**1. If a villain seems nihilistic, but at the same time overvalues their own existence, (e.g. Bill Cipher, Dimentio, Evolt, Ivor, Dr. Robotnik, Ginis, Cigarette-Smoking Man, Henry Evans, Sal, Syn Shenron, Pitch Black , Horde Prime (Netflix Reboot), Dan Mandel, Clay Puppington, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, the Frowning Friends, the Batman Who Laughs, and Flowey), they do not qualify. Those should go under Cowards, Hypocrites, Egotists, and/or Misanthropes instead. The appropriate term is "Absurdists."**
Well, in this case we have the point covered, from my point of view, ha. Ok, for starters, while it is true that Jeremiah DOES show concern for his well-being in his first appearances, even sacrificing his allies in favor of saving himself, however, we later see how he begins to value less his own integrity and life. Examples of this, are:
-When he shot Selina, he dropped her gun and smiled at Bruce, perhaps expecting him to lash out at him with all her rage.
-In season 5, even though Ecco had designed him armor to protect him, Jeremiah refused to use it and instead trusted that he could survive Selina's thrusts with sheer force of will. His reason for doing this? Versimilitude is more powerful than caution. This phrase alone already indicates that Jeremiah values the impact of what he does more than his own safety.
- At Ace Chemicals, even though Bruce continues to mistreat and beat him, Jeremiah only cares that Bruce reacts disdainfully towards him, he wants to be what Bruce despises the most, and when Bruce makes it clear that Jeremiah doesn't give him shit, well, time to fuck "friendship", Jeremiah beats up Bruce and tries to kill him, throwing away everything he had worked for, just because of a narcissistic tantrum.
- Finally, in the end of the series, we see how Jeremiah remained feigning brain death for 10 years, totally indifferent to causing any type of chaos, without even bothering to go against the various mistreatments he perhaps received in Arkham Asalyum . Come on, there is a possibility that he was awake during the battle for Gotham, but given Bruce's disinterest in him, he decided to "let someone else enjoy the party." When Batman appears in Gotham City, weeks before Bruce Wayne's official return, Jeremiah is back at it with a plan to wipe the slate clean, eliminating his previous enemies to focus on his new target: A massive monster that hunts criminals. .. Impossible not to feel the most sane if everyone around you is completely crazy.
That's right, I don't think Jeremiah knew from the beginning that Batman was Bruce, in fact I suspect that he believed that the bad bat was just a meaningless urban legend created by a city in decline, he was waiting for Bruce, who he was with connected, with the purpose of killing him at the new Wayne Tower gala, in revenge for discarding his attempts to have a bond (Which implied that Bruce would give up everything he was, in favor of satisfying Jeremiah's superiority complex) and for "leave him".
Jeremiah: I was waiting for him to come home. We are united, he and I. It's the only thing he knew for sure, the only thing he knew to be true. And then he just... abandoned us. Do you know what it feels like to have the only thing you love taken from you?
Am I the only one who notices that he's basically admitting that he hates Bruce for not thinking like him? Gordon DIDN'T KNOW Bruce was Batman, and if he did know, there's no way Jeremiah would know, so in making that comment, knowing the context of that the destruction of Gotham's new building was the primary goal of his plan, the conclution is that Jeremiah atemtepted to attack Bruce and finish him. This implies that he was moving out of resentment rather than "love."
When he finally meets Batman, and discover that the one who he considerated a myth, was in fact the character on who Ra's predicted Bruce would become, he trashes all of his hook-up speech, and tries to shoot him in the head, ok, maybe he didn't want to kill him, but it's clear that he meant to hurt him, like a lot. Upon receiving the batarang in his hand, he only laughs about it, and even mocks Batman, despite the danger.
Let's keep in mind that Jeremiah very, very possibly DOES NOT KNOW about Bruce's no-kill rule, in fact he has no reason to consider it, quite the opposite:
-Bruce told Jeremiah that they were going to "get rid of his brother" the day they met. Do not catch, or stop: RID
- Ra's probably explained how Bruce had already killed him in the past.
-If we remember Ra's death in No Man's Land, we can see that Jeremiah stood up when Ra's began to disintegrate, possibly not noticing that Barbara guided Bruce, and even if he had seen it, remember that someone like Jeremiah only thinks in extremes. The fact that Bruce had not put up a fight against kill Ra's would confirm Bruce's "determination" to save Gotham in Jeremiah's eyes.
-Jeremiah sees how Bruce doesn't try to save him at Ace Chemicals, he doesn't try to stop him from falling... Of course, why would he? Jeremiah is the biggest threat to Gotham and the one who has caused him the most pain, it is logical and reasonable that he is not going to save someone who "means nothing to him" and who is also a danger to Gotham, his city that "does matter".
