Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions

** Signalman got his start as a crook who figured he needed some gimmick to be successful, so taking inspiration from the Bat-Signal, he embarked on crimes where, like the Riddler, he left clues for the hero. But signals just don't grab a fan's attention as much as riddles do, and his costume looked like some kid scribbled all over it.

** Calendar Man started out as a lame villain. Julian Gregory Day (his name is ''three puns in one'') committed crimes on holidays with an appropriate theme. (For instance, dressing as Uncle Sam on Independence Day and robbing historic museums.) And he made really bad puns doing it. In recent years, however, he's [[Took a Level in Badass|become more serious]] and is seen in darker stories, becoming a ''little'' better and less of a joke.

** Most characters designed by comic legends Bob Kane and Bill Finger would be A-list, but the Penny Plunderer was anything but. Joe Coyne [[Punny Name|(another pun there)]] was a newspaper seller who was fired for stealing pennies, and turned to crime over an obsession for them. But it gets worse. He was the ''original owner of the giant penny'', the one proudly displayed in the Batcave. DC was [[Old Shame|so embarrassed by this story]], they gave it a [[Retcon]] that attributed the giant penny to one of Two-Face's schemes, banishing the Penny Plunderer from canon.

** Poka-Dot Man, a guy in a bodysuit covered with multicolored poka-dots. Truthfully, this guy had a lot of pretty cool gadgets, but his ridiculous costume and name made it very hard for ''anyone'' to take him seriously.