List of Batman villains
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of Batman's major and minor enemies.
Contents |
[edit] Batman's major enemies
In chronological order (with issue and date of first appearance)
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Chill | Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) | The man responsible for murdering Bruce Wayne's parents (not named until Batman #47). After years of the character being out of continuity, he was recently brought back as the definitive Wayne murderer. |
Prof. Hugo Strange  |
Detective Comics #36 (February 1940) | Strange is an insane psychologist who knows Batman's secret identity and lusts to take the identity for himself. He is also a chemical genius who can turn people into lumbering, brutal giants. |
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, two sides of the same coin. He 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). His alter-ego is unknown (although referred to in the 1989 Batman as Jack Napier). He often goes by the alias "Joe Kerr", an obvious play on his moniker. |
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'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 do crimes against animals, especially large cats. Currently, she is gradually taking up the role of Catwoman again after recuperating from the birth of her daughter Helena. |
Clayface I |
Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) | The original Clayface, Basil Karlo, was an actor who was driven mad when he heard of a remake 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 III and IV. Additionally, his body sports crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater powers. In this form he is known as the "Ultimate Clayface." |
Scarecrow |
World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) | Prof. 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. |
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. Currently he has become the kingpin of Gotham City, running his shady operations behind the facade of his nightclub the Iceberg Lounge. |
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 "Boss" 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, his face being surgically repaired. However, he falls back into the Two-Face persona, most recently in Face the Face. |
Riddler |
Detective Comics #140 (October 1948) | Edward Nygma (formerly Eddie Nashton) 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. |
Mad Hatter |
Batman #49 (October-November 1948) | Jervis Tetch, formerly a research scientist, is completely smitten with the works of Lewis Carroll. 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 is currently supposed to have been killed by the original Hatter and does not appear any longer.) Currently, he is operating as a member of the Secret Six. |
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. Currently, he is operating as a member of the Secret Six. |
Mr. Freeze |
Batman #121 (February 1959) | 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 he wear a special self-contained refrigeration suit. He uses similar ice technology for weapons. Recently, his wife resurfaced as Lazara, and he is currently in pursuit of her. |
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 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. Currently, she has been hospitalized after a near fatal encounter with her vengeful plant-mutant Harvest. |
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. As a scientist, Kirk Langstrom is Batman's ally. |
Talia al Ghul |
Detective Comics #411 (May 1971) | The daughter of the supervillain, Ra's al Ghul, Talia's father encouraged a relationship between Talia and Batman in hopes of recruiting him as his successor. Talia admires Batman in his drive, determination, and nobility, but was always torn between him and the love for her terrorist father. Unlike Catwoman, Talia is more than willing to play second-fiddle to Bruce's mission. The two are currently at odds, as Talia has been brainwashed into hating both her father and Batman; however, she claims to be the mother of his son Damien. |
Ra's al Ghul |
Batman #232 (June 1971) | Ra's al Ghul ("Demon's Head" in Arabic), a centuries-old world-wide eco-terrorist, knew Batman's secret identity; Ra's al Ghul desired for Batman to marry his daughter Talia and become his successor. He utilized special pits known as Lazarus Pits which enabled him to live for centuries. He was responsible for Batman's ejection from the Justice League of America. Currently, it appears that Ra's is deceased, killed by his daughters, Nyssa Raatko and Talia. |
Lady Shiva |
Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 (December 1975) | Sandra Wu-San, a mercenary assassin who once trained Batman, is possibly the greatest martial artist alive in the DC Universe, one of Batman's true physical rivals. She is also the biological mother of Cassandra Cain. Currently, she has taken up a new apprentice after joining the Birds of Prey and being defeated by Prometheus. |
