Villains in the Batman Universe

This article describes the opponents ( antagonists ) of the comic hero Batman in his universe .

Batman's adversaries fall into three categories: the most common villains were insane criminals; there were also numerous conventional opponents, such as street thugs, youth gangs, drug smugglers and mafiosi. Apart from this, there are a number of unreal characters such as extraterrestrial world conquerors or extradimensional magical beings, which have become rarer in the series.

Opponents of Batman over the decades

1930-1950

In the earliest Batman stories of the 1930s and 1940s, the hero often encountered mad scientists and gangsters reminiscent of the prohibition- era mobsters . Early recurring opponents were, for example, Doctor Death and Professor Hugo Strange . The villains of the 1940s were largely inspired by the adventures of Dick Tracy , who faced grotesquely disfigured villains. In Batman # 1 from 1940, two opponents of the hero that are well known to this day were introduced: the Joker as Batman's eternal nemesis and Catwoman , an ambivalent figure who is both heroine and villain. In the early 1940s the followed Penguin , Clayface , Two-Face and the Scarecrow ( Scarecrow ). In the late 1940s, the Mad Hatter joined them. A frequent motif of this time allowed the opponents to appear based on themes, for example the joker was fixated on the subject of humor, clowns and toys, while for Two-Face the number two played a major role in his crimes. The Mad Hatter, on the other hand, was obsessed with hats, mind control, and the book Alice in Wonderland .

1950-1960

In the 1950s, the era of the nuclear arms race and the Sputnik shock , Batman was often confronted with science fiction opponents. In this era, he often had to deal with robots and aliens. However, Deadshot, one of the darkest Batman villains, made his debut in the early 50s.

1960-1970

In the 1960s, when the Batman television series with Adam West in the title role was broadcast, the hero was usually confronted with garish joke characters such as Mr. Freeze , Kite-Man , Signal-Man , Calendar Man and some other "-Man." "-Characters. Other characters from this era included the malicious botanist Poison Ivy and a new superpowered Clayface.

1970-1980

The 1970s brought a return to the origins of the Batman character in crime noir. Accordingly, the hero encountered new opponents inspired by horror and crime stories. At the time, characters like the tragic Man-Bat , the product of a failed scientific self-experiment, and a murderous new, third Clayface made their debut . Ra's al Ghul , introduced in the early 1970s, was the first truly powerful Batman antagonist and the leader of a networked criminal empire. Al Ghul's novelty was also evident in the fact that he was the first villain to reveal the hero's secret identity. The American trauma of the Vietnam War found itself in characters like the arsonist Firebug and the bizarre Ten-Eyed-Man . Social problems found their way through Black Spider , the first black Batman adversary, a drug addict who practiced brutal vigilante justice.

1980-1990

In the 1980s, sinister and terrifying villains were introduced, such as the crocodile-man Killer Croc , the mutilated ex- KGB agent KGBeast , the sadistic mafioso Black Mask , the cannibal Cornelius Stirk and the schizophrenic ventriloquist Arnold Wesker . In addition, many old adversaries such as the Joker or Two-Face were further sharpened. The former even killed Batman's assistant Robin in a gruesome one-on-one combat ( Batman # 427 , 1988).

1990-2000

The dismal trend of the 1980s continued into the early 1990s with serial killer Victor Zsasz and terrorist Bane . The humorous side of the rogue gallery was embodied in this time especially characters like Harley Quinn .

Since 2000

In the new millennium, the hero faces above all manipulative geniuses who harbor a grudge against him for more or less convincing reasons, such as his childhood friend Tommy Elliott (Hush), the killer David Cain and the resurrected second Robin, Jason Todd . Despite the many new villains, there are also a lot of villain classics like the Joker , Two-Face , Scarecrow and Catwoman .

Abattoir

See the “ Abattoir ” entry in the Azrael (comic series) article .

Amygdala

See entry " Aaron Helzinger " in the article Nightwing .

Anthony Lupus

Anthony Lupus is a decathlete who has the ability to transform into a werewolf . The character first appeared in Batman # 255 .

In the Batman cartoon series by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini , the character is named Anthony Romulus.

Anthony Zucco

Anthony Zucco (also Tony Zucco ) is a mobster who first appears in Detective Comics # 38 from April 1940 (author: Bill Finger , illustrator: Bob Kane , James Dale Robinson ) under the name Boss Zucco . It is probably named after the Hollywood actor George Zucco , who was popular in the 1930s and 1940s and mainly played villains and darklings.

Zucco tries to blackmail the Gotham City Haley Circus for protection money . When the ringmaster refuses to comply with Zucco's request, he sabotages the swing swings in the dome of the big top, which leads to the death of the acrobatic couple Mary and John Grayson. Bruce Wayne, who had to watch the death of his parents in his childhood, takes over the guardianship of their son Richard, who from then on becomes Batman's partner as Robin. Together they hunt down Zucco, who, in the original version from 1940, falls to his death while attempting to escape from a skyscraper roof. In a later version, Zucco dies on the run of a heart attack (Batman: Dark Victory) or is captured alive. His rank in the underworld is also portrayed differently: while he is the boss of a powerful gang in the earlier version, later comics portray him as an ambitious upstart.

The story Batman: Year Three from 1988/89, jumping back and forth between two time levels, retells the 1940 version and reports on Zucco's early release from prison after only 6 of 55 years. After Zucco was shot dead by gangsters lurking on him immediately after his release, Batman and the now grown-up Richard "Dick" Grayson take a closer look at the criminal's past. In doing so, they came across an extensive dossier with incriminating evidence against numerous Gotham gang leaders.

On television, Zucco appeared as the villain in the animated series Batman: The Animated Series (US dubbing voice: Thomas F. Wilson ) and The Batman (US dubbing voice: Mark Hamill ). The core story about the extortion of protection money and the death of the Grayson couple remains. In the first series, Zucco is an ambitious henchman of his uncle, the mob boss Arnold Stromwell, who rejects him for his clumsy approach to the Haley circus. In the other series he is portrayed as a former knife thrower who, with other artists, targets the competing Haley circus.

In the movie Batman Forever, the character of Zucco merges with that of Harvey Two-Face. The film depicts Two-Face taking the circus hostage in order to blackmail Batman so that he can finally drop his mask. To show that he is serious, he hangs a bomb in the air and has a remote detonator. The artists Grayson want to climb up to the bomb and defuse it. But when Two-Face sees through the artist's plan, he starts shooting at them. Only the boy Richard called Dick is not hit. In this way he succeeds in snatching the bomb and then sinking it in the sea. Then Dick is adopted by Bruce Wayne. In Wayne's mansion, he discovers the Bath Cave and persuades Batman to become his new partner. For Dick, it's not about helping people, but actually getting revenge on Two-Face. In the film, Batman is played by Val Kilmer, Robin by Chris O'Donnell and Two-Face by Tommy Lee Jones.

Baby doll

Mary Louise Dahl worked on the popular TV series Love that Baby as a child . Due to a genetic disorder, her body did not grow normally and she was a child forever. After the show ended, she tried to find adult work, but no one could do anything with a child actress. The conflict of being a grown woman in a girl's body drove Mary Dahl insane . From then on she called herself Baby Doll and behaved again like the naughty cheeky brat on the show, but now armed with "real" weapons and dangerous toys, she bullied her fellow human beings and was transported back to the Arkham Asylum by Batman every time. The character was invented specifically for the animated series .

She later entered into a brief alliance with Killer Croc , with whom she believed she was emotionally connected, as he was also ostracized by society because of his appearance and behavior. However, this partnership failed because of Croc's bad character.

Bane

See article Bane (comic)

Batzarro

Batzarro is a vivid caricature of Superman's ally, Batman . The villain made his debut in Superman # 181 , April 2002 (Writer: Jeph Loeb , Artist: Ed McGuiness ). The figure is based on a Batman clone that appeared in World's Finest Comics # 156 from March 1966. Batzarro is a transfer of the Superman doppelganger Bizarro to the Batman character. Together with Bizarro he forms the World's Worst team , the negative counterpart to the Superman / Batman team "World's Finest".

Black and White Bandit

The Black and White Bandit , aka Roscoe Chiara (a nod to the Chiaroscuro black and white painting technique ) is a parodistic villain who appeared in the Batman: Gotham Knights # 12 series , February 2001 (writer and illustrator: Dave Gibbons ). The character targets the "theme-based villains" of the 1950s and 1960s, whose crimes always revolved around a more or less absurd topic (such as Two-Face , whose deeds were related to the number two or Calendar- Man whose crimes were always related to the calendar). Chiara is a painter who became color-blind through contact with a new, untested color and has only seen the world in black and white since then.

Black Mask

Roman Sionis , better known as Black Mask , had his first appearance in US Batman # 386 in August 1985. He was created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake .

Roman Sionis was born into one of the elite Gotham families and was known to the young Bruce Wayne (Batman) through his parental friendship . Sionis burned down the family estate, killing his parents in this way. He squandered the wealth he had inherited in this way and was ultimately forced to keep afloat with new facial cosmetics. However, everyone who tested it, including the Circe model , was disfigured. The bankrupt Sionis company was bought by Bruce Wayne , but Sionis believed he, Roman , had "lost face". Moved by the idea of ​​being able to change his personality with a mask in addition to his face, he built his black mask from parts of his father's coffin, and thus became Black Mask . He is a criminal mastermind, a good hand-to-hand fighter and skilled in the use of various torture techniques.

Sionis is the leader of the False Face Society, making him one of the most powerful and influential mafia bosses in Gotham City. In the comics he is characterized as a sadistic maniac and is one of the regulars at Arkham Asylum.

In a fight with Batman, Sionis lost his mask on the burning floor. When he finally found it and put it on, the hot mask burned to his face.

Since then, Black Mask has officially only appeared without a mask, as he said his new face, which resembles a charred skull, would be more off-putting than any mask. But masks remained his passion. So he made it z. B. during the War Games saga, masked as Orpheus, to set a trap for Batman and thus thwart his plans to take all gangs of Gotham into custody together with the police.

After his death, a huge gang war broke out in the underworld. Since there was no direct successor, all the gangs fought bitterly for this position. Batman himself saw the penguin as the main candidate to fill Black Mask's "void" and end the chaos on the streets.

However, in Batman # 48, it was revealed that Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, nephew of the first head of Arkham Asylum, took over the role of Black Mask, he was convicted as Batman by Dick Grayson and now ekes out his existence in a padded cell in Arkham Asylum.

Richard Sionis, played by actor Todd Stashwick, is introduced in the Gotham television series . He is the father of Roman Sionis and appears in the prequel series as the predecessor of Black Mask.

In the film Birds of Prey (2020), Black Mask is an antagonist of the title-giving team . He is played by Ewan McGregor .

Black Spider

See article Black Spider .

Blockbusters

See the entries " Blockbuster I " and " II " in the Nightwing article .

Brutal

See the “ Brutale ” entry in the Nightwing article .

Calendar Man

The Calendar Man (actually Julian Gregory Day ) is a villain introduced in Detective Comics # 259 (September 1958) who originally had no special skills. His crimes always have something to do with the day they were committed. In the 1990s in particular, attempts were made to increasingly stylize him as a diabolical madman. He allied himself with other well-known villains such as Killer Moth and Catman (Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 7–9, 1992–1993). In 2000, he received a high-tech suit that made him significantly more dangerous. Nevertheless, Calendar Man is considered a less popular character.

In the animated series Batman: The Animated Series , a female counterpart named Calendar Girl appeared (US dubbing voice: Sela Ward ).

Captain Stingaree

Captain Stingaree (Eng. "Stingray"), alias Karl Crossman, is a thief who poses as a pirate in his criminal activities. He had his first appearance in Detective Comics # 460 (June 1976, authors: Bob Rozakis and Michael Uslan , draftsmen: Ernie Chan and Frank McLaughlin ). Crossman is a bald man with an eye patch over his left eye.

Carmine Falcone

Carmine Falcone was a Mafioso who ruled Gotham City early in Batman's career. The Underworld Grande was introduced into the Batman series in Batman # 405 from 1987. (Author: Frank Miller , draftsman: David Mazzucchelli ). Nicknamed the Italian-born Falcone "Roman" was ( Engl. "The Roman").

In the 2005 movie Batman Begins , Falcone was played by Tom Wilkinson . In the film he is presented as the dominant figure of the Gotham underworld. The same goes for the series Gotham , in which he is played by John Doman . There he is shot in the 4th season by Professor Pyg on behalf of his daughter Sophia Falcone.

Cassidy

Cassidy is a bat who first appeared in Robin # 1 from 1993 (Author: C. Dixon; Illustrator: T. Grummett). In this issue he belongs to a gang of car thieves called The Speed ​​Boys who specialize in robbing expensive sports cars and who are eventually hunted down by Robin. Cassidy is an extremely strong and stocky, unusually strong man, about whom almost nothing is known - not even whether Cassidy is his first or last name. In addition, he never speaks (apparently because he is unable to verbally communicate) and hides his face behind a hockey mask . In later stories, Cassidy, who is somewhat poorly financed and therefore unable to pursue his own plans, appears several times as a paid henchman in the service of more intelligent villains like the Cluemaster ( Batman Blackgate # 1, 1997).

Catman

See article Catman .

Catwoman

See article Catwoman .

