Are you kidding me? Batman isn't realistic enough!

You know what I think they should do, and they probably never will do this, but anyway, I think they should give us an Elseworld story that starts over from day one. Bruce Wayne is not a millionaire; he's just a kid who wants to make a difference in his world and then walk us through and give us a very realistic take, maybe sort of a handbook, on what a normal person would feasibly need to do to pull off some of the things Batman does. It would be a very different take on him for sure, but that doesn't mean it would be boring.

Larger-than-life fictional supervillains could be replaced with real terrorists, Nazis, mass murderers, mobsters, and gang members. I would like to see how a real person would take on these kinds of threats, and I would like to see it from the perspective of a hero with a background not much different than his villains--troubled childhood, absentee parents, brutal circumstances, little money, etc., no grace from above in the form of billionaire adoptive parents, please!

Yeah, I guess that's not really Batman that I want to see, but I still think it would make a really cool story.

Batman's traditional rogues gallery gets replaced by a group of suicidal teens who just don't want to live anymore and decided to find joy in other people's pain and suffering.

Larger-than-life super criminals are based on real-life masterminds and are encountered and studied but not always caught or brought to justice, just like in the real world.

I think that would be a really cool take on Batman.

Sounds awful.

Why not create something new instead of shitting on a character.

don't pull a marvel.

Doesn't seem much different from Kickass honestly

@kmb501: First: I'd like to point out that you're pointing out how unrealistic a comic book character is when most of the most unrealistic characters are born from comic books so that's a poor point in my eyes.

Second: You point out how the Batman we have is one you don't want to see. So what? You can choose not to read it and it's not like there isn't an abundance of comic books to explore. I'm not saying you'll find what you're looking for but you won't know till you try.

I'm not against your idea, it seems fine but it also seems like something you can find in many novels so perhaps you'd do better there.

Batman's realism starts and stops with " He's Human" & "dead parents". He's no more realistic than any other DC hero.

That's sounds like a terrible idea for Batman. If you want to create a new character with those ideas in mind. I say go for it. It sounds like it has potential.

Though...I don't think there is anyway a one man army type character can be "realistic",Which Batman is a one man army. If Your character was realistic,he'd be really bad at his job because he wouldn't have to time to study all these needed areas of expertise. unless he somehow has physiological/sociology (degrees/if not understanding) to deal with mentally messed up rouges, Some kind of military/firearms training to deal with the terrorist,nazis,mob & gangs, and Martial arts training. If he's Batman does he have gadgets?How does he pay for them if he's the average joe? How does the guy handle the wear & tear of being Batman? The body never heals back 100% from bad injuries . There's no way you cut this where it sounds "realistic".

@kmb501:

Realism is kinda socially relative.

I guess a fetishistic, mentally compromised creature like Batman is believable in society such as the US.

Fully realistic Batman dies as soon as he pisses off a genuine mobster, if not earlier. Probably much earlier.

Sorry, it was just an idea (and for an Elseworld alternate reality, too)! They say that they are shooting for more "realism" in comics, and then they give us the opposite like we don't notice. I don't know. For me, it's either go one way or the other; don't stop halfway, claim the old characters and worlds weren't "believable" because they gave us too much fantasy and then give us an alternate world that is full of just as much, if not more, fantasy.

Okay, good points. Wasn't Batman supposed to be a cross between Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow, though? I would just imagine that Holmes would do actual detective work; some of the Holmes stories are believable. In my opinion, a larger-than-life character IS believable if you can find an example of it in real life, even if the person in the story somehow has all of the traits of the greatest geniuses, negotiators, and athletes combined.

Another character with another story would be a good idea, I guess. I don't think DC is accepting character ideas anymore, though, and their universe is pretty crowded.

@kmb501: I guess Batman could use more street-level stories these days. King, Tynion and Snyder are all doing action-blockbuster stories, after all. And my favpurite Batman story is Year One, which is similar to what you are describing. But I do think Batman should remain as the heir of a rich family.

It has already been done ! It's Batman: Earth-One by Geoff Johns !

Oh, thanks for the information...

sorry to give just another thumbs down to your idea. i appreciate your effort, but this just isn't Batman (as you stated, too). First of all, why make him poor? Just so he can be "relatable"? Social/economic status doesn't make a character "relatable", imo. Being a "working class hero" has been done to death from Marvel, it's actually incredible to see millionaire superheroes like Bats and Iron-Man: it hasn't been done to death." Also:

"what a normal person would feasibly need to do to pull off some of the things Batman does"

Watch Nolan's trilogy or read Earth One as jb681131 said for that kind of approach, although both versions are hardly 100% realistic (I don't think they're even 50%, which is not a bad thing for me, but if you're looking for stone cold realism, you may be disappointed.

"I would like to see it from the perspective of a hero with a background not much different than his villains--troubled childhood, absentee parents, brutal circumstances, little money"

Except the "little money" parameter, the rest are actually part of his character.

"real terrorists, Nazis, mass murderers, mobsters, and gang members"

Yeah, let's throw away the best rogues gallery in superhero history in favor of villains we can see in most action movies.

"Batman's traditional rogues gallery gets replaced by a group of suicidal teens who just don't want to live anymore and decided to find joy in other people's pain and suffering"

that's too "emo" sorry fam.

It was just a suggestion for an Elseworld, not a suggested change to the primary continuity...

yeah, I know, but even an Elseworlds story, in order to be more than a mere "what if" scenario, should substitute beloved elements from Batman's mythos with elements that are at least not that...weak or overused, imo. Of course, that's just my view on things, I'm not trying to belittle your efforts and opinions or anything ;)

Batman: Year One, was pretty grounded compared to most Batman comics. and it doesn't have any larger than life supervillains.

