In Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1, there are a slew of villains who come to light. The cartoon has a decent blend of A-List and B-List names from the Dark Knight’s iconic rogues gallery. They alsp complicate Batman’s plans to clean up Gotham City.
As Hamish Linklater’s Batman is in the early era of his crimefighting days, the villains are not yet afraid of him, or his allies. With that in mind, here is a rundown of how all these goons rank after Caped Crusader’s debut season.
15 Onomatopoeia Makes a Terrifying Splash
Onomatopoeia is the DC villain whose sounds mimic the act he’s involved in. In Caped Crusader, he is a more grounded, street-level handler who brings a squad of assassins to Gotham to kill Commissioner Jim Gordon. They pack a lot of fireworks, hunting their way towards the safe house so they can collect a bounty.
It leads to a brutal firefight. Onomatopoeia, however, goes hand-to-hand with Batman, holding his own. Batman knocks him out, jokingly whispering, “Pow!” to rub salt on the wounds. He knows he had a tough challenge with this fiend and is lucky he bested him.
14 Jim Corrigan Proves Corruption is Contagious
Related
Batman: Caped Crusader Fan Art Evokes The Batman Adventures #1
Pieces of Batman: Caped Crusader fan art by Simon AT evoke The Batman Adventures #1’s cover, with Simon AT avowing that it’s ‘a really cool cover.’
DC fans know Jim Corrigan had a past as a corrupt policeman, which is the reason he had to serve time doing penance as the Spectre. In Caped Crusader, the Gordon assassination run has him as one of the cops protecting Jim. That is, until he reveals the bounty is actually on Barbara.
Corrigan tries to kill the lawyer on behalf of a bitter client in Blackgate Penitentiary. Thankfully, Jim shoots Corrigan before Barbara punches him out and has him carted off to jail. This worries Jim, Barbara and Renee Montoya, as they realize they can’t trust anyone. There are rats in all aspects of law enforcement and the legal fraternity, making their heroic ranks smaller than they assumed.
13 Clayface Is a Camouflaged Deviant
The Clayface in Caped Crusader is the Basil Karlo version. He’s an actor who experimented on himself to look young again. Unfortunately, the actress he desired, Frances, rebuffed him. Clayface became a villain embodying toxic masculinity.
In the present, he’s obsessive and kills many people as part of a revenge scheme from his days of cinema. He kidnaps Frances to become the villain in their story. He isn’t easy to catch as he masquerades as others and plays a cat-and-mouse game. Montoya and Batman do well to crack the case and knock him out. It takes immense detective skills to stop this master of disguise.
12 Harley Quinn Is a Deadly Psychiatrist
Usually, fans know Harley Quinn as a tragic villain conditioned by the Joker to kill. Caped Crusader’s Harleen Quinzel, however, is a solo act. She uses her role as a psychiatrist to mine info from the elite before kidnapping them and role-playing torturous games with them at a seaside mansion.
It takes the combined might of her friend, Barbara Gordon and her former patient, Bruce Wayne, to locate her. They evade the mansion blowing up, with Batman saving Barbara and Harley falling into the ocean. The heroes don’t know that she survived, but Batman is pensive as she has a cerebral way of getting to him. He fell for her deception, so if she returns, he will have to improve his mental game.
11 Deadshot Makes a Quickfire Appearance
Deadshot is usually seen as a Suicide Squad member. In Caped Crusader, he appears to take the bounty on Jim in his civilian identity: of Floyd Lawton. The series doesn’t state if he does so to get money for his daughter. Either way, he is desperate to cash in.
Lawton shows up at the courthouse, but before he can pull the trigger on Jim, Corrigan takes him out. Lawton ends up hospitalized for interrogation. This proves to Jim that death can come for him and Barbara at any time. It has fans curious if Lawton will someday take on the Deadshot identity, that is, if the show has reason to send him down this road.
10 Gentleman Ghost Rallies With Supernatural Terror
Related
‘I Am the First Female Penguin’: Minnie Driver Addresses Batman: Caped Crusader Role
Minnie Driver opens up about taking on the role of DC’s very first female Penguin in Bruce Timm’s new animated series – Batman: Caped Crusader.
Caped Crusader’s Gentleman Ghost (aka Jim Craddock) is a specter robbing the working class. He is the opposite of Robin Hood. His spirit isn’t at rest, so he wants revenge. It’s all due to a land deed and inheritance drama regarding his estate. He tries to possess Alfred as well.
Batman uses an occult ritual to perform an exorcism, thanks to the help of Papa Midnite. This is one of the series’ scariest episodes, leaving viewers eager to see more mystical chapters in due time. Batman now knows there are enemies beyond the physical realm, so it’s another reason to explore and evolve.
9 Two-Face Is a Tragic Villain
Caped Crusader’s Harvey Dent goes on a killing spree after betraying the sinister Rupert Thorne. The mob boss has a henchman douse Harvey with acid. This turns him into Two-Face, who wants criminals to pay. He murdered many of Thorne’s men, inverting the lore’s Two-Face who wanted more crime as opposed to stopping it.
Eventually, Barbara and Batman rein him in, making it clear he can’t kill criminals. When they try to transfer Two-Face to a court hearing, he dies saving Barbara from the corrupt cop, Flass. This angers Batman, as he knows Harvey wanted redemption. Still, it did feel like he would keep killing if he couldn’t control Harvey’s ruthless Two-Face persona who enjoyed the art of killing.