Cavalier

The Cavalier is the name of several men who dress in the style of the old coat and sword films of Hollywood cinema. They usually wear wide-brimmed hats, sashes, gauntlets, jackets and a foil rapier, which they use as their main weapon. There are a total of four versions of the character: The Golden Age version, the Silver Age version and two current versions.

Cavalier (Golden Age)

The Cavalier in the Golden Age stories of the 1940s was a man named Mortimer Drake (debut: Detective Comics # 81, November 1943; writer: Don Cameron , illustrator: Bob Kane ). Drake was a playboy who stole curios for his private museum. He owned an electrified sword and escape tools (Batman # 22, April / May 1944).

Cavalier (Silver Age)

The variant of the Silver Age was virtually identical to that of the Golden Age, but far less successful. This Cavalier was seen as a jury member in the story of the "Death of Batman" (Batman Family # 2) and at a rogue meeting in Detective Comics # 526. In the Wonder Woman series , he once fought the protagonist with the help of his superpower to be able to impose his will on women through pheromones.

Cavalier (Hudson Pyle)

A man Batman fought and defeated early in his career. Pyle died in an accident at the end of his fight with Batman (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight # 32-34).

Cavalier (Mortimer Drake)

Mortimer Drake is a mentally ill person who stole the Cavalier's identity from the dead Hudson Pyle and was imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, Gotham City's psychiatric hospital, after his loss to Batman. From there he was only able to escape twice (Detective Comics # 661, 1993 and Shadow of the Bat # 83, 1998). He is mostly seen as a joke and villain parody within the Batman comics (for example in Justice League America # 43-44, 1990, where he took part in a villain poker game).

Charaxes

See section Killer Moth .

Clayface

Clayface (English "clay face") is the code name of several Batman villains who share the motif of mutability. While the first Clayface was just a genius disguise artist, most of the other Clayfaces have the ability to "shape-shift"; H. changing their appearance through sheer willpower.

Clayface I (Basil Karlo)

The first Clayface was an actor named Basil Karlo, who is first featured in Detective Comics # 40 from 1940 (Author: B. Finger, Illustrator: B. Kane).

Karlo is a worn-out star of the silent film era who goes mad when one of his greatest successes, the horror film "Clayface", is to be remade. To prevent the remake, he gradually murders the members of the remake film crew, disguising himself like the murderer in his Clayface film with a brown mask that looks like a pile of clay. Batman and Robin can finally stop him.

After his arrest, Karlo remained in prison for several years. During his detention, Sondra Fuller (Clayface IV) visits him: The two agree to unite all living Clayfaces into a gang after Carlos is released. After Carlos is released, the two team up with Preston Payne (Clayface III), whom they free from the Arkham mental hospital. They make the late Matthew Hagen an honorary member. In several confrontations with Batman, the trio can hold their own. However, Karlo ultimately betrays his partners by taking blood samples from them, which he synthesizes into a serum that he injects himself to become the most powerful of all clay faces, the Ultimate Clayface : like Fueller, he can change his shape and any appearance he wishes to accept. And like Payne, he can melt or injure others to a plasma-like mass simply by touching his “death grip”. Batman and the telepathist Looker can finally defeat Karlo by getting him to involuntarily use his melting powers on himself: he burns himself into the ground and then disappears for years ( Detective Comics # 404-407, 1989.

During the Cataclysm storyline from 1998, in which Gotham City is struck by a severe earthquake, Karlo finally returns: As it turns out, after his fight with Batman and Looker, he burned himself hundreds of meters into the ground until his melt grip through one mineral hollow deep below Gotham has been blocked. He was trapped there until the earthquake freed him. A side effect of his imprisonment was that his viscous body absorbed quartz stones while in captivity. Karlos shoulders, upper arms and his back have been covered with stone protrusions ever since. Instead, the "energy" of the quartz has passed into its body. After escaping from his underground prison, Clayface roams the ruins of Gotham in search of Batman: the attempt to take revenge ultimately fails because Clayface attacks Batman at the same time as Mr. Freeze is targeting the Dark Knight. The result is that Batman can pit both villains against each other and capture both of them ( Shadow of the Bat # 75, 1998).

During the no- man's- land storyline , when Gotham City is declared a no-man's-land shared by criminal gangs, Clayface forces Poison Ivy to grow fruit for him in Robinson Park, the large urban park in central Gotham, which he costs for expensive Money sold. Batman's intervention eventually breaks Carlo's rule over Robinson Park. Ivy takes revenge by apparently killing Clayface: She uses his clay-like body as fertile topsoil by letting plant shoots grow through him, which remove the body salts as nutrients from him.

Later it turns out, however, that Clayface has survived this too: In Batman # 608-619 (2002) he is seen variously as an accomplice to the arch-villain Hush, on whose behalf Clayface himself first as the deceased second Robin Jason Todd and later as the doctor Tommy Tommy Elliott issues. In Superman / Batman # 19 (2004), Karlo appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains.

Clayface II (Matthew Hagen)

Clayface II is an adventurer and treasure hunter named Matthew "Matt" Hagen, who is introduced to the Batman series in Detective Comics # 298 of December 1961.

There you learn that during a voyage of discovery in a hidden grotto, Hagen came across a thermal spring that was filled with a rainbow-colored substance. By bathing in this grotto, Hagen acquired the ability to take on any appearance he wanted. However, the ability only lasted for 24 hours (48 hours in some stories) if not refreshed by re-bathing in the spring. Hagen eventually uses his newly acquired ability to commit a series of crimes in order to raise the funds for further adventures.

Batman eventually becomes aware of Hagen through a series of spectacular crimes. During his second encounter with Batman, Hagen again carried out various robberies in the disguise of the playboy John Royce, but in the end was again defeated by the Dark Knight ( Detective Comics # 304, 1962). Batman later succeeds in cutting off the source of Hagen's powers by locating the “magic grotto” in which the “protoplasm pool” is located, from which Hagen draws his transformative powers. Since Hagen has hidden an emergency reserve in another location, he can continue his criminal existence as Clayface. Clayface II later teamed up with the Joker for a short time. This time Batman manages to defeat them only with the help of Robin, Batwoman and Batgirl, whereby Clayface escapes ( Batman # 159, 1963). He is now trying his luck in Metropolis, where he pretends to be Superman with the help of his powers: with the help of Batman and Robin, the real Superman can finally expose and arrest the swindler ( World's Finest Comics # 140, 1964).

In other stories, Clayface II works with the alien Brainiac ( World's Finest Comics # 144, 1965) and with a group of villains who are trying together to fight the Justice League ( Action Comics # 443). Hagen then spent a long time in prison. During this time, he was visited by a man named Preston Payne, whom he gave a sample of his blood that enabled the latter to become the third Clayface ( Detective Comics # 478, 1978).

Hagen eventually dies in the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline when he is killed by a creature known as a shadow demon. In the Mudpack storyline, he is posthumously declared an honorary member of the Mudpack by the other Clayfaces. The booklets in Secret Origins # 44 of 1990 and in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 's story was told again in retrospect. As a ghost, he then has a brief appearance in the Hawk and Dove Annual # 1.

Clayface III (Preston Payne)

Clayface III, aka Preston Payne, made his debut in Detective Comics # 478.

Preston Payne was an employee in the STAR Labs branch in Gotham City. He suffered from acromegaly since childhood. To put an end to his suffering, he stole a blood sample from the second Clayface, Matthew Hagen, from his workplace. He injected himself with the sample and became the third incarnation of Clayface. For a short time he also acquired the ability to change his shape and initially used this to give himself, the unsightly laboratory assistant, a dazzling appearance. The new gift was short-lived, when Payne went to a restaurant with a new acquaintance, he was stressed because of the unfamiliar advances of his companion, who was attracted by his good looks. His skin peeled off his skull, leaving him a disfigured, muddy-looking half-human. In addition, he felt the need, known as “hunger”, to pass on the pain he felt internally to others. His touch became fatal as it melted the people into a loamy heap. Paynes's companion was the first victim of this fatal contact. Payne went into shock and went mad. He placed a mannequin, which he called Helena, in his hiding place (an old wax museum) and from then on considered himself to be "in love" with her, since she was the only woman who was immune to his lethal touch. Later, Payne was freed from Arkham's Clayface I and Clayface IV and joined forces with them to form the Mudpack. After the team's falling out, Payne and Fueller settled in Brenton Woods National Park, where they lived together in a remote cave. The union of the two resulted in a son, Cassius (Clayface V). Later, Payne, like Fueller, was defeated in the fight against Batman (behind whose mask at that time Jean Paul Valley and not Bruce Wayne was). He was separated from his family and sent to Arkham Asylum.

Clayface IV (Lady Clay)

Clayface IV (also known as Lady Clay) aka Sondra Fuller is the only female Clayface. The character was introduced in issue # 21 of the Batman and the Outsiders series. The character's creators were Mike W. Barr (author) and Jim Aparo (draftsman).

Sondra Fuller was a member of the sectarian Kobra cult, a secret terrorist organization with a goal of improving the world based on religious fanaticism. The scientists of the cult injected Fueller with an unspecified serum that gave her shape-changing abilities, so that since then she has been able to take on any human, animal or material shape she wished. Thus, her skills are identical to those of Matthew Hagen (Clayface II), but unlike him, she does not need a protoplasm to ensure the continuity of her powers.

After the defeat of the cobra cult against the Outsider, she was recruited by Basil Karlo for his project of an amalgamation of all clay faces (Detective Comics # 604-607, 1989/1990). Together, Karlo and Fueller freed Preston Payne from Arkham Asylum and committed a number of robbery crimes with him. After the alliance of the three clay faces began to break up, Karlo Fueller and Payne finally took samples of their blood, which he had injected in order to make their powers his own. While Batman began chasing Karlo, Payne and Fueller, who had since fallen in love, managed to escape together and hide in a cave in the woods of Brenton Woods National Park. There the two lived for a long time peacefully and undisturbed and even fathered a child together: Cassius "Clay" Payne (Clayface V). However, their mutual happiness was short-lived: After the fugitive murderer Arnold Etchison discovered the hiding place of the two by chance and kidnapped their son there, Payne and Fueller were forced to return to Gotham City in order to meet the conditions that Etchison had to return of her child. As a result, Payne and Fueller met again with Batman, to which both were again defeated ( Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 26 and # 27, 1994). Nothing is known about Fueller's whereabouts after her arrest.

Clayface V

Clayface V, aka Cassius "Clay" Payne, is the son of Sondra Fuller (Clayface IV) and Preston Payne (Clayface III). The character first appeared in Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 26 from 1994 (Author: Alan Grant, Artist: Bret Blevins).

Cassius "Clay" Payne is the son of the compound of the third Clayface Preston Payne and the fourth Clayface Sondra Fuller. In reference to the birth name of the boxer Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), the two named their son Cassius. His real last name is probably Payne, but since he is the child of the connection between two Clay beings, he is often jokingly referred to as the last name Clay, which explains the choice of his first name. After spending the first months of his life with his parents in a cave in Brenton Woods National Park, he was abducted to Gotham City by the fugitive murderer Arnold Etchison, who accidentally discovered the family's cave apartment. After Etchison returned the boy to his father, both were caught by Batman and handed over to the police. He has since been held in a government laboratory. During one of the experiments that were carried out on him, the monstrous being Claything (Clayface VI) was created. Cassius Payne appears to have inherited his parents' powers. He can deform his body and take on the appearance of people and things. The exact extent of his powers is not yet known. However, it has now been recognized that Payne can only assume his Clayface form when he is awake. In his sleep he becomes a normal toddler.

Clayface VI

The sixth Clayface ( Clayface VI , also known as Claything) first appears in Batman # 550 from 1997 (author: D. Moench, illustrator: K. Jones). He is a monstrous creature that is created by an accident in a laboratory of the secret service agency DEO: When the doctor Dr. Malley examines Clayface V (Cassius Payne) there, and separates a tissue sample from his body with a scalpel, this reaches over to Malley and fuses with him to form a new clay creature (Claything). Miraculously, he not only receives the powers of Clayface V, but also a new consciousness that leads him to believe he is Clayface V. He has the memories and the infantile nature of Clayface V. Probably the most powerful of all Clayfaces, he has them Ability to melt things by just looking at them.

Immediately after its formation, claything flees the DEO's facilities to search for "his", i.e. H. Cassius Clays to make parents. The result is a trace of the havoc wrought by the powerful being with the childlike mind in its search. He eventually reaches the Arkham Asylum, where he tries to free his "father" Preston Payne from captivity. Batman and DEO agent Cameron Chase finally manage to turn off the claything. The creature has since been kept in the DEO headquarters.

Clayface VII

The seventh Clayface ( Clayface VII ), aka Johnny Williams, is featured in Gotham Knights # 57. In this issue he appears as a Gotham firefighter who, together with some colleagues, is caught in the flames in a department store fire. While the other firefighters were killed in the flames, Williams miraculously survived, almost unharmed. Soon after, he realizes that his DNA has fundamentally changed. As it turns out later, this change is due to the hazardous waste stored in the warehouse, with which Clayface came into contact there. From now on he is able to change his shape at will and like Clayface III to kill others by mere touch.

