Arkham Knight

This article is about the fictional character. For the video game of the same name, see Batman: 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	Highly skilled military tactician Expert knowledge of Batman's tactics and fighting style Peak physical conditioning Master hand-to-hand combatant, martial artist and marksman Battle-suit enhances strength, speed and stamina Utilizes high-tech gear, equipment, weapons, vehicles & gadgets Commands a large army of highly trained mercenaries

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.

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

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." 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.

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."

Tie-in comics

Through unknown means, the Arkham Knight was able to monitor the actions of Batman and everyone else involved in the Arkham City incident. After Joker's death, the Arkham Knight witnessed a brief encounter between Batman and the new Electrocutioner which resulted in the latter being quickly defeated. Afterwards, he executed the defeated criminal with a shotgun blast to the head, while explaining that men like Electrocutioner will come to believe that him and Batman are on the same side. Todd later monitored Batman, as the Caped Crusader went to the abandoned Arkham Asylum to find an override code for bombs the Joker had placed in all of Arkham City's walls prior to his death. He knew that the Joker's threat was merely a ploy to kill Batman, and that all of the explosives had actually been moved to the old Arkham Asylum. Todd attempted desperately to open the door to the room where Batman was and all of the explosives were concentrated in, claiming that he wanted to kill the Dark Knight, albeit at his own time. Despite his effort, he was unable to open the door and was caught in the explosion. He apparently tanked the explosion, as seen by his steaming shoulder and chest plate, and scavenged through the rubble of the asylum in search for Batman. Instead of Batman, he found a scrapbook titled "My Dieary" with a ripped drawing of the Joker beneath, afterwards claiming. "The night's not a complete loss".

Later, Jason Todd located two Joker thugs, who kidnapped and locked a family in the truck of a car, and attacked them. One of the thugs begged him to stop, but the Arkham Knight tore out the pages of the "My Dieary" book and shoved them in the thug's mouth, before setting them both on fire, leaving the family to believe the Arkham Knight was a hero.

Ever since the death of the new Electrocutioner, some members of the GCPD came to believe that Batman was "finally getting serious about these lowlifes". A few hours after Batman apprehended Tweedledum, Tweedledee, and their newest member Tweedledie, the Arkham Knight executed all three of them in the Gotham Central Holding Facility with a shotgun blast to each of their heads, just as he did to the Electrocutioner.

Sometime after Bane escaped from Gotham Stone Ridge Penitentiary, Batman attempted to stop the villain once and for all, but instead found himself at Bane's mercy. Bane would've succeeded in breaking Batman's back, but Poison Ivy intervened, claiming that Batman wasn't his to kill and simply put the Caped Crusader to sleep with her pheromone gas. During the struggle between the two villains, Jason pulled Batman to safety and instead of killing him while he was unconscious, he keyed in a new signal in Batman's cryptographic sequencer in order to lead him where Jason wants him to. Once Batman regained consciousness, he attempted once again to stop Bane and Poison Ivy, only to fall right into the Arkham Knight's trap, where he sprayed explosive gel on the ground they were all standing on and blew a bat-shaped hole that sent Batman, Bane, and Poison Ivy into the sewers below the former Arkham City. In the aftermath of Batman's battle with Bane and his followers in the bowels of Arkham City, Jason found a half dead Bane under the rubble and informed him he should stay alive because he "won't want to miss what's next".

Jason later continued to watch Bruce, as well as Commissioner Gordon, Tim, and Barbara, as they were discussing their plans for Jim to run for mayor. The next morning, Bruce left Wayne Manor when the Arkham Knight forced the gardener, Chauncey to give him his keys and told him to never come back to the estate. Jason then placed a hidden camera in the back of Chauncey's work trailer, so he can monitor the mansion from his hideout on the lower west side of Gotham.

While practice fighting on a Batman dummy, Jason finally spotted Alfred on the monitor outside of the mansion and decided to follow him and Nightwing to see if it will lead him to Batman. Later when Nightwing was riding his nightcycle to meet with Batman, Jason took out one of his tires with a crossbow, causing Dick to crash.

