Killer Croc
Killer Croc ( English killer "murderer" and Croc = a subsidiary form of the word crocodile , German "crocodile", which roughly corresponds to the German "crocodile") is a fictional character who appears in comics from the US publisher DC Comics - especially in those under the Batman - label appear - as well as in other related with these comics products occurs (such as cartoons, video games and the like). Usually it is the rogue gallery - the group of opponents (in superhero comics usually referred to with the judgmental term "villains") who make life difficult for the heroes of ongoing comic series at more or less regular intervals and from which the authors of those series follow Can create demand - attributed to Batman.
Killer Croc is a relatively well-known Batman villain, particularly due to the frequent appearances of a child-friendly variant of the character in Batman animated television series. He had his first appearance in 1983 in the comic book Batman # 357. It was created by the author Gerry Conway , the draftsman Don Newton and the Inker Alfredo Alcala .
Appearance
Without exception, Killer Croc is portrayed as a tall, broad-shouldered man with an athletic-muscular build in every one of his appearances. Due to a scale-like, dermatological malformation (mostly identified as ichthyosis ), his skin has a leathery, reptilian shell-like texture that is more or less pronounced depending on the draftsman and often varies in color. In most comics, however, Croc's skin is a dark shade of green and is usually divided into small, clearly contoured plates. In the animated series, however, it was kept in a light shade of gray and not divided. The scale-like hardening of his skin makes Croc particularly resilient, and with some artists he can even regenerate like a reptile. According to the publisher, Crocs is 1.95 meters tall and weighs 121 kilograms.
His eyes are usually shown as glowing red dots, but in the animated series and occasionally in some comics they look like normal human eyes. Croc's skull and face vary most clearly in the various notebooks: Sometimes he has practically human features that are only colored green, sometimes he has an almost completely dehumanized appearance with strong reptilian features and for a while he even became dinosaur-alligator-like Appearance shown (huge, swinging, crocodile-like snout-like jaw parts). As a rule, however, Croc is bald. Many other body features are accordingly handled "artistically freely" in their depiction: Sometimes he has normal hands, but sometimes also regular claws, sometimes normal rows of human teeth, sometimes pointed, (sometimes manually subsequently) sharply ground rows of fangs, then again huge predatory tusks.
In the cartoon series and in some comics, his skull has small but clearly recognizable bulges or horns on the temple sides and on the top, while otherwise it can usually be seen as completely smooth, showing no bumps at all.
In the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum he is depicted as a 2.74 meter tall and 263 kg heavy monster with crocodile-like skin and yellow eyes. It also has huge claws with sharp claws. His head looks like a cross between a human and a crocodile. In his mouth, which should rather be called a mouth, are rows of razor-sharp teeth. By and large, he no longer has anywhere near human traits, and his cruelty underlines that he is more monster than human.
Personal data
On his first appearance on the Batman comic series , it was revealed that Killer Croc was 35 years old at the time. Although there is no official data on how much time has now passed in the world of Batman comics, at least six to eight years can be estimated, so that Croc can safely be considered older than 40. Crocs birth name is Waylon Jones as his birth was a time slum of the city of Tampa ( Florida ) near the dam of the 22nd Street indicated. During his first appearances, Croc was identified as an African American, to what extent this fact still applies to him, or whether he has since been subsequently changed in favor of a "white" parentage, as many stories suggest, has not yet been clarified by the publisher.
On his first appearance, Croc was staged as a clever plan-maker (similar to Bane later), who stayed mostly in the background and gave orders to his henchmen from a safe distance. Later versions made him less intelligent and increased his willingness to fight for his own interests.
Character biography
Youth and early years
Waylon Jones grew up as an orphan in a slum in Tampa, Florida, with his alcoholic, financially troubled, and petty criminal aunt. This makes him one of the few villains not born in Gotham. The fate of his parents is unknown.
