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Fridge / Batman: Arkham Origins

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As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.


Fridge Brilliance

  • Even before you know Joker was actually Black Mask, there are some things that tip you off.
    • First, why would Black Mask kill Loeb, when he profits more from keeping him alive? That could be chalked up to Bond Villain Stupidity or Card-Carrying Villain antics, but that ISN'T Black Mask's style.
    • Secondly, the bounty is EXTREMELY exaggerated, and Batman isn't that intimidating yet; he's been in the game for just two years, and most thugs don't even believe he exists, plus Gotham is still pretty much in Black Mask's pocket. Black Mask wouldn't waste that much money when he's still on top of the game; if he really felt like a bounty on the Bat was necessary, he'd be going for a much lower bounty at this point in time.
      • In the Zero Punctuation review for the game, Yahtzee even jokes that Black Mask taking out an assassination contract on Batman is, at this point in the mythos, like hiring assassins to go after Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, since nobody really believes Batman is real... except this all makes perfect sense when you remember Black Mask is actually the Joker. It's entirely possible, even very likely, that Joker too didn't really believe in Batman, and really was just putting out a bogus assassination hit on someone who didn't even exist. It'd be like hiring someone to kill the Ghost of Christmas Future, and it's EXACTLY what the Joker would do for a laugh.
      • It should be noted that, as Batman goes through the "amusement park" inside Gotham Royal, Joker mentions to Batman that he knew of him by asking him "I did much more in two weeks than you did in how long, 2 years?" So it is likely that Joker believed Batman existed.
    • There's also the ludicrous amount of explosives under the police station and the bank when the GCPD is mostly on his payroll and actively working for him, and far too much to just rob a bank. And why would Black Mask even rob a bank by himself, or at all, let alone one that he legally owns? But remember the trailers: Joker set up explosives across various buildings, just to mess with Batman.
    • Black Mask wouldn't kill Loeb, but Joker only cares about spreading chaos. He wants to kill Batman out of Roaring Rampage of Revenge, and only Joker would be crazy enough to throw the prize of 50 million dollars into the criminal underworld with a "one night only" condition to cause mayhem through Gotham.
    • This game also explains some of Joker's alliances in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Why's he so friendly to Killer Croc? Because Croc worked for him before. It's unclear if he knew that Joker had traded places with Black Mask, though.
      • Given that one of Croc's natural abilities is enhanced smell, it wouldn't be a huge jump to assume that he did know. That raises a different point of Fridge Horror, though: if he can tell that Batman is behind him just by scent, it stands to reason that he might be able to guess his identity if he ever meets Bruce Wayne in person.
      • On the other hand, it's possible that the Batsuit would throw Bruce's scent off, given all the equipment he carries such as the explosive gel, and it's also very unlikely that Bruce Wayne would ever be in a position to meet Croc outside of the suit.
    • He considered offing Calendar Man just because it was Christmas Eve, and let him kill Loeb just because it was too good of a coincidence to pass up. That really sounds like something The Joker would find funny.
  • The game marketing campaign made extensive use of the phrase "Your enemies will define you." After playing the game it's pretty obvious that it was not only about Batman. Bane and especially the Joker were defined by the events of that Christmas night.
  • Penguin claims that all arms deals taking place aboard the Final Offer are completely legal, due to the vessel technically being the property of the Somali government, and thus a small bastion of lawless foreign territory. While he is correct on that count, the police are still able to go after any of his customers for smuggling weapons into the United States, once they inevitably step off the boat. Not that he cares.
  • Batman finds Bane's hideout by following a tracker he planted on him back at the hotel. Bane's Venom delivery system was damaged there as well. Bane found the tracker when he repaired his delivery system.
  • Bane may not have necessarily figured out that Batman is Bruce Wayne; nonetheless, the clue he picked up with Batman's/Bruce's apparent catchphrase "you've just ran out of time" is enough for Bane to at least suspect him and storm his manor. After all, what's stopping him? A search warrant?
