Batman is one of the most popular superheroes ever. He's starred in multiple movies and TV shows and is the star of more comic stories than one can shake a stick at. He faces down all of manner of dangerous villains and has proven to be clutch for the Justice League many times over the years. However, it wasn't always that way.

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Batman has been through a lot of changes over the years, with the character morphing from what he was into something that many fans like better. However, that doesn't mean that all of these changes have been entirely beneficial- a double edged sword cuts both ways.

10 For Better: The Change In Tone Led To Better Stories

Batman 657 cover

For a long time, Batman and his stories were kind of childish. The Silver Age was full of things that modern comic readers wouldn't enjoy very much and Batman was the exemplar of that. However, writers like Denny O'Neil came in and started to change that, a gradual process that would come to fruition with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

This change would prove to be beneficial to Batman in a lot of ways, making the character more mature and opening him up to all kinds of great story ideas that never would have been possible in the sillier days.

9 For Worse: Batman Stories Can Be Too Serious To The Point Of Parody

2 All Star Batman and Robin

The Dark Knight Returns was a seminal moment in comics but that doesn't mean that everything it did was completely beneficial. In fact, as time went on, people concentrated too much on the darker aspects of the character and nothing else. This led to Batman and his stories becoming way too grimdark.

Darker Batman stories work very well but it started to get to the point of parody. His stories can get so dark and gritty that they lose sight of the fact that Batman isn't just a vigilante, he's a superhero. There's no joy to his stories a lot of the time, just an unending quest that is pretty depressing.

8 For Better: Batman Is Taken Way More Seriously

Batman urban legends

The '60s Batman TV show did a lot for the character's visibility but its camp tone also hurt his reputation. Batman was completely and totally ridiculous to audiences at the time and it made Batman into a character people just didn't take seriously.

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Batman's stories changing over the years allowed people to take the character and his world way more seriously. The foundational story of Batman is pretty grave and the campy aesthetic of the character made people look at Batman as something for children only.

7 For Worse: It Stretched The Bounds Of How The Character Was Used Too Much

Batman stands over a defeated Justice League in DC Comics

Batman being taken seriously is good. However, it's been taken to some bizarre and frankly ridiculous places. For example, Batman can beat the Justice League. Sure, he can't just walk up to members of the team and just knock them out but the fact that Batman can beat the Justice League in any way is a bridge too far.

Due to his popularity, Batman is looked at as the best hero of them all and that view of him has made creators make some pretty strange choices with the character. Batman needs to be taken seriously but a Batman who can flawlessly defeat the most powerful heroes and villains of them all with prep time feels unrealistic even in the comic book world.

6 For Better: Being Batman Adjacent Has Built A Lot Of Cool Characters

The Bat-Family on the rooftops

Batman's greater popularity has of course helped his sales but it's also helped the sales of lots of other characters. Batman and Batman-related characters have proven to be big business over the years- characters like Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and the various Robins have benefited greatly from their association with Batman, getting their own titles and spotlights.

Batman helped create an entire corner of the DC Universe that has proven quite popular with fans. So many beloved characters have gotten their start through Batman, giving fans even more stuff to love.

5 For Worse: The Proliferation Of Batman-Like Characters Is A Little Much Sometimes

Batman Who Laughs Killing Joke

Batman's continued popularity and the popularity of Batman adjacent characters has led to a rise in Batman-like characters that aren't always great. Take, for example, the evil Batman trope. Dark Knights Metal took this to an extreme, introducing multiple evil Batmen, including the Batman Who Laughs. BWL would become the straw that broke the camel's back.

BWL was sold as the ultimate villain, taking all of the Batman tropes and adapting them to Batman as a villain. While an evil Batman can be fun to explore, BWL took it to an extreme.

4 For Better: His Relationship With Other Heroes Evolved

Superman Batman Wonder Woman Justice League

In the Silver Age, everybody was best friends, working together perfectly, with little to no conflict between them. This approach could be fun- seeing Batman and Superman as pals is always interesting- but it was also much too simplistic.

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Batman's evolution created new dynamics with the heroes, transforming his relationships with them. This made the dynamics much more interesting and added to the storytelling elements. Modern Batman and his relationships are much more fun to read.

3 For Worse: The "Batman Fighting Everyone" Trope Was Born

Batman and Superman fighting

Superheroes fighting other superheroes is a tale as old as time but it can get a little ridiculous with Batman. Batman has fought just about every member of the Justice League at one time or another and it's honestly a very tired trope. Everyone likes to play "who can win", but Batman has taken it to another level.

Batman and Superman fighting used to be an interesting intellectual exercise but it eventually became an entirely too played out trope as time went on. It stopped being interesting and became an almost annual plot device where readers were reminded about how Batman could beat a literal sun god using his smarts and tech.

2 For Better: Taking Him Out Of Gotham Opened Up New Stories For Him

Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, And Aquaman ready to fight

One of the great things about Superman is that even though he defends Metropolis, his mandate is basically protecting all of the innocent people everywhere. Superman stories can take place anywhere. Batman was more limited for years; his solo stories mostly took place in Gotham. However, as his popularity and utility increased, he was moved out of Gotham and this opened up all kinds of possibilities.

Batman could be used in way more stories, from Earthbound ones to more cosmic stuff. '50s Batman did sci-fi but it was strictly kids stuff. Modern Batman could do any kind of story and this made him a better character.

1 For Worse: He's Often Out Of His League

Hellbat Batman punches Darkseid

The worst Batman trope is known as "Batgod." Basically, it comes from the vaunted "with prep time, Batman can beat anyone" idea that makes Batman feel a bit overhyped. As he's been taken out of Gotham and put into more kinds of stories, this trope has become a cornerstone of Batman stories and it's hurt the character a lot.

Batman is taken out of his league a lot more nowadays. He can even somehow survive battles with gods like Darkseid. This feels unrealistic for a character that has no powers of their own and can really take readers out of the comic while reading.

NEXT: 8 Ways Batman Is A Bad Role Model