While Gotham placed a great deal of focus on the evolution of Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne, the show truly excelled when focusing on its villains. The villains provided the vibrant quirks and campy nature that allowed Gotham to find its identity and hit its stride. Each of them helped raise the stakes in a different way and sometimes made the audience want to root for them even more than Jim Gordon or Bruce Wayne.
With so many villains to choose from, this list has been narrowed down to the most significant villains from Gotham's 5 season run. They are ranked according to a combination of their strength, impact on the city of Gotham, and their pure villainy.
Updated December 28th, 2020 by Matthew Rudoy: More than a year after its series finale aired, Gotham continues to be a hit with many fans, especially when it comes to the show's fascinating villains. Considering the extensive and colorful cast of villains introduced throughout the series, it is only fitting to add more of them to this list, highlighting the ones whose cunning and sinister ways truly tested Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, and the very existence of Gotham itself. Some of these villains shined through multiple seasons while others only had a chance to terrorize Gotham for a single season, but all of them were memorable and influential in their unique ways.
Tabitha Galavan
Tabitha Galavan played an integral role in helping many of Gotham's most ambitious and formidable villains. She and her brother Theo Galavan hatched a sinister plot to avenge their Dumas ancestors. Tabitha broke several cutthroat criminals out of Arkham Asylum and then murdered the ones who wouldn't cooperate or if they were captured by the authorities. Her brutality only grew as she murdered Oswald Cobblepot's mother, stabbing her in the back and forcing her to die in her son's arms. When a GCPD officer found her in a later episode, she crushed his throat and killed him with the heel of her shoe.
The Galavans' plot was eventually foiled, but Tabitha lived on as a dangerous foe who aided other villains. She allied herself with Butch Gilzean after he dubbed himself the "King of Gotham." Tabitha's villainous ways truly manifested again when partnering with Barbara Kean as they created a nightclub known as the Sirens and ruled much of Gotham's criminal underworld.
Ivy Pepper
Ivy Pepper went through many transformations as a character. She began as a child orphaned through tragic circumstances. Everything changed when Ivy was touched by Marv, an Indian Hill experiment whose powers were like the reverse of the Fountain of Youth, aging anyone he touched until they died. Ivy was only touched by Marv briefly before breaking free, which transformed her into the body of a woman roughly a decade older, but she still had the mind of her younger self. This version of the character--played by Maggie Geha--seduced, controlled, and stole from much of Gotham's elite through her use of a hypnotic pheromone scent made through her unparalleled knowledge of plants. Ivy also saved the villainous Oswald Cobblepot and became an ally for him.
After ingesting a mystical poison, Ivy underwent an even more radical transformation that not only changed her appearance again but also gave her the ability to poison others simply by touching them. This version of Ivy--played by Peyton List--became an eco-terrorist. Her ability to poison through mere touch, hypnotize others to do her bidding, and combining her mutated blood with the Lazarus water threatened Gotham in unique ways that no other villain ever achieved.
Sofia Falcone
Sofia Falcone was more ruthless and dangerous than her father and longtime mob boss Carmine Falcone. She unleashed the serial killer Professor Pyg on the city of Gotham, using his brutal murders of corrupt police officers and wealthy civilians to destroy Oswald Cobblepot's criminal empire and to take control of the Gotham City Police Department.
Sofia blackmailed the honorable Jim Gordon and found a way to get him under her thumb for a while. She crushed Lee Thompkins' hand with a hammer and even had her own father Carmine Falcone murdered. Unlike her father who had a code of honor and used his criminal empire to maintain a sense of order in Gotham, Sofia only cared about power and revenge, and she was willing to do anything to achieve those ends.
Fish Mooney
Fish Mooney was a powerful member of Carmine Falcone's criminal empire, but that wasn't enough for her. She nearly succeeded in killing Falcone from within and becoming the queen of Gotham. Even though she lost her power as a result of this failure and endured a series of horrific events while trapped on the island of the sadistic Dr. Dulmacher, Fish returned to Gotham with new forces behind her and killed the mob boss Sal Maroni.
