, Arkham Origins. It is unknown whether this is a developer oversight, or they intentionally left it there, as an Easter Egg/Fanservice.


 * The murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne took place at 10:47 p.m., on the 26th of June.
 * A crime scene reconstruction takes place in the same alley where Bruce's parents died. The victims were two of his friends Horace Riley and Clarissa Rodriguez who Riley proposed to. A Gotham criminal named Ian Chase murders the two (the motive implied in a conversation to be out of jealousy of his best friend for the love of his life going for him) which nearly pushes Batman over the edge as he sees his friends and parents die in the same place.
 * Strangely, during the crime reconstruction, the bodies of Thomas and Martha Wayne are visible for a split second in Batman's detective vision.
 * Thomas's will is very largely fulfilled by his son. He asks his son to honor the family legacy by committing himself to improving Gotham, which his son does both in normal life and as the Bat. He asks his son to be strong, and to make the most of whatever opportunities presented themselves. He asked that his son not waste the fortune "on fast cars, outrageous clothes, and the pursuit of a destructive lifestyle", which his son did by becoming Batman, but did it to improve the city that had given his family so much through the years. He also showed regret that he would not live to see his son become the good man that his father was confident he would become, which is true given how many lives he saves in the games, and in between. He also asked his son to never abandon the city to fate, which he showed when he chose to stay and battle Scarecrow and his army of villains instead of flee and let Scarecrow have his way with it.
 * They are the only deceased characters who have appeared in all of the main games yet are never seen alive.

Thomas Wayne