Scarecrow (comics)

This article deals with the Scarecrow of DC Comics. For the Marvel Comics supervillain, see Scarecrow (Marvel Comics).

The Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. Created by Batman creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane, he first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941).

Dressed as a field scarecrow and possessing a lanky appearance (and surname) inspired by Ichabod Crane of the horror fable The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Scarecrow is an insane clinical psychiatrist. Using a variety of drugs and psychological tactics, he utilizes the fears and phobias of his adversaries. Although more refined and articulate than Batman foes such as The Joker and Two-Face, he is likely no less murderous or insane.

The Scarecrow made only two appearances in the 1940s. Batman writers of the 1970s revived him and he has since consistently appeared in Batman comic books and in the 1990s-era The Animated Series. He was featured several times in the Emmy-winning 1990's cartoon The Animated Series, where he was first played by Henry Polic II. When the series was revamped and shown together with The Animated Series, the character was voiced by Jeffrey Combs. In the 2005 film Batman Begins, he was played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy.

Fictional character biography

Professor Jonathan Crane becomes obsessed with fear and revenge due to bullying throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookish nature. He commits his first murder at the age of 18 by brandishing a gun in his high school parking lot during the senior prom. Dressed in the ghoulish scarecrow costume that would later become his trademark, Crane causes the head bully, Bo Griggs, and his girlfriend, Sherry Squires, who earlier rejects Crane, to have an automobile accident which paralyzes Griggs and kills Squires. Crane discovers a savage delight in literally frightening people to death.

He becomes a professor of psychology at Gotham University, specializing in the psychology of fear. After his dismissal for harming one of his students, he kills the regents responsible for his dismissal and becomes a career criminal. He takes the moniker "the Scarecrow", the favorite taunt of the hated bullies, as part of his revenge.

As one of Batman's principal modern adversaries since the Silver Age, the Scarecrow is a regular member of the Injustice Gang and briefly joins the Secret Society of Super Villains. A psychopathic sadist, the Scarecrow is one of the many criminals in Gotham City to be confined to Arkham Asylum whenever Batman apprehends him. Ironically, the Scarecrow has a phobia of birds, although he has been shown occasionally as having a pet crow named Craw (sometimes named Nightmare).

In stories written by Jeph Loeb, the Scarecrow is one of Batman's more unbalanced villains, and has an inclination to sing nursery rhymes. In addition, Loeb's version of Crane is a psychiatrist (as portrayed in Batman Begins) and not a professor of psychology.

Crane undergoes a major change in the 2004 Batman story arc As The Crow Flies. While working with the Penguin he is mutated into a monster. He turns into this "Scarebeast" during times of great strain or when it's necessary to save his life.

Scarecrow rejoins the new Secret Society of Super Villains, and is part of the assault on the Secret Six (Villains United #6). He is caught in the explosion caused by Parademon. He is later seen in Villains United Special #1, alive and well. He is also seen in Detective Comics #820 as part of One Year Later, where he is defeated by Batman. In this appearance he is depicted in a costume that appeared to be an amalgamation of his original costume and the costume seen in Batman Begins.

Crossover

In the 2000 AD Batman/Judge Dredd crossover comic Judgement on Gotham, by writers Alan Grant and John Wagner, Scarecrow is shown breaking into a morgue along with his Igor-like henchman Benny, collecting various juices from corpses to include in his fear gas. He delights in scaring "a ghost" by creeping up on it and saying "boo". The ghost turns out to be the spirit of Judge Death, whom he promptly allies with on the basis that the Judge can show him "a veritable feassst of fffear". After inhabiting a corpse, Judge Death dispatches Benny, but is treated to a whiff of fear gas, revealing his fear of losing his power to frighten. The Scarecrow ushers the Judge to a rock festival, where all carnage ensues (he records it on camera for "his private collection"). Scarecrow is apprehended when Judge Dredd's partner Anderson shoots his can of fear gas, dousing him with it and sending him into a terrified delusion that he is being attacked by birds. Judge Death is taken down by the combined efforts of Batman and Dredd.

The second Batman/Daredevil crossover book features Scarecrow in New York, apparently attempting to kill Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin) and take over his crime operation. In reality, this is merely a setup to draw attention from his true scheme: unleashing a massive dose of fear toxin into an incoming storm from atop the Statue of Liberty. This would spread the gas throughout New York City, causing all its citizens to suffer like "Sodom and Gomorrah." In the end, he blasts Daredevil with a dose of fear toxin, but Daredevil lives up to his "Man Without Fear" trademark by quickly brushing off the effects of the gas and defeating Scarecrow.

Other Appearances

The Scarecrow also has a cameo appearance in Preludes and Nocturnes. Specifically, he appears in Sandman #5: "Passengers" as a friend of Doctor Destiny at Arkham Asylum. He quotes Goethe and attempts to dissuade Destiny (albeit not forcefully) from escaping, saying Arkham is a better home for their kind than the outside world. See Characters of The Sandman - Minor Mortals

Powers and abilities

Using a variety of toxins that cause his victims to hallucinate that their phobias have come to life, the Scarecrow instills fear in all who see him. When forced to fight, he uses his own style called "violent dancing", which is based in part off the crane style of kung fu, and makes full use of his long arms and legs.

Scarebeast

During the "As the Crow Flies" story arc (commencing with Batman #627, July 2004), the Scarecrow was transformed into a murderous creature known as the Scarebeast by the Penguin to kill off his disloyal colleagues. In this incarnation, the Scarebeast possesses super strength and endurance and can release an even stronger hallucinogenic gas. After being defeated by Batman, the Scarebeast reverted back into Jonathan Crane. The Scarecrow has transformed into the Scarebeast in the "War Games" story arc.

