These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
Alternate Character Interpretation: To date, Batman is one of the few comic book characters to have run all nine alignments. Denny O'Neil once stated one of the great things about the character is that he can be portrayed in several different ways and all ring true.
Does the Ventriloquist suffer a split personality, a dissociative disorder, or is he right in his belief that Scarface is possessed by the ghost of every murderer hung on the gallows he was carved from? There's evidence to support all these theories, and even the one that Wesker knows exactly what he's doing and Scarface is just a gimmick.
Angst? What Angst?: Stephanie Brown as Batgirl. Not that we're complaining...
Base Breaker: Jason Todd was initially so controversial that DC allowed for a fan vote to determine whether he lived or died. Ironically there were just barely more votes for him to die. And years later, the editor would admit hundreds of votes in the "Jason Dies" line came from a single person, adding a large degree of uncertainty to the honesty of results regarding a poll designed to determine the character's popularity. And surely he's got plenty of fans after killing a rapist.
He actually is still a Base Breaker; fans either love him or wish there was a second phone-in vote to kill him off again.
Bat-Mite. To some, he exemplifies everything wrong with the Silver Age. To others, he exemplifies everything right.
Complete Monster: Lots. The Joker, Scarecrow, Hush, the evil sides of Scarface and Two-Face, some versions of Penguin, Mister Freeze, Poison Ivy, Riddler etc., as well as Hugo Strange, Simon Hurt and Mr. Zsasz. Killer Croc and some others serve as literal examples.
Black Mask, though as with all comic villains, it depended on the arc. In War Games, he was hilarious. In Catwoman, he was a monster. (As "hilarious" as slitting one guys' throat, starting a riot, and then seemingly torturing a teenage girl to death will go, anyway. War Games was generally considered a bad story, so Black Mask's "humor" at least provided some entertainment.)
War Games is Love It or Hate It; it is not "generally considered to be a bad story"; there are plenty of people who love it, especially because of Black Mask being so funny but also so terribly evil.
The first Clayface, Basil Karlo, also has his moments. Cold bloodedly murdering a movie cast and crew just for working on a remake of his film, killing the doctor who helped give him his powers, and taking sadistic glee as a bunch of extremist fans commit SUICIDE in memory of his role as an actor are among his atrocities.
James Gordon, Jr. is this as well, having tortured and murdered many people in the past for no reason beyond the power it gives him. He even reveals that he thinks of empathy as a weakness, and tortures his sister Barbara by driving a pair of knives into her paralyzed legs.
Copy Cat Sue/Overused Copycat Character: Hush is debatably this, given that it can be argued that nothing about his character is particularly original within the context of the Batman mythos. Batman already had plenty of Shadow Archetype enemies, while the Wrath and Prometheus, and more subtly Black Mask, all whom came along before Hush had backstories made to explicitly mirror Bruce Wayne's. Was even subject to some (possibly unintentional) Lampshade Hanging by Batman, who drew parallels to his other villains when trying to deduce Hush's identity (associating him using Guns Akimbo to Deadshot and quoting Aristotle to Maxie Zeus). On a somewhat related note, Hush also dresses up exactly like Darkman.
Creator's Pet: For much of Damian's existence, he's been a McGuffin and has barely had any character development. As a result, he tends to be widely disliked amongst fans. Being made into Robin has only increased the backlash against the character.
And yet, because of his age, the fact that he comprises half of one of the more entertaining Batman-and-Robin duos in a long while, and the considerable amount of character development he's received, he's actually started to win over a fair amount of fans, even some of his most vocal haters.
Hush. However, after the "Heart of Hush" storyline, reactions have been turning to more positive.
Batman himself may easy turn into one when he is written by his fans - most jarring examples include some comics written by Frank Miller, that are determined to show how much better than everybody else Batman is and JLA: Act of God, where he receives giant amount of Character Shilling.
The "new direction" of the 1960s, with the blue cowl and wacky Silver Age sci-fi hijinx.
For Dick Grayson:
Devin Grayson's "Born Again" arc. Not only was it flawed from supposition one (Nightwing, one of the most well connected superheroes being alienated in an attempt to "rebuild him"), time constraints from the then-upcoming Infinite Crisis only made it worse. It's pretty much Canon Discontinuity now, thankfully.
Not to mention that there was almost certainly people who hoped that Robin would be a Dork Age for Batman when he first showed up (hint: it was actually the exact opposite), even with what little continuity there was back then.
For Cassandra Cain... boyhowdy. Adam Beechen wrote her from being near mute with deep psychological dyslexic issues into someone who monologued in Navajo Code. And she took personal pleasure in killing people.
