Rupert Thorne

Rupert Thorne is a male comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Rupert Thorne

Thorne then headed the Gotham City as they looked to eliminate the Batman who was becoming a threat to their plans. (Detective Comics v1 #471)

Boss Rupert Thorne in his position as Gotham City’s city council chairman was known for his dirty political tricks and corruption. Dr. Sartorius was a wealthy member of Gotham City's exclusive Tobacconists' Club who invested his life savings with Rupert Thorne, who was constructing a private nuclear power plant in Gotham. The people of Gotham rioted, not wanting the plant in their backyard, and Thorne was forced to move the plant three miles offshore in the Atlantic. The builders cut corners on the project, and when Sartorius inspected it he noticed a crack in the reactor core. As it exploded he dove behind a pile of sandbags, causing millions of red-hot sand grains to be driven through his body. The radiation changed the sand from silicon to phosphorus, and Sartorius' body was mutated into a pure phosphorus form. His mind became unhinged, and calling himself Dr. Phosphorus he began a campaign of terror against Gotham City. Dr. Phosphorus poisoned the city’s water supply by soaking in the Gotham Reservoir, and fought with Batman. Dr. Phosphorus visited Dr. Bell, who’d introduced him to the Tobacconists' Club, and said that while he’d have his revenge on the city council for having created him he’d spare Bell’s life if he kept Batman from interfering with him. Thorne was more than happy to go after Batman, he’d been trying to crack down on Batman for years, nervous of someone who wasn’t in his back pocket, but commissioner Gordon had always stood in his way. With Gordon in the hospital after drinking tainted water Chief O’Hara and the GCPD were ordered to have no further contact with Batman, and Batman was issued a subpoena to appear before a grand jury. Dr. Phosphorus hid out in the offshore power plant, with Thorne providing longshoremen as security. Batman saw the entire city council was against him, and as Bruce Wayne he threw a yacht party, inviting Thorne and the rest of the council so they’d be distracted. Bruce slipped away from the party, changed into Batman, and confronted Dr. Phosphorus, who seemingly died after falling into the power plant’s nuclear reactor. (Detective Comics v1 #470)

Boss Thorne called a meeting of his political allies, telling them he was fortunate that Dr. Phosphorus had apparently died, so there was nothing to prove that Thorne was giving aid and comfort to the madman. Thorne said they were facing a financial crisis and would have to be creative about conserving government money, so he’d feel safer having Batman off the streets. Several of his allies objected, saying that no one had been able to take down Batman before, and he gave Gotham the semblance of safety. Thorne said his mind was already made up. Batman was eavesdropping from the chimney, but his grib weakened, sending a stone falling down the fireplace. Thorne’s security went to investigate, and Batman was forced to make a hasty exit. He had to admit to himself that he wasn’t operating at full strength because he was still suffering from the radiation burn Dr. Phosphorus gave him. Returning to the Batcave he told Alfred about Thorne’s schemes against him, and said his ability to act as his own doctor had its’ limits, so he needed to seek out a trustworthy doctor. His friend Jerry Robinson had told him about Graytowers, a clinic that catered to the rich and famous and didn’t ask many questions. Graytowers was actually run by Professor Hugo Strange under the alias of Dr. Todhunter. He turned his clients into Monster Men, forcing them to obey his whims in exchange for receiving a temporary antidote. Each of his patients was ordered to bring one new wealthy Gothamite to his clinic. Bruce confronted him as Batman, but a green mamba hidden in Strange’s office bit him, rendering him comatose. When Strange revived him Batman was horrified to realize Strange had removed his mask and knew he was Bruce Wayne. (Detective Comics v1 #471)

Hugo Strange and his Monster Men later abducted Alfred from the Wayne Foundation, and kept him in the same cell as Bruce. Strange’s nurse Magda kept Bruce sedated while Strange took up the identities of both Bruce Wayne and Batman, excited at the thrill of occupying his life. He planned on raiding Wayne Industries and selling Batman’s secret identity. “Bruce” sold off millions in stocks, causing a stock market panic, but no one dared question him, especially since Strange had a number of Bruce’s financier’s under his sway after their time in Graytowers. Silver St. Cloud visited “Bruce” saying his recent business moves made him look erratic, and asking why he hadn’t called her lately. “Bruce” said he was breaking up with her, so she slapped him and stormed out of his office. She had a suspicion something happened to Bruce in Graytowers, and visited the clinic, but Magda slammed the door on her and alerted Strange that she was raising suspicions and needed to be taken care of. Silver heard Bruce talk extensively about his ward Dick Grayson, and called him up at Hudson University, telling him her suspicions that something was wrong with Bruce. Dick knew she was right, but had to blow her off to safeguard his secret identity as Robin. He changed into Robin and rode his motorcycle to Gotham to investigate Graytowers, while Magda sicced Hugo Strange’s Monster Men on Silver. Strange arranged an auction for Batman’s secret identity, with a $10,000 buy-in. Joker, Penguin and Boss Thorne responded, and Strange planned to hold the auction the next night. Strange intended to kill Bruce Wayne before the auction, knowing that keeping him alive was too dangerous to his plans. Boss Thorne’s men shot the Monster Men that were escorting Strange with tranquilizer darts, and brought him to city hall, demanding to know Batman’s identity and saying he didn’t intend on paying for it. Robin broke into Graytowers and fought off the Monster Men. Magda tried to inject Bruce with Monster Man serum and Alfred protected his master. During the struggle Magda injected herself, transforming into a Monster Man. Robin incapacitated her and swore revenge on Strange for what he’d done to Bruce. Thorne’s men savagely beat Strange, but he’d made up his mind not to reveal Batman’s secret. He said he’d earned that knowledge and would never give it away because Batman was the one man he saw as a worthy foe. Strange said Thorne would have to defeat Batman himself, as he had, to learn his identity. Thorne did not understand Strange’s loyalty to his nemesis, and his men beat strange until he was seemingly dead. (Detective Comics v1 #472)

