Scarecrow (comics)

## Scarecrow

The **Scarecrow** (**Dr. Jonathan Crane, Ph.D.**) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character first appeared in *World's Finest Comics* #3 (September 1941) and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. A professor of psychology and psychiatry, Dr. Crane uses a variety of fear-enhancing drugs, toxins and psychological warfare tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries. Scarecrow is one of Batman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.

Although he made only two appearances in the Golden Age of Comic Books, the character was revived during the Silver Age of Comic Books by writer Gardner Fox and artist Sheldon Moldoff in the pages of *Batman* #189 (Feb 1967) and has since become a staple Batman villain. The Scarecrow has been featured in other DC Comics-endorsed products such as feature films, video games, animated television programs, and merchandise such as action figures. Irish actor Cillian Murphy portrayed Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's *Dark Knight* trilogy. The character has been voiced by Henry Polic II on *Batman: The Animated Series*, by Jeffrey Combs on *The New Batman Adventures*, and by John Noble in *Batman: Arkham Knight*. In 2009, the Scarecrow was ranked as IGN's 58th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

## Publication history

Finger and Kane introduced the Scarecrow in the fall of 1941 for *World's Finest Comics* #3. From *Batman* #189 (1967) onwards, the character becomes a recurring foe in the Silver Age *Batman* stories and also appears as one of the original members of the Injustice Gang.

Following the 1986 multi-title event *Crisis on Infinite Earths* reboot, the character's origin story is expanded in *Batman Annual* #19 and the miniseries *Batman/Scarecrow: Year One*. This narrative reveals that Crane has a fear of bats, and is obsessed with fear and revenge as a result of having been bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookishness, especially because of his resemblance to Ichabod Crane from *The Legend of Sleepy Hollow*. After being humiliated by school bully Bo Griggs and rejected by cheerleader Sherry Squires, he takes revenge during the senior prom by donning his trademark scarecrow costume and brandishing a gun in the school parking lot; in the ensuing chaos, Griggs gets into a car accident, paralyzing himself and killing Squires.

Crane's obsession with fear leads to his becoming a psychiatrist, taking a position at Arkham Asylum and performing fear-inducing experiments on his patients. He is also a professor of psychology at Gotham University, specializing in the study of phobias. He loses his job after he fires a gun inside a packed classroom, accidentally wounding a student; he takes revenge by killing the professors responsible for his termination, and becoming a career criminal. As a college professor, Scarecrow mentored a young Thomas Elliot. The character also has a cameo in *Sandman* #5, seeming uncharacteristically friendly.

In stories by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the Scarecrow is depicted as one of the more deranged criminals in Batman's rogues gallery, with a habit of speaking in nursery rhymes. These stories further revise his backstory, explaining that he was raised by his fanatically religious grandmother, whom he murdered as a teenager.

Scarecrow plays a prominent role in Doug Moench's "Terror" storyline, set in Batman's early years, where Scarecrow is broken out of prison by the mysteriously returned Professor Hugo Strange, who selects Scarecrow as a tool/ally to help him capture Batman. Scarecrow turns on Strange when Strange's therapy proves effective enough to turn the formerly-broken Scarecrow against his 'benefactor', impaling him on a weather vane and throwing him in the cellar of his own mansion. The Scarecrow then uses Strange's mansion as a trap for Batman, but it is less effective than Strange's plan of attack due to Scarecrow lacking knowledge of Batman's identity; Scarecrow uses Strange's plan to lure Batman to Crime Alley, but his 'trap' consists of simply decapitating one of his former classmates in the alley in front of Batman. With the help of Catwoman—whom Scarecrow had attempted to blackmail into helping him by capturing her and photographing her unmasked face—Batman catches Scarecrow, but loses sight of Strange, with it being unclear whether Strange had actually survived the fall onto the weather vane—he claimed that he lured rats to himself by using his sweat so that he could eat them—or if Scarecrow and Batman were hallucinating from exposure to Scarecrow's fear-gas, although Batman concludes that the subsequent explosion of the house has definitely killed Strange.

Scarecrow appears in *Batman: The Long Halloween*, first seen escaping from Arkham on Mother's Day with help from Carmine Falcone, who also helps the Mad Hatter break out. Crane gases Batman with fear toxin as he escapes, causing Batman to flee to his parent's grave as Bruce Wayne, where he is arrested by Commissioner Gordon due to Wayne's suspected ties to Carmine Falcone. Scarecrow robs a bank with Hatter on Independence Day for Falcone, but is stopped by Batman and Catwoman. He later appears in Carmine's office on Halloween with Batman's future rogue's gallery, but is defeated by Batman. Scarecrow returns in *Batman: Dark Victory* as part of Two-Face's gang, and is first seen putting fear gas in children's dolls on Christmas Eve. He is eventually defeated by Batman. He later appears as one of the villains present at Calendar Man's trial. It is revealed he and Calendar Man had been manipulating Alberto Falcone; Scarecrow had determined that Alberto feared his father, Carmine, and poisoning his cigarettes with fear toxin to bring out the fear; Calendar Man, meanwhile, had been talking to Alberto, with the fear toxin making Alberto hear his father's voice. Together, they manipulate Alberto into making an unsuccessful assassination attempt on his sister, Sofia Gigante. After Two-Face's hideout is attacked, Batman captures Scarecrow, who tells him where Two-Face is heading. In *Catwoman: When in Rome*, Scarecrow supplies the Riddler with fear gas to manipulate Catwoman, and later aids Riddler when he fights Catwoman in Rome. Scarecrow accidentally attacks Cheetah with his scythe before Catwoman knocks him out.