  • Something that people have complained about is how the combat is less forgiving than the previous games—thugs are faster, counters require quicker timing, etc. But it makes sense for them to be like this in this game, which takes place in Batman's second year, and is about 5-7 years before Asylum. That's about 7-9 years of fighting Batman, who won't hesitate to snap their bones, beat them into submission, use specialized weapons, or use the environment against them. The thugs in Gotham City are a clear, yet still effective, case of Dented Iron by the time Asylum happens.
    • Also, Batman has probably just become more experienced over those years, making countering the mooks a more trivial matter, due to being able to read their moves more efficiently. This could also explain their apparently lower speed. We're playing as The Bat, and they seem slower to him, for the same reason: regular mooks have become even more routine by then.
      • There are way fewer mooks around in the chronically later games in the series, of course - since Batman proved capable of beating the hell of them all in Origins, a lot of them probably just packed it in and left the city. Not to mention the newly risen super villains dominating the Gotham underground would have started killing the remaining thugs off from time to time, either for failing to stop the Batman or to keep the rest in line. This also explains why the mooks in Asylum and City aren't as tough, too - they're either comparatively newbies or suffering a few years' worth of bad road.
  • Critics question why Batman is more prepared or has the same/better gadgets as in other games. Well:
    • Batman can fly back to Batcave, something he couldn't do in the earlier games.
      • The plot of Arkham Asylum has Batman underprepared and forced to improvise the entire game with his gadgets because he is caught off guard by Joker and isolated from his resources. The only reason he has any supplies at all is that he established a Batcave on Arkham Island well in advance, and even that gets destroyed by Ivy's plants.
      • In Arkham City, Bruce is thrown into the mega-prison without any of his gear and has to have it all flown in, even making extra requests when the situation called for it.
      • It's also mentioned, In City that Bruce considered a bigger belt, but that it was too heavy and slowed him down, making it a liability, thus he regularly only employs the base gadgets, then, as mentioned above, getting additional gear sent in as and when he needs it.
    • Batman created the glue grenade, which is functionally identical to the Freeze Grenade, but keep in mind that the Freeze Grenade wasn't his invention; Mr. Freeze gives it to him to help him take down the Joker. Then in "Cold, Cold Heart," it is revealed that the Glue Grenade was unstable and didn't last longer than that one night.
    • The Accelerator actually is not as good as the Grapnel Boost. The Boost is probably an upgrade of the Accelerator.
      • The Accelerator was designed to work with the Origins suit, which is much bulkier and more like Powered Armor. The force of it is against the suit rather than Batman's arm. The Boost was designed to work with the much lighter high-tech fabric suits Batman had switched to (for more mobility and less noise), where the force of it would be against Batman's arm. Different tech. Notice that he switched back to an Accelerator type thing (but more powerful) when he switched to the super armored suit in Batman: Arkham Knight.
    • The remote grapple is similar to the line launcher but not as effective because it can't hook to any surface like the line launcher.
    • So it isn't so much about whether or not this equipment still exists during Asylum and City, it's a matter of whether or not Batman felt like he actually needed to take it with him. Just like how he switches from heavy metal armor to the sleeker, slimmer suit. (Real Life development choices notwithstanding.)
  • People claim that Harley's interview with the Joker retcons what had been established in Batman: Arkham Asylum, but thinking about it, it helps make sense of some of the oddities:
    • Why would Arkham's staff let an inexperienced intern provide therapy for the inmates? Harley wasn't completely inexperienced at the time, having worked for Hugo Strange's clinic and Blackgate Prison (which justified her interviewing the patients), but she was still hopelessly naive, which the Joker took advantage of.
    • Why would they let anyone interview the Joker, given what he tends to do? He was still new to Gotham, so nobody knew what he was capable of, and since Harley appears to be transferred to Arkham in the final cutscene, she might have been among the first to interview him.
    • Why is she talking in her "Harley" voice, as opposed to a more professional tone, during the Arkham interview? She's already fallen for the Joker by this point, which he's taking advantage of (which might also explain why his dialogue towards her is more flirtatious than normal when he's usually not interested in that sort of thing).
