He does it in the comics ALL the time, the cartoons as well. I just wanted to know if he were in real life, could he do that? Say he had the body of an olympic class athlete (which he does apparently), could he?

I have never seen gymnasts wear capes, so I assume that the cape would get in the way. I know for comics and cartoons the cape ALWAYS falls on his back so as to avoid the danger he would be in if it fell over his face. So could he do it?

If he couldn't then the only solution that would make it possible would be if he put bits of metal in his cape and magnets in the back of his suit. Then the cape would automatically stick to his back. even it flopped a little it would still go back.

If he gripped the cape maybe?

@longbowhunter:

But he doesn't, ever...

If Batman were in real life he couldn't do 90% of the things he does.

I say it would depend on how the cape is attached. It's not like it's tied around his neck. It's thick material and seems attached at the shoulders to me. Based on that and it should be substantially heavier than cloth, the momentum should keep in going with the direction of the flip too.

@Shawnbaby said:

If Batman were in real life he couldn't do 90% of the things he does.

This is a good answer too...

@jloneblackheart said:

I say it would depend on how the cape is attached. It's not like it's tied around his neck. It's thick material and seems attached at the shoulders to me. Based on that and it should be substantially heavier than cloth, the momentum should keep in going with the direction of the flip too.

Yeah, Mythbusters! someone must write to the mythbusters team! and ask :D

There is only one answer to this question.

Comic books.

@End_Boss said:

There is only one answer to this question.

Comic books.

on the contrary....does anyone know if its done in real life?

@Shawnbaby said:

If Batman were in real life he couldn't do 90% of the things he does.

One of the things that would fall within that 90% would be being Batman.

@spinningbirdcake:

For being the one hero without ANY superpowers, he is also surprisingly unrealistic. More so than even the superpowered ones. We can accept superpowered PIS, but Bats? Come on...

Maybe he have some tech inside of the cape that makes id doesn't do it. LOL

@lorbo: People don't like to hear it, but if the DCU were real, Batman would have his face ripped off in their first fight.

@spinningbirdcake said:

@Shawnbaby said:

If Batman were in real life he couldn't do 90% of the things he does.

One of the things that would fall within that 90% would be being Batman.

Well...no...not really...At his core Batman is just a non-powered vigilante with some cool toys and strong investigation skills. That part of the Batman mythos is entirely plausible. There are plenty of Rich Adrenaline junkies that could decide to put on a cape and cowl and go beat up muggers

It's the Bullet dodging, master of every known Martial Art, half ton bench pressing gymnast with above PHD level knowledge in almost every scientific discipline part of the mythos that is a little hard to swallow. Compared to all of that...not tripping over his cape when he backflips seems pretty reasonable.

@Shawnbaby: I think yes. It's not that Batman just beats up muggers. The physical punishment he puts himself through, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with his grappling hooks, depriving himself of sleeping and keeping a keen mind, these things just aren't possible. I completely disagree that there are "plenty" of rich adrenaline junkies that could put on a cape and beat up muggers, especially since it involves the things you list in your second paragraph such as the bullet dodging and the fighting. I don't know if you've ever tried to fight multiple people at one time, but I've never seen it actually go smoothly.

@spinningbirdcake said:

@Shawnbaby: I think yes. It's not that Batman just beats up muggers. The physical punishment he puts himself through, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with his grappling hooks, depriving himself of sleeping and keeping a keen mind, these things just aren't possible. I completely disagree that there are "plenty" of rich adrenaline junkies that could put on a cape and beat up muggers, especially since it involves the things you list in your second paragraph such as the bullet dodging and the fighting. I don't know if you've ever tried to fight multiple people at one time, but I've never seen it actually go smoothly.

I'm just saying the Concept of Batman isn't unbelievable...its the application.

@Shawnbaby:

So what would be a realistic application of the Batman mythos? Keep the Batmask but lose the cape?

@spinningbirdcake said:

@lorbo: People don't like to hear it, but if the DCU were real, Batman would have his face ripped off in their first fight.

Hey man, if comic books were real Bruce Banner would have died of cancer, Spider-man's arm would have fallen off because of the spider bite, Superman would not exist, the fantastic four would have died in space, Captain America's testicles would have shrunk, Daredevil would just be a blind lawyer, Hal Jordan would be a bum, and you get my point right?

