At the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Rocksteady Games and Warner Bros. Interactive provided a more in-depth look at the upcoming, highly anticipated sequel Batman: Arkham Knight. This included more footage of the new villain Arkham Knight, including hearing his voice for the first time. If we are to believe the footage and audio, the Arkham Knight has the build of a fit and athletic man, and the voice and attitude of a youthful male. This does narrow down the list of suspects of the Arkham Knight’s identity. So, here is my list of the biggest suspects for the identity of the Arkham Knight.
5. Thomas Elliott aka Hush
Hush was introduced in the games during the “Identity Thief” side mission for Batman: Arkham City. Hush, aka Dr. Thomas Elliott, killed his victims and carved off their faces. Hush then took their flesh as raw material to make a new face to resemble Bruce Wayne. Elliott has an unhealthy fixation and obsession with Bruce Wayne. So on one hand, it is not a huge stretch for Hush to figure out Batman’s identity and try to take on a similar vigilante persona. On the other hand, in Arkham City, Hush is clearly unaware that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one in the same. Arkham Knight appears to know many of Batman’s secrets, including his identity. When Hush confronts Batman in Arkham City, he locks Batman in a caged area. After that, Hush leaves with a simple warning, none the wiser that his obsession, Bruce Wayne, and Batman are the same person. I flip-flop on this because at some point, events could have changed between City and Knight, leading Hush to figure out Batman’s identity.
4. Batman
Now, just bear with me here. For this theory, my suggestion is that the identity of the Arkham Knight is not actually a figure from Batman’s past, but perhaps an alternate personality created by Batman. In the game, Scarecrow appears to be one of the villains. Scarecrow’s whole game is to use fear toxins that alter the minds of his victims and bring their worst fears to life. In Arkham City, even The Mad Hatter was able to manipulate Batman’s mind and create an in-game scenario that was not “real” and only happened in Batman’s mind. What if the Arkham Knight is the result of Scarecrow’s meddling with a fear toxin? Similar things have happened in the comics before. Batman once created an alternate personality in the Batman: RIP story.
3. The Joker
Just how dead is “dead, dead, dead, dead, dead?” Game director Sefton Hill said The Joker is dead, but developers have misled the public before. The Joker’s death in Arkham City could still be a bait and switch routine. The Joker actually could have died, but then what of the Easter eggs of Cadmus labs in the Arkham City story DLC, Harley Quinn’s Revenge? In the comics, Cadmus had its hands in things like cloning and resurrections. Could it be that Cadmus actually recruited The Joker to be its new Arkham Knight? Stranger things have happened.
2. Damian Wayne
This would be a bit of a departure from the comics, where Damian Wayne was introduced as Bruce Wayne’s pre-teen, illegitimate son, the result of a drugged tryst with Talia al Ghul. Based on the dialogue in the E3 demo, the Arkham Knight has a personal vendetta against Batman. The Arkham Knight wants revenge on Batman over something Batman did. If Damian is the Arkham Knight, he might want revenge on Batman because of Batman’s involvement in deaths of Talia al Ghul and Ra’s al Ghul in Arkham City. Talia is Damian’s mother, and Ra’s al Ghul is his grandfather. Damian as the Arkham Knight could blame Batman for their deaths. As for Damian’s age, he merely could be aged up for this title. In the alternate reality in Injustice: Gods Among Us, NetherRealm Studios depicted an adult Damian Wayne as a malevolent version of Nightwing. So, there is precedence for an older, less noble version of Damian.
1. Jason Todd
Based on the footage, Jason Todd is the most feasible suspect for the Arkham Knight. Knight’s attitude comes off a lot like Todd’s when he took on the identity of the Red Hood in the comics. The Arkham Knight’s tone of voice and attitude is very youthful, aggressive and arrogant. This makes me believe even more that it is Jason Todd.
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