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Timid Arnold Wesker was the Ventriloquist. He had developed a separate identity for Scarface, which he projected through his ventriloquist dummy. Scarface, however, considered Wesker the dummy.

Origins

Arnold Wesker had always been a meek and timid person, even as a child. When he was very young, his parents took him to the Gotham City shipyards to see an albatross, which was something of a local attraction. Terrified, he demanded to be taken home immediately. While his parents were distracted, a truck carrying display dummies rolled down the street, struck, and killed them. Traumatized by the accident, he became convinced that the albatross was an omen. Throughout his life he would cope by repressing all emotion and furthering his timid stature.[1]

The repression eventually resulted in a psychotic breakdown during his adulthood, in which he killed a man during a bar-fight. By his own account the murder was completely accidental. He was arrested and sent to Blackgate Prison. There he was placed in a cell with an inmate named Donnegan, who harbored an intense interest in ventriloquism. Donnegan's most prized possession was a puppet named "Woody", which he was very protective of. Despite his violent nature, Wesker became intrigued by the dummy and even went so far as to attempt handling "Woody" whenever Donnegan was out of the cell. When he discovered this, he became enraged and assaulted Wesker for touching his property.

Wesker grew despondent in Blackgate, and prepared to hang himself while Donnegan slept. Despite the fact that Donnegan was unconscious, "Woody" began talking to Wesker. Though he ignored this at first, Woody insisted that he was acting independently of Donnegan's control. He convinced Wesker to forgo suicide in favor of escaping from Blackgate and revealed that Donnegan had been secretly digging an escape tunnel from the cell for the past fifteen years. While the two spoke Donnegan awoke and brutally attacked Wesker. He also stabbed at Woody with a corkscrew, creating a long scar along the side of the face of the puppet. Wesker fought back and smashed Donnegan in the face with a loose brick. He then strung the body up with the noose he originally intended to use for his own suicide. Subsequently Wesker took Woody and escaped through Donnegan's tunnel.

The tunnel led him to the shoreline of Blackgate Island, near the prison boathouse. At Woody's urging, he picked up a riot shotgun and killed two guards before stealing a raft. They paddled to the mainland of Gotham City and, planning to begin a new life, acquired a fresh set of clothes. The puppet, unsatisfied with the name that Donnegan had given him, decided to take a new name, one more befitting an angry criminal mind with high ambitions: Scarface.[2]

Scarface became the vehicle through which Wesker could express all of his years of bottled-up rage. It was clear early on that Scarface was the dominant partner in their relationship, and Wesker always maintained a subservient and obedient countenance.

The Ventriloquist Club

Scarface and Wesker 01

Ventriloquist and Scarface

Calling himself the Ventriloquist, Wesker became a powerful drug lord in Gotham City; although it was Scarface the official leader of the mob. They operated out of a trendy hotspot on Electric Street called the Ventriloquist Club. The bouncer of the club was an over-sized leg-breaker named Rhino.[3] The Ventriloquist and Scarface made their marks in the Gotham underworld through the sale and distribution of a designer drug called Fever. This earned them the attention of the Batman, who eventually fought through the Ventriloquist's armed men and apprehended the drug lord and his puppet master.[4]

While in prison, Ventriloquist and Scarface organized a drug trade with mob boss Rafael Santini, but the whole plan was foiled by Penguin and Mortimer Kadaver, who stole the drug money and offed Santini.[5][6]

Wesker was released from prison on a technicality; which allowed him to resume his activities in Scarface's master plans. However, their drug operation had been taken over by the street gang known as the Street Demonz. In the ensuing confrontation, the Scarface puppet was completely destroyed and Wesker was finally free from his mania. Wesker got drunk in celebration, but it didn't take long before his mania returned and he joined forces with Rhino to rebuild and repair Scarface.[7] With a new puppet, Wesker gathered the members of his old gang and declared war on the Street Demonz, decimating their forces in a violent gang war and reclaiming back his lost empire.[8][9]

The Ventriloquist reopened his night club and used it to learn secrets of the underworld. Upon learning that The Joker knew the location of 25 million dollars from a botched heist, Wesker and Scarface sprung The Joker out of Arkham and forced him to take them to the money. Due to unforeseen circumstances, their plan was foiled after which they were arrested and Wesker was sent to Arkham for psychological examination.[10][11]

