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    Batman

    Character » Batman appears in 23651 issues.

    Bruce Wayne, who witnessed the murder of his billionaire parents as a child, swore to avenge their deaths. He trained extensively to achieve mental and physical perfection, mastering martial arts, detective skills, and criminal psychology. Costumed as a bat to prey on the fears of criminals, and utilizing a high-tech arsenal, he became the legendary Batman.

    If Batman's Rogues Gallery...

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    batshrine

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    #1  Edited By batshrine

    So what makes Batman's rogues gallery so special (in my eyes) is that they are all representative of different part of Batman with an evil twist.

    You have...

    The Joker: Total opposite of Batman

    Man-Bat: Take the Bat theme to a new extreme

    The Riddler: Batman has one of the world's smartest minds

    Mr. Freeze: Emotionless driven by lost love

    Scarecrow: Villains are a superstitious and cowardly lot

    Bane: Physical prowess

    Catwoman: Imagine a selfish Batman, also both are really sexy

    Hush: Wealthy children, but one of them hated his parents

    Lock-Up: Ethics and crime fighting don't mix?

    Mad-Hatter: Controlling

    Penguin: Bruce has always been loved, so was Oswald.

    Ra's Al Ghul: Resources let you do many things

    Wrath: Children witnessing parents death, same day too!

    And the list goes on, but what about Clayface, Black Mask, or Killer Croc? How are they a reflection of Batman? And can you think of other villains that reflect different parts of Batman psychology, or life?

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    r3d_rob1n

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    #2  Edited By r3d_rob1n

    @batshrine: The original Black Mask was Roman Sionis, the son of a wealthy steel entrepreneur. He was not as loved by his parents, compared to Bruce. So a reflection similar to Hush's

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    MasterDetective

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    #3  Edited By MasterDetective

    batman is controlling?

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    Greenflashlight

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    #4  Edited By Greenflashlight

    Catman anyone?

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    raecinio

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    #5  Edited By raecinio

    You forgot about Two-Face

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    cosmo111687

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    #6  Edited By cosmo111687

    I agree that each member of Batman's rogue's gallery is a reflection of Batman, but I see it more like this:

    The Joker: Joker is like the Id to Batman's Super Ego. Joker is a representation of complete madness and chaos while Batman is a representation of complete sanity and order.

    Man-Bat: I don't consider him a very significant member of Batman's rogue gallery, really, but I agree that it takes the theme of being a Bat to it's extreme.

    The Riddler: The Riddle is about challenging Batman's intellect so that he's more than just a costumed super hero that uses his fists.

    Mr. Freeze: Both Mr. Freeze and Batman have lost people who are very close to them and are obsessively driven to find closure for their loss, though they deal with it in different ways.

    Scarecrow: Takes the theme of fear, and Batman striking fear into the hearts of others, to it's extremes. Scarecrow is also used brilliantly to reveal deeper aspects of each character's psyche: the same fear gas can yield different result if it infects Batman, Riddler, or Joker. (In the last case, it has no effect at all...)

    Bane: Bane is like the opposite of Riddler in that he tests Batman's physical strength and endurance.

    Catwoman: Catwoman exists to challenge Batman's black and white view of the world by revealing to him it's many shades of gray. She also learns from Batman the importance of trust, a quality that she doesn't usually extend to other humans unless if they've been victimized like her.

    Hugo Strange: Many fans of Batman desire to be Batman, and Hugo Strange takes that desire and pushes it to it's most perverted extreme.

    Hush: Hush is more of antagonist for Bruce Wayne than Batman. Unlike Hugo Strange, Hush doesn't want to be Batman. He wants to be Bruce Wayne.

    Lock-Up: Lock-Up is what Batman might become if he allows his methods to become too draconian.

