Batman: Arkham City/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

 * How did Sharpe get the public to accept the idea of Arkham City? Well, Blackgate was gutted by an electrical fire shortly before the events of Arkham Asylum. And during the events of the game, Batman blows up several walls and just about every force field generator in the complex, plus Ivy wrecked a lot of buildings with her out-of-control plants. In addition, most of the guards and staff were killed by Joker's thugs. Between the wrecked infrastructure and the understaffed security force, Sharpe can honestly state that Arkham isn't secure enough to hold dangerous criminals at the moment. Something has to be done to create a new holding facility for Gotham's criminal population while both of its primary jails are out of action.
 * It should also be noted in one of the comics Sharpe tells the public that Arkham City will have its own social services and health care.
 * Technically it's true. They are just in incredibly poor shape.
 * The two Russian henchmen wield a sickle and hammer when you fight them.
 * Though amusingly, the guy with the sickle is in fact a capitalist, and he and his brother who used to be cojoined got themselves separated due to their political differences.
 * Why are all of Gotham's most notable locations as noted in the comics such as the Iceberg Lounge and Crime Alley all conveniently located in close proximity to each other? Because they are in the slums, where almost all of the street crime takes place. Batman mainly beats down on street crime, so the places he'd frequent most are in the slum, now made into Arkham City. The fact that most crime takes place in the slums explains how Batman manages to patrol all of Gotham every night, and why the criminals keep saying Batman can be 'everywhere at once'.
 * It's said a few times that Harley seems more hostile and crazier than usual. At first, you'd think this is because of the Joker's illness, and, while that is almost certainly a large factor,
 * Though she was pretty hostile and crazy already in Arkham Asylum. Another case of Fridge Brilliance for this is the fact that this is one of the few times we see her entirely from Batman's point of view, while in most comic and animated appearances she is at least a partial viewpoint character. Naturally Batman wouldn't see her in nearly as sympathetic light.
 * Oh, I know that. My origial point was that the henchmen themselves, who are used to working with her, are saying she's becoming worse.
 * How does a weak, clearly unstable and untrustworthy guy like the Mad Hatter manage to catch so many criminals from various powerful gangs under his hypnotism? Check the sign outside the room you fight him in: It says "Live Nudes". That's right, criminals came into the Mad Hatter's room looking for nude girls, and when you're that stupid and desperate for girls, your mind tends to be extremely weak...
 * Mad Hatter usually targets blonde girls and women as part of his Alice in Wonderland mania; you first see him when Batman rescues Vicki Vale, a blonde. It's a hint that he's going to abduct her,
 * Why would Talia, a member of the League of Assassins, not kill Harley and instead tie her up?
 * Arkham City reveals that
 * Holy crud. So, all of those people Batman is hitting in the throat with metal car doors No wonder they somehow manage to survive.
 * Penguin's rather lame Cockney accent is actually rather brilliant when you think about it. He's an American native, but his wealthy family shipped him overseas for schooling. Due to a fair amount of teasing due to his "homely appearance", Oswald would often skip class to run around on the streets of London with other delinquents and thieves. Now, would East End thugs really be seen dead with some kid with a snooty American accent? Not likely. It's rather easy to see why he might try (and fail) to affect some sort of English accent.
 * You know the cutscenes before and after Batman fights Joker in the steel mill? The ones where he's sick in the mirror, but turns around and
 * In the fight scene where you fight the Joker and his crew, no matter how often you whale into him the Joker just keeps getting back up. It's often established that the Joker, while formidable in a fight, is usually by himself no match for Batman at all, so how come he keeps taking so much punishment?
 * If the player turns on the Detective Mode during that fight.
 * In the final approach to the Monarch Theatre, the Joker keeps taunting you with references to watching films. On one hand, this is because the Joker is holed in up in a movie theatre.
 * Not just that, but when you approach the Monarch Theatre,
 * Just before the final battle, explains his motive for working with the Joker was "the role of a lifetime."  Alternately,
 * Maxie Zeus's Olympus club is partially submerged, its owner missing, and yet it is still completely lit up. How? Maxie Zeus is obsessed with electricity - the place probably has automatic backup generators capable of lighting it up for years at a time.
 * In the intro of the game, Hugo Strange gloats about how no one is untouchable.
