Batman Villains: Scarecrow

Bio: As a child Johnathon Crane was bullied due to his nerdy, lanky appearance. He was easily frightened by many things including darkness and bats. He later became obsessed with studying the psychology of fear, and became an expert doctor in the field. He worked as one of the chief psychologists at Arkham Asylum. During his sessions he would often perform fear-inducing experiments on his patients. He was later fired due to his unusual behavior. Dr. Johnathon Crane thus turned to crime, and developed a new persona, known as the Scarecrow. With his horrifying scarecrow mask, and a variety of toxins he is able to manipulate people through fear. The Scarecrow becomes one of Batman's major foes, always exploiting his fear of bats.

Powers and Abilities: He is a master of psychology and uses his knowledge of fear against his adversaries. He uses chemicals and toxins to hallucinate his victims, into a true state of fear. Through these toxins he is able to exploit their biggest fears and phobias. He wears a creepy scarecrow mask to enhance the hallucination. He is an expert in crane style combat, a form of violent dancing. He also often carries a pitchfork as a weapon.

Media Portrayal: In the comics he causes havoc through Gotham City, with his fear-inducing schemes, until he is finally defeated by Batman and Robin. They send him to the Gotham State Penitentiary yet he is later able to escape. He often teams up with other villains to contribute his psychological specialties in bringing down Batman or Gotham City.

His portrayal in the Animated Series, was horrifying as a child, and he was always one of my favorite villains in the series, because of his creepy madness. He had a lanky costume, a spooky mask, and a crazy demeanor. I remember he inspired me so much, that I once spent an entire night trying to draw and color him. The drawing was one of my best animations I'd ever done at that age, and I decided to submit it to a magazine, yet never made it in. I believe the magazine was "Highlights".

In the film, Batman Begins he is portrayed by Cillian Murphy who works in Arkham Asylum as a mastermind chief pyschologist. He is quickly accused of foul-play for always declaring his patients insane, so they do not have to go prison. He works with mobster, Carmine Falcone, yet his true boss is Ra's al Ghul, whom he develops a fear toxin with. During his sessions, Johnathon crane puts on his mask and sprays his toxin at his victims, making their fears come to life. This is done brilliantly throughout the movie, especially when we see the effect for the first time. Along with Ra's al Ghul he plans to put this toxin into Gotham's water supply, and have the city turn on itself. His classic line in the movie, is when he sets Batman aflame, and says, "You want my advice, you need to lighten up!"

In the video game, Arkham Asylum, he becomes a major boss three times throughout the game, in a non-linear structure. He will completely take over what ever it is you are doing, and manipulate Batman into falling into his trap. Batman is thus transported to his world, where he must climb through many obstacles and avoid the Scarecrow's deadly glare. It's not an easy task, and the game does a very good job of bringing the Scarecrow's dark creepiness into the objective.

The Appeal: His downright mad creepiness. As a child he was the most scary of all Batman villains, and for that reason I feel it is necessary to glorify him. He is a genius in psychology, and along with his lanky appearance and crazy personality he is truly the epitome of a Scarecrow. He is able to transport Batman into a world of fear, where he discovers his past-life, and his phobia of bats. I think this villain is extremely original, and one of the DC comic series' most clever and twisted creation.