Characters I interpret as Ace

This is not a complete list of every character in works I’m into that can be interpreted as Asexual and/or Aromantic.  They are characters I have a particular interest in interpreting this way, and largely came to this interpretation on my own before seeing any evidence that anyone else had also interpreted them as Ace.

I’m not Ace myself and so none of this is driven by a desire to see myself in these characters and in fact some of what I say may unwittingly reflect my own lack of understanding of Aceness.

Being Ace is a nuanced identity, besides the Sexual/Romantic distinction many make, there are some who wind up in sexual or romantic relationships in spite of identifying as Ace.  So some of these may be characters who the Canon gives a partner eventually but that doesn't invalidate my reading.  Some may even be characters who I myself also Ship with another character, but Shipping to me is not inherently Sexual or even always Romantic, it’s ultimately about liking the chemistry between two characters and wanting to see more of them together.

So I’m not even going to clarify whether I think a given character is Asexual or Aromantic or both as I’m not even sure I understand the line between them.

Cassandra Cain/Batgirl:  Since Batman is my oldest Fandom I figured I should start with the Bat Family member on that list. My direct experience with this character is limited, mostly Comics after she was no longer Mute but before Infinite Crisis, and even within that time frame is by no means complete.  But she does show a lack of interest in Romance.  

She is the main reason for one of my above clarifications since I’m also a StephCass shipper, but how I view Steph’s orientation isn't solely defined by this Ship either.

Terra Branford: A good deal of her early game dialogue is about being unaffected by the flirting of the charming male character and feelings like she lacks something because of it.  She’s from Final Fantasy VI originally released in the US on the SNES as Final Fantasy III.

Paul of Tarsus: Is not a Fictional Character but I wanted to cover him here anyway. Much of my efforts to debunk Puritan and Ascetic readings of the New Testament involves stressing how in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul expresses hesitance to even talk on this subject and clearly says he’s NOT speaking with the Apostolic Authority he is on other issues. The fact is he clearly has a lack of ability to even relate to the desires that most people have.

Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in the Manga/Crystal:  Rei in the Manga canon is quite adamant about her lack of interest in men.  And as someone more sympathetic to the Manga fans complaints about the 90s Anime then most it still bugs me when they default to framing how Rei was changed as Straight Washing a Lesbian.   Rei’s wording it as not interested in “Men” does not mean she is interested in women, we live in a Heteronormative society where often the default way to express a lack of interest in Romance is to say you're uninterested in the other Sex. 

Anri Sonohara: There is a lot made in Durarara!! about her inability to Love in a traditionally romantic sense.  Made all the more awkward by her being bonded with a sentient magical Yandere Katana.

Akito Yamada: It’s particularly awkward when you are coming to an Ace reading of a Romantic Lead in a Romantic Anime, and one example of that happening to me is with the title character of My Love Story with Yamada-Kun at Lv999.  This character very heavily comes off as Asexual and the knowledge that the genre setup sees that as an issue he needs to overcome is frustrating.  

Yuu Koito: Bloom Into You is one of the most beloved Yuri Anime of the last decade, yet the Asexual vibes of its protagonist are just as thick.  Yuu isn’t the only possible Ace character in this show however. Seji Maki is definitely Ace, and there is the scene where he distinguishes his lack of interest in Romance from Yuu’s, but I don’t really think that means only one of them can qualify as Ace.

Ai Amatsu: Injuu Seisen is a Hentai series, so this might be the most baffling of all, how can I argue a Hentai character is Asexual?  Well the story involves evil Lust Demons as you might expect, and Ai seems almost completely immune to their lust inducing powers.  Now you might think that’s simply because of her own super power as one of the Twin Heroines of this series.  But her sister Mai who has the same magical gifts is absolutely NOT so immune, she is very very horny actually.

Batgirl Begins vs Shadow of The Bat

The Barbara Gordon Batgirl has a pretty flexible origin story, since it's not rooted in a specific Tragedy the way other Urban Vigilante Superheroes are.  What's important is that she's the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon, but what prompts her to first don the Cowl changes more then any other well known Bat Family member.

