Title Character
Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Allies
The Bat-Family (Batgirl | Batwoman | Jason Todd | Robin) | Extended Bat-Family & Other Supporting Cast (Azrael | Huntress)
Villains
Bane | Catwoman (Selina Kyle) | Clayface | Harley Quinn (Harleen Quinzel) | The Joker | Lady Shiva | League of Assassins (Ra's Al Ghul | Talia Al Ghul) | Mr. Freeze | The Penguin | Poison Ivy | The Riddler | The Scarecrow | Two Face | A-F | G-L | M-R | S-Z
Spin-Offs
Batgirl (2000) | Batman Incorporated | Dark Nights: Metal (The Batman Who Laughs) | I Am Batman | Nightwing (Dick Grayson) | The Outsiders | Red Hood and the Outlaws | Robin (1993) (Tim Drake) | Robin (2021) (Damian Wayne)
Scorpiana
Alter Ego: Tristessa Delicias
First Appearance: Batman #67 (June 2008)
Scorpiana is an Argentinean villain who specializes in poisons. She leaves a deadly blue scorpion behind at the scene of her crimes as her Calling Card. She has clashed repeatedly with the Argentinean masked hero known as El Gaucho. When the international organization known as the Club of Heroes reunited, Dr. Hurt decided to found a Club of Villains and recruited Scorpiana as one of the members. The Club of Villains clashed with both the Club of Heroes and the Batman family, and Scorpiana almost succeeded in killing Nightwing. The Club of Villains ultimately collapsed, but she was able to escape back to her homeland and continue her efforts to taunt El Gaucho. Later she was recruited into the global criminal cartel known as Leviathan.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: An 'Animal Abilities' type. Her cybernetic enhancements give her scorpion-like abilities, and all of her attacks utilize scorpion venom.
- Beware My Stinger Tail: Her cybernetic enhancements include a scorpion tail that can inject venom.
- Calling Card: Leaves behind a deadly blue scorpion at the scene of her crimes.
- Cyborg: Scorpiana has bionic enhancements which boost her just beyond peak human strength, reflexes, and agility.
- Dating Catwoman: She is the Catwoman to El Gaucho's Batman.
- Leotard of Power: Wears a silver leotard as part of her costume.
- Master Poisoner: Prefers to kill using poison, and all of her equipment makes use of scorpion venom.
- Outlaw Couple: She and el Sombrero used to lovers and partners in crime.
- Professional Killer: Is primarily an assassin.
She-Bat
Alter Ego: Dr. Francine Langstrom
First Appearance: Detective Comics #402 (August 1970)
The wife of Kirk Langstrom A.K.A. Man-Bat. She has at various points taken the same serum that transforms Kirk, becoming She-Bat.
- Depending on the Artist: Francine's hair color has varied throughout the years. First it was red, then blonde but recently it's been illustrated as auburn.
- Distaff Counterpart: When transformed, she is a female version of Man-Bat.
- Love Cannot Overcome: Despite her genuine love for Kirk, their marriage inevitably suffers due to his or her lapses into bat-monsters.
- Tragic Villain: Much like her husband, Francine is more a victim of unfortunate circumstances rather than a monster. Subverted by her short-lived revamp in the New 52, where she’s a murderous corporate spy who intended to seduce Kirk to steal his Man-Bat formula for herself.
Signalman
Alter Ego: Phillip Cobb
First Appearance: Batman #112 (December 1957)
Phil Cobb was a gangster with big ideas. He came to Gotham City intent on hiring a gang of his own and making it big, only to be laughed at when he tried to recruit the gang because he had no reputation. Steaming with anger, he vowed to prove himself to Gotham's mobsters, and when he noticed how modern society was regulated by signs, signals, and symbols, he found the inspiration for his criminal career. Becoming the Signalman, he went on a spectacular crime spree using those signs and symbols as his motif before being stopped by Batman. Returning multiple times, Cobb briefly changed his MO and became a villainous archer under the alias the Blue Bowman after sharing a cell with Green Arrow foe Bulls-Eye… However, he eventually returned to his Signalman identity.
- Adaptational Badass: In the New 52. Be honest, did you expect Signalman to almost friggin' KILL OBAMA?!
- Adaptational Intelligence: A petty gangster originally, while during the New 52, Phil is ascended to something akin to The Smart Guy of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a role typically occupied in the comics by big shots the size of the Riddler, Lex Luthor or the Toyman.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Every so often a writer will demonstrate that Cobb's motif makes his very dangerous if handled correctly. This has included acts like hijacking Gotham's air traffic control system or using glow spots to disrupt the human nervous system.
- Butt-Monkey: In modern comics, Signalman is generally regarded as a joke, and if something bad is required to happen to one of Batman's rogues gallery, it will generally happen to Signalman.
- Calling Card: Signalman used to announce his crimes by sending clues in the forms of signs and symbols to the police.
- Humiliation Conga: At one point was turned into a drug addict before being tortured to death by Dr. Moon and Phobia (although he has since experienced and Unexplained Recovery).
- Idiosyncrazy: Bases his crimes around signs and symbols.
- Master Archer: After training with Bullseye, Cobb was good enough to take on Batman armed with only a bow and Trick Arrows.
- Symbol Motif Clothing: Wears a costume covered in symbols from a huge variety of disciplines.
- Trick Arrow: Cobb used these in his alternate identity of the Blue Bowman.
- Unexplained Recovery: Was supposedly tortured to death by Dr. Moon and Phobia, but subsequently showed up alive.
Skel
Alter Ego: Judson Pierce
First Appearance: Batman: Streets of Gotham #14 (September, 2010)
Judson Pierce is an aging crimelord with a grudge against Martha Kane and her son, Bruce Wayne.
- Appropriated Appellation: Skel (or 'skell') is a slang term meaning 'a person who is habitually engaged in small-time criminal activity'. It amused Judson for a big-time gangster like himself to be described as a 'skel'. It also fit his new skeletal appearnce.
- Empowered Badass Normal: Pierce starts out as a regular gangster who is only a threat due to his gun-handling skills, being allies with Doctor Death, and sheer cruelty. After being exposed to a radioactive substance, he gains super strength.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Downplayed, but his interactions with Tommy Elliot's father (getting him involved in scandalizing criminal dealings and non-fatally shooting him), help shape Mr. Elliot into an Abusive Parent, contributing to Tommy becoming the destructive A-list super villain Hush.
- Lean and Mean: Even decades before getting cancer, he's on the thin side and is a cruel, sadistic man who Would Hurt a Child, has no regard for anyone else, and is willing to kill anyone who annoys him and, if they're out of his reach, their children.
- Super-Strength: Following his exposure to Dr Death's chemical compounds, Pierce has superhuman strength.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Pierce is introduced dying of cancer, which gets him an undeserved compassionate release from prison that he uses to try and kill Bruce Wayne. Subverted at the end of the arc, though, when a chemical bath cures his cancer, although he's sent back to prison and never appears again.
Snakeskin
Alter Ego: Jack Houston
First Appearance: Detective Comics (Vol 2) #6, (April 2012)
Jack Houston suffered a bad reaction while volunteering his body to a rogue medical research firm. So he hired a lawyer and won himself a payday for his pain and suffering but he gambled away most of the money in less than a month. Within six months, Jack lost everything. He found himself in a hole "five million" deep. With every casino owner and loan shark in Gotham City looking for him, he turned to a life of crime. He began using his unique abilities to swindle and rob. Jack became known as Snakeskin, a man able to change his face but not his fingerprints.
- Couple Theme Naming: Was part of an Outlaw Couple with Classy Cat-Burglar Chase, whose real name is Jill Hampton. In other words, they were 'Jack & Jill'.
- Facial Horror: Snakeskin's face is very delicate. One punch to the face will throw his entire look off and several punches to the face, from perhaps a vigilante dressed like a bat, will cause his face to get stuck in a grotesque mush for an elongated amount of time.
- The Gambling Addict: Snakeskin has a gambling addiction that caused him to throw away all the money he won from the lawsuit with the pharmaceutical company that gave him his powers
- Master of Disguise: Snakeskin's accident caused him to have an ever moldable face. He can change his facial features around however he'd like.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Was partners with Classy Cat-Burglar Chase. Together they planned to rob the Iceberg Casino, but Jill double crossed Snakeskin, planting his finger prints on evidence for Batman to find and giving him a booby trapped gun that was supposed to kill him during his assassination attempt on the Penguin.
- Outlaw Couple: Was the lover and partner-in-crime to Classy Cat-Burglar Chase.
Abominable Snowman
Alter Ego: Klaus Kristin
First Appearance: Batman #337 (July 1981)
Klaus Kristin is the son of a male yeti and a human woman. Being forced to live in cold climates, Klaus must travel eight months out of the year, which eats all his money. So, because he has no real wealth of his own, Snowman must use his powers to acquire it by robbing.
- Albinos Are Freaks: Klaus' albinism is the result of being a Half-Human Hybrid, and he transforms into a white-furred, red-eyed monster.
- Alliterative Name: Klaus Kristin.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: He's a human-yeti hybrid who can turn into a Yeti at will.
- Blinded by the Light: Being an albino, Klaus's eyes are very sensitive to bright light (in both forms). Batman uses this to his advantage.
- Cool Shades: In his human form, Klaus constantly wears designer sunglasses because of his sensitivity to light.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: After Klaus' mother Katrina discovered the truth about her savior when daylight came, she suffered a mental breakdown; when she was found two weeks after she disappeared, she was unable to speak coherently except for one, endlessly repeated word: "Yeti".
- Half-Human Hybrid: His mother was human but his father was a Yeti.
- An Ice Person: Snowman "radiates cold," causing any nearby person or object to become frozen solid.
- Killed Off for Real: He died due to his hybrid condition and has never returned to life.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Kristin won three Olympic medals for skiing.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Klaus' Snowman form has glowing red yes.
- Sunglasses at Night: In his human form, Klaus constantly wears designer sunglasses because of his sensitivity to light; even at night.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Could shift between his human and yeti forms at will.
El Sombrero
First Appearance: Batman #676 (June 2008)
El Sombrero is a lunatic in a luchador mask who designs near inescapable death traps for anyone willing to pay. He is an enemy of the Gaucho and a member of the Club of Villains. As such, he has come into conflict with Batman.
