Batman‘s villains have not just gone after Gotham City’s population, but have occasionally targeted each other in the Dark Knight’s movie and TV adventures. When it comes to superheroes, Batman has one of the greatest rogue’s galleries of all. Villains like the Joker, the Riddler, Two-Face, the Penguin, Ra’s Al Ghul, and Bane have all given Batman tremendous challenges in the comics, and these battles have also frequently been translated to the big and small screens.
However, Batman’s villains have not always been content to merely fight the Caped Crusader in his various cinematic and television adaptations. Some of the Dark Knight’s villains in movies and on TV have turned their sights towards other villains, being motivated by vengeance, competing criminal interests, or a combination of the two. Here are five Batman movie and TV villains who have killed other villains, and why they did so.
The Joker Killed Many Villains In Batman
Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman is an unhinged loose canon before and after his transformation into the Clown Prince of Crime. Just before falling into the chemicals that turn him into the Joker, Jack Napier shoots corrupt Gotham City cop Lt. Eckhardt (William Hootkins) simply for being a thorn in his side, then goes on to kill Gotham’s reigning crime boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) for setting up the hit against him in AXIS Chemicals.
Later in the movie, the Joker murders two of Grissom’s fellow crime bosses in a very over-the-top manner. The Joker kills Grissom’s associate Vinnie Ricorso (John Dair) by plunging a quill into his throat, and later fries Antoine Rotelli (Edwin Craig) with an electric a hand buzzer. The Joker later takes out his anger at Batman making off with his poison-gas-venting balloons in the Batwing by shooting his right-hand man Bob (Tracey Walter). Comic book villains may not be prone to trusting each other, but Jack Nicholson’s unforgettable Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman might have more villainous blood on his hands than any other.
Catwoman Killed Max Shreck In Batman Returns
In Batman Returns, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer) survives being shoved out of a high-rise window by her boss Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) after discovering he intends for Gotham City’s power plant to be an energy capacitor. Gaining nine lives from the alley cats who seemingly resurrect her, Selina vows revenge on Shreck, and confronts him in the final act. Though Batman tries to talk Selina out of it, her rage at her former boss is too great, with Selina saying she, “just couldn’t live with myself” to let Shreck go. Selina then electrocutes Shreck, reducing him to a charred corpse. However, the ending of Batman Returns shows Catwoman survived.
Court Of Owls Killed Hamilton Hill In Gotham Knights
Gotham City’s mayor Hamilton Hill (Randall Newsome) appears on the CW series Gotham Knights, and has a secret connection to the gang known as the Court of Owls, who take out Hill’s political opponents at his behest. Hill finds himself under assault from the Gotham City gang known as the Mutants arriving at a gala and threatening to detonate a poisonous gas bomb. Though Carrie Kelley (Navia Robinson) and Harvey Dent (Misha Collins) manage to put a stop to the Mutants, Mayor Hill is nonetheless killed in a poison gas explosion in a limousine set up by the Court of Owls, due to his extremely inept handling of the hostage situation.
Catwoman Killed Bane In The Dark Knight Rises
Anne Hathaway portrays Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, with the skilled cat-burglar still looking out for number one. Selina allies herself with Bane (Tom Hardy) and the League of Assassins in order to gain access to the “clean slate” to wipe away her criminal record. Batman eventually convinces the still cynical Selina to help in his planned revolt against Bane’s forces. Despite intending to leave after helping blow open an exit for Gotham’s citizens, Selina returns right as Bane is about to kill Batman, firing one of the Bat-pod’s rockets at him, explaining that she “doesn’t feel as strongly” about not killing as Batman does.
The Riddler Killed Falcone In The Batman
In The Batman, Edward Nashton (Paul Dano) is on a mission to punish the wealthy elite of Gotham City, having experienced poverty and hardship as an orphan. Nashton leaves a series of riddles that lead Batman (Robert Pattinson) to determine that the Riddler’s ultimate target is Gotham’s big crime boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). With one clue suggesting that he will lead Falcone “into the light”, Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) realize too late that they have played right into the Riddler’s hands by capturing Falcone, with the Riddler sniping Falcone from a few blocks away while Falcone is standing under a streetlamp, as his riddle had alluded to.
