The Top 25 Batman Villains (5-2)

The Top 25 Batman Villains (5-2)
We countdown the members of the top five as we reach the home stretch.


5. Bane
Real Name: Unknown
First Appearance: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993)

Bane

Doomed to serve out the life sentence of his father behind the prison walls of Peña Duro, located in Santa Prisca.  Locked up with the most infamous prisoners as a child, Bane learned that if he were to survive he must better himself.  He began reading every book he could, vigorously working out in the prison gymnasium, and training in combat among the prisoners.  Rising up among the prisoners, by the time he was a young adult, Bane had become the undisputed "king" of the prison.  The prison guards realized this and forced Bane to participate as a test subject for an experimental steroid called "venom" that had killed all the other test subjects.  However, Bane found that he not only survived the experiment, but that his strength had been enhanced by the drug.  Using his newly acquired power to escape from the prison, Bane traveled to Gotham City as he had heard legends of the Batman, who struck fear into all the criminals, and was curious to test his skills against him.  Knowing the direct approach would be foolish, Bane freed several of the Arkham Asylum inmates forcing Batman to hunt them down while Bane followed and observed him, deducing his secret identity in the process.  When Batman was at the point of exhaustion from fighting these criminals, Bane took the opportunity to strike, breaking in to Wayne Manor and defeating Batman in combat before striking the final blow of breaking the Batman's back over his knee.  After this Bane began to take control of Gotham's criminal underground before he was defeated by Bruce Wayne's temporary replacement, Azrael.  Though Bane's major weakness is his dependence on the venom steroid, of which he has tubes pumping it into his body, he will still be known as the only villain to break the Bat.

Recommended Reading:

Prelude to Bane's Appearance:

• Batman: Venom

Featuring Bane:

• Batman: Vengeance of Bane
• Batman: Knightfall

4. Two-Face

Real Name: Harvey Dent

First Appearance: Detective Comics #66 (August 1942)

Two-Face

Harvey Dent was once Gotham City's white knight; a handsome and driven District Attorney whose alliance with Police Commissioner James Gordon and the Batman would bring the law to all criminals of Gotham City who thought they were above it.  However, Harvey harbored a dark side; a repressed alternate personality with a short temper who was alway pushing Harvey to act out.  With Batman's help Harvey had convicted the crime boss Sal Maroni, but during the trial Maroni splashed acid, that he had hidden in a cough syrup bottle, across the left side of Harvey's face.  This left him horribly scarred and the trauma caused his repressed personality to manifest itself.  Harvey went insane and escaped from his hospital room.  Believing that there was no true justice but chance, he began to commit crimes under the identity of Two-Face.  He would leave these up to chance by making decisions by the flip of his lucky silver dollar coin which had been scarred on one side by the acid as well.  If the clean side came up, Harvey would do the right thing such as leaving the stolen objects, releasing hostages, or donating stolen money to charity.  But if the scarred side came up, Harvey's darker half would make the decision such as taking precious goods, killing hostages, or keeping stolen money for himself.  A tragic character, this duality obsessed villain will always be Batman's biggest failure personified.

Recommended Reading:

• Batman Annual #14 (1990)
• Batman: The Long Halloween
• Batman: Dark Victory
• Joker's Asylum vol.1: Two-Face
• Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth

Recommended Viewing:

• Batman TAS: 215, Second Chance

3. Catwoman

Real Name: Selina Kyle

First Appearance: Batman #1 (Spring 1940)

Catwoman

While many would consider Catwoman to be an anti-hero (a reluctant ally to Batman) it's as a villain where she really shines as she is one of the only villains to cause Batman to question his moral code of dealing with criminals.  Orphaned and forced to grow up in the streets of Gotham, Selina Kyle turn to thievery to survive.  Perfecting her cat-burglary skills, Selina also mastered martial arts and gymnastics in order to pull off more stylized heists.  This has caused her to come in to conflict with Batman and the two have formed a complicated and flirtatious relationship.  As pointed out by Robin, on several occasions Batman has appeared to let Catwoman get away.  As their relationship began to grow, Catwoman often found herself allying Batman and soon began to try to prove to him that she could put her thieving behind her.  This proved not to be the case, however, she would only steal from the criminals and corrupt and donate the riches to the poor and needy.  An on-again off-again flame for Batman, she has begun to prove herself as an anti-hero and a trusted ally of Batman, though her true motives are still questionable.

Recommended Reading:

• Batman: Year 1
• Catwoman: When In Rome
• Catwoman: Nine Lives of the Feline Fatale
• Batman: Hush
• Batman: Heart of Hush
• Catwoman by Ed Brubaker, Vol.1-Vol.4
• Selina's Big Score

2. Ra's Al Ghul

Pronunciation: Ray-sh Al Ghoul

Translation: Arabic-"head of the demon"

First Appearance: Batman #232 (June 1971)

Ra's Al Ghul

This villain is over 700 years old.  Originally a nomad in Arabia, Ra's abandoned his tribe to move to the city where he can conduct scientific research and become a physician and marries.  Ra's is then tasked with healing a dying prince which he does so with the discovery of the mysterious Lazarus Pit which contained magical healing qualities and is even able to raise the dead.  However, the healing comes at the cost of a temporary bout of insanity as Ra's learned as the prince emerged and strangled Ra's wife.  Unwilling to acknowledge that his son had committed the crime, the king blamed Ra's for framing him and sentenced him to be buried alive in a cage with his wife's corpse.  Ra's is saved by the a child of his former tribe who takes him back to the nomads.  Ra's then convinces them to follow him to seek vengeance and true justice by killing the prince and his father as well as the inhabitants of the city.  Ra's believes that human kind has been too corrupted and plans to wipe out most of the population to start anew as well as preserve what is left of Earth's ecology believing that he can create a paradise.  Keeping himself alive with the Lazarus pit for centuries, Ra's eventually sets his sights on the corrupted city of Gotham leading him to come into conflict with Batman.  Though Ra's sees Batman as a worthy adversary, he also sees him as a possible successor to his legacy and has even attempted to have hi daughter Talia seduce him.  One of Batman's most dangerous foe for his many years of training and studying as well as schemes on a global scale, Ra's will always be a thorn in the heroes side for centuries to come.

Recommended Reading:

• Batman: Birth of the Demon
• Death and the Maidens
• Son of the Demon
• Tales of the Demon
• JLA: Tower of Babel

Check back tomorrow as I reveal my #1 pick (as if you didn't already know).