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Maximillian Zeus was an enemy of Batman who considered himself the new Zeus. He led the New Olympians and later a cult of personality.

Maximillian Zeus was a greek history teacher[1] and a married man. Through unrevealed circumstances he lost his wife and his sanity. He became a crimelord, and used his cunning and resources to rise to power amidst the chaos in Gotham City's underworld caused by the city's numerous insane criminals.

His first criminal act in Gotham City was the blood contract on an old enemy called Long John Logan. However, his murder attempt was foiled by Batman, who learned of Zeus' activities and started a war against him.[2] Zeus tried to eliminate Batman, but he only managed to bring Batman to the Olympus building. Zeus prepared several traps for Batman, which gave him enough time to escape, but when the Dark Knight taunted him and used Zeus' mania against him, Maxie Zeus returned to confront Batman, only to be captured for good.[1]

Zeus was eventually committed to Arkham Asylum,[3] but he escaped once in order to attend to her daughter's birthday. Batman allowed Zeus this as a kind gesture and Zeus returned the favor by going back to Arkham willingly.[4] The next time Zeus escaped, he led Batman to a snowy area, where his thugs killed an innocent man. Escaping from Batman's wrath, Zeus was attacked by a bear until he was rescued and recaptured by Batman.[5]

Zeus remained locked in Arkham until he escaped to form a team of superhuman agents, the New Olympians with help from The Monitor. Zeus attempted to kidnap Olympic athlete Lacinia Nitocris in order to force her to marry him and become a mother figure for his daughter Medea. This plot was foiled by Batman and the Outsiders, who beat the Olympians in a series of Olympic-style games.[6] Zeus was also captured, but after explaining himself, Lacinia agreed to take care of Medea, which was for the best as Zeus was never cured of his insanity.[7]

Returned to Arkham, Maxie's sanity worsed a lot, at a point where he began collecting his own feces to allegedly fertilize the world[8]. He was one of the villains who escaped when Bane brought down the walls of the Asylum.[9] However, Maxie's didn't make it very far as he collided with a tree outside of the place.[10]

Sometime later, however, he was drawn into a plot engineered by the children of Ares — Deimos, Phobos, and Eris to merge Gotham City with Ares' throne capital, the Aeropagus. The intent being to re-establish Ares' rule on earth. Maxie is killed as a result of that plot and his sacrifice brought about Ares' return. However, their scheme is foiled by Wonder Woman and her allies, and Ares himself banished his children back to Tartarus.[11]

One Year Later

Maximillian Zeus

Maxie Zeus was revealed to be alive, and running an illegal casino called "Maxie's". When the mysterious vigilante Violet tried to rob the casino, she escaped thanks to Robin, who also had tipped off detectives who consequently raided the casino, arresting Maxie Zeus, who went without a fight after one officer physically assaulted him.


Abilities

Other Characteristics


  • Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
  • Chronologically, Zeus is the fourth Batman villain to be commited to Arkham Asylum. The first three are Joker, Two-Face and Rupert Thorne.

Related

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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