Character Study - Terry McGinnis (Batman Beyond)

 

"You're pretty strong, for some clown who thinks he's Batman."

"I AM BATMAN!!"

Welcome back, Toonsters!

And it's time once again for another dossier of a fictional character. And this time around, we are going beyond, way beyond in the future of Neo Gotham, for we talk about the main character of Batman Beyond. Presenting to you the future Batman himself, Terry McGinnis.

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Origins: To understand how Terry became Batman in the future, we have to go back, to the very beginning.

Long ago, back when Gotham City was still modern, Bruce Wayne, who was getting older, continues protecting the city as Batman, but wearing a new capeless high-tech suit. On one of his patrols, Batman tries to save a kidnapped heiress from a bunch of thugs, but in the ensuing fight, he suffered a heart attack. While convulsing with pain, one of the thugs beat up Batman, forcing him to use a gun from one of the beaten thugs, causing him to run off, but only to be captured by the police. Because of his old age, combined with breaking his secrete oaf to not use guns (which was a constant reminder of how his parents died long ago), Bruce Wayne gave up being Batman. And without Batman, Gotham City eventually succumb to crime and corruption moreso than ever.

Fast forward to the year 2039, where Gotham City was rechristened as Neo Gotham, where the city of old is beneath the new, taller, and futuristic buildings. Despite its new look, and advancing technology, Neo Gotham's problems were the same as old Gotham City, where crime and corruption became the law of the land. And this is where we meet Terry McGinnis, a teenage student with a chip on his shoulder, but with a good heart. During his date with his girlfriend, Dana Tan (after his estranged father, Warren McGinnis grounded him because of his earlier actions at school earlier with Nelson Nash, but left anyway), he, Dana and their other friends at high school, where harassed by the street gang known as the Jokerz, named after the Joker himself (more on him later). The Jokerz rudely flirting with Dana, but Terry, who doesn't tolerate bullies, stood up against them, which ultimately lead into a chase throughout Neo Gotham, until they ended up at stately Wayne Manor. Just as Terry was going to get the "Punchline", a now elderly Bruce Wayne, who has become a recluse to this point, stands up for the teen. Despite his old age, and with a cane, no less, old man Bruce, with Terry's assistance, send the Jokerz away. After the fight, Bruce suffers a mild heart attack, and Terry took him back to Wayne Manor and give him his heart medicine. As Bruce sleeps soundly after taking his medicine, just as Terry was going to make his leave, he saw a bat inside the clock, which he opened, inadvertently revealing the entrance to the Batcave. From there, Terry learned that old man Bruce was Batman. Just as his curiosity peaked, Bruce, now wide awake, kicks Terry out. Shrugging it off like it was no big deal, Terry returns home, knowing that his father would ground him again. However, upon returning home, it was a crime scene, Terry's mother, Mary (who was separated from Warren for marital reasons), informs her son that Warren was killed by the Jokerz. Heartbroken, Terry blames himself for his own negligence, because he will never get a chance to reconcile with his father, because the last thing he remembered before he died was their argument earlier. Later, as he was cleaning out his father's stuff, he stumbled across a disc hidden inside the picture frame. As he inserted the disc into his laptop, he discovered something very serious. It revealed that Warren uncovered a plot involving nerve gas, created by Wayne-Powers, the company formerly known as Wayne Enterprises, after industrialist, Derek Powers merged his company with the aforementioned Wayne Enterprises. With this revelation, Terry heads back to Wayne Manor and shows the disc to old man Bruce. Terry tried to convince Bruce to stop Powers as Batman, but he refuses, knowing that he is long since retired, and wants him send the disc to the police despite Terry's protest, stating that the police is "cozy with Powers. With no other choice, Terry heads to give the disc to the police, he was stopped by Derek Powers and his bodyguard, Mr. Fixx, demanding the disc back, but he refused. As Powers and Fixx tried to take the disc by force, Terry fends them off and ran off. With all other options exhausted, Terry quietly headed back to the Batcave and took the new hi-tech Batsuit, much to old man Bruce's dismay, and went after Powers. As he was ease dropping on the conversation between Powers and Mr. Fixx regarding the nerve gas and planning to sell it to rogue countries for profit, they revealed to him that it was Powers, through Mr. Fixx, who killed his father and hid the crime, pretending it was a Jokerz hit. After learning the truth of Warren McGinnis' death, Terry was stopped by some armed soldiers hired by Powers, but, despite his inexperience with the Batsuit, Terry had the upper hand until old man Bruce, who contacted him through the communicator in the cowl, mobilized the suit with a fail safe, ensuring those who stole the suit won't be moving. As Terry was immobilized, the soldiers were beating him down, while Bruce sits in silence, letting them nearly killing Terry. Through Terry's pleas, and struggling with his conscience, Bruce relents and turns off the fail safe and Terry got his second wind and fended off the soldiers until Bruce guided him to a safety area, where he threatened to use the fail safe again, and planning to leave it on longer. However, Terry reminded him how he lost his parents long ago, and tells to give him a chance to get back at the ones who killed his father. Against better judgment, Bruce lets Terry take care of business, wishing him luck. Terry caught up with his father's killers, and the ensuring fight, Powers was hit by the very nerve gas he created which almost killed (but he survived later, after radiation removed the effects of the gas, turning him into the villain, Blight). As he caught up with Mr. Fixx, was overpowered by the villain, but Terry beat him back causing him and the other canisters of nerve gas to be sunk in the bottom of the ocean. The next morning, Terry, awaken by his mother, Mary, gets a visit from old man Bruce, who offers him a job to be his part-time assistant. Without hesitation, Terry accepts Bruce's offer to be his assistant, which will be the cover for Terry's new role as the new Batman. And with Bruce Wayne guiding him, while regaining come semblance of his mission to save Neo Gotham, Terry balance his life as a teenage high school student and being Neo Gotham's newest Dark Knight.

