False Face (Adam West Batman)

Evil-doer

False Face
Clayface

Full Name

Basil Karlo

Alias

False Face

Clayface
The Master of Disguise

Disguises;
Chief O'Hara
Commissioner Gordon
Bruce Wayne
Dr. Chan
President Johnson
Blaze
Abraham Lincoln
Egghead
Fred Fillips
Security guard
Wonder Woman

Origin

Batman (1960s TV series)

Occupation

Criminal mastermind

Powers / Skills

Various disguises

Athleticism
Various trick objects used for escape or disorientation
Skilled motorcycle driver
Intelligence

Hobby

Impersonating

Goals

Become "complete" again

Crimes

Impersonating an official

Assault
Theft
Invasion

Type of Villain

Impersonating Criminal

“	Thanks men, I know you didn't mean it.	„
	~ False Face's most famous quote.

“	I want my own wing of the villain museum! But don't call me Karlo or False Face in those placards. I'm more than a man now, Batman. I'm an element of the Earth itself. Call me... Clayface!!!	„
	~ Clayface

“	No more of you figuring out who i am, then punching my lights out. Well, i mean, there still will be a punch-out. YOU!	„
	~ Clayface

False Face (real named Basil Karlo) is a masked super-villain obsessed with falsehood and an enemy of the Batman and Robin who served as a minor antagonist in the Batman 1966 television series. He was the titular main antagonist of the two-part episode "True Or False Face" and "Holy Rat Race". In the Batman '66 tie-in comics, Karlo finally became the villain known as Clayface.

He was played by the late Malachi Throne (credited as "Special Guest Villain ?"). When posing as Chief O'Harra, he was played by Stafford Repp and by Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon.

Biography[]

Origins[]

Clayface (B66) 01 — Basil Karlo before his mutation

The identity of False Face is unknown as he is always covered by a plastic base mask. He is a cunning master of disguise, which often baffles the police of Gotham as well as the citizens with his false crimes and double negatives.

In Batman '66, it is revealed that False Face was a criminal named Basil Karlo, who broke into Throne Labs in 1963 after the false flesh/syntheti̇c cell project was announced. He often sanded off his fingerprints to avoid leaving evidence in his crimes. There, he saw a chance to change his identity completely.

A lab assistant reported that he drank the serum, not how it was intended to be administered. It was designed to revive dead skin cells, necrotic flesh. Utimately, he lost not only his identity, but any true sense of self look. The masks he wears as False Face are made from a cast of his face before he forgot how to look like Basil Karlo. Before he became the man who could be anyone.

Batman[]

False Face manages to steal a jewelled crown and replace it with a fake one and then plans to flood Gotham City with millions of dollars of counterfeit money so that no-one can tell the difference between the real cash and the fake. Despite his excellent ability to disguise himself, False Face normally gives himself away such as when he disguised himself as Commissioner Gordon and holds his handkerchief in his left hand whilst the real Gordon is right handed, something which Batman notices. With the help of False Face's assistant Blaze, who has turned against him, False Face is eventually captured by Batman and Robin and imprisoned. Before being taken to Gotham Penitentiary, he swears revenge but never escapes from prison again.

Batman '66[]

In Batman '66 #23, False Face was trying to find an inhibitor that would stop the effects of the serum he ingested previously. However, what he stole was a more refined compound of what he drank before. Now, it was incredibly difficult for him to maintain a consistent form. So, he eventually was transformed into a mud monster known as Clayface, but was later defeated by Batman again.

Wonder Woman '77[]

Clayface (W77) 01 — Clayface meets Wonder Woman

“	Clayface?! You seem a bit far from Gotham!	„
	~ Wonder Woman

At some point, Clayface's body began deteriorating from unknown causes. On advice from the new Cheetah, Clayface stows away on Wonder Woman's invisible plane. As the plane lands, the amazon discovers Clayface, but he was able to reach Paradise Island, and absorb the enchanted clay on its beaches. The clay multiplies Clayface's power, allowing him to fend off not just Wonder Woman but an entire army of Amazon warriors.

The villain later transforms into a giant clay-like Wonder Woman, but this inadvertently gives him the upper hand; since Wonder Woman was born from the same enchanted clay, Clayface is now technically part of her body. So Wonder Woman managed to take control of Clayface's body and forces him to fly into a volcano and then the ocean. The cooling magma hardens him into an immobile lump of stone, which is promptly shipped back into Washington, D.C. in Steve Trevor's house for incarceration.