When the Comics themselves reboot this story they tend to keep at least the initial premise of Killer Moth being the villain of her origin story.  But we haven't seen this Batgirl's origin on the Big Screen or in a modern Live Action TV show yet.  And both major Animated versions we've been given choose to use a different villain.  So I decided to compare them.

I know to most Millennial Bat Nerds it's not even a competition, Batman The Animated Series provided the definitive version of everything it covers, while The Batman is mostly forgotten today eclipsed in cultural importance by all the DC Animated Shows that surrounded it.

But in the case of specifically Batgirl's origin story I actually prefer The Batman's take in the two part episode titled Batgirl Begins.

The Shadow of The Bat two parter of Batman The Animated series is at face value a more realistic story.  And yet it's scenario makes it really implausible that anyone would fail to know Batgirl was Gordon's Daughter, her introduction is at an event showing support for Gordon and everyone sees she has the same relatively rare hair color as his daughter.

Villain wise I'm kinda tired of Two-Face being the villain of the origins of Batman sidekicks.  And I know in September of 93 most examples of that hadn't happened yet, but it's with the Robins that it works in a weird way, Batman's fallen ally creating his true partner.  And on a series I want Two-Face to be the villain in episodes that actually focus on Harvey, this one didn't do that at all.

Batgirl Begins creates a much more natural circumstance, and using Poison Ivy works surprisingly well.

I suppose Batgirl Begins should also be compared to other Poison Ivy origins, but we never really see her origin on BTAS actually.  BTAS is kind of responsible for everyone thinking of her as an extreme environmentalist (in the Pre-Crisis cannon she wasn't even a Pamela Isely and was basically just Catwoman with vines instead of whips), but Pretty Poison did not actually present this as something ideological or a potential reason to sympathize with her, it's presented as only a lunatic would value Flowers equal to much less more then Human Life.

Batgirl Begins tells their origin together and has Barbara actually caring about the same issue and for that reason is the version most actually sympathetic to Ivy's motivations.

I find myself actually liking The Batman's art-style more now then I did back when the show first aired.  It has a look kind of similar to the 00s Teen Titans show which is partly why some fans theorize they're in the same Universe.  But again it's not as well remembered now which is why it's mainly just Teen Titans that gets brought up as being an allegedly "Anime Style" American Cartoon.  Some other Western Cartoons with a related style of the era are W.I.T.C.H. and Winx Club.

Thing is I'm too much of a fan of the real Teen Titans lore to be okay with that weird version., while it is with Batman I'm a lot more flexible.  So now that I've been an Otaku for several years I can appreciate The Batman's style.  Still it is a very specific kind of Anime these shows resemble, mostly late Gainax and early Trigger stuff, but perhaps a few select things Toei did.  BTAS itself was inspired by Anime that came before (Akira and some Lupin III) and an inspiration on Anime that came later (The Big O), and none of these looks are what I'd ideally want an Anime DC Universe to look like.

I've rambled off topic a bit.  The point of bringing the Anime stuff up in this post is because on this show Barbara looks kind of like an Anime Girl, and that's pretty cool.

Stephanie Brown and Chuck Dixon's politics

[Update 2026: When I made this series of posts I was still mistaken about some aspects of Political terminology are used.  I called myself a Liberal but I was actually already a Socialist.]

I made a post on this blog where I observed how surprisingly sometimes conservative writers treat women better then male liberal writers, which was a follow up to one of my Paul Feval posts.  This post is essentially me adding one more example to that observation.  Once again, I'm making these observations as a Liberal of sorts, a Left Leaning Libertarian-Communist SJW.

Chuck Dixon is one of the more notorious examples of a rare conservative Comic Book writer, probably the most notorious example of one to write for Batman (calling Frank Miller a conservative is a massive oversimplification).  Rumor has it he used to have heated political arguments with Denny O'Neil, I imagine Gun Control is the only issue where I'd side with Dixon over O'Neil.

Chuck Dixon created my favorite Batman character, who is obviously then also my favorite female Batman character, and second favorite Comic Book character over all.  Stephanie Brown aka The Spoiler, formally known as both Robin and Batgirl, the depending how you count things 4th holder of both those titles.

