Created by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, he is an evil counterpart and alternate version of Batman within the Dark Multiverse.

His first appearance was in the crossover storyline Dark Nights: Metal, before receiving his own series and serving as the main antagonist in Batman/Superman in 2019 and DC Comics' Year of the Villain alongside Lex Luthor.

The Batman Who Laughs was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo first appearing in the comic book Dark Days: The Casting.

[2] After arriving on Prime-Earth, the Batman Who Laughs attempts to destroy reality using the Anti-Monitor's brain, but is defeated and imprisoned in the Hall of Justice.

Wonder Woman kills him, but the Dark Knights preserve his brain and transfer it to the body of "Batmanhattan", a variant of Batman who possesses Doctor Manhattan's reality-warping abilities.

Furthermore, he has a futuristic visor made out of "Dark Metal" that gives him a form of precognition, and wields various weapons, including machine guns, knives, and a bladed chain.