The Arkham Mentality; A psychological analysis of Batman Villains using real serial killers

This started out as my senior project in high school. It got a C, but I'm really proud of it; so here it is.
A quick side note, this assignment was to be 5-7 pages, mine was acidentally 19.

Enjoy!


An Analysis of the Arkham Crimonal psyche and it’s Correspondence to True to Life Psychosis



This paper is an analysis of the psychotic disorders of particular villains in Batman’s Gallery of Rogues. It also includes corresponding murderers from the non-fictional or, real world. The similarities between fictional and non-fictional villains, such as their preference of victims, reasons behind their killings or abuse, and their overall psychological perception of themselves (i.e. a god-complex) These similarities will be explored in depth; followed by a discussion of the psychotic representation of the fictional Arkham villains as either stated or implied by their actions.

An Analysis of the Arkham Criminal Psyche and it’s Correspondence to True to Life Psychosis.



The iconic figure of Batman has been synonymous with the dark side of the mind, ever since his first appearance in Detective Stories #27 (May 1939). Since then, the character himself, and other less significant figures from the story line have gone on to head their own series. However, none have been so successful as the ones involving Batman’s “Gallery of Rogues”, a collection of his most fiendish and depraved nemeses. Villains including The Joker, Harley Quinn, the Riddler, and many others have evoked fear and intrigue for approximately the past fifty years. What is it that makes the human mind so beguiled when considering a serial killer who dresses like a clown? Or who someone would, willingly or otherwise, implicate themselves to a crime by leaving riddles? Perhaps it’s because one can find others in the real world, who may even be more volatile and bizarre than those printed in ink. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that mankind has indeed come to grips with the fact that it has madmen and women walking among it and it lusts for a more controlled means to enjoy the horrific spectacle of murder.

Regardless of the stipulations by which these figures were created, it can be assured that they have manifested their own personalities and personality disorders. Whether these were intended, or a fortunatel accident entirely depends on the creation itself. For example; Penguin was originally intended to be just an ugly socialite, but after Bill Finger (the creator and assisting artist of Batman) saw a mascot for a cigarette company; a penguin dressed in a top hat with a cane, it became clear that he should take on that persona and be downcast from his aristocratic family. Killer Croc was intended to be a reptilian-looking gangster, and that’s what he stayed. Through evolution of character, deep stories have unfolded, bringing to the surface serious psychotic disorders that have become representative of textbook cases of psychosis.



Essential Question; Are Arkham Villains untainted examples of textbook psychosis, and can a real-life example be found that the particular villain can be related to?

Supporting Questions

What diagnosis can be given to Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)?

What Personality disorder can be attributed to the Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot)?

What diagnosis can be given to Mr. Victor Zsasz?



Summary, Disscussion


What psychological Diagnosis can be Given to Harleen Quinzel, a.k.a Harley Quinn?

Harley Quinn;covered in jewels] Whheee! Look at all the pretties!
The Joker Put them back, Harley.
Harley Quinn; Awww, you're such a kidder, Mr J. You never could...
The Joker; [grabbing Harley in a chokehold] I said put them back!
[tosses her across the room]
Harley Quinn; [shocked] S-s-sure, boss. I can do that. This is me putting them back. No problemo... (The Batman 1993)

Batman; Where is he, Harley?
Harley Quinn; After all these years, Bats, you still think I'd give up Mr. J?
Batman; Why not? He gave you up.
Harley Quinn That was a long time ago! He's changed! We've been to couples counseling! ( The Justice Legue 2003)

Although these bits of dialogue are from two differant serieses, they are representitive of the relationship between Harley Quinn and the Joker. Throughout their time together, Harley Quinn, formerly Harleen Quinzel, has been used and abused, and continuously comes back for more. Her criminal insanity is only a side-effect of her obsessive relationship with someone who cannot feel love or compassion for her.

