The Riddler

• Debut: Detective Comics #140 (October 1948)
• Created By: Bill Finger & Dick Sprang

The Riddler might not have superpowers, but he has constantly been a difficult problem for Batman. The reason? He is just as smart as Batman, but a complete wildcard who is sometimes impossible to read. That makes Riddler a true threat every time. His name alone sort of foreshadows this. His real name is Edward Nigma, which is meant to be a play on the word “enigma.” This is defined as a person or thing that is difficult to understand. People assume Riddler is only about being obsessed with elaborate riddles and puzzles. It is true that he enjoys testing Batman and attempting to prove his intellectual superiority, yet it is so much more than that.

Riddler is also obsessed with everyone knowing how smart he is. This is why he makes a theatrical production of sorts out of his crimes. Everything is over the top for him. Thus, he is begging for Batman or anyone else to try and stop him. Ultimately, his obsession leads him to even utilize other villains to help him pull off his insane plans. The interesting part is that usually, Riddler is committing a crime while he is putting Batman or the cops through his riddles and death traps. Thus proving his criminal mastermind tactics hold up well. There is a reason he’s one of the most notable Batman Rogues Gallery villains.

Bane

• Debut: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993)
• Created By: Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, Graham Nolan

Bane is not a big dumb moron-like the character has been presented at times. Bane’s story originally began badly. His father had been a revolutionary that escaped Santa Prisca before he could go to prison. Therefore, the court decided that his son would serve his father’s life sentence. This forced Bane to live out his entire childhood and part of his early life in prison. In spite of being imprisoned, Bane developed impressive skills as he learned from others. He also read as many books as he could, then spent any spare time bodybuilding in the prison gym. Of course, Bane ended up learning 6 languages due to the many prisoners that came through.

But he had to grow up early, ending the lives of prisoners due to the merciless nature of prison. Bane’s social standing in the prison made officials take notice, leading him to be a test subject for the “Venom” drug. One of the few to survive its use, Bane used the Venom to help him escape prison. Interestingly, Bane is terrified of bats so upon escaping he wanted to go to Gotham City. As they feared a bat too, the Batman, and now Bane wants to end Batman’s life. He seems to believe Batman is the personification of a demonic bat. Bane nearly does this as he iconically “broke the bat” when he broke Batman’s back, putting him out of action for a while.

Scarecrow

• Debut: World’s Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941)
• Created By: Bob Kane & Bill Finger

Dr. Jonathan Crane was mentally abused in school by bullies, many of which claimed he looked like Ichabod Crane from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This actually gave Crane a lifelong obsession with fear, and somehow weaponizing it. After being humiliated by a bully and rejected by a cheerleader, he shows up to the Senior Prom wearing a stereotypical Scarecrow costume with a gun. In all of this chaos, the bully gets into a car accident and is paralyzed permanently while the crash ends the life of the cheerleader. Still obsessed with fear, he earns a psychology degree and ends up taking a position at Arkham Asylum.

There, he performs many fear-inducing experiments on the criminals. He ends up perfecting the infamous “fear toxin” there and often uses it on others, including Batman, to avoid being caught. Utilizing fear forces people to see things that are not really there, as they see the very thing they are afraid of. Also, unlike the other Batman Rogues Gallery villains, Scarecrow is not committing crimes for money. Rather, it is for the ultimate thrill and power of making people fear for their lives. Of course, while he is smart, Scarecrow is also very experienced with multiple weapons and has shown impressive hand-to-hand combat skills too.

Ra’s al Ghul

• Debut: Batman #232 (June 1971)
• Created By: Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, Julius Schwartz

Whether he is called “the demon” or “the demon’s head,” Ra’s al Ghul is certainly a massive threat. As the leader of the League of Assassins, he helped to train several notable villains Batman has fought over the years. In some versions of Batman’s history, Bruce Wayne actually trained with the League to become the superhero he is today. While other villains are experienced, Ra’s al Ghul goes well beyond that as he has been alive for a very long time. The length will depend on the story, but it usually tends to be several hundred years. Thus, he has learned from many major warriors throughout history. How does he stay alive so long?

He is about to achieve this through a series of Lazurus Pits, which can heal the body and even bring some back to life. Due to his long life, he’s one of the greatest tacticians Batman has ever faced. Ra’s is also a better hand-to-hand fighter than Batman, as he knows nearly every martial art to ever exist. He has gotten in Batman’s path several times over the years, with one incident involving al Ghul trying to level Gotham entirely. Ra’s is not without honor and usually refuses to lie as a result. In spite of being one of the best Batman Rogues Gallery villains, Bruce Wayne is his grandson’s father. Thus, he often refuses to end Batman’s life.

The Joker

• Debut: Batman #1 (April 1940)
• Created By: Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson

Joker has done some horrific things in his long history, but he has no true origin that helps us know why he is as he is. Yet often, he realized he could not really ever hurt Batman physically enough for it to matter. Thus, he went after others he loved. In the infamous “Death in the Family” storyline, Joker ends Jason Todd’s life. Of course, Todd was Batman’s newest Robin. This was a massive blow, but Joker didn’t care. During The Killing Joke storyline, The Joker finds out Barbara Gordon is Batgirl. This leads him to track her down and “sexually assault” her, while also beating her to an inch of her life.

She was also paralyzed in the incident, and DC Comics kept this canon for the mainline universe. It does not stop there, as Joker has also done things like blow up a school and hospital. Perhaps his most recent horrifying action was making Superman think Lois Lane was Doomsday, thus resulting in the Man of Steel flying into space with her. Lane was pregnant and contained a timer connected to her heart. If her heart stopped, the timer would too. Which had been connected to several bombs all over Metropolis. Which meant he lost his wife, unborn child, and Metropolis in minutes all due to a joke by The Joker. He is the greatest villain, so how could he not be the best of the Batman Rogues Gallery villains?

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