History WMG / BatmanArkhamKnight

* TheRiddler is going to keep annoying you with his races/riddles.

* A clone made from Bruce Wayne DNA engineered to kill and replace him as the caped crusader. He will suffer from CloningBlues and act as sort of a CompositeCharacter between Jason Todd and Damian Wayne.

** TheDarkChick: Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn

[[WMG: Azrael is an [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Assassin or a Templar]]]]

It would complete the Bat-Family by adding Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.

*** First off, the point with bringing up the parent company was it didn't preclude Rocksteady from lying. Secondly, at the very least, [[https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/213008260935065602 again,]] Hamill himself didn't rule out an appearance in an ''Arkham'' 3. Granted, this probably meant in any form, but the fact is he later stated he was open to the possibility of returning.

* On the other hand, just making him another already known Batman villain isn't exactly a better idea. An old Batman villain who takes on the moniker of the Arkham Knight (even if it is that villain's first appearance in the Arkhamverse) really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. A new character would still be interesting without having to provide any kind of shocking revelations as to his identity because it would be the motivations that would make him interesting. And remember who is making this game: if anyone can make an original, unique, and interesting Batman villain, it would be Rocksteady.

If the death of The Joker sticks then who's to say that all bets won't be off regarding who lives or dies. This could potentially tie into a Batman Beyond game as well since the circumstances of said death could be what leads to Bruce retiring.

[[WMG: The final battle with Scarecrow will take place in a nightmare.]]
He will dose Batman with his most potent Fear Toxin, which will send him to an ethereal, nightmarish world. There he will battle multiple clones of Scarecrow, or maybe nightmarish versions of his Rogue's Gallery from throughout the Arkham Series.
* Confirmed.


[[WMG: Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy will team up.]]
* It's a pretty standard expectation in the comics that whenever the Joker is out of the picture, those two will end up working together. But while the comics tend to make those team-ups relatively light-hearted and positive influence on the characters, the game will [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstruct]] this plotline, as they've generally done with Harley's personality so far. This time it's going to be two violent misanthropes feeding into each other's psychosis and becoming even more dangerous and imbalanced than they would be on their own.
** It's also possible that Ivy and Harley will become an OfficialCouple now that the Joker is out of the picture, (hopefully for good). It would be nice to see Harley finally moving on with her life and to see her in a relationship with quite possibly the only person that gives a damn about her rather than her just obsessing over Joker for the rest of her life.
* Confirmed partly. In the DLC Harley springs Ivy out of jail but they aren't a VillainTeamUp in the game.

RS has done it before with a Cain and Abel painting, why not a Jacobean play?

** Tossed. Jason will be DLC as the Red Hood. [[spoiler: And confirmed. He is ''both'' the Arkham Knight and Red Hood in the game proper; his DLC will probably be supplemental material.]]

* Really? Does nobody think it could be the Joker? I mean, it's not like they haven't pulled a bait and switch like this before...

* The Electrocutioner, rought BackFromTheDead.

* A nameless and/or background character you breezed by with barely noticing in a previous game, of the "Seeing you in action changed my life" sort. Think the inmate confined in Max Security in "Asylum" (I think he was a contest winner or something).
* A mercenary hired by the Riddler. Throughout the previous games, the Riddler has been using the various puzzles and challenges to gather info on the way Batman thinks, acts, and fights, along with what gear he's likely to have access to, all so he can train someone to finally stop the Bat, all to prove himself better than Batman. He's hired a merc than training himself because a) he considers brawling beneath him and b) he just ain't that badass. He's hired someone from outside the normal Gotham circles to reduce the risk of Batman having some info on the guy that could give him an advantage. The race-track bits of this game is his attempt to get info on the Batmobile so that it won't be Batman's trump card in the big showdown.

** Not quite. Look close at his mouth when he's talking in the trailer. I know it's not a pleasant experience but bear with me. You can see normal teeth moving ''behind'' that disgusting jaw with its gross teeth. It's another part of his mask. A gross part of his mask, but still a mask. Doesn't explain the eyes, though. Contact lenses?

Batman takes an emotional hit from Joker's death, having lost a part of himself (even if he doesn't want to admit it). So he admits himself into Arkham Asylum to get treatment for this drastic change in his life. To fill in the vacuum, Hush (having already adopted Bruce's identity) takes up the mantle and gets his revenge by trying to be a more efficient Batman. He gets a little out of hand (a la Knightfall), and Bruce has to don the armor that Hugo Strange had to lie around, break out of Arkham, and bring him down.

* Harley Quinn is wanting to find the so-called Lazarus Pit to revive the Joker. Probably teams with Ra's.

* Ra's and Talia aren't dead. Their ninjas revived them. (I know Talia isn't a villain.) Possibly the only villain not in the team up?

** confirmed, it's going to be this "Arkham Knight" character.

This is being billed as the final game in the Arkham series rather than the final Batman game. Considering how well received the games in the series are it'd be silly to not continue it in some way.

If the death of The Joker sticks then who's to say that all bets won't be off regarding who lives or dies. This could potentially tie into a Batman Beyond game as well since the circumstances of said death could be what leads to Bruce retiring.

...wait for it...Commissioner Gordon. With Scarecrow in the game, Barbara Gordon in the city worried about lying to her father, at some point ''Over the Edge'' from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' will play out. Oracle will either die or seemingly die but Gordon will find out that she was Barbara and maybe, Bruce was Batman and then puts the entire police against Batman and charges at Wayne Manor with a tank and destroys it. It's the ultimate tragedy of Batman's legacy, that ultimately the man that destroys him isn't an ArchEnemy or a RivalTurnedEvil, just his best friend and father figure turned KnightTemplarParent and Batman will be driven to be the DeathSeeker or DespairEventHorizon...just like that episode.

This would explain why the Arkham Knight wants revenge on Batman, he let someone he cared for the die and ruined her reputation. And let everyone think that she was knowing working with the Joker, he told Cash that she was going to give Joker the Titan formula even though she endured at least two hours of torture trying NOT to tell him the formula. I'd say that qualifies as a good motive for revenge. Also, this would help explain the ties to Arkham, in addition to reminding Batman of one of his greatest failures, it is also a reminder of Dr. Young whose own Titan Formula was the catalyst that led to the events of both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and ultimately Arkham Knight.

Batman takes an emotional hit from Joker's death, having lost a part of himself (even if he doesn't want to admit it). So he admits himself into Arkham Asylum to get treatment for this drastic change in his life. To fill in the vacuum, Hush (having already adopted Bruce's identity) takes up the mantle and gets his revenge by trying to be a more efficient Batman. He gets a little out of hand (a la Knightfall), and Bruce has to don the armor that Hugo Strange had to lie around, break out of Arkham, and bring him down.

** Also, Terry [=McGinnis=] of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' fame(and/or disfavor). He was explicitly created this way.

* Oooh, how about [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Red X]]?

** [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Red X]] (as a reference to the theory that Jason was Red X).

** ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Teen Titans]]'' Robin.

** [[{{Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice}} Fleckmobile]], again, to promote the film

[[WMG: Barbra had only recently become Oracle before VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum, and shortly after Matter of family]]

[[WMG: The Riddler is a BatCat shipper. ]]

Almost all of these are virtually guaranteed to be {{Tossed}}; the devs have stated that the Arkham Knight is a new, original character.

* Confirmed, but he does indeed play the Joker again. No [[TrollingCreator Trolling Creators]] here.

* [[spoiler: Seeing as both sides of the conflict in "Shadow War" do not comment on the Arkham Knight, let alone have any ties to him, I'd say {{Tossed}}. The Joker probably did fake Jason's death.]]

** Most likely {{Tossed}}. If you look closely at the table with the gun on it Hallucination! Joker can move the gun so unless Clayface is a telepath and was impersonating Hallucination! Joker as well, nothing we saw was real.

** [[spoiler: {{Tossed}}. Beating the "Season of Infamy" DLC does nothing to the overall ending. The only thing beating everything, including "Season of Infamy" in both the original game and New Game Plus does is unlock a Batsuit with a yellow bat symbol.]]

** Jossed. One of the launch DLCs shows that he becomes Red Hood, not Nightmare Batman. All of the DLC is out now and none of the others feature him.

[[WMG:The Red Hood will appear]]

* Slight issue with fitting him into the timeline. At the start of Origins, Batman has been active for about two years. Asylum takes place five years after Origins. City a year after Asylum. Knight a year after City. That means that by the time of Arkham Knight, Batman has been active for about 9 years, and was without a Robin for the first two of them. That leaves a relatively short 7 year period to fit in the careers of Dick Grayson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake. Notably, only the Tim Drake Robin has definitely been confirmed to exist in this continuity- it's uncertain what canonical status Dick Grayson's appearance as DLC in Arkham City or in Origins multiplayer mode gives him. Granted, it's not impossible, if we assume that Dick's tenure only took up 2-3 years, Jason was only Robin for a year or less, and Tim's relatively new to the job(having only been in the position for a year or two before the events of Asylum). Still it's a bit of squeeze, and doesn't really fit in with Tim Drakes noticeably older character design in this continuity.
* Five years, five ''busy'' years between ''Origins'' and ''Asylum'' is enough to squeeze in say, a three year Dick Grayson reign, a failed five or six months when Jason Todd meets his fate and then maybe Tim Drake was in training at the events of ''Arkham Asylum'' and then became Robin in the one year between ''Asylum'' and ''City''. Bear in mind that Barbara Gordon was also Batgirl for a while and we see her pre-Cowl and still-Walking in ''Origins'' while she's wheelchair bound at the time of ''Arkham Asylum''. The only issue with Jason Todd is motivation, his Post-Crisis FaceHeelTurn into an AntiHero is driven by Batman's ThouShaltNotKill and JokerImmunity, that's no longer a problem and Jason Todd isn't referred to once in the games or the expanded media, except for one oblique ShoutOut in the Challenge Maps. It would be weird to bring him in with little {{Foreshadowing}} especially since Rocksteady buries their hints deep in the game.
** Not to mention that Jason is indirectly mentioned by the Joker himself during Robin's challenge maps. Though as he isn't mentioned in the main campaign, the remark may be of dubious canon.

