This is a list of the possible villain roster for Batman: Arkham Knight. We will go through all the confirmed villains, and then those who were mentioned, and then go through some speculation of new possible villains, as well as speculation on who else could make it. This list encompasses possible boss characters, side missions, as well as characters that could get simple mentions.
So, we’ll go through the confirmed characters quick and dirty 1st. If you’re reading this now, you should know who they are (or at least know as much as we do):
· Arkham Knight
· Harley Quinn
· Two-Face
· Penguin
· Riddler
· Scarecrow
Next up, are the villains that were mentioned, and are possible bosses or side missions for the game. We’ll describe the villains from here on out, as some of them can get obscure:
· Deathstroke – Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke the Terminator, is one of the greatest snf prolific villains in the DC Universe who isn’t blatantly metahuman. He is most well known as an antagonist and occasional ally of the Teen Titans.
· Deadshot – one of Deathstrokes former protégés, Deadshot is the ultimate hitman of the DC Universe. He operates under an odd code of honor, but he is ruthless.
· Bane – the guy who broke Batman’s back. He was also in the movies.
· Poison Ivy – Pamela Isley is something of an anomaly among Batman villains as one of the only true metahumans. Trivia: she was originally patterned after Bettie Page in the 60s.
· Killer Croc – Croc is also an anomalous metahuman Batman villain, with an even stranger origin story (atavistic genes?)
· Mad Hatter – Jervis Tetch is one of Batman’s scientist villains, using mind control technology hidden in his giant hat. The other Alice-themed villains are his fault.
· Mr. Freeze – TAS humanized Victor Fries in such a way that he is always cool anywhere he appears.
· Clayface – there have been several characters called Clayface, but the general idea of a metahuman with clay powers is pretty straightforward.
· Calendar Man – now we’re getting to the obscure but cool stuff. Julian Gregory Day is a serial killer with an obsession with holidays and anniversaries. He is best known for his Hannibal Lecter-like turn in the Jeph Loeb comic The Long Halloween.
· Black Mask – whether its Roman Sionis or Jeremiah Arkham, a crime lord wearing a dark skull mask doesn’t really need much explanation.
· Victor Zsasz – Zsasz is not a personal favorite of mine, but simply put, he’s a serial killer who loves knives and has a living tally of kills on his body.
· Solomon Grundy – Grundy is often described as a zombie, but this does not really bring justice to how offbeat and incomprehensible he really is. Sometimes smart, sometimes docile, sometimes filled with chlorophyll. Big strong guy though, that’s all you need to know.
· Lady Shiva – another assassin for hire and frenemy, Shiva actually retrains Batman to fight in the fallout of Knightfall (you know, when Bane broke his back).
· Hush – If you never heard of the pseudonymous storyline he debuted in, Thomas Elliot was a former childhood friend of Batman’s, who would grow to resent him and eventually conspire with Riddler to take him, under the persona Hush.
· Azrael is the name of several assassins, under a line started by the Order of St Dumas. The Arkham game incarnation is Michael Lane, but also takes elements from the original, Jean-Paul Valley.
Now, let’s look at potential new villains, who could be bosses, side characters, or merely mentioned in the story, either in conversation, or in other game elements.
· Killer Moth – Drury Walker is one of DC’s worst villains, even being soundly defeated by a teenage Batgirl, but later sells his soul to Neron to become the disturbingly insectlike Charaxes.
· Man-Bat – Kirk Langstrom is a zoologist who unwittingly becomes a werebat after consuming a formula. He is famous for being the 1st villain to appear in TAS.
· Court of Owls – OK, I think it would be a stretch if these guys appeared, but they could be mentioned. The Court of Owls are a deeply entrenched Gotham secret society, on the level of the Templars from Assassin’s Creed.
· Prometheus – Prometheus’ origin story is a twisted version of Batman’s. His criminal parents killed by a policeman, he trains himself to become a master criminal and agent of chaos.
· Great White Shark – we’re going obscure for this one again. Warren White is an embezzler and master manipulator, whose face gets disfigured in a tiff with Mr. Freeze. Sharpening his teeth, White takes on his current name, and becomes a key player in Arkham’s inner workings.
· Red Hood – Red Hood is a persona with a rich history. The original Red Hood was not save by Batman from disfigurement, and is one of the origin stories of the Joker. The second Red Hood is Jason Todd, taking the persona way from one of the alternate universe Jokers to dispense his own sense of justice in Arkham City. Of course, we have no idea who Arkham’s Red Hood is.
· Doctor Hurt – Simon Hurt is one of the stranger attempts at making another Ra’s Al Ghul. He is allegedly an immortal ancestor of the Wayne clan, even sharing Thomas Wayne’s name. He conspired to ruin Batman’s life, but was unceremoniously offed by Joker in the comics.
· KGBeast – you might know him in TV show Arrow, using a less ridiculous name. Anatoli Kynazev is a Russian assassin under the KGB. Batman once stopped him from killing President Reagan. Yes.
Finally, these villains are merely speculated on, and most likely to be mentioned in passing. It would be a shame for some of these characters though.
· Joker's Daughter – now known in the comics as Duela Dent, she has claimed at different times to be the offspring of Batman’s more famous rogues, including Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, Scarecrow, and even Doomsday. This has been explained away as Duela shifting consciousness across the DC universes (pre-52), and simply being insane (post-52).
· Firefly – You know this guy if you read this site regularly. We wrote about him here.
· Ra's Al Ghul, Talia Al Ghul and the League of Assassins – OK, so to be brief, Ra’s is DC’s answer to Fu Manchu, with Talia as his Dragon Lady daughter and the League of Assassins his secret organization. He’s been in the movies.
· Copperhead – this would be the female Copperhead from Arkham Origins. Someone will probably mention her.
· Electrocutioner – again a secondary villain we already saw in Arkham Origins. Basically a normal man with electric shock treatment weapons. Someone will mention him too.
· Anarky – Anarky is a vigilante with a twisted, almost heroic, mission, if he wasn’t trying to kill people.
· Bronze Tiger – Ben Turner is a martial artist brainwashed into becoming a hitman by the League of Assassins. You might have met him in Arkham City Origins Blackgate.
· Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee – as you may have guessed, these are villains associated with the Mad Hatter. They have variously either been brainwashed into their personas, or hired by Tetch.
· Scarface and the Ventriloquist – You probably saw these two in TAS. Scarface is the homicidal mannequin with a resemblance to Al Capone, and Arnold Wesker the puppet holder with a penchant for homicide.
· Hugo Strange – you probably didn’t know this: Hugo Strange is one of Batman’s oldest rogues, older than even the Joker. In his Arkham City incarnation, he is a demented psychiatrist who finagles himself in to Arkham Asylum’s wardenship and uses it for illicit research in brain control.
· Maxie Zeus – Zeus is a megalomaniac millionaire criminal mastermind, who happens to think he is the Greek god.
· Ratcatcher – Otis Flannegan has the indignity of having been copied by a more famous character – TMNT’s Rat King. He controls the rats and knows Arkham’s sewers.
· Suicide Squad – Finally, the Suicide Squad are a group of captured supervillains working for the government, often under government agent Amanda Waller.
How does this sound as the cast for Rocksteady’s final salvo? You can watch our source video here and share your thoughts with us in the comments.
