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| “ | The plan is simple. We immerse the good citizens of Gotham in a world of fear and terror where there is no one to protect them. Then when they feel that all hope has been exhausted, we swoop in and be the answer to their fear. You feed a starving dog, it's always by your side. | „ |
| ~ Jonathan Crane explaining his plan to Jason Todd. |
Doctor Jonathan Crane, also known as the Scarecrow, is the main antagonist of Season 3 in the DC Universe original series Titans.
He was a psychologist conducting illegal experiments on people using a toxin that causes them to hallucinate about their worst fears, until he was apprehended by Batman and institutionalized in Arkham Asylum. He later manipulated Jason Todd into mass producing anti-fear gas as the vigilante Red Hood. When that failed, he framed the Titans for tainting Gotham's water supply, and made Red Hood out to be the city's new savior - all part of his ultimate plan to use Jason as his puppet to control the city's inhabitants like a god. All of this culminated in Crane using his fear toxin to kill Gotham's entire population, resuming a master plan that had been foiled by Batman and the original Robin.
He was portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser, who also portrayed Steve Getz in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
History[]
Early life[]
| “ | Don't get me wrong, we all wanna please our parents. That's why I became a doctor, and you see how well that worked out, right? Dick Grayson: You actually think we're the same? |
„ |
| ~ Crane explaining his past to Dick Grayson. |
Little is known of Crane's early life, other than he allegedly suffered psychological abuse, and likely physical abuse, at the hands of his mother, who demanded that he follow in her footsteps and become a doctor. To accomplish this, Crane enrolled in Gotham University, where he befriended Bruce Wayne's future ally Leslie Thompkins, and eventually moved on to graduate school, where he earned a master's degree in psychology. Crane would later become a doctor of psychology himself, during which he secretly conducted illegal experiments on his own patients, using his newly-developed fear toxin to torture them with hallucinations of their greatest terrors. His mother would also abandon him for a new family despite his academic achievements, though whether this was before or after his graduation is unknown.
Becoming Scarecrow[]
At some point, Leslie Thompkins discovered Crane's experiments and threatened to expose him, to which Crane retaliated by poisoning her with his fear toxin, feeling betrayed by her. She was saved by the intervention of Batman, but Crane would soon begin a criminal career under the influence of his Scarecrow persona. At the peak of his criminal endeavors, Scarecrow devised a plan to detonate a series of explosives to spread his toxin all over Gotham, placing the bombs in locations that referenced the W. H. Auden poem "September 1, 1939", and even taunting Commissioner James Gordon by leaving him a copy of the poem to deduce the locations of his bombs. In order to thwart Scarecrow's master plan, Batman had to use the Oracle program to track and eventually apprehend the madman. With his scheme left in ruins, Crane was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. However, at Bruce Wayne's recommendation, Crane was made into a consultant for the Gotham City Police Department, where he proved exceptionally skilled at profiling criminals.
Titans[]
"Lazarus" (flashbacks)[]
After a remorseful Bruce Wayne forced Jason Todd to abandon his position as Robin, feeling responsible for the lingering trauma from his encounter with Deathstroke in San Francisco, a disillusioned Jason would visit Crane in his cell at Arkham Asylum. Todd demanded the formula for his fear toxin, wanting to reverse-engineer it into an anti-fear drug, but Crane was initially uninterested, dismissing Jason as a second-rate Dick Grayson. However, upon being presented with a single vial of his fear toxin - stolen from the Batcave by Todd - he agreed to supply the formula. After returning to Crane with evidence that his new drug worked, he and Jason conspired to finally bring down the Joker. High on the anti-fear drug, Jason confronted the Joker at an abandoned amusement park, where the Clown Prince of Crime bludgeoned Jason to death with a crowbar.
Unbeknownst to Jason, this was part of Crane's true plan all along. Crane would soon have Jason resurrected via a Lazarus Pit that had been left beneath Arkham by Ra's al Ghul, using his henchman Cyrus Beake to smuggle the body from the morgue. Upon returning from the dead, Crane used Jason's own anti-fear drug to brainwash him into becoming the new vigilante Red Hood, following Bruce Wayne's retirement from the Batman mantle after murdering the Joker in revenge for Jason's death.
