Mad Hatter

Hypnotist (Former)

Professional Criminal

**Mad Hatter**is an antagonist in *Batman: Shadow War*and *Batman: Red War.*He is an expert hypnotist, embraced by the delusion that he was an incarnation of a character in Alice in Wonderland and has committed many crimes that were often themed around the book and is obsessed with the concept of "Alice".

## Biography

### Early Life

In school as a child, Jervis Tetch was considerably small for his age and considered an outcast by his peers. However, he developed a crush on a girl named Alice Dee who was the only person that treated him kindly. Wanting to reach a normal height so that Alice would like him romantically, Jervis begged his parents to take him to the doctor to see if something could be done to make him taller. The doctor explained that his stature was in part caused by a testosterone defiency and after some prodding, he agreed to test some experimental testerone enhancers on Jervis. At a school dance, Jervis made an attempt to hold Alice's hand but was rejected by the girl, who explained that she didn't like him in that way. Rejected, Jervis spent the rest of the dance alone in misery.

Although the drug initially worked, Tetch began to experience awful side effects including worsening his mental health. He soon became addicted to the drug, and his mind had totally warped to the point of insanity, developing an obsession with Alice Dee and one of his favorite stories *Alice in Wonderland.*In his derangement, the sound of his pet rabbit's thumping began to annoy him, and Tetch killed it with his bare hands. His parents, upon discovering what he had done, committed their son to the Arkham Detention for Youth.

### The Mad Hatter

Tetch became a scientist who proposed that there was no such thing as free-will, and that the mind could be controlled by the use of chemicals. Tetch obtained a hat shop in Gotham City, and developed mind control technology while he worked there, and became so fixated on the Alice in Wonderland story, he adopted his criminal persona "Mad Hatter". Tetch decides to test out his technology by putting on a show at a theater that Bruce Wayne attends as well as where Alice Dee works, whom Jervis was unable to let go and had began stalking her, using hypnosis on volunteers at the stage such as making them do animal noises and other acts to amaze the audience. One of the notable people on stage was Alice's boyfriend, Dave, and he whispers something in his ear before reverting the hypnosis.

Tetch tells Dave a triggerword which compels him into kidnapping Alice, but is stopped by Jim Gordon who happens to be passing by. Before Gordon could arrest Dave, he is forced into committing suicide with a glass shard on Tetch's hypnotic orders. Gordon takes Alice to the police station, much to Mad Hatter anger, and he decides to target Batman to control him into kidnapping and protecting Alice for him. Jervis lures Batman to his hat shop in the dead of night by having some criminals wearing rabbit masks under hypnotic control instruct him to do so and then the masks set off an electrical charge, incapacitating the thugs. At the hat shop, Batman is attacked by Hatter's henchmen, Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Despite Batman managing to defeat them, they bought enough time for Hatter to trick Batman into looking into a clock which affects Batman's mind and traps him in "Wonderland". Batman is taken control of Hatter and Hatter orders the Dark Knight to kill Gordon.

While Batman, against his will, fights off a few cops and then prepares to throw Gordon off a rooftop to kill him on Hatter's orders, Hatter has Tweedledee and Tweedledum along with a group of mind-controlled thugs to break Alice out of the GCPD Station. During the raid on the station where two of the thugs are killed and one is subdued, Batman manages to break out of Hatter's control and saves Gordon before he hits the ground fatally, with his strong moral being what allowed him to free himself. Meanwhile, Tweedledee and Tweedledum manage to kidnap Alice. At an abandoned amusement park, Hatter has Alice dressed up as the titular character and proceeds to hypnotize her. While the police ends up getting into a gunfight with the Tweeds, Hatter makes another attempt to hypnotize Batman. Upon fighting the trance, Batman uses a Batarang to shatter Hatter's stopwatch which also releases Alice from him. Alice tries to flee from Hatter, though he gets into a struggle with her, causing Alice to accidentally fall off the balcony and onto a pike. Hatter is devastated about what happened and blames Alice's death on Batman. When the Tweeds are defeated by the police, Batman uses a Batarang to prevent a fleeing Hatter from getting away and then stomps on his head to knock him unconscious. Hatter was deemed insane and incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, where he is seen weeping over Alice in his cell in a straightjacket.

## Personality

Mad Hatter was an unstable individual, his grips on reality were muddled to the point where he thought fictional characters were alive. He was ambitious as a scientist, his main thesis in the field of work was that free will was an illusion and a man's beliefs and loyalties could be easily changed with chemicals. He would control people for villainous purposes after his schizophrenic breakdown by forcing people into his servitude. He saw people as puppets and cares very much for manners and excellent behavior, especially at tea parties. He also is not incapable of making mistakes.

Mad Hatter can be easily confused, almost childlike and has been manipulated with ease in the past. Because of his fragile mental state, people are quick to take advantage of him. Despite his intelligence, he has little forethought and is not a physical threat so he's normally overpowered. Also despite his psychopathic nature, Hatter is capable of expressing emotions and can feel regret for his actions. His delusions only worsened as his hunt for Alice continued and he even began abducting males and cross-dressing them in Alice's clothes. He has also raped and sexually abused the Alice's he abducted. Hatter has a tendency to speak in rhymes or in a sing-song voice.

## Abilities

* **Genius Level Intellect:** Despite his mental instability and schizophrenia, Mad Hatter is an extremely intelligent and manipulative man.
	+ **​Expert Engineer:** Mad Hatter is a skilled engineer, being able to design and create mind control headpieces disguised as hats and masks.
	+ **Expert Scientist:** Mad Hatter has great knowledge and expertise in science, being able to create chemicals which allow him to control others.
	+ **Expert Tactician:** Mad Hatter is great at planning his criminal activities despite his mental illness.
* **Expert Hypnotist:** Mad Hatter's main attribute is his sheer mastery over mesmerism and hypnotism. He is capable of using his hypnotic abilities on individuals without difficulty and by using his mind control weapons.

