Let's talk Batman fanboys

[Kenbo Slice]

Look, I love Batman as much as the next guy. But I HATE how people think he can win no matter what, because "he's always prepared" or because "he's Batman." Where does this fucking mentality come from? About 95% of the DC Universe could beat him to a pulp, and when I point that out fanboys get all pissy.

So, can anyone explain to me why people have this attitude?

 

[madwarper]

Because that's what Batman does. He assesses potential threats, then makes contingency plans.

Spoiler: Justice Leage: Doom

 

[Keoul]

If you're going to say something like "95% of the DC universe could beat him to a pulp" you should at least give an example. Have you actually seen him getting beaten to a pulp by these characters? or has he actually defeated these people before and you're just making an assumption? You gotta remember no matter how many powers these people have if they're an idiot then it's not going to help them, especially against batman.

Not to mention usually, he is prepared.

 

[Tahaneira]

That is one of the reasons I do like Batman. Most people (and pretty much everyone in the manga/anime scene) seems to believe 'more power = I win!' But all that power is useless if you're up against someone who's smart enough to use that power against you. It's like Avatar; there's no elemental rock-paper-scissors aspect where you can plug powers into an equation to see who wins a fight. The winner is the ones who can use their resources the best.

I will admit his victory streak gets a little ridiculous at times, and the number of guys who have the same shtick is a little irritating. But I will always regard Batman fondly for this.

 

[SmokingBomber465]

I'm curious about where this "Superman is powerful and therefore dumb" sentiment came from. Read "All Star Superman" or "For Tomorrow", he's a genius of physics and chemistry, he just isn't all in your face about it the way Batman is (because Batman is a sociopath and a jerk--even still: he is my favorite).

Superman doesn't have contingency plans on the rest of the league (the reference you are looking for, by the way, is "Justice League: Tower of Babel") because he trusts his fellow friends and heros. Batman has no friends.

Batman is a psychopath, Superman is a hero.

 

[Drummodino]

That's basically Batman's appeal though - he proves that a regular (albeit extremely rich and intelligent) human can beat super-powered beings.

Plus he's the most popular character, he has to win.

 

[Realitycrash]

He can NOT win 'no matter what'. He can only be (reasonably) considered to win if he gets time to study the opponent and plan. When he gets taken off-guard he is very likely to get trashed.

 

[Something Amyss]

That's basically Batman's appeal though - he proves that a regular (albeit extremely rich and intelligent) human can beat super-powered beings.

Except it reads like the "Bat-Shark Repellent" that the fanboys rage about.

Batman's "planning" is a more ridiculous super-power than any of Superman's.

 

[Something Amyss]

He can NOT win 'no matter what'. He can only be (reasonably) considered to win if he gets time to study the opponent and plan. When he gets taken off-guard he is very likely to get trashed.

And he has been written to basically keep a complete dossier on every person on the planet, so they can immediately write it off as Batman had already planned.

Because ponies.

 

[SmokingBomber465]

Except it reads like the "Bat-Shark Repellent" that the fanboys rage about.

I actually liked Bat-Shark-Repellent: campy Batman is my favorite Batman,

 

[Realitycrash]

He can NOT win 'no matter what'. He can only be (reasonably) considered to win if he gets time to study the opponent and plan. When he gets taken off-guard he is very likely to get trashed.

And he has been written to basically keep a complete dossier on every person on the planet, so they can immediately write it off as Batman had already planned.

Because ponies.

No. There still shows up people who he has not encountered which beat him and humiliate him. Bane? Outsmarted him, broke his back. Hush? Outsmarted him (at first), then beat the crap out of him (He was saved by Gordon, IIRC). Same goes for several other villains. It's only after the set-back that he can acquire info to put in his dossier, and thus handle them the next time.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

I hate the "Batman beats everyone because Batman" argument, because Batman is supposed to be completely human, and in order to defeat the superpowered characters they always boost him to superhero strength/intellect or nerf the superhero to near human capacities (or both)

We see Batman being thrown through brick walls, shrugging throws and punches from people who can punch through concrete, dodging superman's attacks or catching him off guard with a punch or kick. In reality he wouldn't be able to see Superman coming at him. In reality anything he threw at superman would be dodged or used against him faster than he could conceive it happening.

Sure he doesn't trust people and has contingency plans, but he's not psychic, a hydraulic suit will not allow him to go toe to toe with superman because he still has human reflexes and limited agility. If a superhero turned it could happen in a million different ways, in a million different places, with a million different contributing factors. He can't plan for them all.

And the most insulting of all arguments is that while Batman gets the Deus Ex Batchina handed to him on a silver platter for every encounter, people have the gall to call Superman Overpowered and boring. The dude that has to fight Doomsday, Darkseid, Zod, etc. is apparently overpowered.

Sorry if that got a little heated, it's just a personal hate of mine.

 

[Drummodino]

That's basically Batman's appeal though - he proves that a regular (albeit extremely rich and intelligent) human can beat super-powered beings.

Except it reads like the "Bat-Shark Repellent" that the fanboys rage about.

