Our very own real-life Batman just died in a car accident

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(Image credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Batman is the stuff of fiction, but one good Samaritan, Maryland resident Lenny B. Robinson, brought the persona to life.

Robinson first drew widespread internet jokes and admiration back in 2012, when he was pulled over in a custom black Lamborghini sporting a head-to-toe Batman costume. But what resonated most with people wasn't his impersonation of the Caped Crusader, but his real-life penchant for doing good deeds. Robinson, a businessman, routinely dressed as Batman and visited sick kids in hospitals.

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True to form, moments before his death, Robinson, 51, chatted up a family at a gas station and gifted the kids superhero paraphernalia before heading back on the road.

"It feels like I have a responsibility that's beyond a normal person," Robinson told The Washington Post in the interview that unmasked the viral sensation. "And that responsibility is to be there for the kids, to be strong for them, and to make them smile as much as I can."

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.