- Calling Card: Marks his work with an image of a skull in a sombrero.
- Cool Mask: Wears a luchador mask at all times.
- Death Trap: Specializes in designing death traps.
- Evil Cripple: Is confined to a wheelchair and uses a computer to speak but he's a murderous Trap Master.
- Genius Cripple: Being confined to a wheelchair has not slowed the workings of his mind.
- Outlaw Couple: He and Scorpiana were once lovers.
- Sombrero Equals Mexican: He's literally called El Sombrero and does wear one, so yeah he's Mexican.
- Trap Master: Designs inescapable death traps for anyone willing to pay.
Spellbinder I
Alter Ego: Delbert Billings
First Appearance: Detective Comics #358 (December 1966)
The Spellbinder was a Batman villain who used optical devices that could disorient others.
- C-List Fodder: Never a prominent villain, he would be killed by his girlfriend Fay, who would take the Spellbinder name for herself.
- Fad Super: His schtick was based around op-art, which came to mainstream American public attention with an exhibition titled The Responsive Eye in 1965.
- Hypno Trinket: The original source of his illusions.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His costume had some orange in it.
Spellbinder II/Lady Spellbinder
Alter Ego: Fay Moffit
First Appearance: Detective Comics #691 (November 1995)
Fay Moffit was the girlfriend of Delbert Billings, the original Spellbinder, when he was offered increased powers in exchange for his soul by Neron during the events of Underworld Unleashed. Although Billings turned Neron down, Fay liked his offer, and shot her boyfriend in the head so she could accept it herself. She adopted his moniker, and became Lady Spellbinder.
- C-List Fodder: Ironically she would end up as this during Infinite Crisis, being killed alongside the Trigger Twins.
- Deal with the Devil: Acquired her powers by selling her soul to Neron.
- Delinquent Hair: Lady Spellbinder has her hair cropped close to her skull on the right side, and worn long in a ponytail on the left. And all of it is dyed bright pink.
- Logical Weakness: She actually needs to be able to see for her illusions to work. Cover her eyes and the illusions disappear.
- Master of Illusion: Her illusions are even more powerful and disorienting than those of the first Spellbinder.
- Outlaw Couple: With Delbert Billings, until she killed him in order to get a deal with Neron.
- Psycho for Hire: Her reason for targeting Barbara Gordon after she had become Oracle.
- Psycho Pink: Fay is characterized for her pink hair and pink jacket, and she's far nastier than Billings.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Introduced as a foe of Batman and Robin, she would reappear as an enemy of the Birds of Prey, before becoming a more general villain.
- Sinister Shades: She's always wearing dark shades.
- Stripperiffic: Fay only wears a tank-top underneath her jacket, plus some pretty obvious Thong of Shielding.
- Thong of Shielding: Her Stripperiffic costume consists of a tank-top underneath her jacket, plus a thong.
- Too Many Belts: Wears at least two belts despite not wearing pants or a skirt.
The Spook
Alter Ego: Val Kaliban
First Appearance: Detective Comics #434 (April 1973)
Val Kaliban is one of the world's greatest escape-artists and uses his extraordinary abilities together with special effects to commit spectacular crimes and make people believe he was a real ghost. A recurring pest for Batman throughout the 1970s, Val Kaliban disappeared into Limbo for twenty years before his return and demise, courtesy of Damian Wayne.
- Back for the Dead: Returns from limbo only to die against the Damian Wayne version of Robin.
- Escape Artist: Probably the third greatest escape artist in The DCU: behind Mister Miracle and Batman himself.
- Faking the Dead: Kaliban hypnotized an innocent look-alike to pose as him during the execution, and this allowed him to roam free for years.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: His costume creates the impression of glowing eyes inside a shadowy hood.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Kaliban trained in the art of hypnosis, and could easily manipulate the Weak-Willed. His aptitude in this arena was so strong that he once convinced a nameless look-alike to take his place in the electric chair.
- In the Hood: His costume has a full head cowl, like a monk's.
- Killed Off for Real: He was beheaded by Damian Wayne, and hasn't shown up since. (Although he has faked his death before and it is ambiguous if the Spook Damien kills is Kaliban or another character, so any writer who wants to has a ready-made justification for bringing him Back from the Dead.)
- Master of Unlocking: Is a master locksmith and escape artist who can supposedly open any lock.
- Meaningful Name: Shares his name with Shakespeare's half-human, half-monster from The Tempest.
- Off with His Head!: His ultimate fate.
- Prison Escape Artist: Boasted that no prison could hold him, and offered 'escape insurance' to other criminals: promising to bust them out of prison if they were incarcerated.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: The Spook utilized a wide array of gadgets and devices to create the impression he was a ghost and had supernatural powers.
- Wall Crawl: Wears finger-tip and boot suction cups for scaling buildings.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He was a recurring threat throughout the 1970s, but suddenly vanished after 1983 without an explanation, and Val would not return until 2003 for one story, and then come back one more time only to die in 2006.
Steeljacket
Alter Ego: Gunther Nash
First Appearance: Detective Comics #681 (January 1995)
Gunther Nash was a bio-engineer who altered his genes by mixing them with bird DNA to gain flight. However, this greatly deteriorated his bone structure which forced him to wear special armor to support and protect himself. Although primarily a foe of Robin, he has fought multiple different members of the Bat-family.
- Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: Gained his powers by mixing his genes with bird DNA.
- Powered Armor: Wears armor to protect his fragile bones which also allows him to fly.
- Professor Guinea Pig: A bio-engineer who altered his DNA.
- Psycho for Hire: A Professional Killer who commits extremely violent and bloody murders.
- Winged Humanoid: Was this after his initial transformation. After his wings were amputated during a clash with Robin, the flight power was incorporated into his Powered Armor.
- Wolverine Claws: Has razor-sharp talons.
Sterling T. Silversmith
First Appearance: Detective Comics #446 (April 1975)
Sterling Silversmith has been obsessed with silver since childhood and, now, as a silver-haired older man, has amassed a fortune in stolen goods that he smuggled through his antique business.
- Alliterative Name: Sterling Silversmith
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Silversmith dresses like an Edwardian dandy.
- The Bus Came Back: After being absent from comics since 1980, Silversmith reappeared in Salvation Run (2008) and later Gotham Academy (2016).
- Bulletproof Vest: Silversmith wears a business suit spun out of silver fibers that can deflect bullets.
- Cane Fu: Is an expert at using his walking stick (which usually doubles as a Sword Cane) as a weapon.
- Evil Teacher: He appears in Gotham Academy as a new shop class teacher, and he orders his students to encase their most precious items in silver on pain of automatic failure.
- Loves Only Silver: His obsession is such that all of his schemes are designed to increase his stock of it.
- Shout-Out: In case it isn't blatantly obvious, Silversmith's basically Suave Goldfinger if he was obsessed with Silver.
- Sibling Murder: Sterling murdered his brother when the brother threatened to go to the police unless Sterling increased his cut of the profit from their smuggling scheme.
- Stylish Protection Gear: Silversmith wears a suit made of woven silver that can deflect bullets.
- Sword Cane: Silversmith carries a variety of silver sticks that conceal either blades or guns.
Sumo
First Appearance: Batman Vol. 2 #1 (November, 2011)
The Sumo is a huge mentally unstable criminal in Gotham City, usually being detained in Arkham Asylum.
- Acrofatic: Is surprisingly agile for someone of his bulk.
- Kevlard: Sumo's bulk gives him a remarkable resistance to damage.
- Neck Lift: A favoured tactic of his to show off his strength.
- One-Steve Limit: Sumo was also the name of a Pre-Crisis Wonder Woman foe, who was re-imagined as an All-Star Squadron foe Post-Crisis.
- Stout Strength: Sumo doesn't appear to have any super powers, but uses his massive size and weight to subdue his enemies.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Is almost always bare chested.
Swagman
First Appearance: Batman #676 (June 2008)
The Swagman is an enemy of the Australian hero the Ranger and an agent of the Black Glove.
- Arch-Enemy: Of Ranger and later Dark Ranger.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Dresses in a replica of Ned Kelly's armour.
- Awesome Aussie: Is physical one of the toughest members of the Club of Villains.
- Badass Biker: Is a skilled motorcyclist.
- Badass Longcoat: He's easily identified by his yellow trench coat.
- Badass Normal: Has no superpowers but can take on multiple members of the Bat-family.
- Guns Akimbo: Wields a revolver in each hand.
- Mysterious Past: His backstory or the reason behind his enmity with Ranger has never been revealed.
- Supervillain Packing Heat: Carries a pair of revolvers.
- Totally Radical: Uses a lot of extremely dated Australian slang.
Tally Man I
First Appearance: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #19 (October 1993)
The Tally Man was the son of a petty criminal who was deeply in debt to Loan Sharks. Every week, the loan sharks would send enforcers round to extort payment from his father. When his father dies, the loan sharks continued demanding payment from his mother. Although the boy begged his mother not to pay, she would always tell him "Everybody has to pay the tallyman". One night when she could not pay, the collector beat her brutally. The boy snapped, grabbed a fireplace poker, and beat the collector to death. He was arrested for murder and sent to a juvenile detention facility where he was brutally abused by the other inmates. Upon his release, he returned home but discovered that his mother had committed suicide and his sister had died of starvation after her death. The child grew up to become the Tally Man: hired by the underworld to "collect" on debts owed, his fee was not money, but human lives.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Dresses in the strange dark robes of an old-fashioned tax collector.
- Character Catchphrase: "Everybody has to pay the Tally Man."
- Contortionist: Is often shown twisting his body into all kinds of unnatural positions.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Prefers to avoid shooting women and children, but will do so if necessary.
- Firing One-Handed: Tally Man often wields a pair of machine pistols Guns Akimbo; displaying a scary accuracy with either hand.
- Freudian Excuse: His whole origin story.
- Guns Akimbo: Often wields a gun in each hand.
- The Gunslinger: A "Woo", the Tally Man is a formidable gunman, capable of laying down an accurate volume of fire with a machine pistol in each hand.
- Hellhole Prison: The juvenile detention facility where he spent his formative years.
- Lean and Mean: Is very tall and gangly. Depending on the Artist, this can be taken to grotesque extremes, with him contorting his body into completely unnatural positions.
