After witnessing the murder of his parents at age eight and motivated by his love for Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal), Bruce travels the world to train to fight crime, returning to claim inheritance of his father's company.

Subsequently, he begins fighting crime in Gotham City as Batman, using advanced military-predicated technology in doing so and basing his persona on conquering his fear of bats, starting his path as a hero.

In January 2003, Warner Bros. hired Memento director Christopher Nolan to direct an untitled Batman film,[3] and David S. Goyer signed on to write the script two months later.

[5] Also similar to Superman, Nolan wanted an all-star supporting cast for Batman Begins to lend a more epic feel and credibility to the story.

[7] His personal "jumping off point" of inspiration was "The Man Who Falls", a short story by Denny O'Neil and Dick Giordano about Bruce's travels throughout the world.

"[25] At his audition, Bale wore the Batsuit (minus the cape, which had been missing for some time) Val Kilmer donned for 1995's Batman Forever.

[41] Bruce's strongest characteristic is his strong moral code: while he often severely injures the criminals he fights, he refuses to kill them, as he believes that doing so would make him no better than them.

As a child, he falls into a well on his parents' estate and is rescued by his father Thomas (Linus Roache), but develops a fear of bats after a colony of them attack him.

Bruce tours a new monorail funded by his father, who explains that he nearly bankrupted his company Wayne Enterprises to build it to help Gotham City, which is experiencing an economic depression.

As his parents take him home, they are confronted by a mugger named Joe Chill (Richard Brake), who shoots them both dead right in front of Bruce, leaving him deeply traumatized.

Bruce is comforted by police officer James Gordon (Gary Oldman) as Chill is arrested, then raised by his parents' butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine).

When Bruce tells his childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) what he had planned to do, she is disgusted and lectures him about the difference between justice and revenge, which motivates him to confront Falcone himself.

After being arrested in Bhutan for robbery and engaging in a prison fight, Bruce is approached by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who invites him to join the League of Shadows, an elite vigilante group.

Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy, while setting up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor and taking up the vigilante identity of "Batman", inspired by his childhood fear.

While patrolling as Batman one night, Bruce intercepts a drug shipment by Falcone, tying him up and providing incriminating evidence for Rachel and Gordon to arrest him.

Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), Arkham Asylum's corrupt chief psychiatrist, doses Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen, driving him insane.

Having stolen a microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, he plans to vaporize Gotham's water supply, rendering Crane's drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city.

Ra's loads the microwave emitter onto Gotham's monorail system to release the drug at the city's central water source.

Batman becomes a public hero and Bruce reveals he has purchased a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, firing Earle and replacing him with Fox.

One year later, Batman has become a thorn in the side of Gotham's organized crime families, and inspired the public – to the point that several gun-toting vigilantes have begun dressing as him and attacking criminals in a misguided attempt to help his crusade.

They contemplate bringing Gotham's new district attorney – and Rachel's boyfriend – Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in on their plan to eradicate the mob.

's dedication to fighting crime, and hopes that Dent will become the city's protector so that he can give up being Batman and live a normal life with Rachel.

Mob bosses Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts) and the Chechen (Ritchie Coster) pay the Joker half of their money to kill Batman.

The Joker nevertheless gloats that the citizens of Gotham will lose faith in humanity once they learn of Dent's murderous rampage as the vigilante "Two-Face".

As Dent is about to kill Gordon's son, Batman, who is wearing body armor, tackles him off a ledge to his death, saving the boy before falling and injuring his leg.

In addition, Wayne Enterprises is losing money after Bruce discontinued a fusion reactor project three years prior when he learned that it could be weaponized.

Cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) steals a pearl necklace belonging to Bruce's late mother, and overpowers him when he tries to stop her.

Bruce is fired from Wayne Enterprises' Board of Trustees, but persuades CEO Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) to prevent Daggett from taking over the company.

Bruce helplessly watches news coverage of Bane turning Gotham into a no man's land – freeing its criminals, imprisoning police, and revealing the truth about Harvey Dent's crimes.

Months later, a recovered Bruce escapes from the prison and returns to Gotham after Bane has taken over the city, planning to destroy it with the fusion reactor.