Batmanhas perhaps the most infamous and illustrious rogues’ gallery of any superhero. Villains like the Joker, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, and the Riddler have becomeas iconic as the hero himself. The best of the caped crusader’s villains make themselves his equals physically, mentally, and emotionally.
RELATED:10 Most Overlooked Superman Villains
And then there are the villains that readers that are so puzzling that the readers question their existence. Those villains are either laughably easy to beat or use their unassuming appearances to their advantage. Some have been brought into the modern era in new and interesting ways, while others have been left stuck in the Silver Age. But while most may be goofy, some have far more going on under the surface.
The Eraser
Thissilver-age baddiehas a goofy yet off-putting appearance, wearing a bright yellow zoot suit with an eraser-head for a headpiece. His special ability is that said headpiece is capable of erasing anything it makes contact with. The Eraser used this to his advantage, making a name for himself with small-time criminals by literally erasing the smallest of evidence details from crime scenes.
He even managed to figure out Batman’s secret identity and swore vengeance. But, in a somewhat lackluster reveal, his reason for revenge was because a girl The Eraser liked in college went out with Bruce instead of him.
Condiment King
First appearing in aBatman: The Animated Seriesepisode called “Make Em Laugh,” Condiment King was created as a deliberate parody of goofy Batman villains. It’s fair to say they hit the nail right on the head because they probably don’t get any more laughably lame than this guy.
RELATED:10 Best ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ Episodes According to IMDb
A former comedian brainwashed by the Joker afterspurning the clown prince, Buddy Stanler attempted to rob a restaurant in a spandex suit with a pickle headpiece whose unique ability was his guns that shot ketchup and mustard. While the Joker repeated this stunt with various other comedians in the episode, Condiment King himself was infamous enough that he was brought into various comic timelines.
Penny Plunderer
While some credit Two-Face as having created the scheme with a giant penny, readers can thank this guy for the giant penny hanging in the Batcave’s trophy section. Joe Coyne was a newspaper salesman fired after stealing a few pennies. Driven with rage, he became a supervillain who used pennies for his crime theme—as one does when one gets fired in the golden age of comics.
In his most famous scheme, he attempted to steal a giant penny from a museum. He was thwarted by Batman, who was allowed to keep the coin for himself. Sadly, this villain has become so obscureevenThe Lego Batman Moviedidn’t give him a cameo appearance. Still, Penny Plunderer’s influence remains as long as that giant penny hangs in the Batcave.
William McElroy was a mild-mannered professor of Egyptology at Yale who, upon being hit on the head during a riot, believed himself to be the evil reincarnation of an Egyptian Pharaoh. Calling himself King Tut, he made it his goal to defeat Batman and Robin and rule over Gotham.
While possessing no superpowers of his own, he has his gaggle of minions and henchmen. Usually, he could be defeated with another blow on the head to restore his original personality. While later appearing in comics, he was created first for the 1966 Batman TV series, brought to life to delightful perfection byVictor Buono.
Similar to King Tut, Egghead was created for the ’60s series, this time played by horror iconVincent Price. Edgar Heed is a man with a big bald head and an even bigger ego, believing himself to be a genius. However, not much is known of his descent into villainy or why he themes all his crimes around eggs or uses egg puns in almost every other sentence.
Despite his affable and goofy demeanor, he was the only villain on the classic series who was able to deduce outright that Bruce Wayne was Batman. Egghead is a genius who may seem goofy but can be pretty dangerous when he wants to be.
Killer Moth
This villains' specialty is, oddly enough, plagiarism. One day, a prisoner named Drury Walker read a newspaper article about Batman. Finding a new calling, he began to fashion his criminal career in the vein of the world’s greatest detective, modeling his equipment and vehicles after his persona.
RELATED:10 DC Characters That Would Be Perfect For a Future ‘Suicide Squad’
He even went as far as to build his themed cave, creating a false identity as a millionaire and becoming one of Bruce Wayne’s acquaintances. Later in his supervillain career, Killer Moth has also transformed into a monster known as Charaxes, a giant man-eating moth-like creature that would become a member of the Black Lantern Corps.
Crazy Quilt
This colorful conundrum is a villain with more than a basic artistic eye. While various sources dispute the name of the original Crazy Quilt, the basic origin of the character remains the same. He began as a painter who dabbled in criminal behavior until a traitorous henchman blinded him with a gunshot.
The villain volunteered for surgery that, while allowing him to see again, was left unable to see anything other than bright colors. One of the more colorful supervillains out there, Crazy Quilt, is one of few who surprisingly hates Robin more than Batman after the Boy Wonder accidentally blinded him in self-defense.
Calculator
The human embodiment of a calculator, Noah Kuttler’s original outfit involved headgear and technology that made him look like he wandered off the set of Starlight Express. However, despite the goofy theme, this outfit proves to be more dangerous than one realizes. While he frequently faced defeat from many different heroes, his suit analyzed their abilities so he could defeat them in turn upon rematch.
In recent years, this mathematical menace has become an information broker, and hacker frequently appeared onArrowand led the Secret Society of Super Villains. He also carved a niche for himself as a prominent enemy of Bat-family tech guru Oracle.
