List of Batman family enemies: Difference between revisions
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This is a list of fictional characters from [[DC Comics]] who are enemies of [[Batman]] or of [[List of Batman supporting characters|his associates]]. It excludes villains who have appeared only in venues other than DC Comics, such as [[Egghead (Batman)|Egghead]] and [[Kyodai Ken|the Ninja |
This is a list of fictional characters from [[DC Comics]] who are enemies of [[Batman]] or of [[List of Batman supporting characters|his associates]], such as [[Joker (comics)|the Joker]], [[Catwoman]] and [[the Penguin]]. It excludes villains who have appeared only in venues other than DC Comics, such as [[Egghead (Batman)|Egghead]] and [[Kyodai Ken|the Ninja]]. |
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[[Image:Batmanfoes.jpg|thumb|300px|A gathering of Batman's villains. Art by [[Jim Lee]].]] |
[[Image:Batmanfoes.jpg|thumb|300px|A gathering of Batman's villains. Art by [[Jim Lee]].]] |
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Revision as of 19:12, 24 April 2009
This is a list of fictional characters from DC Comics who are enemies of Batman or of his associates, such as the Joker, Catwoman and the Penguin. It excludes villains who have appeared only in venues other than DC Comics, such as Egghead and the Ninja.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/Batmanfoes.jpg/300px-Batmanfoes.jpg)
Supervillains and themed criminals
Central rogues' gallery
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
Villain | First appearance | Description |
---|---|---|
Anarky | Detective Comics #608 (November 1989) | Lonnie Machin, a teenage prodigy who, believing in anarchism, creates improvised gadgets and attempts to subvert government in order to improve society. Initially very young (age 12), his costume was designed to disguise his true age. More recent stories portray him as being in his late-teens. Batman recognizes him as a force for good, but does not support his violent methods. Anarky was later the subject of a spin-off series, Anarky, and trade paperback, Batman: Anarky. |
Bane | Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993) | An escaped convict from an island prison in South America, Bane has abnormal strength as a result of having had experiments with a derivative of the drug Venom performed on him. He became known as "The Man Who Broke the Bat" when he broke Batman's spinal cord, forcing Bruce Wayne to give up the Batman persona while he recuperated. |
Batzarro | Superman #181 (June 2002) | Wayne Bruce is a distorted clone of Batman, presumably created through the same process as Bizarro, the failed clone of Superman. At times it seems as though Batzarro is trying to aid Batman, but his mangled dialogue and inexplicable actions make it difficult to be sure. Batzarro describes himself as "the world's worst detective". |
Black Mask | Batman #386 (August 1985) | Roman Sionis, a former business executive who originally hated Bruce Wayne rather than Batman, wears a Black Mask and leads the cult-like False Face Society of henchmen. Black Mask eventually became a mob boss controlling large sections of Gotham City's criminal underworld. |
Blockbuster | Detective Comics #345 (November 1965) | Two brothers took the alias of Blockbuster in turn. The first, Mark Desmond, was a chemist who experimented on himself and gained super strength, but also became a mindless brute. He would eventually die fighting Brimstone, a minion of Darkseid. Mark's older brother, Roland Desmond, was mutated when he was treated with experimental steroids, also gaining massive strength. |
Starman #9 (April 1989) | ||
Calendar Man | Detective Comics #259 (September 1958) | Julian Day is known for committing crimes that corresponded with holidays and significant dates. He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His best-known latter day appearance is in the mini-series Batman: The Long Halloween, where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a serial killer who uses holidays as his M.O. Like Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Calendar Man knows who the killer is and keeps this information to himself, choosing instead to taunt the heroes with cryptic clues. |
Catman | Detective Comics #311 (January 1963) | Thomas Blake was a world-famous trapper of jungle cats who turned to crime because he had grown bored with hunting and had squandered most of his fortune. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a catsuit made out of an ancient African cloth he believed gave him a cat's nine lives. |
Catwoman | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | Selina Kyle, starting as a criminal who wore a cat-themed costume and often operated as a burglar, has a love/hate relationship with Batman. For years, she skirted on the edge between villain and antiheroine. However, she has largely reformed in recent years, adopting the role of the guardian of Gotham City's crime-infested East End, though she still comes into conflict with Batman on occasion. She has also been known to take revenge upon those who commit crimes against animals, especially cats. |
Clayface | ||
Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) | Basil Karlo, The original Clayface, was an actor who was driven mad when he heard of a re-make of the classic horror film he had starred in, The Terror. Adopting the persona of the film's villain "Clayface", he became a serial killer targeting the cast and crew. He was eventually stopped by Batman and Robin. Later, Karlo would be imbued with the powers of Clayfaces Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller. Additionally, his body sports crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater powers. In this form he is known as the "Ultimate Clayface." He is the Clayface who is currently active in crime. | |
Detective Comics #298 (December 1961) | Matt Hagen, was a treasure hunter who happened upon a radioactive pool of protoplasm. He submerged himself in it, granting himself powers allowing him to transform into almost any shape. Hagen was ultimately killed during the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths. | |
Detective Comics #478 (July 1978) | Preston Payne, suffered from hyperpituitarism and worked at S.T.A.R. Labs to search for a cure. He obtained a sample of the then-living Matt Hagen's blood, and isolated an enzyme which he introduced into his own bloodstream. His flesh began to melt, however, and he built an exoskeleton anti-melting suit to not only preserve himself, but to also prevent him from touching anyone, as he also gained the ability to melt people with a touch. He soon learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive. | |
Outsiders #21 (July 1987) | Sondra Fuller, has abilities similar to Matt Hagen, but can also mimic the special power of the being she is mimicking. She met and fell in love with Preston Payne, and the two had a son named Cassius, the fifth Clayface. | |
Cluemaster | Detective Comics #351 (May 1966) | Arthur Brown is a former game show host who turned to a life of crime and left clues at the scenes of his crimes. He is also the father of The Spoiler (Stephanie Brown). |
Deadshot | Batman #59 (June-July 1950) | Floyd Lawton is a suicidal assassin who wears a colorful costume in the hopes that someone will shoot him. He is considered the second greatest assassin in the DC Universe, the first being Deathstroke. |
Firefly | Detective Comics #184 (June 1952) | Garfield Lynns, an orphan who became a pyromaniac and has developed a fireproof suit and flamethrower to further pursue his 'hobby'. He was originally known as a cunning criminal who invented numerous weapons that use light to commit crimes with. |
Harley Quinn | Batman: The Animated Series "Joker's Favor" (September 11, 1992) | Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a former criminal psychiatrist, fell in love with the Joker and became his most famous accomplice. She is the first enemy of Batman to be introduced outside the comics and go on to receive her own line of comics. She wears the outfit of a traditional harlequin jester. She affectionately refers to the Joker as "Puddin'" and "Mistah' J", and is best friends with Poison Ivy. |
Hugo Strange | Detective Comics #36 (February 1940) | Hugo Strange is an insane psychologist who knows Bruce Wayne's secret identity and lusts to take the identity for himself. He is also a chemical genius who can turn people into large, lumbering, brutal zombie-like creatures that obey his every command. |
Hush | Batman #609 (November 2002) | Thomas "Tommy" Elliot was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne's. He targets both Batman and Bruce Wayne. Although Hush's name originates from a nursery rhyme, Hush lives up to it by using manipulation and guile instead of noisy "signatures". |
The Joker | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | The Joker is a homicidal maniac with a clown-like appearance who takes comedic delight in violent crime and challenging Batman. He is generally acknowledged to be Batman's arch-nemesis and worst enemy, gleefully citing the relationship between the two as being Comedy and Tragedy, Chaos and Order, two sides of the same coin. The Joker was responsible for the crippling of Barbara Gordon, the brutal murder of the second Robin (Jason Todd), and the murder of Sarah Essen Gordon (James Gordon's second wife). He often goes by the alias "Joe Kerr", an obvious play on his moniker. |