### Equipment

* **Mind Control Hat and Masks:** Mad Hatter utilizes his iconic and powerful mind control headpiece disguised as masks and the moment it latches unto someone's head, it is nearly impossible to pull out by force. Mad Hatter uses his own hat to control those wearing the masks.
* **Stopwatch:** Mad Hatter can use a pocket watch that can help him hypnotize people as long as they look at it.
* **Knife:** Mad Hatter often uses a knife as a weapon.

## Quotes

* "Greetings and salutations, Batman. I am Jervis Tetch; inventor, entrepeneur and part-time harberdasher. You must be wondering why it is that I sought you out. Well, I have an employment opportunity I'd like to discuss with you."
* "Oh. Don't mind, Alice, poor dear. Her mind is all a flutter. And who can blame her, after all she's been through...but I'll have her right as rain soon enough. Don't you worry about that."
* "Of course, sir. You must refer to me as sir at all times. Do you understand?"
* "Careful now! I don't want any accidents! Everything needs to be perfect!"
* "Oh, this is maddening! I'll have to look into refining the neural interface. The good news...the best news, really, is that it works! You all listen! Maybe not as well as you should, but it's a start."
* "We're going to have company!"
* "I should tidy up before the guest arrives."
* "You came! How wonderful! It is really an honor to make your...!"
* "Tick tock, watch the clock!"
* "Welcome to Wonderland, Batman!"
* "It's where I first met, Alice, you know! Ah, what grand adventures we had!"
* "But then they took her from me. Poor, sweet Alice. Lost and alone! I had to find her. Had to bring her home and so I did! It was quite the journey, let me tell you...but she's here again. Safe. With me!"
* "Still...the forces of the Queen are everywhere. Conspiring to reclaim her. Which is why I brought you here."
* "Who better to protect Alice than the Batman herself?"
* "More tea, Alice?"
* "Not crazy. Mad. There's a difference you know. What it is, I can't remember...but trust me on this."
* "Oh my, it seems someone's forgotten her manners."
* "Careful, now! It's not all flowers and tea parties down here. In fact, Wonderland's home to some rather nasty creatures. It brings out the worst and the best in us!"
* "With weaker minds, it works easily. Stick my creation on their heads and just like that, they're under my control!"
* "Stronger-willed individuals, however, require a bit of...breaking in."
* "You're mind is shattering and when I put the pieces back together, you'll be mine. Forever."
* "You've ruined everything! My lovely party in all tatters. The table overturned and the guests are all gone! I think you should leave. In fact, I demand it!"
* "Really now, you're becoming my pet peeve."
* "As the glorius queen would say: off with his head!"
* "Please join my party soon...your tea is getting cold."
* "More tea, Batman?"
* "Are you not going to drink your tea? It's special tea. My special tea. My specialty."
* "Simply put. I made you see what you wanted most. What was it? Tell me, tell me. Tell me...so predictable. Just like Alice. Never doing what I want without ludicrous amounts of psychoactive controls."
* "A special new hat, just for you."
* "You're my soldier now, Batman. You will do everything I say."
* "Let all your troubles fade away."
* "Oh, my hat. My beautiful hat! What have you done!?"
* "But you don't understand. I need you. I can't win without you."
* "Alice will be so angry! I've let her down terribly!"
* "I just wanted a friend!"
* "Oh, frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! The Batman's here, it's time to play."
* "Such violent means, but all in vain, I've trained my mind to feel no pain."
* "The Knight returns, all filled with malice. Tell me, Batman. Did you find you're Alice?"
* "Down the rabbit hole you fall, where madness rains from wall to wall."
* "Welcome to my wonderland, it's time to play a game. I'm here to make you understand what drives a man insane."
* "Through the rhyming words we tumble, where villains toil and psyches crumble."
* "And if you ever want to leave this crazy world you inhabit, all you have to do, is follow the white rabbit!"
* "Come join me on a journey, a trip down memory lane, where you strapped me to a gurney and declared me insane."
* "You know, we're not that different, Bat, you're broken just like me. So what gives you the right to keep me under lock and key?"
* "Come now, Alice, don't be late. Follow the rabbit and seal your fate!"
* "Oh Alice, dear, please pay attention, don't make me keep you in detention."
* "You thought you foiled me, you were wrong!"
* "Hip hip hoozah!"
* "Oh Alice, don't delay! Let those demons out to play!"
* "You're mad, you're mad, just like me!"
* "Oh Alice, no this can't be how it ends. There's tea for two, we can still be friends."
* "A magician can't reveal his tricks, I'll keep you guessing just for kicks."
* "If you want to help then why so callous? Join me, Batman. Be my Alice."
* "A wig of blond, a little dress, you'll be so lovely, Alice, yes, yes, yes."
* "As you can see, I'm balking. Bring me Batman, or the Hatter is walking."
* "Now now, officer, you mistake me for a snitch."
* "Oh dear, oh dear, what have I done? Oh that's right, I killed the Batman."
* "Alice, Alice....you're not Alice."
* "When you wake up, you will be mine."
* "You're late, Batman. Late, late, late."
* "You're dead? Oh no, this will not do, I had such frabjous plans for you."
* "Oh dear, Alice, you cannot perish! There's so much for us to cherish."
* "Look back on this and you will find how madness lurks in every mind."
* "Lies! Deceit! The story you tell is incomplete!"
* "You're mighty in Gotham, Batman, but in Wonderland the Mad Hatter reigns supreme!"