[[WMG:Nightwing and Robin could have larger roles in the main story.]]

* It's not much of a stretch, since there were Catwoman chapters in Arkham City (and Tim Drake was basically the main playable character in the ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'' epilogue). They could do something similar here: the main story with Batman, and then some Tim Drake chapters, Dick Grayson chapters, and even Catwoman chapters again (if she's not interested in the VillainTeamUp)

* Confirmed. The two are part of the new Dual Play game play, and each will be helping with a separate villain along with Catwoman. Robin is dealing with Harley Quinn again, Catwoman is handling the Riddler, and Nightwing is in charge of dealing with the Penguin.

** Confirmed, but it will Barbara in a DLC prequel that takes place [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke before she was shot by Joker.]]

[[WMG: Side quest villains]]

It would complete the Bat Family by adding Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.

[[WMG:The Joker will make a cameo as a fear-toxin induced hallucination at some point.]]

His origins will be slightly different though, taking some from New 52 Tim Drake in that he was never a Robin. Without being properly trained, he dawned a costume and went out to find the Joker who ends up offing him. Joker as one big laugh at Batman, threw Jason into the very same vat(read as container) of chemicals that Joker himself was transformed by.
Now returning after all these years having been revived by Ra's Al Ghul but jokerized yet still maintaining his original self to limited degrees, the good in him manifests as the Anti-Hero Red Hood who's using the opportunity of the united villains to take them all down to make Batman proud while his own inner evil has manifest as the Villainous Arkham Knight who wants to get vengeance on Batman for not avenging him and the Joker for killing him by getting Batman to be desperate enough to break his one rule a feat even Joker failed at.

* In addition to the heavily militarised Batmobile, Batman will be able to use improvised melee weapons and environmental attacks in Knight. This is telling, as in previous games he would only use such methods when attacked with them. For example, in previous games, a thug might throw an exploding barrel or swing a lead pipe at Batman, and by countering, Batman would catch the barrel/pipe and counter-attack the thug with it. In Arkham Knight, Batman can throw barrels/swing pipes at thugs without having to counter a similar attack from a mook. This (along with the aforementioned Bat-Tank) is indicative of a more aggressive Batman (this character-shift being foreshadowed by his more aggressive behaviour in Harley Quinn's Revenge). The plot of the game will see Batman struggle against turning into a full-on KnightTemplar, with the Arkham Knight acting as a reminder of the monster he would become if he did so.
* [[spoiler: Confirmed.]] At the end of the game, [[spoiler:Batman, even free of the Joker, injects enough fear toxin into Scarecrow to mess up his brain for life.]]

[[WMG:Harley Quinn will be an actual boss fight in this game]]

He'll either stay dead or if he does turn up, it'll be revealed that he never actually died in the first place. Heck, there was in-universe spectulation in ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'' and even despite Creator/MarkHamill saying he retired, he's flip-flopped before and [[https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/213008260935065602 even said he didn't rule out appearing in an ''Arkham'' 3.]]
* Sefton Hill, game director, insists that Joker is "Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead" in game informer's video preview, it would be an epic case of LyingCreator if he did come back after that categorical response. Most likely, Joker will show in some kind of memory, flashback or Scarecrow hallucinogen and the series will address the aftermath of Joker's passing with people refusing to believe that he really died with Joker becoming a kind of martyr or folk hero that would in a perverse way ensure [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning he becomes immortal]] or maybe the ''Arkham Knight'' is a kind of ThanatosGambit he planned as one final joke on Batman, wouldn't [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker be the first time]]. There are plenty of possibilities without him being corporeally revived.

*** Well Bruce Timm and the DCAU were also WB owned and when they whacked Joker it stuck, they whacked him twice because ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure. In Arkham City, they teased ever scenario possible for Joker to survive and he still died and they ensured there was a body, which in the official tie-in epilogue was cremated just for good measure. No comic book character who is non-powered has ever returned from such a scenario. In any case, the other reason they wouldn't do it is that ''Arkham City'' is kind of an instant classic and cancelling that ending would tarnish it.
*** Also, Creator/MarkHamill was pretty adamant on stating that ''Arkham City'' was definitely his last time voicing the Joker, and this troper highly doubts they would replace him for the sequel. (While the Joker does have another voice actor in ''Origins'', it's a special case: almost everyone does, because they're supposed to be considerably younger versions of the characters)

* Original poster: [[spoiler: While Joker did indeed stay dead, Rocksteady ''did'' end up lying about the Arkham Knight being a completely original character.]]

[[WMG: The Joker will actually stay dead throughout the whole game.]]
Rocksteady made a pretty bold move in killing off the Joker at the end of Arkham City, especially given how the Joker died, suffice to say that he will stay dead and given some interviews with Rocksteady, Scarecrow will occupy the BigBad slot for this game. Don't get me wrong, the Joker is my favorite Batman villain and I have enjoyed his role throughout the Arkham series, but I think it's now time for someone else to take the spotlight. I wouldn't mind seeing some cameos of him, (maybe in more Scarecrow hallucinations) but I want to see what Scarecrow, the Arkham Knight and the rest of Batman's Rogues Gallery are truly capable of when they work together and aren't just pawns of the Joker.

However the reason he is mad at Batman is different then the standard comic continuity. See he originally thought Batman killed the joker, but then he found the audio tape of Batmans last conversation with the joker. And it will(somewhat justifiably) absolutely drive him mad that Batman would have saved a monster such as the joker. For bonus points, like in the movie WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood he will point out that the Joker isn't penguin or dent he's so much worse, and the fact that batman would have saved him would have just created far more problems for everybody.

[[WMG:Bruce Wayne/ Batman will die at the end of the game.]]
In one final, climatic battle with the end boss (Arkham Knight, Joker, whatever) Batman have to give his life to save Gotham. Putting an official end to the franchise.
** If WB Games wants to continue the "present day" section even after Rocksteady is done, it probably won't happen. Heck, probably won't happen even if it is indeed the finale for the series, period.

[[WMG:The Arkham Knight is not an original character.]]
It's been said a few times that AK is original, but I highly doubt that. Sure, the ''identity'' of "Arkham Knight" is new, but the person ''using'' that identity isn't. Here's my reasoning: First, let's go with the idea that AK ''is'' a new character. So, what does this mean? Nothing. Any sort of shocking reveal will be completely pointless because the character has absolutely no history. Of course, the game could choose to invent a backstory for AK by introducing his civilian self, but this is even worse. Any new character will automatically be suspected for AK, making the reveal painfully obvious. And in order to counter this, the game could introduce multiple characters in order to throw suspicion off any one of them. But this would ultimately just create headaches for the viewers, who would just want to find out who AK is without caring about any of the other characters. And in addition, it could be revealed that the least likely suspect if AK in order to "surprise" the viewers, but would just amount to FridgeLogic. In short, the choices for a completely original Arkham Knight range from GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere to TheUntwist.
* On the other hand, just making him another already known Batman villain isn't exactly a better idea. An old Batman villain who takes on the moniker of the Arkham Knight (even if it is that villain's first appearance in the Arkhamverse) really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. A new character would still be interesting without having to provide any kind of shocking reveal as to his identity, because it would be the motivations that would make him interesting. And remember who is making this game: if anyone can make a totally original, unique and interesting Batman villain, it would be Rocksteady.

[[WMG:If he's in the game, Black Mask will get beaten up or killed by the Arkham Knight]]
He's basically the ButtMonkey of the Arkhamverse and the only game in the franchise in which he was a legimate threat to Batman was ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate''.

* Confirmed, partially. [[spoiler:Black Mask is killed by the Red Hood who is the Arkham Knight and no he dies begging for mercy, no dignity for Sionis in the Arkhamverse]].

* It could also damage the alliance that the villains have. Going from the last two games' patient interviews, Riddler thinks Batman's just a criminal and Two-face and Penguin don't see Wayne as anything more than a spoiled rich kid. That would rattle pretty badly. If Harley discovers who's under the mask, she could become an ally since she'll think that Batman couldn't have killed Joker because he wouldn't inflict that kind of pain on someone since he knows what it feels like.
* Confirmed. [[spoiler:Scarecrow does it at the very end and all the villains have reactions to who Batman is.]]

[[WMG: A major character will die during the course of the story]]
If the death of The Joker actually sticks then who's to say that all bets won't be off regarding who lives or dies. This could potentially tie into a Batman Beyond game as well since the circumstances of said death could be what leads to Bruce retiring.
* Confirmed, well depending on your idea of "major" but [[spoiler:Poison Ivy dies]].

After the final battle, Batman will have a talk with Gordon and then Oracle about potentially retiring. He then goes to the Batcave a final time and leaves his Batsuit in the Batcave. He has a conversation with Alfred, with Alfred asking if he will be Bruce Wayne or still Batman. Bruce walks away saying that he was always both, and always will be. It'd nice a nice (if a little predictable) ending.
* Confirmed

* Confirmed. [[spoiler:He's working on a top-secret mission at Parnessa Studios and out of action for most of the game]].

