BatmanVillains Rogue's Gallery
Batman defends Gotham City from street criminals and supervillains alike. In the course of his storied career, however, the Caped Crusader has accumulated a collection of unique foes, which together form an evil and insane Rogues Gallery of villains. Many of Batman's habitual enemies, when captured, do not go to jail or prison, but instead return to their residency at Arkham Asylum, which is Gotham City's asylum for the criminally insane. And insane most of these villains most certainly are. From the Riddler's compulsion to leave clues in the form of riddles, to Two-Face's penchant for letting the flip of a coin determine if someone lives or died, Batman's most implacable foes are certifiably, lethally, nuts!
Below is a listing of the major Batman villains and foes. Next to each villain's criminal code name is their first appearance in the comics or other media, and their real, or non-criminal name.
Batman Villains List
The Monk--First Appearance:Detective Comics #31 (September 1939) -One of Batman's first foes, he wore a red cassock, and a hood with a skull and crossbones on it. The Monk was actually a vampire with hypnotic powers and the ability to shapeshift into a wolf. He killed after being shot with a silver bullet fired by Batman. His battle with Batman was the first multi-part Batman adventure. The Monk's hood sits in a glass display case inside the Batcave from that time forward, and has been seen in that case in the Batcave in all subsequent official continuities.
The Monk, one of Batman's first foes
The Joker--First Appearance: Batman #1 (Spring 1940)
The Joker
Catwoman--First Appearance: Batman #1 (Spring 1940)
The Riddler--First Appearance: Detective Comics #140 (October 1948)--Real Name: Edward Nigma.
Two-Face--First Appearance: Detective Comics #66 (August 1942)--Real Name: Harvey Dent.
The Scarecrow-- First Appearance: World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941)--Real Name: Professor Jonathan Crane.
The Penguin--First Appearance: Detective Comics #58 (December 1941)--Real Name: Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.
The Mad Hatter--First Appearance: Batman #49 (October/November, 1948)--Real Name: Jervis Tetch, a criminal mastermind with a penchant for hats and Alice in Wonderland imagery.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee--First Appearance: Detective Comics #74 (April 1943) --Real Names: Dumfrey and Deever Tweed.
Clayface--First Appearance: Detective Comics #40 (June 1940)
Mr. Freeze/Mr. Zero--First Appearance: Batman #121 (February 1959)--Real Name: Dr. Victor Fries. Originally known in the comics as Mr. Zero, the name was changed to Mr. Freeze for the 1960s Adam West Batman TV show.
Poison Ivy--First Appearance: Batman #181 (June 1966)--Real Name: Pamela Lillian Isley.
Ra's al Ghul--First Appearance: Batman #232 (June 1971)
Bane--First Appearance: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993)--Famous as the drug-powered villain who literally broke Batman's back, Bane is the villain in the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. Just a few days before the Dark Knight Rises hit theaters, political radion talk show host Rush Limbaugh laughingly claimed that the makers of the movie named the villain of the movie "Bane" in order to create a negative association with Mitt Romney, who used to run a company called "Bain." Maybe Rush should read up on his comicshistory before talking about something he clearly does not understand. See also The Truth is Rush Limbaugh's Bane.
Bane and Batman
Zsasz --First Appearance: Batman: The Last Arkham #1 (June 1992) --Real Name: Victor Zsasz.
Dollmaker--First Appearance: Detective Comics #2 (October 2011)--First new Batman villain in DC Comics's "New 52" relaunch.