    Two-Face: Two-Face is about the seemingly arbitrary nature of fate and how it effects people in unjust ways. In order to cope with a world that doesn't have any order, Two-Face flips a coin to decide what is a just action and what is unjust and follows the coin's ruling completely. Also, the name Two-Face is meant to be a jab at politicians who promise one thing and do another.

    Mad Hatter: Two central themes of Batman have been madness and free-will. Mad Hatter has the ability to subdue even the greatest criminal minds, but at the cost of taking their free-will which is against Batman's personal code of ethics. Batman would like to see criminals like Poison Ivy and Killer Croc locked away to prevent them from harming others, but he also wants them to reform by their own free-will. Also, Mad Hatter imbues Batman's world with a very twisted and dark Carrollian aesthetic that fits it well.

    Penguin: Penguin is very much like Bruce Wayne in that he is born into money, but he doesn't have any of Bruce's handsome features or jovial personality and as such is open to mockery and abuse. In order to negate the effects of that abuse, Penguin turns incredibly violent against those who would undermine him.

    Ra's Al Ghul: Ra's Al Ghul is a depiction of what Batman might become if he was given an eternity to fight for his cause. The idea being that, if given enough time to view civilizations rise and fall, Batman would eventually become jaded and would lose all hope for humanity. You see elements of this happening in The Dark Knight Returns when Batman gives up the cowl and becomes the leader of his own personal army.

    Poison Ivy: Similar to Ra's Al Ghul, Poison Ivy doesn't have much respect for humanity and is more concerned with protecting the environment. She especially despises big cities, Gotham City especially because it best represents the worst aspects of urbanization with it's pollution, crime, corruption, and complete detachment from nature.

    Harley Quinn: Harley Quinn is Joker's Robin. As a former psychologist, she shows that even the most sane people are capable of being complete fools. I also like to think that, on some level, Batman strongly desires having a long-term relationship someone and settling down. But Batman isn't selfish enough to do that because he knows that he couldn't devote himself fully to his partner because he made a promise to his parents that he would rid Gotham of crime. Joker, on the other hand, is completely selfish and couldn't care less for Harley even though she's absolutely the perfect woman for him. In a way, Joker's relationship is a slap to Batman's face because he takes for granted what Batman can never have.

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    bigcimmerian

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    #7  Edited By bigcimmerian

    I agree with everything except the Bane part, he tests Bruce both mentally and physically and also he is the smartest of Bats villains

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    cosmo111687

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    #8  Edited By cosmo111687

    @BigCimmerian: He supposedly has above average intelligence, but he most definitely is not the smartest Batman villain. Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and Hugo Strange are all brilliant scientists at the top of their fields and The Riddler's whole shtick is being a genius. I haven't read everything with Bane in it, so you might be able to cite one of his feats of intelligence, but everything I've read has depicted Bane as nothing more than an over-sized thug and warlord.

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    bigcimmerian

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    #9  Edited By bigcimmerian

    @cosmo111687 said:

    @BigCimmerian: He supposedly has above average intelligence, but he most definitely is not the smartest Batman villain. Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and Hugo Strange are all brilliant scientists at the top of their fields and The Riddler's whole shtick is being a genius. I haven't read everything with Bane in it, so you might be able to cite one of his feats of intelligence, but everything I've read has depicted Bane as nothing more than an over-sized thug and warlord.

    He actually has genius level intelligence, he is not scientist, he is brilliant tactician, knows many languages, and is good in nearly every science. Ra's al Ghul said that Bane has mind equal to the greatest minds he knows

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    cosmo111687

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    #10  Edited By cosmo111687

    @BigCimmerian: Ah, alright. Though I think a) that's a pretty common skill-set among Batman villains and b) I think Dennis O'Neil was just trying to make Bane seem more impressive. But that's fair enough. Still, I think that in the end Bane doesn't test Batman's intellect nearly as much as his strength and endurance. Almost every confrontation between the two has boiled down to who can hit the other one the hardest.

