So I've finally put up a review....sort of. Whilst debating what to exactly put up I ended up watching the animated series of Batman, and then thought "huh, why don't I do something Batman related?" and here we are. You see, Batman has some of the best villains ever created and we all have our favourites. So here's my list of the top fifteen Batman villains. It's my first post, so, be gentle if there's any mistakes in grammar or spelling.
15. The Clock King - "He made me late!"
I admit it, I didn't see it coming. I mean this guy uses time to fight Batman. TIME! And he actually dominates him at times. I've only seen this guy in the animated series though, but he is a really good villain in that. I've no idea if it's the same as the comics, though the 90s animated series does tend to stick with the comic book material. The Clock King, a.k.a. Temple Fugate, is on the brink of bankruptcy. Stressed, he takes the advice of Hamilton Hill and breaks his very tight schedule. In real life this wouldn't really affect anything, but to Fugate, he gets hit by a football, loses his papers, gets drenched in the fountain and ends up being late to his court hearing, where he is declared bankrupt by Hill's law firm (but he had nothing to do with the case).
Seven years later he recreates himself as the Clock King and brings panic to Gotham, he disrupts the traffic system, he destroys a new train station and kidnaps and tries to kill Hill, who has since become mayor. He even manages to best Batman in a fight because he has memorised how long it takes Batman to throw a punch!
He almost kills him at one point by rigging a device that's emitting a deadly gas with a bomb, with the gas due to kill him before he can use his torch to create a way out. He then returns in a later episode with Bernard's Watch which can stop time and grants him super speed. He also, at one point, heavily injures the Riddler, resulting in him going into a coma.
Yes this minor villain is one to look out for, and one to be very careful of.
14. Holiday - "When does a killer not kill?"
A killer who kills on holidays, including Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day. But why is Holiday so good? Well for a start no-one knows who Holiday is. Holiday eluded the Mafia, the police, the Joker, Batman, not even the Riddler could figure out who Holiday was. Secondly, despite the fact that Holiday kills Mafia members on holidays, Holiday not only eludes all these people, but still gets the target.
Holiday should not be confused with the Calendar man. Calendar Man has some weird fascination with all the dates of the year and has this weird Hannibal Lecter act going on, and claims to know who the killer is. I highly doubt it though. Calendar Man's petty and ridiculous crimes were considered a joke to villains and heroes alike, so how can we take him seriously.
Holiday's thirteen month killing spree was a boiling point in Gotham, and even caused Harvey Dent to become Two-Face when a criminal threw acid into his face. Two-Face would then free the Arkham inmates and kill the final Mafia member, causing people to call him Holiday, as well as a survivor of the New Year's murder attempt to claim he had done the killings. But they weren't the only Holiday, there's still a killer out there, and who knows when Holiday will return and bring fear to Gotham once more.
13. Ra's Al Ghul - "It's time to spread the word. And the word is 'panic',"
Ra's a difficult villain to talk about to say the least. He is, quite frankly, immortal, due to the Lazarus Pits. Well, except for the movie anyway. This has made him a formidable foe who occasionally likes coming back to life. I admit I haven't had that much experience with him from the comics, I have seen him in the animated series where he easily finds out who Batman truly is and where his base is. But it's the movie I'm more familiar with, where he's played by Liam Neeson, which makes him awesome in his own reich.
But in 'Batman Begins' he successfully manipulates the Scarecrow into mass producing the fear toxin on a large scale, steals high tech from Wayne Enterprises, and brings a section of Gotham, almost the entire city, to its knees. In fact, in 'Batman Begins' it's Ra's who trains the Batman, it was Ra's who gave Bruce Wayne the means of taking on the criminal underworld.
But what I don't get is Ra's hiring the Joker in 'Under the Hood', to distract Batman and Robin, but feeling guilty when Joker beats Robin, a.k.a Jason Todd, to death? I really don't buy that. Ra's was cold and calculating. Yes he had a daughter, Talia, so he can express love, but I really don't see Ra's as a guy who would feel guilty that someone had to die for his plan to come to fruition.
