This is just a thought I had about who the Arkham Knight is. I have no idea if its true or not.

The Arkham Knight is Damian Wayne. He wants revenge on Batman for letting Talia his mother dying. In Arkham City Talia mentions Batman and her spending a night together in Metropolis. I believe they conceived Damian, and he doesn't know Batman is his father. Damian kills Batman at the end, and takes over the cowl.

Damian Wayne is nowhere near old enough, he's like 10 in the comics. By the time he is an adult Batman will be old. It'll be a Batman Beyond situation.

If it's any established character it's Hush or MAYBE Jason Todd. Both have a hatred of Batman and a history of imitating him.

I feel like the Arkham series is burning through too many Batman villains. I was trying to think of who the Arkham Knight could be that we haven't seen too much of already in the series and realized that we've seen a boatload of Batman villains already. There was some allusion to Black Mask being behind the scenes in Arkham City, and he's supposed to be obsessed with masks. That's a pretty lame revelation though.

Didn't Arkham Origins put a pretty neat bow on the idea of Black Mask being involved with anything beyond that game?

I think Rocksteady has already said that the Arkham Knight isn't a pre-established character, at least they seem to be hitting on that pretty heavily in this here interview.

Didn't get around to Origins yet. It's near the top of the pile.

I thought Batman was the Arkham Knight? Isn't Scarecrow the main baddie in this one? I'm confused.

@rollingzeppelin: The Arkahm Knight is an entirely new villain character created by rocksteady.

This dude.

Alfred.

T-800

Hush probably, but don't worry joker is the main threat

I would have hoped it was Azrael; but let's be honest, it's probably the joker. It's interesting Troy Baker played two-face (and several other characters) in the Rocksteady games (including Arkham Knight) but he played the Joker in Splash Damage's Origins. In the new 52 the Joker has his face cut off and (to me) it looks like this

but it's probably the scarecrow?

My new theory is that he's actually Batman and that the Batman you play as is actually Hush. This makes so sense unless you do something dodgy as playable Batman.

I hope the Arkham Knight is an actual new character. That'd be the most interesting outcome for me by far.

@l4wd0g: Yes, it's Scarecrow.

At this point, I think the Arkham Knight is someone Batman knows that was turned against him by the convined effort of Scarecrow and the Mad Hatter. Similar to the "return of the joker" movie... Jason Todd or Dick Grayson are good options.

And I still have a hard time believing the Joker is not in this one.

@hermes: No way Joker is in this. He died at the end of Arkham City and Rocksteady have consistently done good by this series and franchise.

Honestly the fact that there is tons of options for this character is amazing to me. I predict that it'll be an entirely new thing. How about Bruce's dad Thomas resurrected via the Lazarus Pit and twisted to become Arkham Knight?

@jacksmedulla said:

@rollingzeppelin: The Arkahm Knight is an entirely new villain character created by rocksteady.

This dude.

Psh, that's just Mechabatman, everyone knows that.

It's a robot, controlled by *insert random Batman badguy*. In the end fight you'll face 10 of them, you'll get some sort of EMP ability to stun them.

The Joker

I agree with the sentiment that Batman games are burning through too many villains at once. You barely get to enjoy them, their character doesn't leak out, with the exception of the Joker whose general drift you get with only 3-4 lines. There needs to be some kind of stalking mechanism, where you follow Two Face around a building trying to find a good time to strike, instead of just linearly making your way through until his room comes up. Like skilled players might be able to ambush him in earlier rooms.

In my head I have visualized a kind of thing where Batman gets data that X villain wants to get to Y spot and do something and then there's like a number of ways you can mess it up. Maybe knock him out, or mess up the plan in some other way(destroy his machines or take out Key NPC's for the plan to work). Instead of just doing everything every time, give us choices on how to proceed. So like have Arkham City, place like 10 villains around, and everyone is programmed to do a sequence of events(you can link sequential successes to game over) and Batman chooses which one to intercept in any order, and if you knock them out and arrest them then they stop functioning but if you just sabotage their plans they move on to the next task. So the setup is similar to the shadow of mordor but the NPC's have more specific things they want to be doing.

Maybe its Alfred? Or Commisioner Gordon?

EDIT: No, I know, its Batman's mom.

EDIT 2: What if its Richard Nixon?

I really hope they do something with Hush after that ending with him back in Arkham City. I just assumed he was the Arkham Knight, but I think it would be more interesting if he was a completely new character.

I think it would be awesome if they alluded to him being every suggestion in this thread throughout various points in the story, and then never fucking told you who he was. Screw reveals, who needs 'em?

Best possible outcome: Do not reveal who he is.

If its The Joker or Jason Todd, its we be extremely disappointed and played out. Completely Predictable.

Also, AK is way too Slim to be Jason Todd, but then again, he is notorious for changing appearances.

Arkham Knights MO is very much akin to Jason Todd. Which I fear may be who it is. Speaking of, Isn't there a Red-Hood single player preorder thingy?

EDIT: I think you actually play as the Arkham Knight in Free-Roam. Taking over the mantle for Batman. Think Red Dead Redemption. The fact that its Rated M, opens up some crazy possibilities.