Due to the illness of the rare skin disease ichthyosis, Waylon's skin had a strange, flaky, hardened, greenish structure from early childhood. This change worsened with age, so that by the time he was ten years old, the children in his neighborhood called Jones "Croc" (English short for crocodile; in German about "crocodile"). Mocked, abused, ostracized, bullied and humiliated by his surroundings, Jones developed into a loner with no respect or understanding for social norms and rules, who was only able to assert himself in a hostile environment with brute force. Basically, he suffered the same fate as the Penguin , which is why the two get along pretty well later on. In some versions, Croc only went to school three times in his life.
As a teenager, he was regularly sent to juvenile prisons for minor offenses and physical attacks (he beat one of the children who bullyed him to a cripple) and was eventually sentenced to serving a prison sentence in a regular prison at the age of sixteen under adult criminal law. Croc was sentenced to death after beating a fellow inmate who had made fun of his appearance to death in an argument. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. After eighteen years in prison - and a period of relative peace - Croc was finally pardoned.
After his release from prison, Croc joined a wandering fair as an alligator wrestler (Batman # 358). From then on, he earned his living by defeating crocodiles and alligators in exhibition fights under the name Killer Croc , the "human alligator" to entertain the visitors to the fair . To make his appearance even stronger, he filed his teeth to a point and ate only raw meat, some of which he had captured himself. So he became more and more like his "brothers", the alligators, in his appearance and his way, up to his preference for damp, dark and cool places. During this time he also developed his current cold-bloodedness, and according to his own statement, he even threw a bystander who accused him of cheating of the alligators to eat.
King of the Underworld
While in prison, Croc had forged close ties to Tampa organized crime that he now wanted to use to make big bucks. He had chosen Gotham City, a city further north on the east coast of the United States and the home of the masked vigilante Batman, as a field of activity for his plans to make himself “King of the Underworld” in a certain area . After taking bloody revenge on a police officer who once abused him, he eventually settled in Gotham City (Batman # 359). There Croc first joined a gangster named Squid ("octopus"), who had made it his goal to fill the power vacuum in the city's underworld that had arisen after the fall of Rupert Thorne and Tony Falco. For the Squid, Croc initially extorted protection money from various people and businesses, including the Sloan Circus (Batman # 357). After Croc watched from a distance how Batman easily escaped a supposed death trap set by the Squid, he was convinced of the inability of his employer. There was a falling out between the two men, as a result of which Croc shot the Squid (Detective Comics # 524). After a successful break-in into the STAR laboratories, in which he stole an expensive Air Force computer , the members of the Gothamer Tobakkonisten-Klub (a kind of board of directors of the Gotham City underworld) agreed to recognize him as the boss of organized crime in the city (Batman # 358). In a first duel with Batman in the sewers of Gotham City , Croc was able to record a tactical victory for himself: He put the crime fighter, who was hopelessly inferior to Croc in his element (the water), to flight (Detective Comics # 525). Nevertheless, the leaders of the Gotham City gangs refused to acknowledge the promised recognition at a gathering in the reptile house of Croc Zoo and instead pledged their allegiance to the imprisoned Tony Falco. To underline his leadership one last time, Croc broke into Gotham City Prison and murdered Falco. In the meantime, acrobats Joe and Trina Todd - members of the Sloan Circus - had agreed to help Batman's assistant Robin find the people behind the protection money demands that were being made on their circus. In an attempt to inconspicuously shadow a collector of the Gotham mob , the couple, who were very inexperienced in these matters, fell into the hands of the mob and unexpectedly found themselves in the reptile house of the zoo. Croc killed the two intruders and left them to his "conspecifics" for consumption. At the final showdown in the Adams brewery, Batman was able to defeat Killer Croc, who had finally wanted to determine which of the two was the toughest, with the help of Jason Todd, the son of the murdered, and hand it over to the police. Months later, as part of a mass escape orchestrated by the terrorist Ra's al Ghul , Croc was freed from Gotham prison and charged with kidnapping Alfred Pennyworth , the butler of Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne. Croc, who did not know that his prisoner was the servant of his enemy, was shortly afterwards turned off by Batman with the help of anesthetic gas and taken back into custody (Batman # 400).
