Known as a master tactician, Batman always has a plan up his sleeve for any situation. Most famously, he's had a number of contingencies for his fellow Justice League in case he and his fellow heroes are ever at odds. Of all of these countermeasures, one of Batman's defenses against Wonder Woman may be his most disrespectful to date.
The moment comes in Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka and J. G. Jones. The 2002 graphic novel is Rucka's first turn on the character before later helming Wonder Woman's main title. The Hiketeia sees Wonder Woman take Danielle, a young woman on the run, into her care in accordance to an ancient ritual Danielle invokes for protection. Despite Diana being duty-bound to protect Danielle, Batman confronts his fellow League member to bring the woman to justice for crimes she committed in Gotham. When Wonder Woman proves to be Batman's better in combat, Bruce attempts to invoke the Hiketeia and get Diana's protection himself so that she can no longer attack him - abusing a sacred ritual as a mere contingency.Related: Wonder Woman's Takedown of Batman's "One Rule" is Absolutely Brutal
The Hiketeia presents both Diana and Bruce with an interesting dilemma, one that proves illuminating for each of their characters. It is revealed that Danielle comes to Wonder Woman for protection for murdering sex-slavers in Gotham as retribution for using and killing her sister. With Batman on her tail, Danielle flees to Wonder Woman's home to invoke the Hiketeia, becoming Diana's supplicant. When confronted with the full story, Wonder Woman is forced to contend with whether it is still right to maintain her honor and grant Danielle amnesty. Does everyone deserve a second chance? Is putting Danielle in prison true justice? Would Diana have done the same if one of her own sisters was abused in such a way?
Batman, meanwhile, looms as a specter perhaps not of justice, but of retribution. Bruce has long held a more rigid code than Diana, and he feels that putting Danielle in prison is what's right. To meet this end, however, Batman makes his own moral concession. After multiple failed attempts to best Diana in physical combat, Bruce invokes the Hiketeia himself, hoping to keep Wonder Woman - now his protector as well - from physically keeping him from Danielle any longer. Though Batman has been known to keep contingency plans against his fellow Justice League members (and gotten in trouble as a result), this tactic still comes as a surprising step over the line. Here, Batman actually uses Diana's culture against her, abusing her code of honor and Amazonian heritage as a means to take her off the board. As Wonder Woman points out, Bruce actually studied Greek history to use it against her - a plan that is not successful in the slightest.
The confrontation is an interesting take on a Batman vs. Wonder Woman fight, as she is quite possibly his toughest ally to plan against. Generally speaking, Diana lacks the major weaknesses of some of her fellow League members. With Bruce fully unable to physically best Diana (despite several attempts), he resorts to twisting his friend's code of honor for victory. If Wonder Woman doesn't have a weakness as glaring as Superman's kryptonite aversion to exploit, Batman must resort to dirtier tricks.