In addition to creating Stephanie, there are other women he didn't create but who largely became how fans of my generation and a little older remember them mostly in comics Dixon wrote, from Sarah Essen to Helena Bertinelli.  The earliest Bertinelli stories were pretty much writing her the same as the later Helena Wayne stories (they had the same writer I've heard), it was Dixon who made her distinct.  He was also heavily involved in the early success of Birds of Prey before Gail Simone took over and brought them to their height.  He also co-wrote Batgirl Year One, which I heard Gail Simone tried to convince DC/WB to make an Animated Movie for.

But I mainly want to talk about Stephanie.  Chuck Dixon wrote the three part story that introduced her in 1992 in Detective Comics, and wrote the Tim Drake Robin title for the first 100 issues, he may have took some months off, I'm not sure, but he was the main writer in charge.  Stephanie never got to be Robin in a story Dixon wrote, but behind the scenes he had been championing her becoming Robin for a long time.  That the very first Robin Comic after Dixon left featured an alternate reality with Steph as Robin is probably still the influence of where Dixon wanted to go.

Steph's pregnancy storyline is possibly the only time Dixon's politics seemed to influence his writing.  The narrative doesn't outright condemn Abortion, but he heavily stresses how Steph was firmly opposed to taking that option.

In general Dixon's Batman writing is often considered the best of 90s Batman (in the Comics at least).  Though it's perhaps not a coincidence that many's main criticism of him is being unwilling to give villains sympathy or depth, which was especially egregious when he wrote Two-Face.

The friendship between Stephanie and Cassandra Cain also started on Dixon's watch.  I wonder what thoughts he'd have on the popularity of shipping them?

Almost immediately after Dixon left, the direction Stephanie's story was going took a sharp turn.  She was finally officially being trained by Batman, then out of the blue he tries forcing her to quit.  Helena and the Birds of Prey were in good hands with Gail Simone, but for Stephanie all her fans feel she was horribly mistreated from now till she got her Batgirl run, then she got screwed over again by the New52 relaunch.

The War Games story-line (and others connected to it) is one I happen to really like, the premise is one I can't believe it took Batman writers so long to think of, and it's filled with wonderful character moments and a sense of escalating tension that anticipates The Dark Knight.

But the treatment of Stephanie is horrible, it's textbook fridging, and most of my fellow Stephanie fans are incapable of forgiving the story for that. And even during the build up to that story, it seemed DC was obsessed with foreshadowing the idea that Stephanie will be the next Jason Todd.

I wonder how many Stephanie Brown fans who lament Dixon's exit know he's a Conservative?

Update September 2018:  Perhaps another good contrast to Dixon here would be Denny O'Neil who he's rumored to have argued with a lot.  O'Niel was definitely a very liberal writer, Green Arrow became so Liberal from being made basically O'Niel own mouth piece in the 70s.

But he's done a lot to make Feminists not very happy, from the mod Era Wonder Woman debacle, to unceremoniously fridging Kathy Kane/Batwoman near the end of his League of Assassins saga.  And he was the Batman editor when The Killing Joke happened, meaning he can possibly be said to share some blame for allowing how badly Barbara Gordon was treated there.

The neglected members of The Bat Family, in adaptations at least

Stephanie Brown is the only wearer of the Robin mantle to never appear in an Animated DC movie.  And yes I'm willing to count appearing not as Robin.  Most she's had is a cameo on an animated series.

Cassandra Cain has likewise only had a cameo in a DCAU alternate universe.  Even the Arkham Games have ignored these two.

Those happen to be my two favorite Batman characters.  I really want to see them get their moment in the sun, which DC Animation has given to so many others now including characters less then a decade old.  And if Stephanie only appears as Spoiler that's fine.

Tim Drake is probably my favorite male Bat Family member.

Of the Robins that have gotten their moment in the sun in animation, Tim Drake has arguably had it the worst, even if his total screen time is second only to Dick.  He only appeared in the Timmverse where he is this much younger chibi Robin with Jason Todd's backstory and who's fate is the premise of Batman Beyond Return of The Joker.

