Easy. Make another one.
Obviously, Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 has not been announced. If the success of the first is any indication, however, we should expect a second. Better yet, we can already predict the sequel’s most important element – villains – simply by looking for clues in the original. Here, then, is who I strongly suspect might show up.
Killer Croc / Bane / The Scarecrow
These three are the most obvious inclusions for Arkham Asylum 2, and anyone who’s beaten the first game already understands why. Sit through the credits and you’ll be rewarded with an extra five seconds of story. They go something like this:
Batman flies away in his Batwing, looking like a total Batpimp.
Camera tilts down to the harbor water, revealing a forgotten barrel of Joker’s experimental Titan serum.
Monstrous hand erupts from said water and snatches said barrel.
Player exclaims, “Wow! _____ is gonna be in the sequel!”
What many gamers don’t realize, however, is that this final scene can change. Sometimes you’ll see Killer Croc’s hand, scaly and chained. Other times, it’s Bane with bulging veins and Venom-pumping tubes. Or Scarecrow’s needle-tipped fingers. As far as we can tell, the ending cycles randomly. Here are all three for your discerning comparison:
Clearly, the implication is that one of these characters has gotten hold of the serum and will soon be a house-sized, green-eyed freak, rampaging through the unsuspecting streets of Gotham. While we doubt any of them will be the sequel’s major villain, we do expect to see at least one in a supporting role. If you were the major villain, wouldn’t you want to harness their power?
Two-Face
Harvey Dent is always second. Once the Joker’s been checked off – once that classic matchup is out of the way – there is no villain that fans clamor for more than the coin tosser with dual personalities. Two-Face is simply too iconic, too important and too intrinsic not to include at some point. Because of his tragic history with both Batman and Bruce Wayne (not to mention Commissioner Gordon), he’s an essential part of the universe… a universe that, so far, Arkham Asylum’s creators have been very faithful towards.
They’ve already laid the groundwork. If you listen carefully enough during the first game’s ending, you’ll hear the following from a police dispatcher:
“All units, all units… the Second National Bank was just robbed by Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face… two officers down… suspect is fleeing in a patrol car!”
The Riddler
The best Batman villains are those who complement, and comment upon, a unique element of his character. The Joker, for instance, shows us that our hero is a mere step away from madness himself. Two-Face preys on the man behind the cowl, capitalizing on a former friendship with Bruce Wayne. Catwoman takes advantage of his eternal loneliness.
And the Riddler? He is the ultimate foil to Batman’s intellectual side, the villain most likely to bring out the “World’s Greatest Detective” and not just another fist fight. The developers obviously appreciate this, including over 200 of the Riddler’s challenges as a side quest in the first game, but we want more. We want grand and intricate schemes, not merely trophies and puns. We want whole rooms and buildings hijacked by Edward Nigma, transformed into devious puzzle traps that require every ounce of our hero’s wit, as well as every gadget on his belt.
Ra's al Ghul
The Demon’s Head, as this villain is sometimes called, does not seem like a natural fit for a videogame. At least not a videogame like Arkham Asylum. To begin with, he’s not insane, removing the eerie fear factor that so permeates the original. Also, he tends to travel the globe in his pursuit of mankind’s destruction, and we really don’t want Indiana Jones or Lara Croft mixed in with our Batman.
Worst, the good guy and the bad guy would share too many weird and unwanted connections. Bruce is often romantically linked with Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter and, in the latest comics, the two share a son (who also happens to be the newest Robin). That’s a lot of distracting baggage. No thanks.
Still, he’s definitely a possibility. In the current game, you can find his corpse while searching Arkham Mansion.
Return at the end of the game, however, and the body has vanished, no doubt whisked away by Ghul’s loyal followers, the League of Assassins. A quick dip in the Lazarus Pits – rejuvenating chemical pools in the DC universe – and Ra’s will be alive and ready for Arkham Asylum 2.
The Penguin
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot is no madman, either. Before the Tim Burton-directed films, he wasn’t even physically deformed. The Penguin is nothing more than a short, fat and ugly businessman with a greed for money, a lack of morality and a fondness for umbrellas that double as weapons. We highly doubt he’d star as the main villain of an Arkham Asylum sequel… at least not until the developers got desperate for (fingers crossed) Arkham Asylum 3 and 4.
In a supporting role, though, he’d rule. Batman often allows Penguin to operate his criminal empire without interference because it provides crucial leads and contacts. Perhaps you’ll visit the villain to extract information, or blackmail him into assisting you take down a more dangerous foe. Whatever the reason, we’d kill to visit the recently opened Iceberg Lounge, so prominently advertised in the first game. It’s one of two Penguin mementos on the island… the only other character to get more than one is Two-Face. Tell you anything?
Catwoman
I don’t have any solid evidence that Catwoman could appear in a Batman: Arkham Asylum 2. We do have solid evidence, however, that the games industry will do anything within its power to showcase a sexy female character in as ridiculously revealing a costume as possible.
We trust the developers of Arkham Asylum to treat Catwoman better than that, of course, but higher powers – those interested only in the bottom line – may force her inclusion.
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