Scarecrow (Jonathan Crane)

Dr. **Jonathan Crane** is the **Scarecrow**, a criminal in Gotham who takes pride in spreading fear using his specially-designed fear toxin, naturally coming to blows with the city's protectors

## Scarecrow

### Relatives

Karen Keeny (mother),Marion Keeny (grandmother, deceased),

Mary Keeny (great-grandmother, deceased),

Gerald Crane (father),

unnamed half-sister

## Origin

### Origin

Born out of wedlock into an abusive home and made the subject of his father's experiments into fear. Later turned into a prominent psychologist in Arkham Asylum and carrying out his own experiments.

## History

### Origins

Jonathan Crane was born out of wedlock into an abusive home, suffering primarily at the hands of his father, Gerald Crane.

His father was a scientist who researched the emotion of fear. Unable to use proper test subjects, Dr. Crane used his own son Jonathan as his guinea pig.

As part of the experiments, Jonathan was locked inside a little dark room while his father examined the effects on his son. One day however, during one of the experiments, Dr. Crane experienced a heart attack and died, leaving young Jonathan still trapped in the pitch black test chamber. Dr. Crane's employers at the University became concerned about his prolonged absence, and eventually, police were called to investigate. When they arrived at the Crane's household, the cops spotted the test chamber and were horrified to find Jonathan alone down inside, having survived days of starvation.

As a result, he was traumatized for most of his childhood until, eventually, Jonathan decided that if he could control fear, he would never have to live in it again. He soon developed an obsession with his goal and enrolled into Gotham University, graduating and becoming a psychologist - with a concentration in phobias.

Crane was later hired to work in Arkham Asylum, where he put his knowledge to the test. He'd also self-educate himself in the field of chemistry, and combining it with his knowledge of psychology, began using the patients at Arkham Asylum as part of a project to develop a new compound, "Fear Toxin".

When injected through any means, the compound would cause his victims to hallucinate about their worst fears.

### ACE Chemicals Incident

Crane decided that a bigger experiment was needed. He decided that Gotham needed to experience true fear, and thusly, he set his sights on the city, with a squad of hypnotised inmates with him.

He first went to the GCPD, where he tested the Fear Toxin by allowing it to pump through the precinct's ventilation systems. After assessing the potency of the toxin, Crane had the inmates steal police equipment and proceeded to make his way to ACE Chemicals.

Preceeding his arrival at ACE, Crane released a pre-recorded broadcast that would go on loop, introducing himself as Scarecrow and warning the people of Gotham that fear was about to grip them.

There, he encountered Red Hood One and his gang. After a short battle, Crane managed to push through and dosed Red Hood One with the Fear Toxin, and afterwards he proceeded to dump Fear Toxin into ACE Chemicals, pumping Fear Toxin into major water supplies and into the air across Gotham, cause widespread chaos and panic.

However, an intervention by Renegade, Wildcat and Batman led to Scarecrow being forced to flee after sustaining heavy injuries.

After having fled to Arkham and having recuperated his injuries, Scarecrow had developed a new strain of Fear Toxin, stronger, more faster acting and with more physical symptoms than the prior strain. He also made sure to update his armour and improve its potency.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

**Toxic Immunity**: Crane has developed an immunity to his own fear toxin, and fear itself, due to his father's earlier experiments and Crane's own experiments into the formula.

### Abilities

* **Intimidation**: Using a variety of toxins that cause his victims to hallucinate that their phobias have come to life, the Scarecrow instills fear in all who see him.
* **Violent Dancing**: When forced to fight, Crane uses his own martial arts style he calls "violent dancing", which is based in part on the crane style of kung fu, and makes full use of his long arms and legs.
* **Genius Level Intellect**
	+ **Psychology**: Jonathan Crane is an expert in the field of psychology, specifically the study of anxiety disorders. He is a walking textbook on the study of fear, and can recite the name and description of nearly every known phobia. He often demonstrates his intellectual prowess by analyzing his fellow patients at Arkham Asylum.
		- **Psychiatry**

* + - **Chemistry**: Jonathan Crane is a proficient chemist and has used this skill to develop his infamous fear toxin.
			* **Toxicology**
		- **Pedagogy**

* **Mechanical Engineering**

## Paraphernalia

### Equipment

**Reinforced Armour**

**Fear Toxin:** An advanced compound that induces and projects a victim's worst fears, causing delirium, complex hallucinations, delusions and more. At higher doses, Fear Toxin can cause death via cardiac arrest. The Fear Toxin also has the potential to cause permanent mental damage, such as psychosis.

**High-Frequency Emmitter Fear Device**: The secondary device used by Scarecrow to induce fear, was more mechanical in nature as it attacked the preganglionic fiber synapses of the nervous system and caused the following reactions:

* Sympathetic Responses: Pupil dilation; increased blood pressure, pulse rate and heart output; sweating and stimulating the *arrectores pilorum*; literally *raising the hair*.
* Increased secretion by the pituitary gland of *"adrenocorticotropic hormone"*, which acts on the cortex of adrenal glands, releasing adrenaline and inducing the "fight or flight" response.
* Varying frequencies and intensity could cause a victim to be merely startled or crippled by unlimited fear.