Five Years Later: 10 Things You Learn Replaying Batman: Arkham Knight
2. The Arkham Knight Was Doomed From The Start
The Arkham Knight was destined to be a failure the moment Rocksteady decided that his identity would be a pre-existing character.
The identity of the Arkham Knight was the biggest mystery heading in the months before release. Fans came up with a host of names for the titular character's identity, from Damian Wayne to a robot controlled by Quincy Sharp. Unfortunately, Rocksteady went for the Jason Todd, the safest and most obvious choice to anyone who knew a thing about Batman. The flashbacks to Jason's torture at the hands of the Joker meant that his reveal towards the games conclusion comes as a shock to nobody except Batman himself.
Upon reflection however, the retelling of Jason Todd's story is well executed in isolation, and he was really the only character that made sense for the role within the boundaries of plausibility Rocksteady had set within their Arkham Universe.
The character could have been so much more though had Rocksteady been willing to actually make the Arkham Knight a wholly original character, something they were adamant it was in the build up to the game's release. By making the Knight a pre-existing character, Rocksteady worked themselves into a corner as the reveal could never have lived up to the impossible expectations they set.