Classic Rogues' Gallery
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of debut appearance).
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anarky | Detective Comics #608 (November 1989) | Anarky (Lonnie Machin), a teenage prodigy, creates improvised gadgets in order to subvert government. His violent methods set him, Batman, and Robin at odds. |
| Bane | Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993) | Masked villain Bane's immense strength comes from a steroid called Venom. His power and intellect make him one of Batman's most feared adversaries, and he once succeeded in breaking Batman's back. |
| Black Mask | Batman #386 (August 1985) | Black Mask (Roman Sionis) was a former businessman who hated both Bruce Wayne and Batman, wore a black mask (hence his alias), and led a vast organization of henchmen dubbed "the False Face Society" until Catwoman killed him. During Batman: Battle for the Cowl, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham (the former owner of Arkham Asylum) was driven insane and subsequently became the second Black Mask. |
| Blockbuster | Detective Comics #345 (November 1965) | Mark Desmond was a weak-bodied chemist until he experimented on himself and subsequently became a mindless brute who possesses super-strength dubbed "Blockbuster." However, he was eventually killed by a henchman of Darkseid after joining the Suicide Squad. Later, Roland Desmond (the original Blockbuster's older brother) was mutated into the second Blockbuster when he was treated with experimental steroids that gave him super-strength. He became a crime boss in Bludhaven, home of Nightwing. |
| Starman #9 (April 1989) | ||
| Calendar Man | Detective Comics #259 (September 1958) | Calendar Man (Julian Day) is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates (hence his alias). He often wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His best-known latter day appearance is in the miniseries Batman: The Long Halloween, where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a vigilante who uses holidays as his modus operandi. Calendar Man knows that Alberto Falcone is the Holiday Killer and keeps this information to himself, as he decides to taunt the heroes with cryptic clues instead. |
| Catman | Detective Comics #311 (January 1963) | Catman (Thomas Blake) was a world-famous trapper of jungle cats who turned to crime because he had grown bored with hunting and squandered most of his fortune. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a cat-suit made out of an ancient African cloth he believes gives him a "cat's nine lives." |
| Catwoman | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | Catwoman (Selina Kyle) is an accomplished jewel-thief with a taste for luxury. She is extremely agile and acrobatic. Although traditionally considered a villain, she has been portrayed more as an "anti-hero" in later publications. |
| Clayface | Detective Comics #40 (June 1940) | Actor Basil Karlo went mad when he learned that there would be a remake of one of his films with another actor in the lead role. Adopting the alias of the film's villain, "Clayface," his role, he attacked several of the remake's cast and crew at the points in filming when they were supposed to die before being stopped by Batman and Robin. Later he gained shapeshifting powers and became the Ultimate Clayface. |
| Detective Comics #298 (December 1961) | Treasure-hunter Matt Hagen was transformed into the monstrous Clayface II by a pool of radioactive protoplasm. He now possesses super-strength and can change his claylike body into any form. | |
| Detective Comics #478 (July 1978) | Preston Payne suffered from hyperpituitarism, so he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs to search for a cure. He obtained a sample of the then-living Matt Hagen's blood, isolating an enzyme which he introduced into his own bloodstream. However, his flesh began to melt, so he built an anti-melting exoskeleton to not only preserve himself, but to also prevent him from touching anyone, as he also gained the ability to melt people with a touch (although he soon learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive). He later met and fell in love with Sondra Fuller, and the two had a son named Cassius "Clay" Payne (who later became the fifth Clayface). | |
| Outsiders (vol. 1) #21 (July 1987) | Lady Clay (Sondra Fuller) has superpowers similar to that of the second Clayface. She met and fell in love with the third Clayface, and gave birth to Cassius "Clay" Payne (who later became the fifth Clayface). | |
| The Cluemaster | Detective Comics #351 (May 1966) | The Cluemaster (Arthur Brown) was a game show host until he turned to a life of crime. He is also the father of Stephanie Brown, also known as the Spoiler. The Cluemaster apparently died during the time that he was in the Suicide Squad. |
| Deadshot | Batman #59 (June/July 1950) | Deadshot (Floyd Lawton) is a suicidal assassin. He is considered to be the second greatest assassin in the DC Universe, the first being Deathstroke. |
| Firefly | Detective Comics #184 (June 1952) | Firefly (Garfield Lynns) is an orphan who became a pyromaniac, developing a fireproof suit with a flamethrower to further pursue his "hobby." He was originally known as a cunning criminal who invented numerous weapons that involve light to commit crimes with. |
| Harley Quinn | Batman: The Animated Series "Joker's Favor" (September 11, 1992) | Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum until she fell in love with him and subsequently reinvented herself as his madcap sidekick, Harley Quinn. She first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, before appearing in the comics. |
