History YMMV / Batman

[[folder:The comics]]

[[folder:Live-Action Films and shows]]

[[folder:Animated films and shows]]

** Prior to the 1980s, Two-Face was not portrayed as a man with multiple personalities, just as someone who rejected moral responsibility and let random chance in the form of his coin make his choices for him. The multiple personalities first showed up when he got a new ComicBook/PostCrisis origin. The idea of Dent having two personalities caught on so well it's completely erased the character's first 40 years. Ironically, his appearance in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' caused some protest when it was closer to his original portrayal.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Though it's now his signature gimmick, the Scarecrow didn't use fear gas until over twenty years after his debut. In fact, in the 1940s he didn't use any artificial methods at all, and [[BadassNormal terrified people using only his wits and conventional weaponry.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Joker sure as hell leaped over the event horizon in 1988, when he [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke crippled Barbara Gordon, stripped her, took pictures of her nude body, and then used that to torture Commissioner Gordon]]. And if that wasn't enough, he then [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily tortured and murdered Jason Todd]]. Fans widely agree that 1988 was the year Joker went from being a gimmick villain to a CompleteMonster.

** Fans, particularly the ones who grew up with ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' as their first exposure to Batman, consider Creator/KevinConroy's interpretation of Batman to be '''the''' voice of the character, and hear just about any dialogue from Batman in Conroy's voice.

** Scarecrow is utterly terrifying, and [[CreepyAwesome beloved for it]]. The fact several storylines depict him as a master of sowing fear and psychologically manipulating people ''without'' his Fear Toxin only cements him as one of the most menacing Rogues, despite being completely useless in a physical fight ([[DependingOnTheWriter Except of course]] for [[DanceBattler occasions]] where [[WeakButSkilled he's not]]).

** Scarecrow is utterly terrifying, and [[CreepyAwesome beloved for it]]. The fact several storylines depict him as a master of sowing fear and psychologically manipulating people ''without'' his Fear Toxin only cements him as one of the most menacing Rogues, despite being completely useless in a physical fight.

* * EvilIsCool: ''Hoo-boy''. This trope may as well be called "The Batman Villain Effect". Standout examples include

* EvilIsCool: ''Hoo-boy''. This trope may as well be called "The Batman Villain Effect". Standout examples include The Joker, Two-Face, Bane, Ra's Al Ghul, Clayface, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Black Mask, and Harley Quinn. Even villains like Penguin and The Riddler can receive this [[NotSoHarmlessVillain when they stop messing around]].

** The second Robin, Jason Todd, was unpopular enough that fans voted for him to be killed off in the infamous ''[[BatmanADeathInTheFamily A Death in the Family]]'' storyline. His ComicBook/{{New 52}} incarnation is similarly hated: In the wake of Dick's faked death, writers have attempted to re-integrate Jason back into the Bat family. However, he comes across as a poorly-written anti-heroic Dick, and his interactions with Bat family members often require them to act wildly out of character.

* ReplacementScrappy: Why'd you think the fans voted for Jason Todd to be killed off in the first place?

** 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.
*** The third one that replaced both in the New 52 isn't very liked either. Apparently the writers caught on since both her and the second are either dead or [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome ignored]] while the original is back in action.
** Jason Todd has gone back to being this in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}. In the wake of Dick's faked death, writers have attempted to re-integrate Jason back into the Bat family. However, he comes across as a poorly-written anti-heroic Dick, and his interactions with Bat family members often require them to act wildly out of character.

** The post-''ComicBook/BatmanEndgame'' Batman, [[spoiler:James Gordon]], is starting to become this, following in the footsteps of the other armor-wearing Replacement Scrappy, Jean-Paul Valley. This is mostly due to the fact that he's seen taking a NeverMyFault attitude and attacking Batman's old supporting cast and allies. This is easily shown in ''ComicBook/SupermanTruth'' where he accidentally nearly causes a war with a subterranean race, then proceeds to tell Superman that it was ''his'' fault and to piss off.
** To some, Basil Karlo as the main Clayface. While Karlo was the first villain to hold the title and a good rogue in his own right, he wasn't a shapeshifter like his successors. After becoming a true Clay-creature, he became a dumber, two-dimensional version of the Animated series Clayface with absolutely none of Matt Hagen's more complex qualities and little characterization beyond "sociopathic brute". Clayfaces 3 & 4(Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller) were also seen as more interesting and sympathetic characters, but have since [[SpotlightStealingSquad been shoved to obscurity]] for Karlo. And that's not even mentioning the abominable actions through his career. While the Rebirth incarnation of Karlo retconned him into being a sympathetic and likable character, some still feel it would've been more apppropriate for other Clayfaces like Payne and Fuller to get that treatment.

* DesignatedHero: Bruce can dip into this ''a lot'', mostly in regards to his abusive treatment of his sons. While it's probably the most prominent in his treatment of Jason, especially in the New 52 and Rebirth, his treatment of Dick, his 'favorite' son is hardly any better at times (which makes Jason's jealousy and resentment of Dick painfully ironic). While with Tim, it usually never gets physical like it does with his older brothers, the emotional manipulation is just as damaging. Damian is the one best off -- he usually only has to deal with ParentalNeglect. This has been a major point of contention for fans in recent years, especially in the age of social media where child abuse is a hot button topic that has an increasing amount of awareness. As a result of that, it becomes ''very'' hard to root for Bruce knowing he never really apologizes or admits that he's wrong for what he's been doing to all of them. Sometimes, he even ends up going so far that what he does to his sidekicks could definitely be considered torture (see MoralEventHorizon below).

* LGBTFanbase: See EvenTheGuysWantHim. Not to mention the franchise has several notable, stereotype-free gay characters like Batwoman and Renee Montoya.

*** He helped save friggin' '''Superman''' in ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything.

*** However, in the New 52, he went back to being TheScrappy of the Bat family. See ReplacementScrappy above.

** When she first became Batgirl, Steph became a ReplacementScrappy for Cass. After the first two story arcs, however, this died down a lot.

* TheScrappy:
** ComicBook/PostCrisis Jason Todd was hated by quite a few readers, to the point that fans eventually ''voted'' for him to be killed by the Joker. While an almost equal number of people voted to spare him, a LOT of people thought that the vote was for the first Robin, Dick Grayson, who was excessively popular amongst a lot of fans.
*** Funnily enough, he was brought back to life due to AlasPoorScrappy status, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap where he became an]] anti-hero JerkAssWoobie who was centre stage to a very well received storyline. However, poor use led to him landing right back into Scrappydom. He still has plenty of fans, though, due to non-comic adaptations of him being very popular.
** [[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Damian Wayne]] was this at first, being seen as a snotty, bratty jerk who got away with a lot of crap that other characters wouldn't. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap While the character has been more or less fixed since than]], there are a few who won't forget his controversial introduction.
** Creator/TomKing's take on the Riddler is generally disliked, mainly for jettisoning a lot of the character's charm, humor, and nuance in favor of making him a pure evil sociopath with none of the traits that made the character endearing.

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Ferris Boyl is the {{Jerkass}} CEO who ruined Victor Fries's life by ordering his experiment with Nora shut down and ended up transforming Victor into Mr. Freeze. Since then, all of Freeze's crimes and ruthless acts have gone on to far surpass Boyle's singular action, having ruined the lives of both men and women in far worse ways than his former employer. Despite all that, Freeze is the one whom fans sympathize with despite being a murderous, albeit tragic, villain with a high body count while Boyle is the one who's hated for being the unlikable jerk who [[VillainHasAPoint might have had a point about Victor's experiment being unauthorized]] but still crossed the line by assaulting Victor.