Here's the thing: Batman's Rogue's Gallery has a lot of Foiling with the hero himself.
Villains
- The Joker is held up as Batman's Arch-Enemy because they are opposites of each other in many ways, mostly in terms of Order Versus Chaos: Batman is a stoic, no-nonsense vigilante crime fighter while the Joker is a manic, unpredictable and theatrical Monster Clown. They're Color-Coded for Your Convenience, with Batman tending towards dark, utilitarian colors for camouflage while the Joker tends towards vibrant colors such as purple, green, red and white in order to stand out like a poison frog. Because of his unpredictability, the Joker is possibly the only villain who Batman cannot defeat through his M.O.s of reasoned deduction and intimidation. The two are also philosophical foils in The Killing Joke. The Joker is a Straw Nihilist who believes life is one big joke and the only way to deal with that is by giving in to madness. Batman is The Anti-Nihilist who also believes life is meaningless but decided to create his own purpose.
- Deadshot is another example. Both come from affluent backgrounds, but while the former had to deal with the loss of their parents, the latter had to deal with the loss of his brother over the abuse of said parents. While Batman is an Anti-Hero who fights crime for the sake of justice, Deadshot is an Anti-Villain who often kills those worse than him for the sake of money. It's also exemplified by their fighting styles — Batman is a gadget/martial arts master who Doesn't Like Guns, while Deadshot is a Gunslinger with Improbable Aiming Skills.
- Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley is a parallel to some versions of Batman's more political activism; she's fully dedicated to her good cause; it's just that unlike Bruce Wayne/Batman, she takes it way too far.
- Ra's Al Ghul is similar, but adds in elements of the order Batman hopes to create, only, again, carried way too far.
- Edward Nigma/The Riddler parallels Batman's "Smartest Man in the Room" schtick; The Riddler targets Batman explicitly because he wants to prove himself more clever than the Bat, but the Batman usually proves more clever.
- Harvey Dent/Two-Face is frequently used to draw out Bruce's worries that he can never give up the cowl because he's fundamentally crazy—more then once, Dent has almost been "cured", only to relapse into Two-Face.
- The Scarecrow/Johnathan Crane frequently parallels Batman's use of fear; whereas Batman uses it as a tool, the Scarecrow views it as an end in itself.
- Selina Kyle/Catwoman directly mirrors Batman's Costumed Adventurer side; further, whenever Batman is portrayed as being "a little too into" what he does, she's an obvious character to have.
- Oswald Copplepot/The Penguin is frequently implicitly compared to Bruce Wayne, Billionaire. Both were scions of wealthy families, and those families are usually contrasted (the Waynes 'good', or at least 'lawful' and the Copplepots 'corrupt'); further, whereas Bruce chose to be something better than a mere wealthy orphan, Oswald choses to be a mere criminal.
- There are several villains whose backstory amounts to "More or less the same as Bruce Wayne's, except...": Prometheus, whose (criminal) parents were shot by policemen in front of him, Black Mask, who killed his own parents, and Hush, who's like Black Mask, but Thomas Wayne saved his mother's life.
- Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat is a fairly direct, physical case: They're both Bat Men, with one being more Man then Bat, and the other going the other way around.
- In City of Bane, the Thomas Wayne who became Batman in another reality is presented as a contrast to his son. While Thomas considers himself the “true” Batman for his willingness to take more extreme measures, ultimately Thomas Wayne’s vow that drove him to become Batman is all about punishing the guilty as he attacks the world that took away his son. By contrast, Bruce’s own vow when he became Batman was to make Gotham a place where nobody else would suffer like he had, working to protect the innocent over punishing the guilty and allowing himself to form a new family from his allies. While a key theme in this particular series was the idea of Thomas and Bruce Wayne each initially regarding Batman as an elaborate suicide attempt to purge them of their grief and pain, Thomas has allowed that pain to define him, where Bruce is able to move past that pain so that he is now Batman because he chooses to be, accepting how he can be happy as the Dark Knight with the family he has created.
Allies
- Robins have historically been used as foils for their mentor and surrogate father Bruce Wayne, as well as to each other. Since they're effectively his sons, each has a little bit of Bruce in him, and each gives us a bit of insight into the kind of man Bruce might have been if his life had turned out a little different.
