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people still don’t understand batman’s rogue gallery and what they represent to him. hollywood i will kill you. listen: each batman villain challenges a different aspect of his character and/or philosophy, and it is why grim dark batman was never meant to work

joker: chaos and order.

the foil to batman’s suppressed madness. bruce is discipline; none is above the code and justice. “you’re just one bad day away from being like me” WRONG!! bruce wayne has not had a good day since he was 10 years old. every good thing that happens to him is followed by 100 bad things. he is the universe’s punching bag. and yet he persists, does he not? does he not still believe in goodness in spite of it all? suck my dick joker he does not think of you AT ALL you are nuisance to him he wants to spend the one day off he has every year with his family and friends and you had to ruin it with ur lame jokes and terrorist attacks

riddler: obsession and intellect.

the foil to batman’s ego. bruce wayne is one of the smartest people in the world, by way of writer favouritism. wdym you outsmarted brainiac, a being of pure intelligence, just because ur the author’s favourite pretty princess? alright king whatever u say. but he never lets it rule him. his intelligence is a tool to of protection; it’s a shield, not a sword. he’d never raise it against the innocent. edward uses his intelligence to prove superiority, that he is better. he is batman without humility, and that is why he will always lose, because intelligence is nothing without wisdom

the penguin: wealth and corruption.

the foil to batman’s class. they’re both billionaires, Gothamite socialites. oswald embraces his privilege and uses it to oppress the poor. bruce wayne understands his privilege and uses it to pull others up. “you wear a mask too” yeah and it’s prettier than urs u ugly bitch. oswald’s socialite mask is a polished classy persona that disguises his inner evil. bruce’s socialite mask is just a himbo and remains true to his desire to help people

mr freeze: love and grief.

foil to batman’s ability to move on from the past. victor fries cannot let go of his wife and makes it everybody else’s problem. this is also the philosophy of grimdark batman, which is why it cannot apply to batman’s true character. bruce wayne is traumatized from his parents’ deaths, but it also inspired him to become the person who he wished had saved him in that alley. how many times has he looked into the eyes of a scared child on patrol and saw himself? he became the saviour for his 10 year old self left in that alleyway. he was able to heal; yes, his parents deaths has shaped him into the man he is, that’s literally what life does. healing doesn’t mean the grief will shrink, but your world grows bigger around it. he has a family again, built by his own hands

scarecrow: fear and power.

the foil to batman’s darkness. batman is iconic for instilling crippling terror into others by a mere look, psychics hate him because his mind is a screaming hellscape, he dresses like a bat because when he was a kid he fell into a hole filled with bats and he associates it with fear. jonathan uses fear to control the helpless, bruce instills fear in evil to protect the righteous. “you’re just as ruled by fear” WRONG!!! batman is ruled by love. it’s not fear that powers him when he drags his mangled, half-dead body off the streets at every dawn to go home for a costume change and immediately go to a charity gala for disadvantaged youths named after his street-rat son. it’s not fear that inspired him to keep lollipops in his utility belt for the children he saves. it’s not fear that makes him do the same old shit of throwing you fuckers into that useless max security prison twice a week after getting his shit rocked, knowing full well he’d have to do it again in a few days, instead of just killing you.

two-face: duality and justice.

the foil to batman’s divided self. harvey started off as a batman, a lawyer wanting to do good. his trauma split him, but bruce integrated it into himself. bruce wayne does not reject his pain, he lets it shape him and he asks himself: “ok that sucked. how do i make sure nobody else will experience that?” harvey dent is completely split, indecisive in his morality, good and evil depends on the flip of a coin. but batman? people say that bruce wayne is the mask and batman is his true self. dawg do u think his kids call him batman? that’s some shit he’d say in his 20s when he was figuring himself out but he’s a middle aged father now and his children would drag him to filth if he says his black-leather bat fursona is his “true self”. they are all him. brucie wayne isn’t completely his mask either, because it’s the persona he uses to fuck with rich people and you know full well he’d delights in that to the bottom of his heart

his rogue gallery is a mirror to each aspect of himself. everything high-brow reddit bros and zack snyder says about batman’s edgy true self is literally disproven by the people batman spends his life trying to save. he’s not on the edge of villaindom; he stares his inner evil that takes on the faces of broken people in the eyes every night and says “this isn’t the way forward”

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Is the BatFamily a cult?

