if you had to make a new villan for batman

[IamtheRock3]

what would be your idea.

If you had to create one from scratch.

[dekard49]

I'd try the idea of having a doppleganger. His exact opposite. Thats a motif I really love, and I dont think I've ever seen it done spot on.

Ras Al Ghul is pretty close, intellectually and physicially, but I cant see him junping around rooftops and that. I'd like to see his exact opposite.

And he would be called...?

[spideyrules99]

I'd try the idea of having a doppleganger. His exact opposite. Thats a motif I really love, and I dont think I've ever seen it done spot on.

Ras Al Ghul is pretty close, intellectually and physicially, but I cant see him junping around rooftops and that. I'd like to see his exact opposite.

And he would be called...?


There was a comic out awhile back with a dude called The Wraith. He was a kid whose parents were killed by cops. So he trained just like Bruce Wayne and became a cop killer. His goal was to get Gordon the man who killed his parents. I think they killed him off and thats sad. He could have done so much.

[Antonio B.]

How about something like this?

The guy that killed his parents had a son. This son was watching from the shadows as Bruce's parents got killed. He somehow follows Bruce around and gets training from the same people but Bruce is unaware of it. Fast forward. This son is watching tv and sees Batman in action and see him perform a move that he has only seen Bruce do. He studies a bunch of tapes and puts two and two together.

Will add more later.

[Nonentity]

I'd like to bring in more 'normal' adversaries for Batman. Someone to fill the shoes of Rupert Thorne and Carmine Falcone. A gangster that does not have a gimmick akin to umbrella weapons or an obsession with duality.

[Slortex]

How about something like this?

The guy that killed his parents had a son. This son was watching from the shadows as Bruce's parents got killed. He somehow follows Bruce around and gets training from the same people but Bruce is unaware of it. Fast forward. This son is watching tv and sees Batman in action and see him perform a move that he has only seen Bruce do. He studies a bunch of tapes and puts two and two together.

Will add more later.

Joe Chill's son was already in Full Circle. Nothing like what you're describing, but the character's out there, and with IC, presumably in continuity.

I second the idea of adding some more traditional gangsters. Standard human crime bosses that are public figures. People that have influence so that Batman can't simply bring them down without repercussions.

[OverMaster]

I have an idea about a guy who thinks of himself like the amalgam of every Gotham rogue in the back of my head. He would be extremely unpredictable, going from switching from Joker's style of crime-commiting, to Riddler's, to Two-Face's, and so on. Basically, the ultimate insane supervillain fanboy. I have thought of him being a former Arkham employee whose job really got to him, or maybe even a demented Jeremiah Arkham.

[OverMaster]

I'd try the idea of having a doppleganger. His exact opposite. Thats a motif I really love, and I dont think I've ever seen it done spot on.

Ras Al Ghul is pretty close, intellectually and physicially, but I cant see him junping around rooftops and that. I'd like to see his exact opposite.

And he would be called...?

Already done. Owlman. They just would have to bring him to the standard DC Earth. That could make for interesting stories.

[algertman]

Even though Prometheus has been seens as a chump recently, he is Batman's opposite

I say have a villian that leaves no trace of his exsistence. No finger prints, no DNA traces, cameras don't pick him up. the whole shebang. That would really mess with Batman

[Mia]

I'd like to bring in more 'normal' adversaries for Batman. Someone to fill the shoes of Rupert Thorne and Carmine Falcone. A gangster that does not have a gimmick akin to umbrella weapons or an obsession with duality.


I am completely with you on this one. I have always thought that Lex Luthor would be a much better adversary to both Batman and Bruce Wayne than he is to Superman. It would have to be an adversary who is just a shrewd as Batman, cultured as Bruce Wayne.