* Confirmed


[[WMG:Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy will team up.]]
* It's pretty standard expectation in the comics that whenever the Joker is out of the picture, those two will end up working together. But while the comics tend to make those team-ups relatively light-hearted and positive influence for the characters, the game will [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstruct]] this plotline, as they've generally done with Harley's personality so far. This time it's going to be two violent misanthropes feeding into each other's psychosis and becoming even more dangerous and imbalanced than they would be on their own.
** It's also possible that Ivy and Harley will become an OfficialCouple now that the Joker is out of the piture, (hopefully for good). It would be nice to see Harley finally moving on with her life and to see her in a relationship with quite possibly the only person that gives a damn about her rather then her just obsessing over Joker for the rest of her life.

* Confirmed


[[WMG:Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy will team up.]]
* It's pretty standard expectation in the comics that whenever the Joker is out of the picture, those two will end up working together. But while the comics tend to make those team-ups relatively light-hearted and positive influence for the characters, the game will [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstruct]] this plotline, as they've generally done with Harley's personality so far. This time it's going to be two violent misanthropes feeding into each other's psychosis and becoming even more dangerous and imbalanced than they would be on their own.
** It's also possible that Ivy and Harley will become an OfficialCouple now that the Joker is out of the piture, (hopefully for good). It would be nice to see Harley finally moving on with her life and to see her in a relationship with quite possibly the only person that gives a damn about her rather then her just obsessing over Joker for the rest of her life.

With the addition of a Fear Takedown mechanic, ways to utilize it beyond catching the first few people in an encounter by surprise will be addressed; For instance, using Scarecrow's very own toxin to tip the scales. Slap a armor upgrade that makes you largely immune to your own toxin and boom, battles that would be difficult are turned into a Fear Takedown combo of legendary proportions with a well placed grenade of the stuff.
* Confirmed, apparently [[spoiler:in the GoldenEnding finale where a new Batman arrives at the Gotham skyline]].

* Confirmed but not as you think, [[spoiler:Johnny Charisma is infected by Joker's blood transfusion and it creates a rare disease where he's slowly becoming a Joker clone along with four other victims]].

* Revenger's Tragedy is about a man who wants to avenge his father's death and undertakes elaborate disguises to force his enemies into killing each other via several BatmanGambit. It's hard to apply that to any single Batman character or Batman himself but the play ends with the hero confessing his crime to the authority and turning himself in. Maybe Arkham Knight will have Batman finally being forced to kill and so turn himself in to Gordon. The whole plot of Revenger's Tragedy, elaborate vengeance plans, using multiple characters and villains to turn on each other, kind of fits the modus operandi of...Hush
* Confirmed. [[spoiler:Jason Todd takes the disguise of Arkham Knight and together with Scarecrow tries to force Batman into killing or making him believe that his allies are dead and at the end, Batman is forced to turn in his identity to the world and kill himself and/or go underground]].

If this is in fact the final game in this storyline.
* Confirmed

[[folder:Tossed]]

[[WMG: The Scarecrow seen in the trailor isn't Dr. Crane but infact the Arkham Knight.]]

* Tossed by the E3 trailer, which gives us a [[NightmareFuel clear look]] at Scarecrow.

* Tossed since ''Arkham City''.

[[WMG:The identity of the Arkham Knight]]

* Thomas Wayne. He is either from another dimension or resurrected via the Lazarus pits. he'll just be like his Flashpoint incaration: a darker Batman willing to kill and use firearms.

* Hush. Consider what we know about the Arkham Knight: 1) He's got more than a passing connection to Arkham Asylum, 2) he's fixated on Batman to the point where he dresses like him, and 3) he has access to technology on par with billionaire Bruce Wayne. Now look at Hush: 1) he worked at Arkham Asylum in the Arkham-verse, 2) he has an IJustWantToBeYou obsession with Bruce Wayne, and 3) he inherited a great deal of wealth. Although in his previous appearances in the Arkham games he is unaware Bruce Wayne is Batman, it's possible he's since found out (in the comics, the Riddler told him... after a dip in a Lazarus Pit... one of which we just saw in Arkham City). It makes perfect sense that a man so obsessed with becoming Bruce Wayne would also try to become Batman if he knew they were one-and-the-same. Hell, he's known as Hush and the Arkham Knight carries a ''silenced'' pistol!

* My vote: Quincy Sharp, perhaps physically augmented by a version of Titan or TN1. He was always the one obsessed with cleansing Gotham by assuming the mantle of Amadeus Arkham. Given his goals and the means he's used to pursue them over the course of the three previous games, becoming an "Arkham Knight" might be the next logical step.

** Tossed. Jason will be DLC as the Red Hood. [[spoiler:And confirmed. He is ''both'' the Arkham Knight and Red Hood in the game proper; his DLC will probably be a supplemental material.]]

* A hallucination that Batman sees under the influence of Fear Toxin. He is Batman's greatest fear: him as a sociopathic vigilante killer.
* Really? Nobody thinks it could be the Joker? I mean, it's not like they haven't pulled a bait and switch like this before...
** Being an "Arkham Knight" isn't his style. The future Joker in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' shows that even if he comes back somehow, he'll still be a Joker and a crazy show-off who's going to want a public. Wearing a crazy powered Batsuit and attacking Batman in hiding isn't like him. The Black Mask shtick in ''Arkham Origins'' shows that he's still a LargeHam even when he's trying to be disguised. They could still do it, but it's such a stretch. Even aside from the song-and-dance they made about his death. We actually saw his body this time.
** It doesn't matter if we saw a body or not, we saw things connected to Cadmus labs in Harley Quinn's Revenge, besides, remember how they made this big hulaballoo about how Black Mask was hiring assassins to kill Batman? It's totally plausible, after all, the Joker could just use the "Arkham Knight" Persona for the first few hours of the game, not really making an appearance until he shows up, takes of the Arkham Knight gear and reveals himself, hell, they wouldn't even necessarily need Mark Hamil back, because he could just be a younger clone made by Cadmus.

* Hugo Strange. Guy already wants to be Batman and has his own batsuit. Yes, it looked very much like he died in ArkhamCity, but they NeverFoundTheBody.

* James Gordon Jr. He becomes jealous that Batman has a closer relation to his family than him, and decides to become a vigilante as well for the attention.

* The dead body of the Joker being reanimated into a living cyber mechanical Bat- suit.

* Protocol 11. That couldn't have been a mere self destruct mechanism.

* A mercenary hired by the Riddler. Throughout the previous games, the Riddler has been using the various puzzles and challenges to gather info on the way Batman thinks, acts and fights, along with what gear he's likely to have access to, all so he can train someone to finally stop the Bat, all to prove himself better than Batman. He's hire a merc than than training himself because a) he considers brawling beneath him and b) he just ain't that badass. He's hired someone from outside the normal Gotham circles to reduce the risk of Batman having some info on the guy that could give him an advantage. The race-track bits of this game are his attempt to get info on the Batmobile so that it won't be Batman's trump card in the big showdown.

* Talia Al Ghul. Yes, she died at the end of ''City'', but in the Knight's appearance in the Ace Chemicals trailer, their speech patterns were similar in being slightly stilted, as if English wasn't their first language. One working Lazurus Pit and it's usual dose of Crazy would be enough to get her going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge for Bruce tricking her about taking Ras' place in ''Arkham City'' and getting her killed by the Joker.

* Cyrus Pinkney. He started off with faking his death, and assassinating Copplepot afterwards. Then he becomes the Arkham Knight and extends his lifetime.

** Tossed, he survives the game.

[[WMG:Arkham Knight is not from the present...]]
He's either an AlternateUniverse Batman trying to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong or he's Terry [=McGinnis=] trying to avert a BadFuture who's travelling back in time...

[[folder:Tossed II]]

* Scarecrow looks off, with pale eyes and a corpse like appearance, he looks like he had facial reconstructive surgery...now who do we know is a plastic surgeon who knows Scarecrow(Like say they both worked in Arkham) and in the comics had an association with him. [[spoiler:Hush]]
** Not quite. Look really close at him mouth when he's talking in the trailer. I know it's not a pleasant experience, but bear with me. You can see normal teeth moving ''behind'' that really disgusting jaw with its gross teeth. It's another part of his mask. A really, really gross part of his mask, but still a mask. Doesn't explain the eyes, though. Contact lenses?
* Tossed on the first part.

* Tossed [[spoiler:A mutated Killer Croc does show up in Scarecrow's final vision however]].

[[WMG:The Arkham Knight isn't real.]]

* Tossed

[[WMG:The Cluemaster will have a side mission, and Stephanie Brown will be involved in stopping him]]

** Tossed on both counts.

[[WMG:David Cain and/or Shiva will appear, and Cassandra Cain will be involved in stopping them]]

* Tossed

[[WMG: The playable Batman is actually Hush, and the Arkham Knight is Bruce Wayne.]]
Batman takes an emotional hit from Joker's death, having lost a part of himself (even if he doesn't want to admit it). So he admits himself into Arkham Asylum to get treatment for this drastic change in his life. To fill in the vacuum, Hush (having already adopted Bruce's identity) takes up the mantle, and gets his revenge by trying to be a more efficient Batman. He get's a little out of hand (a la Knightfall), and Bruce has to don the armor that Hugo Strange had lying around, break out of Arkham, and bring him down.
* Tossed

[[WMG:The game will end with [[BookEnds Batman driving the villain to Arkham Asylum]].]]

* Tossed [[spoiler:Arkham Asylum is the final location of the conflict and Scarecrow wheels Batman in on the gurney]].