| Professor Hugo Strange | Detective Comics #36 (February 1940) | Professor Hugo Strange is an insane psychologist who uses his mastery of chemistry to create a serum that turns his victims into mindless brutes who obey his every command. It has also been implied that the idea for the Scarecrow's "fear-gas" came from Professor Hugo Strange. He has succeeded in deducing Batman's identity. |
| Hush | Batman #609 (November 2002) | Hush (Dr. Thomas Elliot) targets both Batman and Bruce Wayne (despite the fact that they were friends in childhood). Although his alias originates from a nursery rhyme, Hush lives up to it by using manipulation and guile instead of "noisy signatures." |
| The Joker | Batman #1 (Spring 1940) | The Joker's clownish appearance and big smile hide a devious mind bent on creating as much trouble as possible for his archenemy, Batman. His arsenal of weapons includes razor-cards, acid-spewing flowers, and laughing-gas. He is Batman's greatest enemy as well as the most famous and recurring. |
| KGBeast | Batman #417 (March 1988) | While ruthless assassin KGBeast (Anatoli Knyazev) was on a mission to assassinate Ronald Reagan, Batman caught his left wrist in a loop of the bat-rope, but KGBeast cut off his own hand with an axe in order to escape. He later returns with a cybernetic gun prosthetic attached to his wrist. He was amongst the villains who were executed by the second Tally Man in Batman: Face the Face. |
| Killer Croc | Detective Comics #523 (February 1983) | Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) has a medical condition that warped his body into a massive crocodile-like form. He possesses super-strength and is immune to toxins. |
| Killer Moth | Batman #63 (February 1951) | Cameron Van Cleer was a minor criminal who adopted the alias of Killer Moth, a Batman-like villain-helper. He is also famous for being the first villain defeated by Batgirl. Later he made a deal with the demon Neron, and became a monstrous, insect-like creature. |
| Lock-Up | Batman: The Animated Series "Lock-Up" In comics: Robin (vol. 2) #24 (January 1996) |
Lyle Bolton is a man specializing in incarceration and high tech security systems. He was discharged from the police academy for being too gung-ho, and dismissed from several security jobs (the animated version had worked at Arkham Asylum). He once set up a private prison for costumed villains. |
| The Mad Hatter | Batman #49 (October/November 1948) | The Mad Hatter (Jervis Tetch) was inspired by the lunacy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to commit crimes. He uses his mind-control technology to bend people to his will, and is never seen without a large and fantastic hat. He desires Batman's cowl, even if it means killing him. |
| Man-Bat | Detective Comics #400 (June 1970) | Dr. Kirk Langstrom invented a serum to give him echolocation (a sonar that bats use to guide them in the dark) to cure his growing deafness. Unfortunately, the serum had an unforeseen side-effect, transforming him into the monstrous Man-Bat. |
| Maxie Zeus | Detective Comics #483 (May 1979) | Maxie Zeus (Maximillian Zeus) was a former history teacher until he became an insane mob-boss with an obsession for Greek mythology. He usually used electricity-based weaponry to emulate the Greek god Zeus and at one point formed the New Olympians consisting of characters based on Greek Mythology characters. Later he was slain as a sacrifice to the god Ares by one of their sons. He popped up alive in later comics. |
| Mr. Freeze | Batman #121 (February 1959) as "Mr. Zero" (designation changed in the 1960s TV series) |
Mr. Freeze (Dr. Victor Fries) is a scientist whose invention of a freeze-gun went terribly wrong when it accidentally caused cryogenic chemicals to spill on himself. He now uses frozen weaponry and must wear a refrigerated ice-suit to survive. In The Animated Series and later in the comics it was revealed this was due to him trying to help his wife, who was frozen due to a terminal illness. |
| Owlman | Justice League of America #29 (August 1964) | Originally, Owlman is an unnamed superintelligent supervillain who was created as an evil counterpart to Batman and is a member of the criminal organization known as the Crime Syndicate of America who originated and operated on the reverse Earth-Three. In the New 52 continuity he was a Talon for the Court Of Owls until he betrayed them. |
| The Penguin | Detective Comics #58 (December 1941) | The Penguin (Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot) is a devious crime-boss who is seldom seen without one of his trick-umbrellas, and performs crimes based on birds. The Penguin uses his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, as a front for his criminal activities, which Batman tolerates for the sake of having him as an informant. |
| Poison Ivy | Batman #181 (June 1966) | Poison Ivy (Pamela Lillian Isley), a former student of advanced botanical biochemistry, employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes. She has the ability to control all plant life and can create new henchmen with her mutated seeds. She is immune to all plant-based poisons. Her powers also enable her to control the minds of men. |
| Professor Pyg | Batman #666 (July 2007) | Professor Pyg is a deranged gang leader who wears a pig mask and grafts synthetic doll faces onto his victims, whom he uses as henchmen called Dollotrons. He is also the leader of the Circus of the Strange. He also appears as an enemy of Damian Wayne in the future. |
| Prometheus | New Year's Evil:Prometheus Issue 1 | Prometheus is the son of two hippie criminals who committed murder and theft, Prometheus travelled across the USA with them until they were cornered and shot by local law enforcement. His hair turns white because of this experience, and he makes a vow to “annihilate the forces of justice” in revenge for the death of his parents. He has incredible skill and intelligence on various heroes. |
