Top 5 Batman Villians

It is a pretty safe assumption that anyone with a pulse has heard of Batman. Either from the comics, Emmy Award winning television show; to the Arkham video games; to the Burton, Schumacher, or Nolan films and the list goes on. Ever since the 40’s Batman has beautifully walked the line of crime-fighting detective and public offender of vigilance.  But you have to have some pretty menacing threats to keep the faith of Gotham and audiences captivated since 1939. So let’s take a look at my picks for top 5 of Batman’s biggest threats.

5) Ra’s Al Ghul

Now this pick was much harder than the other four but the prime reason I chose this guy is because he is a power house and incredibly skilled. First of all: he is the head of the League of Assassins. Second of all: he is a trained martial artist and a physician. Third: He is immortal and has been around for about 600 years and is accredited with fighting in countless major wars. Fourth: He knows Bruce Wayne is Batman. With all that in mind you would think he’d be higher up on the list. But at his core he is just a radical environmentalist and inertia (the resistance of change) enthusiast. Also Batman beat him in the film Batman Begins when Batman just started being Batman. He wasn’t defeated but he lost that round. In conclusion his experience is what makes him a worthy adversary. But Batman is the only student Ra’s Al Ghul is upped by. 

4) Bane

This is another member of the League of Assassins. But he is like the Darth Vader of that group. He may not be in charge but he is the one everyone remembers. What makes him so menacing is first the obvious: he is ripped. For those of you who have neglected to pick up a comic and chose to have a social life instead, this is for you: Bane was a convict in prison who was forced to be a part of being tested for a super soldier serum called venom.  So basically they were glorified steroids. It increased his muscle mass significantly. I bet it’s the same stuff Captain America used in the Marvel Universe? But it probably isn’t because universe already has Venom. But I digress. He gets hooked on the stuff and in Batman #490 he injects some Venom into the Riddler which makes him able to throw a punch. He wears the mask to have constant dosage of venom. In both the Dark Knight Rises and Batman: Knightfall (a comic in which I own) Bane breaks Batman’s back. Not only that but he is extremely intelligent. Something Batman and Robin neglected to show. He has mastered multiple languages and is a master strategist. He is basically Batman’s superior. Alongside Ghul he also figured out Bruce Wayne was Batman but then again so did everyone in the Dark Knight Rises. Including my number three pick.

3) Catwoman

            Catwoman is my number three pick just based on the interesting relationship she has with the Batman. First of all Batman can never fully figure her out. Kind of like Irene Adler from the Steven Moffat Sherlock series on BBC sometimes she can be helpful and other times she resorts back to being her Cat Burglary self. Not only that but her alter ego Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne are an item; at least for quite some time. But it gets even weirder: neither of them know about each other’s secret identity. The main DC Power couple (no pun intended) is Superman and Wonder Woman but they are the equivalent to your neighbors that always send cookies on your birthday, always out mowing their lawns, they have the best Christmas cards, their kids always behave, etc. (if you don’t have one where you live you’re it) Batman and Catwoman are like the sketchy neighbors. They are more interesting and you always want to know what they are up to. But you’re safer with Superman. And she isn’t only popular with Wayne but she has been in four feature films on my count. The dynamic between the two lovers/enemies pending on the outfit is just great. That’s all there is to it.

2) Two Face

What a coincidence the bad guy obsessed with twos is in the number two spot. He is number two because he was at one point the best of the best. He was a DA that put countless criminals in jail by sticking to the law. And one of the things illustrated in the comics is that Harvey Dent isn’t a particular fan of Batman because he is given leeway by the police to catch criminals with the privilege of “bending” the law. The best illustration of Dent’s transition to Gotham’s white knight to Two Face was best portrayed in graphic novel the Long Halloween. Many people including but not limited to Batman and the Joker believe that Harvey Dent is a killer that is referred to by the press as holiday. I will tell you no more but as Dent works on the Holiday case he falls in this slow descent into madness and anger. But other than when he is trying to work on the case which gets progressively longer, he bought a home and is happy with his wife; which makes the character all the more tragic. And like the reader, Batman/Bruce Wayne knew Harvey Dent and he watched him slowly turn into the monster Gang Boss Maroni only sealed the deal on by throwing acid in his face. The way I see it, Two Face is basically an allegory for the inevitable: the down fall of the best of humanity. Two Face leaves his life to the flip of a coin because the unfairness of life is put into such a deep hole he doesn’t believe in choosing for himself. The turmoil memory of the Harvey Dent you believed in is all the more upsetting when you face the reality that the man is gone.

1)      The Joker

If you didn’t know the number one spot was going to be The Joker than you are as crazy as he is.  He is the complete opposite of Batman in every way from design to motivation. Batman is dressed in all grey and stays towards the shadows nearly silent. The Joker on the other hand is loud, dressed in bright colors, and makes sure you know it was him when he commits a crime. Many of the Batman villains show little to no remorse when they kill. But the Joker, he laughs and enjoys every second of his violent sadistic nature. So he won’t only not hesitate to kill you, he will look forward to it. His henchmen included. After they do what they’re supposed to they are dead weight as far as he is concerned. Another interesting thing about the Batman and Joker is that they both created each other in a sense. Joker, killed Bruce Wayne’s parents which led him to becoming the Batman who fights as the hero Gotham deserves. The Joker’s origin is really unknown except for the fact that Batman had some role in his falling into a vat of toxic waste. The Joker’s only clear motivations are that society is just here to laugh at and an anarchic Gotham is the first step to making Gotham his playground. But he mostly does what he does because he finds death and destruction amusing and funny. The Joker and Batman have this endless cat and mouse game which will never end due to both of them being worthy opponents for each other and they will not kill each other for their own reasons. Batman won’t kill Joker because he refuses to kill and the Joker won’t kill Batman because, according to him, Batman completes him and he wouldn’t have as much fun without him around. The line from The Dark Knight that sums up their relationship perfectly is, “This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object” But above all else there are two things that make the Joker especially terrifying. 1) There is no real way the Joker can lose. If you put him in Arkham, he frolics around laughing away and inevitably escapes. You can’t have him running around Gotham. And if you kill him that appeases his philosophy that man should appeal to their animalistic and instinctive nature. 2) He’s human. We view him as a murderous monster or the clown prince of crime but he is no less human than any of us. We may not reach extremes but the Joker basically symbolizes this could happen to anyone. According to The Killing Joke, he was just a normal guy who worked at a chemical plant before he became the Joker. Just a series of events lead him to the villain we have grown to fear, love, and resent.

Those are just my picks but Batman is easily DC’s best hero and I think it is because of the villains. There are so many iconic villains after you have seen them you will never forget them. So what are your picks for the best Batman bad guys? There is no such thing as a bad- bad guy list when it comes to the Caped Crusader.

Also comment to ask questions or give suggestions for movie reviews or more top 10’s/ top 5’s