 * There is a brilliant (albeit possibly unintentional) piece of foreshadowing to Ra's al Ghul's appearance in this game in Arkham Asylum: The riddle that involves Ra's' corpse reads "It'll be a cold day in hell when this Ghul rises again". Arkham City takes place on a cold winter's night in Arkham City (the metaphorical "hell"). During this night, an ill and weakened Ra's al Ghul replenishes himself by bathing in a Lazarus Pit, returning to full strength and "rising again", as it were. Therefore, the Ghul really did rise again on a cold day in hell. Alternatively, The "Arkham City as hell" metaphor is helped along by  claim that Batman would be "the warrior who will close the gates of hell".   Which, if true, adds creedence to  claims of prophecy, and suddenly makes his claim of  seem a lot more plausible.
 * Highly likely to be intentional, what with the basic layout and sketchy details of Arkham city being avaliable in the Warden's Secret Room back in Asylum.
 * Deadshot is contracted by Strange to kill both Bruce Wayne and Batman, in that order, at the end of a list of targets. Strange knows that Bruce is Batman, so if Deadshot took out Bruce, he'd never find Batman, certainly not on his timetable. On the other hand, if Bruce is running around as Batman, Deadshot won't find Bruce in time to kill him. That's why those two are last, Strange thinks of Deadshot as one more criminal to dispose of. He wanted Deadshot to finish off the political prisoners, then be unable to finish his task, and then get killed in Protocol Ten as he fruitlessly hunts either the Batman or Wayne. The whole contract was a setup to get the "world's deadliest assassin" to enter his deathtrap prison voluntarily.
 * And to get out of paying him.
 * How does the Riddler get his trophies on Wonder City, Wonder Tower, and many other places that are supposed to be secret?
 * On top of that, he has many of his men undercover among other gangs. Tasking them with placing trophies and setting up mechanisms explains how he managed to place some of them even in the middle of enemy gangs' territories.
 * Also, how comes nobody took the trophies before Batman did, considering several lines of dialogues between mooks show that they do see them and it's not a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation? If you try to pick up a trophy meant for Catwoman while playing as Batman, Batman gets an electric shock and a taunt from Nigma, which shows that the trophies are apparently rigged to be picked up by specific people.
 * On the other hand, Catwoman can collect Batman trophies at will. How? Well, she is the world's greatest thief...
 * Joker's
 * In his trailer, the Riddler challenges Batman, telling him that he will fail: for that, he uses the words "lie blabbering like an ignorant child on the floor". Now, looking at his background, don't those words get some deeper meaning?
 * The Joker's "So, how do you keep a secret from the world's greatest detective? Well, do you know? It's easy! You stick it right in front of him, right under his long, pointy nose... and wait!" - Yes, it's Foreshadowing, but think about it - What did Joker do in Arkham Asylum? He went & stuck a TV on his head, before pretending to be a mannequin in the Visiting Room for the majority of the game. He's outright mocking Batman for falling for it once, and then not seeing through it again!
 * The Joker's "So, how do you keep a secret from the world's greatest detective? Well, do you know? It's easy! You stick it right in front of him, right under his long, pointy nose... and wait!" - Yes, it's Foreshadowing, but think about it - What did Joker do in Arkham Asylum? He went & stuck a TV on his head, before pretending to be a mannequin in the Visiting Room for the majority of the game. He's outright mocking Batman for falling for it once, and then not seeing through it again!

Fridge Horror

 * Here's a worse one.
 * This also applies to
 * Thankfully,
 * Something that hasn't been brought up a whole lot (if at all) but certainly deserves a mention is that there is absolutely no fanfare over the fact that
 * On the other hand, he isn't even remotely human anymore. We have no idea if they'd even work at all on him, let alone do what they're supposed to do.
 * It also could have turned him into a normal person again so there could be an upside.
 * In Hush, it was revealed by Ra's exactly what happens when
 * Fridge Brilliance in this case then as Batman told Ra's to shut down the Pit and if he didn't he would come back and shut it down himself.
 * As has been mentioned other places, there are no women in the city except named characters and some medical personnel. Maybe there are some and considering the comments some of the men make about what they would do with a woman...
 * In one of the easily miss-able Enemy Chatter conversations, a few Joker gang thugs talk about taking over the entire crew themselves and offing Harley because she's so annoying on the off chance the Joker actually does die.
