The Batman family enemies are a collection of supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters are depicted as adversaries of the superhero Batman and his allies.
Since Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), his supporting cast has expanded to include other superheroes, and has become what is now called the "Bat-family". As with most superheroes, a cast of recurring enemies to the Batman family have been introduced throughout the years, collectively referred to as Batman's "rogues gallery".[1] [2] [3] [4] Many characters from Batman's rogues gallery who are criminally insane become patients at Arkham Asylum after they are apprehended.
The following fictional characters are listed in alphabetical order by the name of their supervillain persona. Each character's first appearance and brief biographies of each fictional character are also listed, staying to their fictional histories and characteristics in the DC Universe.Sometimes more than one fictional character will share a supervillain persona. In those cases, the name of the character most associated with said supervillain identity will have their name in bold in their biography.
Listed below are the Batman family's most enduring and iconic enemies.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bane[5] | Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993)[8] [9] | The international masked criminal known as Bane has immense strength derived from a super-steroid called Venom. Bane's raw power, coupled with his genius level intellect, makes him a considerable threat to Batman, having once succeeded in breaking Batman's back.[10] | ||
| Black Mask[11] | Batman #386 (August 1985) | Roman Sionis[13] is a corrupt businessman and crime lord who has a fixation with masks. He wears a black skull-like mask that gives him limited mind control abilities.[14] | ||
| Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | Selina Kyle is an accomplished jewel thief. Although traditionally considered a villain, she is often portrayed as an antihero and is occasionally romantically involved with Batman. | |||
| Clayface[16] | Bill Finger Bob Kane[17] | Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) | Actor Basil Karlo[18] [19] [20] went mad when he learned that there would be a remake of one of his films with another actor in the lead role. Adopting the alias of the film's villain, "Clayface", he attacked several of the remake's cast and crew at the points in filming when they were supposed to die before being stopped by Batman and Robin.[21] Later, he gained shapeshifting powers and became the Ultimate Clayface.[22] | |
| Deadshot[23] | Batman #59 (June 1950) | Floyd Lawton is an excellent sniper assassin who, when wielding a gun or projectile, never misses a shot. | ||
| Detective Comics #184 (June 1952) | Garfield Lynns is an orphan who became a pyromaniac, having developed a fireproof suit with a flamethrower to further pursue his "hobby". He invents numerous weapons that involve light to commit crimes with. | |||
| Harley Quinn[25] [26] | episode "Joker's Favor" (September 1992) | Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum until she fell in love with him and subsequently reinvented herself as his madcap sidekick, Harley Quinn. She is often mistreated by the Joker, but that rarely changes how she feels about him. | ||
| Hugo Strange[27] | Detective Comics #36 (February 1940) | Hugo Strange is an insane psychologist who uses his mastery of chemistry to create a serum that turns his victims into mindless monsters who obey his every command. He has succeeded in deducing that Batman is Bruce Wayne.[29] | ||
| Batman #609 (January 2003) | Dr. Thomas Elliot is a brilliant surgeon who targets both Bruce Wayne, his childhood friend, and Batman. | |||
| Joker[31] | Batman #1 (spring 1940) | The Joker (real name unknown) is a homicidal maniac with a clown-like appearance, bent on creating havoc in Gotham City and fighting a never-ending battle against Batman. His arsenal of weapons includes razor-sharp edged playing cards, acid-squirting trick flowers, joy buzzers with a lethal electrical charge and a fatal toxin called Joker venom. He is Batman's archenemy, as well as the most famous and recurring Batman villain. | ||
| Gerry Conway[33] [34] Don Newton[35] Gene Colan[36] | Batman #357 (March 1983)[37] | Waylon Jones has a medical condition that warped his body into a massive crocodile-like form. As Killer Croc descended into madness, he sharpened his teeth to razor points and began murdering innocent victims. He possesses super-strength and is immune to toxins. | ||
| Batman #63 (February 1951) | Drury Walker, a.k.a. Cameron Van Cleer, is a moth-themed criminal, known for being the first villain to have been defeated by Batgirl.[38] | |||
| Mad Hatter[39] | Batman #49 (October 1948) | Jervis Tetch is inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to commit crimes. He uses his mind control technology to bend people to his will. | ||
| Man-Bat[40] | Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) | Dr. Kirk Langstrom invented a serum to give him echolocation in an attempt to cure his deafness. The serum had an unforeseen side effect, transforming him into the monstrous human-bat hybrid creature known as the Man-Bat. | ||
| Mr. Freeze (originally known as Mr. Zero)[41] [42] | Bob Kane[43] Sheldon Moldoff David Wood | Batman #121 (February 1959) | Dr. Victor Fries is a scientist who accidentally spilled cryogenic chemicals on himself while inventing a freeze-gun. Now requiring subzero temperatures to survive, he uses a special containment suit and cold-themed weaponry to commit crimes.[44] The character was later reinvented as a tragic villain, specifically a brilliant cryogenicist whose beloved wife Nora fell terminally ill. He obsessively searched for a way to cure her, until an industrial accident caused by a greedy business executive turned him into a mutant.[45] | |
| Penguin[46] | Detective Comics #58 (December 1941) | Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot is a devious, short-statured, penguin-themed crime boss who is seldom seen without at least one of his trick umbrellas. The Penguin uses his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, as a front for his criminal activities. He is one of Batman's few adversaries who is sane and in full control of his actions. Riddler is one of his partnerships. | ||
| Poison Ivy[50] [51] [52] | 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 has the ability to control all plant life and can create new henchmen with her mutated seeds. She is immune to all plant-based poisons. | ||
| Ra's al Ghul[54] [55] | Batman #232 (June 1971) | Ra's al Ghul ("the Demon's Head" in Arabic) is a centuries-old international radical environmentalist who believes that his actions help "bring balance" to the world. Ra's al Ghul is the founder of the League of Assassins and is fully aware of Batman's secret identity. Impressed by Batman's skills and intellect, he wants the Dark Knight to take his place as his heir. | ||
| Riddler[57] | Detective Comics #140 (October 1948) | Edward Nashton, a.k.a. Edward Nygma (or "E. Nygma"), is a criminal mastermind who has a compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles, puzzles, and word games. Nygma's intelligence rivals that of Batman. Nygma often carries a question mark-tipped cane around with him, as well as many other trick puzzle gimmicks. Penguin is one of his partnerships. | ||
| Scarecrow [58] [59] | World's Finest Comics #3 (September 1941) | Professor Jonathan Crane was an outcast in childhood due to constant bullying, until he grew up to face his fears as a psychologist and biochemist specializing in fear. Kicked out of a university for his unorthodox teaching methods, he now dresses symbolically as a scarecrow and employs a toxin that causes its victims to hallucinate into seeing what they fear the most. | ||
| Two-Face[60] [61] | Bob Kane[62] Bill Finger[63] | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Harvey Dent was a Gotham City district attorney until half of his face was disfigured by acid after being assaulted by mob boss Sal Maroni. Having developed dissociative identity disorder, Dent is obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality and must make most of his decisions with the flip of his signature two-headed coin. As Two-Face, Dent commits crimes that are themed around the number two and the concept of duality. | |
| Ventriloquist / Scarface[64] | Detective Comics #583 (February 1988) | Arnold Wesker is a small, mild-mannered ventriloquist with dissociative identity disorder. He projects a criminal personality through his gangster-themed dummy, Scarface. | ||
| #1 (June 1992) | Victor Zsasz, a.k.a. Mister Zsasz, is a serial killer whose modus operandi involves slitting the throats of his victims, then arranging the bodies in lifelike poses. He cuts a tally mark onto his own body for each of his victims. |
These are major Batman family enemies that have not quite reached the status of Batman's classic rogues gallery.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lonnie Machin / Anarky I[66] [67] | Detective Comics #608 (November 1989)[68] | Lonnie Machin, sometimes called Moneyspider, is a teenage prodigy who creates improvised gadgets to subvert governments. His violent methods and political philosophy set him at odds with Batman and Robin.[69] | ||
| Detective Comics #654 (December 1992)[70] | Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, formerly known as the General, is a young, psychotic military genius who became the second Anarky after kidnapping Lonnie Machin. Unlike Machin, who had used the Anarky identity to cause social change, Armstrong's used the persona to cause psychotic and meaningless acts of chaos and destruction. This Anarky is primarily an enemy of Tim Drake. | |||
| Anarky III | Green Lantern Corps (vol. 3) #25 (November 2013) | A new Anarky surfaced during Zero Year, appearing during a blackout in Gotham City. This Anarky is an African American teenager who was shown rallying a group of followers and evacuees to occupy a sports stadium, on the basis that the area the stadium was built upon was gentrified at the expense of the local community and should be returned to them. The true name and identity of this character remains a mystery, making him the only Anarky so far to remain anonymous.[71] [72] | ||
| Anarky IV | Francis Manapul Brian Buccellato | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #37 (February 2015) | Sam Young is a corrupt politician who became the most recent Anarky to exact revenge on the Mad Hatter. Young's sister was the Mad Hatter's first murder victim, or his first "Alice", as the Mad Hatter affectionately calls his female victims.[73] [74] | |
| Black Mask II | Alan Grant Norm Breyfogle | #1 (June 1992) | Jeremiah Arkham[75] became the new Black Mask following the death of Roman Sionis. Arkham, the director of Arkham Asylum, began to develop multiple personality disorder, leading to him assuming the identity of Black Mask II. | |
| Barbatos | Batman #452 (August 1990) | The mysterious Bat-Devil that haunted Gotham across time, fought Vandal Savage in the Stone Age and corrupted or possessed a man that would become Simon Hurt. Later revealed to be the Hyper-Adapter, a sentient weapon from Apokolips, unleashed by Darkseid to travel across time and torment Batman. | ||
| Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017) | An ancient God-Monster from the Dark Multiverse, worshipped by Hath-Set, the Bat Tribe, the Tribe of Judas, the Court of Owls, Simon Hurt, the Black Glove and the Dark Knights. He had first noticed Bruce Wayne when he slipped through time and now has finally arrived in the DC Universe. | |||
| OMAC #1 (October 1974) | An evil artificial intelligence created by Bruce Wayne and Michael Holt originally as a metahuman database and deterrent, now hellbent on conquering the world. | |||
| Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) | Noah Kuttler is a highly intelligent criminal who fights Batman and the Justice League wearing a costume designed like a pocket calculator. In spite of his powerful arsenal, the Calculator never makes it big as a costumed villain. Now relying solely on his intellect, he works as a successful information broker and source of information for supervillains planning heists. He sees the Oracle as his nemesis and opposite number. | |||
| Detective Comics #259 (September 1958)[76] | Julian Gregory Day is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He sometimes wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His best-known latter day incarnation is in the miniseries , where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure,[77] [78] offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a vigilante who uses holidays as his modus operandi. | |||
| Catman [79] [80] [81] | Detective Comics #311 (January 1963) | Thomas Blake was a world-famous trapper of jungle cats who turned to crime because he had grown bored with hunting and squandered most of his fortune. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a cat-suit made out of an ancient African cloth he believes gives him a "cat's nine lives". | ||
| Clayface II | Bill Finger[82] [83] Sheldon Moldoff | Detective Comics #298 (December 1961) | Treasure-hunter Matthew "Matt" Hagen is transformed into the monstrous Clayface II by a pool of radioactive protoplasm. He now possesses super-strength and can change his claylike body into any form. | |
| Clayface III | Len Wein[84] Marshall Rogers | Detective Comics #478 (July 1978) | Preston Payne suffered from hyperpituitarism, so he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs to search for a cure. He obtained a sample of Matt Hagen's blood, isolating an enzyme which he introduced into his own bloodstream. However, his flesh began to melt, so he built an anti-melting exoskeleton to not only preserve himself, but to also prevent him from touching anyone, as he also gained the ability to melt people into protoplasm with a touch. This was until he learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive. He later met and fell in love with Lady Clay, and the two had a son named Cassius "Clay" Payne. | |
| Clayface IV / Lady Clay | Mike W. Barr Jim Aparo | Outsiders #21 (July 1987) | Lady Clay (Sondra Fuller) has superpowers similar to that of the second Clayface, Matt Hagen. She meets and falls in love with the third Clayface, Preston Payne, and gives birth to Cassius "Clay" Payne. | |
| Clayface V / The Claything I | Doug Moench Kelley Jones | Batman: Shadow of the Bat #27 (January 1998) | Cassius "Clay" Payne, otherwise known as the Claything, is the son of Preston Payne and Lady Clay who inherited the abilities of his parents. Payne was separated from his parents and was experimented on by the government. Unlike his parents, Payne can only keep his metahuman abilities while awake and, if a piece of his clay body is separated from him, it can grow a mind of its own. | |
| Clock King II[85] [86] [87] | Teen Titans (vol. 3) #56 (May 2008) | While the Clock King I (William Tockman) was an enemy of the Green Arrow, the Temple Fugate version of the character leads the Terror Titans, which antagonizes Robin and the Teen Titans.[88] | ||
| Cluemaster [89] [90] | Detective Comics #351 (May 1966) | Arthur Brown was a game show host until he turned to a life of crime. He is the father of Stephanie Brown. | ||
| Copperhead I[91] [92] [93] [94] | The Brave and the Bold #78 (June 1968) | The original Copperhead, "John Doe" (real name unknown), was a criminal who committed numerous thefts in Gotham City wearing a snake costume before finally being apprehended by Batman and Batgirl. He eventually becomes a hired assassin and would sell his soul to the demon-lord Neron in exchange for more power, being transformed into a deadly human/snake hybrid. | ||
| Teen Titans (vol. 3) #56 (April 2008) | A second Copperhead, Nathan Prince, was introduced as a member of the Terror Titans. | |||
| Batman #156 (June 1963) | A Wayne from the second generation of the family who lived in the 18th century and worshipped the Bat-Devil Barbatos, but instead confronted the Hyper-Adapter. Corrupted or possessed by the Hyper-Adapter's energies, Wayne became extremely long-lived; renamed as Doctor Simon Hurt, he became the leader of a secret cult known as the Black Glove and the Club of Villains. He also set out to kill his descendant, Bruce Wayne. | |||
| The New Teen Titans #2 (December 1980) | Slade Wilson was a former soldier of the United States military, who was assigned to be part of a medical experiment for physical and mental upcoming super soldier. Rather than use his martial arts, strength, and agility for good, Slade became a deadly mercenary, losing his right eye in the process; then he put on the orange and black-sided mask adopting the name, Deathstroke: The Terminator. He had to go up against, Robin and the other superheroes; but he has many conflicts with Batman. | |||
| Electrocutioner[95] [96] [97] | Batman #331 (January 1981) | The original Electrocutioner is a vigilante (last name Buchinsky, first name unknown) who murders criminals with electricity. He is eventually killed by Adrian Chase.[98] | ||
| Detective Comics #626 (February 1991) | The second Electrocutioner's identity remains unknown. He is a vigilante like his predecessor. | |||
| Chuck Dixon Tom Lyle Scott Hanna | Detective Comics #644 (May 1992) | Lester Buchinsky is the brother of the original Electrocutioner. He started off as a vigilante like his brother, but soon became a mercenary. | ||
| Great White Shark [99] [100] [101] | #1 (July 2003) | Former crooked investor Warren White thought he scored a legal victory when he won the insanity plea in court. However, White learned that he had made a mistake as he found himself among Batman's most dangerous enemies within Arkham Asylum. After much torture and abuse, a disfigured Warren White was driven insane. Now one of Batman's enemies himself, Warren White serves as a benefactor for other villains.[102] | ||
| Duela Dent [103] [104] [105] | Batman Family #6 (August 1976) | Duela Dent is a psychotic young woman who has an obsession with the Joker. To try and impress the Joker, she began a series of crimes before deciding to track down the Dollmaker, who is a mad surgeon and one of the Joker's allies. When Duela found Dollmaker, she convinced him to inject her veins with the Joker's blood, which he had been keeping in jars. She then proclaimed herself to be the Joker's "daughter", continuing her career as a supervillain.[106] [107] [108] [109] | ||
| KGBeast [110] [111] [112] [113] | Batman #417 (March 1988) | Anatoli Knyazev is an ex-KGB assassin. He is among the villains who are executed by the second Tally Man.[114] | ||
| King Scimitar | Dennis McNicholas | Special #1 (December 2021) | King Scimitar is a Gotham City arms dealer focusing on exotic swords. He made himself an enemy of the League of Assassins.[115] | |
| Batman #133 (August 1960) | Charles "Chuck" Brown commits crimes by arming himself with kite-based weapons and hang-gliding on a large kite. He is among the villains who was killed by Bruno Mannheim.[116] | |||
| Maximillian "Maxie" Zeus [117] [118] [119] | Detective Comics #483 (May 1979) | Maximillian Zeus is a former history teacher who loses his mind and believes himself to be the Greek god Zeus, committing crimes modeled after Greek mythology. Completely delusional, yet quite dangerous, he usually uses electricity-based weaponry to emulate the lightning bolts of Zeus, and at one point formed the New Olympians consisting of characters based on Greek mythological characters. Though briefly cured of his delusional state, he reverted to his Maxie Zeus persona when the Joker murdered his nephew. | ||
| Green Arrow #12 (March 2002) | Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who targets non-powered vigilante superheroes. He earned his name because he imitates noises around him, such as dripping taps, gunshots, etc. No personal characteristics are known about Onomatopoeia, including his real name or facial features. Onomatopoeia is a superb athlete, martial artist, and weapons expert. He carries two semi-automatic handguns, a sniper rifle, and an army knife. | |||
| Owlman [120] [121] [122] | Justice League of America #29 (August 1964) | Thomas Wayne Jr. is an exceptionally intelligent supervillain who is the Earth-Three counterpart of Bruce Wayne. He is a member of the criminal organization known as the Crime Syndicate of America, the Earth-Three equivalent of the Justice League. His Prime Earth counterpart is one of the leaders of the Court of Owls, under the name of Lincoln March. | ||
| The Flash #139 (September 1963) | Eobard Thawne is a speedster from the 25th century who went insane on discovering he would become a villain. He is behind Flashpoint, where he was killed by Thomas Wayne, but brought back to life, later developing a new grudge over his killer and his family (i.e., Bruce Wayne). He opposed Batman in The Button, where he was decimated by an unknown being. Eventually, he was brought back to life even after this death. | |||
| Prometheus II[123] [124] [125] | Grant Morrison Arnie Jorgensen | New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 (February 1998) | While the original Prometheus, Curtis Calhoun, was an enemy of the Blue Beetle, the most notable villain to use the name is a twisted mirror image of Batman, real name unknown. As a child, he watched in horror as police slaughtered his parents in a Bonnie and Clyde-style shoot-out. He swore revenge upon "justice" as a result of this incident. | |
| Rag Doll I[126] [127] | Flash Comics #36 (December 1942) | Peter Merkel is a master contortionist and hypnotist who has fought Batman on many occasions. Since The New 52, he has been an inmate at Arkham Asylum. | ||
| Villains United #1 (July 2005) | Peter Merkel Jr. is the son of the original Rag Doll, who was born with normal limbs, but underwent painful major surgery to become a contortionist supervillain like his father.[128] | |||
| Ratcatcher [129] [130] | Detective Comics #585 (April 1988) | Otis Flannegan is a one-time ratcatcher who turns to a life of crime. He has the ability to communicate with and train rats, and uses them to plague Gotham City. Shortly after the Infinite Crisis began, the Ratcatcher was killed by an OMAC agent in hiding, who identified the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and vaporized him.[131] | ||
| Enigma / The Riddler's Daughter [132] [133] | Teen Titans (vol. 3) #38 (September 2006) | "Enigma" is the heroic and criminal partner of Duela Dent, the Joker's Daughter. | ||
| The Batman Who Laughs [134] [135] [136] | Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017) | A version of Bruce Wayne from Earth-22 who was driven insane by Joker venom and murdered the Joker and the rest of the Batman family. Currently serves as the leader of the Dark Knights and a lieutenant to Barbatos. | ||
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee [137] [138] [139] | Detective Comics #74 (April 1943) | Dumphrey and Deever Tweed are cousins whose similar looks often have them mistaken for identical twins. The pair wear costumes modeled on their namesakes from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass when committing their crimes and are members of the Mad Hatter's Wonderland Gang. | ||
| Green Lantern #10 (winter 1943) | A Cro-Magnon warrior that was exposed to a meteorite that gave him immortality and who has influenced history, having been a Pharaoh in Egypt and a participant in the murder of Julius Caesar. Savage is the enemy of the Justice League, the Justice Society, the Immortal Man, the Resurrection Man, Hawkman, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Pandora, Superman and Batman, with occasional special interest in the Wayne family. | |||
| Ventriloquist II / Scarface | Paul Dini Don Kramer | Detective Comics #827 (March 2007) | Peyton Riley, called "Sugar" by Scarface, became the second Ventriloquist after the death of Arnold Wesker. | |
| White Rabbit | #1 (September, 2011) | The daughter of Tom Hudson, Jaina Hudson dated Bruce Wayne after she moved from India to Gotham City. Until, during the breakout at Arkham Asylum, Jaina adopted her supervillain persona, White Rabbit, and gave both Batman and Gotham City Police Department a run for their money. |
See main article: League of Assassins.
