Favorite Batman villains?

[MajorHoy]

He was able to get his name in the title of a book.

And that's important because . . .

[TheRay]

That puts him right there with Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Bane, etc.
Not every rogue gets that

[Mercury]

I went with Joker, though I love them all for one reason or another.

[TheRay]

I think it's more difficult to pick Joker because there are just so many variations of his character now.

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: This thread / poll was originally started in August of 2014.

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With 192 people having voted,

* Joker = 83 votes
* Riddler = 81 votes
* Two-Face = 71 votes
* Scarecrow = 67 votes
* Ra's al Ghul = 64 votes

* Bane = 54 votes
* Catwoman = 54 votes

* Poison Ivy = 50 votes
* Penguin = 49 votes
* Mr. Freeze = 46 votes
* Harley Quinn = 37 votes

* Clayface = 32 votes
* Hugo Strange = 32 votes

* Hush = 22 votes
* Mad Hatter = 20 votes

[TheRay]

I really wanted to vote Joker ... but he hasn't really been good in, well, decades. At least not in the comics.

Did people really think this?

[RobinGA]

Scarecrow.

There is something creepy, frightening about someone who can get your mind to work against you.

Joker and Penguin are behind him.

[Micael]

Probably an unpopular opinion. Really loved Talia as a villain. She felt dangerous and highly resourceful and having the romantic connection with Bruce and of course their son makes their dynamic very interesting. She's like the perfect Bond villain and works really well for a character like Batman.

[godisawesome]

Probably an unpopular opinion. Really loved Talia as a villain. She felt dangerous and highly resourceful and having the romantic connection with Bruce and of course their son makes their dynamic very interesting. She's like the perfect Bond villain and works really well for a character like Batman.

I like the idea, I just didn’t like how lacking in any fun nuance Morrison’s take was - that’s not to say she couldn’t be a card-carrying villain or be loathsome, mind you, more that the maximum potential for “Batman’s Ex and Baby Mama” as a villain shouldn’t sound like it would be parody-level dialogue with the right line-reading.

I feel like she should really talk and act more like Andrea Beaumont after the reveal in MOTP.

[Daedalus]

Probably an unpopular opinion. Really loved Talia as a villain. She felt dangerous and highly resourceful and having the romantic connection with Bruce and of course their son makes their dynamic very interesting. She's like the perfect Bond villain and works really well for a character like Batman.

I liked Talia as a villain just fine, but I think Talia will always be undermined by the fact that her father is just more iconic. Whenever I see Talia, I ask myself "Oh, that's nice. Where's Ra's?"

Not sure I see Batman and Bond as similar characters at all.

[MajorHoy]

Not sure I see Batman and Bond as similar characters at all.

Actually, Bruce Wayne and Bond can seem very similar, but once Bruce dons the Bat-suit the comparison is lost.

[Micael]

I like the idea, I just didn’t like how lacking in any fun nuance Morrison’s take was - that’s not to say she couldn’t be a card-carrying villain or be loathsome, mind you, more that the maximum potential for “Batman’s Ex and Baby Mama” as a villain shouldn’t sound like it would be parody-level dialogue with the right line-reading.

I feel like she should really talk and act more like Andrea Beaumont after the reveal in MOTP.

I don't think Andrea Beaumont and Talia are comparable in any way. One was obsessed with vengeance the other was a product of years and years of neglect and emotional abuse that turned into bitterness. Sure both have their molded by their fathers but that's where that comparison stops.

[godisawesome]

I don't think Andrea Beaumont and Talia are comparable in any way. One was obsessed with vengeance the other was a product of years and years of neglect and emotional abuse that turned into bitterness. Sure both have their molded by their fathers but that's where that comparison stops.

I get that, and I don’t agree with it.

What I’m getting at is more that she should:

1. Still be someone Bruce could have believably fallen in love with (admittedly, something that Dennis O’Neill never really developed that much beyond “She’s hot and she helps him sometimes when not helping her father instead”) and…

2. Not talk like a parody of supervillainy.

Morrison’s occasional deployment of the “knowingly villainous asshole” characterization for his baddies works with *some* villains, but is tiresome and wasteful with others. For every time he gives someone like Simon Hurt or Joker great dialogue and characterization, he gets wasted Magneto or Talia, where the threat is still impeccable, but there’s a strong feeling that some serious drama is still missing.

I love everything around his characterization of Talia and what she kind of represents. But when ever he has her talk, it just makes me roll my eyes.

A great Talia feels to me like she should be someone who makes fewer pretenses than Ra’s, but still seems likely to cause Bruce some genuine heartache. I shouldn’t be getting turned off of those DCAU films partially off the fact that Morena Baccarin is being wasted on a bland and shallow version of Bruce’s ex.

Perhaps a better personality comparison would be Demona from Gargoyles?

[TheRay]

No one wants to mention She Bat?

[MajorHoy]

No one wants to mention She Bat?

Why?

Also, it depends on which version you're talking about.

Before the New 52, she wasn't really a "villain" as much as someone who just had no control when she was in that form.