4. Batman Always Has a Plan
When your allies are space cops or near-gods, it's no wonder that in order for Batman to be relevant on a team like the Justice League, he has to consistently use his brain to save the day. Various stories show Batman previously or behind-the-scenes initiating a contingency plan (like the Hellspores in the Supergirl storyline in Superman/Batman
). Perhaps the most notable of these contingency plans, however, is from the Justice League storyline Tower of Babel, which later went on to become the DTV film Justice League: Doom. In story, Batman had created a contingency plan to take down every single member of the Justice League in case any one went rogue. The problem with such plans is that they can be stolen and exploited by your enemies, which is exactly what happened. Sure, the JLA survived the fight, but the end result was
Batman's expulsion from the League for his part in the betrayal of his teammates. But what about those actual instances where Batman didn't have a plan? The aforementioned Knightfall was a good example where Bane was more prepared than the Bat, freeing the Arkham Asylum inmates and choosing when to strike. Batman was left scrambling to capture them all, and overtired and weak he ultimately fell before Bane as a result. Another tragic instance occurred during the Batman: Venom.
Yes, this is the same super steroid Bane uses, but no, it is not a Bane story. In this story Batman actually fails to save a little girl because he simply wasn't strong enough, his years of perfecting his physique was not enough. The natural thing to do? Start hitting the juice! This trauma from failure had consumed Batman and turned him into something he hated, and it was only his immense will that allowed him to overcome the addiction. Didn't plan for all that, did he?