Tonight on Deadliest Fiction, we continue our war against poverty with a battle between two billionaires hiding dark secrets and fearsome alter egos! It's a classic clash of Marvel vs DC as Batman, the infamous vigilante and terror of the night who helped defend the Earth from the forces of Apokolips, takes on the Green Goblin, the brilliant scientist driven to embrace his darkest impulses by an experiment gone wrong! We'll compare their weapons, gadgets, and skills all to determine the answer to the ultimate question...
WHO...IS...DEADLIEST???
Intro[]
Batman (DCEU)[]
| “ | Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred. We've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?
— Batman
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” |
The child of billionaire Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, Bruce Wayne's life was changed forever when his parents were gunned down in front of him by a mugger. The experience traumatized the boy, and after an accident led him into a swarm of the bats underneath Wayne Manor, he became inspired to become a symbol of fear to Gotham City, waging a one-man war on crime. To do so, he trained himself to the absolute peak of both physical and mental perfection, traveling the world to master the ways of martial arts, tactics, and stealth. At age 21, he returned to Gotham, took his place as head of Wayne Enterprises, his family's company, and used his wealth to become Batman, a fearsome, brutal vigilante who struck terror into the hearts of the city's criminals.
Bruce, with the aid of his faithful butler Alfred, fought crime for years, accumulating a sizable rogues gallery and even taking on a ward in the form of Dick Grayson, who took the codename Robin. Despite his initial focus on finesse and refusal to kill criminals, Robin's brutal murder at the hands of the Joker and his lover, Harley Quinn, left him deeply embittered and far more cynical, caring less about the collateral damage of his actions and showing far more sadism in his treatment of his enemies.
This cynicism, combined with being on the ground of Metropolis during Superman's battle with General Zod, makes him a prime target for the schemes of Lex Luthor, who plays the heroes against each other in an effort to destroy Superman. Using his tactical skills, a special suit of armor, and kryptonite he had stolen from Luthor, Batman managed to defeat Superman, but ultimately refused to kill him after realizing the Kryptonian's humanity. Having come to realize his failure, he allies with Superman, first rescuing his mother from Luthor's mercenaries, then works alongside him and Wonder Woman to battle Doomsday, a Kryptonian-human hybrid created by Luthor. They succeed, but at the cost of Superman, who gives his life to impale the creature with a kryptonite spear.
In the aftermath of the battle, Bruce, hoping to atone for his actions and warned of a coming invasion by Luthor, began assembling a team of metahumans to protect the Earth from the armies of Apokolips, led by the fearsome general Steppenwolf, who sought to assemble the three Mother Boxes and turn Earth into a copy of his home. While the team proves effective, they're unable to fully match Steppenwolf, and they reluctantly decide to use the last Mother Box to revive Superman. The plan works, but the revived Superman attacks the team, stopping only thanks to Lois Lane, his girlfriend, who manages to calm him down enough for him to retreat to his family's farm. In the chaos, Steppenwolf manages to steal the final Mother Box and begins terraforming the Earth, with the team launching a final assault on his homebase in an effort to stop the process, with Batman acting as tactical support to cover them. Thanks to both Superman's return and the Flash traveling back in time with the Speed Force, they succeed, killing Steppenwolf and dumping his corpse on Apokolips as a warning to his master, Darkseid.
A now far more optimistic Bruce rebuilds Wayne Manor, turning it into a base of operations for the team and any future heroes who joined, all while preparing for Darkseid's true invasion of Earth.
Green Goblin (Raimiverse)[]
| “ | I've watched you from deep behind Norman's cowardly eyes. Struggling to have everything you want, while the world tries to make you choose. Gods don't have to choose. We take.
