7 Best Evil Versions of Batman, Ranked

Superheroes, generally speaking, are designed to be bastions of good. Selflessness is as required as an iconic costume in the comic book crime-fighting business. Superman is the prime example, as he is both the pinnacle of strength and kindness. Of course, with this being so essential to the superhero formula, it’s only natural that writers would ask what it would look like if you removed it. This has led to a lot, and I mean a lot, of evil versions of heroes. Again, Superman is the poster child for this. There’s Homelander, Omni-Man, Ultraman, Plutonian, and so many more evil Supermen. Still, the Man of Steel isn’t the only one with an army of evil dopplegangers.

Personally, I’ve had more than my fill of evil Supermen, so today, we’re discussing a different beloved, often evilized hero. Batman is right up there with Superman in the evil copy department. The Caped Crusader is already a much darker character, so pushing him over that edge is even easier to imagine. We’ll go over seven of the best evil takes on the Dark Knight and explore why these versions stick out so much more than their endless number of peers. Without further ado, let’s grapple with Batman’s black-hearted brothers.

7) Devastator

Like several of the other entrants on this list, this version of Batman hailed from the Dark Multiverse, made from one of Bruce’s nightmares made real. This Batman’s life was the same as the original’s, until his Superman suddenly decided to destroy the world. He saved Bruce for last, taunting Batman’s every attempt to appeal to his humanity or hurt him. With his heart and spirit broken, Batman infected himself with the Doomsday virus. He ripped Superman apart, finally as strong and brutal as he needed to be to win. 

This Batman stands out because of the betrayal that’s central to this character. This is what would happen if Batman truly lost faith in improvement and decided that the only thing he could do was enact vengeance. He shut his heart off to the world. Also, Batman with the physical strength of Doomsday is really cool and reflects the theme perfectly. Superman is the living embodiment of Batman’s hope, so when Superman killed hope, he became the thing that killed Superman.

6) Omega

Omega is the Batman who broke. In his world, Lex Luthor and Superman debated whether humanity was good or evil, and Superman was killed when the people sided with Luthor. Batman tried to reason with the mobs, but they ripped him apart. Children cheered for his mutilation. The world thought he died, but the only thing that died was his faith in his fellow man. He killed Darkseid and used the Anti-Life Equation to enslave the people of Gotham. Rechristened as Omega, he ruled as an authoritarian dictator in the post-apocalyptic world of Batman: Last Night on Earth.

Omega would eventually be defeated by a younger clone of himself, which is an excellent example of what makes him so interesting. This evil Batman broke in a very human way. At the end of the day, despite all the incredible things he can do, Batman is just a man, and everyone has their limits. Omega experienced too much trauma with too little hope, and it broke him. We got to see the ideals of Batman, represented by the clone, battle against the demonized, beaten-down path he could take, Omega. It’s a fantastic thought experiment, if nothing else.

5) Red Death

Another Bruce from the Dark Multiverse, this Batman’s world fell apart, killing all of his children. He became obsessed with going back in time to save them, and to that end, kidnapped the Flash. While the world fell apart around them, Batman tied Barry to the hood of the Batmobile and broke into the Speed Force. The Speed Force rejected this, ripping the two apart and inadvertently fusing them, where only the strongest aspects survived. What emerged was Batman in control of the Flash’s body, clad in armor forged from the Batmobile. Unfortunately, the process drove Bruce insane. He raced around, murdering his villains, all while Barry was a helpless captive in their mind.

This Batman is the one who was pushed over the edge, not by a lack of faith, but by grief. His love for his children drove him to destroy himself and his friend, which led to him being unable to handle the stress of the Speed Force. He was already so broken that the transition shattered him completely, to the point where he forgot why he did this in the first place. He finally had the power to save everyone he loved, but the only part of him that survived was his rage. With the added horror of Barry being trapped, forced to watch his friend use his body to be a monster, this is easily one of the most tragic evil Batmen.