"Red Hood"[]
Three months later, Dick Grayson would visit Crane in Arkham after being referred to him by GCPD Commissioner Barbara Gordon to help in solving the new Red Hood attacks. Crane deduced that these were only Red Hood's opening moves, revealing that a note in the case file had been written on the back of a page torn from a chess manual, specifically the "Bird's Opening". In exchange for further services, Crane requested a batch of Lemon Lyrics sativa, to which Dick agreed. After learning of the Hobbs Defense, a move in chess designed to go against the Bird's Opening, Dick and the Titans tracked Red Hood to the old Hobbs factory, where Dick would learn Red Hood's true identity as the resurrected Jason Todd.
"Hank & Dove"[]
After fellow Titan Hank Hall had a bomb planted in his chest by Red Hood, Dick returned to Crane with a sample of the sativa he requested, and in exchange for his drugs, Crane offered more information. Still feigning obliviousness to any involvement with Red Hood, he deduced that the new vigilante was "rebelling" against a father figure, and that as part of his revenge, Jason would "use the weapons of his father". This led to Dick and the Titans realizing that the bomb placed in Hank's chest had been manufactured by Wayne Enterprises, originally intended to be a surgical device.
"Blackfire"[]
Crane after Dick intercepts his transfer to Blackgate.
Following Hank's death after the Titans failed to deactivate the bomb in time, Jason staged an assassination attempt on Crane from within Arkham, framed as retaliation for the latter's services to Dick. In reality, the hit was a ruse to have Crane prematurely transferred to Blackgate Penitentiary so that Red Hood could ambush the transfer and free his mentor. Crane surviving the attack at all was enough for Dick to piece together the clues and realize that Crane was the mastermind behind everything. Dick intercepted the transfer himself, knocking out the guards and abducting a visibly shaken Crane, who later complimented Dick on his effortlessness in combat.
Dick took Crane hostage and locked him in an old cabin on the outskirts of Gotham, a secret safehouse where Bruce Wayne had trained both Dick and Jason for their roles as Robin. Crane was dressed in Dick's casual clothes as a trap for Jason, who took the bait and was then ambushed by the real Dick, now in his Nightwing costume. Crane used this as a chance to escape, but was quickly subdued by the safehouse's invisible forcefield. A GCPD helicopter arrived as Red Hood and Nightwing battled, searching for the escaped Crane. However, on Barbara Gordon's orders, the pilots would mistakenly shoot at Dick while attempting to take out Red Hood, offering Jason and Crane the perfect chance to disable the forcefield and escape the scene.
"Lazarus"[]
Now reunited with his protege and free from the police, Crane celebrated their victory by lighting a joint of cannabis, much to Jason's annoyance, who insisted that their cover had been compromised now that Dick knew everything, and he demanded to know the real plan. Crane would subdue Jason with a dose of the anti-fear drug, and assured him that the plan was simple: to ensnare Gotham in chaos and then make themselves the solution, leaving the city indebted to them.
"Lady Vic"[]
Growing impatient, Jason insisted that he and Crane tie up loose ends and go after Dick. Crane would then take Jason to the Thomas and Martha Wayne Memorial Hospital, where a team of doctors were preparing to conduct an autopsy on two state police who had just been murdered by Lady Vic. The doctors were then ambushed by the assassin herself, as Crane allowed Jason to watch the massacre. Crane revealed to a horrified Jason that he had hired her to steal a special machine designed to mass-produce and multiply chemicals, and that if Jason were to ever fall out of line again, he would send her to deal with him as well. Lady Vic later ambushed Barbara, seeking revenge for the death of her partner during a past confrontation with her and Dick, but the fight was yet another ruse. She returned to a satisfied Crane with a snapshot of Barbara's face, which he would later use to hack into the decommissioned Oracle program through its facial recognition security.
"51%"[]
After going against Crane's orders and giving out the anti-fear drug to gangs on the streets, Jason returned to Crane for another dose of the drug himself, claiming that the heads of Gotham's Five Families were unhappy with the chaos and wanted to speak with Red Hood. As Jason inhaled the drug, he realized all too late that Crane had laced it with a potent knockout gas, as punishment for his disobedience. Crane would then meet with the mob leaders himself, revealing to them that he was responsible for Red Hood and that everything was done according to his design. Crane promised that if they distributed his new drug, they would have the protection of Red Hood and make infinitely more money than ever before.
