You know, people keep complaining about Superman because he's basically a God and no one
can beat him because of all of his powers.
But people will pitch a freaking fit if Batman loses because he is the Batman and he
should. Never. LOSE!! I'm sorry, I put my faith behind superhuman powers of an alien more than I do that someone wins because he is more popular.
Batman has the worse power of all: Plot Armor. And his power comes from the most lame source: Fanboy-ism and writer favoristim. He can't lose simply because the character wasn't written with any weakness. Superman has weaknesses that people readily exploit all the time. Batman has no weakness because no one will allow them.
Let me tell you, as a person who worked out a lot and temporarily can't now because of two messed up fingers, your body doesn't reach a set level of strength for the rest of your life just because you trained up to it once. Sure, maybe he could still kick butt because he does that all the time. But I rarely, RARELY see him train to keep his strength goals up. He'll do it every once and again, but he doesn't sleep enough to keep that stuff up, he goes by 'will alone' which accounts for jack shit in terms of bodily needs... God.
Not to mention the logical reasons why Batman should never win a fight against Supes. Superman can sometimes keep up with the Flash, a being known to leave the speed of light in the dust. By the time Batman would even consider going to his krypton ring, Supes should already be by his side, pinning Bat's arms helplessly... if Supes still allowed Bats to keep them.
Think about it. People keep saying he's a man that can keep up with the Superhumans. In order to keep up with Supes or the Flash, not only does Bats have to understand the threat at the Speed of Light... He has to figure out a plan of action and act on it
faster than the speed of light. I personally found it stupefying when they had Batman trip up the Flash with marbles he had in his belt. We're talking about the Flash. The man who can run around the earth in under a second. He has to be dodging a LOT of stuff doing that. But he has problems dodging a few marbles thrown out by a normal man?
I don't even get why people are afraid of him. He killed maybe... a few people in his time as Batman (Modern day batman, I mean. When Batman first came out, dude traveled with a six shooter). The most Batman does is mess you up. And yeah, I get it. pain hurts. But has Batman actively tortured anyone? Waterboarding, Car Batteries to nuts? Anything? If not, why does he command more fear that a freaking flying God that can literally hurl mountains? Why, because one day the Batman might snap and forget his code? Ok, but for that matter you should be infinitely more afraid of Supes or any superhero because the same might happen.
TheVampwizimp said:
Superman is pure good and merciful justice all the time, no matter what, i.e., boring. Most of the comic book heroes are, to greater and lesser degrees, the same way. Even in the face of total world-wide destruction, very few heroes will ever compromise their pure head-in-the-clouds ideals, and will always try to save the villian at the same time as stopping him.
Honestly, this is why I like Superman more. Batman could decide to use his Billions to make the streets of Gotham really clean. The amount of equipment and training he could give the cops of Gotham? NO ONE would commit a crime with a police force of 'Quasi-Batmans'. But he selfishly allows crime to go on so he can vicariously beat up the thugs he couldn't as a kid.
However, Superman could decide... Fuck it. Who will stop me? I have needs. I have wants. And I have the means to get it. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Can you imagine what you would do if you were given Godhood? Can you imagine the metric tons of shit that would be scared out of you if you witnessed someone who was actually given those abilities? What would you do if he decided he didn't like you? Where would you go? How could you ever live?
Seriously, the reason I have problems with Comics today is that if any of us were given super powers.... I'd say 60 percent of us would turn to a life of crime, 20 of us would only use it for self service purposes, maybe 15 would be heroes and the last five couldn't be bothered.
But Clark believes in something more than his self. More than his wants or desires. There are a ton of sources where Superman says how easy it would be just to kill these guys and be done with it. How he wakes up and every day he knows he could finally end these people and rest easier. But he
believes in something. Something that is bigger than him and his vast powers. That he does believe in Truth when he can freaking make anything he wants to be Truth. That he'll champion the Common Man's Justice when all he has to be concerned about his own. He fights with himself every time he's among us humans to make the world a better place not by his own vision, but the vision that seems the most just for everyone involved. That is a strength of character not readily available these days.
Skirting between Villains and Heroic Sociopaths is weak. It's basically being a villain, but saying you're doing it for the 'right reasons'. Because we're all prey to
their interpretations of what's just and what's not. That doesn't take a strength of character. That's just having a conversion with yourself and saying "things will be better if they were my way".
I'm not saying you said anything hinting to my last paragraph, but that's what I always personally understood the term 'gritty'