Difficult to control his powers, Williams accidentally kills a prostitute while foraying into nightly Gotham. Horrified at what he has become, he wants to kill himself, but is stopped by the villain Hush: Hush, a brilliant surgeon, persuades Williams that there is a cure for his condition. In this way he succeeds in making the naive young man, who now adopts the code name Clayface, available as a powerful henchman. When Williams finally realizes the true nature of his ally, he turns on him and helps Batman defeat Hush. Soon afterwards he dies of the consequences of his illness.

Clayface in other media

Clayface appeared in the animated series The New Adventures of Batman in the late 1970s. The version of Clayface used by the creators of the series was Matt Hagen. The original was dubbed by Lou Scheimer.

In Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990s, a slightly more tragic Clayface was introduced (dubbed Ron Perlman). This clayface was a mixture of different comic incarnations: He was named Hagen, had the background of Karlo as a former actor, but unlike Karlo, he was seriously injured in a traffic accident. In order to regain his career, the disfigured Hagen agreed to make himself available to the corrupt businessman Roland Daggerrett as a test subject for a new type of serum. After he has initially acquired the ability to change the structure of his face at will, Hagen is transformed into a misshapen two-meter-tall slush creature in a (murder) attack. As Clayface, he has since tried to find a cure. In several collisions with Batman, he succumbs and apparently dies each time by contact with water, which dissolves him into its components. Eventually Batman and Robin can catch him and lock him in a metal container in Arkham Asylum. In the Justice League Unlimited series , Clayface was recruited by Gorilla Grodd as a member of the Injustice Society.

In the newer animated series The Batman , Clayface is the Gotham cop Ethan Bennett and former school friend of Bruce Wayne. Clayface (dubbed Steve Harris) makes his debut in the episode "The Rubber Face of Comedy / The Clay Face of Tragedy". After coming into contact with a gas made by the Joker, it gradually begins to transform into a gray, clay-like creature. Bennett, who had recently been suspended by the police chief Rojas, blames the chief of police for his misfortune and begins to seek his life. An attack on Rojas' life is foiled by Batman. Clayface apparently dies at the end of the episode. In the episode "Meltdown" Clayface tries to take revenge on the Joker for his transformation, but is stopped by Batman and his former partner Ellen Ying. In the episode "Grundy's Night", Clayface disguises himself as the monstrous Solomon Grundy to scare the Gotham population.

In the episode "Clayfaces" the Joker initially tries to mix his Jokergas with the food in a dog food factory, but is prevented by Clayface and both are handed over to the police by Batman and Robin. A little later, "Basil Karlo" tries to apply for the dog food company's commercial, but is rejected. He then breaks into the laboratory in which an antidote for Clayface is being developed and steals a sample of the poison. However, he gets caught and is trapped; he has no choice but to drink the serum, whereupon he becomes a clayface himself, who seems to be far bigger and stronger than the real clayface. After a break-in, he shows Batman and Robin that he can do a lot more than Bennett. Later, however, Bennett lures him into a trap and the Clayfaces fight, with Batman administering the antidote to both of them. Bennett and Karlo both end up in Arkam, where Karlo then loses a chess game against the Joker. Shortly afterwards he realizes that he has not completely lost his strength.

Basil Karlo appears in the second and third seasons of the television series Gotham , played by Brian McManamon . Here he is introduced as a former actor who was turned into Clayface by Professor Hugo Strange. In “The Children of Dr. Strange ”he is commissioned by Strange to play James Gordon.

In the series Batman Beyond , the villain Inque appeared, who was modeled after Clayface over long distances. Clayface also appeared in an episode of the short-lived Birds of Prey series and in various Batman video games. He appeared in The Adventures of Batman & Robin for SNES and Sega and appeared in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu . In both games, he's a boss character who appears at the end of a level. He also makes a small appearance in the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum , in which he takes on the guise of the headmaster and the police officer Gordon. In the sequel Batman: Arkham City the player gets to deal with Clayface during the whole story, but in the form of the Joker. Only before the final battle, when the real Joker appears, does Batman notice the deception and Clayface assumes his usual giant clay shape. The plot ends with its destruction.

Claything

See section Clayface VI .

Clock King

The Clock King , aka William Tockman, is a mentally ill person whose crimes are mostly related to clocks / time . He wears round glasses that resemble clockwork and uses a pointer-like stick as a weapon. He made his debut in 1960 World's Finest Comics # 111 as an opponent of the superhero Green Arrow . After that, the character was forgotten until she was revived and reworked as a Batman opponent in World's Finest Comics # 257 and # 284: This new character was given the ability to manipulate reality and see the future to a limited extent. In the early 1990s, the Clock King in the Justice League Europe series was a member of the Injustice League (until JLE # 49 from 1993). This was followed by a collaboration with Chronos, Time Commander and Calendar Man, three other villains whose crimes also revolved around time ( Team Titans # 13-15, 1994) and an interlude as the leader of a gang of young metahumans ( The Clockwatchers ), which was excavated by the American secret service to combat meta-beings ( DEO for short ) (Chase # 4, 1998). He later joined the Suicide Squad and was killed along with Big Sir and the Cluemaster during a mission.

In Batman: The Animated Series , he appears in two episodes under the name Temple Fugat (Latin: tempus fugit = time flow). This version is a punctual businessman who loses his job because of the mayor's advice "to take more time" and then wants to take revenge on him. In the bell tower there is a great final battle with Batman, and Fugat is - apparently - killed in the destruction. In the second episode he uses a stolen time stopper, which makes him faster than everyone else. Batman can defeat him and he is arrested.

Fugat finally gets a late revenge in the comics: with his help, the old mayor is deposed and replaced by the penguin in office (he is voted out afterwards, but this does not diminish the triumph of the Clock King).

The Clock King also appeared in the 1960s Batman live-action series , played by Walter Slezak .

Clown Prince of Crime

See article Joker (cartoon character) .

Cluemaster

The Cluemaster, actually Arthur Brown , made his first appearance in Detective Comics # 351 (May 1966, author: Gardner Fox , artist: Carmine Infantino ). He was originally a profit-seeking petty crook from Gotham City who was dubbed “Cluemaster” by the press because of his tendency to give encrypted clues for his planned crimes. His modus operandi was thus similar to the Riddler , which is why Brown was often ridiculed as his bad copy. He later refrained from announcing his crimes, but continues to use the nickname Cluemaster to this day.

Arthur Brown has a daughter named Stephanie. She has been out as a spoiler and fought against the crime in Gotham. However, it was not accepted by Batman. She is also the ex-girlfriend of Tim Drake, the third Robin. For a short time she even fought as Robin at Batman's side. After Batman's death, she took on the Batgirl costume and is now an integral part of the Bat family.

Cornelius Stirk

Cornelius Stirk is a cannibalistic serial killer who has fallen into the delusion of having to eat other people's hearts in order to achieve immortality and vitality. He made his debut in Detective Comics # 592, November 1988 (Writer: Alan Grant , Illustrator: Norm Breyfogle ).

The character made a brief appearance in the second season of the television series Gotham , played by Kameron Omidian . In the episode “The Children of Dr. Strange ”he is portrayed as an inmate of Arkham Asylum and a short-term cellmate Edward Nygmas.

Count Vertigo

Count Werner Vertigo (in German "Graf Schwindel") is the last offspring of the ruling family of Vlatava, an Eastern European principality. The character was introduced to the Batman universe in World's Finest Comics # 251 of July 1978. Its creators were Bob Haney, Vince Colletta and George Tuska.

In the television series Arrow , Count Vertigo appears as an opponent of Green Arrow.

Crime Doctor

The Crime Doctor is an underworld doctor , a plastic surgeon who has served "higher-ranking" Batman villains on various occasions. His real name is Dr. Bradford Thorne (originally: Matthew Thorne), his first appearance was in Detective Comics # 77 from July 1943 (writer: Bill Finger , illustrator: Bob Kane and George Roussos ).

When it first appeared, the Crime Doctor prescribed needy criminals "prescriptions" for more successful crimes. At that time still a "topic villain" whose crimes revolved around the topic of "medicine", he always attached great importance to the observance of the Hippocratic oath . The second time he met Batman and Robin, one of Thorne's henchmen shot Robin down, whereupon the Crime Doctor saved the boy's life through emergency surgery. He then fled to California, where he was gunned down by one of his henchmen after he was unable to save his seriously ill wife.

After a long absence, the character was finally revived by Robert Fleischer in Detective Comics # 494 and 495 (September 1980). There the smuggler Sterling Silversmith poisoned him after a successful operation and left Thorne as a mental wreck. Thorne later recovered and worked a. a. for Two-Face , for whom he ran an underworld hospital, where he reoperated a man named Paul Sloane into a Two-Face doppelganger. Later he was a member of the Secret Society of Supervillains. In an argument with the Secret Six, the Crime Doctor lost an eye when he was attacked by Catman. When he tried to quit the Society, Prometheus was supposed to kill him. In order to save his family from persecution, the Crime Doctor eventually committed suicide. His daughter was looked after by Lady Shiva in the future .

The Crime Doctor appeared in the Batman animated series "Paging the Crime Doctor" (episode 51). Unlike in the comics, he was not a criminal there, but an innocent medical professional who had to perform an emergency operation on his brother Rupert Thorne .

Czonk

See “ Czonk ” entry in Robin (Batman) article .

David Cain

See “ David Cain ” entry in Batgirl article .

Deadshot

See article Deadshot .

Deathstroke

See article Deathstroke .

The Batman who laughs

The Batman Who Laughs (Original The Batman Who Laughs ) is a Bruce Wayne from a parallel world (Earth-22) in the Dark Multiverse who has been transformed into a Joker / Batman hybrid. He made his debut in Dark Days: The Casting # 1 (September 2017).

The Earth-22 Batman killed the Joker of his world when it went further than ever and not only murdered other villains, but also commissioner Jim Gordon. Provoked by all of the subsequent murders of adults and the poisoning of their children, Batman eventually broke the Joker's neck. In conversation with his Superman, Batman atypically let out a laugh when Superman mentioned a brutal murder. Batman later called on his allies Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood and Batgirl. He explained to them that he had been poisoned by the Joker. He had a poison in his heart that would turn whoever kills him into the next joker. So Joker had purposely gone so far as to make Batman his successor through his death. Batman revealed that he was already under the poison and the invitation was a trap. Then he murdered his "Bat Family". A short time later, he also killed the Justice League of his dimension and eventually the rest of his world. The godlike villain Barbatos hired the Batman who laughs at to destroy all other worlds.

Together with other Batmen from the "Dark Multiverse", ie the worlds in which Batman was evil, he finally attacked the world of the "real" Batman and tried to destroy the planet with the cosmic being Monitor as a prisoner. To stop him, Batman formed an alliance with the Joker, because that was the only thing Batman and therefore Batman who laughs would never expect.

In the seven-part US series The Batman Who Laughs returned the Batman laughing back and penetrated with another evil Batman, the death knight (in the original "Grim Knight") in the Arkham Asylum to kill the Joker, but was his victim a disguised double. The real Joker met Batman in the bath cave and shot himself to poison Batman and create equal opportunities. While battling the poison, Batman tried, mostly in vain, to prevent the laughing Batman from killing more Bruce Wayne. Batman later learned from the Batman who laughs that the purpose of Gotham City is war and that the whole city is a weapon that can be triggered with the "Last Laugh" protocol. The Batman laughing made Batman activate it. Finally, at Wayne Manor, Batman and the Laughing Batman fight , in which Batman defeated his adversary and shortly afterwards was shot by the Joker at his own request. While Batman was recovering from the gunshot wound and poison , the Laughing Batman was locked in a prison in the Hall of Justice .

The Batman Who Laughs managed to escape in the Secret Six event after Batman and Superman learned that he had poisoned several superheroes (and Commissioner Gordon) and made them his "Secret Six".

Lex Luthor brought Batman, who laughs, into his power and learned from him about the cosmic being Perpetua, whom Luthor later served. Luther's collaboration with the Batman who laughs disgusted the Joker so much that he temporarily poisoned the whole Legion of Doom, explaining to him that what he had planned for Luthor was nothing compared to what the Batman who laughs at him would do. The Batman who laughs finally escaped Luthor too, fought a fight with him with the Secret Six at his side and finally offered himself as a new servant as part of the comic event The Year of the Villain Perpetua.

Doctor Darrk

A retainer of Ra's al Ghul .

Doctor Death

Doctor Death is one of the oldest Batman antagonists. As a mad scientist, he made his debut in Detective Comics # 29 from 1939 ( Bob Kane and Bill Finger ). Death was the first recurring villain within the Batman series. He is usually considered to be the first supervillain in Batman's antagonism, which before his debut consisted entirely of common criminals.

In his early appearances, Death used lethal gases to blackmail wealthy Gotham citizens. In August 1939, issue # 30 of Detective Comics , he was finally killed by Batman. The figure remained unused for several decades. The character has occasionally been revived since the early 1980s. Death experienced a revival in the storyline “Batman. War Games ”, in which he was seen as the henchman of the gang leader Black Mask. Most recently, the figure was mentioned in connection with a multitude of mad scientists who miraculously disappeared ( 52 # 2, 2006).

Doctor hurt

Or Doctor Simon Hurt was created by Grant Morrison and first appeared in June 2008.

