| “ | So are you ready, Bats? You ready to come see me? I've got such wonderful games for you to play. | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Batman. |
| “ | Oh, oh, don't tell me. Don't tell me! You are the police commissioner! Your face was on that billboard they replaced with mine! (Laughs) What are you waiting for, old timer? Johnny C doesn't do requests. | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Commisioner Gordon. |
Jonathan Browne, also known as Johnny Charisma, is a minor antagonist in the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight. He is one of five people who got infected by the Joker's blood.
He was voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who also portrayed Lex Luthor in Smallville, Adina/Adam in Sorority Boys, Drago in Jackie Chan Adventures, Lieutenant Franzee in Justice League, Doctor Polaris in Justice League Unlimited, and Ghoul and Terminal in Batman Beyond.
Biography[]
Past[]
Johnny Charisma was a professional singer in Gotham City. The self-proclaimed messiah of entertainment.
When Joker sent samples of his mutated blood to hospitals all over the state, Johnny and four other people were infected with his blood. But because Johnny's blood and the other transfusions went unrecorded for some reason, he didn't receive the cure, which caused the blood to gestate too long and made the infected people to look and act like Joker; except for one of the victims, Henry Adams, who appeared to be immune to Joker's blood. Following a psychotic episode, Charisma was interned at a private clinic.
Eventually Batman (who was also infected) brought all four of the infected people to a containment facility and had Robin run tests to investigate why Henry wasn't like the others. Johnny's infection showed up on October 10 when he came off-stage and beat a groupie hard and prolonged enough to render the latter into a coma, and allegedly inflated his already substantial ego into something else.
When he was abducted by Batman, Johnny's absence was covered up with the claim that he had gone to rehab at an exclusive clinic. At some point before this, one of Johnny's billboards replaced one for James Gordon, the police commissioner for the GCPD, with Charisma hysterically commenting on this when Gordon was invited to the Movie Studios by Batman to reveal the Jokerized victims.
Batman: Arkham Knight[]
By the time of Halloween, Batman's current estimate of how long until Johnny's infection reached maximum levels was in 48 hours. Harley Quinn raided Panessa Studios, where Johnny, Albert King, and Christina Bellwere being kept. Quinn released Bell, King, and Charisma from their cells, and left them free to roam the studios. After Batman recaptured Bell, Charisma and King both spoke to Batman on the TV, and challenged him to come and face them. Batman would learn that Johnny had entered a room with a security panel.
After he rewound the security footage, Batman figured out the code, and entered the room to find that Johnny had strapped himself to bombs. Johnny started singing a song (in Batman's fear toxin-infected mind, it's the original Joker singing "Who's Laughing Now") and Batman listened to distract him while Robin defused the bomb, sneaked up behind Johnny, and removed the bomb vest. Batman then knocked Johnny unconscious with a headbutt. Batman and Robin later took Johnny back to the cells.
Depending on whether Batman chose to confront Albert King or Johnny first, the results would slightly vary. If Batman chose to go after Johnny first, he would be discovered to be shot and killed by a Jokerized Henry Adams by the time Batman arrived. If Batman chose to go after King first, Johnny would be shot and killed in front of Batman.
Personality[]
When Johnny got infected by Joker's mutated blood, Johnny took on facets of Joker's personality, specifically his egomania. He became a narcissist with a love for showboating. Although Charisma is implied to have been very arrogant and egotistical before the infection, Johnny also turned very sadistic and ruthless, with him even brutally beating a groupie into a coma.
Even though the Joker infection changed him very much, Johnny wasn't a stranger to doing criminal acts. In his character bio, it's revealed that he's been accused of plenty of drug offenses, taking and/or dealing drugs. He has also driven under the influence.
Quotes[]
| “ | Ugh... Boring! Like he's interested in a fight? Don't you know this guy? He craves something more. Something intelligent, something creative... something fun. | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Albert King. |
| “ | So the big lump failed. Shocking! Can't say I'm surprised. Like that aging lump of muscle memory was ever gonna get the better of you. So are you ready, Bats? You ready to come see me? I've got such wonderful games for you to play. | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Batman if Batman defeats Albert King first. |
| “ | Sorry, Bats. But I was planning a duet for us. Can bird boy wait out there and listen to us make sweet music together? | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Batman about Robin. |
| “ | Don't be shy! There's room up here on stage for two! | „ |
| ~ Johnny to Batman. |
| “ | Time to check out, boys! | „ |
| ~ Johnny spotting Robin before setting off his bombs. |
| “ | No encore? | „ |
| ~ Johnny's joking last words before being knocked out. |
Trivia[]
- Because Batman hallucinated that it was the Joker, the player never got to actually hear Charisma sing. However, it was strongly implied that he had a horrible singing voice, as Robin after he knocked Charisma out, commented that even Alfred could sing better than him, as well as commented that stopping him was "[Robin's] contribution to music".
- Depending on whether the player chose to fight Charisma or Albert King first, Johnny Charisma would either be shot in the head in front of Batman, Robin, and Harley Quinn by Henry Adams, or he would be killed off-screen by Henry Adams.
- The aspect of Joker's personality that Charisma took on the most was Joker's egotism and love for showboating.
- Johnny Charisma seemed to hold a huge rivalry with Albert King, at least in instances where Batman was involved, as they were seen arguing over who got to fight him next.
