Not only do I understand Batman and his interpretations better now, but I’ve learned a lot about archetypes and how they apply to my own writing and my own characters. Thank you as always for these amazing videos!

I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be English translation: I'm whatever the writer wants me to be

"I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be" Legendary line

To sum up what this two-part video essay is saying, in my opinion, the kind of hero Batman is really depends on how he's portrayed and on who's writing him. While most modern DC fans recognize him as a dark and gritty hero, there's still the underlying fact that his characterization has changed throughout the years since his first appearance 79 years ago.

Byronic Heroes are my second favorite types of heroes (after idealistic, but naive classic anti-heroes). They're so driven and inspiring, but also insufferable and vexing. They're the epitome of someone you love to watch but would hate to know. By the way, if you know any other good videos or books analyzing Byronic heroes I would love to know.

Isn't The Mask of Zorro the most underrated movie ever? The visuals, the cast, the score, the swordfights.... IT'S AMAZING!

Neil Gaiman's short comic Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? is about exactly this quality of Batman, that he's different things to different people as times change, and that he's as much a folk myth as an actual person. Gaiman takes it to the next level, imagining the creative cycle of rewrites as an actual metaphysical event in the DC universe that sees Batman endlessly reborn in a cycle of eternal return, forever being Batman, forever dying in endless ways for the city. (It's fucking lit, I highly recommend reading it.)

I said in the previous episode that Kylo Ren was a great romantic hero, but actually he would fit more with your description of the Byronic hero. He embodies that raw strength of nature (in this case, of the Force) that rises against the corrupt virtue of the Jedi, but he also wants to quench an eternal self-destructive thirst for power. The strength of his character comes from that he is animated by contradictory drives. He is megalomaniac, but he hates himself. He wants to bring order to the Galaxy, but also to destroy everything.

I doupt Mr Darcy is based on Byron since the book was written in 1797 even if it was published in 1813. And Mr Darcy is Byronic hero mostly before you actually see his inner character.

Now do with LOGAN

Shit this came out faster then I expected

I personally think you should've take a look at some other stories about Batman, not just The Dark Knight Returns. Like Denny O'Neil's 70's run. Which influenced Nolan's movies just as much as Miller's work.

7:47 well I sure wasn't expecting to get hit with the nostalgia of Disney's Robin hood while watching a video about batman, but here we are! Ps I love that song

Odd suggestion but how about a video on how to make a great title.

I love how Batman is a bit of every kind of Hero! That is pretty cool! Amazing video Just Write! :)

Batman is able to become all these different hero types because he's such a well put together hero

Least you cover the Batman the animated series which animated or non animated we here feel is the best take on Batman in it's entirety.

Mr. Darcy's more a romantic hero, I'd say. He's a bit withdrawn, but he's not really psychologically tormented in the way that Rochester or Heathcliff (or Batman) are, and his key characteristic turns out to be his integrity.

7:46 Whistle song from the animated Robin Hood film. Perfect for talking about folk heroes.

Fantastic episode. One of the reason why I love Batman so much is because you can play with his mythos with just about everything. He can do horror in comics, neo-noir, comedy with the Adam West stuff and so on.

I use a lot of 'enhanced interegation' in my TellTale playthrough of Batman, hehe.

THIS GREAT!!! A FEW YEARS AGO, I GOT INTO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT OF HEROS AND VILLIANS. THIS JUST ADDS TO MY INTEREST AND PROSPECTIVES. I HAVE LEARN A LOT TODAY. THANKS!

4:58 lol that's what civil war did with cap and iron man

That part about Batman year100 is actually very interesting. In the JLA comic "Golden Perfect", when Wonder Woman breaks the lasso of truth, and reality starts to distort, batman becomes like a horrific shadow with only gleaming red eyes, cause that is what most people believe him to be.

I didn't want this video to end! Terrific!

I like that last part. Since he's a symbol and rarely seen by the people, he can be depicted in so many ways. It makes me wonder if the stories, shows, movies, and comics about him are supposed to be actual depictions of him or just the stories about him- depicting him as all sorts of things. Or maybe they're all real but take place in alternate universes. There's another character who's similar in terms of ability to him who is also a legend and a symbol: Big Boss from Metal Gear. He's legendary in terms of his abilities and accomplishments and his name is adopted by a few people.

I love that you used Cary Elwes there.

I loved hearing Whistle Stop in this.

Jane Austen wrote the first draft of "Pride and Prejudice" in 1797, and the second draft in 1812. Byron did not become famous until 1812, with the publication of the first installment of "Childe Harold." Since the first draft of "Pride and Prejudice" is lost, we don't know how extensive the revisions were, but the likelihood that Byron was a major influence on the character of Darcy seems a bit slim. Also, while Darcy is arrogant and brooding and misunderstood, he is also scrupulously moral, and even a bit of a prig; he's the upholder of traditional virtue against the scoundrel Wickham. All this seems rather un-Byronic.

These videos of urs are amazing and really capture what kind of hero Batman is.

