"I am in your house, Bruce... Come home. Say your goodbyes. Once you've had time to turn grief into anger, then you'll be ready to face me. I have left enough life in him for some final words...if you hurry."
Considering the source material, it's no surprise that Video Games (and related comics) based on the The DCU have some brilliant planners and masterminds.
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Batman: Arkham Series (chronological order, by first appearance)
Examples
- Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, is a mischievous cat burglar with a dry wit and one of the few villains in Gotham City to not only outsmart Batman himself, but ally with the Dark Knight on many occasions for the benefit of both. In her first confrontation with Batman, Catwoman allows herself to be captured, stages a prison riot at Blackgate, then manipulates Batman into clearing out all obstacles for her so as to break Bane out of the prison as part of a deal, and even though Batman thwarts this initial plan, Catwoman nonetheless appeases her employer through other means and gets what she wants. During the Arkham City event, Catwoman infiltrates the supermax prison after TYGER steals her valuables, and, using Two-Face and Poison Ivy to her advantage, retrieves her valuables along with assisting Batman in taking down the prison complex. Though Catwoman is later captured by the Riddler and fitted with a bomb collar, she works with Batman to take down the supervillain, even clearing out all of Riddler's funds for herself and destroying his base of operations to ensure his reign is over for a long time to come.
- Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, was once one of Batman's greatest allies but is now one of his most dangerous enemies. As one of the last criminals sent to Arkham City, Two-Face sells out Catwoman to TYGER, instigating a rivalry in which he stays one step ahead of her while tracking down the construction plans for TYGER's security vault; even when he's arrested, he gets the plans for himself and ensures she's arrested alongside him. In Arkham City, Two-Face almost kills Joker and Catwoman at different points, bombs Catwoman's apartment after stealing all her valuables, disperses half of the loot among his men to make her hunt for it, and ultimately wins the gang war for control of Arkham City. After Protocol 10, Two-Face masterminds the class-action lawsuit that sees Gotham penniless and puts hundreds of criminals back on the streets, setting the stage for Scarecrow's attack. Spending the night robbing banks, Two-Face is revealed to have also robbed Bludhaven's banks while Nightwing was in Gotham, subsequently manages to escape the GCPD's custody, and almost kills Robin in one-on-one combat through his quick thinking. As the embodiment of the failure of Batman's crusade, Harvey repeatedly proves that no one can ever count him out of the game.
- Ra's al Ghul is the "Demon's Head" and leader of the League of Assassins. A centuries-old warlord who got his start buying Gotham City and restructuring it into the criminal-murdering "utopia" Wonder City, Ra's found and used the healing properties of the Lazarus Pit to sustain his life over the years, amassing countless resources and soldiers to his League in the process. In the present, Ra's pulls strings to begin his ideas for a mass-genocide of those he deems "unworthy" to live in his planned perfect world, and finds a concrete scheme when approached by the monstrous Hugo Strange. Fully backing Strange's plan to build a super prison called Arkham City that functions as a nightmarish concentration camp to hold thousands of prisoners until they are all wiped out, Ra's continuously tries to convince Batman to join his crusade, even betraying and murdering Strange due to a preference for Batman as his potential heir. If allowed to die in his final appearance, Ra's uses his last words to proclaim how proud he is of Batman for taking steps towards doing what is "necessary", and throughout the franchise holds the utmost respect for the hero no matter what animosity comes between them.
- Bane is a masked mercenary whose cunning and intelligence combined with his immense Venom-enhanced strength make him one of the deadliest foes Batman has ever faced. When the Joker hires him along with eight other assassins to kill Batman, Bane quickly proves himself a threat by immediately seeing through one of Batman's ambush tactics and viciously beating him down. When the ensuing fight is interrupted by the police, Bane flees and lures Batman to an empty hideout where it's revealed that he's been analyzing him and has correctly deduced his identity. He goes on to use this knowledge to emotionally torment Batman by invading his home and nearly murdering his loyal butler Alfred, and soon afterwards joins forces with the Joker in taking over Blackgate Prison in an attempt at forcing Batman to break his moral code and take a life. When that fails, Bane transforms himself into a hulking berserker with the flawed, experimental TN-1 formula, but still has enough clarity of mind to react to and adjust to strategies Batman employs against him in their final confrontation.