Let's explore that together.

For the sake of consistency, I will consider the BatFamily to be consisted of Red Robin (Tim), Nightwing (Dick), Robin (Damian), Spoiler (Stephanie), Black Bat (Cassandra), Batwoman (Kate), Oracle (Barbara), Agent A (Alfred) and the Signal (Duke). I'm not counting in Red Hood (Jason) because most of the time he's trying to go against Batman, but I will consider Jason when he was Robin. I'm basing this on the Batfam team of the 2017 Detective comics, mainly because these were members that were adopted, formally or not. I'm aware that today the family is larger and the criterias to be considered part of it are lessened, as well as the rules that come with it.

Disclaimer ; this is all for fun, if you want to give your opinion you can. Let's remember that a fandom is made to have fun. Everything in comics CAN be canon but isn't necessarily. There have been many MANY writers and because of that the characterization and stories don't always line up. This is just my opinion based on what I've read and watched of Batman and his story. I am not here to hate, I am obsessed with Batman and love the family he created.

Now let's get into it.

The leader is self appointed, charismatic and authoritarian. Batman is undeniably the leader of the Batfamily, by virtue of being the first Bat, its founder and most of the member's father figure. He is charismatic, Dick, Jason and Tim all felt deep admiration for him in their first years. Most members were directly inspired by him, like the first Batgirl, Barbara. Some said he saved their life by giving them purpose, like Black Bat. He is a symbol and immediately grabs attention and respect. He is also authoritarian, his standards are high and failure is not tolerated. His rules are are strict and to the minute details. He gets what he wants, whether by intimidation or other means. I could argue that Alfred is immune to his leadership, because he himself is a father figure with wisdom to give, but Alfred has countless times folded under Batman's demands. He is more of a counselor and enforcer of the rules for the family. Whatever he does, ultimately, he doesn't have authority over Batman (notice that Batman isn't considered the same as Bruce Wayne, in this case).

The leader is ''special'', chosen by God or with supernatural abilities, that differentiates them from the members. Batman is not special compared to the other members. In fact, his skills lack compared to a lot of them. Red Robin is more intelligent, Nightwing is a better symbol and hero, Black Bat is a better fighter, Signal is a metahuman, etc. The way he is different is that he is the center of attention. All the members have their own comics and storylines in which they are the center of their story, but Batman is everywhere. He's the center of his story and he's a pillar in everyone's story, even if he's just haunting them with the trauma he inflicted on them. That is to be expected, he has 80 years of stories and comics, if he's in a comic, it will sell better. But let's stay in the mindset of the universe... Batman's story is haunted by a God named Barbatos. Batman is the key to bring the dark multiverse, a lot of plot points happened because Barbatos wants to bring him to a certain point. Now Batman doesn't know that, none of the members know that, but they must feel it, right? They must feel Batman's importance, even if they can't logically justify it.

The members are self-critical of each other and are encouraged to tattle on the others. Any deviation or doubts from the Truth is judge or punished. Here, we'll consider the Truth as being the Mission, or Justice. Members of the Batfamily are all haunted by Batman's expectation. They all (or most of them) go through a six months training to even be considered part of it, in which Batman constantly criticized them and keeps doing it years after. Spoiler was Robin for a couple of months before being rejected. Batman's critiques haunts her when she's Batgirl and even when she's Spoiler, it was part of the reason she was angry at him for a long time. Despite that, she sticks around because she believes he's right and that the Mission is right. Nightwing, despite having a falling out with Batman, is still driven by his morals and teachings. In Inheritance we understand how horrible and defining his upbringing was. They are self-critical but they don't tattle. They're allowed to doubt the Mission.

The members are isolated from their family or friends and a mentality of ''us vs them'' is cultivated to prevent any defector. The members of the Batfamily are isolated but mainly because of life circumstances. They are orphans or their parents are horrible criminals and they decided to alienate themselves, or other stories. In all cases, Batman often becomes their only remaining family. He welcomes them at their most vulnerable and every connection is built in the context of the Batfamily. Secrecy is key, and privacy is encouraged. The Robins were not socially developed at school because they had too many secrets to keep close. The hero friends they made could not know them fully, or else it would expose all of the family. There is ''us in the know'' and the others who can't. Members cannot quit because once they know, it's already too late. Of course, this is in theory. Nightwing did a great job at keeping his identity secret with the Titans and going to college and making civilian friends, Red Robin disclosed his civilian identity to his hero friends (tbh I could be mixing them up, the timeline between Dick in the Titans and Tim in the Young Justice is a little blurry to me). And there is no real consequences to them revealing their identities to other heroes. Signal is a great example of an exception, while he didn't reveal his identity, he isn't isolated at all. His family is still alive (from what I know), and he is very active in his community. His entrance in the life of Batman was with the Robin gang (again, from what I gathered). I think it's a great contrast as well with the fact that he's the only Bat to patrol during the day.

