Batman's Legendary Contingency Plans Can Be Beaten With One Dumb Trick

Batman is famous for having a contingency plan for any situation that arises, but it turns out one simple trick can completely defeat the Dark Knight.

No matter what threat Batman comes up against he always has contingency plans to take down his enemy as swiftly and efficiently as he can. It doesn't even need to be his enemy either, Batman has contingency plans for the entire Justice League, which was most notably shown off in the Tower of Babel story arc. There have even been stories that detailed other heroes trying to hunt down Batman's leaked plans because of what a threat they pose to the superhero community. So while one might think it's practically impossible to outsmart Batman, one underrated villain showed that there's actually one simple trick that renders all of Batman's plans useless.

This surprising villain discovers the secret to beating Batman in Batman: Gotham Nights #7 by Mark Russell, Ryan Benjamin, Richard Friend, and Alex Sinclair. The story has Batman recounting the first major villain he ever fought: Killer Moth. Drury Walker aka Killer Moth ends up inspiring Batman in a lot of ways due to his ingenuity, and Batman even admits Killer Moth's costume is awesome. Batman continually butts heads with Killer Moth, with Walker continually escaping, but Batman increasingly gets closer to catching him each time. During one particular encounter, Killer Moth actually stumbles onto the perfect way to defeat Batman that bypasses all of the Dark Knight's contingency plans, and that's by not sticking to the theme.

Killer Moth is able to throw Batman off by attacking him with trained bears. Even Batman himself states, "Why would a guy named Killer Moth have attack bears? How could I have possibly foreseen that?" This is a great point, and indicates a major weakness in Batman's planning. As Batman notes, the villains who pick out a theme are easy to take down, it's the ones who don't have one or don't stick to them that are truly dangerous. And considering how Batman makes his plans and the kind of villains he goes on to fight, it really makes sense he'd feel this way.

All of Batman's villains have a theme, Mr. Freeze is obviously going to use primarily ice-themed weaponry, and Riddler will likely use some manner of deadly riddle or logic puzzle. Even the Joker, the most chaotic of Batman's villains, still tends to stick to a theme. Joker at least certainly has favorite weaponry he will use, such as his Joker Toxin. This fight with Killer Moth reveals that it's less that Batman is a genius who predicts everyone's moves and more the fact that everyone makes themselves predictable by sticking with a theme. Batman compiles his contingency plans for the Justice League not just because he is a brilliant man who figures out their weaknesses. It has a lot to do with the fact that, a longtime member of the League, he actively saw his teammates' strength and weaknesses in real combat settings, and then planned accordingly.

Batman is one of the most brilliant strategists that the DC Universe has ever seen. But a lot of his brilliance is carried by the fact his enemies insist on giving themselves themes and sticking to motifs. Killer Moth showed that if someone strays from those themes, Batman can be taken by surprise, which means he can be defeated.