Killer Croc |
Detective Comics #523 (February 1983) | Waylon Jones, a former croc wrestler turned into a criminal deformed by mutation into a humongous humanoid lizard, 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. Currently, he is struggling with a mutation brought down on him by Hush and Riddler. |
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 crime. Recently, however, it appears that he was shot in the head and killed by Catwoman. |
Ventriloquist and Scarface |
Detective Comics #583 (February 1988) | Arnold Wesker is a ventriloquist whose puppet is a gangster called 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. Recently, however, it appears that he was shot and murdered by Tally Man. |
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 in an animated series and 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". |
Mr. Zsasz |
Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (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. |
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. |
David Cain |
Batman #567 (July 1999) | One of the world's premier assassins, David Cain is responsible for the framing of Bruce Wayne for murder and is the biological father of Cassandra Cain. |
Hush |
Batman #609 (November 2002) | A childhood friend of Bruce's, Thomas "Tommy" Elliot 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". One example of this guile is how he led Batman to believe that Hush was the second Robin, Jason Todd, previously murdered by the Joker. |
Nyssa Raatko |
Detective Comics #783 (August 2003) | A Holocast survirvor, Nyssa was the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, born in St. Petersburg in 1775. She eventually broke off from her father and his crusade, resulting in a rift between them. She had in her possession a Lazarus Pit that could be reused over and over again. She was responsible for brainwashing her half-sister Talia into despising not only Batman, but their father as well, whom she ended up killing with a sword. It appears, however, that Nyssa was killed in a car bombing in Northern Africa, presumably by the League of Assassins. |
Red Hood |
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 no problem with killing criminals. |
[edit] Minor enemies
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
Abattoir |
Detective Comics #525 (April 1983) | Arnold Etchison was a serial killer who killed his family members. He was killed by Jean Paul Valley (Azrael, during his tenure as Batman). His history was short for he only appeared in 4 issues: , Batman #505, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #27, and Batman #508. |
| Actuary | (Detective Comics #683-4 (March-April 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. Has been stopped by Batman in the past by applying a severe blow to the back of the neck, just below the skull. |
Batzarro |
Superman/Batman #20 (June 2005) | 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. |
Benedict Asp |
Batman #486 (November 1992) | Asp is the brother of Shondra Kinsolving, the trained physiotherapist who met Bruce Wayne when he was dealing with exhaustion and helped to look after him after he was injured by Bane. He kidnapped and turned her abilities to evil uses. Asp revealed Shondra's healing powers and along with his own psychic powers used her to telekinetically kill an entire village. Bruce eventually defeated Benedict, but the events traumatized Shondra. |
Black Spider  |
Black Spider I - Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) Black Spider II - Batman #518 (May 1995) |
Black Spider is the name of several DC Comics villains; the first two were both primarily the enemies of Batman. The first Black Spider debuted in 1976 and was created by Gerry Conway. His real name is Eric Needham. The second is Johnny LaMonica. He was later killed by Crispus Allen during a gang shooting. |
Blockbuster  |
Blockbuster I - Detective Comics #345 (November 1965) Blockbuster II - Starman (1st series) #9 |
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. Later, he sold his soul to the demon Neron and became super-intelligent, allowing him to become the crime boss of Blüdhaven. Blockbuster II was killed by the vigilante Tarantula II. His stuffed body became the property of the Penguin. |
Bronze Tiger |
Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (April-May 1975) | Benjamin Turner, a supreme martial artist with a personality disorder. He acted as a villain while brainwashed, but he is regularly a good character. |
Calendar Man |
Detective Comics #259 (September 1958) | Julian Day, also known as the Calendar Man, is known for committing crimes that corresponded with significant dates. |