The members are subjected to grueling or mind numbing work. In my opinion the aforementioned six months of training is part of that grueling work, but honestly it's just the start. Their constant training, mental tests and unending missions could be considered that. They don't have the time to stop and think about what they're doing or critique the Mission. They're saving lives, after all, if they don't act quickly people will die! And also they'll get yelled at or possibly beaten by Batman for hesitating or doubting their ways. I wouldn't say it's mind numbing as much as just keeping them in a constant loop of survival.

The members live together and are required to read and learn from the same books and sources. That is debatable. It is very rare that all the members are in the manor at once, since they all live on their own (except for the minors), but they do have rooms that they can go sleep in whenever they want. The manor is open to them, as well as the Batcave. Alfred is obligated to live in the manor tho, but I'm sure it's partly by choice. They all do have the same basis for their training and learning, Batman is giving them all he knows and it is their freedom to learn more elsewhere.

The cult has its own phrases and words, often used to isolate the members further or as a prayer. The obvious first thing would be the batwords ; Batcave, Batmobile, Batcomputer, Batarang, etc. But the members are also known to name their own vehicles and weapons ; Redbird, Nightbird, Birdarang, etc. That is used to distinct them from other heroes, as they also do. If someone mentions the Fortress of Solitude, you know it's probably someone from the superfamily, not the batfamily. From what I know, they don't have a specific phrase they used to remind themselves of the Mission, however some of them did go through an initiation ritual in which they agreed to live for the Mission, but from what I know only the first Robins did that.

The members are expected to put the cult before their own needs, sacrificing anything necessary (even their lives). At first thought, I was thinking that the members of the Batfamily would be expected to sacrifice themselves, but this is actually not true. A lot of the criticism Batman throws at his family is about their own safety. Afterall, they can't fulfill the Mission if they're dead. That being said, they are expected to pour their entire life to the Mission. Social life, love, day career are all things that should be complimentary to the Mission, or be insignificant enough that they don't interfere. That is a lot of the reason why there are so often conflicts between Batman and the rest of his family, especially Nightwing.

The members are considered more pure or worthy compared to the outsiders and can be selected or refused entry. That is partly applicable (like most of this analysis), while the members are not necessarily considered ''better'' than civilians, they are considered different. They have to meet certain standards for Batman to notice them and train them. Spoiler is again a great example of a Robin who got rejected. Red Robin had to prove himself to Batman in order to be noticed and accepted. While Robin (Damian) technically had a ''birth right'' to be Robin, he didn't immediately get accepted as such. Batwoman was not considered a bat until much later too. Batman disapproved of her use of guns and found her hard to work with, and only learned later that she is his cousin.

Extra details :

In cults there is often the question of money, sex, abuse and religion. I decided to ignore these aspects as they are not relevant to this context. Money isn't a problem, and while Batman does offer an allowance to his kids, he doesn't use his money to coerce anyone to stay, rather he simply offers to finance their equipment, even after they move out of Gotham. Sex is obviously out of the question, but abuse isn't. It is clear to me that Batman abuses the other bats. He's a violent and emotional person and he has the power and authority to punish and prove his point while using the excuse of training. However I didn't include it in the points, other than a mention of beatings, because it isn't the same with everyone. He never lays a hand on Alfred, Batwoman or Oracle. Personally, I like Batman when he's depicted as troubled, but kind and self hating. The characterization of him being a macho, stoic and hard on everyone for no particular reason doesn't appeal to me, and so I often choose to ignore that canon. Lastly, the Batfamily isn't religious. They believe in science and the Mission, even when faced with demons and ghosts. Therefore, it isn't a point that could be levied against them. If Batman is suddenly going against the Mission, he can't justify it and bring everyone with him with the excuse of a conversation with God, as a cult leader could.

