Lock-Up
Similar to Harley Quinn, Lock-Up was a character originally created in Batman: The Animated Series but had crossed over into comics. Surprisingly, Lock-Up was not character adapted into any of the Arkham games. However, his story would make for a great Most Wanted mission.
Lock-Up’s true identity is Lyle Bolton – a former Wayne Enterprises employee that specializes in security systems. Bolton was assigned by Bruce to Arkham Asylum in need of a new head of security. Unknown to Batman, Lyle Bolton stepped over the boundaries of the law by using excessive acts of torture and brutality to keep inmates in line. When fired at the discovery of his methods, he swore revenge on the corrupt system that creates a revolving door for criminals. He adopts the persona of Lock-Up to target reporters and government officials, but was thwarted by Batman. His incarceration ultimately did not trouble him as he was now able to keep a “closer eye” on his inmates.
As a potential mission, Lock-Up could have been a former GCPD cop / security systems expert at Arkham Asylum or Arkham City. Given the disastrous failures of these two institutions, and the outset of Scarecrow’s reign of terror, the Lock-Up persona was born. The mission could have Batman investigate mysterious disappearances or murders of GCPD cops, politicians, and reporters. This could ultimately come to its climax as a plot to lure out Batman, as Lock-Up believes it is his fault for making the city so unstable. Another interesting plot dynamic is if Lock-Up took over the GCPD headquarters with Batman having to lay siege to the compound and take it back.
Onomatopoeia
A prominent theme in the game is Batman’s struggle to allow others to take part in his crusade. By the end, he severs ties with his allies to protect them. It would be interesting to see a mission that played with these themes. A perfect one would be a villain created by film director and podcaster Kevin Smith during his run on Green Arrow and Batman called Onomatopoeia. He is a formidable serial killer that targets and makes trophies out of non-superpowered vigilantes with brutal precision. Onomatopoeia is an expert in strategy, combat, and firearms – and he is not above hiring desperate thugs and militia members to do his bidding for him.
He is called Onomatopoeia because he never actually speaks; the only words to come out of his mouth are words emulating the sounds around him. This weird quirk coupled with the fact that no one truly knows anything (even Batman) about his past, identity, or what he looks like makes him an oddly terrifying character.
If Onomatopoeia were to have a Most Wanted mission, it could involve Batman discovering that each and every one of his allies is being systematically targeted (or he finds them dead, but as part of a red herring) ending in a final showdown. His mission would be even more disturbing if Arkham Knight would adapt the Kevin Smith’s The Widening Gyre in which Batman solves crimes & partners up with the vigilante Baphomet (being Onomatopoeia in disguise after their first encounter) and at the last moment reveals himself with a knife at the throat of one of Batman’s allies.
Calendar Man
Now, now – before you assail me with questions about why Calendar Man (of all people) deserves his own Most Wanted mission, allow me to encourage you to read Batman: The Long Halloween. In its pages, we are introduced to a far more creepy and sinister Calendar Man, heavily inspired by Hannibal Lecter. This incarnation was carried into the games up until Arkham City. Here, he is a hulking muscle-bound, but highly intelligent and psychopathic, behemoth with an indiscriminate taste for blood. However, the extent of your interactions with him is limited to Easter Eggs and references, or interacting with him behind panes of reinforced glass regaling tales of holiday-centric serial killings.
By the end of Arkham City, the Calendar Man was revealed to have escaped from his prison cell underneath the courtroom. Considering how Rocksteady Studios has consistently shown an attention to detail in wrapping up mysteries set in motion long before it is only fair that Calendar Man has his moment to shine. Arkham Knight already provides the perfect set-up as it takes place on Halloween night. The Calendar Man would use this opportunity to create his magnum opus of crime to top even the Scarecrow – perhaps he engages in a murder spree all across the city leaving behind calling cards or trophies alluding to classic Halloween myths and traditions. True to his maxim in The Long Halloween, the Calendar Man refuses to be forgotten.
