Batmans Rogues Gallery Is Just His Dysfunctional Polycule
Batman doesn't have enemies. He has a rotating cast of intimate partners who each meet a specific psychological need that he can't get from any one of them.
This isn't metaphor. Through the lens of attachment theory, every member of Batman's rogues gallery maps to a specific relational pattern. The Joker is his trauma bond. Catwoman is his avoidant mirror. Talia is his enmeshment wound. Alfred is his enabler.
This series examines Batman's relationships as a polycule—a complex web of interdependent attachments that sustain his psyche. It's attachment theory applied to Gotham, and it explains more about the character than any origin story ever could.
Bruce vs. Batman: Dissociation as Strategy
When the mask is the real face.
Batman and Joker: The Trauma Bond
Why he never actually kills him.
Batman and Poison Ivy
Seduction, control, and ecological rage.
Batman and Talia: Enmeshment
When the enemy is also the mother of your child.
Bruce and Selina: Attachment Styles
Two avoidants trying to connect.
Batman and Alfred: The Enabler
The butler who built the batcave.
Batman and Bane: Masochism
The man who broke the bat.
The Riddler: Cuck Intellectual
Needing to be seen as smart.
Lego Batman and Attachment
The children's movie that got it right.