- Basil Karlo, better known as Clayface, is a theatrical shapeshifter who enjoys manipulating others with his excellent doppelganger skills. Breaking out of Arkham Asylum by tricking a guard into thinking he is an innocent, Clayface then sneaks into the maximum security prison Arkham City, where he makes a deal with the sickly Joker to masquerade as him and keep his troops and enemies under the illusion that Joker is healthy as ever. Clayface plays the part of Joker near-flawlessly, fooling everyone including Batman himself into thinking he is the Clown Prince of Crime, and uses his position to orchestrate a variety of takeovers in the city. During his fight with Batman, Clayface gives Batman one of the hardest of his career, forcing the caped crusader into lethal force due to his deadliness. Not reserved solely to Joker, Clayface also shifts into the assassin Deadshot, gaining the Penguin's trust and a stash of guns with the disguise.
- Origins: Lady Shiva is a high-ranking servant of Ra's Al-Ghul, using her position in the League of Assassins to pave the way for events in later games. Arriving in Gotham on the basis of hunting Batman for a bounty, Shiva uses it as an opportunity to manipulate Quincy Sharp into opening Arkham Asylum and ally with the League, laying the groundwork for the League's coming decades of schemes. Outdoing Bane himself after being captured, Shiva lures Batman to her with a trap and sends him on a hunt to rescue corrupt cops from death traps before facing him in physical combat, all to test the hero for his worth as a potential member of the League.
- Knight: Henry Adams, despite appearing to be immune to the Joker infection, is in fact the most devious of the infected. After beginning to transform into Joker, Henry pretends to be immune, convincing Batman that a cure for the infection is possible while simultaneously reaching out to Harley Quinn to plan an invasion of the movie studios with her. Having Harley actually hit him to sell the illusion and hacking the Batcomputer to let her in, Henry continues the charade while Batman defeats the other infected, luring them back into his room in the process. After they're all defeated, it's revealed that Henry has killed all of the infected, believing that only the strongest Joker should be allowed to live due to evolution. When he learns that Batman himself is infected, Henry proves that he genuinely believes in this ideal by shooting himself in the head with no hesitation, vowing that Batman is going to be "spectacular".
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League: Earth-2 Lex Luthor is a less arrogant counterpart of Earth-1 Lex Luthor who used his wits and resourcefulness to be the only human to survive Earth-2’s invasion by Brainiac. Surviving for 3 years, Luthor learns of Earth-1 and supplies knowledge to to his Earth-1 counterpart to prepare him for Brainiac's invasion of his Earth. After the arrival of the Suicide Squad in Earth-2, Luthor has the Squad assist him in getting to Earth-1 and after hacking into Argus, exposes Amanda Walker's plan to brainwash the Squad, convincing them to serve him instead. Luthor leads the Squad’s efforts to kill the Justice League, making use of Yellow Batteries for them to kill Green Lantern, studying Batman to figure out Brainiac's changes to Superman’s DNA, and creating Gold Kryptonite to organize the defeat of his greatest enemy Superman in front of his own monument. Luthor even manages to force Walker to work with him by creating a failsafe that will take all his work with him if Walker tries to control him. Luthor finally creates a device that allows them interface into Brainiac after his defeat, allowing the Squad to hunt the other 12 variants of Brainiac across the multiverse, cementing himself as a resourceful yet untrustworthy ally to the Squad.
Injustice franchise
Examples
- Injustice: Gods Among Us: Deathstroke was a mercenary and assassin and a major enemy of the Titans, whom he tried to kill on many occasions. After the rise of Superman's regime, Deathstroke lost most of his work. He was brought back into action when Batman contacts him, hiring him to steal a Mother Box from the Regime for Batman's plans. He manages to get to it, but knowing he can't escape, he sends Batman the Mother Box's model so he can copy it before he is captured by the Regime. After being tortured by the Regime, he joins the Insurgency and ends up on a mission with Cyborg; during it, he enacts his own plan. He first takes out Shazam and Flash with creative usage of bombs, then sabotages the Watchtower reactor to blow up, not caring about it putting the Insurgency's plans in jeopardy. He is then sent on another mission by Lex Luthor, in which he sneaks up on and ties up Wonder Woman, later taking her down by analyzing her fighting style and outsmarting her.
- Injustice: Gods Among Us:
- "Year Three": John Constantine wants revenge on the Regime for oppressing his daughter, so he joins the Insurgency and enacts a plan to take the Regime down. Constantine first tricks Raven into calling on Superman for help so he can trap Superman to exploit his weakness to magic. He uses this to spread false rumours in hell from Etrigan to convince Trigon that Superman was the one who kidnapped his daughter, which causes Trigon to return to Earth, putting all of reality at risk for Constatine's own ends. Constantine manipulates every single event throughout the issue to get rid of the Regime and Trigon in one shot. He banishes Trigon and Mr. Mxyzptlk to another dimension and severely cripples the Regime, though at the cost of Huntress's death.
