Batman Rogues Gallery in animation

[StrideR]

The Joker is easily the best out of Batman's villains. Most are after money, power or revenge. The joker is in it for the depravity.

[jordan]

I love The Laughing Fish (the original comic and the episode), because it's such an INSANE Joker plot. Like literally the only motivation for it is true insanity, and he's SO passionate about it too.

[Super Josh]

No one can beat the Joker. But in Batman TAS I remember the bad guy I found interesting was Mr. Freeze. They gave him a new origin and then adapted it into the comics. Which just shows how important the show was to the future of the comic.

[D4C]

There was an insane story in the Neil Gaiman issue of Batman "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" where Alfred was actually the Joker, basically giving meaning to Bruce's quest and occupying his time all these years.

Nigga do you even read comics?

That was a story told in what was basically Bruce hallucinating his own funeral as he was being reincarnated as himself. (kind of. it was a catch-all aftermath story of what if Bruce Wayne died? Thats not really what happens but Gaiman knew that. It's more about symbolism)

 "You don't get Heaven or Hell when you die. You know what you get for being Batman?" "You get to be Batman." - The ghost of Martha Wayne 

Regardless
The Joker was in attendance as Alfred told the story.

What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader? is a good story. Then again I like Gaiman.

[jordan]

Nigga do you even read comics?

That was a story told in what was basically Bruce hallucinating his own funeral as he was being reincarnated as himself. (kind of. it was a catch-all aftermath story of what if Bruce Wayne died? Thats not really what happens but Gaiman knew that. It's more about symbolism)

Yes.

I know that.

Thanks though.

[D4C]

Don't get that tone with me, boy.

I was, in fact, trying to extract some more conversation out of this subject.

[cinco]

I love The Laughing Fish (the original comic and the episode), because it's such an INSANE Joker plot. Like literally the only motivation for it is true insanity, and he's SO passionate about it too.

This image from "The Laughing Fish" always disturbed me for some reason.



And honestly, if we're talking Joker and his sick plans, the most sickening things he ever did in animation was during "The Return of the Joker".



Twisting Robin into a Junior Joker was his most personal attack ever, and it had major off-screen repercussions for the Bat-family and Batman's quest for justice, setting the stage for what was to come in Batman Beyond.

[D4C]

Yet another reason why I hate Batman Beyond. Besides being totally pointless, and accomplishing nothing more than pandering to what kids think are "cool", it basically turned into a 90's EXTREEEEME comic on TV.

Granted we had Spawn the Animated Series, but in that case? The cartoon was better.

I guess I just hated Terry and found him to be a piss poor replacement for any genuine humanity in Batman and just turned him into a generic teen crime fighter. It was just so hard to give a shit about the kid.

[cinco]

Batman Beyond is Batman with a Spider-Man angle: the outcast highschoolkid making witty remarks in costume,
having girlfriend-troubles because of the secret,
having a living motherfigure but also a murdered fatherfigure which functioned as a starting point for the evolution in vigilante...

[D4C]

And therein lies the problem. You could've pretty much made him the "of the Future" of pretty much any superhero ever. So bland. To me. I know there's a ton of people gay for Terry but you know. Whatever.

[jordan]

The first season of Batman Beyond is the darkest, most bleak season of any DC Animated show. It's the second season when it turned into Spider-man esque adventures. If it kept going in the direction of that first season (which Return of the Joker seems to be an extension of) the show could have been a lot more consistent.

At the end of the day though, I still like it. I like it's place in the whole Timm DCAU timeline, making it feel so much more epic and like a grand story.

[TheForbiddenDonut]

Batman Beyond is horribly inconsistent, but to act as if it was completely unnecessary or as if it added nothing is to be wrong. Return of the Joker and Epilogue alone have loads to say about the mythical longevity of the Batman mantle, about age-old psychological questions of nature vs. nurture (which in turn touches on the philosophical notion of predeterminism) and how they apply to an abstract superhero identity, and the whole series is peppered with tragic glimpses of the inevitable long-term consequences of superheroics as it applies to the original Bat-family, which is a triumphant assemblage as long as it exists in a temporal vacuum, and i love Batman Beyond for daring to shatter it.

oh and of course Spider-Man's rogues beats Batman's for sheer volume, but Batman's has collectively more psychological depth.

[cinco]

Batman Beyond took characters like Mr. Freeze, the Joker, Ra's Al Ghul and Superman in dark unexplored territories, giving finalization at their story arcs.
Batman Beyond showed us the terrible high price Bruce Wayne had to pay for the fact he sacrificed his life to be Batman.
And "Epilogue" showed a Terry McGinnis finally reaching the point to become as good a Batman as Bruce has ever been but without sacrificing the chance of private happiness and affection.
The son becomes the father and the quest will never end.