- Dick Grayson shows us how Bruce might have turned out if he'd been adopted by a loving family after his parents' murder instead of growing up in Wayne Manor with only his butler for company. Where Bruce is moody, brooding, suspisicous of others, somewhat emotionally stunted, and a bit of a loner, Dick is cheerful, upbeat, optimistic, a born showman, and one of the most trusted and well-liked men in the superhero community. And where Bruce is still continually haunted by his parents' murder, Dick has largely come to terms with his parents' death and learned to move forward. As the superhero Nightwing, he also wears a simple jumpsuit with an eye-catching bright blue motif, in contrast to Bruce's somber black cape and cowl. Among the Robins, he's known as "The Charming One".
- Jason Todd shows us how Bruce might have turned out if he'd been born into poverty instead of the wealthiest family in Gotham. Where Bruce had the advantage of growing up in a safe home environment after his parents' death, Jason was forced to live on the streets, where theft and violence were a way of life. Even after Bruce takes him under his wing, he never quite lets go of the inherent anger of feeling forgotten by society, and grows into an impulsive young man with a noticeable propensity for violence. As the vigilante Red Hood, he outright rejects Bruce's refusal to kill criminals, choosing to deal out justice with a gun. Among the Robins, he's known as "The Brutal One".
- Tim Drake shows us how Bruce might have turned out if he'd had a more stable childhood, and had gotten a chance to choose crime-fighting instead of being pushed into it by tragedy. Unlike Bruce and the previous Robins, he starts out as a generally normal middle-class kid with no special training or experience in combat, but he voluntarily offers himself up as Bruce's sidekick after using his natural detective skills to deduce his true identity. As the superhero Red Robin, he even becomes the only person besides Bruce to earn the moniker "Detective" from Ra's al-Ghul. Among the Robins, he's known as "The Clever One".
- Damian Wayne shows us how Bruce might have turned out if he'd never gotten a chance to have a carefree childhood or loving parents before devoting himself to becoming the perfect warrior, and had simply been molded into a killing machine when he was still a child. As a Child Soldier born into the League of Assassins, he shows us Bruce's Training from Hell taken to its disturbing logical conclusion. Where Bruce at least had the luxury of choosing to put himself through years of physical and mental training when he decided to become a crime-fighter, Damian was pushed into it by the adults in his life, and essentially became a Living Weapon used in other people's conflicts. Where the other Robins learned to become better crime-fighters under Bruce's tutelage, Damian just had to learn how to have normal human relationships, and how to discern between crime-fighting and simple murder. Among the Robins, he's known as "The Deadly One".
Other Heroes
- Batman and Superman are often Foils to each other in terms of Brains and Brawn, respectively; or Dark Good vs. Light Good, or The Cowl and The Cape.
- Related to the above are Harvey Bullock and Dan Turpin. Both over gruff, no-nonsense and overweight, but Turpin is a By-the-Book Cop and his reluctance to work with superheroes, Superman included at times, stems from a belief he doesn't need them to help do his job; whereas Bullock is a Cowboy Cop prone to Police Brutality and (Depending on the Writer) being a Dirty Cop, and thinks Batman is crazy.
- Also, Batman to Green Lantern: A hero associated with darkness and fear who created his own persona and has a massive technological arsenal, and one associated with light and willpower who was given power by a higher power and creates objects with hard light.
Alternate Universe
- Batman: The Imposter: Detective Blair Wong serves as one to Bruce Wayne. They were both orphaned at an early age, with their parents being murdered by criminals. However, while Blair followed her father's footsteps into the police force, waging her war on crime on the right side of the law, Bruce chose to become an outlaw vigilante. Blair is also far more emotionally healthy than the damaged and disturbed Bruce.
- In Bruce Wayne: Not Super, Jack Napier and Bruce are the only normal kids in the school for kids with powers but are contrasted a lot. Bruce got in because his parents built the school and is mocked for having no powers. Jack conned his way in by faking the power to see ghosts. Jack wears bright colors, Bruce wears dark ones. Jack is a bully who wants to commit full-fledged crimes, while Bruce is a bullying victim who wants to fight crime.
