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WMG / Batman: Arkham Knight

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

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    Confirmed 

The Red Hood will appear
Why not? Jason Todd could use an appearance in the Arkham games.
  • 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 been confirmed to exist in this continuity- it's uncertain what canonical status Dick Grayson's appearance as DLC in Arkham City or 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 a squeeze and doesn't fit in with Tim Drake's 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 Face–Heel Turn into an Anti-Hero is driven by Batman's Thou Shalt Not Kill and Joker Immunity, 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 Shout-Out 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 he isn't mentioned in the main campaign, the remark may be of a dubious canon.
  • Rocksteady has now confirmed that the time gap between Origins and Asylum is 8 years, not 5. That leaves a lot more time for the required events.
  • Confirmed. Red Hood will be DLC.

Nightwing and Robin could have larger roles in the main story.
Wishful thinking more than anything else, but given that this is gonna be Batman's biggest challenge yet, it'd be cool to swap points of view more often.
  • It's not much of a stretch, since there were Catwoman chapters in Arkham City (and Tim Drake was 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 Villain Team-Up)
    • Really, they just need to bring back Nightwing for Challenge maps. And give him lines this time.
  • Confirmed. The two are part of the new Dual Play gameplay, 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.

Character predictions
  • Nightwing
    • Confirmed.
  • Red Hood
    • Confirmed as DLC.
  • A Batgirl? I guess Cassandra Cain is the one that matches the timeline.
  • Azrael. Obvious choice there.

Sidequest villains
  • Professor Pyg
  • Hush
  • Man-Bat

Batgirl and/or Spoiler will have a DLC campaign
It would complete the Bat Family by adding Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.
  • Confirmed, but it's Barbara in a DLC prequel.

The Joker will make a cameo as a fear-toxin induced hallucination at some point.
He'll stick around just long enough to deliver a Breaking Speech or two before someone snaps Batman out of it.
  • Possibly even appearing as the final boss in this way.
  • I hope not, Joker's been the centerpiece of every Arkham game so far. Someone else deserves a shot at the top slot.
    • We're talking a cameo, not the Big Bad.
  • Hopefully a Dead Person Conversation of sorts? It would be a little strange, but interesting to see.
  • Confirmed. Although it's longer than a mere cameo.

Jason Todd will appear as Red Hood and also be the Arkham Knight
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 off him. Joker as one big laugh at Batman, threw Jason into the very same vat (read as a container) of chemicals that Joker himself was transformed by.Now returning after all these years having been revived by Ra's Al Ghul but dockerized 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 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.
  • It's a very plausible idea (but the Tim Drake comparison isn't right, though; he was properly trained and, for all that matters, he was Robin, he simply used a slightly different alias with "Red" before the name).
  • Looking possible as Red Hood has been introduced as a DLC character. His appearance in promo materials is eerily reminiscent of the Arkham Knight. The DLC could be a playable Start of Darkness on how Red Hood was turned into the Arkham Knight.
  • Joker's "didn't I already kill you" line in City means Jason was indeed Robin.
  • Confirmed.
Batman will be more of an Anti-Hero in this game and more willing to escalate fights, this being reflected by game play
  • 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 behavior in Harley Quinn's Revenge). The plot of the game will see Batman struggle against turning into a full-on Knight Templar, with the Arkham Knight acting as a reminder of the monster he would become if he did so.
  • Confirmed. At the end of the game, Batman, even free of the Joker, injects enough fear toxin into Scarecrow to mess up his brain for life.

Harley Quinn will be an actual boss fight in this game
She's been steadily upgraded from Cutscene Boss in Asylum to Zero-Effort Boss in City to Flunky Boss in Harley's Revenge. The next logical step to coincide with her being Promoted to Playable is to make her an actual challenge against Batman.
  • Confirmed.
    • Not quite. She's still a Zero-Effort Boss in the main game that simply requires you to perform a takedown. You do fight her alongside Joker in the Batgirl DLC.

The Joker won't come back from the dead.
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 speculation in Harley Quinn's Revenge and even despite Mark Hamill saying he retired, he's flip-flopped before and 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 Lying Creator 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 died with Joker becoming a kind of martyr or folk hero that would in a perverse way ensure he becomes immortal or maybe the Arkham Knight is a kind of Thanatos Gambit he planned as one final joke on Batman, wouldn't be the first time. There are plenty of possibilities without him being corporeally revived.
    • Wouldn't be the first case of Lying Creator, as everyone was hyping Black Mask as the main villain of Arkham Origins and we saw how that turned out.
      • Except that that was WB Montreal doing the lying, not Rocksteady.
      • And at last check, both were owned by the same company.
    • Revealing that he never died in the first place is functionally the same as resurrecting Joker. Both are lame, gutless excuses to explain why they are continuing to use Joker, despite promising they would not. Rocksteady made a bold statement by killing off Joker. Backing off on that would just be a colossal waste of storytelling and a cowardly decision. Joker needs to stay dead and the series needs to move on.
    • Yeah, but similar moves have been done before. Just because Rocksteady hasn't done it before doesn't mean they're above it period.
      • Well Bruce Timm and the DCAU were also WB-owned and when they whacked Joker it stuck, they whacked him twice because of It's the Only Way to Be Sure. In Arkham City, they teased every 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 canceling that ending would tarnish it.
      • Also, Mark Hamill was pretty adamant on stating that Arkham City was 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)
      • First off, the point of bringing up the parent company was it didn't preclude Rocksteady from lying. Secondly, at the very least, 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.
      • To be fair, Hamill also said that Arkham Asylum would be his last rodeo, until he read the script for Arkham City.
  • Confirmed. Joker may be dead, but he still plays a very important role.
  • Original poster: While Joker did indeed stay dead, Rocksteady did end up lying about the Arkham Knight is a completely original character.

The Joker will 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 Big Bad 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.
  • Confirmed.

The Red Hood is the Arkham Knight
However, the reason he is mad at Batman is different than the standard comic continuity. See the originally thought Batman killed the joker, but then he found the audiotape of Batman's last conversation with the joker. And it will(somewhat justifiably) drive him mad that Batman would have saved a monster such as Joker. For bonus points, like in the movie Batman: Under the Red Hood he will point out that the Joker isn't a 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.

Bruce Wayne/ Batman will die at the end of the game.
In one final, climactic 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.
  • Hey, how else will they be able to top The Joker's death in Batman: Arkham City?
    • There are other ways. Besides, there's no way that DC and WB Games would allow a cash cow to die.
    • Rocksteady have stated this is their last game with Batman, suggesting it's the end of their three-part storyline. This doesn't, of course, stop there from being more relatively competent Origins games.
    • Three words: "Dick Grayson: Batman". Even Bruce's death doesn't mean the end of the series.
  • CONFIRMED. However, he doesn't die in a final battle, but he still gives his life to protect Gotham when his identity is revealed to them.

