Alfred Pennyworth was originally drawn as a stout and clean-shaven man, but in 1944 he was dispatched to a health resort from which he would return thin and mustached so that he would resemble William Austin's portrayal in the 1943 serial. Also, he originally died in the comics but the 60's Adam Westseries got him revived. The change was spoofed in a 1994 "Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!" story that ostensibly took place after Alfred had left Bruce Wayne while they were tracking down Bruce's kidnapped girlfriend and Tim Drake's father in England (though he came back about a year later); Batman and Robin are confronted by a short, fat, non-mustached, Cockney-accented double of Alfred reminiscent of the early 1940s portrayal, and immediately remark that Alfred doesn't look like himself. Alfred then reminds them of his resort vacation, which (in the new continuity) he has just returned from, and explains that the resort was not a health spa at all, but a school for private detectives (the "new" Alfred wants to follow in his employers' footsteps). The short, fat Alfred eventually disappears long before the real Alfred returns.
The Batcave also originated in the serials. Ironically, despite now being such an iconic part of the mythos, the whole reason the Batcave was created in the first place was to save money. The serials were made very cheaply, and it just so happened that the production team had access to a cave set from another production.
Aunt Harriet's surname, "Cooper," was created for the 60s live-action series before being canonized in the comics. Over time, the artists also began drawing her with a heavier appearance so that she'd look more like her TV counterpart.
The now-iconic green-suit-and-bowler-hat costume for The Riddler was introduced in the 1960s live-action series, where it was designed by actor Frank Gorshin because he seriously hated the tights. It is now a rare thing to see the Riddler in his original tights in the comic books.
It may seem hard to believe, but Catwoman didn't wear a black costume until the 60s Batman and Batman Returns. Prior to (and long after) that, she usually wore first green and later purple in the comics. It wasn't until Darwyn Cooke's revamp in 2002 that she officially adopted a black Spy Catsuit in the comics.
Batman began wearing a black Batsuit that looked like the one from the Tim Burton movies during the "Troika" storyline that was published after Knightfall. Unlike Catwoman, he eventually went back to his more familiar grey and black color scheme after a while.
The Batman storyline "The Destroyer" ended with Gotham sporting a redesigned look that resembled the city's retro art deco depiction in the Tim Burton movies.
The first Tim Burton movie also gaveThe Joker the real name "Jack Napier." While the Joker still canonically has no known identity in the mainstream comics, he has used Jack Napier as an alias, while several alternate universe stories (such as Batman: White Knight) have used it as his real name.
The Batmobile has had its famous jet exhaust since the '60s series added it.
The visual designs of the Batman Film Series will sometimes carry over to the Batmobile, the Batcave, or Batman's rogues gallery.
The Joker's face has been scarred or mutilated since The Dark Knight.
The giant penny first appeared in the Batman newspaper comic, before it ever appeared in the comic book.
The idea that Jim Gordon met Bruce Wayne on the night of the Wayne murders originated in Batman Begins, and has since made it to the comics (and also subsequently served as an inspiration for the premise of Gotham). Before this, canon flip-flopped on whether Gordon was a Gotham native at all (in Batman: Year One, for instance, Gordon is from Chicago, and only moved to Gotham just as Bruce is returning to Gotham to begin his career as Batman).
This seemed to be likely but was then averted in regards to Bane. In Arkham War, he wears a jacket like the one Tom Hardy wore in The Dark Knight Rises, but ditches it by the next issue.
The last issue of the New 52 Nightwing series brings in a phrase from The Dark Knight Trilogy: "Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up." However, the phrase isn't used in this inspirational way, with Dick Grayson saying "No, we fall because someone pushes us. We get up to push back."
Ever since the show redefined Mr. Freeze as a tragic figure, consumed for the lost love of his stricken wife, the original comic version was changed to resemble that. This also included elements of his overall design (namely his trademark red goggles), as well as the civilian name "Victor Fries." Originally, he was just a villain with a gimmicky weapon with no real back story, a version that later appeared in The Batman. This backstory was removed in the New 52, to move Freeze more in-line with the rest of Batman's rogues gallery, but was reinstated in DC Rebirth.
The name "Mr. Freeze" is itself a case of this, as before the old Adam Westshow, he was known as Mr. Zero. When the new name first appeared in the comics, the writer even lampshaded the change:
Detective Comics (Rebirth) gives Basil Karlo the same backstory as the animated version of Clayface, right down to having his powers now come from an experimental cosmetic cream that was meant to restore his face after he was disfigured in a car accident. Prior to this retcon, Karlo's clay powers had come from an injection of blood samples from Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller, the third and fourth Clayfaces.
Based on the popularity of the animated series version of the Clock King (Temple Fugate), a new Clock King with the same name and dress was introduced to The DCU (though instead of Awesomeness by Analysis powers, this version has actual precognitive abilities as well as a sadistic streak).