Dr. Hurt is the chairman of the group "Black Glove" and the "99 Fiends". In the Batman RIP storyline , Dr. Hurt Batman insane by attacking his psyche. In the end, Dr. Hurt and Batman when asked who is Dr. Really hurt, he replies that he is Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne, and the devil himself. Shortly afterwards, he curses Batman's costume and tells him that the next time he wears it, it will be the last.

In the subsequent Final Crisis , Batman is shot by Darkseid .

There is still some confusion about Doctor Hurt's true personality. He is related somehow to Bruce Wayne, but how is not clear yet.

Dr. Hurt is later infected with his Joker poison by the Joker, who kills all members of Black Glove, and then buried alive in the Wayne Family Cemetery.

Doctor Phosphorus

Doctor Phosphorus , aka Doctor James (sometimes Alex) Sartorius, is an insane scientist who first appears in Detective Comics # 469 from May 1977 (author: Steve Englehart , illustrator: Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom ).

The nuclear physicist Sartorius is radioactively contaminated in a reactor accident at the Gotham City nuclear power plant. He survived as the radiation was weakened by a pile of sandbags. The combination of radiation and sand transforms Sartorius into Phosphorus, a being made of living phosphorus . His body resembles a burning torch through which Phosphorus' skeleton becomes visible. Through this change, he can scorch and even kill other people simply by touching them.

In his debut story, Sartorius tries to kill the corrupt city councilor Thorne, who is responsible for the accident at the nuclear power plant. In Detective # 470, he turns himself further and further into madness against the entire city of Gotham, which he blames for his fate. Phosphorus' attempt to wipe out the city's population by poisoning drinking water with radioactive substances is thwarted by Batman. Phosphorus is defeated in a brutal duel on the former oil rig that houses Sartorius' power station. While Batman gets away with minor burns, Sartorius appears to be killed by falling into the reactor.

Sartorius later returns several times to attack Thorne, who is incarcerated in the Arkham psychiatric hospital, to undertake new extermination attacks on the citizens of Gotham ( Batman # 311) or to run amok indiscriminately ( Batman # 400). After several stays in various prisons such as Arkham ( Black Orchid # 2) or the Belle Reeve Prison in Louisiana ( Underworld Unleashed # 1), Sartorius sells his soul to the demon Neron, who gives him new strength in exchange: Sartorius can now use his energy pulses Hands and temporarily adapt its external appearance to that of normal people. In addition, his mind has become clearer, which arouses suspicions that the new Phosphorus is someone other than the mad Sartorius.

In addition to another confrontation with Batman, Phosphorus has made life difficult for the title hero of the series Starman in particular since his Hell Pact: He undertakes an assassination attempt on his father Ted Knight (# 16), supports Starman's archenemy The Mist (# 41) and adds Knight finally in a rematch, wounds were so severe (# 66-67) that he died (# 70). Phosphorus has been wearing business suits since his deal with Neron instead of walking around half-naked in tattered pants as he used to do. The cartoon villain Blight from the Batman Beyond series is modeled on Phosphorus.

Dr. Double X

Dr. Simon Ecks is an introverted scientist who made a duplicate of himself. He calls himself Dr. X and his double Double X . This can fly, make itself untouchable and can fire bursts of energy. The doctor and his duplicate dress alike, only one X on the doctor's chest and two on Double X's chest distinguish the two. The duplicate shares the consciousness of the original, but can also act autonomously. The character first appeared in 1958 in Detective Comics # 261.

When he first appeared, Dr. X a man with positive goals and motivations, while Double X was his evil caricature that dominated him and forced him to commit crimes that he could not remember with hindsight. After Batman and Robin arrest him for such a crime, Dr. X revenge. In his next appearance ( Detective Comics # 316, 1963) he has developed into an evil genius who is defeated by Batman with the help of his own duplicate (Double-Batman). An attempt to defeat Batman and Flash together with the Rainbow Raider ( The Brave and the Bold # 194, 1982) fails.

Dynamite tar

See the “ Dynamiteer ” entry in the Nightwing article .

egghead

Egghead is a recurring villain from the 1966–68 Batman television series. He describes himself as "the smartest criminal in the world", which is why he always had a secretary with him on his first appearance, who had to write down all his words in order to record them for posterity. In his subsequent episodes he was only seen at the side of his “fiancée” Olga, Queen of the Bessarovian Cossacks .

True to its name, Egghead is completely bald and has an unusually high egg head. He is dressed in a white cutaway with yellow lapels, a white waistcoat, white trousers, a yolk yellow shirt and a white collar that looks like a fried egg thanks to its yellow pin. His egg-based arsenal includes, for example, tear gas eggs laid by chickens that he has put on a strict onion diet and he indulges himself enthusiastically (especially in the English-language original) in puns around the term egg or egg - e.g. B. "Eggcellent" instead of "Excellent".

Except in the episode "From Cassandra Witch's Kitchen," where he and Gotham's most notorious villains only had cameo appearances at a mass prison break and a subsequent gathering, he was portrayed by horror film icon Vincent Price .

Faceless

Faceless (in German "The Faceless "), alias Josef Zedno, is the nickname of a serial killer who first appeared in Batman # 545 from 1997 (author: D. Moench; draftsman: K. Jones).

Zedno is presented there as a Gotham postman who steals large quantities of mail that he collects from his home. When he is fired because of the high loss rate of letters on his service route, he goes mad and takes revenge on the people who have always treated him with condescension and disregard by gradually murdering them. To show them what it is like “to be a nobody without a face”, he also removes their faces from their skulls and uses them as masks. At the same time he tries to “become someone” himself. With the help of Barbara Gordon and Robin, Batman finally succeeds in locating the faceless Zedno as the perpetrator of the murders and after a tough duel - Zedno is a well-trained bodybuilder - arrested.

Faceless is taken to Blackgate Prison, despite doubts about his sanity. His last appearance so far shows him trying to take the opportunity of a major earthquake to escape from prison island ( Batman: Blackgate - Isle of Men # 1, 1998). Whether he succeeded in this has not yet been revealed.

Firebug

Firebug ( English : "fire devil") is the code name of three arsonists.

Firebug I

Josef "Joe" Rigger first appeared in Batman # 318 in December 1979. He was a Vietnam veteran and explosives expert who returned to Gotham City after his family was killed in various building collapses. In his desperation, the thought matured in him that one would have to destroy appropriate houses so that they could not "kill" more people. He burned down various buildings with the napalm nozzles of his costume. Batman was finally able to defeat Rigger in a duel on the roof of the Gotham State Building. The napalm tank on Rigger's costume exploded. Firebug was pronounced dead. He later appeared again and worked as a stooge of the calculator and as a paid arsonist in the service of Black Mask, but the rigger fired in favor of its pyromaniac competitor Firefly . Firebug reappeared a few years later, but was found by the GCPD officials ( GCPD # 4). His attempt to defeat Batman in an unequal partnership with Mr. Freeze failed: Freeze and Rigger were defeated by Batman and Harvey Dent. Rigger made an appearance in the NES console game Return of the Joker , in which he appeared as the penultimate boss character.

Firebug II

The second Firebug was a yuppie from the Gotham suburbs who bought Joe Rigger's equipment at G-Bay. He committed several arson attacks and thefts. After his son's babysitter discovered his costume, he murdered her. The GCPD investigators who investigated the murder were ultimately able to expose him as the culprit and arrest him ( GCPD # 5).

Firebug III

The third Firebug is a stranger who took on the Firebug costume and competed against Deadshot once ( Deadshot - Urban Renewal # 1, February 2005).

Firefly

Firefly ( English : "Firefly") is the code name of the former film technician Garfield Lynns, who works as an arsonist. He has an almost erotic relationship with fire and is equipped with a flamethrower and fold-out metal wings with which he is able to float. He is wearing a brown, fireproof combat suit and a helmet with two antenna-like extensions. Firefly first appeared in Detective Comics # 184 from June 1952 (Author: France Herron , Illustrator: Dick Sprang ).

After the early death of his parents, Lynns grew up with his sister Armanda in an orphanage. No one wanted to adopt him because of various juvenile sentences and so he stayed in the orphanage until he came of age. He then worked as a pyrotechnician in film until an actress was seriously injured in an explosion through his fault. After his release, he turned to the crime. Over time, he became a pyromaniac and began setting fire to buildings as a professional arsonist for a fee, so that their owners could collect insurance premiums in this way. Black Mask, Nicholas Scratch and Blockbuster have already used Lynn's services . In his private life, Firefly also set fire to places he had visited with potential adoptive parents as a child, e.g. B. Zoos, bowling alleys, parks, etc. In an arson attack, Lynns was caught in the inferno he sparked and severely disfigured by burns. After that, 90% of his skin was covered with scars. Since Lynns burned down the Haley Circus, where Dick Grayson (Robin) grew up, he has harbored a personal grudge against Firefly. Lynns eventually died as a victim of the brutal OMACs (One Man Army Corps) who used ruthless methods to put an end to crime in the United States.

Firefly has appeared in various Batman cartoon series, such as an obsessive pyrotechnician in Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited (dubbed Mark Rolston), and as a mercenary and arsonist in The Batman (dubbed Jason Marsden). In the latter series he appeared in the episode "The Big Heat" as a saboteur who should take out business rivals of GothCorp and in "Fire and Ice" as an accomplice of Mr. Freeze.

Firefly makes an appearance in the live action Arrow . Here he is portrayed as a firefighter.

In the game Batman: Arkham Origins he is one of the eight contract killers that are set on Batman by the fake Black Mask. He appears shortly before the end of the game and mines Gotham Bridge with incendiary bombs. The bounty itself is irrelevant to him, it just seems to be about setting fire as much as possible (especially Batman).

Since 2015, a female version of Firefly has appeared in the Gotham television series , played by actresses Michelle Veintimilla and Camila Perez . Here the character is portrayed as the arsonist Bridgit Pike, who is transformed into Firefly by Professor Hugo Strange. She is a childhood friend of Selina Kyle's and allies with the penguin later in the series . Gotham's alternate Firefly version later appeared in the Batman Comics, first in Detective Comics # 988 from 2018.

Gearhead

Gearhead ( engl. "Gear head") is the nickname of the criminal Nathan Finch, which for a meeting with Batman lost his arms and legs and wears since prostheses. Gearhead was introduced to the Batman series in Detective Comics # 712 (1997) (Author: Chuck Dixon , Illustrator: Graham Nolan ).

Nathan Finch was an engineer for a Gotham technology company specializing in cybernetics. Out of greed for money and disappointed ambition, the professionally stagnant Finch kidnapped the daughter Joleen Relazzo of the company boss for ransom. When Batman found Finch's hiding place, he and his hostage fled across a frozen river bed. The two broke through the ice. Batman could only save Joleen, and Finch was pronounced dead. However, two homeless people saved him and handed him over to an underworld doctor, who amputated his limbs and replaced them with cybernetic prostheses. It took Finch years to come to terms with the prosthesis and then resumed his criminal career under the alias Gearhead.

Gearhead committed two unsuccessful acts of revenge on Batman and Joleen Relazzo. After that he was seen as a hired terrorist of the criminal rock musician Nicholas Scratch . After losing several of his robotic limbs in an explosion and only consisting of a metal torso for which he could not procure spare parts, Finch partnered with thug Tommy Mangels Manchaster on the No Man's Land storyline . Strapped to Manchaster's back, he acted as his advisor.

Gearhead appears in the animated series The Batman . Here he makes his debut in "RPM", the fifth episode of the third season. In the original, the voice actor Will Friedle lends him his voice. In this version, Gearhead is a greedy racing driver who uses his knowledge of nanotechnology to improve his car and use it as a getaway vehicle. He succeeds in stealing the proceeds of a charity race and incapacitating the Batmobile in the chase. During his second confrontation with Gearhead, Batman becomes aware of his cyborg identity and blocks Gearhead's cybernetic communication in order to eliminate and arrest the crook.

Gentleman Ghost

Gentleman Ghost ( Engl. : Cavalier ghost) is an ambivalent character who was a popular opponent Batman, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. His real name is Jim Craddock. He first appeared (under the name Ghost ) in the October 1947 comic book The Flash # 88.

In its debut, as in its other appearances during the 1940s in The Flash # 90, # 92 and # 103, it was neither given a name nor described its origins. At that time it was never clear to the reader whether the gentleman ghost was actually a ghost or just a high-tech crook.

A revised version of the character was introduced in The Atom and Hawkman # 43 in June / July 1969 . There the villain had an argument with the alien police officer Qatar Hol. In this booklet, Gentleman Ghost's real name is mentioned as Jim Craddock. He was a 19th century English nobleman who was defeated in the United States in battle with some gunslingers who captured him and brought him to the gallows. When he was executed, he vowed that he would return to earth for revenge. In fact, Craddock negotiated with death that his soul would have to walk on earth as the price of his return until his murderers had the temporal blessing. However, since his killers Nighthawk and Cinnamon were the reincarnations of Egyptian princes named Khufu and Chay-Ara , whose souls are always reborn in a new guise, there is no return for Gentleman Ghost. The current reincarnation of his killers are Hawkman and Hawkgirl .

It was introduced to the Batman series in 1979 in issue # 310. There he kidnaps and hypnotizes Batman's friend Alfred Pennyworth. Further encounters with Batman occurred in Batman # 319 (1980) and Detective Comics # 326 (1983). In his later appearances ( Hawkman # 6 from 1987 and Specter # 11 from 1988), the gentleman ghost was even transformed into half a hero, who at most has crooked traits, but is no longer a villain. He last appeared as a villain in The Flash # 19 of 1989. Other opponents of Craddocks so far were Max Mercury and the Star-Spangled Kid (Courtney Whitmore).

