The Best Batman Quotes

Batman: Tell me where the trigger is. Then... you have my permission to die!

The: Don't talk like one of them, you're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now. But when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper. See, their morals, their code... it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you, when the chips are down, these... these civilized people? They'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve.
Batman: [grabs Joker] Where's Dent?
The: You have all these rules and you think they'll save you!
Lt. James Gordon: [as Batman slams Joker into the wall] He's in control.
Batman: I have one rule.
The: Oh, then that's the rule you'll have to break to know the truth.
Batman: [getting impatient] Which is?
The: The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.
[mimicking Batman's voice]
The: And tonight you're gonna break your one rule.
Batman: I'm considering it.
The: Oh, there's only minutes left, so you're gonna have to play my little game if you wanna save one of them.
Batman: [softly, fearful] Them?
The: You know for awhile there, I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her.
[Joker laughs, Batman throws Joker on table, barricades door]
The: Look at you go! Does Harvey know about you and his little bunny?
Batman: [slams Joker into mirror] Where are they?
The: Killing is making a choice.
Batman: [punches Joker] Where are they?
The: Choose between one life or the other. Your friend, the district attorney, or his blushing bride-to-be...
[punches Joker]
The: [laughs] You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength!
[grabs Joker]
The: Don't worry, I'm gonna tell you where they are. Both of them. And that's the point. You'll have to choose. He's at 250 52ND Street and she's on Avenue X, at Cicero.

Batman: [taps the Bat-signal] Nice.
Jim: I couldn't find any mob bosses.
Batman: Well, Sergeant?
Jim: Oh, it's Lieutenant now. You really started something. Bent cops running scared, hope on the streets.
Batman: But?
Jim: We still haven't picked up Crane or half the inmates of Arkham that he freed.
Batman: We will. We *can* bring Gotham back.
Jim: What about escalation?
Batman: Escalation?
Jim: We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor piercing rounds.
Batman: And?
Jim: And, you're wearing a mask. Jumping off rooftops. Now, take this guy.
[pulling out a file]
Jim: Armed robbery, double homicide, has a taste for the theatrical, like you. Leaves a calling card.
[shows Batman a plastic evidence bag containing a Joker card]
Batman: I'll look into it.
[turns away and walks to the edge of the roof]
Jim: I never said thank you.
Batman: [looks back at Gordon] And you'll never have to.

- CATWOMAN: Stay back!
- I'm not bluffing!
Batman: They know.
- They just don't care.
- You've gotta be kidding me.
- No guns. No killing.
- Where's the fun in that?

Batman: Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough.
[insert: Alfred burns the envelope from Rachel]
Batman: Sometimes, people deserve more.

Catwoman: My mother warned me about getting into cars with strange men.
Batman: This isn't a car.

Batman: Sometimes the truth isn't good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded...

Batman: [as Joker is holding Rachel out a window] Let her go!
The: [giving him a look] Very poor choice of words...

Catwoman: You could have gone anywhere, but you came back.
Batman: So did you.
Catwoman: Well then I guess we're both suckers.
[she kisses him]

- From here,
- Bane's men patrol the tunnels.
- And they're not your average brawlers.
Batman: Neither am I.
- He's behind you.
- Who?
Batman: Me.
- MERCENARY 1: What do you think you're--?

- Members of the League of Shadows.
- And you betrayed us.
Batman: "Us"? You were excommunicated...
- ...by a gang of psychopaths.
Bane: I am the League of Shadows.
- And I'm here to fulfill
- Ra's Al Ghul's destiny.

[last lines]
Jim: I never said thank you.
Batman: And you'll never have to.