4) Zur-En-Arrh

Zur-En-Arrh is the backup personality Batman created to take over his body should his mind ever be compromised. Unfortunately, given that he only shows up when Batman is driven over the edge, he’s utterly insane. Zur is the purest essence of Batman without Bruce Wayne, meaning that he’s completely and totally consumed by the mission. He’s psychotic, brutal, and willing to push every rule Batman has to their furthest extreme without breaking them. He was originally introduced as a helpful, if dangerous, creation, though he was repurposed as a villain during Chip Zdarsky’s run on Batman (2016).

In concept, Zur-En-Arrh is my favorite version of evil Batman. He is the living persona of the Bat-God idea, where Bruce has planned for every possible contingency and is never caught off guard. A trying-to-be-heroic Batman who lacks humanity and is villainous because of how he goes about saving the day is a phenomenal way to critique bad takes on Batman, but the one time he was a villain, the story didn’t use him to his fullest potential. I love Zur as an evil Batman, but he needs to do more to prove why he deserves higher.

3) The Grim Knight

The Grim Knight is yet another Batman from the Dark Multiverse, and he is a very simple concept. He’s a Batman who uses guns and kills anyone who gets in his way. When Joe Chill murdered the Waynes, he dropped his gun. Bruce picked it up and killed him. He went on to become the world’s deadliest warrior, learning every way to kill in the world. He was Gotham City’s lethal enforcer and even used Wayne technology to spy on everyone in the city to watch for potential threats. He was eventually taken down by Jim Gordon before being recruited by the Batman Who Laughs.

One of Batman’s simplest fears is what he could be if he let himself use guns or kill. This is the ultimate showcase of how slippery that slope is, and how far Batman could fall down it without his moral code. This is Batman completely consumed until vengeance was all that’s left. He had no hope, no belief, no justice. He was the dark visage that people who don’t read Batman but hate him might describe him as. This is one of the simplest evil Batmen, but easily one of the deadliest and most interesting to see clash with the original.

2) The Batman Who Laughs

When Batman finally snapped and killed the Joker, he was Jokerized. Batman lost every bit of himself and his sanity to the infection and became the very thing he hated more than anything. The Batman Who Laughs slaughtered everyone on his world, taking his time using every contingency plan and doomsday weapon he designed. Eventually, he even usurped Perpetua as the multiverse’s greatest threat when he took over the body of a Bruce with Doctor Manhattan’s powers, becoming the Darkest Knight. He nearly destroyed everything, but was stopped in the final moment by Wonder Woman.

This is Batman mixed with the Joker, but he’s more than just a Jokerized Batman. As said by Bruce in The Batman Who Laughs, he’s the living embodiment of the idea that Batman always wins. He’s the nightmare mix of the Bat-God persona mixed with the Joker’s insanity. He’s every one of Batman’s worst traits given form and amped to thirteen. He has unholy levels of plot armor and the most insanely complex plans imaginable. Frankly, he’s annoying, and that’s what’s great. I love him and love to hate him, which is how I should feel about an evil Batman.

1) Owlman

The best evil Batman is none other than the original, Owlman. He hails from the morally-flipped Earth 3, and is actually Thomas Wayne Jr., who killed his brother and parents to inherit their fortune. He went on to take up the Owlman mantle to inspire fear in Gotham and control it. He lorded over Gotham legally through his vast wealth and controlled its citizens through crime and destruction. Owlman is a villain in every way that Batman is a hero.

What elevates Owlman to his number one position isn’t just that he was the first, but how he embraces nihilism, where Bruce is a bastion of improvement. Batman does what he does because his city and every life matter so much to him. He fights because he wants to save people from the pain he feels. Owlman, meanwhile, doesn’t care about anything. Nothing matters to him, so he does whatever he wants. This is the perfect antithesis to Batman in the most emotional way possible. The opposite of love isn’t hate, but apathy, and there’s a hole where Owlman’s heart is. He’s the best evil Batman of all because he couldn’t care about anything.

Which evil version of Batman is your favorite? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!

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