First appearing in Strange Adventures #215,[140] the League of Assassins is a team of highly trained killers that was founded by Ra's al Ghul and has often swayed from working under his organization to working independently of it. The group has been led at times by Dr. Ebeneezer Darrk, the Sensei, Lady Shiva, and Cassandra Cain.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Batgirl (vol. 2) #35 (November 2003) | Michael Sommers is a dangerous assassin and a terrorist-for-hire. Sommers joined the League of Assassins under Lady Shiva. | ||
| Anya Volkova | James Tynion IV Scott Snyder Guillem March | Talon #3 (February 2013) | Anya Volkova is a former member of the League of Assassins who has allied herself with Casey Washington in a fight against organizations like the League and the Court of Owls. | |
| Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1 (October 1999) | Boone harbors a long-standing enmity for Dick Grayson dating back to their youth, when the two shared a friendship that was in many ways doomed from its inception. The boy who would become known as the predatory villain known as the Shrike traveled alone throughout the Pacific Rim, gleaning an array of martial arts skills both from a variety of unsavory teachers, including several former operatives of the insidious League of Assassins. | |||
| Bronze Tiger[141] | Dennis O'Neil Jim Berry Leo Duranona | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (April–May 1975) | Ben Turner comes from an upper middle class black neighborhood in Central City. When he was only 10 years old, he saw a burglar attacking his parents, and he proceeded to kill the man with a kitchen knife. In an effort to control the rage inside him, Turner turns to the martial arts and, eventually, crime. He trained with the same martial arts masters as Batman and the Green Arrow. | |
| Cheshire | New Teen Titans Annual #2 (August 1983) | Real name Jade Nguyen, Batman battled Cheshire when she teamed up with the KGBeast, bringing her into conflict with the Dark Knight and Arsenal. Batman battled her in Zürich, but the fight ended when Batman had Nightwing rescue Lian, after which she gave up peacefully, allowing Batman to arrest her. | ||
| Malcolm Merlyn the Dark Archer [142] [143] [144] | Justice League of America #94 (November 1971) | Malcolm Merlyn the Dark Archer (Arthur King) is a highly skilled archer and mercenary. Although primarily an enemy of the Green Arrow, Merlyn has had several encounters with the Batman family as a member of the League of Assassins. | ||
| David Cain[145] [146] [147] | Batman #567 (July 1999) | David Cain is the father of Cassandra Cain and an enemy to both her and Batman. David Cain helped train Bruce Wayne in the field of the martial arts. | ||
| December Graystone | James Tynion IV Julius Gopez | Red Hood and the Outlaws #21 (August 2013) | December Graystone is a League of Assassins operative that can perform blood magic, where he cuts himself to access various powers through spilled blood, such as telekinesis and teleportation. | |
| Detonator | Batman #670 (December 2007) | The Detonator is a member of the Seven Men of Death, aside from the League of Assassins. | ||
| Doctor Ebenezer Darrk [148] [149] [150] | Detective Comics #405 (November 1970) | Ebenezar Darrk is the first known individual assigned to head the League of Assassins by Ra's al Ghul. Although many of the League's leaders over the years have been accomplished martial artists, Darrk himself did not depend on physical prowess and, as an assassin, he instead relied upon careful planning and manipulation, ambushes and death traps, as well as a variety of cleverly concealed weapons and poisons. After earning Ra's' enmity (for unknown reasons), Darrk died during a plot to kidnap his daughter Talia al Ghul (then using the name Talia Head). | ||
| Batman #240 (March 1972) | Dr. Moon is a highly immoral scientist and neurosurgeon. His areas of expertise are body modifications, psychological conditioning, and torture. He is known for hiring his services out to many different supervillains.[151] | |||
| Doctor Tzin-Tzin | Detective Comics #354 (August 1966) | Dr. Tzin-Tzin is a Dr. Fu Manchu-inspired Asian-looking (but actually American) crime lord who battles Batman several times and once encounters Jonny Double and Supergirl. Tzin-Tzin is seemingly killed on an airship during a battle with the Peacemaker. | ||
| Dragonfly | Batman #181 (June 1966) | The Dragonfly, alongside the Silken Spider and the Tiger Moth, attacked Wayne Manor.[152] | ||
| White Ghost | Batman Annual #26 (October 2007) | Dusan al Ghul is the son of Ra's al Ghul, the grandson of the Sensei, the maternal uncle of Damian Wayne, and the brother of Talia al Ghul, who was rejected by his father because Dusan was born an albino. He tried everything to earn his father's respect, but eventually gave up and left. Dusan returns later as the White Ghost to use his nephew's Damian Wayne body for his father to use as a vessel. | ||
| Expediter | Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #3 (July 2009) | Fadir Nasser (also going under the alias the "White Ghost") is the top secret agent of the League of Assassins and a loyal servant of Ra's al Ghul. He frequently clashed with Azrael II (Michael Washington Lane), Batman and Robin and, on one occasion, the Gotham City Sirens. | ||
| Grind | Batman Annual #8 (January 1982) | Grind used to be Ra's al Ghul's bodyguard, until he was replaced by Ubu. He possessed the same temperament as his predecessor. Grind was seemingly killed in the subsequent explosion of Ra's' mountain fortress. | ||
| Hook | Jack Miller Neal Adams | Strange Adventures #210 (March 1968) | The Hook is a retired gangster mostly known for having shot and killed Boston Brand, turning Brand into Deadman. | |
| Batman #431 (March 1989) | Kirigi is a top martial artist and a League of Assassins trainer. Kirigi taught Bruce Wayne and various members of the League of Assassins the art of ninjitsu. | |||
| Kitty Kumbata | Richard Dragon #1 (July 2004) | Kitty Kumbata is a talented but mentally unstable martial artist. She has been a member of the League of Assassins and Lady Shiva's Circle of Six. | ||
| Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | Formerly an agent of Ra's al Ghul and Intergang, Kyle Abbot is the bodyguard of Whisper A'Daire, empowered by his mistress with the same serum that gave her immortality and shapeshifting abilities. In Kyle's case, the serum gave him the ability to turn into a wolf or a werewolf-like creature, making him the second-in-command of a small army of similarly empowered henchmen. | |||
| Lady Shiva[153] [154] [155] | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 (December 1975) | Lady Shiva is a deadly martial artist and the mother of Cassandra Cain. | ||
| Maduvu | Batman #671 (January 2008) | Maduvu is a member of the Seven Men of Death. | ||
| Mad Dog III[156] | Batgirl (vol. 2) #67 (October 2005) | The Mad Dog III is the son of David Cain, who had begun thinking about what he would leave behind when he died. He wished for a "perfect child" — specifically a "perfect artisan of his craft". This led to the birth of the Mad Dog III. | ||
| Malaq | Detective Comics #750 (November 2000) | Malaq is a member and henchman of the League of Assassins. | ||
| Detective Comics #783 (August 2003) | Nyssa Raatko is a daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. | |||
| Joey Cavalieri Jerome Moore | Detective Comics #546 (January 1985) | Highly trained in the martial arts, Onyx first aligned herself with the League of Assassins before reforming and becoming a vigilante. She resides in Gotham City and is considered an ally of the Batman. She is a member of the Outsiders and the leader of the Fist Clan. | ||
| Owens | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #1 (August 2009) | Owens is a sniper that was partnered up with Pru and Z to assassinate the Red Robin. Owens was killed by the Widower of the Council of Spiders. | |
| Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #16 (August 1977) | Ojo is a brilliant criminal scientist with a vendetta against atomic energy. | |||
| Prudence Wood | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #1 (August 2009) | Pru is an assassin who worked for the Demon's Head, but later defected to work with Tim Drake. | |
| Razorburn | Batman #671 (January 2008) | Razorburn was a member of the Seven Men of Death. As part of this team, he was summoned to Gotham City by Talia al Ghul to retrieve the Suit of Sorrows from the Order of Purity. | ||
| Rictus | James Tynion IV Julius Gopez | Red Hood and the Outlaws #21 (August 2013) | Rictus is a criminal that replaced his body parts with cybernetics. | |
| Sensei[157] | Strange Adventures #215 (November–December 1968) | The Sensei is a top martial artist, the immortal father of Ra's al Ghul, the immortal paternal grandfather of Dusan al Ghul and Talia al Ghul, and the immortal maternal great-grandfather of Damian Wayne. | ||
| Silver Monkey | Detective Comics #685 (May 1995) | The Silver Monkey is a martial artist who was trained by the Cult of the Monkey Fist. As an assassin and mercenary, he has become an enemy of Batman and the Green Arrow. He was eventually gunned down and killed by the Ventriloquist. | ||
| Silken Spider | Batman #181 (June 1966) | The Silken Spider is a member of the League of Assassins. | ||
| Shellcase | Batman #670 (December 2007) | Shellcase was a member of the Seven Men of Death. As part of this team, Shellcase was summoned to Gotham City to retrieve the Suit of Sorrows from the Order of Purity. | ||
| Talia al Ghul [158] [159] [160] | Detective Comics #411 (May 1971) | Talia al Ghul is a daughter of Ra's al Ghul, the granddaughter of the Sensei, the sister of Dusan al Ghul, the mother of Damian Wayne and a high-ranking member of both the League of Assassins and Leviathan. She has been known to have several on again-off again romantic relationships with Batman. | ||
| Targa | Green Arrow and Black Canary #9 (August 2008) | Targa is a telekinetic who is the leader of the League of Assassins' metahuman faction. He thinks that he is leading a subgroup of the League of Assassins. They took orders from whom they thought was Ra's al Ghul to kidnap Connor Hawke. | ||
| Tiger Moth | Batman #181 (June 1966) | The Tiger Moth's costume disorients opponents, making them incapable of hitting her. | ||
| Tigris | Batgirl (vol. 2) #68 (November 2005) | Tigris (not to be confused with the Tigress) is a member of the League of Assassins under Nyssa Raatko's leadership and a devout disciple of Cassandra Cain. She is recognized by her niqab. | ||
| Ubu[161] [162] [163] | Batman #232 (June 1971) | Ubu a long line in the service of serving as Ra's al Ghul's current bodyguard. | ||
| Vial | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #3 (October 2009) | Vial is a member of the League of Assassins killed by Funnel, a member of their rival organization the Council of Spiders. | |
| Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | Whisper A'Daire is a former agent of Ra's al Ghul/partner of Kyle Abbot. While in his service, Ra's gifted her a serum that granted her immortality and the ability to shapeshift. |
These are enemies that were introduced under writer Grant Morrison.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clayface of Japan | Grant Morrison Chris Burnham | Batman Incorporated #6 (June 2011) | The Clayface of Japan[164] is a samurai with abilities similar to the previous Clayfaces.[165] | |
| Flamingo [166] [167] [168] | Batman #666 (July 2007) | Nicknamed "the eater of faces" for his cannibalistic tendencies, Eduardo Flamingo is a psychotic hitman who works for the Mob. | ||
| Jackanapes | The Jackanapes is a gorilla in a clown costume that wields a machete and a sub-machine gun. | |||
| Max Roboto[169] | Max Roberto is a cyborg with a partially cybernetic face who operates in a futuristic timeline in which Damian Wayne is Batman.[170] [171] | |||
| Phosphorus Rex[172] [173] | Phosphorus Rex is a member of the Circus of Strange whose body is constantly on fire. His metahuman abilities make him immune to the harmful effects of fire. | |||
| Professor Pyg [174] [175] [176] [177] | Donning a pig mask, Lazlo Valentin is a mad scientist known for kidnapping people and brutally transforming them into minions that he calls "Dollotrons".[178] He also sometimes experiments with transforming human beings into humanoid animals.[179] | |||
| The Weasel is a man with all-canine teeth. He appears as an enemy of Damian Wayne in the future. | ||||
| Absence | Batman and Robin #18 (January 2011) | A former girlfriend of Bruce Wayne, Una Nemo received a bullet in her head and survived. Now, she is stalking and killing Bruce Wayne's former mistresses. | ||
| Big Top | Batman and Robin #2 (September 2009) | Big Top is a morbidly obese bearded man in a tutu. He is part of the Circus of Strange. | ||
| Doctor Dedalus | Batman Incorporated #3 (March 2011) | Otto Netz is a mad scientist and the father of Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman. Years ago, Netz was defeated by the spy syndicate Spyral and imprisoned; suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he was locked away, but secretly escaped and brainwashed his jailer to take his place. Netz was recruited by Leviathan to build a doomsday device, but died at the hands of Damian Wayne to save Batman and Nightwing. | ||
| Heretic | Batman and Robin #12 (April 2010) | The mysterious Heretic is a clone of Damian Wayne, artificially aged and genetically enhanced by Talia al Ghul. He is Leviathan's most fearsome soldier, having killed both Knight and his "brother" Damian. | ||
| Id | Batman Annual #28 (February 2011) | The Id is a French supervillain who could awaken hidden desires in any human being with a mere touch. Sister Crystal turned his head into glass, with his brain always visible. | ||
| Batman #656 (October 2006) | The President of a small African nation, Jezebel Jet was a successful model and philanthropist who became romantically involved with Bruce Wayne. However, she was also a high-ranking member of the Black Glove and agreed to seduce Wayne in exchange for the Black Glove murdering her adopted father and installing her as president. Her attempt to drive Batman insane failed due to Batman realizing she was a spy; she was ultimately murdered and decapitated by the Man-Bat Commandos sent by Talia al Ghul, where they attacked her airplane. | |||
| King Kraken[180] [181] | Batman #676 (June 2008) | King Kraken is an aquatic criminal from Sweden and a deep sea diver known to go up against Batman and Wingman. | ||
| Mister Toad[182] | Batman and Robin #1 (August 2009) | Mister Toad is a mutant toad-man who is part of the Circus of Strange. | ||
| Ray Man | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 (August 2011) | A French supervillain who can create visual illusions out of a hole in his head. While creating a mass illusion, the Ray Man pretends to be a reality-warping god-like superbeing named Paradox. | |
| Siam | Siam is a name used by conjoined triplets with a specialized fighting style. They are members of the Circus of Strange. | |||
| Sister Crystal | A French supervillainess using the name Sister Crystal who has the ability to turn everything she touches into glass. | |||
| Skin Talker | The Skin Talker has a unique skin disease that make words appear on his body. He is fully in control of this ability, and the words on his skin have hidden hypnotic effects. | |||
| Son of Man[183] [184] | A French supervillain, and enemy of Nightrunner. As an infant, Norman S. Rotrig was mutilated by his insane father into becoming what his father believed was a living masterpiece of art. The Son of Man now has a permanent Glasgow smile on his face and retaliated against his father by dissecting him and keeping him alive in front a mirror, while still alive but in pieces. Determined to turn Paris, France, into a "work of art", the Son of Man is considered to be the French counterpart of the Joker. | |||
| Son of Pyg [185] [186] [187] | Batman Incorporated #4 (March 2011) | Janosz Valentin / Johnny Valentine is the son of the infamous Professor Pyg. Janosz wears a similar pig mask to his father, but it is heavily damaged and has red eyes. He is a masochist who claims that he can teach others to feel no pain. | ||
| Swagman[188] [189] [190] [191] | Batman #676 (June 2008) | The Swagman is an armored supervillain who targets members of the Batman family. | ||
| White Knight | Batman and Robin #21 (April 2011) | A mysterious being of light who seeks to battle the darkness of Gotham City, the White Knight targeted the relatives of Arkham Asylum's inmates to save their souls by dressing them as angels and forcing them to commit suicide. As a very resourceful and inventive serial killer, the White Knight's ultimate goal is to kill all of Arkham's inmates. |
See also: The New 52. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. Since this new timeline began, these supervillains have been introduced. These are characters that have not been around long enough to apply to any other category.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentley | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011) | A member of the Dollmaker Family, Bentley is a being of brute strength. | ||
| Dollmaker III's daughter who initially dressed as a nurse with a ceramic mask stitched into her face as the Dollmaker III's right-hand henchwoman.[192] Matilda Mathis took up her father's cause and became Dollhouse, kidnapping children and harvesting their organs for the organ trade. She then turns what is left of their bodies into human dolls that she uses to decorate her garden.[193] | ||||
| Jack-in-the-Box | Jack-in-the-Box is a member of the Dollmaker Family who has a mutilated, surgically enhanced body with arms seemingly made of rubber. | |||
| Mister Toxic | Mister Toxic began as a low-level criminal known as "the Gas Man", one of several amateur supervillains that the Penguin called upon to offer them "protection" for their money. The Gas Man eventually became Mr. Toxic and found himself more than a match for Batman. After Mr. Toxic robbed several nuclear plants, Batman discovered that he was the dying clone of one of Bruce Wayne's fellow businessmen. Batman was able to defeat Mr. Toxic, who has not been seen since. | |||
| Olivia Carr | Olivia Carr is a girl that was kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming a member of the Dollmaker Family. | |||
| Orifice | The Orifice is a member of the Dollmaker Family who has various foreign limbs and tissue stitched to his body. | |||
| Sampson | A member of the Dollmaker Family, Sampson is a small man made to look like a toy monkey. | |||
| Wesley Mathis | Wesley Mathis serial killer and former enemy of Commissioner Gordon who would take his son, Barton Mathis (who would grow up to become the Dollmaker III), on "hunting trips" in which he kidnapped and cannibalized human beings. He was eventually killed in a struggle with Gordon, leading to his son's personal vendetta against Gordon. | |||
