Mr. Freeze

67 (NW)

**Mr. Freeze**is an antagonist in Batman: Shadow War and Batman: New War. He was a brilliant cryogenicist whose beloved wife, Nora, was stricken with a fatal degenerative disease but an accident transformed his body into a cold-blooded form that must be always kept at absolute zero and had turned to crime to help his wife.

## Biography

### Early Life

As a child, Victor Fries was fascinated by freezing animals in an attempt to cure them of their sickness and fully intended to revive them later as a hobby he developed to escape the presurres of his brutal, control-freak father. His parents, horrified by his hobby, sent him to a strict boarding school, where he was miserable, feeling detached from humanity. He proved to be more than just a delinquent, studying biology and chemistry during his time at the school. That winter, when the other children went home for the holidays, Victor discovered that his parents had disowned him. He was thought of as an embarrassment, a mistake to be filed away and forgotten, and he never saw them again. In college, he felt that he may never feel a warm touch, but then came Nora, a beautiful athlete, with whom he fell deeply in love with and ultimately married. He later got a job teaching cryogenics at the local college.

Nora fell terminally ill with a rare cancer. Fries left teaching and took a job for a large drug company called GothCorp, run by the ruthless Ferris Boyle, so he could find a cure. Using his great intellect and passion for cryogenics, Fries discovered a way to put Nora into cryostasis using company equipment, hoping to sustain her until a cure could be found. Boyle found out about the experiment and worked out a deal: Fries would create cryogenic weapons in secret for GothCorp, and in exchange, Boyle would devote GothCorp's resources to find a cure for Nora. However, even as Victor held up his end of the deal, Boyle kept stalling on this. Victor eventually realized that Boyle was more interested in how he put Nora into cryostasis, which made him forget about their deal and even cancelled the funding.

### Becoming Mr. Freeze

But Victor continued with the project, leaving Boyle in huge debt. In response, Boyle and two guards attacked Fries in his lab and abducted Nora. In the struggle, Boyle knocked over a cryo-cannon, which froze one of the guards and hit a large container of cryogenic chemicals. The sudden pressure change caused the container to explode, and released a plume of chemicals that doused Fries and the remaining guard. Boyle managed to escape the plume and fled the lab. The guard tried to flee also, but upon leaving the supercooled lab, he suffered heat stroke and died at the doorway.

Victor witnessed the guard's death, and realized that the chemical that he had been exposed to had changed his metabolism, and as a result, he would have to keep his body temperature at subzero in order to survive. Inside the lab, Victor constructed a makeshift cryosuit out of prototype parts in order to survive. With this technology, he became a criminal called Mr. Freeze.

### Revenge

Driven by hatred over the destruction of his life and maddened by his condition, Mr. Freeze sought revenge on Ferris Boyle. He formed a small gang and attacked Wayne Manor in the Ballroom at the Wayne Humanitarian of the Year Awards Ceremony, and demanded that Boyle be brought to him. While Bruce Wayne was able to keep Boyle safe for the most part, he encountered Freeze, who was able to freeze him, abduct Boyle, and escape. Batman followed him and tracked down Freeze to GothCorp, although he managed to freeze Batman again, retook Boyle and told the vigilante that the threats meant nothing to him as he had lost everything before escaping by creating a wall of ice behind him. Batman then called in the Batwing to drop his XE Suit (Extreme Environment Batsuit) to break through the wall and discovered the truth about Freeze's transformation and found the coolant that was used in the same substance that Freeze used in his suit in his abandoned lab.

Freeze managed to trap Boyle in ice that was caked up to his waist when Batman tackled him and the fight ensued. He and Batman began a battle around the lab, with Freeze's makeshift suit being too strong for Batman to damage conventionally, but he was able to disable the propellant tank on his suit. Their fight was interrupted by an alert that signaled that Nora's pod began to fail. Freeze flash-froze the room before he returned to Nora in order to fix the problem, and Batman was able to attack him from below as well as he activated his thermal gloves to break his dome and take him down.

However, as he incapacitated Freeze, Boyle freed himself and used the ruptured pipes in the room to freeze Batman, who pushed Freeze out of the way. Boyle then snapped off a pipe from Freeze's suit and began to beat him to death, while he cruelly gloated that he could watch Nora die first and then him. Batman was able to free himself, however, and knocked Boyle out with two punches and was disgusted by the CEO. He administered the coolant to Freeze and fixed Nora's pod, and thus, saved her life. Batman told Freeze while he couldn't give him peace, he could give him justice. Batman handed over the video security footage to the GCPD, which presented evidence that led to Boyle's arrest for his heinous actions. The GCPD also picked up Freeze, and because of his condition, they imprisoned him in Arkham Asylum, and Nora was sent to Wayne Enterprises.

### No Man's Land

Freeze took Batman's advice to abandon his criminal lifestyle and focus on his wife's cure, and set sail on her namesake ship. After months of work, Freeze was finally close to the cure, only a few days away. Freeze turned down the Red Hood's offer to join the villains and chose to instead, to focus on the cure. In retaliation, Deathstroke, who was leading Red Hood's militia, had the Penguin kidnap Nora. In the attack, the ship's Cryo-Generator was damaged, and Freeze was forced to stay on board and repair it rather than going after Nora and risk losing the cure.