Harleen Quinzel was formerly an Arkham psychiatrist; a perky, blonde genius with top marks in school. Despite a little discursiveness in her thoughts, she was found to be most capable of analizing the most dangerous and disturbed inmate in the institution. Through their intimate discussions that usually resulted in nothing but laughter and little progress, Dr. Quinzel found herself unable to think of anything else but the Joker, and soon became his willing accomplice in any and all crimes he wished to commit, even helping him to escape Arkham time and time again.

On a side note; there is another version of their story in which Harleen Quinzel had a "Dear Abby" kind of show, on which the mysterious caller "Joe Ken" would call and suggest very dark and disturbing things. This intregued Quinzel and caused her to arrange a meeting with him. It was then that she fell in love with him and became his accomplice.

Reguardless of how the two came to meet, the relationship remains the same; an entirely one-sided romance with painful results for the loving party. The Joker has indeed shown physical interest, and even feigned emotional attatchment, but Harley loses favor frequently and will often be left for dead after a battle with police or Batman and his inconstant team (Robin and or Batgirl).

This kind of obsessiveness isn't entirely uncommon among women or men. An "Obsessive Love" is an anxiety disorder, according to Dr. Paul J Hanning, Doctor of psychology at MFCC. He writes that, "Since an obsessional disorder is characterized by anxiety, terror becomes internalized and well disguised. This produces tension which manifests itself differently than other anxiety disorders."

It's entirely reasonable to think that Harleen Quinzel was terrified to encounter the Joker's anger for the first time, and having been so interested in what makes him tick, recognized it as something completely differant. There's also a strong possibility that living with such an unstable person leaves her desensitized frontally to fear. Almost like an emulation of her victimizer and lover, Harley can laugh at the most horrific things, including things that she herself has done.

Unlike the Joker, Harley is not immune to the effects of pain. Meaning, she can't be hit and still laugh. This make her an incomplete copy of the joker, and whether or not she could ever become completely like him is a question of severe mental conditioning. The strangest and most puzzling thing about Harley Quinn is that her personality hasn't drastically changed since being Harleen Quinzel. She doesn't feel the need to change, most likely because her old life is never referred to after she becomes involved with the Joker, except by the Batman in times of negotiation. She doesn't refuse to aknowledge that she had a life before the Joker, but it's her old life continues in a new form.



The best corrisponding fit in this reality is most likely Karla Homolka, a Canadian fellon with an obsessional love. Homolka met Paul Bernardo at a pet care confrance, and instantly fell in love with him. They had sex on the first night and she pledged her life to giving him what he wanted. over the next few years, the relationship between Homolka and Bernardo intensified and they shared and encouragend eachothers psychotic behavirors it was during this time that Bernardo was involved in raping women, with the approval of Homolka. The uncaught Bernardo (dubbed the Scarbarough rapist by the police and media), made women endure violant anal rape and varying levels of humiliation while Homolka watched and sometimes even participated.

But something still bothered Bernardo; Homolka wasn't a virgin when they met. So, to ease his "troubled mind" on whether or not she was faithful, Karla Homolka offered her sister Tammy, 14 at the time, as a surrogate virgin to appease her lover. They drugged her with an animal anesthetic Homolka stole from her work called, halothane, and knocked her unconcious while the deed was done.

This wouldn't be the first time Tammy was used; after a Homolka family christmas party, the same drug was administered to her via a cloth over her mouth. While being raped, Tammy choked on her own vomit, and that was the end of that.

Replacing Tammy was an issue with Bernardo, and he blamed his loving girlfriend for her death, saying that she wasn't around for him to enjoy sexually anymore. Homolka replaced her sister with another teenager whom idolized her. She invited her over to dinner and did roughly the same things to her that she had done with Tammy, even capturing it on videotape to remeber as a keepsake.

Soon after they kidnapped another teen, sexually assulted, killed and dismemebered her, they were married. Bernardo insisted on planning everything and even pressured his new wife to swear that she would "love, honor and obey his every wish" before all their relations. A few months after their wedding, they kidnapped another young girl and again, videotaped their humiliation of her. The left her in a ditch before going to Homolka's Easter sunday dinner with her family.

