Tattooed Prisoner

"Give it to me, and I'll do what you shoulda did ten minutes ago."

- Tattooed Prisoner

The Tattooed Prisoner was part of a group of prisoners on a ferry that ended up as part of the Joker's "social experiment." This man, who towered physically over most of his fellow prisoners, made a decision that was crucial to the outcome.

Ferry Ordeal
With the threat of the Joker's terror hanging over Gotham City, thousands of its residents wanted to evacuate by water ferry. The police commissioner also wanted to evacuate prisoners locked up by the city's new district attorney, because he feared the Joker would use them as part of his plan. The Tattooed Prisoner was on the convicts that was evacuated.

Shortly before midnight, two ferries (one with prisoners, the other with ordinary Gotham citizens) became stranded in the middle of the water. Bombs were discovered on both boats, as well as detonators. The Joker contacted the people on both ferries with a phone attached to the loudspeakers. He told them that each group had the detonator to the bomb on the other boat. The Joker threatened to destroy both boats...unless one group set of the bomb on the other boat.

A tense stand-off ensued on the ferry with the prisoners. The convicts screamed at the warden to destroy the other boat, while the guards tried to keep order. With less than five minutes to go, the Tattooed Prisoner approached the warden and asked for the detonator. He explained that if the warden didn't give it to him, his fellow prisoners would kill him and take it. The Tattooed Prisoner also told him that he could tell people the detonator was taken by force. The warden handed him the detonator after the prisoner told him he would do what should have been done ten minutes ago. The Tattooed Prisoner threw it out the window and went back to his seat.

In the city's darkest hour, this man, a despised criminal, made a decision that helped save hundreds of lives. In the end, the people on the other ferry decided not to use their detonator either. The Joker was defeated and both groups were saved.