The Ventriloquist

**The Ventriloquist**is an antagonist in *Batman: Shadow War*and *Batman: Red War.*He is a criminal mastermind suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, which was vented through his puppet Scarface.

## Biography

### Early Life

Arnold Wesker has always been a meek and timid person, even as a child. When he was very young, his parents took him to the Gotham City shipyards to see an albatross, which was something of a local attraction. Terrified, he demanded to be taken home immediately. While his parents were distracted, a truck carrying display dummies rolled down the street, struck and killed them. Traumatized by the accident, he became convinced that the albatross was an omen. Throughout his life he would cope by repressing all emotion and furthering his timid stature.

The repression eventually resulted in a psychotic breakdown during his adulthood, in which he killed a man during a bar-fight. By his own account the murder was completely accidental. He was arrested and convicted to Blackgate Penitentiary. There he was placed in a cell with an inmate named Donnegan, who harbored an intense interest in ventriloquism. Donnegan's most prized possession was a puppet named "Woody", which he was very protective of. Despite his violent nature, Wesker became intrigued by the dummy and even went so far as to attempt handling "Woody" whenever Donnegan was out of his cell. When he discovered this, he became enraged and viciously assaulted Wesker for touching his property.

Wesker grew despondant in Blackgate, and prepared to hang himself while Donnegan slept. Despite the fact that Donnegan was asleep, "Woody" began talking to Wesker. Though he ignored this at first, Woody insisted that he was acting independently of Donnegan's control. He convinced Wesker to forgo suicide in favor of escaping from Blackgate and revealed that Donnegan had been secretly digging an escape tunnel from the cell for the past fifteen years. While the two spoke Donnegan awoke and brutally attacked Wesker. He also stabbed at Woody with a corkscrew, creating a long scar along the face of the puppet. Wesker fought back and smashed Donnegan in the face with a loose brick. He then strung the body up with a noose originally intended to use in his own suicide. Subsequently, Wesker took Woody and escaped with him through Donnegan's tunnel.

The tunnel led him to the shoreline of Blackgate Island, near the prison boathouse. At Woody's urging, he picked up a riot shotgun and killed two guards before stealing a raft. They paddled to the mainland of Gotham City and, planning to start a new life, acquired a fresh set of clothes. The puppet, unsatisifed with the name that Donnegan had given him, decided to take a new name, one more befitting an angry criminal mind with high ambitions: Scarface.

Scarface became the vehicle through which Wesker could express all of his years of bottled-up rage. It was clear early on that Scarface was the dominant partner in their relationship, and Wesker always maintained a subservient and obedient countenance.

### Criminal Career

Calling himself the Ventriloquist, Wesker became a powerful drug lord in Gotham City; although it was Scarface who was the official leader of the mob. They operated out of a trendy hotspot an Electric Street called the Ventriloquist Club. The bouncer of the club was an oversized leg-breaker named Rhino. The Ventriloquist and Scarface made their marks in Gotham underworld through the sale and distribution of a designer drug named Fever. This earned them the attention of the vigilante Batman, who eventually fought through the Ventriloquist's gang and apprehended the drug lord and his puppet master.

### No Man's Land

When Gotham becomes an abandoned No Man's Land, all the villains claim their territory and take over certain sectors.

## Personality

The Ventriloquist is a delusional schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder, and thus is obsessed with his puppet, Scarface. When teamed with Scarface, the two operate as a criminal mastermind and Scarface is portrayed as an old-fashioned mob boss with a sociopathic disregard for human life.

## Abilities

* **Gifted Intelligence:**The Scarface persona is a brilliant criminal strategist and tactician.
* **Master Ventriloquist:**Wesker is a skilled ventriloquist, an act of stagecraft which the person changes their own voice so that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually his puppet Scarface.
* **Skilled Marksman:**The Ventriloquist is a very talented marksman.

### Equipment

* **Scarface:**The puppet of the Ventriloquist, whom he believes is a separatist entity and his boss.
* **Tommy Gun:**Ventriloquist's signature weapon is a tommy gun.

### Weaknesses

* **Multiple Personalities:**Ventriloquist suffers from multiple personality disorder, and is thus obsessed with his puppet Scarface in which his dissociated personality embodies.