#Batman beyond splicers

[mr-kench]

I was rewatching Batman Beyond (great show, highly underrated) the only context you need for the show is that this is in the not so distant future l, Bruce is an old man and passed to torch to a new kid named Terry McGinis. It got to the episode that really got me thinking. Not in a philosophical way or anything but just in a “humanity would 100% do this if they could” sort of way. The basic premise is that theirs a new type of body altering fashion trend. Theirs people in the show that try to justify it as basically being a tattoo and others outright saying that logic is completely bullshit. It’s called Splicing. It’s a gene lab that cracked the code on splicing DNA for immediate and near painless transformation to the body using animal DNA. It doesn’t need to be the whole body as one girl altered her eyes to have green cat eyes. However theirs some that went full body basically becoming anthro animals, a guy that became part snake, another became part bull and a different one became part hyena. Naturally the guy in charge of this was evil and the side effect of this was increased aggression.

However that’s not what I want to focus on. Instead I want to focus on the concept of Splicing itself. Theirs tons of people who would 100% be on board for this if it was possible myself included. Having claws and fangs sounds badass. Plenty more would be willing to go all the way and become hybrids being half human and half whatever other animal. At the same time plenty of concerned adults in the show were against this. With Terry’s little brother wanting to get spliced and his mom saying no. When asked why she’d be against it since she has a tattoo she says “the difference is that I don’t have antlers growing out of my head”

Excluding the obligatory evil plot it’s a pretty good examination of theoretical Trans Humanism. I’m confident it’s going to be a thing if we make it that far as a civilization. Theirs plenty of usefulness in the technology and it’s cool looking besides but there would naturally be concerns from others seeing people willingly leave behind their humanity and become something objectively not human.

It’s an interesting thought and one that’s crossed my mind. If Splicing was real would any of you want to do it? If so how would you want to be spliced, full body, only small features?

[timearremer]

Oh, I always wondered about this moment - why do his claws and hand suddenly grow? The WIP script makes it clear: this was initially meant to be more detailed, with his hands changing into full eagle talons (and with his facial features changing to match, why couldn't we have gotten that?? sadness...)

Of course this is setup for the originally-planned finale of the episode where he was meant to cycle through multiple chimeric forms (manual shapeshifting, without the use of further serum) under his own power before Terry's injections caused him to lose control. I guess it's up for interpretation whether this brief and his line in the finished episode about being unable to control the changing (which makes little sense in the episode's final form) are leftovers, or whether this ability of his is still meant to be canon.

[alphacomicsvol2]

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: Next Generation

A little twist on Danny meeting Terry Mcginnis, aka the Batman from Batman Beyond

This would be an older Danny, maybe he stopped aging, maybe he didn’t, but at this point he’s been around the block a few times.

Danny first sees the new Batman as Fenton, not Phantom. Maybe he’s surrounded by members of the Jokerz gang, and Terry drops down to save this guy before things escalate. Danny could have handled things on his own but he’s not exactly going to tell that to the new guy. 

He takes a bit of a shine to Terry. He could just ask Bruce who the new guy is, but he wants to have fun with it. Terry is still new, a little sloppy, he needs someone to train him up a bit in ways old Brucie can’t do on his own anymore. So he decides to make a little game of things.

Danny slips into the role of antagonist/rogue, not for any nefarious purpose, simple to give Terry a proper challenge. It’s all a game and he’s just training the new guy, and if that involves LARPing a Villain, so be it. 

He leaves enough clues that Bruce figures him out immediately. The old man must approve, because he would have told him to stop otherwise.

Meanwhile, Terry is confused when the new villain he had been trying to catch saves him when things go south with a bunch of splicers

[maxknightley]

I've been watching Batman Beyond with the gf and I have to say that S2E1 has aged uhhhhh INSANELY badly. you're telling me that between "people gene-splicing themselves into cool furries" and "government official fearmongering about SPLICER VIOLENCE and IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE" I'm supposed to side with the narc???

[snickestsnack]

Splicers (2-1) is one of my favourites in Batman Beyond- the designs are sick, the concept is cool, and Terry's experience with it is so interesting to me.

Aside from being an allusion to ManBat, it was interesting seeing Terry go from his usual cocky self to the absolute terror he was in after he was spliced against his will by Cuvier. It's gotta be horrifying to wake up and mutate into something you never wanted to be.

