The Batman: Arkham series from Rocksteady stands as spawning some of the greatest superhero games of all time. Creating the freeflow combat system that many other developers would grow to emulate, it was an experience that helped the player feel what it was like to become Batman. As the series advanced, newer mechanics were added along the way to help gamers truly understand what being the Caped Crusader was like.

Everything from the design of the world of Arkham Asylum and Gotham City felt appropriately like the Dark Knight’s world. His costume, the look of the villains, and even his equipment were all right at home in this universe. Partially based on Tim Burton’s visual style and partially based on the comics, there was an unsettling tone with the games that captured the character perfectly.

Despite how great the series was, that’s not to say that it was perfect. Along the way, Rocksteady made a few blunders (as did WB Montreal) that stuck out in the eyes of the fans. Whether it be related to story errors or new gameplay choices that hindered the experience, they certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of the players.

We still think that the Batman: Arkham series is arguably the best collection of superhero video games ever created, but there are still some elements that could’ve been more thought out. Without further ado, we’ll be revisiting the world of Rocksteady’s Gotham City by exploring 25 things about the Batman: Arkham series that make no sense.

25 Joker Titan Battle

At the end of Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Dark Knight has to face the Clown Prince of Crime. After dealing with all of his tricks throughout the entire game, it’s exciting and haunting to see what sort of crazy scheme he has for the battle. However, he just injects himself with the Titan chemical and the battle is just a glorified version of the Bane fight. The only way you actually beat Joker is because he gets distracted by the helicopter’s circling around. The whole experience seems so anti-Joker.

24 Talia Disliking Her Father

During Batman: Arkham City, Ra’s al Ghul is on a mission to make Batman his replacement. In a desperate attempt to try and get his way, he puts a knife to Talia’s throat to try and force Batman’s hand. She gets seriously upset by this, hurt that her own father would try to end her. That said, she was also more than willing to help Batman get him ended along the way, so there seems to be a bit of hypocrisy in the al Ghul family.

23 Sending Robin Away

In Batman: Arkham City, we get our first look at the game’s version of Robin. He enters Arkham City to help out Batman. Despite dying from Joker’s blood, Batman doesn’t actually have Robin help out more and, instead, sends him back to Gotham. A similar thing happens in Batman: Arkham Knight, where even Nightwing tries to help the Dark Knight on a few occasions, yet Batman continuously shoves him to the side, despite severely needing the help. If only he kept them around.

22 Grapnel Accelerate In Arkham Origins

In Arkham City, players could unlock a Grapnel Accelerate that would allow them to shoot up in the air and glide when grappling up a building. However, it was canonically a piece of equipment that was in the prototype phase. However, this same mechanic would be used in Arkham Origins, which was a game that took place years before even Arkham Asylum. It seems that the developers just casually overlooked this error in favor of making it easier to travel through the world.

21 Jim Gordon’s Age

Jim Gordon is an old and jaded cop by the time the Arkham series takes place. Having to order the GCPD to respond both to Joker’s takeover of Arkham Asylum as well as the conspiracies going on in Arkham City, we see him a lot. He also makes an appearance in Arkham Origins, albeit a bit younger this time around. However, it seems that the designers didn’t get the heads up, because Jim looks arguably older in the prequel game than he does in the main series.

20 Riddler Race Tracks

In Arkham Knight, a lot of the larger Riddler tasks involve taking the Batmobile and driving through tunnels of tracks that Nygma specifically designed for it. However, upon seeing the frequency and scale of these courses, it becomes seriously impractical. There is no way that one man could’ve built all of that in such a short amount of time. Furthermore, there is no way that he could’ve acquired all of that real estate to even construct them in the first place.

19 This Guy, The Leader

After the phenomenal Deathstroke boss fight that was in Arkham Origins, it was exciting to know that he’d be returning in Arkham Knight. Despite using such a fan-favorite character, Rocksteady seriously underutilized him. He was the leader of the militia that was taking over Gotham City. He doesn’t formally appear until you destroy enough checkpoints. When you finally get to face him, it’s a big tank battle. He then pops out of the tank to fight Batman, only to be knocked out in a cutscene.

18 Arkham Knight: The New Character

Leading up to the release of Arkham Knight, Rocksteady teased that they would be creating an original character for the game in the form of the “Arkham Knight.” Despite constantly hitting over the head that he was an original villain, that was only partially true. The Arkham Knight was just a variant of Jason Todd. The game adapts a version of the “Red Hood” story arc from the comics and just gives Todd a different costume and name. Needless to say, fans were upset.

17 Scarecrow And Arkham Knight’s Alliance

Despite what the title makes you think, Scarecrow is the main antagonist for Batman: Arkham Knight. However, he isn’t trying to take over Gotham City alone, having the Arkham Knight working side by side. That said, apart from wanting to make Batman’s life worse, their goals don’t align. Scarecrow has grand visions of taking over the city while Arkham Knight just has a personal beef with his old mentor. After Arkham Knight sees his goal completed, he then turns on Scarecrow. What else did Crane expect?

