Batcest is the crack shipping nickname between Batman/Bruce Wayne and his protegee Batgirl/Barbara Gordon, made infamous in the controversial DC animated film "Batman: The Killing Joke". It’s creepy because of their age difference. It’s creepy because of how Batgirl looks up to him. And it’s creepy because he’s supposed to be her mentor. Many fans felt this was antithetical to the father-daughter relationship the characters shared and... just plain gross, since Barbara is also Batman’s friend Commissioner Gordon’s daughter.
"Of course, a bat-cestual relationship wouldn’t be the worst controversy to plague the Dark Knight in 2016" - Critic
Fan !: "Of course! That's just what we need. More 'Batcest'!
Fan !: "Of course! That's just what we need. More 'Batcest'!
by Kathryn Santini January 19, 2019
Get the Batcestmug. Within the batman fandom, used to describe romantic or sexual ship art, fanfic, or cosplay that pairs one or more members of the Wayne family together, adopted or biological. (Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake). The pairings can refer to Bruce with a child of his, or the siblings with each other.
Heavily controversial and problematic for multiple reasons; delegitimizing adopted relationships, posing characters as sexual predators or pedophiles, sexualization of children, and obviously the incest.
Heavily controversial and problematic for multiple reasons; delegitimizing adopted relationships, posing characters as sexual predators or pedophiles, sexualization of children, and obviously the incest.
Timsteph isn’t batcest; theyre not related!
by normalandchillguy August 13, 2025
Get the Batcestmug.