Six Underrated Batman Family Villains

When you think of Batman's rogues gallery, who comes to mind? We're guessing many of you thought of Joker, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Riddler, Clayface, Penguin, Bane, Harley Quinn, or Mr. Freeze, right? There's obviously a few other big names we didn't include, but the point is there's a good amount of memorable Batman villains and odds are you can recall at least one or two good stories with those characters. They definitely have plenty of appearances in several titles, too. I mean, even Victor Zsasz keeps popping up. However, there's several villains out there who deserve more love from DC and, when compared to the Bat family's evergrowing list of threats, we believe the following baddies are often underrated.

Zeiss

When you think of enemies Batman has trouble with in hand-to-hand combat, people like Prometheus or Bane probably come to mind. Well, there's one dude out there who gave Batman all kinds of trouble and he has yet to appear in The New 52 (as far as we know, that is). Thanks to some spiffy goggles and impressive speed and reflexes, Zeiss can read his opponents and counter almost everything they send his way. Just like many other villains, his ego can pose a problem for him, though. Batman was unable to beat him in hand-to-hand combat and then needed Cassandra Cain's help and a plot device to capture the skilled fiend. Zeiss had a lackluster follow-up in which Batman let himself get stabbed so he could get close and pull off one hell of a punch on Zeiss' face -- a move the swift fighter didn't expect at all. This bad guy also put Catwoman through a world of hurt before she used equipment to turn the tide. He's kind of like Taskmaster mixed with Constantine Drakon and he absolutely deserves to get a standout role in one of DC's upcoming issues. He may not have what it takes to be one of Batman's iconic villains (then again, any character can be truly great with the right writer), but there's potential there and he certainly deserves another story.

Massacre

Batwing is armed to the teeth and wearing some oh-so-fancy armor. Yet this dude, who is armed with just a bulletproof armor and a machete, became Batwing's twisted nightmare. The guy is a killing machine and he thinks his slaughtering is for the greater good. (It's a long story, so read the first BATWING arc if you want all the details.) With a cool design and a frightening presence, Massacre was easily one of the more memorable villains in the earlier stages of The New 52. The big guy is more than just an intimidating combatant, though. This isn't someone who's killing just because he enjoys it and he isn't taking lives for money. He has a tragic beginning and was manipulated into thinking his constant killings are just. After his first major story arc, the guy is in need of some serious soul-searching. Considering he was last spotted in Gotham, it's only logic a potential follow-up could incorporate someone from the Bat-family. Batman may be a little too much for him, but there's strong possibilities for a great story here. Think of a more formidable Zsasz mixed with a twisted anti-hero mentality ("I'm killing all of these people, but it's because they deserve it!") and you've got Massacre, a man who should most definitely receive a follow-up story arc. If Dick Grayson one day returns to Gotham, I could see Massacre being the antagonist in a solid story.

Killer Croc

We wanted to avoid using the very well-known villains, but Killer Croc just had to be included. For a fair amount of you, Croc is a one-dimensional joke. He isn't bright, he hasn't offered a compelling story, and you probably think it wouldn't take the Dark Knight very long to deal with him. And you know what? It's an understandable opinion to have. How many times has he been portrayed as a foolish and useless villain who flails and chomps before being removed from the picture? I mean, we've seen Batman take him down with one hit, no one can forget the rock line from the animated series, and the big fellow was even humiliated by Harvey Dent at one point. Despite a number of embarrassing showings, I feel like this baddie doesn't get the level of credit he deserves. Not only is he more physically imposing than some may think (Wayne once had to use explosives to take him down; he's been able to take punches with ease multiple times), but his shifting mentality and dark background can open the door to way more depth and emotional material. We saw hints of this in his Villains Month issue and while the tall villain has a good number of appearances in The New 52, the handling of him tends to fluctuate from writer to writer and we've yet to get a truly powerful and must read story about this longtime enemy. The rise of Killer Croc. Let's have it, DC.