When Dick and Barbara reluctantly reactivated the Oracle program in the hopes of using it to track down Crane and Jason, they would find themselves walking into yet another trap. The address given by Crane had led them to a van with a hostage inside, a civilian who had been planted with another bomb. Without enough time to deactivate it, Dick and Superboy would notify Barbara of the ruse. Realizing that Crane had hacked into Oracle, she permanently deactivated the system, destroying the very weapon that Batman had previously used to defeat Crane.
After learning that a batch of anti-freeze had recently been sent to mobster Valeska Nox, Dick realized that Crane's base of operations was none other than the Snowy Cones Ice Cream Factory, a former hideout of Mr. Freeze, now being used along with the stolen chemical multiplier to manufacture the anti-fear drug. Crane's operation would soon be thwarted by the combined efforts of the Titans, Superboy, and Blackfire, forcing Crane to flee with Jason, but not before smuggling a single vat of the anti-fear drug from the factory.
"Home"[]
Emboldened by the foiling of his first plan, Crane plotted to poison Gotham's entire water supply with the anti-fear drug, taking shelter in an old pumping station. After visiting his mother and snapping her neck out of hatred and resentment for her abuse, Crane returned to the pumping station and waited for Jason to return. With the drug's influence on his pawn wearing off, a remorseful Jason would plead for amends with Dick, but unbeknownst to them, Crane had secretly overheard their conversation. A curious Tim Drake would follow Jason to the station, only for Crane to shoot him in the back in order to be rid of the witness. When the Titans arrived, Crane took advantage of the opportunity by tricking Starfire into attacking him with her powers. The blast missed Crane, and instead allowed his entire vat of anti-fear toxin to seep into Gotham's water system, plunging the city into further chaos.
"Troubled Water"[]
Crane and Jason later framed Dick Grayson and the Titans for the poisoning, through a propaganda video that blamed Nightwing and his allies for the disaster, while promoting Red Hood as Gotham's new savior. After Jason bribed GCPD commander Fletcher with a modest sum, the two villains gained the allegiance of corrupt officers under Fletcher's control, using the police to hunt down the Titans as criminals and having Barbara Gordon arrested. Feeling victorious, Crane and Jason took up residency in Wayne Manor, where the two planned to continue their work.
"The Call is Coming From Inside the House"[]
While helping himself to the weapons of the Batcave, Crane uncovered an audio file on himself from Bruce's records. Bruce correctly deduced that Crane was a petty coward who used others as proxies to fulfill his plans, while the Scarecrow personality was deemed the true evil mastermind. Enraged by this, Crane would secretly change his plans altogether. After a public battle between Nightwing and Red Hood in Gotham City - which resulted in Dick being shot in the back by an angry bystander - Jason would leave him for dead and return to Wayne Manor, where he discovered Crane in the aftermath of a psychotic break. Crane had disemboweled a pizza delivery worker named Owen to prove himself as horrific as Scarecrow, and then scarred his own face with a straight razor.
"Prodigal"[]
Crane revealed that he was no longer satisfied with controlling Gotham through the anti-fear drug, and instead, he planned to commit genocide by killing the city's entire population. Reigniting his old plan in order to prove to Bruce Wayne that he was indeed a capable villain without Scarecrow. Disillusioned with Crane, Jason refused to help him any further, to which Crane responded by attempting to kill Jason with Scarecrow's sickle weapon that Crane had recovered from the Batcave. Jason escaped, and Crane set out to forward his plan by having his rogue GCPD officers recover his original fear toxin from the Gotham Armory.
"Purple Rain"[]
Taunting the resurrected Dick Grayson, Crane set off the first of his bombs in Gotham Town's Square, killing thousands of civilians. However, instead of searching for the other bombs as Batman and Jim Gordon had done before, Dick worked with the resurrected Tim Drake and Gar Logan to infiltrate Wayne Manor and bring down Crane. After the trio defeated Crane's GCPD guards, now joined by Jason, Crane attempted to detonate all of the bombs at once, but became infuriated when the computer failed. Confronted by the heroes, Dick revealed to Crane that Barbara Gordon had worked with ARGUS to hack the system and create a fake screen, preventing Crane from setting off the explosives. Tim Drake would then punch Crane in the face for killing him and attempting to murder all of Gotham, subduing him.