KGBeast | Batman #417 (March 1988) | Anatoli Knyazev is a ruthless assassin who Batman encounters many times. While KGBeast is on a mission to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, Batman catches Knyazev's left wrist in a loop of the bat-rope, but KGBeast cuts off his own hand with an ax in order to escape. He later returns with a cybernetic gun prosthetic attached to his wrist. He is finally killed by the second Tally Man. |
Killer Croc | Detective Comics #523 (February 1983) | Waylon Jones is a former crocodile wrestler turned into a criminal deformed by mutation into a humongous humanoid lizard. He has low intelligence but great strength, as well as crocodilian abilities, such as a keener sense of smell and the ability to hold his breath underwater for long periods of time. |
Killer Moth | Batman #63 (February 1951) | Cameron van Cleer/Drury Walker was an anti-Batman who aided criminals just as Batman aids the police, but only for money. He later sells his soul to the demon Neron and transforms into the monster Charaxes. A new human Killer Moth has recently appeared in Batman: Face the Face, but the identity of this version is unknown. |
The Mad Hatter | Batman #49 (October-November 1948) | Jervis Tetch, formerly a research scientist, is completely smitten with the works of Lewis Carroll. As his criminal name indicates, he takes the appearance of the Mad Hatter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He is an insane neuroscientist and developed hardware that can control the brain and induce hypnotic states, and often uses hats or other headgear for mind control. (There was also, briefly, a second Mad Hatter who liked to commit crimes with hat-related themes, but he has not been seen in two decades, having only one appearance after nearly being killed by the original.) |
Man-Bat | Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) | Dr. Kirk Langstrom, sometimes an enemy of Batman, is unfortunately cursed to periodically turn into an animalistic humanoid bat who fights Batman. As a scientist, Kirk Langstrom is Batman's ally. |
Maxie Zeus | Detective Comics #483 (May 1979) | Maximillian "Maxie" Zeus was a former history teacher. He became an insane mob boss with a penchant for Greek mythology. Maxie had a god complex and usually used electrically-based weaponry to emulate the Greek god Zeus. |
Mr. Freeze | Batman #121 (February 1959) as "Mr. Zero"; designation changed in 1960's TV series |
Dr. Victor Fries was formerly a scientist and is an expert on cryonics. He tried to cryopreserve his stricken wife Nora Fries until a cure was found to her disease. During the process, an accident caused his body to function only below freezing point, requiring him to wear a special self-contained refrigeration suit. He uses similar ice technology for weapons. |
Mr. Zsasz | Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (June 1992) | Victor Zsasz, a more or less "common" serial killer, keeps a tally of his victims by cutting new scars into his body with his trademark carving knife. |
The Penguin | Detective Comics #58 (December 1941) | Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, a short round man with a long pointed nose, fancies himself a gentleman of crime. He usually wears a tuxedo, top hat, and monocle, and carries any variety of umbrellas which have various hidden functions such as vehicles or weapons. |
Poison Ivy | Batman #181 (June 1966) | Pamela Lillian Isley, a former student of advanced botanical biochemistry, employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes. She has the ability to control/manipulate all plant life and is immune to all poisons and toxins. She is often described as fanatical about defending plants from other humans, even being willing to murder for her beliefs. She also has a severe love/hate relationship with Batman. In some instances she claims to love him, in other encounters she functions as an ally, and at other times she is more than willing to kill him. |
Ra's al Ghul | Batman #232 (June 1971) | Ra's al Ghul ("Demon's Head" in Arabic), is a centuries-old eco-terrorist. He knows Batman's secret identity. He utilizes special pits known as Lazarus Pits which enable him to evade death, and live for centuries. He is the founder of the worldwide League of Assassins, though exactly when is unknown. |
Red Hood | Detective Comics #168 (February 1951) | An employee looking to steal from the company that employs him, the unnamed individual eventually adopts the persona of Red Hood. After committing the theft (which Batman thwarts) Red Hood falls into a vat of chemical waste. He subsequently emerges with bleached white skin, red lips, green hair, and a permanent grin. He later calls himself the Joker.[1][2] |
Batman #635 (December 2004) | Formerly the second Robin, Jason Todd was killed by the Joker, who beat him half to death and left him in an exploding warehouse. Jason re-emerged years later as the new Red Hood, ironically the Joker's old alias. Notoriously brutal in his run as Robin, he has shown he has no problem with killing criminals. | |
The Riddler | Detective Comics #140 (October 1948) | Edward Nigma is a criminal mastermind who has a strange compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles and puzzles. Recently, he has seemingly abandoned his criminal lifestyle and has opted to utilize his skills to turn a profit as a freelance investigator. |
The Scarecrow | World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) | Professor Jonathan Crane, an insane scientist and psychiatrist, specializes in the nature of fear. Dressed symbolically as a scarecrow, he employs special weapons, equipment and techniques designed to use fear to his advantage in his crimes. |
Solomon Grundy | All-American Comics #61 (October 1944) | Cyrus Gold was a Gotham City merchant who was murdered and thrown into Slaughter Swamp, where he was transformed into an undead zombie-like creature. Solomon Grundy was initially an enemy of the Golden Age Green Lantern and the Justice Society, but has both battled and aided various heroes during his multiple resurrections. He has battled Batman on a number of occasions, notably in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. |
Tweedledum and Tweedledee | Detective Comics #74 (April 1943) | Dumfrey and Deever Tweed are a pair of cousins, whose similar looks often have them mistaken for identical twins. Fat and lazy, the pair prefer to direct henchmen to carry out crimes, while they retire to a safe haven. The pair often wear costumes modelled on their namesakes from Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking-Glass (and what Alice found there). They are sometimes re-imagined as henchmen of the Joker. |
Two-Face | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Formerly District Attorney Harvey Dent (a friend of Bruce Wayne's). Dent's latent multiple personality disorder fully took hold when half his face was horrifically scarred by Sal Maroni. He became obsessed with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites. He makes major decisions by flipping a two-headed coin on which one of the faces is scarred. Over the years, he has reformed at various times, with his face being surgically repaired, only to later fall back into the Two-Face persona. |
The Ventriloquist | Detective Comics #583 (February 1988) | Arnold Wesker is a ventriloquist with multiple personalities. His puppet is a gangster named Scarface. Under the puppet's psychological influence, Wesker is a dangerous criminal and crime boss. It has been implied that the Ventriloquist suffers from multiple personality disorder. |
Detective Comics #827 (March 2007) | A new female Ventriloquist, called Sugar by Scarface, has surfaced in the page of Detective Comics and is hinted to be an old character long thought dead (as part of her face is shown to be scarred). She is a more compatible partner than Wesker, since Scarface no longer substitutes "b" with "g" and is much more compliant with Scarface's brutal methods. She and Scarface seem to have a relationship similar to the Joker and Harley Quinn. Her real name is revealed to be Peyton Reilly, the former fiance of a friend of Bruce Wayne and the daughter of a mob boss. |
Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins
Foes of lesser renown
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
Villain | First appearance | Description |
---|---|---|
Abattoir | Detective Comics #625 (January 1991) | Arnold Etchison is a serial killer who killed his family members. He is killed by Jean Paul Valley (Azrael, during his tenure as Batman). He only appears in four issues: , Batman #505, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #27, and Batman #508. |
Actuary | Detective Comics #683 (March 1995) | A mathematical genius who applies formulas to aid the Penguin in committing crimes. |
Amygdala | Shadow of the Bat #3 (August 1992) | Aaron Helzinger, a powerful behemoth with a child-like temper; quick to anger and turns into a murdering monster. He has been stopped by Batman in the past by applying a severe blow to the back of the neck, just below the skull. |
Axel Alex | Untold Tales of The Batman #1 (June 1994) | Alex Farland is a mechanic who hates his job. He attempts to steal his boss' car because his boss never gives him a raise. Batman later defeats him and he is sent to prison. |