- Loan Shark: As a child, his family was trapped by debts owed to loan sharks, and he went to prison for killing a loan shark's enforcer. As an adult, he would work as a 'debt collector' for loan sharks.
- Mark of Shame: Jean-Paul Valley carved a large, bat-logo-shaped scar into his chest.
- Open Shirt Taunt: The Tally Man comes seeking revenge for the injuries he suffered at the hands of Jean-Paul Valley (a.k.a. Azrael) when Azrael was wearing the Bat-suit. He confronts Dick (Nightwing) Grayson, who had taken over the mantle of Batman from Valley, who has no idea who Tally Man is or why he is gunning for him. During his Motive Rant, he rips open his shirt to show the large bat-shaped scar Valley had carved into his chest.
- Professional Killer: Is a hitman for hire.
- Supervillain Packing Heat: Aside from his acrobatic skill, his only real combat ability is his phenomenal skill with the guns he carries.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Beat a man to death with a poker when he was 12.
Tally Man II
First Appearance: Detective Comics #818 (June 2006)
The second assassin to use the alias 'the Tally Man', has no known connection to the first. Little is known of his background, aside from the fact he spent some time in Arkham Asylum. He first appeared working for the Great White Shark when he performed a series of hits knocking off supervillains in the Penguin's employ, such as KGBeast, Magpie, Ventriloquist, and Orca, and framing Two-Face for the murders, to spark a gang between Penguin and Two-Face.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: The second Tally Man is African-American.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Performs most of his murders clad in an immaculate white suit and black pullover.
- Badass Normal: A Professional Killer with no powers who is willing to take a contract on supervillains.
- C-List Fodder: In his first outing he kills KGBeast, Magpie, Ventriloquist, and Orca.
- Consummate Professional: An extremely efficient and professional hitman.
- The Dragon: Performed this role for the Great White Shark for a time.
- Flat Character: Unlike the original Tally Man, who is a mass of obsessions and quirks, Tally Man II has displayed little in the way of a personality beyond being a Consummate Professional.
- Frame-Up: Tried to spark a gang war by framing Two-Face for offing the Penguin's goons.
- Laser Sight: Has one mounted on his handgun, as much for intimidation as for sighting.
- Light Is Not Good: Dresses in an immaculate white suit.
- Professional Killer: A hitman willing to take out supervillains.
- Supervillain Packing Heat: His power is guns.
- Villain in a White Suit: Wears a white suit and he's a professional killer.
Ten-Eyed Man
Alter Ego: Phillip Reardon
First Appearance: Batman #226 (November 1970)
Philip Reardon was a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam who was honorably discharged after he was hit in the skull by a grenade fragment. Becoming a night watchman in a warehouse, he was knocked unconscious by thieves who planted a bomb. Blinded by the explosion, a brilliant doctor named Engstrom reconnected his optic nerves to his fingertips, enabling him to see through them. Wrongly blaming Batman for his blindness, Reardon adopted the identity of the Ten-Eyed Man and tried to take revenge on him.
- Arch-Enemy: He briefly played this role to Man-Bat during the latter's short-lived series, having been hired to hunt him down.
- Artistic License – Biology: Even in comic books, attaching your optic nerves to your fingertips to allow you to see makes no sense. The doctor harboring him in Order of the World lampshades this, thinking that Arkham did try to corroborate his backstory, only to find none of it, down to his name, could be confirmed.
- Back from the Dead: The Ten-Eyed Man was killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths but was later recreated by the Psycho-Pirate along with many other characters who were wiped out by the effects of the Crisis.
- Blind People Wear Sunglasses: Wears a large pair of sunglasses as part of his costume.
- Cerebus Syndrome: His return in Arkham City: Order of the World shows him as a dangerous schizophrenic wearing a faceless mask and being able to remove the body parts of those he targets.
- C-List Fodder: One of the many minor characters killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths, reportedly at the specific request of writer Marv Wolfman, among a list of characters he wanted to kill first.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: Was a Special Forces soldier in Vietnam. His combat skill makes him far more dangerous than his 'superpower' does.
- Jet Pack: When hired to hunt Man-Bat, Reardon was equipped with a jet pack that included a silent hover mode.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In Order of the World, he may be genuinely insane or have developed some kind of ritual to see into the future, successfully allowing the doctor helping him to find Dr. Phosphorus and Nocturna, leading her to Pyg's knock-off asylum, and seeing the end of the doctor's story and his escape.
- The Mentally Disturbed: It's noted that he's schizophrenic, with the impracticality of his powers not helping things.
- Seers: In Order of the World, he may be genuinely insane or have developed some kind of ritual to see into the future, successfully allowing the doctor helping him to find Dr. Phosphorus and Nocturna, leading her to Pyg's knock-off asylum, and seeing the end of the doctor's story and his escape.
- Sinister Shades: Wears a large pair of sunglasses to distract people from the fact he's blind and make it less obvious he is 'seeing' with his fingers.
- Symbol Motif Clothing: Has a series of eyes running down the front of his costume.
- Tailor-Made Prison: He can only be kept in a jail cell by keeping his hands locked in a special non-see-through box, because with eyes on his fingers, "escape would be child's play for him". Why this would be the case is not explained.
- Too Dumb to Live: He's so stupid (though possibly because of brain damage) that on at least one occasion he was taken out when someone threw a potted cactus at him. Because he grabbed it. Not even the pot, but the cactus.
- Utility Belt: When hired to hunt Man-Bat, Reardon was equipped with a trick belt which included a net ejector (shooting a small, compressed net), a latex spray, and a firearm.
- Weaksauce Weakness: His "eyes" are extremely sensitive to touch and light.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Notorious among fans for how incredibly lame his power is. Sure, he can see 360 degrees around himself… but the dude can't touch anything without causing himself extreme pain.
The Terrible Trio I (Foxnote , Vulturenote and Sharknote )
A group of animal-themed criminal masterminds whose gimmick revolved around organizing heists on land, air, and sea, corresponding with their respective aliases (i.e. Fox robs a bank, Vulture tries to kill Batman with a rocket, Shark steals a submarine). All of them were wealthy inventors who decided to take up a criminal lifestyle for the sport of it. The Trio has been reimagined numerous times throughout its comic appearances and in other media.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Type 2. None of them have powers (in their original incarnations, at least) but they wear animal masks and commit crimes themed around the biomes their respective aliases would be habituated in.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: In contrast to their goofy animal masks, they all wear suave business and dress suits, creating a slightly eerie contrast.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The original Terrible Trio vanished after their first couple of Silver Age appearances, making very sporadic cameos in the decades since. The versions who antagonized Doctor Mid-Nite were a little more prolific, but not by much.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: All of them are already wealthy from their successful business enterprises, but they nevertheless decide to become a criminal gang for cheap thrills.
- Expressive Mask: Averted for once, as their masks are more like static mascot helmets that completely obscure their faces.
- Flat Character: None of them had much individual personality or even names at first.
- Named by the Adaptation: Their real names were never revealed in the Silver Age stories written by Dave Wood and penciled by Sheldon Moldoff. Batman: The Animated Series named them as Warren Lawford, Armand Lydecker, and Gunther Hardwicke, which has seemingly been Ret-Canon'd into the comics continuity.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Of a sort. The original Trio only antagonized Batman, but a reimagined Trio composed of three Corrupt Corporate Executives named Fisk, Shackley, and Volper appeared to antagonize Doctor Mid-Nite in the 1990s and later came full circle back to Batman in the 2000s. Some sources have declared that the two Trios were the same, despite the glaring contradictions between them.
The Terrible Trio II (Foxnote , Vulturenote and Sharknote )
A Darker and Edgier revamp of the Terrible Trio who terrorized Doctor Mid-Nite in the 1990s miniseries written by Matt Wagner and penciled by John K. Snyder III. This group is a consortium of three sinister capitalists who dress up as animals while performing occult rituals, calling upon the spirits of earth, wind, and water to wreak havoc in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They inevitably end up crossing paths with Batman in the pages of Detective Comics, where they seek his help in investigating a mysterious "Fourth Man" hunting them down.
- Ascended Extra: This group is a far bigger deal than their goofy inspirations, being the main enemies of Doctor Mid-Nite.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Shark plots to betray his allies by masquerading as the Fourth Man and faking his death.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The three of them are heads of Praeda Industries and participate in gruesome occult rituals. Their goal is to destroy all the wealthy property districts in the city of Portsmouth with natural disasters, leaving only the property in the poorest areas left to be resold at extortionate prices.
- Enemy Mine: They come crying to Batman for help when the Fourth Man starts killing them off. Though ironically, Batman never actually faced this version of the Trio before.
- Darker and Edgier: Whereas the original Trio were silly Silver Age malcontents, this group is a shady alliance of corporate figureheads who dress in far more intimidating costumes and perform dark rituals. They also run a Venom drug-dealing ring.
- Faking the Dead: The mysterious Fourth Man who murders Shark and threatens the other remaining Trio members turn out to be none other than Shark himself, who faked his death and began hunting down his former teammates to steal their assets.
- Replacement Goldfish: After the defeat of the "Fourth Man" sees Fox and Vulture return to their Arkham cells with Shark disgraced from the team, they decide to ally with another shark-themed Bat-Rogue: Warren White, the Great White Shark!
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Ironically, this Trio debuted as enemies of obscure Golden Age hero Dr. Mid-Nite and ended up encountering Batman second. See the above folder for more information.
- Spotting the Thread: Batman deduces the identity of the Fourth Man as the Shark because the Trio are so minor as villains that basically nobody but one of the Trio would actually know that much about them.
The Terrible Trio III (Fox, Vulturenote and Shark)
A new Terrible Trio composed of three teenaged delinquents who take on the criminal identities of the original animal-themed crooks. To his shock, Batman discovers that one of their members is closely connected to him, being the son of his financial aid Lucius Fox, Timothy. This group only appeared in a Bronze Age throwback one-shot, DC Retroactive: Batman - The '70s, written by Len Wein.
- Antagonistic Offspring: The new Vulture is actually Timothy Fox, Lucius's estranged son who briefly appeared in a handful of Bronze Age comics. Fittingly, he returns in a Bronze Age throwback story.
- For the Evulz: More explicitly than the original team, this Trio creates mayhem purely for the sake of it.
