The thing I love about the Green Arrow/Batman similarities is how a lot of of modern depictions will straight-up acknowledge the connections. For example, when the Arrowverse first mentioned Batman's existence in that universe, Ollie got super pissed off and defensive, being like "Hey, I did the whole dark vigilante thing first!"
I don't know if I agree. Originally Darkwing was supposed to be Double 0 Duck, but because of the success of the Batman movie he became what we know today.
It's pretty clear cut that the Shadow is the direct inspiration for Batman. In fact the very first Batman story is taken whole cloth from the Shadow story "Partners of Peril", artwork from that story was even used for the first Batman comic. Also notable is that the Shadow is described as appearing bat-like several times in the story. More fun facts, the Shadow was referred to as The Knight of Darkness long before Batman was the Dark Knight. Special mention for Doc Savage and his utility vest. More can be said about the Man if Bronze and his Fortress of Solitude later. Special mention for the Phantom, general costume inspiration as well as tragic backstory inspiration. Street & Smith, the publishers of the Shadow, did not mind creating their own copycats. One such character was the Whisperer aka Police Commisioner James "Wildcat" Gordon. The Whisperer's solo magazine did not last long but stories continued in the back up pages of THE SHADOW MAGAZINE. Even more fun facts -- the same month Batman debuted in comics a pulp magazine publisher debuted their own bat-themed copycat of the Shadow called the Black Bat. One more thing, the whole rich guy secretly being a hero thing is the creation of Baroness Orczy, I like to think of her as the godmother of super hero stories, Baroness Orczy created the Scarlet Pimpernel
I started reading comics in the 60s (so yeah, old,) and I remember when Green Arrow went from rich playboy to broke champion of the people, and I thought (think) it was brilliant. And I remember a later story where-in a rich guy had bought the Queen mansion, and discovered the cave. He threatened to tell Oliver Queen's, I'll tell people you're... BATMAN! (he saw the cave, and came to the wrong conclusion) It was a great story. As always thank you so very much for the videos.
Personally I enjoy the rich Green Arrow. I like the fantasy escape of imagining what life would be like if you got to be super rich and a cool superhero
So was the Green Arrow stuff still in the cave when the guy bought the mansion or was it just a big blank cave that the guy discovered? Because if Oliver forgot to clean the place out first, what an idiot 😂
@@akilbrazier1421No, the GA stuff was "cleaned-out", which was why the guy thought it was the Batcave, and Queen had been going from there to nearby city Gotham to be Batman. (As near as I recall from over fifty years ago (never trust memory).)
I'm surprised you didn't mention the CW Green Arrow. Everything to do with the League of Shadows and Ra's Al Ghul, it was so painfully obvious they wanted to do Batman, but didn't have the rights. Also the tone of the show was very much Batman.
Yea and Oliver was even dark and brooding behind closed doors but put on a playboy act for the public to divert people away from learning his identity….. just like Batman lol
Omni man Homelander Shazam Black Adam Ikaris eternals Sentry Hyperion All might Goku Icon The Samaritan from Astro City Blue marvel Captain marvel Mr majestic Martian man hunter Saitama Superman is also my favorite superhero !!!
@jonathanchila6414 Until they can't. And DD, as bilnd as he is, he is capable of achieving even greater feats than the average human being with his own super human powers and senses. And like Batman, he was also trained as a ninja, and he's considered to be one of the best and greatest martial artists and hand-to-hand combatants in comic book history. And he's a really good lawyer.
Well Knuckle duster is apparently the Batman of My Hero Academia According to the Vigilante Manga of course the only similarities that I saw between Batman and Knuckle Duster is there both Vigilantes without superpowers
@@lanrek.odunlami9470 zorro he was created and I inspired by juaquim mureita a Mexican American who took revenge on the men that raped and killed his wife and family they called him a fox because he got away and rode black horse and black poncho history doesn’t tell you that
Great summary. You nailed all points. I knw there still more out there. Id like to mention two. The obscure Fox, from Dark Horse comics, i think, and the Green Hornet. That was so obvious, they even squared off in the campy Batman tv show.
Batman appeared in one of the Spider’s pulp novels years earlier (as a villain) and shares many similarities to the Spider both in and out of costume (the Shadow comparisons always annoy me).
Iron Man (first appeared in 1963) is the biggest ripoff of Batman (1939). Batman and Ironman are both wealthy individuals who use their resources and intellect to fight crime. They both rely on technology and have alter egos as billionaires. Seriously, if Batman were to start using an armor like Iron Man's, there wouldn't be any difference between them. Marvel sure likes plagiarizing DC.
I would mention Daredevil. He has a lot elements that came from Batman. His motivarion came from the death of his father; the uniform in order to input fear in the heart of the criminals; more a vigilant than a heroe...never laugh...
Moon Knight is actually more from The Shadow than Batman (at least until Dixon’s Marc Spector: Moon Knight series). Former merc, believed dead, only to return with new ‘powers,’ uses a cover ID as a wealthy socialite as his primary identity, uses a pilot (instead of a taxi driver), uses cover IDs to stay informed at different levels of society, etc.
Green Arrow is more a modern day Robin Hood. Darkwing Duck more The Shadow And Batman is basically a rip-off of Zorro. Both rich dudes with no powers. Zorro even has a cave HQ under his hacienda
Ted Kord's Blue Beetle not being on the list is a big miss. You mentioned him when talking about Night Owl, but Kord's Blue Beetle has a lot in common with Batman. There's also Hanna Barbera's Blue Falcon.
