Why I love Batman Villains?
In my previous post I talked about why I love Batman. Now, one can't talk about Batman without having a discussion on his villains. Batman is awesome and his villains are one of the main reasons that make him awesome. His villains aren't just like any other bad guy who wants to rule the world or get rich. All of his villains have serious motivations that drive them to do what they do. And almost all of the villains just like Batman don't have any superpowers. They too, like Batman, are characters that could exist in reality. In fact I'm pretty sure some of them actually are inspired by real people. Batman doesn't have any powers. He uses his wit and skills to face his enemies and the fact that his enemies also don't have any superpowers makes their conflict believable. There is one other superhero that I like who doesn't have any superpowers and uses his wit and skills to save the day and that is the Indian comicbook superhero Super Commando Dhruv. But the problem with Dhruv is that many of his villains are superpowered beings. Actually one of his villains Chandkaal is a demon, 'raakshas jaati ka aakhiri vanshaj'. So I think you get the idea. Sometimes this makes him a very over-the-top unbelievable character because how can powerless guy face superpowered villains. I know that even Batman on many occasions has fought against superpowered beings. Hell! The guy held his own against fucking Superman who is arguably the most powerful superhero. But at the end of the his core villains are not superpowered. Many of them are just like him. Like two sides of the same coin. And by the last statement I don't just mean Two-Face.
Most of the Batman villains have one thing in common - they are all actually mental patients. These are deranged, troubled minds that have gone mad or suffer from a psychological condition like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Split Personality Disorder. These are psychopaths who don't belong in jail, but in an asylum - yes, Arkham Asylum. When I said that Batman villains are like him then that statement can be rightfully extended here also. If you think about it then in some way we can see that Batman himself also is a psychopath. He suffers from a psychological condition since his childhood. A tragic incident at such an early age still haunts him and is his driving force. And also like Batman, his villains also have a tragic backstory. Almost all of them are victims and have suffered a lot in the past and that's what drove them mad and made them what they are today. Some of the villains' stories are so tragic that they can actually make you cry.
Now I have talked about all the Batman villains in general. Now I'll talk about specific villains. And in the process I will list out the Top Ten Batman Villains according to me. You may agree or disagree with me. I don't fucking care. This is my list.
10. Mr Freeze - See the first entry on my list and the list begins with a tragic villain. A simple scientist trying to discover a cure for his beloved wife's illness becoming a mutant who can only survive in sub-zero temperature by accident. I remember the episode when Mr Freeze was introduced in the Batman Animated Series. At no point in the entire story does one feel that Mr Freeze is a bad guy and Batman should kick his ass. In fact I felt really sad in the last scene of the episode when he is in his cell and looking at the revolving couple toy in the glass box (like the one in Om Shanti Om) and thinking about his wife. That was one of the best episodes of the series and I believe reinvented the character. Also one of the best moments of Mr Freeze was in the Arkham City video game. His is the one of the best boss battles in all gaming history. The way we have to find different ways to take him down during the whole battle because after we take him down one way, he does something so that we can't repeat that action. That battle was not just the player trying to take down a boss by beating him up or shooting him. That battle is so intense that we have to think about our every action. Mr Freeze is a great villain and I'm not gonna talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance as Mr Freeze in Batman and Robin. If he is to be used in a live action film then Mark Strong would be the right choice for him according to me.
9. Riddler - Edward Nigma. His name is a play on 'Enigma' and also my last name and his last name are kind of similar, Nigam-Nigma. The constant cause of irritation in the Arkham games, this guy is a classic case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He just wants a good intellectual challenge and to beat it. He is obsessed with proving himself to be the best. I love the part in the Animated Series when Batman drives him crazy just by not telling him the answer to a question he couldn't figure out himself. That was amazing. See, not just fighting with fists but with wits as well. And the happiness I felt everytime I solved any of the Riddles in the Arkham Games. Sheer joy! I think Neil Patrick Harris could play the perfect Riddler if this character is used in any movie in the near future.