    • The interview at Blackgate was off the record, and somewhat informal. The interview at Arkham Asylum was later, on the record, and therefore official and recorded. It doesn't matter that she had interviewed him before at Blackgate, procedures are procedures. This type of red tape is very common in both law enforcement and mental health facilities in real life, so it makes sense.
  • The fact that Deathstroke is playable in Challenge Maps seems odd, given that previous characters have either been Batman's allies (Catwoman, Robin and Nightwing in Batman: Arkham City) or the Joker in a (somewhat canonical) prequel to the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum. However, given that the Challenge Maps in this game are a simulation (being accessed from a computer in the Batcave), we can see the Deathstroke maps as a way for Batman to study him in preparation for a fight (since he knows Deathstroke is after him, but not when he'll attack). It also neatly explains how Batman is able to counter everything Deathstroke throws at him - he's already prepared.
    • In addition, since Deathstroke is one of the foremost martial artists in the DCU, it's not hard to imagine Batman studying his style even after defeating him, to see if he can find any new moves to adapt and fit into his own style.
    • This could also explain why Deathstroke and Tim have similar movesets. As Jason was killed after getting the same Robin training as Dick did, why shouldn't Batman try to teach the next Robin a different fighting style? Batman just happens to have a simulation of the world's deadliest assassin.
  • During "Cold, Cold Heart," when Penguin declares that he's going to freeze to death and Batman says that's not his problem, it was initially a bit confusing considering his general stance on saving the lives of the people he fights. It is possible to explain it with him thinking he would have enough time to go back and save him after the ordeal with Freeze. There's another explanation though; Penguin was frozen with Victor's brand of cryogenic weaponry, which Batman states puts its victims into cryostasis. Even if Batman doesn't save him, he's not going to die from the ice.
  • Joker's Multiple-Choice Past has a single constant, as Strange pointed out: Batman was always responsible in some way. Then Origins came out, and it's revealed that Joker found his purpose in life: fighting Batman. That was when Joker was really "born".
  • In Batman: Arkham City Firefly, one of the world's greatest assassins isn't present despite the game saying that all of Gotham's criminals are imprisoned in Arkham City. Like the Joker entry above, Origins provides some answers: he's either used his contacts to flee the country after escaping from prison (in Batman: Arkham Asylum there's a newspaper stating as such in the medical center) or he's been recruited into the Suicide Squad.
  • In this game, it's revealed that there's a hidden drug lab in the east part of the Steel Mill. In City that whole section is on fire. Until this game, one would think that it caught fire because of the dilapidated furnace, but it's also possible that Joker first used this place to try creating a cure, only to torch it out of frustration. It certainly explains why Joker would let Freeze use the old police lab.
  • Late in the game, Killer Croc just up and leaves after he gets hit in the neck by a stray bullet, even though he already got caught in three explosions a few hours earlier and came out just fine. Fast forward to Asylum where the shock collar is around his neck, and it's strongly implied that Croc's neck is a weak spot. It may also jump to Fridge Horror; Croc may have tried to hang himself to escape the torment he received due to his appearance.
  • People have complained how Batman can get punched through a concrete wall by a TN-1 infused Bane and get back up. But let's remember that the Bat-suit allows Batman to drop from high altitudes and land without a parachute, perfectly safe. When he was getting punched, the force was enough to trigger the shock absorbers in the suit, mitigating the actual damage Batman took.
    • This may also explain why when Bane performs his signature "Bat Breaker" on Batman, he couldn't break his back. Bruce's later batsuits in Asylum and City probably would not save him from this move, but the more padded and dense suit here provides his spine with just enough protection.
  • Here's a doubleheader for the Lacey Towers case:
    • Dr. Young basically lives next door to Black Mask's safe-house. Given that the Enigma data located there would have been planted after the murders, it wasn't damaged by the fire or Joker just for kicks, someone busted into the safe-house after the murders. Since Young's door was taped off, she was the one who called the cops over after investigating the noise, and was moved by the cops for questioning.
