Aliases : Dr. Jonathan Crane.
Base of Operations : Gotham City, NJ.
Tag : scarecrow
Important Plots : None.
Journal(s) : None
Status : Available

Powers and Abilities : Scarecrow is well-educated on the psychology of fear, and as well as being an accomplished psychiatrist, is also a more-than-adept chemist; being able to create his own brand of fear toxin that he regularly tries to unleash.

History : Jonathan Crane was born out of wedlock and also suffered terrible abuse from his fanatically religious great-grandmother. His father left before he was even born, and his mother didn't show any love or affection towards her son. He developed his first taste for fear and an affinity for crows when his grandmother locked him in a dilapidated church full of birds.

Jonathan Crane eventually became obsessed with fear and revenge from being bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence for his lanky frame and bookish nature, especially his resemblance to Ichabod Crane. At the age of 18, Jonathan would first experiment with terrifying others with the intent to harm, by brandishing a gun in his high school parking lot during the senior prom. Dressed in the ghoulish scarecrow costume that would later become his trademark, Crane caused the head bully, Bo Griggs, to have an automobile accident which paralysed Griggs. From this, Crane discovered a savage delight in literally frightening people to death.

He grew up to become a professor of psychology at Gotham University, specialising in the psychology of fear. He lost his job after he fired a gun at his students to prove a point; but he injured a student. After his dismissal, he killed the regents who fired him and became a career criminal. Following this, he transferred to Arkham Asylum and became a psychiatrist, where he performed cruel, fear-induced experiments on his patients. He took the moniker "the Scarecrow", the favorite taunt of the hated bullies, as part of his revenge.

After his crimes against the inmates were uncovered, he was quietly released into the civilian life once more, but this time he honed his fear-inducing techniques on normal people. He developed his infamous fear toxin, and experimented with doses and compositions on anyone he could find, resulting in madness, deaths, and chaos in Gotham. Batman caught him and had him locked away, but Scarecrow persistently escaped to horrific effect.

When Bane blew Arkham Asylum up, Scarecrow allied himself with the Joker in taking Commissioner Gordon hostage, although this plan was thwarted by Batman as well. During his escape, he attempted to use his fear toxin on the Joker, only to get bludgeoned half-to-death by the clown.

Crane has made alliances with many different criminals over time, spending a great deal of time recently with the Riddler, although he was also in Hush's employ at one stage. Of late, Crane was trying to secure a release from Arkham, not on the basis that he was rehabilitated, but that he could do a greater service outside of the asylum. He released a booked named "Why the world needs Batman" which was critically acclaimed, and even went to book-signings. It was at one of these signings that he was attacked by a civilian, and inadvertently saved a child's life by taking a bullet that was headed straight for the boy.

Waking up in Sacred Heart in Gotham, Crane found out that he'd been released from Arkham due to "mistreatment by the staff there" and his "shortened life expectancy". According to the doctor who operated on Crane to remove the bullet, fragments were working their way up his spine, and he only had six months to live.

Other Sources :

• The Scarecrow at the DC Database Project
• The Scarecrow at Wikipedia

Divergences : Scarecrow was one of the key players in the Secret Society of Supervillains in the game continuity, and was also recently critically wounded by a member of the Gotham City Police Department.

Disclaimer - unless otherwise noted, all characters are property of DC Comics, used here only for roleplaying purposes.