Crane was then apprehended and returned to Arkham Asylum, this time in solitary confinement. He was later visited by Dick, to which Crane assured that Gotham had not seen the last of him and that he would eventually escape again. However, Dick has Rachel Roth subject Crane to the Lazarus Pit's dark magic, forcing the madman to forever endure the suffering and trauma of all those resurrected by the pit.
Personality[]
| “ | It's a broken record. You're afraid to take risks, John. Loved ones, career, physical confrontation; So you apply the cold and calm coward's vices. Drugs, weak friends to speak for you, shields you from the world. | „ |
| ~ Crane's mother on his psychology. |
| “ | Addendum, psych profile, Jonathan Crane. After a detailed study of Crane's criminal record, as well as an assessment of his particular form of psychosis, I can conclude that Crane's efforts are most effective via the use of proxies. Unwitting associates commonly drugged into submissive complacence, as opposed to any direct actions of the dominant personality. In other words, Jonathan Crane, the victim of abuse and neglect, was ill-equipped for the Scarecrow's unique form of brutality. Taking into account that Crane's alter ego was the mastermind, while Crane himself, the scientist, the diligent student, was wholly ineffectual. It is my opinion that Crane is one of the most pitiable among Gotham's violent criminals. A broken man without a voice doomed to speak through others. | „ |
| ~ Batman's audio file on Scarecrow. |
Crane is a sadistic and remorseless psychopath who revels in the suffering of others above all else. According to Leslie Thompkins, he was a brilliant but egotistical man driven by pride and who was always obsessed with fear, even back in his college years. He is shown to have a prominent humorous side, albeit his amusement almost always comes at the expense of another's suffering. He is revealed to be deeply insecure, as shown when he decided to coldly murder a pizza delivery worker for the sole purpose of proving to himself that he wasn't the petty coward who Bruce Wayne had deemed him, and then choosing to murder Gotham's entire population just to further spite the already broken Bruce.
Little is known of how the Scarecrow persona differentiates from Crane himself, other than Scarecrow clearly looks down upon the man he once was, at one point taunting Crane for being the coward that his mother always said he was. Scarecrow was also the true mastermind behind Crane's most destructive plot, suggesting that Crane himself lacked the ambition to see it through without his villainous altar personality.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Equipment[]
- Fear toxin: This was Crane's signature weapon as the Scarecrow, using it in liquid and gas-based form to cripple his victims, trapping their minds in a loop of their own worst fears. It could also be used as deadly poison in gas form.
- Fear toxin bombs: Crane attempted to destroy Gotham with these bombs. When detonated, they released enormous clouds of fear gas that could kill entire portions of the city when inhaled.
- Anti-fear drug: After supplying Jason Todd with the fear toxin formula, he would use Jason's own reverse-fear drug as a means to brainwash him into becoming Red Hood and doing Crane's bidding without question. He would later poison Gotham's entire water supply with a highly-concentrated batch of the drug, plunging the city into anarchy.
- Scarecrow mask: Crane wore a special mask during his criminal escapades as the Scarecrow, which may have contained a built-in gas mask to keep him safe from his own toxin.
- Gas mask: After attempting to destroy Gotham yet again, Crane wore a black gas mask with air respirators and a stitching pattern to mimic his Scarecrow motif.
- Sickle chain: Crane used an old farming sickle attached to a rustic chain as his primary physical weapon as the Scarecrow.
- Snub-nosed revolver: Crane used this gun to shoot Tim Drake when the latter got too close to his plan.
- Pocket knife: Crane used a folding pocket knife to free Jason before fleeing the Snowy Cones factory.
