The Arkham games give players a lot of freedom to utilize Batman's arsenal and skillset to explore the environment and fight enemies, and the developers anticipated a lot of them and were ready for you to try them.
General
- If you try to leave the limits of the game area, Batman will refuse, and if gliding will turn around and come back, commenting that his business isn't done yet and he can't leave.
- If you try to use the Quickfire Explosive Gel skill on destructible concrete walls, it won't work, and Batman will note that he has to get closer to apply the gel directly to the surface of the wall for it to work. This is to prevent players trying to Sequence Break by using the Quickfire skill to destroy walls from a distance.
- On a few occasions where the player is being forced into a stealth approach to overcome an enemy or obstacle, trying to select certain gadgets will prompt a comment from Batman that he can't use that right now because it'll draw attention.
- Riddler's challenges and trophies are typically designed with a specific technique or gadget in mind, but in each game it's possible to get your hands on some of them without the method the developers intended. Riddler usually has unique dialogue for this, typically questioning how you did it and/or accusing you of cheating.
- Throwing a remote-controlled Batarang at characters not meant to be attacked (like someone watching you fight, or a friendly NPC) will have them variably catch it or avoid it. This includes Batman himself, and there's often an achievement for doing it with a specific character. In Knight, trying this with GCPD officers who aren't nearly fast enough for this simply has it bounce off of them.
Batman: Arkham Origins
- During the Deathstroke boss fight, if Batman manages to back him up against a wall, Deathstroke performs an unblockable move that causes Batman to throw him back into the open area. This prevents the player from making the boss fight too easy and stops Deathstroke’s attacks, which mostly involve his staff and thus have a wide berth, from glitching into the wall.
- When you are trying to find Penguin early in the game, you will need to take down one of Enigma's towers to get the chance to decrypt Penguin's communications. However, if you have already taken it down, you will be able to immediately go after Penguin.
- In Cold Cold Heart, Batman and Alfred's dialogue will change depending on if the side missions are completed before the main story. If they are not, Batman will tell Alfred that there is still work to be done. If the side missions are all completed before you finish the main story, Batman will tell Alfred he is free to turn in and he may watch over South Gotham for the rest of the night.
- If Batman does a silent takedown while the Shock Gloves are activated, they are automatically deactivated. This might be done more for appearances than any gameplay mechanics, so players will not be wondering how harmless the takedown can be if Batman is holding an electrified gauntlet over the mook's mouth for several seconds.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
- While attempting to secure Dr. Young's notes on the TITAN project, grappling up to the top floor near the chandelier before going down the stairs will result in Joker cheekily admonishing you for "reading the last page first". He'll also berate the mooks for "not doing their job" and send them away if you grapple up before you fight them. Coincidentally, this avoids the risk of having someone being crushed by the chandelier when Batman makes it fall into the glass floor below.
- When you visit the Botanical Gardens, you can shut down the power in a certain hallway before entering it. If you do so, Joker compliments Batman for "always being one step ahead" (granted he says that regardless of which order you complete the segment), and the cutscene that triggers in the aforementioned hallway changes. Normally, Joker drops a guard into a puddle of electrified water before leaving and detonating the entrance. This way, he only does the latter. The guard however, is still dead.
- At the end of the game, the entrance to the final confrontation with Joker (which he's anticipating and has set up as a party) is blocked by some mooks who tell Bats to go back because he's not on the guest list. You can, of course, fight the thugs to get in, or wait for them to find Batman's name and let him through, but if you just go back as soon as they tell you to, they'll be stunned that Batman has actually listened to them, and say this wasn't part of the plan. And then they proceed to attack Batman anyway.
Batman: Arkham City
- Early on in the game, there's a Riddler trophy in a cage connected to two question marks. You're supposed to wait until you get a certain item later in the game to beat it, but it's actually possible to get it immediately by standing on the target, using a quick batarang to hit the first target, then quickly switching to the remote controlled batarang, throwing it, boosting it to get it past the bars, then braking it and waiting for the second question mark to light up. The Riddler will then complain at you for cheating.
- It's entirely possible, using a glitch involving standing on a ledge and continually throwing Freeze Grenades on end, to glitch yourself up high enough in the game world to glide over the barrier surrounding Arkham City. Using this method, you can actually fly around and explore the rest of Gotham City
. Yes, that big skyline you see in the background throughout the game was actually constructed and was fully detailed by Rocksteady (although the buildings are all hollow inside). You can glide around and watch cars passing back and forth on the bridges, fly to Arkham Asylum (which is also present, although significantly scaled down) and fly up high and see that the game world goes much further than just Arkham City. Most players won't even glimpse most of it (and it will glitch your save file out if you haven't backed it up elsewhere), but the fact that they put all this work into something most players would never see up close is nothing short of incredible. - If a TYGER goon stands on a balcony at the top of Wonder Tower, you can perform a ledge takedown and leave him dangling high above the city. However, you're not allowed to cut him down with a Batarang and send him plummeting to his death, because Batman doesn't kill.
