Arkham Knight
| The Arkham Knight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Batman: Arkham Knight #1 |
| Created by |
Rocksteady Studios DC Comics (Geoff Johns) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jason Todd |
| Partnerships |
Scarecrow Deathstroke |
| Abilities |
|
The Arkham Knight is a fictional supervillain persona which appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, and is the titular character in Rocksteady Studios' video game Batman: Arkham Knight. The persona was created by Rocksteady in collaboration with DC Comics CCO and writer Geoff Johns, and officially first appeared in Batman: Arkham Knight #1 (February 2015). He later received his own 6-issue miniseries Batman: Arkham Knight GENESIS, with #1 released on August 26, 2015.[1]
The Arkham Knight harbors a deep-rooted grudge against Batman, and fully intends to kill him after making him suffer. To this end, he has aligned himself with the Scarecrow, and provides a military presence in the evacuated city of Gotham during the events of Batman: Arkham Knight. Towards the end of the game's main story, it is revealed that his true identity is Jason Todd, the former and second Robin, who was thought to have been killed a long time ago by Batman's nemesis, The Joker. He is voiced by Troy Baker.
Creation
"[When] the idea was on the table for us to develop our own character and introduce that into Batman's world, there was so much energy and excitement around it at Rocksteady – but we really were conscious of the value of the collaboration creatively we have with DC to make sure the gameplay role the Arkham Knight has is really reflected in his appearance and his outlook and his perspective."
– Dax Ginn, marketing producer at Rocksteady Studios[2]
In an interview with Newsarama, when asked if the Arkham Knight was either an entirely new character or simply new to the Batman: Arkham series, Rocksteady Studios developer Dax Ginn responded with, "Completely original. Batman has not encountered him before, so this is a completely original design and role that the Arkham Knight brings."[3] In another interview, Ginn described the opportunity to create an original character in the Batman universe as "terrifying", but that developers at the studio were relishing the chance to hopefully make a mark on the Batman property that lasts beyond the tale of the games themselves.[2]
Speaking with Game Informer, Batman: Arkham Knight's director Sefton Hill explained that, "[Rocksteady] wanted to introduce someone who could really challenge Batman to go head to head with him in lots of different ways."[4]
Fictional character biography
Sometime before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Jason Todd is selected by Batman to become the new Robin after Dick Grayson decides to go off on his own and become Nightwing. Later, The Joker kidnaps Todd and sends a video to Batman, showing the alleged murder of Todd. In reality, Todd was still alive and being tortured by the Joker. This continued for over a year in an abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum. This is revealed in flashback scenes in the game where Joker breaks Todd mentally, including showing him a photo of Batman and the new Robin and telling Todd that Batman had already replaced him. Joker claims that Todd belongs to him and he is the Joker's new sidekick. Joker then brands the letter 'J' on Todd's face. During his torture, Todd comes close to telling Joker what Batman's true identity is, but he is seemingly shot by the Joker before he can reveal the information. However, Todd survived the gunshot wound, and as a result of the torture, had immense hatred towards Batman and begins working on his revenge.
After his false murder, Todd somehow ended up in Venezuela, forming a powerful militia of highly trained soldiers and state-of-the-art weaponry. Todd donned a military style version of Bruce's batsuit to mock Batman and became the Arkham Knight.
Through unknown means, the Arkham Knight was able to monitor the actions of Batman and everyone else involved in the Arkham City incident. He later allies with Scarecrow, helping him scare civilians out of Gotham, and providing backup for the crime bosses with his militia. As the night goes on, Jason grows increasingly impatient to kill Batman and it becomes so strong that he jeopardizes Scarecrow's plan to infect Gotham with his fear gas. Eventually revealing his identity to Batman, Jason flees after being defeated, and realizes that Batman regretted not being able to find him. Returning as the Red Hood, he disarms Scarecrow when the villain is about to kill Batman, then frees his mentor, allowing Batman to defeat Scarecrow.
Some times after Scarecrow's plan was foiled, Todd restarted his crimefighting career in his Red Hood persona, killing off several of Gotham's villains, including Black Spider and Black Mask.
Characterization
Personality
The Arkham Knight is vengeful, but patient and calculating as well. He has knowledge of Batman's alter-ego being Bruce Wayne, and his appearance is designed to mock the Dark Knight, indicating that he is attacking Batman on a psychological level. The Arkham Knight is the pinnacle of escalation; he is a physical, mental, and emotional threat to Batman, and claims to be able to predict Batman's actions, due to training with him and being his sidekick:
Always defending the weak and the helpless. That's what I like about you. Predictable. And that's why we're gonna win. We know your move before you do. We know how you think!— The Arkham Knight to Batman[5]
He instructs his soldiers to avoid aiming at the armored bat symbol on Batman's chest, and rather fire at the more exposed waist and shoulders. The Arkham Knight exploits opportunities as they are presented to him, making him one of the most dangerous foes Batman has ever faced. As shown in the trailers, the Arkham Knight has a strained relationship with Scarecrow, where he exhibits a will to kill his accomplice. The Arkham Knight's psychosis was also displayed in Batman: Arkham Knight #1, where he mercilessly executed an already defeated Electrocutioner with a shotgun blast to the head.[6]
As a military commander, the Arkham Knight is very confident in his abilities. As Albert Feliu stated in an interview, "He thinks he's better, badder and definitely cooler than the Batman himself".[7]
Skills and abilities
The Arkham Knight (Jason Todd) possesses exceptional physical strength, and was described by Sefton Hill as someone who could go head-to-head with Batman. This could also relate to the fact he was trained by Batman prior to becoming the Arkham Knight.[4] At some point in Batman: Arkham Knight, when Batman is ambushed by the Arkham Knight, the latter was able to knock the Dark Knight off his feet with one cobra punch, showcasing his physical strength.