8 Catwoman Claws Her Way Around Gotham
Caped Crusader’s Selina Kyle dons her classic purple costume. She’s a cat burglar who is once more into stealing jewels and trinkets to keep up a socialite lifestyle. She does get her moment to flirt with Bruce Wayne, playing on the old adage of how Catwoman compromises Batman by penetrating his heart and mind just as much she does the arteries of Gotham.
Luckily, Batman resists. He gets a couple of cracks at taking her down, even using his mother’s pearls as bait. She is quite a formidable opponent, however, rocking her electric knuckles and a Catmobile. Eventually, Selina lands in jail, abandoned by her maid who sells her assets and isn’t up for bailing her out. One can tell she still has designs to escape and chase the Dark Knight.
7 Firebug Becomes a Sympathetic Victim
Flass and his equally-corrupt partner, Bullock, pretend to transfer Firebug to another jail. However, they set things up to free him ‘accidentally,’ leaving him with his gear. The mentally ill prisoner becomes an arsonist again. He sets a fire to an apartment complex, baiting Batman in.
Flass and Bullock make this move to kill the vigilante, but things backfire. Jim has to help Batman rescue civilians. Unfortunately, Flass and Bullock murder Firebug to cover their tracks. While Firebug’s pyromania cannot be excused, he’s still presented as a layered character. As seen when he refused to raze a children’s home, he knows the difference between right from wrong. Still, he is used like a cheap pawn, so fans do empathize with him.
6 Rupert Thorne Turns Into a Vicious Crime Lord
Related
Batman: The Animated Series Co-Creator Explains Turning Down Revival
Batman: Caped Crusader redefines Batman with a mature tone and fresh storytelling, building on the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series.
Thorne starts out the series as a victim. Minnie Driver’s Oswalda Cobblepot (aka the Penguin) has her goons destroying some of Thorne’s bases in a battle for territory. Bit by bit, Thorne turns the wheel, especially once Penguin is taken off the table. He wants to claim more territory and move ahead of the Falcone and Maroni gangs.
It ends with Thorne punishing Harvey by using cops on his payroll, and then gloating to Barbara andothers. that he is untouchable. This is why Batman sends a message that he is coming for him. Thorne paved the way for Harvey’s death, so Bruce wants revenge in Caped Crusader Season 2. Batman understands Thorne’s power and influence, but he makes it clear that Thorne is accessible in his ivory tower.
5 Killer Croc Batters and Bruises Bruce Wayne
Killer Croc/Waylon Jones is seen at a carnival when Bruce shows up looking for some missing orphans. Bruce doesn’t word himself properly, which results in Waylon thinking Bruce is a pedophile. Along with the other acts, they beat Bruce up with planks.
Croc lifts him up and throws him down a hill to send a message: they don’t want creeps around sullying their event. Killer Croc has a reason to pummel Bruce, but also won’t start a conversation before jumping to conclusions. As such, he’s nothing more than a big bully.
4 Flass & Bullock Are Shameless Fiends
As mentioned earlier, Flass and Bullock are for sale. They’ll do dastardly deeds, once paid enough. Batman truly hates them after their actions cause so much death and destruction. They represent everything wrong with the city. It’s why Batman almost shoots and kills Flass for shooting Harvey dead.
Jim has to cleanse his workforce now that these two are in custody. But Thorne is making moves to get them out. He knows they can help his political allies and make things difficult in Jim’s precinct due to their influence, connections and dark mentality to kill anyone that hinders their extracurricular activities. Their selfish nature symbolizes everything wrong with boots on the ground.
3 Penguin Is a Merciless Despot
Related
Batman: Caped Crusader Is Not as Inspired by DC’s Golden Age as Fans Might Think
Batman: Caped Crusader takes a lot from the character’s Golden Age comics, but many aspects from the new show adapt other parts of his history.
Penguin tries to figure out who’s the rat in her camp helping Thorne. She suspects her son, Aaron, so she has him killed. She doesn’t know it’s her other boy, Ronald. The fact she’d slay her youngest says it all. Penguin’s rage ramps up when she uses her boat to fire missiles at the Gotham City Police Department.
This is truly an unhinged Penguin who wants the real mole killed, as well as any cops who’d defy her will. Batman fights and arrests her on his boat, sensing that she has now created a turf war and power vacuum. Thanks to her, Gotham’s underworld and street-level crime ramps up.
2 Natalia Knight Is a Pseudo-Vampire
Natalia is part of a ruse at a carnival. Her brother, Anton, performs tricks, but the deception built allows Natalia (aka Nocturna) to kidnap children and drain their life essence. She’s essentially a vampire. She attacks orphans like Stephie, Jace, Dickie and Carrie. Sadly, she ends up murdering Anton, who wanted her to ease off the abductions and control her feeding.
She ends up beating Batman and draining him, too. However, Batman uses her grief, trauma and regret to calm her down and take her in. He sympathizes with the child, proving to fans he knows that not all villains need to be stopped by throwing hands. The fact he cloaks her and saves her from incinerating when the sun comes up shows he has a heart for at least this one enemy.
1 Joker Makes a Cruel Cameo
The Joker appears in the Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 ending. He is present in a cabin, poisoning victims with his toxin. It’s a harrowing sight that promises havoc to come.
He has pale bodies in chairs, while soaking in another man, overdosing with the broad Joker smile. The Clown Prince of Crime is perfecting his formula in this cameo and looking to inject it more into the city. It’s a short but sweet tease, affirming this experienced Batman has another dangerous villain coming his way.
All 10 episodes of Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 are streaming on Prime Video.