Ra's was seemingly killed when the Wayne monorail crashed, but the thing with Ra's is you need to do is find the body and bury him in chains. In concrete. In a safe. At the bottom of the ocean. And lose the combination.
12. Killer Croc - "A toy collar won't stop me from killing you, Batman. I'm going to rip you apart, eat your bones,"
Ah Killer Croc. In the animated series he goes from professional wrestler to criminal henchman. Not sure how that transition came about.
Croc became who he is through a disease, a form of atavism, which grants him super strength, hardened skin, reptile traits, healing abilities and sharp claws and fangs. But despite his strength, Croc always seems to be a henchman to others, the Joker, Black Mask or Hush for example, he's never appears to be the one in command.
Though, in the animated series he does create one of the best moments in the animated universe, in which he tells his story of how he almost killed Batman, which was "I threw a rock at him!" Penguin, Joker, Two-Face and Poison Ivy stare blankly at him before deciding to ignore him, resulting in Croc saying "It was a big rock,".
Then again in the animated series he did appear to be less than average in intelligence, that's a downside. Though for a change of pace he does manage to manipulate Baby Doll, and is much smarter in 'The Batman' series, whilst in the Arkham Asylum game he is huge. In fact, he's the one boss you CAN'T truly defeat, as he's too strong to fight one-on-one, and in the sewers he can dominate pretty much anyone. He's only defeated by falling down a hole Batman creates.
In the game it's also shown that Croc did hospitalise several guards, including Aaron Cash, with Croc having eaten his hand, making Croc the only inmate Cash is afraid of. In a possible ending it's shown that Croc grabs a case of the Titan formula, which can create a Bane-like being without all the tubes. May God have mercy on Gotham if Croc uses it.
11. Bane - "I will break you!"
The man famous for breaking the Batman's spine. Bane had the worst luck as a child, and I'm not kidding. His father was a revolutionary who escpaed prison, so for a Sins of the Father moment, Bane, a child, was forced to serve his sentence instead. How harsh is that?
Whilst growing up in prison with only a teddy bear for a friend, he frequently used the prison gym, becoming very muscular and was eventually selected to be in the Venom project, which allowed him to break out of prison. The Venom only made Bane even stronger, heck, in the animated series he was able to take out Killer Croc. Then again I'd like to see Bane take on the Killer Croc from the Arkham Asylum game.
Anyway, fascinated by Batman, he sets out to destroy him. Knowing that a direct assault was foolish he breaks down the WALLS to Arkham, releasing the prisoners. An exhausted Batman is then easily broken by Bane, who is then forced to have a more ruthless Batman take his place. Bane's skills were so impressive, even Ra's made him his heir. Since then he has gone on to wipe out gangs and crime lords alike, he even plunges a country into civil war.
Bane is definitely one of my favourites, but why number 11? Well for one thing Bane starts to team up with Batman in the comics more often, even at one point thinking they were related, so he starts to lose foe status there.
In the animated productions he seems to stick to the same old pattern, someone hires him to take out Batman, he narrowly fails, rather than Bane coming up with new and inventive means to defeat his foes, becoming repetitive. Then seeing his frail old man self in 'Batman Beyond', well, it served its purpose of showing how addictive and dangerous the Venom toxin truly was, but it was still slightly disappointing to see Bane just sit there and not do much else.
But it was due to his appearance in 'Batman and Robin' that he is edged out of the top ten, as it changes him from a highly intelligent mercenary into an easily controlled servant, whose only means of communication is a grunt every so often. Why did they think that was a good thing to do? Bane could have been a really awesome villain, but they destroyed his character. Maybe the Bane in the new Christopher Nolan film 'The Dark Knight Rises' will allow us to take the man who broke the Batman's back serious once more.
