Thomas Roach on whether the Arkham Knight is Damian Wayne…
Batman: Arkham Knight is one of the most anticipated games of next year, having been delayed from its original release date in October 2014. With a fair few months to go until the game is available, the speculation surrounding the identity of the Arkham Knight is still underway. A few months ago we discussed five potential characters who could be the Arkham Knight; however after new evidence from recent trailers and clips mean that the Arkham Knight is not one we’ve mentioned before. I now believe Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, is the Arkham Knight.
The first trailer we saw for the game was called ‘Father Son’ and gave us a voiceover from Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s father. Some including myself believed that Thomas Wayne could have been the Arkham Knight, but as in most Batman stories he is dead and we can assume he will stay that way for this game. But why introduce us to the notion of Father and Son if it wont be included in the game? This trailer may have teased that the game would deal with Bruce as the father and Damian as his son.
In trailer footage the Arkham Knight refers to Batman as an old man which could mean that he is a lot younger than Batman. Maybe his son? It is not uncommon to refer to one’s father as old man so it may be Damian speaking these words. Alternatively, the Arkham Knight’s skills could just be so much better that Batman appears a lot weaker when taking on the Knight and therefore this character is using the term old man as an insult.
One thing that suggests he is a younger character and impressionable is the fact that in the latest images he takes orders from Scarecrow. If we are to believe the Arkham Knight is superior and the main antagonist of the game he would surely not take orders from someone else. If he were to take orders it may be because he is an adolescent or young man. Maybe he rushes into things and doesn’t think things through properly? I believe this suggests that the Arkham Knight is far younger than Batman and Damian Wayne is of course younger than Batman and the Father / Son theme would make sense.
In the latest footage we have seen that the henchmen of the Arkham Knight use swords like the League of Assassins, the organisation run by Ra’s al Ghul and Talia al Ghul. Talia is Damian’s mother and in the comics he was trained by the League to eventually become the leader. The League of Assassins is a powerful organisation and they would certainly have the resources to build an army to take down Gotham. The fact that they use swords is no guarantee but the other evidence that the Arkham Knight is Damian Wayne is enough for me to suggest that the henchman are members of the League of Assassins.
We have also learned from the latest footage that the Arkham Knight wants revenge on Batman but as of yet we don’t know why. Damian could be seeking vengeance for the death of his mother and grandfather, Talia and Ra’s respectively, who both supposedly died in Arkham City. The characters have both used Lazurus pits in the past to heal themselves from their injuries but from what happened in the events of the previous games, the two did not make it to a Lazurus pit in order to be healed. After the death of his family it would make sense for Damian to seek revenge on Bruce for his involvement.
There are doubts that Damian Wayne even exists in the Arkham series, or is even the right age if he has been born yet. The Arkham Knight is n adult so he will likely be 18 or older. At a push he may only be 16 years old but we would have to see. In Arkham City Talia references Bruce and her spending the night together and this could be a teaser to Damian Wayne appearing. As each game doesn’t have a massive time jump in it I assume Batman to be in his 30s or 40s in the series. So he could have had a child with Talia in his 20s and the story still make sense.
Luckily with Damian not being introduced yet or referenced clearly his timeline and involvement can be thrown in with no horrific impact on the canon of the series.
Of course Rocksteady, the studio behind the game has insisted several times that the Arkham Knight is a new character and has not appeared before. Once again they could be lying to cover up the real identify or they may have been telling the truth all along and the speculation is just part of the studio’s sales campaign. Right now Damian Wayne seems to be the most likely candidate but it could still easily be an existing character previously mentioned.
Do you think Damian Wayne could be the Arkham Knight? Let us know…
SEE ALSO: Watch the latest trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight
Batman: Arkham Knight is set for release June 2, 2015 and is available on Playstaion 4, Xbox One and PC.
Thomas Roach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzYUW1bfw34&list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&feature=player_embedded