In the animated series All New Super Friends Hour , he made an appearance in the episode "Ghost", in which he temporarily turns UN MPs and heroes into ghosts. In Justice League Unlimited , he appeared as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom . Here he was dubbed Robin Atkin Downes.

Getaway Genius

Getaway Genius ( English : Escape Genius) is the nickname of the thief Rory Reynolds, who leaves the crime scene after every coup with carefully thought-out escape plans. He resorted to this strategy after realizing that Batman and Robin always won in direct combat against him. Characteristic of the Genius was its seventies look (bushy eyebrows, sideburns and mustache, as well as tinted glasses).

Almost nothing is known about Reynolds' past life. His official résumé begins when he first appears in Gotham City. On his first coups, Reynolds managed to evade arrest. Batman and Robin, however, induced his helpers to reveal the whereabouts of their boss, whereupon he was arrested ( Batman # 170, Gardner Fox , Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella ). The detention was short-lived, however: the Big Game Hunter kidnapped him from prison and forced him to divulge information on how to capture Batman. After Batman had defeated the Big Game Hunter and freed Reynolds, he voluntarily returned to official custody ( Batman # 174). Reynolds later retaliated for his rescue by foiling a plot to capture and execute Batman ( Batman # 201, 1968). Reynolds' last criminal venture to date, a groundbreaking series of robberies, was unsuccessful. Although he managed to outsmart Batman, the intervention of the monstrous Man-Bat put him back behind bars ( Batman # 254, 1973).

Gillian B. Loeb

Gillian B. Loeb was the corrupt Gotham City Police Chief at the start of Batman's career. Loeb was introduced to the series in Batman # 404 from 1986 ( Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli ). Loeb's predilection for kitsch was reflected externally in his office crammed with absurd memorabilia.

Loeb was initially benevolent towards Batman, thinking that he would only fight petty criminals. He therefore believed he could keep his links to Gotham's organized crime secret. After an attack by Batman on Loeb's residence, which was also home to gang chiefs, Loeb commissioned the young Captain Gordon to capture Batman. However, Gordon became aware of Loeb's criminal involvement and began to collect evidence against him. After Loeb's accomplice Flass was caught and unearthed incriminating material about the police chief, he had to resign from his post and was later murdered by the killer Hangman .

In Christopher Nolen's Batman Begins , Loeb appears as the Gotham Police Chief. In this version he is an African American and is played by Colin McFarlane . However, there are no signs of corruption on the part of Loeb, even if he does not approve of Batman at first. In The Dark Knight, MacFarlane reappeared as Loeb. In the course of the film he was poisoned by the Joker.

Commissioner Loeb appears in the television series Gotham , played by Peter Scolari . Here he is portrayed as the hated manager of the young James Gordon.

Harley Quinn

See article Harley Quinn .

Hella

See “ Hella ” entry in the Nightwing article .

Hugo Strange

Professor Hugo Strange is one of Batman's oldest adversaries and a classic Mad Scientist . He first appeared in Detective Comics # 37 from February 1940 (author: Bob Kane , illustrator: Bill Finger ) and, according to Dr. Death is the first returning Batman villain. In its modern incarnation, Strange goes back to the creative team of Steve Engelheart and Marshall Rogers.

Professor Strange is a thin, bald, glasses-wearing man with a black goatee . His eyes cannot be seen behind the thick glasses.

In its original version, Strange was a clichéd evil scientist who lured homeless people into his laboratory to conduct experiments on them. His victims were usually turned into gigantic zombies. At the end of his second encounter with Batman, he apparently fell fatally from a cliff ( Detective Comics # 46). In 1977, Strange was revived within the Strange Apparations storyline. He had survived his fall and was in hiding in Europe for a few years. Upon his return, he opened a private clinic where he held his wealthy patients until sizeable ransom payments were made. Strange ensured the secrecy of his victims by finding out unpleasant secrets about them. During this time he was accompanied by an assistant named Magda and some gigantic monsters.

After Bruce Wayne sustained severe burn injuries in an argument with Doctor Phosphorus, he was admitted to Strange's clinic for recreational purposes without knowing of his machinations. Strange discovered Wayne's secret identity and tried to make a profit from it. To this end, he arranged an auction in which the Joker, the Penguin, and the corrupt city councilor Rupert Thorne took part. Thorne betrayed Hugo Strange, had him captured and tried to obtain Batman's identity through torture. After Strange did not reveal his discovery and collapsed lifeless, Thorne had the supposedly dead man thrown in a barrel in the port of Gotham. Thorne was soon haunted by a ghost who pretended to be Strange. Persecuted in this way, Thorne finally surrendered to the authorities and confessed to his crimes. As it turned out, Strange had survived the incident in the harbor and Thorne had only played the ghost story with the help of technological means.

On earth 2, a parallel world of the real earth, there was also a Hugo Strange who was physically disabled after his fall and the subsequent doctor botch. When the attempt to defeat Batman with Starman's stolen staff failed, the Hugo Strange of Earth 2 committed suicide.

In modern Batman comics, Strange was introduced to the series as a renowned psychologist who was hired by Gotham City shortly after Batman's first appearance to help uncover Batman's identity. Strange actually managed to do this, but decided to keep the secret to himself. In a rush of madness, he decided to become Batman himself. This endeavor has remained his guiding motive to this day. Several attempts to murder Batman and take his place have so far failed. Strange's attempt to defeat Batman with Scarecrow resulted in the destruction of his Gothic mansion. Strange's ability to escape death is striking here. He survived being impaled on a weather vane and other serious injuries. In disguise as a corporate psychiatrist, he tried to infiltrate Wayne Enterprises ( Gotham Knights # 8-12) to force Batman to surrender his identity to him. With the help of Robin and Nightwing, Batman finally succeeded in thwarting Strange's plans and admitting him to the Arkham Asylum.

In the animated series Batman: The Animated Series from 1992, Strange appeared as the operator of a private clinic, where he learns the most intimate secrets of his patients and then extorts them for large sums of money. The original American spokesperson for Strange was Ray Buktenica. When Bruce Wayne goes into treatment, Strange discovers Wayne's double life as Batman. Strange's attempt to sell the secret to the Joker, Two-Face and the Penguin fails when Two-Face, who was a former friend of Wayne's, believes Strange's claim is a lie. Batman can barely prevent Strange from being killed by the other three villains for his alleged cheating. Before his imprisonment, Strange's belief in Batman's identity is finally shaken by a joint appearance by Wayne and Batman (behind whose mask Dick Grayson was).

In the series The Justice League Strange appeared in the episode "The Doomsday Sanction" in a short scene as an employee of the Cadmus project. Since Warner Brothers forbade the use of the Strange character, Dr. Moon back. In the series The Batman , Strange appeared as a stout, non-bald psychologist at Arkham Asylum. Initially, Frank Gorshin and later Richard Green acted as the dubbing voice . In this incarnation of the character, Strange is not a villain, but a psychologist, fascinated by the phenomenon of insanity, who tries to grasp this phenomenon at all costs. He does not shy away from exposing people to considerable risks in order to obtain an ideal test arrangement. In later episodes, Strange is finally found insane himself and admitted to the Arkham Asylum.

Professor Strange appears as an antagonist in the crime series Gotham from the second season. Here he is played by actor Bradley Darryl Wong . As the series progresses, he is forced to collaborate by numerous characters such as the Court of Owls, Fish Mooney, the Penguin and Nyssa al Ghul. In this continuity, Strange and his experiments are responsible for creating numerous future Batman villains, including Firefly, Mr. Freeze , Clayface, Solomon Grundy, Jane Doe, and Bane .

Professor Hugo Strange appears in the handheld version of Lego Batman The 2008 video game . There you have to find him with Batman and Robin on a villain mission and defeat him. In the game Lego DC Super Villains from 2018 you can find him as a ladder in the Arkham Asylum after the dimensional crisis. When the Joker and Livewire find him, he sends a patient called "Bobby", whom he has turned into a monster called "Robert". This is switched off with electricity. Joker and Livewire can escape using the Joker-Copper controlled by Mercy Graves. Hugo Strange notes that he should give Robert rubber shoes. He's still the head of Arkham Asylum so far.

Hush

As a boy, Dr. Thomas Elliot, aka Hush, Bruce Wayne's best friend. Unlike his friend, Elliot had parents who bullied him, which is why he killed them. He hides the scars his mother inflicted on him when she was murdered behind bandages that he has been wearing ever since. As Hush, the now adult Elliot tries to take revenge on Batman, whose identity he knows, for his carefree life without harassment from parents. In his crimes, Hush repeatedly mentions quotes from Aristotle because as a child he was forced by his mother to read his works. Hush had had aggression since childhood, his doctor in the mental hospital was Jonathan Crane , whom he later included in the "Hush conspiracy" and called "mentor".

Hush formed many alliances with enemies of Batman, including learning to shoot at Deadshot . In order to get his final revenge on Bruce Wayne, he kidnapped Selina Kyle aka Catwoman and stole her heart. To complete it, while Bruce Wayne was absent, he had his face surgically altered to become his likeness. He wanted to take over the Wayne fortune and then drive the company into ruin. He lost a later fight against Batman and has since served his sentence in a private prison in Wayne Tower.

The young Tommy Elliot appears in the television series Gotham , played by Cole Vallis in the first season and Gordon Winarick in the fourth season. He is shown here as a classmate Bruce Wayne, with whom he befriends after a bumpy start later in the series.

Jester

When Dr. Arkham became Black Mask, the Joker reached into his mind and presented Arkham with the psychological part of the Joker that resides within himself. This part called Jester looks like a harlequin who has Arkham's face. Although he is delusional, he terrorizes Arkham by, for example, defacing his "beauties", the only three patients Arkham could cure, and giving them Arkham's face. Arkham gets aggressive and kills the beauties who, it turns out, were also delusional and Arkham actually never healed an inmate. Whether Jester leaves Arkham's mind remains unclear. Arkham's new director, Dr. Alyce Sinner just tells him that Jester is gone forever. Arkham says yes.

Jester is also the name of the good counterpart to the Joker on Earth 2 . This leads there with Lex Luthor the League of the Just.

Joe Chill

The criminal Joe Chill killed the parents of the young Bruce Wayne and is thus the trigger for Wayne's transformation into Batman.

In most versions of the Batman material, Chill is a little mugger who ambushes the Waynes in a back alley on their way home from a movie theater together (they saw The Mask of Zorro ). Chill shoots the parents of the young Bruce Wayne, who remains unharmed with the corpses of his parents. Motifs that recur in the design of the scene are the tearing of Martha Wayne's pearl necklace, the rolling of pearls on the pavement of the alley, and a long moment in which Bruce Wayne and Chill look into each other's eyes before he flees .

In the first variant of Batman's origin story in the comic book Batman # 1 (Fall 1940), Chill was still nameless. He received his name in the issue Batman # 47 from June – July 1948. In this issue Batman discovers that the gang leader Chill is the murderer of his parents. He reveals himself to Chill as the son of his victim. When Chill's henchmen realize that their boss is responsible for creating Batman, they kill him.

In Detective Comics # 235 (1956), Batman learns that Chill was actually not a random mugger, but a paid murderer who killed the Waynes on the orders of a gangster named Lew Moxon. Moxon had sworn revenge on Thomas Wayne after he testified against him in court.

In the 1987 story Batman: Year Two , Batman's origin story was presented in a modified version. Chill appeared here as an assassin who was hired by various Gotham gang bosses to get the Reaper out of the way, which had a massive impact on their business. Batman, who was also after the Reaper, reluctantly teamed up with Chill, and together they defeated the overwhelming Reaper. Batman led Chill to the place where his parents were shot and identified himself as Bruce Wayne. He was on the verge of killing Chill when the Reaper, believed dead, stood up again and beat Batman.

In another version in Batman Vol 20 , Bruce Wayne believes that Joe Chill was in the service of the legendary Council of Owls , a conspiracy intended to pull the strings behind Gotham's government. For years he has been thinking of different things about his theory: who is on the council and why they hired Chill. When the grown-up Bruce finally tracks down Chill in an old building, he doesn't find a contract killer, but a depressed alcoholic who only wanted to buy a bottle of schnapps from the sale of the pearls. Bruce wants to shoot Chill first, but then changes his mind and leaves the house disappointed. He is convinced that there is no conspiracy, only chaos and that this chaos must be stopped, which ultimately leads to his superhero identity.

In Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film, Chill is fused with the character of the Joker . The young Jack Napier, who would later become the Joker in the film, shot the Wayne couple. In the movie Batman Begins , Chill is played by Richard Brake. Here he is portrayed as a homeless man who claims in court that he perpetrated the assault on the Waynes out of poverty. When he was released 14 years after the crime, he was shot by a henchman of the gangster Carmine Falcone before Bruce Wayne could take revenge.

joker

See article Joker (cartoon character) .