Again, making referance to Dr. Hanning's description of terror being internalized as something obsessive, it's possible that the controling Bernardo intimidated his caring and submissive lover and thus bound her to him for life. It's very clear that he didn't truthfully care for her as a person, because if he did, he wouldn't have taken all the others. However, he did want her to share in his exploitation, creating a tiny glimmer of hope for Karla Homolka to focus her obsessions on.



The multiple similarities between the two women run from their personalities to their obsessional love interests and tolerance of mental and physical abuse. While Homolka indulged in sexual crimes with her boyfriend, Harley Quinn went on several robberies and terroristic adventures with the Joker. They both became imitations of their domonant lover's persuits; Homolka, raping and killing young girls, and Harley Quinn, robbing museums and making threats on the lives of an entire city's population. One could assume with a reasonable amount of certainty that the two both suffered from the same mental disorder and are, in many ways resemblant of eachother.



What personality disorders can be attributed to Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a The Pengin?

The Penguin is a fantastic example of an inferiority complex; bullied as a child, and with a domenearing mother, he resorted to criminal activities to gain respect from the people of Gotham. He also has something like a "Napoleon complex" because of which, his short stature causes him to need to be larger than life. It's for this reason that he chose to open his night club "The Iceberg Lounge", a hotbed of criminal activity.

Oswald Cobblepot was bullied as a child due to his short and round build, not to mention his long, beak-like nose. His peers dubbed him Penguin, and the name stuck throughout his lifetime. He tried several times to shake the name, proclaiming himself as an aristocrat by using his ansestral name of Cobblepot, but it got him no higher than Smith would've. So he tried to dress up his appearance with formal clothes; a tuxedo, top hat and monocle, not to mention his iconic high-tech umbrella.

Apparently, his mother was the one who inspired his unique choice in weaponry. His father died of pnamonia, and after a mental melt-down, his mother insisted he take an umbrella everywhere he went; rain or shine. She also demanded that he remain in a differant room while family and close friends were in the house.

Unlike most Batman Villains, the Penguin is completely sane and in control of his actions. His mental illness is only attributed to personality and could potentially be controled with therapy. However, being as he is, the Penguin would prefer to think of himself as an unmarred "Gentlman of Crime", as he commonly refers to himself. He was, techically a genius, and developed all his own technology with the money he made working the Gotham crime syndicate. Also unlike the other villains, he did very little of his own dirty-work, hiring others to do it for him and keeping his finger on the button.This only added to his self-important image. He also only committed petty crimes, such as; fencing stolen property, museum and bank robbery, and generally perpetuationg the huge image of Gotham's crime scene.



The best real-world example of the Penguin's difficulties might be Nathan Leopold, a rich, self-styled, coddled criminal. He and his friend of many years, Richard Loeb, concocted the perfect crime, and excecuted it. The completely failed, and it took Clarance Darrow, one of the most brilliant minds in law, to get them off the hook. The ironic thing was; Leopold had an I.Q estimated to be over 200. He graduated from the university of Chicago with honors at the age of 18, and spoke five fluent languages, having dabbled in fifteen. The extrememly convienient similarity between the two is that Leopold was obsessed with ornathology, the study of birds, as was Oswald Cobblepot. Nathan Leopold kept over 3,000 bird species in the fourth floor study of his home and lectured at Harvard, and the American Ornathalogical Society. He also taught a "bird class" to girls at the University's Elementary School.

Not only is his obsession with birds a facinating similarity, but the amount of bullying about his physical appearance and hobbies that he had to endure in school is remarkabley similar to that of Oswald Cobblepot. Nathan Leopold was also short and homely, with very few social graces. He was branded with the nickname "the Flea as a result of his size and unattractiveness. This left him feeling inferior, and he chose to assert himself more, again through crime. But even before his criminal activity began, his yearbook quote is an interesting look inside his head. "Of course, I am the great Nathan. When I open my lips, let no dogs bark."