Captain Stingaree |
Detective Comics #460 (June 1976) | Karl Courtney is a criminal who commits crimes using a pirate motif. He is currently in a relationship with the Cavalier. |
Catman |
Detective Comics #311 (January 1963) | Catman was originally Thomas Blake, 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. Catman was eventually portrayed as a pathetic, overweight loser who was looked down upon by other villains and who was easily defeated by Green Arrow. Catman resurfaced in Africa, where, after a failed attempt at suicide, he attempted to salvage his life and began living with a pride of lions. He currently serves as a member of the Secret Six. |
| Cavalier Cavalier II  |
Detective Comics #81 (November 1943) Legends of the Dark Knight #32 (June 1992) |
A swordsman who speaks in Shakespearean English and dresses in a French musketeer costume. His real name is Mortimer Drake and is currently in a relationship with Captain Stingaree. A second Cavalier showed up in the story "Blades." In this version, the Cavalier is swashbuckling hero who becomes a media darling. |
Clayfaces II, III, IV, V, VI and VII   |
Clayface II- Detective Comics #298 (December 1961) Clayface III - Detective Comics #478 (July 1978) Clayface IV - Outsiders #21 Clayface V - Batman: Shadow of The Bat #27 (May 1994) Clayface VI - Batman #550 (January 1998) Clayface VII - Batman: Gotham Knights #60 (February 2005) |
|
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 scene of the crime. He is also the father of the deceased Spoiler. |
Cornelius Stirk |
Detective Comics #592 (November 1988) | An Arkham intern with the ability to cause fear and hallucinations in others, via of telepathic methods. This ability, however, is limited, and will be used up completely unless Stirk consumes human hearts. |
Copperhead |
Brave and the Bold #78 (June 1968) | The criminal known as Copperhead first appeared in Gotham City in a snake costume. He committed numerous thefts before finally being apprehended by Batman and the first Batgirl. He eventually became 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. He was later killed by Manhunter. |
Crazy Quilt |
Boy Commandos #15 (1946) | An ex-painter who led a double life as a master thief, he was blinded by a gunshot wound during a botched robbery. While in prison, he volunteered for an experimental proceedure that would restore his vision. There was a side-effect, however. Even though he could see, he could only see in blinding, disorienting colors. This drove him mad, and he adopted the identity of Crazy-Quilt. |
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 appeared under a new name, Bradford Thorne in Detective Comics #494. He is an expert in torture. In the Batman: The Animated Series, he was Rupert Thorne's younger brother. |
Deacon Blackfire |
Batman: The Cult #1 | A fanatical religious leader who formed an army in the sewers beneath Gotham, largely composed of the homeless, Blackfire began a violent war on crime, which escalated into him taking over the entire city resulting in it being isolated from the rest of the country. Blackfire was something of a one-shot villain. He appeared in the four issue miniseries The Cult, at the end of which, he was killed by his followers. |
Doctor Achilles Milo |
Detective Comics #247 (September 1957) | Dr. Achilles Milo is a scientist who uses chemicals to battle Batman. |
Doctor Death |
Detective Comics #29 (July 1939) | A typical mad scientist character who made a few appearances in the earliest days of Batman and is typically considered Batman's first supervillain. Doctor Death developed chemical gases that were lethal, and threatened wealthy citizens, demanding money and tribute to him in exchange for their safety. After several decades' absence, he has reappeared in the pages of Batgirl. |
Doctor Double X |
Detective Comics #261 (November 1958) | Dr. Simon Ecks discovered that human auras could be enhanced to function outside of the body. When Ecks created an energy-duplicate of himself, the introverted scientist's unstable mind became dominated by the doppelganger he named Double X. |
Doctor Moon |
Batman #240 (March 1972) | Originally Ra's Al Ghul's servant, Moon is foreign brain surgeon with skills that made him the contact all DC foes go to when it comes to recover dead brains, erase or modify minds or mental tortures. |
Doctor Phosphorus |
Detective Comics #469 (May 1977) | Alexander Sartorius is a mad criminal with radioactive powers. |
Doodlebug |
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | An artist who believes he receives visions of inspiration and then compulsively recreates them on whatever canvas they indicate, including people. |
Electrocutioner |
Batman #331 (January 1981) | A vigilante who kills criminals with electricity. Two later successors appeared, one a hit man for the mob and the other the younger brother of the original. |
