The Creeper

First comic appearance: Showcase #73 (March 1968)

Arkham Asylum appearance: Intensive Treatment (Utility Corridor); Penitentiary; Final Boss Fight

The connection: Jack Ryder is a news reporter on Gotham radio and television. During the investigation of an experimental scientist, he is injected with a serum that gives him unnatural strength, speed and agility. In this wild animal-like form, he is known as the Creeper. In some versions of the character, Jack Ryder and the Creeper are unaware of their shared body; in the most recent version, for example, Ryder hosts a TV show offering rewards for the capture of his alter ego.

In Arkham Asylum, you’ll only encounter Jack Ryder. He has two radio appearances, including a report about Batman’s rumored death on the island. At the end of the game, Jack Ryder is the journalist covering Joker’s rooftop theatrics.

Bizarro Fun Fact: In 1968, the Creeper starred in his own comic book series. It was cancelled after six issues.

The Ratcatcher

First comic appearance: Detective Comics #585 (April 1988)

Arkham Asylum appearance: Botanical Gardens (Ventilation System)

The connection: The Ratcatcher is like Aquaman, only much, much lamer. Instead of communicating with fish, he talks to rats. Instead of commanding a legion of sharks or sea turtles, he leads an army of furry, diseased vermin. This guy definitely got the short end of the superpower stick.

Even his gear, which is hidden in Arkham Asylum’s ventilation system, is unremarkable. Gloves and a gas mask. Most likely the same equipment he used when he worked as an actual rat catcher for the city. We still haven’t figured out what the book means, though. Any ideas?

Bizarro Fun Fact: The Rat King, a baddie from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, has nearly identical powers and originated four years earlier.

The Great White Shark

First comic appearance: Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003)

Arkham Asylum appearance: Medical Facility (Morgue)

The connection: Warren White was a selfish businessman who embezzled millions of dollars from his clients, poor and rich alike. In order to avoid a long prison sentence, he pleads insanity and is transferred to Arkham. As might be expected, this plan does not work out very well and, by the end of his origin story, White has had gills cut into his neck by Killer Croc and has lost his fingers, lips, ears and nose in Mr. Freeze’s refrigerated cell.

Did you wonder what the bits and pieces floating in that specimen jar were? Well, you’re probably not wondering anymore.

Bizarro Fun Fact: GamesRadar produced an entire week of coverage based on sharks in videogames. Unbelievable, but true!

Humpty Dumpty

First comic appearance: Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #1 (July 2003)

Arkham Asylum appearance: Botanical Gardens (Flooded Corridor)

The connection: “All the king’s horses, and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.” This centuries-old nursery rhyme clearly inspired the creators of Humphry Dumpler, a recently introduced Batman character. He’s not only shaped like a fat, bald egg – he also loves breaking things so that he can then try fixing them.

He usually fails. And when Humphry “broke” his grandmother so that he could sew her body’s pieces back together with shoelaces, he ended up in Arkham. If these broken toy soldiers are indeed his handiwork, his repair skills haven’t improved a terrible amount.

Bizarro Fun Fact: Humpty Dumpty’s parents were crushed and killed by a falling Christmas tree.

Amadeus Arkham

First comic appearance: Batman #258 (October 1974)

Arkham Asylum appearance: Arkham East (Cemetery); Arkham Mansion (North Corridor)

The connection: Amadeus Arkham is the original founder of the asylum in which the game takes place. His mother was mentally ill and, after her mercy killing at his hands, he converted their former home into a treatment facility. Not long after the asylum’s opening, however, he was visited by horrific tragedy and became an insane resident himself. You can see his gravestone in the Arkham cemetery, or visit the cell where he resided after his descent into madness. You can also, of course, listen to his entire tragic story as you collect the Chronicles of Arkham.

Bizarro Fun Fact: There’s nothing “fun” about Amadeus Arkham. Read the next two entries for proof.

Martin “Mad Dog” Hawkins

First comic appearance: Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth

Arkham Asylum appearance: Botanical Gardens (Flooded Corridor)

The connection: Okay, this is pretty brutal… but it’s also one of the cleverest references in the game. Mad Dog Hawkins is an escaped convict who breaks into Amadeus Arkham’s home and rapes – then murders – his wife and daughter. Sadly, that’s not the worst part. He also scratches his name into the wife’s body and decapitates the daughter, placing the latter’s head in a dollhouse for Amadeus to discover.

So how does Batman: Arkham Asylum, a Teen-rated game, pay tribute to these terrifying acts of violence? You’ll come across a statue of a woman in the Botanical Gardens. The inscription plate, which pays tribute to Amadeus’s wife, has been vandalized with the same words that adorned her body… the head has been chopped off and deposited in the flowerbed below. Ouch. No wonder the poor old man lost his mind, eventually killing Mad Dog through excessive electroshock.

Random fun fact: In the Warden’s office, there’s another inscription plate on the wall, this one seemingly written to Amadeus’s daughter.

The Spirit of Arkham

Astoundingly, the story of Amadeus Arkham is not finished. Collect enough of his chronicles and you’ll realize that the founder’s spirit is living on in another, still living man. The voice you assumed was that of Amadeus alone begins retelling stories of Harley Quinn’s turn to evil, Killer Croc’s capture and the Joker’s escape. These events all occurred long after the original Arkham’s death.

So who is carrying on his work, or at least believes he is doing so? Who is now planning to kill inmates rather than treat them? Stop reading now if you want to figure out the mystery on your own…

Taking yet another cue from the graphic novel A Serious House on Serious Earth, the game reveals that the “spirit of Arkham” has taken hold of the current administrator. In the Arkham Asylum comic, that’s Dr. Cavendish, who dons Amadeus’s mother’s wedding dress and battles Batman with a razor knife. In the Arkham Asylum game, it’s Warden Sharp, who disappears from the asylum altogether, leaving only a cryptic message behind.

Above: Arkham’s biggest mystery – solved 

Mystery One-Armed Inmate

Finally, you may have noticed this super creepy dude pacing and muttering to himself in the same room as Clayface. He’s way too detailed and unique in appearance to be a random NPC, but we couldn’t match him to a DC character no matter how hard we tried. Then we remembered the Arkham Asylum contest announced last year – the winner’s face would be rendered somewhere in the game. That “somewhere” is here. Interestingly, if you scan the inmate’s skeleton with Detective Mode, you’ll see that his missing limb isn’t missing at all. He’s just hiding it behind his back. Sorry for calling you “super creepy”, contest winner guy, but that’s just weird.

Also, we’re totally jealous.

Sep 02, 2009

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