7 Villains Batman Has NEVER Defeated

7. Lady Shiva

Even by Batman's own admission, Lady Shiva is the best hand-to-hand fighter in the realm of the DC Universe.

The Caped Crusader may be at the very peak of human conditioning in terms of body and mind, and he may have trained under the tutelage of some of the best martial artists on the planet, not to mention have a genius-level IQ to help him out, yet even he bows down to the clinical, badass nature of Lady Shiva.

Whenever Batman and Shiva have faced off, neither have particularly got the upper hand. That said, there's so often a sense that Lady Shiva is holding back whenever she comes up against the Dark Knight - with both fighters knowing who would really win should they properly engage in a fight to the death.

There's no shame whatsoever in being bested by Lady Shiva. Many a hero and villain haven been left lifeless at the feet of Shiva, and Batman is just one in a long, long list of people who are unable to get one up on this supervillain-turned-occasional antihero.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 13th Feb 2020

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