In "Wrath Child" ("Batman Confidential" #13-16), several details of his origin underwent a retcon, including the original story taking place shortly after Dick Grayson became Robin (the original story was published the same year that Grayson became Nightwing), with Grayson missing the events because he was away at the time on an "educational holiday" (one of the various training missions Batman sent him on). Wrath's father is now depicted as a corrupt cop who was robbing a warehouse with his wife and so acting as a lookout. Gordon confronted them and, in a gunfight, killed the parents in self-defense. Additionally, The Wrath is now depicted as having copied Batman, whereas in his original appearance, this is never suggested and it is implied that they both developed nearly identical personas independently. When Batman hears the story of the Wrath's origins from the original's successor, the young Wrath claims that only his predecessor's father was armed and Gordon shot to kill first, but in reality his father fired first and then his mother took up his father's gun, with Gordon's shots only being fatal because his aim was off due to his injuries (it is unclear if the young Wrath believed this story because he heard it from his mentor or if his mentor told him the truth and he then twisted it to make the Wrath seem like a victim). Abandoned by the cops in an effort to conceal the corruption - Gordon going along with the plan because then-captain Gillian B. Loeb threatened to kill the boy (as he was the only witness) if he talked - Wrath became a contract killer in the hopes of "avenging his parents again and again". While preparing to assassinate Gordon, Wrath studied Batman and initially planned to dress just like him to needle Gordon. However, he came to the conclusion that they were kindred spirits inspired by a similar disaster in their lives, and duplicated Batman's costume and equipment as an homage - to the extent that he began training his own "Robin", who went on to become the second Wrath.