 * While Harley was initially a normal person she's been one of Batman's few actual meta-human rogues for quite some time. In many ways Harley is more dangerous than the Joker. She's certainly better in a fight. And if Penguin can keep a gang fearing him....
 * Many of these same (or similar) thugs can also be heard from time to time discussing how if they ever see Batman, they're gonna kick his ass and kill him all kinds of dead. Considering what happens to most of them after making these kinds of boasts (assuming, of course, you are halfway competent at playing the game and decide to put their money where their mouths are), it's perhaps safe to say that a lot of them are pretty over-confident about their ability to deal with Harley as well.
 * Here's a nice thought that I figured out from the Headscratchers page.
 * Actually disproven by Oracle, who clearly states that they have
 * On a realated note
 * Thankfully, a radio broadcast in ''Harley Quinn's Revenge revealed that.
 * In Batman Arkham City, Batman does not kill. All well and good, until you realize that in fight scenes, he's snapping arms, legs, ankles, and possibly backs and just leaving the thugs he mutilates in a Darwinist anarchistic society with multiple serial killers running around (one of them Zsasz, who is an independent player and allied to no one). He may not kill, but a snapped neck might be a mercy compared to being vulnerable in Arkham City...
 * Not to mention it is currently winter in arkham city, and temperatures are around the freezing point. A person moderately clothed will have little problems with even extended exposure to the elements, but when they are wearing nothing but sleeveless prison uniforms and are laying unconscious on the cold, wet pavement, it would not take long for hypothermia or exposure to set in... Although Penguin's thugs are probably fine, since they are the only ones actually wearing any form of insulated clothing.
 * In Batman Begins, when Batman is fighting Ra's Al Ghul on the train, Batman tells Ra's Al Ghul "I won't kill you... but I don't have to save you". I don't know if that's canon, but it suggests his moral code is flexible in that regard.
 * It's not canon. That actually got some flak for betraying Batman's moral code on a technicality. Since both Nolan and Tim Burton aren't "comic book" people like Paul Dini, they didn't have any problem with, say, having Batman strap a bomb to someone's chest and shove him down a well. Even after Strange was run through with a sword, Batman still begged Ra's to help him get medical attention. As for the thugs, most of them are left either in their own territories or surrounded by their allies. The criminals may be vicious, but a lot of them are actually quite loyal to each other, as befitting the tribal nature of Arkham City.
 * Following the end of the Identity Thief subplot, it's revealed that  Now, after this revelation  ; trouble is,
 * At the end of the game,
 * Here's another possibility: Clayface wasn't regenerated at all, but instead was
 * Here's one: Recall what Titan . While it's a good bet what happened to the thugs, remember that this was meant to be used on the supervillians as part of their treatments in Arkham Asylum. If Titan was somehow used on them as intended, they
 * One note about Zsasz's sidequest: he begins by saying that he has three people that he's holding hostage. When he tells his story, Batman tells him that he should've avoided becoming a nihilistic serial killer. He responds with a noticeable amount of anger in his voice, and abruptly stops. When you finally get to his lair and save the hostages, there are only two. This implies that Batman was indirectly responsible for one of the hostages' deaths.
 * It's made even worse if you look around the area. You can find said victim floating around in the water.
 * Not to mention it is currently winter in arkham city, and temperatures are around the freezing point. A person moderately clothed will have little problems with even extended exposure to the elements, but when they are wearing nothing but sleeveless prison uniforms and are laying unconscious on the cold, wet pavement, it would not take long for hypothermia or exposure to set in... Although Penguin's thugs are probably fine, since they are the only ones actually wearing any form of insulated clothing.
 * In Batman Begins, when Batman is fighting Ra's Al Ghul on the train, Batman tells Ra's Al Ghul "I won't kill you... but I don't have to save you". I don't know if that's canon, but it suggests his moral code is flexible in that regard.
 * It's not canon. That actually got some flak for betraying Batman's moral code on a technicality. Since both Nolan and Tim Burton aren't "comic book" people like Paul Dini, they didn't have any problem with, say, having Batman strap a bomb to someone's chest and shove him down a well. Even after Strange was run through with a sword, Batman still begged Ra's to help him get medical attention. As for the thugs, most of them are left either in their own territories or surrounded by their allies. The criminals may be vicious, but a lot of them are actually quite loyal to each other, as befitting the tribal nature of Arkham City.