| Brute | James Tynion IV Mikel Janín | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #19 (June 2013) | The Brute is a prisoner of Santa Prisca who has gone through extensive new experimentations with Venom. | |
| Malicia | Malicia is an ally of Bane who has gone through experiments with Venom at Santa Prisca. | |||
| Professor | The Professor is a scientist who works at Santa Prisca that specializes in experiments with Venom for Bane. | |||
| Wolf-Spider | The Wolf-Spider is a recruit of Bane who has been enhanced with Venom. | |||
| Doctor Falsario | Batman Eternal #18 (October 2014) | Doctor Falsario is a supervillain who has hypnotic powers. | ||
| Barton Mathis / The Dollmaker III [194] [195] [196] | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011) | The leader of his "Family", Barton Mathis is a mad doctor who specializes in organ transplantation. He is responsible for the creation of twisted surgical abominations made of several different limbs and organs stitched into one being. He runs an organ trade business and is responsible for cutting the Joker's face off. Though the Dollmaker III sees the Toyman as a father figure,[197] he is not to be confused with the Toyman's biological son, Anton Schott, who has also used the Dollmaker alias. | ||
| Eli Strange[198] [199] | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #5 (March 2012) | Eli Strange is the criminal son of Hugo Strange. Eli Strange collaborated with Catwoman during some of his criminal activities. His real name is later revealed to be Elliot Montrose.[200] | ||
| Emperor Penguin / Emperor Blackgate[201] [202] | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #13 (December 2012) | Ignatius Ogilvy was the right-hand man of the Penguin, who had aspirations of taking over the Penguin's criminal empire as his operative "the Emperor Penguin".[203] Ogilvy briefly managed to do so and empowered himself with a combination of the Man-Bat serum, one of Poison Ivy's plant concoctions, and the drug Venom, which gave him a form with blue skin as tough as bark, pointy ears, and red eyes while possessing superhuman strength, enhanced speed, and enhanced durability. He was incapacitated by Batman and Penguin and was arrested by the police. Within Blackgate Penitentiary, Ogilvy gained control of the prison's organized criminal activity by killing the unnamed prison boss and took the name "Emperor Blackgate".[204] | ||
| Fishnet | Ann Nocenti Rafa Sandoval | Catwoman (vol. 4) #17 (April 2013) | Otto Baxter Kruft', a.k.a. Fishnet, is a henchman for the Penguin, recognizable for wearing a fishnet stocking over his face. | |
| Volt | Volt is the Penguin's resident technological genius and creator of many of his weapons. An accident gave Volt electrical powers. | |||
| Hypnotic | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #6 (April 2012) | Hypnotic is an upstart criminal who works under the Penguin's guidance. He uses radio waves to control his victims' minds. | ||
| Imperceptible Man | The Imperceptible Man is a seemingly invisible criminal who came to Gotham in an alliance with the Penguin. | |||
| Jill Hampton | Jill Hampton works for the Penguin and is Charlotte Rivers' sister. | |||
| Mister Combustible | Mr. Combustible is an upstart criminal who works under the Penguin's guidance. | |||
| Snakeskin | Snakeskin is a shapeshifter and Jill Hampton's boyfriend. | |||
| Grotesque | Batgirl (vol. 4) #7 (May 2012) | Grotesque is a masked man identified as "snobbish" because of his very eccentric tastes. | ||
| Batgirl (vol. 4) #10 (August 2012) | Charise Carnes was a prisoner at Arkham Asylum when a massive breakout took place in which she watched the other inmates torture and kill others. After getting out of the asylum, Carnes became a vigilante called Knightfall who torments and murders criminals, eventually becoming an enemy of Batgirl. | |||
| Merrymaker[205] [206] | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #17 (February 2013) | The Merrymaker is a supervillain who leads a gang of criminals called the League of Smiles, who are obsessed with the Joker.[207] | ||
| Mister Bloom[208] [209] [210] | Batman (vol. 2) #43 (August 2015) | Real name unknown, Mr. Bloom stole high-tech seeds that allowed him to manipulate his own body, seeing himself as a gardener come to prune the garden of Gotham as a failed experiment. | ||
| Mister Bygone | Batman Eternal #6 (July 2014) | Mr. Bygone is a mysterious man who is a product of the insanity that infests Arkham Asylum. | ||
| Mister Mosaic | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #5 (March 2012) | Mr. Mosaic is a deformed rich underboss of the Penguin. | ||
| Mother[211] | Batman and Robin Eternal #1 (October 2015) | The sole survivor of a village that was destroyed in the crossfire of a brutal war, "Mother" sees herself as making children stronger by forcing them to endure tragedy, believing that Batman shares her views in his efforts to "mold" the Robins. | ||
| Nobody | Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011) | Morgan Ducard (a.k.a. "Nobody") has almost telekinetic powers seemingly based on sound waves. Ducard is the son of Henri Ducard, the detective who once trained Bruce Wayne. He seeks to destroy Batman Incorporated and believes that killing criminals could save more lives than simply putting them in prison and allowing them to live. | ||
| Punchline[212] [213] [214] [215] | Batman (vol. 3) #89 (April 2020) | Alexis Kaye was a college student who developed an unhealthy obsession with the Joker, eventually becoming his new sidekick and girlfriend. She is adept at wielding knives and makes use of Joker venom. | ||
| Talon[216] [217] | Batman (vol. 2) #2 (December 2011) | William Cobb is an agent of the Court of Owls, a near-mythical organization in Gotham City. William Cobb is the great-grandfather of Dick Grayson. | ||
| Trickster III[218] [219] | Batman/Superman #1 (June 2013) | Kaiyo is a mischievous New God from Apokolips who can pass between worlds at will. She is responsible for the first meeting between Batman and Superman. | ||
| White Rabbit [220] [221] | (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011) | Jaina Hudson is the mastermind behind a toxin known to obliterate all fear from one's mind. Due to her involvement with Bane and the Scarecrow, she once managed to defeat Batman.[222] | ||
| Justin Gray Jimmy Palmiotti Eduardo Pansica | Batwing #25 (January 2014) | Russell Tavaroff is a former friend of Luke Fox who became his enemy upon getting exposed to the Venom offshoot Snakebite, which gives him enhanced strength and durability at the cost of giving him a mental illness. | ||
| Mark Andreyko Jeremy Haun | Batwoman (vol. 2) #26 (February 2014) | Evan Blake is a playboy and an old friend of Kate Kane who operates as the art thief the Wolf Spider. He is not to be confused with a similarly named recruit of Bane who has a hyphen in his name. | ||
| Peter Tomasi Doug Mahnke Patrick Gleason | Batman and Robin Annual Vol. 2 #2 (January 2014) | Tusk is a metahuman crime lord with tusks and elephant-like skin. | ||
| Haunter | Scott Bryan Wilson Bilquis Evely | Batman Annual (vol. 3) #1 (January 2017) | Real name unknown; the Haunter is a malnourished woman with orange hair. She has the ability to kill anyone whose DNA she comes in contact with, causing them to dissipate into black smoke. She is hinted to be already known to Batman and to be on good terms with the rest of Batman's villains in Arkham. She escapes from Arkham and assists the Scarecrow in a plan to release fear gas in Gotham on Christmas Eve, but both are paralyzed by the gas and recaptured by Batman. | |
| Stag | Batman Annual (vol. 3) #1 (January 2017) | The Stag is a mysterious woman adorned in black and yellow, a black horned headdress, and a white mask. Not much is known about her currently. She is first seen invading the apartment of Barry O'Neill and killing him with a stab to the forehead. | ||
| Blackbird | Julie Benson Shawna Benson Roge Antonio | Batgirl/Birds of Prey #8 (May 2017) | The Blackbird is a woman with the metahuman power to drain those of others. Feeling that metahumans were oppressed, she planned to take the powers of many for herself and use them to create a revolution. She managed to lure in several students under the guise of a training school, forming an association with Roulette. Her students included Gemini and an undercover Black Canary. |
These enemies are categorized by their obscurity and for being less notable than other characters in this article.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abattoir | Detective Comics #625 (January 1991) | A schizophrenic, superstitious, and cannibalistic serial killer who was convinced that his family was evil,[223] Arnold Etchison has fear of death and, due to living in a world where paranormal activities are common occurrences related to metahumans, extraterrestrials, and the supernatural, leads him into an insane delusion that he absorbs his victims' life force when he kills them, therefore prolonging his lifespan as an immortal. Abattoir even wears a makeshift cape made out of a trench coat to imitate costumed beings such as Superman and Batman. | ||
| Actuary | Detective Comics #683 (March 1995) | The Actuary is a mathematical genius who applies formulae to aid the Penguin in committing crimes. | ||
| Agent Orange | Batman and the Outsiders #3 (October 1983) | Claiming to be a Vietnam War veteran, Agent Orange is a supervillain who blames the United States government for his injuries. He attacks the citizens of Gotham City with the help of his followers. | ||
| Amba Kadiri | Batman #274 (April 1976) | An Indian thief and leader of the Afro-Asian block of the Underworld Olympians, Amba Kadiri crossed paths with Batman, only to be captured so that her team may go on in the competition. She is an accomplished thief and martial artist who bears steel-clawed fingertips. | ||
| Amygdala [224] [225] | #3 (August 1992) | Aaron Helzinger is a powerful behemoth with a childlike temper. He is quick to anger and turns into a murdering monster after doctors experiment on his brain. He has been stopped by Batman in the past by applying a severe blow to the back of his neck. | ||
| Answer | Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 (October 1998) | Mike Patten is an engineer in Gotham City that believed a civilization 15,000 years ago was wiped out due to a massive earthquake. During the events of Cataclysm, his wife and daughter perished, leading Mike to believe the end of humanity was nigh. He became the Answer to prove his theory to society through robbery and murder. | ||
| Architect | #1 (July 2011) | Zachary Gate is the descendant of Nicholas Anders, one of the architect brothers who constructed Gotham City's bridges. Upon his stepbrother's death, Nicholas attempted to avenge him by killing Gotham's founding fathers: the Waynes, the Cobblepots and the Elliots, on whom he blamed his death. He was then jailed for the murder of Robert Kane and declared that the forefathers' descendants would suffer for their sins. Zachary comes across this knowledge and the name of the Architect from his ancestor's journals and decided to avenge him, setting his goals on eliminating the forefathers' descendants. | ||
| Atom-Master | World's Finest #101 (May 1959) | A scientist whose helmet can cast illusions. | ||
| Atomic-Man | Detective Comics #280 (June 1960) | Paul Strobe is a scientist who can shoot beams from his eyes that can transmute matter into another form and focuses them through the special lenses of his goggles. | ||
| Bad Samaritan | Outsiders #3 (January 1986) | "The Bad Samaritan" is a highly trained agent of the USSR that became an independent contractor in espionage, terrorism, and assassination working for virtually all major governments. | ||
| Baffler | Robin (vol. 4) #1 (November 1993) | Titus Samuel Czonka is an unintelligent brute that leaves riddles for Batman to solve, similar to the Riddler and the Cluemaster.[226] | ||
| Bag O'Bones | Batman #195 (September 1967) | Radioactivity transforms Ned Creegan into a skeletal-looking "living X-ray photo" who calls himself Bag O'Bones and battles Batman and Robin. Creegan later returns as the Cyclotronic Man, fighting Black Lightning and Superman. Still later, he adopts the name the One Man Meltdown and battles the Outsiders. After getting the medical treatment he needs, Creegan goes back to prison, content to do his time in jail and then reform. | ||
| Superman/Batman #20 (June 2005) | Batzarro is a Bizarro version of Batman whose origins remain unknown.[227] | |||
| Benedict Asp | Justice League Task Force #6 (November 1993) | Benedict Asp is the brother of Shondra Kinsolving, the trained physiotherapist who meets Bruce Wayne when he is dealing with exhaustion and helps to look after him after he is injured by Bane. He kidnaps her and turns her abilities to evil uses. Asp reveals Shondra's healing powers and, along with his own psychic abilities, uses her to telekinetically kill an entire village. Bruce eventually defeats Benedict, but the events traumatize Shondra. | ||
| Billy Numerous[228] [229] | Catwoman (vol. 3) #78 (April 2008) | Billy Numerous has the ability to make copies of himself, which he uses for criminal activity. He has taken on Slam Bradley and the Catwoman.[230] | ||
| Birthday Boy [231] [232] | (July 2012) | In the Earth One re-imagining of Batman's origin, Ray Salinger is a serial killer who operated at the beginning of Batman's career. Nicknamed "the Birthday Boy", Salinger kidnaps and murders young women who resemble his first victim. His modus operandi is to give the person that he is about to kill a birthday cake with his first victim's name on it and tells them to "make a wish".[233] | ||
| Bizarro-Batman | World's Finest Comics #156 (March 1966) | Not to be confused with Batzarro, Bizarro-Batman is a Bizarro version of Batman who appeared as a member of a Bizarro version of the Justice League of America. Bizarro-Batman originates from Htrae, the Bizarro World.[234] | ||
| Black and White Bandit[235] | #12 (February 2001) | Roscoe Chiara was an artist who was hired to create a portrait using experimental paint. After doing so, he completely lost the ability to see colors. Chiara then began robbing public locations of valuable materials. | ||
| Black Spider I | Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) | The first Black Spider is Eric Needham, a hunter of the drug dealers who ruined his life.[236] | ||
| Black Spider II | Batman #518 (May 1995) | The second Black Spider is Johnny LaMonica. He is killed by Crispus Allen during a gang shooting. | ||
| Black Spider III | Birds of Prey #87 (December 2005) | A third Black Spider appears named 'Derrick Coe, who battles the Birds of Prey. | ||
| Blockbuster I[237] | Detective Comics #345 (November 1965) | Mark Desmond is a former chemist who experiments on himself and subsequently becomes a mindless brute who possesses super-strength.[238] | ||
| Starman #9 (April 1989) | Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a severe illness forced him to be treated with experimental steroids. Like his brother Mark, Roland became a child-minded super-strong monster. He ran wild in the Southwest, but Batman and Starman (Will Payton) brought his rampage to an end.[239] [240] | |||
| Blue Bat | Batman #127 (October 1959) | In an alternate universe, the Blue Bat was a criminal who wore the Batman costume. | ||
| Bouncer | Detective Comics #347 (January 1966) | The Bouncer is a metallurgist who discovers "an alloy of rubber, steel, and chrome" called "elastalloy", which he uses to create a suit that allows him to bounce "tremendous distances or from great heights—yet not be harmed at all!" The Bouncer fights Batman twice, once alone and once as a minion of the Monarch of Menace. | ||
| "Brains" Beldon | Detective Comics #301 (March 1962) | "Brains" Beldon is a criminal genius who pulls off a $20,000,000 heist in Gotham City before being defeated by Batman. He is the father of the Teen Titans' foe the Disruptor. | ||
| Brand | Batman #137 (February 1961) | The Brand is a cowboy-themed supervillain who uses cattle brands as weapons and as clues for future crimes. | ||
| Bruno | The Dark Knight Returns (February–June 1986) | In the Dark Knight Universe, Bruno is a neo-Nazi who is a chief henchwoman of the Joker and has ties to the Mutant Gang.[241] | ||
| Nightwing (vol. 2) #22 (July 1998) | Guillermo Barrera was a top-level interrogator/torturer for the secret police in the Latin American country Hasaragua, until a revolution forced him to flee. He began a new career as a mercenary/assassin and eventually began working for the Blockbuster II in Blüdhaven, battling Nightwing on several occasions. Brutale is an expert with all forms of knives and blades, being able to both fight superbly and inflict horrible pain on his victims. | |||
| "Buzz" Galvan | Detective Comics #644 (May 1992) | Elmo "Buzz" Galvan has the ability to control electricity. He requires an electrical generator to provide him with power. He can then use the electricity to fire powerful blasts, generate force fields and electro-statically crawl up walls. Galvan was a robber who, along with three others, stole 2 million pounds and in the process murdered four people. The gang were about to make their getaway to a Caribbean island when they were captured by Batman. Galvan's gang blamed him for the murders and he took the fall and was sentenced to die in the electric chair. On his execution date, Galvan was enraged to see the witnesses, who he perceived had come to laugh at his death. The execution was unsuccessful, damaging his nervous system and leaving him partially paralyzed. The laws of the state decreed that he could not be executed again. Unwilling to be confined to a charity ward for the rest of his life, Galvan crawled from his bed and bit into a power line in an attempt to kill himself. The electricity restored his ability to move and gave him control over electricity. Galvan set out to avenge himself against those he believed had mocked him. | ||
| Calamity | Brenden Fletcher Becky Cloonan Karl Kerschl Gerry Duggan Shawn Crystal | Gotham Academy #1 (October 1, 2014) | The latest in the long line of Calamity aliases, Sybil Silverlock / Calamity slowly lost control of herself due to possession by the vengeful ghost of her ancestor, Amity Arkham. Sybil woke up after a blackout to discover she had murdered her own husband and her grip on her own mind kept worsening until she was defeated by Batman and Robin after setting an entire residential block alight in the Narrows. Following the collapse of Arkham Asylum, Sybil became a patient in a coma held in Arkham Manor. When Dr. Eric Border exposed his true identity as the Joker in the asylum and infected a portion of Clayface with Joker venom, unleashing the new monster Clownface, Silverlock was awakened from her coma and escaped from the asylum in the confusion. | |
| Detective Comics #460 (June 1976) | Karl Courtney is a criminal who commits crimes using a pirate motif. | |||