8. Bane - The muscle man. If Riddler is intellectual challenge for Batman, this one is his physical challenge. Bane is the one who defeated Batman and broke him literally. Bane is such a strong force that every time he came on screen in the Animated Series, I got shit scared that now Batman is fucked. Tom Hardy played him very well in The Dark Knight Rises. Bane was also in Batman and Robin but fuck that shit. If to be used again then Tom Hardy would be perfect to play him again.
7. Mad Hatter - Another case of OCD. This guy is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. Not the Tim Burton movie, the Lewis Carroll book. And he can also control people's minds. This is really a crazy character. And his fight in the Arkham City game was really psychedelic. He is a great character that I would love to see in a movie sometime played by someone of the likes of Martin Freeman.
6. Hush - Thomas Elliot. One of the most interesting characters ever. The Hush storyline is one of the best Batman comicbook storylines ever. He was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne and like him was from a well to do family. He also lost his parents like Bruce but while Bruce was motivated by his parents' death to fight crime and serve justice, Thomas after his parents' death developed a hatred for Bruce and went on to become a surgeon who used his surgery skills to change his appearance to match that of Bruce's and took on the identity of Bruce Wayne. If the Hush storyline could be adapted in a movie, that would be a dream come true for me. He would have to be played by the same actor who would play Batman/Bruce Wayne. Ben Affleck is good for me.
5. Scarecrow - Dr Jonathan Crane developed a fear toxin and became the fear inducing villain Scarecrow. Batman's major weapon against the criminals is fear and this guy is the one who can scare Batman himself. I loved the part in the Batman animated series when Batman was affected by the fear toxin and the fear Batman faced was his parents calling him a disgrace. And that's when Batman boldly faces his fear and we get the awesome line in Kevin Conroy's voice - "I am not a disgrace. I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!" Damn. So fucking awesome. Scarecrow was played in all three Nolan movies by one of my most favorite actors - Cillian Murphy and I don't think anyone else can top that performance.
4. Harley Quinn - Dr Harleen Quinzel. It's interesting to note that Batman has many doctors as his villains. It's like the bad guys have a doctorate in trying to kill Batman. Anyways, Harley Quinn is another doctor who has one of the most disturbing stories ever. Seriously. Ever. A psychiatrist appointed to cure Joker but what happened was she herself got mad, in love with the Joker. And became his Harley Quinn. Theirs is a very deranged love story. Joker has on multiple accounts tried to kill her but she always comes back to him because she is so madly in love with him. She has also at times teamed up with Poison Ivy and Catwoman. She is also one of the sexiest comicbook characters. Interestingly she wasn't introduced in a comicbook but in the Batman Animated Series and was so much loved by the fans that they incorporated her in the main Batman mythos and over time she has also had her solo titles. She is my favorite character in the Injustice storyline. She was played by Margot Robbie recently in Suicide Squad and I liked her performance. I think there's also going to be a Harley Quinn solo movie starring her. I don't know how that will work out but I can't think of anyone else at this point who could play her better.
3. Ra's Al Ghul - The Head of the Demon. The leader of the League of Assassins. This guy has died and come back to life more than the characters in Ekta Kapoor's serials. The source of his immortality is the Lazarus Pit which was also responsible in bringing back Jason Todd, the second Robin and the current Red Hood. The Lazarus Pit gives him power but also takes away a part of his humanity every time he uses it. He is a a master warrior and has also taught Batman many of his skills. He had always gone after Batman to try to convince him to become the leader of the League of Assassins and take his place but Batman has always refused. Batman just doesn't like the job offer. I remember the first episode in which Ra's Al Ghul was shown in the Animated Series. I was very excited watching it because Batman came to India in that episode. Yes, motherfucking Batman and Ra's Al Ghul together in Kolkata searching for Talia and Robin. Ra's was one of the main antagonists in the Arkham City video game. He was also shown in the first game as a dead body in the morgue. But if you go to the morgue at a later part of the game then you can see that Ra's body is gone which was such a clever way of shwing that he had been resurrected and would return in the next game. He was the main villain in Batman Begins played by Liam Neeson and he should play him again if the character is used again. In fact Neeson even expressed interest in playing the character in the Arrow TV Show in Season 3 but I think the producers could not afford him. But I'm glad he didn't play Ra's in the show. He was very poorly depicted.
