Timothy Fox (DC)
Timothy Fox is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Timothy Fox was an African-American male born in the modern age as the son of Lucius Fox. (Batman v1 #313)
During his time in college, his father came to disapprove of Timothy's choice of company who he felt were a bad influence on his son. At dinner one day, this led to the father and son getting into another argument with Timothy storming away in anger. (Batman v1 #313) The constant bickering came to affect the Fox family as a result. (Batman v1 #314)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Timothy Fox
For her own ends, Talia al Ghul came to fund three young men that included Timothy Fox who came to be the new Terrible Trio. She equipped them with battlesuits and advanced technology, telling them to make a splash in Gotham City. Just like the original version, their gimmicks were based on land, sea and air. Batman responded to a robbery committed after a drilling machine burst through Gotham’s streets. He was confronted by the brand new Terrible Trio. They were new to the supervillain game, and were surprised at the fight Batman gave them, so they decided to flee. Bruce Wayne was scheduled to meet with Lucius about business, but found him arguing with his son. Tim had fallen in with another rough crowd Lucius disapproved of and was not studying for his college finals. Bruce commiserated with Lucius, who told him how hard it was to be a single father. Batman and Alfred Pennyworth used the Batcomputer for research and learned that the original Terrible Trio were all either in jail or dead. Batman responded when the new Trio hijacked the Gotham Marine Society Charity Ball. The Trio’s amateurish ways soon lost the fight, but Shark called in his submersible to ram the charity ball boat, telling Batman he could fight them or keep the ship from sinking. Batman used the Bat-Sub to patch up the hole with foam. He met with commissioner Gordon and gave him a button to push when the GCPD had extricated his sub from the charity ship so it could return to the Batcave. Lucius told Bruce he suspected Tim was one of the Terrible Trio, and Bruce suspected they’d target the Wayne Foundation Annual Skyball atop the Wayne Foundation. When they tried to rob the ball Batman released a smoke bomb and activated steel shutters that trapped the Trio at the ball. Batman fended them off, and when Fox threatened to use a detonator to blow up the ball Lucius knocked him out with a dinner plate and Alfred caught the detonator. Lucius was in despair when they were unmasked and he learned Tim Fox was the Vulture. He pleaded with Tim, asking him what he’d done wrong, saying he had given him everything in life, and Tim said he had everything he wanted except attention. (DC Retroactive: Batman-The '70s v1 #1)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Timothy Fox was born to prominent businessman Lucius Fox and Elena Aoki, an employee at Wayne Enterprises, though he was raised by Tanya Fox. His birth was the result of an affair after a trying period between Lucius and Tanya. The truth of his birth mother was hidden from him, as she was not ready to take care of a child. (I Am Batman v1 #17)
Lucius' position as the C.O.O. of Wayne Enterprises resulted in his lack of presence at home, though Tim did not mind, as Lucius provided for him. As the oldest child, where Luke focused on his studies and Tiffany was a small kid, Tim's best friend was his younger sister Tamara who he used to do everything together with growing up. During his teenaged years, Tim rapidly developed into a hedonistic playboy, indulging in a jet set life of non-stop partying and promiscuous affairs. On the night before his seventeenth birthday, an angry Tim stormed out of his party after a failed attempt to seduce a girl who had caught his eye. While driving on the phone with another girl he'd previously hooked up with, Tim failed to notice a man crossing the street, ramming into him with his car. Tim got out of his vehicle to check on the man, who was heavily injured from the collision. Though despite his pleas, Tim ran away in a panic, instead turning to his father Lucius for assistance. In order to protect Tim from the severe legal consequences of his act of vehicular manslaughter, Lucius summoned a team of personal lawyers and private investigators to dig up as much information surrounding the events of the hit-and-run that can be leaked to the media in order to create a favorable narrative for Tim. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #9)
After the Fox family acquired the Wayne Family fortune, Tanya urged Lucius to call Jace home. (Batman: The Joker War Zone v1 #1) With Vol acting as his handler while he operated in the field, Jace attempted a mission in Vietnam to take down Tyler Arkadine, an affluent billionaire secretly running an international trafficking ring. After the mission went awry, Jace returned home only to find Grifter, there to return him to Gotham on Lucius Fox's behalf. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #1) Jace returned to Gotham only to discover that much had not changed with his family. His father Lucius is still emotionally distant and struggling to cope with the stress of inheriting the Wayne Family Fortune on top of the psychological trauma he had suffered as Punchline's captive. His mother Tanya sees him as a disappointment and had developed a severe distain for costumed vigilantism as a whole. His younger brother Luke still despised him, utterly refusing to forgive Jace for any of his past actions. And while Jace's younger sisters Tamara and Tiffany tried their best to keep the Fox family together, the former's compromised health from being poisoned by Ratcatcher declines to a point where she relapses into a coma. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #4)