| Cavalier I | Detective Comics #81 (November 1943) | Mortimer Drake is an expert swordsman who speaks in Shakespearean English and dresses in a French musketeer costume. Initially depicted as craving adventure and riches, the rogue was repeatedly bested by Batman and Robin. The Cavalier eventually lost his mind, and can sometimes be seen as an inmate or escapee from Arkham Asylum. | ||
| Cavalier II | #32 (June 1992) | The second Cavalier is Hudson Pyle, a sword-wielding vigilante. | ||
| Batman #68 (1951) | Paul Sloan was a successful actor who was persuaded to impersonate Two-Face by a number of Gotham's villains when Two-Face refused to join their scheme after Two-Face's coin landed with the unscarred side up. Paul ends up encountering Batman briefly in the process. He is later tortured and disfigured by Two-Face and experimented upon by the Scarecrow. Paul returned years later, attacking the various villains who had recruited him, all in an attempt to get to Batman. He is currently incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. | |||
| Chancer | #7 (December 1992) | The Chancer is a bank robber, real name unknown, who is armed with simply a baton. | ||
| Clayface VI / The Claything II | Doug Moench Kelley Jones | Batman: Shadow of the Bat #27 (January 1998) | Dr. Peter Malley, also known as the second Claything, was a DEO scientist who was transformed when he merged with a sample of Cassius Payne. Malley has the ability to melt objects simply by looking at them. | |
| Clayface VII | Ed Brubaker Darwyn Cooke | Catwoman (vol. 3) #1 (January 2002) | Todd Russell is a serial killer with the ability to transform into virtually any shape and size who targets prostitutes. | |
| Clayface VIII | A. J. Lieberman Javier Pina | #60 (February 2005) | Johnny Williams is a former firefighter who gained a claylike appearance and the ability to shapeshift following an explosion at a chemical plant. He was manipulated by Hush and the Riddler to transform his appearance into that of Jason Todd to deceive Batman, which ultimately failed.[242] | |
| Clock II | Star Spangled Comics #70 (July 1947) | In Pre-Crisis continuity, the second person to use the identity of the Clock is a clock-themed criminal who is primarily an enemy of Robin. Not to be confused with the Clock King II. | ||
| Clownface | Gerry Duggan Shawn Crystal | Arkham Manor #2 (November 26, 2014) | "Clownface" originally began as a stray piece of Clayface's body that became unattached and gained enough sentience to morph itself into a mute old man. This man was found and taken to Arkham Manor because of his unresponsiveness. Bruce Wayne, who was undercover as Jack Shaw in the manor, was able to recognize the man as a portion of Clayface, but avoided blowing his own cover to alert the guards. The Joker, undercover also, as the Arkham attendant Eric Border, shed his disguise and secretly infected this portion of Clayface with Joker venom, morphing it into an entirely separate killing machine he called Clownface. Clownface wreaked havoc in the manor, killing multiple people, before being subdued by Batman and Mr. Freeze. Frozen solid thanks to Freeze's help, Clownface was stored in the manor's freezer until he was to be collected by the guards. | |
| Colonel Blimp | Paul Kupperberg Don Newton | Batman #352 (October 1982) | Real name unknown, Colonel Blimp is a man in a purple and gold uniform similar to that of a German zeppelin pilot. He has twice stolen a submarine, using a blimp he flies armed with magnetic tentacles. He holds the submarine for ransom, announcing to the city that he will not return the submarine until a certain amount of money is paid. The second time, he is stopped by Gotham Girl. | |
| Colonel Sulphur | Batman #241 (May 1972) | Colonel Sulphur is a self-styled warrior with a vast knowledge of psychological terror who fights Batman four times in the 1970s and 1980s. Sulphur also encounters Superman and Supergirl and puts together an Army of Crime. | ||
| World's Finest Comics #142 (June 1964) | An out-of-work scuba diver, Joseph Meach gained the combined powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes after being struck by the energy discharge of their statues while he slept. He then desired to defeat Superman and Batman. Later the effect and his memory faded, but his powers were restored by an alien whose father had been imprisoned by Batman and Robin. Meach sacrificed himself to save the superheroes. | |||
| Condiment King [243] [244] | #8 (September 2003) | Mitchell Mayo is a villain who makes use of various condiments, sometimes capable of causing anaphylactic shock. He is a comedy relief villain that is easily defeated by Robin and Batgirl. | ||
| Detective Comics #592 (November 1998) | Cornelius Stirk is an Arkham Asylum inmate who possesses latent psychic abilities; specifically, the ability to induce hallucinations and fear in others. A delusional psychotic, Stirk believes that he will die unless he regularly eats human hearts. | |||
| Corrosive Man | Detective Comics #587 (June 1988) | A convicted murderer, Derek Mitchell escapes from jail seeking vengeance on Mortimer Kadaver, but is involved in an unfortunate accident on the way that turns him into a literally corrosive man, his entire skin burning with chemical fire which can eat through walls and floors or burn human flesh. His encounter with Kadaver leaves the latter with a handprint burned onto his forehead and leaves Mitchell inert, although he surfaces at least twice more. | ||
| Crazy Quilt I | Boy Commandos #15 (May–June 1946) | Paul Dekker is an ex-painter who leads a double life as a master thief and is blinded by a gunshot wound during a botched robbery. While in prison, he volunteers for an experimental procedure that would restore his vision. There is a side effect, however: even though he can see, he can only see in blinding, disorienting colors. This drives him insane, and he adopts the identity of Crazy Quilt I. | ||
| Crazy Quilt II | Villains United #2 (August 2005) | Apparently, the new Secret Society of Super Villains, led by Alexander Luthor Jr., has in its roster a new version of Crazy Quilt; a woman with the characteristic costume and vision-helmet of the previous villain. Only glimpsed in the background, she has yet to resurface. | ||
| Detective Comics #77 (July 1943) | Matthew Thorne was a reputable surgeon for criminals, but he would stop his crimes to minister to the sick or injured. He later appears under the new name of Bradford Thorne.[245] He is an expert in torture. | |||
| Crimesmith | Batman #443 (January 1990) | Doctor Ryan Smith is a brilliant scientist and media personality. He gives detailed plans for robberies to gangs of crooks with the understanding that they would give him a large percentage of the loot. | ||
| Crimson Knight | Detective Comics #271 (September 1959) | The Crimson Knight, whose real name is Dick Lyons, is a mysterious metal-clad crime fighter who appears in Gotham City as an apparent aide to Batman and Robin. The Caped Crusaders suspect the new arrival may have illegal motives. | ||
| Cryonic Man | Batman and the Outsiders #6 (January 1984) | Philip was a lab assistant for Professor Niles Raymond who developed a cryogenic chamber. Fearful of the threat of nuclear war, Raymond froze himself, Philip, and their wives in 1947 in hopes of surviving any oncoming conflict. Decades later, Philip was chosen to be awakened to determine if the world had become a safe place again. However, Philip's wife was inflicted with a debilitating disease and he subjected themselves to the freezing process in hopes of waking up in a time with the medical advances to save her life. Becoming the Cryonic Man, Philip sought organs to replace those of his wife which were failing, bringing him into conflict with Batman and the Outsiders. | ||
| Cyber-C.A.T. | Catwoman (vol. 2) #42 (February 1997) | Christina Chiles is a scientist who designed a state of the art robotic suit operated by her brainwaves, bristling with weapons like lasers and rockets. When the Catwoman broke into the lab to steal a microchip, Christina dons the suit herself to stop her as a trial run. After they clash several times, Chiles gets obsessed with hunting down and destroying the Catwoman to prove her superiority — a side effect of the suit's mind-link. Eventually, the Catwoman defeats her after building a robotic suit for herself. | ||
| Cypher [246] [247] [248] | Detective Comics #657 (March 1993)[249] | Avery Twombey is a corporate spy and mercenary with hypnotic abilities, though his actual past is unknown. When the government hired three separate companies, including Wayne Enterprises, to start working on different pieces of a secret military project, Cypher was hired to assassinate the three CEOs of the companies. After successfully killing two of the CEOs, he went after Wayne Enterprises' CEO Lucius Fox.[250] As he was about to force Lucius Fox to jump off a bridge via hypnotic suggestion, he was taken down by Robin (Tim Drake) as Fox was saved by Batman and Azrael. Cypher was sent to Blackgate Penitentiary.[251] At Blackgate, Cypher formulated an escape plan with other inmates, including the Cluemaster, the Electrocutioner, and the Baffler.[252] After a failed attempt to use his abilities on the other inmates, who evaded his hypnotism with earplugs, Cypher was shot and killed by the Cluemaster.[253] | ||
| Dagger | Batman #343 (January 1982) | David Rennington is the owner of a blade manufacturing company called Rennington Steel. When facing hard times, Rennington becomes the Dagger, running an old-fashioned protection racket until being apprehended by Batman. He is later recruited by Ra's al Ghul.[254] | ||
| Dark Knight | All-Star Batman #11 (August 2017) | A clone of Alfred Pennyworth who was created by Briar. | ||
| Anatoly Davidovich and Vassily Davidovich / The Davidovich Brothers | Batman Confidential #19 (September 2008) | Anatoly and Vassily Davidovich are brothers who are members of an unidentified branch of the Russian Mafia. | ||
| #1 (August 1988) | Deacon Joseph Blackfire is a religious fanatic who forms an army in the sewers beneath Gotham, largely composed of the homeless. Blackfire begins a violent war on crime, which escalates into him taking over the entire city, isolating it from the rest of the country. | |||
| Dealer | Batman #872 (February 2011) | Primarily an enemy to Dick Grayson, the Dealer is an auctioneer who sells to the wealthy memorabilia and weapons used by, or that have formerly belonged to, reputable supervillains. | ||
| Death Rattle | Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003) | Erasmus Rayne is a serial killer and a cult leader. | ||
| Doctor Aesop | Detective Comics #846 (September 2008) | Dr. Aesop is a criminal who commits crimes based on Aesop's Fables. He is an old man who carries a cane, which he wields as a deadly weapon. He keeps a menagerie of dangerous animals, which represent some of the fables he seems to cherish. Dr. Aesop was seemingly killed, but recovered from his wounds and later resurfaced in Gotham City Sirens #9. | ||
| Detective Comics #29 (July 1939) | Dr. Karl Hellfern is a mad scientist who made two back-to-back appearances in the early days of Batman's career and is considered Batman's first supervillain. Doctor Death developed lethal chemical gases and threatened wealthy citizens, demanding money and tribute to him in exchange for their safety. Hellfern was disfigured in an explosion. | |||
| Detective Comics #261 (November 1958) | Dr. Simon Ecks discovers that human auras could be enhanced to function outside of the body. When Ecks creates an energy-duplicate of himself, the introverted scientist's unstable mind becomes dominated by the doppelgänger, who calls himself Doctor Double X. | |||
| Doctor Fang | Detective Comics #536 (March 1984) | Dr. Fang is a criminal mastermind who was killed by Night-Slayer. | ||
| Detective Comics #319 (September 1963) | Bart Magan tried to use a device that would erase a facial scar, but ended up erasing his entire face. | |||
| Detective Comics #469 (May 1977) | Alexander James Sartorius is a mad criminal with radioactive powers resulting from the meltdown of a Gotham nuclear power plant. | |||
| Doctor Zodiac | World's Finest Comics #160 (September 1966) | Theodore B. Carrigan is a carnival mystic who turns to crime, basing his robberies on horoscopes. In his first outing, he is apprehended by Batman, Robin, and Superman. Later, he steals 12 coins from Atlantis, each bearing a Zodiac symbol, which bestow him with various powers. Once again, Batman and Superman thwart his plans.[255] Still later, he allies himself with Madame Zodiac to obtain a different set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna[256] (Dr. Zodiac should not be confused with the Zodiac Master). | ||
| Dodge | Robin (vol. 4) #160 (March 2007) | Michael Lasky was just a kid who wanted to be a hero. He ran into Robin a few times and tried become Robin's partner, but Robin refused since he just got in the way and told him to go home. One night as Robin was trying to stop some kidnappers, Dodge interfered and his teleportation belt got damaged. Dodge was left in a coma after the battle and Robin took him to a hospital. Robin, feeling responsible for Dodge's condition, visited him regularly until one day, he disappeared. In the future, Dodge would return, but not as his former self; his skin had been turned to a shimmering red and he was furious with Robin. He had fallen into a life of crime, selling a dangerous drug that turned normal people into metahuman murderers. His criminal enterprise was built upon the hope that he would eventually meet Robin again and kill him. During a battle with Robin, Zatara, and Rose Wilson, his body inexplicably vanished and he is presumed dead. | ||
| Doodlebug | #1 (July 2003) | Daedalus Boch is an artist who believes he receives visions of inspiration and then compulsively recreates them on whatever canvas they indicate, including people. | ||
| Batman #134 (September 1960) | Danny the Dummy, a pint-sized ventriloquist in a top hat and suit, has a hit act in which he plays the dummy to a normal-sized "ventriloquist" named Matt (who is revealed as the real dummy at the end of each show). The fact that people invariably refer to Danny as "the Dummy" infuriates him and inspires him to use ventriloquist's dummies for crime to make dummies out of the law. | |||
| William Dozier Stanley Ralph Ross Edwin Self | #3 (August 1992) | Edgar Heed believes himself to be "the world's smartest criminal", and his crimes usually have an egg motif to them, as well as including egg puns in his speech whenever appropriate. The character is an inmate of Arkham Asylum and patient of Jeremiah Arkham.[257] | ||
| Eivol Ekdal | Detective Comics #346 (December 1965)[258] | Eivol Ekdal is a bald, slightly hunchbacked criminal scientist who is described as a "master craftsman, builder of escape gadgets and tantalizing traps for the criminal underground of America." He encounters Batman twice,[259] before meeting his death at the hands of a couple of his criminal "customers". | ||
| Elemental Man | Detective Comics #294 (August 1961) | John Dolan was exposed to a leak from an experiment the professor he assisted was working on, leaving him randomly turning into different elements. Designing a belt to control these transformations, he took to a life of crime as the Elemental Man before Batman was able to restore him. Strike Force Kobra had a member fashioned after Dolan named the Elemental Woman. | ||
| Batman #188 (December 1966) | Leonard Fiasco is a professional at covering the tracks of other crimes. For a 20% cut, the Eraser will "erase" the evidence of another crime. | |||
| Executioner | Detective Comics #191 (January 1953) | Willy Hooker is a vigilante who murders wanted criminals for the reward money. | ||
| Facade | Detective Comics #821 (September 2006) | Erik Hanson is a former employee at a trendy Gotham City nightclub for the city's popular socialites. He organizes a gang to replace them as a ploy to enter Gotham's elite. | ||
| Batman #113 (February 1958) | False-Face is a criminal make-up artist and master of disguise who uses his skill to impersonate wealthy people. | |||
| Batman #318 (December 1979) | An African American former soldier and demolitions expert, Joseph Rigger returned to find his family dead due to substandard housing in three separate buildings. As the Firebug I, Rigger seeks revenge on the buildings themselves, destroying them regardless of how many innocents die. He later turns to more straightforward crime. His weapon of choice is explosive bombs. | |||
| Gotham Central #3 (March 2003) | Harlan Combs is wanted in the murder of his daughter. Combs had purchased the Firebug costume and armor from Rigger. He is injured while fleeing from the police and quickly arrested. | |||
| Deadshot: Urban Renewal #1 (February 2005) | An unnamed man won the Firebug costume and armor in an Internet auction. After taking on the identity of the Firebug, he enters the supervillain business. | |||
| Firefly II | Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #126 (September 1959) | Ted Carson[260] [261] was a man of wealth before he gambled away his fortune. Desperate, Carson turned to crime, becoming the Firefly II. | |
| 52 #26 (2006) | Famine is one of the Horsemen of Apokolips who once posed as Sobek, a friend to Black Adam. | |||
| Film Freak I | Batman #395 (May 1986) | Burt Weston is a wannabe actor who dreams of getting a big break by playing quirky villains. When each of his plans fails, he fakes his death similar to the movie The Sting. He is later killed by Bane. | ||
| Film Freak II | Catwoman (vol. 2) #54 (June 2006) | The Film Freak II answers to the surname of "Edison". Following the Infinite Frontier relaunch, he acts as a member of the Suicide Squad alongside the Peacemaker, Bolt and the Shrike, but is inadvertently hit by a Joker laughing gas bomb and killed. | ||
| Fright | Batman #627 (July 2004) | Linda Friitawa is an albino geneticist who was stripped of her medical license for her unauthorized, gruesome experiments on human beings. She assisted the Scarecrow with his experiments. However, unbeknownst to the Scarecrow, she was secretly hired by the Penguin to corrupt the Scarecrow's toxins and infect the Scarecrow with them, causing him to transform into a creature dubbed "the Scarebeast". In contrast to her deeds and the Penguin, Friitawa always treated the Scarecrow with kindness. | ||
| 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 replaces them with cybernetic limbs. | |||
| Detective Comics #654 (December 1992) | See also: Anarky. Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong was a brilliant military strategist who also happened to be a psychopathic, murderous eight-year-old child. Called the General, he was obsessed with war and victory and embarked on his plan of declaring war on Gotham City. Subsequent depictions toned down the character's violent streak somewhat, though he was still dangerous. He was later seen as an adolescent who briefly took on the persona of the new Anarky. During DC Rebirth, Ulysses is a seen as a young genius working for a military organization, where he is depicted as a cheerful yet sociopathic adolescent who goes by Th3 G3n3r4l online. | |||