@DarkKnightDetective:

I'm OK with bending physics for superheroes, how else could they exist? Or if they did the variety would go waay down, because only so many are possible even when you endow characters with powers seen in the natural world, WORKING like they do in the natural world.

I'm not OK with Bats pulling off superhuman stunts and claiming to not be superhuman.

@lorbo said:

@Shawnbaby:

So what would be a realistic application of the Batman mythos? Keep the Batmask but lose the cape?

I've actually seen stuntmen do all kinds of crazy stuff like that with capes. All it would take is a lot of skill and practice and it would be possible...maybe not while people are firing sub-machine guns at you...but the backflip w/ cape actually falls within the realms of human potential. I've pretty much already said what I think a realistic application of Batman would be. A rich adrenaline junkie that beats up muggers. Personally, I wouldn't go with the Cape...but that's just me. I'd go for more of a Badass Longcoat kind of look.

@DarkKnightDetective: Well technically if the Marvel universe or the DCu were real it would include the "laws," and yes I use that term loosely, that are inherent to that universe. So if the DCU were real, then there would be an alien race who could absorb radiation from a yellow sun to power themselves, and a man who dressed up like a bat and roamed the city looking for crime. The difference is that the company DC keeps Batman alive to help sell their titles as he's their mascot. If the DCu were real however there would be no necessity to keep him alive, the JL would go up against some cosmic threat and Bats would get wrecked. That being said, yes the "if it were real" argument is a weak one.

@lorbo said:

@spinningbirdcake:

For being the one hero without ANY superpowers, he is also surprisingly unrealistic. More so than even the superpowered ones. We can accept superpowered PIS, but Bats? Come on...

Batman isn't the only superhero without powers. And how is he anymore unrealistic than someone gaining spider like powers from a spider bite? Or an alien who gains powers from the sun, Dr. Doom and Reed Richards have comically unrealistic intellects, Joker surviving being shot and blown up so many times etc. He's no more unrealistic than other comic characters.

@DarkKnightDetective said:

@spinningbirdcake said:

@lorbo: People don't like to hear it, but if the DCU were real, Batman would have his face ripped off in their first fight.

Hey man, if comic books were real Bruce Banner would have died of cancer, Spider-man's arm would have fallen off because of the spider bite, Superman would not exist, the fantastic four would have died in space, Captain America's testicles would have shrunk, Daredevil would just be a blind lawyer, Hal Jordan would be a bum, and you get my point right?

Why would Hal be a bum?

This is actually one of the problem of having a cape.

@Stronger said:

This is actually one of the problem of having a cape.

That and choking if someone steps on his cape, namely bane

also the fact that his mouth is unguarded

@Shawnbaby said:

Well...no...not really...At his core Batman is just a non-powered vigilante with some cool toys and strong investigation skills. That part of the Batman mythos is entirely plausible. There are plenty of Rich Adrenaline junkies that could decide to put on a cape and cowl and go beat up muggers

It's the Bullet dodging, master of every known Martial Art, half ton bench pressing gymnast with above PHD level knowledge in almost every scientific discipline part of the mythos that is a little hard to swallow. Compared to all of that...not tripping over his cape when he backflips seems pretty reasonable.

Y'know, it suddenly occurs to me that if Batman were made up today, and he did all this stuff, he'd be heavily accused of being a Mary Sue. Or Marty Stu, I suppose.

@JonSmith said:

@Shawnbaby said:

Well...no...not really...At his core Batman is just a non-powered vigilante with some cool toys and strong investigation skills. That part of the Batman mythos is entirely plausible. There are plenty of Rich Adrenaline junkies that could decide to put on a cape and cowl and go beat up muggers

It's the Bullet dodging, master of every known Martial Art, half ton bench pressing gymnast with above PHD level knowledge in almost every scientific discipline part of the mythos that is a little hard to swallow. Compared to all of that...not tripping over his cape when he backflips seems pretty reasonable.

Y'know, it suddenly occurs to me that if Batman were made up today, and he did all this stuff, he'd be heavily accused of being a Mary Sue. Or Marty Stu, I suppose.

Actually, I'd say Batman is pretty far away from being a "Marty Stu". Typically with "Mary Sue" characters you will see a lot of parallels between the Storyteller and the Character. Basically they are writing themselves into their stories and going about some wish-fulfillment scenario. Batman is different. He's an Icon....He's wish-fulfillment to millions...but at the same time...no one really wants to be Batman. He's not a well-balanced person. He's an obsessive, controlling, emotionally distant workaholic. He's like the story the abandoned kid makes up about his absentee father. "My Dad isn't around because his work is really important"

@Jack Donaghy said:

@lorbo said:

@spinningbirdcake:

For being the one hero without ANY superpowers, he is also surprisingly unrealistic. More so than even the superpowered ones. We can accept superpowered PIS, but Bats? Come on...

