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  1. #1
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    Default Which Batman Villains Are Most Easily Written As Protagonists?

    Probably:

    -Catwoman

    -Bane

    -Deadshot

    -Talon


    Anyone else?

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Clayface, Man-Bat, and Croc who are already written as allies
    Two-Face maybe
    I wanna say Freeze but that will be boring since all he does is stay in his lab

  3. #3
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    From a certain point of view, Harley and Ivy.

  4. #4
    Fantastic Member XJlock's Avatar
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    Those who received a comic book with their name on it.

  5. #5
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    The Riddler!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    The Riddler!
    That guy has been a gimmick villain.

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    What do you mean "easily written as protagonists"? If it means "in how many kinds of stories that character can be written" and "doing things that dont turn off the readers" then morally grey characters like Catwoman. If its about making the readers understand their viewpoint (hero of their own stories narrative), understand the pain & tragedies that shape them into who they are and motives for their immoral acts and even feel sympathetic to them then Mr.Freeze & Ivy. I dont count Harley because its her popularity that pushes her to be written into more of her own character when the point of her character was originally a sidekick that was willing to commit any atrocity to please Mr.Jay. It was a completely selfish reason to commit crimes, therefore making her not really sympathetic.

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by prepmaster View Post
    That guy has been a gimmick villain.
    ......And?

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member j9ac9k's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    The Riddler!
    I think Riddler is actually challenging as a protagonist because you'd have to have a writer who can at least pretend to be as smart as him. And being able to pull that off month after month would not be easy. Someone like Batman who's as smart if not smarter at least has a lot of other things going on, or stories where he doesn't use his intellect. But Ed? His whole mind works in riddles - I'd love a well-written mini seeing what it's like to be him, but an ongoing might be difficult to pull off, imo.

  10. #10
    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by j9ac9k View Post
    I think Riddler is actually challenging as a protagonist because you'd have to have a writer who can at least pretend to be as smart as him. And being able to pull that off month after month would not be easy. Someone like Batman who's as smart if not smarter at least has a lot of other things going on, or stories where he doesn't use his intellect. But Ed? His whole mind works in riddles - I'd love a well-written mini seeing what it's like to be him, but an ongoing might be difficult to pull off, imo.
    The character himself may be difficult to write, but setting him up as a protagonist isn’t all that hard, as he’s all about matching wits, and doing it against other villains wouldn’t bother him.

    TBC I’m talking about two different things here. Powers/abilities and motivation.
    As an example, The Flash would be hard (for me) write because I’d have trouble challenging a speedster and portraying speed in a suitably technical manner. But he’d be easy to write in terms of actual motivation because he’s a good person.

    Riddler’s motivation is proving he’s the smartest guy in the room. Usually that means outwitting Batman, but not exclusively.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    The character himself may be difficult to write, but setting him up as a protagonist isn’t all that hard, as he’s all about matching wits, and doing it against other villains wouldn’t bother him.
    Nah, even as an intellectual villain Riddler is hard to write and reduced to being a gimmick villain, let alone making him a protagonist.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by prepmaster View Post
    Nah, even as a villain Riddler is hard to write and reduced to being a gimmick villain, let alone making him a protagonist.
    His run as a Private Detective was good and never should have ended, it was one of the few really good attempts to redeem a villainous character.

  13. #13
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by maxax View Post
    His run as a Private Detective was good and never should have ended, it was one of the few really good attempts to redeem a villainous character.
    But you can't really replace Nigma as a villain...

  14. #14
    Post Editing OCD Confuzzled's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by j9ac9k View Post
    I think Riddler is actually challenging as a protagonist because you'd have to have a writer who can at least pretend to be as smart as him. And being able to pull that off month after month would not be easy. Someone like Batman who's as smart if not smarter at least has a lot of other things going on, or stories where he doesn't use his intellect. But Ed? His whole mind works in riddles - I'd love a well-written mini seeing what it's like to be him, but an ongoing might be difficult to pull off, imo.
    It's challenging enough to write him as an antagonist which is why he is one of the most underused of the major Batvillains. How do you think of so many good and clever riddles to write him as a protagonist?

  15. #15
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Confuzzled View Post
    It's challenging enough to write him as an antagonist which is why he is one of the most underused of the major Batvillains. How do you think of so many good and clever riddles to write him as a protagonist?
    That's why he showed up in B:TAS as little as he did. He didn't even get an episode of his own in TNBA.

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