Nobody

Massacre may be one of the most interesting villains The New 52 introduced early on, but BATMAN AND ROBIN'SMorgan Ducard, a.k.a. Nobody, left the strongest impression. Like a violent reflection of Bruce Wayne, Nobody has substantial ties to Bruce's history (Bruce trained with Morgan's father and he became quite jealous) and he played a huge role in Damian Wayne's journey. Nobody wanted to wipe out Batman Incorporated and dish out his own kind of justice. And his version of justice means putting scum six feet under. He may not be as skilled as Batman (not many are), but he makes up for that with a seriously cool armor which allows him to cloak and generate powerful sonic attacks. His agenda against Batman produced a gripping story and it ended in a jaw-dropping way. And yes, there's one hell of a fight between these two as well. It's a shame he had so few appearances, but one excellent story is better than eventually turning into a has-been. That said, Peter J. Tomasi says he and Patrick Gleason have discussed bringing back the character and will do so if they can find an organic way to reintroduce him.

KGBeast

Anatoli Knyazev, a.k.a. KGBeast, made his debut as a seemingly unstoppable assassin. Highly trained and extremely proficient at taking a life, the Caped Crusader had an incredible amount of difficulty stopping the Beast from killing his targets. This guy was so tough and dedicated to his mission that he even chopped off his own hand to prevent Wayne from capturing him. And no, he doesn't have a healing factor. He's just a human who's ridiculously well-trained and will stop at nothing to get the job done. The guys like a human Terminator, so it's a shame to think he later had some appearances as a jobber. For example, Nightwing had no problem at all getting rid of the guy. That's not a jab at Grayson -- he's obviously a gifted hero -- but KGBeast's opening story, "Ten Nights of the Beast," presented him as someone who could possibly even give Deathstroke a run for his money. Anatoli has appeared in The New 52 (NEW SUICIDE SQUAD and AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS), but neither story comes off as his next big story. Thankfully, he did receive a pretty decent redesign in AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS. This guy should be a cold-hearted and insanely difficult enemy for anyone in the Bat family to take on, so here's hoping he one day gets a proper appearance in Gotham.

Hugo Strange

Yes, Hugo Strange received a prominent role in Batman: Arkham City (until it was revealed he isn't even the big bad...) and first appeared way back in 1940, but when people think of villains who can mess with Batman's head, he's usually not a character that immediately comes to mind. We all know just how smart Bruce is (he's called the world's greatest detective for a reason, people), yet Strange has been able to get in the hero's head more than once and the two have an interesting dynamic. You could even say Hugo wants to be the "Superior Batman." Or maybe it would be "Better Batman" in this case. Hugo doesn't loathe him; he respects him and wants to improve on what Bruce has done. He thinks he can become a better, more ruthless Batman and his brilliant mind has brought him close to accomplishing that. This foe respects Batman so much that he refused to reveal who's behind the mask, even after suffering vicious beatings. He's also got a thing for faking his own death, so you can never be 100% sure that you've seen the last of him. Hugo's appeared in The New 52 a handful of times, but he's yet to receive a noteworthy storyline. Hopefully that'll change soon because anyone who can get in Bruce's mind and mess with his emotions deserves some attention.

Which Batman family villains do you think are underrated and in need of another good story?

definetly croc , I grew to really like him after villain month

Cool article. I didn't know anything about Zeiss and Massacre till now. And yes Killer Croc is so underrated.

No condiment king?

If this was highlighting villains like him, I'd have Brutale in here.

I wouldn't call Croc underrated; he appears A LOT and on a fairly regular basis. Now Calendar Man, that is an underrated gem

I agree with the notion that Killer Croc should be more than he is... and how irritated I/we are that the Batwoman team weren't allowed to make him more than what he is.

Like the Arkham Asylum Croc was too big for Batman to engage at close range. They could easily go that route with Croc's hide simply being too solid for Batman to harm him without the use of specialized gadgets. Add to this, you just need to give Croc a kind of low cunning to make him extremely dangerous, like simply playing possum after taking an attack to get Batman et al to come closer to him.

My base idea is simply that while many of Batman's foes can challenge him mentally, most of them cant compete with him physically, Croc could fill that role nicely. But you'd have to outweight his lack of brainpower with that of the physical threat he will present once encountered.

I would love to see Prometheus become a regular Bat villain.

