Why do people seem to love ******* Batman so much?

[WontonGirl]

I think they try to keep this attitude with him to also help separate him from other characters as well. You know, Clark is the nice guy, Diana is sweet, Barry is kinda the "funny" guy, etc.

Bruce is the loner or Batman is the "mean" one. You know, they all try to give them different personalities.

[godisawesome]

Two-fold, in my opinion: some people find the power fantasy if the jerk who is always right imminently appealing, and others love that flawed hero. If a jerk is always right, than its easy to perceive jerkdom as being the natural consequence of competence, which appeals to people who feel they're competent but know their behavior needs work. I tend to think this interpretation appears whenever the story goes out of its way to portray Batman as in the right in a convuluted manner even when he's objectively being an idiot in regards to others: ASBAR, War Games, etc. The flawed hero interpretation is more readily apparent when the writer wants to make sure the reader realizes that Batman's actions have negative consequences upon himself and others and are not be lauded; usually, this is where you hear the "Bruce raised Dick to be a better man than him" interpretation.

Most stories blend the two ideas together a bit, especially in the DCAU. My preference is a combination that doesn't go overboard; Bruce should be flawed, but not sleep-with-Batgirl flawed, and should be a cranky competent man, but someone who can admit that he's screwed up whenever he's gone too far.

[yohyoi]

Two-fold, in my opinion: some people find the power fantasy if the jerk who is always right imminently appealing, and others love that flawed hero. If a jerk is always right, than its easy to perceive jerkdom as being the natural consequence of competence, which appeals to people who feel they're competent but know their behavior needs work. I tend to think this interpretation appears whenever the story goes out of its way to portray Batman as in the right in a convuluted manner even when he's objectively being an idiot in regards to others: ASBAR, War Games, etc. The flawed hero interpretation is more readily apparent when the writer wants to make sure the reader realizes that Batman's actions have negative consequences upon himself and others and are not be lauded; usually, this is where you hear the "Bruce raised Dick to be a better man than him" interpretation.

Most stories blend the two ideas together a bit, especially in the DCAU. My preference is a combination that doesn't go overboard; Bruce should be flawed, but not sleep-with-Batgirl flawed, and should be a cranky competent man, but someone who can admit that he's screwed up whenever he's gone too far.

So you are saying you want Young Justice Batman. Kingdom Come Batman is also there.

Young Justice Batman beats DCAU Batman on being awesome Batdad. My God. You learn something new everyday.

[AzraelOnline]

When Batman is a complete *******. I always wonder why his family and friends stick around. They all must be an extremely loyal bunch! luckily recently Bruce has been alpt more human and nice to everyone around him, which I like alot more.

Maybe because he funds, like everything for the batfamily? I'm guessing here

I do hate random people who think 'because i'm batman' is a funny line. It was funny once or twice but got stale after that.

Or 'the goddamn batman'

[The tall man]

Why does Bruce get flack for being a very competent human who can stand alongside "Gods" and in some cases defeat them, but Lex Luthor who does the exact same thing gets a pass? Lex is highly intelligent, super rich to fund all his endeavors and is always involved in superhuman affairs. As a human he is seen as leader among the super villains and stands shoulder to shoulder with the major ones. Look at all the high end feats and schemes he has been involved with, some of them cosmic in scope, as a lowly human look at all the problems he causes for Superman, but not once have I ever heard the term Lex-God. Minus the fighting skills and moral compass, Lex and Bruce are virtually the same. Brains, wealth, focus, drive and many other similar attributes; yet any high end feat Batman does is met with cries of Bat-God. People want to keep Batman within a certain box, he must stay street level and nothing more. Just because someone has powers does not mean a non-powered person cannot defeat them. Batman is recognized as one of the smartest, most strategic, most tactical person in the DCU; so him defeating a super powered opponent using his smarts is perfectly reasonable. He is also obsessive, paranoid and suspicious by nature, he makes plans and develops contingencies, it's completely logical that he would study and gather info on all super powered individuals including "heroes ". Having said all that, he is still a human and there should be things that he simply cannot overcome. He should have limitations and sometimes his actions should comeback to bite him as it should for everyone. I simple think there is a double standard where we praise Lex but condemn Bruce for being humans of influence in a world of super powered "Gods". As for Bats being a dick to those around him, it's just who he is and I think they all know that and don't take it personally. Just look at what he went thru to save Gotham Girl, so yes he can come off as a dick or jerk but he has a heart of gold and no one can say he does not care.

[Bukdiah]

lol, I remember the completely dickish and maniacal Batman in All Star Batman and Robin. The madness...

[Frontier]

For what it's worth, I tried to play my Batman in Batman: The Telltale Series as my "ideal" Batman, so he was compassionate and kind for the most part.

I also like how in Justice League Action Batman's more standoffish or mean comments usually get called out or played for laughs .

[Lokimaru]

You say ultra compassionate BTAS Batman and yet that show and its legacy is the main reason Batman is a dick to everyone now
That Batman ended up old and alone with no one but a dog to keep him company after he quit

Then again this isn't just an issue for Bruce everyone in the bat family has this problem to some degree

Actually is New adventures of Batman and JL/Unlimited that turned Bats into a dick he was alright before that.

[sunofdarkchild]

Batman was nice most of the time in BTAS, and when he was a jerk there was usually a reason behind it (like in Robin's Reckoning). He turned into more of a jerk in TNBA (which was one of many reasons why that version was inferior to the og BTAS). And Batman Beyond showed that he had turned into such a jerk that he legit pushed everyone away and was left a bitter old man without any friends. Oddly enough he seemed nicer again in JL/JLU.

Nice Batman can be scarier than mean Batman.

[dancj]

I don't think Batman is just a dick. He's emotionally damaged and that can affect the people around him. He's also incredibly caring - but bad at showing it most of the time.

This has been pretty consistent through most writers in the past 20-30 years.

Damian is a dick - and that makes him thoroughly entertaining to read.

[Aioros22]

Why does Bruce get flack for being a very competent human who can stand alongside "Gods" and in some cases defeat them, but Lex Luthor who does the exact same thing gets a pass?

Luthor is a villain, Bruce isn`t.

Again, this isn`t about power levels, it`s about public perception when discussing what is more appealing or cool or badass or whatever. Batman is usually more appealing than Superman, or has been since early 80`s because the perception of Superman is being the nice guy, the boy scout.

Public perception at large maintains that "nice guys" finish last.

[Aioros22]

And as for the most BADASS HERO EVER that`s Heracles/Hercules. Peeps still talk about him after all the millenia and still make movies about him. His story is the genesis of the study of the modern "Hero Journey". Man held the Heavens on his back. Period.

Showruners are Zorro, Doc Savage, Mandrake and the Phantom and the Green Hornet. Why? Because they were super and batmaning years before those two came around. Because Bruce Lee and Black beauty that`s why.

Epic Micdrop.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I think people are more interested in flawed heroes and heroes that have an internal struggle so making batman more obsessive feels like a good way to balance all of his skills and create an interesting conflict btw him and literally everyone else.

[SixSpeedSamurai]

I certainly like him better when he's gruff, but he does not need to go full *******.

I think a lot of it stems from generations growing up with Year One and The Dark Knight Returns as the foundation for Batman.

[KC]

I hate it and it has made me almost drop books (Like Justice League International).