- If you lose as Bruce Wayne against Penguin's goons at the beginning of the game, the game will only play the first of Cobblepot's many Game-Over Man cutscenes, as it's the only one to not refer to the player as Batman.
- There's an exploit that allows Bruce to explore Arkham City without ever getting the Batsuit. Should he fall into the water, because he doesn't have his grappling hook, the game will only ever play the cutscene of him manually climbing out of the water rather than the one of him grappling out.
- Solomon Grundy's entire boss fight involves him being maintained by electric current, and Batman whittling his energy down by spraying Explosive Gel on the generators powering him; as such, all other attacks and gadgets have no effect on him — except the Remote Electrical Charge, which restores his health. If the player tests it out, Penguin even laughs at Batman for trying such a stupid move.
- If the TYGER helicopters that patrol Arkham City catch sight of Batman, they usually will just follow him for a few minutes until they lose sight of him, and will only shoot to kill during Protocol 10. However, it's possible to aggravate the TYGER helicopters before Protocol 10 occurs, as throwing a Batarang or shooting the REC at one of them will flag them as a hostile in Detective Vision for a short time.
- When Batman destroys TYGER security cameras during the events of the main game, a guard can be heard commenting that they've lost vision in the sector that Batman was just in. However, if you decide to leave some hanging around and destroy them in the postgame, no guard will say anything due to TYGER retreating after Protocol 11. Additionally, if you manage to take them all down before or during Protocol 10, the guard will note that TYGER is now completely blind.
- Depending on when you complete Bane's side mission, the mooks you face with him will be of a different faction. They'll be TYGER guards if you destroy all the TITAN containers during the main story, and Joker henchmen if it's during the postgame.
- Speaking of Bane's side mission, it is possible to destroy TITAN containers before you even speak to him. The number of containers you've destroyed is then reflected in your exchange with Bane, with Batman saying how many he's already taken care of. To ensure you can't destroy all the containers before speaking with Bane, the container in the Industrial District will not appear until you have spoken with Bane and the mission has "officially" begun.
Batman: Arkham Knight
- In the GCPD lockup, one of the items on display is the Remote Electrical Charge. You're required to have Batman steal this about halfway through the game to progress, but there's nothing stopping you from taking it long before the campaign requires Batman do so. If you wait to do this until after the Joker becomes your Spirit Advisor, he'll have something to say about it. The police officers guarding the evidence lockup will also say some unique dialogue as Batman leaves, mostly wondering if Batman's allowed to do that, but none of them wanting to be the one to try and stop him. When the main story requires you to retrieve it, Batman has a line for if he has it and another for if he doesn't; if he has it, the mission that requires you to get it is skipped over and the game continues on.
- In what might be a Continuity Nod to a similar detail from Batman: Arkham City, if you check Barbara Gordon's body after her apparent suicide while in Detective Mode, you'll notice that her skull is remarkably intact for someone who's just blown her brains out, hinting that her death was just an illusion.*
- Furthermore, in an even more obscure example, returning to the above room before the Arkham Knight HQ level, you'll find that Barbara is no longer in the chair, replaced by Joker mockingly pretending to be dead. He comments on that the body is no longer there. Sticking around causes him to theorize that Gordon retrieved his daughter's corpse. The fact that the game brings attention to this is pretty impressive foreshadowing, especially since it's very unlikely most first time players would return to this room that has no purpose for the rest of the game and isn't marked as a special location on the map.
- During the FPS-induced playable rampage as the Joker, you can find Penguin cowering away in a corner, begging for his life upon seeing you. Joker has a quip for whether he spares Cobblepot ("Okay, but only because you grovelled so nicely.") or if you kill him ("I never could stand grovelling, Cobblepot."). If you choose to spare Penguin, walk a fair bit away, and then turn back around and shoot him, Joker will say that he changed his mind.
- Similarly, when the Riddler tries to take a cop hostage, most players will have to Shoot the Hostage. However, if you are sufficiently quick, you can shoot Riddler before the hostage gets in the way, or if you're aim is really good, you can kill Riddler without hurting the hostage. Then you can shoot the hostage anyways.
- During the brief portion of the game when the Batmobile is destroyed, the player can try to use the remote Batmobile gadget only to discover a unique error message that doesn't appear anywhere else.
- If the first Professor Pyg victim Batman finds isn't the one that Cash tells him about, he'll specifically comment that it's not the same one. He also has a specific line for if he finds one of the bodies before Cash tells him about them, and the specific body that you're told about doesn't appear until Batman hears about it.
- Early in the game, Batman is given intel on the Riddler from the GCPD. Later on, as you are working through the main quest, the Riddler will tell you that he's kidnapped Catwoman, and to complete a race track to obtain one of the keys to unlock the 10 locks to Catwoman's bomb collar. If you complete the race track before he kidnaps Catwoman, you don't get the key, and the Riddler doesn't tell you about his next challenge until after kidnapping Catwoman. After you complete the second challenge and use the key, he will tell you that he decided to make the challenge count for two locks. In a strange twist to how this trope normally manifests, this is actually a very likely scenario for the player to encounter, as they are informed of Riddler's first race track well in advance of Catwoman being kidnapped - a sizable amount, if not majority, of players likely never saw the "normal" version where they get the key for the first race.