The Scarecrow appears in such story arcs as *Knightfall* and *Shadow of the Bat*, first teaming with the Joker to ransom off the mayor of Gotham City. Batman foils their plan, and forces them to retreat. Scarecrow betrays Joker by spraying him with fear gas, but it has absolutely no effect; Joker then beats Scarecrow senseless with a chair. Scarecrow later tries to take over Gotham with an army of hypnotized college students, commanding them to spread his fear gas all over the city. His lieutenant is the son of the first man he killed. He is confronted by both Batman-Azrael and Anarky, and tries to escape by forcing his lieutenant to jump off of a building. Batman-Azrael knocks him out, and Anarky manages to save the boy.

In the 2004 story arc *As the Crow Flies*, Scarecrow is hired by the Penguin under false pretenses. Dr. Linda Friitawa then secretly mutates Scarecrow into a murderous creature known as the "Scarebeast", who Penguin uses to kill off his disloyal minions. The character's later appearances all show him as an unmutated Crane again, except for an appearance during the *War Games* story arc. Scarecrow appears in the third issue of *War Games* saving Black Mask from Batman and acting as the crime lord's ally, until Black Mask uses him to disable a security measure in the Clock Tower by literally throwing Scarecrow at it. Scarecrow wakes up, transforms into Scarebeast, and wreaks havoc outside the building trying to find and kill Black Mask. The police are unable to take it down, and allow Catwoman, Robin, Tarantula II, and Onyx to fight Scarebeast, as Commissioner Atkins had told all officers to capture or kill any vigilantes, costumed criminals or "masks" they find. Even they cannot defeat the Scarebeast, though he appears to have been defeated after the Clock Tower explodes.

The Scarecrow reappears alongside other Batman villains in *Gotham Underground*; first among the villains meeting at the Iceberg Lounge to be captured by the Suicide Squad. Scarecrow escapes by gassing Bronze Tiger with fear toxin. He later appears warning the Ventriloquist II, Firefly, Killer Moth and Lock-Up, who are planning to attack the Penguin that Penguin is allied with the Suicide Squad. The villains wave off his warnings and mock him. He later leads the same four into a trap orchestrated by Tobias Whale. Killer Moth, Firefly and Lock-Up all survive, but are injured and unconscious to varied degrees, the Scarface puppet is "killed", and Peyton Reily, the new Ventriloquist, is unharmed, though after the attack she is taken away by Tobias Whale's men. Whale then betrays Scarecrow simply for touching his shoulder (it is revealed Whale almost pathologically hates "masks" because his grandfather was one of the first citizens of Gotham killed by a masked criminal). The story arc ends with Scarecrow beaten and tied up by Tobias Whale, as a sign to all "masks" that they are not welcome in Whale's new vision of Gotham.

Scarecrow appears in *Batman: Hush*, working for the Riddler and Hush. He composes profiles on the various villains of Gotham so Riddler and Hush can manipulate them to their own ends. He later gases Huntress with his fear gas, making her attack Catwoman. He attacks Batman in a graveyard, only to learn his fear gas is ineffective (due to Hush's bug), but before he can reveal this he is knocked out by Jason Todd. Scarecrow also appears in *Batman: Heart of Hush*, kidnapping a child to distract Batman so Hush can attack Catwoman. When Batman goes to rescue the child, Scarecrow activates a Venom implant, causing the boy to attack Batman. He is defeated when Batman ties the boy's teddy bear to Scarecrow, causing the child to attack Scarecrow. After he is captured, Batman attacks him in prison to get Hush's location.

Scarecrow's mastery of fear is such that the yellow power ring of Amon Sur tries to seek him out at Arkham after its master's death, though it does not reach him.

In the *Battle for the Cowl* storyline, Scarecrow is recruited by a new Black Mask to be a part of a group of villains who are aiming to take over Gotham in the wake of Batman's apparent death. He later assists the crime lord in manufacturing a recreational drug called "Thrill," which draws the attention of Oracle and Batgirl. He is later defeated by Batgirl and once again arrested.

### Blackest Night

Scarecrow briefly appears in the fourth issue of the *Blackest Night* storyline. His immunity to fear (brought about by frequent exposure to his own fear toxin) renders him practically invisible to the invading Black Lanterns. The drug has taken a further toll on his sanity, exacerbated by the long disappearance of Batman in the *Batman R.I.P.* storyline; he develops a literal addiction to fear, exposing himself deliberately to the revenant army, but knowing that only Batman could scare him again. He is deputized into the Sinestro Corps for 24 hours in order to combat the Black Lanterns. Overjoyed at finally being able to feel fear again, Scarecrow gleefully and without question follows Sinestro's commands. His joy is cut short when Lex Luthor, overwhelmed by the orange light of Avarice, steals his ring.

### Brightest Day

During the events of *Brightest Day*, Scarecrow begins kidnapping and murdering college interns working for LexCorp as a way of getting back at Lex Luthor for stealing his ring. When Robin and Supergirl attempt to stop his plans, Scarecrow unleashes a new fear toxin that is powerful enough to affect a Kryptonian. The toxin forces Supergirl to see visions of a Black Lantern Reactron, but she is able to snap out of the illusion and help Robin defeat Scarecrow. He is eventually freed from Arkham when Deathstroke and the Titans break into the asylum in order to capture one of the inmates.