After discovering that Tyler Arkadine's personal courier had just landed in Gotham, Jace reluctantly began working at FoxTech under Lucius in order to secretly supply Vol with the technology he needs to gain more intel on Arkadine's operations within the city, all while simultaneously preparing to face his legal deposition in which he truthfully testified. Afterwards, Jace would eventually come to blows with Eabha O'Roark, an Irish Mercenary under Arkadine's employ who was hired to guard his personal courier. With surprise assistance from his old mentor Tatsu Yamashiro, Jace succeeded in obtaining the courier's bag while O'Roark narrowly evaded capture. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #11) Returning to Wayne Enterprises in the Tricorner Yards, Jace reviewed the contents of the courier's bag with Vol while the former recovered from his stab wound. It's there the duo learned that the courier was transporting six identification cards that belong to people on government watch lists, specifically left-leaning radicals who were all apparently untraceable. While pondering what this could all mean, Vol alerts Jace that he had also discovered something heavily encrypted within the source codes Jace had previously stolen from Lucius to help hack into Arkadine's hard drives. One of the encrypted files, 'The Clade of Chiroptera', made reference to a third subbasement in the building, something that Jace noted should not even exist. Since the subbasement could only be accessed via a private elevator that had been previously locked up and powered down, Jace ordered Vol to reroute power to the elevator so he could investigate what was down there. It is then that Jace discovered the ruined remains of the Hibernaculum, a massive underground high-tech armory and weapons testing facility that contained a prototype set of Bat Armor in one of its barely functioning vaults. Stricken with shock, Jace quickly realized that this abandoned armory did not belong to his father, it belonged to the Batman. And that Lucius, Bruce Wayne, and potentially countless others, were actually working for the vigilante in secret. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #12)
Jace relocated to New York City, carving out his own path as Batman outside of Gotham’s shadow. Establishing himself in a city unaccustomed to a Dark Knight, he confronted both violent criminals and the systemic issues fueling crime. His first mission involved dismantling an anti-vigilante extremist cell operating within the city, where he used both investigative skills and advanced technology funded by Fox family resources. (I Am Batman v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Jace Fox was a tall, athletic African-American man. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #1) One incarnation of him adopted the identity of the Vulture after becoming a masked criminal. (DC Retroactive: Batman - The '70s v1 #1) His Batsuit differed from Bruce Wayne’s traditional design, built with sleeker lines and more modernized armor plating. The cowl retained the pointed ears and white eye lenses but was integrated with advanced HUD systems. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #1)
Jace displayed a pragmatic and morally driven outlook, shaped by his own struggles with responsibility, privilege, and redemption. Unlike Bruce’s brooding intensity, Jace carried a more grounded, street-level perspective, often questioning the institutional failures around him. He was determined to separate himself from Bruce’s legacy, both to honor the symbol of Batman and to forge his own identity. His interactions revealed a man burdened by past mistakes, but one who embraced the mantle with a commitment to protect communities often overlooked. (I Am Batman v1 #2)
Pariah found Jace to be quite a resourceful person. (I Am Batman v1 #15)
During his teenaged years, Tim rapidly developed into a hedonistic playboy, indulging in a jet set life of non-stop partying and promiscuous affairs. Unlike his father, who built his reputation through earnest hardworking, Jace was a delinquent who got himself around with hedonism and, as a result, had a strained relationship with the rest of his family. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #8)
At one point, he accidentally killed someone whilst recklessly driving, an act that still haunts him and thinks he is guilty for, even if his father bailed him out. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #9)
After hearing about the apparent death of Bruce, Jace took it upon himself to become the Batman and become Gotham's protector, with his main motivation being to atone himself for the past mistakes that he committed as well as repairing his relationship with his family. Eventually, the Magistrate was dismantled and Jace decided to move with his mother to New York City where he continues to fight crime as Batman.
