Several supporting and one-shot characters from Batman are extremely popular among fans and stand out even amongst a series full of famous supporting characters.
Comic Books
- Colin Wilkes. This kid seriously wins. He's only been in 6 issues (the first three of which are usually only read because the latter three mention them). In the latter three, he shows that he's become a vigilante and helps Damian break up a fight ring run by Zsasz, becoming sort-of friends with Damian. And knows that Damian is Robin. And is adorable (when not transformed into Abuse anyways).
- And has more fanart/fanfiction than you would believe. Going by DeviantArt or Tumblr, one could be forgiven for not realizing Colin's a very minor character.
- Seemingly has paid off in that he is a regular character in the spin-off all-ages comic Lil Gotham.
- Calvin Rose a.k.a. Talon has been gaining a great deal of popularity as well despite not sticking around long after his spinoff series ended.
- Onomatopoeia, a villain introduced by Kevin Smith, is immensely popular with fans even though he's yet to make an appearance since "The Widening Gyre". He's basically a superhero Serial Killer who only speaks in sound effects and is a total mental and physical match for Batman. Doubles as They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character since many feel that he'd make an awesome archenemy/Evil Counterpart for Batman.
- A lot of GCPD officers and detectives such as Renee Montoya, Harvey Bullock, Crispus Allen, Jason Bard, Hardback Bock, Marcus Driver, Sarge Davies, Josie Macdonald, Vincent Del Arrazio, Stan Kitch, Joely Bartlett and Tommy Burke (particularly the first four) are extremely popular, with several of them sometimes even being considered part of the Batfamily.
- A bunch of the more obscure Batman Inc./Club of Heroes members are really popular with fans such as Batwing, El Gaucho, Nightrunner, Dark Ranger, Man-of-Bats, and Batcow.
- Black Mask is frequently cited as an example of a great Batman villain who is woefully underused. Maybe it's his cool look or maybe it's his Xanatos-style intelligence, but in any case fans seem to really like the guy. Him getting Hijacked by Ganon in Arkham Origins just caused much of the fanbase to clamor even harder for him to get a day in the limelight.
- Killer Croc is very well-loved when he's written as a Noble Demon. In the New 52, he got a significant popularity boost after his sympathetic portrayal in Batman Eternal and Gotham Academy, which paint him as someone who just wants to protect those he cares about.
- Despite being a relatively recent edition to the Rogue's Gallery, Professor Pyg quickly became a memorable villain, due to his unique creep factor.
- Kite Man in Tom King's run on the Rebirth series partially due to how ridiculously petty his crimes are, coupled with just how proud of himself he is while he uses his suit for petty theft. King has noticed this and made his appearances something of a running gag.
- The Ventriloquist is usually seen as a very inventive Tragic Villain with an interesting dynamic with his puppet Scarface, and who, when done right, manages to be both very funny but also creepy. Their appearances in Gotham and Batman: The Animated Series also elevated them to Ensemble Dark Horse status in those shows too.
- Carmine Falcone only debuts in 1987 as a Vito Corleone-expy who fights Batman and Gordon for a few nonconsecutive arcs, then is supplanted by the theme villains. However, he made such a big impression that he's the go-to character to represent Gotham's organized crime in any live-action Batman adaptation.
- Falcone's children Sofia and Alberto from Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory and their brother Mario, cousin Lucia, and Pino and Umberto Maroni (the sons of Carmine’s archrival) are also considered interesting additions to the Gotham mafia supporting cast, even though Lucia and the Maronis only appear sparingly.
- Great Detective Harvey Harris, Gadgeteer Genius Sergei Alexandrov, Broken Ace Great Detective Cassander Wycliffe Baker (who teaches Bruce "How to lose" rather than train him in deduction), Friendly Sniper and The Atoner Luka Jungo, and Classy Cat-Burglar Lucie "The Gray Shadow" Chesson are often considered to be some of Batman’s most interesting and (for the most part) underused mentors despite their less than twenty combined appearances (as of 2023).
- Human-Yeti hybrid Snowman has only appeared in two canon comics to date, but is often called an intriguingly menacing but layered and underused ice-themed villain.
