If anyone but Batman

[DragonMaster2010]

So I was recently watching Arkham Knight playthrough for the 1000 time, and something occured to me that I, for some odd reason, didn't put into question;

It was during one of the Riddler challenges called "advanced physics" and in it, Batman and Catwoman bantered about small things. As they were, it was at that point I actually began to realize that Batman's personality may have small quips here and there, but besides that, he's actually a pretty dull character.

Like if any other character were to act and sound the way batman does, they'd get called "uncharacteristic" or "boring" or just be considered a shallow, poorly written character. However when it comes to Batman, (not just in the Arkham series, but Batman as a character now a days) it seems like he's just loved all around. Maybe it's to do with people knowing Batman for so long that it's come to be expected of him, and as such, we appreciate it. Superman has always been the boy hero who does good and is the sunshine, so Batman has to reflect the night with, as Catwoman says it, big, brooding, boy-scout personality.

Basically, do you think if anyone else had Batman's personality, they'd be considered dull and too brooding or would they get as much praise as Batman?

 

[Chancey289]

Batman himself is honestly, for the most part, the least interesting thing in almost every Batman story.

 

[WolfOD64]

The Batman in the Arkham games has always been flat and charismatic. And at first, I thought it was because Kevin Conroy was phoning in a bad performance, until I realized something about all of his performances.

If you watch the Animated Series, he seems to display a significant amount of wit and personality, wavering between dry humor and sometimes hot-blooded. In Batman Beyond, Bruce Wayne has a very grumbly and irritated personification, which is appropriate given his world-weariness and disgruntled relationship with Terry McGuiness in that show. In the Justice League shows, as well as his performance in the animated films like Justice League: Doom and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Batman sounds both sarcastic and full of dry humor, which makes him stand out as the singular force of blunt, harsh logic in the midst of the other more "idealist" superheroes like Superman.

Conroy turns in appropriate and exceptional performances in all of those varying roles as Batman, and he delivers just how he's supposed to. So why does he sound so terrible in the Arkham games?
Because he's spewing relentless analytical garbage and exposition, with some of the most "No ****", bland lines. He feeds the player with mental hints about "where the Joker is going to strike from next", or "which gadget is suited for the situation." Even his interaction with other characters in-game is mostly instances of: "You're safe now", or "Don't worry...the Joker's going down."

Batman rarely says anything worthwile, witty, or even relatable. He's a one-note automaton for the player to control, and that's it. I've noticed this kind of portrayal in other Batman media, but it's especially prevalent in the Arkham games for some reason.

 

[Director Bison]

Basically, do you think if anyone else had Batman's personality, they'd be considered dull and too brooding or would they get as much praise as Batman?

do Warshak and/or Night Owl count?

cus there basicly Batman split into two characters
and Warshak is the one who most people praise

 

[absolitude]

So I was recently watching Arkham Knight playthrough for the 1000 time, and something occured to me that I, for some odd reason, didn't put into question;

It was during one of the Riddler challenges called "advanced physics" and in it, Batman and Catwoman bantered about small things. As they were, it was at that point I actually began to realize that Batman's personality may have small quips here and there, but besides that, he's actually a pretty dull character.

Like if any other character were to act and sound the way batman does, they'd get called "uncharacteristic" or "boring" or just be considered a shallow, poorly written character. However when it comes to Batman, (not just in the Arkham series, but Batman as a character now a days) it seems like he's just loved all around. Maybe it's to do with people knowing Batman for so long that it's come to be expected of him, and as such, we appreciate it. Superman has always been the boy hero who does good and is the sunshine, so Batman has to reflect the night with, as Catwoman says it, big, brooding, boy-scout personality.

Basically, do you think if anyone else had Batman's personality, they'd be considered dull and too brooding or would they get as much praise as Batman?

yeah i've been thinking about this a long time, batman in every arkham games and dante in DMC4 has one thing in common, their personality.. both acted like their not from the same world they are in, and not in a good way.. both of them pains me in every cutscenes or everytime they talked

EDIT : and any other character acting like batman would be ****ed because they're not THE established character with a lame voice actor

 

[berto]

Batman, like any other character, can be dull if he doesn't have the right people around him. The best example is how him and Terry Magines interact. He's a wise ass who isn't afraid of Bruce so he perfectly balances Bruce's broody quietness. At the same time some of Batman's best parts come in the form of Bruce Wayne who compliments his dark side with heavy light; a Batman comic only doesn't work too well without someone to interact with, be it Terry, Robin, Barbara, Clark or the Joker or other sickos.

One of the best Batman stories I've ever seen was from the Gotham Knight anime anthology called Working Through the Pain, which wasn't an amusing experience, it was serious and even solemn, but it gave the story weight and even of Batman isn't an amusing character he can be a great one in the right hands. The problem is that it doesn't always go to the right hands, and more often than not it doesn't.

As it happens he has the same problem Superman has, that he has too many people that work on his stories who are fans and write the equivalent of kissing his ass and making him too flawless, at times at the expense of other characters. One example of this, there was the author who wrote a Punisher story and the guy hated Wolverine with a passion so he gave him extra stupid lines and made him look like an incompetent idiot in every action scene. The opposite applies. This was evident to me in the Arkham games when Batman would get ridiculously good at the detective thing like how he knew that that paint was made in Gotham for a brief time during the 70's from the lead I called BS and just realized people are such fans they are unwilling make him less than ideal and that makes for boring characters and it happens all over those games.

