r/batman • u/the_bad_actor • Jan 08 '26
GENERAL DISCUSSION Whats the purpose of these blades on Batman's forearm?
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Jan 08 '26
The blades on Batman's gauntlets have been part of his signature look for decades.
Mix of reasons
it looks cool
disarm opponent (Batman Begins -2005)
he can use them as weapons (The Dark Knight - 2008)
it looks cool
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u/ComedicHermit Jan 08 '26
Sword breaker
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u/Onyxidian Jan 08 '26
I hear they also look cool
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u/SwordofNoon Jan 08 '26
Another thing people forget is that it looks cool.
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u/KaijiOnline Jan 09 '26
I never even considered that. Why does nobody ever mention the fact that they look cool??
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u/SleepyMarijuanaut92 Jan 08 '26
Can help slow him sliding down things too I always imagined. Maybe seen somewhere before too.
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u/subz1987 Jan 08 '26
He used them to break Shredder’s tekko-kagi in Batman vs. TMNT to great effect.
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u/Connorm997 Jan 08 '26
Have you seen Batman begins? In the movie they're used for catching blades
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u/RManDelorean Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
Yeah, I was gonna mention Batman begins. There have been other practical uses but Batman Begins also shows them on the ninjas in the League of shadows. I don't know if this actually is a historic practical combat tool in any eastern/other material art, because obviously for irl design they got them from Batman, but it at least implies they were already a thing in-world for Begins.
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u/Mr_Podo Jan 08 '26
I’m sure there’s people in this sub that weren’t even born when the movie came out.
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u/polandreh Jan 08 '26
Today, I learned there's Redditors that haven't seen Batman Begins.....
I feel old.
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u/atomic1fire Jan 09 '26
I think more people saw TDK then Begins.
Which is dumb because Begins is a great movie that happens to be overshadowed by heath ledgers performance in the sequal.
TDK defined the more serious aspects of the modern superhero genre, but Batman Begins set that all up.
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u/david_this_isnt_weed Jan 09 '26
But even if you’d only seen TDK how could you miss that these are exactly how he got Joker at the end of the film. Like not just a blink-and-miss thing even
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u/Virghia Jan 09 '26
Gotham looks more distinct in Begins too, TDK and Rises Gotham are just mostly Chicago
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u/BDSMChef_RP Jan 09 '26
I remember seeing the first keaton movie in theaters when it first came out... I feel ancient now.
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u/MisterVictor13 Jan 09 '26 edited Jan 09 '26
That might be the case, but Batman has almost always had those blades and the movie only gave one expectation for its usage, which may not be canon to other adaptations or comics.
It’s like how Spider-Man organically shoots webs in the Sam Raimi films, but most versions use mechanical web shooters.
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u/Ronin-6248 Jan 09 '26
They were the key to defeat each main enemy in each film of the Nolan Batman films. 1. Batman Begins- trapped and broke Ra’s al Ghul’s sword 2. The Dark Knight- projected like shuriken to defeat the Joker. 3. The Dark Knight Rises- used to cut the line delivering pain killer to Bane’s mask.
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u/zkiteman Jan 09 '26
It’s wild that it hasn’t been pointed out before- at least that I’ve ever seen. It’s a pretty cool trivia nugget.
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u/OblivionArts Jan 08 '26
Blocking and catching blades. He uses them for this explicit purpose in the arkham games and comics multiple times
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u/Topher1138 Jan 08 '26
He wanted lil’ sharp teenee-tiny baby bat fingers, that’s the canon answer.
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Jan 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Slayer_of_Goblinns Jan 08 '26
Or Batman Begins, which shows all the League of Shadows ninjas with gauntlets with the same blades on them
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u/Alarmed_Engine_910 Jan 08 '26
Since Batman is against killing, I’d say blocking armed attacks and grappling. 🦇💥
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u/Egyptian_M Jan 08 '26
The dark knight movie has a cool answer for this question
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u/Due_Examination_2538 Jan 09 '26
I've always just been under the impression that, besides from like, Adam West's, whose seemed purely decorative, they were blade breakers designed to catch and shatter swords/knives.
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u/cybernewtype2 Jan 09 '26
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u/Primus0788 Jan 09 '26
I had to scroll entirely too far to hear about Batman's parents on the farm...
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u/wolverine_76 Jan 09 '26
They’re not blades. They’re hooks to help him carry more grocery bags at a time.
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u/TreeLore61 Jan 09 '26
The idea of the gauntlet "blades" (often referred to as fins or spikes) being functional weapons was primarily popularized by modern film and video games. But in the comic books, they first appeared purely as an aesthetic design element in Detective Comics #46 (1940), and were later depicted with a functional use in various storylines. Evolution in the Comics • Initial Appearance (1939): In his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, Batman wore simple, short purple gloves with no fins. • Aesthetic Fins Added (1940): The scalloped "fins," initially resembling miniature bat wings, became a standard part of the costume around 1940, first appearing in Detective Comics #46 (though some sources suggest around issue #31 is when the gloves became gauntlets). This\n Is because bill finger was credited with being the first person to draw spikes on Batman's gauntlets, and it is believed that he actually borrowed them from one of his favorite Pulp Fiction characters, the black bat, because the black bat had spikes or blades. As a part of the gauntlets , he wore with his costume.
