Semesta Batman: Tinjauan peristiwa utama dalam kehidupan Batman sebelum peristiwa Batman: Arkham Asylum.

PROLOG:

The idea for this post was inspired by a game I completed, a game that, to be honest, surprised me. Writing again about a game, about the charms and shortcomings of which a multitude of various reviews have already talked about in abundance is nonsense. We've read the reviews, and all the reviewers unanimously recommended the game. Well, we believed them, completed the game, and moreover, we liked it. After watching the final credits, we recalled all the best moments that this game had given us in an instant, stretched our stiff necks, did some 'stretching' and wiped it off the hard drive to make room for a new, unplayed, and unexplored game. Well, the age of action is short; a rare gamer will pick up a game for a second, especially for a third time, perhaps, it is not needed. However, this post is targeted at the rare gamer who is dissatisfied with the presence of bare gameplay; it is written for those who value, like air or Belomor, the ambiance and environment, an understanding of what is happening. After all, dear gentlemen, Batman is not a street dog and not a train station bum, not just a freak in leather tights; he is a solid grandfather with a history, God bless any idea that has lasted for 70 years. This is not BioShock, born just days ago, not even Half-Life, which has just turned ten. Oh, for the love of God, don’t spit on me; I’m not comparing games—merely the age of Mother Idea itself. Batman is an entire universe, carefully wrought over many years by various authors and, in fact, recklessly tangled and cluttered by the same scribes and artists. Each new comic book or film script author added their strokes to the overall picture, and to hide the truth, some beautified the picture while others disfigured it. With your permission, let's cut all the excess, leaving only the well-established, habitual, classic. Furthermore, we will only adhere to events that occurred chronologically before the events unfolded in the game, touching upon subsequent events only slightly and only the most important moments. So, imagine how many more positive emotions we can draw from the game, knowing at least a fraction of the history of the universe, the characters, the main hero.

So, the goal of this post: to enhance the gaming experience, to add sensations (anticipations) about it for those who have not passed the game before and for those who have decided to replay it, so to speak, to prepare for this exciting act. Below you will read about all the most important events in the Batman universe that occurred with its main hero, Batman.

I A Little Scared Boy.

Bruce Wayne, an eight-year-old boy, son of Thomas and Martha Wayne, a rich kid, heir to millions of dollars and other material goods. Initially, Bruce was a closed-off and detached boy; he had only a couple of friends, who, in fact, could barely tolerate him: Thomas Elliot and Roman Sionis. The future of the boys, like that of anyone close to Bruce, was not kind to them. Thomas Elliot, son of wealthy parents, brutally killed them and later became a renowned surgeon and then a notorious psychopath known as Hush. Roman Sionis, who also killed his father and carved a frightful mask from the lid of his coffin, turned into the head of the criminal world, Black Mask.

Once, while wandering around the outskirts of his family estate, presumably counting crows and not watching where he was stepping, Bruce fell into a deep pit, which turned out to be a cave that subsequently became the faithful refuge of the man bat. The cave was cold and gloomy, but that was not all; the boy was terrified out of his wits by the bats that resided there. Luckily, the equally frightened daddy appeared just in time, and soon the sobbing boy found himself at home, wrapped in a warm blanket, with a cup of hot cocoa.

But the story didn't end with the fall into the pit; the formation of Batman as a personality, as banal as it may sound, is tied to a more horrific family tragedy—the death of his parents. The parents were killed indirectly due to Bruce's cowardice; he was frightened by a scene, in most interpretations a 'Zorro's Mask,' the epileptic twitches of the actors on stage reminded the boy of flying mammals, and the parents had to leave the theater early. Deciding to cut through a dark alley on the way home, the happy parents and their cowardly son unfortunately encountered the robber Joe Chill, a drug addict and neurotic, who, if not on purpose, nonetheless drew a firearm. The parents perished before Bruce's eyes, and in the very first issue of BATMAN, it looked like this.

