But.... by most rules and common sense in order to verify the answer Batman would have to show his face. Otherwise the guesser would have no way to know if they had guessed correctly beyond Batman’s word, you could literally say “Bruce Wayne” and he could say “nope.” And that would be that. So any guess is a win because no matter what name you say he must remove his mask to prove you are right or wrong, and then you will know Batman’s identity, much more valuable than some hostages.
Batman is a man of honor. If someone correctly guessed Bruce with the riddle Batman would reveal that mask... so when he doesn't reveal it at the guess; you know he's also telling the truth.
But Batman has used ruses, tricks, and outright lies to trap or outsmart villains many times, and is also human, so has things that he would break his honor to protect- which he has in the past as well. The lottery is a system of integrity, but they still have to recover the numbers and show them, Jeaparody or who wants to be a millionaire are reasonably free of scandal, yet when you get an answer wrong they show you the correct answer, because of transparency.
look, anyone who would disrespect the tried and true "if i get it right you tell me" code, isn't the hero anyone deserves, and sure as HECK isn't a hero anyone needs.
But to villains Batman isn’t a hero, he’s a vaillian, an opponent, and they have not only no reason to believe he would tell them the truth, but every reason to think he wouldn’t. He’s lied to several villains or literally fabricated elaborate ruses to discredit people who have legitimately determined his identity. The villains know that Batman does not want them to know and would never willingly allow them to discover his identity, nor does he respond well to quid pro quo with villains, and any time he does it is usually part of a trick, or to buy time to come up with a trick.
He's also honestly revealed his identity and the villain just wouldn't believe him...
Also, plenty of people know. Man-bat knows, The Joker knows (just doesn't care), Hugo Strange obviously knows as does Ra's and Talia, Deathstroke knows, Hush knows, Despero and the Riddler know, Amanda Waller knows, Lex Luthor knows,
The guys been around almost 80 years. One has to take cannon with a grain of salt, there are only so many stories to tell and things tend to recon and back again as is most convenient for the current writing staff. There is literally no logical reason that in 80 years one of those people wouldn’t have blabbed or just snuffed him. But however many people know doesn’t matter because he continually in story makes every attempt to protect his identity and has gone to extremes to do so- meaning that only supports my point. That regardless of how many people know or not he has no intention of letting more find out, which by default would make a person skeptical that they could take his word- especially when many of the rogues gallery has ended up in person by taking his word.
All I'm saying is... as hard as he tries, he sucks at it. Notice I only mentioned villains? There is an entirely other list I can bust out that shows he sucks at keeping his identity a secret.
lol. I can agree with that. Although- not trying to be contentious- just a thought I had just now based on what you said- maybe he’s not so bad at it? I mean, lots of people joke or criticize about how many ways it would be easy to figure out Batman’s identity. He lives and fights crime in the same city- even if no one noticed the jets and what not leaving the manor- in modern times I doubt his antics would go improved or no one would ever follow Batman home. So in one way- I guess we could say he isn’t bad at it, that in 80 years of seeing the same people as Bruce and the bat, working with them, being a public persona- in a way it’s a miracle the world doesn’t know his identity- that or Gotham water makes Flint water look like Evian and they are all developmentally stunted. But in general yeah- I’d say he’s not as good at it as he maybe should be. Certainly not as careful about it as he should be.
Also, plenty of people know. Man-bat knows, The Joker knows (just doesn't care), Hugo Strange obviously knows as does Ra's and Talia, Deathstroke knows, Hush knows, Despero and the Riddler know, Amanda Waller knows, Lex Luthor knows,