Killer Croc

History
Killer Croc, or Waylon Jones, is a criminal and nemesis of Batman. He was born with a medical condition that caused him to grow progressively more like a crocodile, hence his name. His mother died in childbirth, and his father abandoned him. Waylon was raised by his aunt, but her persistent drinking prevented him from growing up in an ideal household. [1] As a teenager, Croc had no friends, and was the object of ridicule of those who knew him. By the time he reached adulthood, Waylon found work wrestling alligators. It was at this point that he began referring to himself as Killer Croc. Even then, his strength level was greatly beyond that of a normal human. Croc realized that there was more money to be made in crime, so he set out to become Gotham's most powerful underground figure. One of the most significant of atrocities that Croc committed was the murder of Joseph and Trina Todd. Their deaths would inspire their adoptive son Jason to take up the costumed role of the second Robin. Ultimately, Killer Croc's criminal lifestyle brought him into conflict with Gotham's guardian the Batman. After a protracted battle, Croc was defeated and sent to Arkham Asylum. There, he suffered from intense electroshock therapy, which resulted in intense recurring nightmares.

Some time later, notorious sociopath Ra's al Ghul engineered a massive breakout of Arkham Asylum, freeing all of the patients, including Killer Croc. In exchange for their freedom, the prisoners agreed to help Ra's with a scheme to confound the Batman. Croc's roll in the plan was to break into Wayne Manor and abduct Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth. Croc had no idea what connection Pennyworth had to Batman, but he executed the deed without question, and brought Alfred back to Poison Ivy's Exotica Emporium where four other hostages were being held. Batman soon arrived to rescue the hostages and fought with Croc once again. As time was of the essence, Batman wasted little of it fighting Croc, and quickly subdued him with a gas pellet from his utility belt. Afterwards, Killer Croc was returned to Arkham Asylum. [2]

Like many do, Croc eventually escaped from Arkham and began running criminal operations again. After robbing a shopping store, Croc discovered a secret stairwell that led into an old unfinished subterranean highway. The tunnel had since become a shelter for many of Gotham's homeless. Croc became friends with the homeless people and attempted to make a new life for himself. Croc's newfound lifestyle was short-lived however. Batman investigated the store robbery, and the trail led him right to Killer Croc's shelter. The two began fighting one another, but at midnight, the city flushed the tunnels with water from the river, and Croc was washed away. His friends believed that he had died in the flood. [3] Croc survived however, and six months later had taken to living out of the Gotham City alleyways. He was tormented by visions of his past, calling to mind hurtful incidents where his peers would routinely comment about his physical features. In combination with his natural, instinctive rage, Croc's emotional state erupted into a wave of violence and he began going berserk throughout the city streets. News crews captured his latest rampage, as he began terrorizing the district known as Eden Park. An aspiring foreign crime lord known as Bane witnessed Croc's rampage, and determined that defeating him would be a stepping stone on his personal path towards destroying Batman. Before Bane could catch up with him though, Croc found himself facing neophyte vigilante Jean Paul Valley (who was masquerading in a Batman costume at the time), as well Batman's young sidekick Robin. Bane interrupted the fight and demonstrated his raw power by breaking both of Croc's arms. [4]

Croc soon healed and returned to Gotham in an effort to re-establish himself in the criminal underworld. He went on a brutal murder spree that claimed the lives of several members of the Paretti crime family operating out of Gotham's waterfront district. At this point in time, Bruce Wayne had relinquished the role of Batman to his first ward Dick Grayson. As the new Batman, Dick and Robin (Tim Drake) fought with Croc at a warehouse. Surviving members of the Paretti gang were present and opened fire on Croc severely wounding him. Croc survived once again however and evaded capture. [5]

