Otis Flannegan (New Earth)

An extremist former exterminator, Otis Flannegan is atoning for his "past sins" against rats by attempting to lead them into a bright future as Earth's new dominant species, with him as their king.

History

Otis Flannegan used to work as a ratcatcher for the Gotham City Sanitation Department and always claimed he could train rats to attack. Flannegan was eventually arrested and spent ten years in prison after he stabbed a man to death in a street brawl. Upon his release from the Gotham State Penitentiary, Flannegan abducted the four officials responsible for his arrest and subsequent sentence. Flannegan took his prisoners to a hideout located in the sewers of the city, where he held them for five years. During this time, Flannegan developed his current criminal alter-ego as the Ratcatcher. Wearing protective equipment and using his animal training skills, the Ratcatcher gathered a large mischief of rats which he used to torture and restrain his prisoners.^[1]

After five years of captivity, one of the Ratcatcher's prisoners, Judge Wyatt Hogan, who had sentenced Flannegan, managed to escape, although the Ratcatcher sent his army of rats to kill him. Judge Hogan was killed upon reaching the surface and his body was found by Batman, who followed the rats back to the Ratcatcher's hideout. Forced to confront the Dark Knight, Flannegan was outmatched once Batman got rid of all the rats and the Ratcatcher was subsequently delivered to the authorities once again.^[2]

After serving some time in prison, Flannegan escaped from his parole hearing by using a flute he had carved to control rats at a high-pitched frequency. His plans for Gotham were ruined by the replacement of Batman in the end and he was once again captured.^[3]

Infinite Crisis

Years later, the Ratcatcher was being protected by, in addition to his rat friends, the homeless community. When he was discovered and being taken away, one of the homeless attempted to aid Flannegan, but was easily knocked aside by the arresting officers. The man turned out to be an OMAC in hiding, and the injury apparently initiated its release. The OMAC identified the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and vaporized him.^[4]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Animal Training: Flannegan could train rats to attack.
Chemistry: Manipulation over various things with cyanide gases.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Gas Mask
Vermin Control Gear

Trivia

While in prison, Flannegan is able to smuggle items in and out with the help of his small friends.