Powers and Abilities[]

Master of Disguise: False Face could constantly change his appearance to match who he was posing as.
- Quick Change Artist: False Face could also change between his masked face and his true face in seconds.
Shapeshifting: As Clayface, Basil Karlo has the ability to shape-shift and turn into other people, being nearly impossible to detect due to his unsuspecting nature. He also can makes use of his super-strength, being able morph his hands into different weapons such as axes, hammers and spiked balls.
- Size Alteration: As Clayface, Karlo can increaze his size at will.
- Bio-Fission: As Clayface, Karlo can make clay-duplicates of himself.
Acting: False Face was excellent at acting like whoever he posed as.

Weaknesses[]

Out of Character Behaviour: False Face was ultimately caught out when Batman saw him obscuring his face with his left hand when Commissioner Gordon was right handed.

Arsenal[]

Explosive Beard: False Face used a false explosive beard to escape from the museum.

Quotes[]

“	Game and set to you, Caped Crusader. But wait, you may yet meet your match!	„
	~ False Face after being arrested.

Gallery[]

Batman[]

Batman '66[]

Wonder Woman '77[]

Trivia[]

Malachi Throne was offered less money than Myrna Fahey (the actress who played Blaze) so he asked William Dozier not to credit him hence why his guest credit was a question mark.
- Malachi appears out of the mask as the security guard that he poses as after robbing the armored car. He quickly reattached the mask when the camera cut away to Batman's reaction.
False Face only appeared in one two-parter due to his mask scaring younger viewers.
Although never stated in-universe, the producers said that he was intended to be Basil Karlo, the original Clayface.
- Although a character called False Face made an appearance in a 1958 comic, his disguised instead consisted of a tuxedo and a black hood instead of a plastic mask and his identity was never given.
  - In the Batman '66 comic book continuation, False Face' was revealed to be Basil Karlo and served as his criminal identity until becoming Clayface.

Navigation[]

Villains

Elseworlds
Batman | Bloody Bob

Television
Batman (1943)
Prince Daka

Batman and Robin (1949)
The Wizard | Wizards Henchmen

Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures
Joker | Harley Quinn | Poison Ivy | Ra's al Ghul | Talia al Ghul | Two-Face | Penguin | Catwoman | Riddler | Scarecrow | Killer Croc | Clayface | Mr. Freeze | Bane | Mad Hatter | Man-Bat | Ventriloquist and Scarface | Phantasm | Firefly | Clock King | Baby Doll | Rupert Thorne | The Boss | Boxy Bennett | Buzz Bronski | Carlton Duquesne | Chuckie Sol | Salvatore Valestra | Sidney Debris | Tony Zucco | Cameron Kaiser | Daniel Mockridge | Grant Walker | Maxie Zeus | Roland Daggett | Hugo Strange | Lloyd Ventrix | Kyodai Ken | Emile Dorian | Red Claw | Boss Biggis | Sewer King | Professor Milo | Arkady Duvall | Count Vertigo | Ferris Boyle | Arnold Stromwell | Condiment King | Calendar Girl | Farmer Brown | Lock-Up | Montague Kane | Roxy Rocket | King Barlowe | Barlowe's bodyguard | Klarion | Arthur Reeves | Gil Mason | J. Carrol Corcoran | Mad Bomber | Dr. Gregory Belson | Bud and Lou | Captain Clown | Mo, Lar, and Cur | Murphy | Rocco and Henshaw | H.A.R.D.A.C. | Randa Duane | Batman Clone | Susan Maguire | Michael Vreeland | Crocker | Nitro | Raymond Bell | Candice

The Penguin
Falcone Crime Syndicate (Penguin, Carmine Falcone, Sofia Falcone, Alberto Falcone, Johnny Viti, & Milos Grapa) | Salvatore Maroni | Victor Aguilar

Villains

Villains

Movies
Wonder Woman (2009): Ares | Cheetah
Wonder Woman (2017): Ares | Erich Ludendorff | Doctor Poison
Wonder Woman: Bloodlines: Villainy Inc. (Veronica Cale, Doctor Cyber, Doctor Poison, Silver Swan, Cheetah, Giganta, & Medusa) | Parademons
Wonder Woman 1984: Maxwell Lord | Cheetah

Television
The New Adventures of Wonder Woman: Uncle Lawson Koslo | Colonel Dekker
Wonder Woman (2011): Veronica Cale

Villains Wiki

False Face (Adam West Batman)

Contents

Biography[]

Origins[]

Batman[]

Batman '66[]

Wonder Woman '77[]

Powers and Abilities[]

Weaknesses[]

Arsenal[]

Quotes[]

Gallery[]

Batman[]

Batman '66[]

Wonder Woman '77[]

Trivia[]

Navigation[]

Fan Feed