Batman first donned his mask and cape to take our breath away more than eight decades ago. Even after all these years, it’s impossible to pinpoint which of his non-print works best captures his charisma and charm.
Batman The Animated Series is the only work that comes close to doing so, and the one that really defined his character and made him the hero that Gotham needs but doesn’t deserve. Before you go out of your way to refute that assertion, consider the shows and movies that came before Batman The Animated Series.
Others were infected with an overabundance of villains and sub-plots, making it difficult to recognise them as anything other than parody. Although Adam West and Michael Keaton’s Batman performances were superb in and of themselves, there were a number of other concerns that surrounded them.
Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, among the more recent films, is something altogether different and brilliantly elaborates the gloom that surrounds Batman, but you can’t deny that it was sourced and inspired by the Animated Series. Naturally, it was this show that made Batman cool in the first place. But, as Marvelous Videos has often demonstrated, every successful hero is accompanied by a scary enemy.
We’ll look at some of the most underappreciated villains with terrible backstories in this video. However, be aware that some of these were developed specifically for the series and hence lack a legitimate past. So grab your Batarang, put on your capes, and head to your Batcaves, because this is going to be a dark night filled with Batman’s most heinous foes.
Red Claw
Red Claw was a cunning, cunning, vicious, and lethal terrorist leader. Despite the fact that she lacked superhuman abilities, she was an accomplished tactician and martial artist.
Red Claw’s character was created specifically for Batman: The Animated Series, and she made her debut in the first episode. The Cat and the Claw is an episode from the series The Cat and the Claw. Catwoman and her escapades with Batman and Red Claw were the focus of Part I.
Bruce and Selina Kyle meet at a charity auction for animal preservation where the highest bidder wins a date with the town’s most eligible bachelor, Bruce Wayne. Selina Kyle bids a ridiculous amount of money and gets the date, but she’s more interested in Bruce’s high-profile contacts than a romantic evening with him.
Soon, Commissioner Gordon informs Batman that a terrorist leader named Red Claw has set foot in Gotham, but there are no leads. Selina had been looking forward to purchasing a piece of land for a preserve for mountain lions, but the deal was called off because Mr. Stern’s company Multigon International purchased that piece of land and intended to build a resort there.
Bruce fixesa meeting between Selina and Mr. Stern, but it went fruitless. Mr. Stern then contacts Red Claw and tells her about Selina and the threats that she possesses. Selina dons the Catwoman avatar and infiltrates into a Multigon facility to take pictures of documents hidden inside a secret safe.
She succeeds but gets hunted by Red Claw’s killers. Fortunately for her, Batman saves her, but she manages to flee him as well and goes home. To make matters worse, one of Red Claw’s men keeps an eye on her as she removes her disguise, revealing her true identity.
The second portion of the Cat and the Claw, which aired as the eighth episode, focuses on the character of Red Claw. Batman learns about a planned rail heist from a crime leader who is unable to confirm whether Red Claw would carry it out.
When Commissioner Gordon informs Batman that no mention of such a train has been made, Batman deduces that it could be a military train that the government want to keep hidden. Meanwhile, Red Claw infiltrates the well guarded train and obtains a canister containing the viral infection.
Batman reaches the spot and takes many of her men down, but he lets her escape when she threatens to open the canister and kill everyone within a ten-mile radius. The following day Bruce and Selina go on a date, and upon returning, Alfred finds a cat’s hair on Bruce’s coat; this little strand of hair reveals Selina’s identity as Catwoman to Bruce.
Catwoman later intrudes into Red Claw’s facility, a government building that was built to save high officials in case of catastrophic events. She takes critically important pictures but once again gets noticed by Red Claw’s men. Batman arrives to help her and saves her for the time being, but they are both captured by Red Claw and her troops.
Red Claw tells Batman and Catwoman, who have become inextricably linked, that she never planned to unleash the epidemic on the city. She’d make a false one and demand a ten-billion-dollar ransom; by the time the authorities realised what had happened, she’d already escaped.
Red Claw, on the other hand, pours a few drops of acid on the canister and lays it near the two masked crusaders before fleeing. This was her retaliation for the inconveniences Batman and Catwoman had caused her. However, Catwoman manages to cut the ropes, and Batman destroys the plague. The cops reached just in time to foil Red Claw’s plans of escaping.