Quotes[]
| “ | Dick Grayson: A woman killed herself today, doctor. Very strange case. Jonathan Crane: I heard. She asked for a new guy, Nightwing. Poor Batman, I mean the dude has one little murdering spree, and all of the sudden, he's yesterday's news, right? |
„ |
| ~ Crane talking with Dick Grayson. |
| “ | Your story's biblical, brother, I mean, really. You ditch the family safety net, you flee swinging Wayne Manor, and then years later, like the motherf****ing prodigal son, home again, home again, jiggity-jig. | „ |
| ~ Crane to Grayson. |
| “ | Jonathan Crane: It's the Bird's opening. Dick Grayson: What? Jonathan Crane: It's the Bird's opening. It's one of the oldest known openings in chess. It was made famous in 1855 by Henry Edward Bird. It's a classic king-pawn opening. The two are connected, relying on each other. The king moves stealthily in the shadows, while the pawns are sent into the teeth of destruction so that he may advance. Dick Grayson: And you got all that from the police cheat sheet? Jonathan Crane: Yeah. The note, it's written on the back of a page, torn from a chess manual. It's just his opening move. |
„ |
| ~ Crane explains that Red Hood's actions are his opening move to Dick Grayson. |
| “ | You were just a boy. Those were the lessons that he taught you. It's not your fault. But you need to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else. That it stops with you. Now you let Gotham take care of Gotham. The water will find its level. Stop trying to prove something here. | „ |
| ~ Crane trying to manipulate Dick Grayson. |
| “ | Get your chemistry kit, an RV, and you've got a TV show. | „ |
| ~ Crane after seeing Jason on anti-fear toxin. |
| “ | You're gonna give this city what it really needs with no hesitation, no guilt, no fear. New mask, new name, new you. We'll punish all of them for what this city has done to us and then you'll be their symbol. Gotham doesn't understand justice, it only understands terror. You'll be their mirror now. Stand tall Red Hood, show them what they are. | „ |
| ~ Jonathan Crane turning Jason Todd into Red Hood. |
| “ | Jonathan Crane: I have... I have terror, Mom. Mrs. Crane: Terror? Jonathan Crane: Terror that I'll fall short again. Terror that, my ambitions will be unrealized and I see it all. I see it all laid out right before me, and just.. just as I'm about to break through, this dark creature just swoops through and it just steals it all from me. Mrs. Crane: Does this creature have a shape? A color? Jonathan Crane: It's just darkness. Mrs. Crane: Like Batman? Jonathan Crane: There is no actual dark creature Mom! It's a f****ing metaphor! There's no man in a cape, there's no boy in a mask that's gonna keep me from Valhalla. I am both the dreamer and the thief! Are you unable to grasp such a simple psychological concept?! |
„ |
| ~ Jonathan Crane talking to his mother. |
| “ | Welcome to Crane Manor. | „ |
| ~ Crane taking over Wayne Manor. |
| “ | Jason. Ah, finally home. Finally home. I see you lost the hood, too. Good call. You know, the time for masks is over. | „ |
| ~ Crane to Jason Todd revealing his scarred face. |
| “ | I've always wanted to help Gotham, that was my plan two years ago when Batman disrupted it and now I can finally see my plans come to fruition. I've designed a superior product and I've produced enough of it to medicate this entire city placing them under our control. (Gangster: You call this under control?) Well, you know, we've had to tweak some of the dosage, make it a little more happy, a little less stabby. Your basic instincts set free. Free from restraint, free from conscience. That's what my drug offers, freedom, and what is more addictive than that? So you all want business, and I want a distribution for my product at a premium price. The good people of Gotham, they just want a feel-good drug. So we have Red Hood who will protect our operation, and within twenty-four hours, you'll all be richer than your wildest dreams. | „ |
| ~ Johnathan Crane's speech to the crime bosses. |
| “ | I used to come here during lunch when I was a med student. There's nothing like pairing an egg salad sandwich with a craniotomy. | „ |
| ~ Crane to Jason. |
Trivia[]
- This is the first adaptation of Scarecrow with facial hair, though he shaves it off later in the season.
- This version of Scarecrow is also a smoker, often using cannabis.
- Toward the end of the series, Crane repeatedly references the poem "September 1, 1939" by W. H. Auden.
- Crane's Scarecrow personality never manifests throughout the series, only appearing within his subconscious in a single episode.
- Jonathan Crane and Scarecrow being depicted as two separate personalities is similar to fellow Batman rogue Two-Face.
- During his resurrection in the Lazarus Pit, Dick Grayson sees a subconscious hallucination of Crane, who taunts him over his failure to save Jason.
- This incarnation of Scarecrow could be considered one of the few to appear in recent media who is not used as a plot device to deliver his fear toxin to the hero, as the entire Titans series never depicts a single fear toxin-induced hallucination. Instead, the story of season 3 revolves around the anti-fear drug developed by Jason Todd, and Crane's traditional fear toxin is instead used as poison.
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