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    blackadamFTW

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    #11  Edited By blackadamFTW
    • The Joker: Completely evil. He's a classic.
    • The Riddler: He's different from the other villains. He's creative, and I like that.
    • Mr. Freeze: Isn't really that evil. He does everything for his wife, and that's just cool.
    • Scarecrow: My favorite Batman Rogue. He's the embodiment of evil and fear, and he's just so darn cool.
    • Bane: He's arguably the most dangerous Batman villain having broken his back. He can challenge him mentally and physically.
    • Catwoman: A good love interest for Batman.
    • Hush: He's a cool idea. I haven't read Hush yet, but he seems pretty cool. Someone who can challenge both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
    • Mad-Hatter: He's plain old coo-coo.
    • Penguin: I don't know what to say about Penguin. I've never been too much of a fan of him, but he's not bad.
    • Ra's Al Ghul: Is bad, but not completely evil. He's like Bane in the fact that can test him physically and mentally.
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    batshrine

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    #12  Edited By batshrine

    Love it! And any thoughts on Killer Croc, and Clayface? And how about the new villains? Professor Pyg? Court of Owls? etc!

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    Annex

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    #14  Edited By Annex

    Whats the thing about clayface?

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    entropy_aegis

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    #15  Edited By entropy_aegis

    @cosmo111687 said:

    @BigCimmerian: He supposedly has above average intelligence, but he most definitely is not the smartest Batman villain. Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and Hugo Strange are all brilliant scientists at the top of their fields and The Riddler's whole shtick is being a genius. I haven't read everything with Bane in it, so you might be able to cite one of his feats of intelligence, but everything I've read has depicted Bane as nothing more than an over-sized thug and warlord.

    You cant really compare Bane with anyone of these guys,he's a strategist and tactician.It's like comparing guys like Sun Tzu,Machiavelli and Kautiliya with guys like Newton,Einstein etc.

    With that said,Bane is more consistent that Freeze(what's he done anyway?) and Riddler(whom he has already outsmarted).I only see Hatter being possibly more intelligent and that due to his showings in Final Crisis.

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    ms__omega

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    #16  Edited By ms__omega

    Clayface is my favorites he could be anyone or anything your parents your friend you wont know until its too late.

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    ngroove

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    #17  Edited By ngroove

    Killer Croc - read Batman #359 - pure, brutal, bestial rage, long bubbled over from years of violent prejudice of the color, texture, of his skin.

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    TheePenguin

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    #18  Edited By TheePenguin

    Penguin: Is evil and anyone who hurt his pride will pay, but he does it while staying safe from the law. He is as I would say Lawful Evil, and is really cruel.

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    Dracade102

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    #19  Edited By Dracade102

    Surprised Zsasz hasn't been mentioned, going off the deep end the way he did being as wealthy as he was after his parent's death...

    Two-Face could be a reflection of Batman's own double identity... He could represent the worst case scenario of what if Bruce Wayne and Batman couldn't be two separate people anymore, or something along those lines...

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    renamed040924

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    #20  Edited By renamed040924

    @BigCimmerian said:

    I agree with everything except the Bane part, he tests Bruce both mentally and physically and also he is the smartest of Bats villains

    Arguable.

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    SupBatz

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    #21  Edited By SupBatz

    @nickzambuto said:

    @BigCimmerian said:

    I agree with everything except the Bane part, he tests Bruce both mentally and physically and also he is the smartest of Bats villains

    Arguable.

    Agreed. I never liked how they tried tobuilt Bane as the genius. His whole character is built around being impossibly strong. Giving him a genius level intellect seems to be (as @cosmo111687: mentioned previously) an attempt to make him seem more badass. I don't mind him to be pretty smart but treating him like a genius is unnecessary.

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    christianrapper

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    actually a lot of batman's villains are just carbon copies of each other. a lot of them seems to be different versions of the joker. what's the point of the riddler? most of his villains have that insane humor thing going on.

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