- "What's the matter? Lost for words? I expected more... I'm hurt."
- ―The Arkham Knight to Batman upon taking his mask off.[src]
Jason Todd was once Robin, and worked alongside Batman. He was tortured and believed to be killed by The Joker. However it was discovered that Jason was alive and hell-bent on destroying his former mentor as the Arkham Knight before he became the Red Hood to assist Batman once again after he laid his vendetta to rest. As the Arkham Knight, Jason worked with both Scarecrow and Deathstroke to turn Gotham City into a City of Fear.
Biography
Early Life
At some point, after Dick Grayson, the first Robin, left Batman and made a name for himself in Bludhaven as Nightwing, Batman recruited Jason as the second Robin. During an investigation regarding several school children being abducted, maimed, and ultimately murdered, Jason recklessly attempted to pursue the Joker, had a soft spot for the children, and reasoned that if Batman was unwilling to put an end to the clown-like psychopath, he would.
Unfortunately, Jason played right into the Joker's hands, and ended up captured by the Joker and tortured, first by being beaten with a crowbar. Eventually, six months after the capture, the Joker ended up breaking Jason even further by revealing that Batman had cast him aside for third Robin, and even showed him a photograph as proof. Some time later, Jason was then branded with a J-shaped iron by the Joker while the latter talked as if he was getting a new pet. By that point, Jason was left so broken that he cowered away from the Joker and attempted to beg him not to brand him after he was freed. Jason eventually agreed to reveal everything that he knew about Batman to Joker, and even ended up videotaped as a result.
However, before Jason could reveal Batman's true identity, Joker shot him, and seemingly left him for dead under the premise of "Nobody likes a squealer". In actuality, Joker faked Jason's death, as he felt that the hate he had for his former employer was too good of an opportunity to pass up in his sick game with Batman. Joker also broke Jason to ensure that their games were kept strictly between himself and the Dark Knight.
Batman: Arkham City
The Joker referenced Jason by saying to the current Robin: "Didn't I kill you already? No? There's always time, right?".
Batman: Arkham Knight
Consumed by vengeance against Batman, Jason joined Scarecrow due to the fact that both had a score to settle with the Caped Crusader, and also killed Scarecrow's own guards as proof that he was capable of handling the Dark Knight. Jason trained a whole army of troops with knowledge that they could use to take down Batman and he gave Crane the knowledge of the Dark Knight's allies, including Barbara Gordon, aka Oracle and her main location: the Clock Tower. Both Jason and Scarecrow let Deathstroke join their alliance to make Gotham into a City of Fear.
Jason also offered his services in order to make sure that the Dark Knight suffered emotionally instead of just killing him, and knew full well about Scarecrow's access to Fear Gas. Jason eventually accompanied Scarecrow to the meeting between the three reigning crime lords to recruit them to kill Batman, and made clear that killing Batman was his business when Two-Face asked how they'd do that.
Jason later interfered an implied illicit meet between The Penguin and some other group, murdered all but one of Penguin's thugs, warned him while putting a gun to his mouth to mind his business, and also broke the man's arm in the process. The two then began a hostile takeover of Gotham after Crane utilized his latest Fear Toxin in his only warning to Gotham, and caused many to leave the city. Jason was also personally responsible for the attack at Pauli's Diner, who lured Officer Owens over to the booth by smoking in full view, and then doused him and the other patrons with the Fear Toxin at the diner.
He later destroyed the bridge to the Ace Chemicals to ensure that Batman couldn't interfere and get in, on Scarecrow's orders. Jason also attempted to kill Batman then and there, although Scarecrow forced him to disengage. That resulted in Jason entering an argument with Scarecrow over forcing him to abandon his opportunity to kill Batman. Jason later arrived with some Militia members and personally revealed himself to the Dark Knight while he taunted him, and also gave specific orders to his men on how to take out Batman, including explicitly telling them to avoid the Bat Symbol on Batman's chest as that's where the armor was the strongest.
However, Jason was forced to flee when Batman had the Batmobile ambush them from behind. Jason later had an unmanned chopper fight against Batman just as he was about to leave with the only other surviving Ace Chemicals Plant worker, and deliberately sent an unmanned drone to fight Batman rather than fight him personally as he knew that Batman would not hold back with an unmanned vehicle due to his one rule.
Jason later proceeded to lead his Militia forces to the Clock Tower to capture Barbara. However, Jason temporarily ran into a hitch in his plan when Barbara proceeded to force the driver of the car that she was imprisoned in off the road by pepper-spraying him. He nonetheless managed to recapture her, although not before she hid a memory card underneath a crate for Batman.
