The new Gotham Knights video game is set to release on October 21st and will likely feature its own selection of Easter Eggs. The Batman: Arkham games are famous for their beloved take on the Batman mythos with epic fights against iconic villains and stories that rival the biggest blockbusters are always great, but the secrets that the developers added are icing on an already delicious cake.
Rocksteady Studios and WB Games Montreal put in the extra mile to fill the maps in all Arkham games with Easter eggs. Many are simple small details in the environment, but the best are those that are so meticulously hidden that even the most hardcore fans didn’t find them until years later.
Victor Zsasz Cameo
Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)
Across the four Batman: Arkham games, multiple pieces of content were cut out, and Batman: Arkham Knight was no exception. Victor Zsasz was originally supposed to have his own side mission as shown from hidden files containing a confrontation between him and Batman.
However, Victor Zsasz does have a small cameo in Arkham Knight via security footage when the player has to track where the titular Arkham Knight took Oracle. On one of the screens, Zsasz appears for only a few seconds, and it’s rather easy to miss him in the intensity of what is currently happening in the story. Perhaps this was originally meant to connect to his side mission.
Three Alternate Post-Credit Scenes
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
After beating Joker on Arkham Island, the credits roll for Batman: Arkham Asylum but the game does tease at events for the sequel via an MCU-esque post-credit scene. It is rather easy to miss this detail since the three different post-credit scenes essentially are all the same.
There seems to be no pattern as to how the player can see all three since it seems to be random. As Batman flies towards Gotham City, a case of the Titan formula is seen floating in Arkham Bay and a hand rises out to grab it. The variation is who grabs it: Killer Croc, Scarecrow, or Bane. Bane would be the canon ending since he has it in his side mission in Arkham City.
Familiar Faces At Elliot Memorial
Players will only be able to find this Easter Egg if they have the Premium Edition of Batman: Arkham Knight or purchased the Season Of Infamy DLC. In the League Of Assassins side mission, Batman will be able to explore the Elliot Memorial Hospital interior where the League is hiding and a number of bodies are stored in a morgue.
The bodies should be familiar to the player since they are all people who became victims of Scarecrow’s gas in the shocking opening scene in the diner. The most recognizable in the waitress named Sharon, cementing just how horrific Scarecrow’s gas really was,
Leslie Thompkins Easter Egg
Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Most of the deep lore Easter Eggs can usually be found as the answers to riddles or are out in the open. One reference to a character is rather hidden in the open world of Arkham City, specifically in the Amusement Mile district not far from Poison Ivy’s lair.
The sign for Leslie Thompkins’ Medical Clinic can be spotted. In the comics and Batman: The Animated Series, Leslie Thompkins is one of the few people who know Batman’s identity because she is a good friend of the Wayne family. She’s known for operating a clinic for those that are impoverished and cannot afford a regular hospital.
Secret Killer Croc Encounter
Killer Croc’s collar can be found as the answer to a riddle, but what about the villain himself? After Batman defeats Ra’s Al Ghul and acquires his blood, there are two ways to return to Arkham City. If the player returns via the sewers instead of the subway, a gate is blocking Batman’s path.
Upon using a remote Batarang to open the gate, Killer Croc will emerge with a jumpscare to chat with Batman. He senses the poison running through Batman’s veins and decides to let the poison do its work, so Croc can eat his corpse.
Jingle Bells, Batman Smells
Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
One of many reasons why Batman: Arkham Origins is an underrated gem is its holiday setting. The Christmas aesthetic is emphasized throughout Batman’s adventure, including parts of the story and side quests. In the post-story side quest of gathering Blackgate escapees, one of the thugs happens to be from the Arkham ward.
This criminal starts singing the famous Jingle Bells, Batman Smells song before Batman humorously says, “No…” before knocking the man unconscious. This song also appears in the final predator mission if Batman starts taking too long. As a result, the Joker starts singing his own variation over the intercom.
Harley Quinn Is Pregnant?
While it is not difficult to find, this Easter egg from Batman: Arkham City is a detail that most might miss. Beside the mannequin holding Harley Quinn’s old uniform from Arkham Asylum is a pregnancy test that reads as positive.
To go even further, if the player sticks through the credits, the sound of Tara Strong’s Harley Quinn singing can be heard. She is singing a variation of Hush, Little Baby further hinting that Harley Quinn was pregnant with the Joker’s child. However, this was never followed up in any game or comic form.
