Batman is The Most Badass Super Hero

Since the Dark Knight Rises is out in theatres, everyone is talking about Batman (despite the horrible tragedy, see my thoughts on that here). But instead of spoiling the plot to the movie, I am instead going to break down why Batman is such an amazing hero. A hero so great that he survived Joel Schumacher.

The most basic reason why Batman is so amazing is that he is normal. He is a normal human living in a world with people who have the powers of gods. And he holds his own against them. Pushing his mind and body to the absolute limits he has turned himself into the ultimate fighting machine through sheer force of will. He has mastered every form of martial arts on the planet and trained under the best fighters in the world.

Not only has Batman trained himself to be the ultimate crime fighter, he has also trained others to join him in his fight. Between four Robins, three Batgirls, two Azraels, one Catwoman, one Batwoman, plus a Huntress, and also the establishment of Batman Incorporated (an International fund that sets up a Batman-like character in every major city around the world), Batman has created a veritable army of vigilante crime stoppers. Plus there is his financial and strategic support of the Justice League, which safeguards the whole world.

It is with the mentioning of the Justice League that the next amazing trait of Batman is revealed. Batman is prepared for everything. As revealed in the Tower of Babel storyline in JLA and the animated movie Justice League: Doom, Batman has contingency plans to take down his own teammates should they ever turn rogue. That may seem paranoid but as explained in a previous entry (see here) the possibility of heroes turning bad is always there and Batman is merely prepared for them.

Now while one amazing part of Batman is his training, another amazing part of him is his gadgets. In the movie Batman Begins it is established that Lucious Fox, an employee at Wayne Enterprises, supplied Batman with most of his gadgets. But in the comics, Bruce Wayne developed all his crimefighting gear himself. He had to. Other than his trusty butler Alfred, no one else knows Batman’s true identity. If you can’t tell people why you need something that means you’re doing a lot of DIY.  Not just inventing but maintaining. Batman has to be his own mechanic, performing regular maintenance on the Batmobile. Even just being a gearhead makes him a bit of a badass.

The final thing that makes Batman a total badass is a time honored tradition that puts him up there with James Bond. Women. Despite the jokes made about Batman hanging out with a little boy, Bruce Wayne has an impressive amount of notches on his belt. Not just quantity but also quality. A brief list of his conquests is Selina Kyle, Vicki Vale, Talia Al Ghul, Zatanna, Wonder Woman, and, in one brief flirtation, Lois Lane. And those are just to name a few.

So in the end, Batman is a badass because of his strength of will, his ability to lead, foresight in planning, inventive ingenuity, and his basic sex appeal. In essence, Batman is a symbol of everything an action star, or any man, should strive to be.