Batman has a certain reputation with the supervillain community. He’s basically a supernatural force to them, a dark avenger of the night that can survive anything they throw at him and come out with a win. He’s an indestructible force and there are many out there who look at him as perfect. However, this isn’t the case at all, especially in Gotham City. The villains who have to deal with the Dark Knight on a full-time basis know his foibles better than anyone and have been able to exploit them expertly. From the outside, it can seem like he knows everything and has a plan for anything, but the truth is that he makes a lot of mistakes.
While Bats has gotten really good at coming back from missteps, that doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. These mistakes have cost people their lives and led to losses that dearly damaged the Caped Crusader. In some ways, the mistakes make his enemies even more dangerous, giving them more time to commit their crimes while he licks his wounds or tries to figure out a way forward. Batman’s five biggest mistakes have made Gotham an even more dangerous place, and his failures with the Joker don’t even place.
The Bat-Family is the best group of vigilantes ever. There’s really no question about this. Sure, the Flash and Superman Families are more powerful, but there’s just something about the Bat-Family. They have the most amazing training you can imagine and resources that no one else can match. They are a potent force who knows how to work together and yet Batman is still more likely than not to go it alone. He’s an interesting psychological specimen, because on the one hand, you can look at everything he’s done as a way of building the family he ever had. However, on the other hand, he also holds a lot of himself back. He likes going it alone and also would rather be the one putting himself in the most dangerous than his sidekicks. His villains know that if they’re planning a major crime, they can depend on him going it alone for a while. If Bats called in the Bat-Family more consistently, his bad guys would lose a lot quicker.
Batman is the best equipped vigilante out there, bar none. There’s really not much more you can say. This is a hero who has billions of dollars and access to some of the best technology you can imagine. He has access to Martian, Thanagarian, New God, Apokolipan, and Oan technology. He’s one of the smartest people on Earth. However, he still goes out mostly equipped with batarangs, grappling guns, forensic equipment, and the like instead of, say, a Mother Box equipped with Oan emotional energy control tech, all made of Nth metal. Batman has built suits of armor that let him fight people like Superman and Darkseid, yet Clayface and Bane can beat him down because he only wears that stuff as a last resort. Batman could have the most technologically advanced weapons and costume ever, but he doesn’t. He’s efficent, but he could be so much more so and it would make everyone safer.
Batman battles the most dangerous villains out there. The Dark Knight’s rogues gallery is defined by gimmicks. You have the Joker and his clown-themed chaos, the Riddler and his puzzles, Two-Face and his obsession with duality, Mr. Freeze and ice, et cetera. The Caped Crusader has a lot to deal with on a nightly basis, but he honestly makes it harder on himself. Batman plays along with his enemies, but here’s the thing – he doesn’t really have to. He has access to the greatest technology in the world. You’re telling me he doesn’t have satellites that can detect anything? He doesn’t have X-Ray-like technology that he can use to look through walls? One of the problems with making Batman into the jack of all trades of the Justice League is that it’s hard to believe that he would have to play along with someone like the Riddler. He plays into his enemies’ delusions more often than not and that has cost him. There’s nothing stopping him from just asking Highfather for a Mother Box with sensors that can see through anything and has the ability to tap into anything online. He doesn’t have to play riddle games or try to figure out whatever duality-themed mystery that Two-Face throws at him. He’s Batman and he’s better than that.
Batman is a person who carries a lot of darkness inside of himself and this has led him to believe that there are bad guys out there with some goodness inside of them. Two-Face is patient zero for this approach. Harvey Dent was once best friends with the Caped Crusader and his transformation into Two-Face was a huge tragedy. He’s spent years trying to get Harvey out of Two-Face, because he doesn’t give up. This has become something of a problem, since there are numerous villains in Gotham City who Batman tries to help. He’s always looking for the good in the world, which perfectly fits the character, but it’s also allowed his villains to use this against him. Two-Face in particular has been able to use this against him, but think about how many times that Catwoman or Talia have been able to fool Batman. Think about how many times he’s taken it easy on someone at the worst moment and gotten hurt for it. Batman has let his desire to find the good in the world blind him to the truth more than once, and his enemies know how to use that against them.
Superman and Batman are the world’s finest team. The two of them are opposites in just about every way, but they fit together perfectly, like night and day. They compliment each other and work together constantly – one of the longest running current solo series that isn’t Action Comics or Detective Comics is Batman/Superman: World’s Finest. However, for whatever reason, Batman doesn’t call on the Man of Steel nearly as much as he should. Imagine if you had a friend that could see through walls, hear a pin drop on the other side of the solar system, smell anything on Earth, and move faster than the speed of light; how many problems would you approach him with? Also, he’s a super nice guy who will always help you if you ask. Batman can ask Supes for help at any time and the Man of Steel would be there immediately. There are so many times where if the Dark Knight made the call to Metropolis, everything would be solved. A lot of lives could have been saved over the years if the Caped Crusader swallowed his pride and called in Big Blue.