Birds Of Prey Are In The Arkhamverse
Though Barbara Gordon is famous for being a skilled and genius member of the Bat-Family, she also leads a team of female heroes known as the Birds Of Prey. Black Canary has been referenced multiple times in the Arkham games and her existence is confirmed in Batman: Arkham Knight.
In Barbara’s clock tower, she has her own desk on the lower floors, and the computer displays a chatroom featuring Oracle, Huntress, and Black Canary as chat members.
Coded Radio Messages
This one from Batman: Arkham City is a bit convoluted and requires peripheral ways of decoding. Using the cryptographic sequencer, one of many famous gadgets in the Arkham games, the player can tune into different radio frequencies across Arkham City. There are three secret frequencies that always broadcast seemingly random numbers.
Two of these are somewhat simple, the numbers correlate to letters of the alphabet leading to the decoded messages of, “I will return Batman” and “You will pay for what you have done to me.” The third message, “Fear will tear Gotham City to shreds,” requires multiple ciphers to get. This was Rocksteady’s way of teasing Scarecrow’s triumphant return for the next game.
Starro The Conqueror
In one of the Arkham franchise’s best DLC’s, A Matter Of Family DLC exploration as Batgirl is mainly a nice bonus since the campaign is rather linear. However, DC fans can still find pleasing Easter eggs including the history of the amusement park in which the campaign is set in.
By unlocking a secret room, Batgirl discovers what was going to be the actual star attraction: a giant starfish with a large eye. Fans will recognize this as Starro The Conqueror trapped inside a container, who got his cinematic debut as the villain of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
Hidden Calendar Man Dialogue
This is an Easter Egg that raises the question as to how somebody first discovered it. Julian Day AKA Calendar Man is locked in a cell below the Solomon Courthouse, and he will let out a fitting poem or taunt depending on when gamers are playing Arkham City.
However, if the console or PC is taken offline and the date is changed to December 13th, 2004 (the day Rocksteady Studios opened their doors), Calendar Man will talk to Batman more directly and give a whole new speech about his and Batman’s work.
Man-Bat Returns
Much like Calendar Man in Arkham City, there is an Easter egg in Arkham Knight that responds depending on what day it is. If the player returns to their game on October 31st AKA Halloween, they will be jumpscared by the Man-Bat again, much like when his side-mission first started in the campaign.
Upon returning to the GCPD, the player will discover that Kirk Langstrom transformed back into Man-Bat and escaped his cell. That’s not all, however, because Batman can return to Langstrom’s lab, and his once dead wife is gone with words written in blood on the mirror, hinting that she too has transformed into a bat-creature in the same vein of Batman: The Animated Series.
Hush’s Real First Appearance
Most players never meet Hush face-to-face in Batman: Arkham City until the end of his side mission, which is often considered one of the best side missions of the Arkham series. The truth is that the first encounter can be within the first twenty minutes of the game. Upon saving the guards against Harley Quinn’s thugs in the church, the player can find a man lying on a medical bed with his face wrapped in bandages.
The man is holding a container, and if the player listens closely, they can hear the man muttering, “Wayne.” This is obviously Hush, and that container is holding the pieces of flesh he’s using to make his new Bruce Wayne face. Later, when Riddler has captured the guards from the church, Hush is gone.
Scarecrow’s Terrifying Lair
In the bay between the Amusement Mile and the Industrial District of Arkham City, there is a barge. Batman interacts with it several times in different side missions, but there is more to it than meets the eye. If the player uses the cryptographic sequencer while standing on the barge, there is a word scramble.
This descramble puzzle is the hardest one in Arkham City, but if solved, the barge opens up to unveil Scarecrow’s secret lair. There are several containers with bugs, a shipping receipt from Falcone shipping, and a jump scare; all of these further hinted at Scarecrow’s involvement with Arkham Knight while showcasing Scarecrow as one of Batman’s most evil villains.
Arkham City Teaser
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2011)
The team at Rocksteady was already developing a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum before the game was released. They even put in an Easter egg that nobody found until Rocksteady revealed it themselves in GameInformer.
Upon entering the Warden’s office, immediately to the left, there is a blank wall. Detective vision won’t reveal anything, but if the player places three explosive gels on it and then detonates, it reveals a secret room. Inside this secret room is a map of a prison surrounding a section of Gotham City, along with early concept images for Batman: Arkham City.