@king_krown:

you make a point about a one man army. You can beat probably 5 people alone if you are far more skilled than them and they have no idea how to fight in a group, but things change a lot when weapons (even knifes ) are introduced into the equation. After all a man would be capable of tanking a couple of thits while fighting, but one or two stabs with a knife would be deadly and nobody can be skilled enough to know where and how 5 different people will attack and evade all their moves while taking them out. Im not even talking about adding guns to the equation which would make the one man war on crime impossible. Actually, if the group has some brains they will just choose to graple and get their single opponent on the ground. They manage that = guaranteed victory. It is physically impossible to graple with 5 people at the same time

Then there is the fact that it can take months to recover from stab wounds or even punches. There is a reason why proffesional MMA fighters/ boxers don't fight every day and take a time off after a fight to recover. If they do not their fighting career will be cut short to less than a couple of years (genetics play a role here). Damage builds up and you need time to recover, or it becomes deadly.

During the recovery time real training becomes impossible (wounds need to close, concussions need to heal) so during these periods that person would probably only be able to stretch if he or she is lucky (stretching and opening a wound is dangerous). During the period where he or she doesn't fight reflexes become worse and the muscle memory decreases. So after the recovery period they need a training period to become sharp again (just look at how mma and boxers do this for instance).

This means that a real vigilante like Batman would only be capable of going out 1 or 2 days a month if he is really lucky and doesn't get wounded. Even then most mobsters actually do know how to shoot and how to streetbrawl so every time that vigilante would get out the chances would be very high that wounds would be sustained, making the periods of activity closer to once every two months more realistic (until the vigilante gets shot).

Then there is the fact that no armor is good enough to stop guns from wounding a person completely. Even if the bullet does not penetrate the person shot will be knocked down most likely. It would probably take about a second until that person can get up, a second he will probably tank a couple other gunshots.

.

There is a reason why entire SWAT teams go out with armor and shields to stop a handful of criminals. Numbers count and no criminal will be able of stopping them if the police officers who are being shot at hide behind their shields while their partners close the distance of shoot back. A single person, no matter how well trained and equiped, will never be able of taking a house on his own if there are people there who are even slightly competent.

Batman gets stuck in a low wage work, tries to fight crime anyway and gets shot the first night. The End.

@thekillerklok: New 52?

Beata

That's a completely different character. And it's still not remotely realistic. Batman isn't remotely realistic. Batman has superpowers and a lot of other things going for him. He'd probably be dead before he got to Gotham.

Your character should just hope that he can work on his strength and endurance so he can survive in prison for a little while.

Maybe you'd enjoy Vengeance of Bane?

@infantfinite128: He got three main superpowers.

One: The ability to take insane amounts of damage and not only survive, but recover enough to fight again the next day. Serieusly somethings that happened to him would kill world class athletes like Conor McGregor, who train to take this punishment for a living. But he stands up with a couple of bruises and stitches and continues fighting.

Two: His belt.

three: Probably a time chamber like that one in Dragonball Z. It is impossible for a person to have enough time available to train both speed and stamina like a Olympic athlete, fighting abilities comparable to those who trained for these their enitre lives, Technological knowhow about a billion subjects and detective skills that normally take years to practice. Add to this that he has to run his company, the fact he has to be Bruce during parties so others don't start suspecting him, trained multiple sidekicks that at least in the beginning would have taken a lot of time and the fact that he continiously has to keep training himself so his physique doesn't get worse and you can only conclude that the only way all of this can happen (even with a 2 hours training scheduele) is if he has a timechamber that can help him with it.

Ohh on that note add number 4

If he really has a time chamber he should be an old man by now, so add extreme longetivity to this list

@lillion1: Even with Batman's super strength, super metabolism, adamantium skeleton, super intelligence, super durability, etc., he's still completely ridiculous. And like you mentioned, even with the Room of Spirit of Time, he still has immorality.

Why the heck do I like Batman? He's got all that. Plus unlimited funds. A magical butler who also has superman type powers. He's got tons of friends and a family that would do anything for him. He never goes hungry. He also gets fixed up and gets to lie in a comfy bed. He's got a super education. He's got everything. Oh, but his parents died, so his life is so miserable. He's a man-baby.

@infantfinite128:

Actually you make a point about him being a man-baby. Also he is someone without convictions / or someone self delusional like some of these SJW. The way he refuses to pull the trigger doesn't make any sense. At some point every human gets at a point where he has to admit he is wrong. That some people can not be saved and that sometimes it is better to kill 1 person, so you can kill a thousand.

Batman stories are the most interesting ones for me though. Even if the Red Hood is a more likeable character for me I like the batman stories the most.

And all of that is not because of Bruce, but because of the Joker, the Riddler, Mr Freeze and Bane. For instance the Knightfall saga, without Bane it would be boring and not worth reading at all. Death in the Family and Death of the Family? The Joker, without him these stories would be crap. Batman is not the greatest Hero, not by a long shot. But he does have the most interesting villains, which makes him the most interesting hero.

The fun part is seeing how Batman will overcome the crazy plays of these mad geniuses. Which is also probably why he doesn't kill his villains. DC knows that the moment Batman does the logical thing and kills the Joker/Riddler/ any other villain he will lose what makes him great and stop selling books

Edit: I was being too harsh on Batman. I just think he should count his blessings.

You cant really scale real life humans with comic book humans.