Who are the most underrated Batman villains? In my opinion I would say that Riddler and Mr Freeze have so much potential to challenge the dark knight on different levels. The Riddler can match wits with Batman like no other villain can except for Ras. Mr Freeze certainly has a lot more to offer, just look at what he was able to do in BTAS. What do you think?

You mentioned the 2 most overrated Batman villains.

The Joker.
BB

Zeiss doesn't get enough love.

The Penguin

The Cavalier

Captain Stingaree

Killer Moth

Polka-Dot Man/Mr. Polka-Dot (or whatever you call him...)

Maxie Zeus

Humpty Dumpty

Calendar Man

Kite-Man

Crazy Quilt

Seriously guys, I can do this all night...

I would say Riddler is underused not overrated, same goes for Mister Freeze I guess, both are great villains who should be used more but I think people know what they're capable of.

Did no one mention it yet? I always had this thing for Mad Stan - Blow it all up Batman!

Underrated? The Reaper (Phantasm, for you children of BTAS).

Underused? Scarface (the original, not the lame fem replacement), and lord I want the old Dummy character to replace the puppet someday.

Missed? RIP Magpie - I loved her because I consider her to be the last of the theme villains. She was killed off in some footnote manner though.

@FOOFAN007 said:

Who are the most underrated Batman villains? In my opinion I would say that Riddler and Mr Freeze have so much potential to challenge the dark knight on different levels. The Riddler can match wits with Batman like no other villain can except for Ras. Mr Freeze certainly has a lot more to offer, just look at what he was able to do in BTAS. What do you think?

Villains made top tier since 1966 Batman show ( Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler) are not underrated.

Freeze, despite appearing on the show as well, was underrated, throughout the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties. Since animated series' success, "thawed out" from his previous death around late 1993-early1994 in the comics, and been a regular player since.

Number of underrateds:

Hugo Strange (despite his reputation among fans, always been used sparsely in the comics, yes, even sparser than Ra's)

Clayface (Preston Payne)

Maxie Zeus

Calendar Man (seriously, I never understood why so many people call him loser)

Cornelius Stirk

Tally Man

Cavalier

TweedleDee and TweedleDum

Doctor Phosphorus

Terrible Trio

...By the way, Scarface is NOT underrused - he / it was used plenty throughout the nineties and noughties.

@ngroove: AH! That's where you reveal the subjective nature of the word "underused!" Yes, Scarface was seen many times, but imo, not enough. I just like it that they have kept up the idea that the dummy might be alive, might not. If the original dummy was ever updated to take the place of the wooden puppet on the Ventriloquist's lap, then the pure, psychotic way they would be enabling each other would be twisted beyond belief, but make for some excellent characterization.

Killer Croc, no one else comes close.

Calendar Man.

Zsaz.

There's so much that could be done with him that would put him in Joker territory.

I always loved the Reaper as he appeared in the Batman Year Two story arc. Have always been disappointed he's never been brought back as a real threat. Not necessarily the original man behind the mask (as he would be about 370 by now) but a real, viable Reaper. His costume was awesome and he really stood as Batman's opposite.

In my mind, he was always someone who should have been up there at the top and if DC have the contract, i have the story that could bring him back in amazing fashion (come on DC! Surely you;ve got nothing against giving one of your flag ship characters over to a complete unknown to right do ya? DO YA!?)

@feebadgersaid:

I always loved the Reaper as he appeared in the Batman Year Two story arc. Have always been disappointed he's never been brought back as a real threat. Not necessarily the original man behind the mask (as he would be about 370 by now) but a real, viable Reaper. His costume was awesome and he really stood as Batman's opposite.

In my mind, he was always someone who should have been up there at the top and if DC have the contract, i have the story that could bring him back in amazing fashion (come on DC! Surely you;ve got nothing against giving one of your flag ship characters over to a complete unknown to right do ya? DO YA!?)

@feebadger

Of course, not the original man, because as of the end of the story, he, Judson Caspian is DEAD.

Didn't stop a couple reprises, both different individuals wearing the costume of course, pretty far-and-between, the FULL CIRCLE prestige from 1991, which had the Wayne killer's son, Joey Chill Jr. assuming the fright suit, and the Batman 1980s RETROACTIVE from 2010. And remember, overexposure may exponentially dilute the threat of even the scariest looking figures.

