Board Thread:Wiki Discussion/@comment-26967777-20150914235819/@comment-27175600-20151108011609

The thing about Batman, is that, unlike Sly, he typically ends up working alone. There have been several exceptions to this, such as the Justice League, Robin, Batgirl, etc., but he's typically portrayed as a bit of a loner, at least in his modern versions.

That being said, he almost always seems to find a way to get himself out of situations that other people would have no hope of getting out of.

Sly relies on his friends for help for the most part... he's even admitted it before in Sly 3 while talking to General Tsao. ("I'm not ashamed to rely on my friends")

We don't know how well he'd do without his friends to help him, because they've always been at his side, save for when The Contessa captured him in Sly 2, only for Bentley to bust him out a few short weeks after.

In the comics, he seemed to have a bit of trouble acting without Bentley, but that was mostly because of Murray being clumsy if I remember correctly.

Batman has mastered many, many different martial arts, too many for me to list. There are some versions where he's said to have mastered all martial arts known to man.

Sly is a great fighter, but there's no reason to suggest that he's that good. Now, to put Batman up against the Cooper Clan: (Sly, Bentley and Murray only)

In terms of brains and prep feats, Batman could probably match Bentley, if not surpass him. I'm honestly not sure who'd be considered the better "prep god" as people like to call it...Batman DEFINITELY has better resources though, being a billionaire and all.

In terms of strength, Murray trumps Batman completely. Batman is at best slightly above peak human, but Murray is an anthropomorphic hippo for crying out loud. Murray is easily stronger than Batman.

In terms of athleticism, Sly beats Batman, hands down. That doesn't mean he'll win against him, but it will give him a handy advantage. But, Batman is already used to fighting agile thieves thanks to a certain Selena Kyle (Catwoman), so he might be able to keep up with Sly. That being said, Selena is likely no where near Sly's athleticism, outside of gameplay.

But wait, that's not all!

There are also many different things we could talk about. Take speed for instance.

It's been said that Batman could probably run at about 20-22 miles per hour. That's impressive, considering Usain Bolt, the world's fastest runner, can run 28 miles per hour.

But, Sly can move at a flash of lightning, or so suggests the intro to Sly 3.

Both Sly and Batman have loads of gadgets to help them fight their opponents, and Sly himself also has many different power-ups as well.

I'm going to save us both some time here, and without listing every little thing at their disposal, say that Sly is better equipped on average.

I don't mean through technology, though. Sly's power-ups allow him to perform amazing athletic and supernatural feats that Batman wouldn't be able to keep up with unless he prepared himself for the encounter ahead of time.

Sly 1 - Sly could stop time completely for a few seconds.

Sly 2 - Sly could electrify his cane and use it to one-shot anyone, excluding bosses, the bears in Canada, and Carmelita herself (who is literally invincible in Sly 2)

.Sly 3 - Similar to Sly 2, he could electrify his cane and use it as a better, more powerful weapon, but it wouldn't always one-shot people... not flashlight guards, at least.

Sly 4 - Sly can slow down time with his Thief costume, and the sword he uses with it is extremely deadly, too.

Okay, now, to answer your question:  Who's more skilled? Answer:  Probably Batman.

He's got far more experience than Sly does in doing what he does. But, in a straight up fight? Well, that depends on several things, actually

.  Can they call on outside help? If so, who can they call on? What gadgets/power-ups do they have? Do either of them have time to prepare for the battle? And if they do, how much time do they have? And probably most importantly...which versions of their characters are we using!?