I’ve been reading over some essays on this topic done by my students as a writing exercise. The kids,overwhelmingly, gave it to Batman. The kids did a good job of describing each character’s strengths and weaknesses. Some even took it so far as draw parallels between the characters.
In the end, those who decided on Batsy figured his athletic prowess and gadgets would prevail. The few who handed it to Hannibal were inclined to believe that his ruthlessness and ability to exploit psychological weakness in others (remember how he killed Multiple Miggs) would let him break The Bat mentally and then do with him as he would physically.
Lecter is a badass, but he looks all the more invulnerable partly because there’s nobody in his world that’s in his league. He’s a Moriarty with no Sherlock Holmes. I give it to Batman.
You carry weaponry that even the military hasn’t seen. Few can afford that. You either have money or are being funded. (sniffs the air) You smell of cheap machine oil, but under that I detect Ode de Cash cologne, $900 an ounce, two three days old. So you must have posed as a wealthy man. Now what would drive a man to dress up as a bat and use violence against others. Some trauma in your background. Do you remember about 20 years ago a wealthy couple got shot in an alley leaving behind their only son. You must have read about it, it was in all the papers.
The only way Lecter can best anyone physically is if he catches them by surprise. He might get one shot in on Bats, but then reflex takes over and Lecter gets pounded into the ground.
Batman knows how to hit people with his fists. Lecter will find it hard to talk with a broken jaw.
Of course, if you were going to make a comic book out of this, Lecter would wind up new in Gotham City and start committing his crimes. Batman tries to track down the killer while, for some reason or another, he winds up sitting on Lecters couch. Maybe the events in Infinite Crisis get him all moody. Maybe he winds up scared of the dark. Anyways, Lecter puzzles out Bruces secret. If you go with IC reasons, Bruce is talking about control and trust issues. Lecter puts two and two together and winds up dismantling Batman through his personal life. Story ends with Batman having to kill Hannibal Lecter. Batman wins and loses. Both characters get to live up to their potential.
Not so. Harris very explicitly states that Lecter is unusually strong in the novel Hannibal. The novels and the movies indicate that he has more than passing skill with edged weapons. He also appears, from his encounter with the gypsy whose femoral artery he opens for example, to be so tuned in to his surroundings that it almost amounts to a sort of limited prescience. Admittedly, given his WWII era childhood he is elderly compared to present-continuity Batman. However, I will point out that Hannibal is at least Batsy’s equal when it comes to being prepared.
Yeah, but he is nowhere near Batmans equal in terms of combat skill. Physically, Batman is going to be superior in nearly every category even if we give Lecter an edge in strength. Batman has been fighting crazies for a good portion of his life. As soon as he gets in arms reach, the fight is over.
I’m with Harborwolf. Lecter has always lived in a world where he is one of the strongest, in a sane world. Gotham City is not a sane world, and he wouldn’t remotely be the strongest there. If the Joker or someone didn’t off him merely as a threat, he’d never be able to stand up to Batman.
Besides, I’m fiercely loyal to Batman anyday. No one can take on Batman and win…at least, not forever. :mad:
I yield to no man, or woman, in my admiration of The Bat. But look, Lecter can legitimately be described as a combination of Hugo Strange and The Joker. Either of them can be, and has been, right at the limit of what Batsy could handle.
Bane and Killer Croc disagree. I also think it’s stretching things to say that Lecter is going to be Batmans equal in all physical aspects. He may be unusually strong, but how about agility? How’s Lecters cardio looking these days. Hannibals source material gives no indication that he is physically equal to Batman in any area other than strength.
Why are we, apparently, limiting this to Batman and Hannibal thunderdoming? Batman has lots of physically unimpressive foes who have run him ragged over the years. Hannibal is, and source material backs this up, genius++++ in intelligence. He is certainly smart enough to figure out that, if he is to defeat Batman, street brawling isn’t the way to do it. Cripes, even The Penguin is that smart.
But Batman already faced Lecter, in the form of Bane, who had almost everything Lec ter had and more! I stand by my original statement. If Batman could defeat Bane, then Lecter is child’s play. Bane had armor plates injected into his body! Intelligence! Strength! A horrible childhood! Lecter’s got…a sharp wit.
Uh-uh.
Besides, I don’t think you really love the Bat. Otherwise you wouldn’t be going around saying this blasphemy.
Of course, even if Lecter manages to capture Bats and has him at his mercy, he’ll inevitably start monologing, giving Bats a chance to escape and counterattack.
