The Riddler was easily the maddest foe of the Dynamic Duo: he was probably also the most physically violent (provided the odds were already in his favour, naturally). Batman's other adversaries were always trying to kill him with a variety of gasses, heavy objects and so on; but did anyone else match the Riddler's capacity for plain hands-on assault with his fists? In his very first episode ('Hi Diddle Riddle') he contemplates a helpless Robin while brandishing a scalpel; and later in the same story after Robin speaks out of turn is obviously just about to hit him (HE! HE! HE!) before Batman bursts in and rescues him. In subsequent episodes he snatches away Robin's regulator while underwater, tries to push him down on to a bed of spikes and is just about to push him off a window ledge. And let's not forget him challenging Batman to a boxing duel with weighted gloves in 'Ring Around the Riddler'...
Does any other 'Batman' villain possess such a disreputable track record...?
Scary Villians
Moderators: Scott Sebring, Ben Bentley
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Edward Nigma
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 6:05 pm
Re: Scary Villians
I don't know that I ever found any of the villains scary. As I've gotten older, though, I've come to appreciate the sinister quality that some of the Season 1 villains had.
As an adult, I find False Face to be the most unnerving of all. The expressionless mask is a big part of it as you really do start to think of the mask as his "true" face. This gets at the contrast between Batman and Robin, who function happily and healthily as Bruce and Dick, and the villains, who have no civilian identity and are perfectly happy that way.
Other sinister things from the first season would be The Joker in his first pair of episodes, the Riddler at various points in all of his episodes, the Bookworm's screaming fit directed at his gang in his adventure and even Catwoman from her first season episodes.
As an adult, I find False Face to be the most unnerving of all. The expressionless mask is a big part of it as you really do start to think of the mask as his "true" face. This gets at the contrast between Batman and Robin, who function happily and healthily as Bruce and Dick, and the villains, who have no civilian identity and are perfectly happy that way.
Other sinister things from the first season would be The Joker in his first pair of episodes, the Riddler at various points in all of his episodes, the Bookworm's screaming fit directed at his gang in his adventure and even Catwoman from her first season episodes.
Re: Scary Villians
For me, Joker was the scariest. They toned that down as the series went on. I wonder if False-Face was their answer for Two-Face? I'm guessing that Two-Face may have been too scary looking for the kids and so False Face was created instead.