All major superheroes have a dark reflection, an adversary or monster that holds up a mirror to them. Spider-Man has Venom. For Superman it's Bizarro and Zod. Darkwing has Negaduck. Of all the big names in comics, though, Batman reigns supreme in this field. Even his sidekicks seem to reflect the character's orphaned origin and painful beginning.
Every time Batman exhales it seems to create another evil opposite to challenge him. This tendency dates very far back into the hero's past, not quite to his origin but very near it. An early Bill Finger story created one of Batman's first recurring villains...
RELATED: 10 Ridiculous Injuries Batman Should've Never Survived
10 Hugo Strange
Introduced in Detective Comics #36, Dr. Hugo Strange started out as a diminutive mad scientist. Over time, however, he evolved into a devious psychologist who envies Batman's identity as the scourge of the criminal world. A brilliant tactician and chemist, early versions of the professor served as a sort of prototype for Arkham's "master of fear" The Scarecrow.
However, Strange's discipline and psychological prowess mirror the Dark Knight's in many ways. Both Matt Wagner's 2006 mini-series Batman and the Monster Men and the video game Arkham City lean into the similarities between the characters. Most importantly, Strange is an idealist and represents Batman's idealism corrupted by lack of compassion and desire for power.
9 The Joker
First appearing in Batman #1 (April, 1940), The Joker had a special resonance from the beginning. He almost died at the end of the story, but Bill Finger added a final panel where paramedics choked out "he's alive!" Otherwise he might have been swallowed up in the Dark Knight's pre-1941 body count. He started out as a charismatic criminal with a gimmick, but has since become a fractal character, all things to all fans.
Often seen as chaos to Batman's order, the Joker is more than just a simple foil. He holds up a mirror-- there are a lot of mirrors in this article-- to Batman's sanity. What would happen if Batman started killing and couldn't stop? If he chose to embrace Gotham's chaos? If, as Alan Moore asked in The Killing Joke, Bruce Wayne had just One. Bad. Day. The Joker's there to show us the worst possibilities.
8 Owlman
Owlman, Batman's evil opposite on DC's Earth 3, is Thomas Wayne, Jr. As revenge for his parents' murder he spent his life training to conquer Gotham's underworld not as its adversary but as its king. Ironically, his father actually survived the attack in question and spends his life trying to destroy his son and undo his many crimes.
Smug and cruel, as a founding member of his world's Crime Syndicate of America he is essentially one of Earth 3's conquerors. In most cases he demonstrates what a corrupt and venal Batman could do to a city or a world. However, the animated film Justice League: Crisis on 2 Earths depicted a more frightening version of the character. Smarter even than Batman, this Owlman represented cold nihilism. Moments after gaining access to the multiverse he began imagining ways to destroy it.
7 Lincoln March
The Court of Owls' Talons are generally something like evil, superhuman versions of Robin. After all, they recruit from circuses and Dick Grayson was supposed to join their ranks the night his parents were killed. Lincoln March, the Court's former Talon and subsequent mayoral candidate was much more like a dark Batman.
A 'retired' Talon, March turned against the Court and used Batman as a weapon against his former fellows. Taking a page from Owlman's book, he lured Batman into a "brotherly" confrontation armed with owl-themed weapons and armor. A creature without a family, he later joined Hush in an attempt to separate Batman from both his "family" and the city he lives to protect. He was finally captured inside the Batcave, the heart of Batman's home and power.
6 Hush
Tommy Elliot was one of Bruce Wayne's childhood friends. However, when Bruce's parents were killed, Tommy was jealous. He was horribly abused by his own parents and orchestrated their death. Later, when he discovered Batman's identity, he resolved to use his own inheritance and power to destroy his old friend.
Similar to Bruce Wayne, Elliot is an orphan from a wealthy Gotham family. He became a doctor partially because he admired Bruce's father, Dr. Thomas Wayne. While Hush lacks Batman's physical power and skill he is a meticulous planner, and allies himself with other strategists like The Riddler and his cheap, non-union equivalent, The Cluemaster.
5 Killer Moth
The original Anti-Batman, Drury Walker appeared as a costumed protector of Gotham's criminals in 1951. Killer Moth's name, ridiculous costume, and moth theme make it hard to take him seriously.
His weird schemes mark him as a product of the Silver Age, as do his knock-off Bat-gadgets like his Mothmobile and Cocoon Gun. His adoption of a phony philanthropist persona is another blatant rip-off. That said, Killer Moth basically invented copycatting the Bat. He later mutated into a cannibal moth monster named Charaxes, pretty much destroying any similarity between the characters.
4 The Wrath
E.D. Caldwell, The Wrath (1984) is a true Anti-Batman. The richest man in Gotham and owner of Caldwell Technologies, his definitive event was his parents' death at police officers' hands.
He became a cop-hunting serial killer, and unconsciously or not constantly emulated Batman. He tried to buy Wayne Enterprises out from under Bruce, tried to convert himself into a Man-Bat, and of course dressed like an even creepier version of the Dark Knight. The Wrath has fallen into relative obscurity, but he's one of the purest Anti-Batmen in comics.
3 Doctor Hurt
The architect of Batman R.I.P., Doctor Hurt is an insane and possibly immortal psychiatrist. The creator of three "replacement Batmen" for the Gotham PD and the super-villain society The Black Glove, he came very close to destroying Batman. In a bizarre twist, Hurt tried to replace Thomas Wayne's history with one he manufactured, alleging that Bruce's father had survived the shooting in Crime Alley. He even dressed in a bat-like costume and claimed to be Batman's father.
Hurt's downfall is particularly Batman-esque. After escaping the Dark Knight, he's captured by a territorial Joker-- hands off my nemesis!-- who buries the ersatz Wayne alive. It was the same fate Hurt had planned for Batman, allowing Huer to unintentionally and perfectly fill the Dark Knight's shoes.
2 Flashpoint Batman
There are a lot of alternate universe Batmen, but only a couple can be called Batman's "darkest reflections."
In an alternate timeline accidentally created by The Flash, young Bruce Wayne died in the attack in Crime Alley. The event's horror transformed both surviving parents. Doctor Thomas Wayne became an ultra-violent Batman, while his wife Martha re-christened herself The Joker. This Batman is older, in some ways resembling Frank Miller's Dark Knight, and loves guns. He uses gun-fu like he's in a Hong Kong action movie, and he thinks of murder as the best way to fight crime.
Suspicious and violent to a fault, it's nonetheless this darker Batman who kills the Reverse-Flash, allowing Barry Allen to undo key events and reset the apocalyptic timeline.
1 The Batman Who Laughs
With his spiky blindfold and propensity for gleeful mass murder, The Batman Who Laughs seems like a character out of the late 80s, the dawn of comics Dark Age. This 2017-spawned Jokerized Batman has garnered a large fan base, but with each move more outrageous than the previous, he doesn't just seem like he has something to prove.
He seems to be overcompensating for something. Still, with his various armies of Dark Knights and Rabid Robins he's a genuine threat to Batman and everything the Grim-But-Good Knight stands for. His sadistic murders of both his world's Batman Family and Justice League demonstrates what he'll do to Batman's Gotham if he's not stopped. Especially if he gets his hands on more Black Kryptonite.