Batman: [has laid a snare-trap which yanks Flass by his leg 70 feet into the air] Where were the other drugs going?
Flass: I never knew. I don't know. I swear to God...
Batman: Swear to *me*!
[He rapidly lowers a screaming Flass and then yanks him back up]
Flass: I don't... I don't know. I never knew. Never. They went to some guy for a couple of days before they went to the dealers.
Batman: Why?
Flass: There was something... Something else in the drugs... something hidden.
Batman: What?
Flass: I never went to the drop-off point. It was in the Narrows. Cops only go there when they're in force.
Batman: Do I look like a cop?
Flass: No...!
[rapidly lowers Flass once more before dropping him to the ground]

Catwoman: I blow that tunnel open, I'm gone.
Batman: There's more to you than that.
Catwoman: Sorry I keep letting you down.
[pause]
Catwoman: Come with me. Save yourself. You don't owe these people any more. You've given them everything.
Batman: Not everything. Not yet.

The: [while hanging upside down] Oh, you. You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
Batman: You'll be in a padded cell forever.
The: Maybe we can share one. You know, they'll be doubling up, the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.
Batman: This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good.
The: Until their spirit breaks completely. Until they get a good look at the real Harvey Dent, and all the heroic things he's done. You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul in a fistfight with you? No. You need an ace in the hole. Mine's Harvey.
Batman: What did you do?
The: I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!
[the Joker laughs hysterically as Batman races off and the cops come to take the Joker into custody]

The: It's a funny world we live in. Speaking of which, do you know how I got these scars?
Batman: [while being pinned down on the platform next to the ledge of a building that's still under construction] No! But I know how you got these!
[fires gauntlet blades into Joker's face]

Jim: I never cared who you were...
Batman: And you were right.
Jim: ...but shouldn't the people know the hero whot saved them?
Batman: A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended.
[takes off in the Bat]
Jim: Bruce Wayne?

The: [SPOILER] We really should stop this fighting, otherwise we'll miss the fireworks!
Batman: [while being pinned down on the platform next to the ledge of a building that's still under construction] There won't *be* any fireworks!
The: And here... we... go!
[Silence. Nothing happens. Confused, Joker turns to look at the clock, which shows that it's past midnight and neither ferry has blown the other up]
Batman: [triumphantly] What were you trying to prove? That deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone!
The: [sighs] Can't rely on anyone these days, you have to do everything yourself, don't we!

The: [during the fundraiser party held for Harvey Dent] You know, I'll settle for his loved ones.
Gentleman at Party: We're not intimidated by thugs!
The: [as he smacks his lips] You know, you remind me of my father.
[the Joker pulls out his switchblade and brings it to the Gentleman's mouth]
The: I hated my father!
Rachel: [off-screen] Okay, stop!
[turns to face Rachel, tosses the Gentleman to his thugs and approaches Rachel, adjusting his hair with the knife]
The: Well, hello, beautiful. You must be Harvey's squeeze. And you *are* beautiful.
[he walks around her]
The: Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You want to know how I got 'em?
[He grabs Rachel's head and positions the knife by her mouth]
The: Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife. She was beautiful, like you. Who tells me I worry too much. Who tells me I ought to smile more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks. One day, they carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again. I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars. So... I stick a razor in my mouth and do this...
[the Joker mimics slicing his mouth open with his tongue]
The: ...to myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!
[Rachel knees the Joker in the groin; he merely laughs it off]
The: A little fight in you. I like that.
Batman: [off-screen] Then you're gonna love me.
[attacks him]

Batman: [in the interrogation room] Then why do you want to kill me?
The: [giggling] I don't, I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me.
Batman: You're garbage who kills for money.
The: Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.

Catwoman: I had no choice. I needed a way to keep them from killing me.
Batman: You just made a serious mistake.
Bane: Not as serious as yours, I fear...
Batman: Bane
Bane: Let us not stand on ceremony, Mr. Wayne.
[Catwoman appears shocked]

Batman: [about the Joker] Where is he?
Salvatore: I don't know where he is, he found us!
Batman: He must have friends!
Salvatore: [incredulous] Friends? Have you met this guy?

Batman: [meeting Gordon carrying an unconscious Rachel out of Arkham] How is she?
Jim: [handing Rachel over] She's fading. We gotta go. I'll get my car.
Batman: I brought mine.
Jim: Yours?
[Batmobile blasts out and races by]
Jim: I've gotta get me one of those.

