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"The new Arkham Asylum will serve the mentally ill of Gotham in ways the present asylum never can. Those poor, sick souls deserve our help."
—Martha Wayne's note[src]


Martha Wayne was the mother of Bruce Wayne and wife of Thomas Wayne. She was a noted philanthropist among Gotham's elite.

Biography[]

Aftermath of the Robbery at the Wayne Manor[]

When Detectives Harvey Bullock and Amanda Wong were sent to investigate a robbery at the Wayne Manor, Martha was the one to answer the door. Harvey whistled at the sight of her, mostly impressed at what he viewed as her show of confidence which he likened to Fish Mooney. Amanda asked Martha if she had been present during the robbery, to which Martha said that she had been asleep.[1]

A few nights later, the entire Wayne family was enjoying a night out at a circus. As they were watching a performance by the local Siamese singers, a teenager knocked into Thomas Wayne. Jerome then snapped at Thomas to which he was chided by Martha for his apparent carelessness. The teenager then insulted them, which prompted another chiding from Martha. After Alfred's reply seemingly garnered nothing but a creepy smile from the teenager, Bruce then interjected that the act of being rude wasn't funny. The teenager then challenged this remark by referring to Bruce by name and questioning the degree of privilege that was afforded to him. His mother then made an appearance, pulling the teenager into a trailer marked with a sign that said: Snake Charmer. Alfred then criticized the mother's behavior while Bruce remarked how the teenager seemed to be creepy.[1]

One night, while walking through an alley to catch a cab, Martha and her family were mugged by an armed robber. After taking Martha's pearl necklace, the robber deliberately murdered Martha, only seconds after he did the same to her husband Thomas.[2]

Selina Kyle, picking up a photograph in Wayne Manor, observed to Bruce that "she looks nice", which gave him an opening to berate himself once more for his inaction.[3]

Appearances[]

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Novels


Notes[]

  • The character of Martha Wayne was created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Gardner Fox. She first appears in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939), in the first exposition of Batman's origin story.
  • According to the Gotham newspaper, Thomas and Martha's time of death is 11:13 pm, unlike in the comics, where their time of death is 10:47 pm.
  • Martha and Thomas were killed in June.[4][5]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jason Starr(writer) (January 31, 2017). Gotham: Dawn of Darkness. Titan Books.
  2. Heller, Bruno (writer) & Cannon, Danny (director) ( September 22, 2014). "Pilot". Gotham. Season 1. Episode 1. FOX.
  3. Woodruff, Ken (writer) & Gaviola, Karen (director) (November 17, 2014). "Harvey Dent". Gotham. Season 1. Episode 9. FOX.
  4. Hull, Robert & Brown-Mostyn, Megan (writers) & Stephens, John (director) (April 18, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Pinewood". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 18. FOX.
  5. Chun, Tze (writer) & Stephens, John (director) (Febuary 21, 2019) "Legend of the Dark Knight: Ace Chemicals" Gotham. Season 5. Episode 7.
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