Death couldn't stand in Fish's way as she was resurrected, now with the power to influence others to do her bidding through touch. Her true legacy, though, was shaping Oswald Cobblepot into becoming the fearsome and enduring kingpin of Gotham.
The Court of Owls
The Court of Owls was a mysterious and powerful organization that controlled Gotham from the shadows. They played an integral role in the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and held sway over everything from Wayne Enterprises to Indian Hill. They even planned to wipe out everyone in Gotham in order to "cleanse" the city.
Much of Hugo Strange's work regarding resurrection happened at the behest of the Court of Owls. They unleashed their fair share of merciless villains on the city, including the Executioner and their assassins known as Talons. As influential and dangerous as the Court of Owls were, they were only a means to an end for the show's ultimate villain Ra's al Ghul.
Nyssa al Ghul
Nyssa al Ghul was Gotham's ultimate big bad in the show's final season. When Gotham became No Man's Land, she ensured they remained cut off from the rest of the world and took steps to actively harm the trapped citizens, such as when she used Edward Nygma to destroy Haven, one of the last safe places in Gotham where innocent civilians had gathered for shelter and security.
Nyssa employed Hugo Strange and used him to resurrect and control Edward Nygma and Lee Thompkins. She was also responsible for having Hugo Strange turn Eduardo Dorrance into the brutish Bane. With these villains and the U.S. military under her control, Nyssa came dangerously close to destroying Gotham to avenge her father's death and fulfill his vision.
Theo Galavan/Azrael
Essentially two villains wrapped into one, Theo Galavan/Azrael earns himself a spot in the top nine despite only appearing in Gotham's second season. First, Theo Galavan took political control of Gotham when he became mayor. He captured Penguin's mother and blackmailed Penguin into killing the other mayoral candidates. Theo went back on the deal and ultimately had Penguin's mother killed in front of him. From cops to criminals like Jerome Valeska and Barbara Kean, Theo put all manner of Gotham's people into his pocket.
Even after Theo's death, he became a new villain as he was resurrected by Hugo Strange. Theo was made to believe that he was Azrael, a vengeful warrior tied to the Order of St. Dumas. Azrael hurt many people—including his own sister Tabitha—and it was only through a rocket launcher provided by Penguin and Butch Gilzean that Azrael was defeated, this time for good.
Barbara Kean
Barbara Kean's gradual journey made her one of the show's most satisfying villains to watch. She kicked things off with the shocking reveal that she killed her parents after a season of fans believing she was nothing more than a thinly developed love interest for Jim Gordon.
It was when Barbara partnered up with Tabitha Galavan and started the nightclub known as the Sirens that she truly came became a queen of Gotham and came into her own as a villain. The criminal underworld trembled before her, and her strength only grew as Ra's al Ghul's successor and the new Demon's Head.
Hugo Strange
Through cruel experimentation, Hugo Strange was responsible for creating many of Gotham’s fiercest villains, including Azrael and a resurrected Fish Mooney. He also brought Edward Nymga and Lee Thompkins back to life and implanted chips in them that allowed them to be controlled for a while by Nyssa al Ghul and Eduardo Dorrance.
In service to the Court of Owls, Strange not only weaponized Alice Tetch's blood virus and turned it into a bomb that devastated Gotham, but he also contracted the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, the tragedy that triggered the entire show.
Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter
Jervis Tetch was one of Gotham's most twisted villains. He was clearly abusive toward his sister Alice and frequently used hypnosis to make others do things against their will. Blaming his sister's death on Jim Gordon, Jervis later arranged a demented tea party where he forced Gordon to choose either Lee Thompkins or Valerie Vale, with Jervis ultimately shooting the woman Jim didn't pick.
In his quest to avenge his sister's death, Jervis infected Mario Falcone with Alice's blood. This drove Mario insane to the point where he nearly killed Lee, forcing Jim to kill Mario and turning Lee's lingering love for Jim into hate. The Mad Hatter's insanity only amplified as he later allied with Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, hypnotizing countless individuals in order to actualize the Valeska brothers' monstrous plans. This included hijacking a radio station so anyone listening to it would go to a rooftop and jump off at midnight.