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 revelation 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 of AK, making the reveal painfully obvious. And to counter this, the game could introduce multiple characters 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 is AK to "surprise" the viewers, but this would just amount to Fridge Logic. In short, the choices for a completely original Arkham Knight range from Giant Space Flea from Nowhere to The Un-Twist.
  • 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.

The body count won't stop with the Joker.
The Arkham series has demonstrated that Anyone Can Die, especially in the case of the kingpin of Batman's Rogues Gallery. Who's to say that the lack of Joker Immunity won't extend to the rest of the villainous cast? The design of the Arkham Knight seems to be pointing in this direction; he's a dark counterpart to Batman, one entirely willing to use lethal force. What better way to express that conflict than by having him—or perhaps Batman himself—be responsible for the death or deaths of some of the baddies?

     Confirmed II 
If he's in the game, Black Mask will get beaten up or killed by the Arkham Knight
He's the Butt-Monkey of the Arkhamverse and the only game in the franchise in which he was a legitimate threat to Batman was Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.
  • And, much like the other games, he'll be more angry than intimidated.
  • Confirmed, partially. 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.

Bruce will be unmasked by one of his Rogues Gallery during the story
It'd be a nice way to add tension to a situation later on.
  • 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. Scarecrow does it at the very end and all the villains have reactions to who Batman is.

A major character will die during the story
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.
  • Confirmed, well depending on your idea of "major" but Poison Ivy dies.
There will be DLC batmobiles
Including the tumbler and the batmobile beyond.
  • Confirmed. Batmobile skins have been promised.

Batman will hang up his cowl at the end of the game.
After the final battle, Batman will 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.

Tim Drake will be Put on a Bus somehow.
It will be explained that he's off working with the Teen Titans or something.
  • Confirmed. He's working on a top-secret mission at Parnessa Studios and out of action for most of the game.

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.

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 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 Official Couple 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 Villain Team-Up in the game.

Batman will fight fire with fire and weaponize Fear Toxin.
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 an armor upgrade that makes you largely immune to your 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 in the Golden Ending finale where a new Batman arrives at the Gotham skyline.
The Joker (or a clone) came on the scene a while ago, using the alias Johnny Charisma.
Say the first syllables in Johnny Charisma's first and last names one right after the other. You get Joh-Char, which sounds like Joker if you say it fast enough. That kind of name feels like something the Joker would use as a pseudonym (like Joe Kerr, Jack White, etc.), right up until he's ready to kill Batman. The only problem is it's very obvious, but the fact that everyone is certain the Joker's dead is the cover.
  • Confirmed but not as you think, 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.

The Revenger's Tragedy will be a clue as to how the game ends.
RS has done it before with a Cain and Abel painting, so why not a Jacobean play?
  • 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 Batman Gambit. 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 into 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. 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.

Batman will be unmasked as Bruce Wayne.
If this is the final game in this storyline.
  • Confirmed.

The end of the game will take place at Arkham Asylum.
This gives the series a chance to go back to Where It All Began, showing how much the facility has fallen apart since Batman: Arkham Asylum.
  • Confirmed.

    Jossed 

The Scarecrow seen in the trailer isn't Dr. Crane but the Arkham Knight.
His voice sounds completely different from Dr. Crane's voice in Arkham Asylum and he's only seen from behind in the trailer. The Arkham Knight learned of Crane's Fear Toxin and decided to use it on Gotham to create a city of fear.
  • Jossed by the E3 trailer, which gives us a clear look at Scarecrow.

Furthermore Dr. Crane was eaten by Killer Croc in Arkham Asylum.
  • Jossed since Arkham City.

The identity of the Arkham Knight
Almost all of these are virtually guaranteed to be Jossed; the devs have stated that the Arkham Knight is a new, original character.
  • Ra's Al Ghul, back for revenge for Talia's death, teams up with Scarecrow and the other villains to destroy Gotham and Batman, thus proving he's become just another villain.
  • Thomas Wayne. He is either from another dimension or resurrected via the Lazarus pits. he'll just be like his Flashpoint incarnation: a darker Batman willing to kill and use firearms.
    • Thomas Wayne Jr./The Black Glove.
  • Holiday. Because I refuse to believe that the tidbit with Alberto Falcone in Origins will go nowhere.
  • It could be Prometheus, an anti-Batman in terms of origins.
  • 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 I Just Want to Be You 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, he may be 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 the same. Hell, he's known as Hush and the Arkham Knight carries a silenced pistol!
    • Adding to this, Hush recently sported stolen Bat-gear in Batman Eternal that had more than a passing resemblance to Arkham Knight's outfit. Not hard to make the assumption this is to tie in with the game to some level.
    • If this proves true, expect a bait and switch. The first time Batman sees Arkham Knight unmasked, he'll probably be under the influence of Scarecrow's fear gas. He (and players) will think he's hallucinating his own worst nightmare (that Arkham Knight is what he'd become if he lost control), and quickly discard the idea that he saw 'Bruce Wayne' under the mask.
  • My vote: Quincy Sharp, perhaps physically augmented by a version of Titan or TN 1. 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 pursuing them throughout the three previous games, becoming an "Arkham Knight" might be the next logical step.
    • Additionally, he already counts as an original character.
  • Jason Todd. Come on, the guy's a darker Batman who kills.
    • Why not Damian Wayne, Bruce's son with Talia, a darker Robin who kills...
      • Does Jason even exist in the Arkham continuity? He's never been referenced by name in the plots of the games, and the challenge maps aren't canon.
    • Jossed. Jason will be DLC as the Red Hood. And confirmed. He is both the Arkham Knight and Red Hood in the game proper; his DLC will probably be supplemental material.
  • A new character who never appeared in the comics or the games before. One can dream, right?
  • A hallucination that Batman sees under the influence of Fear Toxin. He is Batman's greatest fear: he is a sociopathic vigilante killer.
  • 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...
    • Being an "Arkham Knight" isn't his style. The future Joker in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker 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 Large Ham 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 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 hullabaloo about how Black Mask was hiring assassins to kill Batman? It's plausible, after all, the Joker could just use the "Arkham Knight" Persona for the first few hours of the game, not making an appearance until he shows up, takes off 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.
  • A clone made from Bruce Wayne DNA engineered to kill and replace him as the caped crusader. He will suffer from Clone Angst and act as sort of a Composite Character between Jason Todd and Damian Wayne.
    • Also, Terry McGinnis of Batman Beyond fame (and/or disfavor). He was explicitly created this way.
      • Additionally, both Amanda Waller and Cadmus Labs, who were responsible for Terry's clone genes, have been introduced in the Arkhamverse. Maybe the Arkham Knight could be some Super Prototype for Project Batman Beyond.
  • A clone of the Joker, not the man who died in City, but a younger and younger sounding copy.
    • Also a younger Joker would be an interesting twist, as Arkhamverse Batman seems to be even more stubborn than the average Batman in his belief that he's the only one who can do things right, so being confronted by a Joker that will outlive him could raise some interesting possibilities.
  • Azrael
  • The Phantasm
  • A grown-up Lonnie Machin, seeking revenge on Batman. The "A" on his chest isn't for Arkham, it's for anarchy.
  • Hugo Strange. Guy already wants to be Batman and has his bat suit. Yes, it looked very much like he died in Arkham City, but they Never Found the Body.
  • Wrath.
  • Killer Moth. An Evil Counterpart of Batman who (at least so I hear) can fly?
  • Percy or Cyril Sheldrake, who is visiting from London and simply added "Arkham" to his name.
  • The Spirit of Arkham.
  • James Gordon Jr. He becomes jealous that Batman has a closer relationship with his family than him, and decides to become a vigilante as well for the attention.
  • The Electrocutioner, brought Back from the Dead.
  • Lock-Up, with his Animated Series background. He was a security technology expert at Wayne Enterprises specially appointed to Arkham by Bruce Wayne to try to stop the revolving door that was Arkham. Arkham Asylum's security was Wayne Enterprises technology. Now, maybe Lyle has stolen WayneTech and turned it into his own Batsuit-type thing.
  • Please let it be Onomatopoeia
  • The dead body of the Joker being reanimated into a living cyber mechanical Bat-suit.
  • Harley Quinn: 1) They have the same color scheme 2) This would explain why SHE needs a voice changer 3) Reputedly Joker-like body language and speech patterns 4) Juvenile attitude and calling Batman old 5) She's featured prominently in the ends of the trailers and is getting a DLC where she's playable.
  • Protocol 11. That couldn't have been a mere self-destruct mechanism.
  • A replacement Batman created by Simon Hurt. He created three of those in the comics, one of whom was Michael Lane, also known as the Azrael that appears in Arkham City.
  • Bruce Wayne from an alternate past or future, who has now rejected the vow to never kill.
  • A nameless and/or background character you breezed by barely noticed in a previous game, of the "Seeing you in action changed my life" sort. Think the inmate is 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 are his attempt to get info on the Batmobile so that it won't be Batman's trump card in the big showdown.
  • Anarky. He was already a Looney Fan in Arkham Origins. Maybe now, he becomes an Ascended Fanboy.
  • The Baffler. The mask will come off and we will all be baffled.
  • 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 its usual dose of Crazy would be enough to get her going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge for Bruce tricking her about taking Ras' place in Arkham City and getting her killed by the Joker.
  • The Batcomputer in a robot body.
  • Johnny Charisma, the rock star whose concert in Gotham is advertised in the background. It would be fitting, as it would mean that Batman will have to deal with his greatest enemy of them all: Rock and Roll music.
  • A title shared by multiple people.
  • An operative of the Court of Owls.
  • Cyrus Pinkney. He started by faking his death and assassinating Copplepot afterward. Then he becomes the Arkham Knight and extends his lifetime.