I've played with this kind of character for my fan fiction. I came up with someone who Bruce humiliated when he was a young and selfish bastard at prep school. Or maybe a some guy whose wife Bruce slept with. Maybe Bruce humiliated him in business (ala Thomas Crowne) by taking advantage of his desperate financial straits and buying out the company at a cheap price. Someone with a serious grudge against Bruce/Batman that has just festered over time and grown and grown and grown--yet still the grudge is under control so that he doesn't do anything stupid and is always in control of his emotions. However the grudge has to to be serious enough for readers to sympathise with. Not silly like the one that Hush purportedly has against Batman or the (BOP character) Savant has against him.

[Damo]

Since a lot of Batman's enemies were once basically normal (aside from some obsessions) that got "broken" into their current forms, I'd go with some sort of psychologist that, just for kicks, targets people with obsessions and sees if he can turn them into the type of lunatics Batman usually goes up against.

[Violently Apathetic]

Someone like Johan from the manga Monster, Batman would go INSANE...actually someone should make a rumble along those lines...Anyway, someone who is almost possible to pin down because he started planning his move years ago. A master of manipulation, he doesn't leave fingerprints or any other sort of evidence because he can get other's to do the dirty work for him on charm alone. No trail, no direct evidence and no fixed location or identity. Basically someone who challanges Bats on an intellectual level to a frustrating extent.

....and yes, I'm serious, this isn't just me pimping Monster again...

[literally exaggerated]

Someone like a mayor or another major politician with the backing of the city behind him, but who is secretly utterly corrupt. Someone Batman can't just beat up directly without sparking a massive witchhunt for himself, someone who must first be outwitted and outed before he can be truly taken down, but who wields so much influence that that is extremely difficult.

[Damo]

Someone like a mayor or another major politician with the backing of the city behind him, but who is secretly utterly corrupt. Someone Batman can't just beat up directly without sparking a massive witchhunt for himself, someone who must first be outwitted and outed before he can be truly taken down, but who wields so much influence that that is extremely difficult.

I thought Batman Adventures did that quite well in a very long arc involving the Penguin becoming mayor. It was almost exactly as you described, with the difference that the Penguin's only corruption was in how he managed to get elected. From that point on he was actually squeaky clean, because all he'd ever wanted was power and respect, and why would he endanger that with crime? Time and again Batman was foiled, trying to catch Penguin in the act, only to have it turn out Pengy was setting some other criminal up for the police to arrest. In the end Bats even enlisted Riddler to help bring Penguin down.

[Nonentity]

I've played with this kind of character for my fan fiction. I came up with someone who Bruce humiliated when he was a young and selfish bastard at prep school. Or maybe a some guy whose wife Bruce slept with. Maybe Bruce humiliated him in business (ala Thomas Crowne) by taking advantage of his desperate financial straits and buying out the company at a cheap price. Someone with a serious grudge against Bruce/Batman that has just festered over time and grown and grown and grown--yet still the grudge is under control so that he doesn't do anything stupid and is always in control of his emotions. However the grudge has to to be serious enough for readers to sympathise with. Not silly like the one that Hush purportedly has against Batman or the (BOP character) Savant has against him.

You know.....making him more of an adversary for Bruce Wayne, rather than Batman could be a stroke of genius. The guy doesn't have to be some crimelord looking to corrupt Gotham, but rather someone who has a legitimate (or not) grudge against Bruce Wayne and is looking for some payback. And, as you said, the guy is in control of himself, so he won't be putting on a ridiculous Halloween costume any time soon. I think I like it.

[spideyrules99]

I thought Batman Adventures did that quite well in a very long arc involving the Penguin becoming mayor. It was almost exactly as you described, with the difference that the Penguin's only corruption was in how he managed to get elected. From that point on he was actually squeaky clean, because all he'd ever wanted was power and respect, and why would he endanger that with crime? Time and again Batman was foiled, trying to catch Penguin in the act, only to have it turn out Pengy was setting some other criminal up for the police to arrest. In the end Bats even enlisted Riddler to help bring Penguin down.


How did it go. Did Batman ever get him?

[CPT Space Bomb]

Dr. Doom is the best Batman villian possible.

[Damo]

How did it go. Did Batman ever get him?

