r/arkham•
Slenderman35999

Batman can do it all!

Discussion

I finally think I've figured it out. For years, I've wondered "How does batman do it all in one night?" Of course, it's a video game. I can suspend my disbelief to realize that to do the entire main story plus all the side quests in one night would be basically impossible. But, what if, it wasn't quite impossible? I think I can explain how he does it in asylum, city, origins, and knight. (I'm ignoring shadow because it takes place over multiple days.)

DISCLAIMER: Though it seems to be relatively vague, I am going to be operating under the assumption that Gotham is meant to be a stand in for new jersey. I have no proof of this, but given its proximity to the water, the lack of Florida's beaches, the presence of snow, and batman saying explicitly in knight that Crane's fear toxin was big enough to "cover the entire eastern seaboard in fear toxin", I'm going to assume that Gotham City is/is in New Jersey. Also note, the dates and times of year these four games take place are canonically said in game, with the exception of city, as that is never expressly said to my knowledge.

Asylum: This is probably simultaneously the easiest and hardest one to prove. I say this, because it isn't the easiest to place the time of year this game takes place during. We know that it takes place 18 months prior to the events of city, where it is snowing. And yes, I know this is because of Freeze, but there is another explanation for it (keep reading). So, working backwards by 18 months, it's probably safe to assume that this game takes place in June/July. Though it can vary, night lasts on average 9-10 hours during this time of year. I believe that this is also the shortest game (in universe) purely because the story is very simple. Stop Joker. If you are playing the game casually, it could take you up to 5 real world hours to complete the main game, with a couple more to finish up the riddler trophies. So, batman would have time to finish the entire game within the 9 hours.

City: This game takes place 9 months before knight, making it approximately mid to late January/early February. We know this because it is clear that knight happens during Halloween. Now, this one is a little easier to prove. It should also be stated that since we are in the northeastern part of the United States, it already has longer nights than usual. So how long does night last here? Well, it can last anywhere from 14 to 15 hours. Yeah. No joke. So, even though Protocol 10 takes place after 10 in game hours, Bruce does have plenty of time to do all of his quests.

Origins: This game very clearly takes place on December 24th. During this time of year night lasts up to 14 hours. So, I'd say it works out.

Knight: Clearly takes place on Halloween day, and thus, 9 months after City. Night length? 12 1/2 - 13 1/2. Even though this probably the hardest one to believe just because of all the things happening in this game, Bruce is also a heck of lot more experience with a suit that makes him quicker and the like. So, could he do it? Most likely, yeah. Though, it'd be more believable if he's actively doing side quests in between the main story.

And if you don't believe that Gotham is actually set in New York (per the dark knight series), here's the times accordingly:

Asylum: approx. 9 hours (depending on the month)

City: 13 1/2 - almost 15 hours (depending on the month)

Origins: almost 15 hours

Knight: 12.5 - 13.5

TL:DR

It is absolutely possible for Batman to complete every single one of the four main games in one night due to the time of year plus geographical location of Gotham City.
What do y'all think? I feel like I'm pretty on point with this, but I'm curious as to what y'all think, Remember, this would be for batman. Could any of us do it? Probably not lol.

Posted Jun 30, 2025, 3:06 AM UTC

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