| Flash Comics #88 (October 1947) | Primarily a Hawkman foe, the specter once named James Craddock often finds himself at odds with Batman.[262] | |||
| Getaway Genius | Batman #170 (March 1965) | The Getaway Genius (Roy Reynolds) is a criminal and getaway mastermind who has encountered Batman several times. | ||
| Globe | Detective Comics #840 (March 2008) | Hammond Carter is obsessed with maps and "plots crimes by latitude, longitude, time zones, and the shape of landmasses."[263] | ||
| Batman #75 (February–March 1953)[264] | Mobster George "Boss" Dyke is executed in the gas chamber, but has his brain transplanted into the body of a gorilla. The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City fights Batman twice. Later, the alien villain Sinestro steals the Gorilla Boss' cerebellum, expands it to planet-size, and uses it as a power source. This unnatural abomination is destroyed by Superman.[265] Later, however, the Gorilla Boss is returned to life in his gorilla body and is used as a pawn by Gorilla Grodd.[266] | |||
| Gunhawk | Detective Comics #674 (May 1994) | Liam Hawkleigh is a highly-paid mercenary who has encountered Batman and Robin several times. He had a female companion named Gunbunny I, later known as Pistolera, who was a member of the Ravens. After the death of Pistolera (see below), Gunhawk gets himself a new female partner named Gunbunny II.[267] | ||
| Gustav DeCobra | Detective Comics #455 (January 1976) | Gustav DeCobra is a vampire, very much in the classic Dracula mold, whom Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth stumble upon in a seemingly abandoned house after their car overheats in the countryside. | ||
| Harley Sinn | Jimmy Palmiotti Frank Tieri Mauricet | Harley Quinn and her Gang of Harleys – The Shady Bunch #1 (April 2016) | Constance Brand, a.k.a. Harley Sinn, is the daughter of a real estate billionaire who is obsessed with Harley Quinn. She has recently been released from Arkham Asylum. | |
| Harpy | Batman #481 (July 1992) | Iris was Maxie Zeus' girlfriend when he was in Arkham Asylum. She fought Batman after gaining super-strength and agility, but was defeated by him. | ||
| Detective Comics #230 (April 1956) | A thief obsessed with stealing hats, he desires most to acquire Batman's cowl, even if it means killing Batman. Initially presented as "Jervis Tetch", and working under the alias the Mad Hatter II, the character was retroactively stated to be an impostor. When the original Mad Hatter returned, he claimed to have disposed of the impostor,[268] though the impostor was eventually shown to still be alive.[269] The character is currently working under the moniker of "the Hatman".[270] | |||
| Batman #487 (December 1992) | The Headhunter is an assassin who attempts to kill James Gordon,[271] but is thwarted by Batman. The Headhunter is accustomed to eliminating his targets by shooting them twice in the head. He was killed by the Swamp Thing in Batman #23 (2017). | |||
| Humpty Dumpty [272] | #2 (August 2003) | 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 that his abusive grandmother is broken, Dumpler dismembers and reassembles her in an attempt to "fix" her.[273] | ||
| Huntress[274] | Sensation Comics #68 (August 1947) | Paula Brooks has battled various members of the Batman family.[275] [276] | ||
| #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, at least in her own mind. | |||
| Johnny Stitches | Gotham Underground #3 (February 2008) | Johnny Denetto was the right-hand man of Tobias Whale. After Tobias Whale moved his operations from Metropolis to Gotham, Denetto ran afoul of his boss and had his skin peeled off while being kept alive. Denetto was saved by Bruno Mannheim, his skin sewn together and reattached by DeSaad, becoming Mannheim's contractor in Intergang's bid to take over organized crime in Gotham. | ||
| Bill Willingham Rick Mays | Robin (vol. 4) #121 (February 2004) | A cruel enforcer working for mob boss Henry Aquista in Gotham City, Johnny Warren is fused with a demonic artifact, gaining tremendous power, but also losing a certain amount of free will. He encounters Robin and the Spoiler in his attempt to take over Aquista's operation, but burns his energy out. He then heads to Istanbul, determined in time to return to Gotham and get his revenge on the Boy Wonder. | ||
| Detective Comics #344 (October 1965) | 'Johnny Witts is the arrogant self-proclaimed "Crime-Boss Who's Always One Step Ahead of Batman!" Johnny Witts employs quick-thinking and quick reflexes to outwit Batman. He has countered Batman in disguise as "the Swami". | |||
| Junkyard Dog | #1 (July 2003) | Tucker Long is completely obsessed with scavenging prizes and treasures from garbage. He apparently has the ability to create all manner of functional items — especially weapons — from junk. He is killed by fellow Arkham inmate the Doodlebug. | ||
| All Star Comics #57 (February 1951) | The original Key was the head of a major crime syndicate and used various agents around the world in his misdeeds. He presumably perished after he leaped out of a cable car moving over a gorge. | |||
| Justice League of America #41 (December 1965) | The second person to call himself the Key (real name unknown) was originally a chemist with Intergang. He developed mind-expanding "psycho-chemicals" that helped activate his senses and allowed him to plan crimes mere humans could never hope to understand. Being an enemy of the Justice League as a whole, Batman was his primary enemy. In one of his most famous encounters with the Dark Knight, he tried to provoke Batman into murdering him so he could escape life itself, but the plan was unsuccessful. | |||
| King of the Cats | Batman #69 (February 1952) | Not to be confused with the Catman, Karl Kyle is the brother and former cat-themed partner of the Catwoman. | ||
| Batman #139 (April 1961) | The King Cobra is a cobra-themed costumed crime boss, not to be confused with the Copperhead, King Snake, or Kobra. | |||
| Robin (vol. 4) #4 (February 1991) | Sir Edmund Dorrance is a martial artist who becomes a mercenary, offering his professional expertise to various anti-communist rebels, and apparently made a great deal of money in doing so. While in Santa Prisca working with local rebels, his camp is taken by surprise by government commandos and he is blinded by gunfire. He flees to Hong Kong and becomes a businessman and the leader of the feared Ghost Dragons. He eventually gravitates to Gotham, where he seizes control of the Chinatown district from the Triad gangs. This does not last long, however, and he loses control of the gang, causing him to join the terrorist cult Kobra. It is later revealed that he is the biological father of Bane. Bane tracks down his father, where King Snake tries to have his son help him in taking over Kobra. The struggle results in King Snake's apparent death. | |||
| King Tut[277] [278] [279] | Earl Barret Robert C. Dennis | Batman Confidential #26 (April 2009) | Victor Goodman is an Egyptian-themed supervillain who leaves behind clues at the scene of his crimes in a similar fashion to the Riddler.[280] | |
| Kobra[281] [282] [283] [284] | Kobra #1 (February 1976) | Jeffrey Burr and his twin brother, Jason Burr, were born as conjoined twins (with a psychic link to one another) but were kidnapped and separated from each other's bodies soon after their birth by the Cult of the Kobra God because a prophecy stated he would lead them to world domination. As they grew, Jeffrey became a terrorist and mad scientist, taking on the name "Kobra" as the leader of the cult. After Jason began working with another organization to combat Kobra and his cult, Kobra killed Jason, only to be haunted by visions of his deceased brother. He came into conflict with Batman after he began using Lazarus Pits of his own creation. Both Kobra and his organization would go on to fight many other heroes and a rival criminal organization called SKULL. Kobra is finally captured and eventually murdered by Black Adam.[285] Following the death of their leader, Jeffrey Burr, Kobra resurrects Jason Burr. Jason Burr follows in his brother's footsteps and becomes the second Kobra. | ||
| Lady Vic[286] | Nightwing (vol. 2) #4 (January 1997) | Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton is a woman hailing from a rich British family. She becomes a hired assassin to prevent foreclosure on her family estate. | ||
| Lark | Batman #448 (June 1990) | The Penguin's personal chauffeur and bodyguard. Lark was noted as having remarkable strength by Batman and managed to keep the Penguin alive when Black Mask was after him. | ||
| Batman: Mr. Freeze (May 1997) | Nora Fries, Mr. Freeze's wife, is resurrected by a Lazarus Pit by Nyssa Raatko and now possesses the ability to manipulate flame and reanimate the dead. | |||
| Robin (vol. 4) #24 (January 1996) | Lyle Bolton is a former security guard who is obsessed with order and becomes a costumed vigilante who brutalizes criminals. Unlike Batman, however, he is willing and eager to kill them. He sets up a private prison for costumed villains. | |||
| Lord Death Man | Batman #180 (May 1966) | Lord Death Man is a Japanese criminal that wears a skeleton outfit. Originally, he could put himself into a yoga trance to trick people into thinking he was dead, but when the character was revived, he received "upgrades". | ||
| Lump | Mister Miracle #7 (April 1972) | The Lump is a living psychological weapon created by the malevolent New Gods of Apokolips that was used to mentally torture Batman during the Final Crisis. | ||
| Lunkhead | #1 (July 2003) | Lunkhead is a large, imposing, somewhat deformed bruiser of a man. He is killed by demons tricked by the Ventriloquist as revenge for destroying his dummy, Scarface. | ||
| Robin (vol. 4) #1 (January 1991) | Ling is a beautiful martial artist and a member of the Parisian branch of the Ghost Dragons, a Chinese youth gang that serves King Snake. For failing to kill Tim Drake, King Snake takes out her left eye. Eventually, she takes control of the Ghost Dragons and attempts to expand their Gotham territory. She is later killed during an encounter with Batgirl. | |||
| Mabuse | #3 (May 2000) | Mabuse is a common street criminal, a "geek" in a suit of armor made from a trashcan, who faces a young Batman early in the Dark Knight's career. He is responsible for breaking Batman's nose in a fight. | ||
| Batman Family #17 (April–May 1978) | Madame Zodiac first appears committing horoscope-themed crimes in Gotham City, but is defeated by Batgirl, Batwoman, and the Earth-Two Huntress. Later, she allies herself with Dr. Zodiac to obtain a set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna. Recently, she reappeared helping the Riddler in solving a mystery.[287] | |||
| Magician | #95 (June 1997) | A team of alternating crooks and killers who made it appear as though they were one mysterious, magical, and murderous villain known as the Magician, pulling off heists and killings around the world. | ||
| Magpie[288] [289] [290] | The Man of Steel #3 (November 1986) | Margaret Pye is a jewel thief who targets jewels named after birds and then replaces the jewels with booby-trapped replicas. She is named for the magpie, which in folklore is attracted to bright, shiny things. She is among the villains who was killed by the Tally Man II.[291] | ||
| Detective Comics #841 (April 2008) | Harriet Pratt is an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-themed supervillainess and a member of the Mad Hatter's (Jervis Tetch) Wonderland Gang. She is also referred to as March Harriet. | |||
| Matatoa "the Eater of Souls" | Devin Grayson Roger Robinson | #16 (June 2001) | Nicknamed "the Eater of Souls", Matatoa is an immortal cursed with killing people to consume their souls and essence to maintain his existence. He traveled to Gotham to battle Batman after a voice in his head told him to seek out an "undefeated warrior" so he could take his soul. Batman was able to beat Matatoa. | |
| Mekros | Batman #501 (November 1993) | Mekros is an assassin that was hired by Don Mercante to kill Batman, but failed to do so. | ||
| Metalhead | Batman #486 (November 1992) | During his search for Black Mask, an exhausted Batman comes across a series of waterfront taverns filled with mauled, bloody inhabitants. After interrogating one of many severely injured victims, he finds the whereabouts of the so-called "Metalhead" at the local cemetery in the Sionis family crypt, the resting place of Black Mask's family. | ||
| Batman #412 (October 1987) | Camilla Ortin is a girl who commits crimes dressed as a mime artist. She seldom speaks, which leads people to think she is mute. | |||
| Detective Comics #511 (February 1982) | "Mike" (alias Kerry Austin) is a common man who takes a course at the Academy of Crime and starts using illusions as a gimmick villain. He fights Batman twice and the Manhunter (Mark Shaw) once. He is killed by Bruno Mannheim, who bashes the Mirage's head into the "Crime Bible"; then sends his body into the kitchen. | |||
| Detective Comics #213 (November 1954) | Floyd Ventris is a criminal scientist who uses mirrors in his crimes in a fashion similar to the Mirror Master. In both his meetings with Batman, Ventris tries to expose Batman's secret identity. | |||
| Mister Camera | Batman #81 (February 1954) | Mr. Camera is a camera-headed villain that uses cameras in his crimes. | ||
| Mister Cipher | Batman #71 (June 1952) | Not to be confused with Cypher (see above), Mr. Cipher is a masked criminal who was killed after a confrontation with Batman. | ||
| Mister ESPER / Captain Calamity | Detective Comics #352 (June 1966) | An inventor builds an ultrasonic projector able to put "telepathic" suggestions in people, specifically Batman, to distract him from his main crime. Later, as Captain Calamity, he improved his device so it could tap into the psychic powers of some people, namely Titans member Lilith.[292] | ||
| Detective Comics #300 (February 1962) | Abner Krill turns the polka-dots covering his costume into a variety of weapons. | |||
| Mister ZZZ | Detective Comics #824 (December 2006) | Mister ZZZ, a Gotham City gangster who acts as a muscle for Little Italy. He appears to be half-asleep all the time. | ||
| Mole | World's Finest Comics #80 (January–February 1956) | A minor criminal named Harrah, nicknamed "the Mole", tries to tunnel into the Gotham City Bank, but is stopped by Batman and Superman. Years later, during a tunnel prison break, Harrah almost drowns in a wave of toxic sewage that mutates him into a mole-like creature. During a second clash with Batman, the Mole is knocked into a flooded cavern of the Batcave and washed away, his ultimate fate still unknown.[293] | ||
| Monarch of Menace | Detective Comics #350 (April 1966) | In the early days of Batman's career, the Monarch of Menace represented the Dark Knight's only failure, being the first criminal ever to defeat Batman and leave Gotham with a fortune in stolen goods. Years later, however, the Monarch's teenage son tries to prove himself using his father's outfit in a crime spree. The young Monarch of Menace is defeated by Robin, while his father is lured out of hiding by Batman, who then finally defeats his old nemesis. | ||
| Monk | Detective Comics #31 (September 1939)[294] | The Monk is one of the early Batman villains. He wore a red cassock with a hood that bore a skull and crossbones on it. The Monk turned out to be a vampire who has powers of hypnotism and the ability to turn into a wolf. He was destroyed by being shot with a silver bullet while asleep in his coffin, along with his vampiric assistant Dala.[295] His battle with Batman was the first multi-part Batman adventure. The Monk's hood has been in a glass display case in the Batcave ever since, in all subsequent official continuities. | ||
| Mortician | Devin Grayson Roger Robinson | #28 (June 2002) | Porter Vito was trying some reanimation techniques to raise his dead parents, but when one of his zombies killed someone, he felt remorse and gave up his plans. | |
| Mortimer Kadaver | Detective Comics #588 (July 1988) | Mortimer Kadaver is a murderous criminal possessing a morbid obsession with death. Kadaver enjoys feigning his own death and his hideout is filled with a wide variety of means of murder and torture. | ||
| Mutant Leader | The Dark Knight Returns (February–June 1986) | In the Frank Miller Batman Universe, the unnamed Mutant Leader was the leader of a gang known as the Mutants until the Batman came out of retirement and defeated the Mutant Leader, dismantling the Mutants. | ||
| Narcosis | #50 (May 1996) | Real name unknown; Narcosis uses dream-inducing gasses to rob his victims of their sense of reality. His mother was a lush and his father was a thief. They were both sent away and he was neglectfully passed around the city. At the age of five, his face was horrifically burned in a kitchen accident and, coupled with his family being split up, he began having chronic nightmares. He hates Gotham for being neglectful and wishes to plunge the city into an ever-lasting nightmare. | ||
| Nicodemus | Batman #601 (May 2002) | Thomas Hart is a masked figure in Gotham City who kidnaps corrupt city officials and burns them to death. He, like the Batman, had lost his parents to a Gotham crime at an early age. | ||
| Detective Comics #529 (August 1983) | Natalia Knight (originally called Natasha in the three-issue arc that introduces her) is a thief and manipulator whose skin was bleached pale white by an experimental laser in a work-related accident. She is an astronomer at Gotham City's observatory and an employee of Wayne Enterprises. Sensitive to light, she prefers to operate in darkness, though she always had an affinity for the night prior to her accident. She speaks in purple prose, is dramatic, and is obsessed with wealth and luxury after growing up poor, teaming up with her older adopted brother and lover Anton Knight, originally known as the Thief of Night and then known as Night-Slayer, to maintain their status and lifestyle after the death of their father, Charles, who was secretly a gangster. Later she returns and adopts Jason Todd as part of a scheme, but almost immediately grows attached to the boy and genuinely wants to be a mother to him. During this same time, she becomes a love interest of Batman and is involved in a love triangle with him and the Catwoman. There is another love triangle going on with her, Anton, and Batman. She (apparently) dies when the Crisis hits Gotham, stabbed in the chest by a scorned Anton (now calling himself Night-Slayer as a vow to kill her). Jason-as-Robin puts her in her hot air balloon (her signature mode of transport) and sets it free, mourning her after finally accepting her as a mother figure. | |||
| NKVDemon I | Batman #445 (March 1990) | Gregor Dosynski is the protégé of KGBeast who tries to kill a list of 10 Soviet government officials in Moscow, considering them traitors to the cause of Communism. He is killed by police gunfire in an attempt to assassinate the 10th person on his list, then-General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. | ||