Hapless years
The retelling of Jason Todd's origin story in Batman # 408-411 (1987) erased the boy's circus past and Croc's involvement in the murder of his parents from the canonical Batman myth. An official part of the Batman continuity, however, remained Croc's childhood and youth, as well as his murder of the Squid and his attempt to usurp the leadership of the Gotham underworld (without the murder of the Todds and the involvement of Jason Todd). Another attempt to seize control of the Gotham underworld failed because of the resistance of the gang leader Black Mask . After a rampage in the streets of Gotham City in the course of which Croc killed 30 innocents with an incendiary bomb, Batman handed him over to Robert Huntoon , then head of Arkham Asylum (Swamp Thing # 66). Croc, however, decided to play the brain-damaged muscleman from now on, in order to be able to stay in the - less well-secured and therefore more suitable for escape attempts - Arkham asylum , in which insane criminals are kept, and not to be transferred to a safer prison.
After this mask was blown, Croc was taken into solitary confinement, where he regularly exercised himself to maintain his wrestler stature (Detective Comics # 604). In another escape attempt, Croc rips off the hand of a guard named Aaron Cash and then eats it. His attempt to break out is foiled, among other things with the help of an electric shock collar. Warden Cash barely survives the incident, but continues to work in Arkham after his recovery. Croc is then returned to solitary confinement. When the inmates of the asylum under the ring leadership of the Joker temporarily took control of the asylum during a riot, Croc was also freed from his cell. During the relief operation of Batman to recapture the institution, there was another fight between the vigilante and Croc, in which the latter was severely speared ( Batman: Arkham Asylum A Serious House in a Serious World ), which put him back in a wheelchair for a while captivated. An obscure incident triggered by his fellow inmate Tenzin Wyatt finally gave the recovered Croc the long-awaited opportunity to escape (1991; The Demon # 11). Once at liberty, Croc entered into a short-lived thief partnership with the Riddler that ended with his capture by Superman (Legends of the World's Finest # 2) and his return to Arkham (Legends of the World's Finest # 3).
From there, however, he was soon able to flee again and escape into the subway tunnel under Gotham City. As a side effect of the electroshock therapy with which he was attempted to be treated, Croc briefly developed (as a result of the increased release of adrenaline stimulated by the electrical impulses ) the additional physical strength that enabled him to break the chains that held him in place and free himself. Killer Croc found shelter with a group of street people around an old woman named Marcy, who accepted him into their group. Croc's thefts for his new "family" finally put Batman back on his track. After Batman found Crocs hiding place, the two fight again. However, the duel between the opponents was put to an end by the flooding of a sewer pipe in which the two were located. While Batman was able to save himself, Croc was washed away by the torrential tide (Batman # 571).
Croc survived without any human company, kept in secret, fed on river water and rats for weeks. When Croc was startled by a group of homeless people, his haunted childhood memories were brought back to life. In a fit of delirium, the deluded Croc mistook everyone he saw, from passers-by to mannequins, for his childhood tormentors. The rampage caught the attention of Batman, Robin and the terrorist Bane , who came up with the idea of proving himself a worthy opponent by defeating Batman's old adversary. When Croc met Bane, this Croc easily defeated in a duel and broke both of his arms (Batman # 489).
"Animalization" and re-humanization Crocs: Knightfall to No Man's Land
Just days later, Croc - whose broken arms were wrapped in heavy plaster repositories - managed to escape again to freedom during a mass escape from Arkham Asylum orchestrated by Bane (Batman # 491). A rematch with Bane ended in a draw with Crocs' repeated disappearances (Detective Comics # 660). After Croc had remained in secret for a long time, Dick Grayson, who was wearing the Batman costume as a replacement for the recovering Bruce Wayne, became aware of Croc through a series of mysterious deaths near the Gotham River and was able to arrest him after a tough duel ( Batman # 512). Once again housed in the Arkham Asylum, Croc was haunted in his dreams by visions that whispered into him the idyll of a peaceful existence in the deserted swamps. Strengthened by bizarre bursts of strength, Croc managed to break out again and flee in the direction of Houma ( Louisiana ) pursued by Batman (Batman # 521). There he was greeted by the Swamp Thing , the ruler of the swamps, who revealed himself as the spiritus rector behind Croc's strange escape from Arkham, took him into his care and convinced Batman to abandon his request to capture Croc ( Batman # 522).