2. Two Face - I swear. This wasn't intentional. He is just so good that I had to put Two Face at number two. Anyways, let's talk about this awesome character. Harvey Dent. Perfect example of Split Personality Disorder, This guy also has a very tragic backstory. He was a good guy. A public prosecutor who tried equally hard as Batman to fight for justice but doing good has always made the bad guys uneasy and this is what happened here. The bad guys went after him and he got his half face burned and the bad one of his two personalities took over and he became a criminal who would decide what to do on a coin toss. You feel really sorry for him. One time when I really felt sorry for the guy was in The Dark Knight Returns when his face is returned to normal with plastic surgery but the poor guy has gone so mad that now he sees his whole face as being scarred and tries to commit suicide. This shows how much the guy has suffered. This character has been depicted twice on the movie screen and like his faces, one was good, the other was bad.
1. Joker - This was pretty obvious, right? Who else could be at the number one spot? Joker is the ultimate antagonist. The absolute opposite of what Batman represents. Batman is justice and order, Joker is injustice and chaos. Both of them are actually equally insane. The relationship between them is unlike any other rivalry. They both fight all the time but they can't kill each other because both know that one is nothing without the other. They both complete each other. If the world needs a whole lot of Batman then it also needs a little bit of Joker. Joker's origins are a matter of argument and there are many interpretations of his origin. One of the most famous ones is told in The Killing Joke which shows that the Joker was actually an unsuccessful comedian who lost his job, his pregnant wife and fell into acid and went mad and became the Joker. Joker is one of the best characters of all time. And I think the less we know of his origin, the better. Not knowing about him, makes him scarier and more mysterious. I think there can be an actual storyline where it is revealed that Joker and Batman are like the two different personalities of the same person. Or one is the figment of the other's imagination. Joker has been played by many actors over the years - Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, Jared Leto,etc but the best performance will forever be Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. That is not just the best Joker performance but one of the best performances of all time. I really had high hopes from Jared Leto in Suicide Squad but I was really disappointed. You need a really great actor to play him. Now I think a better choice to play him could be Matthew McConaughey or Jake Gyllenhaal.
So those were my Top Ten Batman Villains. But I would also like to mention some other great villains that couldn't make it to the Top Ten but are really fucking good. They are :-
Poison Ivy
Catwoman
Hugo Strange
Ventriloquist
Calendar Man
Clayface
Penguin
Victor Zsasz
Solomon Grundy
Killer Croc
Man-Bat
All these villains are some of the best characters in a comicbook or any other media. All of these villains are responsible for some of the best Batman stories ever told. Batman is Batman without his suit or gadgets or money but Batman is nothing without his Rogues Gallery. It would seriously be a very dull Gotham without someone putting a knife in your mouth and asking you politely - "Why so serious?"
Most of the Batman villains have one thing in common - they are all actually mental patients. These are deranged, troubled minds that have gone mad or suffer from a psychological condition like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Split Personality Disorder. These are psychopaths who don't belong in jail, but in an asylum - yes, Arkham Asylum. When I said that Batman villains are like him then that statement can be rightfully extended here also. If you think about it then in some way we can see that Batman himself also is a psychopath. He suffers from a psychological condition since his childhood. A tragic incident at such an early age still haunts him and is his driving force. And also like Batman, his villains also have a tragic backstory. Almost all of them are victims and have suffered a lot in the past and that's what drove them mad and made them what they are today. Some of the villains' stories are so tragic that they can actually make you cry.
Now I have talked about all the Batman villains in general. Now I'll talk about specific villains. And in the process I will list out the Top Ten Batman Villains according to me. You may agree or disagree with me. I don't fucking care. This is my list.