### The New 52

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), Scarecrow is a central villain in the Batman family of books. Scarecrow first appears in the New 52 in *Batman: The Dark Knight* #4 (February 2012), written by David Finch and Paul Jenkins. The Scarecrow had kidnapped Poison Ivy, and works with Bane to create and distribute to various Arkham inmates, a new form of Venom infused with the Scarecrow's fear toxin. With the help of Superman and The Flash, Batman defeats the villains. The Scarecrow surfaces again in *Batman: The Dark Knight* #10, penned by Gregg Hurwitz, for a 6 issue arc. The Scarecrow kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, and various children, and eventually releases his fear toxin into Gotham. Scarecrow is also used as a pawn by the Joker, for his "Death of the Family" plot; he is referred to as Batman's Physician.

Scarecrow appears in *Swamp Thing* #19 (June 2013), clipping flowers for his toxins at the Metropolis Botanical Garden. Swamp Thing attempts to save Scarecrow from cutting a poisonous flower, not realizing who the villain is. Scarecrow attempts to use his fear toxin on Swamp Thing. The toxin causes Swamp Thing to lose control of his powers, until Superman intervenes.

He is later approached by the as-yet-unknown leader of the Secret Society of Super Villains to join up with the group. Scarecrow accepts the offer.

As part of "Villains Month" in September 2013, *Detective Comics* (vol. 2) #23.3 will be titled *The Scarecrow* #1. Scarecrow goes to see Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, and Riddler and informs them of a war at Blackgate Penitentiary is coming and learns where each of the alliances live. Through his conversations with each, Scarecrow learns that Bane may be the cause of the Blackgate uprising and will be their leader in the impending war. It was also stated that that Talons from the Court of Owls were stored at Blackgate on ice. Later, looking over the divided city, Scarecrow claims that once the war is over and the last obstacle has fallen, Gotham City would be his. Scarecrow approaches Professor Pyg at Gotham Memorial Hospital to see if he will give his supplies and Doll-O-Trons to Scarecrow's followers. Scarecrow goes to Penguin next, who has already planned for the impending war, by blowing up the bridges giving access to Gotham City. Scarecrow and Man-Bat attempt to steal the frozen Talons from Blackgate while Penguin is having a meeting with Bane. Killer Croc rescues Scarecrow and Man-Bat from Blackgate and brings Scarecrow to Wayne Tower. Scarecrow gives Killer Croc Wayne Tower as it no longer suits him. Scarecrow begins waking the Talons in his possession, having doused them with his fear gas and using Mad Hatter's mind-control technology in their helmets to control them. At Arkham Asylum, Scarecrow senses that he has lost the Talons after Bane freed them from Mad Hatter's mind-control technology. Scarecrow then turns to his next plan, giving the other inmates a small dose of Bane's Venom to temporarily transform them. Upon Bane declaring that Gotham City is finally his, he has Scarecrow hanged between two buildings.

## Powers and abilities

Jonathan Crane is a brilliant psychologist and scientist who specializes in the study of fear. He invented a gas that causes his victims to experience terrifying hallucinations. He wears his Scarecrow mask to enhance the effect of the hallucinogen. The mask contains filters to protect him from his own gas. Although not physically intimidating, Scarecrow is adept in physical combat, using a style called "violent dancing", based partly on the crane style of kung fu and on drunken boxing.

Prolonged exposure to his own gas has damaged Crane's brain, meaning that he cannot feel fear for anything except Batman. This is problematic for him, as he has an addiction to fear and compulsively seeks out confrontations with Batman to satiate it.

## Weapons

The Scarecrow at times wields a scythe which he uses in addition to his "violent dancing". Scarecrow also uses a hand-held fear gas sprayer in the shape of a human skull, straws which he leaves as a calling card, special straws which can be snapped in half to release a fear poison (as seen in *Batman: Hush*), stuffed scarecrows which scare his victims, and a Sinestro Corps ring (as seen in the *Blackest Night* mini-series). In the video game *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, he has needles strapped to each of his fingers on his right hand with which he injects fear toxins into his victims, while in *Batman: Arkham Knight*, it is reworked into a retractable knuckleduster-type syringe apparatus which retains some elements of the original gauntlet, reflecting how it was made with professional materials unlike *Asylum*.

## Other versions

Other versions of the character appear in other DC titles. In *Batman/Daredevil: King of New York*, in which he attempts to use the Kingpin's crime empire to disperse his fear gas over Gotham. He is defeated when Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, proves immune to the gas. In *DC vs. Marvel*, he temporarily allies with his Marvel universe equivalent to capture Lois Lane before they are both easily defeated by Ben Reilly. He also makes a brief appearance in *JSA: The Liberty Files*.