Before Dick regained consciousness, Jason stole his nightcycle (just as he did with the first one in Batman: Arkham Knight-Genesis) and rode it back to his hideout and then began watching Batman's battle with the Metamorph on the news. Later, Jason began loading both the nightcycle's internal memory and schematics, as well as the Batmobile's logic array into the newly built cobra tank and took it for a ride around the block, while counting how many months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds have gone by since the Arkham City incident.

While Batman was fighting the seven Solomon Grundys built by the Calendar Man, Jason flew out to Central America and told Deathstroke to keep an eye out for Batman's return. Once Jason arrived at the remote mountains of Valle de las Guerras, he rode the nightcycle into the militia's fortress to inspect their preparation for Gotham's assault. Jason confronted two mini-gunners and told them that if they can kill him, the militia would be theirs to command. Despite their overwhelming firepower, the two brutes were easily defeated by the Arkham Knight, who then fired warning shots around their heads, while informing the militia that even the best mercenaries in the world are no match for Batman. Jason then told the militia that Deathstroke will be back in Central America to finish their training before riding off.

Once back in Gotham, Jason was listening in on a conversation via radio between Tim and Barbara about Batman rescuing the baby kidnapped by the Calendar Man. Jason then fled the clock tower area and entered the sewers to drive off in an APC, which caught the attention of the Riddler. He drove to the old Holiday Hotel where Calendar Man was planning to kill Batman, but as soon as Jason began scanning the entrance, he set off an explosion. Jason grappled away in time, but the blast scattered calendar pages all over the roof of the building and upon finding a piece of straw, he wondered what Scarecrow was planning. Once Crane arrived at his hideout in Chinatown, he was about to test his new fear toxin on a man strapped to a table when the Arkham Knight ambushed him and injected him with his own toxin. Jason then informed Crane that they have met before and that he can't have him screwing up his plans for Batman. Scarecrow however was not affected by the toxin and told the Arkham Knight that they should work together to get what they want. Jason decided not to kill Scarecrow and instead followed Crane upstairs to where he was keeping even more test subjects, whom were mostly dead because they couldn't handle the stain the new toxin brought upon their bodies and minds. Jason then shot the last remaining victim in the head to put him out of his misery and told Crane that if he needs a stronger test subject, he "knows just the guy". Bane was brought to Scarecrow and imprisoned while hallucinating a priest from Santa Prisca transforming into a nightmarish bat demon. Jason asked Scarecrow how long the toxin lasts and Crane replied that his old patients hallucinated for days with a single dose, but the new toxin will be never-ending. Crane also informed the Arkahm Knight that he plans for Batman to be the first to fall victim to his new toxin once it has been perfected. Jason informed Crane that he has been planning to combat Batman for years and will be using the tunnels dug by Bane's men to smuggle the militia into the city. However he was still facing the issue of Gotham's criminal underworld interfering with his revenge, so Crane proposed the idea of convincing them to simply keep the dark knight busy while they devise a way to spend the toxin throughout the city. In order to distract Batman for the time being, the Arkham Knight released Bane(who was still under the effects of the toxin) and told the raging villain Batman's true identity and to ambush him at Wayne Tower.

Bane was mostly dominating the fight between him and Batman, while Two-face, Penguin, Riddler, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy all observed the conflict on T.V. at Scarecrow's safe house in Chinatown. Scarecrow introduced the villains to the Arkham Knight and despite their doubts, Crane insured them that with his new fear toxin, the Knight's weaponry, and their overall alliance, they will finally have their revenge on the Caped Crusader. The villains were still in doubt about trusting Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight, until Jason ordered Deathstroke to fire a missile from a serpent drone right at the window they were all standing by. Jason explained that this was just a small sample of the firepower that he has throughout Gotham and that he's not simply asking them to join him, he's telling them that they all need each other to finish off Batman. To further prove his strength, Jason arrived at the site of Batman's battle with Bane in an APC and lassoed the crazed brute away from the fight, stating that he served his purpose. Bane was so enraged at the Knight's interference, he begin attacking him, even managing to damage Jason's visor. During the struggle, Jason tore apart Bane's mask and finally managed to get the better of him by cutting Bane's throat, shooting him in the leg, and tricked him into charging into an ACE chemical truck, which Jason caused to explode right in front of Bane. As the heavily burned brute laid immobilized on the ground, Jason stated to Bane that the both of them have lived through the same type of pain in the past and he never has to feel that way again. Jason fired several bullets in Bane's head and presented his badly burned corpse to the other villains. Before grappling away, Jason informed them that Batman will die on Halloween night and this would be their last chance to ally with him. Later, Jason met with Deathstroke and the militia in the underground tunnels to inspect their final preparations for Gotham. He also informed Slade that once Scarecrow's new toxin causes a citywide evacuation, the militia will take control of Gotham and have the city's criminals slowly chip away at Batman before finally putting a bullet in the dark knight's skull.

