The Batlord

Clearly, I'm not the first one to make this connection, as /\ that and \/ this graphic illustrate.



Although why they would compare Lumen, someone screwed up by a traumatic event, with Batgirl rather than Robin is beyond me, except for just casual sexism. But anyways ...

There also seem to be more than a few articles likewise comparing them, as I kind of expected since it's not that far a leap, and nerds notice EVERYTHING. I'll refrain from reading them for now, just so I don't end up ripping them off. Apparently there's even a crossover fan film that I will check out before finishing this post. But **** it, I'm still throwing my two cents in.

Again, it's pretty obvious: young boy, parent murdered in front of him, forever fracturing his psyche; trained as a boy in multiple disciplines in order to make him the ultimate crime fighter, including but not limited to fighting training, detective skills, and subterfuge as a non-descript goofball; uncontrollable obsession to do what he does that consumes all aspects of his life; "human" self actually the disguise, while his "alter ego" is in fact his real personality; consequently any relationship cultivated with his "human" self is at least to some degree shallow and doomed, and so he can only truly connect with those who are a part of his "true" self (be they enemies or doomed love interests), even though such people are also so damaged that they are as destructive to him as he is to them; the only healthy relationships he has are with those few who are his allies and aware of his secret, but since they accept him for what he is, he takes it for granted and uses them as resources until they reach a breaking point; and yet, despite his single-minded crusade and severely repressed emotions, there is somehow a hero down in the depths of his soul.

Another thing that's rather obvious, and that some people might perhaps be uncomfortable with, is that both characters -- while being law breakers who would be rightfully arrested in real life -- are somehow romantic in their simplistic and violent approach to crime. People like to think they're evolved and that whatever the problems with the justice system, it's still worth saving, and yet when given half a chance they cheer on and put on a pedestal those who embody the very ideal that they claim to be above. Rather than contemplate this possible hypocrisy, they (and most certainly I) simply call it fiction, which means it's okay to cheer on someone who in real life would be a volatile, unpredictable lunatic whose motivations would be too unstable to be allowed to go unchecked.

I'm sure I could go on with how various characters in Dexter serve as mirrors to his character in the same way that Bruce Wayne's circle of friends and enemies do the same, but the graphic at the top probably does a better and less TL;DR version than I could, so I'll just end with that fan film ...




Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

__________________