| NKVDemon II | Shaun McLaughlin Ken Hooper | Aquaman (vol. 4) #8 (July 1992) | An assassin named Nicodemus (not to be confused with Thomas Hart, who is also known as Nicodemus) takes up the mantle and costume of the original NKVDemon and is hired to kill Aquaman. He is defeated by Aquaman and Batman and eventually killed while in jail. | |
| NKVDemon III | Robin (vol. 4) #47 (November 1997) | The third NKVDemon initially works for Ulysses "the General" Armstrong. More recently, he served as the bodyguard to the head of the Gotham Odessa crime family and was killed in the shootout that incited the Gotham gang war. | ||
| The Ogre and the Ape | Batman #535 (October 1996) | Michael Adams is a genetically altered man whose "brother" is a genetically enhanced gorilla. The Ogre has increased strength and the Ape has increased intelligence. The Ogre tracks and murders the scientists who had conducted the extremely inhumane experiments that created them while killing countless other test subjects, only to be tracked by Batman himself. In the end, the Ape is killed and the Ogre wanders aimlessly through Gotham City. | ||
| Batman #579 (July 2000) | Grace Balin is a marine biologist who transforms herself into a monstrous human/orca hybrid, first attempting to steal a valuable necklace. She is among the villains who were killed by the Tally Man II. | |||
| Outsider[296] [297] [298] | Detective Comics #356 (October 1966) | The Outsider is the Earth-3 incarnation of Alfred Pennyworth[299] and the leader of the Secret Society of Super Villains.[300] | ||
| Panara | Catwoman (vol. 2) #37 (September 1996) | Ms. Dorsey is a young woman that is diagnosed with an incurable disease. She seeks the aid of a geneticist who specializes in radical cures for illnesses. He traps the Catwoman, believing her to be a were-cat and thinking her to have special DNA, to use in Dorsey's cure, but finds that she was a "mere human". | ||
| Penny Plunderer | World's Finest Comics #30 (September–October 1947) | Joe Coyne, a thief obsessed with penny-oriented crimes, starts his career selling newspapers for pennies. He is later caught stealing pennies and gets the electric chair. The giant penny on display in the Batcave, which has been a longtime staple of Batman's lair, was originally one of the Penny Plunderer's devices. | ||
| Pistolera | Chuck Dixon Graham Nolan Scott Hanna | Detective Comics #674 (May 1994) | Gunbunny I (real name unknown) is a costumed criminal and the former partner and lover of Gunhawk. After a falling out with Gunhawk, she became a western-themed villainess known as Pistolera and joined a group called the Ravens. She is later shot and killed by Deadshot. | |
| Pix | #34 (December 2002) | Ariadne Pixnit is 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 works undercover at her attackers' favorite tattoo shop, designing lethal tattoos (swords, scorpions, etc.) that she brings to "life" via computer to dispatch the gang members one by one. She later injects a large amount of the nanite-ink into her skull, giving her the ability to create creatures and weapons on her skin that she could animate and use against Batman. | ||
| Planet Master I | Detective Comics #296 (October 1961) | Professor Norbert starts a crime wave using gimmicks based on the nine planets after inhaling a strange gas which turns him into a "Jekyll and Hyde"-like character. After the gas's effect wears off, it is revealed that Norbert's assistant Edward Burke manipulated him into committing the crimes. Later, Burke becomes the Planet Master II and appears as a member of Kobra's Strike Force Kobra. Much later, he appears as part of the Secret Society of Super Villains during the Infinite Crisis. | ||
| Professor Carl Kruger | Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) | Professor Krueger is a mad scientist who uses elaborate schemes and devices to battle Batman. | ||
| Detective Comics #247 (September 1957) | Professor Achilles Milo is a scientist who uses chemicals to battle Batman, most famously transforming Anthony Lupus into a mutated werewolf. | |||
| Professor Radium | Batman #8 (December 1941 – January 1942) | Professor Henry Ross is a scientist who is accidentally transformed into "a human radium ray". In need of an expensive antidote, Ross uses his newfound powers to commit crimes in Gotham; anxious not to hurt anyone, he accidentally kills his girlfriend, Mary Lamont. Going insane, Professor Radium finds himself battling Batman and Robin. He seems to drown in his first appearance, but returns in recent times and is revealed to have joined a subgroup of the Secret Society of Super Villains known as the Nuclear Legion. | ||
| Beware the Creeper #2 (July 1968) | Offalian immigrant Remington Percival Cord escapes an environment of fear and violence of his home country to America, but finds the same brutality he escaped. Becoming a shapeshifting figure in the Gotham underworld, Proteus emerges as the arch-nemesis of the Creeper. | |||
| Puppet Master | Batman #3 (October 1940) | Not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the Puppet Master is a criminal who uses his thought waves and puppets to control people after an injection from a chemical weakens their will. | ||
| Queen Bee II | The Brave and the Bold #64 (March 1966) | Marcia Monroe is the spoiled daughter of a rich man who was originally rescued by Batman. She later became a member of CYCLOPS as the Queen Bee II. | ||
| Rainbow Beast | Batman #134 (September 1960) | After helping the president of a small South American republic against a dictatorial rebel, Batman and Robin are confronted with another menace — a Rainbow Beast. Spawned from a fiery volcano, the Rainbow Beast radiates four separate power-auras from different areas of its body. However, after using a power, the section of the Beast's body used becomes white, and it must leach color to regain its power. Batman and Robin trick the Rainbow Beast into expending all of its auras, leaving it entirely colorless. They ram it with a log and the Beast shatters into fragments. | ||
| Raven I | Detective Comics #287 (January 1961) | Joe Parker was given the identity of Raven as a pawn for aliens Kzan and Jhorl who seek a meteorite. | ||
| Raven II | Bob Rozakis Juan Ortiz | Batman Family #18 (July 1978) | Dave Corby is an agent for MAZE that battled Robin and Batgirl on occasion. | |
| Reaper I | Detective Comics #237 (December 1971) | Dr. Benjamin Gruener is a Holocaust survivor who took on the identity of the Reaper to exact revenge on his former Nazi captors. | ||
| Reaper II | Mike W. Barr Alan Davis | Detective Comics #575 (June 1987) | After losing his wife in a robbery, Judson Caspian became a vigilante and began murdering criminals. | |
| Reaper III | Mike W. Barr Alan Davis | Batman: Full Circle (January 1991) | Joe Chill Jr., the son of Joe Chill, briefly became the Reaper as part of a plan to drive Batman insane. | |
| Roadrunner | Detective Comics #876 (April 2011) | Once an exotic car dealer, Bixby Rhodes took the opportunity to start smuggling guns and other firearms to the newcomers in Gotham's crime world when Gotham City's organized crime fell after the capture of Jeremiah Arkham as Black Mask II. Taking up the nickname of the Roadrunner, Bixby would deliver guns in the trunks of custom-ordered cars. | ||
| Rob Callender | World's Finest Comics #11 (August–November 1943) | Rob Callender is a laboratory assistant from the future who became a thief after being transported to the present day. | ||
| Savage Skull | Batman #360 (June 1983) | Jack Crane is a rogue cop that is fired from the Gotham City Police Department due to his illegal activities. Disfigured in an accident that burns off his skin, Crane seeks revenge as the Savage Skull, but is defeated by Batman. | ||
| Seth Wickham | Gerry Duggan Shawn Crystal | Arkham Manor #2 (November 26, 2014) | An emotionally unstable teenager believing himself to be clinically deceased and that everyone around him is the living dead, Seth Wickman was committed to Arkham Manor after he attacked his mother. His condition only worsened from there, putting him directly in Batman's crosshairs. | |
| Sewer King | Tom Ruegger Jules Dennis Richard Mueller | 52 #25 (October 2006) | The Sewer King is a staff-carrying, sewer-dwelling villain with an army of runaway children he uses as pickpockets. He appeared among other obscure villains slain at the hands of Intergang boss Bruno Mannheim.[301] | |
| Batman #112 (December 1957) | Phil Cobb is a small-time criminal in Gotham who is convinced that he needs a gimmick to hit it big. Inspired by the Bat-Signal, he becomes the Signalman, using signals, signs, and symbols in his crimes, but is inevitably defeated by Batman and Robin time and again. He is also a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. For a brief time, Cobb changes his modus operandi and, inspired by the Green Arrow, commits crimes as the Blue Bowman. The Signalman is kidnapped and tortured by Dr. Moon and Phobia and is presumed deceased, but later appears as a drug-addicted informant to Black Lightning. | |||
| Batman #337 (July 1981) | Klaus Kristin is the son of a male yeti and a human woman. In his first appearance, he comes to Gotham City to freeze it over, but encounters Batman in the process. | |||
| Spellbinder I | Detective Comics #358 (December 1966) | Delbert Billings (also known as Keith Sherwood) is a painter who uses optical illusions and hypnotic weapons to commit crimes. The Spellbinder I is on the run from the law with his then-girlfriend, Fay Moffit, when he is confronted by the demon-lord Neron, who makes an offer of giving him his greatest desire in exchange for his soul. The Spellbinder I rejects the offer, but Fay shoots him in the head and takes the deal for herself, becoming the Spellbinder III, a.k.a. Lady Spellbinder, as a result. | ||
| Spellbinder II | Gerard Jones Chuck Wojtkiewicz | Justice League International (vol. 2) #65 (June 1994) | A genuine mystic (real name unknown) takes the name and appears as a member of the government-sanctioned "League-Busters". | |
| Chuck Dixon Staz Johnson Scott Hanna | Detective Comics #691 (November 1995) | During the Underworld Unleashed crossover event, the Spellbinder I (Delbert Billings) rejects Neron's offer and is shot in the head by his then-girlfriend, Fay Moffit, who then takes the deal for herself and becomes the Spellbinder III, a.k.a. Lady Spellbinder, as a result.[302] | ||
| Spider | Gerry Duggan Shawn Crystal | Arkham Manor #2 (November 26, 2014) | The man known only as the Spider was a laborer who came to Gotham to help renovate Wayne Manor into the new Arkham Asylum after the latter had been destroyed during a year-long scheme to kill Batman. The Spider eventually gave up working and instead hid inside the walls of the new asylum, no one knowing where he had gone, waiting for the inmates to arrive. The Spider started mysteriously killing inmates, causing Batman to go undercover as the inmate Jack Shaw. Batman got into a fight late at night with the Spider, believing him to be Victor Zsasz, but the Spider escaped capture before the guards arrived. The Spider soon targeted Zsasz directly, torturing him within an inch of his life and leaving him to die. Batman eventually discovered the Spider and, after another battle, finally defeated him and threw him out a two-story window. When Batman tried to question him, the Spider simply bit off his own tongue. The serial killer was taken to a cell in the manor and chained in a straitjacket. He had burnt off his fingertips as a means of keeping his true identity secret, but Batman hoped that he would someday discover the Spider's true identity. | |
| Spinner | Batman #129 (February 1960) | Swami Ygar is a villain in a metal-clad outfit that is lined with metal discs. | ||
| Spook | Detective Comics #434 (April 1973)[303] | Val Kaliban is one of the world's greatest escape artists, and uses his extraordinary abilities together with special effects to commit spectacular crimes and make people believe he was a real ghost. After several battles with Batman, he is killed by Damian Wayne.[304] | ||
| Steeljacket | Detective Comics #681 (January 1995) | Steeljacket is a bio-engineering experiment, a cross between man and bird. His hollow bones give him extremely light weight, allowing him to fly. However, he must wear metallic armor to protect his frail body. | ||
| Stranger | Batman #78 (August 1953) | Really a Martian criminal named Quork, who steals a spaceship and comes to Earth to steal weapons with his incredible technology, as weapons are outlawed on Mars. He is pursued by the First Lawmen of Mars, who team up with Batman and Robin, having observed them from Mars. The Stranger meets the lawmen but kidnaps Robin, and is tracked down by a bug the Martian Manhunter had placed in his pocket. Robin is tied to a missile which is launched but is saved, and Quork is taken back to Mars. | ||
| Sylph | Nightwing #48 (October 2000) | Sylvan Scofield is the daughter of an inventor of a micro-thin fabric that can be manipulated into shooting out from around the wearer. Her abilities including gliding and wrapping others with the cloth. When others try to steal this invention, her father commits suicide and she goes after those she believe caused it in Blüdhaven. It was believed that she had committed suicide after her encounter with Nightwing, but that was later proven not to be the case. | ||
| Synaptic Kid | Detective Comics #633 (August 1991) | The Synaptic Kid is a deformed metahuman 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 I | #19 (October 1993) | The Tally Man is a killer for hire who has murdered around 60 people. He wears a mask over his face, a long purplish smock with ruffled sleeves and an oversized top hat. | ||
| Tally Man II | Detective Comics #819 (July 2006) | A hit man using the name "the Tally Man" later surfaces while under the employ of the Great White Shark. | ||
| Batman #226 (November 1970) | Philip Reardon is a former Vietnam War veteran and warehouse guard who is blinded in a warehouse explosion that burns his retinas. Doctor Engstrom reconnects them to his fingers. Reardon blames Batman for his blindness. He was killed by one of the Anti-Monitor's Shadow-Demons during the Crisis. | |||
| Thanatos | Batman #305 (November 1978) | Thanatos is the masked leader of the gang of terrorists known as the "Death's Head", devoted to the destruction of capitalism. The Death's Head is defeated by Batman, and Thanatos is unmasked as Sophia Santos, also known as "Lina Muller", a reporter who had associated with Batman. | ||
| Thor | Batman #127 (October 1959) | Henry Meke is proprietor of a small museum featuring replicas of mythological curios. One night, a meteorite smashed through a window, hit the Hammer of Thor, and disintegrated. The hammer began to glow and Meke reached out to examine it. After touching the hammer, he was transformed into the mighty Thor himself. The metamorphosis is repeated during thunderstorms. Thor then began a quest to finance the building of a temple to Odin by robbing banks. | ||
| Detective Comics #147 (May 1949) | Dr. Gaige is a famous oceanographer turned gang leader. He operates at sea and at Gotham's waterfront. | |||
| Trapper | Detective Comics #206 (April 1954) | Jason Bard is a criminal who is obsessed with animal traps and uses them in his crimes. He is not to be confused with the actual Jason Bard, who is a member of the Gotham City Police Department. | ||
| Detective Comics #666 (December 1993) | The Trigger Twins (Thomas and Tad Trigger) are two cowboys that grew up apart without knowing they were twins. They discover they share a great skill as gunslingers and become bandits, taking their motif from their heroic Wild West namesakes. They are seemingly killed during Infinite Crisis. | |||
| Nightwing (vol. 2) #1 (October 1996) | Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames was the most corrupt cop working in the Blüdhaven Police Department before a near-death experience. He then became a supervillain called Torque. | |||
| Ugly American | #6 (November 1992) | Jon Kennedy Payne was brainwashed by the U.S. government to be an assassin with extreme patriotic emotions. Something went wrong, however, and he developed a hatred for non-whites and foreigners of all shapes and sizes, including dogs like poodles. His rage came to an end when he was taken out by agents of the same government that created him as Batman subdued him. | ||
| Ventriloquist III / Ferdie | Gail Simone[305] [306] | Batgirl (vol. 4) #20 (July 2013) | The third Ventriloquist, Shauna Belzer, is obsessed with murder. Through the use of telekinesis, Belzer murders innocent people with her "partner", a puppet she controls named Ferdie. Belzer is primarily an enemy of Batgirl.[307] | |
| Wasp | Detective Comics #287 (January 1961) | Willie Blaine was given the identity of the Wasp as a pawn for two aliens, Kzan and Jhorl, that sought a meteorite. | ||
| Wa'arzen | The Brave and the Bold #180 (November 1981) | Wa'arzen is the vengeful specter of an ancient Japanese wizard. | ||
| Batman #255 (March 1974) | Anthony Lupus is a former Olympic decathlon champion who is turned into a werewolf by a drug derived from an Alaskan timber wolf given to him by Professor Milo to treat his unbearable headaches. Milo discovered that his headaches were caused by the lycanthropy and offered him a cure if he would kill Batman. When Batman was trapped, Lupus became a werewolf where Milo was unable to control him and the cure was destroyed. After being impaled by a rod and struck by lightning where he fell to the ground, Anthony's body was nowhere to be found. Six years later, Batman traced Anthony to Alaska, where he planned to bring Anthony back to Gotham City so that his sister Angela can get a bone marrow transplant. Using a silver net, Batman trapped Anthony and took him back to Gotham City, while planning to find a cure for him. | |||
| Wrath[308] [309] | Batman Special #1 (June 1984) | The original character to become the anti-Batman known as the Wrath was a child (name unknown) who watched his criminal parents die at the hands of a then-rookie policeman named James Gordon, who killed them in self-defense. As an adult, the Wrath I becomes a cop killer who copies many of Batman's methods, except for a readiness to use both lethal force and firearms to accomplish his goals. He is killed in a battle with Batman.[310] | ||
| Batman Confidential #13 (March 2008) | Elliot Caldwell was one of the several orphan children whom the Wrath I kidnapped to train them to become Scorn the Anti-Robin. Caldwell was the only orphan to survive the training, but was unable to become Scorn due to the Wrath's untimely death. When Caldwell grew into an adult, he became the Wrath II and devoted himself to the Wrath I's cause.[311] As the C.E.O. of Caldwell Tech, Caldwell began creating an army of soldiers to take on the Scorn identity.[312] | |||
| Detective Comics #275 (January 1960) | Jacob Baker is the original Zebra-Man, who was a high-tech scientist whose body is irradiated, granting him "magnetic" powers to attract or repel metal, wood, stone and human flesh. His name comes from the black and white stripes on his body. | |||
