10 Pieces Of Content That Were Cut From The Batman: Arkham Games

Key Takeaways

• Batman: Arkham games contain lots of cut content like Nightwing DLC and missing costumes, due to time and budget constraints.
• Batman: Arkham Asylum originally had a rhythm-based combat system scrapped in favor of Freeflow combat.
• Several villains like Mad Hatter, Prometheus, and Clayface were cut from Arkham games, leaving fans eager for their inclusion in the future.

A lot goes into making big superhero games like the Batman: Arkham franchise, with developers like Rocksteady, WB Games Montreal, and Camouflaj working overtime to deliver iconic games. However, in that process, not all concepts make it into the final product due to either a shortage of budget, time restraints, or, in certain cases, both.

Whether it’s DLC content that was left on the developer room floor or initial ideas that just didn’t pan out, Batman: Arkham games feature a lot of content that fans missed out on. Some were made up for in other Arkhamverse titles or by fanmade mods, while others still have a chance to possibly make it into any future entry in the long-running series.

10 More Nightwing Content In Batman: Arkham City

Nightwing Feels Lackluster But There Is A Possible Reason For That

• Nightwing was the final DLC character in Batman: Arkham City.
• Dick Grayson has only appeared as Robin in the Arkham Origins multiplayer mode.

Tim Drake has a small role in Batman: Arkham City as the current Robin, but there is evidence suggesting that Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing would play a part as well. In the cast, Nightwing is credited as being voiced by Troy Baker, who also voices Robin.

Nightwing was possibly meant to be in the main story or have his own DLC story like Robin and Catwoman did. Instead, Nightwing ended up being oddly silent for a character known for his quips, thus suggesting that perhaps Rockstead ran out of time and/or money to develop Nightwing even more.

9 Missing Costumes In Batman: Arkham Knight

Even More Skins Were Supposed To Be Made For The Game

• There are a total of 39 skins in Batman: Arkham Knight, including the PlayStation exclusives and DLC.
• Batman has the most skins in the game, maxing out at 24 skins.

There are a lot of costumes in Batman: Arkham Knight, from past Arkham skins to costumes straight out of famous comics, but certain characters noticeably lacked costumes. Nightwing, Robin, and Red Hood were given the bare minimum but were originally going to get more via DLC, as revealed by concept art that revealed a new Robin suit inspired by Damian Wayne and a Red Hood suit.

There were even missing costumes for Batman, including one based on The Long Halloween, which would have been ideal since Arkham Knight takes place on Halloween and an Alex Ross Kingdom Come costume. Thankfully, many of the missing skins have been resurrected thanks to the dedicated modding community for the PC version.

8 Rhythm-Based Combat In Batman: Arkham Asylum

Would Batman Work As Well With Hi-Fi Rush Gameplay?

• Batman: Arkham Asylum went through many changes throughout its many years of production.
• It took two years just to get Batman’s cape animations right.

An example of how change can be a good thing, Batman: Arkham Asylum went through many changes, including its combat system. Initially, Batman’s combat was going to feature the player hitting buttons to the beat of the music, something that would be perfected years later in Hi-Fi Rush. Rhythm games can be a strong genre, even if it is rather niche.

However, in 2009, that kind of combat system might not have done well with Batman. As a result, Rocksteady traded it for the Freeflow combat system that not only improved with each game but would inspire many other video games and studios to take on similar combat systems.

7 Worst Nightmare Skin In Batman: Arkham Origins

A Skin That Lived Up To Its Name For The Developers

• The Nightmare Batman has been used in Arkham Origins, Arkham Knight, Arkham Shadow, and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
• The skin can be used via mods for both Arkham Origins and Arkham Knight on PC.

Given that Batman: Arkham Origins had a small budget and development window, it was a strong prequel game that did many things right. However, the limitations did cause some things to be cut, including the Worst Nightmare skin, a creature version of Batman that only the Joker would see in his insanity.

Originally, the Worst Nightmare skin was going to be an unlockable costume, but the costume kept causing in-game issues, such as corrupting save files in Arkham Origins. With no time to fix it, Warner Bros. Games Montreal had no other choice but to remove it entirely, much to the dismay of the fans.

6 The Mad Hatter In Batman: Arkham Asylum

The Only Villain That Didn’t Attend The Joker’s Party

• Batman viscerally hated this version of The Mad Hatter.
• Peter MacNicol has voiced The Mad Hatter in every appearance.