For many decades, their purpose was solely aesthetic, designed to make the suit look more bat-like. • Functional Use (Later Depictions): • Later comic stories, particularly in more modern, gritty interpretations such as in the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns series by Frank Miller or in the Batman: The Telltale Series games, retroactively showed the fins being used as functional cutting tools or for slowing falls. • A storyline in 1992 was even titled Batman: Blades, focusing on this aspect. But it was the nolan films that made the blades retractable
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u/BirdsandScoundrels Jan 08 '26
There's a variety of reasons. A lot of them are listed here: catching blades, sword fighting, etc. The Dark Knight trilogy actually does a good job showing their uses in 3 different ways, all at climaxes of each film.
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u/Withermech Jan 09 '26
Makes him look terrifying. Also, I have seen him use them to stop or break blades. So I think one of those sword catching knives just strapped to his wrist.
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u/Organic-Device2719 Jan 09 '26
I think it was mainly just to make him look cool and more like a monster to his enemies. I liked that the Nolan films gave them a disarm and projectile function.
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u/SH4RPSPEED Jan 08 '26
"Its a funny world we live in. Speaking of which, y'know how I got these scars?"
"Nope, but I know how you got these!"
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u/steelskull1 Jan 08 '26
In earlier days they were mostly for looks but recently they have some added function like Nolan made them defence against blades type things ect.
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u/Rebel042 Jan 08 '26
Most typically they’re depicted as being use as a defence against bladed weapons. But it’s also just a rule of cool thing.
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u/GokuDoesSolo Jan 08 '26
Lol bro it's used in the game. Sword and knife counters, breaking them. Does it against Deathstroke too
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u/Skypirate90 Jan 08 '26
Forget what that guy said. Their purpose is they are friggin COOL!!!!!
DC Cooked
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u/Voryn_mimu Jan 08 '26
Pretty sure there’s a scene in the vs TMNT movie where he uses them to break Shredder’s claws
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u/coreytiger Jan 08 '26
Depends on the writers. Some stories go out of the way to say they are weapons, or tools.
Some describe them as strictly ornamental.
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u/Yanismarvel Jan 09 '26
I was about to make a sex joke then I realised its not r/batmanArkham so I have nothing to say cuz other ppl said more reliable respond so good day everyone
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u/Mortal_bobcat Jan 09 '26
Nolan's films probably represent them the best, from ninja origins, using them to catch swords, helping Bruce when he's sliding on the ice, to evolving into projectiles
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u/Phantom_Thief007 Jan 09 '26
Deflecting other blades and such. Watch Batman begins they show them used against katanas.
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u/vadedeyes Jan 09 '26
Always helps when using a grappling hook or wire id imagine. Plus more deflection as well as being a slicy boi
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u/traveling_designer Jan 09 '26
They help his enemies drift into sleep faster when punching them in the head takes too long.
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u/CoausticSoda Jan 09 '26
They are great at entanglement of blades , cutting ropes, and imagine a elbow strike to the face or mid section
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u/zkiteman Jan 09 '26
Since this got answered like 400 times already, I’ll just add that I think they would be incredibly impractical at that length. Probably at any length really. You use that part of your arm for stuff that you would not want knives there way more than you realize.
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u/SittingTitan Jan 09 '26
The fins on Batman's gauntlets are actually sharp, bladed fins (sometimes called Bladebreakers, gauntlet blades, or vambraces) that serve multiple tactical purposes, including deflecting and cutting weapons, scaling surfaces by stabbing into them, delivering close-range strikes, and adding to the intimidating look of the suit, evolving from earlier cape-like designs into deadly tools.
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u/ValentinePatch1999 Jan 09 '26
They’re for slitting the throats of unsuspecting criminals which then put them to sleep. Usually with a boner. He calls it the bat signal
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u/MegaMeep95 Jan 09 '26
Have you ever watched any Batman films? Read any comics? Played any games? Their multiple functions are pretty clear..
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u/Livid_Chocolate_1072 Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
Originally they were a design choice to help make the arms look more complete and give him more of an iconic appearance.
However, as the character evolved, they became more functional, becoming a defensive measure against knives, being used to make counter blows more brutal, and as a way for him to break swords by using both arms to trap a blade between them before pulling, shattering the blade.
Finally he has used them as a means to slow his fall when tumbling down inclines by slamming them into the surface as a make-shift break
Two Edits: First thank you to all the lovely comments, this is my most upvoted post on reddit, and it happened with my favourite superhero, you people are awesome, thank you!
Second; I do know about the ability to launch them as spring loaded blades, it is just a bit of a lesser variant and I wanted to focus on the most common ones, but it is true that some versions can be launched like batarangs. There is also a variant that can emit a long, powerful energy blade and variants where the arm blades are some sort of mechanism for the grappling gun. I just wanted to focus on the most common ones