Batman - The Animated Series

Batman: Arkham Asylum - "Silent Knight" (Game Trailer)

2009-04-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

Deep inside Archam Asylem, batman has to use his abilities to fight the escaped criminals.

Batman: Dead End

2009-03-29T13:17:00.000-05:00

Batman vs Alien vs Predator. Just put it up for those who love batman since he's pretty much the shit.

Batman Questions the Joker

2009-03-17T11:16:00.001-05:00

A new version of the scene where Batman interrogates (or how the police refer to it, interviews) the Joker.

Batman gets pwned

2009-03-13T13:41:00.003-05:00

Batman decided to play Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe instead of fighting crime in Gotham City. I love the part when Alfred interrupts him and when Robin asks for help and gets ignored.

LOST Parody #7 - Batman

2009-03-12T12:50:00.001-05:00

The Joker is on Lost island and creates havok.

Mad Love

2007-08-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

Harley recounts how she became involved with the Joker.

Mad Love is an episode in The New Batman Adventures, written by Paul Dini. It was aired in January 11, 1999. It was the 21st episode of the season. It was based on the comic book Mad Love, also by Dini.

Commissioner Gordon goes in for a dental appointment, only to find The Joker in the place of his dentist. Harley Quinn ties him to the chair, and just as Joker is about to kill the Commissioner, Batman appears and reveals that he saw through his disguise, but Harley gasses him. The Joker tosses Gordon a grenade on his way out ("May the floss be with you!") but Batman saves him.

In the Funnibones warehouse, Harley tries to help the Joker think of a scheme to kill Batman. When she suggests that he "just shoot him", the idea of murdering his archenemy in such a mundane matter enrages him and he threatens Harley with acid. After dropping the idea of "The Death of A Thousand Smiles" - dropping Batman in a piranha tank - due to not being able to get any kind of a smile out of the fish, he kicks Harley out.

Harley reminisces about how she became a villain. She was once Harleen Quinzell, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love with the Joker as he told her about his traumatic childhood; his father beat him, his mother ran away and he joined the circus as a clown. The Joker escaped, but was beaten by Batman and returned to custody swathed in bandages. Stealing a costume and equipment from a trick shop, she broke the Joker out and became Harley Quinn. Back in the present, she blames Batman for ruining both her life and the Joker's and forms a plan for revenge.

Harley sends Batman a message offering to reveal a plot by the Joker that could threaten all of Gotham. When he arrives, the Joker appears to attack them both with a machine gun (later revealed to be a robot), and Harley uses the distraction to drug him. He wakes up chained and hung upside-down over a pirahna tank, where Harley explains that the fishes' now-upside-down faces will fulfill Joker's plan - making him love her again. Batman tells Harley that the Joker misled her about his tragic childhood, and manipulates her to into contacting the Joker. Joker loses his temper again at being upstaged and, on his arrival, throws Harley out of a window several floors above the ground. He decides to kill Batman himself, but Batman manages to escape his bonds, ultimately leading to a showdown on top of a moving train. After a brutal fistfight, Batman throws Joker to his "death" into a smokestack.

Back in Arkham, an injured Harley decides maybe perhaps that Batman was right and the Joker is just using her. She is about to finally renounce the Joker when she sees a get-well letter and flowers from a repenting him, changing her mind.

* In the end, after Joker plummets to a chemical plant, it is unknown whether he survived during the fall or has died after landing. However, aside from Harley receiving flowers from him in the final moments of the episode, his future appearances in Justice League and the flashback sequence of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker confirm that he has, once again, managed to escape death.

* A cameo appearance made by Poison Ivy in the original comic book is mirrored here in its animated version as well.

* Joker's exit line when leaving the dentist's office, "May the floss be with you", is a reference to his voice actor, Mark Hamill, being most famous for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars trilogy.

Main Villain: Harley Quinn & The Joker

In the one-shot comic Mad Love, Arkham psychiatrist Harleen Quinzel ponders whether the Joker may in fact be faking insanity so as to avoid the death penalty. As she tries to treat the Joker, he recounts a tale of an abusive father and runaway mother to gain her sympathy. She falls hopelessly in love with him and allows him to escape Arkham several times before she is eventually exposed. Driven over the edge with obsession, she becomes Harley Quinn, Joker's accomplice and on-and-off girlfriend.

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"Joker (comics)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 18 Aug 2007, 09:57 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Aug 2007
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Love Is A Croc

2007-08-18T12:19:00.000-05:00

Killer Croc teams with demented child actress Baby Doll to perpetrate crimes throughout Gotham, but Baby Doll is romantically interested in Croc--a feeling he doesn't share.

Main Villain: Killer Croc & Baby Doll

He also appeared — revamped, with green skin — in an episode of The New Batman Adventures where he joins forces with the criminal Baby Doll. Baby Doll, who has a condition that makes her look like a child even though she is an adult, believes she has found a kindred spirit in fellow 'freak' Killer Croc. They go to live in the sewers, committing crimes planned by Doll and carried out largely by Croc. When Baby Doll overhears Croc boasting about manipulating her, she betrays him to Batman and Batgirl. He is voiced by Brooks Gardner.

This entry is from Wikipedia. It
may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see disclaimer)

This article is licensed under the
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"Killer Croc." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 17 Aug 2007, 00:26 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Aug 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killer_Croc&oldid=151716538>.

Deep Freeze

2007-08-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

Billionaire Grant Walker gets Mr. Freeze out of Arkham Asylum to help him implement a plan to freeze the world.

"Deep Freeze" is an episode of the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. It aired on November 26, 1994 and was written by Paul Dini and Bruce W. Timm and directed by Kevin Altieri. This is the final Mr. Freeze episode. (In the original series)

Mr. Freeze is sprung from Arkham Asylum by aging billionaire Grant Walker, who is looking to freeze the world and recreate it according to his own design. Batman and Robin infiltrate the billionaire's underwater city and combat both high-tech robots and Mr. Freeze himself, who has decided to do Walker's bidding and cover the earth in a new ice age. This episode is based on the Rumor that Walt Disney wanted to preserve his body so that he could come back to life

Main Villain: Grant Walker

According to Batman: The Animated Series, Freeze understands how to reproduce his powers. Upon being offered enough money to bankroll large scale research into Nora's condition, Freeze turns the wealthy, terminally ill Grant Walker into another "Mr. Freeze"-like being (on the theory that the "Mr. Freeze condition" would arrest the disease). However, Walker reveals that he wants to use his new abilities to turn the world into a frozen wasteland, leaving him and a few chosen followers to live eternally in Oceana, his underwater "World of Tomorrow". Freeze imprisons him in a block of ice Oceana collapses around him. For two years, Walker remains in the iceberg, driving him insane. Although he does not reappear in the animated series, the "second Mr. Freeze" reappeared in the comic book Batman: Gotham Adventures (based on the cartoon of the same name). In his last appearance, he breaks into the Wayne Foundation and kidnaps all of the scientists working to cure the original Mr Freeze. With Batman out of action due to a concussion, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin save the scientists, with the help of Mr. Freeze. Walker is eventually caught after a short fight with Freeze, and then sent to Arkham.

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Batgirl Returns

2007-08-18T12:11:00.000-05:00

Batgirl finally gets to prove her skills when a cat statue is stolen from a university museum. She teams up with Catwoman to solve the mystery and recover the stolen artifact.

"Batgirl Returns" is an episode of the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. It aired on November 12, 1994 and was written by Michael Reaves and Brynne Stephens and directed by Dan Riba. This is the last episode of the original series in 1995. Afterwards the series was revamped and given a new much more sleeker look.

Barbara Gordon has given up her double life as Batgirl. That is, until a rare cat statue is stolen from her university museum. All clues point to Catwoman as the thief, but when Batgirl investigates, she discovers another crook actually committed the crime.

Main Villain: Roland Daggett

Roland Daggett is a fictional corrupt businessman and villain in Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Ed Asner. The president of Daggett Industries, a pharmaceutical company, he is depicted as being a large, physically imposing man with smoothed back reddish-brown hair and blue eyes, and is similar in personality and function to the post-Crisis Lex Luthor. It should also be noted that his look (and overall demeanor) bears a striking similarity to Norman Osborn, Marvel Comics' Green Goblin I, as he originally appeared (minus the "Osborn Cornrows"). He was originally intended to be Max Shreck, Christopher Walken's character from Batman Returns, but it was decided instead to introduced a new character.

Alongside crime boss Rupert Thorne, Daggett is one of the main recurring antagonists of the series who isn't a member of the Rogue's Gallery. He was introduced in the two-part episode Feat of Clay, which is the origin episode of the shapeshifting villain Clayface. Daggett's largest role in the series is in this episode. His company develops "Renuyu," a face cream that makes the user's face maleable, like clay or putty, as an alternative to plastic surgery. Daggett made disfigured actor Matt Hagen his first test subject, and because Renuyu turned out to have highly addictive qualities and the effects would wear off after 24 hours, Hagen was made by Daggett to do his bidding in return for more. Daggett opts to use him in his scheme to take over Wayne Enterprises for the purposes of using their superior marketing operation to get the flawed Renuyu into stores. But when Hagen botched the mission, Daggett decided to get rid of him and had his henchman Raymond Bell pour gallons of the untested product down Hagen's throat, permanently transforming him into a hideous mass of shapeshifting clay. Daggett was thereafter the target of Clayface's vengeance, but the attempt on his life was thwarted by Batman.

