Anthony Romulus (Batman: The Animated Series)

was an Olympic athlete and philanthropist turned monster.

History
Tony Romulus competed in several prestigious competitions, usually being very successful. The fame and power went to his head, however, and he felt the need to become even more successful. He eventually called upon Dr. Milo to aid him. Milo came up with a serum possessing wolf pheromones, a serum that would be untraceable in drug or tests. Romulus hastily accepted, not knowing he had been tricked by Milo. Afterwards, his expanded incredibly, having become the best athlete in any competition. The serum had horrible side effects, however, as Anthony was eventually transformed halfway into a werewolf during a night of the full moon. When he came to Milo for help, Milo revealed that he couldn't cure Romulus in his present state as there was none. However, he did have a cure for complete lycanthropy and so he made Anthony a bargain; he would complete his transformation into a full werewolf, however Romulus would have to obey certain orders given to him by Milo, including the elimination of persons who Milo considered dangerous to his work. Romulus accepted and was fully transformed into a werewolf, which he would become during nights when the moon was full.Romulus caught the attention of Batman when he — known simply as "a wolflike creature" — was spotted at the Gotham Zoo attacking a guard who had information that could lead back to Milo. After reporting that he had encountered Batman whilst on his attempted assassination, Milo decided that they needed to get him out of the way. Romulus then put out word that he wished to make a charity donation, that he would only sign over if Batman accepted. When explaining why to Bruce Wayne, who was an associate of Romulus from their gym, he mentioned he merely wished to meet Gotham's 'second-best athlete'. Later during the night, Batman arrived in Romulus' study, with the intent on picking up the cheque as quickly as possible. However, it was all revealed to be a trap, as Romulus activated knock-out gas from his venting system and incapacitated the Dark Knight. Romulus and Milo then brought Batman to Milo's secret workplace, at the under-construction Gotham Coliseum. They chained Batman in the middle of the arena, with Milo intent on having Romulus transform and kill Batman whilst he was immobile. Despite everything, Romulus refused and pressed Milo for the cure, Milo however, gave Romulus a concentrated dose of the wolf serum in order to make Romulus even more ferocious against Batman. However, this made Romulus so aggressive that he even attacked Milo, trying to kill him and ignored his orders. Milo barely escaped Romulus, who then turned his attentions on Batman. Batman was luckily able to free himself just before Romulus attacked and proceeded to fight back against him, now a wild uncontrollable beast. Batman was somewhat of an underdog in the fight, but held his own. Eventually as the fight continued to the tallest exteriors of the structure, Romulus was seemingly defeated when he was struck by lightning and knocked off the edge. Milo was arrested, but the fate of Romulus remains unknown. Harvey Bullock snidely remarked that they would wait until the next full moon, then they would know for sure whether Romulus was alive or dead. Months later, as Romulus' former mansion was purchased, a wolf-like creature was seen howling into the night. It was still unknown, if this was Romulus.

Abilities
Anthony was already a superb athlete before he took the wolf serum. After taking the serum, he virtually became the best in every field, beating his competitors seemingly without effort. After his complete transformation into a werewolf, which would happen every full moon, his wolf form would be even larger, more powerful and more ferocious than he could ever hope to be in his human form. He had no speech or recognizable thought capabilities whilst changed, but his more bestial instincts easily proved to be dangerous enough to eliminate to need for such. Batman himself noted that in a fair physical fight on even ground, he would be no match for Romulus as a werewolf and was forced to find smarter tactics. Background InformationAnthony's Human appearance is modeled on a typical stereotype of classic 30/40's era Werewolf films (.i.e. he has a monobrow and is a wealthy man), whereas his Wolf form is closer in appearance to creatures seen in The Howling.Appearance Batman: The Animated Series "Moon Of The Wolf"