spetznaz
Senior Fanboy Killer
Originally posted by deathslash
Are you sure about that? Snake eyes is very well known throughout G.I. Joe for his lethality, skill, and espionage skills. He's one of the best when it comes to surveillance and he's also very good at avoiding and setting traps.The same can be said for ninjak. Hell, most of his showings involve him setting a trap and luring his enemy into it. He's a genius spy, hacker, and soldier with technology that's comparable to batman. He also is one of the more intelligent members of the unity squad (a team consisting of a warrior that's lived for thousands of years, a woman that has the power of technopathy, and a centuries old warrior that wears an alien exoskeleton that gives him access to pretty much any for of electronic knowledge)
Lastly, Night Thrasher designed his suit, owns his own company, and more recently, he managed to unlock the doors of a prison cell that was made by the collector by hacking into the freaking food distribution system.
Totally sure.
Think about it ...you mentioned lethality, skills, espionage, man-trapping, technology, escapology (including using food distribution systems), etc. All great abilities, and yes the people you named can do all of them very well. Batman level well.
But the point I am making is that such skills are not what makes Batman 'the Batman.' Even someone like David Cain can do all of those (he once escaped from a hospital, where he was in a cast, by taking a syringe and using his mouth to throw it a guard and slice his throat). Such skills are cool, but if you note my point was that they would be absolutely useless considering the level Bruce operates in.
It's his mind that makes him who he is. His hax ability to plan and prepare. To outthink and outmaneuver the type of enemy that his comrades in the JLA cannot - beings that can turn thought into green-hued reality, run faster than instantaneous teleportation, were created by Zeus, can transmute lead into snowflakes, can read minds, can shoot flames hotter than the sun from their eyes, can take over global computer systems - you get my point. That's why Bruce is in that team. His 'super ability' is his mind.
He just happens to be great at kicking ass as well, but in order to replace him you'd need someone more along the likes of Mr Terrific (in DC) or a benevolent Dr Doom or a more buff Reed (in Marvel). Those three are gents that have similar utility to Bruce Wayne ...minds that allow them to punch above their weight, with Mr Terrific filling the role of Batman in the JSA, Doom doing it for himself, and Reed being the 'Batman' of Marvel.
How? The people who come up with ways of taking down threats that their more powerful comrades cannot.
So, while there are many heroes and villains who can kick ass (and pick locks, or spy, or motivate and be super soldiers, or have cool suits and powerful companies), the fact is that the most powerful ability of Batman is not his fighting or other skills. It's his mind.
Otherwise he is just some guy who dresses up as a bat and can kick your behind if you laugh at him. His super power is the ability to think a way out of any eventuality, and that's why I see the character more of a muscular Reed or a weaker Doom or a melanin-challenged Terrific.
The only issue with Bruce is that due to his physicality people concentrate on that, which is why you read stuff like 'Moon Knight is the Batman of Marvel.' Not even close.
It would be like saying Elongated Man is the Reed of DC. Sure, both can stretch, but that is where the similarities end.