Not counting ex-girlfriends, my two great loves in life have been video games and comic books. (Alright, that’s probably true even if we count ex-girlfriends) It is for precisely that reason that I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write about games like Batman: Arkham City, that allow me to combine my two great loves. One of my favorite things about Arkham City is the wide selection as costumes. You’ve got Cartoon Batman, Batman Beyond, old gruff Batman from Dark Knight Returns, and many more. However, I’m not sure this is enough. You may not know this about me, but I’m an amateur Batmanologist, and the release of Arkham City has provided me with an excellent excuse to dig through some old Batman history, and uncover a few of the many, many, many ridiculous outfits that Batman has worn throughout the years, as well as a few other costumes from the Bat-Family that I think should have made it into the game.
10. Suit of Sorrows
This bad boy is the Suit of Sorrows. It was created during the crusades and given to Batman as a gift by Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul. It amplified Batman’s strength, speed, and agility. It also, um, drove him insane for a while.
I’m not gonna lie, I just think this suit is really cool looking. Imagine if you unlocked this after your first playthrough of the game: You’d be stronger, faster, and have more special abilities, but you’d also start hallucinating and fighting enemies that aren’t even there. Trust me: It would be awesome.
9. Zebra Batman
First of all: Yes, that happened. Batman was fighting some guy named the Zebra, and something went wrong and blah blah blah he ran around like an evil zebra for an issue.
I would love if this costume were in Arkham City, but only if the villains stopped and laughed each time they saw you.
8. Azrael
The 90’s were a dark time for comics. Everything was robo-armor and belt-pouches, and nothing exemplified this trend more than Azrael. When Batman’s back was broken by Bane during the Knightfall storyline, Jean-Paul Valley filled in, dressing up in this ridiculous costume and straight-up murdering the shit out of criminals.
Remember that Suit of Sorrows from before? Azrael recently stole it, so now he looks like this:
And that shit is off the hook.
7. Catman
Oh, Catman. Catman isn’t Bruce Wayne, but rather an old Batman villain. He used to be rather overweight and a complete joke, until a few years ago when he went off to Africa and came back as a badass. His costume is a straight-up ripoff of Batman’s, but he’s actually pretty cool.
Recently, Catman has featured as a main character in the comic ‘Secret Six,’ where he actually fought Batman to a stand still, but no one believes him, with good reason. I mean, dude’s name is Catman.
6. Starman
There are several well known Starmen in DC Comics—most notably Ted Knight and his son Jack. However, there was another lesser known Starman in the 1950’s, and it was none other than Bruce Wayne. Scared by his own Batman persona, Brucie apparently decided that he needed a lighter, jollier motif. And thus, Starman was born.
He used all of the same gadgets as Batman, but instead of being shaped like bats, they were all shaped like, well, you know. I really only want this costume in the game if we get that badass star-shaped ship. That thing is pretty hardcore.
5. Green Lantern Batman
This one kind of speaks for itself. I think we all agree that the one thing that could make Arkham City a better game is the ability to attack your enemies with a fist made of green light.
4. Nightrunner
In a recent storyline called Batman Incorporated, Bruce has been going around to other countries and making sure that they have a Batman of their very own. Meet the Batman of Paris: Nightrunner. He has a cool costume, is a free-runner, and really pissed off the folks at Fox News.
Why, you may ask? Because he is Muslim. And God forbid we have a Muslim Batman. I’m gonna be honest, I mostly just want him in the game to stir more controversy. Those news reports were hilarious.
3. The Knight
Have you ever thought to yourself: “You know, I really like Batman, but I just wish he was a bit more British.” Well have no fear, The Knight is here! And he probably brought along his sidekick, The Squire.
I’m gonna be honest, as lame as the idea of a British Batman sounds, the Knight is actually really cool, largely due to being a combination of a knight and Batman, AKA the Two Coolest Things Ever. The Squire is totally lame, though.
2. Batman of Zur-En-Arrh
Recently, some of Batman’s villains got together and attempted to destroy him psychologically, eventually reducing him to a state of homelessness, with no memory of who he was. So what did good ol’ Bruce do? He constructed a back-up personality called The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, who literally just ran around hitting dudes with a baseball bat. It was awesome.
This is one costume that I actually really feel should have been in the game. In addition to getting to beat up dudes with a baseball bat, I love the idea of having to sneak around Arkham City wearing bright red, purple and yellow.
1. Adam West
Not Batman as played by Adam West. Just… Adam West.