10. Clayface - "I'm not an actor anymore! I'm not even...a man,"
Let's just start this off by saying I love tragic villains, the way a villain was not always bad, but circumstances out of their control forces them to take the path of evil. Clayface depends on which one you're talking about, there's Basil Kario who puts on a mask, Matt Hagen who falls into a radioactive mud pool, Preston Payne who genetically alters his DNA and Sondra Fuller, the Lady Clay, who was transformed through Kobra technology.
Let's go over the animated series version of Clayface Matt Hagen, whose face was disfigured in a car crash and he is forced to work for crime boss Roland Daggert for RenuYou cream (I get it!) which can fix his face. However after botching up an attack on Lucius Fox, Daggert cuts him off. Haggert attempts to steal it but is caught and has it poured down his throat. Instead of killing him the formula mutates him into the shape shifting Clayface. He initially wants revenge, but later he tries to cure his condition with help from a doctor who knew him from past film work. These episodes truly show what would happen to a man who has lost everything, but has the power to exact revenge, as well as showing that he will do anything to get back to normal. In fact he almost gets back to normal, but Batman stops him. Batman! Despite giving him multiple offers of helping him regain his humanity, it's Batman who prevents it.
This along with Stella, the doctor treating him, being hurt, makes Clayface act out in a rage and dies whilst trying to kill Batman; he's absorbed into the sea, destroying the romance he had with Stella. But it's the scenes with Stella and his best friend Teddy which reminds us that Clayface was once human, he was once like you and me, a common everyday man It was just that circumstances out of his control made him into a monster, which makes Batman's victory over him, not only bitter, but ultimately tragic.
9. Catwoman - "I am Catwoman. Hear me roar,"
Selina Kyle, a.k.a Catwoman. Beautiful, sexy, and tough as nails. Catwoman is a strong female character who everyone can like. She flirts her way out of most situations, she is quite strong for her size, she's agile, smart, she is essentially the perfect woman. Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman was perfect, she ticked all the right boxes.
Not only that, but she was a romance that worked in the films. I mean, Vicki Vale in the 1989 film, I really didn't like her as a romance. I mean, come on Alfred! You let her into the Batcave just because Bruce has a crush on her? What about Rachel...what's her face in the Nolan films? She was annoying in 'Batman Begins' and they killed her off in The Dark Knight while she was the love interest for someone else. Dr Chase Meridian, yeah, thanks for telling us the blatantly obvious whilst acting like a schoolgirl with a crush.
In the animated series her relationship with Batman gets to the point where you just want them to reveal to each other who they really are, even though they're together in real life as well, just like in the live movie, the question Kyle asks in the film "Do we have to start fighting now?" sums it up. But they do eventually figure out who the other is, and even consummate a child, which they created a spin off show for called 'Birds of Prey'. But the Pfeiffer and animated Catwoman were great, as well as the Catwoman who appeared in 'The Long Halloween' and the other comics. So why is she so far away from the number one spot?
Well it's because of two reasons. Number one, Catwoman the movie. Oh my God, how the Hell could you make that film so God damn awful, despite Halle Berry in that tight leather outfit? That is the sole reason why people went to see it. Apart from that, Catwoman's reputation was pretty much destroyed in that hour and forty-four minutes. I would go into more detail, but, it's just truly awful. Maybe I'll review it at some point. Hopefully Anne Hathaway will save the character.
Now, the second reason, she's not really a true villain. Sure, she fights Batman every so often, but most of the time they join forces to fight other villains. I mean, there's Penguin, Red Claw, Joker, Two-Face, I assume Bane in the new film, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, the list goes on. So Catwoman is a fearsome foe, but it doesn't happen a lot.
8. The Penguin - "But when it comes down to it, who's holding the umbrella?"
The sophisicated Oswald Cobblepot, he certainly knows how to bring class to the criminal underworld. Originally bullied at school and kicked out a criminal gang, Oswald decided to make the people of Gotham fear the nickname he was given (Penguin) as well as make his umbrella a fearsome weapon. He certainly did that when he returned to the criminal gang and killed the leader with the worlds first .45 umbrella, and quickly assumed leadership over the now terrified gang. Since then he now runs the Iceberg lounge, a front for lesser crimes, but he also aims to steal priceless jewels and art, terrorises the city with an experimental war helicopter, and not once but twice hijacks the Batmobile and in the 'Batman Returns' film he almost becomes mayor whilst wrecking up the city.
