of Monks and Vampires
Batman's 2nd ever villain in the comics, the Mad Monk, was created by Gardener Fox and Bob Kane for Detective Comics #31 in 1939. The first super natural character, predating Ra's Al Ghul by 30 years, the unnamed monk is a vampire, the Dracula kind. He wears a red robe and hooded mask, depicted above, looking eerily similar to a klansman. The monk has hypnotism powers, and can turn himself into a wolf.
The original character is a Hungarian lord with a plan to dominate the world with an army of female werewolves. The Monk kidnaps women and turns them into monsters. He is assisted by Dala, the first female sidekick, starting a trend in DC comics that gave us Talia, Query and Echo, March Harriet, Dollhouse, Harley Quinn, and Punchline.
The Monk and Dala attempt to kidnap and turn Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. Obviously this was a mistake, and Batman rescues the girlfriend, and kills both vampires with silver bullets.
In 1982, Gerry Conway brough the character back in Detective Comics #515. This time, instead of a Hungarian lord, the vampire is an undead Antebellum plantation owner who was killed and cursed during a slave revolt. Batman defeats them this time with the help of an exorcist.
In 2006, Matt Wagner rewrote classic Batman stories in the Dark Moon Rising series. In his version, the monk leads a vampiric cult from his manor in Gotham. Unlike previous versions, Dala is a human woman and member of the cult, not a vampire like her leader.
Like a lot of other earlier characters, elements of the monk ended up being used in other later characters. His vampirism is used for Gustav Decobra (1976), and Nocturna (1983). His cult leader persona was used for Maxie Zeus (1979), and then again for Deacon Blackfire (1988). Ra's al Ghul has elements taken from the monk as well, a mysterious foreign agent with a supernatural background, leading a secret army.... But, Mary the Queen of Blood recycled all these elements in 1981 as a kidnapping vampire, cult leader. I think the monk is an important early character for the development of Batman storytelling, but i dont see any reason to resurrect this character and use him in new stories.