- Younger and Hipper: The third Terrible Trio is a bunch of antisocial teenagers in sleeker full-body costumes.
The Terrible Trio IV (Foxnote , Ravennote and Sharknote )
In DC Rebirth, the Terrible Trio was once again reimagined as a secret sorority of students at Gotham Academy descended from long lineages of masked criminals bent on taking over Gotham City. They plan an occult ritual to resurrect a witch who was burned at the stake, Amity Arkham, and has her possess one of the other students.
- Darker and Edgier: Like the second Terrible Trio, this reimagined group is decidedly more sinister than their Silver Age counterparts, this time being a secret society of creepy teenaged occultists who perform dark rituals to revive a long-dead witch.
- Distaff Counterpart: They are female re-imaginings of the typically all-male Terrible Trio, with their animal aliases switched around.
Bat-Cop (Josef Muller), Bat-Bane (Branca), Bat-Devil (Michael Lane)
Three policemen chosen to be replacements for Batman, should anything happen to him. However, they were corrupted and made into monsters by the mysterious Doctor Hurt.- The Antichrist: Michael Lane styles himself after this idea.
- Ascended Extra: After his stint as Bat-Devil, Michael Lane became the new Azrael.
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Josef Muller invokes this trope when he shoots the Joker, though as a Batman who has no problems with guns he averts it in practice.
- The Berserker: Branca, the Bat-Bane, fights this way, and it's ultimately what gets him killed.
- Coup de Grâce: Muller, the Bat-Cop, shoots the Joker in the face after being at his mercy.
- The Dragon: Lane is this to Doctor Hurt, being the only replacement Batman to directly work for him, and also serves as his lackey during Batman RIP.
- Expy: In-universe, Branca's strength, costume, and behavior were crafted to echo Bane.
- Fantastic Drug: Bat-Bane uses a Super Serum to get the strength that rivals Bane.
- Freudian Excuse: Invoked. Doctor Hurt, seeing that Batman was made who he was by tragedy, arranged for Lane's family to be killed so that Lane would have a similar driving pain.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Lane's Bat-Devil costume has round glowing eyes.
- Manly Man: Bat-Bane is a larger-than-life mass of muscle who has inhumanly high levels of testosterone and keeps his hideout stocked with pizza and women.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Bat-Devil outfit has glowing red eyes.
- Shadow Archetype: Invoked by Doctor Hurt when he created the Three Ghosts. All three are reflections of what Batman could be if he forsook his morals:
- Bat-Cop uses firearms and kills his opponents.
- Bat-Bane is what would happen if Batman resorted to serums like Bane's venom, and gave up control of his rage.
- Bat-Devil is what would happen if Batman agreed to a deal with Doctor Hurt.
- Super Serum: Bat-Bane is made inhumanly big and strong through a combination of Bane's venom and Hugo Strange's monster serum.
- Super-Strength: Bat-Bane is so strong, he can lift the Batmobile.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: While Bat-Bane was killed and Bat-Devil became the second Azrael, the whereabouts of Bat-Cop are completely unknown. He just vanishes from the story after being arrested and is never mentioned again.
- Would Hit a Girl: Branca is kept pacified by a steady stream of prostitutes, and as he grows more and more unstable the girls meet increasingly grisly ends, one of which Batman encounters the remains of.
- Would Hurt a Child: Branca also has no problems with harming children, though thankfully Robin is more capable of taking care of himself than most children.
Alter Egos: Dr. Gaige
First appearance: Detective Comics #147 (May, 1949)
Dr. Gaige was a famed oceanographer who turned to crime, under the secret identity as the Tiger Shark. Gaige recruited a dockside gang of criminals and started a series of spectacular crimes at sea. The character was later remodeled as a pirate smuggler who worked out of Gotham City, with a base in international waters.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Of the Animal Alias variety, although sharks do operate underwater.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: The modern version usually dresses in nice suits, sometimes with a sharkskin pattern on the jacket.
- Bad Boss: Tiger Shark once suspended Batman over a tank with killer whales in it, and sacrificed one of his own men to wet their appetite.
- Cruella to Animals: The modern version exclusively wears clothing made from endangered species.
- No Full Name Given: Dr. Gaige's first name has not been revealed.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: In New 52, Batman beats Tiger Shark down and questions him on how Tiger Shark let the Talon get into Wayne Tower through the east side (Tiger Shark's criminal domain). Tiger Shark declines answering, instead setting a tiger on Batman.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates: The modern version is a murderous modern day pirate, who tried to "invest" dirty money in Sonia Zucco's GGM Bank.
- Shark Pool: Tiger Shark once suspended Batman over a tank with killer whales in it, and sacrificed one of his own men to wet their appetite.
- Submarine Pirates: Dr. Gaige was a famed oceanographer, specializing in submarine technology. Donning a striped diving suit and helmet and recruiting a gang of pirates, he became known as Tiger Shark, a modern day pirate. The pirates had their headquarters inside a sunken ship modified to be airtight, located 200 miles from the nearest shore.
Trigger Twins
Alter Egos: Tom and Tad Trigger
First appearance: Detective Comics #667 (October, 1993)
Tad and Tom Trigger, who are unaware they are twins and had never met, decide to rob the same bank. They both see each other's faces and are surprised that they look exactly alike. They decide to team up and finish the robbery themselves. They later begin to work for a local numbers runner after he talks them into working for him. The duo then begins to kill the man's enemies. Eventually branching out on their own, they begin a series of Wild West themed crimes.
- Action Fashionista: Tom and Tad wear a constantly changing array of identical cowboy outfits.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Tom and Tad dress in a series of identical cowboy outfits.
- Born in the Wrong Century: Tom and Tad both feel they belong in The Wild West.
- C-List Fodder: Both were among the casualties of Infinite Crisis and wouldn't be brought back until Rebirth.
- Contrived Coincidence: Invoked. Identical twins who were Separated at Birth both grew up to be high profile bank robbers with cowboy motifs and happened to meet each other for the first time while they were both robbing the same bank. Fate is a funny old thing.
- Cowboy: how they style themselves.
- Guns Akimbo: Frequently fight with a revolver in each hand.
- The Gunslinger: The Trigger Twins are amazing quickdraws.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: The Trigger Twins greatest ability is their uncanny skills with firearms, allowing to perform stunts like a High-Speed Train Reroute by shooting the switch while on a moving train.
- Mythology Gag: Tad and Tom's first boss in Gotham refers to them as "my Trigger Twins", prompting a "What?" from Tad and Tom. The boss says it was just something he read in a comic as a kid. "The Trigger Twins" was the name of a pair of characters who appeared in a DC western comic All-Star Western in the 50s and 60s.
- Redeeming Replacement: Inverted; the original Trigger Twins were heroes. These two are criminals.
- Separated at Birth: It's unknown how or why they were separated, but they first met while robbing the same bank.
- Shout-Out: In their first appearance, the Twins gun down a pair of bank guards, and then quote the "Mine hit the ground first"/"Mine was taller" exchange between John Wayne and Kirk Douglas in The War Wagon.
- Single-Minded Twins: The Trigger Twins always seem to be on the same wavelength. Hell, they met when they tried to rob the same bank at the same time.
- Train Job: The Trigger Twins' first big job was an attempt to rob the money train that collects the day's takings from all of Gotham's subway stations.
- Working on the Chain Gang: In Robin Annual #6, Tom and Tad are doing time on a chain gang in Texas when they are sprung by a woman claiming to be their sister.
Tweedledum & Tweedledee
Alter Egos: Deever Tweed; Dumfree Tweed; Dumson Tweed
First Appearance: Detective Comics #74 (April 1943)
Despite being cousins, Deever and Dumfree were so alike in both appearance and mannerisms that they could easily be mistaken for identical twins. Drawing inspiration from their shared love of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the duo went on to commit multiple crimes in Gotham, dressed as the similarly-named twin brothers from Through The Looking Glass. After the apparent death of Dumfree, his twin brother Dumson has since stepped in to take his place. Despite the shared Alice Allusion, much like the White Rabbit below the Tweedles’ criminal operation rarely has anything to do with the Mad Hatter and they work with him only occasionally.
- Acrofatic: Depicted in the Golden Age as capable of rolling and bouncing at high speeds.
- Alice Allusion: Take a look at their names.
- Backup Twin: Dumfree just happened to have a similarly criminal-minded twin brother, who took his place after his death.
- Badass Decay: Originally portrayed as criminal masterminds, they were eventually relegated to being comic relief henchmen for villains like the Joker and the Mad Hatter.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Despite their goofy appearance, they would often be legitimate threats.
- Creepy Twins: Played with. They actually aren't, but they enjoy giving this impression, and Dumfree and Dumson certainly qualify.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The first time they teamed up with Mad Hatter Post-Crisis, they obscured their intentions by pretending to be his minions, only for Batman to discover that they had taken control of Hatter using his own tech and were the real masterminds behind the “Wonderland Gang”’s crime wave.
- Lightning Gun: The Tweeds have been known to tote tasers concealed in their canes.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Occasionally shown to be using this.
- Squishy Wizard: Despite their impressive size and strength, they're not very adept at actual combat, so they tend to take a more hands-off approach to their robberies.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Dumfree happened to have an identical twin brother named Dumson who neatly replaced him after his death.
- Wicked Cultured: Despite their unorthodox demeanor, they're seen in one issue drinking wine and smoking cigars in plush armchairs. Wearing smoking jackets and fezzes, no less.
Vengeance
First Appearance: The Joker (Vol 2) #2 (June, 2021)
A female clone of Bane, created by the criminal conspiracy organization The Network. She was intended to be a new, more controllable Bane, appropriating his imagery and being programmed to follow orders. Vengeance was used by the rulers of Santa Prisca to hunt down the Joker, supposedly to avenge the murder of her father. However, after learning her true origins, Vengeance decided to seek her own path — unable to completely go against her programmed objective, she bonded with Jim Gordon and learned of the pain the Joker had inflicted on him, and decided to be his vengeance instead. After meeting her father, revealed to have faked his death, and working alongside him to overthrow the rulers of Santa Prisca, Vengeance struck out on her own.
- Affirmative-Action Legacy: While Vengeance is her codename, she's very obviously a female Bane.
