Do people know Batman has no powers?

SouLeSS

Superhero
Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Messages
8,194
Reaction score
0
Points
31
Think about it for a second. Not his list of rogues per say, as most of them probably have figured out he doesn't have any real powers, but I'm talking on like a grander scale.

The people of Gotham, the world, all the other villians that never really got in battles with bat's but heard these crazy stories about him. Does the average joe know he is actually powerless?
 
They all speculate. It's like in Batman Begins... "the things they say about em, can he really fly?" Blah blah, etc etc. And then you've got those who don't think he's real at all.
 
Cause I was just thinking about it right. Invincible is about a kid who's dad is some huge superhero, Superman style right? And then the kid gets powers too or something.

But like, can you picture actually living in the DC world, more specifically Gotham, and knowing Batman/Robin/Nightwing don't actually have powers. Expecially if you were like some 20 year old. I'd feel like such a waste of life if I lived the exact same but in the DC world. I mean, heres some kid whos 16, has 0 powers, and just has Batman train him like crazy, and he's out kicking ass every night.
 
Think about it for a second. Not his list of rogues per say, as most of them probably have figured out he doesn't have any real powers, but I'm talking on like a grander scale.

The people of Gotham, the world, all the other villians that never really got in battles with bat's but heard these crazy stories about him. Does the average joe know he is actually powerless?

You mean his Radar sense doesn't count?.... oh wait that's Daredevil...never mind
 
I think it changes depending on the writer. Some writers prefer to portray Batman as a very public figure whose modus operandi is well-known while others portray him as an "urban legend".
 
I think it changes depending on the writer. Some writers prefer to portray Batman as a very public figure whose modus operandi is well-known while others portray him as an "urban legend".

Batman is a Retcon wraped in a mystery inside a enigma.
 
Urban legend is the way to go, if you ask me. :up:
 
Users posting outside of the stupid question thread are simply in denial that yes, their question, is in fact stupid.
 
And then you've got those who don't think he's real at all.

Which is silly.

He's been on tv. He's a member of the Justice League. The urban myth thing doesn't work in a world full of superhumans and costumed vigilantes.
 
I think that, even if he were not on the Justice League (and he would hardly be broadcasting his abilities to the public even though he is), enough of Batman's rogues have fought him enough times that they're generally aware he has no powers whatsoever. And they would have told their henchmen, who should have spread it around.

So there should be a bunch of people who know. But fear and misinformation are hard things to fight; for as many people who do know, there might be as many who somehow caught wind of the wrong rumor or two.

Not everyone believes everything they hear; there are those people out there who still don't believe WW's lasso actually makes you tell the truth, after all.
 
Which is silly.

He's been on tv. He's a member of the Justice League. The urban myth thing doesn't work in a world full of superhumans and costumed vigilantes.

there is def some true to that but i also think batman would be probably the least visible of the super hero for the very reason of urban myth, people fear what they don't understand
 
RockSP nails it. If super-heroes existed these days, there'd be Crimefighting Tonight instead of Entertainment Tonight.

In JLA, I'd like Batman to stay back in the major fights, similiar to the way Capt. America sometimes does when the heavy hitters are there. He could do the strategizing but it seems ridiculous for Batman to be in the midst of a major battle when Superman, GL and WW are all near invulnerable.
 
They say he can't be killed, they say he drinks blood
 
The thing is, the urban legend aspect works perfectly in a more modest DCU, more similar to the one that existed back in the '40s. In that world, or a world like Burton's or Nolan's, the urban legend aspect is by far the most believable approach to take towards a super-power-less superhero. But in this day and comics age, with tons and tons of characters that have met him and Batman appearing in front of millions of people, the urban legend thing just doesn't work.

As far as my personal view of what his notoriety is up and down his timeline should be: Batman is believable as an urban legend until the moment he dropped Jack into that vat of chemicals. After that, he should be a known entity, yet still not a public figure appearing at press conferences and galas and such.

The thing is, the urban legend aspect works perfectly in a more modest DCU, more similar to the one that existed back in the '40s. In that world, or a world like Burton's or Nolan's, the urban legend aspect is by far the most believable approach to take towards a super-power-less superhero. But in this day and comics age, with tons and tons of characters that have met him and Batman appearing in front of millions of people, the urban legend thing just doesn't work.

As far as my personal view of what his notoriety up and down his timeline should be: Batman is believable as an urban legend until the moment he dropped Jack into that vat of chemicals. After that, he should be a known entity, yet still not a public figure appearing at press conferences and galas and such. And as far as his enemies awareness of his abilities go, I don't think they should know whether or not he has powers. They might think it suspicious when he comes in on a Batwing instead of just flying in like he did when Ra's Al Ghul attempted to gas the city. You might say: "but he was using memory cloth to glide a few hundred yards, not flying!", but all the eye-witness stories won't indicate that at all. He also has combat skills that might make the thugs he fights think he's somehow superhuman. You and I both know that's the result of over ten years of intense combat training, genetic luck, and an incredible willpower, but the thugs at the receiving end of the ass-whoopings he's handed out over the years might not think so. Besides, most people in the DCU, like our Earth, don't even know the technology he has even exists. Sure, people know bullet-proof vests exist, but do they know that there's technology out there that can take several powerful rounds without the wearer even needing immediate medical attention? Batman does. And in all logical scenarios (by logical, I mean the ones that don't include him wearing gray skin-tight pajamas), he wears it.
 
Comics wise i bet most who have never encountered batman wouldnt believe that some normal guy can be up there with the rest of the justice league and be a normal guy.
 
The whole "urban legend" thing doesn't really work after a certain period of time because he's been photographed, he's been filmed and he associates with the Justice League. There should be, in this day and age, absolutely no doubt that he exists. And I think most people would be able to see Batman and what he does and figure out he has no actual powers. That is, unless someone doesn't just annouce it, which is very likely.
 
The thing is, though, that the more people who do see him, the more they think that he does have powers. Like someone said, he's on the Justice League of all things; if that isn't proof enough to the average person that he's got some kind of superpowers to be able to do that, then nothing is.

I think the "urban legend" thing is often blown out of proportion by readers; it doesn't necessarily mean that people don't actually think he exists, because people know that he exists. What it means is that there are so many rumors and misconceptions and and disturbing tales about him that his presence to people is literally more myth and fact.
 
Think about it for a second. Not his list of rogues per say, as most of them probably have figured out he doesn't have any real powers, but I'm talking on like a grander scale.

The people of Gotham, the world, all the other villians that never really got in battles with bat's but heard these crazy stories about him. Does the average joe know he is actually powerless?


I'd suspect the average person still thinks he has some kinda power.
 
Urban legend is the way to go, if you ask me. :up:

It doesn't makes sense in the current DCU or in general for how long he's been doing his thing in the DCU proper. I mean how many times does a guy in a Black/Blue and Grey getup that by the way looks nothing like an actual bat, I mean come on how can a person with common sense not see its a guy in spandex and cape?

Bats is out and about with Superman and the rest saving the world I'd think folks would figure it out that he's no 'Urban legend.
 
lets not forget the little stunt he pulled early on in NML where he wore protection under his suit and allowed himself to be shot, in broad daylight and in the middle of the streets...only to get up again and keep on walking. He said it best by describing it as "rebuilding his legend".

So even though the people of Gotham are well aware that he exists, the question of whether or not he's got powers is probably still up in the air.
 
Wow, I just realized how ******ed this thread title is.

It should be something like "Are people aware Batman is powerless?"
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Staff online

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
200,509
Messages
21,742,876
Members
45,573
Latest member
vortep88
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "afb8e5d7348ab9e99f73cba908f10802"