10. Mr Freeze - See the first entry on my list and the list begins with a tragic villain. A simple scientist trying to discover a cure for his beloved wife's illness becoming a mutant who can only survive in sub-zero temperature by accident. I remember the episode when Mr Freeze was introduced in the Batman Animated Series. At no point in the entire story does one feel that Mr Freeze is a bad guy and Batman should kick his ass. In fact I felt really sad in the last scene of the episode when he is in his cell and looking at the revolving couple toy in the glass box (like the one in Om Shanti Om) and thinking about his wife. That was one of the best episodes of the series and I believe reinvented the character. Also one of the best moments of Mr Freeze was in the Arkham City video game. His is the one of the best boss battles in all gaming history. The way we have to find different ways to take him down during the whole battle because after we take him down one way, he does something so that we can't repeat that action. That battle was not just the player trying to take down a boss by beating him up or shooting him. That battle is so intense that we have to think about our every action. Mr Freeze is a great villain and I'm not gonna talk about Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance as Mr Freeze in Batman and Robin. If he is to be used in a live action film then Mark Strong would be the right choice for him according to me.
9. Riddler - Edward Nigma. His name is a play on 'Enigma' and also my last name and his last name are kind of similar, Nigam-Nigma. The constant cause of irritation in the Arkham games, this guy is a classic case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He just wants a good intellectual challenge and to beat it. He is obsessed with proving himself to be the best. I love the part in the Animated Series when Batman drives him crazy just by not telling him the answer to a question he couldn't figure out himself. That was amazing. See, not just fighting with fists but with wits as well. And the happiness I felt everytime I solved any of the Riddles in the Arkham Games. Sheer joy! I think Neil Patrick Harris could play the perfect Riddler if this character is used in any movie in the near future.
8. Bane - The muscle man. If Riddler is intellectual challenge for Batman, this one is his physical challenge. Bane is the one who defeated Batman and broke him literally. Bane is such a strong force that every time he came on screen in the Animated Series, I got shit scared that now Batman is fucked. Tom Hardy played him very well in The Dark Knight Rises. Bane was also in Batman and Robin but fuck that shit. If to be used again then Tom Hardy would be perfect to play him again.
7. Mad Hatter - Another case of OCD. This guy is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. Not the Tim Burton movie, the Lewis Carroll book. And he can also control people's minds. This is really a crazy character. And his fight in the Arkham City game was really psychedelic. He is a great character that I would love to see in a movie sometime played by someone of the likes of Martin Freeman.
6. Hush - Thomas Elliot. One of the most interesting characters ever. The Hush storyline is one of the best Batman comicbook storylines ever. He was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne and like him was from a well to do family. He also lost his parents like Bruce but while Bruce was motivated by his parents' death to fight crime and serve justice, Thomas after his parents' death developed a hatred for Bruce and went on to become a surgeon who used his surgery skills to change his appearance to match that of Bruce's and took on the identity of Bruce Wayne. If the Hush storyline could be adapted in a movie, that would be a dream come true for me. He would have to be played by the same actor who would play Batman/Bruce Wayne. Ben Affleck is good for me.
5. Scarecrow - Dr Jonathan Crane developed a fear toxin and became the fear inducing villain Scarecrow. Batman's major weapon against the criminals is fear and this guy is the one who can scare Batman himself. I loved the part in the Batman animated series when Batman was affected by the fear toxin and the fear Batman faced was his parents calling him a disgrace. And that's when Batman boldly faces his fear and we get the awesome line in Kevin Conroy's voice - "I am not a disgrace. I am vengeance! I am the night! I am Batman!" Damn. So fucking awesome. Scarecrow was played in all three Nolan movies by one of my most favorite actors - Cillian Murphy and I don't think anyone else can top that performance.
4. Harley Quinn - Dr Harleen Quinzel. It's interesting to note that Batman has many doctors as his villains. It's like the bad guys have a doctorate in trying to kill Batman. Anyways, Harley Quinn is another doctor who has one of the most disturbing stories ever. Seriously. Ever. A psychiatrist appointed to cure Joker but what happened was she herself got mad, in love with the Joker. And became his Harley Quinn. Theirs is a very deranged love story. Joker has on multiple accounts tried to kill her but she always comes back to him because she is so madly in love with him. She has also at times teamed up with Poison Ivy and Catwoman. She is also one of the sexiest comicbook characters. Interestingly she wasn't introduced in a comicbook but in the Batman Animated Series and was so much loved by the fans that they incorporated her in the main Batman mythos and over time she has also had her solo titles. She is my favorite character in the Injustice storyline. She was played by Margot Robbie recently in Suicide Squad and I liked her performance. I think there's also going to be a Harley Quinn solo movie starring her. I don't know how that will work out but I can't think of anyone else at this point who could play her better.