Knightfall, Prodigal and Beyond

Time passed until a criminal known as Bane set all of the Arkham inmates free and Wesker escaped from Arkham during the chaos. In order to compensate for Scarface's absence, he briefly took to using an old sock as a hand puppet, naming it "Socko". Wesker was joined by Amygdala, who acted as a bodyguard for Wesker until they found Scarface. Together, they broke into a toy store, looking for a replacement for Scarface and Batman arrived to stop them. Batman managed to defeat Amygdala, but the fight took all from him, allowing Wesker to escape.[12]

After being separated from Amygdala, Wesker and "Socko" went to the place of their last attorney at law, Mr. Detweiler and forced him to tell them the current location of Scarface.[13] The lawyer told them that the puppet might be at the police precinct where Ventriloquist was previously arrested.[14] Wesker infiltrated the precinct, killed the guard and located the locker where Scarface was being held.[15] Once again in possession of Scarface, Wesker had troubles as his puppet "Socko" was in conflict with Scarface. While staying on a derelict building, Scarface and "Socko" started to argue and both puppets shot each other, injuring Wesker's hands.[16]

Wesker remained low-profile until his hands healed and he could resume his criminal activities. Eventually, he and Scarface sought to recover their lost drug empire from the new crimelord Marty Vetch, but in the process they were stopped and arrested by Batman and Robin.[17]

Wesker remained locked away in Blackgate Penitentiary, where he received constant psychiatric evaluations. Eventually, Rhino organized Wesker's breakout with assistance from Scarface and The Penguin.[18] Once outside, Wesker was reunited with Scarface, but the reunion was short-lived as Batman captured Rhino and forced Wesker to escape and flee Gotham by swiming away into international waters.[19]

Cataclysm and No Man's Land

 Main articles: Batman: Cataclysm and Batman: No Man's Land

After the devastating earthquakes that destroyed much of Gotham city, an enigmatic villain appeared on television, calling himself the Quakemaster and issuing demands for a 100 million dollar ransom, or more quakes would follow.[20] Robin eventually figured out the Quakemaster's identity as The Ventriloquist, who was using a different puppet. The "Quakemaster" avoided saying words with the letter 'B' as he would let himself slip and pronounce them as 'G'. In the encounter with Robin and the GCPD, Wesker was captured and the Scarface puppet recieved a bullet through it's head.[21] However, but due to the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake, Gotham City was declared a No Man's Land, the majority of the population evacuated the city and only the most notable criminals remained, including The Ventriloquist.[22][23]

During No Man's Land, The Ventriloquist and Scarface became one of the villains who took control of a district of Gotham with his gang led by Rhino. He stole dropped supplies and profited from selling it to the civilians.[24] Upon returning to the city, Batman brutally took down Scarface and showed little sympathy for Wesker, saying that the puppet is just a shield he hinds his own evil emotions behind. After taking down Scarface, Batman let Rhino in charge of protecting the civilians and giving them their fair share, and turned Wesker over to Lock-Up in Blackgate.[25]

New Gotham, Same Scarface

Once the No Man's Land ended and Gotham City was rebuilt, Arnold Wesker made good progress inside Arkham and as part of his final days of therapy, Dr. Arkham allowed Wesker to burn Scarface and send the puppet down the river. A few weeks later, Wesker was released from Arkham as a sane man and resumed his activities as owner and manager of The Ventriloquist Club; hiring Rhino once again. However, this time Wesker truly intended to go straight and used his ventriloquism skills to provide entertainment for the patrons of his club. Wesker got a new girl puppet he called Lola and everything seemed to go well until The Penguin came across the original Scarface puppet, which had not been destroyed in the fire and brought it back to Wesker, who immediately lost control of himself and allowed Scarface to take over his actions once again. After getting rid of "Lola", The Ventriloquist and Scarface resumed their criminal activities and set up a trap against Penguin for their misfortune and afterwards, they set out to take control of Penguin's operations.[26]

The Ventriloquist soon took control of one of Penguin's pubs called "Ales of Justice", where notorious figures of Gotham's underworld used to gather. One of these criminals was Matches Malone, although it was really Batman in disguise.[27] As Malone, Batman managed to foil one of The Ventriloquist and Scarface's smuggling operations and in return, The Ventriloquist killed the actual Matches Malone; who had recently returned to Gotham after hearing rumors of his alleged double-crossing against Scarface.[28] With the death of Malone in his conscience, Batman set out to stop The Ventriloquist and in the final fight, he actually set Scarface on fire, making sure to destroy the puppet.[29]

