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The Ventriloquist (real name Arnold Wesker) is a meek ventriloquist who channels an ill-tempred persona into his dummy Scarface, acting as a formidable crimelord in Gotham City, and an enemy of the Batman, through him.

Origins

Arnold Wesker was a non-confrontational, soft-spoken ventriloquist who suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder, creating a violent and ill-tempered persona he channeled through a dummy named Scarface. With Scarface bossing the meek Wesker around, the two amassed a rather effective gang, and went on a crime spree as the Ventriloquist and Scarface.[1]

Conflict with the Batman

Scarface and his gang prove to be very effective when they managed to capture Batman by developing the spying device he put on the Ventriloquist tie and organize a fake hit to get the vigilante. Scarface ties and hangs Batman and sets him to fall into a pit full of mannequin hands with sharpened nails pointing up. At this point, by faking and projecting the voice of the Ventriloquist, Batman plays both of Wesker's personalities, setting them to fight against each other. That way, he made enough time to set himself free and defeat the gang. During the fight, Muggsy, one of Scarface's thugs, accidentally shoots and destroys the dummy, apparently traumatizing Wesker.

While locked in Arkham Asylum, Wesker is shown in one of the workshops shaping some wood. After a nurse congratulates him, he rolls it over revealing it was a new dummy head. He takes a knife and makes a "scar" across the face, similar to the original Scarface's. In Batman's trial he did not even die after his head was accidentally chopped off by The Scarecrow.

Some years later, Arnold has been separated from Scarface and completed his rehabilitation. After proper release from Arkham, he moves into a halfway house and given a job at Wayne Industries in the mail room. Despite separation, Wesker is incredibly jittery, apparently haunted by Scarface. The most noteworthy being Rhino and Mugsy who directly approach Arnold, wanting Scarface back. Deciding to act, Rhino and Mugsy hire a dwarf named Hips McManus to pose as Scarface, to haunt Arnold, pushing him back into his Ventriloquist persona. Using Arnold's knowledge of Wayne Industries, the four kidnap Lucius Fox in order to open a voice activated vault storing several million in bonds. Batman and Batgirl arrive, having interrogated Hips, but are forced into the vault when Scarface threatens to kill Fox. Upon reaching the roof of the building, Scarface points his gun at Rhino and Mugsy, wanting to kill them. As he words it: Scarface was laying low until the heat was off and claimed that since the muscle wanted to act like the brain, it was time to amputate. Batman and Batgirl arrive, having escaped the vault, and battle the criminals. In the struggle, Scarface is thrown into the top of the ventilation shaft above the fan, and orders Arnold to kill Batman with the tommy gun in his hand. With encouragement from Batman, Arnold turns the gun onto Scarface, which pushing the dummy into the fan, ripping it to pieces. An unknown time later, Arnold is shown to be finally at peace.


Abilities

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Footnotes


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Batman Villain(s)
This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

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