Bag O'Bones | Batman #195 (September 1967) | Radioactivity transforms Ned Creegan into a skeletal-looking "living x-ray photo" who calls himself Bag O'Bones and battles Batman and Robin. Creegan later returns as the Cyclotronic Man fighting Black Lightning and Superman. Still later, he adopts the name One Man Meltdown and battles the Outsiders. After getting the medical treatment he needs, Creegan goes back to prison, content to do his time in jail and then reform. |
Benedict Asp | Batman #486 (November 1992) | Asp is the brother of Shondra Kinsolving, the trained physiotherapist who meets Bruce Wayne when he is dealing with exhaustion and helps to look after him after he is injured by Bane. He kidnaps her and turns her abilities to evil uses. Asp reveals Shondra's healing powers and, along with his own psychic abilities, uses her to telekinetically kill an entire village. Bruce eventually defeats Benedict, but the events traumatize Shondra. |
Billy Numerous | Catwoman #78 (April 2008) | Originally a character from Teen Titans, he has the ability to make copies of himself and takes on Slam Bradley and Catwoman. |
Black Spider | Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) | Black Spider is the name of several DC Comics villains; the first two are both primarily the enemies of Batman. The first Black Spider debuts in 1976, created by Gerry Conway. His real name is Eric Needham. The second is Johnny LaMonica. He is later killed by Crispus Allen during a gang shooting. A third Black Spider appears named Derek Coe and battles the Birds of Prey. Since he survives a large fall, it is implied he may be a metahuman. |
Batman #518 (May 1995) | ||
Birds of Prey #87 (November 2005) | ||
The Blue Bat | Batman #127 (October 1959) | In an alternate universe The Blue Bat, was a criminal who wore the Batman costume. |
The Bouncer | Detective Comics #347 (January 1966) | A metallurgist who discovers “an alloy of rubber, steel and chrome" called "Elastalloy", which he uses to create a suit that allows him to bounce "tremendous distances or from great heights – yet not be harmed at all!”. The Bouncer fights Batman twice, once alone and once as a minion of the Monarch of Menace. |
"Brains" Beldon | Detective Comics #301 (March 1962) | A criminal genius who pulls off a twenty million dollar heist in Gotham City before being defeated by the Batman. He is the father of Teen Titans foe The Disruptor. |
Brutale | Nightwing #22 (July 1998) | Guillermo Barrera was a top-level interrogator/torturer for the secret police in the Latin American country Hasaragua, until a revolution forced him to flee. He began a new career as a mercenary/assassin and eventually began working for Blockbuster in Blüdhaven, battling against Nightwing on several occasions. Brutale is an expert with all forms of knives and blades, being able to both fight superbly and inflict horrible pain on his victims. |
Calculator | Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) | Noah Kuttler is a highly intelligent criminal who fights Batman and the Justice League wearing a costume designed like a pocket calculator. The costume has a large numerical keypad on the front and a flashlight-like device on the headpiece, which can make "hard light" constructs. The device analyzes the powers or tactics of the hero defeating him, and inoculates him from ever being defeated by that hero ever again. In spite of his powerful arsenal, Calculator never makes it big as a costumed villain. Now relying solely on his intellect, he works as a successful information broker, a source of information for supervillains planning heists, charging $1,000 per question. He sees Oracle as his nemesis and opposite number. |
Captain Stingaree | Detective Comics #460 (June 1976) | Karl Courtney is a criminal who commits crimes using a pirate motif. |
The Cavalier | Detective Comics #81 (November 1943) | A swordsman who speaks in Shakespearean English and dresses in a French musketeer costume. His real name is Mortimer Drake. |
Legends of the Dark Knight #32 (June 1992) | A second Cavalier, Hudson Pyle, shows up in the story "Blades." In this version, the Cavalier is a swashbuckling hero who becomes a media darling. | |
Charlatan | Detective Comics #777 (February 2003) | A successful actor, Paul Sloan is persuaded to impersonate Two-Face by a number of Gotham's villains, and encounters Batman briefly in the process. He is then tortured by Two-Face and experimented on by Scarecrow, returning years later and attacking the various villains who had recruited him, all in an attempt to get to Batman. He is currently incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. |
Club of Villains | Batman #679 (November 2007) | A group of villains organized by Simon Hurt to assist the Black Glove in taking down Batman and the Club of Heroes. Membership includes Le Bossu, Pierrot Lunaire, King Kraken, Charlie Caligula, Scorpiana, El Sombrero, the Swagman, and eventually The Joker. |
Colonel Sulphur | Batman #241 (May 1972) | A self-styled warrior with vast knowledge of psychological terror, who fights Batman four times in the comics of the 70s and 80s. Sulphur also encounters Superman and Supergirl and puts together an Army of Crime. |
Condiment King | Batman: The Animated Series "Make 'Em Laugh" (November 5, 1994) | A DC Comics villain who makes use of various condiments, sometimes capable of causing Anaphylactic shock, as his weapons. Chronologically, The Condiment King first appeared in Batgirl: Year One, as written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty. Much like his animated counterpart, he is a comic relief villain that is easily taken down by Robin and Batgirl. |
Copperhead | Brave and the Bold #78 (June 1968) | The criminal known as Copperhead first appears in Gotham City in a snake costume. He commits numerous thefts before finally being apprehended by Batman and the first Batgirl. He eventually becomes a hired assassin and would later sell his soul to the demon Neron in exchange for more power, being transformed into a deadly Snake/Man hybrid. |
Corrosive Man | Detective Comics #587 (June 1988) | A convicted murderer, Derek Mitchell escapes from jail seeking vengeance on Mortimer Kadaver, but is involved in an unfortunate accident on the way which turns him into a literally corrosive man, his entire skin burned with chemical fire which can eat through walls and floors or maim human flesh. His encounter with Kadaver leaves the latter with a handprint burned onto his forehead and leaves Mitchell inert, although he surfaces at least twice more. |
Cornelius Stirk | Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) | An Arkham Asylum intern with the ability to cause fear and hallucinations in others, via telepathy. This ability, however, is limited, and will be used up completely unless Stirk consumes human hearts. |
Crazy Quilt | Boy Commandos #15 (May-June 1946) | An ex-painter who leads a double life as a master thief, he is blinded by a gunshot wound during a botched robbery. While in prison, he volunteers for an experimental procedure that would restore his vision. There is a side-effect, however: Even though he can see, he can only see in blinding, disorienting colors. This drives him insane, and he adopts the identity of Crazy-Quilt. |
Villains United #2 (2005). | Apparently the new Secret Society of Super Villains, led by Alexander Luthor, Jr., has in its roster a new version of Crazy Quilt, a female one with the characteristic costume and vision-helmet of the previous villain. Only glimpsed in the background, she has yet to resurface. | |
Crime Doctor | Detective Comics #77 (July 1943) | Matthew Thorne, the go-to surgeon for all criminals and a criminal mastermind in his own right, but he would stop his crimes to minister to the sick or injured. He later appears under a new name, Bradford Thorne in Detective Comics #494. He is an expert in torture. |
Crimesmith | Batman #443 (January 1990) | Dr. Ryan Smith, a brilliant scientist and media personality. He gives detailed plans for robberies to gangs of crooks with the understanding that they would give him a big percentage of the loot. |
The Crimson Knight | Detective Comics #271 (September 1959) | The Crimson Knight, whose real name is Dick Lyons, is mysterious, metal-clad crime-fighter who appears in Gotham City as an apparent aide to Batman and Robin. The Caped Crusaders suspect the new arrival may have illegal motives. |
Cyber Cat | Catwoman Vol. 2 #42 (February 1997) | Christina Chiles, a skilled assassin hired by Talia al Ghul to steal a prized artifact from the Gotham Museum. Talia wants it for her father, Ra's al Ghul, so he can use it to power a superlaser that can destroy an entire city. Catwoman is initially hired, but when Ra's al Ghul sees that she only wants it for herself, he secretly hires Cyber Cat to kill Catwoman and take the artifact. |
Dagger | Detective Comics #174 (1951) | Ned Brann is an elusive, knife-throwing criminal, his true identity concealed by a red hood, who commits his crimes aided by a gang of red-hooded henchmen. He only meets Batman once. |
Batman #343 (1981) | David Rennington is the owner of a blade manufacturing company called Rennington Steel. When facing hard times, Rennington starts masking himself as the Dagger, running an old-fashioned protection racket until being apprehended by Batman. He is later recruited by Ra's al Ghul in Batman #400. | |