Commissioner Gordon will either be unceremoniously Killed Off for Real or perform a Heroic Sacrifice of some sort.
Given who's voicing him, it's not a question of whether, but when.
  • Jossed, he survives the game.

This game leads into Batman vs Superman
Older Batman and all that.

Arkham Knight is not from the present...
He's either an Alternate Universe Batman trying to Set Right What Once Went Wrong or he's Terry McGinnis trying to avert a Bad Future who's traveling back in time...

     Jossed II 
Scarecrow's New Look
  • 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? Hush
    • Not quite. Look closely 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?
  • Jossed on the first part.

If Killer Croc is in the game, Scarecrow will use his new fear toxin on him.
  • This would serve two purposes: revenge for attacking and nearly killing him in Asylum, as well as to slow Batman down by setting a frenzied Croc against him. Plus, it wouldn't be the first time Scarecrow has done this.
  • Jossed A mutated Killer Croc does show up in Scarecrow's final vision, however.

The Arkham Knight isn't real.
He's just a mass hallucination, a product of Scarecrow's fear toxin. Who wouldn't be afraid of a rogue Batman?
  • It all depends on when Batman interacts with the Knight. If he only shows up where Batman is alone, or in situations where there's a chance no one else can see the Knight, this theory gains a little more credit.
    • It seems that Cobblepot knows the Arkham Knight, so it's not looking good
  • Jossed.

The Cluemaster will have a side mission, and Stephanie Brown will be involved in stopping him
  • With Arkham's routine of creating fantastic, often ultra-violent revamps of classic characters, I'd love to see Cluemaster show up as in a side mission and have Steph as Spoiler involved in stopping him. Not to mention DC lifted their ban on using her and she's about to be reintroduced in Batman Eternal. By that same token...
    • Jossed on both counts.

David Cain and/or Shiva will appear, and Cassandra Cain will be involved in stopping them
  • Because hey, I love my Batgirls that much.
    • Unfortunately, DC seems to hate her that much. Thus far they've squelched any attempt to bring in Cassandra Cain in even extended media.
    • Tossed but Cassie gets an oblique reference.

Harley has become addicted to fear toxin.
Since Mistah J's death, she has coped only by deliberately inhaling the Scarecrow's toxins so she can see her puddin', even if it's only in his darkest, most violent moments.
  • OK, I acknowledge that Harley isn't that stable, but wouldn't it make more sense for her to use Mad Hatter's tech on herself? That would get her a happier result.
  • Jossed.

The playable Batman is 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 to 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.
  • Jossed.

The game will end with Batman driving the villain to Arkham Asylum.
Thus properly closing off the series.
  • Which one?
  • Jossed Arkham Asylum is the final location of the conflict and Scarecrow wheels Batman in on the gurney.

The game will open with a Hopeless Boss Fight against the Arkham Knight and the combined villains.
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 afterward, Scarecrow calls in his bomb threat and forces Gotham to evacuate. This is what prompts him to switch to his new costume.
  • Jossed.

     Pre-Launch 

Each villain and how they affect the storyline.
Because it is about the villains.
  • The Joker might appear as a Scarecrow hallucination. Reviving from the dead is a no-no.
    • Confirmed. But as more than a hallucination. He appears as part of Batman's growing insanity due to the Joker's blood transfusion.
  • Scarecrow is the Big Bad.
  • Harley Quinn is wanting to find the so-called Lazarus Pit to revive the Joker. Probably team up with Ra's.
  • The Riddler is going to keep annoying you with his races/riddles.
  • Hush may be one of the Bads. However, Bats did say that he would take care of him the next day.
  • Poison Ivy is going to be there as always. Just part of the Enemy Mine, I guess.
  • 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 team-up?
  • The Mad Hatter and Deadshot are likely to 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 villains to see where the bat cave is.

Arkham Knight is Batman's Enemy Without.

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? Hush has hijacked Batman's identity and will become a harder, more brutal, more efficient Batman. This will be the Tomato in the Mirror 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 gets trashed fairly quickly anyway. Similarly, in City, he's confined to Arkham City for the entire game. Even if he were 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 its 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.
  • Batman's always used a combination of driving around in the Batmobile and physically running across the rooftops in pretty much all the media he's appeared in, depending on the circumstances. Why would the Arkhamverse Batman be any different?