When Batman arrive, Freeze attacked him and blamed Batman for the militia kidnapping his wife. Batman told Freeze to shoot him if he trusted them. Freeze stood down and begged for Batman's help, and, in the process, made it clear that he blamed him for his current crisis. Batman struck a deal with Freeze, Batman would rescue Nora and in return Freeze would develop a cure for the poison running through the Penguin's veins, who Batman wanted to save and interrogate while he was a prisoner in the Batcave. Freeze was hesitant in saving the Penguin's life because he was responsible for his wife's abduction but was forced to agree for the greater good of saving his wife. While Batman was out searching, Freeze continued his attempts to repair the generator and the antidote before he was distracted from a call by Batman that alerted him that Nora was awake. In a panic, Freeze left his station and inadverently allowed the generator to reach critical mass. He was distressed to see his wife out of her containment unit. He pled for Batman to put her back in, while he worked on the cure. She cried saying that she does not need saving, as she simply wants to live out her last days with Freeze. At that moment, the generator malfunctioned, freezing Gotham Bay and causing it to snow across Gotham. Deathstroke took advantage of the newly frozen bay by a launching a colossal assault with his men on the ship. Working together with Nora in tow, Batman and Freeze were able to slow the siege, but were quickly overwhelmed. Freeze then had to make a choice: allow the generator to explode and take out the militia, but lose his cure and all of his work in progress, or let himself and Nora be killed by the militia then and there. At Nora's request, Freeze reluctantly detonate the generator.

With the siege over and his life's work gone, Freeze begged for Nora to let him freeze her again so he could resume his search for the cure. Nora explained that she would rather live out the rest of her days with Freeze than be frozen for another decade, and be unable to do anything but witness her husband's decent into villainy and madness. Freeze realized she was correct, agreed, and the two vowed to spend their few remaining days together. Freeze and Nora were last seen holding hands on the bow of the ship, and their time in Gotham was over.

## Personality

Mr. Freeze's love for his wife was so great that he would do anything for her and to find a cure for her illness. He has committed company espionage, robbery, murder, extortion and even become a career criminal because he didn't want to lose her and he also suffers from attachment disorder, being incapable of letting anyone go. Freeze began a decade-long obsession and amoral hunt to save his wife, no matter how many lives it would cost. He projects his blame or guilt for his own losses rather than accept blame on himself or come to terms with his own losses.

Though the root of his illegal actions are to discover, Freeze also has a sense of vengeance and had eventually developed sadistic tendencies. Eventually, Freeze lost most of his aggressive personality however his ruthless protection over his wife remained intact and became more heroic before he gave up his endless hunt and he and his wife spend their final moments together away from society. Freeze returned to crime after his wife died and when he was captured and tortured for experiments, but decided to sacrifice himself heroically in the end.

## Abilities

* **Unique Physiology:**Mr. Freeze has a unique physiology that allowed him to survive at zero temperature and below but would die at normal room temperature.
* **Genius-Level Intellect:**Mr. Freeze is a polymath who has studied many areas of physics and chemistry, as well as medicine and neurobiology.
* **Expert Scientist:**Mr. Freeze is a gifted scientist, having built many advaced machinery, as well as showing expertise in cryogenics and medicine.
* **Expert Engineer:**Mr. Freeze is an expert engineer who has built many advanced technologies.

### Equipment

* **Cryo Suit:**A powerful suit with incredible armor and keeps his body temperature below freezing.
* **Cryo Gun:**A powerful, advanced gun that can freeze anything.
* **Freeze Blast:**High-powered sub-zero temperature projectiles that, when detonated on impact, froze areas that it came into contact with.
* **Heat-Seeking Drone:**Drones used to locate and mark targets' heat signatures.

### Weaknesses

* **Technological Reliability:**Mr. Freeze relies on his cryo-suit to regulate his temperature at a frozen level.

## Quotes

* "I have no quarrel with you."
* "I just require a moment of your time."
* "Threats are meaningless to a man who has lost everything."
* "I don't want to hurt you, but I will."
* "Then join me in my fate and freeze."
* "You got what was promised."
* "Your body core temperature is running dangerously low, Ferris. All I want is to get Nora and leave."
* "Keep stalling and the cold will do it for me."
* "I'm taking my wife. You can't stop me."
* "Nothing matters. Do you understand? Nothing but my Nora."
* "What she wants is to live a long life in the warmth of the sun, her hand in mine. But because of him, she'll only feel the icy touch of a man whose emotions run as cold as the blood in his veins!"
* "Do you understand what it's like to have someone taken from you?"
* "You should be helping me, Batman, not fighting me."
* "Damn you, Batman, for forcing my hand."
* "You are resourceful. I'll give you that."
* "You will not stop me with these toys, Batman."
* "Why didn't I just kill him?"
* "Please...you can save her."
* "I'll end him for what he's done to me."
* "Do I look like a fool? Why would I tell you that?"
* "Leave my wife out of this, Batman."
* "Don't let this situation fool you. We are not friends."
* "I will not fail Nora."
* "You will bring me Nora or you will die!"
* "You are in my world now, Batman."
* "Hide if you wish, Batman. I will find you and I will end you."
* "Your actions betray your position."
* "This room will be your tomb."
* "I learn from my mistakes, Batman. Do you?"
* "Your body heat will betray you."
* "Did you feel that, Batman. It was nothing. Next time I will destroy you."
* "I do not have time for children's games."
* "Please, find Nora. She's all I have left."
* "I will turn your blood to ice!"
* "I will fix you, Nora. I cannot live another day knowing this is your fate."
* "Is she not beautiful? Like a flower, frozen in time."
* "Thank you for this."
* "I will save you, Nora. I'm nearly there."
* "As soon as you're back, I'll freeze you again."
* "Don't be afraid. I'll save you."
* "I love you, Nora."
* "We won't have much time. Days."
* "The thought of killing a man should turn my stomach, but as I look at you now...I feel nothing."
* "And now your blood runs as cold as mine."
* "Death is cold, Batman."
* "Your death won't be nothing."