Batman Villains

By Ethan McGill and Nathan Collins

The Joker

The Joker's clownish appearance and big smile hide a devious mind bent on creating as much trouble as possible for his archenemy, Batman. His arsenal of weapons includes razor-cards, acid-spewing flowers, and laughing-gas. He is Batman's most famous adversary, and one of the most recurring.

Two Face
Former district-attorney TwoFace (Harvey Dent) is obsessed with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites. He makes major decisions by flipping a two-headed coin on which one of the faces is scarred. One side of his face was scarred by a gangster in court throwing acid at him. Over the years, he has reformed at various times, with his face being surgically repaired, only to later adopt the alias of Two-Face again.

Penguin

The Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield) is a devious crime-boss who is seldom seen without one of his trick-umbrellas, and performs crimes based on birds. The Penguin uses his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, as a front for his criminal activities.

Mr . Freeze

Mr. Freeze (Dr. Victor Fries) is a scientist whose invention of a freeze-gun went terribly wrong when it accidentally caused cryogenic chemicals to spill on himself. He now uses frozen weaponry and must wear a refrigerated ice-suit to survive. In The Animated Series and later in the comics it was revealed this was due to him trying to help his wife, who was frozen due to a terminal illness.

Bane
Masked villain Bane's immense strength comes from a steroid called Venom. His power and intellect make him one of Batman's most feared adversaries, and he once succeeded in breaking Batman's back.

Harley Quinn

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 first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, before appearing in the comics.

Clay Face

Preston Payne suffered from hyperpituitarism, so he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs to search for a cure. He obtained a sample of the then-living 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 with a touch (although he soon learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive). He later met and fell in love with Sondra Fuller, and the two had a son named Cassius "Clay" Payne (who later became the fifth Clay face.)

Killer Croc
Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) has a medical condition that warped his body into a massive crocodile-like form. He possesses super-strength and is immune to toxins.

Killer Moth
Cameron Van Cleer was a minor criminal who adopted the alias of Killer Moth, a Batman-like villain-helper. He is also famous for being the first villain defeated by Batgirl. Later he made a deal with the demon Neron, and became a monstrous, insect-like creature.

Firefly
Firefly (Garfield Lynns) is an orphan who became a pyromaniac, developing a fireproof suit with a flamethrower to further pursue his "hobby." He was originally known as a cunning criminal who invented numerous weapons that involve light to commit crimes with.

Hush
Hush (Dr. Thomas Elliot) targets both Batman and Bruce Wayne (despite the fact that they were friends in childhood). Although his alias originates from a nursery rhyme, Hush lives up to it by using manipulation and guile instead of "noisy signatures."

Mad Hatter

The Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch) was inspired by the lunacy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to commit crimes. He uses his mind-control technology to bend people to his will, and is never seen without a large and fantastic hat. He desires Batman's cowl, even if it means killing him.

Man - Bat
Dr. Kirk Langstrom invented a serum to give him echolocation (a sonar that bats use to guide them in the dark) to cure his growing deafness. Unfortunately, the serum had an unforeseen sideeffect, transforming him into the monstrous Man-Bat.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy (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. Her powers also enable her to control the minds of men.

The Riddler

The Riddler (Edward Nigma) is a criminal mastermind who has a strange compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles, puzzles, and word-games. He often carries a question-mark cane around with him. He recently learned Batman's identity, but kept it a secret to prevent Ghul from learning he had used the Lazarus pits without permission.

The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow (Professor Jonathan Crane), an insane psychologist/biochemist who lost his job for his methods, specializes in the nature of fear. Dressed symbolically as a scarecrow, he employs special weapons, equipment, and techniques designed to use fear to his advantage in his crimes. His "fear-gas" stimulates the phobias of his victims. Ironically he has a fear of bats.