:

The Reaper is definitely one of them. Never got to pick up the RetroActive issue with him.

One of the most Under Rated to me, is Ragman.

Kyodai Ken

The Penguin, Clayface, and Zsaz.

Man... there are so many great, underrated Batman villains. For starters, Penguin. He has the potential to be such a perfect villain for Gotham City, and yet, most of the time, he comes across dull and one-dimensional. I'd like to see him be a mob-influenced public figure with the ability to pull major strings in the city. Next up, Croc. I'd like to see him less animalistic and a legitimate killer/cannibal--like a truly terrifying, sadistic villain. I'd love to see more of Black Mask--wouldn't change much, just feel he's not used enough.

Killer Croc without a doubt. And not just underrated, misused. He started off a crime boss that would put Black Mask to shame, and now he's just an extremely one dimensional cannibal.

And a lot of one off villains that are way too numerous to name.

I reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly like what they're doing with N52 Scarecrow. He seemed a bit underused before Arkham War.

KILLER MOTH

Surely Riddler is underestimated, but also Mr Freeze, Man Bat and Killer Croc.

Two-face is my fav batman villain after the joker and I feel as though he get's no respect sometimes

Killer Croc, Deathstroke, Mr Freeze.

Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, and Zsasz. I'll edit this if I can think of anyone else.

Manbat

Clayface III, Zsasz, Stirk, Corrosive Man,

I wish we saw more of the less known Bat-Villains in Battles, especially with all the "Vs Spider-Villains" threads

Could the Corrosive Man give problems to Doctor Octopus?

Who would Cornellius Stirk appear as for Electro? could he get close enough to hurt him?

etc etc

I'm tempted to pick characters who I think have been misused, like Croc or Bane. Both had a lot of depth but have become flat and 2 dimensional, but despite not living up to their full potential are still very popular.

So I'm going to pick Firefly a character who doesn't seem to be popular. He is treated like a throw away character even though there is potential for depth. A good writer could do a lot with him.

Firefly often struck me as wasted potential. A thrill-seeking pyromaniac with a whole army battalion's worth of explosive gear? I'd say you could work some great depths to a guy like that.

Killer Croc needs to become less of a joke. He's basically a big, dumb punching bag now. Give him some intelligence, some terrifying craftiness back.

Hugo Strange has the potential to easily become a Batman A-Lister, ahead of guys like Scarecrow and the Riddler. Instead he keeps getting wasted, the most egregious example being Batman: Arkham City, whose treatment of Strange's character as a weak lackey in a nonsensical plot twist still pisses me off to this day. It was that insultingly infuriating. Paul Dini does not know how to write Hugo Strange, at all.

Clayface is basically your go-to shape-shifter in Batman's rogues' gallery. He really needs more depth to flesh him out. B:TAS, as much as it worked wonders for characters like Mr. Freeze, really missed the boat with him.

Maxie Zeus...they really just need to give him electric super-powers already. And make more use of that fascinating obsession he has with the gods of Olympus, and his delusions of divinity.

Planet Master, Zebra-Man, and the Spook could also use more love.

Poison ivy. I'm still waiting for her to have a huge batman story arc.

K.G.Beast....

Anarky.

@cbishop: he is more underutilized than underused he got a lot to do in the late 90's but was not really given story's that felt like a scare face story but rather like a b list penguin.

@orangebat: I completely agree about strange, every villian in city was tied together by stupid coincidences and were treated like " oh look they think there as good as the amazing joker, how adorable" I really hate how dini only cares for villians he reinvented or made.

Anarchy is a great character that they could do a lot with.

any body that's not Joker is underrated

Ratcatcher.

Man Bat and the great white shark are one of the most underrated.

The Spook was a very prominent Bronze Age villain but after the Crisis just faded into obscurity. I think most people will remember him as the bad guy Damian decapitated.

Carmine Falcone.

He was a ruller of Gotham. he recently got back to the pages at Batman Eternal. Hope it will be a good arc.

Ras Au Ghul. Easily the most dangerous villain when talking about on a world level

@foofan007: Baby Doll.

Reaper and Killer Croc....

Seriously Croc needs a buff or something.

KGBeast