And he appears as Red Robin in the Batman Unlimited cartoons, but in that universe they make him an idiot.

Dick Grayson has predictably gotten the most attention (being the only one to appear in Live Action so far, but Jason Todd is scheduled to show up supposedly in the DCEU).  But Dick, Jason Todd, Carrie Kelly and Damien Wayne have all gotten to be in (sort of) direct adaptations of Comics stories featuring them in the direct to DVD animated movies that have been going on for nearly a decade now.

They started basing the movies on more contemporary Comics right when they launched the most hated DC Continuity ever.  So the era where Tim, Cass and Steph had their best stories went almost immediately from being to recent to being to old to be the subject mater of one of these Animated Movies.

And now the thought of Teen Titans Judas Contract being rewritten to star Damien Wayne and not have Donna Troy really fills me with dread.

Now, Tim, Steph (as Batgirl) and Cass have been featured in stories with Damien Wayne, but those are the Damien dynamics being ignored by the current Damien Wayne worshiping animated canon.

Thing is their best stories were frequently in the spin off comics, ones that didn't actually star Batman.  Though you would need a big Batman Crossover event to find all three together.  The only one of those Steph was really prominent in was War Games, which I love but many hate.  I fear a Brace Wayne Murder/Fugitive adaptation would have Steph's scenes be the first to land on the cutting room floor.

If DC asked me for a Batman script.  I'd basically write my own alternate follow up to Under The Red Hood/Infinite Crisis/52.  Where Cass never goes Evil but maybe still becomes The Black Bat.  Tim still graduates from being Robin to take a new mantle and Steph becomes the permanent 4th Robin  And if someone new takes on the Batgirl mantle it'll be a sidekick for Kate Kane as Batwoman.  And no lame Batman RIP or Final Crisis story-line, (or Sinestro Corps/Blackest Night either),  Damien Wayne will not exist.  And StephCass will become Canon.

Batman Bad Blood animated movie

I watched the Batman Bad Blood direct to DVD animated movie this last week.

Of this Damien Wayne series I liked this one the best by far.  It still bums me out that this depiction of the Bat Family is ignoring Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain and Tim Drake.  But in this I'm glad we're finally getting a Bat Family that is more then just Batman and Robins.

I have not followed the era of the comics being depicted here.  I get a general vibe that this one is following the comics less closely then the previous two, and I guess it says something about the post Infinite Crisis comics that that seems to have been for the better.

What I liked most is Kate Kane.  I can't really judge how faithful this was to the comics, but I do know of her enough to expect certain things.  And I can say that this was a good introduction for the character to non comic readers.

She is a Lesbian in this as she should be, and they handled it well, they treated her love life like they would if she was straight.  Montoya was pretty good in her brief appearance.

I am starting to notice that this is the most in-depth Batman canon to not yet feature The Joker.  Is the planned Killing Joke movie going to be in the same continuity?

You can make a shared Universe of just Batman

I'm serious, so many Batman supporting characters, including ones with currently no Mainstream recognizably, have carried their own spin off titles. There have been times when between a 4th to a 3rd of all monthly DC comics being published in the main continuity are set in Gotham city (or nearby Bludhaven). More Comics then marvel usually has about the core Avengers team members (X-Men is in fact Marvel's biggest franchise, which Fox is demonstrating by making a Shared Universe of just them). 

Start with a Batman solo movie where he works on his own, even though the others already exist, not unlike the first two Arkham Games.   Though Oracle can contribute and maybe at least a brief appearance from Robin.

Then do movies for Nightwing, Tim Drake Robin, Cassandra Cain Batgirl (Spoiler would have a supporting role in both) then movies for Birds of Prey, Catwoman and Batwoman. Then the team up movie can be called something like Batman: Gotham Knights. Maybe have two Solo Batman movies for each phase so we don't forget he's the star. 

That's how much bigger DC's universe is, Marvel could only do that with X-Men. DC's biggest is Batman, but at times Superman can be similar when you have Supergirl and Superboy, and some of the local Metropolis non powered Heroes like Steel, Guardian and Gangbuster, also Rose and Thorn. 

