Mario is the anti-heroic antagonist of the episode, "Rumors". He was formerly Paul Karon's bodyguard, but after failing to protect him, he became the vigilante named Rumor.
Personality[]
He is a man driven by revenge. He will do whatever it takes to keep villains out of the picture even if it means killing them. Unlike Batman he has no code of ethics as he told the villains that killing them is something Batman does not have the guts to do. He even tells Batman that he should have become more brutal as a vigilante. However, he is also shown to be a coward as he begs Batman to save him from the villains after they all get free.
History[]
When Paul Karon was introducing his latest invention, a device that shot low sound vibrations that could destroy buildings, he was attacked by Joker, who wanted the device for himself. Batman arrives and stops Joker, but fails to save Paul Karon from being crippled. Mario feels so guilty, he begins to rectify his mistake by capturing all of Gotham's great supervillains and executing them. Using the technology he captures Killer Croc, Hugo Strange, Man-Bat, Bane, Poison Ivy, Black Mask, Mr. Freeze, Spellbinder, Firefly, Ragdoll, Temblor, Cluemaster, Gearhead, Harley Quinn, the Kabuki Twins, Killer Moth, Punch and Judy, Scarface, Rupert Thorne, and Riddler. However he forgets to kidnap Tony Zucco and Basil Karlo. Penguin trips an alarm at a Museum on purpose so Batman can arrest him. However, Batman could not stop him from taking Penguin and Catwoman, but he did get a small piece of the suit, identifying Paul Karon's company as its creator. While Batman first suspects Karon, he soon realizes it was Mario. Meanwhile, Mario captures Joker and attempts to execute them with a giant version of Paul Karon's sound device that Joker tried to steal so long ago. Batman and Robin arrive to defeat Rumor, but accidentally caused the release of all the other criminals. Batman and Robin fight them all off to save Mario. Mario is sent to jail with the rest of the criminals, except Catwoman and Hugo Strange, who managed to sneak away.
Abilities[]
- Master Combatant, Espionage & Manipulator
- Above-Average Attributes
- Peak Endurance
Equipment[]
- Powered Exo-suit
- Super-human Strength, Speed & Durability
- Peak Stamina & Recovery Rate
- Cloaking Devices
- Battle Staff
- Electricity Generation
- Projectile Launcher
Appearances[]
- "Rumors"
Voiced by[]
- Ron Perlman (English)
- Kenji Hamada (Japanese)
- Luiz Carlos Persy (Portuguese)
Trivia[]
- He appears only in The Batman episode 'Rumors'. Originally Hush was intended to be the villain, but DC did not like the idea, and created Rumor in his place.
- In Batman: The Animated Series, a villain named Lloyd Ventrix used similar technology to steal jewelry to buy his way back to his daughter, but after failing he proceeded to steal her from her mother. The episode in which he appears is titled as See No Evil.
- Rumor could be considered a foil to Batman, as he is what Batman would have become if he didn't have morals and only killed criminals rather than arresting them.