8. Bane
Retarded: Joel Schumacher's universally reviled Batman & Robin makes a joke out of fan favourite villain Bane, relegating him to a peripheral baddie role as a comically oversized goon who is easily taken to task by Batgirl and Robin rather than the Caped Crusader himself. And what was this in service of? That's right, to give the limelight to...Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy. Terrible.
Reimagined: His name will be appearing a few times in this list, so trust Christopher Nolan to get things right; his vision of Bane as a more realistically-proportioned though still incredibly menacing terrorist did a potent job of living up to the enormous shadow cast by Heath Ledger's Joker. Tom Hardy's idiosyncratic vocal inflexion and sheer intimidation factor made him a very different foe for Batman, both savagely intelligent and physically ferocious, most notably as he breaks Bats' back and shoves him into a literal pit of despair.