There are a lot of stomach-churning villains in Batman’s collection of villains, but the most disturbing was a Joker creation. It looks like the Harlequin of Hate’s antics have the unfortunate byproduct of making new and unsettling foes.
The Caped Crusader’s lot in life is to protect the eternally tormented Gotham from the many forces of evil that wish it harm. At one point, that may have meant stopping mobsters and random attacks on the streets. But as time has gone on, the city has been beset by a number of strange villains ready to prey on innocent civilians. Batman’s rogues’ gallery is filled to the brim with terrifying villains such as Scarecrow, Professor Pyg, and the terrifying Joker. And while the Dark Knight has helped keep his enemies at bay with the help of his family, Gotham’s criminal element continues to grow, creating new and even more disturbing enemies.
Joker Helped Create a Villain Made of Sentient Roaches
But it seems like the Joker had a hand in creating one of the most disgusting villains ever to roam the streets of Gotham. In Batman: Gotham Knights #22 by Devin Grayson and Roger Robinson, a man is swarmed by cockroaches at his apartment and begins stalking Gotham, killing innocent people. Batman sends Stephanie Brown to trail him after she discovers the shady character making mischief. However, Spoiler gets the shock of her life when she sees the figure pull off the head off a homeless man. But while communicating with Batman, she’s throttled by the villain, whom Stephanie realizes is a collection of bugs in the shape of a man. Batman comes to Spoiler’s assistance and theorizes that the Joker’s virus infected cockroaches and gave them sentience, creating the villain that Bruce dubs ‘Kafka’.
Gotham has always been home to some of the most disturbing villains, but Kafka may take the cake. Joker Venom is known to be a highly lethal material on the level to the point that it’s considered to be on the same level of the bubonic plague. And while the Clown Prince of Crime can do serious damage with his cocktails and poisons, the virus he fashioned from his concoctions did something no one expected: Made a completely brand-new villain by raising the intelligence of cockroaches. The Joker is undoubtedly dangerous, but Kafka’s existence raises the villain’s profile to a new level.
Joker’s Disturbing Creation Redefines His Toxins’ Power
Anyone who has seen the victim of Joker Venom doesn’t need to be told twice how dangerous it is. But the Joker’s toxin was able to turn thousands of cockroaches into one unified villain that terrorized one of Batman’s allies. If cockroaches could be ‘Jokerized’ and turned into villains, why not larger or deadlier animals? The science behind the clown’s grim mixture might not be known, but clearly he’s tapped into something that could create a new kind of villain to haunt Gotham. Batman should just be thankful he got the disgusting Kafka, and that Joker’s Venom didn’t create anything worse.
