Jeremiah Arkham (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template (great uncle, deceased)
 * Image                  = Black Mask II 001.jpg
 * ImageText              = Arkham Asylum: Living Hell #2
 * RealName               = Jeremiah Arkham
 * CurrentAlias           = Black Mask
 * Distinguish1           = Amadeus Arkham
 * Distinguish2           = Black Mask
 * Aliases                = Doctor Arkham, The Warden
 * Identity               = Public
 * Alignment              =
 * Affiliation            = Arkham Asylum
 * Relatives              = Amadeus Arkham
 * Universe               = New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = Arkham Asylum


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 =
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 * UnusualFeatures        = suffers from dissociative personality disorder

Arkham Asylum
 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          =
 * Occupation             = Head Psychologist at
 * Education              =


 * Origin                 =
 * PlaceOfBirth           =
 * Creators               = Alan Grant; Norm Breyfogle
 * First                  = Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1


 * HistoryText            =

Overview
Jeremiah Arkham was the nephew of Amadeus Arkham and the inheritor of the Arkham legacy. Namely, he became the administrative director of Arkham Asylum. Jermiah's choice of vocation was a matter of destiny and stemmed back to the night that he encountered an escaped lunatic holding up a liquor store. Staring at the man wielding a shotgun, Jeremiah's sharp instincts told him everything he needed to know to get the lunatic to back down. He reassured the man that his father was dead and he no longer needed to look for him. The lunatic understood what Jeremiah was saying, but rather than placing the gun down, he put it to his own chin, blowing his head off. From there, Jeremiah knew that he would spend his days working with the mentally imbalanced.

Jeremiah took a hardline and somewhat unorthodox approach to his patients. He believed that a person's state of mind was immaterial when contrasted against their actions. Thinking about murdering someone was not nearly as interesting to him as the actual act of committing murder. To correct these psychological aberrations, Arkham often utilized aversion therapy with his patients.

Batman: The Last Arkham
Jeremiah Arkham institute widespread changes at Arkham Asylum beginning with a complete renovation of the hospital grounds itself. Arkham hired the contracting firm of Zolly Hiram to handle the renovations. Unfortunately, Arkham found himself taking advice from one of his most dangerous patients, Victor Zsasz. Zsasz insinuated his way into Arkham's plans and manipulated Zolly Hiram into constructing a secret corridor behind his cell.

Arkham was suitably pleased when the Gotham City Police Department delivered the notorious Batman to him as a patient following his involvement in an alleged cop-killing. What Arkham didn't realize at the time was that Batman's admission as a patient was all part of a carefully staged plan to keep an eye on him. Arkham secured Batman in a padded cell, but allowed him to keep his costume. It was his desire to "cure" Batman of his violent ways and apparent dual nature, thus enabling Batman to willfully reveal his true identity. Batman escaped however and succeeded in exposing Mister Zsasz and his secret tunnel. Jeremiah Arkham was extremely embarrassed and refused to allow Zsasz to manipulate him any further.

Knightfall
Following the massive Arkham breakout orchestrated by Bane, Jeremiah Arkham had little choice but to transfer his charges to Blackgate Penitentiary. There, he clashed against Governor Victor Zehrhard over the treatment of his patients. Zehrhard, who took keen interest in the inmates at Blackgate held great disdain towards the criminally insane and awarded them no special privileges. It was Arkham's idea to bring his patients together as a softball team and pitted them against Zehrhard's prison team. He even entered into a wager with Zehrhard as to the results of the game. Serendipitously, the Arkham softball team proved to be of great therapeutical value as his patients agreed to work together alongside one another in the spirit of competition.

Arkham Asylum: Living Hell
TBD

Black Mask II
After the death of Roman Sionis, Jeremiah Arkham has taken up the Black Mask mantle. Hoping to get a tight grip on the Rogues' Gallery villains, he blew up Arkham Asylum, freeing most of its inmates. He administered a nanite solution to Killer Croc, Poison Ivy and Firefly, which would explode if they refused his will. Like his predecessor, he also tried to set up a False Face Society, but that never really came off the ground.

Firefly found out about the nanites and burned them out; he subsequently betrayed Black Mask. When the kingpin came to speak to Lynns at his lair, Firefly torched the place, but Batman and Robin intervened before Firefly could finish off his old boss. Mr. Zsasz salvaged Black Mask from the debris, and became his prime agent in his new business. Abducting stray children from the streets, they were forced into deadly cage fights. Black Mask gained millions with the betting.

The Black Mask then turned to science to gain the advantage as the top crimelord in Gotham. Using Hugo Strange, Doctor Death, and Fright, he psychologically and chemically brainwashed ordinary people into his new False Face Society and covered their faces with gas masks. He used the Society to control most of the Penguin's illegal activities.

Black Mask also seemed to have the same fascination with turning invisible that the original Black Mask did. Like Roman Sionis's funding of Nigel Glass's Tanslux invisibility serum, the new Black Mask also obtained invisibility technology. He obtained an invisibility suit from a Dr. Ketola, whom he then killed. He had a mentally disturbed henchman test the device by going on a killing spree. The henchmen, ran into the Man-Bat who could "see" him with his sonar. The Man-Bat, and the Huntress ended up having a confusing battle with each other and the invisible man. Eventually he was apprehended and Black Mask's chance to be invisible was confiscated.

Black Mask's criminal scientists were also able to revive the cryogenicly preserved body of the Reaper and control his broken mind with a mixture of anti-psychotics. With his False face Society being kept confined to the Devil's Square area by the National Guard, the Reaper became Black Mask's main enforcer in his battle against Batman, and a resurgent Falcone crime family led by Mario Falcone. He is later targeted by the Falcone crime family and the National Guard, thus forcing him to retreat to an area in Gotham refferred as Devil's Square. Around this time, Arkham and Fright had become lovers.

Well-trained Psychologist. Strong of character, but frequently psychologically worn down by his work.
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Jeremiah Arkham }}
 * Notes                  = It also became apparent that Jeremiah Arkham was going insane as he predicted and began suffering from dissociative identity disorder.  The mask itself was supposedly the original Black Mask's personality and Arkham was a faithful servant.
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