![]() The Enemy Within makes the case, rather convincingly, that John Doe-a troubled young man whose therapy was interrupted by a chance encounter with Bruce Wayne-might have been just fine if he hadn’t become so enamored with such an extreme individual.Īfter his final confrontation with Batman, John has one final question for you: Did you ever really think of him as a friend, or were you just using him all along? The Enemy Within lets you decide the answer. But those ideas have rarely been explored to such a literal, haunting effect. At this point, most Batman stories pay lip service to the idea that Batman is just as messed up as the criminals he hunts, and that his presence in Gotham City may actually push the city’s criminals and oddballs into a similarly colorful direction. You can’t finish The Enemy Within without confronting him, brawling with him, and putting him behind bars.īut playing such a key role in the origin of the Joker brings the character to life in a way that I’ve never seen before, and puts Batman in a troubling and morally dubious position. Either way, he’s a violent and unstable figure who poses a genuine threat to Gotham City. Whether he’s a vigilante or a villain, John Doe’s arc is fundamentally tragic. I don’t want to overstate how much freedom Telltale’s Batman gives you to craft this story. The problem, given his unstable mind, is that he takes his crusade too far: Brutally and repeatedly stabbing the criminals he subdues on the streets, and appointing himself judge, jury, and executioner over the public officials he deems too corrupt.Īnd that means Batman ultimately needs to stop him. Carving his hair into the shape of Batman’s cowl and throwing his own smile-shaped Batarangs, John styles himself as a co-crimefighter bent on keeping Gotham City safe. ![]() If you refuse to betray John’s trust, he’ll side with Batman over Harley Quinn, and remake himself in his hero’s image: a kind of vigilante superhero who calls himself. ![]() He’s the Joker, right? Why would I ally with this psychopath?īut there’s a second option that pushes the story in a much more interesting direction. This version of Bruce Wayne might not have known how evil this maniac could be-but I did, and I disliked and distrusted John Doe immediately. So in Telltale’s Batman, I initially made the choice to minimize the time I spent with John Doe, and to brush him aside whenever he approached me. Telltale’s Batman is essentially the video game equivalent of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel-heavy on story and light on gameplay, with a branching plot based on the tough choices each player is forced to make along the way. The Joker? Again? Did I really have the patience for yet another face-off between Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime? So when the first season of the episodic video game Batman: The Telltale Series introduced an Arkham Asylum inmate going by the name "John Doe"-a dude with green hair, a rictus grin, and a propensity for breaking into unnerving peals of laughter-I rolled my eyes. Give me Clayface! Give me Man-Bat! Give me Black Mask! Give me the Court of Owls! After Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning, arguably definitive take on the Batman villain in The Dark Knight-and Jared Leto’s confused, forgettable take in Suicide Squad-it seemed obvious that it was time to push the Joker aside and give one of the literally dozens of underutilized villains in Batman’s rogues gallery some time in the spotlight. ![]() I was pretty sure I was done with the Joker.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |