Aliases : Arnold Wesker, Scarface
Base of Operations : Gotham City, NJ
Tag : ventriloquist, scarface
Important Plots : None
Journal(s) : jla_villains
Status : Available

Powers and Abilities : The Ventriloquist's only real 'ability' is his skill in throwing his voice, which makes him a skilled ventriloquist. His 'Scarface' persona is a mediocre criminal strategist, and both man and doll are skilled in the usage of firearms. One of the Ventriloquist's favorite tactics is to appear unarmed, only for his Scarface puppet to pull a tommy gun and execute the offender in question.

Weaknesses: The Ventriloquist has no superhuman abilities and is a frail combatant. Furthermore, he is completely dependent upon his puppet, Scarface, and deprived of his dummy he is meek and quickly submits.

History : Meek and mild Arnold Wesker was born into one of Gotham City's many mafia families. He was traumatized at a young age when he witnessed the murder of his mother at the hands of an assassin sent by a rival mafioso. As Wesker matured, he became obsessed with ventriloquism, and eventually built himself a puppet he called 'Scarface,' named after Al Capone's famous nickname. Dressing his doll in the style of a 1920s gangster, Wesker projected all of his repressed violence and hatred into the dummy. That day the Ventriloquist was born.

One of Batman's oldest foes, the Ventriloquist was once a major power player in Gotham. However, age has dulled Wesker's wit, and he has long since been supplanted by younger and sharper criminals such as Rupert Thorne, Roland Daggett, and Max Shreck. The Wesker of today is a pitiable figure, stripped of most of his power. He has found an unlikely home under the wings of the self-proclaimed 'freaks of Gotham', who regard him as something of a mascot, the addled grandfather they put up with for old times' sake.

The Ventriloquist was most recently seen attending a soiree at the Iceberg Lounge attended by Gotham's most colorful criminals, hosted by the Penguin. He was eager to dispose of the troublesome Black Mask himself, but was either ignored or humored by his fellow partygoers.

Other Sources :

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

Divergences : Diverges at Identity Crisis #1.

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