Bethesda May Have Refrenced/Ripoff Batman: The Animated Series

RangerBoo

Resident Schizo Poster
I was sitting back this Sunday, taking a break from finishing up my mod which is long overdue to be released by watching my favorite episode of Batman: The Animated Series, Heart of Ice. As I was watching a epiphany came over me. Mr. Freeze's wife is named Nora. The Sole Survivor (Who we all know is male in the canon. Don't try to kid yourself Bethesda.) wife is also named Nora. Like Mr. Freeze, The Sole Survivor allowed Vault-Tec to cyrogentically freeze his wife in order to save her from the Great War. So Bethesda, who we all know never had a original thought in their life, may have ripoff what is considered to be Paul Dini and Bruce Tim's masterpiece and the best supervillain origin in modern times and thought that their shitty rehash of "I'm looking for my father/son" story was on par with what is considered by fans to be the best Batman: The Animated Series episode. Now this may be a coincidence and I maybe over thinking this but given how Bethesda rips off other peoples work this may not be a reach.
 
I think this is overthinking it.
At most, it's a reference, which is something that isn't new to Fallout, or even entertainment in general.
 
The beginning of FO4 is almost a carbon copy of the beginning of Rage. You're frozen inside an "Ark," buried underground for over 100 years. You wake up as the only survivor of your ark and enter a post apocalyptic wasteland. Only difference is FO4 adds a dead spouse and a child.
 
Now this may be a coincidence and I maybe over thinking this but given how Bethesda rips off other peoples work this may not be a reach.
The original D&D manuals were full of artwork that their artist had lifted straight out of various comic books, and altered them to suit. The second Neverwinter Nights game (Bioware) had portraits in it of Robert De Niro, Angelina Jolie, and Catherine Zeta-Jones; among others. In TSR's case, they had to change the art in the reprints, and in Bioware's case, they had to replace the portraits in the patch.

If it IS a copy of Freeze's origin story, I doubt more than one person knew about it, and I don't doubt that if anyone else had found out, it would have been stopped on the spot. There is plenty enough contemptible about Bethesda's design practices, but I don't believe they would knowingly proceed with plagiarized content... even though this is the —second— incident that we know of. If it happened, I think it was done to them, not by them.

The beginning of FO4 is almost a carbon copy of the beginning of Rage. You're frozen inside an "Ark," buried underground for over 100 years. You wake up as the only survivor of your ark and enter a post apocalyptic wasteland. Only difference is FO4 adds a dead spouse and a child.
...In both Oblivion, and FO3, the PC is awoken in the night, and has to fight their way through an underground passage where after a conflict, they get sent on their way by a friendly acquaintance who was trusted by the old man they met—who is now dead, then they come to a tunnel (with a big round metal gate), that leads off into the distance, that later exits onto a hillside near a main settlement—where their adventure truly begins... It's trite, but these games are both theirs; and Id is theirs... they are allowed this risible recycling of plot... it suits their games, and they own it.
 
Last edited:
They're not copying anyone. Bethesda has already stated that they do not want to go backwards in time and only forward so that means any game has to take place 2 cenuries after the nukes, if they want to showcase the prewar and bring your character to the present then there's only so many options. Time travel, ghoulification, cryogenic freezeing. Just imagine if they had decided to go with the Fallout 2 easter egg of Chosen One causing the water chip in V13 to break time travel instead. Could be worse.
 
I am pretty sure that it's a reference but the problem when Bethesda reference something is that they border on plagiarism. When Obsidian and Black Isle used to reference something it was small and tongue in cheek. Bethesda however will lift story elements and plots from the things they reference. They have done this with:
Lovecraft
Mad Max
War of the Worlds
Fallout 1
Fallout 3 (Fallout 4 was a carbon copy of Fallout 3's story.)
New Vegas mods
Rage
Escape from New York
Lord of the Rings
Dungeons & Dragons

And this is all just the ones that are on the top of my head. Looking at this I have zero hope for Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda is probably just going to plagiarize Game of Thrones. Just replace the Night King and White Walkers with the Thalmor and replace the Wall with the Adamantine Tower. Fuck the Thalmor will probably have a dragon under their control too like the Night King. Only they will have several dragons because Bethesda story will be biggerer and betterer.
 
If I was Bethesda I would be careful when "referencing" other properties in future games. We all know that Bethesda is going to ape off Game of Thrones in the next Elder Scrolls game. Martin and HBO are probably the type who aren't afraid to sue. They already got in trouble with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro with their plagiarizing of a D&D campaign. Do they really want to face another lawsuit and investigation with George R.R Martin and HBO?
 

The first appears to be riping off a film while the second comes down to merchandising rights.
Neither are comparable to a sci to trope like waking up from Cryogenic sleep.
Maybe Nora was a reference, but that's as far the similarities go.
 
...wife is also named Nora. Like Mr. Freeze, The Sole Survivor allowed Vault-Tec to cyrogentically freeze his wife in order to save her from the Great War.

This is a pretty loose association and at best a reference with his wife being named Nora. He didn't freeze his wife, nor did he "allow" her to be frozen since no one in Vault 111 actually knew what was happening. They also weren't being frozen to be saved but rather experimented on. The "true" purpose from a plot standpoint was to explain being alive in the future without time travel. If the measure is simply "people being frozen to travel forward in time" then does Outer Worlds rip off Fallout 4? No, that should be obviously absurd. Additionally, the cryogenics origin of Mr. Freeze didn't even exist until the '90s, so did they not just rip off other cryogenic storylines from the preceding two or three decades?

I maybe over thinking this but given how Bethesda rips off other peoples work this may not be a reach.

You are overthinking this and probably being a bit pedantic because it's Bethesda. There's a reason many plotlines and backstories are consider tropes. Everyone is ripping everything off, all the time. Half the plot devices we use today are ripped off from Shakespeare.
 
Last edited:
Half the plot devices we use today are ripped off from Shakespeare.
And Shakespeare ripped off Greek tragedies. :lol:
It's just a thing that has existed since who knows how long, but pretty far back.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top