Oh I'm so happy to see part 2 posted already! The first half was really excellent. Thank you!

I couldn't help but smile when the whistle tune of Disney's Robin Hood began playing in the background.

Thank you! I loved these two videos. Not only because you used literary analysis, but also because of how well you put everything together. Now I have proof why I think Batman is the most interesting superhero On a sidenote, are you interested in examining other superheroes too?

That was so good I can't believe we got part 2 so quickly. I remember *_Sage Rants_* your 3 part Epic breaking down The Last Airbender adaptation was brilliant but I'm glad you changed the channel to be more explicitly educational

“SWEAR TO ME!!!”

Thanks for these videos, they were incredibly insightful. One of my own main protagonists took Batman as one his inspirations, channelling the trope back into a modernised pulp antihero context. I’m going to be watching these videos several times because they helped me understand my character immensely.

This is an awesome video. Great writing, awesome editing (with lots of little Easter eggs), and a lot of quality information presented in a succinct and clear way. This is the kind of thing KZfaq was made for. Who would have thought that we could get moral philosophy and literary analysis in talking about some picture books wherein a depressed man dresses up in bat pajamas and beats up strangers?

for 300k subs, you have incredibly good production and editing

This is my new favourite channel.

Batman to me is, an Epic Hero: cause he is Inspiring and Destine or Curse or Choose an Unending Mission of his own, a Tragic Hero: cause he has the Flaw of being too Humane and Morally Devoted, a Romantic Hero: cause he Rebels against the Norms to be a Symbol, a Byronic Hero: cause he is so Selfish at he's own Believe, an Anti-Hero: cause he work in he's own Way and Question the World he's Living in, a Folk Hero: cause he is like a Fairytale, a Myth, and a Legend. In Short he is One of the Many GOAT of Fiction.

Love how Snape is a Byronic Hero

It's actually a good education video. A lot of useful information about character wrtiting. Thanks!

Thank you for these videos. I love Batman, but your two-part videos have helped me understand him better.

Your videos are helpful and knowledgeable for writers including me.

The first time around I wasn't looking at the screen and I swear I heard "He's a bionic hero" and I was super confused.

Very nice. I'd love to see a series of this archetype psychology on Batman's different villains.

Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite novels. And I'm a middle age book nerd, so I've read tons of books. This one actually fascinates me. I usually consider that, in order for anyone to enjoy a piece of fiction, you have to genuinely care about at least one of the characters. In Wuthering Heights, I don't care whether any of the characters live or die. And yet, I absolutely love it. Just for that. Emily Brontë is by far my favorite Brontë sister.

Miller's Batman is close to Rorschach in watchmen

You should do a Part 3 of this with the depiction of the new Batman.

A well-thought out and well-informed piece, with great clip usage.

Positively incredible. One of the best Batman discussions I have seen. Thank you.

Fantastic set of videos! Really engaging content, really interesting topic, great structure, good sound mixing, good narration, good video editing, just really fantastic

Highwaymen - the original vigilantes. We forget, because they’re coöpted by pirates, which end up taking on quite different connotations.

That's really interesting. Perhaps one reason that Batman is such a popular character is that he lends himself to being the hero to so many different types of story. We can fondly remember the ones we like, and dismiss the others as aberrations...

Mr. Darcy isn't Byronic. Rochester and Healthcliff, most definitely, but not Darcy.

This is probably my favorite videos of yours. Nice work!

The most glaring and intentional showing of the folk hero is during the ending of Batman Arkham Knight where he was already saying goodbye to the people he cares about. He knew he needed to end it all because he felt he was the reason his team mates (or anyone who sides with him-take Poison Ivy for example) keep getting into life and death situations. And for that reason, he didn’t want to be Batman anymore. And having shown himself to the world, the further preempted his decision to end his tenure as Batman. Batman without the mask is useless. The only problem with the ending of Arkham Knight was how he knew Gotham was already good having no Batman. There wasn’t an example of how crime fell or why people stood up to themselves to criminals or why they all decided they didn’t need a Batman. For some reason there was a sudden drop of corruption because Jim Gordon was leading the polls in his campaign as mayor. What further weakened Bruce’s decision was when they didn’t show the father of the mugged family stand up for them. One of Bruce’s greatest regrets was that neither him nor his father stood up to the mugger. And even in cooperation, the guy shot them. Again, there was no showcase of a boost of heroism inside the citizens of Gotham when Batman left. This could’ve been what Bruce said about Gotham needing something worse than Batman to scare off cowardly criminals. A better way of ending the epilogue scene in Arkham Knight having the father of the family stand up to the muggers and then have a vision of a bat flying towards them.

These were good videos and it was very eye opening. It's true Batman can be any hero arch type depending on the iteration. This also taught be a lot about all the different categories for hero arch types.