For Stephanie Brown: War Games could've been set as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for her. It didn't quite work out that way.
Dude, Not Funny!: Many stories have a moment where Batman alludes to his traumatic origin, and/or to the fact that he really is Darker and Edgier than most of his superhero friends. Maybe the best example was in an episode of Justice League Unlimited in which the League was reduced to children by magic. Throughout the episode, Batman remains composed and grim just like he normally is while most of the rest of the heroes are hyper, temperamental and dangers to themselves and others. This might look like him being his usual Crazy-Prepared self, until the Dénouement to the episode when another character says in a light-hearted way that it was nice to be a kid again. His response? "I haven't been a kid since I was eight years old."
Cassandra Cain. Despite rarely appearing at all in crossovers and having her only media exposure being a one-second cameo in Justice League and a crappy video game, despite getting pushed around and trainwrecked by editorial a lot, despite vanishing entirely in recent days, she still has a dedicated fanbase, and it's not hard to find bits from her solo comic posted on the current Scans Daily to this day, four years after it ended. What's more, she's on par with Barbara Gordon in fanart and fanfiction, even though Barbara has gotten manytimes as muchexposure as her.
Damian Wayne, for newer readers who didn't get him when he was more of a jerkass until they backtracked.
COLIN WILKES. This kid seriously wins. He's only been in 6 issues (the first three of which are usually only read becuase the latter three mention them). In the latter three, he shows that he's become a vigilante and helps Damian break up a fight ring run by Zsasz, becoming sort-of friends with Damian. And knows that Damian is Robin. And is adorable (when not transformed into Abuse anyways).
And has more fanart/fanfiction than you would believe. Going by deviantART or Tumblr, one could be forgiven for not realizing Colin's a very minor charatcer.
My Real Daddy: While Jeph Loeb created the character, a good amount of fans feel Hush did not get really interesting until Paul Dini started writing the character.
Even the Guys Want Him: Probably the one thing we can all agree with Joel Schumacher on.
Evil Is Sexy: Catwoman. Though she's not exactly evil.
Fan Preferred Couple: As a longtime confirmed bachelor, there are tons of Batman ships:
Batman/Catwoman is as close to canon as any have ever been, but writers keep them apart based on the "she's a criminal, he's Batman" premise. They seemed to become Friends with Benefits before the events of Final Crisis.
Batman/Zatanna is teased at several times, particularly if Paul Dini is writing.
Batman/Wonder Woman is a favorite ship of half of comic fandom (that other half preferring Superman/Wonder Woman). It's even suggested that she had an unrequited love for him during Blackest Night.
Batman/Talia too, considering their past affair and that Damian came from it. Downplayed since her Face Heel Turn, in which they no longer have the close contact they had before.
Foe Yay: Catwoman. Talia Al Ghul, A little with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. An interesting interplay with the Joker (the scene where he holds him in his arms while telling Gordon he will not let him die) And he renews that offer of rehabilitation with regularity.
Iron Woobie: Tim Drake isn't called "the saddest Robin" for nothing.
And of course, Batman himself.
Jerkass Stu: Damian, though it's very arguable. It is hard to tell if it's being played straight or not.
Jerkass Woobie: Jason Todd, post-resurrection. Surely, he did a lot of awful things (as trying to kill Dick and Tim), but the guy is so screwed in the inside. His family is dead, his biological mother watched when was being tortured by the Joker and did nothing to stop it (in fact, she was helping the Joker), and was brought back to life with amnesia, suffered a lot more while trying to recover his identity and his life (as we can see on Red Hood: The Lost Days), and to this day, his life hasn't gotten any better.
Damian is a brat, no two ways about it. But he finally gets to be Robin only AFTER his father vanishes from the face of the earth, of which the whole point of getting said role was to spend time with him, is prohibited from killing in this new role, a tad crippling since he now has to solely rely on his TEN year old build to subdue the likes of Killer Croc and as a result gets kicked around by a LOT of people good and bad, and to top it all off he's surrounded by what amount to the surrogate CHILDREN of Bruce Wayne, a collection of people he loved and trusted despite not being his real family, who outright despise him. Not to mention how hellish and lonely his childhood probably was, and getting his SPINE blasted to pieces within the second arc of his flagship title. Kid's got it rough.
When he's written well, Riddler also becomes this, given his high level of intelligence. Unfortunately, this really depends on the writer and a lot of his stories don't highlight his intelligence very much.
Marty Stu: Batman is so Crazy-Prepared that he can seem like this at times, though the fandom tends to exaggerate his prowess to the point where the lines between what he can really do and what the fans think he can do tends to blur slightly.