The Ventriloquist
The Ventriloquist is one of Batman’s most inventive and literally mental foes. He initially appeared in the 59th episode, Read My Lips, in which the Gotham City Police Department is attempting to locate members of a gang that has been performing continuous thefts in a faultless and well-organized manner.
Commissioner Gordon, understandably, reverts to his last recourse to get him out of this bind. He summons Batman and provides him a video clip from one of the crime scenes, as well as an update on the situation.
Batman agrees to see the footage and examine it. Batman runs the tape through his computer multiple times in his Batcave, but the Bat computer fails to produce any results. However, he does manage to see a tattoo on one of the robbers. When Batman runs it through the computer, he finds that a mobster named Charles Daly or Rhino has a similar tattoo.
Batman gets hold of Rhino in a dark alley to question him about his boss and the crimes he’s committed. Rhino refrains from dispelling any information, and the police arrive as his blessing in disguise, which made Batman leave the spot.
However, the dark knight followed Rhino to his base of operations to learn more about Rhino’s boss. Rhino asks an older man to get the boss because he had some important news to share. The older man goes into a room and comes back with a dummy.
To Batman’s utter shock and surprise, the so-called boss is none other than this dummy that is controlled by this older man or Arnold Wesker, the Ventriloquist. The dummy talks in a kingpin-like tone and addresses himself as Scarface, well, because he has a scar on his cheek.
An angry Scarface demands to know why he was woken up from sleep at such a late hour! Rhino tells him about the episode with Batman and how he’s on their trail. Scarface deduces that there may be a mole among their ranks and threatens his soldiers that if they aren’t faithful, they will be killed, before going back to sleep.
In this scenario, the dummy refers to his handler as Hired Help, and he despises it when someone speaks to the Ventriloquist instead of himself. The poor mute guardian had never been more perplexed than he was now.
Later, Batman entered Scarface’s opulently opulent chamber to find him resting on a beautiful bed. When the Ventriloquist entered the room, Batman pulled him into his room, which was smaller and more deficient in form.
When Batman demanded answers from him, the Ventriloquist told him that Scarface was the brains behind the crimes, and he doesn’t disclose anything to the older man. Scarface somehow manages to call for Wesker from the other room, and Batman lets Wesker go. He leaves the place but not before placing a microphone bug in Wesker’s bowtie.
When Batman and Alfred examine the bug’s audio samples, they discover that Wesker is a brilliant ventriloquist who can modify his voice tones and even make it appear as though the voice is coming from across the room.
Wesker has Dissociative Identity Disorder, which means Scarface and the Ventriloquist are two completely distinct people living in Wesker’s body, or more accurately, his mind. Furthermore, these two personalities are completely separate from one another. Batman learns about the gang’s upcoming heist from the implanted bug.
However, as he attempts to stop the robbery, he is apprehended. They abduct and hang him above spikes. Scarface tells Batman that the robbery was staged only to catch him as the Ventriloquist had told Scarface about their little discussion.
Batman now tried to stall the men and accused the Ventriloquist of being a spy, he also used his own ventriloquism skills to further nail the Ventriloquist. This enraged Scarface, who ordered his men to attack the Ventriloquist, but they refrained as it would have meant killing Scarface as well.
Batman managed to untie himself by this time, and gunfire ensued, Scarface got shot and destroyed in the crossfire, and the Ventriloquist was shattered to see his. Wesker was later sent to Arkham Asylum, where he was showing signs of improvement, but he was shown carving himself another doll. The Ventriloquist appeared in four more episodes after this one, namely, Trial, Lock-Up, Catwalk, and Double Talk.
As intriguing as Wesker’s character is, his roots and journey to becoming a crazed villain are tragic and scary. After witnessing his mother’s murder, he became this insane man with multiple personas.
The incident had a devastating effect on a young Wesker, from which he would never fully recover. Wesker’s identity and persona were adopted by a woman named Peyton Riley after his death.
