To reverse the old cliché, good villains mean nothing without a strong hero to face them. Batman: The Animated Series also gave us the definitive and most compelling adaptation of the Caped Crusader himself. Batman's characterization strikes the same chord exactly right a balance of dark and light as the overall tone of the series.

The soul of the animated Batman rests in Kevin Conroy; he may not be with us anymore, but he is still on vote for Batman without dispute. Conroy was gay and when he got the part of Batman, he was still in the closet for his career. In 2022, Conroy wrote a short comic titled Finding Batman. explaining how wearing a mask in his life prepared him to voice Batman:

"He seemed to roar with 30 years of frustration, confusion, denial, love, longing...longing for what?" Anchor. Port. A sense of security, a sense of identity. Yes, I can relate. "Yes, this is terrain I know well. I felt Batman rise from deep within."

Conroy's Batman not only inspired fear, but one that children (or adults who first saw him at a younger age) could look up to, and who was allowed to be vulnerable as in Conroy's greatest Batman moment of all. Some standout moments include "Nothing to Fear," where Batman is haunted by the disapproving ghost of his father, only to defeat him with the now-immortal line, "I am vengeance!" I am the night! I'm Batman!”

In "Merchance To Dream", Bruce Wayne wakes up in a world where he was never Batman and his parents are still alive. The normally controlled Batman is confused and ultimately unable to deny when something is too good to be true. In I Am The Night we see a rare side of Batman who hates himself because he feels that he yet he didn't do enough despite all his dedication and sacrifice.

The two-parter Robin's Reckoning mainly stars Batman's sidekick Boy Wonder as he confronts his parents' killer Tony Zuko, but Batman/Conroy has strong support. I've never forgotten his last line in the episode, when he admits he was afraid Robin might kill himself running after Zuko.

This Batman even sees the light in bad guys (well, most of them). Just look at Two-Face or Baby Doll or Harley's Holiday where he comforts the semi-reformed Miss Quinn by reminding her that we all have bad days. "Nice guys like you aren't supposed to have bad days," Harley replies touched.

I see the same ethos in Conroy's Batman Peter Cullen leans in to voice Optimus Prime in 'Transformers' - "Be strong enough to be gentle" - and from that came the best Batman ever.

Batman: The Animated Series airs on Prime Video.