Daggett also appeared as the main villain in several other episodes. In Appointment in Crime Alley, an important episode in the series which reveals where Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered, Daggett plans to tear down the section of Gotham City known as Crime Alley to turn it into a mini-mall. To this end, he hires a demolitions expert named "Nitro" to blow up all the buildings regardless of whether or not there is anyone in them. Although Batman managed to foil his plans when he ensured that the explosives would only destroy abandoned buildings, Daggett, thanks to an alibi, was able to avoid justice.

His next scheme - possibly his greatest scheme - involved obtaining the services of Dr. Achilles Milo in the episode Cat Scratch Fever. With Milo's help, Daggett planned to release a devastating virus into Gotham by infecting stray cats and dogs rounded up by his underlings. Naturally, the only cure for the disease would be marketed exclusively by Daggett Industries, and had his plan succeeded Daggett would've not only made millions, but he would have restored his considerably tainted public image, becoming a hero. But this time it wasn't just Batman who stepped in to thwart Daggett: Catwoman also intervened once she learned of the inhuman experiments being conducted by Milo at Daggett Labs. Although Catwoman became infected with the virus when she was bitten by her cat Isis (used as a guinea pig by Milo), Batman was able to cure her, stop Daggett's henchmen from putting the infected animals onto the streets of Gotham, and expose Daggett's evil plan.

This time, Daggett's legal fees result in his company becoming bankrupt. Daggett Industries and its multitude of subsidiary companies was no more, leaving Daggett penniless, despite his public claims of innocence. His fourth and final appearance in the series was in the episode Batgirl Returns. He steals a jade cat statue from a museum, planning to sell it on the black market and use the money to get Daggett Industries up and running again. Catwoman, teaming with Batgirl, discovers his involvement, necessitating their elimination. Daggett captured them and takes them to the abandoned Daggett Labs, planning to shoot them and dispose of the bodies in vats of acid. They are saved thanks to the timely intervention of Robin. Daggett himself almost falls into the acid vat - taking the jade cat statue with him - but both the statue and the villain are rescued by Robin and Batgirl (Catwoman, bearing a grudge against Daggett for the whole virus episode, chose not to participate in his rescue).

Daggett could be considered a possible forerunner to Batman Beyond villain Derek Powers.

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Riddler's Reform

2007-08-18T12:07:00.000-05:00

The Riddler is released from the asylum and begins prospering as an inventor of well-loved toys and games. However, he feels that his obsession with Batman will always haunt him and decides that he must annihilate him.

Upon his release from Arkham Asylum, the Riddler becomes an instant celebrity with his own line of toys and games. Soon he's rich, well-liked and happy, except for the fact that he's never managed to best Batman in a battle of wits. Realizing that he's still obsessed with beating the Dark Knight and that the obsession will lead to his downfall, the Riddler lures Batman into a death-trap puzzle to get rid of his opponent and end the riddle games.

* This is the first episode in which the Riddler commits Riddle-Crimes out of obsession, rather than as a part of his greater plan: His riddle crimes in his first appearance were apparently intended to be an ironic trap in which to ensnare Mockenridge (and distract Batman), while his riddles in the second were intended to cover his tracks when he deletes all his old records, and to distract Batman while he kidnaps Commissioner Gordon. This episode, however, is the only episode in which he commits a riddle crime for the sole reason of obsession.
* Celebrating the success of his Riddler toy line, Edward Nigma attends a high-class party with his financier. When he sees a strikingly attractive woman in evening wear, a comical "BOIIING" sound can be heard, seemingly emanating from nowhere. The Riddler's lower half is out of frame. This is one of several subtly adult touches throughout the childrens' series.

Main Villain: The Riddler

In Batman: The Animated Series, John Glover voiced the Riddler. For this version, the producers decided to play against the popular Gorshin image of a giggling trickster and have the character as a smooth intellectual who presented genuinely challenging puzzles.

In this incarnation, Nygma is a game designer fired by a greedy executive for suing after not getting royalties for a game he created. He seeks revenge as the Riddler by kidnapping his former boss and placing him in an elaborate maze deathtrap. As a testament to his ingenuity, the Riddler is one of the few villains in the animated series who emerges victorious in his first appearance; while he does not kill his victim, the Riddler escapes Batman and has the satisfaction that his former employer lives in fear of his return. As with the other versions, this Riddler has a fondness for elaborate deathtraps that Batman often escapes from by "cheating" (using methods that Riddler doesn't think of). The series' creators admit they didn't use him very much because his character often made story plots too long, too complex, or too bizarre. The writers described this problem with the Riddler in an article in Comics Scene#43, published by Starlog.

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Robin's Reckoning, Part 2

2007-08-18T12:03:00.000-05:00

Robin goes after Tony Zucco, the man responsible for his parents' demise. Batman has been captured by Zucco and Robin must rescue him.

tracks Tony Zucco while, secretly, Robin seeks to find Zucco to avenge his parents' death. As the investigation narrows to an abandoned amusement park, a series of flashbacks finish Robin's origin story....

Following a number of days, Bruce and Dick bond very well, engaging in a playful fencing match. Alfred then tells Bruce that Jim Gordon is very convinced that Zucco might strike there to get the boy, prompting Dick to take matters into his own hands. After running away from Wayne Manor, he tries to track his parents killer without very much success at first. While searching a run-down section of Gotham and avoiding Batman, who, unbeknownst to Dick, is also searching for Zucco, Dick rescues a waitress being mugged. Using his gymnastic skills he defeats the full-grown attackers, finishing by jumping to grab hold of a fire escape, avoiding the muggers charge and allowing them to rush head-on into a wall, knocking them unconscious. The waitress treats Dick to dinner in the diner where she works, and identifies Tony Zucco as the object of Dick's search, but cautions him to avoid Zucco. This warning goes unheeded as Dick soon after finds himself fighting several of Zucco's thugs, who throw him into the spillway. Batman rescues him before he can go over a waterfall and brings him back to the Batcave, revealing himself, with the help of Alfred, as Bruce Wayne and explaining that he was already searching for Zucco. He then suggests that Dick's "temporary" stay become indefinite and offers him a place as his crime partner, to which Dick eagerly accepts.

As the flashback ends, Robin voices a warning to Zucco, proclaiming he, Robin, was "trained by the best," a reference to his years of training under Batman, and he takes off on his motorcycle to continue the search. He uses a phone tracer to obtain Zucco's address, but unfortunately the call, though silent, worries Zucco, and in a fit of paranoia, he fires a sub-machine gun repeatedly into the ceiling, worried about a noise. Unfortunately the noise was Batman, who, injured, falls through the weakened ceiling. In the chaos and surprise, Batman is able to limp from the room. Hiding in the park, he hardly has time to treat his wounds before being attacked by Zucco's pursuing henchmen. Though limping, he is able to pick off the thugs one-by-one through the heavy use of stealth, fighting several on the carousel. Unfortunately, he is unable to defeat Zucco in his weakened state. As he lies staring up at a gun-wielding Zucco, Robin, still riding a motorcycle, crashes through the fence, rides straight at Zucco and, grabbing him by the collar, drags him behind the cycle to the end of a pier where he holds Zucco over the edge, threatening him with death. Batman convinces him to show mercy rather than become a murderer to appease his desire for vengeance. As police sirens are heard in the distance, Batman explains that he distanced Robin from the investigation because he didn't want Zucco to hurt him any more.

* Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have stated that this episode inspired a great part of their later successful comic Batman: Dark Victory.

* The Grayson parents' deaths, according to producers, was originally far more graphic than what was shown in the episode. They would be shown swinging on the ropes, which would break, and they would fall to the ground as Dick watched from above, traumatized by what he had witnessed. Due to thoughts of scaring children, the scene was changed to show them leaping out of the frame, Dick staring in shock with horrified eyes, the frayed rope swinging back, and the audience gasping as the music came to a climax. In the DVD commentary, Bruce Timm thanked the network censors for giving them a list of what, at the time, he felt were ridiculously restrictive rules for that scene; in retrospect, he felt that it forced them to create a far more effective scene.

* In a flashback, Jim Gordon appears as a Lieutenant with red hair, a reference to Gordon's appearance in Batman: Year One. Harvey Bullock also appears in a minor cameo as a skinny police sergeant, suggesting he is new on the force.

* Strangely, after the episode aired, a minor controversy about the scene where Batman (undercover) gambles with a bunch of hoods for information on Tony Zucco came up. Timm states that he and Paul Dini are still confused as to why censors were upset at the scene.

* Bruce Timm often said that the scene where Dick says goodbye to his circus friends before leaving for Wayne Manor has made him cry several times.

* Dick's design while in his circus costume is similar to that of the Golden-Age circus performer Dick Grayson and Astro Boy, particularly his white-pupiled eyes.

* Originally, the second part of the story arc would include a flashback towards the end, involving Bruce make young Dick swear a candlelit oath to uphold the law if he would join him. There would also be a scene in which he appears in full Robin costume for the first time, but Timm and Paul Dini cut this for time constraints. Dini has often admitted that he wished they would have used more of "Young Robin" flashbacks to show his beginnings and growth into the teenage Robin of today.

* Tony Zucco's voice is reminiscient of John Travolta's, quite possibly as a reference to the similarity in names between Zucco and Travolta's character in Grease, Danny Zuco.

