Batman is one of the most mysterious superheroes out there. Hiding in the shadows of his beloved Gotham city the caped crusader brings fear into the hearts of Gotham villains. As such, he's very careful about who finds out the truth about his secret identity, since if people knew that Bruce Wayne and Batman were the same people, they could ruin Bruce's life and his superhero activity.
But over the years of his long existence, many heroes found out who Batman was, and so did some of the villains. Here are 10 villains who know the truth about Batman's identity, and here's how they discovered it.
10 Catwoman
Even the fearsome caped crusader fell in love, and despite the fact that both Bruce Wayne and Batman had multiple romantic liaisons, Batman's biggest love is and always will remain Catwoman. There are multiple ways Catwoman had found Batman's real identity in the comics and on the big screen, for example, in the Batman Returns film, they guessed it at the same time after saying quotes their masked versions previously exchanged.
In the comics, the big reveal was in a way much less than dramatic. After talking about his ties to other people, Batman decided to prove a point by taking off his mask and showing Catwoman who he really was.
9 Red Hood
Batman was at a clear disadvantage in this case since Red Hood knew his real identity at first... but Batman didn't know his. Of all the villains on this list, Red Hood never had to find out after becoming a villain since he already knew.
Before he became a villain, Jason Todd was Batman's second Robin, after Dick Grayson, and he and Batman fought crime together. After his death at the hand of the Joker, Jason came back angry at Batman and the whole world and he decided to show his old mentor the best way to fight crime and to get back at him.
8 The Riddler
The Riddler enjoys a great riddle the most of all the Gotham villains... and there's no riddle as complex and fascinating to him that this one: Who's the Batman? And he already figured out the answer a few times in the comics. For example, the Riddler once ordered Clayface to pretend to be a reanimated Robin, while he got rid of cancer in the Lazarus Pit (where he also discovered Batman's identity), the Riddler tormented Batman by saying his real name in front of the masked hero.
But instead of being afraid, Batman laughs at him because he knows that if the Riddler told his identity to the rest of the world, he'd give up his most cherished riddle and a piece of knowledge he holds.
7 Talia Al Ghul
Catwoman might be the love of Batman's life, but she's not the only woman he has ever been romantically linked to, not by a long shot - and not a single villain either. There's also Talia Al Ghul, who gave birth to Bruce Wayne's son Damian who later came to Gotham to live with his father and became Batman's newest Robin.
Comic books include a lot of things that wouldn't happen in real life but it'd be hard to believe that Talia would have a son with Bruce and wouldn't know who she was dealing with. After all, she is the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul and knew Bruce's secret identity even before she first met him, courtesy of Talia's father and his extensive network of knowledge.
6 Hush
Hush is one of the most mysterious and dangerous Batman villains, and in a world filled with amazing villains, that's saying a lot. While the Riddler mostly kept the secret of Batman's true identity to himself since he recognized it for the precious tidbit of information it was, he did share it with Hush.
In the comics, the Riddler and Hush join forces to bring Batman down. And since Hush is actually Thomas Elliot, Bruce Wayne's former friend, it makes sense that he would have a bone to pick with both Batman and Bruce. When the Riddler realizes this, he tells Hush about who Batman really is underneath his mask.
5 Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is primarily known as Superman's greatest villain, his archnemesis, but considering how often Batman and Superman work together, it's no wonder that Lex Luthor is also very familiar with Gotham's caped crusader. And he's also another person who knows Batman's real identity.
Lex Luthor found out the truth in the New 52 series where he noticed how his business rival Bruce Wayne was distraught over Dick Grayson's persecution. He also cracked the Batcode, and these two things were enough for the clever villain to realize that Batman and Bruce Wayne were the same people. He then used this knowledge to threaten to expose Batman's secret if they didn't make him a member of the Justice League.
4 Joe Chill
Of all the villains on this list, it wasn't anyone with special powers or love connection to Batman that changed Bruce Wayne's life in the biggest way imaginable. Instead, it was Joe Chill, a petty criminal, who shot Bruce's parents in front of the boy's eyes and was responsible for Bruce Wayne later becoming Batman and dedicating his life to fighting crime.
It's hard to imagine how would Bruce's life look like if Joe Chill didn't kill his parents but it'd be no doubt be very different. Bruce never forgot the man who killed his parents and when he finally found him, he revealed his identity to Joe Chill and wanted him to confess to the crime he'd committed years ago.
3 Deathstroke
Deathstroke and Batman crossed paths a few times before in the comics and when they fought, the masked villain proved to be a challenge for Batman. But even though Deathstroke was able to hurt Batman physically, it wasn't Bruce himself who endangered his secret identity. Just like with Lex Luthor, Deathstroke also used Dick Grayson to figure out who the caped crusader was.
Slade Wilson first deduced Nightwing's real identity, and from that point, it was easy for any smart person to figure out that Bruce Wayne was Batman since Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson often appeared together at public events.
2 Hugo Strange
Hugo Strange is often overlooked when it comes to Batman's villains since he didn't feature in live-action films as other more prominent Batman's enemies, but he's one of the oldest Batman villains and he also managed to figure out Batman's secret identity. What makes Hugo Strange different from the rest of the villains on this list is that he doesn't want to destroy Batman or use him to his advantage, he wants to become Batman.
In the comics, Hugo Strange caught Batman without his cowl, but that's not the only way he found out. In Batman: The Animated Series Strange used a special machine that allowed him to see into Bruce Wayne's mind and he saw bats there.
1 The Joker
It's funny that of all the villains on this list the Joker actually doesn't really use the knowledge of Batman's secret identity against him that much as other villains do. In fact, he'd rather forget that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the ones and the same, even though the Joker found this out multiple times in the comics.
The reason for this is that the Joker considers Bruce Wayne dull and uninteresting, he doesn't want the orphaned billionaire as his archnemesis, he just wants Batman, the mysterious and dark creature of the night. So even when the Joker tortured Tim Drake to find out who Batman was, he used the information for provoking Batman, and not for bringing him down instead as he could have.