Batman Arkhams Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

Batman: Arkham’s Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

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Rocksteady developed its own aesthetic for the Batman: Arkham series, but many of the designs from Asylum and City haven’t aged well at all.

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Batman Arkhams Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

The Batman: Arkham games still hold up as some of the best action-adventure games out there, but unlike the gameplay, the character designs in Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City haven’t aged well. Rocksteady’s Arkham series revolutionized superhero games by pioneering the now widely imitated freeflow combat system, as well as having brilliant stories that boasted the iconic voice talent from Batman: The Animated Series. Each entry is timeless in its own way, but one aspect that doesn’t hold up is the series’ character designs.

Few franchises have as clear and consistent of an artistic identity as Batman. Gotham City, for example, is instantly recognizable due to its amalgamation of art deco and gothic architecture, with some incarnations like Batman Beyond even incorporating cyberpunk elements. This specific identity has been built up through decades of iteration, being defined most in Tim Burton’s take on the caped crusader in Batman (1989) and by the minds behind Batman: The Animated Series. All of these elements are present in Rocksteady’s take on Batman in the Arkham series, but when it comes to the characters themselves, things could be better.

Rocksteady nailed the iconic silhouettes of each character in the Batman: Arkham games, but they all bear the industry’s hallmarks from the late 2000s. Batman’s muscled appearance is reminiscent of the designs seen in the Gears of War series, and the character’s bulkier, more armored look seems out of step with more recent designs which have opted to integrate more elements from the classic Batsuits. Women characters in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City feel particularly dated, with their designs being clearly influenced by the male gaze, although Rocksteady did improve in this area with Arkham Knight, and has continued to do so with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Batman: Arkham’s Dated Character Designs – Batman

Batman Arkhams Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

In each of the Batman: Arkham games the Dark Knight’s silhouette is clear and unquestionably Batman, however, his proportions feel off. In both Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, Batman is both overly muscular and slim, which is only exaggerated by his suit which is closer to a second skin than a combat suit. While the thin suit and “underwear” are comic book classics, they feel out of place now as more superhero suits are being designed to look like someone could actually wear it.

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The criminally underrated Batman: Arkham Origins fixes this issue and offers what is likely the most plausible suit of them all. The mix of padding, kevlar, and lightweight metal makes the suit feel more tangible, and replacing the underwear with something more akin to a jockstrap helps retain the comic book aesthetic. His proportions are still not quite right, however, but this time it’s because the blocky way his muscles are designed makes him look smaller and more compact compared to his Arkham counterparts.

Arkham Knight’s version of Batman stands leagues above the previous designs, but it still isn’t perfect. His proportions are a lot better due to having less exaggerated muscles which, oddly enough, make him look stronger and more imposing than the other Batman costumes. That said, his face looks oddly elongated whenever he isn’t tilting his head down and his lips feel like they’re much farther away from his nose than they should be. While this is a minor gripe compared to how well the rest of him is designed, this falls into uncanny valley territory and is really distracting during close-ups and cutscenes.

Batman: Arkham’s Dated Character Designs – Catwoman

Batman Arkhams Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

The simple and obvious issue in Catwoman’s character design is the male gaze. This is nothing new to superhero comics or video games more generally, but it’s becoming less and less acceptable as more people continue to point out the glaring issues between how men and women are depicted in fiction, particularly when it comes to the sexualization of female video game characters. In Catwoman’s case, her design features incredibly long legs, delicate arms and hands, and a jumpsuit zipped down to reveal her cleavage.

Catwoman’s design saw some changes with Batman: Arkham Knight’s release, but her overall costume remained mostly the same and choose to forgo any kind of actual armor or combat functionality. Character design is meant to reflect and emphasize the core of who the character is, and though Catwoman does use sex appeal as a tool, her actual power comes from wit and physical prowess. Unfortunately, her design in the Arkham games doesn’t reflect that.

Batman: Arkham’s Dated Character Designs – Harley Quinn

Batman Arkhams Character Designs Have Aged Poorly

Like Catwoman, the male gaze is Harley Quinn’s biggest design flaw in Batman: Arkham and it’s safe to say that, in comparison to her design for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, her outfits in Rocksteady’s trilogy don’t hold up. In the Arkham titles, Harley’s attire is clearly impractical, and her anatomical proportions are just like Catwoman’s. Like Selina Kyle, Harley Quinn had an element of sex appeal to her character, but it was punctuated with a goofy personality and her trademark Harlequin outfit. Both of these elements were missing in the Arkham series, and though an argument could be made about how these designs expanded the character’s wardrobe, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League proves how Harley can change her appearance and still retain her irreverent personality.

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There are some similarities seen in Harley Quinn’s Suicide Squad and Batman: Arkham depictions, which makes sense, given Arkham City influenced her wardrobe in the comics and DCEU, but her most recent depiction fills her out with a bit more muscle and shows a bit more of her own personality. Her clothing is also more practical, with combat boots, pouches, and a leather biker’s jacket that is specifically designed for lightweight protection. Combined with her color scheme and characterization, this design still screams Harley Quinn, but without objectifying her.

Batman: Arkham’s Dated Character Designs – Nightwing

Unlike the other characters mentioned, Nightwing’s proportions are actually not that bad and are quite reflective of his character. His longer limbs, toned physique, and simple suit all feel right at home for an acrobat and former Robin. That said, his Arkham City design looks very dated compared to Arkham Knight’s, and Gotham Knights’ Nightwing is completely different from both. Like Batman, his Arkham City suit is skintight and somehow accentuates every muscle in his body. He also has the DMC emo Dante look going on and his overall design just looks odd.

Arkham Knight’s Nightwing design is radically different and noticeably higher-tech. Unlike Arkham City, the added utility belt and armor plating reflect that he was actually a Robin once and learned how to prepare himself for a life of crimefighting. The only reason this design looks so dated is simply due to Gotham Knights’ choosing a look that’s more plausible. Nightwing’s design in Gotham Knights is the perfect blend of Batman’s suit in Arkham Origins and Harley Quinn’s practicality in Kill the Justice League. His pants and boots are robust but still allow for fluid movement, his torso is covered in different layers of body armor to provide both protection and agility, and his body looks toned in a more natural way.

At the end of the day, the Batman: Arkham games are still some of the most definitive action titles of the last two decades, but with that comes the need to reflect and change. Some character designs look aged due to technical limitations, such as in Arkham Asylum, but others stem from outdated choices that have dominated character design for so long. Thankfully, the Batman: Arkham character designs provide a visual timeline of how audience and audience perceptions have changed in only a handful of years, and that it’s not slowing down any time soon.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/batman-arkham-character-designs-harley-quinn-catwoman-nightwing/

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