16 Certain Criminals Not Perishing

Batman has the fundamental rule of not taking a life. That said, he likes to push the envelope just about as much as he can. When it comes to beating up bad guys, the Dark Knight can be extremely brutal at times. There was one occasion where he even threw someone down a great distance into a tree then onto the pavement. Yet, somehow, a lot of these criminals are still alive despite sustaining more than enough injuries to perish on the spot.

15 Hugo Strange’s Plan

Hugo Strange was the supposed mastermind of Arkham City. He created Arkham City so that he could round up the worst criminals in Gotham, then execute Protocol 10 in order to end them all and become the savior the people wanted. Then, he would move about the rest of the world and do the same thing over and over. The problem here is that there’s no immediate benefit other than praise from people. That’s also assuming that most individuals would be okay with mass destruction.

14 Hush’s Disguise

Hush first appeared in Arkham City. While there was no physical encounter between him and the Dark Knight, Hush was taking the identity of Bruce Wayne to commit crimes. When Batman finally caught him, Hush had completely recreated Bruce Wayne’s face and was using it as a disguise. The problem with this is that just about all of the criminals and Hugo Strange were on a mission to capture Bruce Wayne and/or end him at all costs. Hush certainly would’ve been targeted.

13 Arkham Knight Ending

The ending to Batman: Arkham Knight, in the pure spirit of this list, makes absolutely no sense. After locking up all of Gotham’s Most Wanted and stopping the Scarecrow, Batman executes the Knightfall Protocol, which results in him walking into a Wayne Manor that is rigged to explode, making everyone believe that he perished. Then, there were criminals in the city who were haunted by a demonic bat figure, leaving a lot of questions that Rocksteady never answered. Considering they’re seemingly done with Batman for now, we’ll never get answers.

12 Standing Next To Explosive Gel

One of Batman’s trademark gadgets in the Arkham games is explosive gel. He uses it on weak surfaces to blast through them and proceed to new areas. The problem is, after he takes the time to spray it in the shape of a bat, he can detonate it while standing right next to it. If the gel can blow through an entire wall, wouldn’t it make sense for the Dark Knight to at least try to keep his distance? Shouldn’t he have sustained some damage?

11 Using A Tank

Batman doesn’t end people. That’s the big rule used in the Arkham series. However, he had the Batmobile equipped with a transformation made that turned it into a tank. This tank had a gun that could be used to blow up just about anything and anyone in sight. It seems counter-intuitive to have such a deadly weapon on hands at all times. It allows for Batman to accidentally end anyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

10 It’s Christmas Eve

During Arkham Origins, WB Montreal needed a good excuse to explain why there were almost no citizens on the streets. The best reason they could come up with was the fact that it was Christmas Eve and everyone was inside with their families. It also, then, allowed for the developers to needlessly place Christmas trees everywhere and have an attempt at a theme. The problem is that making it Christmas Eve doesn’t add anything to the story. It could’ve any other day of the year, and the game wouldn’t change.

9 Return To Arkham’s Step Down

In the vein of many games getting remastered just a few years after they release, both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City were remastered for the Xbox One and PS4 in the form of Batman: Return to Arkham. The problem was that Rocksteady was altering with the color palette so much that the remasters actually looked worse that the original games. The details were less apparent, and there were noticeable flaws in the visuals. In the first trailer, Joker was even missing some teeth.

8 Glue Bombs

Arkham Origins was heavily criticized because it basically reused assets from Arkham City and called it a day. One item that Batman gained in City was an ice grenade that he could use to create floating platforms that he could ride. Without the use of that device in Origins, the developers needed a new piece of equipment. They came up with the glue bombs, that functioned almost exactly the same as the ice grenades. If Batman already had the device then, why never use it again in the series?

7 Surviving The Croc

In Arkham Asylum, Killer Croc is easily the scariest villain in the whole game. When Batman finally makes his way to the sewers, he is met with the beast. However, Scarecrow is also there to try and screw with the Dark Knight’s mind. Unfortunately for Scarecrow, Batman fights back and puts him in a spot where he gets snatched by Killer Croc and taken into the water. As we know, though, Scarecrow later comes back in Arkham Knight, which makes no sense. He should’ve perished from a single Killer Croc bite.

6 Batman As Ra’s Replacement

Ra’s al Ghul’s biggest goal in Arkham City was to get Batman to replace him as the leader of the League of Assassins. The problem with that is Ra’s knows that Batman’s number one rule is to never end people. Even if he were to become the leader of the League, there’s no guarantee that Batman wouldn’t just disband the League or start training them to never end anyone ever again. Ra’s would put his entire organization at risk by having Batman take over.