Timothy Fox was the son of noted business executive Lucius Fox. (Batman v1 #313)
According to one account though, Tanya was not his biological mother. It was revealed that Jace was the son of an extramarital affair between Lucius Fox and a fellow Wayne Enterprises employee named Elena Aoki. His mother was not ready to take care of a child and thus he was raised by the Fox family with these details being hidden from him. (I Am Batman v1 #17)
It was shown that he had a poor relationship with his father where the two would often get into arguments. Timothy had felt that his father constantly questioned his decisions and did not approve of his actions. Part of the tense ties between father and son was that Timothy felt that his father was attempting to live his own life through his child again. Meanwhile, Lucius felt nothing but worry for his son. (Batman v1 #313)
He was shown to have a sister by the name of Tiffany Fox. (Batman v1 #313)
As the oldest child, where Luke focused on his studies and Tiffany was a small kid, Tim's best friend was his younger sister Tamara who he used to do everything together with growing up. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #8)
Powers and abilities
During the months he was held prisoner in a Markovian black site, Jace was trained by one of his fellow captives in how to endure severe amounts of physical and psychological torture so he could survive the brutal interrogations they were subjected to. This has granted Jace the ability to power through fights with multiple heavily armed combatants by sheer force of will. (I Am Batman v1 #3) Jace had also persevered through the Mind Alteration of Sinestro's Yellow Lantern Ring and even went as far as to beat Thaal bloody afterwards with one of his own light constructs. (I Am Batman v1 #15)
Although he considers his father and brother as the real geniuses of the Fox Family, Jace has showcased an equal level of intelligence and ingenuity whenever he is operating in the field. While assisting Mr. Terrific with figuring out how to operate Pariah's Anti-Matter Canon amidst the heat of battle, it was Jace who succeeded in bringing the weapon online after coming up with the idea to use it as if it was still in its native universe instead of their own and acted accordingly. When Holt asked how he thought to do that, Jace replied that it was Lucius who taught him how to think outside the box. (Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths v1 #6)
One of his mentors was noted to had been Tatsu Yamashiro. (The Next Batman: Second Son v1 #11)
From his friend Vol, Jace was provided a specially designed Batsuit made with Non-Newtonian fluid, allowing his armor to be powerful but lightweight. (I Am Batman v1 #0) It was both lightweight and flexible while still maintaining Level IIIA stopping power according to the NIJ standard. His gauntlets were entirely comprised of graphene, a material that is two-hundred times stronger than steel, and features both metallic blades on the sides along with a twin pair of extendible batons which were loaded into the underside of each respective gauntlet. His cowl was also equipped with an armored face plate that doubled as a military-grade biohazard filter. (I Am Batman v1 #1)
Upon taking control of the Hibernaculum, Jace gained access to the Batcomputer and its heavily encrypted data. (I Am Batman v1 #0)
One incarnation of him was a masked criminal where he was a member of the Terrible Trio. (DC Retroactive: Batman - The '70s v1 #1)
As Batman, he came to be deputized as part of local law enforcement by the mayor of New York City. In fact, he was forced to join the NYPD's Special Crimes Unit that was nicknamed Strike Force Bat by Mayor Villanueva. (I Am Batman v1 #6)
Notes
- Timothy Fox was created by Len Wein and Irv Novick where he made his first appearance in Batman v1 #313 (July, 1979).
- On DC's website, John Ridley in a blog entry wrote about the characters creation:
- "Jace’s origin is completely different. He was the one who inflicted damage on a family. He was the one who shattered a family. He was the one who literally ran from responsibility. And he realizes he has a responsibility, not just to fight crime, but to inspire people to do better. To inspire them as a person, certainly to inspire them as a young Black person. To be part of the solution and not just wait for the system, because the system too often fails, but to have a moral compass, because he saw what happens when justice is, in his opinion, perverted by his father, who had all the means in the world to put his thumb on the scales of justice."
- Ridley also intended for Jace's methods to include a reluctance in how he uses his wealth to fight crime, the character having witnessed how it can obstruct justice and also operates with a different level of restraint in which makes him more compliant with local law enforcement's methods.
Alternate Versions
- In DC Nation Presents DC: Future State v1 #1 (2020), an alternate version of Jace Fox appeared in the alternate future of Future State. Jace Fox first donned the mantle of Batman at a time when the city had fallen under the authoritarian control of the Magistrate. Unlike Bruce Wayne, who had been forced into hiding, Jace patrolled the streets openly as a new Dark Knight, operating in a Gotham where wearing a mask was outlawed. He investigated a string of brutal murders, confronting masked gunmen and stopping the attempted execution of a fugitive family. Jace pursued the vigilante killers responsible for targeting criminals in the city. His investigation led him through Gotham’s underworld, where he interrogated suspects and dismantled armed groups that resisted him. He tracked the killers to their hideout, engaging them in combat, and uncovered their true motivations rooted in personal tragedy. Although outnumbered, Jace’s resolve and combat skills carried him through, showing his determination to uphold Batman’s no-kill code even in a Gotham stripped of hope.
In other media
Video games
Appearances
- Batman v1: (1979)
- DC Retroactive: Batman-The '70s v1:
- I Am Batman v1:
External Links
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