| Outsiders #21 (1987) | A second Zebra-Man is later created by Kobra as a member of Strike Force Kobra to combat the Outsiders. | |||
| (vol. 2) #1 (September 2011) | A version of the Zebra-Man, who goes by the name "Vortex", appears in The New 52 as an inmate of Arkham Asylum. | |||
| Zeiss | Batman #582 (October 2000) | Philo Zeiss possesses surgically enhanced speed, reflexes, vision-enhancing goggles and extensive martial arts training. Brought up by the Sicilian Mafia, Zeiss eventually becomes a contract killer and bodyguard. He fights Batman to a standstill and nearly kills the Catwoman. | ||
| Detective Comics #323 (January 1964) | The masked villain known as Zodiac Master makes his presence known in Gotham by predicting a succession of disasters, all of which he has secretly orchestrated. Having cemented his reputation, he starts offering odds on the relative success or failure for the plans of various criminals, all in exchange for 25% of the take. A mini-figure version of him appears in The Lego Batman Movie. |
When these villains debuted, they fought other heroes before fighting Batman.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detective Comics #463 (September 1976) | Noah Kuttler is a highly intelligent criminal who fights Batman and the Justice League wearing a costume designed like a pocket calculator. In spite of his powerful arsenal, the Calculator never makes it big as a costumed villain. Now relying solely on his intellect, he works as a successful information broker and source of information for supervillains planning heists, charging $1,000 per question. He sees the Oracle as his nemesis and opposite number. | |||
| Count Werner Vertigo[313] [314] | World's Finest Comics #251 (July 1978) | The victim of a hereditary inner ear defect that affected his balance, Werner Zytle had a small electronic device implanted in his right temple that compensated for this problem. Tinkering with the device, Zytle learned he was able to distort other people's perceptions, causing vertigo. Donning a costume and taking the name "Count Vertigo", he embarked on a life of crime. Despite primarily being an enemy of the Green Arrow and the Black Canary, he has been known to come into conflict with Batman. | ||
| Flash Comics #88 (October 1947) | Primarily a Hawkman foe, the specter once named James Craddock often finds himself at odds with Batman.[315] | |||
| Green Arrow #12 (March 2002) | Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who targets non-powered vigilante superheroes. He earned his name because he imitates noises around him, such as dripping taps, gunshots, etc. No personal characteristics are known about Onomatopoeia, including his real name or facial features. Onomatopoeia is a superb athlete, martial artist, and weapons expert. He carries two semi-automatic handguns, a sniper rifle, and an army knife. | |||
| The Flash #139 (September 1963) | Eobard Thawne is a speedster from the 25th century who went insane on discovering he would become a villain. He is behind Flashpoint, where he was killed by Thomas Wayne, but brought back to life, later developing a new grudge over his killer and his family (i.e., Bruce Wayne). He opposed Batman in The Button, where he was decimated by an unknown being. Eventually, he was brought back to life even after this death. | |||
| Firestorm #3 (June 1978) | The first incarnation of Killer Frost, Crystal Frost went to Hudson University, where she dated her teacher Martin Stein and worked on a project while living at the Arctic. Unfortunately, she realized her heart was broken when Stein rejected her by withdrawing her from college after realizing her wrongdoing. This causes her to lock herself away in a permafrost chamber by accident but survives transforming her into a cold-superpowered villain. She eventually absorbed heat and turned everything warm living to cold ice adopting the name, Killer Frost. | |||
| Gerry Conway Al Milgrom | Firestorm (vol. 2) #21 (March 1984) | After the death of Crystal, Louise Lincoln became the second incarnation of Killer Frost, in order to avenger her closet friend and take on her first predecessor's legacy. This version of the character has been going against Firestorm and other DC superheroes throughout the years, but she sometimes gets into conflict with the Dark Knight. In Superman/Batman "Public Enemies" arc, she is one of the many supervillains to seek a $1 billion reward from President Lex Luthor by hunting down the Man of Steel and the Caped Crusader. She allied with Mr. Cold, Icicle, and Mr. Freeze, but they were defeated by Batman and Superman in Washington D.C.. | ||
| Superboy #0 (October 1994) | Born as a humanoid shark in Hawaii with a rare genetic mutation, Nanaue killed his victims with his razor-sharp shark-like teeth and claws; including incredible speed, durability, strong senses, and generational healing factors, before he was confronted by Superboy. King Shark has had many duels with Superboy, Aquaman, and various DC Superheroes, but he comes in to confront the Dark Knight on many occasions. | |||
| Rag Doll I[316] | Flash Comics #36 (December 1942) | Peter Merkel is a master contortionist and hypnotist who has fought Batman on many occasions. Since The New 52, he has been an inmate at Arkham Asylum. | ||
| Solomon Grundy | Alfred Bester Paul Reinman | All-American Comics #61 (October 1944) | Cyrus Gold was a Gotham City merchant who was murdered and thrown into Slaughter Swamp, where he was transformed into an undead, incredibly strong, zombie-like creature. He was initially an enemy of Green Lantern, but has also had numerous encounters with Batman. |
The following is a list of fictional teams, groups of supervillains, gangs, and organized crime families that are enemies of the Batman family, listed in alphabetical order by name. The first appearance and a brief fictional biography of each team is also listed.
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | Notable members | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerry Conway Don Newton | Detective Comics #516 (June 1982) | An institution in Hollywood, California, that was created by a thug called Headmaster to educate the low-profile criminals in various crimes. | Headmaster Mirage unnamed students | ||
| Batman Revenge Squad | World's Finest Comics #175 (May 1968) | The Batman Revenge Squad is a trio of villains who don similar costumes to Batman in a bid to destroy him. | Cash Carew Barney the Blast Flamethrower | ||
| Batman #667 (August 2007) | The Black Glove is a corrupt and exclusive organisation led by Doctor Hurt that is made up of wealthy and villainous individuals. | Doctor Simon Hurt Jezebel Jet Cardinal Maggi Al-Khidr Sir Anthony General Malenkov Senator Vine | |||
| Burnley Town Massive | Detective Comics #744 (May 2000) | Also known as the B.T.M., they are an African American gang that is one of Gotham City's most violent gangs who have made money from drugs, guns, and prostitution. | Able Crown Gary Watson | ||
| Cassamento Crime Family | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1 (June 2000) | A crime family that specialized in the heroin trade and is one of the Five Families of Gotham City. | Santo Cassamento Mario Cassamento | ||
| Batman and Robin #1 (August 2009) | The Circus of Strange is a circus-themed group of criminals led by Professor Pyg. | Professor Pyg Mister Toad[317] Big Top[318] Kushti Phosphorus Rex | |||
| Club of Villains | Batman #676 (June 2008) | The Club of Villains is made up of supervillains led by Doctor Hurt as an evil version to the Club of Heroes. | Doctor Simon Hurt Joker Le Bossu Pierrot Lunaire King Kraken Charlie Caligula El Sombrero Jezebel Jet Scorpiana Swagman | ||
| Council of Spiders | Red Robin #5 (October 2009) | A group of spider-themed assassins and metahumans who are rivals of the League of Assassins. | Funnel Goliath Recluse Sac Tangle Widower Wanderer Wolf | ||
| Batman (vol. 2) #2 (December 2011) | The subjects of a popular Gotham City nursery rhyme, the shadowy Court of Owls is a secret society composed of some of the most powerful men and women in Gotham City. They use assassins known as Talons to eliminate threats. | Joseph Powers Maria Powers Lincoln March | |||
| Disgraced | Batgirl (vol. 4) #10 (August 2012) | The Disgraced use whatever means necessary to apprehend, torment, and kill all criminals. | Knightfall Bone Breaker Bleak Michael Katharsis | ||
| Dollmaker Family | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #1 (November 2011) | The Dollmaker Family is a family of serial killers led by the Dollmaker that run an organ trade business and make dolls out of human flesh. | Dollmaker III Dollhouse[319] Bentley Jack-in-the-Box Sampson Olivia Carr Orifice an unnamed character[320] Toyman | ||
| East Side Dragons | Paul Dini Andres Guinaldo | Gotham City Sirens #11 (June 2010) | A gang that is known to run illegal dog fights. | n/a | |
| Escabedo Cartel | Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | A Columbian drug cartel that operated in Gotham City's Coventry district. | Diego Escabado Fernando Escabado | ||
| Falcone Crime Family | Batman #404 (March 1987) | The Falcone Crime Family was an organized crime syndicate that was prominent during the early years of Batman's crime fighting career. | Vincent Falcone Carmine Falcone Alberto Falcone Mario Falcone Sofia Falcone Gigante | ||
| Batman #152 (December 1962)[321] | The False Face Society is a gang of masked criminals led by Black Mask. | Black Mask I Black Spider II Circe Metalhead Mad Bull[322] Edgar Dempsy Dwarf[323] | |||
| Fearsome Foot-Fighters | Detective Comics #372 (February 1968) | Experts in a French form of kickboxing, these acrobatic martial artists hail from the fictional Balkan nation of Karonia. | Idimo | ||
| Galante Crime Family | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1 (June 2000) | A branch of the Sicilian Mafia that is one of the Five Families of Gotham City. | Pasquale "Junior" Galante Jr. | ||
| Ghost Dragons | Robin (vol. 4) #1 (January 1991) | An Asian street gang that is led by King Snake. | King Snake Lynx | ||
| Gorilla Gang | Batman #156 (June 1963) | The Gorilla Gang is a group of criminals who dress up in gorilla suits and commit crimes. In DC Rebirth, the Gorilla Gang members wear gorilla masks and business suits. | Luke Pete Bingo Caesar Joe King Magilla | ||
| Hammer Organization | Batman #417 (March 1988) | A former KGB group that became part of the Russian Mafia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. | Commissar KGBeast | ||
| Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen (October 1970) | Intergang has a branch in Gotham City and played a part in the "Gotham Underground" storyline.[324] | Johnny Stitches | |||
| Inzerillo Crime Family | Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood #1 (June 2000) | A crime family that is one of the Five Families of Gotham City. | Enrico Inzerillo Jack Inzerillo | ||
| Ivgene Clan | Judd Winick Guillem March | Catwoman (vol. 4) #1 (November 2011) | A branch of the Russian Mafia. | Ivgene Vadim Renald Ivanko | |
| Kings of the Sun | Francis Manapul Brian Buccellato | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #30 (June 2014) | The Kings of the Sun are a biker gang that has moved in on Gotham City, led by Holter. | Holter | |
| League of Smiles | Detective Comics (vol. 2) #16 (March 2013) | The League of Smiles is a cult of criminals that hero-worships the Joker.[325] | Merrymaker Philip Miles Annie McCloud David "Happy" Hill Rodney the Torch | ||
| LoBoyz | Batman: No Man's Land #1 (March 1999) | A gang that was active when Gotham City was declared to be a "No Man's Land." | n/a | ||
| (December 2010) | Leviathan is a shadowy organization with origins unknown, capable of creating surgically and genetically altered super-humans. They have also shown an ability to brainwash people for their cause. The leader of the organization is Talia Head. | Talia Head Heretic Leviathan Son of Pyg | |||
| Lucky Hand Triad | Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | A triad that is one of the biggest gangs in Gotham City's Chinatown district. | Ekin Tzu | ||
| Maroni Crime Family | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Led by Sal Maroni, the Maroni Crime Family are a prominent crime family in Gotham City. In the early years of Batman's career, the Maronis often vied for power and control of the Gotham City's criminal underworld with the Falcone Crime Family. | Big Lou Maroni Sal Maroni Tony Zucco | ||
| Many Arms of Death | Marguerite Bennett James Tynion IV Steve Epting | Batwoman Vol. 3 #1 (May 2017) | An assassin group from Coryana that has fought Batwoman. Each of its members are named after a weapon. The Many Arms of Death used a legitimate company called the Kali Corporation as a front. The Scarecrow once worked with the Many Arms of Death under the alias of the Needle. Alice was once brainwashed by the Many Arms of Death to serve them under the alias of the Mother of War. | Knife (Tahani) Alice Elder Fatima Rifle Queen Scarecrow Younger | |
| Batman and the Outsiders #9 (April 1984) | The Masters of Disaster are a group of mercenaries with an elemental theme. | New Wave Shakedown Coldsnap Heatstroke Windfall | |||
| Mirror House Cult | Detective Comics #871 (November 2010) | A cult led by the Dealer that religiously believes in immorality, the Mirror House Cult gathers at the Mirror House. | Dealer | ||
| Misfits | #7 (December 1992) | The Misfits are a group of Batman's enemies led by Killer Moth. | Killer Moth (Drury Walker) Catman Calendar Man Chancer | ||
| Mud Pack | Detective Comics #604 (September 1989) | The Mud Pack are a group composed of several of the supervillains who call themselves "Clayface". During their alliance, Basil Karlo, the original Clayface, injects blood samples of the other Clayfaces into himself, gaining all of their unique superpowers and abilities and becoming the "Ultimate Clayface". | Basil Karlo Matt Hagen (deceased; represented by a piece of his clay-like body) Preston Payne Sondra Fuller | ||
| The Dark Knight Returns #1–4 (February–June 1986) | A gang of punks that have taken over the city, the Mutants typically wear visors and have shaved heads or Mohawks. There was also a version of the Mutants that appeared on New Earth. | Mutant Leader Don Rob | |||
| Neon Dragon Triad | Batman and Robin #4 (November 2009) | A triad that did business with the Penitente Cartel. | Tony Li | ||
| Network | John Francis Moore Rick Hoberg Stefano Gaudiano | Batman: Family #1 (December 2002) | The Network is a crime family led by Athena. | Athena Bugg Doctor Excess Freeway Mister Fun Suicide King Technician Tracker | |
| New Olympians | Batman and the Outsiders #14 (October 1984) | The New Olympians are Maxie Zeus' group of mercenaries selected to represent Greek and Roman gods to disrupt the 1984 Olympics. | Monitor Antaeus Argus Diana Nox Vulcanus | ||
| Odessa Mob | Detective Comics #742 (March 2000) | A powerful Russian Mafia that has run afoul of Batman and the Green Arrow. | Alexandra Kosov Vasily Kosov Viktor Kosov | ||
| Penitente Cartel | Batman and Robin #4 (November 2009) | A Mexican drug cartel founded by a mysterious figure named "El Penitente." | El Penitente | ||
(July 1988) | The Red Hood Gang is a gang of Gotham criminals who rotate men under the guise of their leader to help protect the identity of the gang's true leaders if a job goes wrong. The most notable faux leader of the Red Hood Gang was the man who became the Joker. | Joker Joe Jason Todd an unnamed member | |||
| Justice League of America #43 (March 1966) | There have been several incarnations of the Royal Flush Gang. Each gang has consisted of a King, Queen, Jack, Ace and Ten. Over the years, several aristocratic crime gangs existed, where they bring in new members (i.e., sons, daughters, husbands, wives) when the old ones retire or go to jail. At one point, a King was in charge of several members (two of them being his daughter and a Jack) after which Batman broke up the group. | King Queen Jack Ten Ace | |||
| Seven Men of Death | Batman #670 (December, 2007) | The Seven Men of Death is a group belonging to Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins. | Detonator Hook Maduvu Malcolm Merlyn the Dark Archer Razorburn Shellcase Whip an unnamed member | ||
| Spyral | Batman Incorporated #4 (May 2011) | Spyral is an international spy agency, recently headed up by the enigmatic Doctor Dedalus. Following his death, the agency came under the leadership of his daughter Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman. | Agent 1 Agent 24 Agent 19 Agent 37 Frau Netz Matron Doctor Ashemore | ||
| Street Demonz | Detective Comics #614 (May 1990) | One of the oldest biker gangs in Gotham City. | Dallas Scorp Swifty The G Titanic | ||
| Outsiders #21 (July 1987) | Strike Force Kobra is a group of superpowered operatives created by Kobra based upon some of Batman's rogues in an operation against Stagg Enterprises. Kobra operative Lady Eve would form another incarnation that would menace the Outsiders led by the Eradicator. | Clayface IV Planet Master II Elemental Woman Zebra-Man II Spectrumonster Windfall Fauna Faust Dervish Spectra | |||
| Terminus' group | Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #10 (August 2012) | Terminus was, by his own account, beaten by Batman at some point in his past and, as a result, he has some rare condition that required painful treatment to extend his life. He vowed to spend the remainder of his life in pursuit of defeating Batman and showing the people of Gotham that Batman is the true villain. He gathers a group of villains who all blame Batman for their current conditions. | Terminus Bathead Bootface Scallop Smush | ||
| Detective Comics #253 (March 1958) | Warren Lawford, Armand Lydecker, and Gunther Hardwicke are a trio of magnates and scientists who wear masks of cartoon animals to commit crimes as the Fox, the Shark, and the Vulture, respectively, and have obsessions with Earth, Water, and Air. | Warren Lawford Armand Lydecker Gunther Hardwicke Great White Shark | |||
| Underworld Olympics | Batman #272 (February 1976) | The Underworld Olympics is an organization that hosts an international contest of the best criminals in the world separated by South American, North American, European, and Afro-Asian branches to see what region has the most accomplished villains on Earth. | various branches | ||
| Victim Syndicate | James Tynion IV Álvaro Martínez | Detective Comics #943 (October 2016) | The Victim Syndicate is a criminal organization composed of people who have been hurt through Batman's exploits against his rogues gallery. Their goal is to rid Gotham City of Batman and the Bat-family forever. | First Victim Madame Crow Mister Noxious Mudface Mute Anarky | |
| Wonderland Gang [326] [327] | Detective Comics #841 (April 2008) | The Wonderland Gang is a gang of supervillains themed around Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. | Mad Hatter[328] Tweedledum and Tweedledee March Hare White Rabbit[329] Lion Unicorn Walrus Carpenter |
Besides his infamous rogues gallery of supervillains, Batman has also faced more "ordinary" enemies, such as assassins, mobsters and terrorists.