In other media

Animated television series

In the 1970s animated series Super Friends, the Scarecrow appeared as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. In this series, he was voiced by Don Messick. This version showed no powers at all and was used mainly when the plot called for an incompetent villain. The character's identity and motivation were expanded upon and the character finally became three-dimensional, using his fear inducing devices for the first time in the show's final season's episode "The Fear". That episode also revealed Batman's origin for the first time in other media.

In the 1990s The Animated Series, the Scarecrow was voiced by Henry Polic II. This Scarecrow was similar to the comic version as he was a former psychology professor seeking revenge against Gotham University for his termination. He employed his trademark fear gas in most of his schemes, which started revolving around scientific experiments on people and getting money to keep doing those. Scarecrow also notably underwent the most changes in appearance of all villains in the series. The character's appearance changed slightly after his first episode, in which his masked face was thin with no straw hair, and was drawn about half as large as his unmasked head. By his second appearance, Scarecrow was wearing a wider mask with visible eyes, a deranged grin, and straw hair.

When Bruce Timm revamped the series as The New Batman Adventures, the Scarecrow received the most extensive redesign of any character; a nightmarish makeover which resembled a western preacher with long black hair, with a death mask and hangman's noose around his neck. This version of the character was voiced by actor Jeffrey Combs. In an episode of The New Batman Adventures, the Scarecrow apparently killed Batgirl. When investigating the crime, Commissioner Gordon, found out that his daughter, Barbara, was Batgirl, and Bruce Wayne was Batman. Enraged that they kept this secret from him, he blamed Batman for Barbara's death and led an all out assault on Batman, Robin and Nightwing. In the end, it was revealed that the events of the episode were a hallucination induced by the Scarecrow. In the Batman Beyond comic, this story arc was brought back. In the future, Barbara Gordon keeps getting relapses of the hallucination, and has to sleep it off for a few days.

Scarecrow does not appear in Batman Beyond, though Jokerz member Ghoul dresses in a costume with a similar appearance.

As part of the original 13 members of the Legion of Doom, the Scarecrow was originally slated to appear again in the DC Animated Universe in the third season of Justice League Unlimited, but apparently due to a "Bat-Embargo" enforced by Warner Bros, this did not occur.

The Scarecrow was going to be in The Batman, but was not included because he appeared in Batman Begins. However, there is an picture of the unused design at this link.

Film

The Scarecrow was set to appear in Batman Forever, whilst Tim Burton was attached to the project. Brad Dourif was cast for the role. However, Burton who was unhappy with the script, instead decided to use The Riddler as the main villian. The Scarecrow was later set to appear in Batman Triumphant prior to its cancellation, with Howard Stern reportedly attached to the role.

The Scarecrow appears in the 2005 movie Batman Begins, portrayed by Cillian Murphy. This version of the Scarecrow is a disturbed, corrupt psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist at Arkham Asylum, secretly allied with the real Ra's al Ghul and Carmine Falcone, smuggling the former's hallucinogenic drugs into Gotham to create fear toxins to use upon his patients in cruel experiments. He first appears in the film when testifying in court that Victor Zsaz, allied with Carmine Falcone, was legally insane, and therefore was not able to help in his own defense. This act enraged Rachel Dawes, who accuses him of being corrupt. Crane then meets with Falcone to discuss about having Rachel murdered. When Falcone later attempts to blackmail Crane, Crane dons his Scarecrow mask for the first time in the film and drives Falcone insane from the hallucinations caused by the hallucinogen. In Crane's first encounter with Batman as Scarecrow, he sprays Batman with his fear toxin and sets him on fire, causing Batman to narrowly escape with his life and mind intact. However, with the help of Lucius Fox, Batman is able to synthesize an antidote to the toxin. Shortly thereafter, Batman has a second confrontation with Scarecrow, this time at Arkham, where he must rescue Rachel Dawes after Crane has sprayed her with his toxin. Batman overpowers Crane's henchmen and gives the doctor a dose of his own medicine. Crane is subsequently arrested by James Gordon, but later escapes in the mass escape of Arkham inmates prompted by Ra's Al Ghul as part of his plot to destroy Gotham.

He wears a mask, seemingly a poorly stitched burlap sack with a hangman's noose dangling around the neck. The mask acts as a gas mask, and to enhance the fierceness of the hallucinations. The mask is put to good use when a victim is contaminated with the toxins (Batman hallucinates bats literally flying out of the "mouth", while assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes hallucinates worms growing from it). His voice also seems more gravelly and deeper when the victim is contaminated with the toxin.

He also wears an unbound straightjacket at the movie's climax. The depiction of the character and Murphy's performance was well-received by many fans, and the movie's ending reveals that the Scarecrow had not yet been recaptured, leading to many rumors and speculations on the character's possible return to the franchise. Murphy said in an interview that he would indeed return if director Christopher Nolan were to ask for it.

Video games

The Scarecrow appears in four video games: Game Boy's Batman: The Animated Series, Super Nintendo's Adventures of Batman & Robin, Batman Begins (a tie-in to the 2005 movie) and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu. His role in the movie tie-in game is almost the same as the movie and is one of the game's boss fights. In the game, extra information is given about the Scarecrow's various quirks; he uses his patients as a form of personal army who frequently attack Batman in various levels. In Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, he is dressed in rags and is the first major boss to fight in the game, spraying the player with fear gas.

External Links

http://www.dccomics.com
http://www2.warnerbros.com/batman
Scarecrow - DC Database Project.

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