Poll: Superior Character: Batman or Superman

[immortalfrieza]

I'd say Batman because he has to overcome the fact he has no superpowers whatsoever.

What puts Batman on top for me is that he COULD probably have superpowers, but CHOOSES not to, it takes a certain kind of badass to do that.

Think about it. With all the heroes and villains that have been created with accidents or intentional alteration to give them superpowers, Batman could easily do the same to himself and get superpowers. Failing that, there's plenty of technology that both the villains and heroes have used (like battlesuits for instance) that could give Batman superhumanlike abilities, even up to Superman's level. Failing THAT, there's plenty of magical superheroes Batman could apprentice himself under or just research himself to learn magic and gain superpowers that way.

Honestly, it's only that the writers want to keep Batman a badass normal that keeps him (or pretty much any other superhero without superpowers, in DC or not for that matter) just a Crazy Prepared Genius Detective.

 

[immortalfrieza]

In my old age I've come to appreciate Superman and what he stands for. So...Superman.

'All that power makes him boring.' Ok, then what's Goku's excuse?

Goku's excuse is he exists in a universe where with enough time and effort everybody can, but usually don't, become as powerful as he is.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Obviously Superman. And you cant argue that tired "Batman wins at everything" excuse.

Superman is overpowered beyond belief. He would break batman apart like a twig. There's a reason all his villian are regular guys in costums while Superman's rouges gallery are robots and aliens.

 

[cthulhumythos]

batmans villains are the superior character i believe.

 

[The Consequence]

Well, This has been and perhaps will continue to be an interesting topic. I didn't expect the poll to be quite so one sided, however, I will actually go back and examine Superman's character more. Apparently I need to check out All-Star Superman and Red Son. Ultimately, I do feel Batman is more interesting of the 2, I'm thinking now that maybe because Superman can (compared to us normal mortals)handle things far more easily, it is difficult for writers to create complex plotlines and arcs that Superman can not easily solve. This point makes me think of the character outside of story and just consider the Super man himself. In that, he is quite intriguing.

 

[Karathos]

In a fight, Batman would easily come out on top due to the get-out-of-shitstorm-free-card called Kryptonite. If you watch Justice League, he says he always carries it with him. ("Call it insurance.").

As characters, I also think Batman is way better - although given Superman's god-awful start in the race (How can you make a character interesting when he has ONE weakness in the entire universe?). People I've spoken to about this have said that Batman's not that interesting, and at times complain all he does is act gloomy and dark for the sake of seeming gloomy and dark. Yet there's more to it in my opinion, stuff you can easily pick up on in the animated series and Justice League (+Unlimited) especially. Batman isn't just an expert martial artist, a scientist and a detective - he's a master psychologist. You will do things the way he wants, even when you try to intentionally do something else he'll probably know. Characters in the media even ***** about this at times, complaining that he's completely untrustable because you never know when he's manipulating you. This is why these conversations tend to end with "With preparation time? Yes. - Ok, then Batman autowins."

Check the following link: Imo 's all you gotta know about ol' Bats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jyygrNUQQ

(On an unrelated note: Batman & Joker dynamic? BEST GODDAMN PAIR IN THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING. Mark F*ckmothering HAMILL and Kevin Conroy together, 's just... nnngh, I want to just fanboy-gush all over the place when I watch these animated shows or play the new Arkham games. )

 

[Karathos]

Here's another prime example. Note, at the end she asks "Is there anything you can't do?". I think that's a very good question!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZj6AC7jAO4

 

[Joseph Alexander]

Obviously Superman. And you cant argue that tired "Batman wins at everything" excuse.

Superman is overpowered beyond belief. He would break batman apart like a twig. There's a reason all his villian are regular guys in costums while Superman's rouges gallery are robots and aliens.

don't forget gods, then again when darkseid does appear in force its generally a "ok, lets all team up and try not to die" even in the comics.
during final crisis even lex luthor sided with supes after this quote from libra"heh. if you show willing i might even let you be first in line with supergirl..." now i'll let you take a guess at what libra means with that.
THAT isn't even getting started on how evil and big a threat Darkseid is.

 

[Do4600]

Alright. When it comes to fighting I am quite sure that Superman would punch a hole through Batman's face and that would be the end of it.

Which is funny because as far as I know whenever Batman has fought Superman, Batman wins.

Batman's more relatable as a character because he's human. Superman is based on the idea of Nietzsche's Übermensch, he's the perfect individual, not just physically but psychologically, he holds all the perfect ideals and had no weaknesses, which makes him utterly unrelatable as a character to humans that are never perfect and are almost all weakness. It took them 11 years to introduce Kryptonite, I can hardly believe that, Dr Manhattan is a much better character because he represents a realistic psychological perspective on the amount of power he holds.

Imagine being Superman, it would be like forcing somebody to play every game with all the cheats on constantly, think about how boring that would get.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

(See where Batman's "superior intellect" gets him when facing the kind of enemies Superman has to fight).

Holy Guacamole Batman! When did superhero cartoons get so badass? When I see clips like this it just reminds me of how potentially awesome a Superman movie could be if they focus on these types of issues, but instead the movies always completely drop the ball, and end up with some mediocre crap about Lex Luthor committing some half-baked scheme on a par with Dr. Evil from bloody Austin Powers.

Give us some proper character development, a look into what Superman feels about his place on earth not some emo stalky scene of him brooding over Lois's new boyfriend.

 

[Seiei]

Batman.
Why is this even a queastion?

 

[Hmz27]

#Batman , because he's Batman and the other guy is only superman.

 

[sky14kemea]

#Batman , because he's Batman and the other guy is only superman.

Hey there! Welcome to the forums.

I know you probably found this thread through google or some search option, but it's from quite a few years ago. Please try not to accidentally bump up ancient threads in future.