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Able Crown | Detective Comics #744 (May 2000) | Able Crown is a local thug that has had a few run ins with Batman. Crown is also the same gangster who accidentally starts a huge gang war in Gotham City. | ||
| Alfred Stryker | Detective Comics #27 (May 1939) | Alfred Stryker is the mastermind behind a chemical syndicate. He was killed in a confrontation with Batman when he fell into a vat of acid early in Batman's vigilante career. | ||
| Celia Kazantkakis / Athena | John Francis Moore Stefano Gaudiano | Detective Comics #775 (December 2002) | Celia Kazantkakis is a former CEO of Wayne Enterprises and current leader of a criminal organization called the Network. | |
| Bad Cop | Batman Confidential #22 (December 2008) | Geoff Shancoe is a former police officer that was tortured into insanity by the Joker. | ||
| Brainy Walker | Detective Comics #242 (April 1957) | Brainy Walker was paroled after three years for counterfeiting and immediately set out to commit fresh crimes. This time though, he used counterfeit thousand-dollars in bills as a distraction. He first planted the phony bills around Gotham City and broadcast clues to their whereabouts. The streets were choked as citizen sought the money. This kept the police occupied with crowd control and traffic control, allowing W alker to commit robberies in relative peace. Walker then tricked Robin into accidentally telling the location of the Batcave. Batman worked with Alfred Pennyworth to make Walker believed Robin's slip of the tongue was part of a plan to trap Walker and his men. When Walker gave up seeking the secret headquarters, he and his gang were finally apprehended. | ||
| Bruno Groft and Lekkey | Batman #128 (December 1959) | Bruno Groft was a foreign agent and assassin-for-hire whose gang kidnapped the Prince, Princess, and Ambassador of Morania. Batman and Robin defeated the gang and prevented Lekkey from assassinating the royal couple. | ||
| Batman #404 (February 1987) | Carmine Falcone is a powerful crime boss in the early years of Batman's career and the leader of the Falcone Crime Family. He is the father of Alberto Falcone, Mario Falcone, and Sofia Falcone Gigante. | |||
| Catfoot Regan and Beetles Branagan | Batman #134 (September 1960) | Batman and Robin apprehend Catfoot Regan trying to rob jewels from the movement of a huge clock at a clock fair. Clues on Regan's clothes lead them to the thief's boss, Beetles Branagan, operating a crime ring from above the city in a huge advertising balloon. | ||
| Ernie Chubb | Batman/Wildcat #1 (April 1997) | Ernie Chubb is a criminal currently incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary. | ||
| Erin McKillen | Batman and Robin (vol. 2) #24 (December 2013) | Erin McKillen and her twin sister Shannon were born into the McKillen Crime Family. When they were little, they attended school with Bruce Wayne, who was still in mourning for his parents. Erin was regarded as a feisty child, getting into trouble and stealing kisses from Bruce. Upon the death of her father, she and Shannon took control of the McKillen Crime Family, and while she gained a penchant for ruthlessness, she and her twin sister were eventually arrested and sent to Blackgate Penitentiary. After losing three appeals, their defense attorney Harvey Dent betrayed them by joining the D.A.'s office and personally helping to keep them locked up. When Erin escaped from Blackgate, after her sister sacrificed her life to help Erin, she visited Harvey Dent, murdered his wife and scarred the left side of his face as a reminder of how he had treated them. | ||
| Faceless | Batman #542 (May 1997) | Joseph Zedno is a killer who removes the faces of his victims. | ||
| Frenchy Blake | Detective Comics #28 (June 1939) | Frenchy Blake is a dapper criminal who ran a successful group of jewel thieves. | ||
| Gentleman Jim Jansen | Batman #134 (September 1960) | Gentleman Jim Jansen was an orchid fancier and smuggler whom Batman and Robin discover trying to smuggle hot diamonds inside orchids. | ||
| Graham | Batman #130 (March 1960) | Graham was an expert builder of replicas of ancient weapons for movies. He begins leading a gang that uses ancient weapons such as ballistas and caltrops to loot banks. | ||
| Gregorian Falstaff | Batman #317 (November 1979) | Gregorian Falstaff is a reclusive billionaire and business rival of Bruce Wayne who time and again tries to put Wayne Enterprises out of business. He once tried to kill Batman with an energy gun, but was pushed by Talia al Ghul into the gunfire, which instantly killed him. | ||
| Detective Comics #599 (April 1989) | Henri Ducard was once one of Batman's teachers in the art of crime fighting. Years later, Batman learns that his former mentor is a master criminal. He appears in the three-part miniseries "Blind Justice" in Detective Comics and a few other times later on.[330] | |||
| Batman #407 (May 1987) | The son of Commissioner Gordon and his ex-wife Barbara Kean, Gordon is a psychopathic serial killer and is primarily an enemy of his sister, Batgirl, and sometimes Dick Grayson. | |||
| Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) | The mugger who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents, inspiring him to become Batman. Different continuities have portrayed him as a small-time criminal, a mob boss or a professional assassin. | |||
| Detective Comics #235 (September 1956) | Lew Moxon is a mob boss who hired Joe Chill to kill Thomas Wayne, which sparked Bruce Wayne into becoming Batman, as well as bringing the villain Zeiss to Gotham City. | |||
| Matt Thorne | Batman #62 (December 1950 – January 1951) | Matt Thorne is an American criminal that brought several fellows felons with him to England to search of hidden Nazi treasure. They were thwarted in there efforts by the United Kingdom protectors, the Knight and the Squire, aided by the Dynamic Duo. | ||
| Mr. Lyon | Batman #19 (November 1943) | Lyon criminal who frames the Joker for placing people in animal enclosures that echo their names. He claims the Joker sent him a note threatening to place him in a lion cage, and uses this as an excuse to get bodyguards inside a secure area, which he uses to commit a robbery. The Joker hears of his framing, and places Lyon, Batman, and Robin inside a lion cage, but the Dynamic Duo are able to escape with Lyon, who is arrested along with the Joker. | ||
| Peter Pan Killer | Detective Comics #875 (March 2011) | Roy M. Blount is a serial killer and pedophile that kidnaps children in Gotham City with a Peter Pan motif. | ||
| Rex "The Lion" Calabrese | Batman Eternal #4 (June 2014) | Rex Calabrese is a gangster who used to run the Mob in Gotham City. His power was so immense that he became known as the Lion. Operating around the mid-20th century, Calabrese believed in something he referred to as the Natural Order. He believed that one day, much like he had done to the previous mob boss, a new up-and-coming gangster would kill him. This self-made prophecy was self-fulfilling, as Calabrese was killed and his empire taken over by Carmine Falcone, though he was not really dead, but imprisoned in Blackgate Penitentiary. He was revealed to be the father of Selina Kyle, though they are estranged. | ||
| Ruby Ryder | The Brave and the Bold #95 (May 1971) | The world's richest woman and top female tycoon, based in Gotham City, Ruby Ryder is also a femme fatale and a full-fledged big-time criminal. Three meetings with Batman ended in defeat and prison. She also encounters Metamorpho, the Green Arrow, the Metal Men, and Plastic Man (the latter of whom falls in love with her). | ||
| Detective Comics #469 (May 1977) | Rupert Thorne is a prominent head of the Gotham City Council and one of Gotham City's top smuggling gangs. He is also the boss of Matches Malone, the criminal whose identity was taken over by Batman. | |||
| Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Boss Sal Maroni is the leader of the Maroni Crime Family and the gangster most notable for scarring Harvey Dent. | |||
| Sleeper Killer | Batman #516 (March 1995) | A killer who was under the control of her handler, Remmy, who was assassinated by a government agent. | ||
| Detective Comics #497 (December 1980) | The Squid (Lawrence Loman, also known as Clement Carp) is a Chinese crime boss in Gotham City. He takes control of the underworld and almost succeeds in defeating Batman before apparently being killed by Killer Croc, a former member of the Squid's gang. However, the Squid returns alive, only to die again as one of the crime bosses killed by Bruno Mannheim. | |||
| Sterling Silversmith | Detective Comics #446 (April 1975) | Sterling T. Silversmith has been obsessed with silver since childhood and now, as a silver-haired older man, has amassed a fortune in stolen goods. Bullets bounce off Silversmith, thanks to a silver alloy woven into the fabric of his white suit. Batman has fought him twice and once prevented Silversmith from murdering the Crime Doctor. | ||
| Black Lightning #1 (April 1977) | Primarily the nemesis of Black Lightning, Tobias Whale moved his Metropolis-based operations to Gotham, becoming a figurehead in organized crime after the demise of Black Mask I. This accomplishment is short-lived when the likewise Metropolis-based Intergang follows suit and Whale is forced to join their organization. | |||
| Tommy "Mangles" Manchester | Batman #519 (1995) | Tommy "Mangles" Manchester was a feared ruffian who haunted the East End of Gotham City. Due to his imposing size—being a tall man with bulging muscles—even most policemen did not dare to mess with him, even though he was responsible for several murders. Eventually, Police Commissioner Gordon arrested him — after a brutal fight mano-a-mano — as his last official act before resigning from his post as Chief of the Gotham City Police Department. During his time in Blackgate Penitentiary, Manchester had a run-in with the Joker, who seriously wounded him (). After a strong earthquake devastated Gotham City, Manchester teamed up with the cyborg Gearhead, who had lost some of his protheses at the time, strapping the damaged man to his back and, in a way, merging both villains into a hybrid villain. When last seen, Manchester tried to barge into a gathering of members of the Gotham police in an attempt to take some revenge on Gordon. | ||
| Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) | Tony Zucco is a mob boss (or low-level thug, depending on the continuity) who is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents. In most continuities, Zucco tries to extort the circus the Graysons work for. When the ringmaster refuses to pay him, he sabotages the act by causing the high wire ropes to break, which sends Dick's parents falling to their deaths. | |||
| Mr. Wylie | Detective Comics #42 (August 1940) | Mr. Wylie was a murderer who first appeared in Detective Comics #42- The case of the Prophetic Pictures, the comic he also dies in. |
Two of Batman's mobster foes have donned costumes and crossed over to become supervillains:
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Lantern #3 (Spring 1942) | A character based on the historical figure of the same name, Hitler appeared as an enemy of many members of the Justice Society of America, including Batman. | |||
| Legends #1 (November 1986) | A powerful government agent and mastermind (having no literal superpowers) who often comes into conflict with Batman and other heroes due to her questionable choices. Her moral ambiguity has put her in a position where she is portrayed in both protagonistic and antagonistic roles. | |||
| Batman #404 (February 1987)[331] | Then-Lieutenant Jim Gordon's partner upon his arrival in Gotham, Detective Arnold John Flass is in the pockets of drug dealer Jefferson Skeevers, crime boss Carmine Falcone, and corrupt Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. He is apparently murdered by the Hangman killer,[332] but had previously appeared in a story set years after the Hangman killings.[333] | |||
| Howard Branden | Batman #405 (March 1987) | Branden was a corrupt S.W.A.T. leader in the early days of Batman's career. He is eventually murdered by the Hangman killer. | ||
| Batman #404 (February 1987) | The Commissioner of Police when Bruce Wayne first returns to Gotham and becomes Batman. He is on the payroll of Carmine Falcone and is later murdered by the Hangman killer.[334] | |||
| Commissioner Grogan | Catwoman Annual #2 (1995) | Loeb's replacement as Commissioner during the final part of Bruce Wayne's first year as Batman. Grogan is described by Gordon as being even more crooked than his predecessor. | ||
| Commissioner Peter Pauling | Batman #341 (November 1981) | Peter Pauling is a puppet Commissioner installed by Mayor Hill, on the behest of Rupert Thorne, who later kills him. | ||
| Detective Comics #441 (June 1974) | Prior to the 12-issue 1984–85 DC maxiseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bullock is a corrupt police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career. His method of doing so is to pretend to be exceedingly clumsy, thereby spoiling whatever Gordon is trying to do, seemingly accidentally. After inadvertently giving Gordon a heart attack, however, Bullock turns over a new leaf and becomes an honest cop. | |||
| Jack Forbes | (vol. 2) #1 (2011) | Member of the Gotham City Police Department's Internal Affairs. He became the new Commissioner after James Gordon's imprisonment and he had secretly allied himself with Carmine Falcone. | ||
| Action Comics #23 (April 1940) | Though primarily Superman's archenemy, Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor attempted to illegally acquire a vast percentage of Gotham's property during the No Man's Land incident, but he was stopped by the efforts of Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. Later, when Luthor became President, he framed Bruce Wayne for murder. Eventually, Luthor was revealed as a criminal and deposed from the Presidency by Superman and Batman. Luthor later learned that Bruce Wayne is Batman.[335] | |||
| Mayor Armand Krol | Chuck Dixon Tom Lyle Scott Hanna | Detective Comics #647 (August 1992) | More incompetent than malicious, Krol had a strong dislike of Commissioner Gordon, demoting and replacing him with his second wife, Sarah Essen Gordon. During Krol's last days in office, Gotham descended into near anarchy after Ra's al Ghul released the "Clench" virus during the Contagion story arc. He died after contracting the virus. | |
| Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III | Detective Comics #743 (April 2000) | Dickerson is the corrupt Mayor of Gotham beginning after No Man's Land, remaining in office until his assassination by the Joker.[336] | ||
| Mayor David Hull | Gotham Central #13 (January 2004) | David Hull was Deputy Mayor under Dickerson and was his replacement. | ||
| Detective Comics #511 (February 1982) | Hamilton Hill is a corrupt politician who became Mayor of Gotham City thanks to Rupert Thorne. He helped Thorne oppose Batman, notably by firing Commissioner James Gordon. | |||
| Mayor Sebastian Hady | Batman #693 (January 2010) | Introduced in Batman as an immensely corrupt and ruthless politician who has publicly admitted to cheating on his wife. He was taken hostage by Azrael (Michael Washington Lane) during the events of "Judgement on Gotham", but was rescued by the Red Robin. He also tried to frame Commissioner Gordon for murder during the early days of Batman Incorporated, but Batman easily exposed the allegations as false. |
The following is a list of Batman enemies who have reformed and are more often depicted as allies of the masked vigilante than enemies.
| Name | Alter ego | First appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catwoman | Selina Kyle | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | |
| Clayface | Basil Karlo | Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) | |
| Poison Ivy | Pamela Lillian Isley | Batman #181 (June 1966) | |
| Creeper | Jack Ryder | Showcase #73 (April 1968) | |
| Man-Bat | Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom | Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) | |
| Bronze Tiger | Benjamin Turner | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (May 1975) | |
| Lobo | unpronounceable | Omega Men #3 (June 1983) | |
| Red Hood | Jason Todd | Batman #357 (March 1983, as Robin) #1 (February 2005, as Red Hood) | |
| Harley Quinn | Dr. Harleen Frances "Harley" Quinzel | The Batman Adventures #12 (September 1993) |
Some characters generally considered to be allies, yet have come into conflict with Batman.
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance):
| Villain | Creator(s) | First appearance | Fictional biography | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Kane Bill Finger[337] [338] | Detective Comics #267 (May 1959) | An imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Appearing as a small childlike man in a Batman costume, Bat-Mite possesses near-infinite magical powers and comes from another dimension. Bat-Mite idolizes Batman, and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange events so that he could see his hero in action. Bat-Mite is arguably more of a nuisance than an enemy to Batman, and often leaves the hero alone when he realizes that he has angered his idol. | ||
| Superman[339] [340] [341] | Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster[342] | Action Comics #1 (June 1938) | Despite usually being an ally to Batman, on many occasions throughout the decades, Batman has had to battle Superman for various reasons including (but not limited to) idealistic differences, mind control by a supervillain, and even simple misunderstandings.[343] [344] [345] | |
| Wingman | Batman #65 (June 1951) | A former ally and student of Batman and a member of the Batmen of All Nations, it was Benedict Rundstrom's jealousy of Batman that drove him to try to kill Batman and the other heroes who made up the Batmen of All Nations. |
Batman's rogues gallery has received critical acclaim, cited by many journalists as one of the greatest rogues galleries in all of comic books.[1] [355] Newsarama ranked Batman's villains as the second-greatest comic book rogues gallery of all time, only preceded by that of Spider-Man, stating that "the Dark Knight Detective is one of comics' most enduring, most iconic, and most popular characters, and none of that would be possible without the denizens of Gotham City's dense and dangerous underworld. Batman may be a household name, but the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Two-Face, and the Riddler are just as recognizable."[356]
The internet blog io9 observed that "much of the appeal of Batman is that, unlike other superheroes, he's simply a person who has pushed himself to the edge of his natural limits. The flipside of that, though, is that the villains he faces are also by and large simply people with a single, notable obsession—and that's why they're so much more interesting than the usual set of villains."[355] According to What Culture!, "Batman's villains stand in stark contrast to the other rogues galleries in comics lore; they're an unusual collection of freaks who generally blame the Dark Knight for their existence to begin with. Batman villains are usually cut off from reality, often coming to terms with a deranged part of their psyche—mirroring the darkness and split that also defines the Bat."[357] HitFix praised Batman's rogues gallery, stating that "Great heroes are defined by the villains they face, and no group of evil-doers, murderers, criminals and psychopaths are greater than those stalking Gotham City. From murderous clowns, to cerebral assassins, to brutish monsters, Batman has a literal murderer's row of foes that constantly test his crime fighting acumen."[3]