10 Ways Batman Holds The Justice League Back (original) (raw)

Batman is one of the most important heroes in the DC Universe and one of the foremost members of the Justice League. Batman has made a name for himself as one of the toughest and smartest heroes around, facing down dangerous villains that give other heroes pause and protecting one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. However, Batman's not perfect, no matter how much he wants people to think so, and there are moments when that extends to his time in the Justice League as well.

While he's one of the most important members of the team, there are times when Batman has held the team back for a variety of reasons.

10 Being A Human Makes Him Extremely Vulnerable

The Justice League faces down some of the most powerful threats in the DC Multiverse and in those battles, a regular human, even one with all of the smarts and skills of Batman, is a huge liability. He's pretty much the most fragile member of the team which means that his teammates have to look out for him to keep him alive.

Batman has made a business out of surviving but in his Justice League battles, a big part of that is because his friends have the kind of powers that have allowed them to save him. This splits their attention in battle and prolongs the fights.

9 He Can't Pull His Own Weight

Batman works very well on his own but only in certain situations and with time to prepare. There are times in his battles with the Justice League that he is pretty much useless. For example, what could Batman do against someone like the Anti-Monitor? Look at when he fought the Reverse Flash, by himself, in the Batcave- Reverse Flash almost killed him.

Batman's teammates have to pick up the slack in battles where Batman can't pull his own weight. This makes things more difficult as the team is basically short one member and against some of the threats they fight, that can make a lot of difference.

8 He Can Be Pretty Insufferable

Batman can be very hard to handle, even for people who are friends with him. He's very precise about things and often seems like he has to be the center of attention, doing everything he can to be the most important person in the room. Whether he does it on purpose or because he's just so used to making the decisions, it can make him pretty insufferable.

Batman's attitude and way of doing things can make things difficult for everyone involved, even when the people know how hard he is to work with. He can be very disruptive to the team dynamic and that's not a good thing for the team.

7 Everyone Listens To Him Even When He Isn't The Leader

Batman is one of the most respected heroes in the DC Universe, with all of the heroes looking up to him. While this can be a good thing at times, especially when he's making the plans, it can also make it hard for whoever the leader is when they disagree with Batman. The Justice League can be pretty contentious at times and it makes it worse when people are listening to Batman instead of the team leader.

Internal strife is never a good thing, whether it's caused on purpose or on accident, especially when a team deals with the sort of things the Justice League does.

6 His Lone Wolf Tendencies Can Make Him Hard To Work With

Batman may have built an entire family of heroes to work with and has been a member of several teams, but he's also a notable lone wolf. At the end of the day, Batman works alone more often than not, for a variety of reasons. This can be highly disruptive in a team setting, as there are lots of all-hands-on-deck moments.

While Batman's tendency to do his own thing has been helpful, like the time the Hyperclan attacked. It can also be detrimental to the League, whether because it cuts down on the League's effectiveness or because he got mad at everyone and took his ball and went home.

5 He Wants Things His Way

It's hard to call Batman a spoiled rich kid because of the tragedy of his life but there are times when he definitely has that tendency. Batman likes to do things the Batman way to the detriment of everything else and can find it very hard to do things the way someone else wants him to, especially when he disagrees with them.

This can cause a lot of trouble because disagreements like this can spiral, causing some members to side with him and disrupting the team dynamic in ways that can be very damaging to the group's effectiveness.

4 He Tries To Clean Up His Own Messes And Can Make Them Worse

Batman often acts as the team's tactician and there are times when his plans completely and totally backfire. Now, Batman can be arrogant and insufferable but when things are his fault, he does his best to clean them up. This is good but the problem is he tries to do it all himself and that can lead to even more problems.

This is pretty much what happened in Death Metal- Batman went his own way, trying to clean up the mess in a way that wouldn't save everyone and resisted Wonder Woman's plan, which eventually proved the best way to do things. Batman forgets that other people's ideas are just as good as his at times.

3 He Can Be Way Too Stubborn

Batman's stubbornness can be a good thing- he never gives up no matter how difficult of a case he's on. However, there are other times when it is very bad, especially in a team setting. One stubborn member of a team can doom a whole endeavor and Batman's stubbornness has had a very negative affect on the team dynamic.

There have been many times when everyone else has to work around Batman's attitude and way of doing things because he just won't bend, which is pretty much the exact opposite of teamwork.

2 They Rely On Him For Plans Too Much

Batman is one of the best tacticians around but that doesn't mean his plans are perfect and always guarantee victory. This isn't always the case, no matter what Batman wants everyone to think, and it can make things pretty difficult on the team when his plans fail. However, a bigger problem is that everyone gets used to him as the tactical center of the team and their own tactical thinking atrophies.

This can be a very big problem when Batman isn't around- everyone is so used to his way of doing things and letting him come up with all of the plans that they don't get to flex those muscles very much. This makes Batman-less plans kind of lackluster.

1 His Plans To Take Out The Team Have Fallen Into The Wrong Hands

Batman likes to be prepared for everything, including if his friends go crazy and he has to take them down. He has all kinds of plans in place for this sort of thing and while it's laudable to be ready for every eventuality, it's also caused a lot of trouble for the team. Villains like Ra's al Ghul have been able to hack Batman's systems and get their hands on the plans.

This has almost spelled doom for the team and it's only a matter of time before someone gets their hands on them again. It's bad on several levels- one, bad guys learning their weaknesses is pretty terrible and two, knowing that one of your friends is constantly trying to figure out ways to kill you can put a damper on a working relationship.

NEXT: 5 Ways Green Arrow Is DC's Best Street-Level Hero (& 5 Why It's Batman)