Facade |
Detective Comics #821 (July 2006) | A former employee at a trendy Gotham City nightclub for the city's popular socialites, he carefully observed the patrons, resented them as "fake" and organized a gang trained to pass as elite members of society in order to infiltrate and victimize Gotham's wealthiest citizens. He was also memorable for his trendy attire and sleek mirrored mask. |
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  |
Film Freak I - Batman #395 (May 1986) Film Freak II - Catwoman v.2 #54 (June 2006) |
Burt Weston was a wannabe actor who dreamt of getting a big break by playing quirky villains, because those kinds of villains were rich. When each of his plans failed, he faked his death similar to the movie The Sting. He was later killed by Bane. A second Film Freak that answers to the surname of "Edison" has recently surfaced as an antagonist to Catwoman. |
Firebug |
Batman #318 (December 1979) | A former soldier and demolitions expert, Joseph Rigger turned to a life of crime. His weapons of choice are explosive bombs. He first appeared as a black man, but was later inexplicably changed into a white man. |
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. |
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 replaced them with cybernetic arms and legs. |
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. |
Great White |
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Formerly crooked investor Warren "The Great White Shark" White, who avoided prison time by pleading insanity and was (unfortunately for him) sentenced to Arkham Asylum. There, among other indignities and torture, White was assaulted and locked in a refrigeration unit by Jane Doe, who was attempting to take over his identity. His injuries, compiled with excessive frost bite, left White deformed. His skin turned a pale white, and the frostbite claimed his nose, lips, hair, and several of his fingers, leaving him very much resembling a great white shark and driven partially mad. He now uses his business connections to serve as a liaison and fence for many of his fellow inmates. |
Headhunter |
Batman #487 (December 1992) | Headhunter is an assassin who attempted to kill James Gordon in Batman # 487 in 1992 but was stopped due to the united efforts of Gordon and Batman. Headhunter was accustomed to eliminating his targets by shooting them twice in the head. |
Human Eraser |
Batman#188 (December 1966) | Lenny Fiasco is a professional at covering the tracks of other crimes. For a 20% cut (before taxes), the Eraser will 'erase' the evidence of another crime. |
Humpty Dumpty |
Detective Comics #140 (October 1948) | 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 was broken, Dumpler dismembered and reassembled 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. |
Junkyard Dog |
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Junkyard Dog is a man completely obsessed with scavenging prizes and treasures from garbage. He was killed by fellow Arkham inmate Doodlebug. |
KGBeast |
Batman #417 (March 1988) | Anatoli Knyazev was a ruthless assassin who Batman encountered many times. Later, while KGBeast was on a mission to assassinate Ronald Reagan, Batman caught KGBeast's left wrist in a loop of the bat-rope, but KGBeast cut off his own hand with an ax in order to escape. He later returned with a cybernetic gun prosthetic attached to his wrist. He was recently killed by Tally Man. |
Killer Moth |
Batman #63 (February 1951) | 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. |
King Snake |
Robin v.1 #4 (February 1991) | Sir Edmund Dorrance is a martial artist who became a mercenary, offering his pofessional expertise to various anti-communist rebels, and apparently made considerable money in doing so. While in Santa Prisca working with local rebels, his camp was taken by surprise by government commandos and Edmund blinded by gunfire. He fled to Hong Kong and became a businessman and the leader of the feared Ghost Dragons. He eventually gravitated to Gotham where he ceded control of the Chinatown district from the Triad gangs. This did not last long and he lost 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 tracked his father down, where Snake tried to have his son help him in taking over Kobra. The struggle resulted in Snake's apparent death. |
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 became 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, was resurrected by a Lazarus Pit by Nyssa Raatko and now possesses the ability to manipulate flame and reanimate the dead. Her husband in now currently in pursuit of her. |
Lock-Up |
Batman: The Animated Series "Lock-Up" | Lyle Bolton, a vigilante with his own way of justice, namely locking people up. |
Lunkhead |
Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Lunkhead was a large, imposing somewhat deformed bruiser of a man. He was killed by demons tricked by the Ventriloquist as revenge for destroying his Scarface puppet. |
Lynx |
Robin v.1 #1 (January 1991). | Ling was a beautiful martial artist and a member of the Parisian branch of the the Ghost Dragons, a Chinese youth gang that served King Snake. For failing to kill Robin, King Snake punished her and took out her left eye. Eventually, she took control of the Ghost Dragons and attempted to expand their Gotham territory. She was subsequently killed during a fight with Batgirl. |
Magpie |
Batman #401 (November 1986) | Margaret Pye was a jewel thief who targeted only jewels named after birds, and then replaced the jewels with booby-trapped replicas. She was named for the Magpie, who, in folklore is attracted to bright shiny things. She was recently killed in Batman #651 by Tally Man. |
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. He was recently killed by Poison Ivy. |
Mime |
Batman #412 (October 1987) | Camilla Ortin is a girl that commits crimes dressed as a mime. She seldom speaks, which leads people to think she is mute. |
The Monk |
Detective Comics #31 (September 1939) | One of the earliest Batman villains was a villain who wore a red, monk like outfit, 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 Mortician |
Batman: Gotham Knights #28 (June 2002) | The Mortician was trying some reanimation techniques to raise his dead parents. When one of his zombies killed someone, he felt remorse and gave up his plans. |
NKVDemon |
Batman #445 (March 1990) | Gregor Dosynski was the protégé of KGBeast who tried to kill a list of 10 Soviet government officials in Moscow, considering them traitors to the cause of communism. He was killed by police gunfire in an attempt to assassinate the tenth person on his list, then president Mikhail Gorbachev. |
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 appeared in the same issue. Natalia was last seen floating away in a balloon after having been stabbed by Anton. |
Orca |
Batman #579 (July 2000) | Grace Balin, a doctor of marine biology, transformed herself into a monstrous orca. She was recently killed in Detective Comics #819 by Tally Man. |
Penny Plunderer |
World's Finest Comics #30 (September/October 1947) | Joe Coyne, a thief obsessed with penny-oriented crimes, started his career selling newspapers for pennies. He was later caught stealing pennies. |
Pix |
Batman: Gotham Knights #34 (December 2002) | Ariadne Pixnit was 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 worked undercover at her attackers' favorite tattoo shop, designing lethal tattoos (swords, scorpions, etc) that she brought to "life" via computer in order to dispatch the gang members one by one. She later injected 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. |
Polka-Dot Man |
Detective Comics #300 (February 1962) | A minor Batman comic book villain from the Silver Age, the Polka-Dot Man turns the polka dots covering his costume into a variety of weapons. |
Ratcatcher |
Detective Comics #585 (April 1988) | Otis Flannegan was a one-time actual rat catcher who turned to a life of crime. He had the ability to communicate with and train rats and with them plagued Gotham many times. Shortly after the Infinite Crisis began Ratcatcher was killed by an OMAC agent in hiding who identified the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and then vaporized him. |
The Reaper |
Detective Comics #575 (June 1987) | Judson Caspian was a socialite by day and an ultra-violent vigilante by night. After losing his wife to a drug robbery, he became The Reaper. He prowled Gotham during the '50s before returning during the second year of Batman's career to do battle with the Dark Knight. |
Signalman |
Batman #112 (December 1957) | Phil Cobb was a small-time criminal in Gotham who was convinced that he needed a gimmick to hit it big. Inspired by the Bat-Signal, he became the Signalman, using signals, signs, and symbols in his crimes, but was inevitably defeated by Batman and Robin, time and again. He was also a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. For a brief time, Cobb changed his m.o. and, inspired by Green Arrow, committed crimes as the Blue Bowman. |
| Spellbinder | Spellbinder I - Detective Comics #358 (December 1966) Spellbinder II - Justice League International Vol. 2 #65 (Jun 1994) Spellbinder III (Lady Spellbinder) - Detective Comics #691 (November 1995) |
|
The Spook |
Detective Comics #529 (August 1983) | Val Kaliban was one of the world's greatest escape-artists, and used his extraordinary abilities together with special effects to commit spectacular crimes and make people believe he was a real ghost. He had been stopped by Batman every time. He was recently killed by Damian, Talia al Ghul's son. |
| 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  |