And this is how the death of Bruce's parents, but not yet Batman, appeared in the reincarnation of the classic Batman in 1988, penned by the great and terrible Frank Miller in his magnificent Batman - Year One.

I cannot help but note that the version of Bruce's parents' death in Tim Burton's Batman adaptation of 1989, stating that they were killed by a young Joker who had not yet dipped into acid - IS TO BE MISUNDERSTOOD! The clown did not do it, period!

Thus, Bruce remained an orphan, living in the Wayne family estate under the care of Uncle Philip Wayne and butler Alfred Pennyworth. Witnessing his parents’ deaths… in such a situation, even an adult would lose his mind, let alone a child who had just come out of a pit. In general, emotionally, the kid suffered significantly, tormented, worried, and fumed. However, after a nighttime visit to the cemetery, with an obligatory visit to the graves of his innocently murdered parents and a solemn vow of a great vengeance against the criminal world, the boy's neuroses vanished like a bad dream. From that night, Bruce changed; his motto became 'Faster, higher, stronger.'

II The Birth of the Bat.

He trains until he sweats profusely, reads until his mind becomes dizzy; grown up, he travels the world, learning from the best masters. In London, he studies detective work with the best sleuths; in France, he studies pathology (colleague! 😊), in Japan, he hones his combat skills; in Germany, he studies the intricacies of law. After 5 years, he returns to Gotham, believing he is ready to cleanse the city of corruption. The guy disguises himself as a criminal element and goes out into the dark streets of his hometown, eager to perform his first heroic deed. In Bruce's understanding of a heroic feat, there was clearly no plan to take a bullet from a cop after taking a knife from a prostitute. The hero was very upset, he freaked out, and somehow limping home, collapsed into a chair, deciding to die from his bleeding wounds, as he could not fulfill his deceased parents' vow. His dark suicidal thoughts were interrupted by a bat that broke in through the broken window.

The creature that had frightened Bruce in his childhood flew in now, seemingly to save him. And in his final agony, Bruce's mind suggested a way out of the situation—he would become a bat, a formidable nocturnal hunter for bugs and moths… that is, of course, for robbers and killers.

III The Formation of the Hero.

Using the money of his deceased relatives, Bruce equipped himself with the best gear he could find. The Batman suit is undoubtedly the first and most important gadget of the Dark Knight. In the first comics, the suit was merely a way to intimidate criminals and concealed the hero's true identity; in fact, Batman was a quite killable character, who did not hesitate to use firearms and colorful fatalities, like dropping a mugger from a roof. The nice guy, who shows pity and empathy for every scoundrel, was created later, which was related to the tightening of the comic code law in the USA (when there were no computer games or movies, the violence among teens was blamed on comics). Now the Bat does not kill anyone, instead transporting all villains safely and soundly to treatment facilities (see Arkham) and law enforcement agencies.

For example, the very first Bat, from the 27th issue of Detective Comics. Do it, baby, give your first enemies their first bruises!

This is how Bat appeared in early adaptations. How do you like the costume? The first thought that comes to mind is, 'Is he really a hero? Maybe… a fool?'

Gradually, the suit began to perform much more crucial functions, becoming a bulletproof vest, parachute, can opener, and God knows what else. From comic to comic, the Bat acquired new and newer gadgets—batarangs, claws, goggles for day-night-ultraviolet vision, and a ton of useful and frankly unnecessary junk. The origin of the bat symbol on the chest of the suit is interesting; in one of the comics, the Bat explains that it’s a psychological bait for criminals; if someone shoots at Batman, they subconsciously aim at this symbol, which is actually good since the chest area is where the Bat’s suit is most protected. It should also be mentioned that now when Batman has to deal with enemies tougher than Two-Face and the Penguin, like Superman from Earth 2 and the Predator, he occasionally has to wear super-special suits—armor of the highest class that allows him to get the upper hand against superhuman enemies.