Joker 2.0

Joker 2.0 is a character from the animated series The Batman and appears in the episode The metal face of comedy . A scientist dubbed Joker's soul in a video game so that Joker's body was hospitalized. At the same time, the scientist succeeds in sending the soul into a collection of nanobots in order to bring Joker back. When Joker wakes up in the hospital, he escapes and forms an alliance with the nanobot joker "Joker 2.0". Since Joker 2.0 is even more dangerous than the original because of the nanobots (for example, it can turn into gas to fly, or clone), he wants to destroy the Joker and everyone who stands by him. Only Batman and Robin were able to lock him back into the game.

KGBeast

KGBeast ( English : "KGBestie") is the code name of Anatoli Knyazev, a former member of the Soviet secret service KGB . The character made his debut in Batman # 417, March 1988 (Writer: Jim Starlin , Artist: Jim Aparo ). He is a tall, muscular man with short blond hair. His left hand and eye are missing as a result of self-mutilation. He compensates for both handicaps with special prostheses. His student is the NKVDemon alias Gregor Dosinky.

Knyazev was a KGB man who had received special training as a political assassin. With the help of anabolic steroids he was trained to be an almost insurmountable fighting machine. He then committed various murders of real or alleged enemies of the organization on behalf of the KGB. One of his jobs was to assassinate the ten most important participants in the American Strategic Defense Initiative in Gotham City , including a. the then US President Ronald Reagan . Knyazev managed to murder seven of his ten victims before Batman could finally arrest him together with the CIA and FBI. More than a hundred bodyguards, police officers and guests at a banquet were killed in the course of this series of murders. During one of the numerous fights with Batman, Knyazev proved his resolve by mutilating himself to avoid arrest. So he cut off his arm, which was bound by Batman, with an ax. He replaced the lost body parts with cybernetic prostheses.

After his arrest, Knyazev was extradited to the Soviet Union, but returned to Gotham City as a member of the Russian mafia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He turned out to be far less intelligent than before - probably a result of mistreatment and torture in Russian custody. His gang's attempt to rule Gotham's underworld was thwarted by Batman and Robin (Robin III miniseries, 1993). A second attempt, together with Colonel Vega and Romana as a troika, to usher in control of the Gotham underworld also failed ( Batman # 515, 1994). He was then imprisoned in Blackgate Prison, where he was involved in various escape attempts ( Batman: Blackgate # 1, 1993) and became friends with Bane ( Vengeance of Bane # 2, 1995). A short-lived partnership with Chesire was also ended by Batman and Arsenal ( Batman Plus # 1). During the no man's land time he ruled Blackgate together with Lock-Up until Nightwing put an end to it. Most recently he worked with Magpie , Orca and the Ventriloquist for the penguin until all four were murdered by the Tally Man ( Detective Comics # 817). He made an appearance in the episode Kids Stuff in the cartoon Justice League Unlimited .

Killer Croc

See article Killer Croc .

Killer Moth

Killer Moth ( English : "murderer moth") was the nickname of the professional criminal Drury Walker (alias Cameron Van Cleer), who unsuccessfully tried in the costume of a moth to make a name for himself in the Gotham underworld and later turned into the monster Charaxes becomes. Killer Moth was introduced to the Batman universe in Batman # 63, dated February 1951. In his Charaxes incarnation, he made his debut in Underworld Unleashed # 1 from November 1995.

Drury Walker, a chronically unsuccessful petty criminal, offered himself up as Killer Moth as a bodyguard to the Gotham gangsters. His costume consisted of a purple, green, and white body suit, an orange cape, purple boots and a face mask modeled on a moth's head. He had dummy wings on his back. Thematically, Killer Moth was originally a kind of anti-Batman: While Batman protected innocent people from crime, Killer Moth acted as the protector of criminals from the law enforcement officers. He was called to his missions as a helper for all “criminals in need” by means of the Moth signal . He also owned a Moth Mobile and a Moth Cave , each analogous to Batman's equipment. Killer Moth's trademark was a cocoon weapon. Despite his best efforts, he was always overwhelmed by Batman and his failure brought his clients behind bars. When Walker was beaten up by Batgirl in a masked ball robbery, his self-esteem sank to a new low. Even a merger with the Misfits, Catman, Chancer and Calendar Man was unsuccessful. In an attempt to kidnap Gotham's Mayor Armand Kroll, Police Commissioner Gordon and Bruce Wayne for ransom, Walker and his accomplices succumbed to the combined efforts of Batman and Robin. After the terrorist Bane attacked the Arkham Asylum, Walker was the only one who failed to escape.

After a long series of failures, Walker was visited one night in his cell in the Arkham Asylum by the demon Neron, who turned him into a true killer moth in exchange for his soul: As a man-eating Charaxes, a mindless but superhumanly strong being, he spun his own Often, sacrifice is placed in sticky cocoons to hold for later consumption. Charaxes is 2.05 m tall with a wingspan of 3.66 m and a weight of 92 kg. His eyes are red, glowing spheres. The hairy, mustard-colored body has two sharp claws, four lance-like tentacles and four spike-shaped chin extensions. Even as Charaxes, Walker has not been able to record any victories for himself. He lost to Robin ( Robin # 23 and 24), Starfire ( The Titans # 1) and Killer Croc ( Batman: Arkham Asylum: Tales of Madness # 1 [One-Shot]). After meeting Lock-Up, a self-proclaimed prison guard, he was held captive in Gotham City harbor for several weeks and, ironically, was only freed through the intervention of Batman and his helpers. Later, to his own horror, Charaxes laid a clutch of hundreds of eggs, each of which hatched identical duplicates of Drury Walker. These offspring were eventually taken into government custody, where they perished while trying to escape by force. The appearance of a man who claimed to have been the original Killer Moth, while Walker was just a copycat, temporarily cast doubt on Walker's identity. This man eventually turned out to be a mentally confused former henchman of the obscure Felix Faust.

Killer Moth appeared in an episode of the 1967 Batman television series that never aired for unknown reasons, but is now circulating on the internet. In the Teen Titans cartoon series, Killer Moth appeared as a masked and costumed criminal who sent oversized robot moths into battle to devastate the city (episode "Date with Destiny"). His preferred hand weapon was a laser whip. Moth also had an arrogant daughter here named Kitten. In the episode "Can I Keep Him?" He reappeared: He turned the worm Silkie into a monster who initially turned against the Titans, but then fought on their side against Moth. After that, Moth and Kitten joined the Brotherhood of Evil. In “Calling All Titans”, after a renewed confrontation with the Titans, he was transformed into an ice sculpture after Mas y Menos put him in Chang's instant freezing machine. Killer Moth was dubbed by Thomas Haden Church on his debut and by Marc Worden on all subsequent appearances . In The Batman , Killer Moth was originally dubbed by Jeff Bennett . In the Batman console game "Batman: Revenge of the Joker", Killer Moth appeared as a boss character at the end of a level.

King Tut

King Tut (German: König Tut) did not originally appear in the comics, but only in the Batman television series of the 1960s, where he was portrayed by Victor Buono . The TV series is about the Gotham Egyptologist Professor William Omaha McElroy, who developed retrograde amnesia after being hit on the back of the head and believed to be a reincarnation of the pharaoh Tutankhamun . He seeks to take power in Gotham City as an absolutist ruler. The hallmark of King Tut is the ancient Egyptian costume of his palace guards, the ancient court keeping and his regalia, consisting of pschent , crook and crook, as befits his rank. Batman must repeatedly defeat him and bring the professor to his senses, whereupon he turns back into a law-abiding citizen, but only until he is hit on the back of the head again.

Tut had an unnamed cameo in a 2008 cartoon series , and in April 2009 he made his comic debut in Batman Confidential # 26, albeit with a different background than the criminal Egyptologist Victor Goodman. In all adaptations Tut is an extremely cunning and clever opponent, in the 60s TV series he exposes the secret identity of Batman / Bruce Wayne (which neither Riddler nor Joker ever succeeds in), in the comics he is on a par with the riddler / riddle cracker as a puzzler.

Kite man

The Kite Man ( English : "Dragon Man") is a villain who uses a wide variety of equipment related to kites . His real name is Charles "Chuck" Brown, named after the character from Charles M. Schulz's comic series Peanuts . This name already characterizes Kite-Man as an "eternal loser".

On his first appearance, the kite-man tried to free some prison inmates but failed due to the intervention of Batman and Robin, who captured him ( Batman # 133, August 1960). His equipment consisted of all kinds of unusual to absurd objects such as a jet-powered hang-glider. At his next appearance ( Batman # 315, September 1979; author: Len Wein , draftsman: Dick Sprang ) he tried to steal the wages of a corporation and was defeated by Batman with his own kite flyer (Bat-Kite) . He later lost to Hawkman and Hawkwoman ( Hawkman # 4, 1987), then again to Batman ( Gotham Knights # 32), and was eventually murdered by mercenary Slade Wilson when he refused to join the Secret Society of Super Villains.

In the television series Harley Quinn , Kite-Man is portrayed as the secret lover of Poison Ivy . In the original, the actor Matt Oberg lends him his voice.

Lady Shiva

See Ra's al Ghul article , Recurring Minor Characters section .

Lady Vic

See the “ Lady Vic ” entry in the Nightwing article .

Lex Luthor

See article Lex Luthor .

Man-bat

See article Man-Bat .

Dr. Kirk Langstrom was working on a means to give blind people the ability to echolocate bats. In a self-experiment, he transformed himself into a humanoid giant bat, which instinctively hunted people. Man-Bat could fly and posed a serious threat to his namesake, Batman. This transformed Dr. Long stream ultimately back into a person with an antidote. However, the researcher has suffered relapses since then and becomes Man-Bat again.

Mad Hatter and Mad Hatter Imposter

See article Mad Hatter (cartoon character) .

Magpie

Magpie is the code name of Margaret Pye, a jewel thief who once worked as a curator at the Gotham City Museum. She made her first appearance in The Man of Steel # 3 in 1986. When she first appeared, she was defeated by Batman with the help of Superman while the latter was visiting Gotham.

The character has been heavily reworked for the animated series Beware the Batman . In addition to a new Origin story, Magpie's appearance was also given a modern redesign. The new costume from the series was eventually adopted for the comics.

Sarah Schenkkan plays Magpie in the Gotham television series . Here she is portrayed as an opponent of the penguin. In the episode "13 stitches" she steals a precious diamond from Pinguin's collection, which then allies with Selina Kyle to capture Magpie. When they are back in Penguin's treasury, Magpie is trapped. Penguin shoots her in cold blood, which astonishes Selina.

Maxie Zeus

Maxie Zeus is the alias of the Gotham gang leader Max Zlodsky, who believed himself to be the god Zeus . The character was created by Denny O'Neil and introduced into the Batman universe in Detective Comics # 483 of May 1979.

Max Zlodsky was originally a history teacher in Gotham City. After the death of his wife, which was never cleared up, he went mad and embarked on a career as a criminal. Thanks to excellent spiritual gifts, he rose quickly in the Gotham underworld and became the head of a successful gang himself. His state of mind deteriorated increasingly so that he ultimately believed himself to be the embodiment of the Greek god Zeus and gave himself the name Maxie Zeus . After several unsuccessful arguments with Batman, he settled in the northwestern United States, where he gathered a group of superhuman beings, the New Olympians , around himself. The attempt to kidnap the Olympic athlete Lacinia Nitocris and make her his godmother was thwarted by Batman and the Outsiders .

After that Maxie Zeus appeared only very sporadically and had a few, mostly unsuccessful, confrontations with Batman ( Batman # 470, 1991), Robin ( Robin # 2 [?], 1995) and Catwoman ( Catwoman # 74 [?]) . He spent most of his time as an inmate at Arkham Asylum for years. His former lawyer, who has now also gone mad, worked with Zeus under the name Harpy , was also unable to break through his criminal career low ( Batman # 481 and # 482, 1992). Maxie Zeus finally died while trying to enable a demonic being who pretended to be the god of war Ares to return to earth ( Wonder Woman # 20 [?]).

In the Batman cartoon series Batman. The Animated Series debuted Maxie Zeus in the episode Fire From Olympus . There he was a businessman who developed a god complex. It was only with the help of Zeus' wife, who was worried about her husband, that Batman managed to defeat the madman. Steve Susskind was the original voice actor for Maxie Zeus. In the end he ends up in Arkham Asylums, where he begins to feel at home: he only sees related gods of Olympus in the other inmates: Hermes , the god of pranks ( Joker ), Demeter , goddess of fertility ( Poison Ivy ) and the double- faced Janus ( Two Face ; actually a Roman god).

In the Batman series The Batman , Phil LaMarr dubbed Maxie Zeus, who appeared in the episode Thunder . In this episode, the tyrant clad in golden armor, supported by the most modern spaceship weapons and security guards, tried to take control of the city during the mayoral election. In this incarnation, too, Zeus was quickly defeated by Batman and Batgirl.

Mr. Freeze

See article Mr. Freeze .

Mr. Lao

Lao is the head of a large company in The Dark Knight . There he made an offer that he would work with Wayne Enterprises - but in fact he picked up the stolen money from a bank. On the way back to Hong Kong , he is overheard talking to the criminals. When Batman brings him back to Gotham , he comes behind bars. Then he is killed by the Joker .

The Penguin

See article Penguin (cartoon character) .

Poison ivy

See article Poison Ivy (Comics) .

Professor Milo

Professor Achiles Milo, first appeared on Detective Comics # 247 in September 1957.

