Batman's T-Rex is a giant animatronic dinosaur kept in the Batcave as a trophy.
History
The mechanical T-Rex is a robot that first appeared when Batman fought in Murray Hart's theme park known as "Dinosaur Island".[1] This theme park should not be confused with the better-known Dinosaur Island.
After defeating Hart's mechanical contraptions, Batman was given the mechanical dinosaur as a memento of this adventure and he placed it along the rest of souvenirs from Batman's early cases, in a place called The Trophy Room. Later on, the dinosaur became one of the main centerpieces of the Batcave along with the Giant Penny and the Giant Joker Card. It is often used whenever there is an unwanted intrusion in the Batcave.
Earth-Two
Shortly after getting the dinosaur and the giant penny, a criminal called Wolf Brando broke into the Batcave and confronted Batman and Robin. The villain used some of the trophies in the Batcave to his advantage and he tried to crush Robin using the mechanical dinosaur. Batman was forced to act fast and he used the Giant Penny to stop the giant robot from crushing Robin. Because of this, both the dinosaur and the penny were seriously damaged.[2] However, both trophies were repaired and back on their places in a short time.[3]
The T-Rex was once disassembled and removed from the Batcave along with all the other elements when a criminal threatened to locate the Batcave and use it as his hideout. The T-Rex and all the other objects were placed on a temporary location which served as a Batman Museum until Batman captured the criminal and he was able to move the dinosaur and all the other objects back.[4]
The T-Rex was finally destroyed for good when Hugo Strange used the Cosmic Rod to manipulate the robot and use it against Robin, Batwoman and the Batman of Earth-One. The heroes combined their forces and they dropped a big stalactite from the Batcave's ceiling unto the T-Rex's mechanical head.[5]
Earth-One
Useful Decor
The T-Rex was used once as distraction when an amnesic actor, who believed himself to be a caveman, managed to infiltrate the Batcave by accident and prepared some traps for Batman and Robin. Batman opened the Trophy Room, allowing the man to see the T-Rex and immediately started attacking the mechanical dinosaur. The distraction gave Batman the time needed to break free and stop the madman.[6]
The T-Rex was eventually moved along with other trophies to the second Batcave, which was located underneath the Wayne Foundation building,[7] but when Bruce decided to move back to the original place, all trophies and mementos were moved back as well, including the Mechanical T-Rex.[8]
When a common thief started using the Catman costume, he stumbled upon the Batcave while looking for his hidden loot. The crook then confronted Batman and used the Giant Penny against him. Batman was able to avoid the attack using the T-Rex and the penny became stuck in one of the cave's walls.[9]
New Earth
The Batcave was breached once by Hush and as a result, Alfred activated the T-Rex and controlled it to attack Hush, who depleted his ammunition and managed to damage the robot enough for it to collapse.[10] A short time later, the T-Rex and all the other elements of the Batcave that were damaged during the confrontation were repaired by Nightwing, Robin and Alfred.[11]
Other Versions
DC Animated Universe
Batman and Robin first came across the T-Rex after battling a lesser criminal. Robin thought it would make a good memento, but Batman stated that transporting it alone would attract unwanted attention. Nevertheless, he later relented to place it in the cave.[12]
As a visual nod to Batman battling an animatronic dinosaur, the episode "Mean Seasons" Calendar Girl unleashes a Studio mechanical T-Rex to kill Batman, Batman subsequently destroys it.
Trivia
- A mechanical T-Rex first appeared on a Batman story in Batman #10; years prior to the one from Dinosaur Island. However, the trophy in the cave has been always identified as the latter.
- As with many other trophies in the Batcave, Alfred is in charge of the general maintenance of the Mechanical T-Rex.[13]
- After Batman left the Batcave, he kept a toy T-Rex in Micro-Cave 7A.[14]
- In The Haunt, Ghost-Maker mirrored Batman's T-Rex with a simulacrum of a spinosaurus. He chose this species as they were larger dinosaurs.[15]
- Superman kept a T-Rex in the Fortress of Solitude, Greenland.[16]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Batman #35
- ↑ Batman #48
- ↑ World's Finest #39
- ↑ Detective Comics #223
- ↑ The Brave and the Bold #182
- ↑ Batman #102
- ↑ Detective Comics #470
- ↑ Batman #348
- ↑ Detective Comics #538
- ↑ Detective Comics #850
- ↑ Nightwing (Volume 2) #153
- ↑ Batman Adventures #12
- ↑ Batman #99
- ↑ Detective Comics #1036
- ↑ Batman (Volume 3) #109
- ↑ Superman: Son of Kal-El #2