#also yes. I have a draft for a Harvey/Bruce fic. Just regular old Bruce though.

[typinggently]

Feral Bruce Wayne with his rogue gallery?

This was thrilling to think about!!!

A general note at the beginning– the thing that makes Bruce who he is, the way he believes in the possibility of good in everyone, is of course unchanged in Feral Bruce. Which means that his no killing rule and his compassion for his villains still stand unchanged. Also, I think he keeps his silent stoicism for the most part.

Also - when I say “Bruce” here, know that I’m referring to Feral Bruce. It makes for an easier reading experience. But now.

Feral Bruce vs. the Gotham Underground

Bane: Mads Mikkelsen was a professional dancer and a lot of that grace translates into his fighting choreographies – I think it’s the same with Bruce. He’s strong, but he’s also very graceful and athletic. So the epic fights between him and Bane are less “who’s the bigger hulk w the stronger punches” but more a match of different styles clashing. Also, I admittedly only know Nolanverse Bane and I love him dearly. He’s very intelligent and very charismatic, so I think their confrontations could be very interesting. I also just like the mental image of Bane trying to get a hold on Bruce who’s doing the flips over his shoulder.

The Riddler: That’s a special kind of relationship. The Riddler hates and loves Batman in equal measures because on one hand, he drives him to new creative heights, but on the other – the guy doesn’t even have to try. How does he do it?? No one ever solved his riddles this fast!! Inspector Gordon is always fascinated when Batman shows up, looks at the smashed cake/blue umbrella/ripped up telephone book for a moment and then says something like “He’s planning to break into the Mustard Museum at 8pm tomorrow” ??? A true detective. (I had to think of the 60s show where the riddles were always complete mumbo jumbo and Robin would be like !!I’ve got it!!” and say just…the weirdest shit.. and everyone would be all “Ohhhh yes why didn’t we think of that?!” except Bruce does that now. He’s got the brain to jump to the most absurd conclusions and always be 200% right. Show up, say nonsense with a grave expression, melt back into the wallpaper. Watch Riddler have a meltdown because you know the answers to all his punny questions)

The Penguin: See, I say Bruce still has the stoic exterior and the stealth factor and the whole Vampiric vibe. However, he also has that Dadaist Ballet fighting style and a very erratic attack pattern. What I’m saying is that his go to move is stealing Penguin’s umbrella and whacking him on the head with it. Neither of them appreciates the comedic element of that move, even though they pull it off like a silent film comedy duo, time and time again.

Scarecrow: Since Bruce is so expressive, so eager to fill his head with knowledge and so driven by his own emotions which he feels so intensely, I feel like Scarecrow would be the most terrifying villain for him. He seems the type to be genuinely helpless and overwhelmed when trapped in his own horrific imagination. Feargas would most likely cause a complete and utter violent-erratic meltdown. It happens only once, since it drives him to improve the suit so it can never happen again, but I think that Scarecrow is one of the villains he truly doesn’t like going against.

Catwoman: There’s a photo of Rob sitting at the stage to watch FKA Twigs perform back in 2014 and the way he looks at her has not left me since I’ve seen it for the first time. That’s Bruce @ Selina. And yes, sure, I’m very much a SuperBat endgame person, but I do acknowledge that those two had chemistry/a true, meaningful relationship. I feel like he felt comfortable enough to make his weird, dry jokes at her while wearing the cowl and that’s all that really needs to be said about how deep that affection went.

Poison Ivy: She made the mistake of using her love dust on him…once. Bruce respects her intelligence and she respects his dedication, but all their meetings post-dust are super awkward. There’s simply no proper villain-hero discussions to be had and one-liners to be exchanged when there’s the shared history of him tenderly taking her hand and saying in the most earnest tone “I’ll find a chemical that deconstructs rubber tires for you. You’re still going to jail, but I’ll come to hold your hand.” It’s? something?! It’s kinda sweet but also not the intended result (“Of course I’ll let you go, green queen of my heart!”) at all.

Harley Quinn: Bruce adores her. He genuinely thinks she’s a fascinating person and would probably love to hang out with her, but alas! It cannot be. They have to work together at some point, though, and Bruce is so pumped that he can solve a case with the brilliant and bubbly-sparkly Dr Quinzel that he fucks up. By which I mean that when she comes up with the weird one-liner, he responds perfectly in kind, thus betraying his stoic ballet dancer image. It’s probably something like - Harley: “It’s starting to smell a lot like BurgerKing in here…” Batman, completely unprompted: “-because you’re about to get beefed”

Two-Face: Bruce has always admired and loved Harvey - He’s charming, charismatic, intelligent and very good at mingling, small talk (something Bruce can’t do for the life of him). So fighting Two-Face is tearing his heart to shreds. It hits so close to home and it hurts to see Harvey in the condition he’s in. While it might not have been romantic love, Bruce still feels a raw tenderness for him, and while he tries not to let it show, it’s still one of the hardest fights to fight, every time.

Joker: With other villains, Bruce relies mostly on his combination of silence/element of surprise + strength + random fight pattern. It’s very graceful to watch. Joker, he just punches in the face. That’s where the feral comes through. Doesn’t even let him finish his jokes.

-

To sum it up: The girls know Batman is weird. They love him. (Harley probably made him a friendship bracelet at some point, with tiny little dangly bats and little H’s & B’s.)

-

I love these villains so much and it was such a joy to think about them and Feral Bruce in this context, so thank you so much for this ask!!! I had a ton of fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading about Bruce’s funky little adventures :)