It all started for fun from this post from Stanford University about who should be winning between Superman and Batman. First of all we need to think, are they going to be fight one against the other, in which case, is one worse than the other having a secret evil life? Very likely not so, therefore, provided that they both intend to fight against the usual anonymous enemy who is already miserably staying between this narcissistic fight, let’s try to think about the odds!
Superman, talented young man in his 30’s, psychologically insecure, still staying behind this girl that doesn’t really care about him, tries to find a job as a journalist because ehi, super hero is important, but this doesn’t remove the fact that a person still needs to eat and pay the bills for the phone etc. Nonetheless this man deeply in love with ultra tight lycra outfit, can actually fly!
On the other hand we have Batman, a bit more aged because he had an intense youth lasting a bit longer than necessary, he doesn’t really need to worry too much about having an actual job thanks to his family’s fortune and therefore he can concentrate full time (well, at night time only due to his habits in youth!) about fighting the evil with his freudian relationship with his father. He doesn’t really do actually much, even a girlfriend as he has a butler who thinks about everything (even dressing him up) and even in terms of real fighting he has to constantly ask the support of his youth friend Robin who has to do double shifts in order to respond to his idol.
Now, suppose that they both have to fight with a mysterious enemy, what are the parameters of the game: timing, firing power/force and tactics. In the case of Batman, first of all he would likely not be available at day time, besides to set up he needs to alert his butler to prepare his car, to iron the dress, call up Robin once he’s done with his job down the street and then he would finally be ready for fighting. In the case of Superman, well, he doesn’t really have a “life” therefore he’s available most of the time and due to his sufferance for cold weather he’s always having his amazing lycra outfit under his clothes, so, certainly in terms of timing, always in service! As for fighting power, Mr. Batman has a full arsenal of high end technologies, the only problem is the maintenance of these tools, their reliability and the ability to make instant decisions about which one is better to use then (besides the obvious necessity to have to ask to Robin who has read all the manuals). In the case of Superman, well, that’s an old type game, just rely on your fists and pray that it will be enough. Certainly Mr. Superman he’s characterized by a strange allergy, however, statistically, what is the percentage of finding that substance which is not even existing on earth? Finally, the most important thing, tactics. In that case Mr. Batman is better organized than Mr. Superman as he certainly can count on another person and more unpredictable arsenal, while Mr. Superman he’s rather obvious, strong, fast but highly predictable, which is not an advantage.
All in all, which one to prefer? I’d rather count on Mr. Superman, at the end of the day he’s a self made man, he knows his limits precisely and he’s based on more reliable techniques, in case of any enemy, absolute speed, ability to fly and to reconfigure oneself is certainly more likely to grant a successful result when very little time is given to strategize.