* According to the book Batman Animated, Batman's costume in the flashback sequence was a cross between the original Bob Kane design and the Batman: Year One design.

* Near the end of part 2 when Robin skids on his bike, the combination of the pose and the electricity coming off the motorcycle is very much reminiscent of a scene from Akira.

* During one of the flashbacks, Tony Zucco drives his car at Batman, stating, "Now I got you, you lousy stinkin' - ". Batman leaps onto the car itself. A similar scene occurs at the beginning of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

Main Villain: Tony Zucco

Tony Zucco (originally just "Boss Zucco" in his first appearance) was a Mafia boss, or simple low level thug (his position of power varies depending upon the continuity) in Gotham City who was responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents.

Throughout the years, Zucco's role in Robin's origin remains largely the same. Zucco tries to extort the Haly's Circus, where the Flying Graysons were the main attraction. When the ringleader refuses to pay, Zucco sabotages the act, damaging the ropes the Graysons use in act. They break while Dick's parents are in mid-air, sending them falling to their deaths.

Dick later adopted by Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman) and becomes Robin. Both of them locate Tony Zucco and send him to jail.

It is speculated that Tony Zucco's surname may be a hommage to the actor, George Zucco, who was a famous actor (particularly in the early 1940s when the character of Tony Zucco appeared in the comics). George Zucco is famous for playing villainous roles. He often appeared in the Universal horror films of the early 1940s. His most famous role though is that of the first Professor Moriarty to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes.

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This article is licensed under the
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"Tony Zucco." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Aug 2007, 04:50 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Aug 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Zucco&oldid=149700851>.

Robin's Reckoning, Part 1

2007-08-18T11:59:00.000-05:00

Robin discovers that Batman is on the trail of the man responsible for the death of Robin's parents. However, Batman has put Robin off of the case, fearing what he will do.

"Robin's Reckoning" is a two part episode of the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series. The first part aired on February 7, 1993 and was written by Randy Rogel and directed by Dick Sebast, earned the series an Emmy award and is considered to be one of the best episodes of the series. The second part aired a week later. The story is based on the origin of Robin (Dick Grayson) from Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), which it shows through flashbacks, intercutting an unfolding mystery in the present with the more significant moments of Robin's life. It touches on Robin uncovering who killed his family and how he first met and joined forces with Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, it also shows how Batman and Robin are slowly growing apart, and Robin's inevitable confrontation with the murderer in question.

It depicts the return of a mobster named Tony Zucco, who killed Robin's parents. It is at this point that Batman refuses to allow Dick Grayson to use the persona of Robin to apprehend Zucco. Batman launches an investigation, searching for Zucco, which is paralleled by Robin's own investigation, unbeknownst to the Dark Knight. As the search narrows to an abandoned theme park, a series of flashbacks tell Robins origin story and how he came to live with Bruce Wayne.

During a stake-out at a construction site, Batman and Robin catch a gang of mobsters trying to extort money from a wealthy architect. While the others escaped, Batman catches one and demands an explanation and the name of his boss. The criminal refuses to speak to him or the police, but when Batman shows he's not joking, he blurts out the name "Billy Marrin." When they return home, Robin is left wondering who Marrin really is, but Batman insists that Robin stay out of this one: he works alone for the time being. Following Batman's departure, Robin and Alfred Pennyworth use the Batcave's criminal database to determine the real identity of the crime mob boss. To his shock, Robin discovers that Marrin is really an alias for Tony Zucco, the man who took his parents from him nearly six years ago...

As a young child, Dick Grayson was in a popular circus acrobat trio with his parents, "The Flying Graysons." While performing at a Wayne Charity convention in Gotham, Dick overhears a young Tony Zucco threatens the ringmaster Mr. Haley, telling him that if he didn't pay money for "protection" then people would die. Haley refuses this, and in response, Zucco partially saws through a trapeze rope to be used in the Graysons act. During a portion of the trapeze act, involving both his parents on the same trapeze, and Dick watching from a platform, waiting for his part in the act, the rope snaps and his parents, known for performing without a net, plummet to their deaths in front of his eyes. Bruce Wayne, who is in the audience, takes pity on the boy, as they are both the orphaned sons of parents murdered in their presence. Upon hearing of Dick's telling of what he saw, Jim Gordon fears that he will have no place to go, as he is a material witness, but Bruce steps in and adopts young Dick. The general awkwardness of the situation, being left in a large mansion with Alfred as a primary caretaker, makes Dick uncomfortable being there, while Batman is investigating the crime.

Batman tracks down Zucco at his uncle Arnold Stromwell's mansion, where Stromwell berates his nephew for his stupidity and rashness in murdering the Graysons and causing Batman to turn attention to them (He confronts Stromwell earlier as Zucco listens behind a doorway). Their argument is short-lived when the guards are alerted to Batman being detected on the property. After a car chase, Zucco is able to slip out of Gotham, while Batman feels haunted for not catching the Graysons' killer. As he returns to the Batcave, Alfred reminds him that Dick is feeling unloved and scared, which prompts Bruce to realize he must spend more time with him. He later comforts the boy and tries to make him feel better, but Dick breaks down in tears and explains that he saw Zucco before the murder, thus making him responsible. Bruce points out he felt the same way when his parents died, but the pain will go away in time, at least for Dick.

After discovering the crook's identity and reliving the tragedy, Robin realizes that Batman left him out of this to keep him out of the way. Vowing vengeance on the man who murdered his parents, he sets out on his RedBird motorbike to find Zucco, while Alfred remains at a loss about what to do.

Main Villain: Tony Zucco

Tony Zucco appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Robin's Reckoning", voiced by Thomas Wilson.

Tony Zucco starts off as a young man eager to make a name for himself in the racketeering business, as well as with the mob. On the side he strong arms companies to pay him protection money. As in the comics, he threatens Haley's Circus, and kills Dick Grayson's parents. Zucco's brashness infuriates his uncle, mob boss Arnold Stromwell, who disowns him.

Batman, who as Bruce Wayne adopts the young Grayson, goes after Zucco with a vengeance. After a couple of brief run-ins with Batman, Zucco escapes and hides out in an abandoned amusement park on the edge of Gotham. Nine years later, Batman and Robin catch up with one of Zucco's henchman, and learn that the mobster has returned to the city.

Batman tries to handle it on his own, not wanting Robin to get involved in it. Upset at Batman's orders, Robin goes after Zucco anyway, despite Alfred's protests. Batman goes to the amusement park and finds Zucco, but injures his leg, and is forced to fight the hencemen with his injury. Batman defeats everyone but Zucco, who stands over Batman with a machine gun once his henchmen are defeated, but Robin shows up on his motorcycle and drags Zucco to the edge of a pier. Batman comes up behind them, and manages to calm Robin down. Robin apologizes to Batman, and throws Zucco back onto the pier. After this fight with Batman and Robin, Zucco is arrested and convicted of murder. Batman explains that he distanced Robin from the investigation because he didn't want Zucco to hurt him any more.

This entry is from Wikipedia. It
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This article is licensed under the
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"Tony Zucco." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Aug 2007, 04:50 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 Aug 2007
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Zucco&oldid=149700851>.

Harley And Ivy

2007-08-18T11:52:00.000-05:00

Harley Quinn has broken off with the Joker and teams up with Poison Ivy. Together they wreck havoc on Gotham and now Joker wants a piece of the action. Batman is also looking for the two female criminals to stop their reign of mayhem.

After his latest foiled caper, The Joker takes out his frustration on Harley and kicks her out of the gang. To prove herself, she goes to steal the "Harlequin Diamond" from the Gotham Museum, but the alarm is tripped by Poison Ivy, who is stealing specimens from the museum's lab. Working together, the two women escape the police. Ivy gives Harley shelter at her hideout on a toxic waste dump. The two women become fast friends and then a successful crime duo, though Ivy is frustrated by Harley's hopeless infatuation with "that psychotic creep."

"You're just a great big doormat, aren't you?"
"I'm nobody's doormat! — am I?"
"If you had a middle name, it would be 'Welcome.'"

Joker is livid when he finds out Harley is outdoing him as a criminal, but Harley secretly makes a phone call to his hideout. Joker traces the call to the dump at the same time Batman finds the hideout. In the ensuing confrontation, Harley and Ivy escape in their car, while Joker, shooting at Batman, inadvertently sets off an explosion that destroys the whole dump, and which he and Batman narrowly escape.

Ivy exults, "no man can take us prisoner!" and their car is promptly disabled by a shot from Renee Montoya. All three of the villains are returned to Arkham.

* While stealing the diamond, Harley uses the yiddish word "plotz", which means "to explode", saying "Mr. J will plotz when I give him this"
* Looking closely at the fridge in Harley and Ivy's house, one can see a crudely-drawn picture of Catwoman captioned "Catwoman haha", courtesy of presumably Harley Quinn.
* Though many fans compared the episode to the similarly premised film Thelma and Louise, Paul Dini actually saw the film after he wrote the episode.

* A side effect of Ivy's serum would have been to heighten Harley's strength, speed, agility, and stamina, an effect later used in the comics in Batman: Harley Quinn. In later episodes Harley is seen hefting a huge mallet with ease despite her size and survives a dramatic fall in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
* DC Comics created a comic Harley and Ivy based on this pairing.

