Batman has proved himself to be a smart guy, outmaneuvering many of his enemies in every story. But there are some villains that just made an impression and have screwed with his entire life. Here are five of them:
Doctor Simon Hurt
Doctor Simon Hurt was a Batman villain that just liked seeing people suffer, especially noble people like Batman. He instigated the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and tricked him into a hypnosis that leads Batman into a hallucination from hell when he heard the trigger warning Zur-En-Arrh. Doctor Hurt found a violent replacement for him who was a murderer and a thief, a move that tarnished the Batman name. And finally, he nearly killed Alfred by beating him to a pulp and announced to the media that he was actually Thomas Wayne.
Bane
Bane was a worthy adversary that Batman faced, a once in a lifetime nemesis who broke his back and his spirit for a bit. The criminal orchestrates a well-oiled plan where he first releases the most dangerous criminals from Arkham Asylum. He is put on a wild goose chase of capturing criminals like The Joker and Scarecrow, meanwhile, Bane enters the Batcave and waits for his opponents return. Batman is mentally and physically exhausted when he returns to Wayne Manor. Bane easily defeats Batman and breaks his back, leaving him crippled but not dead. He does this so Batman could watch a Bane struck terror in Gotham.
The Joker
The Joker has done some god awful things to the Dark Knight and to people in general. His biggest crime against Batman was an underhanded one which affected Batman through the series. After Dick Grayson left Batman to become Nightwing, Batman took under his wing a new orphan, Jason Todd. The Joker single-handedly manipulated Todd to the brink of breakdown and killed him while he made The Dark Knight fail to save him. An act which haunted him and became the single biggest regret of his life.
The Riddler
The Riddler is one criminal that the Dark Knight underestimated. The villain teamed up with Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend Tommy Eliot to lead the hero on a wild goose chase where certain events happened that seemed to threaten Batman’s secret identity. It was later revealed that The Riddler was the one behind everything that happened in the Hush events. The mind games make B-man so paranoid that he suffered the aftermath even in other stories like War Games and Under the Red Hood.
Talia al Ghul
What would a list be without the psycho ex-girlfriend Talia al Ghul? Talia, through the years, has proved herself to have a complicated relationship with Bruce Wayne. A polarizing force laid out in a gray area, Talia was once loved by Bruce. Then she went through a bit of a paranoia when she discovered that Bruce preferred to do his job than devote 100% of his time with her.So what does she do? Roofied his drink, basically raping him and carry his child. She then tells him that she suffered a miscarriage only to discover ten years later that she didn’t.
