The Dark Knight Rises The Villains of The Trilogy - Who was the best and Why? (SPOILERS)

[GENERAL RAAM582]

Joker
Two-Face/Bane
Ras Al Ghul
Catwoman
Scarecrow
The mob characters
Talia
Zsasz

 

[General Vulcun]

Gotta go with Joker and Bane as #1 and #2. Joker was just perfection in every respect, while Bane was just flat-out terrifying.

After that it'd be a toss-up between Ra's and Two-Face for #3 and #4.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The Joker is a clear #1, with Bane in second place. #3 for me is definitely Crane though. He had a real presence in Begins unlike Ra's and was just great through out. His cameos in TDK and TDKR were also just hilarious. He also had arguably my favorite moment in the series "He's here. Who? The Batman."

 

[Silent_Guardian]

This is actually harder than I though, after analyzing. My intuition makes me say "Joker!" without a doubt, but then when I think about who I would rather have as an adversary, Bane would be by far the most dangerous and destructive of all. However, for the sake of pure entertainment/contribution to the trilogy, it has to be the Joker. Maybe if Bane was used as liberally as Joker in TDK it would be a different story, but as the trilogy sits, the Joker was the best villain with the brilliance of Ledger and Nolan turning him into a character you simply can not get enough of.

 

[Silent_Guardian]

The Joker is a clear #1, with Bane in second place. #3 for me is definitely Crane though. He had a real presence in Begins unlike Ra's and was just great through out. His cameos in TDK and TDKR were also just hilarious. He also had arguably my favorite moment in the series "He's here. Who? The Batman."

Crane does have a talent for disruption

 

[DoomsdayApex]

Oh man... it's so difficult to rank Nolan's villains but I'll give it a shot.

1.) Joker/Bane
2.) Two-Face
3.) Ra's al Ghul/Scarecrow

 

[CapedCrusader14]

1. The Joker
2. Bane
3. Two Face
4. Ra's Al Ghul
5. Scarecrow

 

[herolee10]

You know, aside from the likes of Joker and Crane, I swear...I think the rest of Batman's Main Villains in this trilogy came off with some type of sympathetic background. In some ways, despite the evil things that they did (which I don't agree or condone in any means), I did feel bad for them once I either saw on what kind of people they were like before their villainous ways or when their pasts were revealed.

Spoiler

1. Harvey Dent is perhaps the biggest sympathetic villain in the Nolan World sinc we all saw on what a righteous person that he was and had it been not for a severe set of circumstances and casualties that took place, then he wouldn't have ended up transforming and dying so tragically.

2. I gotta admit that the whole back story that revealed the pasts for Ra's, Talia, and Bane really got to me. Despite their misguided to downright evil ways, I felt bad after hearing on the horrors that they had to suffer. From how Ra's had lost his wife, to how she had been killed while Talia was born and raised during her childhood in the prison (no place for a good person, let alone a child)..to even Bane, who despite all of his wicked ways, we actually saw a glimpse of a human being inside that when he shed tears from seeing Talia at the end to how he lost it all when he protected her.

 

[LegendAssemble]

Why is zsasz even on the list? Cameos shouldn't count

 

[Fudgie]

Joker
Two Face
Catwoman
Ra's
Bane
Crane

 

[Great Mind(s)]

What about the fake Ra's Al Ghul? He should be on there I think, I liked him. His sword fight with Bruce was good.

 

[TheHeatKitchen]

Based on the villain's character, intentions, effects in the story and performance of the actor.....

The Joker
Ra's Al Ghul
Bane
Two Face
Scarecrow (very closely)
Catwoman
... the rest.

 

[bgko18]

I think I like Joker & Bane equally. Nolan took the Joker (the most iconic comic book villain of all time) and made him even cooler.

He took Bane and made me forget all about Frankenstein's Bigfoot from Batman & Robin, making him not only relevant, but the biggest threat (no pun intended) to ever grace this franchise.

Also, never thought they could have two characters with voices that remind me of an old woman (the Joker) and an old man (Bane), and making them sound terrifying as s**t!

 

[Spuzz]

Catwoman is not a villain.

Of course not. Not by definition. But she is part of batman's "Rogues Gallery" so it's fine that she's included in the poll.

For the record I voted for (in this order)

Bane, Joker, Scarecrow, Ra's, Catwoman

 

[mongoose-mania]

Joker for me. I loved Bane, thought he was really well-done, but every time the Joker was on the screen it was like watching a talking nightmare. He was so... evil.