Main Villain: Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy

Harley Quinn first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor" (episode #22, original airdate: September 11, 1992). Sorkin once had a starring role in the soap opera Days of our Lives, and appeared in a dream sequence in which she wore a jester costume; Dini used this scene as an inspiration for the character, writing her specifically so Sorkin could voice the character. Dini, who had been friends with Sorkin for years, incorporated aspects of her personality into the character.

The 1994 graphic novel Mad Love recounts the character's origin. Told in the style and continuity of Batman: The Animated Series and written and drawn by Dini and Timm, the comic book describes Harley as an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who falls in love with the Joker and becomes his accomplice and on-again, off-again girlfriend. The story received wide praise [2] and won the Eisner and Harvey Awards for Best Single Issue Comic of the Year. The New Batman Adventures series adapted Mad Love as the episode "Mad Love" in 1999, making it the second "animated style" comic book adapted for the series (the other being Holiday Knights).

As portrayed in the comic, she becomes fascinated with the Joker while interning at Arkham, and volunteers to analyze him. She falls in love nearly instantly with the Joker during their sessions. After helping him escape from the asylum more than once, she is caught by her superiors, who revoke her license and put her in her own cell. During an earthquake in Gotham City, she flees and becomes Harley Quinn, the Joker's partner-in-crime.

In the episode "Harley and Ivy", the Joker, frustrated with Quinn, kicks her out, so she steals a Harlequin Diamond in a museum to prove her worth. At the same time, Poison Ivy robs the museum of plant toxins. The two become quick friends and Ivy takes her back to her lair in a toxic waste dump where she nurses her back to health and injects her with a serum which has given Harley an immunity to all toxins and poisons. Harley and Ivy team up for a number of successful capers, becoming Gotham City's "Queens of Crime".

Their partnership ends temporarily after the Joker welcomes Harley back. Ivy is continually frustrated by Harley's lingering feelings for the Joker. However, the friendship survives, and Ivy remains Harley's first point of call when she and The Joker go through a rough patch. She adopts the role of older sister and teller of harsh truths to Harley about her helpless infatuation with the Joker. When Ivy demands during "Harley and Ivy" that Harley stand up for herself, Harley says "I'm nobody's doormat — am I?" Ivy replies, "If you had a middle name, it would be 'Welcome'."

She frequently refers to the Joker as "puddin'" and "Mr. J," and she refers to Poison Ivy as "red" (a reference to her red hair).

Their relationship was integrated into the comics in Batman: Harley Quinn. In that comic, Joker finds himself beginning to care for her. Naturally, this can't be countenanced, so he decides to kill her. After he takes an apparently drugged Harley into his bed for what may or may not be the consummation of their relationship, he lures her into a rocket ship, telling her, in part: "I've noticed some changes coming over me since you came into my life. I've been reminded what it was like to be part of a couple. To care for someone who cares for me. It's the first time in recent memory I've had those feelings... And I hate having those feelings!" He launches the rocket, soberly telling an enraged Harley that he will truly mourn her, before erupting into a fit of his trademark diabolical laughter.

The rocket lands in Robinson Park, where Harley first meets Poison Ivy. Ivy saves her, but after taking her in, recognizes Harley as Dr. Quinzel from the Arkham staff. When Harley regains consciousness, Ivy initially plans to kill her. The prospect of her own death totally fails to move Harley, and Ivy is curious as to why. She convinces Harley to tell her story, and comes to feel a kinship with Harley. Considering her another castoff, Ivy offers to help Harley take her revenge on both Batman and the Joker.

Ivy gives Quinn a treatment that immunizes her to various assorted toxins and Ivy's own poisonous touch. It also dramatically enhances Harley's strength and speed. Ivy intends this to give her new friend an edge on Batman and the Joker. Hot-blooded Harley, however, is angrier at the Joker than at Batman, and even initially works with the Dark Knight to help bring down the Clown Prince of Crime. While Batman eliminates the villain's muscle, Quinn chases the Joker up a damaged building, intending to send him falling to his death. Before she can do so, however, the Joker apologizes. Falling in love with him again, she forgives him on the spot, and serves as his lieutenant throughout the rest of No Man's Land, as well as the Emperor Joker storyline.

The relationship between Harley and Ivy has often been used to support the theory that Ivy herself is either a lesbian or bisexual.

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On Leather Wings

2007-08-18T11:44:00.000-05:00

When a vicious bat creature known as Man-Bat, starts terrorizing Gotham City, everyone mistakenly thinks that Batman is the culprit. Batman must find out who the mysterious Man-Bat is and clear his own name.

On Leather Wings was the first episode produced by the writers of Batman: The Animated Series. It became the pilot for the series. It was originally aired on September 6, 1992, becoming the second episode aired. It was also featured as the first episode on Disc 1 of the first volume of episodes that was released in the summer of 2004.

The episode begins with a mysterious bat-like creature that gives off a hideous noise while it flies in the air. It ends up seriously wounding a security guard that works for a Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, a drug company that appears to be based in Gotham City. The next day, Commissioner James Gordon and Detective Harvey Bullock discuss the "Bat-problem" with the mayor of Gotham City, Hamilton Hill. While Gordon notes the irrationality of Batman's sudden violence, given that he's only been in Gotham a few months, Detective Bullock and Mayor Hill agree that some police action may need to be taken to apprehend the Batman.

Later that day, Batman revisits the scene of the attack and finds a tape recording of the creature's noise, as well as a strange item that looked as though it came from an animal. Seeking the truth, Batman, now disguised as his billionaire alter-ego Bruce Wayne, heads to the Gotham Zoo to meet with the unfriendly Dr. March, his daughter Francine, and her husband, Dr. Kirk Langstrom. Hoping to get some clues, Bruce gives away the two items while also noting the suspicious behavior of Dr. March.

After a scuffle with police officers led by Detective Bullock, Batman returns to the Batcave only to be lied to by Dr. March about the two items. As Batman goes back to the Zoo, a commercial break reveals someone burning both the tape and the bag containing the specimen sample. After the break, Batman discovers the truth. Dr. March and Dr. Langstrom collaborated on an experiment to somehow splice together bat and human genes. The experiment ended up turning Langstrom into a bat. In order to continue the process, Langstrom broke into Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, as well as other drug companies to steal important substances. Langstrom then turns into Man-Bat and begins to attack Batman throughout Gotham. As the fight continues, the Gotham Police finally realize that they have been after Batman when they should have concentrated on Man-Bat.

Batman eventually subdues Man-Bat and brings an unconscious Dr. Langstrom back to the zoo. The viewer is led to believe that after some experiments done by Bruce back at the Cave, that Langstrom will not be able to transform again.

* This episode was the first and only episode to feature Batman bleeding. Bruce Timm stated on the DVD commentary for this episode that he and Paul Dini fought with the censors to allow this shot, which was deemed innapropriate for younger viewers. Batman was, however, shown bleeding in the movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm which was an extension of the TV series.
* Although this was technically the first episode made, this was not the first one aired. That honor belongs to The Cat and the Claw: Part I, most likely aired first due to the success of Batman Returns.
* Harvey Dent has a small cameo in this episode. When Bulllock, Commissioner Gordon, and Mayor Hill are talking about the use of a tactical squad, a dark figure is sitting in a chair and flips a coin. This is a small subtle hint of foreshadowing as to his transformation.
* The opening of the episode is reversed, shot for shot, in the 2nd season Justice League Unlimited finale episode Epilogue, which was written before JLU was renewed for a fifth season and, as such, was expected by the producers to be the last aired episode in the DC Animated Universe continuity. Additionally, the last line spoken in Epilogue is a Gotham police officer in a helicopter asking, "Did you see that?", voiced by Kevin Conroy; the first line spoken in this episode is the same officer, in a helicopter, asking the same question, also voiced by Conroy.
* Danny Elfman's theme from the first Batman movie is strongly used in one scene.
* This is the first episode where Batman is seen in full costume without his Utility Belt, one of the main traits on his Batsuit.

* Producer Eric Radomski says in the commentary that he had a crush on Meredith MacRae who played Francine Langstrom in the episode.

Main Villain: Man-Bat

Dr. Kirk Langström, a scientist specializing in the study of bats, developed an extract intended to give humans the bat's sonar sense and tested the formula on himself because he was becoming deaf. While it worked, it had a horrible side effect; transforming him gradually into a hideous human bat.

He first clashed with Batman when he tried to steal the chemicals needed to reverse his transformation, but his control over the new animalistic instincts resulting from his bat-like state was tenuous, and Batman was forced to subdue him in order to administer the antidote.

Langström later refined his serum, enabling him to retain his human intelligence while in bat form, and allowing himself control over his transformations. He worked for a while as a detective and independent crime fighter as Man-Bat, while he and Francine married and had a daughter, Rebecca. Eventually, however, his instability returned and he was left unable to control his transformations. In this condition, he clashed several times with Batman in the Batcave (which he found by following other bats through the network of caverns; he did not recall its location in human form, and he never knew Batman's secret identity), believing — erroneously — that his daughter was dead and that Batman was somehow responsible.

Although he briefly regained control of his transformations, this appears to have changed. He recently has begun to suspect that his cures missed an element of the serum, and he's losing control to his bat side. He believes he has slaughtered his own wife, son, and daughter.

However, both Kirk and Francine are shown to be alive in One Year Later. In Batman #655 (September 2006), Talia al Ghul takes Francine hostage and threatens to poison her if Kirk does not give her the Man-Bat formula. Talia utilizes the mutagen to turn members of the League of Assassins into Man-Bats.

