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. 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.
History
Batarangs first appeared in Detective Comics #31 (September 1939), in the story "Batman Versus the Vampire". Batman threw the first batarang at the Monk and missed, but later in the story, the batarang helped him knock over a chandelier and escape from the villain's trap.
The earliest depictions were of scalloped, metal boomerangs used to attack opponents, which quickly flew back to the thrower. However, variations of batarangs include those that can fold to fit into Batman's utility belt, those that can be explosively charged, those that can be remote-controlled, and those that are electrified.
The use of the batarang has been in a state of constant development since its early appearances. In 1946, Batman and Robin developed a "batarang gun", and then a lighter "batarang pistol" in 1947. A 1957 story called "The 100 Batarangs of Batman!" (Detective Comics #244, June 1957) detailed the magnetic batarang, the seeing-eye batarang, the flash-bulb batarang, the bomb batarang, the rope batarang, the police whistle batarang and the mysterious Batarang X, among others. That issue also included an "origin story" for the batarang, which was given to Batman by an Australian circus performer named Lee Collins.
In Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #2, illustrates one use of Batman's batarang; one criminal thought it was a bat chasing him, and when it hit his hand, revealing to be a batarang, alerting him of Batman's presence. Later, in Batman #575 (January 2000), that during the hero's fight with the terrorist Banner, the villain thought he saw Batman grabbing two bats from a flock and throws them during their fight.
After the 1985-1986 Crisis on Infinite Earths, Batman developed smaller batarangs with sharp edges that could disarm criminals. According to The Essential Batman Encyclopedia, "The most consistently used versions of the Batarang included ones with micro-serrated edges; a hard-impact version for stunning criminals; a remote-controlled one linked to his Utility Belt; and an aerodynamically edged model with a throwing top."
A rifle-like grappling gun first appeared in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1. However, the now standard hand-held version of Batman's grappling gun first appeared in the 1989 Batman film. It gradually replaced the batarang and a rope in the comics after artist Norm Breyfogle introduced a grapple gun in Batman #458 in January 1991. That tool became the standard in the subsequent animated series, comics, films, and video games such as Batman: Arkham Asylum and in Batman: Arkham City a more advanced version called the Grapnel was introduced which could be used to launch Batman into the air to glide using kinetic energy.
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. It was donated by Warner Bros. studio chairman Barry Meyer in 2013, along with other famous film props including a golden ticket from 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and models from the 1995 film Gremlins 2: The New Batch.