prep time

Any period of time sufficient for preparing for combat, or any situation, including but not limited to the activities of surveying the area; making note of anything capable of being used as a weapon; setting up diversions or surprises; making a plan for exploiting any and all of the opponent(s)'s weaknesses; clearing the area of children, old ladies, war veterans, etc. who might prove an unfortunate distraction, and so on. Often used for the sake of discussion in the case of Batman, particularly through matching him against various other fictional characters, be they hero or villain, Marvel or DC, Alien or Predator, Garrus or Wrex, within the media of film, tv, video games, novels, music, short stories, poetry, tall tales, urban legend, or ethnocultural myth. It is a commonly-held assertion that, in the absence of prep time, Batman would find himself on the losing side of many an engagement, particularly if his opponent was endowed with superpowers, magical abilities, or highly-advanced technology. Thus, many a frequenter of online discussion forums, more often if they are a fan of a fictional character OTHER than Batman, has thought it necessary/amusing to post a topic asking other frequenters of said forum whether they believed Batman might lose to a given opponent in martial confrontation if he had no time to prepare for that encounter. This is, of course, an improperly conceived question, because there is always prep time when you're the goddamn Batman.