— Green Goblin
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” |
Norman Osborn was the founder and CEO of Oscorp, a research company specializing in chemicals and weapons development for the US military. While Norman was a brilliant, ambitious scientist and businessman, he was also an aloof parent to his son Harry, expressing disapproval at his lack of ambition and seemingly favoring his best friend, Peter Parker, a fellow lover of science. Norman's darker side began to show after Oscorp took a contract with the military to develop a serum capable of creating super soldiers, and while the serum did show promise in creating faster, stronger subjects, it came at great risk of inducing insanity. Left with a tight deadline, Norman, out of desperation, took the serum himself, greatly enhancing his physiology but driving himself insane in the process, seemingly tormented by the voice of a darker part of himself that urged him to use his newfound power as he pleased. To this end, he subsequently used an experimental glider and suit to become the Green Goblin and killed all who threatened his status of Oscorp's CEO, including the general who pulled the government's contract and the company's board of directors, who sought to remove Norman.
These attacks brought him into conflict with Spider-Man, New York's new superpowered hero, and the two repeatedly clashed until Norman discovered that his true identity was in fact Peter Parker. This led the Goblin to attempt to recruit Spider-Man to his side, then began attacking those he loved when Peter refused. After putting his Aunt May in the hospital and kidnapping Mary Jane, the secret love of his life, Norman would have a final confrontation with Peter, leading to a brutal fight that ended with him impaled upon his own glider. Regaining his sanity in his final moments, Norman begged Peter not to tell Harry his identity as the Goblin. Peter obliged, leading to Harry falsely assuming that Spider-Man murdered his father, beginning a long-time hatred that would culminate in Harry becoming the New Goblin.
Despite his apparent death, Norman was seemingly returned from the grave when the Peter Parker of another universe accidentally sabotaged a spell designed to make everyone forget his identity. The spell's failure sends ripples throughout the multiverse, bringing many people aware of Spider-Man's identity into one universe, with many of them being Spider-Man's various villains. Trapped in a world he doesn't recognize and saved mere moments before when he would've died, Norman is initially able to bury the Goblin persona long enough to enlist Peter's help in devising cures for the various villain's conditions, but the Goblin forced his way back into control when the hero developed a cure for his own insanity. Convincing most of the villains to aid him, Norman attacked Spider-Man, savagely beating him and killing his Aunt May before escaping. Seeking to destroy the spell that could return him to his fate, the Goblin allied with the other villains to do battle with a team-up of three Spider-Men, including the one from his one universe. He manages to wound "his" Spider-Man, but is ultimately cured, repenting his actions before Doctor Strange casts a spell that returns him to his own time.
Weapons, Equipment, and Abilities[]
Batman (DCEU)[]
| “ | I bet your parents taught you that you mean something. That you're here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson, dying in the gutter for no reason at all. They taught me the world only makes sense if you force it to.
— Batman
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” |
Weapons and Equipment:
- Batsuit: Highly customized and well-equipped after two decades in the field, the Batsuit is made of a three layer titanium tri-weave and highly durable, bulletproof spandex. The suit is designed to protect Bruce without limiting his mobility, and the most vital points, such as the cowl, neck, and gauntlets, were capable of deflecting knives and small arms fire, while the suit itself was highly resistant to heat, including close-range explosions, bursts of flame, and even shots from Parademon weaponry and Superman's heat vision, which could easily melt steel. It comes equipped with a cape capable of limited gliding, though Batman tended to prefer his grappling gun. It also contained a voice modulator within the cowl, allowing Bruce to protect his identity. While the suit is highly durable, it did have weaknesses, as one of Luthor's thugs was able to pierce the spandex layer with a knife and stab him in the shoulder, alongside lacking resistance to strong enough blunt force, with a revived Superman cracking a few of Bruce's ribs during their confrontation.
- Utility Belt: A belt specially designed to hold a wide variety of equipment for any possible scenarios Batman encountered in the field. On top of more traditional tools like lockpicks, handcuffs, infrared goggles, and a rebreather for low oxygen environments such as underwater or burning buildings, some of the more unique gadgets on the belt included:
- Batarangs: Batman's most iconic weapons, the batarangs are bat-shaped boomerangs, sharpened to the point where they could easily pierce stone walls and designed to not just maim, distract, and even disarm foes during fights, but also function as a calling card to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Some of the batarangs had incendiary tips and tracking capabilities, but this was never shown in-action.
