The finale of Batman's story in the Batman: Arkham Knight puts a heavy emphasis on horror elements throughout, whether it's the main quest or the side missions.
Like all three previous games, Batman: Arkham Knight depicts the villains as sinister as possible which leads to creepy encounters. In some cases, the encounters can look and feel straight out of a horror movie but which villains are the scariest? Can any of them even compare to Scarecrow?
Two-Face
Batman's once-good friend Harvey Dent is given a much larger role in Batman: Arkham Knight. This time, he's robbing all of the banks in Gotham City and it's up to Batman to stop him. The main source of intimidation comes from Two-Face's appearance; the graphical fidelity shows off in great detail how deep the wounds that earn him his villain name goes.
From muscle tissue to tendons stretching, Rocksteady went into great detail to make Two-Face's affliction as realistic as possible. Combined with a sinister and memorable performance by Troy Baker, Two-Face remains a stand-out villain of the Batman: Arkham series.
Azrael
This mysterious figure is a servant of The Order Of St. Dumas and even in Arkham City, he came off as ominous: always watching Batman from afar. In Arkham Knight, he claims to be a follower of Batman's ways, trying to claim his place as the new Dark Knight should Batman fall.
It's later revealed that Azrael is programmed by The Order Of St. Dumas to kill Batman should he not give his reins to him willingly. The mysteriousness of the Order combined with the hints of what they did to Azrael revealed a disturbing secret order similar to The Court Of Owls but Azrael himself is also an intimidating foe and, depending on what the player chooses, can lead to him becoming a blind servant for the Order.
The Mad Hatter
Now speaking in rhymes, The Mad Hatter returns yet again to send Batman through a psychedelic misadventure. This time, The Mad Hatter is determined to make Batman his new Alice which is a hint as to how far his obsession has gone.
Even when held by the throat by Batman, he shows no fear and he claims to no longer feel pain. From taking hostages Though not terrifying, The Mad Hatter is at his most creepy in Arkham Knight and part of that is due to Peter MacNichol's performance; one of several consistent celebrity voices in the Batman: Arkham games.
Ra's Al Ghul
Despite being the face of the DLC mission, Ra's Al Ghul does not appear very often. Loyalist of the League Of Assassins have retrieved his body and resurrected him. After so many uses of the Lazarus chemical, resurrection has come at a price: he's more akin to a zombie than an immortal.
As he sits upon a throne on life , he sports glowing eyes, a shriveled-up husk of a body, his wounds from the Arkham City incident on full display, and a raspy voice. At this point, Ra's has become less than human and he gives off an eeriness that matches his appearance.
Hush
Though he does not sport his iconic bandage face, he does wear a perfect replica of Bruce Wayne's face which is equally as disturbing considering the number of people he killed to make it. At first, the player controls Hush, giving the illusion that they are simply playing as Bruce Wayne until he attacks Lucius Fox and fires at a secretary.
When Hush takes Lucius Fox as a hostage, there is genuine tension. Batman: Arkham Knight was unafraid to kill off famous characters so first-time players could be threatened by Hush. Hush also features a disturbing backstory, proving to be mentally unwell for much longer than Batman had expected.
Killer Croc
Killer Croc's condition has advanced severely thus making him even more reptilian and much bigger. For the first portion of his side mission in Arkham Knight, Croc is stalking Batman from under the water, pulling dead bodies underneath, and making splashes. This continues why Killer Croc was one of the scariest villains in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
When Croc does show up, the player does not quite expect his new mutated form as he jumpscares Batman and kidnaps the warden. The horror changes after that once the player learns what tortures and experiments were conducted on Killer Croc and other inmates, turning the Warden into more of a monster than the actual monster.
The Joker
After his death in Arkham City, nobody expected Joker to return in Batman: Arkham Knight, let alone in the way that he does. Due to Joker infecting Batman with his blood, Batman is slowly becoming a copy of Joker in mind. Joker's phantom haunts Batman throughout the story and Mark Hamill provides his iconic Joker voice as per usual.
At first, Joker comes off as a comedic sidekick with a twisted sense of humor but slowly, his corruption continues to affect Batman. He unravels his plans to take over Batman's body and become the world's most dangerous villain which makes him even more terrifying and even more dangerous than Scarecrow or the Arkham Knight.
Scarecrow
Scarecrow has surgically merged his mangled face with the iconic gas mask he's known for wearing. The result is a monstrous design, resembling an undead zombie with chemical injectors. Meanwhile, his voice has changed drastically from similar to horror legend Vincent Price.
Scarecrow is the evil mastermind of Batman: Arkham Knight and he creates a new fear toxin along with a weapon that can cover the entire Eastern Seaboard in the said gas. This is similar to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and just like that film, it's a realistic and scary plan. Combining all this with the mental and emotional torture he puts Batman through, Scarecrow is an effectively scary villain.
Professor Pyg
In a more grounded villainous plot, Laszlo Valentin abducts innocent people and mutilates them, twisting them into his definition of perfection known as Dollotrons. These victims no longer feel pain, are blindly obedient to him, and wear porcelain masks mixed with bandages to resemble dolls.
Valentin himself wears a pig mask to hide his disfigurement while always harmonizing in an operatic note. The horror of Professor Pyg is because he is not that different from some serial killers in the real world which makes the fear factor more fathomable. His victims suffer a fate worse than death thus making the player hate and fear him.
Man-Bat
The player discovers his existence when roaming Miagani Island and upon grappling to a random ledge, they are greeted to one of the series' most famous scares with Man-Bat roaring at the camera before flying off. Man-Bat is scarier than he's ever been depicted, given a more disfigured and twisted design to resemble an experiment gone wrong.
When the mission leads to his lab, Batman discovers a video of Kirk Langstrom's attempt to mix his DNA with that of a bat that transforms him into Man-Bat. It resembles a found footage horror film as Kirk transforms off-screen then murders his own wife. This adds a tragedy to Man-Bat's story while effectively turning his side-quest into a mix of sci-fi, body horror, and creature feature.
