I would not categorize myself as a “fan” of DC Comics, or of DC superhero movies. While I am a Marvel fanatic, I have just never been into DC movies the way I am Marvel movies. Part of me wishes I was, but the other, more sensible part of me realizes that the DC Extended Universe is messy and wholly not worth the effort.
Indeed, the DCEU cannot seem to stand for more than a few feeble moments before studio execs decide that it is time for yet another reboot. If I had a nickel for every time they have “hard rebooted” the entire DCEU, I would have two nickels. While this is not a lot, it is still weird that it happened twice, and I for one find that very off-putting.
However, this piece is not a critical look at the DCEU. Rather, this piece is to discuss the most important question everyone’s favorite vigilante has ever faced: is Batman a furry? And further, what does this mean for our society as a whole?
I think the first thing to address is how exactly we are defining the term “furry.” In the most broad terms, “furry” is a term that refers to a subculture of people that like to dress up as anthropomorphic animals that have their own voices, personalities, names and life stories. A person’s furry persona is referred to as their “fursona.” While the concept of furries is not inherently sexual or kinky, the group has its origins in the underground comix movement and was, in its earliest form, very sexual and contained a lot of explicit content.
That aside, I think it might be safe to say that a furry does not have to be a sexual being or have any sexual intent. I have thoroughly ruined my search history in researching this topic, and I think that even though a shockingly large portion of the furry community may identify with their fursona in a sexual manner, a significant portion still seem to not. Rather, many people with fursonas see it as a form of escapism, becoming someone else and, in some cases, coping with emotional problems one is facing.
With this definition of furry, it seems completely plausible for Batman to fall into this category. Next to Annie, Bruce Wayne is the world’s most famous orphan. His parents were murdered in front of him when he was just eight years old. He was old enough at the time to retain memories, and certainly was left traumatized by the incident. As we see in “The LEGO Batman Movie” — objectively the best Batman movie ever created — Bruce struggles with grief. Though his exterior is tough and hard, underneath it all he is truly struggling with the loss of his family. This is why he becomes Batman in the first place; as a rich young boy, he could afford all sorts of gadgets and technologies to aid him in fighting the type of crime that ripped his family away from him. He created the Batman persona to be a vigilante crime fighter, and do what he could not to save his parents. With this in mind, I believe it is safe to say that Batman is indeed Bruce Wayne’s fursona.
This realization does come with interesting implications. Obviously, Bruce Wayne is not the only superhero with a tragic backstory, and he is not the only superhero to become so after a traumatic experience; we see this trope throughout many comics, including Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch to name a few. Could this mean, then, that these other heroes could also be classified as furries? That would make an outrageous number of superheroes furries. Does their existence minimize the validity of the ‘Batman is a furry’ argument? I for one do not think so.
I think other people having similar experiences and coping with them in similar ways does not negate the reality of their individual situations. Batman being a furry does not mean that every other superhero has a fursona, nor is Batman easily dismissed as not a furry due to the existence of normie superheroes. On the contrary, I think their coexistence is symbiotic. The fact that Batman chose a fursona and other heroes chose more fantastical alter egos is neither here nor there; they are all valid as vigilantes who stop mediocre amounts of crime and cause an insane amount of property damage.
I think if Batman were to come out as a furry, a lot of people would be very angry. I am not a furry, and I have never met anyone in-person who openly admits to being one, but from what I have seen online, furries are pretty misunderstood. They often get dismissed as being weird, or innately sexual, and I do not think this is fair.
Ultimately, I fail to see much difference between a person with a fursona and a person in cosplay; the only difference is that one of them is an original character (which takes a lot more artistic skill and creativity). I think that if someone as rich, powerful and well-loved in the public eye were to come out as a furry, the people of Gotham might accept him for who he is: a rich white man who does not pay taxes and moonlights as a bat that beats on bad guys.