What if Arkham Knight is Bruce Wayne himself? You know, he's Tyler Durbining himself.

Hasn't Rocksteady said Red Hood is in the game as a separate character? I can't imagine it'll be Jason Todd. I don't think that narrative really plays in the Batman mythos they've built anyway.

While I don't think the Knight will be the Joker, I'd be really shocked if Rocksteady had enough restraint to keep Joker out of this game entirely. The Arkham City ending was a bigdeal. Joker being well-and-truly dead causes a titanic power vacuum in Gotham's underworld. It's madness and chaos of a biblical proportion without him as kingpins slaughter each other in droves for the Joker's crown.

This whole series, even Origins, seeks to deconstruct Batman's relationship to his greatest enemy. I can 100% see an ending where the Joker returns one last time.

@historyinrust: Red Hood (Jason Todd) is in the challenge mode but it's entirely possible he's not in the game, similar to Nightwing in Arkham City.

@corevi: Its not a challenge pack this time, its "story:

@ozzdog12: Man the Arkham version of Red Hood looks boring. The mask he has in the comics is awesome.

@corevi: I agree, Maybe his mask is under the hood.

@hermes: Considering Tim Drake as Robin was in City(story) for about 10 secs and Dick Grayson was Nightwing. Both playable as DLC. That only leave Jason left, but I don't think Rocksteady would be that lazy.

@historyinrust: Have you read the first issue of the tie-in comic? Joker is dead on a slab, but something is clearly off. Plus its comic books, no one really stays dead. Honestly, I love Joker as much as the next guy, but I would be thrilled to not have him appear in the game. This is on of the better, if not the best incarnation of The Scarecrow we've seen.

@devise22: Right, because coming back from the dead is something the Joker never does, nor was he ever known for impersonating other villains. I am not claiming AK is the Joker (I am pretty sure he is not), but that he will re-appear during the story to become a mayor threat.

This is the first post-City game they have made, I think its early to establish a Jokerless pattern. Besides, Rocksteady has indeed make good on the series, except when deciding to make a sizeable part of the story and unreachable collectables (before AC Unity made it such an outcry) a part of day one DLC on City.

@corevi: I don't know why that leaves Drake and Grayson out. So far, it seems like AK is a sequel to City and he is a new threat, so it is possible he was created in between games.

@corevi said:

@ozzdog12: Man the Arkham version of Red Hood looks boring. The mask he has in the comics is awesome.

Or they could go with the Joker's version... Not as cool, but still better than the hoodie one.

Haven't yet, but if you recommend, I'll check it out.

I really agree with you, though. The other Batman villains deserve to be elevated. What's nice is that the themes in the Arkham story can resonate in either respect, so if they can find the right balance of giving gravity to some of the A-and-B Tier rogues gallery staples and provide a final denouement to the Joker narrative, it'll be a fantastic experience.

Some version of Robin that is pissed at Batman, and becomes an ally by the end. Sure.

Maybe it's batman vs a batman from another dimension!?

We will eventually find out... Warner Bros revealed the identity of the ghost of Shadow of Mordor and the big bad of Arkham Origins long before the games were released. If someone is cast to play the voice of the Joker, the marketing department will try to make a big deal out of it before the game is out.

I think that it will end up being Jason Todd. We know that the Red Hood character (Todd) is at least in the game in some aspect and there is an action figure that Gamestop will be selling that is tied to the game. I am betting that Red Hood never actually shows up in this universe, but the "Arkham Knight" is the Arkham version of that character. This would explain his training, skills, and decision to have a Batman style suit of armor.

I'm curious what Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and Robin (Tim Drake) are up to at this point in the games. They've established them in the games, but they're influence is 0 to none in the grand scheme of things. In fact, the only one of the two characters who showed up in the games is Robin and that was for like...30 seconds in Arkham Knight? I know that these are Batman games, but I do wish the supporting cast of ally characters made more appearances in the games.

Two loose threads from Arkham City I am curious if they pick up:

1. Azrael and his prophecy
2. Tommy Elliott/Hush

@corevi@ozzdog12 He does have a mask under that hood. In terms of base style, its not far from where Red Hood was in the comics when he debuted (Todd version) or the animated film that was based on that story arc. The animated film was pretty great in my opinion.

I had to post this somewhere... merrily so other might see my predictions....

Its Jason Todd. All the cops are going to die but jim (maybe not die but since they are in the same location have a bomb placed which threatens all of them). Villians express themselves in a manner that is “commonly indicative” of those who “believe” they are on the “right” side. Somehow… they are convinced that the batman is the source of all crime… he’s a magnet to villians and only invites crime and violence… his elimination is what promises true peace to Gotham… The “true” villain will be one whom Bruce can relate and finally see the truth of those words… he volentarilly allows the “previously viewed” villan to execute him and therefor, truly save Gotham… the death of Batman. Maybe?

My guess is it's Harley Quinn

I'm very near the end of the game and I'm 100% certain I know who it is... There's a sequence of cutscenes that pretty much spell out who it's going to be.

Spoilers...

It's most definitely not Harley Quinn (Nahhh) or The Joker (CERTAINLY NOT!) or Damian Wayne (ridiculous!)