[cinco]

Oh man, Batman: The Brave and The Bold is losing it completely.
Here is another collection of the most obscure batman-villains ever they managed to get together.

[D4C]

And that's why we love it. BatB is the best thing since BTAS.

[Enter The Moleman]

I hope they release a full season set soon

[cinco]

I hope they release a full season set soon

Absolutely necessary... Just don't know where this series is gonna end up in weirdness.



Although I like the return of the classic Riddler.

[cinco]

Bane is probably gonna get a new boost in popularity due to the coming movie. Notice how nobody chose him as most interesting adversary up until now. Probably because he's an atypical bat-villain. He is either portrayed as merely a strong physical force or (in the better characterizations) as a tactical (but still extremely strong) adversary. No madness though, and it's just that what makes Batvillains so unique. They all have bats in their belfries. Most of them aren't physical threats. It's their disturbing personalities that make them memorable. And Bane is an exception regarding that rule.

[Mr. Krikt]

The animated series transformed Mr Freeze and introduced Harley Quinn so those are the two I'd pick. I've become so enamored with the Heart of Ice Mr. Freeze that I'm not sure how to feel about the revelation in the latest Batman series (issue 9).

[iambobdole1]

Personally, I think it was a pretty awesome story.

Also, I'd like to mention James Gordon, Jr. Not a traditional Bat-villain perhaps, but the dude's pretty damn scary, right?

[Itchy]

The Joker. Mark Hamill's voicework for this guy is just mind blowing. Especially in the flashback scenes in Batman Beyond. His Joker was the perfect mix of funny clown and evil psychopath.

[cinco]

Hrm... no love for Poison Ivy? I guess Batman & Robin ruined that character for the general audience.

[CousinMerl]

I like Poison Ivy even though she's not my favorite (but please don't mention the Batman & Robin version). Still, it's either Harley or Scarecrow for me.

[cinco]

Still, it's either Harley or Scarecrow for me.

Harley Quinn is great if they keep her the way she was in Batman: The Animated Series.
What the heck were they thinking when they changed her design for the Arkham Asylum videogames?
Her character only works to the fullest when they keep her bubbly.
She doesn't need to look like a fetish-themed stripper.

[CousinMerl]

The BTAS/DCAU version is the best and I'm not the biggest fan of the Arkham Asylum/Arkham City designs.

If they would work her into a live-action movie, I don't think the DCAU version would work so well; I've seen pics on the web of people who have dressed up like her and I can not think of one of those cosplayers that hasn't looked really silly in that outfit so I'm sure the DCAU version only works in animation. I can imagine a live-action movie Harley having a spandex suit similar to the DCAU one but maybe not a full mask/headgear like that animated version.

[iambobdole1]

Harley Quinn is great if they keep her the way she was in Batman: The Animated Series.
What the heck were they thinking when they changed her design for the Arkham Asylum videogames?
Her character only works to the fullest when they keep her bubbly.
She doesn't need to look like a fetish-themed stripper.

Agreed!

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

where the fuck are my penguin posse

[D4C]

The Joker is easily the best out of Batman's villains. Most are after money, power or revenge. The joker is in it for the depravity.

I just noticed this post. Lol. So basically Jason Voorhees is the greatest cinematic villains of the 1980's according to this logic.

Joker is the most hollow, bullshit answer. Ra's al Ghul was given a lot of quality time so kids could see a villain who WASN'T just a guy in a costume punching Batman (they did have that gay-ass sword fight that one time, though). They had to figure out who/what/why Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assassins do what they do. It isn't just "He dresses up and hurts people." Harley Quinn, while not my favorite character, pretty much steals the show half the time from the Joker for a reason. We actually feel an incentive to get to know her. Mister Freeze was (quite literally) saved from Comic Book Limbo and rechristened as a nearly-brand new character. All for the better.


In fact, Mister Freeze will forever be a greater credit to the efforts of the people behind this show than a a lucky casting break. If we were going by how interesting characters were based on the performance, then I'd vote for Scarface and Ventriloquist, anyway. But that's just me because the plot was entirely dependent on making that character believable. Joker scenes were just advertising for Batman action figure playsets featuring the Joker.


I like Hamill's Joker but I just realized was a really stupid answer it is.

[iambobdole1]

where the fuck are my penguin posse

I like Penguin okay, but as far as comics go, he's never really had a classic, character-defining story. I think the closest I've seen was that Joker's Asylum issue a few years back.