He and Leob were responsible for the kidnapping of Bobby Franks in 1924. They wrote a letter to the parents explaining that if $10,000 was exchanged in a very spacific manner, than Bobby would be returned safely. However, this was not the case. The money wasn't delivered and, reluctantly but without hesitation, Leob and Leopold killed and dumped Bobby Franks into Wolf Lake in Chicago. Railroad workers found him there later, naked. His clothes were never found, but a pair of horn-rimmed glasses were recoverd. It was soon discovered that the glasses did not belong to Bobby Franks, and had teeth marks down the sides. The perscription was very common, and it was unlikely that any optical clinic would remember exactly who'd bought them. None-the-less, a photo was published in the paper and police went from clinic to clinic to try and find out who's glasses had been found at the scene of the crime.



It was not to long after that that Richard Leob sealed their fate by taking two journalists on a hunt for the drugstore where the kidnappers had instructed Jaccob Franks to go to leave the money. He made the mistake of mentioning, upon being asked if he knew the boy, "Yeah, if I was gonna murder someone, it'd have to be the likes of that cocky son of a bitch Bobby franks."

On top of Leob's "brilliant" move, the police inquired about frequent visitors to Wolf Lake; it turned out taht Nathan Leopold was there very often to bird watch. It was also discovered that the hinges of the infamous glasses found at the scene were very unique, only three pairs had been sold in Chicago. One belonged to Nathan Leopold. They were dragged through rings and rings of court procceedings, but eventually were imprisoned for life at the Joiel Penatentury.



On top of the most obvious and distinct connections between Oswald Cobblepot and Nathan Leopold, being; inferiority disorder, the stress of being bullied for appearances and hobbies, unattractive appearance, the unusual intellegance, and the unwillingness to work alone, there is also the instance that the Leob/Leopold crime was committed for money, the most common denominator in all the Penguin's crimes, alongside respect. Which the real-world crime would have assertained, had they not needed to remain anonymous. The need to be respected to make up for short-commings, physical or social, is the main bond beween the two and exactly what drives them to criminal persuits.



What psychological analysis could be put to Mr. Victor Zsasz?

A man who started out with everything, Victor Zsasz was a great business mind who owned an internationally known company who's base was in Gotham city. His parents were also inherantly wealthy, so when they died in a boating accident, Victor gained all their assets, plus his own financial gain. But apparently that wasn't enough.

When his parents died, he was just 25, and fell into a deep depression. That's when he began to gamble. The sums of money he lost got to be larger nad larger, until he found himself at the Gotham Casino, betting it all against who-else but the Penguin. He lost everything, and felt that his life had become empty. He felt that there was no point to his existance, and thus tried to commit suicide by jumping from the Gotham Bridge. While preparing to jump, Zsasz was assulted by a homeless man, angered by Victor's refulal to give him money. Instinctively grabbing the knife, he saw something in the man's eyes that led him to the conclusion that "all life is meaningless" and that "no one, nor anything matters". He then proceeded to stab the man to death as a gift for saving his life.

He usually prefers to attack young women, but has no qualms about any number of victims. He slits their throats and leaves them in lifelike poses, adding a tally mark to his body for every person that he successfuly "liverates" from life. This sociopathic tendancy to think death is a liberating force is only superficial. He knows that there could be nothing on the otherside and that he's just killing to be killing, the trouble is, he's not dead, so he doesn't care. The only relative thing in his life is body-count. The more tally marks he can cut into his body, the better. They're trophies, and physical reminders of his accomplishments.



A great sociopath to which Victor Zsasz is comparable is Herman Mudgett, one of the world's most underated serial murderers. He killed over three-hundred people in his "Murder castlle", during the 1893 World's fair and for several months after. He was America's first identified serial killer. Another name by which he was known was Henry Howard Holmes, primarily because it sounded more distinguished.



Like Victor Zsasz, he came from a promonant family in New Hampshire, and seemed to have everything going for him. He was handsome, intellegant, well-off, and charming. Unfortunately, his future was dashed when he was caught stealing cadavers from his medical school to defraud insurance agencies; he was promplty expelled and went on to commit several other crimes, including bigamy, fraud, and obviously murder.