- "Year Four": Ares is the God of War and an ancient enemy of Wonder Woman. After the rise of Superman's Regime, Ares was terrified of the idea of this alliance since it would mean he would be starved of all conflict which he needs to survive, so he allies with Darkseid. He manipulates the Olympian gods into coming to Earth to reclaim it and works for both the Insurgency and The Regime as a way of pitting the two against each other to create anarchy in the world. His plan fails, and Ares is taken to Darkseid where he manages to escape from captivity and continue assisting the Insurgency in taking down the Regime, eventually playing a major role in its eventual fall.
Other Games (by release date)
Examples
- Batman: Dark Tomorrow: Ra's al Ghul is the mastermind behind the game's events. Plotting to cause a tsunami that'll wipe out every major city in the world, thus leaving the survivors to rebuild it from scratch, he anticipates Batman's involvement and plans to keep him distracted while he finishes the satellite. For this, he arranges a gang war between Black Mask and Scarface by supplying both of them with weapons, then he hires the Joker to cause a mass Arkham breakout at the same time. By the time Batman stops both scenarios, Ra's has finished the satellite, again anticipating that the Dark Knight would arrive at his base and stop him. Catching his daughter Talia trying to help Batman, he sends his best men after him before fighting him in a sword fight himself. Depending on the ending, he'll either triumph over the Dark Knight and win, or be mortally wounded and provide Talia and Ubu a means of escape to the Lazarus Pit, being revived to fight another day.
- Teen Titans (2005): In the game based on the show, Brother Blood is more cunning and dignified than his animated counterpart. Creating a clone army based on the Teen Titans in order to Take Over the World, Brother Blood first sends Gizmo and H.I.V.E. soldiers to attack the Titan Tower, so that Gizmo can steal the Teen Titans' DNA when they fight back to protect their home. Brother Blood then gives Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth recording devices before sending them wreak havoc in different parts of the city, forcing the Teen Titans to fight them and thus recording their moves in order to improve his clones. When the trio is beaten, Brother Blood send them with H.I.V.E. soldiers attack the Titan Tower again, giving him enough time to finish his clone army while the Titans defend their home. When he's nonetheless defeated by the Titans, he activates his lair's self-destruct sequence in one last attempt to kill them, never losing his smile even in defeat.
- LEGO Batman:
- The Joker is the zany but brilliant Arch-Enemy of Batman. An expert schemer, the Joker regularly threatens Gotham City with his various crimes, from kidnapping Commissioner Gordon to gassing all of Gotham, often assisting his allies himself and accepting any help that he's offered. Teaming up with Lex Luthor in the second game, he uses his chemical skills to fabricate Kryptonite, using it to track down the Batcave and steal the real Kryptonite stashed there and uses his laughing gas to hypnotize the citizens into voting for Lex, the duo then putting up a prolonged fight with the Justice League. Later playing a big role in the Legion of Doom breaking into the Watchtower, he happily assists the heroes in saving the world from Brainiac, even after forcibly becoming more affectionate in the process. During DC Super Villains, he joins the Legion in fighting the Crime Syndicate, with him and Harley Quinn volunteering to recruit Black Adam, fighting off Shazam and Superwoman in the process. Eventually, after trashing Apokalypse upon arrival, he once again gleefully joins forces with the heroes to take out Darkseid.
- Catwoman is the expert cat burglar who acts as The Dragon to the Penguin's plot to take over Gotham City with an army of machine powered penguins. Responsible for stealing a diamond to power the machine, she and Penguin evade the GCPD and steal the diamond, with Catwoman making her escape upon being cornered. Evading and pursuing Batman and Robin, she then distracts Batman by kissing him, using the moment to toss the Diamond to her cat. Upon being delivered the diamond in jail, she uses it to bribe Penguin and Killer Croc into freeing her, continuing to aid her boss in his scheme. Eventually managing to unleash the penguins, they proceed to fight the Dynamic Duo, with Catwoman doing the physical fighting. Later games would have her successfully break out of Arkham after a failed first attempt, and acting as the Team Mom to the Legion of Doom, willingly helping Batman fight off the Parademon invasion.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Video Game (2010): Catwoman is the mastermind behind the game's first "Episode", working together with supervillain Catman to turn the city of Gotham into cats so they could rob the city of its riches. Having Catman distract Batman and Robin with a robbery while she sets up the plan, she first makes herself known by swiftly rescuing Catman from the duo with a stun bomb. Being chased by the heroes, she manages to lure them to an abandoned building, using its crumbling interior to her advantage before blowing the building up with Batman and Robin inside it, the two only surviving due to luck. Sending goons to check if the heroes are alive, she and Catman successfully transform the city and take refuge in Wayne Manor, before taking on the Dynamic Duo one last time, only being beaten by the secret entrances scattered around.
