When it comes to enemies, Batman has some of the best bad guys not only in comics, but in all of literature. Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the list is long and filled with colorful and frightening villains. And even with all these classic foes out there for writers to play with, they continue to make new rogues to face off against the Caped Crusader, much to the joy of the fans.
Not every criminal mastermind can reach the levels of a Bane or Riddler, but since the turn of the century, Batman readers have been gifted a plethora of powerful punks in crazy costumes. The question becomes, with so many new villains running around Gotham, which ones are great, and which ones are not so great? Here are the 5 best & 5 worst new villains Batman has fought in the 2000s...
10 Best: The Jackanapes
Evil gorillas are a staple of comics. No one knows how it came to be, or why it caught on so strongly, but from Titano to Grodd, readers love seeing angry apes and other savage simians battle it out with our favorite heroes. Oddly, there are far fewer heroic primates than there are evil ones.
In 2007, Batman readers were introduced to Jackanapes, a gorilla in a clown costume who carried a machine gun. Jackanapes started his life of crime when Joker stole him from the zoo and taught him to become one of his henchmen. Joker was proud of his adopted ape, as Jackanapes not only learned to commit crimes, but became an inventor as well.
9 Worst: Swagman
Enamored with the legendary Australian criminal Ned Kelly, Swagman built himself some rather questionable looking body armor and became a rogue of Ranger, the Batman of Australia. Swagman joined Dr. Hurt's Club of Villains and was tasked with taking out Robin. After failing to kill the Boy Wonder, Swagman stole Robin's motorcycle. Robin, in turn, stole Swagman's motorcycle.
Angered by his failure, Dr. Hurt sent Swagman out to complete his original task and kill Robin. This time, Swagman almost succeeded, but the Club of Heroes showed up and Ranger knocked him out right quick. Swagman was taken in by the Gotham police and hasn't been seen since.
8 Best: Jane Doe
One way to really stand out in Batman's rogue gallery is to do something really wild. That something can be to come up with crimes built around a niche, like how Riddler always leaves little riddles about what he plans to do. Or you can go for something more nightmarish, like Jane Doe.
Unhappy with her own life, Jane Doe kills people, skins them, and then wears their skin. She does this believing that she can just take over the life of the person she killed, but unsurprisingly, rotting flesh doesn't last too long. Jane Doe lives as her victims for a few days, even going to their jobs and hanging out with their friends, but sooner or later, the truth comes out. And that truth is that Jane Doe is creepy.
7 Worst: Black and White Bandit
Roscoe Chiara was a great artist who was commissioned to paint Winsor Munsell, the art-loving president of a chemical corporation that had created new pigments for painting. Chiara used these new paints, only to discover that they were toxic. After spending a night inhaling the fumes of these untested paints, Chiara went colorblind.
Where anyone else may sure the company for what they had done, Chiara decided to instead become a criminal. He called himself the Black and White Bandit and began stealing the art that Munsell owned and lent to museums for display. Batman easily found and defeated the Black and White Bandit.
6 Best: Nicodemus
After the murder of his parents, a young Bruce Wayne swore to war against crime. As he grew up, Bruce trained for his mission and eventually became the crime-fighting detective we all know and love, Batman. But what if that young boy had made a different promise?
That is the story of Nicodemus. Like Batman, Nicodemus's parents were brutally murdered in front of him. But where Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed by a random mugger, Nicodemus' parents were killed by corrupt cops. Nicodemus swore to war against dirty cops and politicians by burning them alive.
5 Worst: The Id
A foe of the Nightrunner, the Batman of Paris, the Id joined with The Son of Man to destroy the Louvre by turning it into a surrealist nightmare. Using his powers of empathy, the Id can make his victims act on their deepest and darkest desires. Over time, the people Id uses his powers on can become more and more insane before going fully primal.
The most interesting thing about Id is that the top of his head is see-through. His girlfriend Sister Crystal used her ability to turn organic material into a transparent substance on him so she could see how his brain worked.
4 Best: Professor Pyg
As an agent of Spyral, Lazlo Valentin created a mind eroding gas that could be used on the organization's enemies. To test the gas, Spyral used it on Lazlo, driving him mad and turning him into Professor Pyg. Now a villain of Batman, Professor Pyg turns his victims into Dollotrons by brainwashing them and surgically altering their physical appearance to better resemble red-haired Kewpie dolls.
To Professor Pyg, his Dollotrons are what perfection looks like. To Batman, the Dollotrons are the work of a madman who must be stopped. Making his debut in 2007, Professor Pyg has quickly become one of Batman's more terrifying and well-known villains.
3 Worst: King Kraken
A Swedish deep-sea diver who became disfigured during a dive, King Kraken became a pirate off the seas of Sweden where he would often battle Wingman, the Swedish Batman. King Kraken joined the Club of Villains and played a major role in the evil team's plan to attack Batman in his home.
King Kraken entered the Batcave by traveling through the subterranean lakes under Gotham. King Kraken later teamed up with Caligula for a plan to mess things up at the Gotham docks but was quickly defeated when Batman dropped some crates on him.
2 Best: Hush
A childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, renowned surgeon Thomas Elliot was a heartless killer from birth. Tommy hated his parents and tried to kill them by cutting the breaks to their car. The ensuing crash killed his father, but Thomas Wayne operated on Tommy's mom and saved her life.
After Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed, Tommy became jealous of Bruce for having the life he wanted; two dead parents and lots of money. After becoming a well-respected doctor, Tommy teamed up with Riddler to take down Bruce Wayne. Taking on the identity Hush, Tommy quickly became one of Batman's most dangerous villains.
1 Worst: Mr. ZZZ
Anyone that has seen a gangster movie like Goodfellas knows that members of the mob always get fun nicknames that tell you about their personality. Mr. ZZZ is a Gotham gangster born and raised, and while no one seems to know what his real name is, his nickname tells you a lot about him. Mr. ZZZ suffers from narcolepsy and always looks like he is half asleep.
Somehow, this ailment hasn't slowed down his criminal career all that much. Mr. ZZZ has worked as a thug for Scarecrow and Hush, and once got caught counting cards at the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge. Overall, this bad guy is a real snoozer.