* In Batman: The Animated Series, Dr. Kirk Langström (voiced by Marc Singer) is a zoologist at the Gotham City Zoo. He first appeared in "On Leather Wings" (which is the first episode of the series), where he steals a serum at the chemical labs. Langström also has a wife named Francine Langström. One night, Langström drinks the serum, when Batman arrives to question him - revealing himself as the thief of the serum from the chemical labs. Langström transforms into a half-man, half-bat creature, and turns on Batman. Francine arrives at the lab and discovers that the creature is her husband. Langström is cured and returns to his wife.
o Langström next appears in "Tyger, Tyger" where he analyzes the chemical that Dr. Emile Dorian used in his experiments.
o In the episode "Terror in the Sky", Langström is having a dream that he transforms into Man-Bat, and he begins to commit crimes. Then, Langström is awakened, just to find the remains of the fruit and scratches from a rag. Then, as Francine decides to go to another city, due to Langström's inability to control the power of the Man-Bat, he then discovers that the other Man-Bat turns out to be Francine herself. In the end, Batman cures Francine, and she returns to her husband.
o When Batman: The Animated Series was revaped into The New Batman Adventures, Man-bat never appeared in the newshow, however his alter-ego did in a cameo in Bruce Wayne's wedding in the episode Chemistry.
o In the Justice League Unlimited episode "The Doomsday Sanction," Dr. Milo mentions that Dr. Langström's research has proven useful to his research into splicing together human and animal DNA for the Cadmus Project.

* In The Batman, Langström (voiced by Peter MacNicol) is an employee in Wayne Industries doing research on bats and apparently afflicted with albinism. Unlike the Batman: The Animated Series version of this character, this version is not married, meaning that his wife, Francine Langstrom, has not appeared yet in the show. When Bruce Wayne begins to cut off his project, Langström tells Bruce that he needs the project to cure the deafness of his niece, Carlie. When Bruce discovers that Langström was lying, he goes to Langström's office to discover the project's real purpose. Langström arrived in his vault to find his boss there, and drinks a serum, transforming him into a half-man, half-bat creature. He attacks Bruce at his office, and escapes. Bruce changes into Batman and confronts Man-Bat in the skies of Gotham City. They land on the ground, and Langström reverts back to his human form. To be safe, Batman destroys one of Langström's vials. Langström drinks the remaining vial, transforms back to Man-Bat, and kidnaps Detective Ethan Bennett. Batman confronts Man-Bat in a sewer, and Langström reverts back to his human form, and he was taken away to Arkham Asylum. In Pets, Langström is still in Arkham and trying to recreate the Man-Bat serum, while The Penguin finds a sonar device he wanted to use to control a large condor but ends up with a sonar designed to control bats. When Penguin uses the device, dormant remnants of the Man-Bat formula still inside Langström reawaken, transforming him to Man-Bat and instinctively leading him to the Penguin's hideout, as he continues repeating the line: "Come to me". With the sonar device, Penguin is able to use Man-Bat to do his bidding for him, returning him to his human form by saying "rest." Langström is furious with Penguin when he learns that Penguin plans to use it to turn Langström from human to a half-man, half-bat creature for his own gain, and promises Penguin that the minute he loses the sonar device, he will feel Man-Bat's wrath. At the docks, Batman confronts Man-Bat, and, using his own sonar device, induces a reversion back to his human form. Langström and Penguin are both taken back to Arkham. Later on the series, specifically the Rumors episode, Langstrom has already transformed back into Man-Bat, which indicates the possibility is genetic studies may have ended well for him, successfully locking him into Man-Bat mode.

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Christmas With The Joker

2007-08-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

The joker takes over a television studio and holds Summer Gleason, Commissioner Gordon and Detective Bullock hostage.

It is December 24 and the Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum. Batman and Robin hear of this, but Robin says that no criminal wreaks havoc on Christmas. They agree that if there is no crime while they are patrolling, they will come home and watch It's a Wonderful Life. They find nothing and return home, only to find out the Joker is up to one of his psychotic schemes. He has taken Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock and Summer Gleeson hostage. Batman and Robin go through many distractions but finally save the hostages.

* The first appearance of Robin and Joker in the animated series.
* At the beginning of the episode, the Joker sings the popular elementary school Batman-based parody of "Jingle Bells".
* At the beginning of the episode, Batman had never seen It's A Wonderful Life. As he told Robin, "I could never get past the title."

Main Villain: The Joker

In 1973, the character was revived and profoundly revised in the Batman comic stories by Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams. Beginning in Batman #251, with the story "The Joker's Five Way Revenge", the Joker becomes a homicidal maniac who casually murders people on a whim, while enjoying battles of wits with Batman. This take on the character has taken prominence since. Steve Englehart, in his short but well-received run on the book, added elements deepening the severity of the Joker's insanity.

Joker even had his own nine-issue series during the 1970s in which he faces off against a variety of foes, both superheroes and supervillains. Although he was the protagonist of the series, certain issues feature just as much murder as those in which he was the antagonist; of the nine issues, he commits murder in seven. The development of the Joker as a sociopath continues with the issues "A Death in the Family" (in which readers voted for the character to kill off Jason Todd) and The Killing Joke in 1988, redefining the character for DC's Modern Age after the company wide reboot following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

A major addition to the character was the introduction of Harley Quinn. Originally introduced in Batman: The Animated Series, Quinn is a clinical psychiatrist who falls hopelessly in love with the Joker in Arkham Asylum and now serves as his loyal, if daffy, sidekick, costumed in a skintight harlequin suit. Their partnership often resembles an abusive domestic relationship, with the Joker insulting, hurting, or even attempting to kill Quinn, who remains undaunted in her devotion. She was popular enough to be integrated into the comics in 1999 and a modified version of the character (less goofy, but still criminally insane and utterly committed to the Joker) was also featured on the short-lived live-action TV series Birds of Prey.

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Tyger, Tyger

2007-08-18T11:34:00.000-05:00

Dr. Emile Dorian, a genetic engineer, kidnaps Selina Kyle and takes her to an island where he has created a man-cat called Tygrus. He plans to mate the two and so injects Selina with a serum that makes her a cat woman. Batman travels to the island to save her but gets captured.

Selina Kyle is kidnapped by genetic engineer Dr. Emile Dorian and becomes his latest experiment to provide his man-cat hybrid named Tygrus with a mate. Batman learns of this and comes to the island to rescue Selina. He is captured and forced into a deadly game of cat-and-flying mouse as Tygrus hunts Batman through the island's jungles.

The name for this episode comes from the William Blake poem, The Tyger, the first two lines of which Batman quotes at the episode's conclusion.

Main Villain: Tygrus

Tygrus is a character from Batman: The Animated Series. He premiered in the episode "Tyger, Tyger" and is voiced by Jim Cummings.

Doctor Emile Dorian was a scientist, whose life work involved genetic manipulation of creatures, specifically adding feline genes to other species making unusual hybrids. His early work added cat features to simple primates and leading up to an attempt to mutate Selina Kyle into an actual catwoman. Tygrus is his most perfect creation, and the doctor refers to him as "more advanced than any human being."

Tygrus appears as an estimated seven-foot tall mostly bipedal creature covered in grey fur, with a feline head on a humanoid frame. He has a tail, claws, and is able to speak. Tygrus is extremely naive, always referring to Dr. Dorian as "father". Tygrus does not want to take life without reason, and only longs for his creator's affection and for the love of Catwoman. In many ways, the character is reminiscent of Frankenstein's Monster.

In an attempt to test Tygrus's reflexes and feral instincts, Dr. Dorian sets Batman loose upon a deserted island with Tygrus in hot pursuit, offering Batman the antidote to Catwoman's mutation if he survives. Tygrus hunts Batman down in an attempt to show his strength and win the heart of the mutated Catwoman.

When faced with the true nature of his creator, Tygrus destroys the lab that made him, but shows restraint by saving his "father". As the lab burns to the ground, he escapes with his father's body which he hands over to Batman for medical attention. Catwoman is distressed by the destruction of the lab because it means she is doomed to be trapped in her mutant form forever. Tygrus is struck hard by the realization that Catwoman would be unhappy as a half-cat similar to his own design He leaves her the antidote he managed to rescue from the lab, and leaves to face an existence alone on the deserted island. In the end, Tygrus doesn't fit in anywhere, an abomination doomed to be alone forever.

Tygrus resurfaces in "The Batman Adventures" issue titled "House of Dorian." He ends up under the control of Doctor Dorian again and helps Anthony Romulus and Man-Bat (Stefen Parry) to capture Selina again.

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The Strange Secret Of Bruce Wayne

2007-08-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

Bruce Wayne stumbles upon the wicked plan of Dr. Strange, who has developed a device to read people's thoughts. Bruce finds himself in danger from Two-Face, the Joker and the Penguin when Dr. Strange reads that Bruce is really Batman.

When Judge Vargas, a friend of Bruce Wayne's, is blackmailed by Dr. Hugo Strange, Bruce journeys to Strange's health resort in Yucca Springs to investigate. Strange has invented a machine that can see people's thoughts, and he uses this on Bruce to discover that Bruce is Batman. He then attempts to auction Batman's secret identity to the Joker, Two-Face and the Penguin.

