Batman is a great hero and he has some of the most iconic villains in all of comics. These dangerous villains challenge the Dark Knight in a variety of ways and run the gamut from criminals out for money and power, like Black Mask, to men who want to destroy civilization for their own purposes, like Ra's al Ghul. One of the things that make Batman's villains so great is how well they've been fleshed out over the years, letting readers get into their heads and understand them.
Many of Batman's villains, including some of the worst of the worst, are more sympathetic than they seem, so much so that it's actually easy to feel sorry for them.
10 The Joker Is A Monster With A Tragic Past
Make no bones about it- the Joker is a terrible monster, one who will kill as easily as he would look at someone. He's committed terrible atrocities, often for no other reason than because he can. However, as revealed in writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland's seminal classic Batman: The Killing Joke, his origins are more tragic than meets the eye.
A failed comedian with no money and a pregnant wife, the only reason the Joker was at the ACE Chemical factory was to make money for his family and the consequences of that day would set him down the path to becoming Gotham's most dangerous villain. The Joker is a "homicidal maniac" but at his core is a tragedy and it's easy to feel bad for him while still condemning his actions.
9 Killer Croc Was Branded As A Freak At A Young Age And That Drove Him Into Crime
Killer Croc was born with a condition that caused him to look like a crocodile. His mother died in childbirth and his father abandoned him, leading him into circus freak shows to make a living. He was objectified by audiences and seen as little more than a scary monster. He internalized this and turned to a life of crime, becoming the monster everyone said he was.
Killer Croc's entire life was marred by something that he couldn't control and it sent him down a terrible path. His whole life was ruined by a fluke of genetics and chance, a tragedy that led him to terrible places.
8 The Riddler's Mania For Being Right Has Driven Him To Extremes
The Riddler is an interesting villain in that he doesn't really have to be a villain. In fact, if he put his mind to it, he could be a great hero or make a fortune with his intellect. However, his mania for proving how right he is has driven him to dark places.
The Riddler has been able to outsmart Batman on several occasions, which is no small feat. He could easily make his way in the world but the ridicule from people around him- labeling him a nerd just for being smart- drove him to become a villain, a turn of events that stopped him from being a productive member of society.
7 Man-Bat Couldn't Control Himself In His Bat Form
Dr. Kirk Langstrom just wanted to help people, creating a serum made of chemicals from bat glands to enhance people's senses. He tested it on himself, though, and it led to him becoming the Man-Bat, a feral creature that menaced Gotham City. Over the years, he would gain more control over things, finally becoming something of a hero in recent years.
Kirk Langstrom wasn't experimenting on himself to gain power of anything like that- he just wanted to make some people's lives better. He struggled for years with the animalistic side of himself before finally mastering it and using it for good.
6 The Ventriloquist's Schizophrenia Torments Him
The Ventriloquist and Scarface are a unique duo in that they aren't even a duo at all. Arnold Wesker is a schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder and one of those personalities manifests itself as Scarface, a gangster ventriloquist dummy that orders him around. Wesker is a meek man but Scarface is the tough guy side of him, "controlling" him.
Ventriloquist is a man tormented by his mental illnesses. He's not a bad person at all, just someone who would benefit from proper care.
5 Harley Quinn May Be A Hero Now But She Spent Years Being Abused By The Joker
Harley Quinn has been a fan favorite for a long time and in recent years has been on the heroic side of things but she came to prominence as the head henchwoman and girlfriend of the Joker. Their relationship was terrible, a codependent nightmare for Harley, full of mental and physical abuse.
Seeing the Joker and Harley together was always uncomfortable as it was obvious that while she actually loved him, he was just using her. Even at the height of her time as a villain, Harley was more of a tragic character than anything else, someone that readers definitely should have felt sorry for.
4 Bane Was Imprisoned As A Child In The Most Terrible Prison On Earth
Bane is one of Batman's greatest foes. Impeccably skilled, uncannily smart, and completely ruthless, he's handed Batman some pretty hardcore defeats over the years. However, as brutal as he can be, there's a core of tragedy to the character, one that started when he was a child.
Bane was imprisoned in the toughest prison on Santa Prisca as a child for his father's crimes. He was a child in prison with some of the worst people imaginable, his entire childhood sacrificed. He learned terrible skills there and the things that happened to him in that prison forged him into the villain everyone knows.
3 Penguin's Looks And The Ridicule Of Others Drove Him To Crime
Penguin's entire life was marred by the way he looked. A short, obese young man, Penguin was made fun of by everyone around him and that drove him to crime. He wanted power, to finally feel like he was better than the people who ridiculed him. This need for revenge made him into a criminal and spurred him on.
Just about everyone has experienced the cruelty of others in some form and this is what makes it easy to feel bad for Penguin.
2 Two-Face Was Just A Man Trying To Clean Up A City
Two-Face was once Gotham's district attorney, doing his best to use the law to clean up Gotham. He worked closely with Gordon and Batman, going after the mob and the gangs, a move that blew up in his face when he was doused with acid in the courtroom. Half of him was horribly scarred and it created an obsession with duality; Two-Face was born.
Two-Face has always been something of a tragic character from the beginning. He's tried to reform many times over the years but always failed. He went from someone trying to do good to a person who was destroyed because of that quest, a terrible thing to happen.
1 Mr. Freeze Only Turned To Crime To Save His Wife
Mr. Freeze is one of those villains who even when they're caving in a hero's skull, the reader still feels bad for. He's not an evil monster but a scientist who only commits crimes so he can afford to cure his wife Nora. His goals are admirable; it's his methods that make it all so very bad.
What's worse is that he recently did finally cure her and she repaid him by spurning him completely and becoming Mrs. Freeze. In fact, in just about every universe where there is a Mr. Freeze, his hard work and the sacrifice of his honor to become is criminal is met with some kind of tragedy, with her spurning him for another or even just dying. There are few more tragic than Mr. Freeze.