Roland Daggett
Roland Daggett was the present of Daggett Industries. He was a corrupt individual, a scheming, crooked businessman unafraid to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. A large man possessing a keen criminal mind, Daggett has been one of the most persistent of Batman's enemies.
When Daggett Industries developed Renuyu, Daggett made their first subject actor Matt Hagen. Hagen quickly became addicted to Renuyu and was made by Daggett to do his bidding in return for more. Daggett opted to use him in his scheme to take over Wayne Enterprises for the purposes of using their superior marketing operation to get the flawed Renuyu into stores. Initially Daggett sought to take over the company through insider trading, but Lucius Fox stumbled onto his plans.
Daggett had Hagen pose as Bruce Wayne and lure Fox, with the papers proving that insider trading was being conducted, to an the Gotham Island Tramway so that Daggett's man Raymond Bell could kill him. Hagen botched the assignment thanks to the intervention of Batman, however. Furious, Daggett decided that Hagen had outlived his usefulness, and ordered Bell and Germs to get rid of him.
This resulted in the creation of Clayface, who soon began to seek revenge against Daggett. Meanwhile Daggett tried again to kill Lucius Fox, and was again thwarted by Batman. Regardless, Daggett went ahead with prior plans to appear on Gotham Insider with Summer Gleeson for the purposes of promoting Renuyu. When questions were allowed from the audience, an elderly woman, asking a multitude of rapid-fire questions about the rumors of Renuyu's addictive properties, was revealed as Clayface and attacked Daggett. Daggett's life was saved by Batman. Although his career was seemingly over since he'd been exposed on live TV to millions of viewers, he was soon out and about again, with a new evil scheme up his sleeve.
This time, he sought to use the Daggett Industries subsidiary company, the Daggett Development Corporation, to tear down the section of Gotham City known as Crime Alley to turn it into a mini-mall. To this end, he had Crocker enlist the services of Nitro, who was instructed by Daggett to blow up all the buildings in Crime Alley, regardless of whether or not they were inhabited. His plan was for Nitro and Crocker to set off the explosives while he was giving a speech to the Gotham Better Business Council, thus establishing his alibi. Batman again foiled Daggett's plans when he ensured that the explosives would only destroy abandoned buildings. But because he had an alibi and no one could prove that he'd paid Nitro to do the deed, Daggett avoided prison once again.
Next, he obtained the services of Milo. With Milo's help, Daggett planned to release a devestating virus into Gotham by infecting stray cats and dogs rounded up by hired hands Jessie and Paunch. Naturally, the only cure for the disease was marketed exclusively by Daggett Industries, and had his plan succeeded Daggett would've not only made millions, but he would've restored his considerably tainted public image, becoming a hero. This time, it wasn't just Batman who stepped in to thwart Daggett: Catwoman also intervened once she learned of the inhuman experiments being conducted by Milo at Daggett Labs.
Although Catwoman became infected with the virus when she was bitten by her cat Isis (used as a guinea pig by Milo), Batman was able to cure her, stop Daggett's henchmen from putting the infected animals onto the streets of Gotham, and expose Daggett but good. This time, Daggett's legal fees resulted in his company becoming bankrupt. Daggett Industries and its multitude of subsidiary companies was no more, leaving Daggett penniless.
Daggett would return a fourth and final time to clash with Gotham City's protectors. He stole the Jade Cat Statue from the museum, planning to sell it on the black market and use the money to get Daggett Industries up and running again. Catwoman, teaming with Batgirl, discovered his involvement, necessitating their elimination. Daggett captured them and took them to the abandoned Daggett Labs, planning to shoot them and dispose of the bodies in vats of acid.
They were saved thanks to the timely intervention of Robin, and after a fight Daggett almost fell into the acid himself, taking the Jade Cat Statue with him, but both the statue and the villain were rescued by Robin and Batgirl (Catwoman, bearing a grudge against Daggett for the whole virus episode, chose not to participate in his rescue). This was the last time that Roland Daggett ever appeared in Gotham City, and he presumably went to prison due to his inability to hire a good lawyer.
