Short Thought: Why Arkham Knight's Big Reveal Sucked

Batman: Arkham Knight has been out for a few weeks now and anyone who REALLY wants to know the big reveal already knows it. The identity of the Arkham Knight; the big enemy to Batman and everyone he knows, leader of the militia that is invading Gotham and partner-in-crime to Scarecrow.

Suffice it to say, spoilers are below this image of Arkham Knight.

When the game was first announced, soon followed the DLC announcement -- sorry the first DLC announcement of many… The Harley Quinn story DLC: play as Joker’s girlfriend! Then we had the second lot, which would make up the ‘pair’ of pre-order DLC available from most retailers (and available at a later date for Season Pass owners). The Red Hood story DLC.

You’ve probably guessed where I’m going with this, but I’ll explain.

The Red Hood in the comics is Jason Todd. Jason was the kid who became Robin after Dick Grayson (the first Robin) went off to be Nightwing. The second Robin was, again in the comics, beaten mostly to death by Joker and then had a warehouse explode and collapse upon him as the clown prince of crime made his escape.

Jason would later return (much later, as in 17 years) after an alternative Superboy punched the walls of reality. Don’t ask, it was removed from continuity… But when he returned to Gotham, it was in the guise of the Red Hood. And he had a vendetta against Batman for not killing Joker in retribution.

So, when it was revealed that Arkham Knight, created by comic book scribe Geoff Johns, had a personal grudge against Batman… Every comic book reader assumed it was Jason Todd under the helmet. Factor in IMDb, stating the same voice actor (Troy Baker, of course) was doing both Red Hood and Arkham Knight, well there wasn’t a shred of doubt.

Playing the game, you find out some information about a former partner of Batman as you progress through the story. You discover that, whilst Batman thought him dead, Jason Todd was actually kidnapped by Joker and tortured for information on the Dark Knight. It was at this point that I could no longer give them the benefit of the doubt.

Jason Todd is revealed to be Arkham Knight at about 70% of the story, though we knew it months ahead of release. Way to spoil your title’s big reveal, WB Games. Way to go.