12. Christian Bale (Batman) - The Dark Knight Trilogy
Bruce Wayne may be pretty far from Christian Bale's best work as an actor, but he made for an iconic and very different Wayne from what audiences were accustomed to. Bale's Bruce is a tortured, psychologically complex character (as is more than can be said for West, Kilmer or Clooney's interpretations), and he's also considerably beefier than any of the portrayals that came before him: he is a total physical specimen, and therefore infinitely more convincing when he dons the Batsuit. Bale's Batman has been relatively divisive, namely the bizarre Bat-growl he employed in the latter two Nolan movies, but combined with the director's singular, dark vision, he helped created a Caped Crusader that was completely unlike any we had ever seen on screen before. In fairness, Bale was often outshone by the performances of the villains (particularly in the last two films), but he's exactly what he needed to be: initially arrogant, stoic, and absolutely terrifying once he puts on the cape and cowl. As a result, the only Batman who can even dream of coming close to Bale's portrayal is Michael Keaton (though Bale benefited from having better material to work with).