But it was in the animated series I got to know him better. He played a great role in the 'Almost Got Him' episode, where he tells how he almost killed Batman in his 'Aviary of Doom'. But it's the 'Birds of a Feather' episode which really makes me love his character. In that episode he decides to turn over a new leaf and goes straight, something which no-one believes, not even Batman. Veronica Vreeland however manipulates him into coming to a party so that she could make the news. But the Penguin shows that he truly has changed, he commits no crime and even defends Veronica from a gang of muggers, an act which makes Veronica start to care for him and even shocks Batman. Penguin plans to propose to Veronica, but overhears her friend boasting of manipulating Penguin, sending him over the edge and returning to his criminal ways. It's this episode where you're really supporting the Penguin, as you see him really try to change and become a better man, but the actions of others demoralises him. At one point he even plots to kidnap all the first-born sons of Gotham, he might have gotten away with it, if he hadn't told people and the Michael Keaton Batman about his plans before it had finished.
Truly, the Penguin should never be underestimated, especially if he's holding an umbrella. Though I would like to know how he managed to accidentally release Dracula.
7. Two-Face - "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,"
The district attorney Harvey Dent with the split personality. There's three distinct origins, one is from 'The Long Halloween' where a criminal Dent is questioning throws acid into his face, scarring him and causing him to snap, becoming Two-Face. The second one is from the animated series in which, whilst chasing crime lord Rupert Thorne and currently suffering from Big Bad Harv syndrome, he has chemicals explode into his face. The third one is from 'The Dark Knight', where the Joker's explosions cause the scarring. Well, there is also the 1989 film Batman where Dent is played by Billy Dee Williams before...somehow becoming Two-Face and Tommy Lee Jones before 'Batman Forever', but we're never told how he becomes Two-Face in that.
The thing with Harvey Dent is that he's an established character, in the animated series we see him for roughly five episodes prior to his transformation, in 'The Dark Knight' he's around for an hour and half roughly, he's in the comics and The Long Halloween for three quarters of the story before he snaps, he's played by Billy Dee Williams in 'Batman', we like Dent! We never thought he could snap like this. His relationship with his past becomes chaotic; his fiancée either is either dead or confused, Batman and Gordon don't know what to make of him, his past colleagues are afraid of him (and for good reason) and he brings mayhem to the city he once vowed to protect.
Either way, Two-Face is a dangerous foe. Being a former district attorney, he's smarter than most of Batman's foes, he's deadly and has come close to killing the Bat, if it wasn't for his own coin.
The fascinating story behind Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and how becoming Two-Face affects his relationships with all of his old friends and family, is definitely what makes him one of Batman's top foes.
6. The Scarecrow - "And at the end of fear, oblivion,"
The eerie Scarecrow, a.k.a Dr Jonathan Crane, uses a fear toxin to paralyse his foes, unable to match Batman physically. His fear toxin allows him to easily subdue his targets, even allowing him to set Batman on fire. It was his fear toxin that Ra's uses to bring Gotham to it's knees, though Scarecrow thought they were going to hold the city to ransom. But the Scarecrow is intelligent, he's smarter than your average villain, he has even created a toxin which can affect Kryptonians in the comic 'Brightest Day'. In Arkham Asylum he certainly brings the most interesting aspects of the game, it's a shame when he gets attacked by Killer Croc.
But the Scarecrow is a villain who can bring cities to their knees with his gas. A cold and calculating villain, he can outsmart almost anyone, and can kill without mercy.
5. Harley Quinn - "Sweetie, go get mommy's bazooka,"
Ah the...eccentric Harley Quinn. Original name Harleen Quinzel, she was the doctor to the object of her affection, the Joker, but he managed to twist and turn her into a henchwoman. Originally intended for a bit part, her popularity grew which even got her her own comic. And why not? Her naive personality just makes people take her for granted, which makes her more dangerous. Heck, she even saves the Joker on more than one occasion.