 

[Kar]

What I love about the villains in these movies is how they weren't just mindless megalomaniacs out for world domination. They all taught Batman (and Bruce) lessons. They didn't just strike they pointed out his flaws and in a way (whether intentional or unintentional) taught him lessons.

 

[Superboy-Prime]

Bane
Joker
Two-Face
Ras
Scarecrow
Talia

Not counting Catwomen.

 

[bane32]

You know, it a close match between Bane and Joker I'll have to go with Joker. Both are formidable and intelligent opponents to Batman but Joker has motives entirely "for the evulz". Ra's was fascinating but not quite as much of a presence as former two. Talia was ruined by being revealed 5 minutes before the credits. Crane started off as powerful and intimidating, but became pretty weak by the end. Catwoman isn't a villain at all. Everyone else is just a wannabe villain or to minor to even consider.

 

[DigificWriter]

I feel I owe people some explanation as to why I rank(ed) Ra's al Ghul ahead of The Joker. As good as Heath Ledger's performance is, Ra's is my absolute favorite character in Batman's entire Rouges gallery, and Nolan and Co. brought him to life - through their writing and a masterful performance by Liam Neeson - in as near-perfect a fashion as is possible. Ra's is also the person who, more than any other, is responsible for creating the Batman, and, by extension, The Joker, making him the central-most figure of importance in Nolan's trilogy. He is, essentially, the catalyst for everything that happens from the moment Bruce comes back to Gotham until the final moments of TDKR. Ledger's individual performance might surpass Neeson's, but, in the end, Ra's is the more important and influential villain of Nolan's trilogy.

It should be noted that I left Harvey Dent/Two-Face out of my list because I don't really consider him a primary villain and had restricted my list to primary villains, but I now realize that he belongs on the list and would rank him tied with Scarecrow.

 

[Drizzle]

1. The Joker
2. Bane
3. Two-Face
4. Ra's Al Ghul
5. Scarecrow
6. Talia Al Ghul
7. Falcone
8. Maroni

I didn't include Catwoman because she wasn't a villain in this incarnation. More of an anti-hero.

 

[Ethan al Ghul]

This is a really hard question for me to have a definant answer to (between Ra's, joker, and bane). Ra's al ghul had the most combat knowledge and was the most wise, basically gave rise to batman and bane, and in my mind the biggest threat in a fight, yes even more than bane. The key thing with Ra's was, if you really think about it, he was right. You would all agree that people like Hitler, Stalin, or Jeffery Dohmer need to be killed right? Well gothem is the eqivilent to thoose just on a larger scale. The joker was by far the most evil and influencial on each charecter. The joker was very smart and incredibly manipulative which may have been the scariest thing about him...turning harvy to two-face and batman into a recluse, just imagine what would have happened to the city if they knew of Harvy's crimes right away. The other big thing about him was that he really couldn't be beaten no matter what you do to him. Bane was an absolute power house that was driven, and he managed to put batman down. Bane would have accomplished the most of the three if the bomb was never dragged off over sea, but leading up to that he did accomplish the most. In the end, I guess I would have to side with Ra's the most, joker second, and bane third. LOVE THE TRILOGY!
To conquer fear, you must become fear. You must bask in the fear of other men. Ra's al Ghul

 

[cryptic name]

R'as al Ghul is my favorite. Mostly because of his relationship with Bruce and Neeson's badassery. Plus, my favorite exchange in the entire trilogy:

-...It should be you standing by my side, saving the world.
- I'll be standing where I belong. Between you and the people of Gotham.

Joker and Bane are kinda tied for me, loved them both. So different but both amazingly acted and incredibly menacing.

 

[DigificWriter]

I've come to the conclusion that, as awesome as Heath Ledger's performance is, Talia and Bane deserve to be ranked higher than I ranked them, so I'm revising my list:
1. Ra's al Ghul
2. Bane and Talia
3. The Joker
4. Scarecrow and Two-Face

 

[gap5ewl]

I'm actually going to say Catwoman simply because she is the only criminal who has the power to actually have Batman not stop her/bring her to justice when he clearly can. I guess his attraction to her might play into that. This is pretty significant to me considering Batman is all about justice and going against crime.

 

[RedSkull]

Sorry but anyone who says anything but the Joker doesn't understand this series and shouldn't call themselves a fan of it. I'm not counting Catwoman in this since like others said she's hardly a villain.