- After completing the Riddler's "final exam", Catwoman can continue to duck between the now-perpetually spinning threshers instead of jump up to the ceiling, prompting Batman to comment on it:Batman: ...You can leave at any time.
Catwoman: (Defensive and embarrassed) I knew that! I just... like dodging the saw blade. - In challenge maps, if you die in the vents when the enemies gas them, enemies will continue searching for you, since they don't know you died.
- Enemies who can track you when you use Detective Mode have a special reaction to you being right behind them.Militia Soldier: This doesn't make any sense. He's standing... right behind me?!?
- Completing side missions after the main story has been completed and as such, Batman's identity has been exposed will result in different dialogue with the villains who now know that Batman is Bruce Wayne.
- Likewise, if you haven't finished every sidequestnote before heading to the warehouse that starts the endgame, the Joker hallucination will complain and tell Bruce there's still more fun to be had out there. But if you went out of your way and finished every other "Most Wanted" mission before heading there, Joker acknowledges that there's nothing left to do, and gleefully taunts Bruce on how he always knew he'd be there when the Batman finally dies.
- Some players wondered why the Batmobile has two rear passenger seats when there is only ever one passenger at a time. As it turns out, there is one way to have two passengers at once. While the player is prompted to return the first ACE Chemicals worker to Gordon as soon as he is rescued (and most players will), there is nothing forcing the player to do so at that time. You can then move on and rescue the second worker, who gets into the Batmobile next to the first, then drop both off at the same time. Unlike most other examples from this game, this does not prompt any additional dialogue, and in fact ensures that you only hear one of the two exchanges with Gordon when dropping off the workers.
- Related to the above, the vast majority of players rescue the ACE worker Mark Cheung first, as he is located near the entrance to the factory in an easy-to-reach location, and then Adam Brewer, who is in the basement of the rear of the facility only accessible by manipulating a ramp. This results in Mark informing Batman of the scale of the fear toxin bomb and Adam telling him that Scarecrow is in the central mixing chamber. However, the player is free to rescue them in the opposite order, starting with Adam and then Mark. But the information given is in the same order, resulting in Adam telling Batman of the bomb's range and Mark of Scarecrow's location, with each using the exact same wording as the other would.
- Similarly, before you're supposed to rescue the workers, you're supposed to use the Batscanner to locate them, but there's nothing stopping the player from rescuing Mark and finding the three dead workers before you do so. However, to ensure you hear the radio conversation between Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight that plays while you're using the Batscanner, the door to the elevator Adam is hidden behind won't open until you use the scanner to locate him.
- Both the Penguin and (DLC) Killer Croc sidequests see Batman working alongside Nightwing. Late in the Penguin sidequest, Nightwing gets kidnapped by Penguin. During this time, any part of the Croc sidequest that involves Nightwing will be unavailable.
- During the game's Cold Open, it's assumed the player will panic and shoot at the monsters, which leads to a depressed and guilt-wracked Officer Owens found in a cell at GCPD through the night. If the player gets through the whole sequence without shooting, Owens is still in the cell just to be safe, but he'll be much more cheerful and chat with his guards. And finally, if the player fires the gun but doesn't actually hit anything with it, the guards will comment on how lucky Owens was to have not accidentally killed anyone, while Owens himself complains about how he'll have to undergo psych evaluation and fill out paperwork after everything is over.
- There are two points in the story where you have to use the Batcomputer in the Clock Tower: when Batman is searching for the Cloudburst right before Harley attacks the movie studios, and when you're about to analyze the physiological issue in Azrael's brain. If you've played the game so that both are active at the same time, the game has a special prompt to let you pick which mission you want to do next when you go to use the computer.
- When Batman returns to Stagg's airship after the Cloudburst goes off, you're supposed to clear the room of soldiers before trying to find Stagg. However, if you already know where he is, you can go straight there before clearing the room, but Batman will refuse to let him out because the soldiers will shoot him on sight if he doesn't take them out first. If you do this and then clear the room, rather than say he should go to the previous cell and track Stagg's fingerprints, he just points out that Stagg's hiding under the floor.
- There is a brief period of time after the Arkham Knight has fled but before Deathstroke has been introduced as the new leader of the Militia. If you die to Militia forces during this time, Alfred will be your Game-Over Man and remark on how your sacrifice will never be forgotten. Additionally, the Militia can still be encountered in Mr. Freeze's side quest after both the Arkham Knight and Deathstroke have been defeated, in which case the Commander does all the talking.
- Every single person in the GCPD has a unique piece of dialogue if you talk to them while the GCPD is being attacked. This includes everyone from cops to the firefighters and even the civilians Professor Pyg had hostage.