Batman, still using his Arkham City gear, will go through a tutorial mission as he investigates some strange activity. He gets ambushed by the Arkham Knight and the combined forces of his rogues gallery, getting his ass kicked and barely escaping with his life. Shortly afterwards, Scarecrow calls in his bomb threat and forces Gotham to evacuate. This is what prompts him to switch to his new costume.
* Tossed

[[folder:Pre-Launch]]

** [[spoiler: Confirmed. But as more than a hallucination. He appears as part of Batman's growing insanity due to the Joker blood transfusion.]]

* Two Face and the Penguin might have made a secret alliance with the other villains to defeat each other after they finish Batman. Maybe an epic fight in the crossfire at the end?
* Ra's and Talia aren't dead. Their ninjas revived them. (I know Talia isn't a villain.) Possibly the only villain not in the teamup?
* The Mad Hatter and Deadshot are likely side missions again.
* Man-Bat: hiding in the bat cave and either causing severe damage to it thus Batman won't be able to use it or racing out of the bat cave causing some villians to see where the bat cave is.

[[WMG:The Bruce Wayne we see in the trailer is Hush.]]
Why would Batman who has traversed around Gotham by cape suddenly drive around a car. Obviously, Hush has hijacked Batman's identity and will become a harder, brutal, more efficient Batman. This will be the TomatoInTheMirror moment.
* Arkhamverse Batman has previously been seen driving the Batmobile in the intro cut-scene of Asylum. He doesn't use it during that game because he's confined to Arkham Island for most of it, and it get trashed fairly quickly anyway. Similarly, in City, he's confined to Arkham City for the entire game. Even if he where to call in the Batmobile, it probably wouldn't get passed the perimeter wall or be that useful in the narrow confines of Gotham's slums. Finally in Origins, the Batmobile is only in it's prototype stages (and is seen as such in the Batcave), and Batman makes his way around Gotham via Batwing. It's therefore not out of character for this version of Batman to travel by Batmobile or other vehicles- it's just that the previous games have used scenario's where the Batmobile isn't available or practical.

[[WMG:Scarebeast will be the final boss]]

* The same Scarebeast that bears an odd resemblance to Titan Joker? And was part of a universally hated storyline?

[[WMG:Scarecrow won't actually be the BigBad]]
Whether he's [[HijackedByGanon being controlled by a better-known villain]] or gets [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder stabbed in the back by his own allies]], he won't be the final threat. Whether it's ComicBook/TheJoker, back from the dead to keep up his [[HijackedByGanon perfect track record with this sort of thing]], Hush, or one of the villains who Scarecrow's working with, the Scarecrow will be taken out before the game's climax.

** However, the Scarecrow ''is'' one of the bigger Batman villains. In fact, he is certainly more well-known than Hush � who has, even vanished from the comics for years, while Scarecrow is still there. As for the Joker, let's hope they don't wheel him out again; we don't need to go through another ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins''.

[[WMG:Joker is alive again]]

* Harley Quinn's outfit isn't really any indicator of Joker presence. And, honestly, let's all hope he stays dead. We don't need ''another'' HijackedByGanon plot.

[[WMG:Catwoman will be involved somehow, likely as help.]]
I know this isn't much of a WMG, but it's being billed as the conclusion to the Arkhamverse, and you gotta tie up loose ends. [[Film/TheDarkKnightRises Also who else would he retire with?]] Unless they go the route of the dcau...

[[WMG:The Cluemaster will have a side mission, and Stephanie Brown will be involved in stopping him]]

[[WMG:David Cain and/or Shiva will appear, and Cassandra Cain will be involved in stopping them]]

[[WMG: Side quest villains]]

* '''Calendar Man:''' Also because of Halloween, and last we heard he was still loose.
* '''The Carpenter:''' Because some comic relief wouldn't go amiss.

* '''The Court of Owls:''' In order to promote the success of Batman's ComicBook/TheNew52 series.

** While not confirmed, Mook chatter in ''Arkham City'' suggests he was killed by Penguin's shark. Remember all those bodies floating in the water?

* '''[[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns Bruno]]:''' The incredibly weird Frank Miller creation will show up as part of Arkham Knight's army, an EliteMook or mini boss like the Hammer Twins in City. [[NoSwastikas She'll have swapped out the swastikas pasties for the Arkham logo]].

[[WMG:Harley Quinn is behind Scarecrow, funding his plan as part of a complicated scheme to resurrect ComicBook/TheJoker.]]
* After Arkham City, Harley Quinn obsessively worked to piece together the events of that night. She learns that the mastermind behind everything was really Ra's Al Ghul, who was testing both Batman and Hugo Strange as potential heirs. She learns that Ra's intends his heir to destroy Gotham, hence Strange's protocol 10. She also learns about the Lazurus Pit, which can resurrect the dead. Ergo, she uses the resources and connections she has left to fund Scarecrow's plan as a means of destroying Gotham, with the hope that in so doing she can earn the attention of Ra's Ah Ghul and leverage her ability to carry out his goals to get him to let her immerse Joker in the Lazurus Pit and revive him.

** ''Arkham City: End Game'' which dealt with the aftermath of ''Arkham City'' events is explicitly regarded as canon, and even obliguely referred to in ''Harley Quinn's Revenge''.

*** Ok, even if End Game isn't canon (and it can't be retconned just because you want it to be retconned), there's another problem with that theory: Harley doesn't know where any Lazarus Pit is, except for the one under Gotham, which was destroyed, and she likely knows there is no way in hell Ra's al Ghul would let Joker be revived if he can help it. Really no matter how you slice it, Joker. Is. Dead. And hopefully he'll stay dead. Don't get me wrong; I love the Joker, he's one of my favorite villains in general, but I really want to see what all the other members of Batman's Rogues Gallery are capable when they take their gloves off and work together.

[[WMG:Arkham Knights will open with Batman exploring the ruins of Arkham Asylum]]
* Perhaps to find clues to the identity of the Arkham Knight. It will faithfully reproduce the full explorable map from the first game, perhaps functioning as the "tutorial" level. It would make for both an excellent thematic bookend as well as technical bookend for Rocksteady's series.

[[WMG:If he's in the game, Black Mask will get beaten up or killed by the Arkham Knight]]
He's basically the ButtMonkey of the Arkhamverse and the only game in the franchise in which he was a legimate threat to Batman was ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate''.

* [[spoiler:Confirmed, but in a very different sense. The Arkham Knight (Jason Todd) becomes the Red Hood, fights Black Mask, and kicks him [[DisneyVillainDeath out a window to his demise.]]]]

Previews indicate that Riddler has taken a huge interest in Batman's ride, making specialized Riddle tracks and donning a new mechanic outfit. Riddler's plan is to get Batman to solve his challenges like usual, thus distracting Batman from Riddler's attempted to hack the Batmobile. The sidequest will end with Batman being forced to fight his own car.

Arkham City's interview tapes with Riddler indicated Strange had his own batsuit, but the thing never came into play. It'd only make sense to see it pay off here.

His will to a young Bruce Wayne seems suspect, unless he caused something bad and made enemies with someone who wanted him dead, or some other way he'd come across Joe Chill that night. [[MythologyGag Bonus points if Amanda Waller and/or The Phantasm had anything to do with it]].

** It is slated to be Rocksteady's final game and their GrandFinale for the series, there will be other Batman games from Warner Bros, or other superhero games for sure.

* It could also damage the alliance that the villains have. Going from the last two games' patient interviews, Riddler thinks Batman's just a criminal and Two-face and Penguin don't see Wayne as anything more than a spoiled rich kid. That would rattle pretty badly. If Harley discovers who's under the mask, she could become an ally since she'll think that Batman couldn't have killed Joker because he wouldn't inflict that kind of pain on someone since he knows what it feels like.

[[WMG: A major character will die during the course of the story]]
If the death of The Joker actually sticks then who's to say that all bets won't be off regarding who lives or dies. This could potentially tie into a Batman Beyond game as well since the circumstances of said death could be what leads to Bruce retiring.

from Batman and Joker's DNA. But of course the shit hits the fan.

This would explain why the Arkham Knight wants revenge on Batman, he let someone he cared for die and ruined her reputation. And let everyone think that she was knowing working with the Joker, he told Cash that she was going to give Joker the Titan formula even though she endured at least two hours of torture trying NOT to tell him the formula. I'd say that qualifies as a good motive for revenge. Also this would help explain the ties to Arkham, in addition to reminding Batman of one of his greatest failures, it is also a reminder of Dr. Young who's own Titan Formula was the catalyst that led to the events of both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and ultimately Arkham Knight.

* Imagine this: Scarecrow was testing an upgraded fear gas, and one of the test subjects was deathly afraid of Batman. He became the Arkham Knight to combat this fear, and is now on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his creators.

* A machine created to keep the inmates of Arkham City in check following the events of Arkham Asylum. It looks like Batman. It has skills and abilities similar to Batman. Hell, it's called the Arkham Knight! It's a prison security version of Batman. For some reason it's jacked up and evil here. Bonus points if the Arkham Knight is voiced by Creator/AdamWest.

In an effort to advertise ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'' (probably ExecutiveMeddling, but remember, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad) Bane will be one of the major players against Scarecrow's gang. He and Batman will realize that they need to [[EnemyMine put aside their differences]] just like the bad guys are doing to bring them down.

WordOfGod is that ''Origins'' was created as a filler game to give Rocksteady time to finish ''Knight''. Not wanting to step on Rocksteady's toes, WB Montreal chose to use characters who wouldn't play a huge role in ''Knight''. Which is why the villains in ''Origins'' are largely B-list and C-list characters. Most characters who played a notable role in ''Origins'', like the assassins, will either be regulated to the background or completely absent.

