What's so good about Batman?

Question

And I don't just mean the most recent movie-Batman; Batman in general. I personally don't like him. He seems to be just a rich guy with a lot of gadgets, which doesn't qualify as a superhero for me. I love Spiderman, for instance. Bruce Wayne/Batman just seem to be s****., especially in The Dark Knight. I just view him as being a fraud - he has no powers without his toys.

Anyone who's going to say something akin 'lul but batmann is hott i luv bat man', please refrain.

I'm just asking for anyone's opinion & reasons for liking him, if you do :)

Answer 1

batman because hes a more realistic super hero

he doesnt really use his gadgets.. he knows karate and all of those fighting moves

Answer 2

He tends to be "darker" than the average hero, in some books he is about as bad as the criminals, no rules, all out mayhem.  This is appealing, like the Punisher

Answer 3

Indiana Jones is leading over Batman on this site, you should go over there right now and vote Indy down!!

Answer 4

I like him because Bruce Wayne is very flawed. I can relate to him more than Superman or Spiderman.

Answer 5

He is a normal man without any special powers.  Determined to correct the injustice in the world.  Kinda inspiring.  Being a billionaire helps him though.

Answer 6

Well, who says Batman doesn't have powers?

If you're talking about superpowers, what are they but some innate ability the character has to do things ordinary people don't?  What's a superhero except someone who puts their exceptional abilities to use to help others where they can?

Honestly, it seems like Batman has his own type of superpower, considering it's his own skills and abilities he ultimately has to fall back on to make everything, including the gadgetry work.  Most people couldn't pull that off, even with the money.  Batman is uniquely talented to do what he does.

Second, I think he's someone we can identify with.  The fact there's a personal tragedy at the root of who he is... that helps.  He isn't that guy everything rolls off of.  He can be hurt just like the rest of us can, and in all the same ways.  

We've all had to go through things we would trade back if we could.  Most of them pale in comparison to watching our parents murdered in front of us, but deep down we're all afraid of something like that happening, and we don't know what we'd do.  The nobler parts of us, though, would like to think we'd take that tragedy and turn it around, use it to drive us instead of just stop us.

Batman does that in spectacular fashion.  He was so moved by his parents' deaths that he literally learned how to be superhuman so he could become powerful enough to stop it again.  Again, most people would like to identify with that heroic trait, and most of them dream of superhuman powers.  It's why comic book superheroes are so popular in the first place.  We want to believe humans can do amazing things like that.

With most superheroes, there isn't any hope of being like them.  We weren't born on some faraway planet, our parents were not Gods, and we're awfully short on radioactive spiders at the moment.  Batman, though?  Batman wasn't born the hero he is.  He didn't accidentally stumble into some amazing new ability.  He made himself a hero using his own two ordinary hands, cleverness, and perseverance.

The things he uses to make himself great are within most people's grasp, so it's very tempting to vicariously identify with Batman because no matter how improbable it is, it is possible with enough work you could be like Batman, since much like you, he's only human.

As for being a fraud because his toys can be taken away from him?  Captain America's powers didn't save him when it came right down to it.  He was shot and killed.  The Green Lantern's power comes from a ring.  Take it away, and he's powerless.  Wolverine's effectiveness as a fighter goes out the window whenever he comes up against something powerful that can manipulate metal.  Did you happen to notice on their first meeting that Magneto crucified him with a thought?  Spiderman's powers are about half toys.  Contrary to the movies, he doesn't have the ability to shoot webs out of his wrists.  He built a gadget to do that with.  How much weaker as a hero would he be without his ability to web-sling?  And since you're talking about a genetic mutation when you get right down to it, someone can always engineer a shot to change him back.

Even someone like superman can lose his toys.  He's vulnerable to kryptonite and loses his powers without enough sunlight.  As it turns out, Batman keeps some kryptonite handy at all times, just in case he needs to take Superman's toys away from him.

Heck, give me a sharp cleaver, and I'll show you how quickly your own limbs become toys that can be taken away from you.  We're all in the same boat on that one.  Batman's just a lot better at packing the liferaft than we are.

Long story short, that's why I like him.  He's not perfect, he's not omnipotent, he appeals to my sense of nobility because of why he got started doing what he does and what he's attempting to do.  

Answer 7

yea I mentioned something about this before somewhere. I didn't really like batman either because he can't really do much without his equipment. I like superheros with power from their own like spiderman or superman (but I find superman's power way too corny...) I dont' get all the hype about him, yea bruce wayne is cute, rich and smart blah blah but I don't care. Look at Peter Parker, hes not rich but his spidey power is WAY more awesome. I wish I could climb wall and shoot web too!

