The world of Batman is often a dark and murky one, populated with characters who have more shades of grey than the average superhero franchise. When even the hero of the piece is a vengeful figure of terror, designed to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies, it's only fitting that the villains have to be even more twisted to be a match for Batman.
Some villains in the Batman universe started as quite colorful and camp-nuisances who robbed banks rather than demented serial killers. But as audiences grew more accustomed to more adult themes, Batman's Rogue's Gallery got nastier and more disturbing.
10 Manikin
Most of Batman's enemies are born from tragedy, and the fate of supermodel Miranda is no different. She was a German woman with aspirations of acting, whose budding career came to an end when she had a huge car crash.
She survived, but with sufficient injuries to ensure she'd never be a model or a star. She soon discovered that her crash was set-up by two rival fashion designers, and she donned an eerie, mannequin-like suit and mask to exact her vengeance.
9 Humphrey Dumpler
Humphrey Dumpler is a disturbing villain because in his mind he has done nothing wrong. From a young age, Dumpler, had an obsession with repairing things that were broken, putting them back together again, much like his namesake Humpty Dumpty.
One day, he decided that his nasty grandmother was damaged, so he decided to repair her. He proceeded to cut her up into pieces and then stitched her back together in the hope that he'd fixed whatever it was that was wrong. He ended up in Arkham Asylum for his troubles.
8 Calendar Man
Calendar Man's modus operandi is committing crimes that coincide with days of the year – holidays, significant dates, and the like. In Rocksteady's Arkham games, he regales Batman with his disturbing crimes from his cell, and in Arkham Knight leaves behind a diary entry of his heinous actions.
From burning people alive with a flamethrower on New Year's Day, to 'celebrating' World Environment Day by forcing children to drink dangerous chemicals, Calendar Man is a villain without remorse.
7 Killer Croc
Killer Croc might look like a monster, but he's just a man with an awful skin condition. Waylon Jones suffered from a genetic skin disease that gave him the appearance of a reptile. Over time, the condition worsened, and he lost his mind, leaning into his animalistic tendencies.
Killer Croc is essentially a cannibal, who probably would enjoy snacking on a good Robin. Lurking in the sewers and devouring anyone who crosses his path. He has a particular vendetta against Arkham Asylum security guard Aaron Cash, eating his hand in a particularly unpleasant incident.
6 The Penguin
Over the years, the Penguin has been depicted mostly as an upper-class gangster, sophisticated, rich, and (mostly) respected. However, Tim Burton's vision of the character in Batman Returns was anything but, leading to one of the most ghoulish representations of a Batman villain seen on screen.
Whether he's biting off noses, shooting his henchman in cold blood, or planning to throw all of Gotham City's first-born children into the sewer, Danny DeVito's Penguin is as twisted and disturbed as a villain can get, and he even looks the part. Sunken eyes and black ooze leaking down his chin cast a particularly scary image.
5 The Scarecrow
Often seen as not insane, just pure evil, Jonathan Crane is obsessed with exploring (and exploiting) the fears of individuals, making their worst nightmares a seeming reality. He explores their phobias for his macabre research and has little care for their well-being.
Highly intelligent and completely devoid of empathy, Crane uses his alter-ego as the Scarecrow to reign terror down upon Gotham City. His methods are cruel, his masks are frightening, and he's even been known to get under the skin of Batman with his deadly Fear Gas.
4 Victor Zsasz
After losing all of his money and possessions, Victor Zsasz decided to take his own life. After an altercation with a homeless man, though, he had an epiphany: that all life is meaningless, that nothing mattered. From then on, he embarked on a killing spree across Gotham, slicing a tally mark onto his bare flesh after each murder.
Zsasz picks his victims at random and usually leaves their bodies in eerie, lifelike poses. Unlike those supervillains who wish to rule the world or be the biggest gangster in the city, Zsasz is just a warped, twisted serial killer who relishes his gruesome work.
3 The Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter has evolved from a gimmicky bank robber obsessed with hats to something all the darker. In all of his iterations, he has an obsession with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and often yearns for his perfect Alice. His expertise in psychedelic drugs and mind control often helps him to achieve his perverted goals.
Various comics and games have depicted him as something even worse than a mere murderer, the “Alice” Batman rescues in Arkham Origins having been abused most awfully. Certain graphic novels also hint that the Hatter has an unhealthy interest in children. Truly one of the most despicable of Gotham's inhabitants.
2 Professor Pyg
A more recent addition to the Rogue's Gallery, but one who made a significant impact. Professor Pyg, real name Lazlo Valentin, suffered a mental breakdown that lead him to hide behind a pig mask. He conducts horrific and gruesome operations on individuals, giving them lobotomies to turn them into his “dolltron” slaves.
One of the weirdest and most perverse Batman foes, Pyg has no moral center and sees no wrong in his actions. Often seen in his pig mask and bloodstained apron, accompanied by the sound of opera music, he cuts a chilling figure.
1 The Joker
The ultimate Batman villain, and the most frightening of all. The Joker is completely insane, and yet all too aware of the pain and anguish he causes. Across movies, television series, games, and, of course, comics, he has woven a web of chaos and disaster with a body count unrivaled.
He is a figure of pure evil, intent on manipulating and breaking people just because he can. The Joker is one villain who gives all of Gotham's residents, and perhaps even Batman, nightmares, especially since he can seemingly do anything when he puts his unhinged mind to the task.