Fictional character biography

Main articles: Jason Todd and Batman: Arkham Knight

Sometime after Batman: Arkham Origins and before Batman: Arkham Asylum, street orphan Jason Todd was taken in by the crime-fighter Batman shortly after Dick Grayson’s departure, and was trained in all forms of combat as the second Robin. However, Jason was captured by the Joker, and a video was sent to the Caped Crusader of Jason’s apparent death. But the Joker lied about killing Jason and was revealed to have held him in an abandoned wing of Arkham Asylum for over a year, torturing him and breaking his sanity. After the Joker showed Jason a picture of Batman with Tim Drake as the third Robin, Jason snapped and found himself resenting his former mentor more than anything else. Succeeding in making Jason hate his nemesis, the Joker set him free, allowing Todd to start planning his revenge on Batman for leaving him. Jason utilized advanced technology to develop a high-tech militaristic battle-suit and equipment, forming his own army of personally trained soldiers in Venezuela. Todd soon adopted the identity of the “Arkham Knight”, a ruthless supervillain and militia leader. Years later, after the Joker's death in Batman: Arkham City, there was a power vacuum in Gotham City’s criminal underworld. When crime rates plummeted without the Clown Prince of Crime’s iron grip over the city’s criminals, the Arkham Knight appeared in Gotham, forging an alliance with the Scarecrow. Together, the two united all of Gotham’s masterminds, crime lords, thugs, thieves and gangsters in an attempt to rid themselves of the Dark Knight once and for all. Scarecrow forced Gotham’s inhabitants to evacuate with his newest strain of fear toxin, allowing the Arkham Knight’s militia to take complete control over the city. In the beginning of the game, the Arkham Knight and his militia provide an escort for Scarecrow at ACE Chemicals, preventing Batman and the police from foiling their plans of covering the entire eastern seaboard with fear gas. When Batman arrives, the Arkham Knight tries to kill him with his chopper, only to be stopped by the Scarecrow (who wanted the Dark Knight to suffer first). Eventually, Batman reduced the chain reaction in the central mixing chamber, stopping the fear gas from being released. The Arkham Knight then kidnaps Oracle from her clock tower and holds her hostage. When Batman tracks Oracle to a militia facility, the Arkham Knight corners and shoots Batman in the chest before leaving the scene. The villain later assists Scarecrow in escaping Simon Stagg's airship with the fear toxin dispersing machine, the “Cloudburst”. The Arkham Knight then attaches the Cloudburst to his personal tank and battles Batman in the Batmobile, only for the hero to destroy the device. When Batman breaks into the militia's primary headquarters, the Arkham Knight confronts him in the excavator tunnels with a mining vehicle. Although the Arkham Knight destroys the Batmobile, Batman manages to escape. Jason eventually reveals himself to Batman as the hero attempts to save Commissioner Gordon. During the confrontation, Batman damages the Arkham Knight's visor, prompting Jason to discard it and reveal a red domed helmet underneath. After defeating Jason, Batman offers to help his former partner recover, but Jason states that it is too late to help him and vanishes. At the end of the game, Jason prevents Scarecrow from executing Batman after being publicly exposed as Bruce Wayne. Jason later adopts the "Red Hood" persona, and becomes a murderous vigilante with extreme measures, such as the use of guns and lethal force. He wears the same red helmet that he had at the end of the game's main story, but now sports a white leather jacket and a Red Hood symbol painted on his chest. As Red Hood, he has a DLC storyline in which he hunts down and kills the crime lord 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

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.

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".

Skills and abilities

The Arkham Knight possesses exceptional physical attributes, 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. When Batman was 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, as 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.

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. Underneath the holographic visor lies a red domed helmet, which is featureless.

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.

"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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Arkham Knight's primary weapons are twin automatic handguns, which are able to combine and convert into a sniper rifle.