Batman has a reputation as DC Comics‘ toughest hero. There are plenty of reasons for that, but they all start at home. Gotham City is the most dangerous city on Earth, and it’s full of the most monstrous criminals you can imagine. The city’s mobs are extra-brutal and have control of many municipal authorities, and the various costumed villains are the worst of the worst. The most deadly of them don’t just rob banks or steal shipments off the harbor or the like, they kill and brutalize as many people as they can in their crimes. Batman has a tough time of things battling these enemies, but has been able to survive every battle.
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Batman faces off against these dangerous enemies all the time, and it’s given him an edge that few heroes can match. However, there are plenty of villains that the Dark Knight treats with kid gloves, especially when you look at their crimes. Batman goes too easy on these seven DC villains, and it’s cost a lot of lives over the years.
7) Zsasz
Victor Zsasz is an anachronism in Gotham City. He’s simply an old school serial killer, hunting people down and killing them every time he gets out of Arkham Asylum. He then cuts a hash mark into skin. He’s killed hundreds of people over the years, and it begs the question: if Batman isn’t going to kill him, why doesn’t he do some lasting damage? Zsasz is human garbage, a monster given flesh. The Caped Crusader doesn’t kill, but there’s nothing wrong with making a serial killer a quadriplegic.
6) Hush
Hush is no one’s favorite villain, but he has proved able to play Bruce Wayne like a fiddle. Tommy Elliot and Bruce grew up together, but Tommy was always something of a psychopath, killing his abusive father and complicit mother for their money, becoming a surgeon, and eventually a villain out for revenge. Batman often goes easy on people that Bruce was friends with, and that means that he doesn’t go as hard at Hush as he should. If Tommy was just some garden variety rich psycho, Batman would have disfigured him already.
5) Talia al Ghul
DC has some awesome female villains, and Talia al Ghul has always been one of the best. Her and Batman have a complicated relationship. They definitely love each other, and have a child together in the form of Damian Wayne, but their different morality keeps them apart. That love also helps Talia in another way: Batman doesn’t go as hard at her when she does something terrible. She’s gotten away with mass murder and yet the Dark Knight is never all that serious about stopping her until it’s much too late.
4) Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter is one of Batman’s lesser villains, but still dangerous. Jervis Tetch is one of many Batman villains with mental issues leading him into crime and for this reason, the Caped Crusader doesn’t rearrange his face bones with a series of brutal punches and kicks as often as is called for. Not wanting to beat up someone who is having a mental health episode is a good thing, but the Mad Hatter is a killer at his worst, so going easy on him is a mistake. Batman going easy on Jervis costs people their lives at times, which does nothing for anybody.
3) The Ventriloquist
The Ventriloquist is another villain with a major mental issue. Arnold Wesker has DID, and has created a secondary personality known as Scarface, using his ventriloquist skills and a gangster puppet to commit the crimes in his head. Batman feels sorry for Arnold, but all of the empathy in the universe isn’t going to bring anyone killed by Scarface and his gang back to life. Wesker needs treatment, but Batman going easy on him is a mistake that can and has taken lives.
2) The Joker
The Joker is Batman’s greatest villain. The two of them have a brutal rivalry, and have fought it out numerous times over the years. The Dark Knight seemingly goes as hard as he can against the Clown Prince of Crime, but much like with Zsasz, it would be better for everyone if he decided that it was time to stop the Joker. He doesn’t need his hands or feet really, and an intact spinal cord isn’t something that he really deserves to have. Batman notably talks about being able to paralyze people for life with one kick in “Year One”. There’s no reason for him not to hit the Joker with one of those or give him some other catastrophic injury. He’ll almost certainly get better, but it will take him out of play for a while.
1) Two-Face
Two-Face is one of DC’s greats. He was once Harvey Dent, a friend of Bruce Wayne and Batman, someone who also wanted to clean up the city. A mobster’s acid attack scarred him, bringing out the monster he had been hiding since childhood. Batman never wants to hurt his old friend, doing his best to bring him in so he can become the man he once was. This has allowed Two-Face to pull off some tricks that he otherwise wouldn’t be able to, manipulating the Dark Knight into letting down his guard. It’s been a problem for decades now, and it’s one that the Caped Crusader needs to change.
What villains do you think Batman goes too easy on? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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