### *Justice*

The Scarecrow is one of the main characters in Alex Ross' maxi-series *Justice* as part of the Legion of Doom. He is first seen out of costume in a hospital, injecting a girl in a wheelchair with a serum allowing her to walk. Scarecrow was later seen in costume during Lex Luthor's speech alongside Clayface inside the home of Black Canary and Green Arrow. Crane gases Canary while Clayface attacks Green Arrow, but the attack fails on Crane's end when Black Canary finds her husband attacked by Clayface. Oliver defeats Clayface by electrocuting him with a lamp, and the duo flee soon after Canary unleashes her Canary Cry. Scarecrow is later seen with Clayface and Parasite, having captured Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, and Supergirl. When the Justice League storms the Hall of Doom, Scarecrow does not appear to face any particular target and duels the League as a whole. He is one of the few villains to escape the League's initial attack. The Justice League follows Scarecrow to his city, whereupon he sends his city's population to attack the League, knowing that they would not hurt civilians. However, John Stewart's ring frees the city from Scarecrow's control, subsequently freeing Scarecrow from Brainiac's control. Scarecrow does not seem bothered by this realization, admitting he would have done it anyway. He causes a diversion by releasing his fear gas into his entire city, driving his citizens into a homicidal frenzy, and manages to escape capture, but he is ambushed and nearly killed by the Joker in retaliations for not having been invited to the Legion of Doom. Scarecrow's city is again saved by the Justice League.

### *Crimson Mist*

Scarecrow appears in the third and final chapter of *Batman & Dracula: Red Rain*, in which his suit has been adorned with laces of severed fingers from past victims — the bullies who tormented him in school. He is about to kill a former football player when vampire Batman appears, noting that Scarecrow is almost worse than him; he now has no choice but to kill, but Scarecrow has a choice and yet he chose to prey on innocents. Batman then grabs Scarecrow's vial of fear gas, crushing it along with the supervillain's hand, and cuts Scarecrow's head off with his own sickle, declaring that Scarecrow has no idea what fear really is.

### *Dark Knight Dynasty*

A stand-in for Jonathan Crane appears in *Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty* in the form of Scarecrone, a female henchwoman/consort under the employ of Vandal Savage. Scarecrone, whose real name is Jenna Clarke, also acts as a stand-in for Two-Face; she is typically a beautiful woman, but when her other personality is activated by drinking a serum, the right side of her face becomes disfigured, and she can invade a person's psyche and cause their deepest fears to manifest as illusions by touching them. The two personalities are rather antagonistic towards each other, and Savage takes advantage of her internal struggle to make her dependent on the formula. She is last seen sobbing in her Scarecrone form on a space shuttle that subsequently crashed into the asteroid that Savage was attempting to acquire; considering the circumstances, she was likely killed in the crash.

### *Batman Beyond*

In the 2010 adaptation of *Batman Beyond*, it is mentioned that Crane ended up retiring from his life of crime, and spent the last ten years of his life writing out experiments.

### *Flashpoint*

In the alternate timeline of the *Flashpoint* event, Scarecrow is subsequently killed by Batman.

### *Batman: Earth One*

In the *Batman: Earth One* graphic novel, Dr. Jonathan Crane is mentioned as the head of the Crane Institute for the Criminally Insane, and one of its escapees is one Ray Salinger, also known as the "Birthday Boy", used by Mayor Cobblepot to his advantages.

### *Injustice: Gods Among Us*

Scarecrow makes a brief appearance in the comic book prequel to *Injustice: Gods Among Us*, where he is thought to have been murdered by the Joker and Harley Quinn. The game later reveals him to be alive in the alternate timeline when he appears as a stage transition.

## In other media

### Television

#### Animation

* Scarecrow appears in the 1968 *The Batman/Superman Hour* episode "The Great Scarecrow Scare", voiced by Ted Knight. Although he does not use fear gas in this series, he uses knock-out gas which he keeps in eggs.

* Scarecrow appears in the 1978 *Challenge of the Super Friends*, voiced by Don Messick; his voice is raspy, fitting with his scare theme. He appears as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. Here he is shown to have control over a flock of crows, but no other powers. In one story, he beats Apache Chief in a contest to capture a two-headed snake by freeing a head Apache Chief had captured, then lassoing both heads.

* Scarecrow appears in the *Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians*, voiced by Andre Stojka. In the episode "The Fear", he captures Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman; he then exposes them to his fear gas in what would be the first animated rendition of Batman's origin, as he forces the Caped Crusader to relive the memories of the deaths of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne.

