Updated September 25, 2019 50.9k votes 15.5k voters 955.2k views
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Vote up the most batsh*t insane Batman fan theories that belong locked up in Arkham.
Comics, cartoons, live action. Adam West, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale. Nipples, no nipples. Batman comes in many forms. Along with these forms come fan theories about Bruce Wayne, his Chiroptera alter ego, and the myriad deranged, maniacal, and sometimes, decent characters populating Gotham. Some of these theories are well-thought out, complex, and totally believable. Others are so out-there you may wonder about whoever cooked them up. Compiled in one list, find here the wildest Batman fan theories - those that maybe belong tied up in a straitjacket and locked in a padded room at Arkham Asylum, alongside Joker, Pamela Isley, and Jonathan Crane.Â
One night at the Wayne mansion long ago, Martha goes to Thomas' study to tell him it's time for bed and for them to go upstairs. He declines and continues to work, as usual. Frustrated, Martha then goes into the liquor cabinet and begins to drink. She goes to her room, closes the door, then begins crying. Alfred hears Martha sobbing. Martha begins to tell Alfred she's tired of feeling neglected. Alfred calms her down, and they both begin to drink. One thing leads to another... Alfred wakes up sometime shortly after and returns to his quarters, neither of them tell Thomas to preserve the relationship and the Wayne family name.
10 weeks pass and Martha wakes up feeling sick. She goes to the doctor and finds out she is pregnant. Still in shock, she tells neither Alfred nor Thomas that Alfred is the father. Thomas and Martha agree that they are not ready to be parents and give the baby boy up for adoption.
The guilt of what she has done plagues Martha. She writes a letter to Alfred explaining everything - that it was Alfred's child she was pregnant with, and how she regrets abandoning him, but she decides not to give him the letter. The child that was given up for adoption has been growing up and living in orphan homes. He causes trouble and displays early signs of psychopathy. No family wants him and he is tormented by the other children. Eventually, he goes mad.
Years later, Bruce Wayne is born. Alfred is cleaning and stumbles upon a letter addressed to no one. He opens the letter and begins to read. Alfred is furious and resents Martha for lying to him, and for giving up their child whom he would have loved. Alfred's resentment builds, and one night, he decides to follow a Wayne family outing in secret. After the show, they cut down an alleyway and are shot by an unseen figure disguised as a robber.
The man who shot the Waynes is none other than Alfred. He keeps Bruce alive so that he knows the pain of growing up parentless, like Alfred's own son, whom he tried and failed to find. In a cruel twist of fate, Batman's two biggest enemies are his own butler, Alfred, and his half-brother, The Joker.
One Reddit user questions whether the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents cracked his mind, leading him to create Batman and the entire Gotham universe in his mind. Alfred, unable to take care of a mentally unstable young Bruce, sent him to Arkham Asylum. The people Bruce encountered in the asylum became characters in the unwell Bruce's Batman drama.
Alfred would come to visit and attempt to be the voice of reason, but never could really get through. Dr. Jonathan Crane tried various methods to snap Bruce back into reality, but Bruce's reality is so terrifying that he receded back into the delusion. Dr. Edward Nigma, a therapist, would try to reason Bruce back in to the real world, but Bruce would twist his words into riddles. So, he continues to chase these villains and bring them to Arkham Asylum from which they will inevitably escape - because they were never actually incarcerated.
This Reddit theory states, in great detail, that, despite being a psychopath, Joker helps guide Gotham from a fixed, organized-crime-choked mess to a city with hope of progress. Joker's actions cleared up a lot of misconduct in Gotham's political process. And that was part of his plan all along.
Gordon's promotion, too, did a major service to Gotham. I think a lot of people take the Joker's clapping during Gordon's promotion scene to be sarcastic, but I actually think that Joker believed in Gordon, one of the few officers on the force who was truly incorruptible.
So now Joker has a pretty clear path to getting rid of the organized crime problem and the corrupt officials' problem, but the vigilante problem remains. As we saw at the beginning of the film, Batman was inspiring other vigilantes, and a society cannot stand when each man takes his own justice. This symbol of fear and unbridled vengeance, as Joker sees it, needs to be stopped, but not [terminated]. If he were [dispatched], he would just be a martyr, and his symbol would live on. Of course, since Dent was a far better symbol for the city, he would make a far better martyr.
4,364 votes
4
2,148 VOTES
Batman Terminated Joker in 'The Dark Knight Returns'
In the gnarly, animated The Dark Knight Returns, Joker goes on a rampage, dispatching several people. Afterward, Batman snaps his neck. It appears this doesn't end him though, leading to Joker further snapping his own neck to finish the job, fully terminating himself.
A Redditor /u/Jackamalio626 that Batman actually did eliminate Joker, and the subsequent conversation and Joker's apparent suicide take place in Batman's head, a way of convincing himself he didn't break his one rule.
One Redditor points out that Joker seems a little too lucky to be a normal (albeit totally insane) guy. So what gives? Well, as per this theory, Joker survives so much because he has a power: a supernatural sense of good timing. The theory stipulates that Joker's insanity ties into the fact that he's unaware of his power.
That's why all his schemes can work and why the only times he gets caught are when he can safely get away later. Because even if he's unaware that he's doing it, he's always in the right place at the right time.
2,344 votes
6
1,910 VOTES
Bruce Wayne’s Life Is Fake, Like 'The Truman Show'
A former Redditor suggested that Batman, his enemies, and the entire Bat universe are created and controlled by Wayne Enterprise, without Bruce's knowledge. The theory is detailed, and points to things that would make sense as part of the elaborate show.
The Bat Signal: What better way to get Bruce into one of these controlled scenarios than the Bat Signal? Turn on the signal, Batman shows up, tell him to go to Warehouse X, he finds the villain, punches the villain, everyone goes home happy.
Batman never loses: Why does Batman never lose, because it’s scripted for him to win all the altercations, like pro wrestling.
New cast members: Explains why there are multiple Robins, Clayfaces, etc.
No one has really died in the Batman universe: You can say that Stephanie Brown was 'written' off the show, but even Jason Todd is back as a regular character.
Gotham hasn’t executed the Joker: They need the Joker, and the other villains, so they can’t execute the criminals even though they 'deserve' it.
