Batman Vs. Ozymandias: Who Would Win and Why?

Just as Geoff Johns did in his very successful Doomsday Clock storyline, we are going to give you a comparison of two characters from different segments of the DC Universe. Doomsday Clock merged DC’s Prime-Earth and Alan Moore’s Watchmen universe, while we are going to give you a more detailed comparison of Prime-Earth’s Batman and Watchmen’s Ozymandias. So, who would win in a fight b between Batman and Ozymandias?

Although we believe this to be a very close call, Ozymandias would be able to defeat Batman. Despite all of Batman’s intelligence and his skills, Ozymandias is still smarter and better at manipulating things and people around him, which is why he would be able to defeat the Dark Knight.

Speaking of Batman vs. Ozymandias, there’s still a lot to be said. Throughout the rest of this article, we will look at their powers and abilities in more detail and see how the fight between Batman and Ozymandias would play out.  

Batman Vs. Ozymandias: Who Wins?

Before we give an answer to the question from the title, we are – as we traditionally do – going to give a brief comparison of the two characters’ powers to see whether an answer can be deduced from observing just that.

Batman is a regular human, but with exceptional physical abilities; as far as a regular human’s powers and abilities go, Batman’s are certainly at their peak. He has some very enhanced attributes (strength, stamina, agility), he is extremely intelligent, but his enhancements are the result of diligent training, not any chemical enhancements or superpowers.

He is heavily reliant on technology and is a great engineer, inventing and designing a lot of different weapons and gadgets he uses in fights. This pretty much covers Batman’s basic powers and skills.

Ozymandias is, likewise, a regular human being who has reached a peak level of physical abilities. He is exceptionally strong and is likewise a master of all known martial arts. He doesn’t rely on technology, despite being extremely wealthy, which is a big difference when compared to Batman. Still, despite being so strong and fast that he can dodge or even stop a bullet, Ozymandias’ strongest weapon is his mind.

He is an absolute genius and quite possibly the smartest human comic book character ever. He also has a unique understanding of human psychology, which allows him to predict his opponents’ movements and manipulate people to achieve his goals. Although he is usually described as an anti-villain, Ozymandias always keeps the greater good in mind but is ready to make the necessary sacrifices along the way to achieve it.

So, no, the comparison of their powers doesn’t really give us an answer. Batman and Ozymandias are very similar characters when it comes to their powers and abilities, with the sole exception that Batman heavily relies on his technology and gadgets, while Ozymandias relies on his mind. They are both skilled combatants and geniuses in their own right, so this basic comparison doesn’t really do us much good. So, how are we going to determine the stronger character?

Well, while thinking on the topic, we have decided to compare their fighting abilities and their intellects. When it comes to physical strength, Batman seems to be the stronger among the two, but Ozymandias is definitely faster and knows more martial arts; Batman has mastered around 200 martial arts, while Ozymandias has mastered all of them.

Ozymandias would probably outmatch Batman, but the Dark Knight has the advantage of his gadgets, something Ozymandias doesn’t use, and this is why we think that Batman would defeat Ozymandias in a direct one-on-one fight, were it not for Veidt’s mind.

Namely, despite Batman being a genius in his own right and the world’s greatest detective, Adrian Veidt is just smarter. His intellect in the Watchmen universe is outmatched only by that of the omniscient Dr. Manhattan and he is always so many steps ahead of everyone that Dr. Manhattan is practically the only one who could ruin his plans.

Even with all the preparation in the world, we don’t think Batman would be able to outwit Ozymandias and there is absolutely no doubt that Ozymandias would use this advantage to annul Batman’s fighting superiority, meaning that Ozymandias would be able to defeat the Dark Knight.

There is also one other thing that gives Ozymandias the upper hand in this situation. Namely, in order to achieve the greater good (ironically, Ozymandias does want what is best for humanity), Ozymandias is ready to do just about anything (including summoning a giant man-eating squid-monster), and we all know that Batman is not.

The Dark Knight has so many limitations that Ozymandias would be able to exploit at least a couple of them with relative ease, ultimately gaining the upper hand in this conflict.