He has also displayed competent leadership skills. Black ops soldiers under his command follow his orders without a moment's hesitation. The Arkham Knight also seems to be adept in psychological warfare. He wears a militaristic suit similar to Batman's Batsuit with the intent of mocking him. The Arkham Knight seems to have some exceptional degree of foresight on Batman's impending moves, due to the fact he fought crime with him for a long time, and with evidence of his tactical prowess.
Suit and equipment
The Arkham Knight dons a militaristic version of the Batsuit aimed to mock Batman's appearance. Every component of his suit has a significant purpose. The suit is also very durable, being able to completely survive the explosion that brought the abandoned Arkham Asylum to the ground.[8]
Lead character artist Albert Feliu has stated that Rocksteady needed the Arkham Knight's helmet to achieve a wide range of different things. His helmet is used to cover his true identity first and foremost, hiding any sense of the man underneath. It also provides the Arkham Knight with a detailed heads-up display to aid him in keeping track of his forces moving through Gotham City. The aforementioned is projected across the inside of his helmet's visor, giving off the impression of a ghostly and robotic figure.[7] Underneath the cowled helmet is yet another helmet, which is featureless and red.
The chest plate is not only a defensive component of the Arkham Knight's suit, but also a psychological one. As the Arkham Knight, through unknown means, knows how much the past Arkham incidents have affected Batman, he has purposefully emblazoned the Arkham symbol on his chest plate, putting the Caped Crusader at a psychological disadvantage. The angular design of the chest plate was designed not only for the A-shape of the Arkham logo, but also as a means of deflecting the Batclaw.[7]
"Visually one of the most important things we want to communicate through the design of the Arkham Knight is the high-tech, military threat he poses to Gotham City," claimed Albert Feliu. The character artist also stated that the materials of the Arkham Knight's gauntlets, boots and armor were inspired by the design of fighter aircraft: "highly resistant, unreflective and totally intimidating". The gauntlets are also used to repel opponents' blades and are light enough to enable rapid strikes.[7]
To distinguish himself from his similarly suited military personnel, the Arkham Knight's suit has a distinct camouflage pattern to give him the image of a military leader invading an urban space. He can also fly. The camouflage also grants a tactical advantage: "the dark greys interspersed with dashes of red enable him to remain concealed between the gloomy shadows and garish neons of Gotham's alleyways and rooftops".[7]
The Arkham Knight also possesses a utility belt similar to Batman's. As he is a military commander, he is naturally resourceful. He wears his utility belt low-slung, in contrast with Batman's more organized application of field equipment.[7]
The ears of the Arkham Knight's helmet serve as transmitters, relaying his commands to his troops and drones in the field. Like Batman his ears can also be used for sound transmission, deafening his enemies. They are also his greatest psychological attack on Batman; their psychological purpose is to mock Batman and everything he stands for.[7]
The Arkham Knight has a tool similar to Batman's grapple gun, as seen in Batman: Arkham Knight #3, where he rappelled away from the Gotham authorities after they arrived at the site of the destroyed abandoned Arkham Asylum.[8]
Also, the Arkham Knight's grapple gun or a tool similar to it can severely shock a man like a taser, as seen in Batman: Arkham Knight #7, when he used it on one of the two Joker thugs, who kidnapped a family.[9]
References
- ↑ http://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-arkham-knight-%E2%80%93-genesis-2015/batman-arkham-knight-%E2%80%93-genesis-1
- 1 2 Owen, Phil (March 27, 2014). "Meet Arkham Knight: the new Batman character created by Rocksteady". VG247. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- ↑ Scharr, Jill (March 27, 2014). "Batman: Arkham Knight Producer Reveals More Story Insight, New Combat Features". Newsarama. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- 1 2 Dyce, Andrew (March 2014). "Who Is 'The Arkham Knight'? Batman’s New Enemy Revealed". Game Rant. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- ↑ Batman: Arkham Knight
- ↑ Batman: Arkham Knight #1 (February 2015)
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Get one step closer to uncovering the Arkham Knight’s identity with Rocksteady’s inside scoop". GamesTM. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- 1 2 Batman: Arkham Knight #3 (March 2015)
- ↑ Batman: Arkham Knight #7 (April 2015)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||