The answer is very obvious and honestly, I can’t believe no one has said it yet. Kite Man… Hell Yeah
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In my opinion, the Joker. I think he keeps Batman on his toes more than other villains.
However, my favorite villains (and favorite DCU characters overall) are Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy (especially when they’re depicted as a couple 
).
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The scarecrow
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I think The Joker is the best Batman villain. It’s a classic unstoppable force meets immovable object situation.
Although Joker isn’t my favorite Batman villain (but goodness knows he’s right up there), I think he’s a good answer for the question. However, The Riddler and a well-written Mr. Freeze are my personal favorites.
Freeze’s willingness to sacrifice a whole city to save one personal thing is in direct opposition to Batman’s willingness to sacrifice a personal thing to save a whole city. I like that.
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More of a Scott Snyder, Paul Dini and Dennis O’Neil guy myself. In my opinion Tom King deconstructed Batman. Not saying it was all bad though.
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I love when they’re a couple too. Makes me so darned happy, lol 
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@Patient48140
Right?! 
I think they’re my favorite couple! I mean, how can anyone not love them together? 
fangirls
This post is dedicated to @NCharles39 (who I think loves Harley/Ivy just as much as I do, which is a lot. 
)
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Oh yeah. 
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I would have to go with Gotham city being Batman’s greatest enemy. No matter how many villains he stops there is always another joker, Riddler, penguin, two face, Harley. Besides it wasn’t Just Joe chill who shot Bruce’s parents but the circumstances that joe went through because of Gotham city to have shot Thomas and Martha.
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According to a tweet Tom King made a year or two ago (I think), apparently one of his Uber drivers that he was chatting with wasn’t a fan of him either, especially with issue #50.
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I know that Joker is an obvious answer, and as a hardcore Jason Todd fangirl I can be biased on this, but we should think about why he would be concidered the “best”. It’s not just because he is one of the most famous Batman villians in comics, but he is also someone who knows how to hurt Batman personally. Out of all the other villians in Gotham, Joker has tried to directly attack the other Batfamily members just to hurt him, or at least hurt those close to him (I’m looking at you Killing Joke). In the New 52, Joker explained to him that the Batfamily was a “distraction” to Batman from doing what really mattered, fighting against him. There are probably other villians that has done this too, but most of the well known moments are because of Joker. Whether it’s Jason’s death (or torture in Arkham Knight), the Death of the Family New 52 story, brainwashing Tim Drake in the Animated Universe, it seems that Joker knows how to get close to the other members better than the others villians do. Also, out of all the possible villians Batman could have combined with in DC Metal, it had to be Joker, creating The Batman Who Laughs, who I’m sure we all have our own opinion on. Joker also created Harley Quinn, one of the most beloved DC characters in comics. Don’t get me wrong, the other villians are great and are a lot more dangerous than your typical thug from crime alley, but Joker sets a pretty high bar to reach and his origin story is unknown (for the most part) while the other villians have a origin story that we are familiar with. And, it is a known fact that Joker can literally brainwash people into Joker copies (proven in Harley Quinn rebirth) and now there is 3 of them (or him) in the DC Universe. Each villian is special and unique in their own way, but once again, Joker sets a high bar.
But that’s just a theory, a COMMENT THEORY! Thanks for reading and overanalyzing the Joker with me. 
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Riddler
That’s all I have to say
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Probably Joker
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Superman
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I really like Mr. Freeze.
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@TheWifeOfJasonTodd That is a very concise and well-thought-out psychological analysis of the dynamic between Batman and Joker.
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I see them as opposing elemental forces so one cannot exist without the other.
The Joker is the nemesis Batman can never defeat as to defeat Chaos would require crossing that line and embracing Chaos to outJoker the Joker in depravity and inhuman sadism and Joker has no one to mourn or use as leverage against.
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Hm, this is tough. I’m tempted to say Catwoman except that I don’t see her as a villain anymore, she’s part of the bat-family now. I always liked Poison Ivy and I think she’s especially relevant now. I’d love to see a fresh take on her.
Now she’s not the best villain by any stretch of the imagination but Baby Doll’s monologue in front of the mirror in the Batman Animated Series is probably one of my favorite villain moments. It’s etched in to my brain forever. Oh and Mr. Freeze from the series as well. Not as much a fan of him in the comics, but he was great in the show.
That said, I’d probably go with Ra’s as the best villain. That feels right. I’ll stick with that.
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Thank you 
, I initially wanted to include the Batman/Joker obsession but the post was too long at that point. I thought about how other criminals start out as good guys who had something happen that brought them to crime, such as Two Face and Mr. Freeze for example. I also thought about how even some villians will commit crimes or acts with the knowledge that Batman will show up, a lot of Joker’s acts are to get Batman to show up and call it a joke. (Granted, I think this kinda varies on the source material, but for the most part this is why he does this, aside for the basic enjoyment) It seems like certain villians will do certain crimes just because they want to, like rob a bank, control a drug ring, or leave riddlertrophies around Gotham. Joker seems to do both, but it’s only fun when Batman shows up. Also, he seems to be the only one who might know his secret identity, but just doesn’t care. As for the other villians, there are a lot of great options, especially if Bruce has a certain connection with them like Catwoman.
I’ve also had to learn that it’s best to overthink and analyze comics and characters, there are people on here who make polls that are fun, but it makes you stop and think because sometimes your favorite answers are put up against each other, like who would win in a fight and such.
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Depends on what you mean by “best,” I suppose. As in personal preference or as in generally accepted as or as in most complimentary? You see how that’s kind of ambiguous. I’m sure ( and the comments here support this) that many will agree that the Joker fits the bill, but for me that particular character has kinda worn out his welcome. For the past 80-some-odd years, especially the last decade and change, we’ve been inundated with the Joker, which is a shame, since Bats has one of the most extensive, interesting and varied rogue’s gallery in all of fandom. There’s a lot to be said for such characters as Bane, Kurt Langstrom, Clayface, Two-Face, the Ventriloquist, the Falcones, Roman Sionis, Killer Croc or even Maxie Zeus. The animated series episode “Heart of Ice” introduced us to a new and heartbreaking take on Mr. Freeze. Ra’s al Ghul is not only one of Batman’s personal adversaries, but a real threat to the entire world. Hell, Dick Grayson in The Dark Knight Strikes Again was absolutely chilling. To wrap this novella up (sorry about the length, folks), I’m not sure who I’d pick for the title of best villain, but it wouldn’t be the clown. Sick to death of that guy. Maybe Joe Chill…?
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I think Bane was, I say was because they made him weaker over the years. They’ve dumbed him down and basically made him the classic big strong dumb guy.
When bane first came around he was shown to be smart, strong and had will power to match Batman.
He didn’t break Batman because of his strength, he beat him with his brain. He used a well thought out plan that took time and effort, he wore him out until Batman was so weak he simply just walked into his home and snapped his back.
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