Roman Sionis

[Source]

"*I am the new, undisputed, absolute crime lord of New York City. I am everything this city deserves... and more.*"
―Black Mask[src]
**Roman Sionis** (also known as **Orpheus** and primarily as **Black Mask**) was a notable Human businessman and crimelord who served as president of Janus Cosmetics and founded the Black Mask cartel as well as the False Face Society

## Biography

### Early life

Roman Sionis was born on July 26, 1953 in New York City to a wealthy Italian family that cared far more about their own social standing than about the well-being of their child. When an infant Roman was dropped on his head mere moments after birth and growing up, his childhood proved to be one of pretensions as well as luxury. Sionis spoke Italian during his childhood and was raised Roman Catholic.

When he came of age, Roman became an the vice president at his father's company, Janus Cosmetics. However, he didn't have total control of the Sionis empire and shortly afterwards, his parents died in a suspicious fire at their home and he acquired the company. Soon, Roman became president of Janus Cosmetics, but he proved to be a poor businessman. At this point, Roman started collecting masks from every corner of the world and not long after this, he drove the company near to bankrupcy. In a desperate attempt, Roman created a new cosmetic product, which turned out to be hazardous and Janus Cosmetics was besieged by several hundred lawsuits. A humiliated Roman was forced to accept a bailout from Wayne Enterprises, on the condition that Roman resigned from his position as president of Janus Cosmetics.

After losing his empire, Roman went to the crypt where his parents were buried, where he started smashing his father's ebony casket with the stone. Roman started carving a piece of his father's casket lid into a fearsome black mask. Inspired by the design of the mask worn by the Red Skull, Sionis adopted the identity of Gotham's newest crime lord, Black Mask.

### Revenge against Bruce Wayne

Meanwhile, his henchmen Dario, Perez and Braun ambushed Evan Robley and his wife Della on the night of their wedding. After repaying Killifer for his loyalty, Sionis enacted his vengeance on Robley by having him dunked into a shark tank at Ocean Exotica.

## Personality and traits

"*I like to keep the lights on. That way I can always see who's at the table. That way, there are never any surprises.*"
―Roman Sionis[src]

## Powers and Abilities

### Abilities

**Criminology**: Black Mask was arguably the greatest criminal strategist and organiser in New York City, having taken almost full control of the city's underworld on at least two occasions.

**Business Management**: While Roman proved to be a poor businessman prior to becoming Black Mask, he eventually became skilled enough to maintain a massive criminal empire.

**Master of Disguise**: Black Mask was a formidable master of disguise as well as a highly gifted actor, as he was able to fool even the deductive skills of Batman when disguised as Orpheus.

**Interrogation Expert**: Black Mask's most defining skill was his mastery of both physical and psychological torture, which he often used either to extract information, or simply to torment his enemies. He was an expert on torture techniques that would make talk even the most strong-willed person.

**Hand-to-Hand Combat**: Black Mask was a highly accomplished athlete and hand to hand combatant who had been shown fighting on par with the likes of Nightwing, Red Robin, Catwoman, and even Batman himself on at least one occasion. In the last case, however, Batman later mentioned that he had been previously exhausted by three days of nonstop fighting in Gotham's citywide gang wars.

**Skilled Marksman**: Roman Sionis was an excellent marksman who always carried at least two semi-automatic handguns. He proved capable of hitting highly nimble athletes in mid-air with relatively little effort and also shot mid-flight batarangs away from himself.

## Appearances

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