Scarebeast will be the final boss
It would make sense.
  • The same Scarebeast that bears an odd resemblance to Titan Joker? And as part of a universally hated storyline?

Scarecrow won't be the Big Bad
Whether he's being controlled by a better-known villain or gets stabbed in the back by his allies, he won't be the final threat. Whether it's The Joker, back from the dead to keep up his 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.
  • Confirmed, it's going to be this "Arkham Knight" character.
  • However, the Scarecrow is one of the bigger Batman villains. 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 Batman: Arkham Origins.

Joker is alive again
Why else would Harley be in her Arkham Asylum outfit if this wasn't the case? If he isn't then he'll be revived at some point in the story.
  • Harley Quinn's outfit isn't an indicator of Joker's presence. And, honestly, let's all hope he stays dead. We don't need another Hijacked by Ganon plot.
    • He doesn't have to he just needs to say he's back

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. Also who else would he retire with? Unless they go the route of the day...
  • Confirmed. She's helping with the Riddler's capture.

The Cluemaster will have a side mission, and Stephanie Brown will be involved in stopping him
  • With Arkham's routine of creating fantastic, often ultra-violent revamps of classic characters, I'd love to see Cluemaster show up as in a side mission and have Steph as Spoiler involved in stopping him. Not to mention DC lifted their ban on using her and she's about to be reintroduced in Batman Eternal. By that same token...

David Cain and/or Shiva will appear, and Cassandra Cain will be involved in stopping them
  • Because hey, I love my Batgirls that much.
    • Unfortunately, DC seems to hate her that much. Thus far they've squelched any attempt to bring in Cassandra Cain in even extended media.

Sidequest villains
  • Hush: Dur.
  • Zsasz: Because there's always Zsasz.
  • Holiday: We had that little incident with Alberto Falcone in Origins, recent Batman makes have been drawing heavily from The Long Halloween, and it's frikkin' Halloween in the game. That stars do not align better than this.
  • Calendar Man: Also because of Halloween, and last we heard he was still loose.
  • The Carpenter: Because some comic relief wouldn't go amiss.
  • Suicide Squad: Waller will have tired of Gotham's shenanigans and sent in her own little expendable hitsquad to clean things up while all the civilians are out of the way. Batman, for obvious reasons, will not stand for this. Possible members could be:
  • The Court of Owls: To promote the success of Batman's The New 52 series.
  • Dollmaker
  • Maxie Zeus
  • Killer Moth
  • Ratcatcher
    • While not confirmed, Mook's chatter in Arkham City suggests he was killed by Penguin's shark. Remember all those bodies floating in the water?
  • Great White Shark: He's mentioned in both Asylum and City. It'd be pretty weird if he didn't make an appearance.
  • Jane Doe: Probably as a surprise character, like Scarecrow in Asylum.
  • Lock-Up
  • Roxy Rocket
    • Possibly as a rave/vehicle section again the new Batmobile
  • Royal Flush Gang
  • Crazy Quilt
  • Bruno: The incredibly weird Frank Miller creation will show up as part of Arkham Knight's army, an Elite Book or mini-boss like the Hammer Twins in City. She'll have swapped out the swastikas pasties for the Arkham logo.
  • Gearhead: Like Roxy, he'd be an ideal foe to use the Batmobile against.

Harley Quinn is behind Scarecrow, funding his plan as part of a complicated scheme to resurrect The Joker.
  • After Arkham City, Harley Quinn obsessively worked to piece together the events of that night. She learns that the mastermind behind everything was Ra's Al Ghul, who was testing both Batman and Hugo Strange as potential heirs. She learns that Ras 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.
    • But the Joker no longer has even a corpse to immerse in the Lazarus Pit. As we've seen in the tie-in comics of Arkham City, Joker's body was cremated. Batman himself saw to it.
    • Those tie-in comics are very loosely canon. Arkham Origins already overrode them on Mad Hatter.
    • Arkham City: End Game which dealt with the aftermath of Arkham City events is explicitly regarded as canon, and even obliquely referred to in Harley Quinn's Revenge.
    • However they can very easily be retconned. They're not primary sources and the video games have already not followed them exactly.
    • Just because you want it? Read what the other poster said: End Game is canon, its events were referred to multiple times in Harley Quinn's Revenge (which is, as you call it, a primary source). Too late to retcon it.
      • The only thing referenced there is what a doctor said is Harley's state of mind. The conversation between Batman and Gordon about another matter didn't say what exactly it was.
      • 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 want to see what all the other members of Batman's Rogues Gallery are capable of when they take their gloves off work together.
    • Is this starting to sound like "Batman: Triumphant" to anyone else?
      • Mildly.

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 a technical bookend for Rocksteady's series.
    • Alternatively, the asylum will be visited partway through the game or be the site of the final confrontation.

If he's in the game, Black Mask will get beaten up or killed by the Arkham Knight
He's the Butt-Monkey of the Arkhamverse and the only game in the franchise in which he was a legitimate threat to Batman was Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.

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

The Arkham Knight armor is Hugo Strange's batsuit modified.
Arkham City's interview tapes with Riddler indicated Strange had his bat suit, but the thing never came into play. It'd only make sense to see it pay off here.

Thomas Wayne's death was an assassination made to look like a robbery
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. Bonus points if Amanda Waller and/or The Phantasm had anything to do with it.
  • A major aspect of the origin is that despite how many people and enemies Thomas Wayne may or may not have had, his and his wife's death was ultimately a random instance of violence of the kind that happens every day but most are helpless to do anything about it except move on, Bruce Wayne being at the right age to internalize that helplessness and devote his life to prevent others from going through it. Even in Batman Beyond despite trying to invoke Death by Origin Story, Phantasm backed off and ultimately it happened anyway.
  • Or the will wasn't written by Thomas Wayne at all. The letter being read in the game's trailer makes no sense unless the writer somehow knew Martha Wayne would already be dead.
    • Not necessarily. Thomas probably accounted for the fact that, if Martha were still alive, she would likely be in control of Bruce's funds until such a time as he could manage them on his own. One of those fine print things that would be placed after the heartfelt letter from parent to child, not verbally iterated in the trailer because it was irrelevant.
  • Better theory, Wayne had made enemies and wrote that will should he die. It's not like it would matter otherwise. Besides, maybe Bruce's paranoia is genetic.

The ending of Arkham Knight will lead into a Batman Beyond game
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.
  • It is slated to be Rocksteady's final game and their grand finale for the series, there will be other Batman games from Warner Bros or other superhero games for sure.

Bruce will be unmasked by one of his Rogues Gallery during the story
It'd be a nice way to add tension to a situation later on.
  • 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.

A major character will die during the story
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.

The final boss of the game will be...
...wait for it...Commissioner Gordon. With Scarecrow in the game, Barbara Gordon is in the city worried about lying to her father, at some point Over the Edge from Batman: The Animated Series 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 Arch-Enemy or a Rival Turned Evil, just his best friend and father figure turned Knight Templar Parent and Batman will be driven to be the Death Seeker or Despair Event Horizon...just like that episode.

