 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2020) |
| Batarang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Detective Comics #31 (September 1939) |
| Created by | Gardner Fox |
| In story information | |
| Type | Weapon |
| Element of stories featuring | Batman |
A batarang is a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon used by the DC Comics superhero Batman. The name is a portmanteau of bat and boomerang, and was originally spelled baterang. Although they are named after boomerangs, batarangs have become more like shuriken in recent interpretations. They have since become a staple of Batman's arsenal, appearing in every major Batman television and film adaptation to date. Recent interpretations of the Dark Knight find additional motivation to use the batarang as a ranged attack (alternative to firearms, which he rejects outright due to the circumstances of his parents' murder, except for certain circumstances) and is used primarily to knock guns out of an assailant's hand.[1] They also serve as Batman's calling cards to alert criminal elements of his presence and props to create an illusion to the superstitious that he commands bats when he throws them.
A batarang prop from the 1997 film Batman & Robin has been donated to the Smithsonian Institution, and is in the National Museum of American History's entertainment collection.
- ^ Wallace, Dan (2008). "Batman's Batarangs". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1. OCLC 213309017.