Batman Copycats: The Biggest Dark Knight Rip-offs 

Who is your favorite Batman Copycat?

In all fairness, Darkwing Duck is more of a rip off of The Shadow.

I really like how in the Arrow CW series they call the Arrow Cave "Bunker" which sounds way better and original

Batman: Let's get nuts! Darkwing Duck: Let's get dangerous!

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!"

you forgot darkwing from invincible.

Daredevil is more of a Batman than Batman. He has no vision and relies on echolocation (almost like a real bat)

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.

I gotta respect how Black Noir swiftly dodged this list lol

You should do a list of Superman copycats and ripoffs if you haven't already

AWA Comics has one. The Knight from a book called Knighted. They didn't even hide it, it was part of the fun of the book.

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.

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

And dont forget BLUE FALCON & DINOMUTT! Who actually did a lot of detective work.

No, he’s probably more inspiring than Batman like the dark wing duck is actually basically just a parody of Batman

The way you slowed down to put emphasis the first time you said DARK... WING... DUCK... perfect. Just perfect.

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

All copy cats of the original which is ZORRO where Batman got his inspiration

Don't forget Catman, He's an Old school rip off of Batman 😸😸😸

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.

Great mention of Nemesis! Would love to hear you guys talk about Millarworld more often. Their recent Big Game crossover event was amazing!

Batman is arguably the greatest character in DC Comics.

Other honourable mentions would be Black Noir from The Boys & Darkwing from Invincible, and I guess you could also jokingly say Bartman & Fruit-Batman from the Simpsons

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.

Do love that Green Arrow has a sense of humor. And accepts Harleys name suggestion for the Arrow Cave. Yes, Injustice Universe but still..

Darkwing duck: let's get dangerous Batman: let's get nuts Prince: let's go crazy

How about the Confessor-Astro City?

Waiting for the edit from Dar Knight to Dark Knight

Killcat from Erik Larsen's savage dragon deserves an honorable mention

"I am the jailer that throws aways the key" goes so god damn hard

You failed to mention that DWD got a sort of a power from a genie in a back story episode where he wished for the power to appear anywhere at anytime in a dramatic fashion. Its why smoke/fog would appear first and then reveal him. Cant believe I remember that. So in this way a little more like The Shadow.

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).

How about Night Thrasher?

Maybe Green Arrow should change him main vehicle to something like an advance, hight tech plane. He could even call it the "Arrow-plane"

Wait i assumed lets get dangerous was a riff on lets get nuts from Batman 89

Nice vids It would be nice if you have listed the traits on which you based your self at the beginning for a "plus value" and be more engaging with the comment's peoples. Keep on the good work guys!

Dont forget the batman copycats within dc

Next Moon Knight is gonna end up having a moon cave

I know that you mentioned Darkwing Duck, but what about Darkwing from the Invincible universe?

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...

Shadow hawk

Darkwing Duck

WAAAAAAAAAY too short. Shadow Hawk, Prometheus.... The list goes ON!

4:55 Another one I remember was I am the rat that runs up your trouser leg

The Arthur TV show had.... Dark Bunny Which was literally the Batman Animated Series in the Arthur TV show. ;)

Hanna Barbera made several copycats of Batman. The most famous was Space Ghost and one of the Herculoids.

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.

Mr. Scarlet, Firebrand, The Owl, Black Owl, Daredevil (WW2 version), The Clock, Knight Watchman, The Sandman, The Hangman, The Shroud, The Fox, The Black Hood, The Web, The Badger, The Angel (WW2)

Ain't no way Harley just drops a banger name for Ollie's lair. The Quiver

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.

Moonknight isn't just a copycat, his powers, multiple personality disoder is very different

Night Hawk isn't just an honorable mansion. He's a litteral copy.

Damn, Arris... you DO NOT age... your beard just gets better!

2:37 He also has an Arrowplane as well similar to the Batwing

Dark wing duck! 🤩

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

Happy spring VC!

Dude the entire Batman mythos originated and blatantly stolen from 2 movies the BAT 1926 and the MAN WHO LAUGHS 1928.

Another Batman copycat that wasn’t mentioned is Darkwing from Invincible

There are so many others. Wrath and Killer Moth for example. Speaking of Killer Moth, I could really see him getting the Peacemaker treatment in the DCU

Sad no mention of Knuckleduster and Captain Celebrity from MHA Vigilantes, two heroes who mentor the protagonist and are representation of Batman and Superman.

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.

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

I would say Rorschach and Green Hornet also fit the list (although I'm not sure if the hornet is older than the bat). Favorite copycat though? I'll definitely have to go backwards, as El Zorro, El Fantasma (the Ghost), and The Scarlet Pimpernel were my first introduction to "superheroes"

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.

Darkwing duck :Let's get dangerous Batman: you wanna get crazy?let's get crazy! Same energy imo😂

Ironman lost both parents and he is a billionaire playboy who fights crime with his gadgets. Ironman is basically batman beyond.

Damn I’m not a super fan of comics but, I guess I should have known that the Green Arrow had his own cave let alone an arrow car…

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.

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! 🌚

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?

Yeah, but Bruce is about 10 or 12 years older than Oliver.😂

Thank you, I'm so tired of the "Moon Knight is a batman copy" narrative. This was awesome, esp the honorable mentions at the end.

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 forgot the biggest piece of evidence that Green Arrow is a copycat of Batman: his CE show was just Batman with Green Arrow instead.

Never explained how Darkwing Duck got his wealth. Plus he lived in a house, not a mansion. Was he related to Scrooge McDuck?

I'd also add that superhero persona Donald Duck has.

I'd argue Superman has more copycats than Batman, and yes, I would love to see a video discussing them all

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

Space Ghost comes to mind.

“Stranger things have happened” Nope, not with Batman. Yeah they did a team up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, but not Batman

forgot owlman, ironman, even blue beetle and he was mentioned in the video!

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?

"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I, am the kid nephew that folds your near mint copy of Detective Comics #10 in half! I- am DARKWING DUCK!"

Oh no you guys forgot owl man! Batman‘s criminal counterpart 😱

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?

Thank you, I've never understood Moon Knight as a Batman Counterpart. Honestly he's more like Red Hood

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 agree accept Darkwing isn't rich at all. He's a middle income single dad & his hideout is very bare. He doesn't have high tech stuff in there.

Interesting list. You do realise however that you left Moon Knight off, at least in part, for having powers. Next on your list after explaining that was Midnighter who has superstrength, a tactical computer thing in his head, and other enhancements that make him superhuman.

My favourite Batman copycat is for me daredevil here So skilled on hearing from Great distance and martial arts with Amazing Reflexes

The closest thing for me to a 'Batman-vibe' comic in the Marvel Universe is Daredevil.

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)

I agree with Harley tbh, Ollie should change his hideout's name to The Quiver

How about the origins of: The Yankee Clipper ,Mr.Justice and the superhero team The First Line.

Doesn’t that sort of make Nemesis a copycat/homage of a Prometheus too?

I like to add Roger Corman's The Black Scorpion.

I would like to add No/One from Image comics and part of the Massive-verse. He is the most mysterious character in the series, using high tech and equipment to solve and stop crime while sticking to the shadows just like Batman. He isn't as prominent as the other copycats but I personally love him and how he is just a badass and probably the Batman of the new comic book universe from Image Comics.

I was actually expecting you to list Blue Falcon from Hanna Barbera