Which Batman Villains Are Most Easily Written As Protagonists?

[Riv86672]

Nah, even as an intellectual villain Riddler is hard to write and reduced to being a gimmick villain, let alone making him a protagonist.

^^^nah.

His run as a Private Detective was good and never should have ended, it was one of the few really good attempts to redeem a villainous character.

^^^it was pretty well received, too.

Anyway, Riddler’s my pick, I won’t run it into the ground.

[Confuzzled]

That's why he showed up in B:TAS as little as he did. He didn't even get an episode of his own in TNBA.

Yeah that makes sense.

[OopsIdiditagain]

Mr Freeze: doesn't have traits that can get flanderized easily, has an easy to understand motivation.

[godisawesome]

Depends entirely on what type of protagonist you want:

- Morally grey but lovable rogue? Catwoman.

- Amoral and unlucky, but still technically on the right side? Reformed Riddler.

- Byronic Anti-hero/villain with an alien moral code? Bane or Ra’s Al Ghul.

-Tragic Villain? Mr. Freeze or Two-face.

- Straight up loathsome but still fun to read?... just put Paul Dini behind them; dude made Tommy Elliot a hilariously petulant crybaby, but Heart of Hush and House of Hush are still great even from his POV.

[Confuzzled]

Most people can write Harley and Ivy as protagonists in their sleep now.

[The no face guy]

Traditionally Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley have all been written as protagonists/anti heroes at one time or another.

At times the Penguin has been someone Batman has been able to do business with as well.

[Gaius]

Characters like Harley show so long as you ignore their massive body counts you can just write about any of them as protagonists.

So just about all of them.

[LifeIsILL]

Anarky, his solos series were pretty good.

[Mistah K88]

Characters like Harley show so long as you ignore their massive body counts you can just write about any of them as protagonists.

So just about all of them.

Yeah...even characters who have justified causes like Ivy, you have to write anyone she opposes like a Captain Planet villain (mustache twirling) in order to really sell her as a protagonist.

[prepmaster]

Yeah...even characters who have justified causes like Ivy, you have to write anyone she opposes like a Captain Planet villain (mustache twirling) in order to really sell her as a protagonist.

Or just write stories of her being in tune with nature & taking care of plants instead of her going to clubs/bars to harvest people as plant food. Do we need to write villain vs villain stories?

[Frontier]

Yeah...even characters who have justified causes like Ivy, you have to write anyone she opposes like a Captain Planet villain (mustache twirling) in order to really sell her as a protagonist.

This reminds me of the Harley Quinn cartoon where she and Joker were killing off these cartoonish rich guys and then she and Ivy were casually killing some corporate executives for harming the environment.

[The Kid]

Pretty much anyone can be written well as a protagonist. Protagonist =/= good guy. Even a character like the Joker could make a well written protagonist if you have the right team on him

[prepmaster]

Pretty much anyone can be written well as a protagonist. Protagonist =/= good guy. Even a character like the Joker could make a well written protagonist if you have the right team on him

But the question is who is the most easily written as protagonist. Like the viewpoint/narrative from these villains must be compelling and make readers interested in understanding them.

[Mistah K88]

Or just write stories of her being in tune with nature & taking care of plants instead of her going to clubs/bars to harvest people as plant food. Do we need to write villain vs villain stories?

Even when she attacks companies she doesn't attack assets, she attacks people. Sure we could do the "Ivy has never killed anyone" spiel but we know that's bull!

This reminds me of the Harley Quinn cartoon where she and Joker were killing off these cartoonish rich guys and then she and Ivy were casually killing some corporate executives for harming the environment.

Interestingly BTAS Ivy didn't do research when turning people into trees in Eternal Youth as she didn't know about Wayne NOT doing what she says his company did and it gets worse when she settles for Alfred and Maggie as it shows ANYONE will do as long as someone is punished for a perceived crime. In order for anyone to have "deserved it" they have to be a mustache twirler.

[TheCape]

That's why he showed up in B:TAS as little as he did. He didn't even get an episode of his own in TNBA.

I think that even the writers said that they hated doing episodes with him because of that.