Batman: Arkham City - Resonating With A Superhero
Bruce Wayne's latest adventure, Batman: Arkham City, gives gamers more control over The Dark Knight than ever before. We delve deep into the psyche of the character as he fights to keep the criminals of North Gotham at bay.
The character that is Batman is quite complex: molded around the childhood pain of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, he is a lone wolf that patrols the corrupted and gloomy streets of Gotham City. But why do people resonate with the character on such a high level? What separates Batman from other superheroes?
“Everyone wants to be Batman,” explains Kevin Conroy, the “voice of Batman” since 1991. “He’s so noble, but you know, we’re all weak, we’re all human beings. I think that’s why we’re all so attracted to him as a character. He personifies what we wish we could be.”
It’s in the character’s pain – as both Bruce Wayne and Batman – that allows us to connect with him in a capacity not possible with the likes of Superman and other superpower-driven comic book characters. As Conroy explains, the character portrayed in the countless comics, TV shows and movies is one that embraces his fears to achieve an ultimate greater good.
"He’s someone that has put himself into this type of being. This manifestation of everything he is afraid of yet wants to be in order to control the world.”
The character is actually made up of two very different personas: Bruce Wayne, a lonely and emotionally detached billionaire, and Batman, a lone warrior vigilante manifested out of Wayne’s childhood fears.
“The place Bruce retreats to after his parents were murdered is the most primitive, painful, child-like place,” says Conroy. “He built this armour around that. But Batman is that painful experience from childhood. When he is in that cave, when he’s alone, when he’s the Batman, that’s the real person.”
Batman has an incredible sense of right and wrong, and he never crosses that line. And people relate to that.
“Batman resonates with people more than anyone. He really does.” Conroy seems to share the same level of passion for the character as Batman does for dignity and the greater good. “It’s because he doesn’t have any superpowers. He is the only superhero without any superpowers. He’s got to do everything by his wits.
He has an incredible sense of right and wrong, and he never crosses that line. And people relate to that.”
Whether it’s the noble man or the “cool” factor that attracts us to The Dark Knight, one thing’s for sure: he’s one of a small number of heroes molded around human fear and emotions, helping to create a superhero with a genuine human condition.
By Gaetano Prestia
What makes Batman so appealing to you? Do you prefer him over other superheroes?
Read my full interview with Kevin Conroy aka. The Voice of Batman