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Bat-Mite
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Bat-Mite is a character appearing in stories published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an Imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Appearing as a small childlike man in an ill-fitting costume, Bat-Mite possesses what appears to be near-infinite magical power, but in reality is highly advanced technology from the fifth-dimension that can not be understood by our limited three-dimensional views. Bat-Mite idolizes Batman, and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange events so that he could see his hero in action.
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Encyclopedia
Bat-Mite is a character appearing in stories published by DC Comics. Bat-Mite is an Imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Appearing as a small childlike man in an ill-fitting costume, Bat-Mite possesses what appears to be near-infinite magical power, but in reality is highly advanced technology from the fifth-dimension that can not be understood by our limited three-dimensional views. Bat-Mite idolizes Batman, and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange events so that he could see his hero in action. Bat-Mite is more of a nuisance than a supervillain, and often leaves his hero alone when he realizes he has angered his idol.
Character history
Pre-Crisis
Bat-Mite regularly appeared in Batman, Detective Comics, and World's Finest Comics for five years. Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk teamed up four times in the pages of World's Finest Comics to plague Superman and Batman together, as well. However in 1964, when the Batman titles were revamped under new editor Julius Schwartz, Bat-Mite vanished along with the other extraneous members of the Batman family such as Ace the Bat-Hound. After this, only three more Bat-Mite stories were published in the pre-Crisis DC Universe: two Bat-Mite/Mr. Mxyzptlk teamups in World's Finest Comics #152 (August 1965) and #169 (September 1967) (which were not edited by Schwartz but by Mort Weisinger), and "Bat-Mite's New York Adventure" from Detective Comics #482 (February–March 1979), in which the imp visits the DC Comics offices and insists that he be given his own feature in a Batman comic. This story featured protestors with picket signs shouting "We want Bat-Mite!" outside the Tishman Building (where DC's editorial offices were located at the time), and was accompanied by an editorial comment that this story was published specifically to acknowledge the actual requests of fans for this character's revival.
Later Bat-Mite appeared in a one-page story in the 200th issue of The Brave and the Bold.
Post-Crisis
After the continuity-changing 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths was published, Bat-Mite was mostly removed from the Batman comics canon. Bat-Mite made an appearance in the series Legends of the Dark Knight, although he may have been the hallucination of a drug-addled criminal named Bob Overdog. This version of Bat-Mite later appeared in Mitefall, a one-shot book which was a parody of the "Knightfall" Batman storyline (with Overdog in the Jean-Paul Valley role). In #6 of the 1999 World's Finest miniseries, Mr. Mxyzptlk encountered Bat-Mite, shortly after being mistaken for him by Overdog. While in this story the post-Crisis Bat-Mite encountered Batman for the first time, Superman and Batman subsequently concluded that Mxyzptlk had created him, inspired by Overdog's ravings.
Bat-Mite also appeared in the 2000 one-shot Elseworlds comic special World's Funnest, in which he battles Mr. Mxyzptlk, destroying the pre-Crisis multiverse and the Post-Crisis Universe of DC Comics, as well as the Elseworlds of Kingdom Come, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and the DC animated universe. Despite being an Elseworlds story itself, it is not clear whether World's Funnest is in continuity.
Apart from World's Funnest, there has been no direct connection between Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk. In the Bizarro Comics anthology, Mxyzptlk's native 5th Dimension seemed to include beings similar to Bat-Mite and Johnny Thunder's Thunderbolt. Neither of these comics are considered canonical; however, in a JLA/JSA crossover in JLA and in JSA #78–80 it was revealed that both Mxyzptlk and Thunderbolt come from the 5th Dimension. Letter columns and writer interviews indicate that Bat-Mite comes from there as well, although this has never been shown thus far in the comic stories themselves.
In the post-Crisis issue Superman/Batman #25, it was revealed that the Joker had gained Fifth Dimensional powers by maintaining the essence of Mr. Mxyzptlk from the earlier "Emperor Joker" storyline; at the end, Bizarro was able to extract this latent magical essence from the Joker, which manifested in a form recognizable as Bat-Mite. As such, a Bat-Mite has been fully reestablished into the current continuity as an outgrowth of Mr. Mxyzptlk incubated within the Joker.
The first Post-Infinite Crisis appearance of Bat-Mite was in Batman #672, written by Grant Morrison. Batman is confronted with Bat-Mite (or "Might") after being shot in the chest and suffering a heart attack. Might, who bears a green insectoid creature on his back, claims to have come from "Space B at the Fivefold Expansion of Zrfff" (Batman #674) (At times Zrfff has been used as the name of Mr. Mxyzptlk's home dimension). Only Batman sees him. As Batman is having an increasingly difficult time keeping his grip on reality during this period, it is possible that Might is a mental delusion.
In Batman #678, Might reappears at the last page, commenting, "uh-oh" to Batman's increasing delusions. He then, throughout the whole Batman R.I.P. series, appears to counsel the Batman of Zur En Arrh, a delusional personality manufactured by Bruce himself to keep Batman able to fight in case he was mindwiped, or driven to insanity. Batman #680 reveals that Might is indeed a product of Batman's imagination being Batman's rationale, although he comments that he is from the 5th dimension because the fifth dimension is imagination.
In Superman/Batman #52, Bat-Mite appears having had a bet with Mr. Mxyzptlk similar to that of World's Funnest. This Bat-Mite appears to admire Batman, and Batman addresses him with familiarity.
Alternate versions
In Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Bat-Mite is one of the co-founders of 'The First Church of the Last Son of Krypton', a Lunatic Fringe dedicated to worshiping Superman as God including Bat-Mite who proclaims: "Put your hand in the hand of the man with Heat Vision"
In Superman & Batman: Generations, he appears in 1959, along with Mister Mxyzptlk. The two imps are testing Batman and Superman, each trying to prove that their hero is the greatest. They are doing so in order for two aliens to take the greatest hero to the other side of the universe to save their planet (Bat-Mite is doing so because he truly wants to help, Mxy is doing so merely because it would take Superman centuries to return from the other side of the universe). However, each one must test the other's hero, so Mxy tests Batman, and vice-versa. After a huge battle, the aliens decide to take Bat-Mite and Mxy back to their planet.
In Batman: Dark Victory, the name Bat-Mite is used on a possible costume design sketched by a young Dick Grayson, as he tries to come up with a secret identity to fight alongside Batman.
Other media
Television
* Bat-Mite was a regular character of the 1977 Filmation animated series The New Adventures of Batman voiced by Lou Scheimer. He was depicted as a well meaning magical fan of the superhero. As such, he tried to help Batman even though he usually complicated matters. One episode featured his home planet, called Ergo, as well as a villain of Bat-Mite's species named Zarbor. He also has a crush on Batgirl. Bat-Mite is seen by some as a prototype for the later Orko in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Video Games
Bat-Mite is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.
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