He moved to Chicago, there he changed his name and bought a pharmacy from a women with a dying husband. When the man finally died, Mudgett began to dely in his payments, and when the woman threatened to take him to court, he made her dissappear; telling people she'd moved to California. With the cover of a successful business, Mudgett could continue his criminal life. He moved his pharmacy accross the street into the first floor of a three-story building that he designed himself. During the course of construction, he would frequently hire and fire construction workers; and by the time construction was complete, over 500 workers had been employed and dismissed. No one questioned it until after the investigations involving his murders began.

No one was employed long enough to gain a full picture of what an unusual building Mudgett had designed. There were dozens of rooms, some secret and some inter-connected. Many were led-lined with gas jets, some had chutes leading to zinc tubs in the basement, most of them were windowless and blocked by heavy doors. Even a large kiln, a lime-vat and an autopsy table were added to the basement. Police were never able to identify exactly how many people he killed. He would murder people, mostly women, in gas chambers, then dump them down chutes into zinc tubs, where he would fish them out and preform autopsies, and burn them in kilns, and finally disposing the rest of them in a lime vat.

owever, it was not the depraved business going on in Murder Castle that brought Holmes to justice. It was an insurance fraud scheme. He double crossed Marion Hedgepeth and that was the beginning of his downfall. Hedgepeth was an infamous bank robber serving time in a Philadelphia jail where Holmes was temporarily being held during a fraud investigation. Holmes was released, but not before telling Hedgepeth of his plan to bilk an insurance company out of $10,000. According to the plan, his long time lackey, Benjamin F. Pritezel, was to take out an insurance policy on himself and disappear. Holmes would secure a cadaver, disfigure it, and later help identify it as Pritezel's body. Meanwhile, he would have a lawyer acting on behalf of the Pritezel’s family collect the insurance money. All he needed was an unethical lawyer to make his scheme work. In exchange for $500.00, Hedgepeth put him in touch with a shady lawyer. Holmes’ scheme succeeded. However, he failed to give Hedgepeth his share of the money. Hedgepeth went to the authorities with the story.



There was no stated reason for Mudgett's killings, but it's safe to assume that from his lack of relationships and total disreguard for human life, that he fits the profile of a scosiopath. The lack of notable connection and his various, complicated methods of random murder is indicative of the devaluing of human life. He and Mr. Zsasz are similar in this reguard, and their dramatic, personalized killings. Mudgett chose the gas chambers, while Zsaz slit throats; Mudgett conducted autopsies, Zsasz posed his victims. The onlycrucial differance is that, while Zsasz displayed his victims and kept a count of how many he killed, Mudgett decimated those he killed and possibly kept no record of how many he destroyed. Their simalarities primarily revolve around their backgrounds and psychological analysis of being sociopathic.


Conclusion

To summarize, although the connections are speculatory, and differant connectios to differant serial killers could be made; the psychological analysis is thourough enough to suggest the Arkham Villains are representative of real psychotic disorders. The four specified in this particular paper were the most obvious connections. Harley Quinn, the Penguin, Victor Zsasz and the Vintriloquist can all be diagnosed fairly simply, having very singulare mentalities. Obsessive love, inferiority, sociopathy and Dissosiative Identity disorder have all been clinically studied, well documented, and portrayed in popular media. This makes it far easier for the average person with an interest to associate a fictional person suffering from a mental illness to a real psychotic person.

Whether or not someone watching Batman or reading the graphic novels has any previous knowledge of psychology is only mildly important. It's more than likely that, with a little looking around in papers or on the internet, that they could find a simplistic diagnosis of any mental disorder, and even a real world example to make referance to. For example, if someone wanted to research Poison Ivy's mental illness or personality disorder, they might start a search with "over-zelous Greenpeace" and move on from there to something like "eco-terrorists". Eventually they should be able to find a suitable person to whom she would corrispond, and from there, be able to classify her personal illness with some accuracy.