Scarecrow (comics)

For the Marvel Comics supervillain, see Scarecrow (Marvel Comics).

The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow on the cover of Batman #373 (July 1984). Art by Ed Hannigan and Dick Giordano.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941)
Created by	Bill Finger Bob Kane
In-story information
Alter ego	Jonathan Crane
Team affiliations	Injustice League Injustice Gang Secret Society of Super Villains Sinestro Corps

The Scarecrow (Dr. Jonathan Crane) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941) and was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. A psychologist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries, the Scarecrow is a member of Batman's rogues gallery.

Although he made only two appearances in the Golden Age of Comic Books,^[1] the character was revived during the Silver Age of Comic Books by writer Gardner Fox and artist Sheldon Moldoff in the pages of Batman #189 (Feb 1967) and has since become a staple Batman villain.^[2] The character of Scarecrow has featured in other DC Comics-endorsed products such as feature films, video games, animated television programs, and merchandise such as action figures. Irish actor Cillian Murphy portrayed the Scarecrow in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and will do so again in The Dark Knight Rises. In 2009, the Scarecrow was ranked as IGN's 58th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.^[3]

Publication history

First appearing in World's Finest Comics #3 (Fall 1941), titled "Riddle of the Human Scarecrow", the Scarecrow is Dr. Jonathan Crane, a professor of psychology and expert in the psychology of fear, who turns to crime after being fired due to testing his fear gas on patients. His modus operandi is the adoption of a Scarecrow persona, used to threaten his victims into doing whatever he wants. Scarecrow is eventually defeated by Batman and Robin and sent to Gotham State Penitentiary. The Scarecrow escapes from jail in Detective Comics #73, not reappearing again until the 1960s-era Batman comics.

From Batman #189 (1967) onwards, the character becomes a recurring foe in the Silver Age Batman stories and also appears as one of the original members of the Injustice Gang.

Following the 1986 multi-title event Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot, the character's origin story is expanded in Batman Annual #19 and the miniseries Batman/Scarecrow: Year One; revealing that Crane has a fear of bats and is obsessed with fear and revenge from being bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookishness, especially his resemblance to Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. After being humiliated by school bully Bo Griggs and rejected by cheerleader Sherry Squires, he takes revenge during the senior prom by donning his trademark scarecrow costume and brandishing a gun in the school parking lot; in the ensuing chaos, Griggs gets into a car accident, paralyzing himself and killing Squires.

Crane's obsession with fear leads to his becoming a psychiatrist, taking a position at Arkham Asylum and performing fear-inducing experiments on his patients. He is also a professor of psychology at Gotham University, specializing in the study of phobias. He loses his job after he fires a gun inside a packed classroom, accidentally wounding a student; he takes revenge by killing the professors responsible for his termination, and becoming a career criminal.^[4] As a college professor, Scarecrow mentors a young Thomas Elliot.^[5] The character also has a cameo in Sandman #5, seeming uncharacteristically friendly.

In stories by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the Scarecrow is depicted as one of the more deranged criminals in Batman's rogues gallery, with a habit of speaking in nursery rhymes. These stories further revise his backstory, explaining that he was raised by his fanatically religious grandmother that he murdered as a teenager.

Scarecrow appears in Batman: The Long Halloween, first seen escaping from Arkham on Mother's Day with help from Carmine Falcone, who also broke out the Mad Hatter. Crane gases Batman with fear toxin as he escapes, causing Batman to flee to his parent's grave as Bruce Wayne, where he is arrested by Commissioner Gordon due to Wayne's suspected ties to Carmine Falcone. He robs a bank with Hatter on Independence Day for Falcone, but is stopped by Batman and Catwoman. He later appears in Carmine's office on Halloween with Batman's future rogue's gallery, but is defeated by Batman. Scarecrow returns in Batman: Dark Victory as part of Two-Face's gang, and is first seen putting fear gas in children's dolls on Christmas Eve, and is defeated by Batman. He later appears as one of the villains present at Calendar Man's trial. It is revealed he and Calendar had been manipulating Alberto Falcone for Two-Face, with Scarecrow determining Alberto feared his father, Carmine, and had been poisoning Falcone's cigarettes with fear toxin. Calendar Man had been talking to Alberto, with the fear toxin making Alberto hear his father's voice rather than Calendar Man's, and they had been manipulating and tormenting him into killing his sister, to no avail. After Two-Face's hideout is attacked, Batman captures him and Scarecrow tells him where Two-Face is heading. In Catwoman: When In Rome, Scarecrow supplies Riddler with fear gas to manipulate Catwoman, and later aids Riddler when he fights Catwoman in Rome. Scarecrow accidentally attacks Cheetah with his scythe before being knocked out by Catwoman. At the end of the story, Riddler steals a ring booby-trapped with fear toxin from Catwoman, though it is unknown if Scarecrow gave it to her or if she stole it from him or Riddler.

Scarecrow is mutated into the "Scarebeast" in Batman #630. Art by Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend.

The Scarecrow appears in such story arcs as Knightfall and Shadow of the Bat, first teaming with the Joker to ransom off the mayor, but they are defeated and escape. Scarecrow betrays Joker by spraying him with fear gas, but it has absolutely no effect and Joker knocks him out by hitting him over the head with a chair. Crane later reappears by himself trying to take over the city with an army of hypnotized college students by having them spread his fear gas all over Gotham, and his lieutenant is the son of the first man he killed. He is confronted by both Batman-Azrael and Anarky, and tries to escape by having the boy jump off of a building. To his surprise, Batman-Azrael knocks him out, and Anarky manages to save the boy.In the 2004 story arc As the Crow Flies, Scarecrow is hired by the Penguin under false pretenses. Dr. Linda Friitawa then secretly mutates Crane into a murderous creature known as the "Scarebeast", who Penguin uses to kill off his disloyal colleagues.^[6] However, the character's later appearances all show him as an unmutated Crane again, with the exception of an appearance during War Games.^[7][8] Scarecrow appears in the third issue of War Games saving Black Mask from Batman and acting as an ally to Black Mask, until Black Mask uses him to disable a security measure in the Clock Tower by literally throwing Scarecrow at it(which does work). Crane wakes up, transforming into Scarebeast, and wreaks havoc outside the building trying to find and kill Black Mask. The police are unable to take it down, and allow Catwoman, Robin, Tarantula II, and Onyx to fight Scarebeast, as Commissioner Atkins had told all officers to capture or kill any vigilantes, costumed criminals or "masks" they find. Even they cannot defeat defeat the Scarebeast, though he appears to have been defeated after the Clock Tower exploded, and is not seen since.The Scarecrow reappears alongside other Batman villains in Gotham Underground; first amoung the villains meeting at the Iceberg Lounge that are captured by the Suicide Squad. Crane manages to escape by gassing Bronze Tiger with fear toxin and escapes the Squad. He later appears warning the Ventriloquist II, Firefly, Killer Moth and Lock-Up, who are planning to attack the Penguin that Penguin is allied with the Suicide Squad. The villains wave off him warnings and mock him. He later leads the same four into a trap orchestrated by Tobias Whale. Killer Moth, Firefly and Lock-Up all survive, but are injured and unconcious to varied degrees, the Scarface puppet is "killed", and Peyton Reily, the Ventriloquist, is unharmed, though after the attack she is taken away by Tobias Whale's men and has not been seen in the comics since. Despite Crane's assistance to Whale, Scarecrow is betrayed by Whale simply for touching his shoulder (it is revealed Whale almost pathologically hates "masks" because his grandfather was one of the first citizens of Gotham killed by a masked criminal). The story arc ends with Scarecrow beaten and tied-up by Tobias Whale, as a sign to all "masks" that they are not welcome in Whale's new vision of Gotham, but the Scarecrow survives the ordeal.

Scarecrow appears in Batman: Hush, working for the Riddler and Hush. He composes profiles on the various villains of Gotham so Riddler and Hush can manipulate them to their own ends. He later gases Huntress with his fear gas, making her attack Catwoman. He attacks Batman in a graveyard, only to learn his fear gas is ineffective (due to Hush's bug), but before he can reveal this he is knocked out by Jason Todd. Scarecrow also appears in Batman: Heart of Hush, kidnaping a child to distract Batman so Hush can attack Catwoman. When Batman goes to rescue the child, Scarecrow activates a Venom implant, causing the boy to attack Batman. He is defeated when Batman ties the boy's teddy bear to Crane, causing the child to attack Scarecrow. After he is captured, Batman attacks him in prison to get Hush's location, much to the joy of a watching Joker.

His mastery of fear is such that the yellow power ring of Amon Sur tried to seek him out at Arkham after its masters death, though it was stopped before reaching him.

In the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, Scarecrow is recruited by a new Black Mask to be a part of a group of villains that are aiming to take over Gotham in the wake of Batman's apparent death. He later assists the crime lord in manufacturing a new recreational drug called "Thrill," which draws the attention of Oracle and Batgirl. He is later defeated by Batgirl and once again arrested.

Blackest Night

Scarecrow briefly appears in the fourth issue of the "Blackest Night" storyline. His immunity to fear (brought about by frequent exposure to his own fear toxin) renders him practically invisible to the invading Black Lanterns. However, his current status of fearlessness has taken a further toll on his sanity, exacerbated by the long disappearance of Batman in the "Batman R.I.P." storyline; he develops a literal addiction to fear, exposing himself deliberately to the revenant army, but knowing that only Batman could scare him again.^[9] He again appears in the sixth issue as he is deputized into the Sinestro Corps for 24 hours in order to combat the Black Lanterns. Overjoyed at finally being able to feel fear, Scarecrow gleefully and without question follows Sinestro's commands.^[10] His joy is cut short when Lex Luthor, overwhelmed by the orange light of greed, steals his ring.^[11]

Brightest Day

Some time later during the events of Brightest Day, Scarecrow begins kidnapping and murdering college interns working for LexCorp as a way of getting back at Luthor for stealing his ring. When Robin and Supergirl attempt to stop his plans, Scarecrow unleashes a new fear toxin that is powerful enough to affect a Kryptonian. The toxin forces Supergirl to see visions of a Black Lantern Reactron, but she is able to snap out of the illusion and help Robin defeat Scarecrow.^[12] He is eventually freed from Arkham when Deathstroke and the Titans break into the asylum in order to capture one of the inmates.^[13]

Powers and abilities

The Scarecrow uses a variety of toxins that cause his victims to hallucinate that their phobias have come to life. He wears his Scarecrow mask to enhance the effect of the hallucinogen (instilling fear in all who see him) as well as to avoid being poisoned by his own toxin. Although not physically intimidating, Scarecrow can resort to physical combat, using a style called "violent dancing", based partly on the crane style of kung fu and on drunken boxing.

The Scarecrow is an expert on psychology, with a focus on fear, and is a former certified professor on the subject. Due to prolonged exposure to his own gas, Scarecrow went from being frightened of bats to only being frightened of Batman. Scarecrow is both addicted to fear and incapable of fearing anything except Batman, whom he compulsively seeks in order to ease his addiction after the Caped Crusader's apparent death.^[14] Scarecrow is chosen as a bearer of the twin of Sinestro's yellow ring as a temporary Corpsman, giving him the powers of a member of the Sinestro Corps.

Weapons

The Scarecrow at times wields a scythe which he uses in addition to his 'violent dancing'. Scarecrow also uses a hand-held fear gas sprayer in the shape of a human skull, straws which he leaves as a calling card, special straws which can be snapped in half to release a fear toxin (as seen in Batman: Hush), stuffed scarecrows which scare his victims, and a Sinestro Corps ring (as seen in the Blackest Night mini-series). In the Batman video game Batman: Arkham Asylum he has needles strapped to each of his fingers on his right hand with which he injects his fear toxins into his victim.

Other versions

Other versions of the character appear in Batman/Daredevil: King of New York- where he attempts to use the Kingpin's crime empire to disperse his fear gas over Gotham, only to be defeated when Daredevil lives up to his 'Man Without Fear' title by proving immune to the gas-, DC vs. Marvel—where he temporarily allies with his Marvel universe equivalent to capture Lois Lane before they are both easily defeated by Ben Reilly—and JSA: The Liberty Files.

Crimson Mist

Scarecrow appears in the third and final chapter of the Batman vampire series, Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, where his suit has been adorned with laces of severed fingers from past victims who he slaughters using a hand held sickle knife. His targets have become more specific as he is after the jocks who used to torment him in school. He is about to kill a former football player when vampire Batman appears, brutally noting that Scarecrow is almost worse than him; he now has no choice but to kill, but Scarecrow has a choice and yet he chose to prey on innocents. Scarecrow blubbers that his victims were not innocent and that they tormented him and scared him. Batman grabs Scarecrow's vial of fear gas, crushing it along with Crane's hand, stating that Crane has no idea what fear is as he uses Crane's own sickle to cut off his head.

Batman Beyond

In the 2010 adaptation of Batman Beyond, it is mentioned that Crane ended up retiring from his life of crime, and spent the last ten years of his life writing out experiments, before dying of illness.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Scarecrow is subsequently killed by Batman.^[15]

In other media

Television

• The Scarecrow appears in the 1968 The Batman/Superman Hour episode "The Great Scarecrow Scare" voiced by Ted Knight. He does not use fear gas in this series. Instead, he uses knock-out gas which he keeps in eggs.
• The Scarecrow appears in the 1978 Challenge of the Super Friends voiced by Don Messick. He appears as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom.
• The Scarecrow appears in the Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Fear" voiced by Andre Stojka.

The Scarecrow designs throughout Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.

• The Scarecrow appears in the Batman: The Animated Series voiced by Henry Polic II who had earned the role after the originally assigned Colin Mochrie dropped out. In "Nothing to Fear," he plotted to use his fear gas to take revenge on the Gotham University Board Members that fired him for his fear experiments. Scarecrow sprays Batman with his fear gas after Scarecrow tries to destroy the University's funds, and the Dark Knight deals with his fear of dishonoring his parents' memory while Scarecrow prepares his attack on the University. Crane kidnaps the Dean of the University and escapes in a stolen police blimp, but when Batman arrives he activates a self-destruct and leaves the two to die. During the assault on the blimp, Batman manages to overcome his personal demons and by extent, the fear toxin. Upon overcoming the fear venom, Batman managed to use Scarecrow's weapon against him after Scarecrow retreats to his own chemical plant. After "Nothing to Fear", Scarecrow received a minor physical redesign (see right), though there were no dramatic altercations in his appearance until The New Batman Adventures. In "Fear of Victory," Scarecrow used his fear gas mixed into adrenalin that was used on sports athletes in order to make some money. He was defeated by Batman and Robin. In "Dreams of Darkness," Scarecrow plotted to taint the water supply beneath Arkham Asylum with Batman affected by mind-manipulation gas that Batman managed to overcome in order to defeat Scarecrow. "Dreams of Darkness" also explored more of Batman's more primal fears, such as his own rogues gallery and harming or being betrayed by his allies. In "Trial," Scarecrow was seen on the jury during the trial against Batman, though he had no speaking role because Henry Polic II, Crane's voice actor, had recently undergone throat surgery. In "Lock Up," Scarecrow had some problems against the head of security Lyle Bolton which resulted in Scarecrow escaping from Arkham only to be brought back by Batman and Robin. When Lyle ends up in Arkham, Scarecrow vows to "teach him new lessons in fear."
• The Scarecrow appears in The New Batman Adventures voiced by Jeffrey Combs in the first appearance and by Jeff Bennett in the second appearance. In "Never Fear," Scarecrow created a gas that removed the essence of fear from his victims. A disguised Batman was one of the victims of the gas. When Batman began ignoring his principles, Robin managed to subdue Scarcrow. In "Over the Edge," Scarecrow was laying siege to Gotham City Hall. Though he was captured, he managed to spray Batgirl with his gas which put her in a deep sleep where she had a nightmare of a war between her father and Batman over "her death" during Scarecrow's heist. The Scarecrow's design was revamped in his earlier appearances because producer Bruce Timm felt the character never actually looked scary; this problem was finally rectified with the design devised for The New Batman Adventures. Director Dan Riba said that he "evolved the most of all the characters", saying that "we got darker, darker, and darker with the character". Timm described the revamped look as resembling a "western preacher", complete with a noose around his neck, as well as a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Leatherface, kinda look, and it really had nothing to do with being a Scarecrow per se. But he was definitely scary". By the time they were done with his look, said writer/producer Paul Dini, "we weren't sure if there was an actual guy in the suit". He spoke in a low, rasping whisper, which the creators believed the character design should have sounded like and with which they were very pleased.^[16]
• The Scarecrow appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Trials of the Demon" voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He collaborates with Scream Queen to use jack-o'-lanterns filled with fear on a local neighborhood. Scarecrow and Scream Queen were defeated by Batman and Flash. In "Night of the Huntress," Scarecrow appears as an inmate at Blackgate Penitentiary.

Film

Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Batman Begins (2005), as seen by Batman in a fear gas-induced hallucination.

• Scarecrow was one of the villains planned to star in Batman Triumphant, the fifth film in the franchise, which would have starred Scarecrow as the main antagonist of the film. According to director Joel Schumacher, actor Nicolas Cage was his first choice for the role,^[17] and would have starred Crane alongside Harley Quinn, who would have been portrayed by singer Madonna. Scarecrow's fear gas was meant to resurrect Jack Nicholson's Joker, who appeared in the first film of the series. Any details about Scarecrow, including his role in the film, appearance, or motivations are unknown. However, due to the almost universal negative reception of Batman & Robin, the previous film in the series, Batman Triumphant was scrapped, and the franchise was put on hiatus for eight years until the 2005 film Batman Begins, which starred Scarecrow as one of the main antagonists alongside Carmine Falcone and Ra's al Ghul.
• Cillian Murphy portrays the Scarecrow in the 2005 feature film Batman Begins. In the film, Jonathan Crane is the head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, where he uses his fear gas to conduct experiments on his patients. Crane is under the employ of Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone as well as the terrorist Ra's al Ghul, who provides the ingredients for his fear gas. Throughout the film, Crane testifies that Falcone's arrested thugs are insane in order to transfer them to Arkham so they can avoid prison. After testifying that Victor Zsasz should be moved to Arkham Asylum, he is accused of corruption by Rachel Dawes, commenting this is the third time Crane has put one of Carmine's men in Arkham instead of a jail cell. Crane subsequently has Falcone put a hit on Dawes, though the attack is foiled by Batman. After he is arrested, Falcone threatens to expose Crane's experiments by trying to gain financial interest on a plan with Ra's al Ghul. Crane responds by exposing his former partner to his fear gas, driving Falcone insane. When Batman investigates where shipments of Falcone's drugs were headed, Scarecrow gases Batman with his fear toxin, forcing the Dark Knight to relive his parent's death and his fear of bats, which seem to burst from Crane's mask. During the attack Scarecrow lights Batman on fire and nearly kills him if not for Lucius Fox's antidote. When Rachel Dawes investigates Falcone's mental breakdown, she becomes suspicious of Crane. He takes her to the fear toxin production facility beneath Arkham and gases her with fear toxin as she tries to escape. The plant is attacked by Batman, who manages to subdue Crane and all the guards, as well as saving Rachel Dawes. Crane is sent to Arkham Asylum, driven insane after Batman gassed him with fear toxin during his assault on the plant. Later on in the film, he is among the inmates released from Arkham by Ra's al Ghul's men, and attacks Rachel Dawes and a child she is protecting, calling himself "Scarecrow", but she fends him off with a taser. At the end of the film, Gordon mentions that he is still at large. Dialogue in the film states that Crane was unaware of Ra's' plan to destroy Gotham, believing that he merely intended to hold the city to ransom. This version of the Scarecrow wears a burlap sack with a built-in rebreather, which doubles as a gas mask in his fear experiments. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask, as opposed to the full scarecrow costume usually seen in the comics, was done because Murphy "wanted [the Scarecrow] to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man - he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do."^[18]
• In the direct-to-DVD animated production Batman: Gotham Knight (which is set between "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight"), Corey Burton voices the Scarecrow during the character's appearance in the segment "In Darkness Dwells". The Scarecrow gathers an army of Arkham inmates in the sewers and uses Killer Croc to get them from above. He is shown to be partially responsible for the origins of Killer Croc and was also Croc's psychologist at Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow uses Croc to capture a priest and hold him on a mock trial in the sewers because Scarecrow was angered by the priest's attempts to help the homeless. Scarecrow sentences the priest to death, but the priest is saved by Batman, who triggers an explosion in the process, though Scarecrow manages to escape the authorities.
• Cillian Murphy reprises his role in the 2008 sequel: The Dark Knight. Crane still wears the simple mask in the film instead of the full Scarecrow costume. Crane appears as having cornered the local drug trade as a kingpin, but with his fear-inducing drugs after Batman has taken out much of the competition, thus forcing the mob to turn to him for their drugs. His fear drugs are shown to have damaged the mob's dealings, with the Chechen yelling that his drugs are scaring away repeat customers, and Scarecrow coldly tells them they are welcome to buy from someone else if Batman left anyone to buy from. Here, he makes deals with local gangsters before a group of Batman impostors try to stop the meeting in a local parking garage. When the real Batman arrives, he quickly defeats the Scarecrow by jumping on a van the former tried to escape with. Crane is presumably taken back to Arkham, as he is shown tied up with the other criminals. This appearance makes Scarecrow the only villain to appear in two consecutive Batman films.
• Cillian Murphy will portray the Scarecrow for the third and final time in The Dark Knight Rises.^[19] This appearance makes Crane the only character outside the main ensemble and the only villian to appear in all three of the Nolan Batman films.