- Artificial Human: She was grown in a lab using Bane's DNA, and quickly accelerated into adulthood and infused with Venom.
- But Not Too Foreign: Inverted. While Bane is Latino, his skin tone is more often than not coloured to be pale due to his upbringing not seeing him get much sunlight. While Vengeance was in a similar situation, having been grown to adulthood in a tube, she noticeably is much tanner than her father and looks more obviously Latina.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Once she learns of her origins, she wants to forge her own path, something her father is eager to help her with.
- Distaff Counterpart: Was deliberately designed to be a female Bane, both from a meta and in-universe perspective.
- The Faceless: Similarly to Bane almost never removing his mask, Vengeance has yet to be seen without her mask.
- Mythology Gag: Her name is likely also a reference to Bane's original debut, in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1.
- Opposite-Sex Clone: She's a female clone of Bane.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Literally roaring a lot of the time. Her debut saw her on one to avenge her father by killing the Joker, and then to seek revenge on the Joker for all he had done to Jim Gordon.
- Statuesque Stunner: Vengeance is extremely tall, if still smaller than her father, and is hit on by someone when she was hitchhiking.
- Super-Strength: Vengeance seems to have had Venom infused into her, not requiring an external source like her father. She's strong enough to casually hurl a full grown man into the air over her shoulder and tear off limbs.
- Unskilled, but Strong: She's just as strong as Bane, and can't have her Venom taken away like he can as a weakness... but her fighting style is very raw and untrained, usually involving quick direct blows and wild attacks. Bane specifically calls her out on this when they first meet.
The Ventriloquist I
Real Name: Arnold Wesker
First Appearance: Detective Comics #583 (February 1988)
Arnold was born into a powerful mafia family. However, as a kid, he witnessed his mother killed at the hands of an assassin sent by a rival gang. This sparked a Dissonant Personality Disorder within his mind. The only outlet he found to vent this trauma was through ventriloquism. Eventually, he turned to a life of crime, following in his family's footsteps. Or rather his cohort did and he pulled the strings.
Scarface is his main venting outlet for his disorder, a wooden puppet named and slightly modeled after Al Capone. He communicates his plans through this puppet, and even uses it during his various heists to the point of obsession.
- Actually, That's My Assistant: One of the many Scarface's Berserk Button is when people rudely insist on talking to the Ventriloquist instead of him. Of course, maybe this trope is justified if you prefer to believe Scarface is a Demonic Dummy.
- Beware the Silly Ones: The Ventriloquist and Scarface are considered the strangest of Batman's rogues gallery and are frequently mocked. For this reason, Scarface feels the need to kill anyone who either calls him a dummy or chooses to speak to Wesker instead of him.
- Cigar Chomper: Scarface is often depicted with a cigar in his mouth.
- Coffin Contraband: The Ventriloquist's original debut had an especially gruesome case: drugs are smuggled through customs a coffin... inside the corpse of a henchman who'd failed him one time too many.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Scarface plays up all of the traditional gangster tropes, and is shown living the high-life, like a 1930s movie gangster.
- Demonic Dummy: Possibly. Some stories imply that Scarface is possessed by the souls of 313 criminals who were hung on the gallows that he is carved from. Others indicate that this belief is just part of Wesker's psychosis.
- Diabolical Mastermind: Due to his obvious physical limitations (and his rather eccentric nature), Scarface tends to prefer operating in the shadows.
- Evil Puppeteer: He always carries with him a murderous dummy named Scarface. Part of the fear factor in the Ventriloquist's character is that nobody knows for sure who's controlling who - some speculate that the Ventriloquist's meek behavior is just a facade for his bloodlust, while some think that Scarface is alive, and forcing the Ventriloquist to commit crimes.
- Extreme Doormat: Wesker is actually terrified of Scarface's wrath and follows his orders to avoid becoming one of his many victims.
- Gollum Made Me Do It: According to Wesker, Scarface forces him to take part in the criminal lifestyle under the threat of violence or outright murder. Scarface's sentience is played ambiguously, with some implications suggesting that Scarface is actually alive and really is forcing Wesker to do his bidding.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Scarface gets his name from the wicked scar he shares with Al Capone. Wesker added the scar with a chisel when the dummy shifted from being the benevolent Woody to the evil Scarface.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Scarface is easily upset, especially when people refer to him as a dummy or when they choose to speak to Wesker instead of him. As such, Scarface murders anyone who shows him the slightest bit of disrespect.
- Insanity Immunity: Of sorts: In Batman (Tom King) the Psycho-Pirate tries to control his emotions it turns out he can't…because Scarface already controls him.
- Laughably Evil: Many thugs find the timid Wesker and his dummy comical, and make the mistake of laughing at them. This is usually the last mistake they ever make.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Depending on the Writer, Scarface is either simply a symptom of Wesker's disorder, or something more sinister and potentially supernatural—and on some occasions, it's implied to be neither and Wesker is just a Manipulative Bastard who wants everyone to think he's crazy or that the doll is possessed, akin to some versions of The Joker.note Given that this would mean he is willing to machine-gun his own hands as part of his "act", this would probably make him even crazier.
- Mister Big: The tiny dummy is actually the criminal mastermind of the duo, with Wesker being his assistant.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Some stories use the mafia family origin above; other stories have Wesker losing control of his anger in a bar and being sent to Blackgate prison, where he acquires the "Scarface" dummy after it had been carved from a piece of gallows wood by his cell-mate.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: During "Broken City", it's Wesker, of all people, who tends towards violence following the murder of Elizabeth Lupo, with Scarface, ironically, being the calmer of the two personas. It's revealed at the end that Elizabeth and Wesker had an affair and she was pregnant with his child when she was killed — with Wesker actually attacking and destroying the Scarface puppet when the personality mocks him for the affair.
- Odd Friendship: Had one with Psychopathic Manchild Amygdala.
- Opaque Lenses: It is impossible to see Wesker's eyes through his glasses.
- Pet the Dog: One story reveals that, shortly after she was imprisoned in Arkham for the first time, Arnold cheered up Harley Quinn by staging an impromptu puppet show for her. Harley notes it took a tremendous effort on his part to even momentarily reach out to someone like that and became quite fond of Arnold as result, to the point that she hated the second Ventriloquist for stealing the late Arnold's gimmick.
- Real After All: After Arnold's death, the dummy moves by itself for a few panels before burning up.
- Senseless Violins: Scarface used to carry a miniature Tommy gun hidden inside a toy piano he carried under his arm, in a parody of the classic 'Tommy gun in a violin case'. (It is also a Stealth Pun on 'Chicago piano': a gangster-era slang term for a Tommy gun.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the New 52, Arnold never died and becomes a mutated monster who shoves his hands into his victim's backs and makes them "talk" like a doll. That said, other writers have disregarded his return in favor of Shauna Belzer.
- Verbal Tic: Due to Wesker being unable to pronounce the letter "b" when doing his ventriloquist act, words with "b's" in them always come out with a "g" sound when Scarface says them; for instance, "Gatman" instead of "Batman." At times, this has been used for an opening Credits Gag with every "b" in the credited names changed accordingly, i.e. "Gatman created by Gog Kane". This became a key point during Batman: Cataclysm; the trauma of the quake created a new identity, the Quakemaster, who claimed responsibility for the event and threatened to trigger another, but the seismologist who gave 'Quakemaster' his data fed him flawed information to lead the investigators to her location, while Robin (Tim Drake) guessed his identity by noticing how Quakemaster took care to never use words with the letter 'B' in them.
The Ventriloquist II
Real Name: Peyton Riley
First Appearance: Detective Comics #827 (March 2007)
After Wesker's death at the hands of Tally Man, Scarface is taken up by Peyton Riley, the daughter of an Irish gangster, who had worked with Scarface before and grown to like both him and Wesker. Like Wesker, she believes Scarface to be talking to her, although, unlike Wesker, she acknowledges this could be a hallucination. She also isn't as meek as Wesker; she has plans of her own and is working "with" Scarface, rather than for him.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Before becoming the Ventriloquist, she was in a relationship with a pre-Hush Tommy Elliot. While she genuinely loved him and even killed for him, he left her the moment he secured his fortune.
- Arranged Marriage: Her father married her to an Italian gangster to unite the two families. This didn't work out.
- Demonic Dummy: But not so much Gollum Made Me Do It.
- Evil Puppeteer: Just like Arnold, though she actually can pronounce the letter "b".
- Woman Scorned: Her driving force is to get revenge on her ex-husband, who wiped out the Riley family.
The Ventriloquist III
Real Name: Shauna Belzer
First Appearance: Batgirl #20 (July 2013)
A new ventriloquist who is seemingly able to control her dummy, Ferdie, without being in physical contact with him. She is introduced auditioning in a talent show, but was harshly rejected and responded violently. After her first defeat by Batgirl, she (or rather Ferdie) became obsessed with her.
- Ax-Crazy: Shauna has been known to kill people for saying they can see her lips move.
- Berserk Button: A judge commented that he could see her lips moving during her act. Her reaction was to crack a huge Slasher Smile and attempt to drill the judge's eyes out.
- Cain and Abel: As a child, she was jealous that she was always in her twin brother's shadow. When her telekinesis manifested, she mentally pushed him on a swing until he flung off and died by falling on his neck.
- Casanova Wannabe: Ferdie hits on Batgirl during their fight and makes a move toward a female hostage. While they're not interested in him, Shauna gets annoyed that he thinks they're more attractive than her.
- Dead Guy Junior: Her puppet is named after her late brother, Ferdie.
- Demonic Dummy: Shauna's wooden puppet, Ferdie. It was "given" to her by a performer named Rainbow Rodney when she was a child. He seems to move on his own and has a very one-sided crush on Batgirl. Don't tell Shauna that.
- Enfant Terrible: Shauna was picked on as a child and once her telekinesis manifested, she started to get payback. Violently.
- Creepy Child: She was very calm when she killed. Not so much now.
- Evil Puppeteer: Shauna killed Rainbow Rodney, a clown at a classmate's birthday party. Taking Rodney's ventriloquist dummy, she renamed it "Ferdie" after her brother.
- Eye Scream: Ferdie's favorite attack to go for people's eyes with the drills concealed in his hands.
- Freudian Excuse: From the day she was born, she was overshadowed by her twin brother. Living in his shadow and constant ridicule from her classmates made her snap.