For the time being, Croc - sunk to the instinct-driven state of mind of an animal - settled in the swamps as part of unspoiled nature. After an argument with the Swamp Thing, in which the strange creature had tried to give Croc to understand "his place in the pecking order of the swamps", there was an estrangement between Croc and Swamp Thing. Marked by this experience and startled by a group of sheriffs , Croc jumped on a freight train driving through the swamps that took him back to Gotham (Batman Chronicles # 3). There he settled down again as a hermit in the city's sewers and forged a friendship with the monstrous Man-Bat , whom he nursed to health in his home after a serious wound (Man-Bat # 2). An encounter with Wolverine was inconclusive (Marvel versus DC # 2).
After his capture by Lock-Up and the curiosity show operator Ernie Chubb , Croc had to afford grueling duels with other prisoners as a pressed “gladiator” to entertain well-heeled spectators. After weeks of torture and mistreatment, the two succeeded in brutalizing the rather peaceful Croc again (Batman / Wildcat # 1–3). Although Croc managed to escape when the human trafficking ring was raised, he was caught again shortly after a failed robbery (Resurrection Man # 7).
Interned again in Arkham, Croc's mental state improved increasingly as a result of intensive use of sedative medication, but above all because of his close contact with some of his fellow inmates. For the first time in years, the long isolated "half-man" cultivated social relationships again: He watched Seinfeld on television ( Hitman # 3), developed a close friendship with the extremist environmentalist and kindred spirit Poison Ivy (Batman: Poison Ivy # 1) , played cards with the sociopaths Arnold Wesker ( Ventriloquist ) and Jervis Tetch ( Mad Hatter ) [Batman 80-Page Giant # 2) and participated in the occasional prisoner riots (Batman: Arkham Asylum - Tales of Madness # 1; The Creeper # 7 -8; Batman Villains Secret Files # 1).
But he also murdered his fellow inmate Pinhead (Shadow of the Bat # 81) during a fight. Immediately before Gotham City - completely devastated by an earthquake - was declared no man's land by the American government and spun off from the territorial union of the United States, Croc - like all other inmates - managed to get out of the Arkham Asylum, whose staff had already run away , and left the insane without a guard to flee (Shadow of the Bat # 82). An attempt to leave the city, located on an island in the immediate vicinity of the coast, via the last bridge to the mainland that had not yet been destroyed, failed due to the resistance of the national guards patrolling there (Batman # 562). So Croc was forced to settle in no man's land.
In no man's land
In Gotham City 's no man's land , Croc initially appropriated part of the city, which he then ruled as the Croc Sector (Batman: No Man's Land # 1). Killer Croc organized a gang that helped him secure his rule and government over the territory in his hand and called himself King Croc for the first time in years (Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 86 and DetectiveComics # 737). Two disputes with Batman, who had made it his goal to gradually retake the city, were unsuccessful (Batman Chronicles # 17 and Shadow of the Bat # 89). Croc was beginning to remember his great past more. He dressed in designer suits and made a solemn vow in front of his followers that he would never return to the sewers. Croc developed close ties with the men in his gang, particularly a cripple named Stumpy. After Stumpy's serious wounding by the serial killer Mr. Zsasz , Croc's anger turned against the killer: This duel, too, could not be carried out to the bitter end, but was - the two violent men had already wrapped their hands around each other's necks in a stranglehold - interrupted by Batman's intervention. Zsasz was caught by Batman, while Croc was able to escape for the time being (Batman Chronicles # 18). Croc and his gang, who were about to expand their territory through an ambitious expansion campaign into the other sectors of the city, were eventually eliminated and captured by an alliance of Robin, a division of former Gotham police and the half-silky casino operator Pinguin (Robin # 71-72). After Gotham was reintegrated into the United States and order was restored to the city, Croc was sent back to the Arkham Asylum (Batman: Gotham Knights # 5; Batman # 584). With the exception of minor thefts (Gotham Knights # 3), he has not reappeared so far. His thirst for power is nonetheless unbroken. He himself prophesied in the days of the outgoing no man's land that he would “be back” and that he “came to stay”.
