Tag: character motivation

What does Batman want?

“I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman!”

Another round of what do they want? using Steven Reiss’ 16 desires, featuring the Dark Knight himself.

Batman is very clear about his primary desire. He is Vengeance. His parents’ death pushed him into a lifetime of fighting criminals. Or at least it aimed him in that direction. Bruce may have always wanted revenge. Tragedy was the catalyst that unleashed him on the world.

Idealism is next. Batman is looking for justice and sacrifices his nightlife as a billionaire to fix things.

  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)

(spoiler alert: I’m wrong about batman being motivated by idealism. I think showing my process of correcting this mistake might be fun!)

Superman is faster, stronger, and taller than Batman… and Batman took that personally.

But does Batman have a third motivation? He has all the social status he could want as a billionaire, but he doesn’t like it. He has a sidekick in Robin, but he is not very nurturing, so a desire for a family is off. Social contact isn’t there because he dislikes parties and social gatherings. He does not care if he gets attention or approval, so acceptance is out. Financially, he is as powerful as he could be, but he does not use that power for its own sake. He’s even left his money and power behind multiple times. He is not looking for freedom from Gotham or independence from his family name. Romance is out because he’s not interested in beauty, art, makeup, or courting. Batman doesn’t even look at food, so it is not eating. Batman is very smart, but most of his intellectual pursuits are in solving cases, not intellectual exploration, so curiosity is not it. Vengeance seems a more realistic motivator for all that brain work he does.

Saving? He has a massive collection of art, goods, and relics from his previous detective cases, but his art collection seems like a facade, and his previous cases are there to help him solve future ones. His mansion keeps burning down, and he’s not crying over his heirlooms. He collects many things but is not a collector.

Physical Activity? Does Batman love moving? Yes, he does. Would Batman ever stop working out? NEVER! So what if he isn’t superhumanly strong and is just a regular guy? He’s going to learn every martial art, train every day, and beat up criminals with his fists because he wants to. Physical activity is absolutely a motivator for Batman!

I wish I were exaggerating, but examining physical activity as a motivator for Batman took me that long. It didn’t occur to me that a stoic billionaire might love getting pumped.

Life has its ups and downs.

We may as well examine all sixteen desires on the list since we have gone this far.

Tranquility? Does Batman love preparing for high-stress events? He does! Is he ever unprepared? No. That bat belt is the ultimate survival tool. He’s not an organizer; he is a prepper! Batman handles stress better than anyone in the DC universe because he loves being tranquil. He’s a cool cat, despite not having any superpowers! And he’s never happier than sitting in his room after a workout wearing his comfy slippers and bathrobe, chatting with Albert by the fireplace… until it’s time to prepare for some more vengeance. His collection of gadgets, vehicles, and relics isn’t because he is saving or organizing things. It is preparation to stay tranquil when things get rough.

Is it easy to make Batman lose his cool?

Okay, I am taking off idealism as a motivator for Batman. I thought it was a sure thing. He’s a founding member of the Justice League, for crying out loud! But vengeance can motivate most of his late-night Batman activities. I think it even encourages his unwillingness to use a gun (which he bends from time to time). He will get revenge, but he will not use the method that killed his parents. He’s happy to beat you at a disadvantage!

So here are my guesses for Batman’s top three desires:

  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Physical Activity (Exercise, Active, Moving)
  • Tranquility (Comfort, Calm, Preparation, handling Stress)
You think you can out dance Batman!?

Now let’s do his Bruce Wayne facade. While Batman wears the mask, Bruce Wayne is the real disguise. Bruce Wayne milks his family name and uses his reputation like a sledgehammer. He is also a well-known philanthropist and admirer of the arts. He’s a stereotypical playboy with plenty of money to throw around, with the occasional good deed to promote the family name. Here are my guesses for Bruce Wayne’s top three desires:

  • Social Status (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation)
  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)

I’m not as confident about Bruce Wayne’s motivations because they are not real. He uses social status and wealth to keep a distance from people so he can exact vengeance secretly. Maybe he presents Bruce as an admirer of the arts, motivated by beauty. Sometimes he presents as a spoiled rich kid looking for attention or as someone preserving the Wayne family legacy. But the primary purpose of Bruce Wayne’s high-profile life is to keep his actual personality and motivations hidden.

Bruce Wayne shocks people when they discover how different his actual personality is. In The Dark Knight Rises, lawyer Coleman Reese finds Wayne Enterprises secretly sponsors Batman. He approaches Lucius Fox to blackmail Wayne Enterprises to keep quiet. After presenting the blueprints of the Batmobile and asking for 10 million dollars a year, Fox asks Reese, “Let me get this straight, you think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante, who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.”

Reese suddenly realizes he is not blackmailing Bruce Wayne. He is trying to blackmail Batman, which is a terrible idea.

I’ll give you a piece of Batman!

Because multiple desires motivate us, there is an ongoing conflict in the things we want. For Batman, he might be happy working out in a mountain cabin. He’s done such training before. But as soon as competition arises, he’ll show them, using everything at his disposal. It might be counterintuitive that someone could want vengeance AND peace of mind AND to work out in the meantime. Still, that inner conflict gives our personality depth, even if we look at imaginary superheroes.

What does Luke Skywalker want?

In my ongoing game of guessing which of the 16 Desires motivates a character, let’s guess what Luke Skywalker wants. I am going to use the original trilogy as a reference, mostly because I wrote a book about its story structure.

