# Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum (/ˈɑːrkəm/) is a fictional psychiatric hospital appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in stories featuring Batman. It first appeared in Batman #258 (October 1974), written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Irv Novick. Located in Gotham City, the asylum houses patients who are criminally insane, as well as select prisoners with unusual medical requirements that are beyond a conventional prison's ability to accommodate. Its high-profile patients are often members of Batman's rogues gallery.

## History

Located in Gotham City, Arkham Asylum is where Batman's foes who are considered to be mentally ill are brought as patients (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary). Although it has had numerous administrators, some comic books have featured Jeremiah Arkham. Inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft, and in particular his fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts, the asylum was introduced by Dennis O'Neil and Irv Novick and first appeared in Batman #258 (October 1974); much of its history was established by Len Wein during the 1980s.
Arkham Asylum has a poor security record and high recidivism rate, at least with regard to the high-profile cases—patients, such as the Joker, are frequently shown escaping at will—and those who are considered to no longer be mentally unwell and discharged tend to re-offend. Several of its staff are corrupt or insane.
Gotham criminals deemed "criminally insane" or "mentally unfit" by the court of law are treated at Williams Medical Center before being deemed dangerous enough to be sent to Arkham Asylum.

## Origins

Arkham Asylum has a long and brutal history, beginning when its architect became mentally unwell, killed several workers with an axe, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Arkham. Arkham's founder, Amadeus Arkham, previously killed his mother due to her mental illness and suppressed the memory, believing her death to be a suicide. Later, serial killer Martin Hawkins, also known as Mad Dog, kills Amadeus' wife and daughter. Following this, Amadeus kills Hawkins during electroshock therapy and is committed to Arkham, where he eventually dies.

## Publication history

In Batman #258, it is named as Arkham Hospital, although it is not clear what kind of hospital it is. Arkham Asylum first appeared in another Dennis O'Neil story the following year, but it was not until 1979 that Arkham Asylum completely replaced Arkham Hospital, and the occasional Arkham Sanitarium, as the institution's name. Also in 1979, the move to have the asylum closer to Gotham had begun; that was completed in 1980, when Batman #326 by Len Wein described the asylum's location in the suburbs of Gotham City.
Arkham Asylum has been demolished or destroyed several times in its history, including Batman: The Last Arkham, Batman: Knightfall, and Batman Eternal.

## Staff
### Wardens

* Amadeus Arkham – The founder of Arkham Asylum.
* Jeremiah Arkham – The nephew of Amadeus Arkham. He was the head of Arkham before becoming the second Black Mask.
* Quincy Sharp – A character created for the Batman: Arkham series, he is an Arkham warden who possesses a homicidal split personality.
* Hugo Strange – Arkham's chief psychiatrist and an early enemy of Batman.

### Corrections Officers

* Aaron Cash – A security guard who sports a hook hand after Killer Croc bit it off. Unlike many of his colleagues, Cash is neither mentally unwell nor corrupt and is a trusted ally of Batman.
* Frank Boles – A security guard who patrolled near the cell of Solomon Grundy. He was killed by Emerald Empress.
* Lyle Bolton – A ruthless security guard who later becomes the supervillain Lock-Up.

### Psychiatrists

* Achilles Milo – A mad scientist and enemy of Batman who one became the administrator of Arkham Asylum.
* Alyce Sinner – A member of Intergang who works for Jeremiah Arkham.
* Anne Carver – A psychiatrist who Jane Doe killed and impersonated.
* Ant Carley – A psychiatrist who was known for his dangerous testing with LSD and trying to get the patients to open their third eye. He was fired after a week due to his test being seen as unsafe.
* Harleen Quinzel – A former psychiatric intern who was seduced by the Joker and became his sidekick, Harley Quinn.
* Joan Leland – Harleen's therapist and former colleague. She was created for Batman: The Animated Series.
* Jonathan Crane – A former psychologist who performed fear-inducing experiments on his patients before becoming the supervillain Scarecrow.
* Ruth Adams – She was taken hostage after the patients of the facility, led by the Joker, took over in an attempt to get Batman to come to the Asylum. She attempted to cure Two-Face of his inability to make choices on his own by introducing him to other objects such as a six-sided die, and a tarot deck.