KyodaiKen
Kyodai Ken made an appearance in the episode Night Of The Ninja and returned in the follow-up episode Day Of The Samurai. A man costumed as a ninja breaks into Wayne Enterprises’ buildings and steals the money from the safes in Night of the Ninja. On one fatal night, a security guard spots this Ninja and pursues him.
The Ninja, on the other hand, uses shuriken to disarm the security guard and runs with the money. The next day, when Bruce was practising his combat skills, Alfred informs him of the previous night’s attack.
Bruce visits the crime scene and notices the shuriken, which reminds him of his old days from Japan when he used to train in martial arts from his master named Yoru and a rival student named Kyodai Ken, who would always defeat Bruce in combat.
This is one of the few episodes that take us to Bruce’s past life before he took over the mantle of Gotham’s savior. Also, Robin has a fairly substantial role in Night of the Ninja. Anyway, after returning from the murder scene, Bruce gets dressed and leaves the Batcave without Robin, who becomes concerned about Bruce and resolves to intervene.
Bruce and the Ninja then meet at Wayne Enterprises’ headquarters. They engage in ferocious hand-to-hand battle, but the Ninja uses a purple gas to knock Batman out.
When Robin arrives to save Batman just as the Ninja is about to kill him, the Ninja runs, fearful of defeat. Robin wields a Batarang to try to stop him, but it only manages to slash through the Ninja’s garments, revealing a tattoo. Batman realizes that the tattoo is the same as that of his old nemesis Kyodai Ken.
Bruce leaves for Wayne Charities reception, where the journalist Summer Gleeson tails him everywhere for answers about the recent attacks on Wayne Enterprise’s properties. He remembers how Kyodai Ken was thrown out of the dojo despite being an expert martial artist because he tried to steal from his sensei.
After this, Kyodai had sworn revenge and dedicated much of his life to destroy Bruce. After reminiscing, he leaves in his car, but Summer follows him in there as well. To Bruce’s utter surprise and dismay, the valet turned out to be Kyodai Ken, who once again used his knockout gas on both of them and drove them away to his hideout.
Robin, on the other hand, was astute enough to pursue Bruce and make it to the hideout, but not before setting off an alarm. Naturally, Kyodai Ken challenges him, rendering him temporarily ineffective. Bruce awoke from his nap and managed to free himself, but Kyodai Ken reappeared.
After many years, the two of them were fighting again, but Bruce couldn’t show off his skills because Summer was watching; he didn’t want his hidden identity to be revealed. Summer’s vision was blocked when Robin covered her with a carpet.
After Summer was blinded, Bruce demonstrated his true strength and martial arts expertise to Kyodai Ken, defeating him. Fearing capture, he fled by jumping out of the window.
However, Kyodai returned in the Day of the Samurai, in which he was looking for an ancient scroll that described a form of martial art so deadly that the old senseis decided it was too dangerous to be taught. In this episode, Batman and Alfred travel to Japan, and we learn some more about Kyodai and Bruce’s past.
Kyodai was a notoriously envious individual. He not only tarnished the Ninja community’s reputation, but he also severed ties with those who were meant to be close to him. In terms of his abilities, he mastered the lethal death touch method, which allows him to kill an opponent with a single blow.
He was able to perceive Bruce as a legitimate opponent in the end, but it was likely too late for him. He gets thrown into a pool of lava at the end of the sequel episode’s final conflict. His destiny, however, is still unknown.
The Mad Hatter
Mad As A Hatter, the 24th episode of season one, featured the Mad Hatter. Prior to his appearance on the show, he was rarely seen in the comics, but his popularity grew as a result of the show, and Mad Hatter appeared in six episodes, two games, and numerous comics.
Jervis Tetch was a scientist who worked for Wayne Enterprises on a project to use microchips to increase the brain’s capability. He hasn’t yet succeeded in developing such a microchip, but he has invented technology that allows him to control the thoughts of others.
Soon, we learn that Tetch in love with his secretary Alice, but he becomes jealous and shows signs of initial craziness when he learns that she already has a boyfriend named Billy. But soon, Billy and Alice break up, and this exhilarates him. he takes the opportunity to impress Alice by showing her the Wonderland that Gotham could be.