For a while he was content to act as henchmen for other criminals like Hush or the penguin. The former briefly transformed Croc into a truly monstrous, dragon-like crocodile being. The Mad Hatter's attempt to repeat this mutation on behalf of Black Mask failed, but earned him Crocs irreconcilable hatred. In addition to his hatred of Batman, his thirst for revenge on Bane, who once broke and humiliated him, the grudge against the Mad Hatter is one of the main motives for his actions.
Outwardly he looks more and more like a reptile, and his psyche has also adapted to this development in the course of time. In the battle between his animal and his human side, the former currently seems to have the upper hand.
Killer Croc in other media
Killer Croc appeared in three episodes of the Batman animated series by Bruce Timm ( Batman: The Animated Series ), which were produced in two seasons from 1992 to 1998. In the American original he was dubbed by Aron Kincaid . He appeared as the main character in the episodes "Vendetta" (first broadcast October 5, 1992), "Sideshow" (first broadcast May 3, 1994; the episode is based on the 1971 story of Detective Comics # 410, in which Croc but does not appear) and "Love Is a Croc" (1998; here dubbed by Brooks Gardner). On the show, he was a frustrated wrestler who turned to crime and was eventually arrested by grubby cop Harvey Bullock. An attempt to take revenge on him was thwarted by Batman ("Vendetta"). After a successful escape from the custody of the authorities, he goes into hiding with a family made up of members of a former curiosity show (a giant, a hunchback, Siamese twins, a sea lion cub, a fat woman) - but is tried again when he tries these to bring their savings ("sideshow"). A partnership with the criminal Baby Doll , a woman trapped in a childlike-looking body due to a rare disease, also failed because of Croc's bad character. Unlike the croc of the comics, the cartoon croc is not insane, but rather sane. Accordingly, when he is captured, he is always imprisoned in Blackgate and not in Arkham.
In the more child-friendly comics for the TV series, Croc appeared in two issues (Batman Adventures # 7 from 1993), which shed light on his relationship with his wrestling manager, and Batman & Robin Adventures # 23 from 1997 (about the unfortunate love for the TV reporter Summer Gleeson).
In the cartoon series The Batman from 2005, an extremely reptile-like looking Croc was presented (dubbed Ron Perlman ). This had, among other things, a tail, which the croc of the comics had never had and was presumably the result of a failed military experiment. Croc spoke with a Cajun accent in this version and had two domesticated alligators as pets. His attempt to flood Gotham nevertheless failed.
In the 2009 video game Batman: Arkham Asylum , Killer Croc breaks out of the sanatorium and retreats into the sewer system under Arkham, where Batman meets him during the course of the game. Alluding to Peter Pan , one of his winning slogans is "Tick-Tock, feed the Croc", which identifies him as an ogre. Some recordings of his psychological interviews can also be found. In the sequel "Arkham City", Killer Croc can (but doesn't have to) be found in the sewer system. However, he immediately withdraws instead of fighting Batman, as he suffers from an illness, which is why Croc wants to wait for the death of his enemy. In the fourth part of the series, Batman: Arkham Knight , Killer Croc is part of the paid DLC "Season of Malice" and is locked up after a fight against Batman and Nightwing.
Killer Croc is a member of the Suicide Squad in the 2016 film of the same name .
Merchandising
There are four Killer Croc Action Figures from Mattel . One that adapts the Croc version of the animated series from 1992, a character by Kenner that shows a dinosaur-like Croc, and one that was created as part of the character series for the Batman storyline “Hush”, which recreates the mutated Croc portrayed there. The fourth figure appeared via DC Direct (in the series "Rouges Gallery") and also represents a strongly mutated Croc.