But does this mean that she's loyal to the Joker? Sort of. Yes about 90% of the time she sides with her puddin', but you should see her reaction when she finds that the Joker didn't think about her in one of her plans, she goes mental. Joker, do NOT piss off a woman who has a rocket launcher! But despite the way Joker treats her, no matter how many times he leaves her to take the fall, she can't let go of him, and in 'Mad Love', we see he can't really let go of her either.
Not only that but she's a master of disguise, she once managed to fool a room full of police officers! As well as an entire police station by simply walking in through the front doors, bail out Sid the Squid, and then simply walk back out the front door! Then there was that time when she and Poison Ivy went on a crime wave through Gotham, and she even came close to killing Batman, which he even states was closer than any attempt the Joker had ever done. She's tough as well. Well I'd like to see you fall off a cliff, survive and then give birth!
A different version appears in the short lived 'Birds of Prey', where she is a psychiatrist, but is more cold and calculating, very different from her animated and comic versions. Harley Quinn, ladies and gentlemen, the princess of crime.
4. The Riddler - "Riddle me this,"
Who knew that failing to solve a riddle would get you killed? Whereas Batman's other foes commit crimes associated with a theme, the Riddler can commit any crime, so long as he can describe in a puzzle, but he, a.k.a Edward Nigma, desperately seeks to achieve ultimate satisfaction for completing greater challenges, eventually donning the Riddler costume and tries to outwit Batman, his one true adversary in intelligence. His obsession occasionally leads to his downfall, as, often as he might try not to, he can't help but leave a riddle behind which causes him to be caught.
But the Riddler is smart enough to be able to deduce who, not only Batman is, but Robin's too, but after threatening Batman, realises that telling others who he was would make the riddle of who Batman was worthless. Then again he still told Two-Face as that was part of a deal in 'Batman Forever', assaulting Wayne Manor and destroying the Batcave.
Jim Carry's perfromance as the Riddler was what really got me into him, the dark stalkerish character who strives to be better than Bruce Wayne and Batman, eventually realising that they're the same person.
In the aniamted series Edward Nigma worked for a game company, and is fired for...making a game a success? What the Hell? The guy in charge, from what I can tell, wanted to save money by not paying royalties. Well that's...odd.
The Riddler is portrayed as an intellectual smooth talker, but he was so complex the animated series couldn't use him as much as they wanted. He was able to affect Gotham's electricity, as well as trapping Commissioner Gordon's mind in a virtual world, where his brain power made him a God, as well as terrorising Gorman in 'The Batman' and almost killing Batman and Robin in the life-sized minotaur game he designed. He even manages to terrfiy Mockbridge so much, he can't sleep at night, worrying about if or when the Riddle will return. The Riddler truly shows that knowledge is power.
3. Poison Ivy - "You know you can't resist me,"
Ah the lovely Poison Ivy, the one hippy I actually like. Pamela Isley is one of the deadliest villains to have ever been created, let alone in the Batman universe.
Her origins and powers vary, in the 'Batman and Robin' movie she's created by being pushed into vats of chemicals and plants, in the animated series she's just an eco-terrorist, in the comics she was injected by poison. In the film she can poison men by kissing them and can control them by blowing pheromone dust on them (it does not affect women, or at least she doesn't attempt to use her abilities on women), in the television series she's an expert in poisons, in the comics and subsequently the game, she has the power of plant manipulation. She retains her immunity against toxins across all the mediums.
Whichever the case she still proves to be one of Batman's toughest foes. She managed to poison Batman, Robin and Harvey Dent on more than one occasion, she managed to manipulate Batman, Robin AND Mr. Freeze in the film, she almost killed all of Gotham, her plants wrecked Arkham Asylum, almost kills Aquaman, Hell, she even manages to control Superman at one point. Beautiful, deadly, sexy, this is why Poison Ivy is one of the most dangerous foes out there, no matter what her powers are.
