Batman has a Rogues Gallery with some of the best villains in comic history, but also some lame ones.
- The Riddler is sometimes this, Depending on the Writer:
- Edward Nigma is often treated as slightly less of a threat than most of Batman's gallery because his particular lunacy isn't inherently violent, and he has a compulsion to tell Batman and the police what his plans are (he's tried not to, but he just can't). It's tough to write a Riddler plot that can believably challenge Batman... so many writers don't, essentially writing him as a joke. The difficulty of writing good Riddler stories may have also been a factor in the character's Heel–Face Turn, wherein he decided to use his genius for puzzles to solve crimes as a (well paid) private detective... but all good things came to an end...
- One issue of The Batman Adventures takes this and runs with it for all it's worth. The Riddler decides to try one last time to beat Batman, vowing that if Batman solves the riddle and defeats him, he'll give up crime forever. The riddle he comes up with really is good, but Batman's busy with multiple other villains and essentially decides to not spend time on the Riddler, and catch him after the fact if necessary. He catches him anyway, completely by chance, and admits as much to the Riddler when asked how he solved the puzzle. Satisfied that he outwitted Batman, even though he got caught, Riddler sings all the way back to Arkham.
- In another Adventures book, Riddler found a Really Good hideout, and taunted Batman with riddles about other criminals' planned crimes. Unfortunately, his OCD caused him to structure the riddles as a meta-riddle that led Batman and Robin to him. Initially, he's going to fight them off... but then he stops and says (more or less) "Take me away. If I did that, I belong in Arkham because I'm really crazy."
- Lampshaded in an issue of The Question, where Commissioner Gordon points it out that Nigma can't hack it as a criminal and should just reform. This has the opposite effect.
- Killer Moth is often depicted as the most notable example of a mediocre Batman villain. Originally depicted straight as a Batman for criminals; complete with immense wealth, moth-themed paraphernalia, a moth cave, and even his own mothmobile. As times changed, Killer Moth's status as the Anti-Batman would eventually be changed for that of his rogues gallery's biggest Butt-Monkey, often being portrayed as a petty criminal way out of his depth, losing rather quickly against the Bat-Family; notably he's often portrayed as a starter villain for Batgirl's early career. While attempts have been made to alleviate his current status, notably a transformation into the mutated Charaxes, he has usually stuck to his stigma as Batman's biggest loser villain.
- The Baffler is a second-rate version of Cluemaster, which makes him a third-rate Riddler.
- The Arkham Asylum: Living Hell miniseries introduced several such villains mixed with Arkham regulars such as the Junkyard Dog, whose entire villainous gimmick is going through garbage.
- Humpty-Dumpty, who is so happily inoffensive that even calling him a villain is a big stretch. Even when one learns that there's a good reason that he's in Arkham, one kinda feels sorry for him; he has an obsession with fixing things by taking them apart and putting them back together again, because his whole life has been a string of disasters, one after another. Unfortunately, his attempts to fix things only make them run worse. His attempts to fix stuff like a subway train, an elevator, and a clock tower have lead to people getting hurt or even killed. Despite that, the guy probably saved Batgirl's life when she was trying to apprehend him but injured herself by dislocating her shoulders in a fall (one case where he was able to put something together perfectly). However he scares the hell out of his roommate when he mentions that he wants to fix him as his last attempt to fix someone was cutting his abusive grandma to pieces to see what was defective. He is ineffectual as a villain but he is not harmless.
- Condiment King, an absurd parody of gimmick villains, is this trope with a lampshade. Originally introduced as an original character for Batman: The Animated Series where he wasn't a villain, but a brainwashed pawn of the Joker, he eventually emigrated to mainstream comics as a real one. Just dangerous enough to be worthy of Batman and Robin's attention, he has at least the potential to be a real threat (think "mustard gas", for just one example). However, in practice, he repeatedly gets defeated in a single page. Because he's an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, he keeps getting parole.
- Jenna Duffy, aka The Carpenter (see trope image), was a member of Tweedledee and Tweedledum's "Wonderland Gang", but had the sense to get out of supervillainy and to work exclusively as...an actual carpenter. Her specialty (who do you think builds all those deathtraps in Gotham?) can still get her into trouble, however.
- Harley Quinn. There are times that you can feel sorry for her, she has spent most of her life chasing The Joker who not only abuses her, but considers her an expendable human shield. Averted depending on the story, with some making her a Not-So-Harmless Villain.
