Batman Beyond’s 10 Best Villains, Ranked

What started out as an animated television show to get a younger generation into Batman, Batman Beyond ultimately spawned one of the biggest cult classic characters in all of DC. Batman Beyond was a huge hit in the ’90’s and despite the series’ cancellation, the concept still lives on for fans on the pages of comics with several series following Terry McGinnis and old man Bruce Wayne. With the show’s original team not wanting to make all the villains the kids of Batman’s rogues, the series introduced a whole host of new, or mostly new threats for Terry to take on.

From characters inspired by Marvel’s villains to forgotten threats form the Silver Age, Batman Beyond’s Terry McGinnis has his own rogues gallery to fight for the soul of Gotham — and these are the 10 best.

10) The Royal Flush Gang

Originating as a legacy title group, The Royal Flush Gang was comprised of a family of four and a robot. King, Queen, Jack, Ten, and Ace the Robot comprised this version of the team. Riding on flying playing cards, they would rob the richest of Gotham and move from city to city carrying out their crimes. They were a rather straightforward team but popped when Terry met Ten, real name Melanie, out of costume and started a very brief albeit somewhat star-crossed relationship.

Wanting to break free from her family and finally be able to stay in one place for a change, Ten defected from the team and would end up helping Batman in his encounters with the team. Eventually, the team (minus Ten) would battle it out with Batman in the streets of Neo-Gotham. The team ended up being a great recurring challenge for Batman.

9) Mad Stan

An anti-society extremist destined to blow it all up, Mad Stan is something of a fan-favorite. Originally voiced by Punk Icon Henry Rollins, Stan became a standout of the original show with just three appearances and made his way into comics as well. While he became an easy villain for Batman to fight, the real draw of Mad Stan is that his clashes with Batman are always a little, well, dramatic.

Rarely working with anyone, Stan has been his own worst problem through all of his appearances. With wanting to destroy society instead of running for office or even going to anger management, he chooses instead to fight Batman, a battle he cannot win. At least he never puts his dog in danger.

8) Dr. Abel Cuvier

The ever creepy creator of Splicing, Dr. Abel Cuvier takes our next spot. He may have a small footprint as a villain generally, but he was the inventor of splicing human and animal DNA together to make hybrid creatures and, frankly, that’s creepy. He even succeeded in turning Terry into a bat creature in his first outing. In the comics, Dr. Abel Cuvier became a recurring threat, something that puts him in a position to integral to stories going forward. And really, every hero needs a mad scientist type villain, right?

7) Terminal

One of the leaders of the Jokerz, Carter Wilson aka Terminal was once near the top of his college class. However, after disputes with the head of class, Max Gibson, Carter used his alter ego Terminal to try to have her killed so he would succeed in school. While his motivations seem petty, Terminal stands out as a villain with one of the best designs of any member of the Jokerz. Making the leap from the series to comics, Terminal has since gone on to be a sizeable threat, filling something of a Two-Face type role for Terry’s Batman.

6) Curaré

Looking like an answer to Marvel’s Mystique and with the abilities of a master assassin we have Curaré. Being the deadliest assassin at the time of Beyond, the mute assassin tangoed with Batman multiple times. Always a terrific assassin for hire, she would battle against Terry more than once, usually at the behest of someone naming her price.

While she hasn’t had a huge presence in comics she still returns from time to time, with each appearance creeping us out more and more. Not knowing a ton about her also adds to his mystique, no pun intended. She makes for a fine assassin and gives Batman Beyond a villain whose motives are purely business.

5) Stalker

An analog for Marvel’s Kraven the Hunter is Stalker. Once a wild game hunter caught in an accident and later gaining surgical implants, Stalker sought out to fight the greatest hunt of them all: Batman. After his first initial appearances he would seemingly never die and continue to be not just a foe for Terry, but an occasional ally as well even as he was slowly losing his humanity one cybernetic upgrade at a time.

Stalker may have been one of the shorter run character in all of Batman Beyond but he still made a huge impact.

4) Spellbinder

Spellbinder was once a silver age Batman villain who returned and prospered as a Batman Beyond villain as well. Posing as Terry’s high school guidance counselor, Spellbinder would use hypnotism technology to rob the rich students of the school. Claiming they weren’t deserving of their riches, he was motivated simply by greed as he wanted their wealth for himself.

Spellbinder’s tech is no joke. Hypnotizing Batman to even try to kill himself multiple times by using his trippy visuals, Spellbinder is a massive threat. He’s even used his tech as a drug of sorts for the troubled youth of Neo-Gotham making him one of the most rotten eggs of the bunch. Makes you wonder how he was a guidance counselor to begin with.

3) Shriek

One of the most iconic foes Terry deals with was based of Marvel’s Klaw: Shriek. Shriek was a sound technology creator and would use his prototype sound machine for demolition jobs. However, after being driven to bankruptcy, he was made to turn his efforts towards villainy by Derek Powers, who acquired Shriek’s business and gave him the orders to kill Batman. Of course, this wall exacerbated by the fact that sound was also the bane of Shriek’s existence as he was rendered with hearing issues thanks to his own suit.

Having one of the most personal vendettas with Batman, he was always out to get Terry. Hiding in the sewers under the city and threatens to strip Gotham of sound, he has the makings of the best threat for Terry.

2) Blight

Speaking of Derek Powers, some might call this placement a bit low. Creating his powers by an accident he produced, Derek Powers became Blight and was the first major threat of Terry McGinnis. Responsible for his father’s murder, Blight fought Terry a lot throughout the first season of the show and was portrayed as the “Big Bad” . However after the first season was in jeopardy he was “killed off”.

However, Blight wasn’t actually gone for good. Returning in the pages of the comics, he returned to fight Batman there as well — and even beat Batman pretty badly at least once.

1) Inque

Without a doubt the best and most tenured Batman Beyond villain of them all is Inque. A cross between Catwoman and Clayface, Inque can shapeshift and control people’s bodies as a weapon of sorts. With her only known weakness being cold temperatures, she nearly got Batman multiple different times.

Inque was always a massive threat as well as a super popular one. In fact, Inque is so popular that she recently made the jump from Batman Beyond into the main DC continuity in Kelly Thomson’s Birds of Prey. Now existing much earlier in the timeline with no signs of being able to be killed, it looks like Inque will stick around for a long, long time.

Who’s your favorite Batman Beyond villain? Let us know down below.

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