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In Batman #1 in the New 52, when we visit the Batcave for the first time, we see a dinosaur:

full page
close up on the panel

What... is up with that? It is a completely awesome cave decoration - but what else is it? Is it a non sequitur or is it a call back to an earlier storyline? I imagine it's the latter – a life-size T-rex model is an expensive piece of decor, even for Bruce Wayne.

Bonus points: are there any other relics from past storylines visible in this Batcave?

Update: here's a shot of the other panel that gives us a view of the "showroom" (including the huge dice).

HOLY HUGE DICE, BATMAN

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  • 11
    The real question is, why WOULDN'T you have a have a dinosaur in a Batcave? Who doesn't like fresh dinosaur eggs, laced with unmetabolized excess hallucinogens, with their coffee?
    – DavRob60
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 14:43
  • That appears to be a show room. It's likely a model for scientific interest...though entirely out of place considering the other exhibits. I suppose the giant stone dice are a bit out of place too though. But Batman's an engineer, not an interior decorator.
    – Zelda
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 14:49
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    @BenBrocka: The giant Joker card and humungous penny are interesting too.
    – gnovice
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 14:55
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    Why would you have a showroom in your SECRET batcave?
    – JamesRyan
    Commented Jan 11, 2012 at 18:07
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    @JamesRyan To show off to the other superheroes. It certainly impressed The Flash when he came to visit.
    – Zibbobz
    Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 18:58

3 Answers 3

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From Wikipedia:

The cave stores unique memorabilia items collected from the various cases Batman has worked. Originally, these were stored in a room designed just for them; it was explained that Batman and Robin took one memento from each case. Later, the trophies were shown to be in the large main area of the cave, residing among the rest of the Batcave's furnishings.

The most famous and prevalently featured are a full-size animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex, a giant Lincoln penny, and an oversized Joker playing card. The T. Rex comes from an adventure on "Dinosaur Island" (Batman #35, 1946); the penny was originally a trophy from Batman's encounter with a penny-obsessed villain named the Penny Plunderer (World's Finest Comics #30, 1947). Other "keepsakes" in the cave come from "The Thousand and One Trophies of Batman!" (Detective Comics #158, 1950). These three stories were reprinted in Batman #256.

Other pieces often shown in the Batcave are Two-Face's original coin, Deathstroke's sword (the owner of which Batman has fought at least twice), the shroud of the vampiric Monk, and over-sized ten-pins.

He has also had Fries' original freeze gun, a piece of kryptonite, and old partner costumes.

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  • I think the Robin costume in the case is Jason Todd’s. So he keeps his dead partner’s costume in a case. Nice touch there, Bats. Nice touch.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 13:10
  • There's something to be said for the interpretation that Batman (especially in his more recent iterations) is not a hero, rather he's a psychopath just like all the others; it just so happens that his eccentricities (refusal to kill, obsession with justice) make him easier to tolerate than other psychopaths.
    – Matt
    Commented Jan 24, 2014 at 19:23
  • Batman: TAS has an interesting twist on the origin of the giant penny - rather than coming from a penny-obsessed villian, it belonged to Two-Face, and was meant to be a death trap that Batman was strapped to and almost crushed by.
    – Zibbobz
    Commented Oct 20, 2014 at 19:02
  • In the new 52, the penny was originally in front of Wayne Enterprises, then used again as a conductor for a signal jammer during Riddler's siege of the city.
    – Brian Warshaw
    Commented Jan 9, 2015 at 3:07
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The T-Rex comes Batman #35 (June, 1946). "Batman and Robin are challenged to a game of "Touch Hunt" on famed Dinosaur Island in return for a gift to charity in the amount of $5000.....if they win the game. But they soon discover that they are the prey being hunted....by a very human adversary!" (source)

Dinosaur Island was an amusement park filled with robotic dinosaurs.

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  • They had to touch what now?
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Mar 18 at 22:25
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It depends on the Continuity. According to the DC Wiki, in the original:

It was a robot that Batman fought during an early adventure in Murray Wilson Hart's theme park on "Dinosaur Island"

in Batman Volume 1: issue 35.

In the DC animated Universe there are two depictions of the T-Rex. Again from the DC Wiki:

Batman and Robin first came across the T-Rex after battling a lesser criminal. Robin thought it would make a good memento, but Batman stated that transporting it alone would attract unwanted attention. Nevertheless, he later relented to place it in the cave. As a visual nod to Batman battling an animatronic dinosaur, the episode "Mean Seasons" Calender Girl unleashes a Studio mechanical T-Rex to kill Batman, Batman subsequently destroys it.

Presumably keeping it as a memento.

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