Batman has a lot of great villains, but few made such an impact during their debut as Hush. The main villain of a 12-part story arc by writer Jeph Loeb and superstar artist Jim Lee, Hush got the star treatment in a story that included all of Batman's best villains. That's not something that happens very often.
From there, he would star in more stories, although none were as big as his debut in Batman: Hush. Still, the character proved himself to be a cunning and dangerous foe for Batman, one that could match him on many different levels in ways that not a lot of other villains could. This list is going to take a look at why Hush is actually Batman's most dangerous Batman villain and why he isn't.
10 Is: Tactics
In Batman: Hush, Hush was able to mastermind a scheme that involved all of Batman's greatest foes and was able to wrangle them into some kind of coherent plan filled with twists and turns that kept Batman guessing.
This is no easy task and Hush was able to pull it off, meaning that he could match Batman on an intellectual level. Batman has very few foes who can claim that they were able to orchestrate a huge plan involving so many of Batman's foes that almost succeeded.
9 Isn't: He Had Help
Of course, as impressive as his first outing was, Hush had a lot of help in orchestrating everything. In fact, it's safe to say that without that help, he wouldn't have gotten nearly as far in his plans as he did.
The Riddler was a huge boon to Hush's plan. He had the connections and know-how. He was able to key Hush in on lots of things that he would have had no idea about when he got back into Gotham. Hush may have been able to make a great plan but he definitely needed a lot of help to get to the point where it would work so well.
8 Is: He's The Anti-Batman
Hush's origin is pretty much the exact opposite of Batman's. Whereas Batman had loving parents, Hush's were abusive and possessive. Instead of having his parents taken from him, he killed them himself. Both men traveled the world for a time, each improving their skillsets, but Batman did it to help others while Hush did it for his own aggrandizement.
All of these traits combine to make Hush the yin to Batman's yang in a way that very few of Batman's other foes are.
7 Isn't: He And Batman Are (Almost) Equally Matched
Hush is definitely a formidable foe but when compared to some of the other villains that he's vying against for the title of most dangerous villain, but he doesn't really have any skill that helps him that Batman doesn't have or can't easily counter.
Someone like the Joker brings an irrationality to his schemes that is hard for Batman to figure out at times. As good as Hush is at scheming, his plans still have a rationality that Batman can decode when given clues. While he can hold his own in a fight against Batman, he's not as skilled or as strong as Batman or someone like Bane.
6 Is: He's Been Able To Trick And Manipulate A Lot Of Batman's Foes
After his initial battle with Batman, Hush would stay in Gotham City. He would work with Prometheus to hunt down the Riddler and get involved in the massive gang war during the "War Games" storyline, outsmarting both Penguin and Black Mask in his quest to take down the Riddler.
He would go on from there, tricking various members of Batman's rogues' gallery to help him in his schemes against Batman and always staying one step ahead of their attempts at revenge.
5 Isn't: He Doesn't Bring Anything New To The Table
One of the best parts about Batman's villains is they all do different things and are different types of villains. Joker is an insane mad dog. Riddler is a cerebral trickster. Two-Face is the old ally gone bad. Bane is the erudite wrecking machine. Mr. Freeze is the sympathetic mad scientist.
Hush, on the other hand, doesn't really have anything special that makes him stand above the pack. He's a lot of fun to read about, but he's also just a pastiche of different facets of other Batman villains.
4 Is: He's Focused On Batman's Destruction
One of the main things that can be said for Hush is that unlike a lot of Batman's other enemies, he has one focus- destroying Bruce Wayne. He's not in it for the money or the power or anything like that. Hush wants to destroy Bruce Wayne and anything else is just a means to that end.
It's this single-minded focus that makes him so dangerous. For a lot of Batman's foes, destroying him is just a secondary goal. For Hush, it's his entire focus.
3 Isn't: Joker And Bane Exist
Hush is a great villain with a cool look, a good backstory, and a threatening focus, but when it comes right down to it, he's not nearly as dangerous as Joker or Bane. In fact, if you compare the three of them, he ranks way behind them.
Joker is pure chaos personified, a consuming fire that doesn't care what gets in his way. His plans are so dangerous because they are completely random and unpredictable. Bane is a man who combines unmatched physicality with a strategic mind that rivals Batman's own. Hush just doesn't compare to either of them.
2 Is: It's Intensely Personal
Since they were children together, Hush has always been intensely jealous of Bruce Wayne. Bruce had a great family and the storybook life that Hush wanted. Then, once Bruce's parents were killed, the reason behind his jealousy shifted and he became jealous that Bruce's parents were dead and he had all the freedom and money that Hush desired.
This jealousy would grow into an intense hatred that would only get worse as time went on, especially as Hush started losing to Batman. This intensely personal rivalry between the two is unlike anything else among Batman's foes.
1 Isn't: He's Never Won
Hush has never beaten Batman and that's a big deal. Sure, on his first outing he was able to manipulate events and keep Batman off his trail, gaining a modicum of victory for a time but in the end, Batman was able to figure everything out and end his threat. Since then, it's only been diminishing returns from there.
Comparing him to other of Batman's rogues, Hush just doesn't have any victories that warrant calling him Batman's most dangerous foe. Batman doesn't fear Hush because he's beaten him nearly flawlessly so many times.