Terry McGinnis, out of costume

Physical Appearance and Personality: At first glance, Terry here is what you except, an everyday normal teenage high school student, who is physically fit, having short black hair and blue eyes, and sporting his usual clothing, blue jeans, a black t-shirt, brown boots and his recognizable brown jacket. Terry is strong, athletic, and charming, but he is not perfect, for he has a bad temper if provoked. His temper stems back to his previous time as a troubled delinquent who ended up going to juvenile hall. Despite this, Terry possesses a good heart and a strong sense of justice, especially when protecting his friends, his family, and especially defending Neo Gotham, whose criminals are even more superstitious and cowardly. However...

Terry, around his 30s, before learning the truth about his true birthright

In the Justice League Unlimited episode, "Epilogue", there is more to Terry McGinnis than just Bruce's successor to Batman, much more. Around that time, around 30 years old, Terry had inner turmoil within himself, with Bruce, with the Justice League, with everything, especially his role as Batman. It was not until he met Amanda Waller, who once antagonize the Justice League as one of the members of Project CADMUS over 50 years prior, before becoming the League's liaison after the CADMUS incident long after that, explained to the troubled Terry why he sees himself more of Bruce Wayne than himself. It was revealed that Terry is actually Bruce Wayne's biological son, not Warren McGinnis'. Waller, aside from telling Terry that the old Batman, despite being so cold and stoic, having a human heart underneath his cowl, felt that since Bruce was getting too old, and felt that one day he would retire, feels that the new needs a Batman, so she decided to make one. Using her old CADMUS connections, she spearheaded Project: Batman Beyond. Gathering Bruce's DNA was very easy to find, especially during his battles. Later, Waller found a young Warren and Mary McGinnis, which have a complete match to Thomas and Martha Wayne. Phase 1: In what Warren thought was a flu shot, one of the agents, who dressed as a doctor, injected him with the DNA of Bruce Wayne into him. Afterwards, the McGinnises gave birth to their son, Terry. Then, came Phase 2: Recreate the circumstances that results in the birth of Batman. As a young Terry and his parents come out from a movie matinee featuring the Gray Ghost, a mysterious assassin will come out of the blue and kill his parents the same way Bruce Wayne's parents experienced when he went down the path of becoming Batman. Unfortunately, the hired assassin, who is an elderly Andrea Beaumont (Bruce's former love from Mask of the Phantasm), who donned the hood of the Phantasm, couldn't bring herself to kill Terry's parents. Andrea and Waller talked about her failed attempted and explained to Waller that Batman is many things, but a murderer is not one of them, stating that by becoming Batman, Bruce vowed to honor his parents was to prevent the death of others, making sure what happened to his parents didn't happen to anyone else, and he will never take a life. Though she had a hard time believing it, but overtime, Waller eventually agreed with Andrea about how Batman truly operates. Although his parents lived, and gave birth to Terry's brother, Matt, the fate of being the next Batman was inevitable, when Warren was murdered, thus Terry went down the path of becoming the new Batman, and the rest, as they say, was history. But, after some soul-searching and realized from Waller that he isn't Bruce's clone, but his son, Terry, put his life back together, preparing a future with himself, eventually marrying his long time girlfriend, Dana Tan (who around that time eventually knew of Terry's secret life), and embracing his destiny as Batman, today, tomorrow, forever.

