Batman fans can’t decide the worst lore addition in the series

Reddit users are having a jovial discussion about Batman’s worst lore, but some of the stories highlight just how unsettling the Dark Knight actually is. 

The Batman Reddit is where users go to discuss all the newest news and hottest takes. The community is now at odds with the franchise’s most cursed lore, though. 

The conversation started from a popular meme that has been circulating Reddit communities. It asks what specific bit of lore about a community means you’re “in too deep” and “can no longer reverse the massive psychic damage you have inflicted on yourself.”

For the Batman Reddit, there are plenty of examples, and fans can’t seem to decide which route is the worst. 

Batman Redditors discuss the Dark Knight’s silliest lore

The top comments all focus, in a sense, on the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd. However, they’re more focused on how Joker escaped Batman’s vengeance in that instance. 

“Joker briefly became the ambassador of Iran,” user AshamedFish2 points out. 

“And it was the only reason Batman didn’t kill him after he killed Jason.” user Mineformer follows up. “He literally couldn’t, at risk of starting a war.”

Others pointed to a largely forgotten aside from the story Batman: Widening Gyre. Written by Kevin Smith, the maxi-series is notable for never having its final six issues published after prolonged delays. As user g1SuperLuigi64 pointed out, though, Widening Gyre dramatically changes a key Batman moment. 

“That, if we take Kevin Smith’s word for it, Batman pissed his pants when he blew up the wall for his “None of you are safe” speech in Year One,” he said. 

Another user, android151, added, “It is amazing that [Kevin Smith’s] Green Arrow run is so good considering how bad the Widening Gyre is. Not only does it give us this, but it also never finished, and it killed off Batman’s TRUE BEST LOVE INTEREST.”

Batman’s darkest lore may be its most disturbing

Some users took the assignment a little more seriously, though. Many of the instances brought up are genuinely haunting pieces of Batman lore. 

“Batman once made Robin’s girlfriend his new Robin to piss off actual Robin but didn’t bother training or informing her properly because she was basically just a footnote in a childish pissing contest with his teenage sidekick.” user SwingsetGuy brings up. “She got tortured to death, but Bruce didn’t memorialize her and mostly ignored that it had happened at all.”

Many also pointed to infamous DCAU events, like Warner Bros nixing a joke about Batman performing oral sex on Catwoman for the Harley Quinn cartoon or the story that paired up Batman and Batgirl. 

“A comic depicted Bruce and Barbara having an affair while the latter was dating Dick; Barbara got pregnant and lost the baby. And I think Dick found out and beat the shit out of Bruce.” user MisterVictor13 said. “Fuck, who thought that was something any Batman fan wanted to read?”

Other users pointed to the multitude of stories in which Nightwing is implied to have been raped, events which are now largely ignored in the comics but a major source of contention among die-hard fans. 

“Pretty sure Tarantula raped him too during one of the Nightwing runs after killing Blockbuster.” user Oop-pl1 mentioned.

“There’s also an instance where Mirage pretends to be Starfire and has sex with him. And then everyone blames HIM for it.” said user sleepy_shh. 

There are plenty of other incredibly dark stories in Batman’s past that are no longer discussed, fans point out, including the dubious circumstances of Damian Wayne’s conception. It’s only a matter of time, though, until a writer takes another swing at these moments or tries to come up with their own equally shocking Batman moment that can be the next community-destroying piece of unsettling lore. 

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