Fighting Style of the Burton Batman

[thecolorsblend]

in The Flash we see him throwing weapons directly like shurikens. So I'd say Shurikenjutsu should be added to his list of martial arts.

I was planning to mention this myself.

And personally, I extrapolated a plot point from that.

We see Batman use a next generation Batarang in BR to take out various members of the Red Triangle gang. Obviously, the Batarang gets intercepted before it can take out the Poodle Lady. But it knocks out everyone else well enough... after Batman has programmed it.

But in TF, it doesn't seem like Bruce needs the programmable Batarang anymore.

And so, the way I interpret that is to suggest that some time after the events of BR, Bruce expanded his repertoire to eliminate his reliance on technology to use projectiles to take out multiple targets simultaneously. And if there's a better way to do that other than Shurikenjutsu, then I guess I can't think of what it might be.

Why would he want to master Shurikenjutsu at such a late stage in life? Again, we can make all kinds of speculation there. Maybe the Red Triangle gang unwittingly exposed some holes in his martial arts program? Or maybe after BR, he encountered some other set of circumstances that required him to learn Shurikenjutsu?

Either way, it SEEMS like he learned Shurikenjutsu AFTER BR. And he seems to have become quite a master of it as well.

At this point, it's quite possible that the only other Batman who could defeat Keaton is West. But I'm not sure any of the other Batmen would be able to prevail against him at this point. Because Keaton's abilities now include fighting with projectiles from afar, fighting up close, grappling, wrestling moves and other things.

Keaton's Batman is just plain DANGEROUS now. Not to be trifled with.

[Silver Nemesis]

We see Batman use a next generation Batarang in BR to take out various members of the Red Triangle gang. Obviously, the Batarang gets intercepted before it can take out the Poodle Lady. But it knocks out everyone else well enough... after Batman has programmed it.

But in TF, it doesn't seem like Bruce needs the programmable Batarang anymore.

And so, the way I interpret that is to suggest that some time after the events of BR, Bruce expanded his repertoire to eliminate his reliance on technology to use projectiles to take out multiple targets simultaneously. And if there's a better way to do that other than Shurikenjutsu, then I guess I can't think of what it might be.

Why would he want to master Shurikenjutsu at such a late stage in life? Again, we can make all kinds of speculation there. Maybe the Red Triangle gang unwittingly exposed some holes in his martial arts program? Or maybe after BR, he encountered some other set of circumstances that required him to learn Shurikenjutsu?

Either way, it SEEMS like he learned Shurikenjutsu AFTER BR. And he seems to have become quite a master of it as well.

That explanation makes sense, considering all the trouble the high-tech batarang caused him in Batman Returns. In mastering Shurikenjutsu, he shed his reliance on that technology and made it harder for enemies to use it against him. His more prominent use of throwing weapons might also reflect his advanced age. Taking down as many foes as possible with ranged weapons leaves him with fewer enemies to deal with up close.

At this point, it's quite possible that the only other Batman who could defeat Keaton is West. But I'm not sure any of the other Batmen would be able to prevail against him at this point. Because Keaton's abilities now include fighting with projectiles from afar, fighting up close, grappling, wrestling moves and other things.

Keaton's Batman is just plain DANGEROUS now. Not to be trifled with.

Prior to The Flash, I would've said Baleman had a slight skill advantage over Keaton. But that skill gap has arguably closed now. They're roughly equal in martial arts skill (though I still think Baleman fought the most skilled opponents in the form of Ra's al Ghul and Bane), and possibly equal in durability. But Keaton outclasses Baleman when it comes to speed, agility, strength and intelligence.

And the old argument about ruthlessness still stands – Baleman wields smoke pellets and tranquilisers, while Keaton wields napalm and explosives powerful enough to knock out a Kryptonian. Baleman would put up a good fight, but Keaton would win.

The Schumacher Batman's one advantage over Keaton was his agility. But after Keaton's agility got amped in The Flash, he no longer has that advantage. The Schumacher Batman could hold his ground for a short time, but he wouldn't put up as good a fight as Baleman did. Keaton would win again.

Battinson wouldn't stand a chance against Keaton. That's not a knock against Reeves' movie, but merely acknowledgement of the more grounded approach he took to the action scenes. I'm sure Battinson's fighting skills will improve in the sequels, but right now he's a rookie and hasn't performed any combat feats to suggest he could compete with the other cinematic Batman. So for the time being, I'd place him at the bottom of the cinematic rankings when it comes to fighting skill.

West is unstoppable. A while back I drafted a thread like this about West's fighting skills, a lot of which was just listing examples of his ridiculous reflex, strength and durability feats. I'll try to get that thread finished and posted at some point, but for now here's a quick example to illustrate his superiority. Keaton is strong enough to throw a goon this distance.

Ok, not bad. Not bad at all. But West is strong enough to throw a goon this distance.

The best Keaton or any other Batman could hope for when going up against West would be to subdue him long enough to place him in an inescapable death trap. But even then, West would promptly escape the inescapable trap and defeat them in the rematch. So West would win.

Batfleck would be a challenge to Keaton. He has a size advantage over him, and they're more or less equal in terms of strength, durability, speed and agility. But I'd say Keaton is more intelligent, and according to the number of fighting styles we noted in this thread https://www.batman-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=3829.0 Keaton has a slight skill advantage.

I'd also repeat the comparison I made earlier in this thread regarding their performances against Kryptonians. It took Affleck the best part of ten minutes to subdue a Kryptonian who wasn't trying to kill him, and that was with prep time, special armour and kryptonite. Keaton subdued a homicidal armoured Kryptonian in under thirty seconds without prep time or kryptonite, using just his standard gear.

Batfleck would put up an even better fight than Bale, but I'd still have to give the victory to Keaton. It'd be close though.

This is how I'd rank the Batmen's chances in a fighting tournament:

1.    West
2.    Keaton
3.    Batfleck
4.    Baleman
5.    Schumacher
6.    Battinson

If anyone disagrees, feel free to argue your case.

[Silver Nemesis]