Answer 8

"lul but dee batman is teh bat, the jokerr is so hott i l uv him"

Lawl J/k. Anyways I agree with Tianna.Spider man his little powers to work with, While batman is a simple human. People have their opinions :] you have a right to yours.

Answer 9

Batman is likeable because he has no powers. He is an ordinary human guy with regular problems like everybody else. Many people can relate to him and in the end he's just trying to make Gotham a better place. He is a favorite not because he has powers like Spiderman, Superman, or Fantastic Four. His power is just him being human and dealing with his demons in his own way.  

Answer 10

For starters,I heard this question, as it was forewarded to me in my inbox,this morning.

I could not have said it better than Betty did, myself.

Here's the thing: He was an ordinary man, who learns to fight the injustices that we all face, in a Superhuman way.

The money helps him to do just that.

he is human, with flaws and issues we all face and he has something we all have had to learn: how to better cope. His heart can be broken just like anyone else's. Like Bettye had said, and I agree with her 110%,

Second: We are all human,and if someone kills us, our own limbs can be used against us. The story of good vs. evil is a long, often -told one.

Batman's fight for justice often leads him to dark places, in his own soul, that he must learn to deal with. Money? That is what helps him do what he does best.

Every hero, if he does not have superpowers, must have something to work with, and Batman's is money.

Money, in this case, is not a bad thing, but the catalyst in which he uses for his own good.

Ever notice the villians don't have alot of money?

The Joker, for all we know, is broke, and how he uses money,we don't see, or know of. Remember the bomb at the hospital?

The Joker had turned it over, smacked the c**p out of it before he got it to do what it was supposed to do.

If he'd had access to money, it woulda worked from the get-go.

The Joker has to use his brains and his creativity to overpower the Batman,and he does so quite well.

The Batman, for all his nobility, has flaws that we don't even know about and how he deals with them, is what we DO see.

He has watched his parent's deaths and is still learning to cope with them. He has to learn that his love, for Rachel, is tearing him apart.

He must set that aside,to fight for the justice that he so believes in. That tears him apart,also. What superhuman power is that?

lawyers and judges, and the police do that everyday.

Where is the super- human power in that?

A badge? A gavel?

A law degree?

is that so super-human?

No.

Batman is a clear story of good vs. evil,and it is told in such a way that every humn, young or old, can relate to. A strong sense of justice, is a power that not alot of people have.

That, in and of itself, can be called " supoer- human." If everyone had that super-power, there would not be evil in the world.

A sense of right and wrong,and gool , old common sense,should be a superpower because not alot of people have that, either.

That is the super- power, in the story that moves it till the end. and even in the end, we are left wondering if there is any sense of right and wrong. But,we know there is.

Batman witll return and he will fight the good fight,because good and evil will always be with us.

We know there is good in the world and justice helps to remind us of this.

Answer 11

regardless of how he does it, batmans just trying to make gotham a better place. jeez give the guy a break.

Answer 12

Bat Man. The Good thing that it is a "t" not a "d" :)

Answer 13

because his costume makes it seem like he has a ripped as body (he could have a beer belly underneath for all we know or care).

and that cape-swish... -sigh-...

Answer 14

ARE YOU KIDDING???? Batman is exactly what Freud referrs to as having a hero complex.  He sacrifices himself for others.  No real relationships.  No family aspirations.  No long term friendship that don't share in his cause.  Not to mention the fact that he builds all his weapons himself (forget Lucious Fox movie adaptations).  Anyone with a mutation or alien origin can be a super hero.  Batman earns that title like no one else.  I mean come on, if Peter Parker didn't get bit by a radio active spider he'd still be drooling over a chick he that's way out of his league and taking crappy pictures for a douche bag boss in between popping zits and showing up late for class.  The snobbishness is a front that Bruce/Batman maintains to protect his identity.  Peter Parker is a bona fide dork.  Take away the mutated powers and P.P. is nothing.  Take away Batman's toys and he's still a mother fu@&ing ninja!!! SHEEEEET!!!

Answer 15

Batman is very intelligent, and trained to fight in many forms of combat. He doesnt have any powers because he is just a normal person with these abilities that he has. He is lucky he has access to all his money and gadgets, and because of that he is able to fight crime in Gotham. He is a pretty good super hero, he is different that he has no powers.