Edward Nygma/The Riddler
At first, Edward Nygma was just a quirky forensics investigator for the GCPD and he genuinely meant well. The alienation he endured drove him to the breaking point where he snapped and ultimately became the Riddler and one of Gotham's best villains.
Arguably no one came closer to defeating Jim Gordon than Nygma. He successfully framed Gordon in the death of Carl Pinkey, a cop who in reality Nygma had killed. Nygma got Gordon sent to Blackgate Prison and made the honorable cop continue to look guilty after his escape. After learning of Penguin's role in Isabella's death, Nygma brilliantly and cruelly dethroned Penguin. He became fully entrenched in his Riddler persona, terrorizing and outsmarting Gotham on numerous occasions.
Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin
Penguin forever changed the hierarchy of power and villainy in Gotham. In the first season of the series, the city was controlled by mob bosses like Carmine Falcone, Fish Mooney, and Sal Maroni. In Penguin's unorthodox approach to successfully ousting them, the traditional mobsters faded and supervillains emerged in their place. The Riddler, Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, and many other villains would never have risen to power without Penguin shifting the status quo. By working with or for the "King of Gotham" Penguin gave more legitimacy to these figures.
Penguin was also one of the best when it came to successfully delivering revenge, something many Gotham villains failed to achieve. For the death of his mother, Penguin swore he would get revenge against Theo and Tabitha Galavan. He helped destroy a resurrected Theo with a rocket launcher, killed his friend Butch so Tabitha could feel the pain of losing the person she loved most, and then killed Tabitha in front of her partner Barbara. The only reason Penguin isn't the top-ranked villain is there were too many times when his enemies robbed him of his power and he had to struggle to climb to the top again.
Jerome Valeska
Killing his mother was only the tip of the iceberg for Jerome. He led the Maniax—a group of Arkham Asylum inmates freed by Theo and Tabitha Galavan—and they created chaos all around Gotham. The most savage chaos came when Jerome and the Maniax infiltrated the GCPD, massacring the police, with Jerome killing the brave commissioner Sarah Essen. He terrorized the city plenty of other times as well, including his plan to poison the people of Gotham with the laughing toxin created by the Scarecrow.
What truly made Jerome one of the strongest villains is the impact and legacy he left behind. Jerome died twice, and after both times, his followers continued to worship him and emulate his insanity. Even after his second and final death, Jerome's legacy lived on forever by infecting his twin brother with a special dose of the laughing toxin, which forever transformed Jeremiah.
Jeremiah Valeska
While Jerome Valeska thrived on anarchy, his twin brother Jeremiah was more meticulous and obsessive, providing the kind of clear vision which Jerome lacked. Jeremiah worked with Ra's al Ghul to blow up the city's bridges and turn Gotham into a No Man's Land. He recreated the events of the night Bruce Wayne's parents died, this time with Jeremiah playing a key role in Bruce's origin story.
This included hypnotizing two individuals into thinking they were Thomas and Martha Wayne and surgically altering their personalities to look identical to Bruce's parents. Even after this plan failed and he plunged into a vat of chemicals, Jeremiah spent years pretending to be brain-dead in Arkham Asylum, biding his time until Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham so he could incinerate the new Wayne Enterprises tower and terrorize the city in a way it hadn't been since No Man's Land. In the aftermath of the series, Jeremiah is clearly poised to be Batman's greatest foe.
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul is the ultimate Gotham villain. Between Nyssa al Ghul, Barbara Kean, the Shaman, the Court of Owls, and Hugo Strange, many of Gotham's most important villains and their motives tie back to Ra's in one way or another. Thousands of years old, with infinite knowledge, the ability to resurrect the dead via the Lazarus Pit, and countless villains at his command, no villain was as powerful or influential as Ra's.
Working with Jeremiah Valeska, Ra's successfully turned Gotham into No Man's Land, sparking the cataclysmic events that would force Bruce Wayne to become the dark knight that was prophesied. With Gotham heavily focusing its endgame on Bruce's evolution into Batman, arguably no one was more important to helping Bruce get there than Ra's al Ghul.