Evil Batman

[Mahou Otaku]

Are there any evil duplicates of Batman?

Superman=Bizarro
Spiderman=Venom
Thor=Ragnarok

And for that matter, evil versions of the other Bat-crew members? Such as evil Robin, evil Batgirl, etc?

[Mr. Holmes]

Yup, Batman now has an evil baby brother.

[DonC]

The Wraith, who has only appeared twice, I think, was billed as the Anti-Batman.

Evil Robin, I suppose the General, maybe. Or Anarky.

[whydelongeface]

Prometheus and Owlman (the guy in the picture posted above).

[Mahou Otaku]

Yup, Batman now has an evil baby brother.

Hah, I didn't even think about him. That issue where he was revealed was really fun, I think it was the flow of the captions and the dialogue that really made it.

The Wraith, who has only appeared twice, I think, was billed as the Anti-Batman.

Evil Robin, I suppose the General, maybe. Or Anarky.

I know exactly none of those...well, I think I remember Anarky. I guess I better turn in my geek badge, I no longer earn it.. :D

Prometheus and Owlman. (who is not his younger brother)

Isn't Prometheus more an anti-JLA than an anti-Batman?

Though I suppose Owlman would fit the role as well or better than any.

[DonC]

My mistake. It's the Wrath who was the anti-Batman. He was the child of criminals who were killed by a police officer and grew up wanting revenge on that cop.

The General was a child prodigy/military genius. Anarky was a teenager who wanted anarchy. Or rather, the anti-corporation movement that passes for "anarchy" to some people.

[whydelongeface]

Isn't Prometheus more an anti-JLA than an anti-Batman?

Though I suppose Owlman would fit the role as well or better than any.

Well since his criminal parents were killed and he vowed to use their deaths as a reason to live a life of crime, I always considered him the foil to Batman. Plus he has all sorts of gadgets like Batman and is a master of the martial arts (when he downloads it into his helmet) like Batman. Which is an interesting point, as it shows that he cheats and simply downloads the fighting skills while Bruce had to train for years to perfect them.

[Mahou Otaku]

My mistake. It's the Wrath who was the anti-Batman. He was the child of criminals who were killed by a police officer and grew up wanting revenge on that cop.

The General was a child prodigy/military genius. Anarky was a teenager who wanted anarchy. Or rather, the anti-corporation movement that passes for "anarchy" to some people.

No worries, I could always use wiki and not be lazy. I appreciate you typing that up, it saved me the trip.

And it sounds like Anarky would be especially popular in these times we're in right now.

Well since his criminal parents were killed and he vowed to use their deaths as a reason to live a life of crime, I always considered him the foil to Batman. Plus he has all sorts of gadgets like Batman and is a master of the martial arts (when he downloads it into his helmet) like Batman. Which is an interesting point, as it shows that he cheats and simply downloads the fighting skills while Bruce had to train for years to perfect them.

Prometheus is interesting, but I think you're right that it seems too easy the way he gets skills, downloading them to his brain like a harddrive.

I've read about Owlman here and there...are there any specific stories you (or anyone else if you want to pitch in) can tell me of that are especially good featuring Owlman?

[mosdef]

Owlman of Crisis on Two Earths; more of an evil Batman than the Nu52 version.

[thwhtGuardian]

There's always Batzarro:

[The Greatest Hero]

Owlman of Crisis on Two Earths; more of an evil Batman than the Nu52 version.

Also the better version than the Nu52's Owlman.

[DrSimonHurt]

I don't think Lincoln March is really Owlman. He's just generic Dr Hurt knockoff-Man.

[adkal]

Well since his criminal parents were killed and he vowed to use their deaths as a reason to live a life of crime, I always considered him the foil to Batman. Plus he has all sorts of gadgets like Batman and is a master of the martial arts (when he downloads it into his helmet) like Batman. Which is an interesting point, as it shows that he cheats and simply downloads the fighting skills while Bruce had to train for years to perfect them.

Actually, he trained in several styles before he obtained/created the download tech - I think Silat was one of the styles (see the New Year Evil issue about him).

[godisawesome]

Oh, where to begin?

Bane's like an evil Batman in terms of sheer will-power and intelligence, but as opposed to a Dark Knight he's more of a Dark Barbarian Berserker. His origin is a reversal of Bruce's in that whereas Bruce hails from a world of privilege, Bane was born and raised in hell without so much as a name, and while Bruce managed to kick his Venom habit quickly upon developing it, Bane embraced it for his power. So he's basically an example of how opposing context could bring about strikingly similar yet opposing men. And in opposition to how Bruce Wayne opposes Ra's Al Ghul from moral grounds on the side of good yet was still considered a possible heir, Bane opposed Ra's by being even more ruthless, ambitious and homicidal than anyone else he ever met. Personally, I'm just waiting for the day someone sticks Bane on an Injustice Gang or something specifically as Batman's counter instead of as a team dad or bodyguard.

Comic Wrath and Prometheus are very similar, though separated by decades of real-world time and methods of assuming the Anti-Batman mantle. Both have parents who are lower-income bracket criminals gunned-down by cops (in Prometheus's case a Bonny and Clyde style shoot-out, in the Wrath's case Jim Gordon on his rookie night.) Both travel the world to become criminals, with the Wrath, via a mirror of Bruce's sojourn, becoming an assassin specializing in law enforcement personnel, and Prometheus using more science fiction methods to try and become one of the world's most powerful super-villains, as a more direct counter to Grant Morrison's Batman. The Wrath has one appearance, dying in his first adventure against Batman and being succeeded by an Anti-Dick Grayson (sadly, no confrontation between both successors was written) and Prometheus was butchered by several writers in part because of how very Morrison he is, succeeded in incidentally killing the beloved Lian Harper and being executed in turn by Green Arrow.

There's a Cartoon Wrath who hailed from rich criminal parents and even had a partner named Scorn and was intentionally built up as a photo-copy reversal of Batman (even the last name, Mallory features a reversal from W for Wayne to M for Mallory.) Unfortunately, the Joker decided to drive them insane for annoying him.

Probably the best straight up evil Batman is Owlman from the evil anti-matter Earth/Earth 3, particularly the one from Crisis on Two Earths. He's not given much of an origin, but acts exactly like Batman with a reverse moral code, becoming a true nihlist beyond even the Joker. Their confrontation is the best thing of the entire movie, showcasing a similarly cynical world perspective with the exception that Owlman has zero sympathy or hope. In Batman's own words, "We both stared into the abyss. The difference? You blinked."

Then There's New 52 Owlman, who's been covered above, and who I like as a bad-guy, but don't see as quite so much an anti-Batman as much as a haunting zombie bad-guy who's lost his marbles.