Dark Knights

Villain Overview

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Evil Organization

Full Name

The Dark Knights

Alias

The Bat-Family

The Nightmare Batmen
The Dark Council

Origin

Dark Days: The Casting

Foundation

Unknown

Headquarters

Dark Multiverse

Castle Bat

Commanders

Barbatos (master)

The Batman Who Laughs † (team leader)

Agents

The Drowned
The Dawnbreaker
The Merciless
The Devastator
The Murder Machine
The Red Death
Ark
Batman Who Frags
Bathomet
Batmazo
Batmage
B-Rex
Beyonder
Batmobeast
Batom
Batrocitus
Black Monday
Castle Bat
Chiroptor
The Collector
Darkfather
Doctor Arkham
The Grim Knight
Kull
Mindhunter
Night Glider
The Pearl
Quietus
Warbat

Powers / Skills

Well coordinated and share common goals

Possess unique skills and abilities

Goals

Assist Barbatos in covering the darkness from their worlds over the entire Multiverse.

Kill the Justice League (both failed).

Crimes

Mass murder

Mass omnicide
Genocide
Corruption
Treason
Terrorism
World domination
Hegemony
Crimes against humanity
Attempted multiversal domination

Type of Villains

Alternate-Reality Supervillains

“	You want Bruce Wayne? Look around.	„
	~ Barbatos.

The Dark Knights are major antagonists in the DC Universe. They are evil and twisted versions of Batman from destroyed Earths who are saved and united by the Batman Who Laughs in order to carry out Barbatos' goal of bringing darkness throughout the multiverse. This has subsequently made them enemies of Batman and the Justice League. Their first appearance was in Dark Days: The Casting.

History

The Dark Knights make their appearance when their leader, the Batman Who Laughs, is ordered by Barbatos to find other evil and twisted versions of Batman from the Dark Multiverse who are trying to keep their own Earths from being destroyed. He succeeds and is able to save a group of them moments before their Earths are annihilated. Those who were saved are the Drowned, the Dawnbreaker, the Merciless, the Devastator, the Murder Machine and the Red Death. The Dark Knights arrive on Prime Earth after the Court of Owls ambushed Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and a baby Darkseid and use the last type of metal required for the Mantling to turn Batman into a doorway for Barbatos and the Dark Knights to enter the Multiverse. Barbatos then has his Dark Knights kill the Court of Owls before he personally drains Superman and Wonder Woman's life force and are incapacitated.

After they arrived, the group of supervillains take control over the homes of the Justice League and eventually seized the Watchtower. They later are about to battle the Gotham Resistance in Gotham but are taken away by Doctor Fate before any casualties on either side can occur. The Dark Knights would confront Superman and Wonder Woman after they escaped from Barbatos's conduit tower that is stationed in Metropolis. The Devastator attacked Superman but was prevented from doing any serious damage to him through the intervention of The Flash and Doctor Fate. Once the superheroes on Prime Earth reveal their location to the Dark Knights, they immediately launch an offensive attack at the Oblivion Bar and killed Nightmaster in the process.

While the Oblivion Bar is burning, The Batman Who Laughs gets Dawnbreaker to play a song on the jukebox and works despite it's on fire. As they are listening to the song, Superman breaks the barrier between the Phantom Zone and the Dark Multiverse, confident Kendra was wrong about it being a trap. When he takes stock of his surroundings, he sees a dark tower shaped like an S, in which Superman realizes at that point it was a trap. Then, three decrepit Supermen subdue him, and he hears someone ask him why he came which is then revealed to be Batman, who is almost completely drained of life. Superman explains that he got his message, but Batman reveals that the message he picked up was Barbatos deceiving him all along. The real message from him was actually hidden in the song from his last vision. The notes from the song "the Super Sons" played were ordered in the reverse of his emergency code as a warning not to come for him. As ghe Batman Who Laughs toasts over Superman's defeat, it's revealed that the final component needed to complete Barbatos' plan was the energy stored in Superman's cells. As Batman becomes engulfed in dark energy, he states that Barbatos was right about everything leading back to him in the first place, and that everything will now be submerged into total darkness.

Trivia

At one point, the Batman who Laughs mentions that Murder Machine was chosen over a Batman who merged with Lex Luthor for membership in the Dark Knights.
Each of the Dark Knights correlates to a member of the Justice League:
- The Batman Who Laughs - Batman
- The Drowned - Aquaman
- The Dawnbreaker - Green Lantern
- The Merciless - Wonder Woman
- The Devastator - Superman
- The Murder Machine - Cyborg
- The Red Death - The Flash
Each member of the Dark Knights are a representation of Batman's worst fears and regrets.
- The Batman Who Laughs - Represents Batman's fear of becoming as bad as the Joker, how much he is defined by the never-ending war with the Clown Prince of Crime and his regret he cannot stop the Joker for good without killing him.
- The Drowned - Represents Batman's fear of going too far in the fight against superhumans, his love for Catwoman, and his inability to trust anyone but himself.
- The Dawnbreaker - Represents Batman's fear of how dangerous he would be with superpowers but lacking his adult discipline, his inner despair taken to its extreme and the regret over his inability to get over his parent's deaths.
- The Merciless - Represents Batman's fear of who he would become if he started killing, how Wonder Woman helps him see the good in people, and his regret that he really cannot end his crusade since his villains keep coming back.
- The Devastator - Represents Batman's fear of losing hope, how important his friendship with Superman is and both the fear and regret that he cannot fully trust the Man of Steel.
- The Murder Machine - Represents Batman's fear he isn't as self-sufficient as he thinks, his father-son relationship with Alfred Pennyworth, and losing his humanity.
- The Red Death - Represents Batman's fear of losing members of the Bat-Family, his love for them and regret for those he failed. Some of his dialogue and his Speed Force quirk imply he might also represent Batman's fear of old age slowing him down.
- Castle Bat - Represents Batman's fear that Gotham will forever need him to be there to stop crime, even if it means resorting to using dark magic to sacrifice his humanity.
- Batman Who Frags - Represents Batman's fear of how finding ways to augment his ability to fight crime can alter himself to his core; even at the cost of his moral code.
- The Grim Knight - Represents what would happen if Batman never had a code to a old killing, along with bia aversion to weapons.
- B-Rex and Batmobeast - Represent Batman losing his original body and finally snapping; deciding to use his new mechanical body to kill enemies.
Batmage and Beyonder are evil versions of Alfred and Terry McGinnis.
Other Dark Knights are Batman who fused with other characters.
- One not recruited was one who fused with Lex Luthor