- DC Universe Online Legends: Lex Luthor, after abandoning his xenophobic ways, proves to be just as an effective hero as a villain without losing his ruthless edge. After joining the Justice League yet being framed by Brainiac, Lex recruits his former villainous allies to his cause, realizing the heroes will refuse to cross that line. After helping Future Batman defeat his present self, Lex then coordinates with his own future self to defeat Brainiac, intending to cause a time paradox to stop him. Leading the Justice League as well as the new heroes and villains, Lex not only convinces Clark to work with him, but tricks Brainiac into massacring his own allies to give them an edge, even proving worthy of Hal's ring in the process. With Brainiac's allies gone, Lex and his future self work together to successfully reset the timeline to before Brainiac's invasion, even when he knows that he must return to a life he's now ashamed of for the sake of the universe.
- LittleBigPlanet 2 (2011): DC Comics Premium Level Pack DLC: Lex Luthor is once again the brilliant Arch-Enemy of the Justice League, as well as the leader of the Dark Alliance. Plotting to use the heroes to power his mecha suit to Take Over the World, he invades the Watchtower and abducts each member before they could react, placing them all over the world with his Dark Alliance members watching over them, each one also being guarded by harrowing platforming challenges. Operating many of the traps himself during the final stage, he manages to get his mech to full power before challenging Sackperson to a duel, putting up a good fight before being beaten.
- Batman: The Telltale Series: Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot, is a wealthy military contractor seeking vengeance against the Wayne name for his horrific childhood. Scarred by a past of tragedy, Lawton witnessed his cherished older brother's murder at the hands of their abusive parents, going on to avenge his sibling by coldly murdering his parents and getting away with it at the age of fourteen. In adulthood, Lawton learns that his parents were enabled and kept out of law enforcement's eyes by Thomas Wayne, and, blaming the long-dead man and his living associates for his brother's death, Lawton becomes the assassin "Deadshot." Beginning to track down and systematically murder all of Wayne's former compatriots, Deadshot confronts and outwits Batman himself with several traps and decoys, and even kidnaps the man's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, to use as a hostage. Planning to force Batman to either kill him or let the hostage associates of Thomas Wayne die, Deadshot can only express respect and acceptance for Batman when beaten, simply moving on to join a government task force for an early release from prison with a smile.
- LEGO DC Super-Villains Sidequest "Krypto-might Need Some Help": The evil clone of Jimmy Olsen, created by Darkseid to trick and destroy Superman, tricks the player into freeing him from his prison and has them escort him to a teleporter to earth. Revealing his deceptions and instructing you to teleport him, you can either do what he says and he rewards you, or you can try to teleport him to the sun, at which point he reveals that he hacked the lever in advance to teleport him to earth anyways, nonetheless still rewarding you for your troubles.
- Gotham Knights (2022): Dr. Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn, is a supervillain operating in Gotham City and a former lover of the Joker. After hearing rumors of Batman's death, she sends the Knights a video showing the book of profiles containing evidence of a centuries-long conspiracy she put together for him at Blackgate. She then orchestrates a prison riot in order to escape. Adopting the persona "Dr. Q", she hosts seminars and podcasts meant to exploit the emotionally vulnerable and hosts an event at the Monarch Theater to show off her new implant to the crowd, convincing them to buy their own implants while hiding the fact they remove inhibitions to allow mind control. After the hero battles through multiple riots to reach Harley Quinn, she reveals the remote she is using to control those with her implants and engages in a battle where she makes use of both her devotees and an electrified hammer. The hero manages to disarm Harley of her mind control remote and breaks it, freeing the devotees of her control before managing to subdue Harley herself. While being arrested, Harley initially accuses the Knights of cheating, before complimenting them on getting better at apprehending criminals and accepting her defeat.