- Grapple Gun: A multipurpose tool designed to give Batman greatly expanded options in traversing his environment and quickly moving in and out of the shadows, the grapple gun is strong enough to support Batman's weight as he ascends/descends, and could also be used as an improvised combat tool, lifting and pulling a fully grown man into melee range or potentially grabbing heavy objects like crates to fling at enemies. It could also be used in rapid succession, firing again after retracting, with Batman able to control the speed at which it pulls.
- Smoke Capsules: Small pellets that Batman can break, quickly covering the area in a thick cloud of smoke and enabling him to make a hasty retreat.
- Sticky Bombs: Small handheld explosives that stick to surfaces before detonating. They can easily attach to both organic material, like the skin of Parademons, and inorganic objects, such as the guns used by Luthor's men, with the ensuing explosions being timed to instantly disable them and force them into a hand-to-hand fight.
- Batmobile Remote: A remote control that can automatically summon the Batmobile to Batman's location, giving him quick access to both the vehicle and it's overwhelming firepower.
- Batmobile: A heavily armored, well-equipped car used as Batman's primary form of transportation in his war on crime and upgraded even further to counter Steppenwolf's armies, the Batmobile was designed to be a perfect mix of speed, precision, and overwhelming firepower, easily overtaking the Joker's sports car in a high-speed chase and completely destroying a fleet of vehicles during Batman's pursuit of Anatoli Knyazev. It has a completely armored body with an electric current running through the exterior plating, capable of withstanding explosions, sustained fire from miniguns, and even a direct impact with Superman, though it was notably damaged after the latter, and the passenger seat was retrofitted with a miniature arsenal to hold any additional gear Batman needed. In terms of weaponry, it was equipped with a mounted high-caliber machine gun, a harpoon launcher, missile launchers, countermeasure flares, an artillery cannon, and a miniature jet afterburner designed to give the vehicle a little extra boost as needed.
Skills and Abilities:
- Peak Human Condition: Through a mixture of intense training and highly specialized study and commitment, Batman has honed himself to a level of physicality above that of even Olympic athletes, pulling thousand pound weights during workout sessions and maintaining this physique despite being well into his forties. While he concedes that he isn't quite as refined as he used to be, he's still a fearsome, towering figure, using a mixture of brute strength and alarming speed to surpass the likes of Deadshot and numerous highly-trained mercenaries while keeping up with superhumans like Deathstroke and Steppenwolf's Parademons. He can effortlessly and toss fully grown men like ragdolls, knock out the highly resilient Harley Quinn with a single punch, and shatter a steel-framed window by simply jumping through it, while powering through mountains of pain, including beatings from the likes of Superman or Doomsday and being tossed through concrete walls.
- Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Batman is a master martial artist, combining the likes of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Savate, Eskrima, Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, Ninjutsu, Kung Fu, Judo, and Aikido with both his fearsome strength and an expert understanding of the human body to easily defeat and disable numerous enemies. On his own and exhausted from his battle with Superman, he was able to defeat two-dozen well armed mercenaries in close-quarters, and he regularly overpowers and defeat superhumans such as Deathstroke, numerous Parademons, and even a Kryptonite-weakned Superman, dominating the Kryptonian during the early stages of their fight.
- Expert Marksman: Despite his supposed aversion to guns, Batman is highly skilled in the usage of firearms, easily using them with a highly effective level of precision. This accuracy also applies to his batarangs, and he can knock weaponry out of enemy's hands and throw the batarangs with enough force to disable enemies from a distance.
- Genius-level Intellect: Despite his appearance as a laid-back billionaire, Batman is one of the most brilliant people on the planet. He's an ace detective, a master of espionage and deception, a shrewd businessman, a talented inventor who designed his entire arsenal of gear and weaponry, and an incredible tactician capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the most dangerous and unpredictable enemies in the criminal underworld and coming out on top. He's skilled at both long-term planning, setting a series of traps for Superman to disorient him before their fight, and quick improvisations, such as near-instantly analyzing the fighting style of a pit fighter and giving his opponent tips on how to win. This intelligence enabled him to defeat Superman, a foe he was hopelessly outmatched against in terms of ability, and unite the Justice League, a ragtag team of inexperienced heroes, into a proper fighting force capable of saving Earth. While incredibly smart, Bruce isn't perfect, with his cynical, mistrusting attitude allowing Lex Luthor to easily manipulate him, and he was ultimately forced to recognize that he couldn't work alone, trusting the League and working closely with them rather than simply taking charge.