Bane: I broke you. How have you come back?
Batman: You think you're the only one who can find the strength to escape? Where's the trigger?
Bane: But I never escaped.
Batman: But the child... the child of Ra's al Ghul made the climb.
Miranda: [from behind Batman] But he's not the child of Ra's al Ghul
[She stabs Batman with a knife. He reels in pain and shock]
Miranda: I am. And though I'm not ordinary, I am a citizen.
[She reveals the trigger]
Batman: [anguished] Miranda... why?
Miranda: Talia. My mother named me Talia before she was killed, the way I would've been killed if not for my protector: Bane.

Jumpy: [screaming] WHERE ARE YOU?
Batman: [appears upside-down behind him, whispering] Here.

Batman: [Hands over device] This blocks the remote detonator signal to the bomb. Get it onto it before sunrise. They might hit the button when it starts.
Jim: When what starts?
Batman: War.

Bane: Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated... but we are initiated, aren't we Bruce? Members of the League of Shadows!
[Lifts Batman by the neck]
Bane: And you betrayed us!
Batman: You were excommunicated... by a gang of psychopaths!
[Bane viciously beats Batman and throws him to the ground]
Bane: I AM the League of Shadows, and I'm here to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny!
Bane: You fight like a younger man, with nothing held back. Admirable but mistaken.
[Batman uses an EMP device to cut the lights]
Bane: Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!
[grabs Batman from the shadows and continues to beat him]
Bane: The shadows betray you, because they belong to me!
[repeatedly punches Batman in the face, breaking his cowl]
Bane: I will show you where I have made my home while preparing to bring justice. Then I will break you.
[hits detonator, blowing a hole into the bottom of Wayne Enterprise]
Bane: Your precious armory, gratefully accepted! We will need it.
[Batman desperately stands and swings at Bane]
Bane: Ah, yes... I was wondering what would break first...
[lifts Batman high]
Bane: Your spirit, or your body?
[slams him on his knee]

Batman: [in the back of a factory at 250 52nd Street] What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act! We three!
Two: Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything?
Batman: It wasn't.
Two: The Joker chose ME!
Batman: Because you were the best of us! He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall.
Two: [bitter] And he was right.

Ra's: You are just an ordinary man in a cape! That's why you couldn't fight injustice and that's why you can't stop this train!
Batman: Who said anything about stopping it?
[Ra's al Ghul looks up, confused, and sees his own sword jammed into the brake panel]
Jim: [blows up the train supports] Yes!
Batman: [reverses his grip and pins Ra's al Ghul to the floor] You never learned to mind your surroundings!

Batman: He was trying to kill millions of innocent people
Talia: 'Innocent' is a strong word to throw around Gotham, Bruce. I honor my father by finishing his work. Vengeance against the man who killed him is simply a reward for my patience...
[Talia twists the knife in Batman's side]
Talia: You see, it's the slow knife... the knife that takes its time, the knife that waits years without forgetting, then slips quietly between the bones... that's the knife that cuts deepest.

[Batman and Selina have just escaped from Bane and his mercenaries in the Bat. Batman lands it on top of a skyscraper and Selina immediately hops out]
Catwoman: See you around.
Batman: You're welcome.
Catwoman: I had it under control.
Batman: Those weren't street thugs, they were trained killers. I saved your life. In return I need to know what you did with Bruce Wayne's fingerprints.
Catwoman: Wayne wasn't kidding about a "powerful friend".
[beat]
Catwoman: I sold his prints to Daggett. For something that doesn't even exist.
Batman: I doubt many people get the better of you.
Catwoman: Hey, when a girl's desperate.
Batman: What's he gonna to do with them?
Catwoman: I don't know. But Daggett seemed pretty interested in that mess at the stock market.
[Batman is distracted by the spotlight of a police chopper doing the rounds. He looks up at it, then turns back to Selina]
Batman: Miss Kyle?
[Catwoman has vanished]
Batman: So that's what that feels like...