In its debut edition, he administered a substance to Batman that caused a microchiroptera phobia (fear of bats), so that from then on he was unable to wear his own costume. In order to defeat the villain, Batman was forced to adopt the alias "Starman". He wore the costume of James Robinson from the Starman comic series from 1951. He changed his arsenal accordingly, which now included the “Starplane” and the “Star-a-rang” among others. Milo, who saw through the trick, now disguised himself as a bat for his crimes. With the help of Robin, Batman finally managed to overcome his fears and bring down Milo.

A short time later, Milo returned and attacked Batman with a gas that robbed him of his will to live. With the help of Robin and his butler Alfred, Batman was able to defeat Milo again ( Batman # 113; December 1957). After a long absence, Milo returned again and subjugated the decathlete Anthony Lupus by turning him into a werewolf-like creature with a serum. Eventually, however, Lupus managed to break free from Milo's spell and kill him ( Batman # 255; April 1974). This turned out to be a mistake, however, as Milo later reappeared as head of the Arkham Asylum (Batman # 326 & 327, 1980). He helped inmates escape and tried to drive Batman, disguised as a patient, insane by using hallucinogenic gases. However, this plan failed when Milo was attacked by Arkham inmates, whereupon he had to be interned himself, severely traumatized. After his release from Arkham, he set a trap for Batman on behalf of the Joker ( Batman: Joker's Apprentice # 1, 1999) and then declared his retirement. The story of Anthony Lupus was adapted from an episode of the Batman animated series by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in 1993.

Professor Pyg

Professor Pyg, first appeared in Detective Comics # 666 in June 2007, and was created by Grant Morrison. Professor Pyg's real name is Lazlo Valentin and is a former ringmaster, his trademark is a plastic pig mask. Professor Pyg is also head of the Circus des Bizarre group and an ally of Doctor Hurt . Professor Pyg tried to make the people of Gotham addicted to a drug so that people only obeyed his will. Batman and Robin managed to stop him, however.

In the series Beware the Batman he is a recurring opponent, here he appears in the company of Mr. Toat.

In 2017, Professor Pyg starred in the Gotham crime series, played by Broadway actor Michael Cerveris . Here Lazlo Valentin appears as an opponent of James Gordon and the penguin . He works with Sophia Falcone to defeat Gotham's criminal elite. He is insane himself, though. Professor Pyg kills homeless people and turns them into pies. He would like to give this to the rich elite of Gotham. The penguin and Sophia Falcone refuse, Pyg rams a knife into Sophia's hand. Penguin and the others then have to eat the pies (the homeless) to protect Martine and the other orphans. Jim Gordon comes in and faces Pyg, who comes up to him with two knives. The others can flee. Jim arrests Pyg, whose real name is "Lazlo Valentin". Jim makes fun of Lazlo in Arkham and tells him that he will forget, he is nothing compared to "Fish Mooney". He's going out of Arkham. Lazlo plays the song "Ave Maria" at Arkham Asylum. This makes a fellow inmate angry. Lazlo finally kills him when he attacks him, with the record, he slits his throat. He then breaks out of Arkham and kills Carmine Falcone. Jim then wants to grab him, but then learns that Sophia Falcone, the Roman's daughter, is responsible. Sophia finally shoots Pyg and threatens Jim to do this to him if he doesn't play along. Jim tells the GCPD that he found Pyg dead. It is not known whether he took over the Professor Pyg identity from someone else, as he has already done so with others.

Ra's al Ghul

See article Ra's al Ghul .

Red Hood

Red Hood ( Engl. "Red Hood") is the name of two villains who have a trademark wearing a red helmet together. The first Red Hood made its debut in Batman # 152 in 1952 (Author: Bill Finger ). The second character by that name appeared in the 2004/05 Under the Hood storyline (author: Judd Winick , illustrator: Matt Wagner ).

Red Hood I.

In the original version, Red Hood was the cover identity of a criminal who fell into an acid basin when he broke into a chemical plant and became a joker.

In a revised version of the material, Red Hood was the camouflage of a gang of thieves who wanted to mislead the police. When an unsuccessful comedian was accepted into the Red Hood gang , he had to wear the hood disguise for a break-in at the Ace Chemicals plant , where he had previously worked as a chemical laboratory technician. The comedian was cornered by Batman at the scene and fell into a chemical pool before venting out through a drain pipe. The special breathing mechanism of the Red Hood helmet allowed him to survive but did not prevent his body from being disfigured. His hair turned green, his skin white, and his lips blood red. The comedian went insane at this sight, gave up the Red Hood identity and became a wild card. The Red Hood costume was later spotted in both the Joker's possession ( Batman # 450) and Batman ( The Man Who Laughs ).

Red Hood II

The second Red Hood was the identity of the supposedly deceased second Robin (Jason Todd), who reappeared in Gotham City shortly after the War Games storyline. The new Hood was wearing normal street clothes and a black leather jacket instead of the suit with a red cape. The shape of the helmet had also changed. The activities of the new Red Hood were mainly directed against the Joker and the Black Mask gang. In addition, he also turned against Batman and his allies because, in his opinion, they did not treat criminals hard enough. His stated goal was to rid Gotham of crime, and he did not shy away from serious crimes such as murder.

Red Hood in other media

The origin of the Red Hood identity is illuminated in the first season of the television series Gotham . In the third season, Butch Gilzean briefly takes on the role of Red Hood in order to get revenge on the penguin .

Riddler

See article Riddler .

Romana

Romana is a Russian criminal who first appears in Robin # 12 from December 1994 (author: C. Dixon, illustrator: T. Grummett). Together with KGBeast and Colonel Vega , she forms the so-called "Troika", a group of former Soviet intelligence officers who are trying to take control of the Gotham City underworld. When this fails, the trio tries to destroy the city with a baseball-sized nuclear warhead, which Batman and Robin, together with police officer Harvey Bullock, are able to prevent.

Scarface

See section The Ventriloquist .

The Scarecrow

See article Scarecrow (cartoon character) .

Spellbinder

Spellbinder ( English : "someone who casts a spell over others") is the name of two villains who resort to illusionistic tricks in their deeds, but are also able to influence the perception of people.

The first spellbinder was Delbert Billings, while Fay Moffit currently bears this name. Spellbinder I was introduced to the Batman series in Detective Comics # 358 of December 1966. The modern version of both characters goes back to Chuck Dixon and Staz Johnson in Detective Comics # 691 from November 1995.

Spellbinder I (Delbert Billings)

The first villain to use the Spellbinder name was Delbert Billings. Billings created a course in which elements of Op Art were supposed to cause hallucinations in the viewer. Batman overcame these gadgets and defeated the spellbinder (Detective Comics # 358; Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff and Joe Giella). Thereupon Billings was up to mischief in Superman's hometown Metropolis, but was defeated there by his own weapons ( Superman # 330; by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan, and Frank Chiaramonte). Billings returned to Gotham in the wake of a mysterious crime wave when Batman was temporarily gone. However, he was the first villain to end up behind bars after Batman's return ( Batman # 336). An entry in Who's Who # 21 commemorates his career.

In a new green-orange costume and only slight hypnotic powers, he joined the group of "League-Busters", a gang of villains who the heroes of the Justice League stalked ( Justice League International # 65 and Justice League America # 90).

After devastating defeats, he returned to Gotham City, where he started a new gang with his girlfriend Fay Moffit . He turned down the demonic Neron's offer to give him great power in exchange for his soul. His girlfriend, however, accepted the offer, killed Billings and thus became the second spellbinder.

Spellbinder II (Fay Moffit)

Fay Moffit became the second spellbinder after she shot Spellbinder I. In exchange for her soul, she received from the demon Neron the ability to cause hallucinations in other people that were so realistic that the victims suffered physical damage. Those who thought they were on fire actually suffered burns. It was only with Robin's help that Batman managed to overcome his hallucinations and seize Moffit ( Detective Comics # 691–692, November 1995; by Chuck Dixon, Staz Johnson, and Scott Hanna).

Moffit was kept in a high security facility, where she was constantly blindfolded as this was the only way to neutralize her powers ( Green Lantern # 79). After a short transfer to the Arkham Asylum, she managed to escape from official custody and she entered the service of Mark Desmond, the head of the underworld of Blüdhaven, a neighboring town of Gotham City. On his behalf, she tried to find out the whereabouts of the Batcave ( Birds of Prey: Batgirl # 1, 1998).

After she was arrested again, her prisoner transport was kidnapped to the dark planet Apokolips : She agreed to put herself in the service of Darkseid, the ruler of the planet, in order to be able to escape this gloomy planet ( Birds of Prey # 12-14, 1999 ).

Stallion

See “ Stallion ” entry in the Nightwing article .

Talia Head

See Ra's al Ghul article , Recurring Minor Characters section .

Ten-Eyed-Man

The Ten-Eyed-Man ( English : ten-eyed man) is the alias of Philip Reardon, a Vietnam veteran who blames Batman for the loss of his eyesight and has been trying to get revenge ever since. He made his debut in 1970's Batman # 226 (writer: Frank Robbins , illustrator: Irv Novick ).

Reardon took part in the Vietnam War as a member of a special forces unit, but was fired after his forehead was injured by a shrapnel. In Vietnam he had due to its excellent shooting skills, but above all because of his scar on his forehead the nickname "Three Eyed Man" ( Engl. : Three-eyed man) was obtained. After returning to the United States, he worked as a security guard in a warehouse, where he was knocked down by thieves one night. When Batman arrived at the scene shortly afterwards, the dazed Reardon thought he was one of the thieves and attacked him. The moment his eyes cleared and he recognized Batman, a bomb left behind by the burglars exploded and burned Reardon's retinas, causing him to go blind.

A doctor named Dr. Engstrom finally connected Reardon's optic nerves with his fingertips. Since each finger now functioned as an eye, it was called Ten-Eyed-Man. Reardon swore revenge on Batman, whom he blamed for his blindness. After two failed attacks on Batman's life ( Batman # 226, 1970, and # 226, 1971) Reardon was taken into police custody. His hands were put in a metal box to prevent him from escaping.

In Batman # 2 from 1976 (author: Martin Pasko , draftsman: Pablo Marcos and Ricardo Villamonte ) the ten-eyed man was revived. Here he was recreating Man-Bat on behalf of a man named Livell, who wanted to use the blood of the bat mutant to develop a cure for blindness. The attempt to set Man-Bat high above the rooftops of Gotham failed and Reardon fell into the depths. The Ten-Eyed-Man survived, however, and returned during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline in Crisis on Infinite Earths # 12 (1985), in which, however, he finally blessed the time. His résumé was retold in Who's Who '87 # 23.

Terrible trio

The Terrible Trio ( Engl. : Terrible Trio) first appeared in 1958 in Detective Comics to # 253rd

The members of the trio were successful inventors who covered Gotham City with a spectacular series of robberies. During their crimes, the three men wore business suits and face masks modeled after a fox (The Fox) , a shark (The Shark) and a vulture (The Vulture) . According to their technical skills, the three equipped themselves with special equipment that matched their animal shape. Batman managed to uncover the underlying pattern of acts, as the trio committed a crime on land, sea, and air, and then started over. Batman and Robin managed to locate the criminals' hideout and finally to confront the trio. After a successful prison break ( Detective Comics # 321, 1963), the three turned to jewelery and people smuggling. Batman managed to infiltrate the smugglers' headquarters in the camouflage of the escaped convict Archie Craig . He was initially overwhelmed by the members and could only be freed with Batwomans help, with whom he finally brought the trio down.

For a long time, the Terrible Trio only had short appearances in Batman Family # 11 (1977), Who's Who # 23 (1986), Green Lantern Corps Quarterly # 3 (1992) and Batman: Black and White # 4 (1996). Under the names of Fisk, Shackley and Volper, they finally set up a real estate company in Portsmouth, with which they bought valuable land, the prices of which had fallen after specially committed attacks. Despite the support of the trio by a beefy bodyguard named Mister Sham , crime fighter Doctor Mid-Nite managed to capture the three and turn them over to the FBI ( Doctor Mid-Nite Miniseries # 1-3, 1999). In Detective Comics # 832 (July 2007) they went on again.

In the animated series Batman: The Animated Series by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini , the Terrible Trio appeared in the episode The Terrible Trio (US broadcast: September 1995). Here its members are three bored members of the upper class who turned criminals not out of greed, but just for the thrill of it.

tumult

See entry " Tumult " in the article Nightwing .

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, actually Dumfree and Deever Tweed, are two cheaters that are based on the characters of the same name from Lewis Carroll's children 's book Alice in Wonderland . The tweeds are cousins ​​who resemble each other like identical twins. With their bald, round faces and their small, stocky stature, they resemble their namesake. When they're not dressed like the twins in Carroll's book, they're wearing classic 1920s gangster attire. They also adorn themselves with accessories such as prepared walking sticks that can give off electrical shocks. Despite their aversion to physical activity, they are quite nimble and agile. They debuted in Detective Comics # 74 from 1943 (Artists: Don Cameron, Jerry Robinson , Bob Kane , George Roussos, and Charles Paris).

