There have been many bad guys that have come and gone (or come and stayed) on Gotham, crazies and criminals alike, but who has been the best?
The easiest answers are the regulars (Fish, Cobblepot, Selina, Falcone, and Maroni), but what about the rest? While we wait for Gotham to return with season 1, episode 19, take a look at which Gotham villains have made the biggest impression so far.
10) Harvey Dent
All right, so Harvey isn’t actually a villain on Gotham yet, but we’re all familiar with his character and we know where he’s headed. Unfortunately, Harvey doesn’t actually become Two-Face until after Bruce becomes Batman, and there are quite a few years before that happens.
However, it’s clear Gotham takes its own liberties with the story, and it’s entirely possible we’ll see Harvey’s descent into Two-Face before the show has run its course. They’ve already set up his character for it. In his first appearance we got a taste of his mad side when he suddenly, and seemingly uncharacteristically, snapped at Lovecraft in “Harvey Dent.” If that’s a sign of more to come, Harvey’s bad side taking over will probably happen sooner rather than later.
9) Jack Buchinksy
Gotham‘s Electrocutioner might have more than a few frayed wires, but that insanity makes him dangerous, and he’s also quite intelligent. Six people were killed during his bank heists, he developed a successful electro-shock treatment that enables him to mind control people, and he escaped from Arkham Asylum. However, he’ll have to be a bit more creative if he’s to make it further up on this list. He was, after all, defeated by a pair of rubber shoes and a glass of water.
8) Richard Sionis
Richard and his comic counterpart Roman have few similarities. If it weren’t for the identical last name and mask, it would be difficult to connect the two. Gotham‘s Black Mask is less intimidating than the comic Black Mask. Where Roman’s agenda is to take down Bruce Wayne/Batman with a gang of criminals, Richard acts on a much smaller scale. He’s a sleazy businessman with violent job interviews. Killing isn’t even a requirement where Richard is concerned. In fact, his operation was so small, it was only after a dead body was sloppily left at the Gotham docks that anybody knew about the situation.
To be sure, people have died, but Richard’s involvement in the grand scheme of things is so small that he doesn’t pose much of a threat. Perhaps his revenge will be directed to Jim Gordon on the show, now that he’s been arrested, and that will incite the comic book Black Mask terror.
7) Dr. Marks
Entirely original to the show, Dr. ‘Goat’ Marks is a twisted spin on the Robin Hood principle. While she does rob from the rich, her valuable of choice isn’t money or jewelry. Marks orchestrates the murder of wealthy people’s first born children. What makes her more dangerous is that she doesn’t commit the killings herself, so it’s harder to pinpoint each murder on her when there’s no trace of her at the crime scenes. She works behind the curtain in relative safety, making these murders more unpredictable since there are so many potential victims and anybody could be the killer.
6) Gillian Loeb
Corrupt Commissioner Loeb will seemingly do what he can to make Gordon’s life difficult. To our knowledge, he is not in Falcone’s pocket (yet), but that doesn’t mean he’s fighting the bad guys. In fact, Loeb tried to keep Jim out of the GCPD, giving him only 24 hours to catch Gruber, he had Flass cleared of all charges and reinstated, and he keeps incriminating information on cops.
Loeb seems like a smart man and he’s clearly not on Gordon’s side, so even though he’s not directly hurting people, it’s scary to think what he’s capable of. What’s more, he’s supposed to be on the side that takes down the bad guys. If the leader of the supposed good guys is corrupt, that doesn’t bode well for Gotham.
5) Gerald Crane
Gerald Crane is equal parts villainous in his own actions and in what he creates because of them. For someone who is trying to eliminate the fear gland, he certainly causes a lot of panic. After all, he makes people experience their greatest fears before killing them. But he has also inducted his son into the process, and his son is none other than Jonathan Crane. The Scarecrow himself.
The last we see of Jonathan he’s experiencing intense trauma and hallucinations after being injected by his father’s serum. What are his hallucinations of? A scarecrow, of course. Knowing what Jonathan’s story can become, it’s safe to assume these hallucinations won’t last forever, and eventually we’ll get the villainous character we’re familiar with.
4) Francis Dulmacher
The Dollmaker is especially frightening because everyone is a potential victim and you never really know what he’ll do to you. Young or old, male or female, Dulmacher doesn’t discriminate. As for your punishment, he might just take your eye, or he might replace your entire body. So far, he has yet to don the creepy and gross mask of skin, but there’s still time. By the looks of things, the Dollmaker isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
3) Victor Zsasz
Even though Zsasz has only amassed 28 scars so far, he has made quite the impression. He’s the perfect level of crazed, able to deftly switch from quiet storm to all out hurricane in an instant. His gaze will stop you dead, but from a viewer’s perspective, he also has a strange engaging charm. Zsasz will only get crazier from here on out, and thus even more fun to watch. For the moment, he’s more a crony of Falcone’s, but down the line there’s potential for him to go solo, lose his mind (more), and tally up much quicker. Place your bets on how soon he covers up his arms!
2) Stan Potolsky
Although not the most frightening of characters in this list, what Potolsky created is incredibly dangerous. Stan Potolsky is the creator of Viper, a drug that enables those who ingest it to have super-strength. But it also kills the consumer, burning up their calcium, causing their bones to disintegrate. Viper didn’t just disappear at the end of the episode either. There are vials of it out in Gotham somewhere, so there’s still potential for it to come back at some point in the show.
If that’s not scary enough, Viper is the precursor to Venom, and those versed in Batman lore know that Venom is the drug that gives Bane his super-strength. While the show will probably not reach that stage of Bane’s life, it’s still terrifying to know that this man, Stan Potolsky, was the root of creating one of Batman’s most adversarial foes.
1) The Joker
This should be no surprise. Of course the Joker would make the number one spot. But who is the Joker? Many thought Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome character in “The Blind Fortune Teller” was the iconic villain. His performance was certainly on par for the character. The laughing during the interrogation scene was perfectly unhinged. But the subsequent episode featured the Red Hood Gang, and the Red Hood was Joker’s first alias. Could the boy who picked up the hood at the end of the episode be the next Joker? Or someone else who gets it after him?
It’s still unclear if we’ve even met he who is yet to become the Joker. Then again, we may not ever get confirmation on who he is. You can’t have a Joker until Bruce becomes Batman, and unless Gotham runs for 10 more seasons, that’s not likely to happen.
Gotham returns on April 13 with season 1, episode 19.
Who’s your favorite ‘Gotham’ bad guy so far?
— Related: Catch up with our Gotham season 1, episode 18 recap
— Related: Fish Mooney: The Gotham character that grew on us
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