Memetic Badass: Batman is one of the more notable ones. Give him enough prep, and he can beat God! "Batman can defeat any villain, given enough prep time," is Fanon.
There's a reason we mentioned that Batman could pull out a lightsaber with no explanation in the first paragraph.
He has admitted that a fight between him and Captain America could go either way with him completely unsure who would have the greater chance of winning.
And Wildcat also has his number.
Memetic Molester: People will not stop insisting that Batman is gay with Robin.
A good deal of fans have gotten a creepy vibe that the Mad Hatter is a pedophile. Whether or not this is a reference to the possibly that Lewis Carroll was a suspected pedophile, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth and Streets of Gotham have only cemented the idea of Tetch being one.
Memetic Sex God: Though not in the traditional sense, Nightwing's butt is usually drawn so... well that his hotness transcends species; a female sentient ape once hit on him.
Mind Game Ship: Hush with Batman, maybe even more so with Bruce.
Nightmare Fuel: Damian's face as he is about to engage the 99 Fiends. The immediate snapping of a hellhound's neck as he proceeds to cut the limbs off of several of his opponents doesn't help either.
There's a reason Victor Zsasz hasn't been in any animated adaptations.
Paranoia Fuel: Doesn't matter if you're a good guy or a bad guy... Batman is watching you. ALWAYS WATCHING YOU.
Periphery Demographic: Batman sure has his lady fans. And judging by the large amount of officially licensed plushies, babydoll tees, and jewelry, DC is aware of this.
Replacement Scrappy: Why'd you think the fans voted for Jason Todd to be killed off in the first place?
When Cassandra Cain first appeared as Batgirl, she seemed to be a cliche Anti-Hero Substitute, and had to face an uphill battle against being called a God Mode Sue. Once it was clear that yes, she was as much The Cape as they come, and no, illiteracy is not an easily-excusable Mary SueFlaw, it rather deflated. Barbara Gordon fans can still be a bit sore about her, though.
The second Ventiloquist hasn't been very well-received so far, as the perception is that rather than try to make her appealing in her own right, much of the focus has been on running down her predecessor to say how much better she is.
Steph replacing Cassandra as Batgirl wasn't well-received by all. Before that, her replacing Tim as Robin wasn't, either.
Jason Todd, for a short while anyway. Whether or not this has happened since his resurrection, he helped save friggin' Superman in For the Man Who Has Everything.
In the mini-series "The Cult", he also saved Batman's life, shook him out of a major BSOD, restored his faith in himself, and provided the impetus to save Gotham when Batman was ready to give up on it. Oh, and saved Batman's life again.
Also the Direct to DVD movie Batman Underthe Red Hood fixed a lot of the problems with the original story in which he came back and made him more sympathetic, resulting in more fans warming up to him in the comics.
Accomplished to such a degree with Damian that many who hated him are both surprised terrified with the fact that they are starting to LIKE him.
Flamebird. Due to her early Valley Girl nature and incompetence Post-Crisis, her clingy obsessive attitude, as well as being a retool of an already-campy character, fans didn't take to her very well. Geoff Johns and Ben Raab fleshed her out more in Beast Boy mini-series.
The Scrappy: Damian Wayne, though he's getting better.
The Penguin. Not as bad as most others, but is generally labelled as the lamest of the big name rogues, with a mental disorder (OCD) that many find dull in comparison to the others. Emphasizing him as a "technically legal" villain has since quieted some of them down. Though back in the Golden Age and Silver Age, he actually was one of the most popular villains, since many of the other rogues who supplanted him hadn't been invented yet.
Unfortunate Implications: Concerning Cassandra Cain—A female character that's more skilled than Batman? Quick! Turn her into a one-dimensional villain, make her so weak that even Tim Drake can beat her and make her moody! And while we're at it, a popular Asian character? Quick, let's replace her with someone with Blond Hair and Blue Eyes.
Big Lipped Alligator Moment: As our heroes scale buildings with the Bat Ropes, they invariably get stopped by someone whose window they pass.
Complete Monster: Mr. Freeze. He kidnapped supermodels, destroyed public faith in Batman and Robin and tried to turn them into "famous frosty freezies." What a nut! He isn't even remorseful:
The Siren. She can hypnotize men with her voice, and after they outlive their usefulness, she has no hesitation in commanding them to jump into a lake or off a building.
Hate Dumb: The complaints from "Batman fans" that this show nearly ruined Batman and didn't get him at all. At the time (The Sixties) of the comics this was how Batman was portrayed. Actually the comics were even more stupid and played straight (see The Silver Age of Comic Books). Batman was only "dark" for a brief period of time when he first started and then dissolved into a colorful superhero that the series represented. It wasn't until the 70's that Batman returned to his darker roots, after this show had ended. Never mind the fact that this show launched Batman into pop culture and saved the comics from cancellation.
