Mythology Gag / Batman: Arkham Origins

• The Batsuit is very visually reminiscent of/inspired by the Batsuit in The Dark Knight Trilogy. Also, Bane's appearance closely resembles the design featured in the final film in that trilogy.
• Batman uses his suit's scallops (the blades on his gauntlets) to break an enemy's sword, ala Batman Begins.
• Batman's fighting style, as seen in the trailer, has a lot of elements from Keysi Fighting Method, which is what Batman and the League of Shadows use for their fighting style. These elements are seen in all the Arkham games.
• Harvey Bullock makes an appearance, and — unlike his introduction in the comics — is actually one of the less corrupt guys on the force, having a positive working relationship with Gordon and being reluctant to dig up information on him.
• Deathstroke's body armor and costume looking more like what we see in Young Justice (2010), Arrow and Injustice: Gods Among Us, rather than the spandex and scale mail combo that he's traditionally seen in.
• The green toolbox in the reveal trailer has "Queen Industries," the name of the company run by Oliver Queen (who's the Green Arrow), written on it.
• Batman breaking through the floor to incapacitate a thug is very similar to the Barrier-Busting Blow that was famously used in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, including his partner shooting a machine gun into the hole afterwards and being hit from behind.
• This game isn't the first time Batman's used electrically powered gauntlets. In fact, one of the takedowns when using the gloves has Batman electrocute someone, then follow up with a knock out punch.
• Bane's profile states that he's worked with Trogg, Zombie, and Bird, his cronies from the Knightfall story arc. Bird himself is the main adversary of one of the game's side-missions.
• In the reveal trailer, Batman once looks over a bullet marked "Amertek," a company related to the origin of Steel.
• Joker's longcoat looks remarkably like his Injustice: Gods Among Us Insurgency alternate. His outfit is also very similar to the one he wears in◊ his self-titled one shot, Joker.
• At the start of the first battle with Bane, the Joker acts as a Large-Ham Announcer in saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...the death of the Batman!" similar to when the Clown Emperor of Crime announced the same thing before activating the Rube Goldberg Death Trap on Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold's Lighter and Softer Animated Adaptation of the comic book Emperor Joker.
• The achievement for fighting the Joker is titled "Perhaps Sooner, Perhaps Later". And another titled "Legends of the Dark Knight" features his famous pose from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
• The multiplayer achievement for maxing out your level in Joker's Gang is called The Killing Joke, while the achievement for maxing out with Bane is called Fallen Knight.
• The achievement for clearing out a whole room using only silent takedowns is Silent Knight. Bonus for being a Christmas reference as well.
• There's a Koul-Brau brewery on the South Island, which happens to be just one of LexCorp's many business holdings.
• There's also a warehouse for Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals in the Industrial District.
• Among Shiva's known associates on file are David Cain (father of Cassandra Cain), Richard Dragon, and Nyssa Raatko, daughter of Ra's al Ghul.
• Inside the Sionis steel mill, you can find a dossier on Cain, as well as ones for Cheshire and Black Spider, all stamped "Rejected," suggesting that Black Mask considered hiring them for the group of assassins.
• A portion of Bruce's training is given some notice, and it appears to be very similar to that seen in Batman Begins.
• In The Stinger, Amanda Waller shows up to recruit Deathstroke to work for her, implied to be for the Suicide Squad.
• Joker's entire arc is reminiscent of The Dark Knight: He robs a mob bank wearing a mask, then escapes on a vehicle that has driven through the wall, but not before dramatically unmasking. Then he starts a campaign to kill Batman, until he witnesses Batman's unwillingness to take a life, which makes him obsessed with the Dark Knight. Joker is captured halfway through, but he escapes again. During the finale, he presents Batman with a Sadistic Choice intending to make him break his one rule.
• Similar to the Queen Industries toolbox in the trailer, there is a Queen Industries shipping crate aboard Penguin's ship, as well as a Ferris shipping crate on one end of the Pioneer's Bridge.
• During one of the sidequests when you're tracking down Blackgate escapees, one of them brags that the Joker made sure Blackgate won't hold them for long, so Batman says "Then maybe it's time for a better prison...one surrounded by water."
• Alberto Falcone's profile mentions that he's got psychological disorders, a callback to The Long Halloween where he's the serial killer. The reference is well-placed, as in the comic, Alberto's string of murders are the events that lead to the eventual rise of super criminals in Gotham.
• Zatanna's magic act, Haly's Circus, and an exhibition of jungle cats by Thomas Blake (a.k.a. Catman) all have advertising posters in Jezebel Plaza.
• Just down the street is Riley's Bar, owned and operated by the same Irish gangster later murdered by the Sabatino crime family (and whose daughter Peyton will one day become the Ventriloquist).
• The Disruptor device strongly resembles the similar gadget Batman uses in The Dark Knight Rises.
• This isn't the first time Bane is defeated by electricity.
• Like the Tim Burton film, Batman and Joker have their final showdown in a church.
• Also, during the final battle, the Joker takes a glass shard of the window he had been smashed into while doing his Motive Rant and tries to slit Batman's throat with it, similar to how the Clown Prince of Crime killed one of Black Mask's thugs (glass shard) in Batman: Under the Red Hood, and Dr. Bartholomew Wolpert (broken mug) in the Animated Adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.
• One of the escaped Blackgate prisoners says he's being stalked by a guy with a boomerang who calls himself "Captain".
• A potential quote for mooks spotting you grappling away in their peripheral vision: "Was that a bird?"
• There are two postcards in the Batcave addressed to Bruce from Andrea Beaumont, who apparently is still searching for the whereabouts of her missing father.
• Bruce Wayne's "Vigilante" skin is pretty much identical to his training garb from Batman Begins.
• Look closely at the statues around the Gotham Royal Hotel's terrace. They're Talons. The familiar old rhyme is also printed in an open storybook inside the bridge.
• The end credits aren't the first time The Joker has sung his own version of a Hank Williams song.
• The younger Riddler uses the name "Enigma." In the comics, Enigma was the name used by his alleged daughter.^note Long story.
• The trailer for the "Cold Cold Heart" DLC features the observatory from Batman & Robin.
• In the "Cold, Cold Heart" DLC, the opening sequence has a villain and his henchmen besiege Bruce Wayne's residence in the middle of a party, while Bruce sneaks out and is briefly accosted/threatened by a thug before beating the latter down. Sound familiar?
• One of the mook conversations is about why Penguin always carries an umbrella. All of their theories are things that have been done with his various trick umbrellas in the comics, TV shows, and movies.
• Anarky apparently was a Batman fan at one point, even offering an alliance. In the comics, there had been plans for Anarky to be the third Robin.
• In the Batcave, an abnormally large bat Alfred has dubbed the "King Bat" has taken up residence. Whilst the name and size does bring to mind Kirk Langstrom aka Man-Bat, the idea of an especially huge bat living in the Batcave is something that was also present in Batman Forever. Moreover, it's not Langstrom, as Arkham Knight shows Batman's first encounter with Man-Bat.
• The boss battle with Firefly plays pretty much like a 3D, third-person version of the first boss battle with Killer Moth from the first Batman game for the NES.
• This game also has the Joker take Black Mask hostage.
• The Joker's profile mirrors Batman's monologue in "Batman: The Man Who Laughs", a comic retelling their first encounter.
  "I prepared for muggers, killers, thieves. Criminals, increasingly extreme in their methods and personality. But I never imagined someone like "The Joker"."

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