Batman: The Enemy Within - Tumblr Posts
Rewatching Telltale Batman season 2 and I just noticed something odd about the scene where you fight Riddler for the first time
Bruce, why you got your hand there buddy?
I've already expressed my adoration of both designs of Telltale's Joker. But I just want to break down why they're so appealing to me.
In the game, John Doe goes through huge changes in his life that are expressed in his wardrobe. But the most dramatic change is at the last episode of the series. When he fully transforms into Joker.
Brian Matyas is a concept designer who had worked on both Batman Telltale games. He had posted some of his works on Artstation and Instagram.
[Brain Matyas Instagram Post]
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhucYx5lGCb/?img_index=1
(I suggest you read the entire post till the end.)
[John Doe]
As the game progresses in the story, players will probably take note of how John's wardrobe goes through the most changes compared to everyone else. But the key thing to note that stayed consistent in each episode was his half-fast way of buttoning/tucking-in his shirt and how progressively colorful his outfit was getting.
[Villain Joker]
There's a lot of things to break down about this outfit. First, Brian Matyas stated that Villain Joker was molded primarily by Bruce Wayne. Not Batman. Joker's business tie and fancy suit's purpose was to emulate Bruce's public persona of being a CEO (or, more simply, a person with power). Interestingly enough, Joker's gloves are basically the same kinds that Harley wears in game, as if it were to say now they're equals in their relationship (but obviously they're not). I've heard from others that gloves are symbolic of secrets, which describes how Joker has kept some information hidden from Harley.
The Villain Joker design is probably the most colorful one. His bright green hair, the 80 carpet patterns in his navy suit, the pop of hot pink, and the most disgusting looking dress-shirt I've ever seen. Jack Nicholas' influence isn't lost on me. This outfit screams bold and confident, and most importantly, free.
There are still elements of John Doe. The poorly done tucking and buttoning of Joker's shirt are there. But strangely enough, the strain of hair in front of his head is flipped. John’s was located on the right side while Joker purposely flipped it to the left. And that's not the only thing that's flipped. John's outfit consisted of a purple vest inside and a green/teal shirt outside. Now the pattern is switched with Joker, green shirt inside and dark navy suit outside. Subtle differences like this are led to believe that Joker wants Bruce Wayne to know that he's completely different from John Doe.
The last thing to talk about is his shaved eyebrow. I have no idea why he would do that. People have said it's because he wanted to express how much damage Bruce did to him. Personally, I thought it was like ‘girls making bad hair decisions after a breakup’ thing.
Although his design encompasses both Bruce Wayne and Harley Quinn's impact on his life. It's more leaning into Bruce.
[Vigilante Joker]
There's something about this design that always makes me feel so heartbroken. Not because it's a bad design but because of how much it reminds me how John had faith that if he lived up to Batman's standards that he would be able to maintain their friendship.
Brian Matyas said that he wanted the Vigilante Joker's silhouette to emulate Batman's. It's shown by how his hair and shoulders are curved to a point. Joker's makeup is a lot more gothic and is a lot more menacing than Villain's makeup. It also almost resembles the mask that typically Robin would wear.
Again, there are still elements of John Doe present here. But they are less noticeable than Villain's. Joker's left arm has stitches, (John has been seen wearing a vest that has a different color button then the rest) his shirt's collar isn't properly folded correctly, (John is practically never seen to maintain his dress-shirt collar properly) and he still keeps his vest unlike Villain route. (Although like Villain, there is a color swap with the green shirt and purple vest)
But one thing that jumps out to me is how dull in vibrate color he is compared to Villain Joker's or even John Doe's fourth episode outfit. I had to brighten up my screen in order to identify the smile patterns in his suit. Vigilante design is flashy, but it feels like he's being held back from fully expressing himself.
Joker never really understood Batman's moral code. For players to unlock the Vigilante route, they had to enable John's more violent tendencies. So his outfit only reflects the darker side of Bruce Wayne because that's what Joker believes to be what Batman wants from him.
Huge thanks to hemfbg. They were able to locate both Joker's concept art from Brian Matyas' Instagram.
