Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy comes equipped with some stellar dialogue. And, even at least 13 years later, some of that dialogue sticks in the minds of movie fans. What follows are some of the best lines from the three movies. Some of the lines come from Bruce Wayne/Batman, some come from the motley crew of villains, and others from the supportive individuals in Wayne’s life. However, it should be noted that we weren’t particularly going for the most quoted lines, at least not exclusively. If that were the case, most of Christian Bale’s dialogue delivered in the divisive Bat-voice would consume the entries (e.g. his interaction in Batman Begins, with yell-growled lines such as “Where were the other drugs going?!” and “Swear to me!”).
Those lines are quoted by many in a way that’s poking fun at them. And, by this point, so many people have done the Bat-voice that it’s not worth harping on those lines too much. Without further ado, the lines of Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy that have stuck with fans.
“Why Do We Fall?”
After Bruce Wayne falls into the abandoned well on the property of Wayne Manor, he’s dealt with not just an injury but the terrifying image of a swarm of bats that will linger in his mind for decades. His father, Thomas Wayne, descends the well and gets him back above ground. As he carries Bruce, with Alfred Pennyworth by their side, Thomas looks down to Bruce and asks “Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
Both parts of Thomas Wayne’s little speech are well remembered. “Why do we fall” works because it ties in with what literally happened to Bruce and the following chunk is just flat-out memorable fatherly advice. Not to mention, it’s repeated a few times throughout the film, so it’s a hard line to forget.
“It’s Not Who I Am Underneath”
After Rachel Dawes saves the little boy (played by Jack Gleeson, who would grow up to play King Joffrey on Game of Thrones) from Scarecrows reign of terror, they find themselves surrounded by goons. In swoops Batman, who quotes the line to Rachel that she had earlier said to Bruce.
He’s about to leap back into action, and before he goes Rachel asks him to at least tell her his name. Wayne replies “It’s not who I am underneath…but what I do that defines me.” Rachel then gets a look of recognition and asks “Bruce?” It’s a great line, but it’s just as remembered for how much Bale emphasizes the word “do” in his Bat-voice as it is for the quality of the writing.
“If You Devote Yourself to An Ideal”
The first time Batman Begins‘ protagonist meets its antagonist, the latter is just a stranger who puts a helpful thought into the former’s head. Henri Ducard wants Wayne to join him in the League of Shadows, and he’ll get Wayne out of prison if he agrees. At first, Wayne questions the League’s motives (a hesitance that would end up being proven correct).
Bruce accuses “Ducard” (really Ra’s al Ghul) that he and his cohorts are vigilantes, to which Ghul replies: “A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can’t stop you, then you become something else entirely.”
Wayne asks what that something else is, to which Ghul says “Legend, Mr. Wayne.”
“I Don’t Have to Save You”
In the climax of Batman Begins, Batman and Ra’s al Ghul finally go head to head on the monorail train. Like the Batman of the comics, The Dark Knight Trilogy‘s Wayne has a no killing rule. This is something Ra’s al Ghul references when he asks if Wayne has “finally learned to do what is necessary?”
Wayne replies that he won’t kill Ra’s. But, after a brief pause, he says, “But I don’t have to save you.” This is a line that isn’t remembered for the best of reasons. People took issue with the fact that Wayne essentially lets Ghul die. In the minds of some viewers, there wasn’t much of a differentiation between that and throwing a Batarang into Ghul’s head.
“What Doesn’t Kill You…”
The elongated opening bank robbery scene of The Dark Knight immediately announces Nolan’s sequel as a truly masterful film. And, the very first time we see his face, Heath Ledger dispels any trepidations that many DC fans had about his casting.
After murdering the last of his accomplices, the Gotham National Bank Manager asks this man in a mask what he believes in. We hear Ledger’s iconic Joker voice say “I believe, whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you…” at which point he removes the mask and we see his scarred face. Instead of the expected “Stronger” that typically accompanies the expression, the viewer gets the word “Stranger.”
[RELATED: 3 The Dark Knight Trilogy Plot Holes That Are Still Super Confusing]
“Do I Really Look Like a Guy with a Plan?”
When Joker visits Harvey Dent in the hospital, just after blowing up the love of his life, there are two memorable lines. Joker says “You know, I don’t want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey. When you and, uh…” As Joker pretends to struggle to remember Rachel’s name, Dent yells it. Joker then claims that he was sitting in Gordon’s prison and that he didn’t rig the charges that disfigured Dent and stole his love from him. Dent, correctly, posits that they were rigged by Joker’s men as part of his plan.
On one hand, every time Christian Bale or Aaron Eckhart yells the name “Rachel” in The Dark Knight, it’s iconic. But so too is Joker’s reply to Dent’s accusation. In his knowing self-summarization, he asks Dent “Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just…do things.”
“You’re Just a Freak, Like Me!”
The vast majority of Joker’s dialogue in The Dark Knight became famous overnight. This includes most of the words spoken throughout the legendary interrogation scene.
The highlight is Joker’s attempt to liken himself to the Bat. After Batman calls Joker “garbage who kills for money” the Clown Prince of Crime scolds his adversary with some cutting words, saying “Don’t talk like one of them. You’re not! Even if you’d like to be. To them, you’re just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper!”
“Do You Feel in Charge?”
The intermittently difficult to understand Bane didn’t work for everyone as the trilogy’s climactic villain, but Tom Hardy without a doubt pulled off his intimidating nature. This was never shown better than in his exchange with Ben Mendelsohn’s John Daggett.
Daggett, who has been trying to gain control of Wayne Enterprises, enters the room in a furious frizzy. He’s there to talk to the executive VP of Daggett Industries, Philip Stryver. But Bane’s there, too. Daggett yells “What the hell is going on?!” to which Bane replies that their plan is going as expected. Daggett yells directly at Bane with the sarcastic “Oh really? Do I look like I’m running Wayne Enterprises right now?” After a bit more yelling, Bane orders Stryver to leave the room. Daggett then orders Stryver to stay with “No! You stay here, I’m in charge!” Bane lightly puts on hand in a chopping motion on Daggett’s shoulder and asks “Do you feel in charge?”
“Theatricality and Deception”
Much of Batman and Bane’s exchange during their first big fight in The Dark Knight Rise is highly regarded as a well-penned tête-á-tête. First, there’s Bane’s “Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated…but we are initiated, aren’t we Bruce? Members of the League of Shadows!”
Then there’s Batman’s snarled “You were excommunicated…by a gang of psychopaths!” which is swiftly followed by Bane’s “I am the League of Shadows, and I’m here to fulfill Ra’s al Ghul’s destiny!” and “You fight like a younger man, with nothing held back. Admirable but mistaken. You think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!” A part of this particular exchange’s memorability is the fact that every word is delivered by two men stretching their voices to the brink, but it’s also just a great exchange.
“A Hero Can Be Anyone.”
Towards the tail end of The Dark Knight Rises, Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon finally figures out the identity of the vigilante with whom he’s been collaborating (on and off) for years. He says to Batman that the hero’s identity was never something that concerned them. But now that that hero is going to fly a bomb away from the city, perhaps the city’s residents deserve to know the name of their savior.
Batman, in his flying “The Bat,” looks over and delivers a poignant mini speech that indirectly confirms his identity, at least to Gordon, while simultaneously pushing away the prospect of getting credit for his deed on a macro scale. “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.” Recognizing the callback to his own comforting action in Batman Begins, Gordon looks up at the departing “The Bat” and says “Bruce Wayne?”
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