In my opinion, I think it's Deathstroke. I know they're only faced each other a handful of times, but each time they fight, Batman can barely hold his own against him. Not to mention that Deathstroke has beaten Batman more than vice versa.

Joker

/thread

Toughest time in a fist fight? There are several.

All-around in general.

I'd say Joker. Talia seems to be making her way up there though.

@PlaystationFanboy said:

All-around in general.

Maybe Ras.

Deathstroke is not Batman's villain but yeah.He has given him some hard time.

Killer Croc, Ra's, Poison Ivy

Batman has stated that the joker's fighting style is predictible

Didn't Bane break his back? Sounds like a hard time to me.

Batman's greatest challenge in his crime fighting career is resisting the urge to end his enemies. No villain tests his limits in that department more than The Joker.

I'm going to go with the one that has the most momentum at the moment, and that is hands-down Talia al Ghul.

Crippling the bat is a huge feat so bane deserves a mention

I would say definitely The Joker, and also the Riddler. But more The Riddler as a distraction

Joker, Ra's (and maybe Talia).

                   

Didn't Bane break his back? Sounds like a hard time to me.

                   

               

It's gotta be ra's hands down.

The reason being, almost every other villain has been quickly defeated at some time or another. Even Joker was once defeated within four pages of a comic. With Ra's, it's always a long drawn out story and all his followers willingly kill themselves for him.

Overall Ra's and Bane.

I'll agree with the majority that Ras al Ghul gives Batman the toughest time. My reason being, as Red_Jack said above, that Batman can never seem to defeat him with ease. Whenever Bruce goes up against Ras it is a intricate and drawn out battle for Bruce which is fought in a variety of ways often due to Ras' great many sources.

That being said, while I think that Ras gives Batman the hardest time, I think that Batman would rather go up against him 100 times than he would go up against the Joker once. Though more easily taken down, I feel like the Joker is the villain that makes Batman think to himself, "Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it be anybody else?"

its a tough one...Joker is my vote

Each give him a tough time in different ways.

Joker

Ras

Bane

Everyone is wrong! What about the petty thief that gunned down Bruce's parents?

Although I would say Joker, he's just a sheer menace.

Dr Hurt deserves a mention

@tobiasPUNK The question was who gives batman the toughest time...that incident was pre batman though :O

@entropy_aegis said:

Overall Ra's and Bane.

not joker

Ra's Al Ghul

Ima Go with Bane!!! Bane manhandles Batman. He has broken his back and buried him alive next to his parents coffin. But Joker messes him up Mentally. Id still go with bane though.

What about the Court of Owls? Sure they might be fairly new but from what we've seen they've plagued Bruce since he was a child. It took him years just to even prove they existed and once they captured him put him under intense psychologicl torture. During the night of owls he had to fiht an army of Talons in his own home and it took the entire bat family to help stop them all. Then there's also the fact that they were run by his 'brother' which is definetely had a huge impact on Bruce. And finally in the end he only ended up stopping a small group of the Court so they'll be plaguing him again in the future

Joker and Ra's get this tittle

I don't think any villain creates more metaphysical torture for Batman than Joker. It is his shadow self.