* Judge Vargas in the video says "I didn't mean to". Oddly, in a later episode (Baby Doll) a similar voice (possibly the same actress) is said by Baby Doll (Batman: The Animated Series) in her adult persona near the end of episode, and also says the same line.

* In one scene, The Joker has popcorn in the next scene it is gone. However this is after a commercial break and another scene, implying he might of gotten rid of it.

Main Villain: Hugo Strange

Strange is introduced into Batman: The Animated Series in the episode "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne", in which he is voiced by Ray Buktenica. In the episode, Hugo Strange is a psychiatrist running a rest hospital that he uses to blackmail Gotham's elite with secrets he finds out with a machine that reads minds. Bruce Wayne goes to the hospital and undergoes the "treatment," which allows Strange to discover his secret identity. He auctions off this information to a trio of Gotham's top criminals: The Joker, The Penguin, and Two-Face. Two-Face had personally known Bruce Wayne, and later accuses Strange of fraud when Batman switches the tape with one he had created that portrayed Strange as fabricating the secret identity. Strange tries to save his skin by simply telling the villains that Bruce Wayne is Batman, but they simply scoffed at the idea, thinking he was lying. The trio then tries to kill him by throwing him out of an airplane. Batman saves him at the last minute, however, and had Robin show up at the crime scene disguised as Bruce Wayne to discredit Strange's claims of knowing the Dark Knight's secret identity.

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Night Of The Ninja

2007-08-18T11:25:00.000-05:00

Bruce Wayne faces an old school mate, a martial arts master now out for revenge after Bruce had him expelled for attempted theft.

Wayne Enterprises' various companies are robbed by a mysterious figure known as the Ninja. Batman and Robin discover that the Ninja is actually Kyodai Ken, the only man who could beat Bruce Wayne when they studied martial arts together as boys in Japan. Bruce exposed Kyodai's attempt to rob the dojo, which got Kyodai expelled and now Kyodai is back for revenge.

* This marks the first of only two appearances of Kyodai Ken in the entirety of the DCAU, and thus, his only appearance in any DC media (he was invented by the DCAU).
* Kyodai Ken's name roughly means Giant Fist in Japanese, or, if the Ken is to be taken as an abbreviation of a name (such as the English name), his name means Giant Ken.

Main Villain: Kyodai Ken

Kyodai Ken (sometimes spelled Kyodai-Ken or more simply called "The Ninja") is a fictional villain of Batman who has appeared in two episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. He was voiced by Robert Ito.

Kyodai Ken was an aspiring thief who used to learn martial arts under Yoru Sensei in Japan. Kyodai would always defeat fellow student Bruce Wayne in combat and teased Bruce by calling him a "pampered rich boy". But one day Bruce once caught Kyodai attempting to steal one of Yoru's swords, and Yoru expelled Kyodai from the martial arts dojo as punishment. Kyodai swore revenge on Bruce Wayne.

Kyodai eventually comes to Gotham City in the episode "Night of the Ninja". In this episode, Kyodai, disguising himself in generic ninja garb as well as employing natural ninja stealth tactics and gear, commits several robberies on Bruce Wayne's properties. At one point he briefly fights the Batman, but Kyodai escapes the battle. Later on, Kyodai kidnaps reporter Summer Gleeson and uses her to lure Bruce Wayne into a fight, to settle once and for all who is superior. Bruce manages to defeat Kyodai, who disappears into a river. It is later revealed that since Kyodai battled Bruce in both of his identities, Bruce Wayne and Batman, he was able to deduce that they were the same person.

Although originally intended to be a one-time character, Kyodai eventually made a return appearance in the episode "Day of the Samurai". In this episode Kyodai returns to Japan and kidnaps Yoru's star pupil, Kairi, and holds her hostage. In return Kyodai wants Yoru to divulge the secret hiding place of the ancient scrolls containing details about a forbidden martial art. Yoru calls in Bruce Wayne to help battle Kyodai, who confirms that he knows about Bruce's secret identity as Batman. Kyodai eventually gains the scrolls and masters the Ohinemuri death touch, a move he intends to use on Bruce.

Kyodai lures Batman to a final battle along the slope of an active volcano, once again with use of a hostage. This time the hostage is Bruce's own butler, Alfred Pennyworth. During this battle, Kyodai tries using the death touch, but it fails as Batman had discovered the area that needed to be touched and was able to shield it (although Kyodai was initially unaware of this as Batman feigned falling victim to the death-blow in order to buy some time). The battle ends when Kyodai is stranded on a rock in the middle of a flow of lava. Batman tries to save Kyodai, but Kyodai refuses Batman's aid and disappears in the following explosion. He is presumed dead.

* One of Kyodai's notable physical characteristics is a large demon tattoo on his back.
* His name is Japanese for "Giant Fist".

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The Under-Dwellers

2007-08-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

Batman saves a mute boy that he discovers belongs to a group of young castaways living in the sewers. He learns that their leader has been forcing them to commit crimes for him.

Batman encounters mysterious 'wee green people,' who have been committing petty crimes. He saves one and soon learns that the boy belongs to a gang of forgotten runaways who live deep within the Gotham sewer system. Their leader, the crazed Sewer King, forces the children to steal food and supplies for him.

Main Villain: Sewer King

The Sewer King, as his name implied, lived in the sewers of Gotham City. After residing there for some time, he began kidnapping the (sometimes) orphaned children of Gotham. Giving them a "home", "food", and a "place to rest", he put them to work doing various tasks, including sewing, manual labor, and stealing. After living under such conditions, the children's eyes became acclimated to the darkness. As such, The Sewer King used light to punish them for any offense. Offenses included failure to return home and talking. Additionally, sewer crocodiles patrolled the area, preventing any unwelcome visitors from straying into the Sewer King's realm.

After a series of thieveries reportedly caused by "leprechauns", Batman began investigating the true cause. Cornering one child, Batman tried to confront him, but ended up bringing the boy to the Batcave with him. Though the boy refused to speak, he eventually led Batman through the sewers to the Sewer King's hideaway. The Sewer King provided great difficulty for Batman to apprehend, but in the end the Dark Knight prevailed.

As far as his persona goes, the Sewer King has no actual abilities. However, he's a master at discipline: though it's unknown how, he tamed several sewer crocodiles (dubbed his "pretties"), and kept several orphaned or runaway children obedient to him under strict rule. As such, he had a small army of crocodiles at his disposal, which he used (amongst other things) to protect his "realm".

Perchance To Dream

2007-08-18T10:59:00.000-05:00

Bruce wakes up to find himself caught in a surreal dream world, where he is not Batman and his parents are still alive. He realizes that he is in a trap set by the Mad Hatter, who pretends to be Batman and the two battle it out.

Bruce Wayne wakes up to find that his dearest wish has come true: his parents are not dead, and he is not and has never been Batman. Not only that, he's been recently engaged to Selina Kyle. At first he's ecstatic, but a number of clues force him to the conclusion that somehow this is all an elaborate charade. His quest to find the truth eventually pits Bruce against Batman in a surreal battle atop a church tower. Only then does he realize that he is trapped in a dream world created entirely by the Mad Hatter's mind control. In order to wake up for real, he commits suicide by jumping off the church tower. He then returns to the real world and takes the Mad Hatter down. As Gordon wonders what the device that made the dream world is, Batman walks away with the famous line from Shakespeare's The Tempest: "The stuff that dreams are made of."

One of the themes in the episode is duality. As the dream version of Leslie Thompkins points out, Bruce Wayne is jealous of the dream version of Batman, who, unlike Bruce, has gotten things through deeds. In other words, the Bruce Wayne persona has become jealous of the Batman persona, who is far better than Bruce Wayne. This evidently leads to the climax where the two personas duel each other for domination.

Many philosophers have discussed the idea that you may be stuck in a dream and never know it. In the end, how does Batman really know he is in reality again?

Although the entire series is heavily indebted to Film Noir, some of the most explicit references are found in this episode. The climax at the bell-tower is perhaps a nod to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and Batman directly quotes Humphrey Bogart's final paraphrase from The Tempest in The Maltese Falcon in the end. The dreamlike nature of the storyline is very much in common with Films-Noir. Interestingly, the climax is also a homage to the finale of Metropolis and Tim Burton's Batman, in which Michael Keaton's Batman and Jack Nicholson's Joker face off in the spire of a cathedral.

The title comes from a line in the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy from the play Hamlet, in which Prince Hamlet debates with himself whether or not to commit suicide, or to face the cruel travails of the world, and specifically the task of avenging his dead father which has been put before him. This is a subtle, but intriguing parallel not only to the story of the episode itself, but to the story of Batman in general. Also, Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in the series, appeared in a number of Shakespeare plays during the 1980s, before being cast on the show.

The theme and conflict found in the episode are both similar to those faced by Superman in the Alan Moore story "For the Man Who Has Everything". In that story, Mongul uses an alien plant to place Superman in a fantasy world where Krypton never exploded.

Leslie Thompkins essentially sums up part of the episode: the persona of Bruce Wayne, who has never had to work for what he wants, is jealous of the personality of Batman, who is obviously a better person. Thus, the two personalities fight each other in the bell-tower for control of Bruce Wayne.

* Kevin Conroy read the roles of Bruce, Batman, Thomas, and the evil Batman all in one take.