[[WMG: The playable Batman is actually Hush, and the Arkham Knight is Bruce Wayne.]]
Batman takes an emotional hit from Joker's death, having lost a part of himself (even if he doesn't want to admit it). So he admits himself into Arkham Asylum to get treatment for this drastic change in his life. To fill in the vacuum, Hush (having already adopted Bruce's identity) takes up the mantle, and gets his revenge by trying to be a more efficient Batman. He get's a little out of hand (a la Knightfall), and Bruce has to don the armor that Hugo Strange had lying around, break out of Arkham, and bring him down.

[[WMG:The game will end with [[BookEnds Batman driving the villain to Arkham Asylum]].]]

After the final battle, Batman will have a talk with Gordon and then Oracle about potentially retiring. He then goes to the Batcave a final time and leaves his Batsuit in the Batcave. He has a conversation with Alfred, with Alfred asking if he will be Bruce Wayne or still Batman. Bruce walks away saying that he was always both, and always will be. It'd nice a nice (if a little predictable) ending.

Batman, still using his Arkham City gear, will go through a tutorial mission as he investigates some strange activity. He gets ambushed by the Arkham Knight and the combined forces of his rogues gallery, getting his ass kicked and barely escaping with his life. Shortly afterwards, Scarecrow calls in his bomb threat and forces Gotham to evacuate. This is what prompts him to switch to his new costume.

* Scarecrow looks off, with pale eyes and a corpse like appearance, he looks like he had facial reconstructive surgery...now who do we know is a plastic surgeon who knows Scarecrow(Like say they both worked in Arkham) and in the comics had an association with him. [[spoiler:Hush]]
** Not quite. Look really close at him mouth when he's talking in the trailer. I know it's not a pleasant experience, but bear with me. You can see normal teeth moving ''behind'' that really disgusting jaw with its gross teeth. It's another part of his mask. A really, really gross part of his mask, but still a mask. Doesn't explain the eyes, though. Contact lenses?

[[WMG:Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy will team up.]]
* It's pretty standard expectation in the comics that whenever the Joker is out of the picture, those two will end up working together. But while the comics tend to make those team-ups relatively light-hearted and positive influence for the characters, the game will [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstruct]] this plotline, as they've generally done with Harley's personality so far. This time it's going to be two violent misanthropes feeding into each other's psychosis and becoming even more dangerous and imbalanced than they would be on their own.
** It's also possible that Ivy and Harley will become an OfficialCouple now that the Joker is out of the piture, (hopefully for good). It would be nice to see Harley finally moving on with her life and to see her in a relationship with quite possibly the only person that gives a damn about her rather then her just obsessing over Joker for the rest of her life.

[[WMG:Harley's gadgets & abilities in gameplay:]]

[[WMG:The Arkham Knight isn't real.]]

[[WMG: Red Hood will have Joker!Red Hood as a alt skin]]

Because what could possibly be creepier than Kevin Conroy's voice, which ''is'' Batman's voice to thousands of fans, telling the player they have no chance to survive and urging the Mooks on to kill them?

* As well as Black Mask, Maybe Amazo and a return of the Joker. It could always be set before ''City'' and Jason's story doesn't work without Joker.
** Alternatively, the Joker's death is part of the reason Red Hood comes back for revenege; Joker was his kill, and Batman either killed him years after Jason's death (circumstantial evidence could point towards this as Jason's deduction) or allowed him to die of somewhat natural causes.

[[WMG: At some point, Batman will need help, at which point TheCavalry will arrive.]]
Toy previews indicate Robin will be in the game, Red Hood's confirmed, and as the last Rocksteady game for the series, displaying all three Robins for a action scene would rock! Add is Catwoman as well for some fun.

* There's a couple of problems with that theory. Correct me if I wrong, but in order to bring someone back from the dead using a Lazarus Pit, you first need to have their corpse, and according to the tie-in comic, Arkham Endgame, Joker's body was cremated. Secondly even if it wasn't, the only Lazarus Pit in Gotham was destroyed at the end of Arkham City, and while their are likely more Pits around the globe, Harley wouldn't know where they are.

If the Joker will in fact stay dead once and for all, then it is likely that other members of the rogues gallery will get a similar fate.

However it's very unlikely that he would do this on purpose. He might accidentally kill someone, and this mistake would haunt him.

As leading in from the examples and theories above, if the Knight is encountered in places that no-one else can see him in, or situations in which he only interacts with B-Man, consider this- The Knight ''isn't real''.

It's been mentioned several times in the Arkhamverse TV Tropes pages that Batman has developed an Ego, whether or not he realizes it. He never calls in extra equipment until he absolutely '''needs''' it, will shrug off any people helping him, and makes several aggressive comments towards others who doubt his skills. In Arkham Asylum, Batman's hallucinations from Scarecrow became much more complex as the game went further- First, his parents coming back to life and disliking his life choices/ his failure to save people, Second, the reenactment of that faithful day when his parents were murdered, and Third, perhaps the most telling of all- the fear that Batman is just as crazy as the inmates of the Asylum.

This fear is expanded in the ''City'', where the evidence of an Ego comes into play more often in the story, most notably with the Mad Hatter sidequest. Batman sees what he wants most to see- not his parents alive or a crime-free Gotham- a cure to the sickness inflicting him. Something that will allow him to save Gotham ''himself'', and allow him to keep fighting. In the post-game DLC, ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'', Batman realizes that he has an ego, and it begins to sink in. His actions at the end of ''City'' have rocked him to his core, and he realizes that perhaps killing the Joker and breaking his vow of non-lethality ''' ''is the best way to go about things'' '''. It's evident that somewhere, deep down, Batman fears this '''greatly''', and that his new biggest fear isn't the insane lunatics running around the city- it's the fear that one day, Bruce may be pushed over the edge and decide to kill, and he fears that if he comes to that point he can never, ever come back from it. The Knight symbolizes this in his design- no face, to show no signs of humanity, harsh, evil looking armor to be imposing, and use of guns as lethal weapons.

'''TL;DR: My theory is that the whole city is already under the affects of the fear gas, and that Bruce is hallucinating his greatest fear of becoming a remorseless killer imposed into the Arkham Knight. The Arkham Knight is a new character- because he's a representation of Bruce's subconscious, something that's never been done in a Batman story before this.'''

Crane's not gonna use his standard fear gas on Gotham--Batman is already familiar with it and has shown he can resist the effects. So he'll be using a new compound and dispersing it through the air. Batman will need a way to cure both himself and several other people (perhaps a side mission of finding the various people affected by it). Victor has filtered air in his suit, as stated by his pre-''City'' comic, so he has no reason to make a cure for himself. However, Nora will have been cured before the events of the game, likely living apart from him as he's a criminal and she's still recuperating from any lingering effects of her illness. Batman will stumble upon a crime scene where Victor had to kidnap Nora (as she'd be so loopy on fear gas that he'd likely look like an ice monster of some kind), and follow the trail back to Freeze's lab where he's synthesizing a cure for her. Batman will then either steal it or ask for it, depending on whether their relationship improved or fell back out of favor between this and ''City''.

All of the "unmanned" vehicles that Batman will fight in the Batmobile actually have people inside, and thus the Arkham Knight will hope to break Batman's spirit by essentially tricking him into committing mass murder.

If this is in fact the final game in this storyline.

** [[spoiler:The Arkham Knight.]]

* [[spoiler: Confirmed, sort of. Batman finally triumphs Joker taking over his body by sending him back to where he belongs... Arkham Asylum.]]

Batman may be captured or otherwise incapacitated at some point and Freeze, owing Batman a debt of gratitude for helping him during Arkham City, will come to his rescue. It would be an [[UnexpectedGameplayChange unexpected, yet thoroughly awesome gameplay change,]] dispatching mooks with his own unique gadgets, his suit's super strength, and of course with his freeze gun.

With Red Hood/Jason confirmed and given that Robin, a DLC character, showed up in City, it's probable that Jason is going to show up in Gotham at one point. Probably say something like "I'd say you finally offed the clown... but that's not your style. But for all your failings, I'm not letting you do this alone." Completely missing the point, but still. In addition, here are the other allies I think will show up who are going to be more on Batman's side.

* The Suicide Squad. Waller isn't going to try to kill Batman. Probably will comment that it's better in the short run, but long term Gotham is more stable with him. This is where Deathstroke will make a reappearance. Maybe even mix in other caught villains. Probably Killer Croc will be here if he was caught after City, along with Firefly, Copperhead and anyone else they want out of Origins.

* The Joker. They have actually worked together on several occasions. They make a pretty good team. Both are dangerous and resourceful. The only one who can really stop the other is each other and he doesn't like it when [[TheOnlyOneAllowedtoDefeatYou other people does his work]]. His survival doesn't need any [[JokerImmunity explanation]].

As for why he's working with the supercriminals; it's a temporary Enemy Mine, Scarecrow and the rest have no idea the Arkham Knight has any connections to Quincy Sharp. Once enough events have transpired in the game (such as Batman taking out Scarecrow), the Arkham Knight will make his real move to wipe out Batman and as many criminals as possible. It would also be a suitable insult to the League of Shadows (who Sharp also begrudges for controlling him all the way from Arkham Origins), the Arkham Knight achieving what they could not with Hugo Strange's Arkham City.

