OK, this is something I just thought about while I was otherwise idle.
I was thinking about Batman and how all of his villains have very narrow characteristics. They are all pretty much defined by one thing.
What if Batman doesn't exist? What if Bruce Wayne went insane when he witnessed his parents being killed in front of him. We then only see what Bruce imagines as his world while he is actually in an asylum. Maybe it is even the real world Arkham.
His villains would be other inmates. All he knows about them are snippets. There's one guy who's always cold, Mr. Freeze; one guy who's always laughing, Joker; one woman who is always watering plants, Poison Ivy; etc. etc. Other people could be employees of the asylum. Scarecrow is the pharmacist as his drugs makes the other inmates' behavior change. The police are the guards/orderlies, Commissioner Gordon is Bruce's doctor. Ra's Al-Gul is the Asylum Director (warden, executive, whatever he's called). Whenever the Director changes, Ra's uses his pool to regenerate himself.
Bruce meets a few other inmates who like him or have similar circumstances and become his allies, like Robin or Batgirl.
All of the comics we see are simply in Bruce's head. His need for justice for his parents drives his delusions and he sees himself as the only person who could do it. He, of course, is perfect in every respect. The world's greatest detective, scientist, martial artist, etc. Any one of these things would take a lifetime of devotion to master, but he is simply the best at them all at the same time.
I am not very familiar with the Batman mythos and history. Has anyone explored this sort of thing before?
I was thinking about Batman and how all of his villains have very narrow characteristics. They are all pretty much defined by one thing.
What if Batman doesn't exist? What if Bruce Wayne went insane when he witnessed his parents being killed in front of him. We then only see what Bruce imagines as his world while he is actually in an asylum. Maybe it is even the real world Arkham.
His villains would be other inmates. All he knows about them are snippets. There's one guy who's always cold, Mr. Freeze; one guy who's always laughing, Joker; one woman who is always watering plants, Poison Ivy; etc. etc. Other people could be employees of the asylum. Scarecrow is the pharmacist as his drugs makes the other inmates' behavior change. The police are the guards/orderlies, Commissioner Gordon is Bruce's doctor. Ra's Al-Gul is the Asylum Director (warden, executive, whatever he's called). Whenever the Director changes, Ra's uses his pool to regenerate himself.
Bruce meets a few other inmates who like him or have similar circumstances and become his allies, like Robin or Batgirl.
All of the comics we see are simply in Bruce's head. His need for justice for his parents drives his delusions and he sees himself as the only person who could do it. He, of course, is perfect in every respect. The world's greatest detective, scientist, martial artist, etc. Any one of these things would take a lifetime of devotion to master, but he is simply the best at them all at the same time.
I am not very familiar with the Batman mythos and history. Has anyone explored this sort of thing before?
