# Best Batman Villian **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114 "2000-01-24T21:43:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/1 "2000-01-24T21:43:00Z")
This does NOT incude the idiotic movies (though I personally think Nicholson and DeVito did a good job) . . . . I am thinking comic books, old TV series, and animated series including “Beyond”. If you give your votes I will post a winner on this MB in a few days. My vote ? Easy, Edward Nigma, aka “The Riddler”. I love that green suit with the green derby and the black tie with the green “?”. Great suit. Plus he has the best traps. * * * “Solos Dios basta” . . . but a little pizza won’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/2 "2000-01-24T21:50:00Z")
Poison Ivy. Someone who loves gardening can’t be all bad. I would kiss her, but no tongue. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/3 "2000-01-24T21:50:00Z")
Oh, Tallulah Bankhead as The Black Widow—hands down, dahling! ---
**Author:** ![WIU\_Wozman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WIU\_Wozman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WIU_Wozman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/4 "2000-01-24T21:58:00Z")
I agree, Black Widow was the best * * * View every exit as an entrance someplace else ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/5 "2000-01-24T22:03:00Z")
Eartha Kitt as Cat-Woman. I grew up wanting a black latex suit because of her. (Yes, I have one.) * * * Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you. -William Blake ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/6 "2000-01-24T22:38:00Z")
Julie Newmar as Catwoman. My idea of feminine beauty was strongly formed by her. I expected that I would look like that when I, too, grew to womanhood. And dammit, it’s gonna happen someday! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/7 "2000-01-24T22:39:00Z")
I was always partial to Two-Face. Could never tell which way he was going to swing. Unfortunately, he never made it onto the TV show. Of that group, I’d have to choose Vincent Price as Egghead. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/8 "2000-01-24T22:54:00Z")
toss-up between Joker and Catwoman (starring Eve as Catwoman!). Catwoman because of the mutual attraction between her and Batman. The whole, in another world we might have…" (which they do in some Elseworlds, Earth 2, etc.). Joker because he is the most consistently deadly and dangerous. he MIGHT just be out for larks one day, the next he might kill someone. He’s already killed a Robin and crippled Batgirl. Oh, Two-Face is pretty cool, too. The only true Batwoman is Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar, or that other one on the show–horrible paraphrase of Adam West on Simpsons. Bucky * * * Oh, well. We can always make more killbots. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzy-wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@fuzzy-wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzy-wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/9 "2000-01-24T23:01:00Z")
I vote Julie Newmar as catwoman also. She was the role model for beautiful evil women. * * * “Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/10 "2000-01-24T23:34:00Z")
Joker, hands down. When the writers know what they’re doing he’s one of the best villains in any comic book. Though I have to admit being partial to R’as Al’ghul (or however the hell you spell his name). – Sylence * * * I don’t have an evil side. Just a really, really apathetic one. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/11 "2000-01-24T23:57:00Z")
The Riddler always filled me with glee! ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/12 "2000-01-25T00:27:00Z")
Lee Meriwether was the other Catwoman but I have to give the nod to Ertha Kitt. For a while my brother had the same agent as E.K. and thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I will have to find one of the episodes where Eli Wallach played Mr. Freeze. That’s beyond bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![APB9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB9999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB9999)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/13 "2000-01-25T00:31:00Z")
Julie Newmar, definitely. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/14 "2000-01-25T01:48:00Z")
George Sanders as the original TV Mr. Freeze, was so classy, so debonair, he made villainy so… cool. (No other way to describe it!) Best Batman Villain Based Upon a Real Person: Grant Walker in the “Deep Freeze” episode of _Batman: The Animated Series_. “WHO?!?!?” you may be asking. Lemme tell ya: He was a multi-millionaire who made his money building theme parks, according to Robin. He was obsessed about the future and he built a future city offshore from Gotham City. He was getting old and it occurred to him that he may not live long enough to complete his plans. How to gain immortality…? Break Mr. Freeze out of prison! With robots! And use his vast knowledge of cryogenics to make Grant Walker as immortal as Freeze! And use the freeze ray to freeze the entire world except for a hand-picked few living inside the domed future city. Grant Walker is obviously based on **Walt Disney** , who also built theme parks (including Epcot, originally intended to be a working, futuristic city) with attractions that make extensive use of robotics; worried that he’d die before completing his life’s work; and, according to urban legend, had his body frozen so that he’d be revived at some future date. (The only deviation from this model is that Grant Walker apparently never made animated cartoons nor did he start his own movie studio.) When I saw that episode, I laughed my fool head off! It’s still one of my favorite Animated shows. The proper name of Batman’s immortal villain is Ra’s Al Ghul. Julie Newmar is the best Catwoman _EVER_. * * * \>\< DARWIN \> \_\_ **L\_\_\_L** ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/15 "2000-01-25T01:55:00Z")
In his own titles, I have to go with Bane. He is just too damn cool. In JLA, I’d have to say Promethius. He’s basically Evil Batman. * * * You say “cheesy” like that’s a **BAD** thing. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/16 "2000-01-25T01:59:00Z")
I have to agree with Sylence. The thing that makes The Batman so interesting is his remarkable villains, and The Joker is the best of the best. Unpredictable, mischevious, murderous, and perhaps best of all, there is really nothing known about his life before the accident that made him who he is. We don’t know his real name. (Forget all that “Jack Napier” jazz, that has never been supported in the comics, which is the _true_ cannon.) We don’t know what he did for a living. We don’t know squat about his childhood. He history is probably the best kept secret in all of comic-dom. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/17 "2000-01-25T04:18:00Z")
Definitely the Joker, but a close favorite for second place would be Grendel (Hunter Rose) who appeared in a two-part mini series written by Matt Wagner. * * * “I know a place where dreams get crushed, hopes are smashed, but that ain’t much.” ---
**Author:** ![TheUnforgiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TheUnforgiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheUnforgiven)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/18 "2000-01-25T05:26:00Z")
Make it three Jokers in a row… That laugh just made him. And nothing beats using razor-sharp playing cards as a weapon. He’s also funny as hell. * * * “The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” -H.P. Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/19 "2000-01-25T05:37:00Z")
_ **Noone** _ has mentioned the Scarecrow? tsk tsk A villain who uses his victim’s own minds against them. Beautiful. I’m also partial to R’as Al Ghul (I _think_ that’s the correct spelling…). * * * _Eschew Obfuscation_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114/20 "2000-01-25T06:08:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Tengu: > \*\*I’m also partial to R’as Al Ghul (I _think_ that’s the correct spelling…). > \*\* Or, rather, the way jab spelt it is. ## I should read more thoroughly… _Eschew Obfuscation_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-batman-villian/13114.md?page=2)