2. Mr. Freeze - "It would move me to tears, if I still had tears to shed,"
As I said with Clayface, I am a huge fan of tragic villains, and Mr. Freeze is one of, if not the, best example of a tragic villain. Originally trying to find a way to cure his wife's illness, but an accident in the lab, either by himself or caused by others, caused him to become a supervillain, obssessed with making the world suffer like he has.
Originally a joke character called Mr. Zero, the 'Heart of Ice' episode of the animated series made him a more complex villain which was absolutely brilliant. He hardly ever forms alliances as he tries to freeze them later, including his own henchmen, leaving one behind at a crime scene leaving him for dead (but Batman saves him).
I have to say I even like the Mr. Freeze character from the 'Batman and Robin' film. Now before you castrate me, let me explain. Yes, Arnie was a bad choice, the pun overload was a bad choice, an ice cream factory for a hideout was a bad choice, and yet he was still extremely dangerous. He almost kills Robin, he's immune to Poison Ivy's pheromone dust, but most of all, he says he will freeze Gotham, and he DOES. He freezes the entire city and its populace, but God damn the method that Batman, Robin and Batgirl uses to fix it! What a convuluted crappy resolution.
Mr. Freeze has even defeated time, the accident he suffered allowing him to cease aging and survive into the future (Batman Beyond) where he has a mind transfer or something as a test before using it for the Batman Beyond archvillain Blight, though Mr Freeze has lived for so long, death and a normal life was all he craved. The test was at first a success, before his new body started reverting back to the original's, and Mr. Freeze returns to his normal ways, dominating the Gotham of the future, Terry McGinnis (the new Batman), kills a few people and thought he killed Blight, but Blight, since he's radioactive, survives and almost kills Mr. Freeze himself, before being defeated by Mr. Freeze and McGinnis. With the building collapsing, McGinnis offers to help Freeze but Freeze forces him to retreat, accepting his death.
The thing that confuses me is that Freeze no longer has emotions, as he says they're "frozen within" him, so why is he constantly shown having emotions?! He cries in 'Batman and Robin', he cries in 'Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero', he consistently shows being angry, he shows happiness around his adopted family so what the Hell?
Anyway, Mr. Freeze is one of the most complex and fascinating characters ever devised, though the 'Batman and Robin' film has destroyed any chance of a new live action film ever using him again. But please Christopher Nolan, please use him at some point!
1. The Joker - "It's too late for that. Far too late,"
It was pretty much a no brainer as to who I'd choose for my number one favourite villain, for a majority, if not all, of us when asked "name a Batman villain,", the Joker comes out first.
He's so complex I don't know where to start with him. I believe the first time I saw the Joker was from the 90s animated series, where he escapes Arkham Asylum using a rocket powered Christmas tree. What's not to love about that? I mean, later in that episode he turns an observatory into a large cannon! Actually I lie, my first experience with the Joker was in fact from the Adam West television series. I only barely remember that series, but I do seem to remember the Joker, not shown directly on screen, killing someone with a playing card.
So what exactly is the Joker's origins? Who knows? The common one is that he's a minor henchman who gets knocked into a vat of chemicals by Batman whilst masquerading as the Red Hood, like the 1989 Batman film (though he wasn't dressed as the Red Hood), but in most mediums, he's just there. And that's what makes him so interesting. In 'The Dark Knight' he tells two stories of how he got his scars, and in 'Mad Love' he tells Harley another story, but we have no idea if they're true or not. I love Heath Ledger's violent and mysterious Joker, I love Jack Nicholson's characteristics, I love Mark Hamill's performance, yes Luke Skywalker voices the Joker in the animated series, as well as most of the games and other mediums. But most of all I love his story in 'The Killing Joke', where we are actually told his backstory. He was a failing comedian, just trying to support his pregnant wife, but he was a common everyday man, but after being roped into helping some robbers break into a chemical plant as the Red Hood, Batman accidentally causes him to fall, becoming the infamous Joker.
