Who's your favorite Batman Villain?

[Vernedi]

Joker is overrated.

My favorite villains are Bane, Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze. I liked all three the way they were prior to the HORRIBLE New 52, which ruined them (alas, the movie Batman & Robin tainted them first).

I don't count Catwoman as a villain.

I also liked Phantasm and Baby Doll from the animated series.

[byrd156]

It's a three way tie between Scarecrow, Joker, and Bane. It was already hard enough to narrow it down to three villains, Batman's Rogues Gallery is just incredible. But I'm voting Scarecrow, he needs more stories.

[Flash Gordon]

You are only thinking "recent, having her own title means she's good" Catwoman, not the whole tapestry that is the history of Batman / DC Comics.

Nah, I'm talking about the "femme fatale" trope. She plays both sides. She hasn't been an outright villain in almost forever. Hell, she was married to Batman on the OG Earth 2.

[Nero]

The more I think about it, the more I realize the Joker is not my favorite Batman villain. One of my favorites but not exactly my all time favorite. Ever since I was a kid, it was always the Joker. But there was one Batman villain in particular that left a longer lasting impression on me ever since I was first introduced to him and that is Ra's Al Ghul. Ra's Al Ghul stands out the most for me because he matches Batman on practically every level (money, power, intellect, hand to hand combat, etc) and his motivation for doing what he does is compelling on a multitude of levels. I also love that in many ways, Ra's Al Ghul is the exception to the rule when it comes to Batman villains. So yeah, Ra's Al Ghul is my favorite Batman villain with the Joker coming in at #2.

[Batman#22]

So we have Joker as #1 (no surprise there) Riddler as #2, Ra's Al Ghul as #3, Bane, Poison Ivy and Catwoman tied at #4, and Two-Face as #5. Pretty good list so far.

[hero talk]

any of gothams doctors

[batnbreakfast]

It's a three way tie between Scarecrow, Joker, and Bane. It was already hard enough to narrow it down to three villains, Batman's Rogues Gallery is just incredible. But I'm voting Scarecrow, he needs more stories.

I want to like Scarecrow but they are always telling the same story with him. Great takes were Dini's Heart of Hush, Batman Begins, Scarecrow Year One and some old school Alan Davis drawn stuff

[batnbreakfast]

any of gothams doctors

Doctor Hurt, Leslie Thompkins, Doctor Death, Hush... yep

[kingaliencracker]

I went with Joker, because how can you not?

But I will say that I get more excited for Two-Face stories, because he's used a lot less frequently than Joker and has a much better origin story.

[darkseidpwns]

This thread just made me realize how overexposed Scarecrow,Penguin and the Al Ghuls have been for the last several years. Jokers gets hate for it but these characters are just as bad. Bat writers should start working on Two-Face,Deadshot,Hugo Strange and Bane stories asap.

[kingaliencracker]

This thread just made me realize how overexposed Scarecrow,Penguin and the Al Ghuls have been for the last several years. Jokers gets hate for it but these characters are just as bad. Bat writers should start working on Two-Face,Deadshot,Hugo Strange and Bane stories asap.

Ra's al Ghul is a really good but difficult character. I think they've pretty much done all the good Ra's stories possible and most of the ones over the past decade or so have been rehashes of what's been done before.

Scarecrow is hit-or-miss with me. His schtick is so specific and repetitive that it's difficult to do new or different things with him.

I've never been a strong Penguin fan. His best portrayal for me was probably TAS but even then one of the worst episodes of the series, I'VE GOT BATMAN IN MY BASEMENT, featured his first appearance.

[williamtheday]

The Gong. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

[Huntsman1117]

1. Catwoman. She's a sensational wildcard who can be inspiring at times. She also brings out Batman's emotional side. I somewhat agree, however, that she isnt 100% villain.

2. The Penguin. He's a brilliant criminal businessman. He isn't hell-bent on destroying everything.

3. Poison Ivy. I like her ability to create and control plantlife, as well as her body's toxicity.

4. The Joker. I respect him as the most evil, terrifying, and deadly of all of DC's villains.

5. Ra's al Ghul. I respect him as one of Batman's wisest and most powerful foes. I also consider him distinguished and noble to his cause, despite being evil.

[Dr. Cheesesteak]

It's really hard for a character who has no set characterisation, history, origin, level of (in)sanity, level of volence, name... to be complex and interesting.

hmm, sounds like you actually disproved your point. All those "lacking" things can easily make someone interesting.

But yeah, Killing Joke, DKR, various TAS stories, Man Who Laughed, Joker... Not quite sure what you are talking about on a lot of those things. Lack of name - how is that uninteresting? Varying levels of insanity? Debatable, but even then, that sounds fairly complex (if you aren't to believe it's just writers writing him how they want. But same could be said about Batman's anger, Supes' altruism, etc).

[darkseidpwns]

Exactly. Yeah, there's definitely a duality between the constant flow of fan-love for a recent version of some character and how one-dimensional and cheesy he's been in the past. And what I said wasn't meant to bash or discredit Riddler fans (as I'm a huge Riddler fan myself). If anything, I was saying that any character, no matter how undervalued, obscure, or admittedly stupid they may seem at first (like a guy covered in question marks or a deformed midget with a trick umbrella or a man who lives in a walking refrigerator and talks in monotone), can still be "complex", "interesting", and, most importantly, relatable within the contents of their personality and backstory. I've defended Clayface, Killer Moth, and Bane on this thread, but still people knock on others like Black Mask, and seem to think that one bad story defines a character who simply just doesn't have that many stories in the first place. But look at Freeze before BTAS. Now what if that particular take on that character never came about, huh? He wouldn't even be on this list. Because people (fans especially) don't give characters and concepts a chance and just accept them at face-value. That's why writers like Scott Snyder, who respects every villain and would use any one of them in a future story, should be writing these things instead of some of the others out there; others who have this misconceived notion that creators and fans alike should hold one thing above the other simply because of their own, lazy creative thinking.

I think all this love for him could also be down to Joker fatigue as well or simply because he offers a type very similar to the clown prince but not as exposed,powerful and dangerous. Him being a loser might actually be the core of his appeal. It's certainly what I've seen from some Nightwing fans, an inferior, underpowered,more down to earth and not as exposed Batman is what many people want even if they have to settle on some other character to satisfy that wish.