Batman later traced down Barbara and the Arkham Knight's location, although the Arkham Knight anticipated his arrival, ambushed him, and also managed to injure him. Jason also made his escape, and also went as far as to have one of the drivers synthesize his voice to fool Batman into thinking that he was pursuing the Arkham Knight and Oracle. He then left for North Refrigeration to rendezvous with Penguin and pick up their guns.
Afterwards, Jason also observed Scarecrow's interrogation of Oracle, although he intervened when Scarecrow attempted to inject her with a powerful dose of Fear Toxin, something that he was implied to have disapproved of. Jason then privately attempted without success to talk to Oracle, and anticipated that she would keep talking to buy time before Batman arrived while alluding to his torture under Joker when he explained how he was. However, while explaining that and implying Batman wouldn't help her, Jason also let slip that he knew who Batman's true identity was, admitted that not even Scarecrow knew as he kept that from him, and claimed that Batman only wished to punish the guilty rather than protect the innocent. Oracle denied those claims, which resulted in the Knight exposing his own true identity as Jason Todd where he told her to "look [him] in the eye and say that", to Oracle's shock.
Oracle then attempted to talk Jason out of working with Scarecrow, but Jason refused, both because he still thought that Batman had left and replaced him (despite Oracle trying to tell him that he actually mourned for his loss), because Joker's torture had hollowed him out and filled him with hate for his mentor, and that he believed that the only way that he could fix it was to kill Batman. Oracle attempted to request him to return to Wayne Manor, and explained that's the actual way to fix it, since killing Batman was what Joker would have wanted. Jason refused, though he still asked how Alfred was doing, with Oracle admitting that he missed him, as did the rest of the Bat Family. Jason ultimately left due to Scarecrow telling him that the Cloudburst was ready, although not before he threatened his men with death should they harm Oracle.
After the Cloudburst was activated, Jason was also charged with manning the tank that carried the Cloudburst. Eventually, after Batman proceeded to awaken the second ancient plant at the cost of several of Arkham Knight's forces trying to stop him and being destroyed, the Arkham Knight decided to challenge the Dark Knight, and even ignored Scarecrow's orders for him to stand down due to his actions putting the Cloudburst at grave risk. Ultimately, Jason lost to the Dark Knight, and was then brought up to the rooftops and beaten, although he managed to find an opportunity to escape when the Fear Toxin from the Cloudburst managed to temporarily distract him with hallucinations of the Joker. As such, the Arkham Knight was officially removed from command by Scarecrow as punishment. Nonetheless, Jason managed to lay in wait near his main base for Batman, brought along an excavator, locked down all areas once he has Batman in sights, and anticipated heavily that Batman would be coming to save Commissioner James Gordon.
The Arkham Knight encountered Batman again in his Batmobile, and drove a excavator in the Arkham underground excavation site. Despite the Batmobile's weapons and armor could not match the Arkham Knight's excavator, Batman took advantage to damage the excavator by luring it to the excavation demolition sites, but it was not enough to destroy it. Batman found the Arkham Knight's excavator, still intact but heavily damaged. The Arkham Knight then explained that he knew Batman's secrets, admitted his role in Scarecrow knowing about Oracle, and made it clear that he was someone that Batman personally knew.
Batman escaped, but the Batmobile got destroyed. Batman confronted the Arkham Knight again before he could untie Gordon, but the Knight unmasked himself, and was revealed to be Jason, whom Batman thought was killed, even if he saw the film of Joker killing him. Jason retorted by asking Batman if he waited to find a replacement to take his place in a month or a week, and yelled for "Leaving him to die". Jason also stated that what he wanted Batman dead, but was stunned shortly before he could shoot him.
Angered that his former mentor ran away again, Jason yelled that he would hunt Batman down, then re-masked himself, formed his dual modified pistols as a sniper rifle, and then took up a sniping position to find Batman. Despite the aid of the last of his militia and drones, Batman managed to break Jason mentally by going underneath his post and offered to help him three times, but Jason always refused Batman's help. When Jason came close to healing, Batman disarmed him and reminded him that he's still Robin and not what the Joker created him, but Jason mentally broke down, tackled Batman off of his post, sent both of them falling, but survived and healed his mind. Batman threatened to beat up Jason, but Jason surrendered, and accused Batman for leaving him for over a year with the Joker. Batman apologized, told him that it's not too late, and offered help. Jason disappeared as Batman revealed to Alfred that he found Jason.
Jason appeared as the Red Hood at the ending, who disarmed Scarecrow and freed Batman in redemption. As stated within his bio, Jason had laid his vendetta with Batman to rest and helped him continue to patrol Gotham, albeit in his more violent manner. Under that new identity, Jason hunted down and killed several of Gotham's villains, including Killer Moth, Black Spider, and the entire Black Glove Organization.