He's Batman. What do you think? :p

It's a good story, well worth tracking down (like most of that last run of Batman Adventures, actually). Considering how many variations on "Penguin Runs for Mayor" we've seen over the years, I'm surprised this was the first really good "Mayor Cobblepot" story I'd seen.

[Kid Quick Foots]

Promethius was set up to be his opposite. His parents were like bonnie and clyde traveling the country robbing and killing with child in tow, the cops kill them and lil promethius goes around the globe ala bats getting training and such, only he uses his powers for EEEEVVVVILLLL. but DC F'ed up his character and now he is but a joke. oh well.

[Damo]

Gail Simone's got ahold of him. You just wait and see, things are looking up for he-who-never-frickin-finishes-killing-anyone.

[BoosterBronze]

I thought that WWE Star "Kane" seemed like a Batman villain when he first started off. The psychosis, the mutilated face, the voicebox gimmick. He'd fit right in at a meeting with Joker, Black Mask, and TwoFace.

[PrimalScream]

a former trainer of bruce wayne who is bitter about how good he became. sorta like cain but cooler maybe with a mask.

[PrimalScream]

the carver from nip tuck.

[Kara Zor El]

Okay this would have to have been retconned in during IC.

Instead of Batman turning to Azrael when his back is broken, what if he had had a Robot Batman created for him. This Robo Batman goes out in Waynes place but during one of it's early capers is caught in a power surge which messess with his programming and as a result loses the moral code it is meant to practice. The Robo Batman starts to forulate its own code, which like the Eradicator is harsh and leads to homicides and mutilation. When Bruce recovers it is this Robot Batman he has to take down. But it has created back up versions of itself during its time as Batman and they keep appearing every once in a while to reclaim Gotham from Bruce.
They could be awsome battle droids.
There could even be a liquid metal one.

I know there have been Robot Batmen before. The one in the animated series being very well done. But this is different enough I think.

You could take it even further and have one decide that all crime is commited by the living and decide to wipe out all life, like Judge Death.

[ouiyahtsiouiyah]

A Martial Arts Cult Secret Society from another country able to come out of hiding since the death of Rai's Al Ghul.

[Pól Rua]

I'd try the idea of having a doppleganger. His exact opposite. Thats a motif I really love, and I dont think I've ever seen it done spot on.

You should check out the first Batman/Grendel crossover where Bruce locks horns with the original Grendel, Hunter Rose.
http://www.reway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/batman/pictures/crossovers/thumbnails/batmangrendel2_wagner.jpg

[Pól Rua]

As for a new villain from scratch, I must admit to being a fan of the more Dick Tracy-esque villains, those ones who are gangsters with a gimmick (Joker, Two-Face, Ventriloquist, Penguin, Killer Croc), so I'd probably go along those lines.
Go for a kind of 1930's-50's-style gangster assassin with a twist vibe.

[synthetikdemon]

A buisness rival for Bruce!

He isnt a psycho, a murderer or anything, just someone who coverts Bruce's Companies, something I would like to see is how Bruce "gets all those wonderful toys" and then have to fight for his company, his philanthropic interests from a corporate raid, someone determined to make money from Wayne Industries...

[CPT Space Bomb]

I would make him a backstabber. Someone, who despised Bruce so much, he led him to believe he was good. Then, after years of training together, and Bruce had come to really care for the guy/gal, they backstab him and almost kill him. Then, After that, they could play mindgames with Bruce from his past, recounting all the fun times they had. Course, that was kinda done already with Jason Todd, but.............

[Sharpandpointies]

You should check out the first Batman/Grendel crossover where Bruce locks horns with the original Grendel, Hunter Rose.
http://www.reway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/batman/pictures/crossovers/thumbnails/batmangrendel2_wagner.jpg

Seconded. Fantastic stuff.

[Kara Zor El]

Had a thought. In the wild Eagles hunt bats.