Deacon Blackfire | Batman: The Cult #1 (1988) | A religious fanatic who forms an army in the sewers beneath Gotham, largely composed of the homeless. Blackfire begins a violent war on crime, which escalates into him taking over the entire city, isolating it from the rest of the country. He appears in the four-issue miniseries The Cult, at the end of which, he is killed by his followers. |
Doctor Death | Detective Comics #29 (July 1939) | Dr. Karl Hellfern is a typical mad scientist who made a few appearances in the earliest days of Batman and is typically considered Batman's first supervillain. Doctor Death developed lethal chemical gases, and threateed wealthy citizens, demanding money and tribute to him in exchange for their safety. In more recent years, he has been reimagined as a dealer in black market biological weapons. |
Doctor Double X | Detective Comics #261 (November 1958) | Dr. Simon Ecks discovers that human auras could be enhanced to function outside of the body. When Ecks creates an energy-duplicate of himself, the introverted scientist's unstable mind becomes dominated by the doppelganger Double X. |
Doctor Phosphorus | Detective Comics #469 (May 1977) | Alexander Sartorius is a mad criminal with radioactive powers. |
Doctor Tzin-Tzin | Detective Comics #354 (August 1966) | Doctor Tzin-Tzin is a Fu Manchu-inspired Asian-looking (but actually American) crime lord who battles Batman several times and once encounters Jonny Double and Supergirl (Power Girl in current continuity). Tzin-Tzin is seemingly killed on an airship during a battle with Peacemaker. |
Doctor Zodiac | World's Finest Comics #160 (September 1966) | Theodore B. Carrigan is a carnival mystic who turns to crime, basing his robberies on horoscopes. In his first outing, he is apprehended by Batman, Robin and Superman. Later, he steals a dozen coins from Atlantis, each bearing a Zodiac symbol, which bestow him with various powers. Once again, Batman and Superman thwart his plans (World's Finest Comics #268). Still later, he allies himself with Madame Zodiac to obtain a different set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna. (World's Finest Comics #285–288.) (Doctor Zodiac should not be confused with the Zodiac Master.) |
Dodge | Robin #160 (March 2007) |
During an attempt to get rid of Robin, he organizes a group of villains to finish him off, but finds himself unable to control them. |
Doodlebug | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Daedalus Boch is an artist who believes he receives visions of inspiration and then compulsively recreates them on whatever canvas they indicate, including people. |
The Dummy | Batman #134 (September 1960) | Danny the Dummy, a pint-sized ventriloquist in a top hat and suit, has a hit act in which he plays the dummy to a normal sized "ventriloquist," Matt, who is revealed as the real dummy at the end of each show. But the fact that people invariably refer to Danny as "the Dummy" infuriates him, and inspires him to use dummies for crime to make dummies out of the law. |
Eivol Ekdal | Detective Comics #346 (December 1965) | Eivol Ekdal is a bald, slightly hunchbacked criminal scientist who is described as a “master craftsman, builder of escape gadgets and tantalizing traps for the criminal underground of America.” He encounters Batman twice, in Detective #346 and #361, before meeting his death at the hands of a couple of his criminal "customers". |
Electrocutioner | Batman #331 (January 1981) | A vigilante who kills criminals with electricity. He is later killed by Adrian Chase. Two successors later appears, one a hit man for the mob and the other, Lester Buchinsky, the younger brother of the original. |
Facade | Detective Comics #821 (July 2006) | Erik Hanson, a former employee at a trendy Gotham City nightclub for the city's popular socialites, he organizes a gang to replace them as a ploy to enter Gotham's elite. |
False Face | Batman #113 (February 1958) | A criminal make-up artist and master of disguise who uses his skill to impersonate wealthy people. In reality, he is white-haired and toothless. In comics, Batman encountered him just once, but False Face later became a villain in the 1960s TV series (False Face should not be confused with Clayface, and has no ties to Black Mask's False Face Society). |
The Fearsome Foot-Fighters | Detective Comics #372 (February 1968) | Experts in a French form of kickboxing, these acrobatic martial artists hail from the fictional Balkan country of Karonia. |
Film Freak | Batman #395 (May 1986) | Burt Weston is a wannabe actor who dreams of getting a big break by playing quirky villains. When each of his plans fails, he fakes his death similar to the movie The Sting. He is later killed by Bane. |
Catwoman vol. 2, #54 (June 2006) | A second Film Freak that answers to the surname of '"Edison"' has recently surfaced as an antagonist to Catwoman. | |
Firebug | Batman #318 (December 1979) | An African-American former soldier and demolitions expert, Joseph Rigger turns to a life of crime. His weapons of choice are explosive bombs. After two apparent deaths, he is still alive. |
Gotham Central #3 (March 2003) | A new Firebug debuts in Gotham Central #3. At first, his identity is a mystery, and he is wanted in the murder of a teenage girl, who was killed after a baby-sitting job. Eventually, the Gotham police deduces that the culprit is Harlan Combs, the father of the child she was sitting. Combs had purchased the Firebug costume and armor from Rigger. He is injured fleeing the police and quickly arrested. | |
Deadshot - Urban Renewal #1 (February 2005) | An unnamed character using the name Firebug debuts shortly thereafter. He had won the name and costume from an Internet auction. After taking on the Firebug name, he enters the costume business. He later appears in a flashback revealing that he teams up with Mr. Freeze but is defeated by the team of Batman and Harvey Dent prior to the One Year Later storyline. | |
Frederick Rhino | Detective Comics #583 (February 1988) | Frederick Rhino is the enormous, towering, muscular, but not very intelligent henchman of the original Ventriloquist. He starts out as a bouncer at the Ventriloquist Club on Gotham’s Electric Street. |
Fright | Batman #627 | Linda Friitawa is an albino geneticist who was stripped of her medical license for her unauthorized, gruesome experiments on human beings. She assisted the Scarecrow with his experiments; however, oblivious to Scarecrow, she was secretly hired by the Penguin to corrupt Scarecrow's toxins and infect Scarecrow with them, causing him to transform into a creature dubbed the 'Scarebeast'. In contrast to her deeds and the Penguin, Friitawa always treated Scarecrow with kindness. |
Gearhead | Detective Comics #712 (August 1997) | Nathan Finch had lost his arms and legs when frostbite affected him after a fight with Batman. An unnamed underworld doctor replaces them with cybernetic limbs. |
The General | Detective Comics #654 (December 1992) | Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, a psychotic child with the mind of a military genius dresses himself and his henchmen in historical attire as they act out crimes based on military history. |
The Gentleman Ghost | Flash Comics #88 (October 1947) | Primarily a Hawkman foe, the spectral charlatan once named James Craddock also battles Batman several times, in Batman #310 and #319 and Detective Comics #326. |
Getaway Genius | Batman #170 (March 1965) | Roy Reynolds, a.k.a. "the Getaway Genius", is a criminal and getaway mastermind who encounters the Batman several times in stories from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. |
The Globe | Detective Comics #840 (March 2008) | Hammond Carter is obsessed with maps and "plots crimes by latitude, longitude, time zones and the shape of landmasses."[3] |
Gorilla Boss | Batman #75 (1952) | Mobster Alex “Boss” Bossie is executed in the gas chamber, but has his brain transplanted into the body of a gorilla. The Gorilla Boss of Gotham fights Batman twice. Later, the alien villain Sinestro steals the Boss' cerebellum, expands it to planet-size and used it as a power source. This unnatural abomination is destroyed by Superman (World's Finest Comics #254). Later, however, the Boss is returned to his gorilla body and gets used as a pawn by Gorilla Grodd (Swamp Thing Annual #3). |
The Great White Shark | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Formerly crooked investor Warren "The Great White Shark" White, who avoids prison time by pleading insanity and is sentenced to Arkham Asylum. There, among other indignities and torture, White is assaulted and locked in a refrigeration unit by Jane Doe, who is attempting to take over his identity. His injuries, compiled with excessive frost bite, leaves White deformed. His skin turns a pale white, and the frostbite claims his nose, lips, hair, and several of his fingers, leaving him very much resembling a great white shark and driven partially insane. He now uses his business connections to serve as a liaison and fence for many of his fellow innmates. |
Gunhawk | Detective Comics #674 (May 1994) | Liam Hawkleigh is a highly-paid mercenary who has encountered Batman and Robin several times. He had a female companion named Gunbunny, later Pistolera, member of the Ravens. After the death of Pistolera, Gunhawk gets himself a new female partner, the second Gunbunny. |