The Ventriloquist was locked up in Arkham once again after the previous encounter, until day when The Joker came up with a plan to Jokerize every super villain including The Ventriloquist. The Arkham imnates were released as part of Joker's plan and under the influence of Joker Venom, The Jokerized Ventriloquist roamed the exteriors of the Asylum with a new Scarface puppet, painted as The Joker. He was eventually stopped by The Huntress, who administered an antidote and returned Wesker to his normal self.[30]

City of Crime

 Main article: Batman: City of Crime

Ventriloquist formed an alliance with Penguin and together started a crime ring that consisted on kidnapping young pregnant girls and selling their babies to adoption. When Mister Freeze started posing trouble for their business, Ventriloquist sent all his men to eliminate him, but his plan was thwarted by Batman.[31]

Shortly after this, the Ventriloquist was attacked by the new enemy only known as The Body. The Ventriloquist and his gang were massacred on one of his own boats and the only living member left was Wesker himself. Barely alive, he controlled Scarface and told Batman everything he knew about The Body, but passed out just seconds after that.[32] Wesker was taken to a hospital and Robin guarded the criminal to protect him from another attack. The Body found Wesker's room and tried to attack him, but Robin stopped them and moved Wesker to a different room.[33]

War Games

 Main article: Batman: War Games


Ventriloquist and Scarface were summoned to a meeting where all the other crime lords of Gotham were summoned as well. The meeting ended up in a shooting and Scarface killed Silver Monkey.[34] After that incident, the greatest gang war broke out in Gotham and Wesker's gang was approached by Alexandra Kosov from the Odessa Mob and they made an alliance to get rid of other crime lords in Gotham. Together, they eliminated a minor lord called Saunders,[35] and later, they targeted Darla Aquista, daughter of the crime boss Henry Aquista. Both gangs attacked the Louis Grieve High School, where Darla was attending to and they were temporarily stopped by Tim Drake, who wrecked Wesker's car and took Scarface away from him.[36]

Wesker recovered Scarface and retreated to establish a plan of action. After he gathered his gang, Wesker sent them to take over the city. However, when he was alone, The Ventriloquist was attacked by Black Mask, who subdued him and forced Wesker to work for him.[37]

Ventriloquist and the Scarface gang were present at the massive criminal gathering at Robinson Park. After the revelation of Black Mask intentions of killing his enemies, Wesker and his gang went outside the park, where they confronted the GCPD on a massive gun fight.[38]

Death

Ventriloquist Dead

Death during "Face the Face"

Wesker and Scarface survived the events of Alexander Luthor's attempt to recreate the multiverse, but a year later had become a pair of washed-up criminals reduced to eating canned pasta in a ramshackle apartment. Though they schemed to return to their glory days, their plans were interrupted by the Tally Man, who had been sent by the Great White Shark to murder costumed criminals around Gotham in a gambit to frame the recently reformed Harvey Dent. The Ventriloquist stood little chance against the younger, more vicious criminal, and was killed by a single shot to the head.[39]

Resurrection

Black Lantern Ventriloquist 001

Black Lantern Corps

During the "Blackest Night", the Ventriloquist was among those resurrected by Nekron as a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Although he no longer physically possessed Scarface, he created an army of constructs that looked like the puppet with his ring.[40]


Abilities

  • Ventriloquism: Wesker is a skilled ventriloquist, an act of stagecraft in which the person changes his voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually his puppet Scarface. The ability to do so is called throwing one's voice.
  • Tactical Analysis: The Scarface persona is a brilliant criminal strategist and tactician.
  • Business Management

Other Characteristics

Equipment

Weapons


  • It has never been clear whether Scarface was actually just an aspect of Wesker's multiple personality disorder, or if he had actually somehow gained sentience. There have been several instances where Scarface has functioned independently of a human controller, but this may also be a reflection of the controller's mental state at the given moment. On occasion, Scarface has been animate during times when Wesker was asleep or unconscious, or not even present at all. One of the strongest arguments for suggesting that Scarface may be a separate consciousness is the fact that he always maintains the same personality no matter who is operating him. In the case of Donnegan, however, Scarface's diction was much better, and he didn't replace the letter "B" with a "G" as was the case with Wesker.
  • Wesker is unable to pronounce any word with a letter 'B' accurately without moving his lips, giving Scarface a speech impediment. He compensates for this by using the letter 'G' as he often calls the Dark Knight "Gatman".

Related

Footnotes


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