Of course, every creature needs a home, and like a real bat, Bat found himself a cave, the very hole he fell into as a child. I can only imagine how much daddy's money he spent to equip it, as it looks stunning; it has simulators, a hangar, and most importantly, the Batcomputer—a gigantic computing machine with a complete database on all heroes and villains of the universe. Batman, while on a mission, can contact the computer at any moment through a wrist mini-computer. The Bat-cave also serves as a garage for the batmobile, batboat, and batplane.

But before all this technical nonsense, Bruce had just become Batman; he steps into the dark streets of Gotham in a bat costume and performs his first justice. The first scuffle of Bat… no supervillain, no toxic chemicals, no shrieking hostages, no swooning saved dames, everything is banal to the core—three miserable thieves making off with simple junk… Bat hardly managed it.

Next, the opponents are stronger—an alley gang, then bandits, then armed robbers; Batman is getting into the swing of things.

IV First Enemies, First Friends.

Thus Bruce Wayne becomes the superhero, the protector of Gotham—Batman. However, he is forced to hide his alter ego from others, confiding in only his butler Alfred. To the rest of Gotham's residents, he is an incredibly rich guy, a playboy, a very eligible bachelor, a well-known patron, and a simple-minded idiot and egotist. Looking at Bruce, no one would suspect that he is the very Batman. Eventually, no matter how effectively Bat concealed himself, after some time, villains like Catwoman, Scarecrow, Riddler, Bane (the Bane in Batman: Arkham Asylum), and Hush managed to uncover his secret. However, even those scoundrels who uncovered the great secret do not hurry to make this information public; they selfishly keep priceless information to themselves, considering it a trump card or fearing that someone else will kill Bruce, as everyone dreams of doing it themselves. And for some of the enemies, like the Joker, the true identity of Batman is of no interest to them; they care about Bat himself, not the miserable millionaire Bruce Wayne.

Strolling around the city dressed in a dark cape and punching people is, to say the least, not the most rewarding endeavor. Try it, I bet you will end up with little success. Bruce experienced this too; the authorities did not understand the Bat's good intentions, launching a full-scale manhunt for him. However, not all cops were one-dimensional; there were some guys who saw Bat as the only possible solution to rid the streets of crime, which the police could neither control due to their 99.9% corruption. The remaining 0.1% of incorruptible and honest cops began to help Bat. The first good cop was Commissioner James Gordon, whose newborn son Bat saved from corrupt police officers. The second good guy was prosecutor Harvey Dent, who later got a splash of acid from a criminal he had cornered in court. Harvey's face would scar on one side and not heal, causing him significant distress, leading him to become Two-Face—a new hero of the criminal world.

Years (comic issues) passed; Batman grew more serious and mature, replenishing and updating his arsenal; Bat became a true professional and, consequently, the central figure in the fight against crime in Gotham. Gradually, the police's relationship with the hero became more amiable, thanks to the protectorship of Commissioner Gordon, who by that time had rid himself of most of the corrupt cops. Although many influential people in Gotham continued to look at Batman with suspicion, and some openly considered him a criminal, Gordon even managed to get permission from the mayor to position the bat-signal (a massive spotlight with a bat symbol) on the roof of the police department.

At the same time, life did not become easier; soon the cursed city streets started to showcase not-so-normal criminal elements, but even worse, completely abnormal ones. And of course, topping this list was the clown—the prince of the criminal world, the Joker; his deadly confrontation with Batman has lasted for almost 70 years. Mister J appeared in the first issue of Batman and looked like this.

The Joker is Batman's main adversary; practically all the worst things to have ever happened in Bat's life are owed to him. The Joker was indeed the first of all comic book villains to have his standalone comic book; imagine that. The Joker was the first crazy villain to gather thugs, not just goons from the street but the most dangerous criminals and the most insane Arkham patients. Undoubtedly, the Joker plays a pivotal role in shaping Batman as a character, and what he did explicitly for this will be unveiled further in the text.

In light of this, Batman found it increasingly difficult to operate alone; he needed an aide— a little runner executing simple commands like