Batman's "planning" is a more ridiculous super-power than any of Superman's.

Hey I never said it wasn't ridiculous. It can't be that bad if he's the most popular character though. I don't know personally, I've never read comics. The cartoons and movies (mostly) pull it off pretty well.

 

[Ranorak]

There is no way in hell Batman could honestly defeat Superman one on one, though.
Even if he has kryptonite, Superman has been seen to resist that stuff long enjoy to destroy it.
It's not a insta-paralyze.

The only way he could beat superman if superman never saw it coming and never has a chance to fight back.

Edit:
Come to think of it, I bet Batman would have a pretty hard time against Spider-man as well.
Him relying on his stealth vs. Spider-man's spider-sense.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think most of the Bat-love comes from his resourcefulness. People like resourceful characters. They're interesting to watch.

 

[Benni88]

And here was me thinking this was a thread discussing how every recent Batman movie released gets lauded to the heavens regardless of how shit it invariably is.

 

[Worgen]

He can NOT win 'no matter what'. He can only be (reasonably) considered to win if he gets time to study the opponent and plan. When he gets taken off-guard he is very likely to get trashed.

And he has been written to basically keep a complete dossier on every person on the planet, so they can immediately write it off as Batman had already planned.

Because ponies.

When I saw this I immediately thought of this.
DC heroes seem to suffer pretty bad from plot device, althought I may be talking out of my ass since I haven't read a dc comic in forever but from what I hear, it seems like the big ones are just plain better than everything, like superman is super strong, can fly super fast, can shoot lasers and is smarter than everyone.

 

[Dark_Reaction]

I was considering writing something bigger, but eh, screw it.

As someone who likes em both, I can see why some might think Supes is boring and Bats is BS - but its a comic book universe. Any aspect one focuses on too much quickly shows that such arguments are doomed to circuitous logic from every angle.

"Batman can't know everything!" Super computer.
"Well, he cant fight Superman!" Super technology. Super ninja. Kryptonite. Also, probably some MAGIC! in there.

"Superman is overpowered" Which aspect makes him overpowered? Is it the x-ray vision, the cold breath, the general invulnerability, the heat vision, the super speed? Which of those is the line?
"Well, hes boring" Which part were you bored by? The part where he punched a giant angry rock-monster through 12 city blocks (and somehow didn't kill anyone), or the part where he and his robot bros assaulted a giant bio-computer IN SPACE?!

"In reality..." In reality?
Yes, lets discuss what would happen in the reality of a world that contains magical vase women and Greek Gods, emotion-ring bearing aliens, a man who can vibrate fast enough to break the dimensional barrier, a bazillionaire who spends his nights jumping around rooftops with supertech that dwindles our own in every conceivable fashion fighting sentient mounds of face-putty because of abandonment issues, and an alien species whose biology grants them super powers thanks to specific types of solar radiation. Oh, and alien women with hawk wings and big racks who utilize magic-technology.
Surely, we can make a rational comparison between that reality and our own.

The inconsistency, the tangled web of technology-magic-biology, the fact that each scenario is specifically designed as story time for little kids/man children that wanna go FWAAAAR! at their particular escapist self-insert fantasy... You're thinking way too far into this.

Just shush. Enjoy the bad guys being jerks, Batman making them feel stupid and then Superman giving them a wedgie.
AS IT SHOULD BE!

 

[Doopliss64]

I think the bottom line here is that ALL popular modern superheroes have be subjected to ridiculous power creep. Because Batman's "power" is preparedness, that too has been boosted to absurd levels. Also keeping in mind that the level of power creep is proportional to the level of character popularity, in addition to the more general modern notion that intelligence trumps raw physical ability, and Batman's near-invincibility becomes understandable.

 

[omega 616]

It's simple, batman can beat everybody in every universe (he can fuck up the hulk, Goku, the American army, god) 'cos he has the strongest thing in comics, plot insulation.

The fans love him so he can't lose basically. They say "he is so relatable 'cos he has no super powers but still beats super powered people" which has so many things wrong with it....

Firstly, no super powers? He has apparently mastered many forms of hand to hand combat, which take mere mortals life times to learn... So he has at least a super human ability to learn. He is the most alpha of males if the facts about batman are to be believed. I'm not totally knowledgeable about batmans enemy's but aren't most of them just normal guys with quirks? He can apparently beat superman up but he gets matched against joker, riddler, Mr freeze, poison ivy, scarecrow, Bane and penguin.... Wait, Batman can beat superman but gets his ass kicked by bane?

Second, if batman ever did lose shits would be flipped, tables would be flipped and the Internet would be more pissed than when they learned who the new batman would be. "he lost to Bane", only so he could have a redemption story.

Thirdly, the batman vs superman thing. Superman, known for being faster than a speeding bullet, bullets bounce off his pupils, can hear the most silent of farts from a continent away, can almost life the mjolnir (did I spell that correctly?) and can see through walls... What the fuck would stop superman from making Bruce explode with a punch before batman could even see superman? Nothing but nope "superman is boring so batman wins".

Fourth, how can any of you relate to a fucking multi billionaire? Come on now.