Red Hood Story Pack
One of Jason's next targets became Black Mask, who eventually plunged to his death after Red Hood kicked him out of a window at his hideout after the latter foolishly suggested while he begged for his life that he would leave Gotham and allow the vigilante to pick the destination (with Red Hood sarcastically suggesting he "go to Hell"), neutralize his gang, and shut down his operations in the process. Before he left, however, Jason then sarcastically told the deceased crime lord to say "hi" to Joker for him, in an ironic reference to Black Mask's rivalry with the deceased Clown Prince of Crime, as well as his own personal hatred for the clown for what he did to him.
Audio Files
Batman Arkham Knight All Arkham Knight Audio Logs-0
Arkham Knight Files
File One
- Scarecrow: Patient notes: Gordon, Barbara. Session one. Wake up, Ms. Gordon. Wake up! Inject her.
- Barbara Gordon: (Gasp)
- Scarecrow: Another dose.
- Barbara Gordon: I'm awake, you bastard.
- Scarecrow: Good. Who is Batman?
- Barbara Gordon: Ask him when he gets here.
- Scarecrow: Thank you, Ms. Gordon. I was afraid that my preferred interrogation method would not be necessary. Do you know why I wear these syringes on my hand?
- Barbara Gordon: Because you're insane?
- Scarecrow: I usually disperse my toxin as an aerosol. It's efficient. But not pure. Now, the terror I can elicit with a concentrated dose, administered directly into the bloodstream, that is... beautiful to witness. The long-term damage is more severe, of course.
- Barbara Gordon: Are you done talking?
- Scarecrow: I am. But you have barely begun. You'll be incoherent when my toxin dissolves the wall between your conscious mind and your suppressed, subconscious nightmares. But as those fears slowly recede, they'll take this pathetic defiance with them.
- Barbara Gordon: You're still talking.
- Scarecrow: Very well.
- Arkham Knight: Get the hell away from her!
File Two
- Arkham Knight: He's gone. Did he hurt you?
- Barbara Gordon: Spare me the good cop/bad cop routine.
- Arkham Knight: No, no, no, no. See, you're supposed to keep me talking. Play for time. Wait for Batman. That's what he taught you, right?
- Barbara Gordon: I've got nothing to say to you.
- Arkham Knight: I talked for hours. 'Cause I knew, right? Batman was on his way to save me. The bastard let me talk... eventually I just, ran out of things to say. So trust me. You can't count on Bruce to save you.
- Barbara Gordon: Bruce?
- Arkham Knight: Mmm, yeah, Scarecrow doesn't know. It's our little secret. Now here's another. Batman likes to play the hero, Barbara, and he's pretty good at it. But it's an act. Batman's not about saving the innocent. No, no. He's about punishing the guilty. Now, don't get me wrong. He'll look for you. Or he'll try. But when it comes down to it, when he has to make a choice between you, and the mission? He'll choose the mission. Every time.
- Barbara Gordon: You're wrong.
- Jason Todd: Look me in the eye and say that.
- Barbara Gordon: Jason!?
File Three
- Barbara Gordon: Jason, this is wrong!
- Jason Todd: This is justice! He left me!
- Barbara Gordon: He LOST you! And he mourned for you. Come home.
- Jason Todd: I can't go back. You don't know what Joker did, Barbara. He hollowed me out and he filled me back up with hate and...
- Barbara Gordon: Jason, we can fix it...
- Jason Todd: I can fix it! I know now what to do. I take all this pain, all this blackness, and I put it all in a bullet, and I put it right between Bruce's eyes.
- Barbara Gordon: Joker's dead, Jason. You want revenge on the man who hurt you? You've got one shot. Come back to the manor. Let us help you. Don't let Joker win.
- Jason Todd: How's Alfred?
- Barbara Gordon: He misses you. We all do.
- Scarecrow: The Cloudburst is charged, Knight. It's time.
- Arkham Knight: Someone put a gag on her. Anyone hurts her, they're a dead man.
Gallery
Trivia
- Ironically, the Arkham Knight/Jason Todd's voice actor, Troy Baker, had previously voiced the Joker in Arkham Origins, Arkham Origins Blackgate, and Assault on Arkham.
- He also previously voiced Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the various Arkham games, another former ally of Batman who turned to evil under extremely traumatic circumstances, yet retained some good in him. Both even blamed Batman for abandoning them during their traumatic situations.
- In a commercial for the Red Hood Story Pack, it showed two people working at an undisclosed location before deciding to call it for the night. However, a news report came in stating that the Red Hood was on the loose, with them then deciding to work overtime, and revealed that they were actually working for a funeral home, which humorously implied that the Red Hood had killed enough people to have funeral homes working late.