What would heroes be without the villains they fight? Sure, there would still be crime to stop, but how exciting would it be to read about a superpowered hero beating up a mugger for the thousandth time? Villains can be just as loved as the heroes they fight. Both DC and Marvel are full of amazing villains, but there are two heroes, one from each universe, whose rogues' galleries are the best of the best: Batman and Spider-Man.

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Batman's villains run the gamut of insane murderers to crafty criminals, some of who are geniuses and others who are just up-jumped henchmen. Spider-Man's villains are evil geniuses and superpowered reprobates. So, which hero has the better villains- Batman or Spider-Man? This list is going to break down why each one's rogues gallery is the best.

10 Spider-Man: They Can Challenge Other Heroes

Spider-Man is one of the most skilled heroes around. With his super strength and agility, spider-sense, and web-shooters, in order for a villain to fight Spider-Man, they would have to be pretty tough. A guy with a gun isn't a threat to him.

Spider-Man's villains have been known to fight other superpowered heroes and do a great job against them. Fighting Spider-Man is a whole other level and anyone who fights him can easily be a threat to other heroes. Sure, Batman's villains are tough, but can Bane stand up to Superman? Is Two-Face a match for The Flash? Whereas Carnage just headed an event pitting him against him the heroes of the Marvel Universe and Green Goblin...well, more on him later.

9 Batman: The Scariest Villains

Batman's villains may not be a powerful lot, but they make up for it in other ways. Crime in Gotham is known for its brutality and Batman villains are some of the cruelest criminals around. Killer Croc has eaten people and Scarecrow's whole thing is creating toxins that make people scared.

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Life can be very cheap in Gotham and to Batman's villains, it's as cheap as a bullet. Or a knife. Or some chemicals. Spider-Man has some hardcore villains, but they're a colorful lot, many named after animals. The most colorful of Batman's villains wears purple and he is the worst of them all.

8 Spider-Man: Mad Science

Jackal holding vials

Like many Marvel heroes created in the Silver Age, Spider-Man's origin is based on science. Or, at least, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's idea of what science is. Many of his greatest villains have this in common with him.

Doctor Octopus created the arms that give him his name. Green Goblin came up with the formula that gave him superpowers. The Vulture created the flight pack that he uses. Many of Spider-Man's greatest villains represent the dark side of scientific genius.

7 Batman: Tough & Smart

Batman is one of the most skilled heroes in any superhero universe. A master of martial arts, an engineering genius, and a master detective and strategist, Batman may not have any superpowers, but that does not make him any less formidable. Even villains with superpowers fear the Dark Knight.

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Villains in Gotham, in order to stay free for even a little while, have to be tougher and smarter than villains elsewhere. Batman spends all of his time and money figuring out ways to stop crime, so to make any kind of money in Gotham, his rogues have to be tougher and smarter than villains in other cities.

6 Spider-Man: Some Of Them Are As Good As He Is

Superior Spider-Man feature

On two separate occasions, Spider-Man's villains have taken his place and done as good as him, if not better. The first time was when Kraven The Hunter beat Spider-Man, buried him, then put on his costume. Kraven went around the city, fighting crime in Spider-Man's place to prove that he was just as good as the Wall-Crawler.

Doctor Octopus, to save his own life, took over Spider-Man's body. This caused him to re-evaluate his life and he decided to keep going as Spider-Man, fighting crime. He was even able to reverse the classic Parker luck, building a successful business and becoming the Superior Spider-Man.

5 Batman: Beating The Bat

As outlined earlier, Batman is one of the smartest and toughest superheroes around. While he is only human, that doesn't make him a slouch or easy to beat. Far from it actually. Defeating Batman takes brains and skill.

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Batman villains have to contend with him and some of them have done the impossible – beaten the Bat. Bane has done it on two separate occasions, the last time taking control of Gotham City and getting apex Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom to back down. Other villains, like Ra's Al Ghul and the Joker, have defeated Batman on occasion as well. Even though he always comes back, putting Batman down for any period of time is still very impressive.

4 Spider-Man: Much More Destructive

Electro electrocutes Spider Man Marvel Knights

Because of Spider-Man's superpowers, his villains have to pack a little more oomph. This means collateral damage. A guy like Rhino can destroy a building, singlehandedly without breaking a sweat. Electro can control the entire electrical output of a city. Carnage has gone on killing sprees that embroil the entire city.

Spider-Man's villains can cause a lot of damage. Sure, Batman's villains plant bombs and poison gas, but Batman is often able to stop these things before they go off. When Spider-Man fights his villains, the property damage from the battle alone can be catastrophic.

3 Batman: Ra's Al Ghul

Ra's Al Ghul is a world-class threat. Leader of a group of some of the greatest assassins the world has ever known, Al Ghul believes that humanity is a cancer on the face of the Earth and needs to be brought down to an acceptable level. Al Ghul is made even more dangerous through his access to the Lazarus Pits, which functionally render the villain immortal.

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Al Ghul has spent years amassing resources and weapons. He's concocted plans that have beaten the Justice League and, in one timeline, lived long enough to bedevil the Legion of Superheroes in the 30th century. However, the one man who consistently beats him is Batman. Batman is also one of the few people in the world who Al Ghul actually respects.

2 Spider-Man: Norman Osborn

Spider-Man's arch-nemesis is Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. As intelligent as he is insane, Osborn created a formula to give him superpowers, but the formula worsened his mental instability. He would cement his place as Spider-Man's greatest villain by killing the hero's first love, Gwen Stacy.

Beyond that, Osborn proved himself a next level villain after Iron Man's takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D. He would become the leader of the Thunderbolts, a team of villains working for the government, and help fight off the Skrulls, killing the Skrull Queen on live TV. He would be given control of all superhuman operations in the US, leading his own team of Avengers and driving the actual heroes underground. Osborn did what very few villains have ever done – beat the heroes at their own game.

1 Batman: The Joker

A collage of the three different Jokers lined up to create one face

The Joker is one of the most famous villains in pop culture. Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix have both won Oscars for playing the character. Everyone knows who he is and has an opinion on him. The Clown Prince of Crime is also one of the most dangerous villains in any superhero universe.

The Joker's moods are mercurial, as he's just as likely to shoot a henchman or a hostage. He is so unpredictable that he doesn't even know what he's going to do next. No hero wants to tangle with the Joker. He's Batman's dark mirror, everything the Dark Knight fears and even other villains think he goes too far.

NEXT: Batman's 10 Best Origins, Ranked