    • Whoever planted the Enigma data must've been from Penguin's gang, because how else would Penguin know about the murders?
  • In Cold, Cold Heart the Remote Claw lost its zip-line function. In Origins Blackgate the Line Launcher has gone from a prototype to a mass-produced gadget. Batman removed the zip-line to perfect the Line Launcher prototype.
  • A small but very neat detail in Cold, Cold Heart: throughout the DLC, Batman is on a First-Name Basis with his apparent friend, Ferris Boyle, and refers to Victor Fries exclusively by his supervillain moniker, Mister Freeze. Upon finding out exactly what happened to Victor, what he wants, and the sort of man Boyle actually is, Batman immediately switches to First-Name Basis with Victor and Last-Name Basis with Boyle, showing exactly how far his opinion of the Corrupt Corporate Executive has fallen.
  • A few regarding the Bat-Mobile:
    • It's undergoing maintenance during the game because the winter storm has blocked off the city roadways, so there's no point in having it ready.
    • The Bat-Cave seems to be designed with just the Bat-Wing in mind since there's no bridge in the cave for the Bat-Mobile to exit out of. It's likely the Bat-Wing was Bruce's primary vehicle at that time, and the Bat-Mobile was stored in an area of the Bat-Cave that we don't have access to during the game.
    • Wherever the Bat-Mobile is stored, it must be somewhere that can lead to the wine cellar, otherwise, Bane wouldn't have gone through the tunnel as mentioned in Cold, Cold Heart.
      • If this is all true, then it's possible that the Bat-Mobile was also meant as an escape device for Alfred.
      • If you examine the Batmobile with Detective Vision, you learn that the car is in fact under construction and in the prototype stages. It's likely so early in Batman's career that he hasn't gotten to the car yet, using the Batwing as his primary means of transport into Gotham from the Batcave.
  • In 2015, it was revealed on a cryptic YouTube channel that there was an undiscovered Easter Egg in Batman: Arkham City where Calendar Man tells Batman he was there at the beginning and will be there at the end. Surely enough, at the beginning of Arkham Origins, Calendar Man is present. And at the end of Arkham Knight too.
  • Some details of Penguin's involvement in the Lacey Towers murder seem odd at first glance. When he first discovers the scene, he reveals a small part of (fake) Black Mask's chest and becomes visibly upset. When he's later interrogated by Batman, he refers to Black Mask as "having", not "had", problems, as if he knew that Sionis was still alive. Even Batman couldn't positively deduce that from his initial sweep of the crime scene. This all makes sense after the player learns that Sionis had a pacemaker implanted; Penguin knows practically everything that happens in Gotham, so he definitely knew about Sionis' procedure. He was checking the dead Black Mask for the surgery scar, and when he didn't find it, he knew that it was a fake.
    • Is this fridge? Don't they show Penguin doing exactly that in the cut scene after accessing the National Criminal Database?
  • The Deadshot encounter likely explains why Batman takes him down so easily in Arkham City. While the setting and the presence of henchmen make the Origins encounter tougher, otherwise the encounter is the same. Therefore Bruce has experience in Deadshot's tactics by the time they face each other again, as he knows how to deal with him.
    • Not to mention that the first encounter was prepared by Deadshot, while the second was improvised, so Deadshot couldn't play to his strengths. Also, Batman broke three of Deadshot's limbs in their first encounter, so the latter is Dented Iron.
  • A Central Theme of the game is Bruce accepting that despite being a One-Man Army, he (and Alfred) cannot protect Gotham alone. The last act has Batman finally actively seek the help of Gordon, Joseph, and the few honest GCPD cops in taking back Blackgate and defeating the Joker. It's not really a stretch to imagine that after this incident Bruce would soon take in his first Robin ward, Dick Grayson.