Alice’s last name in the show is never revealed, but interestingly, Alice Pleasance Liddell was the name of the little girl who inspired Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland. He also has a striking resemblance to the Hatter from Mr. Carroll’s narrative. Tetch and Alice go out for the evening, and he uses his mind control gadget to dazzle Alice by posing as someone he isn’t: strong, famous, and loveable.
He now dons his Mad Hatter outfit and has completely turned from a near-brilliant scientist to a lunatic. He tells two thugs who are attempting to rob him to jump into the river, but Batman was alerted when the police radio reported two suspected suicides.
When Batman rescues the muggers, he discovers two micro-chipped cards affixed to their skulls. He examined the cards and suspected Tetch to be behind the mess. Meanwhile, Billy returns to Alice, and they get back together.
The following morning, Tetch learns about Alice and Billy’s reconciliation, and this was the last nail in the coffin that was his sanity. Tetch uses innocent people as pawns in his quest, he even makes Billy dump Alice. He goes to her place but finds Batman as well. Tetch doesn’t really have any henchmen or thugs to fight his battles, so he brings in two of his convertees to fight Batman.
The caped crusader has some difficulty defeating them at first, but eventually defeats them and removes their mind control cards, after which they cease to fight. Tetch had taken advantage of the turmoil to kidnap Alice and flee, but Batman tracked them down and was able to apprehend the Mad Hatter and smash his mind-controlling headband.
Tetch was then committed to Arkham Asylum, but he managed to escape multiple times. He kidnapped Batman and put him in an artificially induced coma where he lived in a dream in one of the episodes.
Batman was able to break free from this dreamworld and return the Mad Hatter to Arkham. He appears as a member of the jury in Batman’s trial by his archenemies in the episode Trial.
Maxie Zeus
Although Maxie Zeus only featured in one episode, this wild supervillain has the potential to appear in countless more. This one donned a Zeus-like costume and claimed to be a reincarnation of the Greek God Zeus himself, posing a threat to Batman with his advanced weapons and lethal dogs.
Commissioner Gordon waits on a street corner for someone to come in, but it appears like the individual is running late. That man is seeking for Gordon somewhere nearby, but he is pursued by two other men who pin him down at a dead end. Soon, a car pulls over from which comes a huge muscular man with a lightning bolt for a staff.
We see an explosion, and the man is seemingly killed. Gordon rushes to the man to take him to a hospital, where the nurse tells Gordon that he was lucky to be alive as he was struck by lightning, but Gordon is confused as the night sky was clear.
Gordon summons Batman to warn him of the events on the street as well as the disappearance of a formidable prototype weapon known as the Electronic Discharge Cannon.
Maximillian Shipping Lines, which is owned by Maximillian Zeus, is the target of suspicion. It was meant to be transported by the corporation, and the man who was struck by lightning worked for it.
Then we’re escorted to the firm’s headquarters, where Maxie Zeus sits on a throne and speaks in a manner fit for gods. He believes he is Zeus reborn, and that the mortal world should fear his wrath and power once more. At this instant, Batman arrives in his Batplane and Maxie Zeus assumes that Batman is his brother Lord Hades.
When Batman inquires about the lost weapon, Maxie Zeus becomes enraged and exiles Batman from his so-called Olympus. When Batman detects something fishy, he visits Maxie Zeus’s secretary Clio, who happens to be a fan of the phoney God. Clio and Batman decide to take action because they both have vested interests in the matter.
Clio smuggles Batman into the Olympus complex, but she is apprehended by Maxi Zeus’s thugs, who take her to him. He proudly displays his new toy, the EDC that Batman and Gordon were searching for.
He destroys a police blimp using it and then gets his men to tie Clio to the cannon, believing that the firepower from a god’s weapon would turn her into a goddess. Maxie Zeus’s security system alerts him that Batman has infiltrated his facility.
To counter Batman, he uses several defense mechanisms, like big snakes and wild boars. But then, Batman is Batman. He not only defeated the animals but caught up to Maxie Zeus and defeated him. Later, Maxie Zeus was taken to Arkham Asylum, never to be seen again.