If anything Superman has it worst. He is such a boring character it's ridiculous and I blame all the writers that just keep making him more powerful with every conceivable notion they can come up with. What is interesting about a character that is so good he'll never do wrong? He isn't even human, then, beyond the mere appearance. He has no rivals, and even if he did someone is always going to write the equivalent of a nerd going 'no because see what he can do here.' So next time you think Batman has gotten bad just remember, it could be worse.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

I find Green Arrow's demeanor to be just about identical to Batman's when in costume.

I only really have the CW series, how he's portrayed in Injustice, and the Justice Leage: War movie to go off of, but he was pretty consistent in those 3. I'd even go so far as to call him Batman with a different color scheme when it comes to their personalities.

People love a grim protagonist; antiheroes are trending. It's just the winning rum in a superhero cocktail these days.

 

[DragonMaster2010]

I think the most character I've seen of Batman in the Arkham games comes more so from origins. Sure he was more of a raging, borderline sociopaths, but it was something different.
Like Berto said, Batman's character is too Plot Armor OP and it takes away from him being human. I'm a huge batman fan, but even I think that him beating superman seems both impossible and one-sided. I like seeing them fight, but it's obvious who would win. In Arkham Origins, though I liked that game, I hated how Batman was written, because to me, it was just an extension from the Nolan series; growling voice Batman with an attitude.

 

[WolfOD64]

See, this is precisely why Terry McGuiness became my favorite Batman. Not only did him being adolescent, flawed, and amateurish make him more relatable (in stark contrast to the infallable ultra-genius comprising of latter-day Bruce Wayne), but he's also aged as a more charismatic Batman over the years.

He shifts between brooding, snarkiness, malevolence and caution all the time, and comes off as far more organic of a character as a result.

 

[Chancey289]

See, this is precisely why Terry McGuiness became my favorite Batman. Not only did him being adolescent, flawed, and amateurish make him more relatable (in stark contrast to the infallable ultra-genius comprising of latter-day Bruce Wayne), but he's also aged as a more charismatic Batman over the years.

He shifts between brooding, snarkiness, malevolence and caution all the time, and comes off as far more organic of a character as a result.

Terry > Bruce.

I love Batman Beyond.

 

[KRSkull]

Well someone has to be dark and serious considering the people who surrounds him in both sides.

 

[DragonMaster2010]

Also, I know I'll probably get some hate from all this buuuuut I kind of think Kevin Conroy's voice is sometimes very overrated. I still love Conroy as Batman, I do, but sometimes his age shows. Like in Arkham Knight as Batman. Batman is suppose to be about in his late 30's yet sounds like he's in his late 60's.

 

[KRSkull]

Hey that isn't fair.

Spoiler

 

[DragonMaster2010]

Hey that isn't fair.

Spoiler

Now see THAT is something I would like to see! Batman playing an electric guitar like a badass. But the way his fanboys are, they only want to see him brood and be depressed, sitting on a gargoyle in the rain and say "I am the night" in his Bale/Conroy voice.

 

[KRSkull]

Now see THAT is something I would like to see! Batman playing an electric guitar like a badass. But the way his fanboys are, they only want to see him brood and be depressed, sitting on a gargoyle in the rain and say "I am the night" in his Bale/Conroy voice.

I agree and they should really reduce the number of time they show Bruce's parent death.

 

[DragonMaster2010]

I agree and they should really reduce the number of time they show Bruce's parent death.

I rather they find a better way of showing it. It's always, family walks down alley, guy shoots them, pearls drops, Bruce sits alone with his dead parents. I'd rather it just be falling pearls to the ground in black and white.

MOD EDIT: Combined two separate posts.

Also a Batman like this would've been amazing

 

[KRSkull]

I rather they find a better way of showing it. It's always, family walks down alley, guy shoots them, pearls drops, Bruce sits alone with his dead parents. I'd rather it just be falling pearls to the ground in black and white.

MOD EDIT: Combined two separate posts.

Also a Batman like this would've been amazing

Now that is something i want to see. Or

Spoiler

Make a movie about Captain Leatherwing

 

[Director Bison]

Probably because Batman playing an electric guitar would be out of character.
Besides why sould Batman be that way when there are so many other characters that's more lively & non-brooding.

i kind of agree
now there are a bunch of different versions of Batman (Adam West, Keaton, Bale ect..).
but the most well known and most popular right know is dark brooding Batman
and why should that Batman have to change
when like @VampireWicked said there are so many other characters that could be exactly what you want that get no love

 

[KRSkull]

i kind of agree
now there are a bunch of different versions of Batman (Adam West, Keaton, Bale ect..).
but the most well known and most popular right know is dark brooding Batman
and why should that Batman have to change
when like @VampireWicked said there are so many other characters that could be exactly what you want that get no love

But

and

 

[Director Bison]

But

and

i don't get it.
what are you trying to say to me?