In conclusion, is the Batfamily a cult? Not really, but I already expected that when going in. To be honest I thought it was a lot more cult like than the analysis ended up suggesting. I think Batman is trapped in his obsession and because of that enforces that obsession on other people. His kids don't really have a choice in the matter when they're being raised and groomed to be exactly like him, and he keeps dragging other people down even when they're clearly suffering from knowing him. But what I think is interesting is that all the bats, while being aware of the pain and trauma this causes them, still believe in the Mission and in what Batman taught them, directly or not.

This was entirely a waste of time on your end, I'd be surprised if anyone read that further in. Personally, I had fun writing it and I don't have anyone in my life I can bother with it.

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Clark can be a little mean as a treat

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Emo best boy

Sunshine boy as a warmup, I really liked the new movie

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Sunshine boy as a warmup, I really liked the new movie

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ACTUALLY Bruce Wayne doesn't need to go to therapy. Okay hear me out HEAR ME OUT

Yes he's a deeply traumatized man with A LOT of issues, but he's also super fucking educated. He studied medicine, law, criminology, psychology and much more, AND went to study meditation at a Buddhist temple (I don't actually remember how canon that is, but I know it's super canon that he has a legendary control over his mind and body).

So it makes sense that he's aware of how traumatized he is and how he's basically making it worse, so why would he keep going? Well that's the thing, here's my theory.

When beginning his studies, Bruce had already spent years of his life obsessing over the goal of ridding Gotham of all the crime. This idea is already so deeply anchored in his mind and is directly linked to his trauma and therefore the memory of his family. He started his studies with law and criminology, maybe hoping he can still become a lawyer or detective to save the city. But he realizes he can't fight within the system and starts his journey on the Batman (according to some early comic universes). It's probably during his later studies that he comes to understand how fucking messed up he and his ideas are, but if he starts doing the work to get HIMSELF better, then he can't achieve what he concluded was the best solution for Gotham and could lose what remains of his family (his trauma). Basically, he fed his trauma and refused to cope correctly because he loves Gotham so much.

What about when he actually is Batman? He keeps feeding his trauma until the trauma of being Batman is enough to feed the beast. Maybe eventually (after the first Robin) he realizes he fucked up and Batman was NOT what Gotham needed. It was an overreaction to a problem that didn't exist yet, but the problem came around because of Batman (the super villains) and now Batman is actually needed. So much so that Batman is eventually not enough, which is why he goes from refusing all kind of help to recruiting young heroes and helping building the JLA. Which is also why he goes from operating in Gotham only to helping around the world, because without the world, there's no Gotham.

I don't think he would ever need to go to therapy, he knows himself more than any therapist ever could and knows to ask questions and explore ALL the answers. I think he naturally starts healing as he's building his family and friendships and lets go of enough trauma to be a better man while still being able to be Batman.

Anyway I don't know if this had been said before or is a widely accepted thing, I just hadn't read anything addressing it other than ''he wouldn't be Batman if he just went to therapy''. That being said, I'll still read all the fics of him being deeply traumatized and awkward.

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Be ready, I'm gonna watch the new captain America and Thunderbolts and draw my husband

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Am I "okay" mentally?

No not at all

But I already cried about it so what am I supposed to do?

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He's so !!!

I've never seen a real man be this beautiful

I hope Batman gets fucked silly by these two

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Superbat NSFW fic idea

Batman definitely has a science kink.

Like at some point he has to make some tests on Superman for some reason. And after Superman tells him he can call him anytime to run anything on him, well ...

The reasons keep popping up. And Bruce tells himself it's necessary, but at some point he starts thinking about Clark at night. About how obedient he is when given instructions. How well he describes what he felt at the moment, so that Bruce could write it all down and catalogue it in the Superman folder. Information he only had access to.

It gets him hot.

And the next time he scheduled whatever test came to mind, immediately after Superman's departure, he would read the files and satisfy his desires.

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after the fight

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lil dickie got bored on a stakeout :/

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Batman and his harem

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Oh my god this man is sooooo emo edgelord 3000

im so sick of him & i love him so much

from batman n the outsiders 2019 book 10 btw

p.s. do u think he pre-plans his "poetic" sentences in the mirror like a true autistic

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Hes so HOT

And FOR WHAT

Dan Mora could make him ugly but NO HE HAD TO MAKE HIM HOT AS A VOLCANO

WTF