Headhunter | Batman #487 (December 1992) | Headhunter is an assassin who attempts to kill James Gordon in Batman #487 (1992), but is thwarted by Batman. Headhunter is accustomed to eliminating his targets by shooting them twice in the head. |
Human Eraser | Batman #188 (December 1966) | Leonard Fiasco is a professional at covering the tracks of other crimes. For a 20 percent cut, the Eraser will 'erase' the evidence of another crime. |
Humpty Dumpty | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #2 (2003) | Humphrey Dumpler, a large, portly, well-mannered man, is obsessed with putting broken things back together again, even if he has to take them apart. Thinking she is broken, Dumpler dismembers and reassembles his grandmother in an attempt to fix her. |
Jane Doe | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Jane Doe is a cipher who obsessively learns her victims' personality and mannerisms, then kills them and assumes their identity by wearing their skin, eventually becoming that individual even in her own mind. |
Johnny Warlock | Robin vol 2, #121 (February 2004) | A cruel enforcer working for mob boss Henry Aquista in Gotham City, Johnny Warren is fused with a demonic artifact, gaining tremendous power but also losing a certain amount of will. He encounters Robin and Spoiler in his attempt to take over Aquista's operation, but burns his energy out. He then heads to Istanbul, determined in time to return to Gotham and get his revenge on the Boy Wonder. |
Junkyard Dog | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Tucker Long is completely obsessed with scavenging prizes and treasures from garbage. He apparently has the ability to create all manner of functional things – especially weapons – from junk. He is killed by fellow Arkham inmate Doodlebug. |
The Key | All Star Comics #57 (February 1951) | The Key I was the head of a major crime syndicate, and used various agents around the world in his misdeeds. He presumably perished after he leaped out of a cable car moving over a gorge. |
Justice League of America #41 (December 1965) | The Key II was originally a chemist with Intergang, he develops mind-expanding "psycho-chemicals" that help activate his senses and allow him to plan crimes mere humans can never hope to understand. Being an enemy of the Justice League as a whole, Batman is his primary enemy. In one of his most famous encounters with the Dark Knight he tries to provoke Batman into murdering him so he could escape life itself, but the plan proves unsuccessful. | |
King Snake | Robin #4 (February 1991) | Sir Edmund Dorrance is a martial artist who becomes a mercenary, offering his professional expertise to various anti-communist rebels, and apparently made a great deal of money in doing so. While in Santa Prisca working with local rebels, his camp is taken by surprise by government commandos and he is blinded by gunfire. He flees to Hong Kong and becomes a businessman and the leader of the feared Ghost Dragons. He eventually gravitates to Gotham where he cedes control of the Chinatown district from the Triad gangs. This does not last long, however, and he loses control of the gang, sending him to join the terrorist cult Kobra. It is later revealed that he is the biological father of Bane. Bane tracks his father down, where Snake tries to have his son help him in taking over Kobra. The struggle results in Snake's apparent death. |
King Tut | Batman Television Series "The Curse Of Tut" (April 13, 1966) | Professor William Omaha McElroy is the name of a Batman villain in the Batman television series of the 1960's. His criminal theme is based around Ancient Egypt the same way that Ancient Greece is the theme for Maxie Zeus. He did not appear in a comic book until Batman Confidential #26 in February 2009 with the name of Victor Goodman. He leaves behind clues at the scene of his crimes in similar fashion to the Riddler. In his first comic appearance, this ironically leads to him fighting not only Batman, but also the Riddler who does not appreciate his M.O. being stolen. The morbidly obese character from the television show is in stark contrast to the physically fit representation in the comic books. |
Kite Man | Batman #133 (August 1960) | Charles "Chuck" Brown commits crimes by arming himself with kite weapons and hang-gliding on a big kite. |
Lady Vic | Nightwing #4 (January 1997) | Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton is a woman hailing from a rich British family. She becomes a hired assassin in order to prevent foreclosure on her family estate. |
Lazara | Batman: The Animated Series "Heart of Ice" | Nora Fries, Mr. Freeze's wife, is resurrected by a Lazarus Pit by Nyssa Raatko and now possesses the ability to manipulate flame and reanimate the dead. |
Lock-Up | Batman: The Animated Series "Lock-Up" In comics: Robin v2 #24 (January 1996)) |
Lyle Bolton is a man specializing in incarceration and high tech security systems, discharged from the police academy for being too gung-ho, and dismissed from several security jobs (the animated version had worked at Arkham Asylum). He once sets up a private prison for costumed villains. |
Lunkhead | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Lunkhead is a large, imposing somewhat deformed bruiser of a man. He is killed by demons tricked by the Ventriloquist as revenge for destroying his Scarface puppet. |
Lynx | Robin #1 (January 1991). | Ling is a beautiful martial artist and a member of the Parisian branch of the Ghost Dragons, a Chinese youth gang that serves King Snake. For failing to kill Robin, King Snake takes out her left eye. Eventually, she takes control of the Ghost Dragons and attempts to expand their Gotham territory. She is later killed during an encounter with Batgirl. |
Mabuse | Batman: Gotham Knights #3 (May 2000) | Mabuse is a common street criminal, a "geek" in a suit of armor made from a trashcan, who faces a young Batman early in the Dark Knight's career. He is responsible for breaking Batman's nose in a fight. The story is told in "Broken Nose", written and illustrated by Paul Pope, as part of the Batman: Black & White series; it's canonicity is uncertain. |
Madame Zodiac | Batman Family #17 (April–May 1978) | Madame Zodiac first appears committing horoscope-based crimes in Gotham City, but is defeated by Batgirl, Batwoman, and the Earth-2 Huntress. Later, she allies herself with Doctor Zodiac to obtain a set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna. (World's Finest Comics #285–288.) Recently, she reappeared helping the Riddler solving a mystery. (Trinity #12). |
Magpie | Batman #401 (November 1986) | Margaret Pye is a jewel thief who targets only jewels named after birds, and then replaces the jewels with booby-trapped replicas. She is named for the Magpie, who in folklore is attracted to bright shiny things. She is killed by the second Tally Man. |
Metalhead | Batman #486 (November 1992) | During his search of Black Mask, an exhausted Batman comes across a series of waterfront taverns filled with mauled, bloody inhabitants. After interrogating one of many severely injured victims, he finds the whereabouts of the so-called "Metalhead" at the local cemetery in the Sionis Family Crypt, resting place of Black Mask's family. |
Mime | Batman #412 (October 1987) | Camilla Ortin is a girl who commits crimes dressed as a mime. She seldom speaks, which leads people to think she is mute. |
Mirage | Detective Comics #511 (February 1982) | "Mike" alias "Kerry Austin", a common man who takes a course at the Academy of Crime and starts using illusions as a gimmicked villain. He fights Batman twice and Manhunter Mark Shaw once. He is killed in 52 #25 (2006) by Bruno Mannheim, who bashes Mirage's head into the "Crime Bible"; then sends his body to the kitchen. |
Mirror Man | Detective Comics #213 (November 1954) | Floyd Ventris is a criminal scientist who uses mirrors in his crimes, in a fashion similar to Mirror Master. In both his meetings with Batman, Ventris tries to expose Batman's secret identity. Years later, Mirror Man returns briefly in the pages of H.E.R.O. #7–9. |
Mister Esper | Detective Comics #352 (June 1966) | Mister Esper (or ESPer), later known as Brainwash and Captain Calamity, is a red-haired mentalist and plainclothes criminal, who uses his mental abilities against Batman at least three times. He resurfaces as a costumed villain called Captain Calamity who battles the Teen Titans. |
Mr. Polka-Dot | Detective Comics #300 (February 1962) | Abner Krill is a minor Batman comic book villain from the Silver Age of Comic Books. As Mr. Polka-Dot (sometimes called the Polka-Dot Man), he turns the polka dots covering his costume into a variety of weapons. |
The Mole | World's Finest Comics #80 (January-February 1956) | A minor criminal named Harrah, nicknamed "the Mole", tries to tunnel into the Gotham City Bank, but is stopped by Batman and Superman. Years later, during a tunnel prison break, Harrah almost drowns in a wave of toxic sewage that mutates him into a mole-like creature. During a second clash with Batman, the Mole is knocked into a flooded cavern of the Batcave and washed away, his ultimate fate still unknown. (Batman #340, 1981). |
Monarch of Menace | Detective Comics #350 (April 1966) | In the earliest days of Batman’s career, the Monarch of Menace represented the Dark Knight’s only failure, being the first criminal ever to defeat Batman and leave Gotham with a fortune in stolen goods. Years later, however, the Monarch's teenage son tries to prove himself using his father's outfit in a crime spree. The young Monarch is defeated by Robin, while his father is lured out of hiding by Batman, who then finally defeats his old nemesis. The original Monarch later returns in Batman #336 (1981), but is once again defeated by Batman. |
