Out of the four female characters to feature in the story, each and every last one is portrayed as a victim at some point in its running time. In the game's first act, Barbara Gordon is reduced to little more than a damsel in distress before being immediately killed off (or so we thought) in a very ill-constructed manner. Held hostage by Riddler, Catwoman even makes a self-aware quip about being little more than Batman's 'motivation' to win against Nygma, but if Rocksteady's writers were so aware of their portrayal of every woman being a victim, why didn't they take steps to rectify this? Poison Ivy is undeniably the exception to this rule however, with Pamela Isley being given one of her best portrayals in all of Bat-related media to date. Her death actually served a purpose outside of motivating the player to continue fighting against Scarecrow, but the immediate reaction evoked by her demise wasn't one of reflection but one of frustration instead, as players were still under the impression that Oracle had perished all those hours ago. At this point in the story, Gordon, Ivy and Catwoman had all been made a victim of its events, which isn't particularly good when dealing with a mythos that is inhabited by some of the strongest women in the comics medium. It is only when Barbara is given access to the Bat-Computer again in Knight's finale that she becomes a formidable ally, but by that point it feels as though she's been entirely wasted throughout the story.
Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.