Titan will be involved with the plot somehow
It always is.

The Arkham Knight was created by Cadmus
from Batman and Joker's DNA. But of course, the shit hits the fan.

The Arkham Knight is someone connected to Dr. Penelope Young
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 known for 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.

Rocksteady will hire Mark Hamill for a 'mystery role.'
And it will have nothing to do with the Joker. Just a random part. Just to screw with us.

Character predictions
  • Captain Clown
  • Ra's al Ghul
  • Mr. Freeze
  • Superman
  • Creeper
  • Batmite

Arkham Asylum will be an explorable location during the main game
From what's been said it sounds like the map will be big enough to include it

The Arkham Knight will be created by exposure to Scarecrow's fear gas
  • 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 Roaring Rampage of Revenge against his creators.

The Arkham Knight a robot.
  • 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 Adam West.

Bane will team up with Batman (for real this time)
To advertise Forever Evil (2013) (probably Executive Meddling, but remember, Tropes Are Not Bad) Bane will be one of the major players against Scarecrow's gang. He and Batman will realize that they need to put aside their differences just like the bad guys are doing to bring them down.

Most, if not all of the villains who played a major role in Origins will not make an appearance.
Word of God 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. This 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.
  • 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 Tossed.

Harley has become addicted to fear toxin.
Since Mistah J's death, she has coped only by deliberately inhaling the Scarecrow's toxins so she can see her puddin', even if it's only in his darkest, most violent moments.
  • OK, I acknowledge that Harley isn't that stable, but wouldn't it make more sense for her to use Mad Hatter's tech on herself? That would get her a happier result.

The playable Batman is 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 to 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.

There will be DLC batmobiles
Including the tumbler and the batmobile beyond.

The game will end with Batman driving the villain to Arkham Asylum.
Thus properly closing off the series.
  • Which one?

Batman will hang up his cowl at the end of the game.
After the final battle, Batman will 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.

Tim Drake will be Put on a Bus somehow.
It will be explained that he's off working with the Teen Titans or something.

The game will open with a Hopeless Boss Fight against the Arkham Knight and the combined villains.
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 afterward, Scarecrow calls in his bomb threat and forces Gotham to evacuate. This is what prompts him to switch to his new costume.

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.

Scarecrow's New Look
  • 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? Hush
    • 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?

If Killer Croc is in the game, Scarecrow will use his new fear toxin on him.

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 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 Official Couple 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.

Harley's gadgets & abilities in gameplay:
  • Popgun: fires a cork that ensnares the enemy in streamers.
  • Specs: Like Joker's in the first game, only they can be used while moving.
  • That little jester grapple from "Harlequinade"
  • Acrobatics: Climbing up to Gargoyles Harley's way.

The Arkham Knight isn't real.
He's just a mass hallucination, a product of Scarecrow's fear toxin. Who wouldn't be afraid of a rogue Batman?
  • It all depends on when Batman interacts with the Knight. If he only shows up where Batman is alone, or in situations where there's a chance no one else can see the Knight, this theory gains a little more credit.
    • It seems that Cobblepot knows the Arkham Knight, so it's not looking good

Red Hood will have Joker! Red Hood as an alt skin
Just wanted to be the first to say it.

Hush will run the Challenge Rooms
Because what could 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?

Red Hood's DLC will be a version of Batman: Under the Red Hood.
The DLC will give the audience not in the no a rundown of who Jason Todd is and what he's like. It also affords the game the rare opportunity to use Batman, Nightwing, and Robin as bosses for the game.
  • 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 revenge; 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 off somewhat natural causes.

At some point, Batman will need help, at which point the cavalry 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 an action scene would rock! Add is Catwoman as well for some fun.
  • That has to be the most awesome idea I've ever heard! Expanding on this, it could be a moment where someone (like, say, the Arkham Knight) is giving Bats a Curb-Stomp Battle, taunting him with how the villains were able to unite against him but he's all alone. Cue the Bat-Family jumping in and telling him that no, he's not. (But don't forget Batgirl and Spoiler!)

The Joker will be resurrected with a Lazarus Pit.
Superheroes and supervillains usually don't stay dead for long. I've got this feeling that Harley Quinn will raise her late boyfriend from the grave, and he'll somehow become even more crazy and evil than he already is.
  • There are a couple of problems with that theory. Correct me if I'm wrong, but 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 there are likely more Pits around the globe, Harley wouldn't know where they are.

Several prominent villains will kill each other.
If the Joker will stay dead once and for all, then it is likely that other members of the rogues gallery will get a similar fate.

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

The Arkham Knight is a physical manifestation of who Batman fears he could become.
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 in 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 on 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.

As a sub-theory, perhaps there are no bombs- Scarecrow has been developing a new fear gas using TITAN that is so powerful it causes a mass hallucination with possible hypnosis (as Scarecrow was testing on his boat in City), yet is so subtle that you don't notice it. Think about it logically- what would be the worst fear of the entire Gotham Police Force? The threat of the city being destroyed. All Scarecrow would have to do is claim the threat was real- the GCPD would do the rest by buying into it, already under the effects of the fear gas. E

TL;DR: My theory is that the whole city is already under the effects 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.

The Arkham Knight will become a Canon Immigrant
Assuming he actually is an original character, not the secret identity of an established villain, it would make a lot of sense for the main villain of the Grand Finale of the most popular non-movie, non-comic Batman series to be introduced in the comics in some way, even if it's just as a cameo or secondary role.

Mr. Freeze will provide the cure to Scarecrow's toxin.
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.

The Arkham Knight will find a way to override or somehow reprogram the life-sign scanners on the Batmobile.
All of the "unmanned" vehicles that Batman will fight in the Batmobile have people inside, and thus the Arkham Knight will hope to break Batman's spirit by essentially tricking him into committing mass murder.

Either Warren or Terry McGinnis are the Arkham Knight
If it's the former, it would provide a better justification for 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.

Batman will be unmasked as Bruce Wayne.
If this is the final game in this storyline.

Possible DLC Skins

The end of the game will take place at Arkham Asylum.
This gives the series a chance to go back to Where It All Began, showing how much the facility has fallen apart since Batman: Arkham Asylum.
  • Confirmed, sort of. Batman finally triumphs against Joker taking over his body by sending him back to where he belongs... Arkham Asylum.

Mr. Freeze may be playable.
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 unexpected, yet thoroughly awesome gameplay change, dispatching mooks with his unique gadgets, his suit's super strength, and of course with his freeze gun.