Fridge Horror:

  • Bane:
    • Listen closely when Bane shouts in his last boss battle. It's a distorted scream of "WAYNE!". Even as a rabid animal, he still remembered that Batman is Wayne until he was electrocuted into unconsciousness. What if Bane had been just a little more resistant to TN-1 and started shouting "WAYNE!" intelligibly?
    • After Batman finds his hideout, he sets off an explosion to destroy Bane's computer. We don't see Batman planting an explosive, so he must've detonated the tracker. If Batman was willing to kill, Bane would never have left New Gotham, let alone reached his hideout.
    • Bane's gang isn't around in the other games. Did they all give up on Bane and leave, or get captured or killed in the interim?
      • One of the goons roaming the city in Arkham Knight says he was part of Bane's gang, so some of them did leave. Since this goon doesn't have the accent used by Bane's men in this game, this means what Batman fought that night were Bane's top agents.
  • The game implies that Calendar Man is busy killing a judge while you're running around Gotham. And there's nothing you can do about it.
    • The very same murder he details in Arkham City, in fact.
  • Firefly is too distracted causing fires and explosions on the bridge to keep track of his men until Batman's on the roadway fighting them. While there's Fridge Brilliance in that the henchmen in the bridge don't want to give Firefly a reason to set off the bombs, explaining why no one contacts him, if Firefly had been paying more attention to them, he'd have set off the bombs before you could even get to him.
  • This game shows that Penguin had Candy and Tracey helping him in the past, and both have disappeared by the time of Asylum. The Arkham Stories in City say that Joker and Penguin have been enemies since Joker squirted acid in a waitress's face. Could that waitress have been one of the girls?
  • As mentioned above, Bane was able to find Batman's secret identity through something as simple as air radar, technology that's high-tech but hardly impossible to procure. The horror sets in when you realize that if the GCPD had thought to try this, Bruce would've been in jail/dead long before the game. It may also explain why the Batwings of the earlier games are smaller than the one here: a smaller plane would be harder to pick up on radar.
    • It's all but stated that the Batwing is the same vehicle throughout all the games, that Batman is just continually modifying and upgrading it. It started out as a prototype stealth aircraft with very few modifications. Batman likely figured out how it was tracked and corrected it.
      • Additionally it appears that, for the most part, upon completion, the Batmobile supplants the Batwing as Batman's primary method of transport, with the Batwing only being used to reach locations nor accessible by car, or used to supply Batman with gadgets while in the field, thus reducing the time it's in the air to be tracked.
  • We never learn what the Mad Hatter did to the woman he kidnapped, only that she states she won't be all right. What the hell did he do to her?
    • Raped, most likely. He was established as a rapist in DC Universe. Or maybe he did something worse...
    • Such as the other kind of rape? Hatter's obsessed with having his Alice, and minor details aren't going to stop him.
    • Or both.
  • Some of the criminals you beat up say they have kids. So why would they turn to crime? Because it's the only way they can provide for them. Once Batman foils their attempts at robbery or muggings, more often than not leaving them with a criminal record and injuries that require medical treatment, then they'll be saddled with healthcare debts they can't repay because they can't find work due to their record, forcing them to go back to crime again. In essence, crime in Gotham is a never-ending cycle, and Batman is the catalyst for it. Since the reality of the endless cycle is outright stated by the game during a gang conversation you can overhear, that aspect of this isn't Fridge, but realizing that Batman is a serious catalyst for it is Fridge.
    • This only works if one ignores all the good Bruce Wayne does to reform criminals like the low-level thugs by getting them jobs, healthcare & money for their children's education. The game doesn't highlight his efforts but they are definitely a part of the story. Bruce knows why many turn to crime and he works in a more official and legal compacity to eliminate those conditions.
  • The XE Suit from "Cold Cold Heart" doesn't have the electric glove feature because its systems are geared towards generating and channeling heat. That's fine, up until you spend more than a nanosecond thinking about the new charged combat feature, and the fact that Batman is scalding his enemies and then leaving them lying there untreated for hours at a time.

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