Three of DC’s most infamous villains are united by their love of gambling. The Joker, the Penguin and Two-Face share a bond over their adoration for causing chaos via an unpredictable outcome. Let’s examine then how each of these three famous faces utilise gambling in their everyday campaigns of terror against the good people of Gotham City.
Two-Face
One of the more obvious choices on this list, Two-Face’s gambling nature is apparent right down to his name. Formerly known as Gotham Police’s Harvey Dent, an acid attack took its toll not just physically, but mentally too. Two-Face’s split personality persona and appearances makes him a super-villain ripe for gambling tactics, defined by his use of a special coin to determine the fate of any dangerous situation he may have concocted.
Any newcomer to Batman lure is recommended to investigate the two comic book stories Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory, both by Jeph Leob and Tim Sale. The two books are set in the early years of Batman’s efforts as a vigilante of Gotham, and depict Harvey’s metamorphosis into Two-Face and the fallout of Batman having to contend with a new, gambling-themed villain in his rogues gallery.
The Penguin
Perhaps the most obvious inclusion on this list is the character who runs an actual casino, even if it is covered in ice and available only to Gotham’s elite underworld. The Iceberg Lounge gives us an interesting symbol of gambling’s longevity in the Batman world. Rather than tear down the seedy establishment as the hot spot of crime it is, Batman often uses the venue as a hub for inside information on the criminal underworld.
The Joker
The Joker’s gambling methods may not be as apparent as the Penguin’s or Two-Face’s, but his love for unpredictable outcome is rife across many a classic Batman story. For modern, mainstream audiences, the Joker’s gambling nature is on full display in The Dark Knight, in which he gambles the people of Gotham themselves, forcing two separate boat-loads of people, (one prisoners and one civilian) to decide who should blow who out of the water.
The Joker’s gambling tactics are perhaps best reflected in his love for chaos, something that’s caused calamity not only when battling superheroes, but also when he worked with other supervillains. That sense of gambling away his own routine plans of victory against Batman has made the Joker an endearing villain of the DC world.
Batman’s rogues gallery is filled with villains of all methods and from all walks of life who make use of gambling in their tactics. Gotham’s depiction as a city of the damned lends itself well to gambling mentalities, where its citizens may turn to gambling as a past-time – even using free slots, and its villains use it to score points against figures of authority.