H.A.R.D.A.C
The acronym for Holographic Analytical Reciprocating DigitalComputer is HARDAC. It was a cutting-edge supercomputer with the ability to think by itself. Karl Rossum, Hardac’s developer, believed that the computer would demonstrate the great accomplishments that artificial intelligence would be capable of doing in the near future.
Hardac eventually built its own thinking mechanism and confirmed Rossum’s claims, albeit at a tremendous cost. It then proceeded to eliminate the source of death and pain by eradicating humans and replacing them with robots. Three episodes, including the two-part Heart of Steel, featured Hardac.
It began its plan of replicating humans by killing Rossum’s assistant Randa Duane and replacing her with an android. Randa then used one of the advanced robots to steal chips containing vital information from Wayne Enterprise’s headquarters. Soon we learn that Hardac can replicate just about anyone, including the high officials of Gotham like Commissioner Gordon and the Mayor.
Through Randa, it also learned that Bruce Wayne was, in fact, Batman. Furthermore, Hardac managed to take over the Batcomputer and attacked Batman through it. Barbara Gordon, along with Batman, took the stage in the second half of the episode. She alerted Batman to the fact that Jim Gordon was being impersonated.
The remark first perplexed Batman, but when one of Gordon’s detectives turned out to be a robot, he was convinced of Barbara’s accusations. Barbara and Batman eventually make it to Rossum’s estate and defeat Hardac.
Barbara Gordon took control of rescuing her father in this episode, and she exhibited an interest in police and detective work. As a result, it laid the stage for Barbara’s destiny as Police Commissioner of Gotham in the days ahead.
Count Vertigo
Vertigo debuted in the episode Off Balance, which also introduced Ra’s Al Ghul and his daughter Talia, one of Batman’s most dangerous foes. Vertigo employs an eye patch that causes anyone who looks at it to become dizzy.
He is incredibly wealthy and has various hideouts as a Count. In Off Balance, Batman interrogates a guy perched on a statue, but is attacked by two members of the Society of Shadows.
When Batman tries to apprehend them, they manage to flee. Batman pursues them, and when they realise they’ve been cornered down, they employ a deadly chemical to create catatonia in themselves. Batman meets Gordon and deduces that a weapon of Wayne Enterprises is what they are after and also that there would be an attempt to steal it.
Gordon sends Harvey Bullock to take care of the transport, but Vertigo arrives there and uses his eyepatch to induce a vertigo effect. He manages to escape with the device, and even Batman fails to stop him.
Later, Batman figures out the location of Vertigo’s hideout and reaches there, only to find that Vertigo’s men are ambushing a girl named Talia. They manage to imprison both Batman and Talia, but they manage to escape later, only to fall into another one of Vertigo’s traps.
Batman then covers his eyes to avoid the vertigo effect and walks out, only to discover that Vertigo is on his way out as well. He and Talia give chase, but Vertigo stops them with the stolen device.
Talia was quick to locate a solution to stop Vertigo by jumping on one of the ropes attached to the tower’s massive bells. The pandemonium and deafening ringing of the bells caused Vertigo to drop his weapon, and he fell into a nearby river, his destiny unknown.
Talia, on the other hand, would go on to be one of Bruce’s main love interests in the future. And we all know the massive enmity between Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul, who worked with his Society of Shadows. Interestingly, Vertigo used to be a part of the Society but was kicked out by Ra’s Al Ghul as his ways were too dark for Society of Shadows itself.
Clock King
The Clock King, William Tockman, spent his early years caring for his younger sister. But tragedy struck when he learned that he only had six months to live. He considered robbing a bank vault because he was worried about his sister’s future and spent a lot of time studying the vault’s routine.
He hoped that the money would assist her sister after he had passed away. Everything was going according to plan until he tripped over a hidden alarm and was apprehended by Green Arrow. His sister died a horrible and lonely death while he was in prison, and to add insult to injury, he realised that he wasn’t going to die.
Clock King later joined the Injustice League, sometimes known as the Antarctic Justice League. It was Clock King’s friends who formed the original Suicide Squad. However, Batman the Animated Series seems to have made a few changes to his tragic backstory and gave him an economic tragedy instead of a personal one.