The Joker has pretty much commited every crime under the sun. He blows up hospitals and judges, creates Two-Face in 'The Dark Knight, kills Robin's parents in the stage production, kills with his laughing gas, terrorises Gotham on multiple occasions, shoots Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl in the spine (putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life), tortures Gordon, he kills the second Robin Jason Todd and the first Dick Grayson, he kills civilians, police and henchmen alike, he shoots Batman's parents in 'Batman 1989', he tries to detonate a nuclear bomb in Gotham, tries to set the Black Mask and his henchmen on fire, takes over Arkham, the list goes on! The Joker's logic to the crimes he commits, in Batman's words, only "makes sense to himself,". Hell, when the Joker is told he's dying, he tries to bring the whole Earth down with him! But there's another thing, the villain is suppose to be dark and serious, whilst the hero is fun, bright and colourful, for Joker and Batman, it's the wrong way round.
But not even death can stop the Joker, after being killed by the third Robin Tim Drake, he returns forty years later to fight the Future Batman Terry McGinnis and bring his own brand of terror to Gotham once more, almost killing McGinnis but is still defeated. Actually what confuses me in the Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker', is that McGinnis says Bruce has never mentioned Joker, but there's a gang called the Jokerz who model themselves after him, HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT HIM?! But the old Batman, Batgirl and Robin all agree the same; the Joker was the most dangerous of their time, and his death effected all of them, with Barbara saying "Looks like he had the last laugh after all,".
In 'Superman & Batman: Generations 2', the relationship between Joker and Batman is so strong, that the retired Bruce Wayne visits Joker on his deathbed, but doesn't fulfill the Joker's request of telling him his real identity. In 'Mask of the Phantasm', the Joker is revealed to have been a henchman who destroys Bruce's love life by killing Andrea Beaumont's father. Though I do like the idea in the 1989 film where it's revealled it's the Joker who shot Bruce's parents, and in turn creates the Batman, who then in turn causes his transformation into the Joker, I love the "I created you, but you created me first" scenario.
But no matter what the Joker does, Batman cannot bring himself to kill him (ignoring the Keaton and Kilmer Batman's as they do kill villains), as that would be the ultimate victory for Joker; bring Batman down to his level. In 'The Killing Joke' Batman even offers to help Joker, saying that they'll either kill one another, or each other, but the Joker, in probably the most sane he's ever been, replies "No. I'm sorry, but...no. It's too late for that. Far too late,". Joker then tells Batman a joke, which actually makes Batman laugh. And in turn, the Joker cannot kill Batman, because he gives the Joker purpose, because he's "too much fun,". As we see in 'The Man Who Killed Batman' episode of the animated series, he's so depressed when Batman doesn't turn up to foil his plans, he tells everyone to drop the loot, saying "Without Batman, there's no punchline,".
But it's the Joker's sick and twisted humour that makes the Joker, well, the Joker. For example the speech he gives at Batman's 'memorial', or what about letting go of Rachel when Batman tells him to? Dropping her out a window whilst saying "Very poor choice of words,"? Bringing down the Batplane with a very long barrelled revolver?
His twisted humour and his strong relationship with Batman makes the Joker who he is, the Clown Prince of Crime and the number one Batman villain. The programme for the stage production of Batman has the perfect statement for the Joker: "Beyond good and bad, there is evil. Beyond evil, there is insanity. Beyond insanity, there is the Joker,".
And there's my top fifteen Batman villains I hope you enjoyed it. And speaking of the Batman stage production...
My God I didn't expect to see this happen. I mean, maybe a small production but nothing on this scale. A huge screen dominated the background, which, in between acts and before the start, showed Gotham City in all its glory. Cars are heard beeping, blimps are flying through the air, and even minor details like the monorail going round in a circle.