Batman's Darkest Hour means Batman's Darkest Allies.
With Red Hood/Jason confirmed and given that Robin, a DLC character, showed up in City, Jason is probably 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 Batfamily (Nightwing and Tim mainly, Barbra's confirmed and we might even see an appearance by another Batgirl).
    • Confirmed.
  • Catwoman. Obvious there.
    • Confirmed.
  • Batwoman. Less Likely but still.
  • Talia and Ra's. A moment like this, with two big factions trying to destroy Gotham and showing the worst in humanity? They could be a third, more helpful, villainous faction.
  • Freeze. He owes Batman and with the situation like this, he's going to find it hard to keep Nora safe
  • Azrael. Obvious choice there.
    • Confirmed to return. And it seems like his prophecy will come true...
  • 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.
  • Someone outside of the Batman mythos. They said it'd be the last Batman game. Who said there won't be a Justice League Game? Or if not them, maybe Barbra calls in the Birds of Prey, or Dick/Tim calls in the Titans, or... Red Hood calls in the Outlaws.
  • The Joker. They have worked together on several occasions. They make a pretty good team. Both are dangerous and resourceful. The only one who can stop the other is each other and he doesn't like it when other people does his work. His survival doesn't need any explanation.
  • Trope Aversion: Superman Stays Out of Gotham

Harley will be an Anti-Villain
While pulling a full Heel–Face Turn, she'll go through some Character Development. Scarecrow's fear toxin will make her see Joker abusing her. She'll eventually realize that her puddin' isn't as great as she realized. With the Joker no longer holding her leash, she'll be a neutral force.

Johnny Charisma is either the Arkham Universe version of Izaak Crowe or a stage name that Izaak uses in the Arkham Universe
With people now becoming aware of this story thanks to Atop the Fourth Wall, I wouldn't be surprised if Rocksteady sneaked in a reference to Batman: Fortunate Son in the form of Johnny Charisma.

The Arkham Knight is a new character, but related to one of the existing Arkhamverse characters.
More specifically, I'm thinking he may be the son of Quincy Sharp. Sharp has a grudge against Batman for not 'succeeding' him as the Spirit of Gotham and Batman's policy of not killing dangerous criminals, not to mention how Batman treated Sharp in Arkham City. He's got the funds and power for a small PMC, which the Arkham Knight leads. Sharp's age means his progeny would probably be in their 20s, which matches up with how the Arkham Knight repeatedly calls Batman 'old man', and he would most definitely want to avenge Sharp, who is too old to be the Arkham Knight himself.

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 from Arkham Origins), the Arkham Knight achieving what they could not with Hugo Strange's Arkham City.

Evil Five-Man Band Prediction

Batman will fight fire with fire and weaponize Fear Toxin.
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 an armor upgrade that makes you largely immune to your 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.

Two-Face will have a coin based Villainous Breakdown
He'll be in the middle of flipping a coin to decide how Batman or someone else will die. Batman will then toss a handful of coins which makes Face lose his shit while he's trying to find it, allowing him to be knocked out by Batman.

Batman misses the Joker.
Even though he hasn't realized it yet, Joker was right-he really was the only one to understand Batman. It won't be until Harley has him dead to rights that he'll realize this. Not only will this get Harley to spare him, but acknowledging his loss will help him get over it, and maybe even his pain from losing Talia and his parents.

The Joker (or a clone) came on the scene a while ago, using the alias Johnny Charisma.
Say the first syllables in Johnny Charisma's first and last names one right after the other. You get Joh-Char, which sounds like Joker if you say it fast enough. That kind of name feels like something the Joker would use as a pseudonym (like Joe Kerr, Jack White, etc.), right up until he's ready to kill Batman. The only problem is it's very obvious, but the fact that everyone is certain the Joker's dead is the cover.

The Joker is back, but is no longer the Joker.
After Batman defeats Clayface 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 can make Joker "temporarily" sane. Combine this with whatever happened when he was fused with Clayface, and...who knows what could happen?

The Revenger's Tragedy will be a clue as to how the game ends.
RS has done it before with a Cain and Abel painting, why not a Jacobean play?
  • 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 Batman Gambit. 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 into 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

The Arkham Knight will become a new Joker.
In the final battle, 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 the Knight crawl out of a drainpipe and rip off his mask to reveal a Joker-like face, laughing manically.
  • The whole point of Joker was that he went From Nobody to Nightmare, an average man or cheap Mook who through some accident became "one bad day" snapping. If a vat of chemicals can turn everyone who falls into it just like Joker, then it takes away from Joker as a character, it means that Joker is a bunch of chemicals and not a person who snapped via trauma, no longer a Badass Normal but some entity of evil.
  • Besides making Arkham Knight a new joker or threat is the very opposite of Arkham Knight being the Grand Finale of the series. It's providing another Sequel Hook. Rocksteady wants this to be their grand finale paving the way for someone else to reboot it.

The Arkham Knight is the Unintentional Backup Plan of Hugo Strange.
Strange wanted to create his 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 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.

Batman will accidentally break his one rule.

Harley Quinn will commit suicide
After her one last big attempt to kill Batman fails, she'll say something to him (or maybe monologue with him listening & watching), and then she'll do the only thing she can to "see Mistah J again". This will deal another blow to Batman's mental state, from the guilt of being unable to stop/save her in time.

In a shocking twist, the Arkham Knight will turn out to be the cop from the opening.
Come on, he's an original character and his first appearance is in this game, just like the Arkham Knight. It makes perfect sense.
  • Tossed.

    Post-Launch 

Any future games will be about a player-controlled vigilante trained by Batman, now that Batman's been forced into retirement.
After having to give up the cowl due to Crane's act of Magnificent Bastardy, he quietly turns said 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 supervillains celebrating his retirement as supervillains do. Hence, you, perhaps dealing with your rogues à la Nemesis Uruks.

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

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

That new Batman who appears? The one that's much more brutal?
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 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 Tony Stark, or pilot a humanoid drone.
  • Dick Grayson, just like when Bruce was out of commission in The Return of Bruce Wayne.
  • Azrael, having won out against St. Dumas, just like when Bruce was out of commission in Knightfall.
  • Aaron Cash. A cop who is an old acquaintance of Bats', just like when he was forced to go into hiding in the Nolan Trilogy.
  • Jim Gordon, just like when Bats was out of commission in Endgame.
  • Jack Ryder, who, as the Creeper, salutes Bats with his proper attire to atone for the subconscious guilt of having mocked him.
  • 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 to help out during the Halloween crisis.
  • Terry McGinnis. Bruce simply went into hiding under an assumed name, and Terry stumbled onto his secret as in Beyond. This version is probably less cyberpunk but still has some better technology (if that was Scarecrow toxin he was using, he'd still need a sophisticated delivery system to affect people two stories down).
  • Jonathan Crane, who (ironically) suffered the fate Joker'd intended for Bruce: overwhelmed by his horrific hallucination of a demonic fiery Batman, he succumbed to a fear-toxin-induced Battle in the Center of the Mind, lost this mental confrontation with his arch-enemy, and adopted Batman's persona as his own. Then he broke out of prison so he could turn his old terror-inducing weapons against criminals.
  • 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 Badass Normal, instead, he's a metahuman with powerful psychic abilities.

