Batman and Cheetah Kiss

This seemingly makes no sense, since Batman is a hero, and Cheetah is, well, bad. But when he is seen captured in episode 9 of The Justice League cartoon series, we see Batman and Cheetah kiss as he manipulates those who captured him in different ways. How did this come to be? The answer is quite interesting, as shown in this two-part story called Injustice For All.

It starts with Lex Luthor escaping from prison along with Ultra-Humanite. The two of them recruit several other villains, one of them happening to be Cheetah. The Justice League is caught off guard as they weren’t prepared for a team of villains. Cheetah pretends to be a hostage victim and takes the opportunity to attack Batman. Soloman Grundy is present and beats the heck out of Superman in a hilarious fashion. Copperhead bites Batman and he gets poisoned. Luthor’s team of criminals retreat while Batman gets treated for venom.

The Joker finds Lex Luthor and the other criminals and convinces them that they need him because he knows how Batman thinks. Against The Justice League’s wishes, Batman abandons the bed and medical attention he was receiving and decides to find Luthor using a tracking device he planted on him. Once Batman tracked the criminals to their location, Joker steps out of the shadows and hits Batman with a bag of rocks. This leads to his capture.

In the following episode we see that Batman is wrapped in titanium, making his escape impossible. While Luthor is busy trying to open Batman’s utility belt, Cheetah is ordered to watch Batman. The two of them start talking about her past and how Cheetah was once a human and used herself as a test subject. Cheetah is surprised how much Batman knows about her and asks how he knows so much. He says that cats aren’t the only ones who are curious. Before anybody knows what happened, the two of them kiss.

Meanwhile Luthor manages to open Batman’s utility belt and finds that it has batarangs and grenades in it (yes, grenades). Most importantly though, Luthor finds a key remote that allows the villains to enter the Justice League satellite base. Once inside, Martian Manhunter is subdued and bombs are planted. The Justice League team goes to find what happened to Martian Manhunter, then find the bomb and dispose of it after receiving an anonymous call revealing its presence. Since the team of villains were betrayed, Lex Luthor looks for the one who leaked the information. He thinks the culprit is obvious due to what can be seen on the surveillance cameras. Low and behold, the footage reveals that Batman and Cheetah kiss.

If you want a hard copy of the show Justice League and don’t care about it being in HD, I would recommend getting it (affiliate link) on DVD and not Blu-ray since it’s much cheaper in that format.

A Good Couple?

If we could compare personalities and objectives, they would be complete opposites. Cheetah is an evil and vindictive villain. Batman, on the other hand, is a selfless hero who fights for justice. It is really hard to imagine these two coming together or even being attracted to one another. Their contradicting ideologies and moral codes would hinder them from having a successful, meaningful, and happy relationship.

While it is a major rule for Batman not to kill, Cheetah would do it without considering the moral implications if it would help her reach her goals. This variation in their principles would result in continuous clashes between them as partners. Think about having dinner with such a person; you will probably change your mind about having a romantic dinner, unless you are ready to see them murder someone.

Their history is another point worth looking at. Wonder Woman is Cheetah’s number one archenemy, and she also has a long-standing grudge against the Amazonian princess. On the other hand, Batman and Wonder Woman have strong bonds, and in some DC stories, they are in love with each other. But it would be awkward for Batman to fall for somebody who hates one of his best buddies.

To cap it off, Cheetah and Batman’s power dynamics would also be an odd or even violent coupling. Cheetah is a half-human, half-cheetah mixture endowed with superhuman strength and agility that could put her on top in physical confrontations with Batman. The presence of this power imbalance may create a toxic relationship where Cheetah uses her powers to control and manipulate Batman.

Thus, despite the notion of Cheetah and Batman’s love story appearing to be fascinating, it would seem an odd and implausible couple. Their dissimilar characters, philosophies, and backgrounds make it hard to think of a relationship that would be strong and proper for both sides. Also, their power dynamics can create a hazardous and unhealthy situation. Therefore, let us keep these two as enemies; let Batman’s romantic life fall to someone who shares his beliefs and values.