The Broken Minds and Sad Souls of Telltale’s Batman

Full spoilers for both seasons of Telltale’s Batman series below. You have been warned.

Batman: The Enemy Within builds off the successes of Telltale’s first Batman season, and continues being that breath of fresh air that The Dark Knight needs. With this new universe, Telltale seems to have been given an infinite amount of freedom to craft their own mythos. The results are sublime. Almost every character is looked at in a different lens, none more so than Bruce Wayne.

Billionaire in the Spotlight

Bruce Wayne is given an increased relevance in Telltale’s universe. Not all problems are solved by The Batman. There’s an old adage that “Batman’s existence is what gives rise to his villains.” If that was true of former interpretations of the character, The Enemy Within and its predecessor make Bruce Wayne the catalyst.

The first season gave us brand new villain Lady Arkham, a brave and new interpretation of iconic Gotham reporter Vicki Vale. No longer simply a gorgeous journalist for Bruce to swoon over, she had an origin steeped in Wayne history. Her father was the target of the mob, assassinated after he objected to their brutal use of Arkham Asylum, using the facility to discredit and dispose of their enemies. She was then forced to grow up in an abusive foster home. The man behind the hit was Thomas Wayne.

No longer is Batman’s crusade one of righteousness. What once started as a way to honor the memory of his parents has turned into something murkier. The first major revelation of this new universe was that the Waynes were rotten people. To the core. Though Bruce may have been shielded from the truth, plenty in the city knew of the horrific Thomas and Martha Wayne. Can Bruce really claim his quest is to avenge the innocent if the parents he swore to avenge weren’t so innocent after all? Batman swears to still save the city of Gotham from itself, but couldn’t it be argued he’s attempting to contort the city to his vision, just as his mother and father did decades ago?

We Regret the Monsters We Create

Bruce’s presence goes beyond his lineage to inspire hatred in his enemies. His goodfriend Harvey Dent even becomes Two-Face due to Bruce’s sleeping with Selina Kyle, Dent’s girlfriend (and noted cat burglar). The Penguin is angry at how easy his childhood friend Bruce’s life is compared his own. The Cobblepots were swindled by the Wayne family, and Oswald had to grow up in squalor. The Riddler was an old-style gangster who came up during the reign of the Waynes, trying to make his comeback onto the modern scene.

There are dozens of these tiny changes throughout Telltale’s version of the Batman lore. Harley Quinn gets a notably more interesting background. After devoting her life to psychology to try and help her mentally ill father, she ultimately failed to prevent his suicide. It broke her, and made her into a criminally insane Princess of Crime. The script is flipped in the universe presented by The Enemy Within, and it is Joker who is obsessed with his doctor.

All these changes, especially this renewed focus on Bruce Wayne, all of it leads to The Enemy Within’s greatest trick. John Doe is the Joker in this universe and rewrites everything you know about the character. It’s one of the most compelling takes on the maniac and arguably more heartbreaking than the one presented in The Killing Joke, long held as the standard-bearer for Joker stories.

The Story of the Sad Clown

We briefly encounter John in season one, during Bruce Wayne’s brief stint in Arkham Asylum. He helped Bruce bust out, in return for a favor. That’s where the story really takes off in The Enemy Within, with John crashing a funeral to meet up with Wayne.

But it doesn’t come across as malicious. John Doe is genuine in his admiration of Bruce Wayne (and even Batman); he just lacks the social skills to not interrupt a grieving family. The Joker, as presented in this universe, is not a man relishing in violence; he is one battling mental illness. He just can’t help himself from doing heinous things every now and then. This is clearly a man who faced traumas in his life and just couldn’t cope.

John endears himself to the player by being so eager to have Bruce as a friend. This isn’t some long con to trick the billionaire, he just wants a friend. There are selfies, hugs, and wingman moments with this Joker. He even goes against his own desires a couple of times for Bruce, showing a selflessness inherent to any great friendship. John Doe even steals from the woman he loves to help his buddy. What more could a vigilante need in a friend?

We Need a Hero

Unfortunately for them both, as the stakes escalate their friendship starts to whittle away. Amanda Waller and ARGUS are tightening their grip on Gotham, and though technically the good guys, their methods are anything but. True to the comics, Waller’s methods are brutal and not always legal. She refuses to trust John, no matter what. He saves Gotham Bridge and hundreds of innocent lives, but she still orders her men to order fire on him.

One of my favorite moments is when Batman learns that John Doe figured out he was Bruce Wayne a long time ago. But he decided to keep this information to himself, and even play along. He’s always been a fan of Batman, so it was pretty cool to learn his bestie Brucie was behind the cowl. Contrast this to Amanda Waller herself, who blackmails Batman about his identity throughout the entire season.

After the aforementioned bridge sequence, Joker becomes Batman’s first sidekick in this universe. Though his tactics are brutal, Batman sees potential in his new friend. Throughout several scenes we see the gap widen between them, as Joker thinks killing enemies makes more sense than imprisoning them. Even here, though, Joker is willing to learn to do things Batman’s way. He wants to be a hero, he just needs to learn how.

Everyone Goes Away in the End

The true breaking point comes when Batman and Amanda Waller make a deal to leave each other alone. Joker thinks this is letting her off way too easy, after everything he and Harley Quinn have been put through. That’s without mentioning all the laws she’s broken in the name of justice. Letting a criminal walk isn’t supposed to be something Batman does, so Joker decides to finish things himself.

After a brief encounter, Joker takes Waller hostage. She’s been claiming Joker murdered Riddler, something he knows to be a lie. And his mind can’t let that rest. He can’t have people thinking lies of him. He just wants to be trusted and appreciated, but people keep hurting him and discrediting him. Finally, in the Ace Chemicals building, he truly snaps. He can’t fight the demons inside anymore, and the true confrontation between Batman and The Joker begins.

Obviously, Batman wins this fight, but it hardly feels like a victory. You’ve beaten a mentally ill human being. You’ve broken a trusted friend. Sure, you saved Waller’s life, but what have you lost for it? Telltale writes these scenes brilliantly. It doesn’t feel like winning, it feels like surviving. And the cost seems too high.

A Story Like None That You Have Ever Heard

By being given their own universe, Telltale was able to showcase Batman’s rogues gallery a little differently. It goes out of its way to remember the human beings underneath the colorful visages. Telltale makes it a point to show these characters as human, and their greatest success is in John Doe. By taking the time to flesh this character out, they somehow made the most dangerous villain in comics a sympathetic person. By having it all reflect on Bruce Wayne, it shows that these villains rose up not to confront some Caped Crusader of justice. They were borne from greed, anger, envy, and hatred of a fellow man. They’re human, just like any of us.The final conversation between Batman and Joker is something that will last with me a long time. It’s a poignant moment for this relationship, and a true culmination of two games’ worth of storytelling.

“I know you used me. I know I should hate you for that. But I don’t. Because I had such a good time with you, Bruce.” Joker gets caught up on some bloodied coughs, “Did you ever think of me as your friend? Like a true friend. Someone you actually care about?” A look of sadness crawls across his face.

“Of course. Of course, you were my friend.” says Batman.

The Joker gives one last laugh, “You are one messed up guy.”