Nyssa Raatko / Nyssa al Ghul
*SPOILERS*
If you’ve read some of my past features, then you’d know how much it bothers me that there doesn’t seem to be significant follow up or a sense of closure concerning Talia, Ra’s al Ghul, or the League of Assassins in Arkham Knight. I’ve argued before how it was possible that Damian Wayne existed in this universe. Perhaps more infuriating is that there’s little to no consequence in the aftermath of Arkham City concerning the deaths of Ra’s and Talia. I would like to believe that the two are not dead considering that the League of Assassins would do anything to save their masters such as bringing them back to a Lazarus Pit. In addition, at the end of Arkham City, their bodies were never found. (On the flipside, during a hallucination sequence in Arkham Knight with the Joker, he taunts Batman gleefully at how killed his beloved Talia, perhaps implying the permanence of this status quo).
I find it difficult to believe that Rocksteady Studios would fail to mention anything more about the al Ghuls or the League in Arkham Knight – or at least in DLC and the tie-in comics. The deaths of their leaders would necessitate retribution and vengeance at the Joker, Gotham City or Batman himself. Who else to better deal out justice than Nyssa Raatko / al Ghul, the second daughter of Ra’s and half-sister to Talia?
Her appearance is already considered canon in the Arkhamverse as she was briefly mentioned in Arkham Origins. It would be interesting to see Nyssa lead a coalition of her finest assassins in an assault on the city for revenge and to complete her father’s work. The stakes could be raised to incredible heights if Nyssa had discovered not only the Joker “doppelgangers” but the fact that Batman himself will eventually turn into the perfect Joker specimen, encouraging her to stop at nothing to kill the last remaining and potential carrier of the Clown Prince of Crime’s legacy. A mission like this would create great dramatic tension, as it would force Batman to come to terms with the death of his beloved Talia.
Duela Dent (The Joker’s Daughter)
If there was one thing that the comics, cartoons, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and Arkham Knight has taught us is that the Joker always has the last laugh. Even death cannot stop the Joker as his machinations and plots still continue to plague Batman – especially in the final endgame, where Joker set into motion a plan using his infected blood to ultimately make Batman the next Joker.
However, by the end of the game, Batman fights off the malignant effects of Joker on his psyche and body in a satisfying psychological counter-attack. In the end, Batman was the one to infect the mind of Joker showing him for what he truly is – a sad excuse, a failed comedian, a passing fancy in which no one will care to remember about in the future. This is why Joker relies on, if not loves, Batman so much as their eternal struggles gives Joker his life, his worldview, his legacy meaning and relevance. It is only when Batman shows the Joker that he will no longer be remembered (as shown in a fantastic dream sequence worthy of its own game – including images of Joker statues crumbling, the fact that the only one who mourned his death was Harley Quinn, and newspaper articles showing that she, too, moved on by eventually marrying and having a child with the Riddler).
While slightly more appropriate as a follow up DLC than a Most Wanted mission, the Joker could have his one final laugh to succeed in creating a worthy heir. Introduced into the comics as the Joker’s Daughter, Duela Dent is criminal that utilizes motley attire and acrobatics reminiscent of Harley Quinn. In the New 52 continuity, she is an inspired follower and fanatic of the Joker calling herself his daughter after finding and wearing his face as a mask (which had previously been removed by a villain called the Dollmaker and later sown onto Dent’s face). She was not content in merely serving the Joker, but to have her blood run through her veins – in which she managed to procure a vial from the Dollmaker as well.
One can already see how perfect a set-up this is for the events of Arkham Knight. In Duela Dent’s mission, occurring after the reveal of the Joker “clones” and Batman’s fate, that an insane acolyte of the Joker by the name of Duela Dent is also infected with Joker blood and will carry on her “father’s” legacy. The Dark Knight must fight his own overpowering Joker hallucinations in attempts to find Dent – perhaps with the help of Harley Quinn.
What do you think of these potential Arkham Knight Most Wanted missions? What Batman villains do you believe deserve their own? Feel free to comment and share below!