The only known villain to have been scrapped from Batman: Arkham Asylum is The Mad Hatter. There were plans to feature a hedge maze on Arkham Island and at the very center of it would have been a table with tea set for an encounter with the Mad Hatter, who would debut in Arkham City. The tea set was likely the same one found in the Botanical Gardens, repurposed as a riddle to solve.

Jervis Tetch, AKA The Mad Hatter, is a recurring villain in future games and is one of the few that Batman personally hates due to Hatter’s kidnapping and molestation of women. It would have been interesting to see what kind of horrors Hatter unleashed, given the nightmarish sequences with Scarecrow that Batman already dealt with.

5 Weather Effects In Batman: Arkham Origins

Whiteouts Would Have Turned Gotham Into More Of A Winter Wonderland

• Arkham Origins started the tradition of the games taking place on or near a famous holiday.
• Roger Craig Smith voiced Batman and would return to the character in Batman: Arkham Shadow.

Not only was the setting of Christmas Eve meant to provide a visually distinct aesthetic to Gotham City, but it would also be a hazard for an early-age Batman. Occasionally, the blizzard enveloping the open-world map of Gotham would get more intense, causing whiteouts and forcing players to use Detective Vision to fight and maneuver.

Unfortunately, the weather effects were removed due to them causing performance issues, another example of how limited the developers were in their production. If Arkham Asylum can be remastered with new weather effects, some fans hope Arkham Origins could get the same treatment.

4 Victor Zsasz In Batman: Arkham Knight

Another Serial Killer Was Almost On Gotham’s Most Wanted

• Victor Zsasz also has victims in Arkham Knight as the answer to a riddle.
• Zsasz is known for killing people and tallying the kills on his own skin.

Over the years, fans have found proof of a cut Victor Zsasz side mission in Batman: Arkham Knight. Not only does the deranged serial killer appear when Batman is trying to find a kidnapped Barbara Gordon, but there are audio files that have Batman and Zsasz having conversations that never happen in the game. There are also renders of the character, akin to the ones seen in mission selection.

While it is not confirmed as to why Victor Zsasz was cut, it may have something to do with Professor Pyg’s inclusion as a side mission. Both Zsasz and Professor Pyg share many of the same concepts and brutality that make them both so disturbing, so it is theorized that Victor Zsasz was removed to avoid redundancy.

3 More Playable Villains In Batman: Arkham Origins

The Prequel Was Almost A Villain-Centric Experience

• Batman: Arkham Origins was the first game in the series to have multiplayer.
• Deathstroke

One of the defining traits of Batman: Arkham Origins was the chance to play Deathstroke in the Challenge Maps. There were plans for more, such as the Joker and Bane, but they were reserved for the now-defunct multiplayer mode in the final product. This was confirmed by one of the developers on Reddit during a Q&A effect.

Even Deathstroke was a victim of this cut content because it was also confirmed that the villains were going to be playable in the open world. This concept was playing as multiple villains would not come to fruition until Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, for better or worse.

2 Clayface In Batman: Arkham Knight

The Movie Studios Was The Perfect Place For His Return

• Clayface first appeared in the games as a secret cameo in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
• He is an actor turned serial killer named Basil Karlo, a reference to Boris Karloff.

Yet another villain who was scrapped, concept art revealed that Clayface was going to make a grand return in Batman: Arkham Knight. The artwork shows Panessa Studios, in which Batman operates, being attacked by a kaiju-sized Clayface, possibly a result of his bath in the Lazarus Pit at the end of Batman: Arkham City.

Whether Rocksteady ran out of time to put him into the game or they changed their minds early on is unclear. However, there is an empty room at the backside of movie studios that has no purpose, not even for a Riddler trophy that fans speculate was supposed to involve the villain. Clayface would get the chance to become a giant monster again in the Gotham Knights game.

1 Prometheus In Batman: Arkham Knight

Fans Have Been Waiting For This Evil Version Of Batman

• Prometheus is considered one of Gotham’s most infamous supervillains in the Arkhamverse.
• His identity is unknown, but he became a supervillain when his parents were killed by police.

In the Season Of Infamy expansion for Batman: Arkham Knight, all the villains were from past games, but one that was scrapped from the expansion was going to be an Arkhamverse debut. Prometheus, a dark reflection of Batman was confirmed to have been scrapped after both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City teased the character.

There is no official word on what his story was supposed to be or how his fight was going to play out. Instead, data mining was used to confirm that he was in the Season Of Infamy files, making him one of many villains to exist but never appeared in the Arkhamverse. Prometheus has since become an infamous villain among fans as to who they would like to see in a future game.