Batman has one of the best rogue galleries in comics and the Arkham franchise took full advantage of them. They used the wide range of villains to help create a dynamic story in each installment of the franchise.
On top of the ones they introduced in the main storyline, the side quests they made with other villains helped to build a rich environment and make the world of the Arkham games feel more alive. Each game introduced more and more villains and each time they made a great addition to the mythos of Batman's rogues' gallery. The villains helped to make the Arkham games some of the best superhero games ever.
6 Arkham Asylum's Main Villains Started It The Series Off On A High Note
Arkham Asylum was an amazing thriller game that fans still love and play to this day. The main villains included Joker, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy. Joker and Harley took over the Asylum and used Scarecrow and Poison Ivy the most in order to torture Batman during his lockdown there.
In the end, the Joker transformed his body using a corrupted version of Bane's venom called Titan. This turned the Joker into a monster even larger than Bane, but it had a devastating side effect in the long run.
5 Arkham Asylum Introduced A Slew Of Side Villains
While Arkham Asylum didn't have side quest like its sequels, it did still introduce a number of side villains that had a smaller presence in the story. The Riddler pulled his classic pranks and placed his riddles and riddler trophies all over the Asylum. These riddles were challenging and made for a fun side task for all players. Killer Croc terrorized players as he stalked the sewers and made for some intense jump scares.
Bane's Venom formula is a big part of the game, but besides a quick interaction that ends with the Batmobile running over Bane, he is just a side note that Batman deals with quickly. Finally, there is Victor Zsasz in his two brief appearances he represents a learning opportunity for the player, one for stalking players from above and the second for using a special Batarang.
4 Arkham City Expanded Its Story And Central Villains
Arkham City expanded the world of the Arkham franchise massively, with a bigger map and a bigger story it reeled fans in. The Joker was back, but while he was important he was not the only main villain. Hugo Strange and Ra's Al Ghul formed the plans surrounding the city-wide jail and wanted to bring Batman to his knees.
Helping them along the way was Two-Face, ruling his courtroom with a flip of a coin. And the Penguin who wielded the power of Solomon Grundy. Mr. Freeze was a challenging boss they presented a great challenge for players. Although not a full-blown villain, Catwoman was a huge part of the game, even having a section where the player got to play as her.
3 Arkham City Had A Massive Amount Of Side Characters
On top of the returning characters from Arkham Asylum, Arkham City introduced a ton of new and exciting characters and side quests. Bane had a bigger side mission and so did Victor Zsasz.
The game also brought in Deadshot, Hush, Azrael, Mad Hatter, and in the DLC brought in Black Mask. All these characters helped to flesh out the environment of the game and it made for a lot of fun missions for the players. Fans loved to see all their favorite villains come to life and be able to go toe-to-toe with them across the city.
2 Arkham Knight Brought In New Character And Re-Created Old Ones
Arkham Knight was the culmination of all the developers' storytelling efforts and it ended in an amazing game and a fantastic experience for fans. Scarecrow came back as the main villain of the game and he brought along the new villain of The Arkham Knight. The Arkham Knight ended up being Jason Todd and he became The Red Hood by the end of the game.
He brought a military force against Batman and his allies and he held all over Gotham hostage in combination with the Scarecrow. Joker and Harley Quinn still were involved. Hallucinations of the Joker tortured Batman while Harley broke into his base of operations and attacked Robin and tried to break out the people who were poisoned by Joker.
1 Arkham Knight Created Intense Side Quests With A Number Of Characters
Arkham Knight brought old villains seen in other games (mentioned above) back such as Mr. Freeze, Black Mask, Penguin, Killer Croc, Mad Hatter, and a number of others. On top of the returning characters, it brought a few new characters to the foreground. Firefly was given a mission where he was burning fire stations. Professor Pyg was creating his human dolls in the most sickening way.
Man-Bat was terrorizing the skies and Deacon Blackfire was running his cult. Each of the villains received intriguing stories and fun adventures for Batman to embark on. The game truly honored as many Batman villains as it possibly could.