Joker
Alias: Jack White
First Appearance: Batman No.1 1940
Abilities: Skilled Chemist, Very Intelligent, Access to a plethora of gadgets, Skilled in Hand to Hand Combat
Played By: Heath Ledger, Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson
Jack White A.K.A The Joker is the most iconic of all the super villains because he was first. There is no villain more
cunning or more charismatic than The Joker. Sure, at times he can be a little crazy, but who isn’t right? The Joker is most famously portrayed by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Night. Ledger took this villain to all new sorts of crazy in this movie. It is rumored that in order to play The Joker, Ledger would sit in a hotel room for hours on end with no contact from the outside world. It is also rumored that the stress of playing the role led to his accidental overdose. Ledger did such an amazing job with the character that, Michael Cane (Alfred) was so afraid when he appeared in a scene with Ledger that he forze up and forgot his lines. The Joker will, for me at least, be the ultimate super villain. One who just wants to watch the world burn and laugh.
Two-Face
Alias: Harvey Dent
First Appearance: Detective Comics #66 1942
Abilities: Expert Marksmen, Very knowledgable of the law, Skilled in Hand to Hand Combat
Played By: Tommy Lee Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Billy Dee Williams
Two-Face is almost a good guy in the comics and the movies. I mean he started off as Harvey Dent the district attorney that was going to clean up the corrupt Gotham Police force and rid the city of Gotham of super villains and underworld scum that had plagued the city for years. Dent would have made Batman an obsolete vigilante who could retire. Things were looking up in Gotham, their savior had come…then Carmine Falcone burnt half of Dent’s face. This severe burn led to depression and the only way he could cope was by creating a split personality. This lead to Two-Face, the devious vigilante who kills and robs and loots, only if his coin tells him to of course. The most famous portrayal of Two-Face is done by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. Many people also remember a more realistic looking Two-Face in The Dark Knight played by Aaron Eckhart. I don’t think he is the most famous portrayal because, although realistic, you do not get to see him as a super villain. With his trademark coin and split personality Two-Face is one of the more formidable foes Batman has ever and will ever face.
The Penguin
Alias:Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot
First Appearance: Detective Comics #58 1941
Abilities: Born Leader, Infinite Underworld Connections, Expert in Judo, Trick Umbrellas
Played By: Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito
The Penguin has had a personal vendetta against the Wayne family since he has been born. If only penguin were smart enough to realize that Batman was in fact Bruce Wayne he would really try and kill him. I never really have though of Penguin as an ultimate super villain until I started to read about him. The Penguin can literally do anything he chooses and unfortunately, he chose to do crime in the city with Batman. The Penguin owns the Iceberg Lounge, which is a high society hangout…in the most crime ridden part of town. This fact kind makes this a lounge that is empty more than full. The Penguin has a gaggle of henchmen, and an infinite supply of guns will keep The Penguin and Batman feuding for many more years.
Bane
Alias: Dorrance
First Appearance: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 1993
Played By: Jeep Swenson and Tom Hardy
Abilities:Superhuman strength, High intelligence, Escapologist. Hand to hand combat, Expert strategist
Although a newer super villain in the grand scheme of the Batman universe Bane, is perhaps, the most deadly super villain. Bane was born and immediately sentenced to life in prison in place of his dead father. While there Bane read every book that was managed to be smuggled in. Bane was then handed over to his government who was working with a secret chemical called “Venom” which gives Bane super strength. Bane’s dependence on Venom is a huge weakness but it is arguably his only one. In his first appearance in the comic books Bane was able to vicously injure Batman by breaking his back. Bane is still the only villain that can claim he has truly injured Batman. With his Venom intact it is easy to see why Bane would be on the list of greatest super villains.
Riddler
Alias: Edward Nigma or Edward Nashton
First Appearance: Detective Comics #140 1948
Played By: Frank Gorshin, Josh Astin, Jim Carrey
Abilities: Genius-level deductive reasoning, Vast esoteric knowledge
The Riddler is the ultimate troll in the Batman universe. How can he even be a super villain when he literally has no powers or chemicals to help him? Easy, he uses riddles that are near impossible to solve to mess with Batman’s head. In the sixty-four years thats Riddler has been a villain he has left Batman with innumerable riddles. The only reason Batman can solve them is because of his super intellect and technology. It’s almost like Batman is cheating really. With all his riddles and dastardly deeds, Riddler definitely deserves to be considered as the greatest super villain of all time.
Scarecrow
Alias: Dr. Jonathan Crane
First Appearance: World’s Finest Comics #3 1941
Played By: Cillian Murphy
Abilities: Well-educated on the psychology of fear,Develops various tools which induce crippling fear,
May transform under duress into the monstrous “Scarebeast”, gaining superhuman strength, endurance, and a more potent hallucinogen.
Dr. Jonathan Crane was a brilliant psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum until they found out he was using the patients as experiments and promptly let him go. This did not stop Dr. Crane from continuing his experiments; unfortunately for the citizen of Gotham they became his new patients. With extreme intellect he was able to create several drugs to induce the victims darkest fears. These drugs have affected Batman several times and the hallucinations are absolutely terrible. Batman is able to break out of this fear induced state almost every time but not without the help of others. The fact that Dr. Crane controls fear is as good of a reason as any to put him on this list.
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