Terry in the hi-tech Batsuit

Weapons and Powers: Just like his predecessor, Terry doesn't have superpowers. His time in the streets, and being mentored by Bruce Wayne, makes him the ideal fighter. Unlike Bruce, Terry isn't a great detective like the Batman of old, but through the old man's guidance, he slowly becomes one in his own right. His true superpower is wearing the futuristic Batsuit, which Bruce wore before he retired. Unlike the original Batman's costume, this hi-tech suit is a Swiss army knife of possibilities, especially fighting against all forms of villainy. This suit can enhance your strength, can form sharp talons on your gauntlets for climbing or holding on to a moving flying car or other vehicles, and has different forms of vision inside the cowl. Speaking of the cowl, it also has a built-in communicator where he keeps in contact with Bruce while the old man watches him in the Batcave. The fingers has built-in microphones, which he uses to record anything whether up close on a wall or from afar. His utility belt isn't something to ride home with, but its one noticeable feature is its cloaking device on the buckle. And to fly like a bat, the suit has built-in rockets in the boots and retractable wings on the arms for gliding. And just like his predecessor, Terry uses Batarangs, but they are retractable and as sharp as shurikens, and they can come regular or full of electricity to shocks his foes.

The Batmobile of the Future!

For traveling a lot more beyond his jet boots and wings, no pun intended, Terry rides the futuristic Batmobile. With its high speed and its assortment of weapons and gadgets, the Batmobile of Tomorrow is as efficient than the Batmobile of old. 

Enemies: As Batman of the future, Terry has an assortment of enemies, big and small, from the shape-shifting saboteur, Inque, to the clever sound master, Shriek, the cyberly-enhanced game hunter, Stalker, the master manipulator, Spellbinder, the terrorist cult, Kobra (not to be confused with the other Cobra from G.I. Joe), the Royal Flush Gang (especially Melanie Walker aka Ten, who Terry had a romantic fling long ago, similar to Bruce's relationship with Selina Kyle aka Catwoman), and of course, the man who killed his father, Derek Powers, now known as Blight, created by the nerve gas he has created, but was removed by high doses of radiation, turning him into a walking nightlight. As side from his own rogues, Terry also dealt with foes from the original Batman's past, from the returning Mr. Freeze to the resurrected Ra's al Ghul, possessing his own daughter, Talia, and most of all, the clown prince of crime himself, The Joker.

Similar Characters:

"He's going catch them, cause he's Danny Phantom!"

Danny Phantom: Another example of a teen superhero who balances his heroics and his everyday life is our resident ghost teen from Amity Park. Danny Fenton, son of Jack and Maddie Fenton, got his ghost powers from a freak accident involving the Fenton's Ghost Portal. Unlike Terry, Danny's exploits of balancing his life as a teenage high school student and a ghostly superhero is light-hearted and silly at best. However, like Terry having his fellow classmate, Maxine Gibson with his superhero life, Danny got his sister, Jazz, and his best friends, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson, who knows his double identity and their adventures fighting other fiends that go bump in the night like Skulker, Technus, the Box Ghost (BEWARE!!), Desiree, Ember McLain, Penelope Spectra, and his arch nemesis, Vlad Plasmius. In a crossover sense, if Terry teamed up with Danny, they would be a great team despite their contrast in styles and personality.

"Compliments of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"

Spider-Man: This hero needs no introduction. Peter Parker, a timid, nerdy high school student, bitten by a radioactive spider, gains the speed, agility and the proportionate strength of a spider, used his powers for showbiz, let a crook escape, stating catching thieves ain't his thing, his Uncle Ben gets killed by a burglar, catches said burglar, only to realize it was the same crook who he didn't stop, blaming himself for his own actions, culminating by the mantra "With Great Power, there must also come, Great Responsibility." And for a quite a long time, Spider-Man, through thick and thin, from every triumph, from every failure, from every mistake he has made, continues to do what's right, no matter the odds, just like Terry. Ironic, his determination to win the day does, in more ways than one, mirrors Terry's, especially how the Spider-Man comics influence Batman Beyond despite being from different comic companies. Definitely mind-blowing.

 

Well, and that's about it with the Future Batman himself. Even though Bruce has long since retired (or more acutely, Kevin Conroy has long been gone), as long as Neo Gotham needs saving, Terry McGinnis will carry on the mantle of Batman for generations to come.  Until next time, stay frosty, my friends.

Saraba da (Farewell)...for now!