Of all Batman-like characters, Spawn is the best one. They both wear dark suits. Glide in the air with their capes. Deal with cops that are against them from time to time. Even have clowns as enemies/villains.
Lee Falk's 1936 Phantom predates Batman by three years. The original Phantom s parents are killed by pirates, and he swears an oath to combat piracy and evildoers in general. His costume is similar, and he has his Skull cave. More than a few people think that Batman is a Phantom knockoff. Also, the Watchmen are based on the Charleton comic book characters which DC acquired when they went out of business. In that universe Blue Beetle was the Batman knockoff and Captain Atom was the Superman knockoff.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Duckwing Duck started the "I am line" before batman. Darkwing duck series came out in 1991 and the Batman animated series came out in 1992. Soo Batman Animated series took Duckwing duck line
Man, Midnighter didn't get nearly the screen time he deserves. I'm sure they're going to cock him up, but I couldn't help being excited hearing about The Authority getting at least some attention.
Not to mentioned Green Arrow at one point in the gold en age operate from Gotham alongside Bats, If I recall correctly similar to how Solomon Grundy now is considered a Superman Vilain but started as a Batman villain.
Sad no mention of Knuckleduster and Captain Celebrity from MHA Vigilantes, two heroes who mentor the protagonist and are representation of Batman and Superman.
as much as i adored arrow , i couldn’t stand how they made him act just like batman instead of the smart ass lighthearted oliver queen from the comics /DCAU . You also forgot Darkwing from invincible
There is also a dc character called " catman , he is 80% copy of batman , altho he lack some skills like detective and martial arts, he appeared in " batman: the Brave and bold
Talk about copycats…for being one of the most successful superhero characters, Batman has more alternate versions of himself than all others combined. It’s really kind of ridiculous.
To me Darkwing Duck doesn’t count as a rip-off. His character is meant to parody Batman. This is shown in many different ways, including the comic book “The Duck Knight Returns” (reference to “The Dark Knight Returns”). It’s kind of like how Space Balls is a parody of Star Wars.
I'm pretty sure it was revealed nemesis was just a rich guy that payed to be a super villain because he was bored? The whole backstory about the family was made up?
Moon Knight didn't always have superpowers. In his first solo series he more Batman like. A non-powered, cape wearing vigilante. His origin isn't like Batman's in that series, but any mystic connection to the moon god is very ambiguous and not played up.
@@CarlzyTV a billionaire who uses thec who has a butler Jarvis who apart of a superhero team who has a family of tech heroes(war machine,rescue,spider man)and apart of the elite super heroes team how does that not seem similar to Batman
@justyouraveragegeek548 I guess it's because he's not really a "detective". And as far as I know, Ironman's villains are pretty powerful people, not really a street criminals, and he markets as a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, not dark character like Batman. Also, Ironman is more tech centric than Batman. Because the power Tony Stark have is his geniusness, his gadget and his armour. But Bruce Wayne has a really good martial art training. I love both of them though
The original Blue Beetle is a Batman ripoff, and in turn Moon Knight was influenced by both. The original Black Panther also was influenced by Bat Man.
You can't say that having a tragic backstory leads to being a Batman copycat. That applies to more than half of the entire superhero genre. You can say that Batman popularized the trope, but you can't compare his origin story to someone like Green Arrow
So every knock-off Batman design: Without ears and without a chest symbol. Sometimes a different color than black, grey or blue? Take off "No killing" rule and give him a gun. Tadaa! Brand new vigilante hero who definitely is not Batman! 🌚
Tbf to Green Arrow, he was originally more a straight up modern day expy of Robin Hood; he didn't become as blatant of a Batman clone (namely taking on a grittier style and even stealing some Batman villains) until DC's moratorium on Batman in TV forced writers to recast Green Arrow into the role, which bled over into the comics.
I would've added Rorschach from Watchmen too. Also, aren't the Watchmen now known to be the heroes a universe builds for itself when it doesn't have a Superman? Isn't that why Dr Manhattan created the New 52? Something about how the universe requires Superman to exist in order to exist?
Moonknight also has alter egos like Bruce. And one of them is being a taxi driver civilian so Moonknight can work undercover as regular person n scout for criminals. And matches Malone is batmans disguise as a regular person in the criminal world to find info
Now this isn’t comic related, however in Yu-Gi-Oh!, they have an archetype called elemental heroes. Specifically Elemental Hero: Bubble Man is a blatant rip off of batman
Just because GA rips off Batman, doesn't mean GA IS a Batman dupe. (Not, of course, reffering to the Arrow Ollie who is indeed Batman with a different name.lol)
Green arrow is supposed to be like Batman if Batman was fun and upbeat. Despite the tragedy that green arrow faces he still manages to maintain his calm and positive attitude
Can you do history of Cyclone, Rhino, Sandman, Chameleon, Scorpion and the Human Fly along with Kurt Connors the Lizard. Also can you do the history of the Flash Villains like Turtle, Magenta, Cobalt Blue, Mirror Master and Top?
5:26 wasn’t Niteowl a replacement for Ted Lord’s Blue Beetle when DC wouldn’t allow Alan Moore to use the recently acquired Charlton Comics characters for Watchmen? Edit: nvm… you just covered that😅