So maybe an assassin with an Eagle gimmik. You know Eagle Man sort of thing. Like Owlman, but of this Earth and not a doppleganger. Maybe as the Eagle is a symbol of America, he could be an American Sercet Agent who is ordered to take down Batman, because Batman is a lwabreaking vigilante who rocks to many political boats.
He could be a flyer or a swinger, but flight is good for an edge on Bats.

[tymac]

You should check out the first Batman/Grendel crossover where Bruce locks horns with the original Grendel, Hunter Rose.
http://www.reway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/batman/pictures/crossovers/thumbnails/batmangrendel2_wagner.jpg


Thirded!

Hunter Rose is the perfect anti-Batman. Oddly, he has no real grudge with Batman or Bruce Wayne but the story works very well. Maybe that's it. Batman has enough villains obsessing over him. Maybe he needs some high-level villains who are actively trying to avoid his involvement rather than court it. Who understand that doing business in Gotham carries with it a certain risk, but think they can plan around it. If they get taken down, it's no more personal than if they were stopped by the police.

[Alan2099]

Robbing Hood
A cocky swashbuckling Errol Flynn type character that goes out and robs mega corporations, banks, and the like and goes to distribute it among the poor homeless people.

Body Shop
A Frankenstein like character. His body parts don't hold up that well, trhough age and decay, so he goes around seeking unwilling donors, hacking them up and using the parts to repair and impove himself. He also feels no pain.

[spideyrules99]

Robbing Hood
A cocky swashbuckling Errol Flynn type character that goes out and robs mega corporations, banks, and the like and goes to distribute it among the poor homeless people.

Body Shop
A Frankenstein like character. His body parts don't hold up that well, trhough age and decay, so he goes around seeking unwilling donors, hacking them up and using the parts to repair and impove himself. He also feels no pain.


I love the second one. He would be kick ass cool.

[Jaye]

Robbing Hood
A cocky swashbuckling Errol Flynn type character that goes out and robs mega corporations, banks, and the like and goes to distribute it among the poor homeless people.




I'd like it if he robbed Wayne Enterprises.

[Kara Zor El]

Robbing Hood
A cocky swashbuckling Errol Flynn type character that goes out and robs mega corporations, banks, and the like and goes to distribute it among the poor homeless people.

Body Shop
A Frankenstein like character. His body parts don't hold up that well, trhough age and decay, so he goes around seeking unwilling donors, hacking them up and using the parts to repair and impove himself. He also feels no pain.

I seem to remeber an early Legend of the dark night having a character like that. The Cavaleer. He didn't rob the rich but was a vigilantie who Bats took down.

[Damo]

Robbing Hood
A cocky swashbuckling Errol Flynn type character that goes out and robs mega corporations, banks, and the like and goes to distribute it among the poor homeless people.

The Cavalier, from Batman Adventures. Really torqued off Bats too, because he would leave a "C" slashed in people's shirts as he left. As Batman said: "You don't get to be Zorro. That job's taken."

Okay, slight difference from yours - The Cavalier gave most of his money to the poor and homeless, but skimmed a fair amount off the top for himself.


Body Shop
A Frankenstein like character. His body parts don't hold up that well, trhough age and decay, so he goes around seeking unwilling donors, hacking them up and using the parts to repair and impove himself. He also feels no pain.

Throw in him being a mercenary to pay the bills and you've got Terror Incorporated, one of the strangest and most fun books Marvel ever cancelled.

[Damo]

A Martial Arts Cult Secret Society from another country able to come out of hiding since the death of Rai's Al Ghul.

A martial arts cult secret society?

The Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist would wipe them off the face of the earth for even trying to horn in on their gig.

Do not mess with the monkeys.

[Alan2099]

The Cavalier, from Batman Adventures. Really torqued off Bats too, because he would leave a "C" slashed in people's shirts as he left. As Batman said: "You don't get to be Zorro. That job's taken."

Okay, slight difference from yours - The Cavalier gave most of his money to the poor and homeless, but skimmed a fair amount off the top for himself.