- Ironic Nursery Rhyme: After she killed her brother, she sang:Blue, green, red, Ferdie's dead. White, pink, brown, he's rotting in the ground.
- Lean and Mean: She's anorexic and insane.
- Glass Cannon: Despite her bizarrely strong puppet and telekinesis, Shauna goes down with a swift punch to the face when Batgirl finally gets the chance.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While she explicitly has telekinesis, it's ambiguous as to whether Ferdie has a mind of his own or is just Shauna acting. The fact that she seems able to control actual corpses, however, indicates that it's not just acting.
- Mind over Matter: The Ventriloquist can seemingly control objects with her mind; such as her puppet or a Batarang. Her powers manifested as a child.
- Monster Fangirl: Not to any particular person, but the general idea of murder.
- Original Generation: Unlike Arnold and Peyton, Shauna doesn't use Scarface, instead using a completely separate dummy named Ferdie.
- People Puppets: She can use anything like a puppet, regardless of whether it is an actual puppet, a corpse, or a living person. That, plus her look paints her as an expy of Mary Shaw.
- Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: She has the look down certainly. Her creator, Gail Simone, states she wasn't even aware of the similarities between Shauna and Ju On.
- Stronger Than They Look: While fighting Ferdie, Batgirl comments how strong he is, despite being a small, wooden puppet. She struggles to keep him from drilling out her eyes.
- This Is a Drill: Ferdie has pair of drills hidden in his hands. His favorite attack is to go for the eyes.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Jealous of her younger brother Ferdie, Shauna rigged the swings that her brother was on one day. When the swing broke, Ferdie fell onto the pavement and snapped his neck, killing him. Shauna's twin brother was only the first of many of victims. Shauna's next kill would be Rainbow Rodney, a clown at a classmate's birthday party, who she killed by poisoning the punch bowl. Taking Rodney's ventriloquist dummy, she renamed it "Ferdie" after her brother. Shauna now had her "partner in crime" for when she would eventually become the serial killer the Ventriloquist.
- Vapor Wear: Per Secret Six, Shauna does not like underwear.
- Villainous Crush: Ferdie has a crush on Batgirl and has written letters for her. While he sweet-talks Shauna, he isn't attracted to her. In his own words, "Once you go Bat, you know where it's at".
- Voice Changeling: She can mimic anyone's voice.
- Vulgar Humor: Shauna (or maybe Ferdie himself) likes making crass jokes when performing.
The First Victim, Mudface (Glory Griffin), Mr. Noxious (Guy Mandrake), Madame Crow (Abigail O'Shay), and The Mute (Virgil Myers)
First Appearance: Detective Comics #943 (December 2016)
An organization made up of five individuals who, through various means, have ended up as collateral damage in the battles between Batman and his foes. Rather than blame the villains who disfigured them, the Syndicate instead believes that Batman is the cause of their troubles. The Syndicate faced Batman, Batwoman, and their team of trainees shortly after the attack of the Monster Men on Gotham City.
- Accuser of the Brethren: Mudface's main motivation is making sure that Basil either stays a monster or is forever seen as a monster with no chance of redemption for what he did to her.
- Anti-Villain: Mudface, who Basil points out isn't as mean as the rest of the Syndicate, and the Mute, who of the Syndicate does the least harm, and who is defeated solely by the memory of his deceased wife.
- Ax-Crazy: The First Victim, who is scarily obsessed with Batman, and Mr. Noxious, who just seems to like killing people.
- Dirty Coward: With the exception of Mudface, the Victim Syndicate all blame Batman for the way their lives were ruined despite it being clear they were scarred and traumatized thanks to the criminals and villains he fights. At no point do any of them ever try to get revenge on those who actually hurt them, with the implication they're more willing to take it out on Batman because they're terrified of going after their tormentors.
- The Faceless: The First Victim. According to Batwoman, whatever's under that mask is pretty scary, but we never see it.
- Foil: To the villains who created them.
- Mudface is trapped in her half-melted form, while Clayface is a shapeshifter. In their civilian lives, he was an actor and she was his biggest fan.
- Madame Crow's anti-fear toxin has the opposite result to Dr. Crane's serum, causing people to lose all inhibitions and anxiety.
- The Mute is silent, as opposed to the Joker's cackling mania.
- Mr. Noxious downplays this compared to the others, but he still possesses similar powers to Poison Ivy.
- Fittingly, given his opinion of Batman, the First Victim is one to the Caped Crusader himself, being an intimidating genius who created his twisted caricature of a Bat-Family to defeat the dark knight, and while Bats is known for using Stealth Hi/Bye, the First Victim simply vanishes in plain sight.
- Freudian Excuse: All of them were injured in fights between Batman and his foes:
- Mr. Noxious was poisoned by Poison Ivy.
- The Mute's wife was killed by the Joker, and he only survived due to a tracheotomy.
- Mudface was Clayface's first victim when he drowned her in the same substance that created him.
- Madame Crow was used as a test subject for the Scarecrow for months.
- Gender Flip: Madame Crow, Mr. Noxious, and Mudface are essentially gender-flipped versions of their tormentors, especially Madame Crow who wouldn't look too out of place at a Fan Convention.
- Glass Cannon: Mr. Noxious's poison can incapacitate most foes almost instantly. However, he's just as vulnerable as a normal human, and limited by his own reaction time, which allows Cassandra to make short work of him.
- Hypocrite: They claim Batman is a scourge on Gotham because he enables his villains to mutilate and ruin the lives of innocent people, like themselves. Apparently, they have no problem with proving this point by endangering thousands of innocents and somehow not seeing how this reflects on them.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Mudface was a very attractive woman before her accident.
- Lean and Mean: The First Victim is very tall and thin.
- The Lost Lenore: The Mute's wife, who was killed by the Joker.
- Misplaced Retribution: With the exception of Mudface, the rest of the Victim Syndicate are more focused on targeting Batman as revenge for what happened to them, instead of the villains who deliberately hurt them.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: At the climax of their second arc the First Victim's plan involves martyring thousands of their supporters to permanently turn all of the public opinions against him with a threat they engineered. It becomes clear then that despite their preaching that Batman does more harm than good they'll justify any means to achieve the end that is his destruction for vengeance.
- Only Sane Man: Played with. Mudface is the only member of the group willing to target Clayface, the villain who was responsible for mutilating her. While she's angry at Batman for giving him a second chance she thinks he doesn't deserve, Mudface is still directing her anger at the person who hurt her instead of blaming it on someone else like the rest of the group.
- Poisonous Person: Mr. Noxious, who can control the type of poison he inflicts others with.
- Room Full of Crazy: The First Victim's cell at Arkham has covered pieces of his bed scrawled with the bat symbol and the words "no more".
- Scary Black Man: While he's The Faceless, the First Victim's skin is shown to be dark.
- The Spook: The First Victim's DNA and fingerprints have no matches, and he refuses to tell anyone who he is.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: Mudface gets her revenge on Basil and gets her appearance restored for her trouble but she willfully endangered innocent bystanders to do it and it's made clear to her she damned a repentant man for selfish reasons. She's left with a guilty expression in her last appearance.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The First Victim genuinely believes Batman is a greater threat to Gotham City. To prove it they're willing to manipulate crowds of people to die by a Clayface they set loose to make their point.
Victor Zsasz
First Appearance: Shadow of the Bat #1 (June 1992)
An oft-seen but relatively minor bat-villain, Zsasz was once a wealthy businessman who lost fortune and family alike. The loss of his business was too much for him, and he was attempting suicide when a homeless man tried to assault him with a knife. At that point, he embraced a profoundly nihilistic worldview: all of life is meaningless, and the greatest gift he can offer is to "liberate" people — by slaying them and leaving them in lifelike poses. He celebrates his killings by self-scarification, cutting a tally into his flesh for every life he takes.
Has no relation to Charles Victor "Vic Sage" Szasz
- Action Survivor: Most of the time, he's an evil example, relying on little more than stealth, cunning, and slightly above-average athleticism to pursue his lethal hobby without being caught. You don't actually have to fight most people to kill them, after all.
- Adaptational Job Change: Starting with Batman Begins, adaptations have increasingly portrayed him as a Professional Killer for the mob rather than the Serial Killer of the comics.
- Ascended Extra: Despite being a lesser-used villain overall, he was used substantially in the first two installments of the Batman: Arkham Series, which has raised mainstream awareness of the character substantially.
- Ax-Crazy: Or rather, knife crazy. In all seriousness though, this man is completely unhinged, murdering people anyone he sees because of his nihilistic philosophy, and then carving tally marks into his skin.
- Bald of Evil: Most incarnations have him shaved and even marking his scalp.
- Berserk Button: He made a tally mark for Batman, only to learn that the Dark Knight wasn't dead; this caused him to wig out for a while.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: Zsasz is convinced that existence is meaningless and empty, and that by killing people he is actually "freeing" them from the Hell that is life; his thoughts have been depicted as a jumbled mess without any punctuation or even spaces between the letters, and it was at one point revealed that he sees literally everyone around him as shambling, mutilated corpses that need to be put down. Of course, exactly how insane Zsasz is is subject to Depending on the Writer, as a lot of the time his supposed motive barely comes up, with Zsasz just coming off as a glorified thug who kills people For the Evulz.
- Cain and Abel: His brother Douglas, a Living Prop who is murdered by a Knight Templar out to eradicate villainous bloodlines in Batman and Robin (2009), is apparently a law-abiding citizen. Victor implies that he frequently contemplated killing Douglas himself For the Evulz.
- Depending on the Artist: Sometimes he's lean and muscular and has a buzz-cut hairstyle, and other times he's scrawny and looks like a balding, emaciated, meth addict. Artist Cliff Chiang also gives him a standard skinhead appearance for some reason, with a white tank top, suspenders, Doc Martens boots, and a shaved head (though the latter is hardly unusual for Zsasz).
- Depending on the Writer: Zsasz is variably depicted as either a truly dangerous and cunning foe, or just one step up from your average rank-and-file goon. It's also sometimes unclear as to whether he is a true Nietzsche Wannabe, or if he simply kills For the Evulz.