** TheBrute: Two Face and Firefly

With the addition of a Fear Takedown mechanic, ways to utilize it beyond catching the first few people in an encounter by surprise will be addressed; For instance, using Scarecrow's very own toxin to tip the scales. Slap a armor upgrade that makes you largely immune to your own toxin and boom, battles that would be difficult are turned into a Fear Takedown combo of legendary proportions with a well placed grenade of the stuff.

[[WMG: Batman actually misses the Joker.]]

After Batman defeats Calyface in Arkham City and takes the cure, we cut to Joker standing right over the Lazarus Pit. When Batman throws his sword at the Joker's perch, causing the explosion, the Joker most likely fell into the Lazarus Pit, where Clayface was already mixing with the substance of the pit. So what if Joker fell in, and somehow became amalgamated with Clayface? This Joker/Clayface fusion then decided to fake his death by creating a fake copy of himself to fake out Batman with. After all, Clayface has already demonstrated the ability to create and control doubles of himself, and we've already seen Clayface fooling Batman's vaunted Detective Vision when the need arises. Furthermore, in the comics, it has been demonstrated that the Lazarus Pit has the ability to make Joker "temporarily" sane. Combine this with whatever happened when he was fused with Clayface, and...who knows what could happen?

* Revenger's Tragedy is about a man who wants to avenge his father's death and undertakes elaborate disguises to force his enemies into killing each other via several BatmanGambit. It's hard to apply that to any single Batman character or Batman himself but the play ends with the hero confessing his crime to the authority and turning himself in. Maybe Arkham Knight will have Batman finally being forced to kill and so turn himself in to Gordon. The whole plot of Revenger's Tragedy, elaborate vengeance plans, using multiple characters and villains to turn on each other, kind of fits the modus operandi of...Hush

In the final battle, [[WhereItAllBegan Batman and the Arkham Knight will square off in the Ace Chemicals building]], a battle that ends with Batman knocking the Arkham Knight into a vat of chemicals. After the credits, we see [[HereWeGoAgain the Knight crawl out of a drain pipe and rip off his mask to reveal a Joker-like face, laughing manically.]]

* Besides making Arkham Knight a new joker or threat is the very opposite of Arkham Knight being the GrandFinale of the series. Its providing another SequelHook. Rocksteady want this to be their grand finale paving the way for someone else to reboot it.

[[WMG: The Arkham Knight is actually the UnintentionalBackupPlan of Hugo Strange.]]
Strange wanted to create his own version of Batman; a personal enforcer that would police his Arkham Cities for him. For whatever reason, Strange decided not to use the Arkham Knight for Gotham. (Either because the Knight wasn't ready yet, Strange's own perfectionism, or Ra's pressuring Strange to hurry up.) Seeing Strange as a father figure, the Knight blames Batman for Strange's death and seeks to complete Strange's work. It also fits with the Revenger's Tragedy motif that everyone's speculating about.

[[WMG: Any future games will be about a player-controlled vigilante trained by Batman, now that [[spoiler:Batman's been forced into retirement.]]]]
After having to [[spoiler:give up the cowl due to Crane's act of {{Magnificent Bastard}}y]], he quietly turns said [[spoiler:supervillain psychologist's]] tactics around on him and starts training successors who aren't as fatigued and embittered as he is, both for people who may not be as self-destructive as he ended up being, and to stop the [[spoiler:supervillains celebrating his retirement as [[VillainWorld supervillains do]].]] Hence, you, perhaps dealing with your own personal rogues à la [[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor Nemesis Uruks]].

Similar to the above WMG, it will be in the future with the Arkhamverse version of Terry [=McGinniss=] and his tutelage under [[spoiler:the retired and believed-to-be-dead Bruce Wayne.]]

With Azrael's insistence that he is fit to replace Batman, [[spoiler:Bruce Wayne being forced to go into hiding, thus preventing him from acting as Batman, and the presence of a new, more vicious Batman]], this really does seem to be the direction the next game will go in.

[[ComicBooks/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon.]] Think about it. She's shaping up to be a major player in the game, what with the DLC and all. Her portrayal is a lot more vicious and awesome looking, and throughout the series Oracle has had considerably less concern for the welfare of villains than Bruce did. As for the legs, Barbara got a neural implant to take care of those in the comics, and while she also felt bad about getting treatment that others couldn't afford, the prospect of [[spoiler: Gotham's supervillains running amok without anyone on their level to oppose them]] would likely convince her to get the operation anyway. She could also get a specialized suit, a la [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], or pilot a humanoid drone.

* Kate Kane, who figures she owes it to Bruce's memory, and to make amends for having been too distracted by her wedding plans to come help out during the Halloween crisis.

* [[StrangerBehindTheMask Someone completely new.]] He's a random person who was inspired by Batman, but has no prior connection to the Dark Knight, the Bat family, or their enemies. Unlike Batman, he isn't a BadassNormal, instead he's a metahuman with powerful psychic abilities.

** 0_0...replete with a KarmaMeter depending on the choices you make and how you play. Heck it's already been established that Star City was one of the locations for a future Arkham, maybe now that The Dark Knight has gone into hiding this could well be on the cards. Picture it:
-->Oswald Cobblepot, '''you have failed this city!'''

[[WMG:Scarecrow's going to die or at least suffer horribly for what happened]]
I mean, the man released a chemical agent on ''a major city'', and chances are likely good that hundreds, if not thousands, of people died during it--and he planned to make it much worse, considering it was originally supposed to cover the Eastern seaboard. That's something the federal government doesn't take lightly and there's no way in hell they're going to let that slide and whatever they and the courts will do, they'll make Crane wish he was back in Arkham. Or, at the very least, there's probably some cops and/or citizens who are going to try something before or during his trial.
** Confirmed. [[spoiler: Batman injects Scarecrow with his own fear toxin, overriding his natural immunity to it and apparently driving him permanently insane, though his final fate is unknown.]]

* Pin the blame on Hush, saying his obsession with Bruce somehow led to an obsession with Batman, and was manipulated by Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight. It's not like the cops can say that they followed Batman every step of the way to Arkham.
* Introduce the Justice League, sans Batman of course, thwarting a combination global data/mind control plan that somehow wipes the knowledge from the Internet and people's minds, even compelling people to destroy whatever copies they might have.

There's still plenty of wiggle room there if they wanted another game in the franchise, and plenty of time where the game could be set.

** I'd say this is very likely since a lot of people are disappointed at this game. Plus WB Monteal have confirmed that they are working on two DC games.
*** A great number of people are in love with this game too. The problem with the Interquel though is that after introducing the Batmobile, NothingIsTheSameAnymore. The Batmobile in the game is an upgraded prototype. So they can't introduce anything like it in earlier games and still expect it to remain in the same continuity. Likewise a lot of other upgrades like Batman's Fear Takedowns come because of a suit in this game and its not something he has done before, so gameplay-wise WB Montreal are in a bind. They can't logically introduce the upgrades of this game, they can still go ahead and do it but it wouldn't be canon. Mostly they'll be stuck doing Arkham City clones in Next-Gen.

** [[spoiler: Alternate explanation: He actually killed himself. His mental victory over Joker was only temporary, and he knew that he would permanently transform within a few hours. So he sacrificed himself to save the world from the Bat-Joker that would have otherwise emerged. (Though this would be super-dark and thus it's probably not canon)]]

** Harley seems very unlikely since [[spoiler: she was locked in a cell at the movie studios and didn't have access to a television when Bruce was unmasked, so unless Henry overheard something and told her (which wouldn't be difficult since Bruce and Tim call each other by their real names within earshot of the infected), she probably doesn't know his identity to blow up his house.]]

* James Gordon Jr. (Is there any other possible guess? If they had revealed which Batgirl it was but not given that subtitle, it could have been anyone and if they had revealed the subtitle, but not which Batgirl it actually was, it would have narrowed it down to one of four choices. But since they revealed both, it's pretty freaking obvious this is their chosen villain.)
** The achievements are out and its pretty clear that Joker is the villain. There are newspaper clippings in the clocktower about Batgirl saving Gordon's life from the Joker in some NoodleIncident. I think this will be it, and it will end with Joker paying a visit to the Gordons and crippling Babs.

* On the table in front of the person the cop confronts, there is an 'A' scratched into the table, possibly an unfinished Anarky tag? They are also wearing a red hooded coat, much like Anarky did in Origins. Mook chatter in-game states that Anarky is still active and that it's unusual for him to not take advantage of this kind of chaos, and you can find his tags all over Gotham. Given what Anarky was up to in Origins, Scarecrow could have easily convinced him to use the toxin in the diner, probably by dressing it up as a sabotage mission against the authorities. Maybe he carried out the attack, and died or was hospitalised because of it, which is why he is absent?

* That's assuming he really died and didn't fake his death.

[[WMG: Batman has actually broken [[ThouShaltNotKill his one rule]] with [[CoolCar The Batmobile]] and has managed to trick himself into believing he's still following it.]]
Let's face it: this version of Batman's a few more breakdowns away from being an [[PoesLaw intentional]] [[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder Crazy Steve]]. He's lied to and manipulated everyone he loves, maintaining that he works alone while still admitting that he needs their help. He also realizes that he's facing an army, and knows that taking down the Arkham Knight's forces and Scarecrow without killing would be next to impossible. His solution? Make a CoolCar that does all the killing for him, with extras bells and whistles and fancy names like "Immobilizer missiles" to convince him that he's still following the honour code he's sworn by for decades.

Some part of him realizes what he's doing is wrong and secretly tries to manipulate the night's events to end with [[spoiler: his death and Azrael taking up the Batman legacy.]] Eventually, after an entire night of murder-by-proxy, [[spoiler: his own conscience becomes disgusted with what he's done and Spirit!Joker forces him to drive the Jokermobile, with the exact same controls, only now you're firing live rounds and killing people, showing him once and for all exactly what type of damage he's doing]].