3. Ra's Al Ghul - The Head of the Demon. The leader of the League of Assassins. This guy has died and come back to life more than the characters in Ekta Kapoor's serials. The source of his immortality is the Lazarus Pit which was also responsible in bringing back Jason Todd, the second Robin and the current Red Hood. The Lazarus Pit gives him power but also takes away a part of his humanity every time he uses it. He is a a master warrior and has also taught Batman many of his skills. He had always gone after Batman to try to convince him to become the leader of the League of Assassins and take his place but Batman has always refused. Batman just doesn't like the job offer. I remember the first episode in which Ra's Al Ghul was shown in the Animated Series. I was very excited watching it because Batman came to India in that episode. Yes, motherfucking Batman and Ra's Al Ghul together in Kolkata searching for Talia and Robin. Ra's was one of the main antagonists in the Arkham City video game. He was also shown in the first game as a dead body in the morgue. But if you go to the morgue at a later part of the game then you can see that Ra's body is gone which was such a clever way of shwing that he had been resurrected and would return in the next game. He was the main villain in Batman Begins played by Liam Neeson and he should play him again if the character is used again. In fact Neeson even expressed interest in playing the character in the Arrow TV Show in Season 3 but I think the producers could not afford him. But I'm glad he didn't play Ra's in the show. He was very poorly depicted.
2. Two Face - I swear. This wasn't intentional. He is just so good that I had to put Two Face at number two. Anyways, let's talk about this awesome character. Harvey Dent. Perfect example of Split Personality Disorder, This guy also has a very tragic backstory. He was a good guy. A public prosecutor who tried equally hard as Batman to fight for justice but doing good has always made the bad guys uneasy and this is what happened here. The bad guys went after him and he got his half face burned and the bad one of his two personalities took over and he became a criminal who would decide what to do on a coin toss. You feel really sorry for him. One time when I really felt sorry for the guy was in The Dark Knight Returns when his face is returned to normal with plastic surgery but the poor guy has gone so mad that now he sees his whole face as being scarred and tries to commit suicide. This shows how much the guy has suffered. This character has been depicted twice on the movie screen and like his faces, one was good, the other was bad.
1. Joker - This was pretty obvious, right? Who else could be at the number one spot? Joker is the ultimate antagonist. The absolute opposite of what Batman represents. Batman is justice and order, Joker is injustice and chaos. Both of them are actually equally insane. The relationship between them is unlike any other rivalry. They both fight all the time but they can't kill each other because both know that one is nothing without the other. They both complete each other. If the world needs a whole lot of Batman then it also needs a little bit of Joker. Joker's origins are a matter of argument and there are many interpretations of his origin. One of the most famous ones is told in The Killing Joke which shows that the Joker was actually an unsuccessful comedian who lost his job, his pregnant wife and fell into acid and went mad and became the Joker. Joker is one of the best characters of all time. And I think the less we know of his origin, the better. Not knowing about him, makes him scarier and more mysterious. I think there can be an actual storyline where it is revealed that Joker and Batman are like the two different personalities of the same person. Or one is the figment of the other's imagination. Joker has been played by many actors over the years - Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, Jared Leto,etc but the best performance will forever be Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. That is not just the best Joker performance but one of the best performances of all time. I really had high hopes from Jared Leto in Suicide Squad but I was really disappointed. You need a really great actor to play him. Now I think a better choice to play him could be Matthew McConaughey or Jake Gyllenhaal.
So those were my Top Ten Batman Villains. But I would also like to mention some other great villains that couldn't make it to the Top Ten but are really fucking good. They are :-
Poison Ivy
Catwoman
Hugo Strange
Ventriloquist
Calendar Man
Clayface
Penguin
Victor Zsasz
Solomon Grundy
Killer Croc
Man-Bat
All these villains are some of the best characters in a comicbook or any other media. All of these villains are responsible for some of the best Batman stories ever told. Batman is Batman without his suit or gadgets or money but Batman is nothing without his Rogues Gallery. It would seriously be a very dull Gotham without someone putting a knife in your mouth and asking you politely - "Why so serious?"
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