Wrath's parents were a couple of burglars like Joe Chill, the man who shot and killed Batman's own parents. They were killed in a shootout with a young Commissioner Gordon on June 26th, coincidentally the same day that Batman's parents were gunned down in Crime Alley. Due to this, Wrath dedicated his life to a campaign of revenge against law and law-enforcers. Independently of one another, the Batman and the Wrath adopted strikingly similar costumes and skill-sets, although they used them for opposite purposes.