* Scarecrow appears in *Batman: The Animated Series* and *The New Batman Adventures*, voiced by Henry Polic II (in the *Batman: The Animated Series* episodes "Nothing to Fear", "Fear of Victory", "Dreams of Darkness" and "Lock-Up"), by Jeffrey Combs (in *The New Batman Adventures* episode "Never Fear"), and by Jeff Bennett (in *The New Batman Adventures* episodes "Over the Edge" [albeit uncredited]). In the episode "Nothing to Fear", he plots to use his fear gas to take revenge on the Gotham University Board members who fired him for experimenting on his students. Scarecrow drugs Batman with his fear toxin after Scarecrow tries to burn the University's funds, to which a hallucination of Thomas Wayne chastises the Dark Knight. Scarecrow kidnaps the Dean of the University and escapes in a stolen Gotham police blimp. But when Batman arrives, he activates a self-destruct mechanism and leaves the two to die. During the assault on the blimp, Batman wills himself to overcome the toxin, and uses Scarecrow's own weapon against him. Scarecrow hallucinates about his own phobia - fear of bats - and collapses into helpless terror; Batman then takes him to Arkham Asylum. Afterwards, the character received a minor physical redesign for subsequent appearances. In the episode "Fear of Victory", Scarecrow combines his fear gas with adrenalin to use on Gotham's athletes, rendering them unable to play; he then bets against their teams. He is defeated by Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson) before he can realize the final stage of his plan: to use fear toxin on an entire stadium. In the episode "Dreams of Darkness", Scarecrow plots to taint the water supply beneath Arkham with fear toxin, in the process using it on Batman put in Arkham; Batman manages to overcome the toxin, and defeats Scarecrow. In the episode "Trial", Scarecrow makes a non-voiced appearance (due to Henry Polic's throat surgery) on the jury during the rogue's gallery's 'trial' against Batman. In the episode "Lock Up", Scarecrow meets his match with Arkham security guard Lyle Bolton's brutal interrogation methods terrifying even him; he breaks out of Arkham to get away from Bolton, only to be brought back by Batman and Robin. Scarecrow joins Harley Quinn and the Ventriloquist & Scarface in issuing a complaint, resulting in Bolton being fired. When Bolton as Lock-Up ends up in Arkham, Scarecrow vows to "teach [Lock-Up] new lessons in fear". The character gets revamped from his earlier appearances because producer Bruce Timm felt the character never actually looked scary; this problem was finally rectified with the second redesign. Director Dan Riba said that he 'evolved the most of all the characters', saying that "we got darker, darker, and darker with the character". Timm described the revamped look as resembling a "western preacher", complete with a noose around his neck, as well as a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Leatherface, kind of look, and it really had nothing to do with being a Scarecrow *per se*. But he was definitely scary.". This version was never shown out of costume, because Paul Dini said "we weren't even sure if there was an actual guy in the suit". He also spoke in a low, rasping whisper, with which the show's creators felt he should have spoken with all along. In the episode "Never Fear", Scarecrow creates a new toxin that completely eliminates fear and makes its victims reckless and dangerous. Batman is exposed to the gas, which renders the Dark Knight unafraid to kill. When Batman begins to lose control, Robin (Tim Drake) subdues Batman and goes after Scarecrow himself. Batman escapes and nearly kills Scarecrow, until Robin gives the Dark Knight the antidote; the Dynamic Duo then apprehend him peacefully and take him to Arkham Asylum. In the episode "Over the Edge", Scarecrow attacks Gotham City Hall, and sprays Batgirl with his fear toxin. The poison makes Barbara Gordon has a nightmare in which Barbara's death causes a vendetta between Batman and Commissioner Gordon. Barbara later awakes from this nightmare when the fear toxin wears off.

* According to Bruce Timm, Scarecrow was meant to appear in *Justice League Unlimited* as part of the show's expanded version of the Secret Society but was prevented (along with almost all major Batman villains) from appearing on the show due to *The Batman*. Ironically, due to the character's role in *Batman Begins* and *The Dark Knight*, Scarecrow was subsequently unable to appear on *The Batman* as well.

* Scarecrow appears in *Batman: The Brave and the Bold*, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. In the teaser of the episode "Trials of the Demon", he collaborates with Scream Queen to put jack-o'-lanterns filled with fear gas on a Halloween night in a local neighborhood. Scarecrow is defeated by Batman while Scream Queen is defeated by the Flash using the toxin in some pumpkins in a patch against Scream Queen. Scarecrow appears as an inmate at Blackgate Penitentiary in the episode "Night of the Huntress", and is among the singing inmates at Arkham Asylum in the episode "Mayhem of the Music Meister!".

* Scarecrow is alluded many times in *Teen Titans Go!*. An example's in the episode "Caged Tiger", where pictures of scarecrow can be seen in the elevator of the Teen Titans.

#### Live-action

* A teenage version of Jonathan Crane appears in *Gotham*, portrayed by Charlie Tahan. In his first appearance in "The Fearsome Dr. Crane", Jonathan helps his father Gerald Crane (portrayed by Julian Sands) conduct fear experiments on people, kill them, and harvest their adrenal glands to create a serum meant to eliminate fear, which is called "fear toxin". In "The Scarecrow", Gerald injects him with a large dose of the serum, which causes him to have hallucinations of a giant, demonic scarecrow. Detectives James Gordon and Harvey Bullock save Jonathan's life, but are too late to preserve his sanity: the hallucinations remain long after the serum wears off, leaving Jonathan in a state of perpetual terror.

### Film

#### Live-action

* Scarecrow was one of the villains planned to star in *Batman Triumphant*, the fifth in the *Batman* film series. Actors Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi and Jeff Goldblum were the most likely candidates for the role, and would have appeared alongside Harley Quinn (who would have been portrayed by singer Madonna). Scarecrow's fear gas was meant to resurrect the Joker (who appeared in the first film portrayed by Jack Nicholson). Due to the almost universally negative reception of the series' previous film *Batman & Robin*, *Batman Triumphant* was scrapped and the franchise was put on hiatus for eight years.

* Cillian Murphy portrays Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan|Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and is the only villain to appear in all three films. This version of Scarecrow wears a burlap sack with a built-in rebreather, which doubles as a gas mask in his fear experiments. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask, as opposed to the full scarecrow costume usually seen in the comics, was done because Murphy "wanted the Scarecrow to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man—he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do."

