List of Batman family enemies



The Batman family enemies are a collection of fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters are depicted as adversaries of the superhero Batman and his allies.

Since Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939), his supporting cast has expanded to include other superheroes, and has become what is now called the "Batman family". As with most superheroes, a cast of recurring enemies to the Batman family have been introduced throughout the years, collectively referred to as Batman's "rogues gallery". Many characters from Batman's rogues gallery who are criminally insane become patients at Arkham Asylum after they are apprehended.

The Batman family's rogues gallery has been well received, considered by many journalists to be one of the greatest superhero rogues galleries of all comic books.

Supervillains and themed criminals
The following fictional characters are listed in alphabetical order by the name of their supervillain persona. Each character's first appearance and brief biographies of each fictional character are also listed, pertaining to their fictional histories and characteristics in the DC Universe. Sometimes more than one fictional character will share a supervillain persona. In those cases, the name of the character most associated with said supervillain identity will have their name in bold in their biography.

Classic rogues gallery
Listed below are the Batman family's most enduring and iconic adversaries.

Other recurring adversaries
These are major Batman family adversaries that have not quite reached the status of Batman's classic rogues gallery.

The League of Assassins
First appearing in Strange Adventures #215, the League of Assassins is a team of highly trained killers that was founded by Ra's al Ghul and has often swayed from working under his organization to working independently of it. The group has been led at times by Dr. Ebeneezer Darrk, the Sensei, Lady Shiva, and Cassandra Cain.

Morrison-era supervillains (2007–2011)
These are supervillains that were introduced under writer Grant Morrison.

The New 52 and beyond
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. Since this new timeline began, these supervillains have been introduced. These are characters that have not been around long enough to apply to any other category.

Foes of lesser renown
These adversaries are categorized by their obscurity and for being less notable than other characters in this article.

Teams
The following is a list of fictional teams, groups of supervillains, gangs, and organized crime that are enemies of the Batman family, listed in alphabetical order by name. The first appearance and a brief fictional biography of each team is also listed.

Mobsters and plainclothes criminals
Besides his infamous rogues gallery of supervillains, Batman has also faced more "ordinary" enemies, such as assassins, mobsters and terrorists.

In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)

Two of Batman's mobster foes have donned costumes and crossed over to become supervillains:


 * The Hangman: A mysterious serial killer who murders police officers on every holiday of the year (during the Dark Victory storyline), leaving behind a version of the children's word game "Hangman" (with key letters missing) with each new victim. All of the victims are police officers who, in one way or another, helped Harvey Dent rise to his position of District Attorney. In the end, the Hangman is revealed to be Sofia Falcone Gigante, daughter of the late crime boss Carmine Falcone.
 * Holiday: A mysterious serial killer who murders mobsters and others over a year (during The Long Halloween storyline). The killer's weapon is a .22 pistol (using a baby bottle nipple as a silencer) with the handle taped and the serial number filed off. Also, every crime takes place on a holiday and a small trinket representing each holiday is left behind at the scene. Alberto Falcone, the youngest son of Carmine Falcone, admits to be the Holiday killer, but then Harvey Dent says there were two Holiday killers. Batman deduces that since he killed Vernon on Halloween with a .22 pistol, he was, in fact, the second Holiday; however, later in a lone monologue Gilda Grace Dent reveals herself as the second (or technically first) Holiday, who was responsible for the first three murders.

Corrupt cops and government officials
In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance)

Reformed supervillains / Anti-heroes
The following is a list of Batman adversaries who have been reformed and are more often depicted as allies of the masked vigilante than enemies.

Allies in conflict
Some characters generally considered to be allies, yet have come into conflict with Batman.

In alphabetical order (with issue and date of first appearance):

Reception
Batman's rogues gallery has received critical acclaim, cited by many journalists as one of the greatest rogues galleries in all of comic books. Newsarama ranked Batman's villains as the second-greatest comic book rogues gallery of all time, only preceded by that of Spider-Man, stating that the Dark Knight Detective is one of comics' most enduring, most iconic, and most popular characters, and none of that would be possible without the denizens of Gotham City's dense and dangerous underworld. Batman may be a household name, but the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Two-Face, and the Riddler are just as recognizable."

The internet blog io9 observed that "much of the appeal of Batman is that, unlike other superheroes, he's simply a person who has pushed himself to the edge of his natural limits. The flipside of that, though, is that the villains he faces are also by and large simply people with a single, notable obsession—and that's why they're so much more interesting than the usual set of villains." According to What Culture!, "Batman's villains stand in stark contrast to the other rogues galleries in comics lore; they're an unusual collection of freaks who generally blame the Dark Knight for their existence to begin with. Batman villains are usually cut off from reality, often coming to terms with a deranged part of their psyche—mirroring the darkness and split that also defines the Bat." HitFix praised Batman's rogues gallery, stating that "Great heroes are defined by the villains they face, and no group of evil-doers, murderers, criminals and psychopaths are greater than those stalking Gotham City. From murderous clowns, to cerebral assassins, to brutish monsters, Batman has a literal murderer's row of foes that constantly test his crime fighting acumen."