Warning! Contains spoilers for Outsiders #9!

There are tons of different members of the Bat-Family and all of them are fantastic fighters. But despite their capacity and skill when it comes to violence, the Bat-Family’s greatest weapon has never been using violence, as Batwing Luke Fox, a long-time member, has just learned.

In Outsiders #9 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, and Robert Carey, Luke Fox finds himself in between the Lords of Chaos and the Lords of Order as they fight over the most powerful weapon the DC Universe has ever seen. The Cannon is known as the first and final gun, and it has the capacity to completely obliterate the DC Comics multiverse.

Not wanting to allow these gods to continue fighting over such a dangerous weapon, Luke finally decides to use the Bat-Family’s greatest weapon: fear. Under threat of completely destroying the Cannon, Luke Fox takes control of it to keep it out of the gods’ hands, saying the Bats’ “greatest weapon has never been violence. Our greatest weapon is fear.”

Batwing Knows Fear Is the Bat-Family’s Strongest Weapon

And Luke Fox Plans to Use It

Violence very rarely solves violence; typically it just inspires more. That’s why, despite the Bat-Family being some of the best fighters on the planet, it’s not violence that ultimately helps solve their problems, it’s fear. Batman is a terrifying individual and criminals know it. It’s impossible for Batman to be everywhere in Gotham, so he can’t prevent every crime with violence, but if criminals are too scared to commit crimes, then Batman doesn’t need to be there at all. This concept is so powerful that Luke Fox is able to use it to defeat some of the most powerful magic users in the DCU.

The Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos are immensely powerful individuals. It would take a lot to convince them to surrender to someone, but as they fight over the Cannon, Batwing threatens them into surrendering. While there isn’t much these incredibly powerful beings would fear, they do fear the loss of the Cannon. It’s the only device capable of enacting either utter chaos or total order. By threatening to take it away from them, Luke is able to use fear to defeat an enemy that, by all accounts, is immeasurably more powerful than him.

Batwing Uses the Bats’ Biggest Strength to Defeat Literal Gods

Even the Lords of Chaos and Order Fear Something

Not every fight can be won with violence, and the best fights are won without a single punch being thrown. That’s the Bat-Family’s entire philosophy, as they spawned from a terrifying creature of the night whose mere existence is enough to make criminals rethink going out at night. Fear has been proven to be an incredibly effective way of fighting crime, and as Batwing learned, it’s not only capable of forcing criminals to surrender, but can even be used to bully gods into submission.

Outsiders #9 is available now from DC Comics!