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Every generation has a caped crusader for their times. It’s the same with villains. SPYSCAPE breaks down 10 of Batman’s most iconic arch-enemies over the decades, delving into their psychology and some of their lesser-known weaknesses.
10. Professor Hugo Strange
Hugo Strange’s enmity with the Dark Knight stretches back to 1940, making him Batman’s first major villain. He’s a psychologist and chemist who knows Batman’s not-so-secret identity. The world of Batman is, without a doubt, a psychodrama that explores justice, identity, and the nature of psychosis. Hugo Strange sets the bar high and early in a way that would make Greek tragedians weep.
Weakness: Hugo Strange is obsessed with Batman/Bruce Wayne. Initially, in Batman: Prey, he was weak, scholarly, and envious of Batman’s physical strength - even wearing a replica Batman costume in private - but Strange has evolved into a strong (albeit still unstable) villain.
9. Harley Quinn
A firm fan favorite, Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn) has been battling - and sometimes allying - with Batman since the 1990s. Originally created as a comic relief henchwoman for Joker (hence the hom*ophone Harlequin, a Renaissance clown) she’s a former psychiatric Ph.D. gone bad. She’s been Joker’s love interest, Poison Ivy’s best friend, and a core member of the Suicide Squad - a very adaptable character, which has made her popular in comic books, an animated TV series, and movies.
Weakness: Harley Quinn appears to be fearless, yet she doesn’t have enhanced strength, speed, or metahuman powers, making her vulnerable to physical attacks from her more powerful opponents. Initially, the Joker was also Harley’s weakness - she’d welcome him back no matter how difficult he’d been - although she may have finally wisened up.
8. Scarecrow
The supervillain Scarecrow made his comic book debut in 1941, although some Bat-fans might only know him from Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy (played by Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy). Scarecrow’s real name is Dr. Jonathan Crane, a genius professor of psychology at Gotham State University who turned to crime after getting fired. Scarecrow’s motivation isn’t fame, power, or wealth. It’s a scientific interest. He gets his kicks by inflicting pure fear on other humans (using his fear gas) and seeing how they react.
Weakness: Scarecrow’s weakness is his anxiety disorder. He is also addicted to and obsessed with fear, including a fear of bats and a fear of crows after being attacked at his family’s aviary.
7. Ra’s al Ghul
Ra’s al Ghul is a supervillain, leader of the League of Assassins, and a key Batman adversary. Like Bruce Wayne, he’s independently wealthy and a martial arts master who happens to be the grandfather of Damian Wayne (son of Talia al Ghul and Batman) so it’s about as complicated as family relationships get. In even worse news for the family dynamic: he’s immortal.
Weakness: Ra’s al Ghul is vulnerable to mental Illness. The Lazarus Pits restore Ra’s al Ghul’s health but temporarily drive him mad, making him violent and unable to control himself.
6. Poison Ivy
A villain for our times, Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley is the green-fingered botanist with a poisonous touch who will do anything to save the planet. She made her first appearance in 1966, which may account for her barefoot, hippy look. She’s a complicated character with a mixture of human and plant DNA.
Weakness: A lack of sunlight will progressively weaken Poison Ivy’s powers as she is a human-plant hybrid. Perhaps even more important, however, is her mental instability. When Poison Ivy became a supervillain, she was driven insane and is often portrayed as a mad genius.
5. The Joker
The Clown Prince of Crime is a criminal mastermind who qualifies as one of the top supervillains of all time, in any universe. He is Batman’s arch-nemesis introduced in Batman #1 in 1940. Previously, Batman had been in Detectives Comics, but within a year he was allotted his own title. He’s had as many reboots and redesigns as the Dark Knight himself, and his origin story has been retold to each generation in a different way. Like all of Batman’s foes, and like Gotham City itself, he’s larger than life. He is the stuff of nightmares and an icon of pop culture.
Weakness: In Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), the Joker (Jack Nicolson) is a reckless, gangster psychopath whereas in Heath Ledger's Dark Knight (2008) Joker has no conscience, no empathy, and no concern over what is right and what is wrong. Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) in The Joker (2019) has lost touch with reality and is portrayed as a mentally ill, impoverished party clown with a history of abuse. Arguably the Joker’s greatest weakness is his ego, however. He turns to crime to get the attention he desperately craves from Batman.
4. Two-Face
Though not as famous as the Penguin, the Riddler or the Joker, Two-Face encapsulates the spirit of Gotham and the Batman universe. Born Harvey Dent, Two-Face was a high-flying young district attorney and friend of Bruce Wayne until a criminal threw acid in his face. It left him horribly disfigured, and turned him into a villain - but not always. He’s obsessed with duality and tosses a double-headed coin (with one head disfigured) to decide whether to do the right thing or the criminal thing. Good and evil. Right and wrong. Light and dark. He’s Gotham to a T.
Weakness: Two-Face appears to have a personality disorder. He is angry at the world and upset about his disfigurement yet doesn’t want to think of himself as a bad person. Two-Face’s main weakness, however, is his inability to make decisions involving right and wrong. He often leaves these choices to chance - using the flip of a coin to make decisions - yet he may also continue tossing the coin until he gets the answer he wants.
3. Catwoman
Selina Kyle, or Catwoman, is an orphaned Gotham City cat burglar and jewel thief who has learned how to survive on the streets with style. She’s been Batman’s adversary and frenemy since 1940, so the pair have history. She’s evolved from being a supervillain to a superhero and the love of Batman’s life. Like everything else in Batman’s world, it is all very complicated with shades of dark, which is exactly what fans want from a feline femme fatale. Weakness:
2. The Riddler
Riddle me this: Who is one of the Top 10 Batman villains? Born Edward ‘E’ Nigma, the Riddler became obsessed with puzzles when he became a criminal mastermind. He appeared in 1948 as a one-off character but returned for the iconic 60s TV series. When his popularity took off, he became a comic-book mainstay. So much of Batman is light and dark, but the Riddler, though undoubtedly a dangerously deranged criminal, takes the story in a different direction.
Weakness: The Riddler is often thought of as the most narcissistic, egotistical Batman villain. His desire to send riddles and puzzles is both a compulsion and a weakness. When he commits a crime, he can't stop himself from leaving behind a riddle. As Batman #98 shows, however, the Riddler hates games and getting played - making him vulnerable to his own obsession.
1. The Penguin
Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, is an iconic mega-villain. He’s been part of every generation of Batman’s development, and his TV portrayal by Burgess Meredith is almost as pop-culture famous as the late, great, Adam West. The Penguin has gone through many iterations, from umbrella-wielding mobster to scary psychopath. But in most versions, he is more of a Gotham underworld boss than an international terrorist. Unlike many of Batman’s adversaries, he’s eccentric, not criminally insane. For sheer longevity, cultural influence - and for bucking the madness trend - he is undoubtedly one of Batman’s most-loved enemies.
Weakness: The Penguin has a Napoleon complex - a small man who wants to be big. He extends his height with his hat and his personal space with an umbrella. Tim Burton turned the villain into a penguin-like animal with an inferiority complex. He is thin-skinned and sensitive to being mocked by others - so much so that the Penguin will avenge those who make fun of him, even if his decisions aren’t rational.