| Ra's al Ghul | Batman #232 (June 1971) | Ra's al Ghul ("demon's head" in Arabic) is a centuries-old eco-terrorist. He knows Batman's secret identity. He utilizes special pits known as Lazarus Pits which enable him to evade death, and live for centuries. He is the founder of the worldwide League of Assassins, though exactly when this occurred is unknown. |
| Red Hood | Detective Comics #168 (February 1951) | Red Hood was a petty criminal until he fell into a vat of chemicals. The toxic brew turned his skin white, his hair green, and his lips bright-red, giving him the appearance of a crazed clown. Adopting the alias of "the Joker," he henceforth started committing crimes that involve jokes and puns. Later a much younger crook stole the costume and impersonated the original, but was soon caught by Batman. |
| Batman #635 (December 2004) | Jason Todd, the second Robin, was killed by the Joker, who beat him half to death and left him in an exploding warehouse. Jason Todd was resurrected years later as the second Red Hood (which was ironically the Joker's old alias). Notoriously brutal in his run as Robin, he has proved the fact that he unsurprisingly does not have any problem with brutally punishing criminals whatsoever. | |
| The Riddler | Detective Comics #140 (October 1948) | The Riddler (Edward Nigma) is a criminal mastermind who has a strange compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles, puzzles, and word-games. He often carries a question-mark cane around with him. He recently learned Batman's identity, but kept it a secret to prevent Ghul from learning he had used the Lazarus pits without permission. |
| Simon Hurt | Batman #156 (June 1963) | Was originally an unnamed scientist in the story "Robin Dies at Dawn" and was later revived as Doctor Simon Hurt over 40 years later claiming to be Thomas Wayne (Batman's father) and leads the Black Glove and later the Club of Villains. It is later revealed he is an ancestor of Thomas Wayne also named Thomas Wayne who has become immortal due to an encounter with Hyper-Adapter. |
| The Scarecrow | World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) | The Scarecrow (Professor Jonathan Crane), an insane psychologist/biochemist who lost his job for his methods, specializes in the nature of fear. Dressed symbolically as a scarecrow, he employs special weapons, equipment, and techniques designed to use fear to his advantage in his crimes. His "fear-gas" stimulates the phobias of his victims. Coincidentally, he has a fear of bats. |
| Solomon Grundy | All-American Comics #61 (October 1944) | Cyrus Gold was a Gotham City merchant who was murdered and thrown into Slaughter Swamp, where he was transformed into an undead, superstrong zombie-like creature. Solomon Grundy was initially an enemy of the Golden Age Green Lantern, the large amount of wood in his body giving him protection against the power ring, and the Justice Society, but has both battled and aided various heroes during his multiple resurrections. He has battled Batman on a number of occasions, notably in The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. |
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee | Detective Comics #74 (April 1943) | Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Dumfrey and Deever Tweed) are a pair of cousins whose similar looks often have them mistaken for identical twins. Fat, lazy, and cowardly, the pair prefer to have henchmen do all their dirty work while they retire to a safe haven. The pair often wear costumes modeled on their namesakes from Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking-Glass. They are sometimes depicted as being henchmen of the Joker. |
| Two-Face | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) | Former district-attorney Two-Face (Harvey Dent) has an obsession with committing crimes themed around duality and opposites. He makes major decisions by flipping a two-headed coin on which one of the faces is scarred. One side of his face was scarred by a gangster in court throwing acid at him. Over the years, he has reformed at various times, with his face being surgically repaired, only to later adopt the alias of Two-Face again. |
| The Ventriloquist | Detective Comics #583 (February 1988) | The Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) is a small, mild-mannered ventriloquist. Under his dummy Scarface's psychological influence, the Ventriloquist is a dangerous crime-boss. It has been implied that the Ventriloquist suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. He was amongst the villains who were executed by the second Tally Man in Batman: Face the Face. However, the Ventriloquist eventually became a villainous Black Lantern foe for the Green Lantern. |
| Detective Comics #827 (March 2007) | The second Ventriloquist (Peyton Riley), called "Sugar" by Scarface, has surfaced in the pages of Detective Comics and has apparently been thought to be deceased (as part of her face is shown to be scarred). She is a more compatible partner than the original Ventriloquist was, since Scarface does not substitute the letter "B" with "G" anymore and is much more compliant with the dummy's brutal strategies. She and Scarface seem to have a relationship similar to that of the Joker and Harley Quinn. She is the former fiancee` of Hush (Dr. Thomas Elliot). | |
| Victor Zsasz | Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (June 1992) | Victor Zsasz, known as just Zsasz, is a serial killer. For nearly all of the murders he commits he uses a knife, and after his brutal stabbings, cuts a tally mark on to his own body. He took pleasure in liberating people from a "pointless existence" and was eventually diagnosed as insane by Arkham Asylum. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Batman Family Enemies, Super-villains and Themed Criminals
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