[[WMG:Riddler's credibility will be damaged forever after the events of the game]]

** Riddler never had credibility to begin with. None of the other Rogues or Batman himself ever took him seriously.

Almost a given. When you inspect Bane's evidence case, Cash's recording says that he's probably off getting clean somewhere, and won't be happy when he gets back. If Bane actually ends up kicking his Titan/Venom/whatever addiction like he did in the comics, this may mean that we'll see a return of his more strategic and cunning side.

* 2. It would be strange for Batman to [[spoiler:hallucinate a completely different appearance to when he last saw him in Arkham City.]]
* 3. There's a lot of largely vacant underground areas within the Gotham map area. Many of them could be used for a showdown with Croc.

Since many people remarked that Azrael reminds them of an Assassin he could be one. Alternatively, his uniform somewhat looks like some of the knights in the first AC and the Order of Saint Dumas is said to have been created in the 11th century IIRc so he could be a Templar.

The "freak from Metropolis" is mentioned for the first time in this game. Since a big theme of the game is Batman PassingTheTorch to a better kind of crimefighter, maybe Superman was only spurred to go public after the events of Arkham City. Now that he's around to [[spoiler:temper the replacement Batman's impulses]], the future of the Arkhamverse is looking bright, thanks to Batman.

Hiring the Arkham Knight cost them three '''billion''' dollars. That's probably most or all of their cash reserves. And there's no way to get that money back, because it was all spent before the attack began, on hiring, training, and equipping the militia. All of the money of every rogue to buy into Scarecrow's plan is now lying in scraps of metal and circuitry scattered across the city after the drones they bought with it were blown up by the Batmotank. That means that they're short on money to buy henchmen, weapons, cops, city officials, juries and prison guards. And since the criminals of Gotham can no longer afford to buy their way out of jail, Gotham has an opportunity to seriously clean itself up for the first time in years.
** In addition, they just funded a foreign power's invasion, occupation, and attempt at wide-scale terrorism of the United States. I'm not too clear on my law, but I'm pretty sure that's treason. Insanity plea be damned, that's life imprisonment in federal lock-up at least, and the non-insane ones like Penguin may be executed.

[[WMG: Joker really did kill [[spoiler:Jason Todd, and was resurrected by Ra's al Ghul.]]]]
[[spoiler:Once the Arkham Knight reveals his identity, Hallucination!Joker suddenly claims he didn't really kill Jason after all; however, as the Joker is in Bruce's mind, he is only able to provide information that Bruce himself is aware of. Given that Bruce saw the tape of Jason getting shot, which seems a valid enough reason to believe someone's dead, he likely came to the conclusion that Joker had simply lied about killing him. But nonetheless, it's highly unlikely Joker would have secretly left Jason alive. Plus, if Arkham City's throwaway reference to Jason is anything to go by, Joker himself believes Jason to be dead. So, as with Under the Red Hood, Ra's al Ghul restores Jason to life with the Lazarus Pit. It's entirely possible that he himself then set Jason on the path to becoming the Arkham Knight; possibly funding an army for him to train and to manufacture drone tanks. Given that Ra's al Ghul is set to appear in The Season of Infamy DLC, this may shed some light on a possible role he had in Jason's rise to power.]]
* [[spoiler: Seeing as both sides of the conflict in "Shadow War" make no comment about the Arkham Knight, let alone have any ties to him, I'd say {{Tossed}}. It's highly probable that the Joker did fake Jason's death.]]

[[WMG: When Barbara seemed to kill herself, that was actually Clayface.]]

** Most likely {{Tossed}}. If you look closely at the table with the gun on it Hallucination!Joker is able to move the gun so unless Clayface is a telepath and was impersonating Hallucination!Joker as well, nothing we saw was real.

* Better yet, Deacon Blackfire will ask Deadshot to kill Ryder for being "the one that got away": a service for which Floyd will, for above reasons, charge a net fee of $1.00. (Plus expenses, mind you; he's a merc after all.)

** [[spoiler: {{Tossed}}. Beating the "Season of Infamy" DLC does nothing to the overall ending. The only thing beating everything, including "Season of Infamy" in both the original game and New Game Plus does is unlock a Batsuit with a yellow bat-symbol.]]

[[WMG: Arkham Knight will get his own DLC]]

** Tossed. One of the launch DLC's shows that he becomes Red Hood, not Nightmare Batman. All of the DLC is out now and none of the others feature him.

* With gameplay based on [[spoiler: the finale of this game, where you play as Joker]], it'll be a prequel set some time before ''Asylum'', where Joker breaks out of Arkham, and wielding a shotgun similar to the one in [[spoiler: ''Arkham Knight'']], you roam around the asylum in a First-Person view, killing guards and recruiting inmates, and having boss battles with the [[HeroAntagonist Bat family]], which will also show what it's like to be one of the bad guys being hunted in the Predator Rooms, with you having to attack in a specific way when they come out of the shadows, like avoiding Nightwing's Electrical Blasts and then attacking him, or shooting Batman or Robin while they're in mid-glide.

** Unfortunately, {{Tossed}}.

* That would explain why she's a much paler green than the first two games and she seems calm instead of a human-hating maniac. [[spoiler: She's already dying and has made peace with that, and willing to sacrifice of whats left of her life to save Gotham's plantlife.]]

* Bat-Mite is not be okay with the new Batman so he takes Bruce before he blows up the mansion and makes him fight all of his villains over and over again in a different dimension and then turns old/new campy villains into maniacs and killers so Bruce can still be the hero Bat-Mite loves.

So during one of the DLC missions you have to decide if you should or should not save [[spoiler: ra's al ghul who's barely alive in a hidden back area of a hospital.]] To track down the substance he neads Bruce sets some of his tech up to scan for [[spoiler: trace amounts of Lazarus particles in the water that would indicate another Lazarus pit.]] Suddenly everything about Gotham, Batman, and the whole damn story makes sense! [[spoiler: If there are noticeable traces of the Lazarus pits liquid in the water supply basically all the water in Gotham is contaminated with the stuff that makes you incredibly durable and insane, everyone in Gotham from the lowliest goons to the super powered freaks has been drinking it. Sure it's only trace amounts but it explains how every common criminal in the city can get beaten into unconsciousness on a regular basis and come out for it otherwise fine. The Joker, Killer Croc, even Scarecrow have all spent a fairly significant amount of time in that water as well from the Joker and Scarecrow both being flushed through the sewer system at least once and Croc basically living there. Even Batman, him and his parents lived on the uppercrust of Gotham where it's likely purified water was the norm so they didn't get the effects, then both his parents die and little Bruce spent a solid few hours roaming around in the contaminate rainwater and overflowing storm drains, followed by years spent in a moist cave under his house building a high tech lair.]]

** "It was the performance of a lifetime!" He shows great relish in impersonating the Joker, causing the illusion that the criminal was rejuvenated, and would cheat death yet again. His second game over taunt: "Next, I will become YOU, Batman!" If Karlo could convincingly mimic Joker, and was proud of his acting ability, then certainly acting as [[spoiler: Batman after his "death"]] would seem a worthy follow up.

* Dick continues to operate as Nightwing (or assumes the Batmantle, who knows) but to continue living an ordinary life, he abandons his civilian identity in favor of police officer [[Film/TheDarkKnightRises John Blake]].

** Alternatively, Riddler comes back as a crime boss, with bigger and badder riddles and bothers another superhero, mentioning a backer who recognizes his genius. [[spoiler:Turns out he's backed by Brainiac, who's using him as a distraction.]]
* Harley quits being a criminal, takes up roller derby, gets a bunch of roommates and moves to New York with them. (Essentially the general premise of the 2016 Harley Quinn comic line). Alternatively, she joins Task Force X a few months after the events of the game.

* Numerous twisted gangs rise up emulating the Joker. They are not given much respect by anyone, and often fail miserably.

** He eventually winds up in Metropolis, having become a force of destruction no human could ever hope to fight......and then he gets [[CurbStompBattle curb stomped]] by Superman. Croc's mutation then gives him super human intellect, as a straight up physical fight with Superman would be suicide, and uses it to become Metropolis's premier crime boss.


[[WMG: Many people that was still in Gotham during Arkham Knight who breathe in the Cloudburst and survived will turn crazy, or go even crazier, and become dramatic criminals, may even become some of Batman's more obscure villains or some of his newer villains.]]

Come on, he demonstrates quite clearly in ''Origins'' that he will not beg for his life even when he's tied up and totally at the mercy of a deranged lunatic. Or even Batman! ''And'' in the same game it's mentioned that he's paranoid enough to utilize body doubles. The obvious conclusion is that it was not him that died.

** Black Mask has been through much worse. In Origins he was forced to MercyKill his girlfriend, got abducted, tortured, brutally beaten up by the Joker for not “playing along“, beaten up by Batman during an interrogation and finally got knocked-out in a fight with Batman. If his heart was able to handle all this, another fight with a masked vigilante shouldn’t be an issue.

Batman assumes, when his initial administration of the antidote didn't seem to work, that Man-Bat merely needed a second dose. But at the time, he had no idea that there were ''two'' bat-infected Langstroms flying around the skies of Gotham. Very shortly after Batman had left Kirk's basement laboratory, Francine revived from a death-like catatonic state and transformed into an identical-looking human/bat hybrid. Batman administered the first injection to her, and the second to her husband, thus curing them both. He only failed to realize this because Francine managed to slip loose and fly away after receiving her dose of the antidote, unlike Kirk whom Batman had already subdued once before, and who was still recuperating from being brought down the first time, so wasn't as agile and elusive as his wife. Assuming she wasn't in midair when she changed back so she wouldn't die from falling, Francine will have recovered soon after receiving her shot. And on 364 days out of 365, there's no basis in the games' continuity to assume the cure wasn't permanent.