(plus it sounds like a fun fanfiction plot device...but I'm sure that was unintentional)

(other aside- I think them using it as a metaphor for individuality is very fun, but it makes me wonder if that's what some parents feel when their kids dye their hair or get piercings or smth ToT)

[theyre-gay-because-i-say-so]

Today's LGBT+ Headcanon is;

Woof from Batman Beyond-Nonbinary, Demiromantic and Gay

Species: Splicer

Requested by Anon

Status: Alive

[hanasnx]

user hanasnx, do u have any fave eps of batman beyond?

-🍃

yes!

season 1

disappearing inque: inque and terry kiss and i ship them

season 2

splicers: humans with physical animal traits hit hard

hooked up: something about the living life inside a bubble thing really fascinated me

the last resort: we see terry have a tender moment with chelsea and confront a problem as terry mcginnis as well as batman

april moon: loved this one. hot gf cheats on old man doctor with bad guys and the doctor does some fucked up shit to those bad guys

season 3

out of the past: young bruce deals with being incapable and then learns the way to get it is not what he wants and he has to deal with it instead. move on, and accept that it's in the past. loved the villain too

unmasked: terry unmasking for a scared little boy who does his best to protect him :) gotta love it

[schway-beyond]

inque is clayface, spellbinder is an old Batman villain that was never adapted to the DCAU, the splicers are clear links to manbat...you gotta strike a balance between old and new, you gotta have fun and throw them in the cyberpunk blender, why aren't they playing to the strengths of the setting? Who knows

You aren’t wrong, but many of the Batman Beyond villains also serve as Spider-Man analogues. Blight is Green Goblin, Spellbinder is Mysterio, Stalker is Kraven, etc. Terry himself is a very clear take on a Spidey-like character, albeit less nerdy and more “teenage dirtbag.” I almost think the Spider-Man influences are more important to capturing the appeal of Terry stories than traditional Batman stuff is

[adaru32]

I've been meaning to make a ref sheet of one of my villain OCs for a long time. He comes from a story of mine from 2006 or 2007 called Ascension, with inspirations coming from Resident Evil, Carrie, the Splicers episode of Batman Beyond, and Xenomorphs from the Alien series. He's a mad scientist that disguised his twisted lab as a psychiatric hospital. His goal is to create B.O.Ws for his own personal gain, and to impress a mysterious group that have taken a liking to his practices. He became a B.O.W after his daughter Paige gave him a taste of his own medicine for what he did to her mother/his wife, other innocent bystanders, and me who's the main protagonist of the story.

My mutant form has gone through a couple changes, and am still figuring out how I want it to look. Derek's hasn't changed one bit from the original concept I gave him, only his head was bigger before (his head was meant to be small like what's shown on the ref sheet here). I thought about making him taller (like about 12-20 feet tall), but I'm going by the measurements on how I drew him and the average floor to ceiling height (which would make him about 8-10 feet tall). Done on Sai with an Intuos Medium Pro tablet and mouse. Texting done on Photofiltre.

[geekcavepodcast]

“Batman Beyond: Neo-Year” Gets Sequel “Batman Beyond: Neo Gothic”

Writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and artist Max Dunbar reunite for a sequel to their Batman Beyond: Neo-Year comic series titled Batman Beyond: Neo Gothic.

“Terry McGinnis defeated the evil A.I. controlling Neo-Gotham and asserted himself as the one true Batman, but his next battle will bring him to the remains of Old Gotham. Children are going missing and being swallowed by the city’s old bones. Batman Beyond will have to go underground, led by a mysterious splicer named Kyle the Catboi, to find the children and confront the city’s buried sins. What happened to the green of the city? What happened to magic? And what villains never left old Gotham?” (DC Comics)

Batman Beyond: Neo Gothic #1, featuring a main cover by Max Dunbar, open to buy variant covers by Christian Ward and Ejikure, a 1 in 25 ratio variant cover Belén Ortega, and a 1 in 50 ratio variant cover by Dike Ruan, hits stores and digital on July 25, 2023.