Ho Yay: Obvious. Three bachelors in one house, and two of them wear tights.
Also, in the pilot, the Riddler is really excited by seeing his assistant dress up as Robin and pose in a somewhat seductive fashion.
Memetic Mutation: The aforementioned catch phrases of Robin and the announcer. (Notably, these became memetic long before the invention of the Internet.)
"Ualuealuealeuale!", a musical meme combining a loop of Batman bobbing his head like a drunkard while performing the Batusi dance with the incomprehensible hook of the El Chombo single "Chacarron Macarron." The Batusi itself is also a meme.
"Good thinking, Batman!" remains a popular response in the UK when someone suggests a Zany Scheme.
Narm: It's probably intentional, but Batman and Robin throw around anvils like there's no tomorrow in the narmiest way possible. They include Robin not being allowed to go into a bar because he is underage (even though he needs to go in there to catch a villain) and Batman being very adamant that someone who regularly pays their taxes can't possibly commit a crime.
Popularity Polynomial: The popularity, or lack thereof, of the show among "serious" comics fans definitely waxes and wanes.
Seasonal Rot: This series' first season had fairly good balance of drama and farce, but the subsequent seasons lost it; Season 2 became primarily ridiculous, and Season 3 was both embarrassingly cheap and ridiculous.
Weird Al Effect: The show was basically an (intentional) over-the-top satire of the comic book, but now people seem to think of the show as the 1960s serious representation of Batman.
Badass Decay: Commisioner Gordon is perfectly competent in the Burton movies, but in the Shumacher films he's turned into a joke.
Complete Monster: The Joker. He retains a certain amount of sympathy through being Laughably Evil and a Magnificent Bastard. But, he kills people just for pleasure the whole movie, he horribly disfigured his girlfriend Alicia (it's also implied he throws her out of a window), he shoots dead his long-time friend Bob just let out his anger, and intends to poison the whole of Gotham's citizenry with the Smylex gas, without showing much motivation or thought process about it.
Oh yeah, and he's the one who killed who Bruce's parents for no reason.
Crosses the Line Twice/Nightmare Fuel: In what was perhaps the movie's most infamous scene, the Joker electrocutes Tony Rotelli with a "real" joybuzzer and then briefly chats with his burned, husked, and still-smoking corpse, acting as if the dead man is still alive. Kids in the audience couldn't watch that scene for years afterwards!
Fanon: While Jack Napier's partner who grabbed Mrs. Wayne's pearls is generally believed to be Bob, several fans assume him to be Joe Chill.
Fountain of Memes: Aside from the catchphrases, the Joker's initial reaction to seeing his new face (smashing the mirror, giggling madly) became widely imitated. (Example: Lisa Simpson seeing her braces.)
Romantic Plot Tumor: The amount of time focused on Bruce's relationship with Vicki - who is also desired by Knox and the Joker - makes this subplot come across as this to some viewers.
Seinfeld Is Unfunny: The first film was unique at the time. Comic book movies, and there weren't that many of them then, had never been so darkly elaborate before. It was also by far the darkest take on Batman beyond the actual comics. But after both the DCAU take on the characters and the Christopher Nolan reboot proved to be exceptional adaptations in their own right, and the lingering bad aftertaste of Schumacher's sequels tainted the series' reputation, it's harder to appreciate the Burton films for what they were/are.
What an Idiot: The second of Joker's three goons at the top of the cathedral is a big fat guy who tries to jump down on him from a higher platform. And promptly falls through the floor before Batman even has time to turn around. Also qualifies as a Funny Moment.
What The Hell, Casting Agency?: Michael Keaton so thoroughly proved the naysayers wrong that, in hindsight, it's hard to remember just how bizarre casting a famously mild, unimposing comedic actor as a grim, Frank Miller-inspired version of Batman seemed at the time. Thousands of fans wrote letters to Warner Bros. protesting the choice before the movie's release, and even Keaton himself initially thought that his being cast for the part meant that the film would be taking its cues from the TV series.
The Problem with Licensed Games: In general, Bats has had more luck with this than most superheroes; his first NES outing by Sunsoft is considered one of the finest Nintendo Hard-in-a-good-way platformers, his 16-bit games tended to be at least okay (though this is the time period which The Angry Video Game Nerd found the most to object to), and the ArkhamSeries pretty much proved that licensed games don't have to be bad. He has still had some stinkers, though (like a few of the aforementioned 16-bit era games, or the Commodore 64 game, which looked cool but was a nightmare to actually play).
