From the grimy streets of Gotham to the ancient ruins of Kahndaq, the DC Universe is overrun with crime. Many criminals are the gaudy sort in wear bright costumes, monologuing as they commit their heinous acts. Just as often, the criminals are the poor and the desperate who've banded together in gangs.

RELATED: 10 DC Characters Who Are (Or Were) Reformed Criminals

Some of these gangs, like Cosa Nostra and Intergang, are major conglomerates of organized crime who've long outgrown their roots. Others are still parts of marginalized communities who've resorted to crime out of desperation. A number of them are comprised of violent psychopaths, motivated by hate or malice. But the fame of the streets is fleeting. Here are ten major DC gangs that are all but forgotten:

10 Dubelz Crime Family

Part of Gotham's mafia, the Dubelz Crime Family was ruled by Robert Dubelz until he was killed when the alien Glonth sucked all of the don's spinal fluid out. He was succeeded by his sons, Joe and Moe Dubelz, a pair of conjoined twins. The two wrongly blamed the hitman Tommy Monnaghan for the death of their father.

Tommy destroyed much of the family when they went after him, even shooting Joe in the head. Moe spent months lugging around his conjoined brother's dead half, a metaphor for the fate of the Dubelz family which soon after was destroyed after crossing Monnaghan again.

9 Ghost Dragons

The Ghost Dragons were a Triad group based out of Hong Kong who were regularly engaged in street fights, using martial arts in their close quarters brawls. The group was headed by the blind ex-mercenary King Snake - a gifted martial artist himself.

The group ran heroin for King Snake and acted as muscle for his operations, including his expansion into Gotham City. Tim Drake was roughed up by them early in his career as Robin, encountering the group several times after that. The gang was eventually taken over by Lynx, though she still answered to King Snake.

8 Jokerz

This is the most famous gang on this list. Despite taking their name from Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime, these hardened criminals were no joke. In the future of Gotham, the Jokerz eventually became Gotham's most notorious gang, sadistically attacking people for the fun of it.

RELATED: DCAU Joker Vs. DCEU Joker: Which Is Better?

They were one of the main enemies in the Batman Beyond comics and animated series. Among the members were two women both named Dee Dee, identical twins whose grandmother was Harley Quinn. In the post-Rebirth continuity for Batman Beyond, the gang acquired the body of the elderly Bruce Wayne.

7 Lucky Hand Triad

The Lucky Hand Triad were one of several major groups of organized criminals which invaded Gotham after the events of No Man's Land, in which the city was cut off from the rest of the United States for a year. The Chinese gang was ruled by their dailo, a gaunt brooding man named Ekin Tzu.

The gang controlled Chinatown and had a lucrative heroin trade. They also had a rivalry with the Odessa Mob, based on the false belief that the rival gang had been responsible for killing Ekin Tzu's wife. To fight the Odessa Mob, they formed an alliance with the Burnley Town Massive.

6 Burnley Town Massive

This Gotham gang was comprised predominantly of black members from Gotham's northern district of Burnley. They were notoriously violent, but also had roots in the community. Their leader, Able Crown, had a neat professional-looking mustache and wore thick-rimmed glasses, his businesslike appearance helping when he gave his name to a local orphanage in the district.

During the massive city-wide gang fights that swallowed Gotham in the "War Games" story, the Burnley Town Massive were completely wiped out when they were betrayed at a friendly meeting and then ambushed by Scarface's crew.

5 Odessa Mob

Eastern European gangs have played a big part in shaping Gotham's organized crime network, but few have been as deadly as the Odessa Mob. After No Man's Land, this branch of the Russian Mob carved up parts of Gotham for themselves (and cut up anyone who stood against them).

RELATED: 10 Criminally Underrated Batman Stories

They were led by Vasily Kosov, a sadistic cutthroat boss even by Gotham's standards, until he was abducted by operatives working for R'as al Ghul who then delivered Vasily to his enemies for execution. He was replaced by his daughter, Alexandra, who proved every bit as cruel as her father.

4 Latino Unified Gang

The Latino Unified Gang has a short history in the pages of DC Comics, first being introduced at the very start of the "War Games" story in Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure #1. This Latin gang was headed by a man named Otero, and the gang lost its head when Otero was killed immediately after his introduction.

Thus they first emerged on the scene as a leaderless group beset on all sides by enemies as Gotham's underworld erupted in a city-wide war for control. The villain-turned-antihero Tarantula took control of them to protect its young members. With her looking out for them, they survived the worst of the fighting.

3 Escabedo Cartel

Another Latin gang, the Escabedo Cartel were Columbians, who like the Lucky Hand Triad, Odessa Mob, and Burnley Town Massive, took advantage of the power vacuum left after the chaos of No Man's Land, muscling their way into Gotham.

In the Detective Comics story "Evolution One: Whispers in the Dark" by writer Greg Rucka, they were described as "connected with the Columbians" so the exact nature of this connection was a little ambiguous. They had a lucrative drug trade, allying with the Odessa Mob and Burnley Town Massive for their sales.

2 Street Demonz

Like the Jokerz and the Dubelz Crime Family, the Street Demonz proved their toughness and disregard for basic literacy with the inclusion of an unnecessary Z in their name. This motorcycle gang have been around for years, their criminal activities having been a plague on the city during Bruce Wayne's childhood.

The group used violence to silence witnesses and seemed to favor hand-to-hand melee weapons as much as firearms. They are known to recruit children and to brutalize any children who might rat on them. Black Canary and Batman once teamed up to take down some of their key members.

1 Bertinelli Crime Family

The Bertinelli Crime Family were part of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, having originally come from the region of Ciminà. Though the family expanded throughout major US cities like Gotham and Chicago, they were eventually betrayed and almost all of them were killed off and replaced by the villainous Stefano Mandragora.

One member of the family survived, Helena Bartinelli, who became the costumed crime fighter Huntress, wielding a crossbow. She routinely targeted Cosa Nostra, sometimes using lethal force. Huntress has clashed with Batman over her methods, but she still managed to avenge the murder of her parents, which is something Batman himself never did.

NEXT: 10 DC Supervillains Who Worked For The Government