Years later, Killer Croc was summoned by some strange paranormal force to break out of Arkham Asylum and make his way to the Lousiana swamps. Batman followed him there only to find that the mysterious force was actually the Swamp Thing, who offered Croc a place in the swampland where he could finally give in to his animal side and live free from human persecution. There he stayed, and Batman returned to Gotham City. [6] In recent years, Killer Croc has been portrayed as being much more reptilian than in past incarnations. In one incident, a virus forced Croc's body to devolve into a more primal and reptilian state. [7] Croc later attempted to find a cure for his condition, but when this failed, Croc ate the scientist who tried to help him. [8] Croc was later discovered feeding off the remains of the villain Orca. He was apprehended once again and taken back to Arkham Asylum. While being transferred from one prison cell to another, Croc wrestled free from his handlers and attacked visiting reporter Jimmy Olsen. Olsen spontaneously generated super-powers and was able to escape unharmed. [9] Killer Croc soon escaped confinement however, and was one of many super-powered villains led by Deathstroke who crashed the wedding of Green Arrow and Black Canary. Fortunately, the wedding party was made up of members of the Justice League, the Justice Society, the Outsiders and the Teen Titans. By the end of the fight, most of the villains, including Croc, were apprehended. [10] The administrators of Checkmate later decided that Croc was too dangerous for them to safely contain him. He, along with many others, were exiled from the Earth via Boom Tube and taken to the "Salvation" World. [11]

== Powers and Abilities ==

Powers The disease the Killer Croc is afflicted with seems to be some form of regressive atavism, meaning he has inherited some of the traits of ancestral species of the human race. His skin has hardened to the point where it is invulnerable to most forms of abrasion and even low caliber weapons fired from a distance. He possesses superhuman strength and he is far stronger than Batman, whose strength is at the Olympic athlete level. A side effect of this condition seems to be that over time the primal reptilian part of his brain gains more control of his psyche.

Abilities Croc has some experience at street fighting and wrestling, but he is no where near as proficient as Batman or Nightwing. He is a high school drop out, but has proven to be moderately capable of organizing thugs in small-time racketeering operations. He is usually hired by other villains as muscle or as a hitman, as he is at least intelligent enough to follow instructions.

Strength level

Superhuman: Killer Croc's mutated strength level is many times greater than that of a normal human. Over the years, as Croc's body continued to mutate, his strength levels increased accordingly.

Weaknesses None known.

Paraphernalia Equipment: None known. Transportation: None known. Weapons: None known.

Trivia
No trivia.

Appearances in Other Media
Croc has appeared in episodes of both Batman: The Animated Series and The Batman. In Batman: The Animated Series, Croc was first portrayed as a professional wrestler, but grew dissatisfied with his career choice and turned to crime. He ran afoul of Harvey Bullock, who subsequently arrested him; Croc later escaped prison and sought revenge. When being transported to a distant facility by train, he bit through his chains (it seems like a real crocodile, his jaws exude enough force to crush bone) and escaped. Fleeing through the countryside, he refuge in a town of naively trusting circus carnies (including a seal boy, a giant, conjoined twins, and a hunchbacked ringmaster). In this story, he showed that he had a heart. But that quickly changed with his greed for money. Croc planned to betray and kill his hosts for the money they had stored away for supplies. In that episode it was established that Croc is legally sane, and therefore was to be sent to Black Gate instead of Arkham Asylum.

He also appeared — revamped, with green skin — in an episode of Gotham Knights where he joined forces with the little girl criminal named Baby Doll, because they both were misunderstood 'freaks'. They went to live in the sewers, but Baby Doll, believing that Croc didn't like her, eventually betrayed him to Batman and Batgirl.

In 2005 the animated television series The Batman featured a Killer Croc, played by Ron Perlman, in one episode that was even more reptilian, had a tail, and was rumored to have been a military genetic experiment gone awry, moving even further away from the character's comic book origins and appearance. He had recruited three robbers, two of them were played by Jim Cummings, as henchmen to help him flood Gotham City. This animated version was also apparently Cajun and had the ability to control crocodiles to do his bidding.