Throughout film, TV, comics, games or animation there are many different varieties of Batman. Camp Batman. Dark Batman. Super Dark Batman. They all have certain things in common though; dead parents, super-rich, cool cape, underground base… And gadgets.

Spider-Man has his webs, Superman has his… everything, but Batman has his gadgets. So, with The Dark Knight Rises in cinemas tomorrow, let’s take a look at the caped crusader’s five best gadgets of all time…

#5: Bat-Suit

As Batman is moulded into different styles and different takes on the character, so must his suit change. Certain elements always remain the same. The cape, the cowl, the big bat-symbol on his chest.

More than any other element of Batman’s arsenal though, the batsuit is shaped by real life demands. What works on the comic book pages do not always translate well to the big screen. And so we have had a whole range of costumes, from the low budget material look of the 60s to the stiff necked, rubber nipple age through to the modern day body armour.

#4: Batmobile

You are super rich. Super smart. You have almost unlimited personal resources. You dress up like a bat and get into fist fights with criminals, so you’re probably slightly eccentric. Let’s face it, at this point it’s only a matter of time before you want your own themed car. Enter the Batmobile.

As many incarnations of Batman exist, so do incarnations of the Batmobile, ranging from a barely bat-themed Sedan all the way to a state of the art mini tank. Who wouldn’t want to drive their own personalised tank?

#3: Batarangs

As the previous entries in this list show, Batman knows the value of branding. In fact, he is all about branding. Striking fear into the hearts of criminals? Sure, but you need them to know who you are first. If he can stick the letters “B” “A” and “T” in front of anything he uses, he’s going to do it.

Enter the batarang: part throwing knife, part remote controlled explosive, part tracking device and part business card. Now that’s branding.

#2: Bat Shark Repellent

Common internet wisdom states that, given enough time to prepare, Batman could defeat God himself. The Internet never quite makes it clear what form of competition between God and Batman would take, but the message is that Batman’s preparation skills would see him claim victory.

Indeed, one of the many facets of Batman’s personality is a logical deductive reasoning on par or indeed exceeding that of Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this comes from the original Batman movie. Trapped and floating at sea and being attacked by a hungry shark, Batman of course has the solution ready prepared: Bat-Shark-Repellent.

He knew that one day soon he would need to fend off a shark, and prepared an easy to use aerosol to do the job for him. It is unknown what would have happened had he been fully underwater at the time and thus unable to use an aerosol spray, but we can only assume Batman has prepared for that as well.

#1: Alfred

Here at CultBox we have never experienced the joy of having a butler. We can imagine there are certain things you can reliably expect from such a person, though. Keeping your mansion clean. Preparing and serving your meals. Maybe a spot of gardening. All the usual butler stuff.

However, we’re not quite sure if “Repair your bat-themed superhero costume after you barely escape from a burning building” or “Perform surgery to extract a bullet after getting shot by clown-themed ne’er do wells” would be part of the standard service, or if you would need to pay extra.

Regardless, Alfred is an essential part of Batman’s crime busting lifestyle. Better than that though, whatever he does, he does with class.

What’s your favourite Batman gadget? Let us know below…

> Buy Batman Begins on Blu-ray on Amazon.

> Buy The Dark Knight on Blu-ray on Amazon.

Watch the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises…