Jack "Bruce Wayne" Bristow?
Okay, in my nascent Alias-fandom I've had exactly one decent insight: SpyDaddy Jack IS the Dark Knight of Gotham. That part, I take credit for. The flourishing ideas that follow were were nurtured by Amy and others whose Alias knowledge vastly exceeds my own (I've only viewed through "The Confession," so far), then refined during a burst of creative, late-night IM conversation with Amy. Input and suggestions are welcome from both the Alias and Batman learned, but please refrain from anything that might be a spoiler.
Jack Bristow is Batman
This much, we agreed on from the start. What defines Bats ins't the cloak and cowl or the Bat-gadgets. Its the fact that he's the best detective in the world and he's the craftiest planner in the universe, with a contingency plan for EVERYTHING. That's Jack. Even when he doesn't have a plan, he comes up with one in a hurry. He's unflappable. Batman has feelings, but he never shows them. And he's willing to sacrifice his feelings if it protects the very small number of people he truly cares about.
Sloane is Ra's Al Ghul
Originally, Sloane was down as Two-Face for obvious reasons. But Two-Face is just too crazy. He's a slave to his psychosis. Sloane is a slave to nothing. Ra's is also a megalomaniac, but he's kind of like Batman's Lex Luthor. He's just as intelligent, just as methodical and chances are, no matter what you think he's up to, his REAL goal is something else. He knows Batman's secret identity but he only uses it against him when he has a specific purpose for doing so. He does not "out" him, merely to make mischief. He's a bad guy who punishes disloyalty with swift painful death. While he is clearly one of Batman's deadliest foes, Ra's also has a deep respect and appreciation for Batman, considers him a near equal. Is just a little sad that he can't just convince Batman to side with him., so they could kill half the population of the earth together. Ra's is a man who often takes the long view in his plotting. He's never in a rush and considers all the angles and possible outcomes.
Here's where it gets tricky -- who is Robin, and which Robin are they?
The main candidates are Sydney and Vaughn, of course.
Dick Grayson/Robin, the original Robin, is the closest thing Batman has to a son. As Dick reached adulthood they developed some serious tension between them and were not on good speaking terms for a while. The root of the schism, Dick is just as dedicated to the cause, but he refused to be a carbon-copy of his mentor. He refused to shut himself down emotionally and believes there's some value in forming some normal human relationships. He loves Batman, but finds the man just too cold-blooded. That's a big vote for Sydney.
It would be fair to say Dick/Robin is an emotionally healthy Bruce/Batman. He has similar tragic demons, and they inform his personality, but he is not defined by his tragedy. It is Dick who grows up and leaves behind the mantle of Robin, renames himself "Nightwing" and carries on much in the Batman's style, but with his own sense of purpose.
No Alias character (that I know of) would be Jason Todd/Robin, the second Robin. Jason/Robin is very talented at the skills of the job, but is the most emotionally unstable of the sidekick trio. Dangerously reckless, serious anger issues and prone to blatantly disregarding his teacher, he ultimately got himself beaten to death and blown up for good measure by the Joker.
Vaughn could be Tim Drake/Robin, the one who essentially deduced that Bruce was Batman, after lucking into a few clues, then making his own close observations. He's an attentive and eager pupil, still wet behind the ears, but the one who most often surprises his mentor by coming up with his own unorthodox solution to a problem and executing it unilaterally. He's probably more of a natural detective and thinker than his Robin-predecessors. Adolescent pride and youthful bravado sometimes lead him into moments where Batman has to bluntly remind him that he still has a lot to learn, but the kid definitely going to develop into force to be reckoned with.
Amy has suggested that Vaughn may be morphing from Tim to Dick. He could be a Tim/Dick hybrid.
There is a temptation to cast Sydney as Batgirl, but I think that's mostly gender-typecasting.
Irina is Selina Kyle/Catwoman
As I have not *met* Irina yet, I'll have to take Amy's word for this. This is one of the easier calls, I expect. Selina dances all over the good girl/bad girl line, and Batman, despite himself, has the hots for her.
The field gets more dicey beyond this. I suggested that Anna might be Deathstroke: The Terminator(aka Slade), who is a very grey-area character on his best day, often seems to stand on the side of bad guy. A mercenary for hire, primarily known as an assassin. Deathstroke is ruthlessly efficient, is clearly willing to do horrible things to people who may or may not deserve them. He does have some weird code of his own, where he will occasionaly turn down contracts. Killing is mostly a business proposition to him. If he takes job, he gets it done, period. And even the few very people close to Deathstroke usually have no idea why he takes some jobs and refuses others. He's got some deep, horrifying inner demons, but generally he just suppresses them, throwing himself into riskier, more complicated work to distract himself from the ghosts of his past. Another candidate for Slade is Sark, whom I've not seen yet. (Comic book nitpicking note: While Deathstroke has appeared in Batman, as both enemy and ally, he actually cropped up much more in Teen Titans book, crossing paths with the mature Dick Grayson/Nightwing more than Batman).
Commissioner Jim Gordon is Kendall
Jim Gordon is in many ways Batman's closest ally. He knows more about Batman than anyone who doesn't wear a mask and spend most of their spare time in the Batcave. Batman trusts him implicitly, but he still doesn't tell him everything. Gordon knows Batman works very outside of legal channels, but he trusts his motivations and his integrity to the point where he'll never lift finger to bring Batman in. In many ways, they are the only two people who really, really understand each other. Unlike his relationship with the various Robins, there's no emotional, pseudo-parental friction between Bats and Gordon. They are peers. The have the quiet understanding of front line war veterans who have stood together as they witnessed the ugliest side humanity has to offer. They don't have to question it, nor to they have to talk about it. They can't explain it to anyone else. They both know what they have to do and they just do it.
It think that's as far as we've gotten. And FYI, while I've been a comics junkie for many, many years, I haven't kept up with a lot of current stuff for much of the last decade. My comic reading is limited not to the occasional graphic novel these days, so feel free to jump in.
Jack Bristow is Batman
This much, we agreed on from the start. What defines Bats ins't the cloak and cowl or the Bat-gadgets. Its the fact that he's the best detective in the world and he's the craftiest planner in the universe, with a contingency plan for EVERYTHING. That's Jack. Even when he doesn't have a plan, he comes up with one in a hurry. He's unflappable. Batman has feelings, but he never shows them. And he's willing to sacrifice his feelings if it protects the very small number of people he truly cares about.
Sloane is Ra's Al Ghul
Originally, Sloane was down as Two-Face for obvious reasons. But Two-Face is just too crazy. He's a slave to his psychosis. Sloane is a slave to nothing. Ra's is also a megalomaniac, but he's kind of like Batman's Lex Luthor. He's just as intelligent, just as methodical and chances are, no matter what you think he's up to, his REAL goal is something else. He knows Batman's secret identity but he only uses it against him when he has a specific purpose for doing so. He does not "out" him, merely to make mischief. He's a bad guy who punishes disloyalty with swift painful death. While he is clearly one of Batman's deadliest foes, Ra's also has a deep respect and appreciation for Batman, considers him a near equal. Is just a little sad that he can't just convince Batman to side with him., so they could kill half the population of the earth together. Ra's is a man who often takes the long view in his plotting. He's never in a rush and considers all the angles and possible outcomes.
Here's where it gets tricky -- who is Robin, and which Robin are they?
The main candidates are Sydney and Vaughn, of course.
Dick Grayson/Robin, the original Robin, is the closest thing Batman has to a son. As Dick reached adulthood they developed some serious tension between them and were not on good speaking terms for a while. The root of the schism, Dick is just as dedicated to the cause, but he refused to be a carbon-copy of his mentor. He refused to shut himself down emotionally and believes there's some value in forming some normal human relationships. He loves Batman, but finds the man just too cold-blooded. That's a big vote for Sydney.
It would be fair to say Dick/Robin is an emotionally healthy Bruce/Batman. He has similar tragic demons, and they inform his personality, but he is not defined by his tragedy. It is Dick who grows up and leaves behind the mantle of Robin, renames himself "Nightwing" and carries on much in the Batman's style, but with his own sense of purpose.
No Alias character (that I know of) would be Jason Todd/Robin, the second Robin. Jason/Robin is very talented at the skills of the job, but is the most emotionally unstable of the sidekick trio. Dangerously reckless, serious anger issues and prone to blatantly disregarding his teacher, he ultimately got himself beaten to death and blown up for good measure by the Joker.
Vaughn could be Tim Drake/Robin, the one who essentially deduced that Bruce was Batman, after lucking into a few clues, then making his own close observations. He's an attentive and eager pupil, still wet behind the ears, but the one who most often surprises his mentor by coming up with his own unorthodox solution to a problem and executing it unilaterally. He's probably more of a natural detective and thinker than his Robin-predecessors. Adolescent pride and youthful bravado sometimes lead him into moments where Batman has to bluntly remind him that he still has a lot to learn, but the kid definitely going to develop into force to be reckoned with.
Amy has suggested that Vaughn may be morphing from Tim to Dick. He could be a Tim/Dick hybrid.
There is a temptation to cast Sydney as Batgirl, but I think that's mostly gender-typecasting.
Irina is Selina Kyle/Catwoman
As I have not *met* Irina yet, I'll have to take Amy's word for this. This is one of the easier calls, I expect. Selina dances all over the good girl/bad girl line, and Batman, despite himself, has the hots for her.
The field gets more dicey beyond this. I suggested that Anna might be Deathstroke: The Terminator(aka Slade), who is a very grey-area character on his best day, often seems to stand on the side of bad guy. A mercenary for hire, primarily known as an assassin. Deathstroke is ruthlessly efficient, is clearly willing to do horrible things to people who may or may not deserve them. He does have some weird code of his own, where he will occasionaly turn down contracts. Killing is mostly a business proposition to him. If he takes job, he gets it done, period. And even the few very people close to Deathstroke usually have no idea why he takes some jobs and refuses others. He's got some deep, horrifying inner demons, but generally he just suppresses them, throwing himself into riskier, more complicated work to distract himself from the ghosts of his past. Another candidate for Slade is Sark, whom I've not seen yet. (Comic book nitpicking note: While Deathstroke has appeared in Batman, as both enemy and ally, he actually cropped up much more in Teen Titans book, crossing paths with the mature Dick Grayson/Nightwing more than Batman).
Commissioner Jim Gordon is Kendall
Jim Gordon is in many ways Batman's closest ally. He knows more about Batman than anyone who doesn't wear a mask and spend most of their spare time in the Batcave. Batman trusts him implicitly, but he still doesn't tell him everything. Gordon knows Batman works very outside of legal channels, but he trusts his motivations and his integrity to the point where he'll never lift finger to bring Batman in. In many ways, they are the only two people who really, really understand each other. Unlike his relationship with the various Robins, there's no emotional, pseudo-parental friction between Bats and Gordon. They are peers. The have the quiet understanding of front line war veterans who have stood together as they witnessed the ugliest side humanity has to offer. They don't have to question it, nor to they have to talk about it. They can't explain it to anyone else. They both know what they have to do and they just do it.
It think that's as far as we've gotten. And FYI, while I've been a comics junkie for many, many years, I haven't kept up with a lot of current stuff for much of the last decade. My comic reading is limited not to the occasional graphic novel these days, so feel free to jump in.