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People will often make threads here that start with, "I love Batman" or "Fuck the Batfags", and it's more the latter than the former. Why is this? One word: Batgod.
As Batgod Batman represents not who he was created to be, but instead a much older ideal he doesn't actually fit well. The Paragon.
If Superman is a living god who cannot be stopped, then the Paragon is a human the represents the best of humanity and can challenge a god. Batman was not designed to be a Paragon. He was designed to be a street-level hero that fought human crime with fancy gadgets and detective work. He's a modern Sherlock Holmes. His archetype is NOT the Paragon and it's that ill fit that makes people scoff when he fights greatly powerful people. He can't even go into the more powerful tech lest he lose touch with his origin. He stops feeling like Batman when he goes full into superscience because he no longer fits his proper archetype.
A Paragon is someone who embraces the best of everything humanity has to produce. They'd be a mortal man that could use technology and fight, but also could use magic or alien science just as well. Dr. Doom, believe it or not, does fit this archetype. He's a villainous Paragon, but he IS a Paragon archetype character.
People scoff because Batman can exploit weaknesses but often the writer has to really contrive how things roll out to make it work. It would be a different matter if he could use Magic against someone like Superman who is vulnerable to it; technology against someone like Wonder Woman who is powerful but could potentially be taken down with the right tool.
There needs to be a Paragon character in DC. A normal human that can go toe-to-toe with Superman and maybe win. Someone that represents the best humanity has to offer. Batman wasn't designed for that job and is a poor fit for it. That's why some love him and some hate him.
Do you think there are any better candidates in DC for the Paragon role?
