Which Batman villains deserve to get a push or a chance as the Big Bad?

[Bluebeard]

Sometimes it feels like there is only a small circle of Batman villains who are allowed to be Big Bads or the main villains; Hush, Joker, Bane, the Riddler, etc. I think it'd be nice if second-stringers like Poison Ivy or Scarecrow or Two-Face where given the chance to be the big main villain of a story arc for once.

Opinions?

[SiegePerilous02]

Hugo Strange. Hugh and Dr. Hurt are largely redundant when we already have a nemesis who knows Bruce's identity and attacks him psychologically, and is a more interesting character to boot.

Scarecrow looks like he will get his shot in Arkham Knight. I think the last time Two-Face was treated as a big deal was NML, and I'd love to see him get another shot. But I don't trust DC to write him well.

[JBatmanFan05]

All I will say is that, yes, some villains could stand to be the main villain of a bigger arc more often.

Two-Face has had some good outings as main villain in LHalloween, Dark Victory, Lonely Place of Dying, Prodigal, Robin Year One, etc.

Scarecrow and Ivy less so. Riddler has some but arguably not enough.

[Frontier]

I can see them as a Big Bad for a small arc or two, but only Two-Face, Black Mask, and maybe even Hugo Strange could I see holding the position of overall Big Bad for something much bigger. Maybe Scarecrow too if used well.

[Godlike13]

Two Face is due for a resurgence.

[JBatmanFan05]

Two Face is due for a resurgence.

I'd like to see Snyder do a big arc with him before his run is up.

[MajorHoy]

But to make him a real threat, he can also experiments with drones!

[TheNewFiftyForum]

Two Face is due for a resurgence.

Quite literally then, as he's currently dead in New 52 continuity. Then again, I'm sure there are ways to write him back into action, but "The Big Burn" worked pretty well as a type of "last story" for Harvey Dent. I honestly wouldn't mind if he stayed dead for a while, with some acknowledgment of what it meant to Bruce Wayne to finally have to give up on his old friend.

Otherwise, I don't think there's been a good Batman v.s Hugo Strange story since way back in Gotham Knights. Bring him back into the comics, and focus on his obsession with replacing Batman rather than messing with Bruce Wayne. From the more obscure ones, there are a lot of Grant/Breyfogle villains that have been quiet for way too long. Kadaver, Ratcatcher, Cornelius Stirk, Ventriloquist & Scarface... All names that would work great in smaller, more intimate stories than the stuff Snyder and Capullo are doing in Batman.

[JBatmanFan05]

I think what has to happen more is that the big name writers/teams have to embrace the non-Joker rogues more.

I don't like Zero Year much at all, but Snyder went big with Riddler, which was what fans wanted. Snyder & Capullo are the main event as far as Batman now.

It's not enough often for lesser Bat titles & teams to play with the villains, because it's not really center stage and stories end up subpar and forgettable.

Two-Face, for example, has only seen the center stage lately in lesser secondary Bat titles like Detective, Nightwing (pre-FP), etc. And frankly, they're mostly forgotten.

We just have to hope the Loebs, Snyders, Morrisons, etc start embracing these non-Joker rogues more and are willing to forego creating their own new villains some.

Big creative teams have to embrace the challenge of a big Two-Face or Ivy or Scarecrow story. And not every big story with them has to try to outdo a Joker story in the stakes dept.