The new Batman is a side-effect of the Fear Toxin/Joker/Batman blood.
Poison Ivy "purified" most of it, but it still was spread throughout Gotham. After Batman "killed" his Joker blood with Scarecrow's toxin, it changed and the mutation spread throughout the pacified batch. What triggers it now is anytime a criminal in Gotham in the right state of mind assaults an innocent, Head Batman comes alive in THEIR MIND and stops them. This is why the Batman in the %100 epilogue was so blurry and was surrounded by fire.

A future Rocksteady-verse game will involve Green Arrow
Or, hell, it would be awesome if by some way, Arrow is canon with the Arkhamverse.
  • 0_0...replete with a Karma Meter 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!

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 are probably some cops and/or citizens who are going to try something before or during his trial.
  • Confirmed. Batman injects Scarecrow with his fear toxin, overriding his natural immunity to it and driving him permanently insane, though his final fate is unknown.

Theories for how Bruce could return:
Just in case DC/WB wants to use Bruce in a future game.
  • 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.

The next game will be an interquel between Origins and Asylum
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.
  • Additionally it will shed some light on the Bruce/Jason relationship.
  • I'd say this is very likely since a lot of people are disappointed at this game. Plus WB Montreal has 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, Nothing Is the Same Anymore. 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 it's not something he has done before, so gameplay-wise WB Montreal is 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.
    • A lot of people love the Batmobile, but others consider it a Scrappy Mechanic due to Battle Mode and it being overused to progress through the story, so introducing a classic Batmobile that is only used for transportation will probably satisfy some players, while pissing off others. The Batwing also has not been playable yet, so that's another new thing that could be added. Seeing the entirety of Gotham City in one game (both the old and new locations) is also something I have seen requested on forums. Regarding upgrades like the Fear Takedowns, Gameplay and Story Segregation like before. Even if they can't top Arkham Knight, and let's be honest, they probably can't, it would still be nice to see what happens between Origins and Asylum.

Who blew up Wayne Manor
  • Bruce Wayne - Faked his death because Scarecrow revealed his identity as Batman to the public. Also the most likely, given the hush-hush nature of Knightfall.
    • Alternate explanation: He 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)
  • Arkham Knight/his henchmen
  • Harley Quinn - Revenge for Joker
    • Harley seems very unlikely since she was locked in a cell at the movie studios and didn't have access to 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.

The main villain of the Batgirl DLC

  • 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 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 it's 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 Noodle Incident. I think this will be it, and it will end with Joker paying a visit to the Gordons and crippling Babs.

Anarky attacked the diner in the opening sequence

  • 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 hospitalized because of it, which is why he is absent?

The new Batman
The new Batman in the ending is not Todd, not Grayson, not Drake, and not Azrael. And he's not using the fear toxin. It's the spirit of Bruce Wayne who now haunts Gotham after his death.
  • That's assuming he died and didn't fake his death.
  • More likely that's what the criminals of Gotham will believe the new Batman to be: the original Batman, returned from the grave as an unstoppable and terrifying ghost.

Batman has broken his one rule with 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 intentional 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 Cool Car 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 honor 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 his death and Azrael taking up the Batman legacy. Eventually, after an entire night of murder-by-proxy, his conscience becomes disgusted with what he's done and Spirit! Joker forces him to drive the Jokermobile, with the 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.

Long story short, that whole "non-lethal" debate over the Batmobile? Just another example of Gameplay and Story Integration in my books.

Riddler's credibility will be damaged forever after the events of the game
For a man who claims to be smarter than the average person, the fact he refused to believe the truth after Scarecrow outed Batman's identity will likely mean no one will ever take him seriously ever again.
  • Riddler never had the credibility, to begin with. None of the other Rogues or Batman himself ever took him seriously.

What happened to Bruce is up to the player
Unless Word of God confirms something or future DLC answers the question, Bruce's fate after the Knightfall is ambiguous since we never saw his body, and thus is up to the player. If you believe he faked his death, he faked his death. If you believe he was murdered/killed himself and Alfred, then he was murdered/killed himself and Alfred.

Bane will be DLC
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 ends up kicking his Titan/Venom/whatever addiction as he did in the comics, this may mean that we'll see a return of his more strategic and cunning side.
  • Tossed. Bane does not appear in the game at all.

Killer Croc will be DLC
Also almost a given, for three simple reasons:
  • 1. No way Rocksteady created a completely new model for him that detailed for a mere cameo.
  • 2. It would be strange for Batman to hallucinate a completely different appearance to when he last saw him in Arkham City.
  • 3. There are a lot of largely vacant underground areas within the Gotham map area. Many of them could be used for a showdown with Croc.
    • Confirmed, but he's fought in a crashed airship.

Azrael is an Assassin or a Templar
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.

Superman has only recently started his career in the Arkhamverse
The "freak from Metropolis" is mentioned for the first time in this game. Since a big theme of the game is Batman Passing the Torch 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 temper the replacement Batman's impulses, the future of the Arkhamverse is looking bright, thanks to Batman.
  • This would fit with the upcoming Superman vs. Batman movie, in which Batman seems to be older than Superman.

The Riddler and Harley Quinn really will get together.
Like in Joker's fear hallucination. With Mr. J and Ivy gone, she needs someone to shack up with.
  • And they aren't that bad a pairing: at least, they'll have in common that none of the other villains take them seriously, and can happily bitch about that fact to each other.

We'll finally get to fight Irish Black Canary in one of the DLC packs.
Seriously, they have teased that some version of the first fourteen pages of ASBAR #3 is canon to this franchise HARD in two games, particularly in City, where the Black Canary bar is strategically placed right beside the first Riddler room. Please have her show up.

The events of this game broke the Rogue's Gallery of Gotham - Literally.
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 Batman. 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 against the United States. I'm not too clear on my law, but I'm pretty sure that's treason. The insanity plea is damned, that's life imprisonment in federal lock-up at least, and the non-insane ones like Penguin may be executed.

Joker did kill Jason Todd, and was resurrected by Ra's al Ghul.
Once the Arkham Knight reveals his identity, Hallucination! Joker suddenly claims he didn't 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 concluded that Joker had simply lied about killing him. 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 live with the Lazarus Pit. It's entirely possible that he then set Jason on the path to becoming the Arkham Knight; possibly funding an army for him to train and 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.
  • 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 Jossed. The Joker probably did fake Jason's death.

When Barbara seemed to kill herself, that was Clayface.
  • The fear gas hallucinations are somewhat unpredictable. Scarecrow wanted to make sure that Batman saw the worst possible vision, so instead of using fear gas, he just hired Clayface to play the part of Barbara and pretend to commit suicide.
    • That helps explain why Batman accepts that Barbara is dead, instead of wondering whether it was all just a hallucination. At the time he wasn't affected by fear gas, and he could sense that fact. So he assumed that everything he saw at that moment was the truth.
    • Most likely Jossed. 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.

