Moriarty vs Batman

[wautd]

As both Batman and professor Moriarty have a lot of depictions, lets take Christopher Nolan's Batman/Gotham City for the ease of argument. Moriarty will move into Gotham right after Batman Begins. The Joker/Bane died in a freak accident involving butterflies and will be of no concern in the future. I assume that Moriarty, being a criminal genious, will first find out Batman's identity before making his move.

Which Moriarty depiction would be most dangerous to Batman and/or Gotham? I can think of a top 3 but I might be wrong:

- Moriarty the evil scientist (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen): this guy invented weapons and technology that was decades ahead of its time (and more, I remember one of his henchman mutating in a hulk-isch creature) and he has a small private army to use them. Probably the guy that can bring the most fire- and manpower to the game, although its more about quantity than quality.

- Moriarty the diplomat (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows): A more subtle evil scientist. Amongs other things, he could hypnothise a full restaurant and knows plastic surgercy well before its time. Has a rather competent group of henchmen, including a master sniper. Surprisingly good in martial arts and a hand to hand fight against Batman would be interesting to say the least.

- Moriarty the psychopath (Sherlock - BBC TV series): the craziest and most unpredictable of the bunch and twice as scary as the Joker (imo anyway). Likely to play games with Batman to entertain himself, but because of his highly volatile nature, he might as well try to bomb Bruce's mansion and get it over with. Also has a decent gang of henchmen to do his bidding.

[Ted C]

- Moriarty the evil scientist (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen): this guy invented weapons and technology that was decades ahead of its time (and more, I remember one of his henchman mutating in a hulk-isch creature) and he has a small private army to use them. Probably the guy that can bring the most fire- and manpower to the game, although its more about quantity than quality.

This Moriarity didn't invent much. The whole point of forming the League (in the movie at least) was to gain access to their special powers and steal them. It was a decent ruse, but he's no scientific genius. He just foresaw the value of these technologies for making war and wanted to get a monopoly on them. He's a good planner, but probably the least dangerous of the options.

- Moriarty the diplomat (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows): A more subtle evil scientist. Amongs other things, he could hypnothise a full restaurant and knows plastic surgercy well before its time. Has a rather competent group of henchmen, including a master sniper. Surprisingly good in martial arts and a hand to hand fight against Batman would be interesting to say the least.

This Moriarty seems considerably smarter and more of a planner than the first. Not that he hypnotized anyone (he appears to have just bribed everyone in the restaurant). He has a very large and capable organization, which would be an even more serious threat when brought up to 21st century standards. This is the sort of guy who would keep Batman putting out fires for ages with hardly a clue pointing to him. Very hard work for the Bat.

- Moriarty the psychopath (Sherlock - BBC TV series): the craziest and most unpredictable of the bunch and twice as scary as the Joker (imo anyway). Likely to play games with Batman to entertain himself, but because of his highly volatile nature, he might as well try to bomb Bruce's mansion and get it over with. Also has a decent gang of henchmen to do his bidding.

Crazy psychopaths are Batman's bread and butter, although the Christopher Nolan version doesn't have the crazy rogue's gallery we normally associate with Bats. Crazy is unpredictable, but crazy is also more careless. I'd say he's the number two threat from the options.

[jwl]

The fact TV Moriarty was able to evade Sherlock should tell you something. Is moriarty stays in the shadows and keeps a using his influence to cause havoc, he could cause a huge amount of havoc. If he gains an interest in batman or anyone else, though, he could end up giving the game away.
I haven't seen the other two outside a short appearance the first Sherlock Holmes movie.

[SCRawl]

I'm only familiar with the Moriarty from the original stories and the TV Moriarty versions, but if we allow that he's going to find out Batman's identity, then the Wayne family tree will be sprouting no new branches. If Moriarty (from the stories) feels that his life and/or liberty are being placed in serious jeopardy, then he'll simply have a sniper henchman camp outside Wayne Manor (or similarly convenient location) and put a round through Bruce's skull. He's completely ruthless when cornered.

[jwl]

He probably could work out movie batman's identity, too.

[Havok]

Dude, anyone with half a brain and a library card could work out who Nolanverse Batman is.

[wautd]

Personally I picked the diplomat. He has the skills to secretly run Gothams underground behind the scenes. However, in contrast to the psychopath, I see this guy running for mayor as well without anyone realizing he's a criminal mastermind.

[jwl]

Personally I picked the diplomat. He has the skills to secretly run Gothams underground behind the scenes. However, in contrast to the psychopath, I see this guy running for mayor as well without anyone realizing he's a criminal mastermind.

Seeing as BBC Moriarty was able to convince sherlock he was molly's gay boyfriend and the poilce that he was an innocent actor despite all the things he had done, BBC sherlock likely could pull this off. I can also see him pulling a David Cain on Bruce, which could have interesting consequences for nolan's batman.

[Scrib]

- Moriarty the psychopath (Sherlock - BBC TV series): the craziest and most unpredictable of the bunch and twice as scary as the Joker (imo anyway). Likely to play games with Batman to entertain himself, but because of his highly volatile nature, he might as well try to bomb Bruce's mansion and get it over with. Also has a decent gang of henchmen to do his bidding.

Crazy psychopaths are Batman's bread and butter, although the Christopher Nolan version doesn't have the crazy rogue's gallery we normally associate with Bats. Crazy is unpredictable, but crazy is also more careless. I'd say he's the number two threat from the options.

This seems like a pretty simple truism but TV Moriarty is pretty smart and has shown no real signs of being careless at any level. He's unpredictable and changeable but he beat Sherlock twice, being out-maneuvered at the last moment.

And the way he beat Sherlock the second time shows a weakness in the way that people like him and Batman operate. They're public, you can sow the seeds of doubt. The Joker nearly brought down Batman with a pretty simple plan and Moriarty used a more complex plan to frame Sherlock. Public figures like that have no defense against those tactics. Once people start dying their support wanes and the police do half your job for you.

Besides, as a consulting criminal he can make things...difficult.