Originally Posted by
godisawesome
I’m going to organize mine a bit, to kind of point out where various niches can be filled without overlap.
“Big 3 Gothamites” - the baseline human criminals who can be big damn deals or more mundane threats, and who kind of can’t be skipped:
1. Joker - the Arch-nemesis and most spiteful villain with the biggest flair for the dramatic, but in the complete opposite way from Batman himself.
2. Two-Face - the most tragic personal nemesis who Bruce feels for as a fried who broke in a more understandable way, but an utterly remorseless and straight ahead (but not dumb) walking rampage against an unjust world.
3. Riddler - the most cerebral opponent, but also a genuine rival for information and mystery investigations, and the one who expends the most effort to try and pretend he’s sane.
“Demigods of crime” - the super-powered foes who still tend to work as basic villains, but could be major, terrifying threats if you want them to.
4. Poison Ivy - a literal force of nature and would be wrath of Mother Earth, who Bruce tries to contain more than anything else.
5. Mister Freeze - ice-cold fury and vengeance personified, who’s the one Batman knows was provoked the worst, but must stop.
6. Clayface - a mix of various fun plot twists and special effects challenges, though one who’s personality is often up to the creator.
“World’s Most Wanted” - the blockbuster-sized international threats who leans more towards James Bond-esque plots.
7. Talia - the most dangerous ex-girlfriend in history, who wants to rule the world, and doesn’t really bother with excuses.
8. Ra’s Al Ghul - would-be father figure to Bruce, who masks a capricious tyrannical impulse behind self-righteous excuses.
9. Bane - the barbarian conqueror to Bruce’s guardian knight, with a “pure” rivalry it’s Bruce that has a weird understanding beneath the antipathy.
“The Usual Suspects” - criminals who are fixtures of Gotham City who Batman must usually tolerate for various reason.
10. Catwoman - a de facto ally from the other side of the law, but also the number one suspect if anything goes missing, defining the on-again, off-again, frienemies-with-benefits relationship they have.
11. Penguin - “the devil you know” that acts a consistent source of information but also a persistent financier of crime.
12. Harley Quinn - chaos in pigtails, but one that occasionally targets Joker, calms down Ivy, and is more likely to cause annoyance than emergencies.