The series also went with the Batgirl moniker to make Barbara Gordon begin using that identity as a student rather than a librarian as it originally was, and given this change in age, she got a flirting relationship with Robin (Dick Grayson, now Nightwing in comics). Now flashbacks tend to show Barbara getting her Batgirl identity at her teens, and having an on-off relationship with Nightwing (who, before that, was mostly interested in his Titans teammate Starfire, so Ship-to-Ship Combat abounds).
The series also introduced the idea of Bruce Wayne being childhood friends with Zatanna, which was later made canon in the comics by Paul Dini after Infinite Crisis. Prior to this, Batman had been portrayed as being much older than Zatanna. Only the later series Young Justice (2010) has kept Zatanna younger, making her a peer of Robin.
A Flashback sequence from the 2018 Catwoman series by Joelle Jones depicted Selina wearing her gray costume from the cartoon.
Poison Ivy was exclusively depicted as heterosexual for decades, but after the TV show gave her a VERYclose friendship with Harley Quinn, the comics eventually revealed that she was bisexual and in love with Harley.
The New Batman Adventures, the show's sequel, featured revamped designs for every character, in order to streamline the show's look to make it easier to animate on the smaller budget, as well as to make it more compatible stylistically with Superman: The Animated Series. Most of the new designs were poorly received (especially the Joker's), but one in particular that most people seem to like is Scarecrow's. It didn't look much like an actual Scarecrow (more like a western preacher), but it was pretty creepy (which is good considering fear is the Scarecrow's whole shtick). The staff liked the outcome, particularly since they'd fiddled around with different designs before and found them ineffective. Since TNBA, many versions of Scarecrow incorporate that version's distinctive Noose Necktie.
Following TNBA, almost all animated versions of Nightwing have had some version of the same chest-logo; a blue hawk with serrated wings and its head in profile, based loosely on the then-current comics costume which had a blue V-shaped yoke suggesting wingsnote Exceptions are Batman: The Brave and the Bold, which uses his original disco costume, and Batman: Under the Red Hood, which has the V-shape. When Dick returns to the Nightwing identity in Rebirth, he adopts a new costume which is the first appearance of the hawk logo in comics continuity.
The whole identity of Red Robin originated in the Alternate Continuity of Kingdom Come, where it was used by Dick Grayson. Eventually, the costume and name were brought into the mainline canon, but being used by Tim Drake instead.
While Deathstroke being an enemy of the Teen Titans was present in the acclaimed Marv Wolfman and George Pérez run, he primarily hated Beast Boy and Arsenal in particular. When Teen Titans (2003) presented him instead as the Arch-Enemy of Dick Grayson, who in the show was Robin, Deathstroke would use Chemo to nuke Bludhaven in Infinite Crisis as revenge against Dick (who had become Nightwing), bringing their conflict into canon.
In 2020, a pair of new Birds of Prey projects were launched for the DC Black Label, both of which saw the girls team up with Harley Quinn (who was never associated with the team in the comics) because of the live-action movie. The mini-series by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner also featured Cassandra Cain, again seemingly due to her appearance in the film. The 2023 relaunch for Dawn of DC continued this trend, with Harley and Cassandra being featured as core characters in the new Birds of Prey roster.
Originally, both on The Animated Series and in her earliest comic appearances, Harley Quinn dressed in a jester outfit to match the Joker's motif. Then the Batman: Arkham Series had her in a skimpy nurse outfit with a blue red motif complete with short skirt and a corset that exposed her midriff. The outfit and its variants proved so popular that the New 52 imports the blue/red motif, corset, short shorts and boots. Almost every adaptation of Harley now features a similar outfit rather than the original jester costume, although most would eventually indicate that the jester outfit was one of her previous looks.
Jason Todd's New 52 backstory jettisoned the original Infinite Crisis-based explanation for his return (Superboy-Prime and Alexander Luthor Jr.'s escape attempts screwing with reality) for a version akin to the one in Batman: Under the Red Hood (namely a member of the al Ghul family — Ra's himself in the film and Talia in the comic — use a Lazarus pit to bring Jason back).
Batman Begins had Ra's al Ghul leading a secret organisation of warriors as always. However, rather than the League of Assassins, they were renamed the League of Shadows, as them being an assassin guild wasn't as big a part of the organisation in this incarnation. In Detective Comics (Rebirth), it was revealed that the comics did have an organisation called the League of Shadows — a splinter group of the original League of Assassins, created by Ra's al Ghul to be a more secretive and violent faction, who eventually splintered off and were led by Lady Shiva. Later still, in Robin (2021), Talia al Ghul would unite the League of Assassins, the League of Shadows and the newly revealed League of Lazarus under her own rule — doing away with the separate names, and instead using the League of Shadows name for all.
in the first Tim Burton Batman movie.