Batman has arguably the best rogues gallery within the comedian business, with various rating up there as among the greatest fictional antagonists of all time. However not all of Batman’s unhealthy guys had been at all times evil, as various of his closest buddies, relations, allies, and sidekicks have damaged unhealthy as a direct or oblique results of Batman’s heroics, usually getting epic new abilities, talents, and powers, within the course of.
Whether or not by chance, pressure, or alternative that turns them into the worst doable variations of themselves, Batman’s sidekicks have succumbed to darkish influences greater than as soon as, with the stream of evil doppelgängers by no means slowing in an infinite multiverse stuffed with them. Listed here are 13 canon and alternate earth characters who turned main threats to The Darkish Knight after they fell to the darkish facet.
13 Jim Gordon’s The Commissioner
One in every of Batman’s earliest and most integral allies in his combat in opposition to the felony aspect, Commissioner Jim Gordon turned evil after being contaminated by the sadistic Batman Who Laughs through the occasions of 2019’s “Yr of the Villain” occasion. Getting a one-shot tie-in titled The Contaminated: The Commissioner, by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert, Gordon’s corruption noticed all of the “ache and resentment he holds deep down in his soul” bubble to the floor, making him wish to put Gotham out of its distress quite than reserve it.
12 Alfred Pennyworth’s The Outsider
As soon as holding the title of The Outsider in a pre-Disaster DC Universe the place he was resurrected from the lifeless with bumpy, chalk-white pores and skin and a bone to select with the Dynamic Duo, Alfred was ultimately saved from this situation by Batman however continued to relapse every so often till Disaster on Infinite Earths. Not seen once more till The New 52 the place he was reimagined because the creepy butler of Earth-3’s Owlman, this model of The Outsider is a pale-skinned mastermind who places collectively a crew of criminals generally known as The Secret Society of Tremendous Villains on Earth-Prime, successfully warping Batman’s surrogate father right into a horrific and unrecognizable baddie.
11 Jenny Wren, the “First” Robin
Contemplating herself the “first” Robin, Anita Jean aka Jenny Wren, premiered in 2022’s Robins, by Tim Seeley and Baldemar Rivas, and is a beforehand unknown character who happened throughout Batman’s childhood. As soon as a sidekick of the villain known as The Escape Artist, Jenny labored with Batman to take her mentor down and shoots him lifeless after he threatens to disclose Batman’s identification. Mortified by her actions, Batman tells her she’s going to by no means be a part of his campaign, main her to pretend her demise solely to return years later as a honed felony vigilante who places Batman’s group of Robins via the wringer.
10 Jason Todd’s Crimson Hood
Murdered by the Joker whereas nonetheless Robin, Jason Todd returned to hang-out Batman many years later because the mysterious villain named Crimson Hood within the seminal Batman story Below the Crimson Hood, written by Judd Winick. Getting deadly gun upgrades and taking down criminals with various finely-tuned methods from his Boy Marvel days, Crimson Hood toed the road between being a villain and an anti-hero for some time, with followers usually forgetting how brutal and lethal Jason was when he first got here again to life.
9 Harvey Dent’s Two-Face
One of the vital notorious falls from grace in DC historical past, Harvey Dent was an up-and-coming district lawyer making actual authorized headway in a corrupt metropolis identified for its rampant crime and vigilantism, performing as a confidant of Batman’s and private good friend of Bruce Wayne’s. Shedding himself to villainy and psychological instability after tragically changing into Two-Face, Harvey’s penchant for flipping his coin to make choices, utilizing his twin pistols with prejudice, and orchestrating the deaths of numerous harmless Gothamites made him a far cry from the ally Batman as soon as confided in.
8 Jean Paul Valley’s Batman and Azrael
Jean-Paul Valley debuted in 1992 because the avenging angel generally known as Azrael and, through the harrowing occasions of 1993’s Knightfall storyline, turned the brand new Darkish Knight after Bane breaks the unique’s again. But earlier than lengthy, Jean-Paul turned an armored brute of a Caped Crusader that was way more violent and mean-spirited than his predecessor. With a complicated weaponized batsuit and a actually unhealthy angle, Jean-Paul was ultimately stripped of his Batman function and went again to being Azrael. Sadly, and for as heroic as Azrael was at instances, the Order of St. Dumas’ brainwashing noticed to it that Jean-Paul acted as a villain loads of instances on this function, too.