Jack Ryder is going to be killed by Deadshot
  • Being beaten by Batman is one thing - Floyd's known that the Bat is good for years, and has lost to him multiple times over the years. A national magazine claiming that he got beaten by a two-bit shock news reporter? That is an insult he's not going to take lying down.
  • Better yet, Deacon Blackfire will ask Deadshot to kill Ryder for being "the one that got away": a service for which Floyd will, for the above reasons, charge a net fee of $1.00. (Plus expenses, mind you; he's a merc after all.)

The Season Of Infamy DLC will include a new epilogue
  • From the looks of it, it will be story mode DLC for the main game in the form of new Most Wanted missions. Once they're complete, the player will trigger the Knightfall Protocol, or re-trigger it, and get a new epilogue that elaborates on Batman's final fate.
    • 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.

Arkham Knight will get his DLC
  • It will feature him trying to make amends for everything he did in the game and probably reveal he takes over as the Nightmare Batman.
    • 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.

Joker will later get his own game
  • With gameplay based on the finale of this game, where you play as Joker, it'll be a prequel set sometime before Asylum, where Joker breaks out of Arkham, and wields a shotgun similar to the one in Arkham Knight, you roam around the asylum in a First-Person view, killing guards and recruiting inmates, and having boss battles with the 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.
    • Personally this troper would prefer gameplay more like he had in Asylum and Origins (albeit with more gadgets and less difficult in Predator mode)

If Killer Croc is fought in DLC...

Poison Ivy was already dying before the game.
  • 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. She's already dying and has made peace with that, and is willing to sacrifice what's left of her life to save Gotham's plantlife.
    • Seemingly confirmed, if Scarecrow can be believed.

Bat-Mite is not okay with Knightfall and the new Batman
  • Bat-Mite is not 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.

Season of infamy accidentally explains everything about Gotham.
So during one of the DLC missions, you have to decide if you should or should not save Ra's al Ghul who's barely alive in a hidden back area of a hospital. To track down the substance he needs Bruce sets some of his techs up to scan for 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! If there are noticeable traces of the Lazarus pits liquid in the water supply 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 only traces amounts but it explains how every common criminal in the city can get beaten into unconsciousness regularly and come out for it otherwise fine. The Joker, Killer Croc, and 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 living there. Even Batman, him and his parents lived on the upper-crust 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 contaminated rainwater and overflowing storm drains, followed by years spent in a moist cave under his house building a high tech lair.
  • Wasn't this already sort of implied in City when we learn Ra's tried to build a whole underground phalanstery powered by a Lazarus Pit and the populace went insane?

Merlyn will take over the League of Assassins
  • Similar to the show Arrow

The new Batman at the end of the true ending is Basil Karlo/Clayface.
  • Clayface was last seen in Batman: Arkham City impersonating the dying Joker. He has two Game Over taunts:
    • "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 Batman after his "death" would seem a worthy follow-up.
    • The theater that the victimized family exits during the true ending was showing "The Terror," which was a Basil Karlo movie shown on posters and a screen in Arkham City. Perhaps another nod to Clayface?

While playing dead, Bruce is actually...
  • Living an active retirement at sea fighting pirates aboard his luxury yacht, the Leatherwing in a Shout-Out to The Return of Bruce Wayne. For bonus lulz, the pirates are led by an Arkhamed-up version of Captain Stingaree.
  • Training Terry McGinnis to be his replacement.

What happens to all the characters in the aftermath?
The ones whose fates aren't already mentioned, anyway.
  • 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 a police officer John Blake.
  • With no Batman to obsess over, Riddler finds a new outlet as a private detective and, almost inadvertently, winds up doing some good.
    • Alternatively, Riddler comes back as a crime boss, with bigger and badder riddles and bothers another superhero, mentioning a backer who recognizes his genius. 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.
  • The grounds of Wayne Manor become the site of a new Arkham Asylum, a modern and effective mental health facility. Cash takes back his role as head of security, and the Arkham Knight becomes a willing patient under an assumed name.
  • Penguin and Two-Face, their criminal empires teetering on the brink of ending completely, become Those Two Guys.
  • Numerous twisted gangs rise to emulate the Joker. They are not given much respect by anyone and often fail miserably.
  • Raymond Underhill tries to redeem himself as the new, heroic Firefly.
  • Wayne Enterprises' new Board includes Dick Grayson, Leslie Tompkins, and Lucius Fox. They collectively move to create a special program called Batman Incorporated.
  • Killer Croc becomes increasingly atavistic until he's pretty much just an animal, and still roams Gotham's sewers.
    • He eventually winds up in Metropolis, having become a force of destruction no human could ever hope to fight......and then he gets curb stomped by Superman. Croc's mutation then gives him superhuman intellect, as a straight-up physical fight with Superman would be suicide, and uses it to become Metropolis's premier crime boss.

Many people that were 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.
  • Some villains may include Emperor Blackgate, Dollmaker, Dollhouse, Abattoir, Merrymaker, Bruno, White Knight, Kite Man, Captain Stingaree...

Black Mask did not die in the Red Hood DLC
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.
  • More telling, Before his death 'Black Mask' was part of a fight with the Red Hood. In AO it was revealed he had a heart condition and raising his heart rate could kill him. I'd say that the fight would raise his heart rate. To survive until Jason killed him suggests that it's not Sionis.
    • Black Mask has been through much worse. In Origins, he was forced to Mercy Kill 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.

Both Kirk and Francine Langstrom are completely normal humans now.
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.

Deathstroke and Firefly were last-minute additions to the game to connect to Arkham Origins
Due to how much Fanon Discontinuity was thrown at Arkham Origins, Warner Bros. ordered Rocksteady to reference 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 though Darth Vader's suit was altered over time).

This game inspired DC to create the "Batman Who Laughs" villain
The writer(s) got the idea of a jokerfied Batman from this game.

Barbra had only recently become Oracle before Batman: Arkham Asylum, and shortly after Matter of family
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  Tim was Robin during Matter of Family which means that logically, Matter of Family and Asylum has to have happened within a year of each other.In this context the line of Joker sarcastically offering Harley as a replacement sidekick refers to him noticing that Batgirl had recently vanished, unaware he ended her vigilante Career.

Gordon didn't 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 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 Tim up; learning that Henry was as Joker as the others convinced Bruce he hadn't crossed the line and was still justified in his actions.
  • Jossed: Oracle mentions Scarecrow using Gordon's voiceprint 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 been to the movie studios.

Harleen will ultimately reclaim her mind from Harley
In the Harley Quinn DLC when you use Harley's equivalent of Detective Vision for extended periods the player can hear 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 Harleen has started to re-emerge since Joker's death. Throughout the DLC Harley repeatedly shuts down Harleen but since then Harley has lost all 4 Joker infected and Ivy. This may lead to one of two possibilities that will lead to Harleen replacing Harley as the dominant persona.

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

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

When talking to Catwoman about Gotham needing something 'worse' Batman was talking about Jason.
This theory assumes of course that Bruce 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 an acknowledgment 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.

The Riddler is a Bat Cat shipper.

In Arkham Knight, the Riddler not only kidnaps Catwoman and makes Batman go through 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 it's 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 as 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 to solve.

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