@k4tzm4n: Croc has always had a great back story, he just needs a writer to show him some love. Waylon deserves respect damn it!

They at least showed him as beastly in the Arkham games.

Wrath and prometheus should hav their origins blended together. Hugo strange had a good run but he should hav been killed off long ago. They should make zeiss an alias for hugo strange because they r both German and at their physical peak. Morgan ducard should hav killed his father. Really didn't care much for batwing or his villains.

Massacre seemed interesting, I don't like Killer Croc that much but I did like how he looked in Hush. Nobody was one villain I really liked. I was a little bummed to see him get killed by Damian.

Arkham Croc is definitely how Croc should be in the comics. Massive, threatening, ferocious, and actually a threat.

@k4tzm4n Hey, Hugo Strange in Arkham City may have just been a pawn to Ra's al Ghul the whole time, but he was still a pretty dang good villain.

Would love to see Killer Croc used more, Did really enjoy Massacre from Batwing though.

Killer Coc definitely needs more love. I will say his Villains month and Batman Eternal stories are pretty boss! The character has so much potential for very powerful stories, we just need a decent writer to come along and make it happen.

With the way he has been handled lately I feel as though DC may end up turning him into an anti-hero, which actually wouldn't be a bad idea.

I think another villain that needs some more love is Black Mask. He's definitely got the potential for some big time stories.

And why hasn't he teamed up with Hush yet?

awesome list

~MiB

Cool list. Really love seeing Massacre get some spotlight, he is one of my favourite villains ever. Although David Zavimbe never got the set of stories he deserved imo, the Massacre arc is one I will reread dozens of times. A Nightwing-Massacre arc with a Zavimbe team-up would honestly be a dream for me.

The article says he's had a good number of appearances in The New 52, but simply showing up doesn't mean the character is getting a memorable story or being turned into someone noteworthy.

Yeah, I remember the first time we saw him in Arkham Asylum. The guy was ginormous.

I would say that the Court of Owls belongs up there, but lately (as in the past two years) have been receiving a lot of focus as one of the key puppeteers behind everything that happens in Gotham. Besides that, Killer Croc is a bit more known than the other villains up here; in fact, he's considered a core Batman villain and plays an integral role in Batman Eternal. Maybe shine some light on Flamingo? Or this guy who legitimately gave me nightmares after I read the first run on Grayson!Batman and Damian!Robin? He definitely needs more attention.

Everyone knows that Killer Croc can throw a rock at Batman.

Thank you for showing Zeiss some love. That character was a beast when he first appeared. I hope they bring him back after the whole relaunch - launch -scrubbed launch -launchtime happening in a couple months.

Here's a list:

- Black Mask: The only crime boss to ever unify all the crime families and was single-handedly responsible for turning the GCPD on Batman during a time when it was firmly on his side.

- Ventriloquist: The New 52 version. A truly horrifying and disturbing villain who's just now getting some shine in Secret Six.

- Blight: Batman Beyond's arch-nemesis. He has Lex Luthor mentality yet he has toxic powers that make him a very difficult opponent.

- Lord Death Man: His name says it all

- Los Muertos: A dark relfection of Bruce's parents.

- Calendar Man: After saying a glimpse of him in Arkham City, he seems like quite a villain if fleshed out

Hugo Strange and KGBeast are great choices for this list. Zeiss also deserves his slot. I've always felt he has been underutilized.

Croc deserves his bad reputation. I've heard he has some stories where he shows significant intelligence, but every story I've seen has him as a mediocre crime boss at best and moderate muscle at worst.

Nobody was awesome, but he is a Damian villain in my view and doesn't have enough history with the Bat to deserve a mention.

Massacre is a Batwing villain and is a bizzare choice.

you rock for putting Hugo Strange on this list!

The title is "Six Underrated Batman Family Villains" ;)

You're welcome. I'm surprised he hasn't had more appearances.

Nobody is amazing. I would love to see more of him to be honest.