(Image via DC Comics - Max Dunbar’s Cover of Batman Beyond: Neo Gothic #1)

[grimdrago]

This "Batman Beyond Neo-Gothic" #1

I don't like what they've implied here with this (I can only assume) splicer cat guy 👅

[timearremer]

From this point on I grew to love nagas.

[dispatchdcu]

Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #1 Preview

Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #1 Preview #batmanbeyondneogothic #batmanbeyond #DCEU #dccomics #comics #comicbooks #news #dcuuniverse #art #info #NCBD #amazon #comicbooknews #previews #reviews #batman #darkknight #detectivecomics#batmanbeyond #neoyear #neogothic

Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #1 Preview:  Terry McGinnis defeated the evil A.I. controlling Neo-Gotham and asserted himself as the one true Batman, but his next battle will bring him to the remains of Old Gotham. Children are going missing and being swallowed by the city’s old bones. Batman Beyond will have to go underground, led by a mysterious splicer named Kyle the Catboi, to find the children…

[bathtub4rats]

Has there been any other Batman Beyond characters you’ve wanted to draw?

Oh OH definitely! I’ve been meaning to draw Shriek for a while now, I love him and his costume is so fun, I love the like bear paws he’s got

I also been wanting to draw Blight and some splicers maybe

[chrysaorthegolden]

You know, that last post I reblogged kinda helped me crystallize a thought I got watching batman beyond.

See, I've only just gotten around to watching the show, and just started season 2, right? Episode entitled "Splicers", and it centers around a "dangerous teen fad" with high schoolers genetically modifying their bodies. And of course it inevitably turns out to be an evil plot to make inhumanly aggressive and deadly soldiers for... actually, they never give a reason at all.

And aside from the obvious anti-transhumanism on display here, it also strikes me as being heavily coded with transphobia as well, or at least using a lot of the same rhetoric. It's from '99 so it seems plausible but hard to confirm if intentional or not.

rant under cut

tw: transphobia, violence, unhealthy levels of sarcasm (in that last paragraph especially)

First thing we see is some kids at Terry/Batman's school, and apparently some popular girl has snake eyes now, and everyone's impressed, including Terry's girlfriend, Dana. Terry openly disapproves because it's illegal, and Dana makes the point that everything teenagers like is illegal.

We get a news report about protestors at the splicing clinic, and the phrases "concerned parents" and "affront against nature" are listed as the arguments against splicing, as well as the DA saying that "impartial evidence" proves that splicing makes you more aggressive.

The pro splicing side's arguments are summarized as "it's about our choice", "it's perfectly safe, reversible, and utterly beautiful", and "it's about discovering who I really am" - that last one is immediately undercut by a joke "Just like all my friends!" [Pan to show his friends all have matching gene splicing]

There's very frequent instances of spliced individuals being called "freaks", "creepy", and similar terms. Especially by Batman himself! Bruce doesn't go that far, but he does have an instant suspicion when he hears about splicing, vaguely warning about "bad things will come from this."

Batman then beats up some spliced dudes on a train, who were ranting at the crowd about everyone else being "norms" and that they'll show everyone that splicers are the future (violently, apparently, from how they smash the TV talking about the protests).

And I guess that's all it takes to convince Terry that splicing inherently turns people evil? And then he convinces Dana to go in to get spliced so that he has an excuse to sneak in the the clinic?

Oh, and when he does get into the labs, he overhears the boss scientist talking about how he's gonna kill the DA and anyone who tries to make splicing illegal. When his minions capture Batman, he straps him down and forcibly splices Terry with vampire bat DNA, which makes him so aggressive he nearly kills (in order) the DA, Barbara Gordon, Bruce's dog, and he'd have gone for Bruce if he didn't shoot Terry with a dart that apparently reverts him.

So Terry goes and forcibly "cures" (dare I say "detransitions"?) all the splicers, fights the scientist, who's gone super powered from extra splicing. And beats him by injecting him with more and more of the big red syringes of splicing-DNA-juice or whatever, until the scientist is mutated so quickly that his body falls apart into unrecognizable mush.

Truly, a karmic defeat. Hoist by his own petard; he'd be alive today if only he didn't try to play god and change his body to better fit his own mental image of himself. And really, it's his own fault for trying to resist us. How dare he respond with violence when we tried to control his bodily autonomy and force him to conform to our specific view of what counts as "human"?