* + In the first film *Batman Begins*, Jonathan Crane is the corrupt head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, where he uses his fear toxin to conduct experiments on his patients. He helps mob boss Carmine Falcone and international terrorist Ra's al Ghul smuggle in a hallucinogenic chemical that he uses in his experiments. When Crane testifies in court that Victor Zsasz is legally insane and should be moved to Arkham for rehabilitation, this angers Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes, accusing him of being corrupt. Crane then meets with Falcone to discuss having Dawes murdered. When Falcone attempts to blackmail Crane, he dons his Scarecrow mask and douses Falcone with his fear toxin, which drives the mob boss insane and repeatedly uttering 'Scarecrow'. During Scarecrow's first encounter with Batman, he sprays Batman with his fear toxin and sets the Dark Knight on fire, though Batman narrowly escapes with both life and mind intact. With the help of Lucius Fox, Batman acquires an antidote to the toxin. Shortly thereafter, Batman has a second confrontation with Scarecrow, this time at Arkham rescuing Rachel after being sprayed by Crane with the fear toxin. Batman overpowers Crane's henchmen and sprays the doctor with a dose of his own medicine. Crane hallucinates that Batman is a giant, monstrous bat with a demon voice and is so terrified that he tells Batman who he is working for. Crane is subsequently arrested by Sgt. Gordon and institutionalized in Arkham, but later escapes in the mass release of the asylum's inmates as part of plot masterminded by Ra's to destroy Gotham City. As Ra's unleashes Crane's fear gas on Gotham's slums, Crane, now calling himself 'Scarecrow', pursues Rachel and a boy through an alley on a horse, dragging a dead mounted police officer from its stirrups. To the boy affected with the gas, Crane appears as a fiery-eyed monster riding a fire-breathing horse. Rachel eludes Scarecrow by shocking him in the face with a taser. Thus incapacitated, Scarecrow aimlessly rides off into the night, screaming in pain. At the end of the film, Gordon informs Batman that Crane is still at large.

* + Jonathan Crane has a minor role in the second film *The Dark Knight*. Before the Joker's rampage on Gotham, Scarecrow has been selling his toxins to customers on the black market. He meets with mob boss Chechen complaining about the effects that the toxin has on customers. Suddenly, a group of Batmen impostors arrive with guns and attack the two criminals, only to be interrupted by the real Batman. Crane escapes in his truck after spraying a Batman imposter with the toxin, but the real Batman jumps on the van from an above floor, crushing it. Batman then ties Scarecrow up along with the impostors for Gotham police to arrest them.

* + Jonathan Crane has a cameo appearance in the third film *The Dark Knight Rises*. He is released along with many other prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary when Bane plunges Gotham into anarchy. Once liberated, Crane presides over a show trial held by the less fortunate and the released inmates wherein the rich aristocracy of Gotham are given a choice between death and exile. Those who choose "exile" are made to cross over the frozen river connecting Gotham to the other shore where there is a chance that they will end up on the thin ice and fall through. In addition, Bane also grants Crane full control of the courts, to the extent that even Bane himself would not affect his ruling decision. When Commissioner Gordon, several Gotham cops and Miranda Tate are captured and brought into trial, Crane is told that Gordon and the men won't go on the ice willingly and they choose death. Crane sentences them to "death by exile" while Bane takes Miranda.

#### Animation

* Scarecrow appears in the direct-to-DVD animated production *Batman: Gotham Knight*, voiced by Corey Burton. During the character's appearance in the segment "In Darkness Dwells", Scarecrow gathers an army of Arkham inmates in the sewers and uses Killer Croc to get them from above. As Jonathan Crane, he had been Killer Croc's psychologist at Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow uses Killer Croc to capture the priest Cardinal O'Fallon to hold on a mock trial in the sewers because Scarecrow is angered by O'Fallon's attempts to help the homeless. Scarecrow sentences O'Fallon to death, but is saved by Batman triggering an explosion in the process. Nevertheless, Scarecrow escapes the authorities when the sewers begin to flood.

* Scarecrow is mentioned in *Batman: Under the Red Hood* by Jason Todd. When the Red Hood chastises Batman, Scarecrow is referenced along with the Penguin and Harvey Dent as being nowhere near as bad as the Joker.

* Scarecrow is referenced in *Justice League: Doom* mentioned by Batman. His fear gas is part of Batman's safety protocols against the Green Lantern. Vandal Savage's Legion of Doom steal Batman's plans to use against the Justice League, with Star Sapphire using the gas against Green Lantern. Batman rescues Green Lantern and offers an antidote to the fear gas. However, Green Lantern rejects it with his own willpower now resolved.

* Scarecrow appears in *Batman: Assault on Arkham*, voiced by Christian Lanz. Scarecrow is amongst the numerous Arkham patients to be released by the Joker to provide chaos as cover to detonate a bomb. Interestingly, Scarecrow leaves his cell in full costume, hinting that he may have already begun sneaking in and out of his cell prior to the first Arkhamverse game.

* Scarecrow is referenced in the animated film *Justice League: Throne of Atlantis*. Batman was chasing some of Scarecrow's goons in order to scare them enough to give up the villain's location. However, the Green Lantern knocks them out in their capture, rendering them useless and angering Batman.

* Scarecrow will appear in the animated film *Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem*, voiced by Brian T. Delany.

### Video games

The Scarecrow appears in ten video games: Game Boy's *Batman: The Animated Series*, Super Nintendo and Game Gear's *The Adventures of Batman & Robin*, *Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu*, *Batman Begins* (a tie-in to the 2005 movie), *Lego Batman: The Videogame*, *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, *Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame*, *DC Universe Online*, plays a brief boss in *Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes*, *Injustice: Gods Among Us*, *Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham* (DLC) and *Batman: Arkham Knight*.

