The not-so-proud owner of the greatest rogues gallery in all of comics, Batman has dealt with a rough crowd over the years. Here's the best of the best top 10 villains.
Equipped with a terror-inducing gas that forces victims to face their worst fears, the Scarecrow preys on the citizens of Gotham with a commandeering creepiness. Of all Gothamites, Bruce Wayne, who formed his superhero persona out of a childhood fear of bats, presents a compelling target for Dr. Crane's psychological warfare, not to mention sharpened scythe. Though fear may be Batman's greatest crime fighting tool in striking terror in the hearts of criminals, he has met his match in Scarecrow's abilities to release its dreadful powers.
One of Batman's earliest adversaries (predating anyone else here, interestingly enough), Hugo Strange made his debut in 1940's Detective Comics #36. As far as backstories go, Strange's is a mystery. He pretty much just appeared on the scene and started creating problems from day one. Since then, the deranged doctor has played a prominent role in two of Batman's coolest comic books, Batman and the Monster Men and the anthology Strange Apparitions. Then there's the disturbing Batman: Prey and very odd Batman #356, in which Strange monologues at length about how much he loves admires Batman to his girlfriend (who happens to be a mannequin) and becomes so convinced he's the real Caped Crusader that he dresses up as him.
The pinnacle of physical and mental criminality, he is literally the Bane of Batman's existence. The by-product of a hard knock life spent growing up in a corrupt prison, he spends his youth killing people using a knife concealed in a teddy bear named Osito. In the comics, he is terrorized by dreams of a monstrous winged creature, spawning a personal fear of bats. Later, after nearly dying from an experimental super soldier program that hooks him on Venom and lets him escape his confinements, Bane sets his sights on Gotham. Not unlike his prison, Bane believes the city is ruled by its fear of Batman, who he sees as the personification of the demon that haunted his childhood dreams. By masterfully pitting the deranged inmates of Arkham (many of which we find here) against Batman, he ran the Dark Knight through a gauntlet of evil while establishing himself as the ruler of Gotham's gangland. Oh yeah, and he broke Batman's back over his knee, mercilessly leaving the Caped Crusader a paraplegic.
The Riddler seems to be in a class of villain all his own. He's not exactly scary or brutal (at least most of the time), but rather a playful addition to the otherwise dark, gritty world of Batman. (Those colorful leotards don't hurt either.) At his best, this enigmatic evildoer is a riddling madman hellbent on pitting his wits against the world's greatest detective. But don't take his penchant for puzzles and incessant honesty as a sign of weakness. His manipulations throughout Hush and his disastrous reign in Batman: Zero Year (one of the best moments from the New 52) are proof positive that the Riddler can be terrifyingly deadly. Either way, seeing the Caped Crusader try to solve one the Nigma's over-the-top convoluted plots is always a pleasure, or should we say, joygasm.
What's not to love about this Brooklyn-accented, gleefully amoral and mentally unbalanced villainous vixen? She was an Arkham psychiatrist who, after falling hopelessly in love with Mistah J, is willingly led into a life of passionate crime. Even more endearing is her unhealthy commitment to her puddin', helping garner sympathy for an otherwise unsympathetic character. Just take a look at her confession in Injustice and tell us otherwise.
The former White Knight of Gotham, Two-Face is perhaps the most tragic character on the list. Thanks to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, most are familiar with his story. At one time the city's righteous crime fighting District Attorney, he gets horrifically disfigured after a vindictive mob boss throws acid on his face (unless you're watching the aforementioned movie, in which case, the Joker did it). Despite first appearing in 1941, Two-Face was missing throughout the entirety of the Silver Age with little mention of him for over 16 years, except for that time he was almost played by Clint Eastwood on the '60s TV show.
While most of Batman's villains limit their criminal scope to Gotham City, Ra's al Ghul operates on a whole other level. Our very first impression of this regal killer comes in 1971's Batman #232, when he walks right in and immediately reveals that he knows who Bruce Wayne's alter ego is. A super intelligent, mystical international assassin, the Demon's Head adds some much needed gravitas to the rogues gallery.
Was there ever any doubt who would be in the top spot? As much as anyone might like to try, there's no denying the Joker is the ultimate agent of chaos, a different class of criminal and Batman's number one arch-nemesis. Obscenely dangerous, wildly unpredictable and always one step ahead of our masked vigilante hero, the Joker is guaranteed to go up against the Dark Knight in the most horrific of ways and provide Gotham City with a much needed, ill-humored enema.
Easily the softest villain here, Selina Kyle made her debut as a jewel thief in 1940's Batman #1 and has since gone on to star in several of her own solo series, controversially appeared in the bosomy New 52 relaunch and headlined one of the worst movies of all time. Despite all that, Catwoman is a femme fetale to the finish and a never ending frustration for both the Caped Crusader and his alter ego. In all her numerous incarnations, one thing's for sure, the Cat will endlessly toy with the Bat, siding with him one minute, then tossing him aside the next, and doing it all according to her own rules.
And in position #1, we have Red Hood! As a daily reminder of his greatest failure, Red Hood forces the Caped Crusader to think long and hard about some of life's biggest questions, like, why does he keep letting the Joker kill his family, or should he try to control crime like Jason instead of hopelessly laboring to destroy it? Because even though the Red Hood hates Batman (for a while) and fights him time and again, there is a noble method to his murderous madness, which makes it hard to pin him as a straight villain. He's an anti-hero, fighting crime on his own terms, which more often than not means blowing away Gotham's worst with *gasp* guns. Rest assured, this won't be the last we hear of Red Hood, since there's a good chance he will be the focus of the next Batman movie.