For Batman, the victory is in the preparation, and over time, that’s become one of the aspects that defines Batman as a character, and in a broader sense defined his literary ancestors like Sherlock Holmes, who always had the piece of knowledge and the skill at observation to solve whatever problem presents itself.

It also leads to one of the most frequent misreadings of Batman, especially with regards to Mark Waid and Howard Porter’s Tower of Babel storyline, where Batman is revealed to have been keeping files on how to take down the rest of the JLA. That’s not Batman being a jerk, and it’s not even really Batman figuring out how to take out his friends if he needs to. That’s Batman being a character who lives in a world where having to fight off an evil version of the JLA from another dimension or a worm from space who can control minds or a disembodied spirit that can possess Superman is a very real problem that happens about once every three months, and having to figure out a way to deal with it. It’s dedication to the necessity of staying a step ahead of evil no matter what form it takes.