- Nyssa Raatko has a fairly short run in the series, but her particularly Dark and Troubled Past and role in the Al Ghul family dynamics make her an extremely popular League of Assassins member who has been repeatedly used in other media.
- The pre-New 52 version of Francine Langston has a good fanbase for her initial Star-Crossed Lovers arc with her husband, providing tech support for the Outsiders, and being an Action Mom after gaining her own powers.
- For a minor villain who has yet to ever face Bruce while he is wearing the Batman costume, Doctor Aesop has a good fanbase for his terrifyingly brutal Aesop's Fables-themed crimes.
- Cannibalistic Agent Peacock Flamingo has only made four canon appearances so far, but when he does appear, he tends to make an impression.
- Tomboy with a Girly Streak gunslinger Pistolera (formerly known as Gunbunny, to her chagrin), Husky Russkie KGBeast, Prison Escape Artist the Spook, and colorfully-costumed magical illusionist Mirage all have noticeably bigger fanbases than the average C-List Fodder rogue introduced between the 70s and 90s.
- Sherman Fine/The Broker and Jenna Duffy/The Carpenter only make a few appearances in the Paul Dini run leading up to the New 52 but are quite popular with fans of that run for being smooth, deceptively formidable Punch Clock Villains.
- Of the many Love-Interest Traitor women Bruce is involved with, Jezebel Jet is one of the more popular ones despite the brevity of her run, due to her compelling backstory, resources, and attitude toward her ultimate feud with Batman.
- :Plenty of ordinary citizens and non-costumed criminals from the Archive Panic Batman: No Man's Land storyline and its predecessor arcs manage to rival some of the recurring heroes and villains of those arcs in memorability despite only appearing in a single issue (and not even always in leading roles).
- The three kids (particularly the one who defends his food with a slingshot) who each scavenge some food dropped from a helicopter in the opening scene of the first omnibus provide an interesting look at how the introduction of that food affects the deprived community. The reasonable trader who barters for an apple with one kid and the thieves who try to rob the other two also add a lot to the scene.
- The young trader known only as The Nomad, who faces down a mugger with courage and charm in the second issue while deducing that the man's gun isn't loaded.
- William "Sarge" Riley, the Retired Badass protagonist of the standalone issue "Home Sweet Home." He gets some awesome and heartwarming moments as the protector of his neighborhood and manages to get away with defying Joker by impressing the clown with his attitude.
- The engineer who helps a visiting Superman reopen a power plant, only to end up coerced into helping some thugs sell the utilities.
- The young girl who's spying on Billy Petit for Oracle and encounters Superman during his second visit to No Man's Land, due to her Little Miss Badass characterization.
- Sonny Epifani, a fedora-wearing Mafia member who brings a lot of integrity to his new job of rescuing earthquake victims during his brief appearance in Cataclysm.
- Jared Manx, the death row prisoner who serves as the POV character for a story about a tsunami hitting Blackgate Prison after the earthquake, makes a big enough impression that he has a Reddit thread debating whether he is guilty or innocent.
- In the Batman Contagion arc that helps set the stage for No Man's Land, Fong (who lets his survival of the eponymous virus inflate his sense of ego) makes the most of his brief page-time. He spends most of his sole issue showing off his muscular chest as he rants about his belief that he has the same powers as Superman, then proceeds to kill himself in a misguided attempt to demonstrate his supposed immortality.
- Motor Mouth Action Politician Esterbrook Halivan, whose Plot-Triggering Death ends any hope of avoiding No Man's Land.
- Affably Evil Chessmaster The Designer won widespread praise for his complex plans and backstory in the Rebirth arc that introduced him, with many fans bemoaning the wasted potential of the reveal that he has been Dead All Along and is being impersonated by the Joker, and hoping to see more of him in flashbacks one day.
- Preston Payne, the third Clayface. Despite not being a shapeshifter, he's actually pretty well-liked for being a deeply sympathetic Creepy Awesome Tragic Villain, having the grotesque and horrifying ability to melt anyone he touches, and being terrifyingly insane.
- Bane's Co-Dragons Trogg, Zombie, and Bird disappear after the first third of Knightfall, but are among the most popular henchmen in the comic series.