- Despair Event Horizon: He was Driven to Suicide only to be interrupted by a man trying to mug him for the money he squandered.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: According Zsasz, his parents were loving people who never left him wanting, and when they died in a freak accident, it "badly affected" him and caused him to sink into a deep depression, with his grief eventually driving him to take up high-stakes gambling as a form of Escapism, beginning his downward spiral into becoming a nihilistic Serial Killer. He still speaks fondly of them while explaining his origin to Doctor Temple.
- Exotic Eye Designs: In his first appearance, Zsasz's eyes were often kept in shadow. They later ran with this, giving him odd, black eyes that point out with little white dots for pupils, like the image above. These aren't acknowledged in stories, so it seems to just be a stylistic choice. Whether his eyes look like this depends on the artist, and many just draw him with normal eyes.
- Feel No Pain: Zsasz has cut himself so many times that his pain reactions are dulled. Subverted when Bane gets his hands on him - his pain threshold isn't above crushed hands.
- Freudian Excuse Denial: He once claimed that he didn't come from a Dysfunctional Family, wasn't abused as a child, and suffered no major mental or emotional traumas before his turn to crime; he insisted that he is the way he is because he chose to be and does what he does just because he wants to.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Soooooo many evil scars - one for every victim.
- Human Notepad: Zsasz keeps a tally of his kills by carving tally marks into his skin.
- Kill Tally: Rather literal, as he has tally marking etched by himself on his body for those he's killed. Discussed in his very first story - all signs of a murder point to him, but because they couldn't find a new tally mark, the GCPD was on the hunt for a copycat killer. They forgot to check the soles of his feet
- Mad Artist: Sometimes Zsasz poses his victim's bodies into "life-like" stills. A group of guards is posed as if playing poker, or one victim is propped against a payphone to make a call, some such examples. In some depictions, he views the scars on his body like this, and saves "special places" for "special victims", such as underneath his eyelid.
- Mundane Solution: Following the events of Knightfall, Arkham is rebuilt to be a sturdier, more secure facility. Zsasz is the reason villains keep breaking out anyway — he quietly bribed the construction crew to add several secret passages.
- Mundanger: One of the chief representatives of this trope among Batman's rogues. He doesn't have a gang, connections, powers, or a Secret Identity with an elaborate costume. He's just a quietly competent Serial Killer who needs to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently whenever he's out and about before too many bodies start piling up.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Named after the author of The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct Thomas S. Szasz.
- Naked Nutter: On top of being an obsessive psychopathic killer, he's prone to enacting his worst crimes while in some state of undress so he can show off his tallies - most commonly as a Walking Shirtless Scene.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: The main thing that puts him so high in Gotham's threat category is that he just kills people. No elaborate schemes or flamboyant publicity stunts, and no greater ambition than converting the people he meets into corpses - if he's on the loose, it means several local citizens are already dead and plenty of others will be joining them soon.
- Psycho Knife Nut: His defining trope. He's a Straw Nihilist who stabs people to death with a knife and then uses it to carve a new scar into his skin as a memento, and that's pretty much all there is to him. The problem for everyone else is that since he's built his life around being the crazy knife-murder guy, he's very good at it.
- Remember the New Guy?: His debut story "The Last Arkham" treats him as someone both Batman and the GCPD arrested years ago, and are already familiar with the m.o. of. The first leg of the story revolves around determining whether he has a copycat on the loose.
- Secret Public Identity: Despite the gimmick, Zsasz chooses to go by his real name.
- Self-Harm: His aforementioned kill tally is something he cuts into his skin.
- Serial Killer: One of the premier non-powered examples in Gotham.
- The Sociopath: He has no regard for human life, seeing those around him as mindless robots.
- Straw Nihilist: His whole raison d'etre for his murderous rampage? He believes that, by killing people, he is liberating them from the futility of life. Streets of Gotham implied that he sees everyone around him as already dead and he's just "freeing them" from that state. When Damian starts fighting on Zsasz's level, suddenly Zsasz doesn't see his opponent as just a corpse anymore and freaks out because he hallucinates seeing his own dead body reflected in Damian's eyes.
- Strong as They Need to Be: Many times when he faces off against various members of the Bat-family, he can suffer some hilariously one-sided beatdowns.note But other times he can be portrayed as being a much better combatant who can do a lot more damage for a skinny guy diagnosed as insane and lacks formal training. At one point he was even able to out-fight and nearly kill Damian Wayne, someone who's been trained in the killing arts since birth, even though Damian was armed with a sword and Zsasz was only using a knife.
- Would Hurt a Child: Not only has he killed numerous children, he even constructed an arena to do so when told to "fulfill his dreams", and invited crime bosses to bet on the outcome.
The Werewolf
Alter Ego: Anthony Lupus
First Appearance: Batman #255 (April 1974)
Anthony Lupus is a former Olympic gold medallist in the decathlon, who started suffering from crippling migraines. To find a cure, he sought the help of Evilutionary Biologist Professor Milo. Milo used a serum derived from Alaskan timber wolves to treat him. However, a side effect of the serum caused him to become a werewolf. According to Milo, Lupus suffered from latent lycanthropy, which had been the cause of his headaches, and the serum advanced the development of the condition.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Lupus desperately wants to find a cure for his lycanthropy.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Lupus suffered from latent lycanthropy which was triggered by Milo's serum. He turns into a Wolf Man form rather than into an actual wolf.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Lupus won an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon.
- Silver Has Mystic Powers: Like a traditional werewolf, Lupus is vulnerable to silver. Batman was once able to capture him by wrapping him up in a silver net.
- Werewolf Theme Naming: Anthony Lupus
- Wolf Man: Transforms into a bipedal half-man, half-wolf form.
Whisper A'Daire
First Appearance: Detective Comics #743 (April 2000)
Whisper A'Daire is an assassin with a snake-like appearance. Originally a member of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul gave her a serum that granted her immortality and the ability to shapeshift. After leaving the League, she joined Intergang and became a high priestess of the Cult of Cain.
- Acid Attack: Can spit acid.
- The Ageless: The serum made her immortal. She remains young and beautiful by shedding her skin.
- Compelling Voice: Her voice can brainwash people.
- Evil Brit: Bruce notes her English accent when they first meet, and she's a very nasty person.
- The Fagin: Whisper brainwashes kidnapped children into being Intergang operatives.
- Fetishized Abuser: To her lover and second-in-command Kyle Abbot, whose obsessive loyalty to her isn't hampered at all by her spitting acid in his face for failing her.
- Hypnotic Eyes: She can mesmerize and hypnotize people upon eye contact.
- Not Brainwashed: Bruce assumes that Ra's is controlling her with her addiction to his immortality serum, but when he cures that addiction she double-crosses him and reveals that she's loyal to Ra's regardless.
- Older Than They Look: She's almost ninety but appears to be in her late twenties.
- Snake People: When Whisper took the serum, her human form became that of a snake. How much of her is snakelike varies, as she can go from a human woman with a few scales, to having fangs and snakelike eyes, to being fully covered in scales, and finally becoming a humanoid cobra.
- Snakes Are Sexy: Whisper is a seductress with an almost supernatural ability to bend men to her will.
- Two-Faced: After being badly burned in a fight with Renee Montoya, a large part of the left side of her face was scarred.
White Knight
Alter Ego: Lewis Bayard
First Appearance: Batman & Robin #21 (May 2011)
Lewis Bayard was the son of an Arkham Asylum security guard who was murdered by Doctor Phosphorus during an asylum riot. Years later, Lewis took on the name of The White Knight; a self-proclaimed savior to the world. Believing that anyone who appears corrupt must have come from a corrupted bloodline, the White Knight targeted the relatives of Arkham Asylum's inmates to save their souls by dressing them as angels and forcing them to commit suicide. The White Knight's ultimate goal is to kill Arkham's inmates and all of their relatives.
- Blinded by the Light: Is bathed in a white light he can use to blind foes.
- Freudian Excuse: Saw his father murdered by Dr. Phosphorus.
- Harmful to Minors: As a boy, Bayard saw his father murdered by Dr. Phosphorus.
- Jet Pack: Wears a winged jet pack that allows him to fly.
- Light Is Not Good: Named the White Knight and his suit glows white, but he's certainly not a good man.
- Misplaced Retribution: The relatives of the Arkham inmates have done nothing to deserve the White Knight's wrath, yet he plans to murder them all.
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: He would use a drug called Special K to put his victims into a state of euphoria, and dress them up to resemble angels. With the use of an audio device placed in their ears, he would then instruct them to commit suicide.
- Shock and Awe: Has electric shock elements built into his costume.
- Strapped to a Bomb: Attached an explosive device to Francine Langstrom before forcing her and her children to jump off a building.
- Vigilante Man: Targets Arkham Asylum inmates and their relatives.
White Rabbit
Alter Ego: Jaina Hudson
First Appearance: Batman: The Dark Knight (Vol 2) #1 (November 2011)
Jaina Hudson is the mastermind behind a toxin known to obliterate all fear from one's mind. Due to her involvement with Bane and the Scarecrow, she once managed to defeat Batman.
Despite the Alice Allusion, she has no affiliation with Mad Hatter. Not at first anyway.
- Alice Allusion: Takes her code name from the character in Alice in Wonderland and makes reference to him,such as using his "I'm late" catchphrase.
- Color Animal Codename: White Rabbit.
- Dating Catwoman: White Rabbit's alter ego Jaina Hudson dated Bruce Wayne for a time.
- Me's a Crowd: Jaina can duplicate herself into two beings: the second version of herself and White Rabbit.
- Most Common Superpower: Her assets are pretty prominent.
- Ms. Fanservice: She looks more like a Playboy Bunny than a supervillainess, so it's pretty clear she fits the bill.
- Of Corsets Sexy: White Rabbit wears this, and very little else.
- Playboy Bunny: Her costume is essentially a Playboy bunny outfit with the addition of a mask.
- Racial Transformation: Bizarrely, the White Rabbit has a lighter skin tone than Jaina, and platinum blonde hair as opposed to Jaina'sblack.
- Stripperiffic: Quite an exaggerated example with the main part of her "Costume" being just a corset and a thong.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: White Rabbit was very important to the opening arc of Batman: The Dark Knight but her story ended on a cliffhanger and after that, she mostly just appeared in crowd shots with other villains.