## Patients

Originally, Arkham Asylum was used only to house genuinely mentally ill patients having no connection to Batman, but over the course of the 1980s, a trend was established in having the majority of Batman's adversaries end up at Arkham.
Arkham Asylum is also featured in other DC Comics publications, apart from the Batman comic book titles. In Alan Moore's run in Swamp Thing the Floronic Man is detained there and in The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, Doctor Destiny escapes the asylum to wreak havoc on both the real and dream worlds. It has also been featured in varying capacities in a number of DC miniseries events, such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Day of Vengeance and Countdown to Final Crisis, among others.
Many DC Comics characters who have been patients at Arkham Asylum are listed below.
* Alberto Falcone
* Amadeus Arkham
* Amygdala
* Baby-Doll
* Black Mask
* Blockbuster
* Bane (DC Comics)
* Catwoman
* Calendar Man
* Clayface (Basil Karlo, Matt Hagen, Preston Payne, and Sondra Fuller)
* Cornelius Stirk
* Crazy Quilt
* Deadshot (shipped from Blackgate)
* Doctor Destiny
* Doctor Double X
* Doctor Phosphorus
* Firefly
* Great White Shark
* Harley Quinn
* Hugo Strange
* Humpty Dumpty
* Jane Doe
* Jeremiah Arkham
* The Joker
* Joker's Daughter
* Killer Croc
* King Tut
* Lock-Up
* Mad Hatter
* Magpie
* March Harriet
* Maxie Zeus
* Mr. Freeze
* The Mortician
* Music Meister
* Nocturna
* Poison Ivy
* Professor Milo
* Professor Pyg
* Prometheus
* Ra's al Ghul (committed as "Terry Gene Kase")
* Ratcatcher
* Riddler
* Scarecrow
* Signalman
* Tally Man
* Penguin
* Ten-Eyed Man
* Two-Face
* Vanity (Vera Klopis)
* Ventriloquist
* Victor Zsasz
* Vox
* Witch (Samantha Voz)

### Others

* Adam Strange (only in the DC: New Frontier version of the DC Universe)
* Ambush Bug
* Brainwave
* Cheetah (Barbara Minerva)
* Condiment King
* Doug Moench & Norm Breyfogle
* Dummy
* Defenestrator
* Egghead
* Floronic Man
* Jean Loring
* Key
* Kobra
* Nightwing (committed as "Pierrot Lunaire")
* Professor Ivo
* Psycho-Pirate
* Resurrection Man
* Toyman
* Zatanna

## Graphic novels featuring Arkham Asylum

Arkham Asylum is featured in the graphic novels Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Batman: The Last Arkham, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell, Black Orchid, Arkham Reborn, and Batman: The Man Who Laughs. A Serious House on Serious Earth has been critically acclaimed, having been called "one of the finest superhero books to ever grace a bookshelf." IGN ranked it as number four in a list of the 25 greatest Batman graphic novels, behind The Killing Joke, The Dark Knight Returns, and Year One, whilst Forbidden Planet named it number eight in their "50 Best of the Best Graphic Novels" list.

## Other versions

* An alternate future version of Arkham Asylum appears in The Dark Knight Returns.
* Arkham Asylum appears in JLA: The Nail, where it is destroyed during a battle between Batman and the Joker.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: Crimson Mist, where a vampiric Batman kills most of its inmates.

## In other media
### Television
#### Live-action

* Arkham Asylum appears in Birds of Prey.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Gotham.
* Arkham Asylum appears in television series set in the Arrowverse.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Titans.
* Arkham Asylum appears in The Sandman. This version is located in Buffalo, New York.
* Arkham Asylum appears in The Penguin.

#### Animation

* Arkham Asylum appears in the DC Animated Universe series Batman: The Animated Series, while an alternate universe variant overseen by the Justice Lords appears in the Justice League episode "A Better World".
* Arkham Asylum appears in The Batman (2004).
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Mayhem of the Music Meister!".
* Arkham Asylum appears in Harley Quinn.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? episode "What a Night, For a Dark Knight!".
* Arkham Asylum appears in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "#NightmareInGotham".

### Films
#### Live-action

* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman Begins, portrayed by the National Institute for Medical Research.
* Arkham Asylum appears in films set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).
* Arkham Asylum, renamed Arkham State Hospital, appears in Joker and Joker: Folie à Deux.
* Arkham Asylum appears in The Batman (2022).

#### Animation

* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Batman: Gotham Knight segment "Crossfire".
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: Assault on Arkham.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Batman: Unlimited film series.
* Arkham Asylum appears in The Lego Batman Movie.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five.

### Video games

* Arkham Asylum appears as a stage in the Batman Forever tie-in game.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: Toxic Chill.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: Dark Tomorrow.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Batman Begins tie-in game.
* Arkham Asylum appears in DC Universe Online.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Lego Batman series and Lego DC Super-Villains.
* Arkham Asylum appears in the Batman: Arkham series. This version is an island-based prison akin to Alcatraz. After Arkham is badly damaged during the events of the first game, its prisoners are moved to the mainland and placed in Arkham City, a massive prison-city.
* Arkham Asylum appears as a stage in the Injustice series.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Batman: The Telltale Series.
* Arkham Asylum appears in Gotham Knights. This version is a mansion that was later converted into a hospital. Years prior to the game's events, Arkham was condemned due to structural integrity flaws and its inmates were transferred to Blackgate Penitentiary.