Throw in him being a mercenary to pay the bills and you've got Terror Incorporated, one of the strangest and most fun books Marvel ever cancelled.
Well, you know what they say about there not being any new ideas.

[trickster]

The Cavalier, from Batman Adventures. Really torqued off Bats too, because he would leave a "C" slashed in people's shirts as he left. As Batman said: "You don't get to be Zorro. That job's taken."

Okay, slight difference from yours - The Cavalier gave most of his money to the poor and homeless, but skimmed a fair amount off the top for himself.



Throw in him being a mercenary to pay the bills and you've got Terror Incorporated, one of the strangest and most fun books Marvel ever cancelled.

Also, Anarky. That guy was real great. I really liked his series too.

[Damo]

Anarky collects ORGANS????

FINALLY, that miniseries makes sense...

[Oracle_0128]

I actually created a brand new villain for Batman on my fan fic site. They killed by ways of Urban Legends, because of a vendetta towards the ultimate urban legend...Batman.

[Hellstormer]

My Ultimate Batman Villian!
http://www.vegasartscorner.com/images/JOEL-SCHUMACHER.JPG

[ShadowSonic]

I was thinking of Batman getting a villain similar to the "Black Ghost" character from the Cyborg 009 stories, he'd be th head of some organization dedicatd to keeping the world (or in this case, maybe just Gotham) in a state of perpetual warfare by insitgating gang warfare (without anyone knowing he was behind it) thn he'd sell them weapons to keep fighting, while reaping the profits and having the gangs in his pocket for more and better weapons.

Maybe he forms a syndicate of Batman's villains with the best "gimmick" weapons (like Scarecrow's fear toxins, Hatter's mind control devices, Ivy's other poisons, etc), organizing them into a successful crime group, keeping them satisfied with accomodations and resources, and at the same time he helps himself to their devices and develops them into true weapons to be sold to the highest bidder, gangs, the cops, or even the government.

EDIT: Also, just for the surprise when Batman finally gets to the guy, he finds out the Mastermind is actually an adept fighter, due to using a lot of his "fight-enhancers" (like Venom and cybernetic parts) on himself.

[trickster]

I was thinking of Batman getting a villain similar to the "Black Ghost" character from the Cyborg 009 stories, he'd be th head of some organization dedicatd to keeping the world (or in this case, maybe just Gotham) in a state of perpetual warfare by insitgating gang warfare (without anyone knowing he was behind it) thn he'd sell them weapons to keep fighting, while reaping the profits and having the gangs in his pocket for more and better weapons.

Maybe he forms a syndicate of Batman's villains with the best "gimmick" weapons (like Scarecrow's fear toxins, Hatter's mind control devices, Ivy's other poisons, etc), organizing them into a successful crime group, keeping them satisfied with accomodations and resources, and at the same time he helps himself to their devices and develops them into true weapons to be sold to the highest bidder, gangs, the cops, or even the government.

EDIT: Also, just for the surprise when Batman finally gets to the guy, he finds out the Mastermind is actually an adept fighter, due to using a lot of his "fight-enhancers" (like Venom and cybernetic parts) on himself.

Well, in that case you could just have him fight the world governments.

[Alan2099]

Well, in that case you could just have him fight the world governments.
No. There's enough "Governement is bad" stories running around. Can't we just settle with your basic supervillians? They're usually much more intresting and far less cynical and controversial.

[BoosterBronze]

Since Batman has a vageuly demonic prescense, why not a Priest-themed villain?
Batman matching up against a guy dressed like a Templar knight? It would look cool.

[Hellstormer]

Since Batman has a vageuly demonic prescense, why not a Priest-themed villain?
Batman matching up against a guy dressed like a Templar knight? It would look cool.
This guy?
http://sentinelsonline.com/biotemplar4.jpg

[ShadowSonic]

Since Batman has a vageuly demonic prescense, why not a Priest-themed villain?
Batman matching up against a guy dressed like a Templar knight? It would look cool.

Might as well bring back Azrael as a villain and dress him up in that costume his dad wore.