Here, the Clock King is named Temple Fugate, the owner of a motion and time study consulting firm that is being sued for every penny. At the train, Temple meets Hamilton Hill, the lawyer who would later go on to become Gotham’s Mayor.
He appears to be an odd person who is obsessed with punctuality and other aspects of time. Because of the impending hearing, he seems more tense and weird than usual. Hamilton advises him to loosen up a little, maybe even make a few changes to his fixed schedules, like taking the coffee break out of his office at 3:15 instead of 3.
The incredibly punctual Temple follows Hamilton’s suggestion and alters his plans. Temple’s nightmares about having to change his schedule become a reality when he misplaces the documentation he needs for his hearing. In addition, he arrives late and faces a fine of $20 million.
Temple eventually discovers that Hamilton Hill’s business was defending the plaintiff, and that this could have been Hill’s plot against Temple, so he vowed vengeance. Hill is running for mayor again seven years later, but Temple makes his life a living hell by erasing his image.
However, in his quest for vengeance, he frequently puts the lives of ordinary people in jeopardy. Naturally, Batman got involved in the scene. Using his knowledge of time, Temple even attempted to kill Batman.
Ultimately, Batman managed to catch up to Temple, who had abducted Mayor Hill and was planning to kill him. Temple gets seemingly killed but resurfaces in another episode titled Time Out of Joint.
Baby Doll
Marion Loise rose to fame as Baby Doll, a TV actress. She was actually 20 years old when she portrayed the tiny girl on a television show, but she appeared to be a toddler. She had a rare genetic disorder called systemic hypoplasia, which limited her growth and made her look like a sweet little girl for the remainder of her life.
Her show and she were hugely popular, but as the ratings started to drop, the producers produced a new character, her cousin Spunky. Naturally, Spunky stole some of her thunder, but things got too much for her when Spunky buried her face in the birthday cake in her birthday episode.
Everyone apart from her had a laugh, but she was done with the show. She quit the show and decided to give her career a fresh start as a dramatic actor. Unfortunately for her, the reviews for her first play, Macbeth, were terrible.
Her dream of becoming a proper actress was shattered, and she thought of reprising her role as the famous Baby Doll. When Mary had left the show, they had to cancel it because they failed to find a replacement.
Mary believed that she was so essential that the network would resume the show, but they turned her down. For the next ten years, she tried to get her hands on any acting job that came her way, but she hardly had any success.
Ultimately, she went into depression and thought that she was truly happy when she had a family and the characters of the show; she also loved the popularity and love that she received from millions of viewers.
She never abandoned the role of Baby Doll, which she adopted permanently at the age of roughly 30. She began kidnapping the members of the show so that she could reunite with her family and be happy once more.
This is when Batman and Robin entered the picture, racing against the clock to save the last of the family members from being kidnapped. Spunky was the one who forced her to leave the programme, and she despised him the most.
It was only natural that she would go after him as well. She was successful in her activities, but she had no idea that Robin was posing as Spunky. Later, Baby Doll broke down after realizing that all of this was fake and meaningless.
Baby Doll’s story is one of the most tragic ones of all the villains of Batman The Animated Series. One really begins to empathize with the mature woman in a little girl’s body. Interestingly, the story reminds us of the 2009 horror film Orphan, which has a similar storyline.
Man-Bat
Kirk Langstrom was a zoologist who was fascinated with bats and their powers. He worked at the Gotham City Zoo and was testing a mutagenic serum that could prolong the life of a species. He tested the serum on himself and transformed into a humanoid bat, as fate would have it.
In the second episode, On Leather Wings, he made his first appearance. Kirk believed that bats had the potential to advance to the next evolutionary phase while working with his wife Francine and her father, Dr. March. So he devised a formula based on bat DNA to assist humans in making the same jump.
He created such a formula and used it upon himself but to perfect it further. He had to steal many chemicals from different labs, etc. In one of his raids, he assaulted a security guard and gained the attention of not just the Gotham City Police Department but also Batman.
However, due to his acute resemblance with Batman, Detective Harvey Bullock and DA Harvey Dent believed that it was the silent guardian and accused him of the recent thefts. Following a series of attacks involving the Man-Bat, Batman connected the dots and contacted Kirk in his office, where he revealed to Batman that he was the thief.
