Top 100 Batman VILLAINS

50 - Copperhead

#50 - Copperhead
First Appearance: Brave and the Bold #78 (Jul 1968)

"What will you tassssssste like?" ~Copperhead

I've been excited to write up this villain for a while; Copperhead is one of those villains who's been around for a long time, appeared all over the DCU, but really doesn't get the credit he deserves. He's honestly a very well-designed villain; Copperhead straddles the line between animal and human extremely well, giving enough of that primal animalistic nature to be threatening while retaining enough human intelligence and behavior to really come across as a cruel and evil human being. That's a hard balance to find, but writers have done it well with Copperhead, making him, in my opinion, the best snake-based character in all of comics (suck it Marvel's Serpent Society).

Copperhead is one of those villains that began in the Batman villain farm league but graduated to the entire DCU; for a while he worked as a cat burglar in Gotham, committing similar crimes to Catwoman but with a more brutal, murderous modus operandi. After a while, he was invited into the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and from there, he's fought against some of the biggest names in the business: the Flash, Justice League International, Elongated Man, Starman, Superboy... it's a long list. He's even been a member in one of the newer incarnations of the Suicide Squad. However, there has always been a tie to Gotham, and time and again he's returned to his original base of operations to menace the Bat.

Copperhead died a great death at the hands of Manhunter Kate Spencer in her short-lived but excellent series, but a new Copperhead was introduced in Arkham Origins. This female Copperhead certainly lives up to the reputation of the original Copperhead, and I think she'd be a worthy replacement if ever introduced into the DCU. Regardless, Copperhead has always been an impressive villain to me thanks to his excellent design and his ability to fit into nearly any superhero's franchise as a villain.

Greatest Copperhead Story Told: Starman: Infernal Devices - Not a Batman story? No way - Infernal Devices does an amazing job painting a new side of Copperhead. Copperhead's menace is so excellently displayed when he goes in to buy a transistor radio from one of Starman's antique dealing competitors; instead of fighting or posturing, Copperhead comes across as this dark, creepy predator without even attempting to be a bad guy; that's a sign of a well-written villain.