[Hemfbg Telltale Community Post]
https://community.telltalegames.com/discussion/121009/concept-art-by-brian-matyas
the world moved on from this but i didn’t , i didn’t
hey batjokes community how do we feel about this
mitski 🤝 this guy
John Doe from Batman: The Enemy Within. I'm trying to get better at stylized work and I'm pretty happy with how this came out :]
Man sometimes I think about telltale riddler and realise what a blessing that bastard was
Johnathan Doeseph.
(I made those jeans because I like him a normal amount)
Daily contribution to the Sadboy Bruce Wayne club
Peek into my chaotic sketchbook
Do y'all think this is how they argue in his head
As part of my unhealthy mindset, I’ve been hyper fixating, so this post is probably a part of that. Sorry for not writing as much, my heart’s just not been in it.
Anyway. So, if you have seen my blog and you haven’t guessed by now, I’m aromantic/demiromantic asexual, which can get weird. Lately I’ve been playing dating sims bc I think they’re hilarious and usually enjoy some of the sweet moments (which has lead to some weird conversations about my romantic inclinations with a friend), but suddenly it left-turned into a Batman kick… due to telltale’s Batman series. This first part of this conversation is relevant bc I had a really… weird experience playing both seasons.
I played season one making Bruce as friendly as possible, even to the point of rejecting selina’s advances so we could be friends. There was a small moment that displeased me in the way it was handled bc a friendly gesture lead to it getting hot and heavy and then I shot it down but the relationship healed shortly after. Overall, I left season one feeling like my Bruce and Selina were incredibly close friends and would do anything for each other.
Season two has been different. I’m not even finished with it yet, I just finished episode 5, but I definitely had a weird experience where my aroace status kind of made it difficult. For context, a friend has been staying with me and she got to hear me complain and grouse that I would have to backtrack bc I made Bruce say something and something completely different came out of his mouth. for telltale games I have a rule that I am allowed to reload the scene if and only if the character says something I aggressively didn’t mean for them to say but ONLY IF I haven’t heard the other character’s reaction to it. I actually broke this rule during a conversation with Selina bc I was so shocked by how Bruce reacted that I didn’t escape in time. He didn’t say anything bad, but I was still trying to keep a friendship and not romantic relationship with Selina. The two of them had this intimate conversation where she mentioned he made her feel better than she thought she was and Bruce had just shown her the bat cave. I picked the “we’re friends” option thinking it would be something to show solidarity and that I care. Instead I got Bruce distancing himself from her proclamation and asking her to just be co-workers.
I began ranting about how annoyed I was and my friend said, “you’re frustrated bc your thinking like an asexual person, not Batman.” This trend continued with a few other moments, but I’ll admit I got tired of the many options that treated Bruce befriending Selina instead of pursuing her romantically as a ‘bad path’ or rejection. I have so many reasons why they should be friends not the least of which being Bruce isn’t mentally healthy enough for a romantic relationship and Selina needs to have a relationship with decidedly fewer complications and chances for manipulation for either party. Let me have my protagonist have a best friend that gets him and cares about him. I know some people said that could be what John is for him and I did have Bruce try to befriend John in earnestness, but there was definitely a separation there where it felt like either Bruce was holding John at arm’s length or John was not seeing Bruce as he was but either a symbol to emulate or a hypocrite (and I was trying very hard to not be that).
I still love telltale’s Batman season 1 and 2, but here I was trying to give Bruce Wayne a support system that got him and cared about him and he cares about them in turn. I got that a little, but I had to sacrifice Batman and unintentionally lie to Tiffany in the process, had to deal with the whole John situation which left the relationship in an unequal place (in different ways and not necessarily in Bruce’s favor), and in a romance with Selina who I was aiming to be the biggest support. It was fun, but I’ll admit that disappointed me. In the end, the only relationship I was fully satisfied with was with Jim Gordon (and even then I wish Bruce could have confided in him. Legally he can’t for so many reasons, but still).
I did get to essentially tell Waller to go fuck herself though, and that was nice.