The Monk | Detective Comics #31 (September 1939) | The Monk is one of the earliest Batman villains. He wore a red cassock, with a hood that bore a skull and crossbones on it. The Monk turned out to be a vampire, and was killed after being shot with a silver bullet. His battle with Batman was one of the first multi-part Batman adventures. The Monk's hood has been in a glass display case in the Batcave ever since, in all subsequent official continuities. |
The Mortician | Batman: Gotham Knights #28 (June 2002) | The Mortician is trying some reanimation techniques to raise his dead parents. When one of his zombies kills someone however, he feels remorse and gives up his plans. |
NKVDemon | Batman #445 (March 1990) | Gregor Dosynski is the protégé of KGBeast who tries to kill a list of 10 Soviet government officials in Moscow, considering them traitors to the cause of communism. He is killed by police gunfire in an attempt to assassinate the tenth person on his list, then-president Mikhail Gorbachev. |
Aquaman v4 #8 (July 1992) | An assassin named Nicodemus (not to be confused with Thomas Hart a.k.a. Nicodemus) takes up the mantle and costume of the original NKVDemon, and is hired to kill Aquaman. He is defeated by Aquaman and Batman, and eventually killed while in jail. | |
Robin v2 #47 (November 1997) | The third NKVDemon initially works for Ulyssees "The General" Hadrian. More recently he serves as the bodyguard to the head of the Gotham Odessa family, and is killed in the shootout that incites the Gotham gang war. | |
Nicodemus | Batman #601 (May 2002) | Thomas Hart is a masked figure in Gotham City who kidnaps corrupt city officials and burns them to death. He, just like the Batman, had lost his parents to a Gotham crime at an early age. |
Nite-Wing | Nightwing #8 (May 1997) | Tad Ryerstad is a sociopathic petty criminal. The similarities between his name and Nightwing's has gotten him in trouble in the past, and nearly leads to him being murdered on two different occasions. |
Nocturna | Detective Comics #529 (August 1983) | Natalia Knight is a thief and manipulator; her half-brother and lover is the Night-Slayer, Anton Knight, who first appears in the same issue. |
Ogre and Ape | Batman #535 (October 1996) | Ogre alias Michael Adams is a genetically altered man, whose brother is a genetically experimented ape. The Ogre is increased in strength and the Ape in intelligence. Ogre tracks and murders the scientists who had collaborated with the experiment only to be tracked by Batman himself. In the end, the Ape dies and Ogre wanders aimlessly through Gotham City. |
Onomatopoeia | Green Arrow #12 (March 2002) | Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who targets non-powered, vigilante superheroes. He earned his name because he imitates noises around him, such as dripping taps, gunshots etc. No personal characteristics are known about Onomatopoeia, including his real name or facial features.Onomatopoeia is a superb athlete, martial artist and weapons expert. He carries two semiautomatic handguns, a sniper rifle and an army knife. |
Orca | Batman #579 (July 2000) | Grace Balin is a marine biologist who transforms herself into a monstrous orca. |
The Outsider | First speaks a message, unseen, to Batman in Detective Comics #334 (December 1964); appears in Detective Comics #356 (October 1966) | In Detective Comics #328 (June 1964), Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth is seemingly killed saving the Dynamic Duo from a falling boulder. (It is subsequent to this event that the character of Dick Grayson's Aunt, Harriet Cooper, is first introduced, to look after Bruce and Dick at home in Alfred's stead.) It is later learned that Alfred was revived by a scientist named Brandon Crawford, which results in a dramatic change: Alfred awakes from his apparent death with pasty white skin with circular markings, superhuman powers, including telekinesis, and a desire to destroy Batman and Robin. Calling himself The Outsider, he indirectly and directly battles the Dynamic Duo on a number of occasions before being cured (This turn of events is possibly not part of current continuity). |
Panara | Catwoman #37 (September 1996) | Ms. Dorsey is a young woman that is diagnosed with an incurable disease. She seeks the aid of a geneticist who specializes in radical cures for illnesses. He traps Catwoman, believing her to be a werecat, and thinking her to have have special DNA to use in Ms. Dorsey's cure, but finds that she was a "mer human". |
Penny Plunderer | World's Finest Comics #30 (September/October 1947) | Joe Coyne, a thief obsessed with penny-oriented crimes, starts his career selling newspapers for pennies. He is later caught stealing pennies. The giant penny on display in the Batcave, which has been a longtime staple of Batman's lair, was originally one of the Penny Plunderer's devices. |
The Phantasm | Batman: The Animated Series December 25 1993 | The Phantasm is a ghastly creature that begins to take out mob bosses left and right who were tied in to the murder of Carl Beaumont. While the Phantasm is going on his personal vendetta, witnesses believe that The Phantasm is actually Batman. Batman is pursued and framed for the mob boss murders. It is later revealed that the Phantasm is Andrea Beaumont, daughter of the late Carl Beaumont and ex-fiancee of Bruce Wayne. She disappears before Batman can save her. |
Pix | Batman: Gotham Knights #34 (December 2002) | Ariadne Pixnit is an avant-garde tattoo artist who used "nanite-ink" – a nanobot-filled color matrix that she could program to form itself into designs on her subjects. After being beaten and raped by a street gang, Pixnit works undercover at her attackers' favorite tattoo shop, designing lethal tattoos (swords, scorpions, etc) that she beings to "life" via computer in order to dispatch the gang members one by one. She later injects a large amount of the nan-ink into her skull, giving her the ability to create creatures and weapons on her skin that she could animate and send against Batman. |
Planet Master | Detective Comics #296 (October 1961) | Professor Norbert starts a crime wave using gimmicks based on the nine planets after inhaling a strange gas which turns him into a Jekyll and Hyde-like character. After the gas' effect wears off, it is revealed that Norbert's assistant Burke is the one who has manipulated him into committing crimes. A Planet Master (who may or may not be the same as the original) later appears as a member of Kobra's Strikeforce Kobra, and still later as part of The Society during the Infinite Crisis. |
Professor Milo | Detective Comics #247 (September 1957) | Professor/Doctor Achilles Milo is a scientist who uses chemicals to battle Batman. |
Professor Radium | Batman #8 (December 1941-January 1942) | Professor Henry Ross is a scientist who is accidentally transformed into "a human radium ray". In need of an expensive antidote, Ross uses his newfound powers to commit crimes in Gotham, anxious not to hurt anyone, but accidentally killing his girlfriend Mary Lamont. Going insane, Professor Radium finds himself battling Batman and Robin. He seems to drown in his first appearance, but returns in recent times and is revealed to have joined a subgroup of the villainous Society known as the Nuclear Legion. |
Prometheus | New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 (January 1997) | Grant Morrison, who created the character during his tenure as the writer of Justice League of America, described him as "the anti-Batman." He is the son of two hippie criminals who travelled across the United States with him. They committed indiscriminate murders and thefts, often of a brutal nature (similar perhaps to Bonnie and Clyde). Eventually they were cornered and forced the police to gun them down in front of their son, whose hair turned white from the shock. That night, he swore an oath to "annihilate the forces of justice". His real name has not been revealed. He has teamed up with Hush as his bodyguard. |
Rainbow Beast | Batman #134 (September 1960) | After helping the president of a small South American republic against a dictatorial rebel, Batman and Robin are confronted with another menace--a Rainbow Beast. Spawned from a firery volcano, the Rainbow Beast radiates four separate power-auras from different areas of its body. However, after using a power, the section of the Beast's body used becomes white, and it must leach color to regain its power. Batman and Robin trick the Rainbow Beast into expending all of its auras, leaving it entirely colorless. They ram it with a log and the Beast shatters into fragments |
Ratcatcher | Detective Comics #585 (April 1988) | Otis Flannegan is a one-time actual rat catcher who turns to a life of crime. He has the ability to communicate with and train rats and uses them to plague Gotham many times. Shortly after the Infinite Crisis began, Ratcatcher is killed by an OMAC agent in hiding who identifies the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and vaporizes him. |