Video games

The Scarecrow appears in seven video games: Game Boy's Batman: The Animated Series, Super Nintendo and Mega Drive/Genesis's The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, Batman Begins (a tie-in to the 2005 movie, voiced by Cillian Murphy), Lego Batman: The Videogame, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame.

• The Scarecrow appears in Lego Batman: The Videogame (vocals by Dave Wittenberg), where he is an enemy of Batman and a henchman of the Joker. He has only one special ability: mind control, with which he can make guards open doors. He also sprays his fear gas which petrifies his victims. In addition he makes full use of his "violent dancing" martial arts skills in unarmed combat. He owns his a biplane which fires scare-gas torpedoes, which temporarily blind turrets. He is also a vehicle boss in the game.

• The Scarecrow appears as a recurring boss in Batman: Arkham Asylum voiced by Dino Andrade. Crane was not initially revealed as part of the cast of Batman: Arkham Asylum, with his appearance meant to surprise players. He has several fluorescent orange hypodermic needles strapped to the fingers of his right hand which he uses to inject his fear toxin, and wears a hood over his scarecrow mask, which has gas mask tubes protruding from the cheeks, and a hangman's noose around his mask. In the game he appears several times, flooding parts of Arkham Asylum with his fear toxin, causing Batman to suffer hallucinations, some depending on the situation in the game, followed by a surreal obstacle course where Batman attempts to evade a giant Scarecrow's gaze before breaking free from the hallucination. Scarecrow first appears in the medical building flooding the elevator with fear gas, and has inmates in rooms filled with fear gas for testing. Scarecrow is holding Commissioner Gordon hostage, and kills Gordon as leads Batman to the morgue. When Batman enters the morgue, the cabinets begin to move on their own, and Batman leaves only to enter the same morgue, encountering the corpses of his pleading mother, begging to be saved, and disapproving father. Batman then goes on an obstacle course before shining a Bat-Signal on a giant Scarecrow to defeat him. After he is defeated it is revealed that Gordon is not dead, the fear gas caused Batman to see Gordon's body instead of a dead guard. Scarecrow reappears in the mansion to stop Batman from reaching a captive Dr. Young, forcing Batman to relive the murder of his parents before going on another obstacle course. In his final appearance, trying to stop Batman from entering Killer Croc's lair, the game appears to suffer a glitch, only for another of Scarecrow's hallucinations to begin, implying that Crane is messing with the player's head as well. This parodies the start of the game, with Batman being escorted into Arkham Asylum by the Joker, with Harley Quinn and Zsasz acting as guards, and Crane himself as a doctor. This third nightmare plays on Batman fear of his own failure, shown by the fact that his rogue's gallery appear to be in complete control of the asylum and possibly Gotham, several supporting protagonists (Commissioner Gordon, Dr. Young), and Scarecrow displays knowledge of Batman's secret identity, even addressing him as Wayne and commenting on his parent's murder. The Joker then kills Batman, when the game over screen appears, it states that Batman should "move the middle stick" to avoid the Jokers shot, however this is scripted as well as there being no "middle stick" on a standard controller, when the player presses restart , Batman bursts out of his grave and begins a third obstacle course while listening to Scarface, the new warden, talk about Arkham Asylum, which, in the dream, is described as a "pioneering slaughterhouse". After Batman reaches Killer Croc's lair, the Scarecrow reveals that he intends to dump his most potent fear gas into Gotham's water supply but before he has the chance he is grabbed by Killer Croc. He was about to be eaten by him, but Batman shocked him with his electric collar, forcing Killer Croc to retreat into the water and dragging Scarecrow in with him. On his tapes, he is shown to have taken his therapist hostage, though he is rescued by guards. Later on, Scarecrow floods the asylum with his fear gas and manages to subdue his guards and psychologist, though he is once again stopped by Batman, who had been creating an antidote to Scarecrow's newest strain of fear toxin. In one of the three post-credits scenes, Scarecrow's hand grabs the box containing the Titan Compound. Two of Scarecrow's previous doctors, Drs. Murphy and Combs, are likely references to actors who have portrayed Scarecrow in the past (Cillian Murphy in the Christopher Nolan Trilogy, and Jeffery Combs in The New Batman Adventures). Scarecrow's appearance received wide praise.