* Scarecrow appears in the *Batman Begins* video game, voiced by Cillian Murphy. At the beginning of the game, Batman tries to capture the corrupt Dr. Jonathan Crane at the asylum, but Crane dons his Scarecrow mask and douses Batman with fear gas, causing Batman to go through a distorted version of the game with the Dark Knight's worst fears and childhood fear of bats. Batman thinks that Scarecrow is in front of a window but instead was an illusion and Batman jumps out of the window on fire. Later, after being informed by Detective Flass about Crane working with Falcone and using Arkham Asylum's water supply to install a liquid venom compound of his fear drug, Batman returns to Arkham to save Rachel Dawes having been exposed to the poison fear gas by Crane. In the game, you must take out his thugs and then fight Scarecrow while taking off his mask and exposing the doctor to his own fear gas, which will cause him to see you as a monstrous sight and tell you who he is working for. You then knock Crane out and continue to save Rachel. During the riots at the Narrows, Scarecrow tries to lower the bridge to release the maniacs poisoned by the venomous, fear toxin but is confronted by Batman. He detonates a bomb, sending Batman flying out a window. Batman returns and confronts Crane having been exposed to fear toxin, driving him insane and causing him to see a demonic, terrifying version of Batman. Panicking, he falls into the river. Alfred Pennyworth believes he is dead, but Batman thinks he survived.

* Scarecrow appears in *Lego Batman: The Videogame*, with vocal effects provided by Dave Wittenberg. He is seen working for the Joker. He has only one special ability: mind control, with which he can make guards open doors. He also sprays his fear gas which petrifies his victims; however, it only works at close range. In addition he makes full use of his "violent dancing" martial arts skills in unarmed combat. Scarecrow also uses a biplane, which he uses to distribute his fear gas, and is a vehicle boss in the hero campaign.

* Scarecrow is a boss in the Nintendo DS version of *Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame*.

* Scarecrow appears in *DC Universe Online*, voiced by Christopher S. Field.

* Scarecrow appears in *Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes*, voiced by Nolan North. After the Joker breaks out of Arkham once again, Batman and Robin investigate. The elevator breaks and they fall under the asylum, where lots of rioting inmates are on the loose. Scarecrow is then seen watching and he tries to slow Batman down multiple times using fear toxin. After Batman shuts down all the fear venom barriers, Batman finally faces Scarecrow. Scarecrow then floods the room with fear toxin which makes Batman and Robin see visions of a giant Scarecrow. Once Batman and Robin turns on the fans to stop the fear poison, they easily take down Jonathan Crane. Later, when all the inmates of the asylum are on the loose, Scarecrow hides out in a pumpkin tent in the amusement mile. He is flooding the amusement park with fear poison, which you can see the citizens running and screaming. Batman confronts Scarecrow, but Scarecrow fills the tent with his fear toxin, which makes Batman see a giant version of Scarecrow once again. Batman then destroys the pumps that are producing fear venom, which makes Scarecrow look normal size again. Batman then easily takes down Crane and brings him back to custody. After you defeat Scarecrow, you can buy him and play as him anytime in free play mode.

* Scarecrow makes a cameo appearance in *Injustice: Gods Among Us*. In the Arkham Asylum stage, if one of the characters is thrown through the cell door on the right side of the first tier, they will be attacked by Scarecrow. He will poison the player with his fear toxins, take a gigantic appearance, beats up the opponent before sending the player into the next arena. Scarecrow is also seen in many S.T.A.R. Labs Missions.

* Scarecrow appears in *Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure*. He is one of the villains ordered to collect Starites and one of 5 Batman villains to do so (along with the Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Ra's al Ghul). He is seen in Arkham Asylum where he douses Maxwell with fear gas. Maxwell then sees hallucinations of four of his brothers, which he destroys by giving them what they want. He then finds a hallucination of his father, which he destroys by shrinking it. Maxwell is then chained and hung upside-down, with Doppelgänger lowering him into a tub of acid. But the fear gas makes Maxwell thinks it is his beloved sister Lily. Luckily, Maxwell comes to his senses and the fear gas wears off. Scarecrow is then defeated by Batgirl and Maxwell is freed. Scarecrow can also be spawned by the player and is playable in the Wii U version of the game.

* The *Batman Begins* version of Scarecrow appears as a playable character in *Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham* via downloadable content.

#### *Arkham* series

* The Scarecrow has been a staple in the *Batman: Arkham* franchise:

* + Scarecrow appears as the tertiary antagonist and a recurring boss in *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, voiced by Dino Andrade. Jonathan Crane was not initially revealed as part of the cast, with his appearance meant to surprise players. He has several fluorescent orange hypodermic needles strapped to the fingers of his right hand which he uses to inject his fear toxin, and wears a hood over his Scarecrow mask, which has gas mask tubes protruding from the cheeks. He wears a pair of tattered pants and is shirtless, revealing his skinny figure. In the game, he appears several times, using his fear toxin to make Batman experience hallucinations. Scarecrow eventually flees down to Killer Croc's lair where he intends to dump his most potent toxin into Gotham's water supply to drive the city into madness. However, Killer Croc suddenly attacks Scarecrow, viewing Crane as food. Before Killer Croc could eat Scarecrow, Batman activates his electric collar with a Batarang, and the monster disappears, taking Scarecrow with him into the water. In one of the three post-credits endings, Scarecrow's hand is seen emerging from the water and grabbing onto a box of floating Titan chemicals.