- Stealth Expert: Batman is a master of both the art of deception and traditional stealth and infiltration, blending in and out of the shadows and using them to give himself the appearance of a borderline supernatural, demonic figure in Gotham's underworld. He's gotten the drop on expert hitman Deadshot, easily disabled Lex Luthor's private security force in his break-in of LexCorp, and walked right into the maximum security wing of Belle Reeve to interrogate Luthor. He was even able to sneak away from the Flash, a metahuman with superhuman levels of reflex and perception, leaving the young hero completely baffled, while his usage of lead-infused smoke grenades let him escape from Superman and Doomsday.
Green Goblin (Raimiverse)[]
| “ | You know, I'm something of a scientist myself.
— Norman Osborn
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” |
Weapons and Equipment:
- Green Goblin Armor: A technologically advanced prototype battle suit designed for military usage, the Green Goblin armor further enhanced Osborn's considerable strength and durability, enabling him to fly at high speeds on his glider without any risk of injuries from impact, including several story falls and flying directly into the wall of a building without any sign of injury or even disorientation. The suit also contained numerous hidden tools, including sleeping gas dispensed from the arms that could knock-out Raimi!Spider-Man in a matter of seconds, retractable arms blades, and a button that can quickly remote summon his glider.
- Goblin Glider: A similar prototype weapon, the Goblin Glider was the Green Goblin's primary form of transportation, capable of flying fast enough to keep up with Spider-Man during pitched battles in the sky. It contains a variety of weaponry, including spare pumpkin bombs, missiles strong enough to level entire buildings and destroy a military bunker, small machineguns, and a set of blades sharp enough to impale clean through him and the brick wall he'd been standing in front of. The Glider can be remote piloted, enabling the Goblin to call it to his location and also ambush foes with it.
- Pumpkin Bombs: Green Goblin's signature weapons were his highly specialized "pumpkin bombs", explosives strong enough to destroy the stone supports of a balcony, send Raimi!Spider-Man flying through a brick wall upon detonation at close-range, and destroy the Macchina di Kadavus, an ancient relic designed to contain highly powerful spells. The bombs were also capable of disintegrating people, reducing several men to skeletons in a flash of light.
- Razor Bats: Small bat-shaped boomerangs, the Razor Bats are actually small drones, sprouting razor-sharp blades strong enough to cut through Spider-Man's webbing and draw blood upon cutting him. They could also hone in on targets, continuing to track and follow Raimi!Spider-Man as he engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Green Goblin.
Powers and Abilities:
- Superhuman Physicality: Osborn's serum greatly increased his strength, speed, and durability, with tests on lab rats noting an 800% increase in strength. Shortly after taking the serum, he was capable of lifting a man with one hand and throwing him with enough force to sending him flying through a window and into equipment that crumpled on impact. During his fights with both Raimi!Spider-Man and MCU!Spider-Man, he dominated them in terms of strength until they went all-out against him, easily catching the former's punch and kicking him several feet until he crashed into a lamppost, and suplexing the latter through multiple floors of an apartment building and knocking him into a metal staircase so hard he dented it. He was shown to have a high resistance to pain, regularly being hit through brick walls, having buildings collapse on him, openly laughing in the face of MCU!Spider-Man savagely beating him at fully strength, and surviving the wounds of his glider long enough to have a final conversation with Raimi!Peter. The serum similarly enhanced his agility, giving him a natural sense of balance atop the glider even at high speeds and the ability to keep up with Spider-Man in combat, and gave him a limited healing factor, enabling Norman to hide any wounds sustained from his time as the Green Goblin.
- Genius-Level Intellect: Norman Osborn was frequently recognized as a brilliant scientist and one of the world's smartest men, building an expansive company from the ground up and pioneering a variety of military research, personally spearheading the creation of much of the tech he used as the Green Goblin. He's also fairly deductive, quickly realizing the true identity of Spider-Man upon noticing a similar wound on Raimi!Peter and easily convincing most of the villains to attack MCU!Peter, and a cruel, sadistic strategist, methodically targeting Peter's loved ones in an effort to break him and forcing him to choose between saving innocent civilians and those he cared about. His intelligence was hampered only by his madness, and he was often internally in conflict between the kinder, moral Norman and the psychotic, power-hungry Goblin.