@k4tzm4n:

Ah, fair enough! :)

Very nice list. Croc has done better in new52, he beat bane finally in batman eternal. But I think they should do a story making him a lot more physically imposing and challenging for batman and have him go on some type of murdering spree, while also focusing on the more human side of him, since he's essentially a guy with a skin disorder. Hugo strange was in Arkham city but the rest of these guys need more exposure, and I'm still upset Nobody died. Cool to learn about Massacre too, I'd never heard of him. KGBeast has been lackluster ever wince "Ten Nights of the Beast."

Fascinating choices

Interesting choices.

Lord Death Man certainly deserves more respect. He's incredibly entertaining whenever he pops up, but can also maintain a menacing air at the same time.

Other than his absence, a very great list!

Holiday, Mad Hatter, Scarface+Ventriloquist, and Killer Croc!!! Those most definitely need stories done right... I agree with the list though.

@k4tzm4n: Good call on Hugo. Dude has incredible potential.

@ostyo: Thanks. I enjoyed getting back into some of his older appearances while I was doing research for the article. I was tempted to use this image for the piece:

I love how he just takes off Batman's mask right when he has the opportunity. While Batman's at his mercy, he doesn't set up some elaborate trap or flee... he just does what every other villain should have done. (Well, killing him while he's vulnerable is also what some villains should do, but Hugo isn't uncool like that!) Pretty sure that trick wouldn't work now, though. I remember someone getting electrocuted when they tried it in "Hush."

@k4tzm4n: Haha, the mere thought of Batman being exposed that easily nowadays would be blasphemy!

I wish like hell that Baby Doll would make the jump to comics like Harley Quinn did. She's just as brilliant a character, and she'd be a great way to mix up the Batman rogues.

They could go the animated route and partner her up with Croc, even. She'd also play off of Clayface (given their backstories), The Ventriloquist and Scarface, or the more anti-villain run with Harley Quinn.

Other then Croc I actually find all of these characters over rated, ha.

KGBeast and The Reaper.

@k4tzm4n: He was also serious business in that game. Hell even Titan-Bane and Titan-Joker could be harmed physically, but Croc couldn't!

Sweet list! It would be cool to see Nobody come back some how. I've always thought that Croc has so much potential to be much more.than he is. And I enjoyed KGBeast's back story in Aquaman and The Others.

@k4tzm4n:

You forget to mention that Hugo Strange's obsession with becoming the superior man led him to dabble in genetics.

Very good.

I would love to see them work in the Arkham games version of Croc. He was not one to screw around with and I still hate that part of that game.

I've always loved Croc. His Arkham version is sweet. He looks cooler in Origins, in my opinion.

An other underrated villain would be Mad Hatter. If written right, he's a huge threat. Like when he was in Secret Six.

Agreed on these. Especially Croc and Strange. They are both great when handled properly. The problem is they are often not. Killer Croc has had so many different versions since the New 52 it's insane. Strange had a great introduction but hasn't gotten quite as much love lately.

I keep waiting for more backstory to Killer Croc after the Villain's Month issue and for his army of outcasts living in the sewers to rise up... when are we getting that story?

A strong Hugo Strange arc would be as good as a strong Poison Ivy or Mr. Freeze story. My point being that I don't think he belongs on the list. I'd rather see a good story about Zsasz, at which this article seems to be taking multiple jabs.

I might need to go and get Batwing though, Massacre sounds interesting and I was unaware of his existence until now.

Nobody is such a troll name.
"Who did it it?"
"nobody"

There's one jab at him in the opening, but calling Massacre kind of like a more formidable version of him isn't a jab at Zsasz, it's just stating what I believe is a fact. I think there's loose parallels between the two, but Massacre is noticeably tougher and more skilled. Or at least I'd say so.

Although I almost forgot about Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's version of Killer Croc was pretty awesome... Couldn't complain about their version at all!!

@k4tzm4n: Zeiss, now he brings back some good memories. Nice work

@k4tzm4n: agreed, but what makes zsasz so interesting to me is his ability to "see" into people, and use it to his advantage (espescially in the earlier a appearances-last arkham, Knightfall was a great one) it may have been a bit too joker like, however, as there's been little to no sign of that spark of menace. He's simply a gifted serial killer (that said, I really liked the streets of Gotham arc), but new 52 hasn't really done anything with him.