Batman isn't the only superhero without powers. And how is he anymore unrealistic than someone gaining spider like powers from a spider bite? Or an alien who gains powers from the sun, Dr. Doom and Reed Richards have comically unrealistic intellects, Joker surviving being shot and blown up so many times etc. He's no more unrealistic than other comic characters.

I think the point he was getting at is that it's easier for us to accept someone like Spider-Man doing unrealistic things because he's got Super-Powers. With Tony Stark we can accept it because He's got that hi-tech armor. The same cannot be said about Batman. He doesn't have powers....he does have some cool gear but none of his standard gear does anything to enhance his stats. There's no explanation given as to how he can do completely unrealistic things like dodging and deflecting bullets and bench-pressing half a ton...he just does them. And that's not just Batman...it's pretty much any of the "Peak-Human" heroes.

@JonSmith said:

@Shawnbaby said:

Well...no...not really...At his core Batman is just a non-powered vigilante with some cool toys and strong investigation skills. That part of the Batman mythos is entirely plausible. There are plenty of Rich Adrenaline junkies that could decide to put on a cape and cowl and go beat up muggers

It's the Bullet dodging, master of every known Martial Art, half ton bench pressing gymnast with above PHD level knowledge in almost every scientific discipline part of the mythos that is a little hard to swallow. Compared to all of that...not tripping over his cape when he backflips seems pretty reasonable.

Y'know, it suddenly occurs to me that if Batman were made up today, and he did all this stuff, he'd be heavily accused of being a Mary Sue. Or Marty Stu, I suppose.

In terms of physical abilities, yes. However, he is a very flawed character when it comes to his emotions, his paranoia and his arrogance concerning his knowledge of Gotham.

Didnt Begins explain he can make this because the cape isnt normal and you could make the damn thing stay in his place.

I think you are all forgetting, how often do you see Bruce doing backflips?!?!?! I know he can do one, but when it comes to those moves Nightwing is usually the one doing them, or Catwoman.

Did he made backflips in Batman forever and Batman and Robin?

I belive he did.

@DeathpooltheT1000 said:

Did he made backflips in Batman forever and Batman and Robin?

I belive he did.

Weren't there capes attached to their waist? I recall Bat-Girl had straps on hers.

@lorbo:Batman is a bada$$ okay?

@DarkKnightDetective said:

@spinningbirdcake said:

@lorbo: People don't like to hear it, but if the DCU were real, Batman would have his face ripped off in their first fight.

Hey man, if comic books were real Bruce Banner would have died of cancer, Spider-man's arm would have fallen off because of the spider bite, Superman would not exist, the fantastic four would have died in space, Captain America's testicles would have shrunk, Daredevil would just be a blind lawyer, Hal Jordan would be a bum, and you get my point right?

good point!

He's Batman,he can do anything!

@ccraft: Good point if you ignore the fact that making a comic book universe real would also make all the scientific "laws" real as well so Banner wouldn't have cancer, Spiderman's arm wouldn't fall off, Superman would exist and the FF wouldn't have died in space, and Cap would have normal testies, and Daredevil would have acute senses. The scientific laws that govern those universes are part of them, but the characters wouldn't be kept alive for business purposes. That was my point.

@longbowhunter said:

If he gripped the cape maybe?

"It's not a question of where he grips it. . ."

@lorbo: If they wanted Bats to be down to Earth, they'd take the Animated Series approach, make him obviously athletic, wicked clever, have decent understanding of science and other subjects due to being wealthy and having an excellent education, trained in Ninjustu, and most of all, not so OP that he could literately dodge a punch from Superman just from knowing what move he'd make. Oh and all that other bullshit he's able to pull just cause he's Batman. Infact if you were to compare Bruce and Dick Grayson when the latter was Batman, Dick's incarnation was far more plausible than Bruce's.

How dare you!

Hal Jordan would still be a badass pilot and lady's man.

Also, Steve Rogers's balls, even before the serum, were three times the size of the average man so would still be bigger than any of ours after the shrinking process :)