7 Tim Drake’s Savior
The second identification of a future Tim Drake — one which debuted in 2018’s Teen Titans #15, by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason — this Tim was already performing out of types as a murderous gun-toting model of Batman seen within the 2005 storyline titled “Titans Tomorrow.” Later shedding the Batman moniker and changing into a really Midnighter-looking vigilante known as Savior, this Tim vows to cease at nothing — together with killing much more individuals — to make sure his dystopian timeline doesn’t come to move.
6 Dick Grayson’s New Joker
The villain of Frank Miller’s The Darkish Knight Strikes Once more, this model of Dick was a twisted shell of himself who by no means acquired over the abusive techniques Batman subjected him to whereas coaching as Robin. Holding a grudge in opposition to The Caped Crusader due to this, Dick felt pushed into changing into the second model of Batman’s most hated foe, the Joker, and went via gene remedy surgical procedure to look extra like him whereas buying the power to reconstitute himself from practically any harm — together with getting his head lower off — within the course of.
5 Futures Ends‘ Vampire Batwoman
A model of Kate Kane’s Batwoman from The New 52’s Batwoman: Futures Finish #1, by Marc Andreyko and Jason Masters, this one-shot flashes ahead 5 years into the longer term after Kate is bitten by the vampiric villain, Nocturna, and exhibits her absolutely misplaced to her bloodsucking nature. A Batman sidekick who often works on her lonesome until explicitly known as on, this model of Batwoman positive factors an insatiable bloodlust, enhanced set of senses, superhuman power, velocity, and reflexes, and even a candy pair of batwings in her flip to vampirism!
4 Injustice’s Damian Wayne
A part of an alternate world that discovered a method to distill superpowers into tablet kind, the journey of Injustice’s model of Damian Wayne is seen within the years-spanning comedian continuation of the hit online game collection of the identical identify. A narrative that exhibits Damian’s gradual fall from grace after he by accident kills Nightwing, defects to evil Superman’s regime, and ultimately turns into the brand new Nightwing, Damian nearly constantly acts as a superpowered thorn within the facet of Batman and his underground resistance, changing into far too sympathetic to Superman’s twisted trigger for his personal good.
3 Gotham Lady
Alongside along with her brother, Gotham, Claire Clover aka Gotham Lady, tried to show herself worthy of Batman’s consideration after present process experimental therapies that gave her and her brother powers just like these of Superman, ones that drained their life pressure the extra they used them. Finally corrupted by the insidious energy of Psycho Pirate, Claire briefly turns to the darkish facet through the occasions of “Metropolis of Bane,” giving Batman yet one more impediment to beat in retaking his metropolis.
2 Gotham and Zombie Gotham
Additionally falling sufferer to Psycho Pirate’s affect like his sister, Hank Clover aka Gotham, was already a extra reckless and aggressive individual in comparison with Claire and rapidly turned an out-of-control Superman-level drawback for Batman to take care of. Slaughtering various innocents, solely to be killed himself after overusing his powers, Gotham is ultimately resurrected with the assistance of Lazarus Resin within the Job Power Z collection, turning him right into a superpowered zombie who completely destroyed anybody who stepped in his manner.
1 Dick Grayson’s Vampire King
The Huge Dangerous of the bloody epic DC vs. Vampires, written by James Tynion IV, this model of Dick acted because the ruler of the vampire empire that turned the DC Universe the wrong way up. Coupled along with his already stellar combating prowess, Dick gaining the talents of an immortal vampire allowed him to eradicate nearly all the human race and doom hundreds of thousands to stay beneath a clouded sky. Additionally brutally killing Batman at the start of the vampire takeover, Nightwing’s Vampire King makes him one of many worst sorts of evil a bat-sidekick can flip into.
There could also be much more sidekick-turned-villains in DC Comics to find, however these 13 are among the strongest and lethal ones Batman and his Bat-Household have ever confronted. Batman won’t ever cease combating the great combat in opposition to evil in all its types, so let’s hope subsequent time it would not come carrying the pores and skin of the individuals he as soon as fought beside.
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