* + In *Batman: Arkham City*, Scarecrow does not appear. However, there are numerous indicators of him surviving his encounter with Killer Croc. His mask can be found in the industrial sector (the bridge right outside the Joker's territory), revealing that Batman had been investigating if Scarecrow was alive for months, but to no avail. Despite no sign of him anywhere since his presumed death, Batman refused to believe that Scarecrow had died, and was merely planning his revenge in hiding. Scarecrow's fear toxin can be found in the second Riddler Room, and there is a boat in the "Amusement Mile" that holds a captive inmate that screams and apparently dies once he is zoomed in on. There is also an invoice from Falcone shipping for the attention of Dr. Jonathan Crane, saying the first 15 shipments of "Live Insects for Medical Purposes" have arrived, and that more are on the way. Several canisters of his fear toxin can also be found in Hush's (the Identity Thief's) hideout. The final Easter egg to his survival can only be discovered at the end of the game using the cryptographic sequencer. There are three radio frequencies (500.00 and 900.00, 700.00 and 500.00, 200.00 and 500.00) that give off a seemingly random set of numbers followed by a musical chime, that say the message "I will return, Batman. You will pay for what you have done to me. Fear will tear Gotham City to shreds." when decoded, confirming his survival and foreshadowing the events of *Batman: Arkham Knight*, in which Scarecrow returns and seeks vengeance on Gotham and Batman.

* + In *Batman: Arkham Origins*, advertisements of Jonathan Crane's looking for research subjects for his fear toxin experiments appear in various parts of Gotham City. In addition, the visitor board at Blackgate prison during the Joker's siege had Jonathan Crane on the list, and the checkout space was empty, indicating that he was still present during the riots.

* + Scarecrow appears as the main antagonist of *Batman: Arkham Knight*, now voiced by John Noble. Jonathan Crane was badly disfigured after his encounter with Killer Croc in *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, with his mask falling apart and his face resembling a skull, due to him missing most of his nose and lips, exposing more of his teeth. Likely due to this, his voice is lower and much more sinister. It is rumored that he spent his time in hiding reconstructing his scarred face into his iconic mask, as his breathing apparatus seems to be grafted to his throat. His left leg was likely injured due to Scarecrow now sporting a leg brace. His outfit is now much more militaristic, having a dirty and tattered long brown jacket with canisters of fear gas attached. He also has stitches all over his costume and mask, giving him an undead appearance. He still retains the gauntlet with the tanks of fear toxin that he wore in *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, but instead of having the four needle syringes attached to his fingers, they are strapped to his wrist. They are also much more mechanical, as when Scarecrow clenches his fist, the syringes fill themselves with fear toxin and extend, ready to inject his victim. Having returned from the dead, Scarecrow joins forces with a new supervillain known as the Arkham Knight, and unites all of Gotham's criminals in an attempt to finally kill Batman. In the beginning of the game, Scarecrow releases a small portion of his toxin in a diner, announcing to Gotham that if they did not evacuate the city, the streets would be flooded with their worst fears. With the civilian population evacuated, Gotham is left a battleground for the criminals, the police and Batman. Scarecrow then unleashes Arkham Knight's militia to conquer Gotham, and prevent the authorities from interfering with his plans. Batman later discovers that Scarecrow has been manufacturing his new fear gas at the ACE Chemicals plant. Defeating the militia soldiers there, Batman proceeds to confront Scarecrow in the central mixing chamber, where the villain informs Batman that his men have captured Barbara Gordon. Scarecrow then locks Batman in the chamber, where his fear gas was set to infest the whole of Gotham. After Scarecrow retreated, Batman managed to reduce the blast radius and narrowly escape the chemical plant. Scarecrow later activates the Cloudburst, a device developed by Simon Stagg that will disperse his toxin in the form of a giant fear cloud. After Batman deactivates the device, he defeats and unmasks the Arkham Knight as Jason Todd, his former partner Robin. After the Arkham Knight escapes and disappears, all of his militia forces swore their complete allegiance to Scarecrow alone. When Batman confronts Scarecrow once more, Crane uses Barbara as his hostage. Scarecrow forces Commissioner Gordon to shoot Batman in exchange for his own daughter's life. After Batman was subdued by Gordon, Scarecrow betrays the Commissioner by pushing Barbara off the building. Although Batman managed to save Barbara, Scarecrow and his militia forces escaped, now holding Commissioner Gordon as a hostage. After capturing Robin (Tim Drake) at Panessa Studios as well, Scarecrow tells Batman to meet him at the abandoned Arkham Asylum and surrender, or his allies will die. Scarecrow then forces Gordon to unmask Batman as Bruce Wayne for the world to see. After this, Scarecrow continuously tries to make Batman feel fear and expose him to the world as a fraud. After three full injections of fear toxin, Batman eventually overcame Scarecrow's chemical, angering the villain. As Scarecrow attempts to kill Batman, Jason (now operating as the Red Hood) arrives and frees Bruce, allowing the hero to inject Scarecrow with his own fear toxin. Hallucinating his worst fear of bats, Scarecrow was subdued and taken into custody.

### Toys and Collectibles

* Many Scarecrow figures have been released over the years in various Batman related toy lines, due to Scarecrow being one of Batman's most prominent villains.
* In 2014, DC Collectibles released a 7' Scarecrow action figure in the *Batman: Arkham Knight* figure line.

### Web Series

In the Collegehumor series "Badman," they parody the scene from *Batman Begins* where Scarecrow uses his fear gas on Batman. In this version, he is baffled by how pathetic some of Batman's fears are, such as Girl Scouts, Roombas, and Christopher MacDonald.

## Gallery

*Main article: Scarecrow (comics)/Gallery*
## See also

* List of Batman villains

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