And DC could theoretically do it with Green Lantern too, have a Trilogy about Earth's Sector's current GL, and then one or two about the Corps out in Deep space (Don't forget there is a Squirrel GL who can rival GOTG's Racoon). then throw in The Corps unaffiliated GLs like Alan Scott, his daughter Jade and Guy Gardner back when he had a Yellow Ring. 

Recently I heard well over half of all DC's comics where those 3 franchises together. I just wish WW and Flash could grow that much, people love Diana's teen Sidekicks too, but they never get their own Serieses, just supporting roles in WW and Teen Titans. 

WB isn't gonna do that anytime soon, but when the current Cinematic Universe proves profitable, I think they may consider it 10 or so years down the road when it's time to Reboot again. 

But back specifically to the Batman shared Universe idea, I think that'd ideally be done with a TV Show format actually. For the basic Fall-Spring Season have several shows running (the titles I listed above, plus a Gotham Central Police Procedural), literally more or less make a brand new Network just for Batman shows. Then during each Summer between the seasons have a special miniseries for the Big Crossover events. 

But Warner will never do that, because the Big Screen always gets first dibs. 

I was mentioned in the Gotham Podcast

http://www.podasterynetwork.com/2015/02/19/1x16-the-blind-fortune-teller/

I am quite glad they enjoyed my Emily Fields suggestion.  May or may not have realized I meant it partly as a reference to how Talia has a similar look.

There was another thing latter they replied to.  I made other comments in Chat, many were just repeating what I said in my last Gotham post on this blog.

One was something I expanded on in a comment on a DC TV Talk post.

I think it’s possible that Gotham’s Barbara is a merger of Barbara and Kate Kane and that she’ll become Batwoman

The last name they’ve given her is similar. And she has the Romantic link to Renee Montoya.

Plus is thematically works since she’s the mother of Batgirl

What made Jerome work as a good possible Joker to me is the emphasize on how freaked out Tompkins was by him.   I want The Joker to be a force that brings out the worst in others around him.
"When villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories"

The Joker needs to come off as an unfathomable evil even to people who deal with horrible psychopaths all the time.  And sometimes spread madness like a plague.  That's why I love about The Joker Blogs.

I want to see Montoya be a good Detective and ally to Gordon.

I honestly don't like her being The Question.  I feel like Comics sometimes take their crossoverness to far.  Someone introduced as a Batman side character becoming a successor to a character that was originally a completely different company is really lame to me.  I'm a fan of Montoya because of who she was before Infinite Crisis.  If they want to homage her Question future just have her meet Vic Sage.

I want Barbara to have marry Gordon and have Barbara II before the end of Season 2.  I don't want them putting that off forever.  Then have and Gordon get divorced.  Then have her become Batwoman like I suggested.

Characters I want to see on Gotham

First of all, I can't believe I didn't think of this as soon as the premise was announced, Dr. Leslie Tompkins.  She is important to Bruce's childhood.

Since the reopening of Arkham Asylum is gonna be a thing, we ought to see Jeremiah Arkham.

I want Barbara 1 to give have given birth to Barbara 2 by the end of Season 2.  We know that marriage is destined to fail and I don't want it dragged out to much.  I could care less however about the Son Gordon has.

Thomas Elliot and Roman Sionis have both been villains implied to be childhood friends or family friends of Bruce/The Waynes.  Thing about Elliot is I don't like the comic character that much, but I love The Joker Blogs re-imagining of him.  As unlikely as it may be, I'd love to see that version of the character as a teenager.

I'd like Selina to make friends with Holly Robinson soon, I was hoping the Blond Orphan in the second episode would be her, but that seems unlikely now.

I also feel like the overlooked really early pre Batman#1 Batman villians would be interesting choices.  Hugo Strange is the most well known of those.  Dr.Death might seem like the same thing as Strange to some, but I'd make Strange like a Moriarty or Cornelius Kramm figure, and Dr.Death a more typical mad Scientist.

But I personally would be most interested in seeing The Monk (ReImagined a few times since.).  He'd be perfect for a Halloween episode, create a Vampire Panic in Gotham, but it turns out to be a naturally explained in the end.....  or is it?