 * Following the end of the Identity Thief subplot, it's revealed that  Now, after this revelation  ; trouble is,
 * At the end of the game,
 * Here's another possibility: Clayface wasn't regenerated at all, but instead was
 * Here's one: Recall what Titan . While it's a good bet what happened to the thugs, remember that this was meant to be used on the supervillians as part of their treatments in Arkham Asylum. If Titan was somehow used on them as intended, they
 * One note about Zsasz's sidequest: he begins by saying that he has three people that he's holding hostage. When he tells his story, Batman tells him that he should've avoided becoming a nihilistic serial killer. He responds with a noticeable amount of anger in his voice, and abruptly stops. When you finally get to his lair and save the hostages, there are only two. This implies that Batman was indirectly responsible for one of the hostages' deaths.
 * It's made even worse if you look around the area. You can find said victim floating around in the water.
 * One note about Zsasz's sidequest: he begins by saying that he has three people that he's holding hostage. When he tells his story, Batman tells him that he should've avoided becoming a nihilistic serial killer. He responds with a noticeable amount of anger in his voice, and abruptly stops. When you finally get to his lair and save the hostages, there are only two. This implies that Batman was indirectly responsible for one of the hostages' deaths.
 * It's made even worse if you look around the area. You can find said victim floating around in the water.

Fridge Logic

 * During the end of the first act, we see The last act reveals  This raises the question:
 * Simple,
 * Nope, it was definitely
 * If he uses a special rifle that can pierce sheet metal, how could kill by ricocheting a bullet off a garage door? And on the same topic, why did Strange request that he kill Bruce Wayne AND Batman when Strange is one of the few to know his dual identity?
 * 1. He's just that good. 2. Redundancy. He wants him dead. If he tells Deadshot to kill just one, and Deadshot happens to see the other, then he misses a perfectly good chance to kill him. Strange doesn't want anyone to know Wayne is Batman. (Alternately, see the above Fridge Brilliance.)
 * I can't recall that shot perfectly, but is that the one that goes through the water tank and then off the garage? Well, it's possible that the bullet velocity was reduced by just the right amount by the water, or that he's using a 'sabot' kind of round where the water piercing outside is stripped away in the process, leaving a bullet capable of bouncing off thins heet metal. Fan Wank, for sure, but this wouldn't be the first instance of a comic book character using outrageous ammunition. If the shots were two seperate instances, then it's simple. Changing the type of cartridge, or more likely, using a different model of rifle, since you find his backup during the hunt for him.
 * Simple about the second one: Deadshot is a known criminal and the kind of man that Strange definitely would want dead. If he killed Bruce/Batman in Bruce form, he'd have to search for Batman . If he killed Batman, he'd have to stay in Arkham, searching for Bruce.
 * If wanted to convince Batman that his way was best, why not
 * Because it wasn't who set up Arkham City or devised Protocol 10, it was Strange.   Besides, Strange clearly enjoys having power over the inmates, and would take a great deal of pleasure in arming them and watching them kill each other, to "poke the beehive with a stick", as it were. It's not like they would have been a match for the more heavily armed and military trained Tyger Guards, so there was no threat to Strange's operation.
 * Whoops, not quite. This actually touches on another question...
 * It's not just about convincing Batman, it's about convincing the Gotham City council as well. Strange needed those guns inside the prison as 'evidence' that Arkham City must be purged via Protocol 10. Otherwise, the council would be asking questions as to why all the prisoners are suddenly dead. They had to make the choice for themselves, even if they were being manipulated by Strange.
 * If you make the wrong choice in Catwoman's final segment, you get treated to a clip of Oracle calling out that How the hell did that happen? He would have to abandon his usual M.O. in favor of all-out war, and defeat Tyger, as well as  He has tricks up his sleeve, sure, including a certain tricky Final Boss, but those odds still seem pretty insurmountable.
 * Considering that he has
 * I think the implication there is Talia really does take Joker to the Lazarus pit making him immortal and super strong.
 * I think given the limited time frame between Talia walking away with Joker and Batman's victory that the most likel answer is that there's an important peice of information about because only Harley and Joker know the truth.
 * I think given the limited time frame between Talia walking away with Joker and Batman's victory that the most likel answer is that there's an important peice of information about because only Harley and Joker know the truth.