The Dark Knight Returns - Characters

Characters

• Batman: Bruce Wayne, 55, retired as Batman ten years prior to the beginning of the story. When he sees violence running rampant and his personal demons can no longer be denied, he is forced to return.
• Alfred Pennyworth: Wayne's trusty butler, medic, and confidant, now in his eighties.
• Carrie Kelly/Robin: A 13-year-old girl who becomes Batman's newest sidekick. During the creation of the series, fellow comics writer/artist John Byrne told Miller "Robin must be a girl", and Miller complied. Comics historian Les Daniels commented, "In retrospect the imperative seems less than inevitable, perhaps no more than trendy gender bending or possibly just a response to the homophobia inspired by Fredric Wertham more than thirty years earlier."
• James Gordon: The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department for 26 years – a police officer for 50 years – who finally retires on his 70th birthday. He is aware of the dual identity of Batman and is supportive of the Caped Crusader.
• Two-Face: Now in his 50's, after having been in Arkham Asylum for 12 years and treated by Doctor Wolper for 3 years, Harvey Dent's face has been repaired with plastic surgery and his doctor gives him a clean bill of mental health. He is still Two-Face in his mind, however, and terrorizes the city with his face swathed in bandages.
• The Joker: Batman's archenemy, who awakens from a catatonic state upon learning of Batman's re-emergence and plans one last brutal crime spree to draw him out. His return to crime sets in motion a final confrontation with Batman.
• The Mutant Leader, the cunning, brutal head of the Mutants, who seeks to control Gotham and would kill anyone who dares to oppose him.
• Dr. Bartholomew Wolper, Two-Face and the Joker's psychiatrist and staunch opponent of Batman's "fascist" vigilantism. Wolper is convinced that the Joker and Two-Face are both really victims of Batman's crusade – claiming that Batman drives them to become criminals by assuming an ideological image that they feel compelled to counter. His attempts to treat Two-Face meet with failure, however, and he ends up murdered by the Joker along with the entire audience of a late night talk show when he is manipulated into bringing the Joker out in public as an example of Batman's 'victims'.
• Ellen Yindel, James Gordon's successor as Commissioner. A captain in the Gotham City Police Department, she starts off as Batman's fiercest critic, but doubts herself after the Joker debacle (part 3, see plot above) and comes to terms with his involvement, realizing that he is 'too big' for her to judge.
• Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen. After the outlawing of all superheroes, he undertakes a clandestine career of rebellion against government oppression, including the sinking of a nuclear submarine. He lost his left arm years ago and blames Superman for that. He is still a formidable marksman, using his teeth to grip the nocks of his arrows.
• Superman, aka Clark Kent, is now simply a pawn for the US government. His internal monologues show that he detests having to be a government weapon but sees it as the only way to be able to do some good.
• Selina Kyle: No longer Catwoman, Kyle now runs an escort business.

Even though they are not directly addressed, characterisations of Dr. Ruth, David Letterman, and Ronald Reagan (who was President of the United States at the time) appear.