Batman: Arkham provided players with a deeper glimpse into Batman’s character, but despite being partially inspired by Batman: The Animated Series, its depiction of the Dark Knight was nowhere near as compassionate. As a comic book publisher, DC houses many different universes and variations of beloved superheroes, but Batman is one of its most popular additions. The Dark Knight maintains a complicated reputation in the DC universe from his questionably brutal methods with villains and his allies, but he’s able to get results. Unfortunately, Batman: Arkham couldn’t provide the same empathetic storytelling as Batman: The Animated Series, likely due to its combat-oriented gameplay and darker approach to storytelling.

The Batman: Arkham series consists of four main games: Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, and Batman: Arkham Knight. Each title explores a unique event in Batman’s life, with some spanning several days or months with DLC and additional expansions. Players can utilize many tools to explore Gotham, Arkham Asylum and Arkham City as Batman throughout the series. As the Dark Knight grows older, he becomes more powerful and better defends his city from superpowered threats. Unfortunately, the Dark Knight’s public crimefighting stopped after Batman faked his death in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Related: Batman Vengeance Was Basically A Lost BTAS Episode

Batman: The Animated Series showed many signs of Batman and Bruce Wayne, exploring comedic and cartoonish themes while delving into the character’s darker side and flaws. It remains a pinnacle of Batman media to this day for many reasons. While the show had its occasional corny mooments and certain storylines haven’t aged well, BTAS presented an empathetic Dark Knight who equally fought to protect and reform the Gotham rogues gallery and Gotham City. Several adventures focused on the villains’ wellbeing, and Bruce Wayne often used his fortune to better the lives of Arkham inmates. Unfortunately, the Batman: Arkham story leading to Suicide Squad fails to accurately depict Batman's empathy and defaults to brutal treatment for all of Batman’s enemies.

Batman: Arkham Depicts A Brutal Batman

Batman interrogating an escapee in Batman: Arkham Origins

Being a vigilante in Gotham is a difficult job requiring Batman to adapt to many human and inhuman threats. While none are better at keeping this order than Bruce Wayne, his tactics border inhumane while facing many low-level thugs. The Batman: Arkham community has made many memes surrounding the number of brutal takedowns and interrogations Batman uses on his opponents, reasoning that these methods would undoubtedly kill the average human. As players progress through the Batman: Arkham games, Batman becomes stronger and gains more abilities to defeat his foes efficiently. Even Batman: Arkham Knight’s Batmobile presents a significant threat to anyone in Gotham’s streets, as the Dark Knight can mercilessly run over anything and anyone in his way. However, his brutality doesn’t just extend to mindless goons and is reflected in the treatment of his supervillains.

Batman: Arkham is known for its boss fights, but these encounters often propel the story forward. Batman: Arkham Knight’s Most Wanted missions sprinkle in boss encounters throughout the quests before pitting Batman against bigger supervillains at their conclusions, but the game doesn’t always explain why each villain is committing their crimes. Unfortunately, even when a villain is justified in their wrath, Batman rarely shows compassion and continues to treat them as criminals rather than sick individuals. His worst treatment reflects on Mister Freeze and Killer Croc, who feel the full extent of Batman’s wrath in several games.

Batman: Arkham’s Dark Knight Failed His Villains

Killer Croc roaring while kidnapping the warden in Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: The Animated Series represented Mister Freeze as a tragic villain desperate to save his wife. Batman: Arkham gave Mister Freeze a similar backstory and motivation, with Freeze’s former employers sabotaging his research and taking his wife hostage. Batman shows no mercy when apprehending him despite the injustices done to Freeze and his unwilling criminal career. Batman’s treatment towards Mister Freeze actively worsens as the games progress. In Batman: Arkham City, Batman frees Mister Freeze from Penguin’s custody and rips out a pump connected to his chest that regulates his temperature. As Freeze sputters and begins to die, Batman forces him to cooperate before tossing the pump to the ground and leaving. While it’s against Batman’s code to kill, his treatment of Mister Freeze likely made players wonder how far the Dark Knight would go to save himself from Joker’s poison.

Related: Arkham Insurgency: Will Rocksteady Do Batman Again After Suicide Squad?

Another tragic boss fight in Batman: Arkham is against Killer Croc, a frequent Batman villain that appears throughout numerous mediums. Killer Croc’s real name is Waylon Jones, a Gothamite who suffered from a skin infection that resulted in widespread discrimination and prejudice. He underwent many tests to try and cure it, though scientists and doctors constantly took advantage of his body. As a result, Killer Croc became the monstrous being he is in Batman: Arkham Knight, though his Most Wanted mission is far more heartbreaking than others. After the events of Batman: Arkham City, Killer Croc was admitted to Iron Heights Penitentiary, where he underwent horrifying experiments and torture to mutate further. Though Batman learns his condition is worsened by trauma, Killer Croc is violently apprehended and led into GCPD with chains and tasers.

Batman’s Mercy In Batman: Arkham Isn’t Enough

Poison Ivy dies in Batman: Arkham Knight

While Batman’s brutal treatment of Arkham’s various inmates presents a hefty ethical dilemma, there are several moments where Batman shows mercy and teams up with his enemies. For example, though Batman initially arrested Poison Ivy during Batman: Arkham Knight’s opening levels, he eventually teamed up with her to save the city. The trust shown by both Batman and Poison Ivy is reassuring and redeems Bruce from some of his past crimes. Additionally, when Batman faces Bane, who suffers from an addiction to Titan and Venom, he avoids killing the villain and imprisons him to cleanse his system from the drugs. While Batman: Arkham’s treatment of Poison Ivy and Bane presents Batman as a more sympathetic hero, the lack of civility shown to other supervillains is an unfortunate aspect of the games' depiction of the character. Unfortunately, there are few ways around presenting heroes as ruthless peacekeepers, especially considering the core gameplay features of the series.

Despite Batman: Arkham Knight failing to rectify Batman’s many shortcomings, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gives villains a more sympathetic storytelling opportunity. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, Penguin, and Poison Ivy are just a few of the many villains likely to appear in-game. Each villain has a long legacy with the DC universe and some experience with Gotham’s Dark Knight. Hopefully, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League can give Batman: Arkham's supervillains the development they deserve, and present the heroes as more sympathetic along the lines seen in the DC Animated Universe and Batman: The Animated Series.

Next: Every Batman: Arkham Easter Egg That Set Up Suicide Squad: KTJL