The Wrath I
First Appearance: Batman Special #1 (June 1984)
The Wrath is a Gotham City super-villain who acts as an evil version of Batman. His parents were criminals killed by police officers, so he became an assassin and dedicated his life to the destruction of law and order. He also sometimes has a sidekick similar to Robin called Scorn.
- Bad Boss: He treats his Robin-Esque sidekick as little more than an employee who he can fire, unlike Batman's attention to his wards.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": The Wrath has a large 'W' insignia on his chest and a smaller one on his cowl.
- Cop Hater: His parents were thieves that a young Jim Gordon was forced to kill after they drew their guns, earning him Wrath's hatred. Wrath tried to convince Batman that Gordon killed his parents without provocation, but Bats refused to believe it.
- Cop Killer: Specialized in murdering law enforcement officials.
- Evil Counterpart: He is even more of a Batman counterpart than most, down to duplicating much of his origin. His parents were robbers who got into a firefight with a young Jim Gordon and were killed by Gordon in self-defense in front of him the same day as Bruce Wayne's parents were killed. Thus, the Wrath dedicated his life to fighting law and order.
- Evil Mentor: "Wrath Child" shows he wasn't a nice mentor, abusing and berating Elliot Caldwell, the man who'd replace him, and ultimately killing the four kids he tried to train before Caldwell.
- Killed Off for Real: He is killed when he fell into one of his own traps, resulting in him catching on fire and falling off the rooftop of a building down to the street in Crime Alley.
- Palette Swap: His costume is also very similar to Batman's (though colored in crimson and purple with a W-insignia on the chest and cowl; the W on his cowl, when seen in the right light and at the right angle, looks like the ears of the Batman's cowl).
- Retcon: In Batman Confidential, several details of his origin underwent a retcon, including the original story taking place shortly after Dick Grayson became Robin (the original story was published the same year that Dick first became Nightwing). Wrath's father is now depicted as a corrupt cop who was robbing a warehouse with his wife and their son acting as a lookout. Gordon confronted them and, in a gunfight, killed the parents in self-defense.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His costume is orange and purple.
- Self-Serving Memory: Potentially applies, based on the story he told the second Wrath about the circumstances of his own parents' deaths. This story depicts Gordon as a cold-blooded killer who shot first and killed the Wrath's unarmed mother, while the reader is shown the truth: Gordon told them to freeze; the original Wrath's father started to fire; Gordon was wounded and startled, causing him to fire at the father and inflict a fatal wound by accident; the mother took the father's gun and fired; Gordon shot her in self-defense. It's unknown if this is how the first Wrath told Caldwell the story or if Caldwell edited it to drive a wedge between Batman and Gordon.
- Supervillain Packing Heat: A major difference between Batman and Wrath is that Wrath enthusiastically embraces the use of firearms in his mission.
- Shadow Archetype: The dark version of Batman: a criminal who saw his parents killed by a cop, and who devoted his life to killing law enforcement officers.
The Wrath II
Alter Ego: Elliot D. Caldwell
First Appearance: Detective Comics (Vol 2) #22 (September 2013)
The second Wrath, Elliot Caldwell, was orphaned under similar circumstances to the original and was taken in by the original to be his answer to Robin. In the New 52, he's reimagined as E.D. Caldwell, a sole Wrath and even more of an Evil Counterpart to Bruce as a Corrupt Corporate Executive with his army called Scorns.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Like his predecessor, this Wrath also has a large 'W' insignia on his chest and a smaller one on his cowl.
- Cool Car: Being an evil counterpart to Batman, it's only natural that Wrath has his own version of the Batmobile. Unlike the Batmobile, which has a sleek appearance and is armed with non-lethal weapons and hidden tech underneath, Wrath's car takes the form of a jeep with various guns mounted all over the car in plain sight.
- Cop Hater: Became one in a way similar to the original Wrath.
- Cop Killer: Like his mentor, he specialized in killing cops.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: In the New 52, he's an evil businessman and a sociopathic killer.
- Evil Counterpart: Of both Batman and the original Robin/Nightwing. In the New 52, he's even more of one for Bruce, being a Corrupt Corporate Executive with his army of Robin counterparts called "Scorns".
- Legacy Character: Originally introduced as the second Wrath.
- Palette Swap: Like his mentor, his costume is also very similar to Batman's, only all-purple.
- Shadow Archetype: Elliot invokes this in Batman Confidential, Issue #16, right before Batman and Nightwing kick his ass. Despite his similarities to them in motivation, experiences, and drive, Elliot realizes what he never had or will have under the original Wrath: true loyalty, friendship, and respect towards each other; a real dynamic duo, like Batman and Nightwing.
- Unreliable Narrator: Caldwell recounts a warped version of the first Wrath's origin (see Self-Serving Memory above), but it may be that he edited this story himself to drive a wedge between Batman and Gordon. Regardless of the nature of this tale, Batman rejects the attempt to present James Gordon as a ruthless killer, assuring Gordon that he understands that the Wrath's parents were killed in self-defence and essentially an accident.
- You Are Number 6: He didn't take it too well that he was the fifth of five kids trained by the original Wrath.
- You Have Failed Me: In the New 52, he treats his Robin-Esque sidekick as little more than an employee who he can fire, unlike Batman's attention to his wards.
Zebra-Man
Alter Ego: Jacob Baker
First Appearance: Detective Comics #275 (January 1960)
The first Zebra Man was the inventor Jake Baker, who created a device which empowered him with an aura of black and white energy lines which could repel matter using a form of magnetism that also affected non-conductive materials (known in the real world as diamagnetism). He could not turn the field off, and controlled his powers using a belt which neutralized this repulsive force. He also briefly infected Batman with the same energy field.
The second Zebra Man was created when Kobra replicated the first Zebra-Man's experiment. When his team Strike Force Kobra was defeated by the Outsiders, the Zebra-Man fled. He was as a member of the Secret Society Of Super Villains.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Animal alias variety since their powers aren't related to zebras. The one who was part of the Suicide Squad admits he does like zebras.
- Ascended Extra: Of all the Zebra-Men that have debuted, the one who joined the Suicide Squad has had the largest role.
- Bald of Evil: Both Jacob Baker and the Zebra-Man who changed his codename to Vortex were bald.
- Barrier Warrior: All Zebra-Men can create force-fields at will.
- Delinquent Hair: Two of the four known Zebra-Men even have a mohawk that brings to mind a zebra's mane.
- Elite Mooks: The Suicide Squad version becomes Lok's bodyguard.
- Legacy Character: After Jacob Baker there have been three other Zebra-Man, one Post-Crisis and two Post-Flashpoint, none of which have been named.
- Mauve Shirt: Besides Harley and Deadshot, the Suicide Squad's version is the only member that wasn't part of the Revolutionaries before they went rogue.
- No Name Given: Three out of four Zebra-Men haven't revealed their real names.
- Punch-Clock Villain: The Suicide Squad's version doesn't seem to enjoy protecting someone as disgusting as Lok, but has little choice in the matter thanks to being part of the Squad.
- Selective Magnetism: Zebra-Man can manipulate magnetic force-fields, which is what gives them the power to create barriers.
- The Quiet One: The Suicide Squad's version is not particularly talkative.
Zeiss
Full Name: Philo Zeiss
First Appearance: Batman #582 (October 2000)
Philo Zeiss possesses surgically enhanced speed, reflexes, vision-enhancing goggles, and extensive martial arts training. Brought up by the Sicilian mafia, Zeiss eventually becomes a contract killer and bodyguard.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: It may be achieved by having his brain and reflexes artificially augmented, but Zeiss is capable of rapidly observing and replicating an opponent's combat technique.
- Bald of Evil: Zeiss shaves his head.
- Bullet Time: How Zeiss views the world.
- Crazy-Prepared: In his first appearance in Gotham, Zeiss hired a team of mercenaries to fight Batman so that he could watch the Dark Knight in action and prepare for his battle.
- Delinquent Hair: Before he started shaving his head, Zeiss sported a weird quiff that was part mohawk.
- Eye Scream: Sometimes his eyes are depicted as severely inflamed-looking or mutilated behind his vision-enhancing goggles.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: Zeiss' implanted goggles modify his optic nerves to enhance his perception and reflexes to superhuman levels.
- Meaningful Name: Zeiss shares his name with a Swiss manufacturer of top-end optics.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Batman at one point observes that Zeiss might as well be this, as he can't expect to rely on people being more intimidated by him than by Batman because he's new in town and Batman's been around for years.
- Super-Reflexes: Zeiss' reflexes have been cybernetically enhanced.
Zodiac Master
First Appearance: Detective Comics #323 (January 1964)
Zodiac Master was the alias of a costumed criminal who worked in Gotham City. The signs of the Zodiac on his costume can be plucked off and used as weapons.
- Battering Ram: The Capricorn symbol becomes a goat that is a battering ram.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": Has a 'Z' on his cowl.
- Expanding Thrown Weapon: Zodiac Master had a costume covered in the signs of the zodiac. These symbols are gimmicked to transform themselves into weapons or distractions, similar to the Polka-Dot Man, and growing to human sized when peeled off and activated. The zodiac signs on the Zodiac Master's costume included a ram's head (representing Aries), a scorpion (representing Scorpio), a "jet arrow" (representing Sagittarius), flaming human twins (representing Gemini), and a figure holding scales (representing Libra). All of these, with the exception of Libra, could be used as projectiles. The Scorpio projectile also functioned as a Battle Bolas.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Aries symbol is a ram that is an incendiary device (Aries is a fire sign).
- Fortune Teller: The Zodiac Master worked as a fortuneteller in a "mystic parlor" in Gotham City.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name has never been revealed.
- Power Pincers: The Cancer symbol turns into a crab that can fly and pluck objects up in its claw.
- Symbol Motif Clothing: Wears a costume covered with zodiac symbols.
- Tattooed Crook: Post-Flashpoint Zodiac Master has the zodiac symbols tattooed over his body rather than worn on his costume.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: The Post-Flashpoint Zodiac Masterwears an open black vest over his bare torso.
- We Will Meet Again: The Post-Flashpoint version said it; unfortunately he hasn't reappeared since his debut in 2017.
- Younger and Hipper: Post-Flashpoint Zodiac Master looks much younger and is a Tattooed Crook rather than the silly costume of the Silver Age.