Warren McGinness is a minor character from the DC animated show Batman Beyond. He is the father of protagonist Terry McGinness, who becomes the new Batman after stealing the elderly Bruce Wayne's hi-tech Batsuit to avenge his father's murder. Warren appears only in the pilot episode "Rebirth" and is voiced by Michael Gross.
History[]
Early life[]
At some point in his life, Warren met and married Mary. When he was given a routine flu shot, it was actually a nanotech solution programmed to rewrite his reproductive material into a copy of Bruce Wayne's reproductive material as a part of Amanda Waller's plan to create Batman's successor. Almost a year later, their son, Terry, was born. Unbeknownst to them, he was biologically the offspring of Mary and Bruce. Warren remained Terry's legal father, none the wiser about what had been done to him.
Eight years later, Warren accompanied his wife and eight-year-old son to see a movie, The Grey Ghost Strikes. Warren and his family were unaware that, as they walked through the parking area, they were targeted by an assassin, who was to kill Warren and Mary in order to put Terry on the path to becoming Batman. However, the assassin refused and spared the unknowing couple. Some time after the near-assassination, Mary gave birth to Warren's second son, Matt, who was also the biological son of Mary and Bruce.
Eventually and for reasons unknown, Warren and Mary divorced but it appeared they remained on friendly terms, with him helping her out financially when necessary. Terry moved in with his father, likely because of the boy's increasingly rebellious behaviour, while Matt stayed with Mary.
Batman Beyond[]
One day, Warren was contacted by Harry Tully, a colleague of his at Wayne-Powers. When the two met later in the day, Warren noticed that Tully was looking "slagged" and observed a series of strange bruises on Tully's arm. Tully handed Warren a disc, but before he could explain further, their meeting was cut short by Mr. Fixx, who had Tully taken away. Warren's questions about Tully's condition went unanswered.
Shortly thereafter, Derek Powers summoned Warren to his office, who explained that Tully had suffered an allergic reaction to a chemical compound in the laboratory. Powers assured Warren that Tully would soon make a full recovery. Warren accepted the explanation, though he was not entirely convinced, and on his way out, Powers asked him if he knew about a file that was missing from Tully's records. Warren denied any knowledge of it.
Once at home, Warren investigated the disc Tully had given him. In the midst of this, Warren found himself embroiled in an argument with Terry. Their tempers flared at one another, and the argument ended with Terry scoffing at his father's life accomplishments and storming out of the apartment, flouting the fact that his father had grounded him on account of Terry getting into a fight at school. Shortly after Terry's departure, Warren was visited by Mr. Fixx.
Some hours later, Terry returned home to find his mother waiting for him and that Warren had been murdered. (No body is shown on-screen and no method of murder is described.) The police and the McGinness family are led to believe that Warren was killed by the Jokerz street gang, but Terry later goes through his father's belongings and finds the disc that Warren had been given by Tully. On the disc is information relating to the development of a deadly nerve gas. Not trusting the police, Terry decides to take the disc to Bruce Wayne, whom Terry had met the previous night after fighting off a group of Jokerz. It was during that meeting that Terry had discovered the secret entrance to the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor, learning that Wayne was once Gotham City's watchful protector, Batman. These events would become the catalyst for Terry taking on the mantle of Batman under Wayne's guidance, avenging his father's murder and protecting Gotham as its new hero.