The Ventriloquist is a DC Comics villain, an enemy of Batman. He first appeared in Detective Comics #583, February 1988.

History

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A meek, quiet man, the Ventriloquist plans and executes his crimes through a dummy named Scarface, with the dress and persona of a 1920s gangster, complete with pinstripe suit, cigar, and tommy gun.

Born into a powerful Mafia Family, Arnold Wesker developed multiple personality disorder after seeing his mother murdered by an assassin from a rival Family. Growing up, his only outlet was ventriloquism, which he mastered, forming an act with a dummy he named Scarface. Eventually, the Scarface dummy took on his repressed anger, becoming another personality Wesker was convinced was real. When Wesker turned to crime, he let the Scarface personality do the dirty work, including robbery and murder. Wesker is dominated by the Scarface personality, who barks orders at him and degrades him with verbal abuse, ironically calling him "Dummy." Wesker always submits with a timid "Yes, Mr. Scarface." Wesker was never able to enunciate the letter "b" in his act, and replaces them with the letter "g" instead. Therefore, Scarface will often address his foes as "Gatman and Rogin." In some of the older issues Wesker turned up in, he was frequently accompanied by a loyal bodyguard named Rhino.

He is one of many supervillains in the Rogues Gallery to be confined to Arkham Asylum when Batman apprehends him. One particularly memorable and amusing series of events concerning him took place during the Knightfall saga, after Bane had destroyed Arkham and released its inmates. Unable to find Scarface, the Ventriloquist uses a sock puppet in his place for a short time. After robbing a toy store, he procures a number of other hand puppets to fill in for Scarface, including one of a police officer whom he refers to as "Chief O'Hara" (in a possible reference to a character on the 1960s Batman'' TV show). He was once apparently killed, and in a bizarre twist, Scarface appeared to still talk and act alive before he was destroyed. This death appears to have been retconned in One Year Later (presumably due to the events of the Infinite Crisis crossover). Wesker appeared as one of the members of the Secret Society of Super Villains that faced the Jade Canary, who pitched Scarface off the top of a roof.

In the recent Detective Comics #818, Wesker is shot in the head, apparently by Two-Face. The puppet Scarface is stepped on, crushing its head. In his dying moments, Wesker used Scarface's "hand" to leave a clue as to how he died: the street where he'd recently met Two-Face.

Appearances in other media

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The Ventriloquist and Scarface appeared in The Animated Series, where they were voiced by George Dzundza. In this depiction, he is a master ventriloquist and can pronounce every sound perfectly as Scarface. The dummy is often destroyed in these episodes, leading to Scarface's temporary "death" until a new dummy is made.

In the animated series, Wesker finally stood up to and destroyed Scarface, thus ridding himself of his alternate personality. However, in the comic books, it is implied that a normal life may be always just out of Wesker's reach.

In an episode of Justice League entitled "A Better World," the League visits the alternate dimension populated by their alter egos the Justice Lords. In the alternate reality's Arkham Asylum, several lobotomized patients appear before them, courtesy of the alternate world's Superman. Wesker is present in the dayroom, and though his forehead is unmarked, Scarface intriguingly bears the two burn scars indicative of the treatment.

The Ventriloquist and Scarface also appear in The Batman, where they are voiced by Dan Castellaneta. In the series, Wesker is a ventriloquist who was booed off the stage one night. Wesker and Scarface then turned to a life of crime. In The Big Dummy, Wesker gets a computer chip to make Scarface become giant. In the end, Scarface was "killed" after he was run over by the train. Wesker was then taken to Arkham Asylum. Later, in Fistful of Felt, Wesker returns with a new Scarface. It was then revealed that Wesker once had a TV show which was cancelled. After Batman stops them from stealing dollar molds from a treasury, Wesker and Scarface were seen in Arkham during Hugo Strange's therapy group with the Joker and the Penguin. Hugo Strange considered Wesker his main patient and "freed" Wesker from Scarface. Wesker started to do kids' parties with a puppet named Mr. Snoots, until Strange took the next stage into his hands. In a confrontation with Batman in a newly opened building for children, Scarface and Mr. Snoots were both once again destroyed by a train. Wesker was then returned to Arkham and Batman confronted Hugo Strange who was nearby. Wesker and Scarface's henchmen are Rhino and Mugsy (both voiced by John DiMaggio).

Arnold Wesker should not be confused with Albert Wesker, the central antagonist of the Resident Evil video game series.

Batman villains | Fictional characters with multiple personalities

El Ventrílocuo