Tally Man I - Batman: Shadow of the Bat #19 (October 1993) Tally Man II - Detective Comics #819 (2006) |
The Tally Man is a serial killer who murdered around sixty 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. A new Tally Man recently appeared in Batman: Face the Face as a hit man working for Great White. |
Ten-Eyed Man |
Batman #226 (November 1970) | Philip Reardon was a former Vietnam War veteran/warehouse guard who was blinded in a warehouse explosion that burned his retinas. Doctor Engstrom reconnected them to his fingers. He blames Batman for the incident that caused this. |
The Terrible Trio |
Detective Comics #323 (January 1964) | A trio of scientists that wear masks of cartoon animals to commit crimes as the Fox, the Shark, and the Vulture. |
Thanatos |
Batman #305 (November 1978) | Thanatos was the masked leader of the gang of terrorists known as the "Death's Head", devoted to the destruction of capitalism. The Death's Head was defeated by the Batman, and Thanatos was unmasked as a Sophia Santos, also known as "Lina Muller", a reporter who had associated with the Batman. |
The Trigger Twins  |
Detective Comics #669 (December 1993) | The Trigger Twins are two cowboys that grew up apart without knowing they were twins. They discovered they share a great skill as gunslingers and became bandits. They were defeated by Batman/Azrael. |
The Werewolf |
Batman #255 (March 1974) | Anthony Lupus, was a former Olympic Decathlon champion whose porosity was turned into a full-fledge lycanthropy by a drug given to him by Doctor Achilles Milo. In other words, Dr. Milo's drug turned Anthony into a living werewolf. |
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 became a contract killer and bodyguard. He fought Batman to standstill and nearly killed Catwoman. |
[edit] Mobsters
The Batman mythos also pits him against more ordinary enemies, such as mobsters like:
- Falcone family: 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 having a massive amount of power and influence on Gotham City. Falcone was killed in the Long Halloween by Two-Face.
- Rupert Thorne: Prominent in the animated series, but also featured in the comics, head of one of Gotham City's top smuggling gangs, Rupert Thorne is envied for his power in the underworld and loves prospering from other people's misery. In the animated series of the 1990s, Thorne is responsible, in part, for the creation of that version of Two-Face. He was also the boss of "Matches" Malone, the criminals whose identity was taken over by Batman.
- Maroni family: Led by Sal "The Boss" Maroni, the Maroni family were a prominent crime family in Gotham, and in the early years of Batman's career, the Maroni's 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 whom threw acid on to the face of D.A. Harvey Dent during a trial. The resulting injuries and scarring transformed Dent in to the villain Two-Face. Maroni was shot in the head and killed by Alberto Falcone (the presumed Holiday killer) possibly on Carmine Falcone's orders.
- Lew Moxon: A mafia boss who hired Joe Chill to kill Thomas Wayne which sparked Bruce Wayne into becoming Batman.
- Tony Zucco: Tony Zucco was a mob boss, or simple low level thug (his position of power varies a bit in the continuity) who was responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents. Despite some variation, the basic recurring themes were that Zucco tried to extort the circus the Graysons were members of. When the ringleader refused to pay him, he sabotaged the act causing the ropes of the Graysons act to break and sending the parents of Dick falling to their deaths.
Two of Batman's mobster foes have donned costumes and crossed over to become serial killers/supervillains:
- Holiday: Mysterious serial killer who murdered 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, is revealed to be the Holiday killer. However, Holiday was actually 3 people. Harvey Dent was the first, and when his wife, Gilda Dent, realized, she continued the killing spree. When Alberto faked his own death on New Year's Eve, she simply let him take over and had nothing further to do with it. She disposed of the incriminating costume (a trenchcoat and fedora), as well as the last .22 pistol, throwing them into the furnace. Reading like an old-fashioned murder mystery, clues to Holiday's identity are found throughout, however even after reading the entire story, the identity of the killer is still unclear and the killer may still be at large. 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.
[edit] Enemies created for other media
Among Batman villains created in other media, with no appearances in previous or subsequent comics, are:
[edit] Villains from comics in live-action media
A number of villains from the comic books have made an appearance, or appearances, in Batman live-action media.