Flashforward to the present where we meet our grown up Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon and Grayson family, with Bruce Wayne and Robin played by Sam Helighan and Kamran Darabi-Ford respectively, at Haly's Circus where we get to see some amazing acrobatics. Or at least I think it was Sam Helighan and Kamran Darabi-Ford, both Batman and Robin were played by two different actors. I'm guessing this was so that they can rest for each one each production, but I then don't understand why all the other parts don't have two different actors or actresses, some even doubled. The actor playing Commissioner Gordon also plays the Penguin for example. But it's not a huge problem as everyone played their roles well.
But it was the person playing the Joker that I was eager to, what's the word, look at. As we all know from my 'Top 15 Batman Villains' the Joker is my favourite villain, and so I was worried that for a stage production they would make him too family friendly. My God was I worried for nothing! Whilst the Joker has been toned down from his psychopathic persona, he was still a serious villain, he was still a maniac with a Tommy gun and Mark Frost did a great job playing him. I was disappointed with their version of the Scarecrow though, whilst he did pretty much defeat Batman before Poison Ivy came over, the Scarecrow didn't really do much. He just waved his arms in the air to signal the bursts of air to come from the stage floor, and his voice was just played over the PA system. Actually whilst Poison Ivy did more then Scarecrow, she didn't really do much either, she kissed Batman and was around for the brawl scene, but she just more or less scowled at the heroes.
But don't let that throw you off, we've still got the Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Harley Quinn and the Riddler around, and they were played greatly in their roles. Christopher Price's performance, or also tripled in fact for John Grayson and Joe Chill, reminded me of Jim Carry's peformance from 'Batman Forever', he truly was the perfect choice for the Riddler. And I want a Riddler cane. Yeah I want one. It looks awesome! Back to the villains anyway, yes Penguin was spot on, Harley Quinn was brilliant, then there's Two-Face. Whilst I do like what they did with the character in which he literally spoke with both personalities, sort of, I think. Well he goes "(Gruff voice) I'm not going to tell you anything! (Normal voice) I'll tell you everything! (Gruff voice) Shut up Harv!". But the weird thing is, he has two guns, they're his trademark weapon in the animated series, so why doesn't he use them?! Seriously in the fights with Batman, rather than shoot him like normal people would do, he walks up to Batman and tries to pistol whip him! WHY?! Then there's Catwoman, she was really good, but they did this weird 'she hooked up with Zucco' thing. It isn't really a huge problem, it makes Batman go to her while trying to find him, but it just seems like a weird pairing. Did Selina Kyle hook up with him before she became Catwoman? I just don't see it happening.
The sets were really good too, though they were brought more to life by the screen than the actual stage, except for the Iceberg Lounge, Arkham Asylum and Wayne Manor, oh and Gotham itself which was made up of little prop buildings. The Iceberg Lounge had a circle platform in the middle, which also had some entertaining dancers and acrobatics, Wayne Manor had this funny huge chair and table, which was especially amusing when Dick Grayson went and sat on the chair, which dwarfed him. The Batcave was again brought mainly to life by the screen, with the exception for a control panel placed at the other end of the stage. The Arkham courtyard was pretty okay, it only had a building prop which Catwoman came out and Harley sat on, but the actually interior was very well done, with chains reaching to the ceiling with a people in a straight jackets on each one, making it very creepy and disturbing.
Now there's one last thing to talk about; the Batmobile. Yes this production actually had a Batmobile! And not one of those cheap looking cars, oh no, for Batman Live they went big. They brought in Professor Gordon Murray, a racing car designer, who created one awesome looking Batmobile. If you look in the programme you'll see he designed an actual blueprint for the Batmobile, detailing every aspect of the vehicle, I mean let's see we have lasers, water exhausts, afterburner, anti-detection devices, afterburner and so on. Who knows how long it took him to designed such a vehicle, but it must have been hours of painstakingly hard work. But boy was it worth it. Not only does this thing shoot fireworks, but it actually has a thruster! We also get an animation sequence of Batman driving the Batmobile across Gotham towards Arkham Asylum whilst Joker's men block his path. This is essentially what happens when Batman gets lost, but the animation scene was good fun.
