Batman: Arkham City depicts its female characters rather strangely, but perhaps nothing is weirder than one of Catwoman's counterattacks. While fantastic games, Rocksteady Studio's Batman: Arkham series has become somewhat dated in the way it handles women, especially when it comes to the feline antihero Selina "Catwoman" Kyle. Indeed, Batman: Arkham City's Catwoman is sexualized to the point that she even kisses her opponents while fighting.
A critique of some of the strange, sexualized depictions of women in Batman: Arkham City doesn't need to be done in retrospect, however. Despite being hailed as the best Batman: Arkham game, one of the controversies surrounding Batman: Arkham City when it first came out was that critics did not appreciate the sheer amount of sexist expletives NPCs threw at Catwoman. Of course, in the criminal-filled environment of Arkham City, such harsh language makes sense, but many pointed out that the degree of sexism may have crossed the threshold between a gritty depiction of prison and an unpleasant case of discrimination.
Now that a decade has passed since the 2011 Batman: Arkham installment, other instances of its strange depictions of women have cropped up. Namely, Catwoman's fighting kit comes with sexual moves that serve almost no purpose to combat. The most egregious example of this is a counterattack in which she kisses her opponents to subdue them. Catwoman's skintight suit is already one of Batman: Arkham's most poorly aged designs, so the addition of needlessly sexualized moves to further objectify her comes across as a particularly cheap trick. But what's worst about her moveset is that these attacks are unrelated to her character. In fact, the moves should be part of another villain's fighting kit in Batman: Arkham City: Poison Ivy.
Why Is Catwoman Kissing All Of Batman: Arkham City's Prisoners?
As Reddit user holeepug pointed out in their screenshot of the rare "kissing" counterattack, Catwoman's fighting style almost makes challenging her more rewarding than threatening. Instead of just punching and kicking like her male counterparts in Batman: Arkham City, Catwoman's move set also consists of her wrapping her legs around opponents' necks and giving them kisses. Making out with an opponent should never serve as an attack for Catwoman, especially when a deadly kiss is Poison Ivy's trademark move (and one that contextually makes a lot more sense). In Batman: Arkham City, Catwoman is the only hero in the game able to access Poison Ivy, meaning Selina Kyle is stealing her villain's moves without any real purpose. Poison Ivy gets relegated to a side character as one of Batman: Arkham's most disappointing villains, and while Catwoman becoming the game's deadly kisser at least saves Poison Ivy from some of the same sexualization, she still barely wears a shirt and underwear in Batman: Arkham City.
While Rocksteady Studio's Batman: Arkham games are still incredible achievements, some of their more obvious flaws have only grown more glaring over time. Why Catwoman would ever resort to making out with random criminals is beyond anyone's guess. Hopefully the upcoming Gotham Knights' Batgirl will fare better, and not receive the same sexist treatment.
Source: holepug/Reddit