When it comes to superheroes with great villains, Batman might have the best bad guys of them all. Thanks to a history spanning more than 80 years, the Dark Knight has faced just about every kind of rogue you can imagine. Some, like the Joker and Bane, are absolutely iconic and frequently show up to give both Batman and Gotham City a run for their money, terrorizing the masses and pushing Batman to his breaking point — or beyond it.
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There are other villains the hero faces, however, that are just as important but don’t get nearly the credit or appreciation they deserve. Many of Batman’s original villains are evil doers who had a major impact on how he developed as a hero, or were simply bad guys who have caused a lot of problems over the years. These are classic villains who not only deserve more time on the page, but should be recognized for just how interesting they really are and how much trouble they cause for Gotham City and its hero.
7) Joe Chill
You might not consider Joe Chill to be a Batman villain, but the reality is that he is the prototypical Batman villain — and he doesn’t get credit for it at all. As most Batman fans know, Joe Chill is the man who fatally shot Thomas and Martha Wayne right in front of young Bruce Wayne, during an attempted mugging gone wrong. That one moment and the trauma it caused set Bruce on the path that ultimately led him to become Batman.
While there have been versions of Joe Chill who have come into play against Batman at various points, the reality is that he is Batman’s first villain, and he’s the one that he always carries with him. If there had been no Joe Chill, there would be no Batman, and we don’t consider how significant that is, nearly enough. He’s the villain who has had the most impact on Batman, period.
6) Killer Moth
Killer Moth, aka Drury Walker, is one of Batman’s oldest villains. First appearing in Batman #63, he’s basically Batman with just a different gimmick. Instead of having bats as his theme, he has moths, which is not particularly intimidating. Leaning into the crime side of things, as he was motivated more by greed than justice, Killer Moth served the criminals the way that Batman serves the citizens.
Because he is, in a sense, a dark mirror of Batman, Killer Moth doesn’t get the credit he deserves for showing readers what the flipside of a vigilante’s crusade could look like. His devotion to assisting criminals for a price really just helped to highlight Batman as a hero. He’s very much a product of his era and is largely outdated now, but as one of the original villains — and for his role as one of Batgirl’s foes — he’s still an important figure.
5) Mad Hatter
There was a time when nearly all of Batman’s villains had a gimmick, and there might be no better gimmick than Mad Hatter’s. Jervis Tetch is a man with a genuinely unhealthy obsession with Alice in Wonderland, so much so that all of his criminal adventures are themed after the classic book, and he even dresses the part. His signature weapon is mind-controlling hats, and, much like other Batman villains, his goal is to break the hero; although Mad Hatter wants to break his mind and control him. He’s creepy.
And it’s that creepiness that is part of why he doesn’t get nearly enough credit. His gimmick may be a little silly and even feel a little juvenile, but the reality is that what he does is just weird and disturbing. There’s even a point in his crimes where he goes after young women who resemble Alice from the iconic novel. Mad Hatter makes a gimmick truly unsettling, and he needs to be taken more seriously.
4) Solomon Grundy
Solomon Grundy is a little bit of a tragic figure. Once, a wealthy man named Cyrus Gold was murdered and his body was dumped in Slaughter Swamp outside of Gotham City. Of course, it’s not a normal swamp, and the weird properties of the location brought Cyrus back, very changed. He started calling himself Solomon Grundy as the classic nursery rhyme was all he could remember. He also became a real threat to Batman as one of the most physically powerful and durable rogues the Dark Knight faces.
While he isn’t especially intelligent (there have been times when he’s been given his mental capacity back, but those stories are rarer) thanks to his condition, Grundy is more than just a brute. Due to having a healing factor, he’s a real threat to any hero he clashes with. What perhaps makes him most underappreciated, however, is that he’s also been portrayed as an antihero of sorts, at one point even operating as an ally of Infinity, Inc. after he befriended Alan Scott’s daughter, Jade. Grundy’s potential for good makes him complex in a way that simply isn’t explored often enough.
3) Scarecrow
One could argue that Scarecrow, aka Dr. Johnathan Crane, has gotten a bit of his due. He did, after all, appear as an antagonist in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, but in terms of the comics, he just doesn’t get enough appreciation for just how disturbing he really is. Despite being a clinical psychologist and psychology professor, Dr. Crane is a deeply traumatized man who loses his job after discharging a firearm in class and then turns to a life of crime, including the murder of the professors who got him terminated.
As Scarecrow, he uses a gas that induces terror in his victims and forces them to face their deepest and most terrible fears. Given that he has a psychology background, that is particularly terrifying. He’s very much a Joker-level threat to Gotham City and is difficult for Batman to face. He should be a much bigger player than he actually is most of the time.
2) Clayface
Clayface is starting to get a little bit more credit thanks to an upcoming live-action movie centered around the character, but he could still use more love. There have been a few different versions of Clayface, but the original — Basil Karlo — might be the most interesting. A B-list actor, Karlo loses his mind when he’s told that a movie he was the star of is getting a remake without him. In response, he put on his old movie villain costume — Clayface — and went on a murder spree. Later, he ends up with the ability to shapeshift and melt, becoming a true “clay face”.
With the ability to shift into pretty much anyone and anything, Clayface is a complex and challenging foe. How does one actually fight someone who can be anything and can shift his body into weapons as needed? As perhaps the most horror-adjacent rogue in Batman’s gallery, he’s a character that deserves a lot more exploration in comics and deserves more credit for being a real challenge for the Dark Knight.
1) Hugo Strange
Hugo Strange has the distinction of being one of Batman’s first foes, and while his origin is largely a mystery, his impact is not. Brilliant but insane, Strange definitely puts Batman through his paces, so much so that the hero has even acknowledged that Strange might be the most dangerous man in the world. The villain even deduced Batman’s identity; he’s that dangerous.
But where Strange doesn’t get the credit he’s due is his role in what might be Batman’s most iconic “rule.” You see, Strange is indirectly responsible for the hero’s “no killing” philosophy, as he was the villain who created the “Monster Men” that Batman faced off with, even killing one by hanging the man from his plane. The whole story prompted DC’s editorial mandate that Batman would be against killing, going forward. Strange changed Batman forever.
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