Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind

"**Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind**" is the final episode of the third season of *The Batman* and the thirty-ninth episode overall.

## Synopsis

A new villain emerges in the form of D.A.V.E. (Digitally Advanced Villain Emulator), an AI database created by Hugo Strange that is encoded with the minds of Gotham's greatest criminals and breaks free to commit crimes. Batman finds himself trying to stop D.A.V.E., when the AI proclaims itself as the ultimate criminal and plans to reveal to Gotham the true identity of Batman, unaware that things are not what they seem to be.

## Plot

At Arkham Asylum, Hugo Strange presents the new device for crimefighting: the Digitally Advanced Villain Emulator (D.A.V.E.). He states that it has the combined psychological minds of Arkham's most prominent patients. Strange adds that D.A.V.E.'s AI is so advanced he does not realise he is a computer program. Strange activates him, but D.A.V.E. quickly goes haywire. He uploads himself outside Arkham's server.

Strange suggests calling Batman, but Gordon responds Batman fights real criminals. Bruce questions how D.A.V.E. is unaware he is a program when he just uploaded himself, to which Strange responds that the criminally insane create thier own reality. Strange fears that D.A.V.E. will unleash its villainy instincts, to which Gordon questions how he will do that without a body. At the Fewkes computer factory D.A.V.E. uploads himself to the server and builds himself a body, then steals a labcoat. D.A.V.E. then announces on the news that he will perform the ultimate crime. Bruce at the Batcave deduces that D.A.V.E. will attack Gotham's most powerful supercomputer at Gotham Security, which contains Gotham's most sensitive data. At Gotham Security, D.A.V.E. makes his way to the server room. He puts his hands on the central data server. Batman engages in a fight with D.A.V.E., which results in Batman falling down to the lasers.

Batman uses EMP to save himself, as D.A.V.E. vanishes. D.A.V.E. later makes another announcement, saying that he will steal all the money from Gotham's major banks. D.A.V.E. then cuts off the power grid and leaves Gotham without electricity. Finally, he puts his name on Gotham's buildings. Batman appears behind D.A.V.E., which does not surprise him. D.A.V.E. throws the tracker he knew about easliy that Batman placed on him. The two spar, resulting in Batman's defeat. D.A.V.E. spares him because he wants Batman's end to be as ultimate as his crime, and then he gets away. At the Batcave, Alfred activates emergency power, while Batman analyses D.A.V.E.'s chip to find a way to defeat him. He ascertains that D.A.V.E.'s escape from the Asylum was pre-programmed, rather than a glitch. Batman goes to Arkham to confront Strange. Strange grabs a gun and tries shooting Batman, but Batman grabs him. He then discovers that Strange has been studying him. Batman interrogates him on how to shut down D.A.V.E., to which Strange replies it is not possible. He then asks how to stop him, which he responds with saying he cannot, as D.A.V.E was designed to take down Batman, and each encounter helped D.A.V.E. study the Bat. Strange admits he also put *his* psychology inside D.A.V.E., leading him to share Hugo's fascination with Batman. At the Manor, someone rings the bell. Alfred opens the door, and finds D.A.V.E.

When Batman gets back to the Batcave, he finds D.A.V.E. waiting, now knowing his identity. D.A.V.E. reveals he wants destroy Batman. D.A.V.E. shows the contraption he made out of the various Batcave trophies. He has created a no-win situation with two buttons. The red button is connected to the Batcomputer, which is set to reveal Batman's identity to the public. The blue button is connected to Alfred, which has him in a death trap. Pressing the red button will save the Batman, while the blue would save Alfred. However, Bruce must decide quickly before he loses both, as the hourglass is running out of time. Batman chooses a third option and breaks the hourglass. D.A.V.E. whoops the cave with Batman and reveals how he found out his secret identity. D.A.V.E. declares that every hero must have an origin. Batman activates a crane, then grapples away. He breaks one of Alfred's chains ,but D.A.V.E interferes and unmasks him. Batman states that every villain has an origin as well, so he asks him what is his. D.A.V.E. brings up the origins of Joker, Freeze, Penguin and Strange respectively. The realisation then hits him that he is in fact a computer program, leaving him confused. Alfred breaks from the chains,and Batman throws D.A.V.E. in Alfred's trap. Batman cancels the Batcomputer's transmission in the nick of time, as D.A.V.E. is crushed by the giant penny. Later at Arkham, Strange is seen in a cell, planning on unmasking Batman.

## Cast/Characters

* Rino Romano as Bruce Wayne/The Batman
* Alastair Duncan as Alfred Pennyworth
* Jeff Bennett as D.A.V.E.
* Richard Green as Professor Hugo Strange
* Mitch Pileggi as James Gordon
* Bumper Robinson as Man at the Bank
* Chad
* Mayor Grange (Cameo)
* The Joker (Mentioned)
* The Penguin (Mentioned)
* Mr. Freeze (Mentioned)
* The Riddler (Cameo)
* Clayface (Cameo)
* Thomas and Martha Wayne (mentioned)

## Events

- Character debuts:

* D.A.V.E.

- D.A.V.E. is destroyed.

- Hugo Strange gets incarcerated in Arkham as an inmate.

## Trivia

* Richard Green took over voicing Professor Hugo Strange after Frank Gorshin's death in May 2005.
* At one point, Professor Strange says, "the Dark Knight returns", an obvious reference to the graphic novel, *The Dark Knight Returns*, by Frank Miller.
* The super villains shown on D.A.V.E.'s screen are: Mr. Freeze, The Riddler, The Joker, The Penguin, and Clayface.
* The title is said by Hugo Strange and D.A.V.E.
* This is one of the few times in the series where guns are fired.
* D.A.V.E.'s line "Gotham City in the palm of my hands" is a reference to Doctor Octopus' line from *Spider-Man 2*. However, he says "the power of the sun" instead of "Gotham City" (obviously).
* The full list of Gotham's **major** banks is: Gotham Mutual, Gotham Bank, Bank of Gotham, G.C Bank, Gotham Loan, and Gotham Capital. The total cash is 99,879,378,48 bucks.
* D.A.V.E. is rebuilt in issue 34 of *The Batman Strikes!* teams up with Riddler, however he gets destroyed again.
* Freeze's mugshot photo number says 800B4 which can be read as "Booby".
* This episode patterns its plot off of the 1983 techno thriller, WarGames, as it involves a sophisticated AI with an acronym for a name specifically designed for simulations of particular scenarios, and a certain link in a chain of events allows the simulation to become real and directly threaten humanity.

## Errors

* When Batman throws a Batarang at D.A.V.E, it does not make its typical whirring sound.
* Batman states D.A.V.E. broke out of Gotham PD, when he actually broke out of Arkham.
* D.A.V.E. takes the cowl easily off Batman, even though it is connected to the cape.