Batman The Animated Series has a really amazing villains’ roster. A reason of the animated show’s cult like status was because the series managed to add several fresh elements to the Batman mythos, including super villains completely original to the show.
Lock-Up
The story of Lock-Up is a man of the law finally getting so ingrained in upholding it that he started breaking the rules him-self for the sake of protecting them. Lock-Up was a Security Expert of Wayne Enterprises who was then made the Head of Security of Arkham Asylum. Little did anybody know that Lyle Bolton was actually a deranged psychopath prone to fits of violent rage! His cruelty was so boundless that even the Scarecrow, the God of Fear, was also scared of him. Lyle was then kicked out of Arkham but he vowed to serve his own brand of justice. As Lock-Up, he kidnapped Commissioner Gordon, the Mayor and prominent reporter Summer Gleeson, and intended to kill them because he considered them to the root cause of all evil in the city. After Batman defeated him and Lyle Bolton was sent to prison, he was mocked by the very inmates he used to torment. But Lock-Up was not sad. In fact he was happy since he got to keep a closer watch on “his” prisoners.
Sidney Debris
Sidney Debris is a rather timid and ordinary man. All his life he had wanted to become one of the hotshots in Gotham’s Criminal Underworld. When Eddie G recruited him as part of a heist, Debris was supposed to be just a decoy to lure Batman away. But due to his incompetent clumsiness, he somehow managed to make Batman slip and fall off a high rise building. His crew members mistook it for Debris’ successful attempt at killing the Dark Knight. Debris was then started to be revered as a champion of evil. But his ‘attack’ on the Batman also brought in a lot of unnecessary attention. He was targeted by the Joker for trying to steal his thunder. He was saved by the Batman when the Joker tried to push Debris into a vat of acid as an act of revenge for getting to Batman before The Joker could.
The Sewer King
The Sewer King was once a man shunned by society. A poor and helpless man, he escaped to the sewers which became his new home. He then adopted a pack of Alligators as his pest (oh the stereotype). But wait there is more to this. The man known as the Sewer King then kidnapped orphans from the surface and trained him in the art of picking pockets. His entire story gives us extremely strong Oliver Swift vibes. When Batman found out one of the pickpocket kids, he led him to the Sewer King’s stronghold where Batman and the villain fought. The Sewer King lost and the children were handed over to the authorities, who then sent them to live with proper families.
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Emile Dorian
Doctor Emile Dorian is a former geneticist that was banished from Gotham City for conducting unethical human experiments. Emile Dorian created the powerful T-99 Mutagen, which allowed for powerful mutations within the human genome, generating superhuman physical attributes at the cost of gaining non-human features. Dorian soon made a derelict island his vase of operations. He created two specimens – Garth was a mutated Gorilla. Tygrus was a Human-Tiger hybrid with super-human intelligence. Dorian considered the latter his masterpiece. In order to ensure Tygrus aan heir, he instructed Garth to kidnap Cat Woman and spliced her genome to mutate her into a half woman, half animal being. He was later betrayed by Tygrus, who sided with Batman after realizing his creator’s evil ways.
Michael Vreeland
Michael Vreeland was one of the creations of Poison Ivy. A suave and charismatic individual, Vreeland was the brother of Susan Vreeland, the woman Bruce Wayne fell for. Vreeland is a plant creature created by Poison Ivy for a grander scheme. Ivy intended to replace the spouses of wealthy individuals with her plant clones. Then she would kill the rich people and let her hybrids inherit all their fortune, which would ultimately be transferred to her, making her the richest person in Gotham City. Vreeland, for all his flaws, cared for his kind. He hated the fact that he was trapped under Ivy’s thumb. When the rich people started fighting back and attacking his brethren, Vreeland tried to help his kind, only to be taken out by a special plant destroying chemical Robin sprayed on the poor chap.
Baby Doll
Baby Doll’s real name is Marion Louise Dahl, the star of a popular TV sitcom titled Baby Doll. She suffers through a condition called systemic hypoplasia which stunted her growth and kept her permanently caged in the body of a 5 year old. Baby Doll used to be a celebrity as the star of the hit show of the same name. When Dahl was outshone by another newcomer, she left the show and tried her hand in other productions. Her projects were not well-received and when she tried returning back to the show, she realized that it had been cancelled. Baby Doll always wanted to grow up into a mature and beautiful woman. Being trapped in the body of a toddler for life must be hard. The only ‘family’ she ever had was the cast of the cancelled show. That is some pretty serious characterization. That is why we love Batman: The Animated Series.
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The Phantasm
The Phantasm is a demon from Batman’s earliest days as the Caped Crusader. When Bruce was still an arrogant young brat learning the ways of the Cape and the Cowl, he met Andrea Beaumont. Falling in love with Andrea, Bruce left his vigilante methods behind. In short, he stopped being Batman and forgot his oath to his slain parents. As a result of his denouncement of the cowl, Andrea’s family is targeted by an increasingly confident mob. Andrea’s father Carl dies in a mob hit with the hit-man being Jack Napier (who would later become the Joker). To avenge her father’s death, Andrea assumes the role of the Phantasm, leading to the events of the cult classic movie Batman: Mask of the phantasm.
Harley Quinn
That’s right folks. Harley Quinn is not an original comic book creation. She was created as an original character as part of Batman: The Animated Series. Doctor Harleen Frances Quinzel was a psychiatrist who had the unfortunate fate of getting a chance to intern at the Arkham Asylum. There she met and psyhco-analysed the Joker. The tables turned when the Joker’s views and perceptions on the world and society imprinted on Ms Quinzel, who later fell madly in love with him. And then the legendary transition of Harleen Quinzel to the infamous Harley Quinn took place and the rest is history.
