10 Pathetic Comic Book Villains You Just Feel Sorry For
8. Kite Man
It goes without saying that a kite-oriented crook like Kite Man is obviously ridiculous. But when the character was rebooted during DC's Rebirth, the character was somehow made even more pathetic.
In the 2017 story, The War of Jokes and Riddles, the Joker and the Riddler initiated a territory war throughout Gotham to decide which of them had the right to kill Batman. Batman located one of Joker's ex-employees, Charles Brown, and convinced him to infiltrate the Clown Prince of Crime's inner circle. Brown did so by taking on a supervillain persona, Kite Man.
When Edward Nygma learned that Brown joined the Joker's ranks, he had his son poisoned to death. In the story's climax, the Riddler revealed that the war was orchestrated by him solely to make the Joker laugh, since he had completely lost his sense of humour several weeks prior. Nygma had to devise a scenario so stupid, Batman's nemesis would have to find it hilarious.
Nygma made Brown become Kite Man, knowing that being defeated by such a ludicrous supervillain would make the Joker chuckle. So, Kite Man was literally created for a joke.