- Skilled Combatant: Despite no formal training, Green Goblin was an incredibly skilled fighter, using an aggressive style that often focused on using his strength to overwhelm and disorient his enemies, overpowering them and then tossing them around like ragdolls. He regularly beat Raimi!Spider-Man to a pulp during the majority of their fights, with Peter only winning by tapping into his full strength and using the environment against him, and he used a variety of wrestling moves during his fight with MCU!Spider-Man, easily defeating and nearly killing him had his Aunt May not interfered at the last moment.
X-Factors[]
| Batman | X-Factors | Green Goblin |
| 100 | Experience | 65 |
| 90 | Training | 30 |
| 85 | Physicality | 95 |
| 90 | Intelligence | 85 |
| 80 | Brutality | 100 |
Explanations[]
- Batman has been active as a vigilante for two decades, regularly fighting criminals on a nightly basis and building a sizable rogues gallery that includes the likes of the Joker, Killer Croc, Deadshot, and Deathstroke. The arrival of Superman even added aliens and even more battles with and against superhumans into the mix, with Batman serving as the organizer and leader of the Justice League during Steppenwolf's invasion of Earth. Green Goblin only fought one foe, Spider-Man, in his time as a supervillain, and it was for a relatively short period of time until his death.
- Osborn had no traditional training, instead relying on his own powers to make up for any potential gaps, an effective tactic when the only person in your world capable of matching you was Spider-Man. Before becoming Batman, Bruce Wayne traveled the world and studied for years, learning countless martial arts and stealth techniques while also honing his body and mind to the highest levels possible for a human being. Even as an older man, he continues to stay in peak condition through constant training and vigilance.
- While Batman has done his best to stay in peak human condition, twenty years of crimefighting has caught up with him to some degree, and he's reluctantly conceded in the past that he's not as strong as he used to be, leading to him at times straining himself and pushing his body further than it can go. Enhanced to incredible levels by his serum, Norman's exact physical strength is incredibly impressive, and he stands as one of most strongest foes faced by either Raimi or MCU Spider-Man, with levels of strength that are deceptive given his age and appearance.
- Norman is a certified genius, a brilliant scientist and inventor with an incredible career as a self-made billionaire, but while the Green Goblin personality also allowed him to show his more ruthless side as a fighter and tactician, he was hampered by it's sadism and insanity, frequently overindulging in cruelty and allowing warier fighters to take advantage. Admittedly too cynical for his own good, Batman is one of the smartest men on the planet, an incredible detective, inventor, and tactician whose also talented enough in deception to project an image of a carefree billionaire. While his rage and distrust of others has gotten the better of him in the past, he's made steps to be better, taking a more idealistic worldview after his time with the League.
- Twenty years of crimefighting and the violent death of Robin had led to Batman becoming more brutal as a vigilante, being willing to torture, cripple, and even kill criminals if it was for the greater good, but after his fight with Superman, he began to soften back to the ways of his younger self, though he was still willing to kill Parademons and threaten Lex Luthor with the batbrand as needed. The Goblin has no such reservations, and he'll happily destroy anyone that dares stand in his way, from those who have personally wronged Norman to his enemy's loved ones to innocents who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He fully believes that if you're strong enough to do what you want, then you should, and anyone who tries to stop you should be crushed.
Notes[]
- Voting ends April 16th.
- The battle will be set in Gotham City, following the events of Zack Snyder's Justice League and during the events of Spider-Man.
- The Scenario: Norman, fully in control of Oscorp following his killing of the board of directors, attempts to collaborate on a project for the military with WayneTech, but the project is scrapped by Bruce Wayne, who doesn't trust him. Spurned, the Green Goblin decides to remove him as an obstacle by killing him, attacking the WayneTech offices and forcing Bruce to suit up as Batman to protect both himself and his employees.