Charles Duffy (ME-1)

The Only Real Hero
Charles "Charlie" Duffy was a mentally handicapped adult who who called himself Batman due to an obsession with the Batman television series, starring Richard Barrison. He worked in a convenience store in Philadelphia, and was taken care of by his landlord Frank Gough (whom he referred to as "Alfred") after his parents died. There were many people in the neighborhood who played along with this, most notably his childhood best friend Jennifer Grayson who pretended to be his "Robin." She reappeared after moving away for over a decade, but had since then become a drug addict. Charlie attempted to rescue her from her drug dealer boyfriend Darrin whom he called the "Joker." Charlie was inspired to become tougher after seeing the Batman movie, and got into a fight with Darrin. He was mercilessly beaten by thugs, but the beating was halted when their boss found them and noticed Duffy was wearing Batman merchandise, that boss was the Joker, and he kidnapped him. For days Joker tortured Duffy, all the while recording each session, and interrogating him with questions like "Do you think you are Batman?" "Then why are you dressed as Batman?" It did not take Joker long to turn the "conversation" from Batman to Knight Owl, questioning Duffy about the real-life vigilante.

Trivia

 * Heavily based on the Realwords character, Charles Duffy.