Batarang

Batarangs are non-lethal weapons used by Batman. They are the first gadgets that Batman receives in Batman: Arkham Asylum and are automatically unlocked at the start of the game.

History
A batarang is a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon used by the Gotham City vigilante Batman as a non-lethal ranged attack alternative to firearms, which he rejects outright due to the circumstances of his parents' murder. The name is a portmanteau of bat and boomerang, and are sometimes referred to as baterangs.

Though they are named after boomerangs, batarangs have become more and more like shuriken with time. The earliest depictions were of scalloped, metal boomerangs which were used to attack opponents and returned to the thrower. Variations of batarangs include those which are able to be opened and closed (presumably so they can fit into Batman's utility belt), those which can be explosively charged and those which are electrified. A grappling hook made out of a batarang and a rope was common until Batman began using an upgraded grappling hook device. There also remote controlled Batarangs.

Nightwing uses his own modified version of a Batarang, which he often refers to as "Wing-Dings", shaped after a bird. Batgirl (both Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain) and the current Robin also use Batman's batarangs, but the latter also possesses his own 'R'-shaped shuriken. Robin has also referred to his weapons as "Birdarangs" on occasion.

Trivia
The 2005 Warner Bros. film, Batman Begins showed Batarangs as bat-shaped shuriken used for distraction rather than as weapons, fitting in with Batman's ninja training. Bat-shaped shuriken first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, although they never gave it a special name.