Anti-Batman

Overview
Anti-Batman is a term used to describe villains who borrow heavily from the Batman either in theme, style, background or M.O.. A significantly large amount of characters have been created with this purpose, some as primary Batman Villains, and others who meet Batman only tangentially. Although there are many villains who act as almost Batman copycats, the term "Anti-Batman" is also often applied to villains who mirror one classic Batman aspect, but pervert it in some way. Examples include:

The Wrath
Often considered the purest Anti-Batman is the villain known only as The Wrath, who first appeared in 1984. The Wrath's origin is a direct criminal parallel to that of the young Bruce Wayne's. His parents were a pair of burglars he idolized heavily until they were shot by a police officer. Although the police officer had believed the two were finishing a robbery, in reality they had been simply skipping out on their rent. The Wrath grew up hating all forms of the law, and swore revenge against it in a matter almost exactly the same as Batman's War on Crime. The Wrath traveled the globe honing his mind and body to near perfection, before beginning a one-man worldwide vendetta against those claimed as heroes for working to uphold the law. He even adopted a costume nearly identical to Batman's. Although the Wrath added firearms to his arsenal, and other items for lethal force, he also came equipped with a utility belt, Wrath-vehicles, and an outfit essentially Batman's, but maroon instead of black, and embedded with a "W" instead of a Bat-symbol. In his first appearance in Gotham City, he came into conflict with Batman while he was attempting to assassinate Commissioner Gordon. Although the original Wrath would eventually be defeated, his successor would later appear to fight Batman and Nightwing many years later as an act of revenge. This Wrath would also be apprehended.

Cat-Man
Appearing much earlier than the Wrath was "Thomas Blake," the nefarious Cat-Man. Cat-Man first appeared in 1963, and borrowed essentially his entire identity from Batman, the only notable difference being that everything was Cat-related instead of Bat-related. i.e., Cat-Man had a Catmobile, a Catrope, and threw Catarangs. Keeping in style with many other villains of the Silver Age, most of Cat-Man's crimes revolved around Cats. Thomas Blake was likewise a millionaire, but had formerly been a Big Game hunter. Throughout his career, he would also frequently team up with Catwoman, naturally as they had matching M.O.'s. However, Cat-Man was often considered sort of a joke amongst the villain community. He went so far as to actually join a team called the Misfits along with other second-string Batman Villains Killer Moth and Calendar Man. For awhile he descended into obscurity, and some meetings with Green Arrow revealed him to have sort of become a fat has-been loser. However, after being almost killed by Monsieur Mallah and Warp, he reexamined his life, and went to live in Africa for a time, joining a pride of lions who adopted him as family. During the events of Villains United, he joined the Secret Six to help combat the Secret Society of Super-Villains, who had slaughtered his lions in response to his refusal to join their ranks. At this time he revealed himself to be much more competent than he had ever been before, often proving a match for many members of the Society at once before he could be brought down. His time in Africa made him not only strong, but rugged and manly. Currently, he exists sort of outside of the title either "Hero" or "Villain." Although he never actively attempts to act evil, as a member of the Secret Six he functions as a mercenary, still occasionally coming into conflict with heroes. Cat-Man has stated he continues to associate with disreputable characters such as his close friend Deadshot, because he would rather be with those aware they are villains, than those claiming to be heroes who abuse their power.

Deathstroke the Terminator
Although he has only come into direct conflict with Batman a couple of times, Deathstroke is frequently recognized as a classic Anti-Batman largely in his relationship to Batman's protege Dick Grayson, "Nightwing" (formerly Robin). Originally "Slade Wilson," Deathstroke was trained in the U.S. Special Forces, and injected with a super-serum that unlocked his body's full potential. He has the strength of ten men, and his brain works at nearly 100% capacity, allowing him to strategize and plan his moves much more quickly and carefully than any normal human being. As "Deathstroke the Terminator," Slade is arguably the most dangerous assassin and mercenary in the world. Along with his peak human abilities and large lists of esoteric equipment, Deathstroke has other similarities with Batman such as his butler and companion "Wintergreen," a clear nod to Alfred Pennyworth. Deathstroke most often acts as a villain for the Teen Titans. Specifically, he comes into contact with Dick Grayson and Tim Drake (the third Robin) extremely frequently. Whereas Batman acts as a father figure to these two, Deathstroke provides an interesting parallel in his similar methods but much more violent and immoral ways. Creator Marv Wolfman has also stated Deathstroke to be a much more James Bond-like take on the idea. Deathstroke's most recent meeting with Batman was during the Battle of Metropolis, in which he was decisively defeated by a combination of all three heroes, Batman, Robin and Nightwing.

Bane
Hailing from the island of Santa Prisca, the man named only Bane was yet another interesting Batman parallel. Bane was a hulking behemoth of a man, whose brawny physique could only be matched by his ingenious mind. He determined Gotham City was sort of the ultimate proving ground, and launched a campaign to wear Batman down both physically and mentally until he had nearly reached his breaking point, then crippled him and took over Gotham's entire crime element for himself. This required immense studying of Batman on Bane's part, and Bane not only assembled a detailed psychological profile, but singlehandedly deduced Bruce Wayne's secret identity. Although Bane would eventually be defeated by Bruce Wayne's replacement, Jean-Paul Valley (who was later removed from the title back to his original persona of Azrael), he wouldn't come into contact with the genuine Batman again until Bane met and joined up Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, and the League of Assassins. During the events of both "Legacy" and "Bane of the Demon," Bane would actually gain Ra's' respect, causing Ra's to make an interesting change in judgment. In al Ghul's first encounter with Batman, he had been attempting to groom his as a possible husband for his daughter Talia, believing him to be at the peak of human ability. Bane was actually almost adopted by Ra's as his son-in-law, although the two were defeated by the Batman Family and had a falling out. Although Bane reformed for a time, and not only became an influential and positive political force in his native Santa Prisca, but teamed up with Batman on several occasions. He has recently however returned to his life as a villain, having killed the original Judomaster during the Battle of Metropolis.

Prometheus
TBD

Hush
TBD

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