* Exactly where Robin is in the alternate reality is unclear. The only mention of his name is by Bruce upon awakening in the dream world, with Alfred saying "Another young lady, sir?" Assuming that Bruce has never been Batman in this universe, Dick Grayson would not have met him or became Robin.

* According to Bruce Timm, the original script had Bruce learning that Dick Grayson is living on the street as a teenage runaway after the death of his parents, supposedly not being adopted by Bruce as shown in Robin's Reckoning. This was cut due to time constraints.

* The plot is similar to the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything" and the Codename: Kids Next Door Story "U.T.O.P.I.A".

* The plot idea of a device that can create one's deepest wish was used for the film Batman Forever. In that movie, however, The Riddler was the villain in place of the Hatter, and he used Bruce Wayne to learn about his secrets, while the Hatter merely wanted to keep Batman out of the way.

* Interestingly enough, a similar machine is used on Bruce to learn of his true identity for personal gain in "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne".

* Bruce claims to have figured out he was dreaming when he couldn't read the print in the newspaper. He then states that reading is a function of the right hemisphere of the brain and dreaming is a function of the left hemisphere of the brain, so it's impossible to read in your sleep. In actuality, reading is a function of the left hemisphere and dreaming is a function of both left and right hemispheres. There is no reason why a person couldn't read something in their dreams. (The ability to read while dreaming is important in lucid dreaming, however.)

* The words Wayne Enterprises are readable, despite Bruce saying he was unable to read in a dream, however, mostly everything else seen is undescipherable, even before it is revealed that words are unintelligible.

Main Villain: Mad Hatter

Jervis Tetch is fascinated with hats of all shapes and sizes, as well as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, particularly favoring the chapter 'A Mad Tea Party'. He is obsessive-compulsive, highly delusional, suffers from psychotic manic depression, and can even sometimes be homicidal. It has been hinted in recent years that he is a pedophile, kidnapping little girls with the name "Alice". As shown in Secret Six, he won't eat a piece of food that doesn't have a hat on it. He exhibits delusions and thought processes typical of schizophrenia. Not only is he often known to quote and reference Carroll's Wonderland novels, but he often fails to discern between these stories and reality. He will go to insane lengths to get what he wants.

In his first appearance, the Mad Hatter attempted to steal a trophy from the Gotham Yacht Club, but was foiled by Batman while he tried to rob spectators from a high society horseshow. Tetch was subsequently sent to Arkham Asylum (although that was not revealed until Batman #400, 1986).

Later a different, moustached Mad Hatter appears, claiming to be Jervis Tetch, but he was revealed as an impostor and subsequently disposed of once the real Tetch re-appears. (See further down this page: Impostor Mad Hatter.)

The real Jervis Tetch comes back in Detective Comics #510 in 1981. Tetch has with him a pet monkey, as well as a mind-erasing machine. Tetch claims to have killed his impostor, but that turns out to be untrue when the impostor returns one last time in Detective Comics #573 in 1987.

It was in 1983's Detective Comics #526 that Tetch was first portrayed with the mind-controlling devices for which he is now best known. He even slipped one into Scarecrow's hat and took control of him for a short time. Tetch seemed to have died under the wheels of a train, but that turned out to have been another trick.

In the Knightfall saga, the Mad Hatter was the first to strike from the breakout of Arkham. He invited all criminals to a tea party which later Batman and Robin would come. One of the criminals was Film Freak which he sends to find the person who broke them out of Arkham. Batman and Robin come and defeat the Mad Hatter as Film Freak is killed by Bane.

Tetch has even kidnapped Lucius Fox of Wayne Enterprises and held him for ransom. Once again, Tetch was stopped by Batman, but not before using his advanced equipment to feed information from Fox's mind into his computer.

Tetch at one point became so obsessed with the Alice in Wonderland story, that he begins kidnapping assorted people in Gotham and dressing them up like characters from the story. He manages to kidnap Lt. Gordon's adopted daughter the future Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, in which he casts her in the title role of Alice. The combined efforts of Batman and Gordon led to Tetch's defeat and Barbara's safe escape.

In Robin: Year One, Tetch devised a plan to implant his mind control devices in Walkmen, which he gave out to young girls at Dick Grayson's school in order to sell the young girls to millionaire third-world dictator Generalissimo Lee. The young Robin managed to defeat the Mad Hatter, however.

One of Tetch's latest plans consisted of implanting his devices in "free coffee and donuts" tickets he handed out in front of the police stations in Gotham. That plan had him controlling most of the cops in the city. He even had Gotham police detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya break into a bank for him. Sasha Bordeaux helps Batman stop him this time around.

Tetch shows up in Gotham after it is rocked by a devastating earthquake. He adds to his body count, callously murdering a policeman. His goal is to unearth a trove of valuables, which in the end turn out to be classic hats.

More recently, in Gotham Central #21 (September 2004), Tetch tries to escape Arkham Asylum with the aid of a guard under mind control. The guard fires on police and dies in return fire. Tetch is shot multiple times and left in critical condition. It was thought he might have died, but a small appearance in Detective Comics #800 (January 2005), in which he was working for Black Mask, proves otherwise.

While working with Black Mask, Tetch implants a mind control chip directly into Killer Croc's brain, which causes him to mutate again due to the virus he was injected with by Hush and The Riddler. Croc embarks on a quest to get revenge on those responsible for his mutation, and starts with Tetch. Batman arrives in time to save Tetch, but Croc escaped.

During Infinite Crisis Tetch was seen, first fighting Argus, then fighting with the Secret Society of Super Villains during the Battle of Metropolis.

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The Cape & Cowl Conspiracy

2007-08-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

Batman must escape from the tricks of Josiah Wormwood, who is prompted by Baron Waclow Jozek to try and get Batman's cape and cowl.

The nobleman Baron Waclow Jozek hires an agent named Josiah Wormwood, known for using deathtraps to extract secrets from his victims, to get Batman's cape and cowl. The criminal, posing as a Russian count, has been assaulted by the Dark Knight earlier in the evening about some missing bearer bonds (Batman was briefed by Commissioner Gordon) which were stolen by Wormwood after receiving their location in his recent deathtrap at the start of the episode. As part of his contract, Wormwood agrees to reveal where he hid the bearer bonds so that he can learn why his new employer wants Batman's cape and cowl. As the episode continues, Batman is lured into several deathtraps trying to keep his cape and cowl. The last deathtrap proves to be the charm as Batman, overcome by superheated spotlights and a cleverly hidden tank of nerve gas, surrenders the desired prize to Wormwood; his identity is still secret as Batman is wearing a bandanna. Later, as arranged, Wormwood meets Jozek in his penthouse and reveals the location of the bearer bonds, after which he asks what his employer intends to do with the cape and cowl to which he says " I am going...to wear them." Turning around, the "criminal " is revealed to be none other than Batman, who was impersonating Jozek the entire episode. (Earlier in the episode, Batman had forced the real Jozek to flee Gotham.) As a final twist, after being put in a prison cell, Wormwood, as "long, cold nights will be the norm," is given Batman's cape and cowl to keep him warm by the Dark Knight.

* This episode contains the first use of the Bat-Signal in the DC Animated Universe.

* In pre-production, the original script was to have someone steal the cape and cowl and impersonate Batman while on a crime rampage. This would have been based on an episode of the old George Reeves series Adventures of Superman.

* Bruce Timm mentioned in an interview that he was originally going to have Batman show his face to Wormwood as he gives him the cape and cowl, but he changed his mind, as he does not like seeing Bruce without his mask on. Strangely enough, Bruce pulls off his mask in the next episode.

* Wormwood's Modus Operandi and physical appearance make him look very similar to the Riddler. However, the "real" Riddler (Edward Nygma) appears in later episodes.

Main Villain: Josiah Wormwood

Josiah Wormwood is a fictional character created originally for Batman: The Animated Series. Voiced by Bud Cort, his first, and only appearance was in episode 31, "The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy".

Known as "The Interregator", Wormwood is a sociopathic sadist who specializes in torture and information extraction. Much like the Riddler, he designs twisted mazes of psychological torture and death, and leaves clues to lead victims to them. Once they arrive, he uses various deathtraps to force valuables out of them; information, possessions, or anything else of value. He oversees the mazes through an unseen control center, and taunts his victims to further their torture.

In the episode's events, Wormwood is suspected of a bearer bond theft. Not long after, a small-time con man known as "The Baron" hires him to retrieve Batman's cape and cowl. Curious to know what his benefactor wants with it, Wormwood complies. Although his first trap fails, he eventually forces the Caped Crusader to surrender his cape and cowl in exchange for his life. After boasting of how he stole the bonds, and how he will supply his client with a key to the locker containing them (which the Baron demanded to know before he told him why he wanted the cape and cowl), Wormwood discovers, to his shock, that Batman was impersonating the Baron all along, to obtain a recording of his confession. After a short scuffle, Batman obtains the key, and Wormwood is taken to prison.

To add insult to injury, Wormwood receives a letter in his clue style that reads "Confinement will speed your reform, but long cold nights will be the norm. So here's something to keep you warm." The package with the letter contains Batman's cape and cowl. Enraged, Wormwood tosses it to the floor.

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Mad As A Hatter

2007-08-17T23:51:00.000-05:00

The Mad Hatter puts the city of Gotham under his control in an attempt to impress a woman, Alice, with whom he is in love. However, when he discovers that she likes someone else, he plans to exterminate the competition and kidnap Alice.