Batman and Robin first became aware of the Tweed cousins ​​when they carried out various robberies of fur and jewelry stores in Gotham City. They eventually managed to capture the two of them when they tried to rob a charity masquerade ball ( Detective Comics # 74). On their second appearance, they raided several hunting parties in mansions in Gotham County. After all sorts of bizarre vicissitudes in which the cousins ​​demonstrated their amazing technical skills, Batman and Robin were able to overcome them again ( Batman # 18). As Mayor of Yonville, she tried to cheat the villagers out of their savings, but were stopped by Batman and Robin ( Batman # 24). These early adventures were reprinted in World's Finest Comics # 209 (1972) and Detective Comics # 443 (1974), and Issue C-25 of the Limited Collectors' Edition series.

After that, the cousins ​​sank to second-rate opponents. They participated in the obscure underworld trial of the alleged death of Batman ( Batman # 291 and # 294, 1977), participated in an attempt to assassinate Batman before Killer Croc could accomplish the deed, but became close to Croc along with their accomplices beaten to death (Detective # 526, 1983). During a mass breakout from Arkham Asylum staged by Ra's al Ghul, the Tweeds were also able to escape (Batman # 400), but were arrested again soon afterwards. Electrodes and transistors were later implanted in their brains in Arkham, which has since led to the occasional involuntary twitching and smell of machine oil and ozone ( Secret Origins # 23, 1987). In Arkham, the two also briefly teamed up with the Mad Hatter , who shares their preference for Lewis Carroll ( Black Orchid # 2).

After another outbreak, the two teamed up with the Joker: The trio subsequently made life difficult not only for Batman, but also for his ally Superman ( World's Finest Comics # 1–3, 1990). During this time, they behaved unusually submissive and served the Joker as obedient henchmen. Otherwise they were mostly seen as permanent inmates of the maximum security wing of Arkham ( Animal Man # 24, Legends of the Dark Knight # 38), where they once lost a fight against Batman when he was temporarily admitted to the asylum ( Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 3-4).

After the tweeds were freed by terrorist Bane's attack on Arkham Asylum, they went into hiding. Together with the demon Asteroth they gathered a gang around them and opened the Devil Spawn Club. The attempt to steal the Eternity Book from the magician Jason Blood failed ( The Demon # 31-33, 1993). When Asteroth could no longer use the tweeds, he kicked them out of the gang. They teamed up with contract killer Tommy Monaghan, who wanted to get a bounty on Asteroth. Using his telepathic abilities, Monaghan realized that the Tweeds were going to betray and murder him after Asteroth's death. In the eventual showdown in a Gotham cemetery, Asteroth was banished back to Hell, while Monaghan and the Tweeds escaped in different directions ( The Demon # 43-45, 1994; Garth Ennis and John McCrea). The cousins ​​were seized by the Gotham police.

They were again taken to Arkham ( The Creeper # 7), from where they escaped again after Gotham was declared no man's land ( Batman: Shadow of the Bat # 80-82, 1998). They left the devastated city but returned after the end of no man's land (see Batman: No Man's Land ).

Tweedledee and Tweedledum are described in the character catalog Who's Who in issues # 24 (1987) and # 7 (1991).

The two characters appeared in the third season of the Gotham crime series . Here Tweedledee and Tweedledum are depicted as Mad Hatter's henchmen.

Two-face

→ Main article : Two-Face

Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face , has a split personality. His character changes by leaps and bounds between good and bad . Sometimes he also helps Batman to fight injustice, but often not. Because of this dichotomy, he is very similar to Kirk Langstrom (aka Man-Bat ). Harvey Dent was disfigured by an acid attack on one half of his face. In the film The Dark Knight (2008), however, his face was burned.

The Ventriloquist

Arnold Wesker is a shy ventriloquist (in English : Ventriloquist). He made his first appearance in 1988 in Detective Comics (issue 583). Like Two-Face , however, he has a split personality. Wesker's dark side is represented by his hand puppet Scarface , which in its behavior and appearance corresponds to a typical gang boss from films of the 1930s. Scarface gives orders to his henchmen and forges plans that he puts into practice. The ventriloquist, on the other hand, is an introverted weakling who even feels sick at the mere sight of violence. Scarface treats him very badly, tends to hit him and contemptuously calls him dummy ( English : idiot / doll). Wesker can not pronounce the letter " B " and instead replaces it with a " G " (he says Gatman instead of Batman). In fact, Wesker's personality split goes so far that he sees Scarface as an independent, separate and living person. Wesker lives in constant fear of one day being eliminated by him . Therefore, most of the time, Batman only needed to destroy the doll to easily overpower the ventriloquist.

Wesker has two accomplices: Rhino and Muskie . After Jeremiah Arkham, the director of the Arkham Asylum in the No Man's Land storyline, had to release the inmates, Scarface managed to bring part of Gotham under his control. Only Batman was it possible to defeat him again and break his power.

The ventriloquist and Scarface appeared in every animated series by Batman except in A Case for Batman (1968–1977). He tries to improve in some episodes, but always relapses because of Scarface. Since Scarface was not classified as alive by the creators of the (children's) series , they could do whatever they wanted with the doll, which resulted in them removing him again and again in the most gruesome way possible.

In The Batman , however, Scarface is not imitated a mafioso , but rather resembles the main character Tony Montana from the film Scarface . The ventriloquist does not appear in Batman of the Future , one only sees Scarface preserved behind glass under Bruce Wayne's trophies.

An alternative version of the ventriloquist has been featured on the Gotham television series since 2017 . The US crime series takes place in Bruce Wayne's youth, years before Batman first appeared. In Gotham, the ventriloquist is portrayed as Oswald Cobblepot's accountant and advisor Arthur Penn (played by real-life ventriloquist Andrew Sellon ). Like Arnold Wesker, he already has a fearful, shy personality. In the fifth season, Penn finds the ventriloquist doll Scarface in an abandoned magic shop, develops a split personality and then becomes a ventriloquist.

Vernon Jamson

Vernon Jamson is a criminal who first appeared in the Arkham Asylum miniseries . There he feigns insanity in order to be sent to the Arkham Asylum mental hospital instead of prison. When this hoax is exposed, the head of the institution, Jeremiah Arkham, comes to the conclusion that Jamson must indeed be insane if he prefers the "Hell of Arkham" to prison, and keeps him there.

Wild

Wild , aka Wilde Norton, is a former soldier who first appears in Shadow of the Bat # 37 (Author: A. Grant). In this booklet Norton decides to avenge the death of his family, who were murdered by the insane Joker in a rampage: One for all of the doings of the Joker, who repeatedly manages to escape from the mental hospital in Arkham and continue killing To put an end to it, Wilde, who now calls himself Wild, takes on the hunt for the Joker. He finally tracks down the "clown" in his hiding place in the Old Mercy Mansion, an old mansion on the outskirts of the city. Through Batman's intervention, the Joker Wild's attack survives and escapes. Instead, Wild is arrested, found insane, and sent to Arkham Asylum ( Shadow of the Bat # 38). Ironically, the Arkham Institution will be relocated to the Old Mercy Mansion immediately following these events, after its previous location has been destroyed.

Wild is later shot dead by the Joker during a prisoner revolt in Arkham ( Shadow of the Bat # 82).

Willis Danko

Willis Danko is a criminal who mainly acts as a paid thief and thief. He first appears in Batman. Vengeance of Bane 2 from 1995 on (author: C. Dixon, illustrator: G. Nolan). There Danko is presented as a tall, muscular and galtz-headed man of moderate intelligence who has gained superhuman physical strength by consuming the steroid drug Venom from South America.

It turns out Danko received the Venom treatment after making himself available as a test subject to an unnamed South American doctor. Despite his enormous physical strength, he is soon caught by the police and sent to prison on Blackgate Island. Due to his drug addiction, Danko spends a lot of time in the infirmary in Blackgate. Otherwise, he has made friends with other prison inmates such as Steeljacket and makes himself available to the leaders of the Blackgate prisoners as a paid thug ( Batman: Blackgate # 1, 1997).

Danko has a brother whom the villain Bane kills in search of the doctor who Danko owes his powers. Unlike Bane, who was cured of his addiction to Venom, Danko is unable to get rid of his addiction. Danko's whereabouts in the Cataclysm storyline of 1998 after the earthquake is unclear.

Wrath

Wrath (English "anger") is a villain who is designed as a kind of anti-Batman. He first appeared in Batman Special # 1 from 1984 (author: M. Barr, illustrator: M. Golden). In the story "The Player on the Other Side" Wrath is introduced there as the exact opposite of Batman: His external appearance, his approach and his origins are deliberately designed to make him appear as a kind of evil twin of Batman. He wears a red and purple costume with a W emblem that resembles Batman's costume.

While Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, saw his parents shot dead by a mugger as a child, Wrath saw his parents - a couple of thieves - shot by a young police officer in a burglary. While Batman declared war on the crime in revenge for the murder of his parents, Wrath declared himself the enemy of all lawmen. According to the antipode principle, Wrath faces the criminal hunter Batman, who hates guns and never kills, as a professional killer.

Wrath and Batman eventually face each other when Wrath comes to town to avenge the death of his parents in the murder of Gotham City Police Chief James Gordon - who turns out to be the cop who shot Wrath's parents. Wrath initially finds it difficult to infect Batman by discovering his secret identity and attacking his friends Alfred Pennyworth and Leslie Thompkins. When it comes to the final duel between the two men, Wrath falls from the roof of a house on Park Row and dies. His fiancée, who is having a mental breakdown, is taken into the care of Leslie Thompkins as a gesture of reconciliation.

In the animated series The Batman , William Mallory appears to be a good friend of Bruce Wayne (the two go golfing together).

He has a son named Andy , who plays Batman's Robin as his sidekick Scorn . Wrath proclaims himself leader of all Gotham City villains in an attempt to start a war on the police. With his sense of honesty (among other things, he doesn't steal for fun), he quickly encounters hostility from fellow thugs. After discovering Batman's identity, the two tried to reveal this information to their allies, but a jealous Joker, feeling ignored, sends Wrath & Scorn into the eternal realm of madness with Smilex gas.

Zeiss

Philo Zeiss is a tech-savvy criminal with artificially heightened reflexes and the ability to move at superhuman speeds. He first appeared in Batman # 582, October 2000 (Author: Ed Brubaker , Illustrator: Scott McDaniel ).

After the death of Zeiss' parents, his uncle Victor Zeiss took the boy under his wing. Under Victor's supervision, Zeiss trained hard for years, learned various martial arts and eventually became an enforcer . Zeiss received implants surgically, which were networked with his spine and optic nerves in order to increase his reflexes. Special glasses wired to his brain improve Zeiss' eyesight. The glasses are also able to record and analyze what is seen. This enables Zeiss to immediately see through the tactics and fighting style of its opponents. So far, Zeiss has worked as a bodyguard for Lew Moxton and for other greats in the Gotham underworld. When he first met Batman, Zeiss developed an obsession with proving his superiority and defeating him in a duel.

Relations between Moxon and Zeiss deteriorated after the latter abandoned Moxon to fight a duel with Batman. As a result, Moxon was seriously injured by assassin Deadshot and has been in a wheelchair ever since. Moxon was later murdered by Zeiss. Batman last managed to defeat Zeiss with the help of Batgirl.

Victor Zsasz

Victor Zsasz made his first appearance in Shadow of the Bat # 1 (June 1992). He's a sociopathic serial killer who cuts another scar on his body after every murder. He sees the world littered with zombies, which he must "redeem from their suffering". He often gives off nihilistic wisdom. Other sources portray him as a complete psychopath, who, like the Joker, kills out of perverse fascination; the scars become a kind of nudes. He often sets up his dead victims and poses them as if they were still alive. In the film Batman Begins he appears as one of Falcones men who are not convicted in court because of their "madness", but treated in the Arkham Asylum. So in this version he seems sane, but no less murderous.

In the 1995 comic The Batman Chronicles # 3, Zsasz's origin story is told. He grew up as an only child in a wealthy family. His parents enabled him to graduate from an elite university and he then became a manager in an international corporation. He was able to amass a proud fortune due to his remarkable, above-average intelligence. When his parents were killed in a serious boat accident, Zsasz (he was 25 at the time) wandered around disturbed and finally turned to gambling. He staked all his fortune and lost it - to the penguin. With a look in the mirror he saw the futility of his existence and was about to take his own life. Shortly before jumping off the Gothamer Bridge, a homeless man who was trying to steal money from Zsasz attacked him with a knife. Instinctively he snatched the knife from the man and just as he looked the man in the eye he recognized the same emptiness that he had previously seen in his own life. Zsasz brutally stabbed the man (he became his first victim) and set himself a goal, a life mission: to kill all the people he dubbed zombies and to take away the futility of their existence through their death.

In the movie Batman Begins , Zsasz is played by Tim Booth . In 2020 Victor Zsasz appeared in the movie Birds of Prey , played by Chris Messina .

Victor Zsasz is also a recurring antagonist in the Gotham crime series , played by Anthony Carrigan . Here he is portrayed as a notorious contract killer who changes sides several times over the course of the series and works for the penguin, Carmine Falcone and his daughter Sofia, among others.

See also

• Characters from the DC Universe
• Villains in the Superman Universe

literature

• Scott Beatty : Batman: The World of the Dark Knight , 2002
• Michael L. Fleisher, Janet E. Lincoln: Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes: Batman , New York 2007 (English)
• Bob Kane : Batman and Me , New York 1989 (autobiography; English)

Individual evidence

1. Jump up ↑ Hilary Goldstein: The Best & Worst Batman Villains , IGN.com, June 3, 2005.