[[WMG: Deathstroke and Firefly were last minute additions to the game in order to connect to ''Arkham Origins'']]
Due to how much FanonDiscontinuity was thrown at ''Arkham Origins'', Warner Bros. ordered Rocksteady to references ''Arkham Origins'', with Firefly and Deathstroke being two of them. This would certainly explain why these two had such lackluster encounters and why Deathstroke has the same outfit (as awesome as it looks, it's highly unlikely that Slade would have kept the same suit for ten years without upgrading it. Even Darth Vader's suit was altered over time).

Back in Asylum during the predator room before the Bane boss fight Joker sarcastically says that Batman can have Harley if he catches her, stating that he could use a new sidekick, implying a recent vacancy. Originally this was a clear Jason Todd reference, however Jason's back story in Knight makes this line make no sense, firstly we know that Jason was trapped in Arkham for over a year, and according to the comics he escaped during the chaos. Secondly we know that some time fairly recently into the time he was captured Tim Drake became Robin. We also know that [[note]]To crowbar more Tim/Barbra down our throats[[/note]] Tim was Robin during Matter of Family which means that logically, Matter of Family and Asylum have to have happened within a year of each other.

[[WMG: Gordon didn't actually visit the movie studios]]
It seems odd that Gordon would allow Batman to intern the Joker infected in a privately owned Black Site without any major protest or even a reference to it later. It stands to reason that the scene may actually have been a hallucination to provide context, perhaps displaying Gordon as a representation of Batman's conscience addressing the idea that he's going too far by keeping Henry locked up. This idea could also tie into locking [[spoiler:Tim]] up; learning that Henry [[spoiler:''was'' as Joker as the others]] convinced Bruce he hadn't crossed the line and was still justified in his actions.
* {{Tossed}}: Oracle mentions [[spoiler:Scarecrow using Gordon's voice print to enter the studios and capture Tim]], confirming that Gordon had indeed visited beforehand.
** OP Technically all that proves is that Gordon's voice was keyed into the Batcomputer, it doesn't necessarily mean he's actually been to the movie studios.

[[WMG: [[spoiler:Harleen will ultimately reclaim her mind from Harley]]]]
In the [[spoiler: Harley Quinn]] DLC when you use [[spoiler:Harley's]] equivalent of Detective Vision for extended periods of time the player can hear [[spoiler:Harley arguing with a version of Harleen who isn't insane]] while it's possible it was always there the implication is that the persona of [[spoiler:Harleen]] has started to re-emerge since Joker's death. Throughout the DLC [[spoiler:Harley repeatedly shuts down Harleen]] but since then [[spoiler:Harley has lost all 4 Joker infected ''and'' Ivy.]] It is quite possible that this will lead to one of two possibilities that will lead to [[spoiler:Harleen replacing Harley as the dominant persona.]]

Possibility 1: [[spoiler:The Harley Quinn persona]] will be sufficiently weakened and damaged by her losses that [[spoiler:Harleen]] will be able to overwhelm [[spoiler:Harley.]]

Possibility 2: [[spoiler:Harley]] will willingly give up control to [[spoiler:Harleen]] because she has no reason to persist anymore.

This theory assumes of course that Bruce really isn't Nightmare Batman and he had no idea about him, whether Bruce is alive and retired or truly dead. If we assume this then it stands to reason that Bruce is referring to the Red Hood. Definitely from a moral perspective Red Hood does qualify as worse than Batman and it's possible Bruce's statement, that the 'something worse' could only emerge from the ashes of Batman was acknowledgement that Jason would not be able to function as well while Bruce was still around, dredging up the scars Joker had left in Jason's mind.

In Arkham Knight the Riddler not only kidnaps Catwoman and makes Batman go trough trials to rescue her, but he also sets up puzzles that force the two to work in tandem. Including robots that only Batman can beat and robots that only Catwoman can beat. It seems to me that the Riddler is trying to set them up. This was his twisted supervillain way of "Playing Matchmaker". That would explain why in Arkham City he set up trophies only Catwoman can take. They have no value to her, they just help Batman in his quest to apprehend the Riddler. So even in the past game, the Riddler is making these two work together. Why would he do this? Well, maybe, like the Joker, his obsession with his nemesis has developed into a twisted affection. Or maybe its about the Cat; because she’s been a criminal she’s probably found herself schmoozing with other gotham villains on occasions and Nygma was one of them. He probably saw her as a friend, and has talked with her enough to know she has feelings for Batman. So he wants to her enjoy happiness with him as a couple for at least as long until he finally kills the Bat. Or maybe it’s not about wanting to see either happy so much as it is some frustration at their “will they won’t they “ relationship and just feeling satisfied if it is resolved. Like he sees their relationship as a puzzle he just wants solved.

*** Scarecrow even is one of the biggest players in ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'', leading the Arkham Asylum VillainTeamUp (which, it seems, it's what he'll be doing here too).

In an effort to advertise ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' (probably ExecutiveMeddling, but remember, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad) Bane will be one of the major players against Scarecrow's gang. He and Batman will realize that they need to [[EnemyMine put aside their differences]] just like the bad guys are doing to bring them down.

!! Please note that this page contains main game spoilers in the Confirmed and Jossed folders.

[[folder:Jossed]]

* Jossed by the E3 trailer, which gives us a [[NightmareFuel clear look]] at Scarecrow.

* Jossed since ''Arkham City''.

Almost all of these are virtually guaranteed to be {{Jossed}}; the devs have stated that the Arkham Knight is a new, original character.

** Jossed. Jason will be DLC as the Red Hood. [[spoiler:And confirmed. He is ''both'' the Arkham Knight and Red Hood in the game proper; his DLC will probably be a supplemental material.]]

** Jossed, he survives the game.

[[folder:Jossed II]]

* Jossed on the first part.

* Jossed [[spoiler:A mutated Killer Croc does show up in Scarecrow's final vision however]].

* Jossed

** Jossed on both counts.

** Jossed but Cassie gets an oblique reference.

* Jossed

* Jossed

* Jossed [[spoiler:Arkham Asylum is the final location of the conflict and Scarecrow wheels Batman in on the gurney]].

* Jossed

** Firefly is expected to make an appearance, and since Deadshot has appeared in the last two games, there's a very good chance of him appearing as well. This theory is already close to being jossed.

* Jossed.

* Jossed. Bane does not appear in the game at all.

* [[spoiler: Seeing as both sides of the conflict in "Shadow War" make no comment about the Arkham Knight, let alone have any ties to him, I'd say {{Jossed}}. It's highly probable that the Joker did fake Jason's death.]]

** Most likely {{Jossed}}. If you look closely at the table with the gun on it Hallucination!Joker is able to move the gun so unless Clayface is a telepath and was impersonating Hallucination!Joker as well, nothing we saw was real.

** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}. Beating the "Season of Infamy" DLC does nothing to the overall ending. The only thing beating everything, including "Season of Infamy" in both the original game and New Game Plus does is unlock a Batsuit with a yellow bat-symbol.]]

** Jossed. One of the launch DLC's shows that he becomes Red Hood, not Nightmare Batman. All of the DLC is out now and none of the others feature him.

** Unfortunately, {{Jossed}}.

* {{Jossed}}: Oracle mentions [[spoiler:Scarecrow using Gordon's voice print to enter the studios and capture Tim]], confirming that Gordon had indeed visited beforehand.

[[/folder]]

In Arkham Knight the Riddler not only kidnaps Catwoman and makes Batman go trough trials to rescue her, but he also sets up puzzles that force the two to work in tandem. Including robots that only Batman can beat and robots that only Catwoman can beat. It seems to me that the Riddler is trying to set them up. This was his twisted supervillain way of "Playing Matchmaker". That would explain why in Arkham City he set up trophies only Catwoman can take. They have no value to her, they just help Batman in his quest to apprehend the Riddler. So even in the past game, the Riddler is making these two work together. Why would he do this? Well, maybe, like the Joker, his obsession with his nemesis has developed into a twisted affection. Or maybe its about the Cat; because she’s been a criminal she’s probably found herself schmoozing with other gotham villains on occasions and Nygma was one of them. He probably saw her as a friend, and has talked with her enough to know she has feelings for Batman. So he wants to her enjoy happiness with him as a couple for at least as long until he finally kills the Bat. Or maybe it’s not about wanting to see either happy so much as it is some frustration at their “will they won’t they “ relationship and just feeling satisfied if it is resolved. Like he sees their relationship as a puzzle he just wants solved.

[[WMG: Either [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Warren or Terry McGinnis]] are the Arkham Knight]]
If it's the former, it would provide a better justification for [[spoiler: Terry being chosen as Bruce's son and successor]] rather than a chance meeting. If it's the latter, then they're going to bend the continuity of the franchise and have Terry McGinnis in the present day.

Similar to the above WMG, it will be in the future with the Arkhamverse version of Terry [=McGuinness=] and his tutelage under [[spoiler:the retired and believed-to-be-dead Bruce Wayne.]]

In an effort to advertise ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' (probably ExecutiveMeddling, but remember, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad) Bane will be one of the major players against Scarecrow's gang. He and Batman will realize that they need to [[EnemyMine put aside their differences]] [[NotSoDifferent just like the bad guys are doing]] to bring them down.

[[/folder]]