• The Scarecrow is a boss in the DS version of Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame.

• The Scarecrow appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Christopher S. Field.

• While Scarecrow does not reappear in Batman: Arkham City, there are numerous indicators that Crane survived being attacked by Killer Croc. His mask can be found in the amusement mile, revealing Batman had been investigating if the Scarecrow was alive for months, to no avail, though he does not believe that Scarecrow is dead, merely planning his revenge on Gotham in hiding. When Croc himself is confronted he gives no indication if he actually murdered Crane on Arkham Island, and the grunt population of Arkham City are split on the matter, with some believing he was actually killed while some claim Scarecrow is haunting their nightmares. Barbara Gordon speculates Crane may be alive and manipulating Batman to become the "Identity Thief" (revealed to be Hush), while the Joker also comments Scarecrow had survived the previous game. Scarecrow's fear toxin can be found in the second Riddler Room, and there is a boat in the amusement mile that holds a captive inmate that screams and apparently dies once he is zoomed into. There is also a invoice from Falcone shipping for the attention of Dr. J. Crane, saying the first 15 shipments of "Live Insects for Medical Purposes" have arrived, and that more are on the way. The final easter egg to his survival can only be discovered at the end of the game using the cryptographic sequencer. There are three radio frequencies (500.00 and 900.00, 700.00 and 500.00, 200.00 and 500.00) that give off a seemingly random set of numbers followed by a musical chime, that say the message "You will pay for what you have done to me. I will return, Batman. Fear will tear Gotham City to shreds." when decoded, confirming his survival in the Arkham-Verse as well as leaving a cliffhanger for any potential sequel.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

1. ^ Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics: Scarecrow of Earth-2. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
2. ^ Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics: "Fright of the Scarecrow," Batman #189 (Feb 1967). Retrieved July 31, 2008.
3. ^ Scarecrow is number 58 IGN. Retrieved 10-05-09.
4. ^ Batman Annual #19
5. ^ Batman: Heart of Hush
6. ^ "As the Crow Flies" story arc - Batman #627, July 2004
7. ^ Villains United #6
8. ^ Villains United Special
9. ^ Blackest Night #5 (2009)
10. ^ Green Lantern (Vol. 4) #50
11. ^ Blackest Night #7 (2010)
12. ^ Superman/Batman #77
13. ^ Titans (vol. 2) #28
14. ^ Blackest Night #4, 6
15. ^ Flashpoint: Batman - Knight of Vengeance #1 (June 2011)
16. ^ Batman - Arkham Files
17. ^ "Nic Cage's Strange Batman Past". IGN.com. 5 October 2011. http://movies.ign.com/articles/119/1198336p1.html. 
18. ^ Adam Smith (July 2005). "The Scarecrow". Empire. p. 77. 
19. ^ http://www.nme.com/filmandtv/news/batman-begins-actor-back-for-the-dark-knight-ris/247870

External links

• Scarecrow's origin @ dccomics.com