Our villain origins series tells you the life and backstory of terrifying foes that we have seen either on television, the big screen or in comics. In today’s video, we’ll be looking at such a villain whose appearance and deeds will make your skin crawl. Where did we find this villain, you ask? Well, we went back to the one city that is overrun by bad guys - Gotham of course. While Penguin, Two-Face, The Riddler, Poison Ivy, and The Joker are all well-known villains, there is one who is particularly twisted, brutal, and scary to witness in action. Victor Zsasz, a serial killer, is that adversary.
In June 1992, the character first appeared in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1. He's a sadomasochistic and psychopathic serial murderer who marks himself with a tally mark for each of his victims. Zsasz is a member of Batman's rogue's gallery, a group of villains that regularly oppose the superhero, Batman. The character has appeared in a variety of non-comics mediums. Zsasz has been voiced by Danny Jacobs in the Batman: Arkham video game franchise, he was also played in live-action by Anthony Carrigan on the television series Gotham and Alex Morf in the second season of the Arrowverse series Batwoman. The character was also brought to life by Tim Booth in the film Batman Begins (2005), and Chris Messina in the DC Extended Universe film Birds of Prey (2020).
Without further ado, let's dive right into the backstory of this famed and feared serial killer.
0:00 Intro
2:14 MR. ZSASZ TRAGIC ORIGIN
6:15 ESCAPING FROM ARKHAM ASYLUM
9:02 MR. ZSASZ INJURED BATMAN AND TAUNTED HIM WITH THE NOTION THAT THEY WERE MORE ALIKE
10:48 WHAT MAKES MR. ZSASZ SO DANGEROUS?
14:38 CREATIVE AND TERRIFYING VERSIONS OF MR. ZSASZ IN VARIOUS FORMS OF MEDIA - EXPLORED