Jonathan Crane, also known as the Scarecrow, is a major antagonist in Batman The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures.
He is a former Gotham College teacher who was fired for his obsessions to prove how efficient someone's fears are with a toxin of his own creation known as the fear gas. Becoming known as the Scarecrow, Crane faces Batman during his early years as Gotham City's vigilante, often forcing the Dark Knight to face his own demons with his toxin.
In Batman: The Animated Series, he was voiced by the late Henry Polic II. In The New Batman Adventures, he was voiced by Jeffrey Combs, who also voiced Doctor Moon in Justice League Unlimited and the Rat King in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012).
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
- In contrast to most versions of the character, who suffered from bullying at school, he is seen in a flashback of his childhood scaring two girls from his school with a pair of snakes for no apparent reason other than to be a jerk.
- When he was a professor at the university, he trapped students in isolated rooms with his fear toxin, causing them immense fear. This leads to him getting fired.
- Attacks a bank, sprays the guard with fear toxin and attempts to burn the building down.
- Attacks a fundraising event at the University, kidnaps Dr. Long, and sics the fear toxin-laden event goers on Batman when he tries to stop him.
- Leaves Batman and Dr. Long to die in a burning zeppelin.
- Affects athletes with a powder version of the fear toxin so they lose their events and he wins all the money he betted against them to fund his experiments.
- Sprays a thug sent to intimidate him by a bookie with fear toxin, though to be fair, he may have done this in self-defense as the thug was willing to beat him up if he didn't cooperate.
- Pulls out a vial of fear toxin and threatens to drop into the crowd in order to get Batman to back down, when Batman does back down, he drops the vial anyway.
- Plans to infect Gotham's water supply with fear toxin by using a water purifying machine.
- Creates a anti-fear toxin which makes people lose all fear and makes them suicidally brave.
- Shoots Bruce Wayne with the anti-fear toxin and coerces him into walking into crocodile infested water.
- Attempts to unleash the anti-fear toxin into the subway during rush hour.
- Sprays Batgirl with a dose of fear toxin, which leads her to have a nightmare about her falling to her death and Batman and Commissioner Gordon going to war with each other.
- While he had plenty of comedic moments in Batman: The Animated Series, none of them detracted from his cruelty and in fact showed just how insane he is. In The New Batman Adventures, his more comical traits vanished entirely.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- He was genuinely affable to Harley Quinn when she said hi to him upon returning to Arkham.
- He had some minor standards as he is genuinely against how Lyle Bolton treated the prisoners and was happy that he was locked up.
- In one of the tie-in comics, he goes back to being Scarecrow to get revenge on a jock for harassing (and was implied to have raped) one of his students.
Trivia[]
- There were originally plans to bring the Scarecrow back in the third season of Justice League Unlimited as a member of Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom, but such plans were scrapped thanks to the Bat-embargo. Had the Scarecrow been brought back there, it could have possibly affected his status as Near Pure Evil status.
- This is so far the only version of Scarecrow to be Near Pure Evil.
External Link[]
- Scarecrow on the Villains Wiki
- Scarecrow on the DC Animated Universe Wiki
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 Animated Universe Near Pure Evils
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Batman: The Animated Series: Scarecrow | Sewer King | Professor Milo | Arkady Duvall | ||
 Near Pure Evils
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