Jervis Tetch is a scientist at Wayne Enterprises experimenting with mind control. Tetch is, unfortunately, infatuated with Alice, the beautiful secretary with an uncanny likeness to the girl from Alice in Wonderland. She has a boyfriend, however, and Jervis resorts to mind control to be with her, forcing Batman to interfere.

The story, much like many episodes of the series, focuses on the idea of self-delusion. Many Batman villains delude themselves into becoming villains (Harley Quinn deludes herself into believing the Joker loves her). Jervis Tetch is no exception, as he deludes himself into believing Alice could never love him the way he was, and so he made her into a soulless puppet. Like many tragedies, the episode shows a tragic flaw (in this case, deluded love) in an otherwise good person which ruins him.

However, the question is: did Jervis love her purely, or did he love Alice because she resembled the girl of Lewis Carroll so much?

* Jervis is voiced by veteran actor Roddy McDowall who would voice all incarnations of the Mad Hatter in the DC Animated Universe.

* Tetch and Alice's designs are both obviously influenced by the characters in Alice in Wonderland.

* Roddy McDowall also played The March Hare in a 1985 adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and played a villain in the 60's Batman series called 'The Bookworm'.

* Paul Dini, the episode's writer, once claimed in an interview that this episode was partially based on a true story, "about this guy who was a brilliant but shy computer designer and had a fixation on a woman, and he shot everybody in the office."

* Oddly, the March Hare is one of the only Alice in Wonderland characters not to make an appearance in this episode, despite being the Mad Hatter's classical sidekick.

Main Villain: Mad Hatter

* In Batman: The Animated Series the Mad Hatter was voiced by Roddy McDowall. He was animated as an average height/sized man with blonde hair. He appeared in the following episodes: "Mad as a Hatter", "Perchance to Dream", "The Trial", "The Worry Men", and (in a non-speaking cameo) "Make 'Em Laugh" and "Joker's Wild."

A technical and electronic genius, Jervis Tetch experimented with animals using mind controlling microchips stored within hats to stimulate brain waves. His love for Alice in Wonderland, as well as his infatuation for his secretary, Alice, embittered and obsessed him to the point of insanity. Donning the guise of The Mad Hatter, he attempted to win her affection by taking her out on the town after her boyfriend dumped her. She misinterpreted the gesture, however, as simply a way to cheer her up, and unwittingly spurned his affections. Driven over the edge, Tetch used his mind controlling microchips to turn Alice into his robot-like puppet. After Batman captured him, Tetch realized the futility of pursuing Alice's love and instead pursued a life of crime. Paul Dini, writer of this episode, once claimed that it was inspired by a true story involving a shy technical designer who had unrequited feelings for someone at work, so he shot his workplace up. During his second appearance, Tetch trapped Batman and put him in a virtual reality realm which gave Batman his greatest desires, described as Batman's "own private Wonderland". When Batman finally freed himself from the equipment, he demanded to know why Tetch had used the machine rather than simply kill him. Sobbing, Tetch replies, "You, of all people, have the gall to ask me that?!! You ruined my life! I was willing to give you any life you wanted, just to keep you out of mine!"

Tetch uses his mind controlling chip to induce his victims into a trance, which either extracts information from their minds or makes them highly subjective to doing his bidding. This chip can also tap into an unused potential of the mind which can increase the subjects strength and stamina, turning them into the ultimate henchmen. He is a prominent member of the rogues gallery, who occasionally conspires with the others to destroy Batman and Robin.

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The Forgotten

2007-08-17T23:48:00.000-05:00

When indigent men start disappearing from the bowery, Bruce goes undercover as lowlife Gaff Morgan to investigate. He soon ends up as an amnesia victim forced to work with other kidnapped men in a treacherous and remote mining camp.

* Even though it is a favorite among fans, Paul Dini claims that this is the one episode of the show that he would like to forget.

* This is the first animated episode where Batman is shown to be knocked unconscious and captured on screen. The previous P.O.V. episode shows Batman captured, but it is left to imply that he was caught after the roof fell on him. Not only that, but it is strongly implied that he allowed himself to be captured.

* The idea for this episode was conceived when Bruce Timm and the writers wondered what Bruce Wayne would do if he lost his memory and was forced to find a solution without gadgets or his costume.

* Alfred makes a brief reference to Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who claimed what is now San Diego for Spain.

* According to DVD commentary for this episode, the chief villain's name--though never mentioned on screen--is Boss Biggis. Also according to Dini's commentary, one of the chief difficulties in using one-shot villains is that since they only make one appearance, it can be difficult to make them memorable. Thus, Biggis's trademark was to be fat and revolting. In fact, according to Dini, the voice actor was made to eat food as he read his lines. It worked so well, that the slurping gulping sounds the voice actor made were kept for the character as part of the soundtrack.

* One of Biggis' men is named Paur in a reference to writer/director on the series Frank Paur.

Main Villain: Boss Biggis

Prophecy Of Doom

2007-08-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

Bruce begins to worry when all of his wealthy friends join the same Brotherhood group run by Nostromos, a so-called psychic. Bruce knows that something is wrong, when Nostromos predicts the end of civilization and suggests that all the Brotherhood members transfer their money to the Brotherhood account.

Bruce Wayne becomes concerned when some of his richest friends are seduced into a new age Brotherhood scam by Nostromos, a fraudulent psychic. Nostromos predicted that a gambling cruise liner would go down and convinced Ethan not to board it; the ship did sink (due to a bomb planted in the engine room). Ethan afterwards becomes one of Nostromos's stauchest promoters but his daughter Lisa confides in Bruce her distrust for the club. Bruce joins the Brotherhood in an attempt to debunk Nostromos' claims. Nostromos, predicting the fall of civilization, urges his acolytes to transfer their bank funds to the Brotherhood's coffers.

Main Villain: Nostromos

Vendetta

2007-08-17T23:41:00.000-05:00

Batman suspects that an imprisoned Detective Bullock may be innocent after he is arrested for murder. The real murderer turns out to be Killer Croc, who framed Bullock to get revenge.

* Unlike later episodes, Killer Croc appears to be more of a cunning strategist, taking his revenge on Bullock in slow steady ways, wherein future episodes he's displayed more as a brute with average to dim intelligence.

* This is the first episode where Harvey Bullock is prominent; albeit not in a distrusting-of-Batman way for the entire show, unlike On Leather Wings.

Main Villain: Killer Croc

Killer Croc appears in several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Aron Kincaid. Croc is a former pro wrestler who turned to crime. In this series, he is given gray skin as opposed to his normal green and his reptilian appearance is toned down somewhat. In the episode "Vendetta", he runs afoul of Harvey Bullock, who arrests him. Croc later escapes from prison and seeks revenge.

In another episode, he escapes from prison and flees through the countryside, taking refuge in a town of naively trusting circus carnies (including a "seal boy", a giant, conjoined twins, and a hunchbacked ringmaster). Croc plans to betray and kill his hosts for the money they have stored away for supplies. In this episode, it is established that Croc is legally sane, and therefore is to be sent to Blackgate Penitentiary instead of Arkham Asylum. In the DC comic The Batman Adventures, Croc reveals that his mother died when he was born, and that he was raised by his cruel aunt.

He also appeared — revamped, with green skin — in an episode of The New Batman Adventures where he joins forces with the criminal Baby Doll. Baby Doll, who has a condition that makes her look like a child even though she is an adult, believes she has found a kindred spirit in fellow 'freak' Killer Croc. They go to live in the sewers, committing crimes planned by Doll and carried out largely by Croc. When Baby Doll overhears Croc boasting about manipulating her, she betrays him to Batman and Batgirl. He is voiced by Brooks Gardner.

In 2005, an episode of the animated television series The Batman featured Killer Croc, voiced by Ron Perlman. In this episode Croc is even more reptilian and has a tail. His origins are mostly unknown: one of his henchmen tells Batman that there are different rumors: that he is a military genetic experiment gone awry, that he deals with the wrong kind of voodoo magic in the swamps, or is simply a genetic freak. (It is never explained which origin story is true.) He recruits three criminals, two of them voiced by Jim Cummings, as henchmen to help him flood Gotham City. This animated version also speaks with a Cajun accent and has two pet crocodiles to do his bidding. He later returns as part of Penguin's Team Penguin.

Killer Croc is featured in the Lego Batman building toy set 7780 Batboat: the Hunt for Killer Croc. Croc rides a jet ski, pitted against Batman in a hovercraft version of the Batboat. Killer Croc appears in minifigure form with his signature jeans as in the comic, with a distinct reptilian appearance comprising green skin, scales and a sharp-toothed grin. His head, however, is humanoid.

In the novel Batman: Knightfall and Beyond, based largely on the comics storyline, Killer Croc is said to have suffered from "a raging skin cancer" that turned the outer layers of his flesh into a hardened covering when he was younger. He escapes from Arkham Asylum when Bane and his men destroy it, freeing most of Batman's major foes in the process as part of a plan by Bane to wear him down before Bane himself "breaks" him. Batman later defeats Croc in a one-on-one fight in the sewers, crushing a cylinder of knock-out gas against the underside of his nose to disable him. Croc is then arrested and held in Blackgate Prison with the other Arkham escapees until the asylum can be rebuilt.

In Marvel Vs. DC, Wolverine briefly battles Croc to a standstill.

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