Kirk Langstrom then took on the guise of the beast and went after Batman. Francine, Kirk’s wife, was shocked and horrified to learn that her husband was the Man-Bat. But Batman defeated the beast and took it with him to the Arkham Asylum, where he discovered a solution for the Man-illness. Bat’s Kirk featured in two more episodes after this one, one in which Emile Dorian kidnapped Selina Kyle and the other in which his wife Francine evolved into the She-Bat.
In his human form, Kirk is a scientist who specialises in genetic mutations and DNA splicing. In his altered state, however, he transforms into a terrifying beast with incredible strength and the capacity to fly.
His altered state as a humanoid bat is heinous and terrifying. We would have seen another archnemesis of Batman along the lines of the Killer Croc if Batman had not found a cure for him and Man-Bat had succeeded in spreading the mutagenic serum across populations.
Lloyd Ventrix
Lloyd Ventrix was a petty crook who acquired an invisibility suit and utilised it to steal from various locations. He only featured in one episode, in which he tried to make friends with her daughter Kimberly and her wife Helen.
The court had imposed a restraining order prohibiting him from coming in close proximity to his wife and daughter after his arrest, but he loved his daughter too much for a piece of paper to stop him, or so he claimed when questioned by Batman.
After his parole, Ventrix went to work for a scientist named Sam Giddell, who was working on an invisibility project and had successfully invented a synthetic material that bends light instead of absorbing it, hence making the material seem invisible to the naked eye.
However, the drawback of the synthetic material was that it was toxic both psychologically and physiologically. Ventrix had stolen a bit of it and used it to render himself invisible. Naturally, Ventrix’s mental and physical state was worsening because of prolonged exposure to the poison.
He would not only steal items from places, but he would also visit his daughter in the form of an unseen person named Mojo, whom her mother mistook for a pretend friend. Ventrix stole a watch from a store where Bruce Wayne was present during one of his heists.
He disguised himself as Batman and chased down Ventrix, but it wasn’t Batman’s day. However, Bruce was able to convincingly link the scientist Giddell to the thefts and Ventrix later on. He went to see Mrs. Ventrix and discovered that Ventrix had kidnapped his own daughter to prevent his wife from separating him from his daughter.
However, Batman followed Ventrix and managed to subdue him. Ventrix would end up going to prison and being really invisible to everyone for ten to twenty years. This invisible villain had no metahuman powers as such; he just managed to get hold of something that gave him superhuman abilities, but it costed him more than he could have imagined.
Rupert Thorne
Rupert Thorne, like Batman Begin’sCarmine Falcone, was a mafia boss (tricky pronunciation). He featured in nine episodes of Batman The Animated Series as the mob leader, the first of which was the twelfth episode titled It’s Never Too Late. He almost always eluded the law, and even when he was apprehended, he was able to get his release quickly.
Thorne exploited his physical muscle to become a well-known member of Gotham’s crime syndicate in the early days, and he quickly ascended up the ranks to become one of the most powerful men in the organised crime world. Surprisingly, Thorne was the catalyst for Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face.
So, as many of you would know, Harvey Dent was Gotham’s District Attorney. He was running for re-election to the post and was pressurizing the police department to arrest Thorne. Now, because of his election campaign, he would personally dig deeper into Thorne’s case.
But Thorne was not one to squeal and give up. He found out that Harvey had a split personality, something that we know as Big Bad Harv. When Thorne blackmailed Harvey with this information, Harvey’s bad guy persona came to light, and he chased Thorne. During the chase, a vat of chemicals was destroyed, scarring Harvey’s left half of his face.
His face was scarred, but so was his entire personality, and he was left emotionally and psychologically unbalanced as a result of the tragedy. Thorne was also embroiled in a mob feud with Arnold Stromwell, another kingpin.
Thorne detonated a bomb in the presence of Stromwell, who was meeting with him to discuss the loss of Stromwell’s son. However, Batman spared Stromwell and later apprehended Thorne, handing him over to the cops. Thorne would later pay Bane, one of Batman’s most ruthless foes, to assassinate the caped crusader.