The Mad Hatter

*"My my. Batman. What a thrill. Little does he know, that he just lead me to my first kill."*

- The Mad Hatter

Jervis Tetch, also known as The Mad Hatter, is a former hypnotist hired for entertainment turned supervillain and an enemy of Batman. Jervis had a sister named Alice whom he had an unhealthy obsession with. She eventually died and Jervis was devastated. Jervis also had an obsession with the story of "Alice In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. After his sister's death, Jervis started to practice hypnotism and eventually put all of them together until he became The Mad Hatter, a criminal who has the power to control people's minds via hypnotism through his watch.

## The Mad Hatter

### Family

Alice Tetch (sister; deceased)Unnamed (mother; deceased)

Unnamed (father; deceased)

### Occupation

Hypnotist-For-Hire (formerly), Supervillain, Criminal, Evil Hypnotist

### Status

Alive

The Mad Hatter has also kidnapped many blond women who he believes is the main protagonist in Lewis Carroll's novel, and uses them as the roll of Alice when he does his tea parties. The Mad Hatter has also taken part in more diabolical schemes, such as when he teamed up with Scarecrow to release a gas into Gotham that would control all of the citizens and also have them see their greatest fears. However the two were stopped by Batman. The Mad Hatter always views someone as the central protagonist of Lewis Carroll's novel. He kidnaps them and forces them to play "Alice In Wonderland".

Like Scarecrow, The Mad Hatter uses various drugs. However he also uses mind control equipment. Sometimes he sedates his victims by putting drugs in the tea. He usually has henchman named after characters in "Alice In Wonderland", such as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. All of this eventually lead to him forming The Wonderland Gang.

## **PHYSICAL APPEARANCE**

The Mad Hatter has shoulder-length brown hair however it was later cut as seen above. He wears a black top hat and a black jacket with a blue undershirt ynand patterned waistcoat. He also has a red bowtie and wears white gloves. He wears black pants and his pocket watch hangs around his waistcoat.

## **BIOGRAPHY**

### **Early Life**

Jervis Tetch was born to an unnamed woman and an unnamed man, along with his sister, Alice Tetch. From a young age, Jervis showed signs of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), which was shown in his unhealthy obsession with his sister. Jervis's parents died when he was around 10, and so he and his sister had to survive on their own.

Eventually, Jervis started practicing hypnotism until he had the complete ability to manipulate the mind. When he was in his early 20's his sister died as well, leading Jervis on a downward spiral down the rabbit hole.

### **Hypnotist-For-Hire**

Before he was hired by the infamous gang leader and crime boss Carmine Falcone, Jervis started performing at the Black Mask club, hypnotizing many of the guests and even Roman Sionis himself. It was around this time that Jervis started to develop a fascination with Lewis Carroll's classic children's novel *Alice's Adventures In Wonderland*.

### **Working for Carmine Falcone**

Eventually, Jervis sought out Carmine Falcone for a job as his personal hypnotist. Falcone hired Tetch, and Jervis performed private sessions of hypnotism in order to take Carmine's mind off of things. Jervis often confided in Falcone about the death of his sister, and he rambled on about the story of *Alice In Wonderland*, comparing it to his sister, referring to her as Alice and that he was like the Mad Hatter. All he wanted was for him and sister to remain together.

### **First encounter with Batman**

After performing for Falcone, Jervis is attacked by Batman, who needed information on why Falcone was at war with Salvatore Maroni. Jervis confesses that he knows nothing of what is happening between the two mobsters. Batman lets Jervis go.

### **Kidnapped by Maroni**

At some point, Jervis was kidnapped by Maroni who needed Tetch for information on Falcone's whereabouts. However Maroni was unaware that Falcone had been murdered by The Penguin. Jervis refuses to give up his bosses whereabouts as by now he had grown loyal to Falcone. Maroni realizes he'll have to force the answer out of him. Jervis is tortured heavily but he still refuses to break.

Maroni begins to torture Tetch some more, but Jervis still refused to give up Falcone's whereabouts. Realizing that he was wasting his time, Maroni lets Tetch go.

### **Becoming The Mad Hatter**

Jervis goes back to Falcone's penthouse to retrieve his equipment and his *Alice's Adventures In Wonderland* book. Jervis also grabs a new outfit in order to become who he needs to be. He had seen the new type of criminal that was rising in Gotham City. Such examples included The Joker, The Riddler and even one of Gotham's most powerful crime lords, Black Mask. This prompted Jervis to create an alter ego for himself. He put his talents and obsessions together, and became The Mad Hatter. The Mad Hatter was again another example of the new breed of villain that was terrorizing Gotham.

The Mad Hatter at first wanted to prove that the city will now be overrun by supervillains, no longer the simple gangsters and crime lords.

### **Murdering Maroni**

After hypnotizing Maroni's men into working for him, The Mad Hatter kidnaps Maroni and takes him to a greenhouse that he has dressed up as Wonderland. Just as The Mad Hatter is pointing a gun at Maroni, Batman turned up and attempted to stop him, but the newly formed Wonderland gang overwhelm him and tie Batman to a chair. The Mad Hatter then makes a speech to Batman about how Gotham needs new style and that Maroni and Falcone are old news. Basically, out with the old, in with the new.

The Mad Hatter then throws his gun away and pulls out a knife. He stabs Maroni in the neck multiple times. Just then, Batman manages to break free of his ropes and beats The Mad Hatter senseless. Batman checks Maroni's pulse, however he was too late. Maroni was dead.

### **Escaping Arkham**

After escaping Arkham Asylum after Maroni died, The Mad Hatter would begin to come a more frequent enemy of Batman. He also cut his hair and shaved his beard, donning a new outfit to look more like the character from Lewis Carroll's book. And thus, The Mad Hatter was, truly, born.