- "If you're seeing this, Robin...it means I've been compromised. I wanted to say goodbye, Tim. After everything...I'm proud to call you, Nightwing and Oracle my friends. This hologram's activation means that I - probably the entire Justice League - have gone rogue. BABEL PROTOCOLS are active."
- —The Batman hologram beginning the BABEL Protocols
The BABEL Protocols was a contingency plan created by Batman in the event that either any or all members of the Justice League were to go rogue and become a threat to others. However, none of the other League members were aware of the BABEL Protocols, as Batman had created them in secret behind his team members backs, with the main purpose of the BABEL Protocols being to exploit the weaknesses of any member of the Justice League in the event they turned evil or were brainwashed.
Before Kill the Justice League Incident[]
After having fought and defeated the Sinestro Corp in space, a Yellow Lantern was recovered after the battle which Batman would keep after discovering it had an adverse effect on Green Lantern's Power Ring. With knowledge about the Lantern powers he had been told by Green Lantern, Batman would create the first exploit in the BABEL Protocols by creating an anti-Green Lantern device utilizing the power of the Yellow Lantern. Following this Batman would continue to discover more weaknesses to create exploits for the BABEL Protocols, notably creating a device that can interfere with the Flash's Speed Force and discovering Superman was vulnerable to a special type of irradiated mineral created from his destroyed home planet known as Kryptonite, and had come up with a way to create a stronger type of Kryptonite in the event that Superman became more resistant to the usual Kryptonite. However, Batman didn't reveal an exploit for himself in the event that he would turn evil, and had programmed a hologram in the Batcave to activate and begin the BABEL Protocols if either one or all Justice League members were to become compromised, with a message directed towards Robin in particular.
Batman's fears soon became reality when the alien Brainiac arrived in Metropolis and began an invasion on the city, while also successfully capturing Batman, Green Lantern and Superman and cloning them to aid him in the invasion. The only two members of the League to escape the Skull Ship were Wonder Woman and the Flash, however, even the Flash would become captured and cloned Brainiac after his Batman clone found him in The Batman Experience with the hidden Suicide Squad, leaving only Wonder Woman left to oppose who she believed were her former friends. At some point during the invasion, Lex Luthor would find and take the anti-Flash device for himself, while Wonder Woman would learn about Superman's weakness to Kryptonite.
Kill the Justice League Incident[]
Following the death of Wonder Woman at the Superman clone's hands, the Suicide Squad would go along with the Lex Luthor of Earth-2's plan of finding a new way to weaken the clone via Batman, after having seen the clone Man of Steel's new resistance to Kryptonite, and with the aid of Gizmo the team would discover Batman's Metropolis Batcave and enter it in order to find the answers they were looking for. Coming across the Batcomputer, the hologram of Batman would activate with his message for Robin, and acknowledging it's activation can only mean either Batman, or the entire Justice League have gone rogue, announces that the BABEL Protocols were now active. Skipping through the parts they already knew, having used both the anti-Flash and anti-Green Lantern devices to kill the Flash and Green Lantern clones before discovering the BABEL Protocols, Harley Quinn was left annoyed to discover from the hologram that there wasn't an "anti-Batman" device to exploit a weakness of the Dark Knight's, and before they could hear of a different way to take down Superman, the Batman clone floods the Batcave with Fear Toxin, shutting the hologram down. After defeating the clone and taking him back to LexCorp, Luthor would discover a means of creating a golden version of Kryptonite from the Batman clone that would have a stronger effect on Superman than Green Kryptonite currently did, Harley then shoots the Batman clone in the head in order to draw the Superman clone out for one final fight. Using this Gold Kryptonite the Suicide Squad were successful at weakening and eventually killing the Superman clone, and with all members of the clone League dead the BABEL Protocols became inactive again.
However, as Brainiac had copied and would utilize the powers of Superman, Green Lantern and the Flash during each of his encounters with the Suicide Squad as they killed his variant bodies one after the other, the BABEL Protocols technically remained active so long as Brainiac was alive and using the powers of the superhumans he had cloned and kept captive.
After being left with just one body after his final fight with the Suicide Squad, a weakened Brainiac would quickly be defeated by the still living Batman who's somewhat impressed the Suicide Squad managed to follow the BABAL Protocols properly. After his final defeat Brainiac would be left with Amanda Waller, who sent him to Belle Reve Penitentiary but not before injecting him with one of her nano bombs, ending his threat to the multiverse and making the BABEL Protocols fully inactive again.
Targets[]
- Green Lantern
Using Sinistro Corps Yellow Lantern Battery to break the constructs and will of a Lantern to leave him vulnerable to having his ring taken and containment. Possibly Fear Toxin can be applied as well.
- Flash
Using Speed Force Decouplers, to neutralize the Speed Force, the extra exertion will tire out Flash and weaken his ability to heal.
- Batman
Intended to have Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood cooperate to defeat him. The League would be more a liability due to the contingency plans against them. However, for anyone outside the Bat Family, Batman wouldn't include any weaknesses for them to exploit against him for unknown reasons. The Suicide Squad would come up with one during their encounter with him in the Batcave by exposing him to his own Fear Toxin.
- Superman
Discovering that the irradiated pieces of Krypton could weaken him, Batman planned to use Kryptonite in the event that Superman would turn evil, while also inventing a stronger variant in Gold Kryptonite should Superman develop an immunity to the original green variant.
- Wonder Woman
Unknown
Trivia[]
- The BABEL Protocols are based on the contingency plan of the same name from the Tower of Babel storyline.
- According to a recording at the vault in Wayne Bank, Batman has one to take down POTUS if the Commander-in-Chief is ever compromised.
- Currently, only Wonder Woman and Batman's weaknesses haven't been revealed in the BABEL Protocols; with Batman not only exposing the Suicide Squad to his Fear Toxin before they could discover Wonder Woman's weakness, but Batman refused to reveal a weakness for himself, his hologram claiming there wasn't a way to exploit him.