Great video, man! I really like how deep your search goes, all the way back to Aristotle's Poetics to Frye. But I think I would have liked more to see why Batman is depicted one way or another in each of these versions. You hinted at it at the very end, but I would really dig to see a more deep explanation of why a specific version of the character is more fit (or not) to a certain time and place. But anyway! Keep the good work, really appreciate your videos ;)

Love this analyzation of heroes. I just wish he'd do a video on each individual type. That would be awesome

Great to see Part 2! KZfaq didn't show it in my recommendations, hence the delay in watching. Better late than never though :D

I love the art for the thumbnails. Who makes it?

This two-part video was AWESOME! You should come teach at my university

The one we deserve, something something, not the one we need, something something...

Batman as a Byronic Hero. What a fantastic and intriguing analysis.

That was great! your analysis of batman is very interesting.

Really great video! Great writing and neat analysis!

7:46 Beautiful Robin Hood music.

Excellent finale to the writing of Batman....

Awesome video! Well done!!

Frank Miller's Batman is my favourite version, aside from the classic Batman. He is a massive powerhouse of age-old grit and vengeful rage, complemented by a blatant need to go over the top in his violent methods to compensate for his crippling aging - so that he suffers no pity from his younger, more capable enemies, while restoring the long-lost authority he succesfully implemented back when he was fear itself. The perfect hero for the middle-aged man: someone who has WAY passed the prime of his life, was left behind and outlasted everything he loved and stood for. But someone who has preserved his conservative worldview on morality and right and wrong, and still has a beast roaring inside him to get back out, willing to impose one last hurrah over all the wrongdoers - by extreme force and until death, if necessary.

Great video! I would love to see another part describing your interpretation of batman's psyche. A great comic book to reference would be Batman: Ego. Thank you!

Fantastic two parter. Thank you!

this was again. a great video a great series of what i think are some of your best videos

This is truly one of the more fascinating characters of all fiction. I believe in part because The Batman is the man's real character, while Bruce Wayne (the gentrified playboy) his his alter-ego.

Pretty cool, though I would have clarify the "classical antihero" with the protagonist failings are less moral, but focus more on vulnerability, like teenage Spidey, the closest to do for Batman was Keaton version who was more socially. awkward

Can you do this with superman? I realize he would be more classical hero, but i think there's more to him then people realize.

I like that the, "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be." Had to have subtitles! haha

I'd like to see a similar sort of dissection like this of Superman. He doesn't get the same attention as Batman sometimes and we haven't seen a decently done modern version in cinema in the same way Batman was done by Nolan. They tried to "Nolanize" Superman in a way without understand how Nolan did it with Batman, nor understanding Superman as a character outside of a Randian sort of deconstruction of the character. Justice League made him likable again but it felt stilted probably because of how different he was acting from how he did in the previous two movies. I'm not sure. I think I like the Smallville version of Clark most but I can't quite explain why. He just feels like the most relatable version of the character, probably because he isn't at his peak potential until the end of the series (and cuz apparently Kryptonite is literally anywhere and everywhere in some form).

The Dark Knight trilogy are my favorite movies of all time, and I remember back around 2008 a friend told me to read the Frank Miller graphic novel. I remember thinking I couldn't care less, find it less interesting, or less memorable, but when the movies came out I watched them on a loop. Am I alone in this respect? Anyone else?

Batman is not a hero, he is a vigilante. He is not interested in justice, only vengeance. Trying to fit him into a hero role will not work because he is not one. He seeks only to punish criminals; doing whatever it takes to satisfy his revenge against the concept of crime. He will not kill the criminal because he is at war with the action of the crime, not the person doing it. Once the crime (current or potential future crime) has be stopped the conflict is over. Killing the person just means that crime has won again.

Great series!

Great video man! Very well done!

Amazing couple of videos, man!

I think what’s interesting about Batman is that the public understanding of how Batman “should be” is all of these mixed together. To me Batman is Byronic in the sense that he no longer seeks happiness as Bruce Wayne. He’s tragic in how his unwillingness to move on from his parents combined with his unwillingness to kill lead to an unending war that saps his spirit. He’s classic in his clear sense of morality.

Amazing videos! thank you so much, this is very interesting) Brought back all my memories from literature classes in school) if they were taught this way - explaining the character instead of like, retelling the plot of the story, i'm sure they would've been more interesting)

Can you do part 2 , I’ve been waiting a while, me and the others,come on man.

He's Batman!

This is brilliant, I think that Batman is the best fictional character ever and this is probably the best explanation of why he might be just that

amazing video as usual!

brilliant video as usual. i wish you a successful career in the film industry!

Lelouch is a great example of a Bryonic Hero & 4:13-5:03 explains suzuka as a character

I'd be curious to see a follow up to this where you dive into what it is about Batman that has proven so malleable over the years.

Hey Just Write! Can you make a video essay on what kind of villain is joker and explain the different types of villains?

5:42 Walt is not an antihero. He’s a straight-up villain.

Great vid!

Well played.

Byron! Yes!

Great video! I'm shocked that you left out Dorian Gray as an example of a byron esce hero and the scarlet pimpernel similarities should definitely be discussed! Maybe in a video of its own?

Welp this was definitely worth waiting for. Oddly enough, I feel like you ended it in a way that could make a third part..