Although he is praised as an anti-hero I really don’t see how he fits into the description. Besides the fact that he looks like a bat and he fights crime at night what qualifies him as an anti-hero. He doesn’t kill his super-villains he captures them knowing full well they will simply escape Arkam Asylum and wreak havoc again. He’s afraid to hit a woman (see Batman Returns), he works with children (robin), not to mention that he is affiliated with the government (which sort of makes him evil but not in the anti-hero way). Batman is NOT an anti-hero.
Do you want to know who some REAL anti-heroes are? Well for that we look to the best superhero franchise ever, Marvel. Ghost Rider and The Punisher.
The Punisher is everything an Anti-hero should be. He is all about murder, torture and various other forms of pain in pursuit of…Justice? In addition to being highly skilled in combat, he is practically a walking armory with every firearm from machine guns to rocket-launchers, making him capable of vast amounts of destruction, leaving a trail of death behind him (if that’s not and anti-hero I don’t know what is). Another thing that makes him an anti-hero is the fact that he himself is an outlaw, Batman has sometimes been wanted by the police but only in certain versions and never permanently.
Ghost Rider. Let me start by saying that he is one of my absolute favorite characters in Marvel (not based on the movies). Just saying that he is a flaming skeleton biker who got his powers from the devil should be enough to prove that he’s one epic anti-hero. If you want more, how about that his primary weapons are flaming chains (hellfire chains to be specific), or how his powers are essentially a curse he has to overcome, or how he LITTERALLY burns your soul with his eyes. I’d take a flaming motorcycle over the batmobile any day of the week.
Compared to these guys Batman may as well be a boy scout.
Normally, I refuse to participate in what, to me, is a asinine and pointless debate. Just enjoy the stories for what they are, people!
ReplyDeleteThat being said, Batman's awesome and you clearly aren't sure what makes up an anti-hero. I've done a bit of "research" on anti-heroes and I disagree with your definition. While I agree that the examples you provided fit neatly into this particular sub-class of hero, you're using a very, very limited scope.
Yes, yes, many anti-heroes stray on the other side of the law. Selling your soul to the devil, though? Not on the "anti-hero" checklist. Neither are hellfire chains, eyes that burn souls, or the willingness to leave a "trail of death behind him". Are they nice additions? Yeah. Doesn't make them the rule, though. An anti-hero of the comic-book variety usually has less than scrupulous morals and a penchant for violence. A lot of them aren't really in it for the greater good. Batman fits into those criteria quite neatly.
To say that because he doesn't kill people or hit women, he isn't an anti-hero? You've got a bit of a fallacy there. Apparently Hitler was a vegetarian and against animal cruelty. Does that make him a "decent" guy? No. A few "redeeming" qualities don't instantly make someone a hero or a good person.
Furthermore, the villains you've chosen to describe are extremes. You can't go to the "worst" possible example and then discredit anyone who doesn't happen to be exactly the same.
Batman is a solid (anti)-hero, regardless of which comic-book camp you belong to.
For the matter of the definition of an anti-hero I agree with your criteria,(which is generally the same as the definition I used while writing) the loose morals and not being in it for the greater good. But applying these to Batman? He is partially motivated by revenge for the death of his parents but he is mostly in it for the greater good. Plus his morals are present in his unwillingness to kill, the worse he gets is when he dangles someone off the edge of a building for information. The characters I mentioned have these characteristics, and as for the extras (hellfire chains and path of destruction) they are what make the heroes bad as well as Bad-ass. This isn't one of M.Noeker's essays not everything has to be to prove the point, things can just be for entertainment and effect.
DeleteThe won't hit women thing was a movie reference for those who don't follow the comics. And the unwillingness to kill does seriously affect his status as an anti-hero. In a pinch Batman would rather capture a villain than kill him.
And yes, the anti-heroes I described are extremes. I used them to prove the point I could have used some more subtle anti-heroes Marvel has given us like the Wolverine and Dare Devil but the would not have made my point as clear.
Thanks for reading just the same.
Excelsior, Marc out.
Having a moral code does not detroy your status as an anti-hero. Batman is a vigilante that constantly is at odds with the powers that be, be they the villains or the police. Only Gordon seems to accept his ways. Batman has gone to some very dark places to save his city, but he has never betrayed his soul.
DeleteThe characters you describe, on the other hand, are not anti-heroes.
Punisher is a villain that thinks he's a hero. You yourself question this when you state : "He is all about murder, torture and various other forms of pain in pursuit of…Justice?"
As far as Ghost Rider is concerned...Nicholas Cage...nuff said.
The fact that you think punisher is a villain is enough to prove that he one killer anti hero (pun intended). And for the love of god stop with the Nicholas cage crap, I don't bring up Batman and Robin everytime I talk about Batman.
DeleteMake all the claims you want, by you definition spider man is an anti hero because he's a vigilantly and is at odds with the police often enough.
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DeleteMarc, I love the tone that you use when you compare DC to Marvel. I can tell you are very well educated on both superhero franchises, and your writing style and opinions are very entertaining. I honestly didn't realize that there is such a competition between both types of comics. I've only watched a few superhero movies and I've never read any of the comics, but I've still been able to follow the majority of what you talk about in your blog. So good explaining skills!
ReplyDeleteMarc, I agree with you 100%, Batman is not really an anti-hero, the Punisher and Ghost Rider are the real ones. Ghost Rider is also my favorite anti-hero, he is just so epicly awesome. Now, is Iron man considered an anti-hero, because he does kill some of his enemies but not all of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support. Iron Man is kind of a wild card, he has qualities from both types of heroes. But personally I would say no, this could vary from person to person, iron man has an edge to him but he's really more of a good guy.
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