As long as there has been a Batman there has been an ever-expanding collection of Batman villains. From the Joker and Scarecrow, to Anarky and Victor Zsasz, these characters have become truly iconic, with many appearing in comics, TV shows, and films.
But when did they make their debut? And which is the oldest villain?
Below is a list of more than 30 iconic Batman villains, along with details on where they made their first appearance.
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The first appearance of…
- Joker – Batman issue #1 (1940)
- Catwoman – Batman issue #1 (1940)
- Hugo Strange – Detective Comics issue #36 (1940)
- Penguin – Detective Comics issue #58 (1941)
- Riddler – Detective Comics issue #140 (1948)
- Two-Face – Detective Comics issue #66 (1942)
- Scarecrow – World’s Finest Comics issue #3 (1941)
- Mr. Freeze – Batman issue #121 (1959)
- Poison Ivy – Batman issue #181 (1966)
- Harley Quinn – Batman: The Animated Series – Joker’s Favor (1992)
- Ra’s al Ghul – Batman issue #232 (1971)
- Talia al Ghul – Detective Comics issue #411 (1971)
- Bane – Batman: Vengeance of Bane issue #1 (1993)
- Mad Hatter – Batman issue #49 (1948)
- Black Mask – Batman issue #386 (1985)
- Killer Croc – Detective Comics issue #523 (1983)
- Clayface (Basil Karlo) – Detective Comics issue #40 (1940)
- Clayface II (Matt Hagen) – Detective Comics issue #298 (1961)
- Clayface III (Preston Payne) – Detective Comics issue #478 (1978)
- Lady Clayface (Sondra Fuller) – Outsiders issue #21 (1987)
- Scarface/The Ventriloquist (Arnold Wesker) – Detective Comics issue #583 (1988)
- Carmine Falcone – Batman issue #405 (1986)
- Anarky – Detective Comics issue #608 (1989)
- Baby Doll – Batman: The Animated Series – Baby-Doll (1994)
- Deadshot – Batman issue #59 (1950)
- Deathstroke – The New Teen Titans issue #2 (1980)
- Hush – Batman issue #609 (2003)
- Man-Bat – Detective Comics issue #400 (1970)
- Phantasm – Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
- Professor Pyg – Batman issue #666 (2007)
- Maxie Zeus – Detective Comics issue #483 (1979)
- Talon – Batman issue #1 (2011)
- Victor Zsasz – Batman: Shadow of the Bat issue #1 (1992)
- The Batman Who Laughs – Dark Days: The Casting issue #1 (2017)
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Who is the oldest Batman villain?
From the list above, Joker, Catwoman, Hugo Strange and Clayface are the oldest Batman villains, with all four characters making their debut appearance in 1940. Of the four villains, Joker and Catwoman arrived a few months ahead of Hugo Strange and Clayface, with both characters appearing in Batman issue #1.
What might surprise some people is the debut appearances of such well-known characters as Bane and Harley Quinn, who didn’t appear until the 1990s – 1992 in Harley’s case and 1993 for Bane.
Almost all of the characters listed above appeared in comics first, except Harley Quinn and Baby Doll, who made their debuts in Batman: The Animated Series.
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