Let's not belittle Tony Stark's level of intelligence. He's probably on par with Bruce Wayne.

What about Punisher? Is he a superhero?

Well I'd think 'vigilante' describes Punisher better, since I think his thing is being armed to the teeth with assault rifles/handguns/grenades/other assorted weapons.

As for Batman, I'd say he is... especially on the intelligence thing didn't he design all those weapons and things he uses himself?

Batman makes it his job to save people.

I think that's all I need to know to confirm that Batman is a super hero.

This is kind of a complex argument, so I'll see if I can properly articulate how I feel about this whole thing.

Batman is a superhero in the sense that his lifestyle is unsustainable for any real human, so he does, in a sense, possess the “super power” of extreme stamina. He couldn't possibly exist in the real world, though. He doesn't have any sort of "mutant" super powers (unless the extreme stamina is to be treated as one, but that's never really explored in the comics to my knowledge), but because he is a fictional character, he can maintain that sort of lifestyle with little toll on his well-being. If the writers were to impart realistic consequences for his actions, Batman would have to be addicted to some hardcore drugs to have enough energy to meet the demands of his lifestyle, and even then, that could only be a temporary crutch before his body just shuts down from all of the exertion.

Think about it: he must utilize his brain power during all waking hours to keep up with the multiple aspects of his life, and for a good portion of that time, he must be (sometimes extremely) physically active to A) train, B) fight criminals, and C) build and use his contraptions. When does he sleep, and for how long? I'm really not sure how his body recuperates from all of his exhaustive physical activity if he's simultaneously devoting so much time to all the rest of his causes unless he's built some sort of device that allows him to recuperate at an accelerated rate for a shorter amount of time, like the machines from 2300 A.D. in Chrono Trigger. I admit that I don't know much about Batman (I've only ever read “The Dark Knight Returns”, “The Killing Joke”, and watched all of the Batman Movies...yeah, even “Batman & Robin. I know what you're thinking, but save your criticism and just CHILL), so chime in if there's something I'm missing here.

Also, does an absence of vigilante justice preclude someone from being a super hero? Because there are plenty of geniuses in the real world who fight crime through the proper legal channels, not to mention ones who save lives in other ways, like extremely talented surgeons who operate on patients and generous philanthropists who donate money to charitable causes. These people are all considered normal heroes by any dictionary definition.

I suppose one could argue that the “super” part of “super hero” implies “superhuman abilities”, such as those that come about as a result of mutations (a la the X-Men or Spider Man) or ones attributed to heroes that are understood to be inhuman (like Hellboy). If you take away Bruce Wayne's superhuman stamina and vigilante crime fighting tendencies, he'd likely just be another rich philanthropist, which would just make him a normal hero. If you take away his wealth and let him train all day to be a vigilante crime fighter, he could still potentially be a hero to some, but he'd probably be arrested for violent behavior (because, regardless of whether he's saving lives or not, going around and beating the shit out of people with wacky bat-shaped contraptions isn't exactly adhering to due process of law).

Maybe “superhero” is just an antiquated term. I've always subconsciously associated it with the comic book heroes of yesteryear for no justifiable reason. I wanted to talk about whether the term applies to contemporary comic book characters, but I realize that the comic books that I wanted to discuss (“Spawn” and “WildC.A.T.s”) aren't exactly considered “contemporary” anymore. Damn, I'm old :/

I totally joined just so I could leave a ginormous wall of text about a topic of which I know practically nothing, btw :|

You should come back on OLR, too!

Batman will always be a Superhero, There are many Superheroes of all shapes and sizes, and different powers. Batman has no powers, But he has the power of using his brain, An expert with Gadgets, And to top it off, Drives a really cool Car.

If Tony Stark heard that he'd bitch slap this guy because the same argument would logically apply to Iron Man, the Green Hornet, and others I have failed to mention. Like Batman, Iron Man brain is at a status of genius. The man practically built the suit(s) by his own hands. Most of us can remember growing up to Batman, and there is no doubt to me that Batman is a superhero. What I can say is that if anyone can do what Batman does I'd consider them a hero; the gadgets and intelligence is just icing (and who doesn't love icing). Just the fact that Batman is in the Justice League is enough to solidify that he is a superhero.

This is deep, but without the Iron Man suit, Tony Stark is not a superhero.

Bruce Wayne without his suit, toys, or car is a superhero. In earlier comics he even went out fighting crime without the Batman costume

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that.
Batman or Bruce Wayne levels of intelligence is probably what takes him a step above an average human. His brain is his superpower.

Flip it around. Is Lex Luthor a supervillain? Is the Joker? Of course they are! The fact that they have no abnormal powers doesn't make them any less villainous, or any less super in their abilities.

There are two components to a superhero. The latter, hero, obviously applies to Batman. The former gets misconstrued: it's abilities that go beyond the average, either through natural talent and skills, powerful tools or some kind of supernatural empowerment.

Batman is smart, rich and dedicated enough to assemble an arsenal and take on multiple foes who are bigger and stronger, and he uses those skills to fight crime in Gotham. He's a superhero. Superman has great powers bestowed on him by the yellow sun and its effect on his biology, and he uses those abilities to save people. Iron Man is smart and technologically proficient enough to built a suit of flying power armour, and he uses it to take on otherwise-unbeatable bad guys that threaten the lives of others. He's a superhero.