The Reaper | Detective Comics #575 (June 1987) | Judson Caspian is a socialite by day and an ultra-violent vigilante by night. After losing his wife to a robbery, he becomes The Reaper. He prowls Gotham during the '50s before returning in Batman: Year Two to do battle with the Dark Knight. The Reaper has been essentially written out of the Batman mythos seeing as the only storyline and one-shot follow up that he appeared in have been declared outside of the canon due to re-writes involving Joe Chill. |
Roxy Rocket | The Batman Adventures Annual #1 (1994) | Roxanne "Roxy Rocket" Sutton was formerly a stunt double for a Hollywood actress. However, she lost her job after she tried to make her stunts so dangerous that no company would insure her. Out of work but still hungering for thrills, Sutton began stealing jewels using a specially designed one-seat rocket. |
Savage Skull | Batman #360 (June 1983) | Jack Crane is a rogue cop that is fired from the Gotham City Police Department due to his illegal activities. Disfigured in an accident that burns off his skin, Crane seeks revenge as the Savage Skull but is defeated by Batman. |
Sewer King | Batman: The Animated Series "The Underdwellers" | A staff-carrying, sewer-dwelling villain with an army of runaway children he uses as pick-pockets. He recently appeared among other "lame" villains slain at the hands of Intergang boss Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim, but was unidentified in the actual comic. [1] |
Shrike | Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1 (October 1999) | As a teenager, the boy known only as Boone is a friend of Dick Grayson, who would grow up to become Nightwing. As Grayson is learning under the tutelage of Batman, Boone is traveling throughout the Pacific Rim, learning martial arts from a number of teachers, including several former members of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins. |
Signalman | Batman #112 (December 1957) | Phil Cobb is a small-time criminal in Gotham who is convinced that he needs a gimmick to hit it big. Inspired by the Bat-Signal, he becomes the Signalman, using signals, signs, and symbols in his crimes, but is inevitably defeated by Batman and Robin, time and again. He is also a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. For a brief time, Cobb changes his modus operandi and, inspired by Green Arrow, commits crimes as the Blue Bowman. Signalman is kidnapped and tortured by Dr. Moon and Phobia, and is presumed deceased, but later appears as a drug-addicted informant to Black Lightning. |
The Snowman | Batman #337 (July 1981) | Klaus Kristin is the son of a male yeti and a human woman. In his first appearance he comes to Gotham City to freeze it over, but encounters Batman in the process. |
Spellbinder | Detective Comics #358 (December 1966) | Delbert Billings (a.k.a. Keith Sherwood), is a painter who uses optical illusions and hypnotic weapons to commit crimes. Spellbinder is on the run from the law with his new girlfriend Fay Moffit when he is confronted by the demon-lord Neron, who makes an offer of immense power in exchange for his soul. Spellbinder declines, but Fay shoots Spellbinder in the head and accepts the offer for herself. |
Justice League International vol. 2. #65 (June 1994) | A genuine mystic takes the name and appears as a member of the Government sanctioned "League-Busters". | |
Detective Comics #691 (November 1995) | During the Underworld Unleashed crossover, Delbert Billings turns down Neron's offer, and is shot by his girlfriend Fay Moffit, who then takes up the name Lady Spellbinder. (Detective Comics #691-692) | |
The Spook | Detective Comics #434 (April 1973) | Val Kaliban is one of the world's greatest escape-artists, and uses his extraordinary abilities together with special effects to commit spectacular crimes and make people believe he was a real ghost. After several battles with Batman, he is killed by Damian Wayne. |
Steeljacket | Detective Comics #681 (January 1995) | Steeljacket is a bio-engineering experiment, a cross between man and bird. His hollow bones give him extremely light weight, allowing him to fly. However, he must wear a metallic armor to protect his frail body. |
The Synaptic Kid | Detective Comics #633 (August 1991) | A deformed mutant telepath who attempts to enter Batman's mind and learn his secret identity for the purpose of blackmailing him, only to be rendered comatose when the attempt backfires. |
Tally Man | Batman: Shadow of the Bat #19 (October 1993) | The Tally Man is a serial killer who murders around 60 people. He is a hired killer who wears a mask over his face, a long purplish smock with ruffled sleeves, and an oversized top hat. |
Detective Comics #819 (July 2006) | A hitman using the same name appears in Batman: Face the Face working for Great White. | |
Ten-Eyed Man | Batman #226 (November 1970) | Philip Reardon is a former Vietnam War veteran/warehouse guard who is blinded in a warehouse explosion that burns his retinas. Doctor Engstrom reconnects them to his fingers. Reardon blames Batman for his blindness. He is killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. |
The Terrible Trio | Detective Comics #323 (January 1964) | Warren Lawford, Armand Lydecker, and Gunther Hardwicke, a trio of scientists who wear masks of cartoon animals to commit crimes as the Fox, the Shark, and the Vulture. |
Thanatos | Batman #305 (November 1978) | Thanatos is the masked leader of the gang of terrorists known as the "Death's Head", devoted to the destruction of capitalism. The Death's Head is defeated by the Batman, and Thanatos is unmasked as a Sophia Santos, also known as "Lina Muller", a reporter who had associated with the Batman. |
Thor | Batman #127 (October 1959) | Henry Meke is proprietor of a small museum featuring replicas of mythological curios. One nigh meteorite smashed through a window, hit the Hammer of Thor, and disintergrated. The hammer began to glow, and Meke reached out to examine it. After touching the hammer, he was transformed into the mighty Thor himself. The metamorphosis is repeated during thunder storms. Thor then began a quest to finance the building of a temple to Odin by robbing banks. |
The Trigger Twins | Detective Comics #666 (December 1993) | The Trigger Twins (Thomas and Tad Trigger) are two cowboys that grew up apart without knowing they were twins. They discover they share a great skill as gunslingers and become bandits, taking their motif from their heroic Wild West namesakes. They are seemingly killed during the Infinite Crisis. |
Torque | Nightwing #1 (October 1996) | Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames is the most corrupt cop working in the Blüdhaven Police Department. He first meets Nightwing when he is ordered by Redhorn, the Police Chief, to execute the young vigilante. Soames, however, betrays Redhorn and allows Nightwing to live, with the intention to pit various factions in Blüdhaven against one another. After Soames' scheme to use Scarecrow against Nightwing fails disastrously, Blockbuster grows weary of his underling, and attempts to have him killed. Soames responds with surprising cunning, and ultimately tries to take Blockbuster's invalid mother hostage as part of a last bid for power. Nightwing attempts to intervene, but is forced to save innocent bystanders as Blockbuster twists the dirty cop's head 180 degrees, leaving Soames for dead. Soames survives thanks to a breakthrough medical technique, and retrains himself to move normally, "seeing through the back of his head" with the use of glasses with a built-in array of mirrors. Soames brutally kills the doctor who had saved his life, and renamed himself Torque. He then gains the support of Intergang and starts a new gang war for the control of Blüdhaven, revenge against Blockbuster, Nightwing, and the city he now feels he owned. |
The Werewolf | Batman #255 (March 1974) | Anthony Lupus, is a former Olympic Decathlon champion who is turned into a werewolf by a drug given to him by Professor Milo. |
The Wrath | Batman Special #1 (1984) | An anti-Batman whose criminal parents are killed by then-rookie policeman Jim Gordon. As an adult, the Wrath becomes a cop-killer who copies many of Batman's methods. He perishes in his first appearance. A second Wrath, Elliot Caldwell later appears in Batman Confidential, revealed to be the first Wrath's sidekick, a twisted version of Robin. |
Zebra-Man | Detective Comics #275 (January 1960) | A high-tech scientist named Jake Baker, whose body is irradiated granting him "magnetic" powers to attract or repel metal, wood, stone, and human flesh. His name comes from the black and white stripes on his body. A second Zebra-Man (probably not the same as the original), is later created by Kobra. |
Zeiss | Batman #582 (October 2000) | Philo Zeiss possesses surgically-enhanced speed, reflexes, vision-enhancing goggles, and extensive martial arts training. Brought up by the Sicilan mafia, Zeiss eventually becomes a contract killer and bodyguard. He fights Batman to standstill and nearly kills Catwoman. |
Zodiac Master | Detective Comics #323 (January 1964) | The masked villain known as the Zodiac Master makes his presence known in Gotham by predicting a succession of disasters, all of which he has secretly orchestrated. Having cemented his reputation, he starts offering odds on the relative success or failure for the plans of various criminals, all in exchange for 25% of the take. |
Mobsters and plainclothes criminals
Besides his infamous rogues gallery of supervillains, Batman has also faced more "ordinary" enemies, such as assassins, mobsters, and terrorists.