“But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up power converters!”
“You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.”

While most teenagers want to play with their friends, I think friendship is a primary desire and motivator for Luke. He wants to join his friend, Biggs Darklighter, as a pilot for the rebellion, and he gets to. Aunt Beru tells Owen, “he can’t stay here forever. Most of his friends are gone. It means so much to him.” Luke also makes fast friends with Threepio and Artoo. Very few people, except maybe Obi-Wan, treat droids as kindly as Luke. He also abandons his Jedi training to rescue his friends in Cloud City. He makes friends with Han Solo and Chewie. Luke is not after power, although he has plenty of it. Instead, he uses his power to help his friends.

You think you can mess with Luke’s friends?

I think idealism is second for Luke. He hates the empire and believes in the rebellion. Even when his father offers him the chance to rule over the empire, Luke refuses. The rebellion wants to free the galaxy from the empire’s stranglehold and Luke believes in it. Luke will sacrifice for his beliefs. He walks into many traps to rescue his friends and assist the rebels.

The third desire on Luke’s list is honor. But honor can’t be the primary motivator for Luke, because he abandoned his Jedi training to save his friends. I am putting honor as his third because of how Luke accepts the role as a Jedi and works to save his father.

It might seem that Luke’s obsession with rescuing people would be the desire for saving, but that desire is more about collecting things than rescuing people. The desire for family is also a contender, but that desire is more about rearing children and nurturing, which does not quite fit for Luke. Luke wants to know all about his father, his family tradition, when he finds out Obi-Wan served with Anakin. Luke is also loyal, has integrity, and is very trustworthy. He is honorable.

I think Luke’s desires for idealism and honor are best seen when he refuses to join the emperor and kill his father, Darth Vader. “I’ll never turn to the dark side. You have failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

Luke may not know his father, but he wants to follow in his footsteps, honoring his family tradition.

So here are my guesses about Luke’s desires:

  • Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)
  • Honor (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition)

Luke is never happier than when surrounded by his friends, even if it is in a pilot briefing room, a hospital bed, or a tribal barbecue. He will not betray the rebellion and he honorably accepts the role as Jedi even though he might be the only one left in the galaxy. I think Luke’s desires are contagious and influence the structure of the film, or maybe the structure of the film creates Luke’s desires. It is hard to pull some elements apart to analyze them. I intentionally gloss over individual character desires in my book, but I think they are a fascinating thing to analyze. You can check my book out here:

What does Darth Vader want?

I like to play a game with the 16 desires. I take characters, both real and imagined, and guess the priority of what they want. If the 16 desires are the foundation of our personalities, then we should be able to recognize them in others. This game helps me understand others and recognize that my desires (curiosity and romance) are not universal. We may want the same things, but for different reasons.

Let’s start with Darth Vader.

What motivates the man in the mask?

I think power is the most important thing to Darth Vader. He mentions it several times.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force.”

He talks multiple times about the power of the dark side. In Empire he tells Luke, “if only you knew the power of the dark side.” Then, in Return of the Jedi, he refuses Luke’s offer to run away from the empire telling Luke, “You don’t know the power of the dark side, I must obey my master”

He even pushes Lando Calrissian around because he can. “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” Vader is in complete control of the situation in Cloud City, but he leads Lando on and manipulates him to betray. Vader is definitely not honorable.

My guess is that power is Darth Vader’s primary desire. He likes power for its own sake. He pushes people around because he can. But he also submits to the dark side and the emperor, who are more powerful than he is. Secretly, however, he is looking to add to his power and destroy the emperor with Luke’s help.

“Now I am the master!”

I think Vader’s next two desires are order and family, mostly from his interaction with Luke in Empire Strike’s Back.

“Luke, you do not realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

Vader dislikes the chaos of the civil war between the Empire and the Rebels. He thinks he should be in control, then they could organize things to be much better. Vader is an expert at concocting plans. Organizing and planning is something he likes to do, and is good at it. He recognizes immediately that Leia hid the Death Star plans on the escape pod and comes up with a plan in A New Hope to track the Falcon and find the Rebel base.

In Empire Strikes Back, Vader creates an elaborate plan to trap Luke Skywalker by capturing and torturing his friends. Vader knows their suffering through the Force will draw Luke out of hiding. He figures out how to package Luke to deliver him neatly to the emperor by freezing him in carbonite. He’s even sitting at a dinner table when he captures Luke’s friends in Cloud City.

As for family, this one might feel like a stretch because Vader does not seem nurturing. But once he realizes his son is alive, Vader wants Luke to join the family business. Later, when Vader discovers he has a daughter, he thinks she might join him instead. For being an absentee father, Vader wants a family, but it is at odds with his desires for power and order. Vader would like to fix that.

“Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.”

Vader cares deeply for Luke because Luke is his own flesh and blood. He is even more excited that Luke will become more powerful in the Force than he is. And in the end, Vader sacrifices his life to save his son.

So here is my guess for Darth Vader’s desires. He wants:

  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
  • Order (Organization, Plan, Clean)
  • Family (Nurturing, raising offspring)

I think the conflict between desires brings depth to our personality. Power is what Vader wants the most, and he has multiple plans to gain more power, but those plans are at odds with his desire for a family and to take care of his children. Luke senses that conflict within him, and in the end, Vader chooses his family.

Anakin wanted power and had it. He also wanted a family, but lost his children for most of his life. And he always had elaborate plans.