Batman's Most Useful Gadgets

Over the many years, Batman, the comic book hero we all know and love to this day, has had more and more gadgets added to his utility belt. Sure, he's not like Superman with laser eyes and the ability to fly, but who needs super powers when you're a multi-billionaire who can afford to supply yourself with various gadgets to aid you in crime-fighting? In a recent poll, people have voted for what they think Batman's most useful gadget is, ranging from the classic Batarang to the...Bat Shark Repellent spray? (What were they thinking!?). Swiftly moving away from Shark Repellent, here are the top 10 results:

10. Batmobile Remote Control Featured in: Batman 1989, Arkham Knight Playing the Arkham Knight game would be pretty difficult and time consuming if we didn't have something to summon the batmobile with, gliding from rooftop to rooftop, looking at the streets below for the batmobile, whilst Scarecrow is threatening to poison the city with his fear toxins, so having this gadget in his utility belt is extremely useful to get around the city quickly...

9. Gauntlets

Featured in: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight The gauntlets have always been a part of the batsuit, but only really served a purpose when Christopher Nolan created Batman Begins in 2005. After training with Ras al Ghul, Batman used them to block knife/sword attacks and in The Dark Knight, they helped Batman stop The Joker towards the end of the movie. Before Nolan's trilogy, the gauntlets were just there, not really doing anything, especially on Adam West's Batman, where they just flopped around...

8. Memory Cloth Cape Featured in: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy had explained how Batman's cape actually works, using science to do so. Lucius explained that the memory cloth would aid Batman in gliding around Gotham and actually act as a useful cape, when an electric current passes through the material with the help from his gloves which sent the current through. So, basically, it would be a lot harder for Batman to glide without those gloves...maybe they should have been an option in the poll...

7. Explosive Gel Featured in: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City Around Arkham Asylum and Gotham as a whole, there are conveniently placed 'weak walls' for which Batman needs to get through to stop the various villains in the games. Luckily (and conveniently), The Caped Crusader has explosive gel to help blow up those walls, taking out anyone stood nearby or revealing one of The Riddler's trophies, which Batman needs to collect in order to find the Riddler. So, yes, explosive gel is extremely useful, if you want to beat The Riddler at his own game...

6. Detective Vision Featured in: Arkham Asylum, Arkham City

Detective vision was one of the most useful gadgets in the Arkham games as they helped Batman see through walls to find whether or not there were any unwanted criminals trying to take out the bat. If this was a top 10 list of the most useful gadgets in the Arkham games, detective vision would probably be at number one. Detective vision allows Batman to see the condition of a person and their heart rate, so when in predator mode, it was always fun to see a guy go from 'calm' to 'terrified'. People who were armed with guns were highlighted as orange, whereas people who had just their fists or a baseball bat to fight, were highlighted blue. It wasn't a fun experience when you entered a room and used detective vision to find that everyone had a gun...

5. Disruptor

Featured in: Arkham City, Arkham Knight

Using detective vision in a room to find out everyone had a gun, would probably have made the player have a mini panic attack, unless they were good at predator mode. But this was before Batman had the disruptor in his utility belt. This extremely useful gadget was introduced in Arkham City and allowed the player to sabotage guns being used by criminals. Using the disruptor on someone's gun was priceless whenever the player dropped down in front of them and saw them panic when they found out something was wrong with their gun. The disruptor was a big help when Batman was challenged to use all the skills he knew to take out Mr Freeze...

4. Batcomputer

Featured in: Batman 1989, Arkham Asylum

The Batcomputer had aided The Dark Knight take out many of Gotham's most wanted throughout the years. The Batcomputer can allow Batman to do almost everything, from watching The Joker advertise his products (?) in the 1989 movie to doing DNA matches in Under the Red Hood. Batman even used the computer to play a disc of Penguin threatening Gotham during his mayor election speech in Tim Burton's Batman Returns.

3. Batsuit

Featured in: Everything...(?)

Ok, so maybe I've pushed the boundaries a bit here of what a gadget is, but the batsuit itself contains so many gadgets which help Batman in his crime-fighting nights, such as the electric current gloves; seen in Nolan's trilogy and Arkham Origins, communication devices in the cowl; to allow Batman communicate to others, a voice disguise built into the cowl to disguise his voice from Batman vs Superman and so many more!

2. Batarang Featured in: Batman Begins, Arkham Games

The classic gadget Batman has used for so many years has aided him in hurting his opponents, like that time when he threw two into The Joker's eye and shoulder in The Dark Knight Returns part 2. The batarangs have adapted in many different ways as the years have gone on. In the Arkham series, Batman is equipped with sonic batarangs, to lure people over and shock them, and remote control batarangs, to trick his opponents, making them think it came from a different direction. It also allows Batman to hit switches that are too far away to hit with a regular batarang.

1. Batclaw/Grappling Hook

Featured in: Batman 1989, Arkham Games

Ok, maybe they are two separate things, but they are so similar in many ways and we don't know for certain if they are the same thing in the Arkham series (or maybe we do, and I'm just being dumb). Without the batclaw/grappling hook, Batman would be forced to climb ladders or stairs to get on top of a building, just so he can use his memory cloth cape and he wouldn't be able to make a quick escape out of dangerous situations or grapple up to gargoyles in the Arkham games. So that's why the batclaw/grappling hook has been voted as the number one most useful gadget!

Who would have guessed that the Shark Repellent, the Bat Ice Skates and the Bat Credit Card wouldn't have made it to the top 10 list of Batman's most useful gadgets!? Maybe for another list, 'Batman's least useful gadgets'. I'm sure many things from Schumacher's Batman movies will make it to that list... Well, there you have it! They are the top 10 most useful gadgets used by The Caped Crusader! Take part in the question polls on Facebook!