In chronoloical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
Villain | First appearance | Description |
---|---|---|
Joe Chill | Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) | The mugger who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents. He first appears in Detective Comics #33, but is not named until Batman #47. |
Tony Zucco | Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) | Tony Zucco is a mob boss, or simple low level thug (depending on the continuity) who is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents. Despite some variation, the basic recurring themes are that Zucco tries to extort the circus the Graysons work for. When the ringmaster refuses to pay him, he sabotages the act causing the highwire ropes to break and sending Dick's parents falling to their deaths. |
Maroni crime family | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Led by Sal "The Boss" Maroni, the Maroni family are a prominent crime family in Gotham, and in the early years of Batman's career, the Maronis often vied for power and control of the Gotham underworld with the Falcone family. In the majority of Batman's incarnations, Sal Maroni is widely known as the mob boss who threw acid onto the face of D.A. Harvey Dent during a trial. The resulting injuries and scarring transformed Dent into Two-Face. In The Dark Knight Maroni plays the role of one of Gotham City's mob bosses. In The Long Halloween, Maroni is shot in the head and killed by Alberto Falcone the Holiday killer. |
Lew Moxon | Detective Comics #235 (November 1956) | A mob boss who hired Joe Chill to kill Thomas Wayne which sparked Bruce Wayne into becoming Batman, as well as bringing the villain Zeiss to Gotham City. |
Bruno Groft and Lekkey | Batman #128 (December 1959) | Bruno Groft, was a foreign agent and assassin-for-hire whose gang kidnapped the prince, princess and ambassador of Morania. Batman and Robin defeat the gang and prevent Lekkey from assassinating the royal couple. |
Graham | Batman #130 (March 1960) | Graham, was an expert builder of replicas of ancient weapons for movies. He begins leading a gang that utilizies ancient weapons such as ballistas and caltrops to loot banks. |
Catfoot Regan and Beetles Branagan | Batman #134 (September 1960) | Batman and Robin apprehend Catfoot Regan trying to rob jewels from the movement of a huge clock at a clock fair. Clues on Regan's clothes lead them to the thief's boss, Beetles Branagan, operating a crime-ring from above the city in a huge advertising balloon. |
Gentleman Jim Jansen | Batman #134 (September 1960) | Gentleman Jim Jansen, was an orchid fancier and smuggler, whom Batman and Robin discover trying to smuggle hot diamonds inside orchids. |
Johnny Witts | Detective Comics #344 (October 1965) | Johnny Witts, the self-styled “crime-boss who is always one step ahead of Batman” uses his keen mind to try to outwit Batman and Robin on at least three different occasions in the Silver Age. He also encounters the Super Friends in a 1979 story. |
Ruby Ryder | The Brave and the Bold v1 #95 (April–May 1971) | The world’s richest woman and top female tycoon, based in Gotham City, Ruby Ryder is also a femme fatale and a full-fledged big time criminal. Three meetings with Batman ends in defeat and prison. She also encounters Metamorpho, Green Arrow, the Metal Men and Plastic Man, the latter who falls in love with her. |
Sterling Silversmith | Detective Comics #446 (April 1975) | Sterling T. Silversmith alias the Sterling Silversmith has been obsessed with silver since childhood and, now, as a silver-haired older man, has amassed a fortune in stolen goods. Bullets bounce off Silversmith thanks to a silver alloy woven into the fabric of his white suit. Batman has fought him twice, and once prevented Silversmith from murdering the Crime Doctor. |
Rupert Thorne | Detective Comics #469 (May 1977) | Prominent head of one of Gotham City's top smuggling gangs. He is also the boss of "Matches" Malone, the criminal whose identity was taken over by Batman. |
Gregorian Falstaff | Batman #317 (November 1979) | A reclusive billionaire and business rival of Bruce Wayne who time and again tries to put Wayne Enterprises out of business. He once tries to kill Batman with an energy gun, but is pushed by Talia al Ghul into the gunfire, which instantly kills him. |
The Squid | Detective Comics #497 (December 1980) | Lawrence Loman, a.k.a. Clement Carp, a.k.a. the Squid is a Chinese crimeboss in Gotham City. He takes control of the underworld and almost succeeds in defeating the Batman, before apparently being killed by Killer Croc, a former member of the Squid's gang. However, the Squid returns alive in the pages of 52 #25 (2006) where he is one of the crime bosses killed by Bruno Mannheim. |
Falcone crime family | Batman #404 (March 1987) | Led by Carmine Falcone, (AKA "The Roman") and prominent in the storylines of Batman's early years, including Year One, The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. In the comics, as well as the feature film Batman Begins, the Falcone family and Carmine Falcone in particular are portrayed as all but completely controlling Gotham City before Batman's arrival. Falcone was killed in The Long Halloween by Two-Face. |
Henri Ducard | Detective Comics #599 (April 1989) | Henri Ducard was once one of Batman's teachers in the art of crimefighting. Years later, however, Batman learns that his former mentor is a master criminal. He appears in a three-part miniseries "Blind Justice" in Detective Comics. |
Two of Batman's mobster foes have donned costumes and crossed over to become supervillains:
- Holiday: Mysterious serial killer who murders mobsters and others over a year (during The Long Halloween storyline). The killer's weapon is a .22 pistol (using a baby bottle nipple as a silencer) with the handle taped and the serial number filed off. Also, every crime takes place on a holiday and a small trinket representing each holiday is left behind at the scene. Alberto Falcone, youngest son of Carmine Falcone, admits to be the Holiday killer, although Gilda Dent did too. Harvey Dent later said he was the second Holiday, after killing Falcone on Christmas Eve. The Holiday murders are also responsible for the creation of Two-Face.
- The Hangman: A serial killer (during the Dark Victory storyline), who murders police officers on every holiday of the year, leaving behind a version of the children's word game "Hangman" (with key letters missing) with each new victim. All of the victims are police officers who, in one way or another, helped Harvey Dent rise to his position of District Attorney. In the end, the Hangman is revealed to be Sofia Falcone Gigante, daughter of the late crime boss, Carmine Falcone.
Corrupt cops and government officials
In chronological order (with issue and date of first appearance)
Villain | First appearance | Description |
---|---|---|
President Lex Luthor | Action Comics #23 (April 1940) | Though Superman's primary foe, Luthor attempted to illegally acquire a vast percentage of Gotham's property during the No Man's Land incident though he was stopped by the efforts of Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. Later, when Luthor became President, he framed Bruce Wayne for murder. Eventually, Luthor was revealed as a criminal and deposed from the Presidency by Superman and Batman. |
Adolf Hitler | Green Lantern Vol. 1 #3 (Spring 1942) | A character based on the historical figure of the same name. He appeared as an enemy of many members of The Justice League including Batman. |
Harvey Bullock | Detective Comics #441 (June 1974) | Prior to the 1984-85 DC maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bullock is a crooked police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career. His method of doing so is to pretend to be exceedingly clumsy, thereby spoiling whatever Gordon is trying to do, seemingly accidentally. After inadvertently giving Gordon a heart attack, however, Bullock turns over a new leaf and develops into a well-meaning cop. |
Commissioner Peter Pauling | Batman #341 (November 1981) | Puppet commissioner instated by Mayor Hill, on the behest of Rupert Thorne. |
Mayor Hamilton Hill | Detective Comics #511 (February 1982) | A corrupt politician who became mayor of Gotham City thanks to Rupert Thorne. He helped Thorne oppose Batman, notably by firing Commissioner James Gordon. |
Detective Flass | Batman #404 (February 1987) | Then Lt. Jim Gordon's partner upon his arrival in Gotham, Arnold John Flass was in the pocket of drug dealer Jefferson Skeevers, crime boss Carmine Falcone, and corrupt Commissioner Gillian Loeb. He was apparently killed by Hangman in Dark Victory #3 (1999), but had previously appeared in Legends of the Dark Knight Annual #2 (1992), in a story set years after the Hangman killings (however, this later appearance may not be in continuity). |
Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb | Batman #404 (February 1987) | The commissioner of police when Bruce Wayne first returns to Gotham and becomes Batman. He is on the payrole of Carmine Falcone and is later murdered by serial killer Hangman in Dark Victory #2. |
Mayor Armand Krol | Detective Comics #647 (August 1992) | More incompetent than malicious, Krol had a strong dislike of Commissioner Gordon, demoting and replacing him with his wife Sarah Essen Gordon. During Krol's last days in office, Gotham descended into near anarky after Ra's al Ghul released the "Clench" virus during the Contagion story arc. |
Commissioner Grogan | Catwoman Annual #2 (1995) | Loeb's replacement as commissioner, first mentioned in Batman #407, the final part of the Year One storyline. Grogan is described by Gordon as being even more crooked than his predecessor. His first name was said to be Peter, Jack, and Edward. |
Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III | Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | Corrupt mayor of Gotham beginning after No Man's Land and remaining in office until his assassination by the Joker in Gotham Central #12. |
Mayor David Hull | Gotham Central #13 (January 2004) | David Hull was deputy mayor under Dickerson and was his replacement. |
Allies in conflict
Some characters originally conceived as heroes have come into conflict with Batman.
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
Enemy | First appearance | Description |
---|---|---|
Bat-Mite | Detective Comics #267 (May 1959) | Bat-Mite is an Imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Appearing as a small childlike man in an ill-fitting costume, Bat-Mite possesses near-infinite magical powers and comes from another dimension. Bat-Mite idolizes Batman, and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange events so that he could see his hero in action. Bat-Mite is arguably more of a nuisance than an enemy to Batman, and often leaves the hero alone when he realizes he has angered his idol |
Jason Todd | Batman #357 (March 1983) | Jason Todd became the new Robin, sidekick to the superhero Batman, when the previous Robin Dick Grayson went on to star in The New Teen Titans under the moniker of Nightwing. After character was killed off, he was resurrected as an enemy of Batman, eventually becoming the second Red Hood and assuming a new role as an anti-hero. |
Superman | Action Comics #1 (June 1938) | Born on the distant planet of Krypton with the name Kal-El, he was rocketed to Earth as an infant just moments before the planets destruction. He was discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife. The couple raised the child under the name Clark Kent. Very early in his life, Superman started to display superhuman abilities, which upon reaching maturity he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity. He has fought Batman on occasion, most notably in The Dark Knight Returns. |
References
- ^ Hunt, Matt. "How the Joker works". Howstuffworks. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
- ^ Phillips, Daniel (2007-12-14). "Why So Serious? - The Many Faces of Joker". IGN. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
Sure, the basics have always been there: The Joker's maniacal grin, his green hair, red lips and purple suit.
- ^ Detective Comics #840 (March 2008)