Thorne’s men stuffed Hugo Strange’s body into a barrel and tossed it off a pier. Batman and Robin spotted them on their night patrol and confronted them, but were forced to flee when the police arrived. Batman explained to Robin that the city council had subpoenaed him, and he’d missed his meeting with a grand jury while Strange held him captive, so the city council had declared him an outlaw and had orders to arrest him on sight. Dr. Reed complained to Thorne about Strange’s murder, saying he’d never agreed to get involved in such business when he joined the city council, and Thorne had his goons drag him away. Hugo Strange’s 'ghost' appeared to Thorne warning him that he had to have his revenge. (Detective Comics v1 #473) Batman confronted Boss Thorne in his office, demanding to know why he had put a cease-and-desist order on him, and Thorne said the people of Gotham needed a return to normalcy in their lives. Batman slapped the cigar out of his mouth, saying he’d tried to resolve things with Thorne peacefully, but said he’d handle the cease-and-desist on his own terms. Thorne was shaken, and Hugo Strange’s ghost appeared to him again, saying his evil life had run its’ course, and the next time Thorne saw him his life would be over. (Detective Comics v1 #474)

He remained within his padded cell at Arkham when he was visited by Batman who was concerned as to why Thorne gave up all his plans and information thus clearing the Dark Knight's name. The deranged Rupert explained that he had been forced to do so by the ghost of Hugo Strange. (Detective Comics v1 #477) After having recovered his sanity, Thorne came to be released from Arkham Asylum despite concerns over the decision. (Detective Comics v1 #507)

Rupert later came to be seemingly haunted by the spirit of Hugo Strange and after one incident decided to enlist the services of Doctor Thirteen. (Detective Comics v1 #520)

He remained confined in Blackgate Penitentiary which then came under attack from Doctor Phosphorous who looked to kill Thorne for his involvement in the accident that transformed Sartorious. Despite this attempt, Phosphorous was stopped by Batman with Rupert remaining in custody at the prison. (Detective Comics v1 #825)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Rupert Thorne

He was shown to be incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary during the time Batman came to visit Joe Chill. (Batman: Three Jokers v1 #2)

Overview

Powers and abilities

At one point, he came to sit on the Gotham City Council with claims that he ran Gotham. (Detective Comics v1 #471)

Notes

• Rupert Thorne was created by Steve Englehart and Walter Simonson where he made his first appearance in Detective Comics v1 #469 (May, 1977).

Alternate Versions

• In Justice League: Gods and Monsters - Batman v1 (2015), a version of Rupert Thorne appeared in an Elseworld setting and shown in the prequel comic. He was shown as being childhood friends with that world's Lew Moxon with the two embarking into a career as crime bosses.

In other media

Television

• In Batman: The Animated Series, Rupert Thorne made an appearance as a recurring villain in the animated television series in the DC Animated Universe where he was voiced by actor John Vernon. This version is a composite character who possesses elements of other gangsters from the Batman mythos such as Carmine Falcone and Sal Maroni, including his status as Gotham's most powerful crime boss and role in the creation of Two-Face. His most prominent appearances are in the episodes "It's Never Too Late", where he competes with aging crime boss Arnold Stromwell for control over the city's rackets and tries to kill him, resulting in Stromwell deciding to redeem himself by surrendering to the police; the two-part episode "Two-Face", where Thorne's plan to blackmail District Attorney Harvey Dent ends with Dent being scarred in a chemical explosion, turning him into Two-Face and resulting in him attacking Thorne's rackets before Batman intervenes; "The Man Who Killed Batman", where Batman is seemingly killed by a small-timer named Sidney Debris, whom Batman saves when Thorne tries to murder him; and "Bane", where Thorne hires the mercenary Bane to kill Batman, only for the Dark Knight to defeat Bane and reveal his plan to usurp Thorne's empire with help from his treacherous moll Candice. Despite numerous arrests after confrontations with Batman and Gotham's police, Thorne avoids imprisonment through bribing Gotham's many corrupt politicians, allowing him to remain Batman's enemy throughout the series' run. He makes minor appearances in "Paging the Crime Doctor", introducing his brother Matthew, a de-certified doctor who is forced to make a living performing surgery on Rupert's thugs; "Vendetta", in which he is briefly suspected of kidnapping small-time criminal "Spider" Conway before Killer Croc is revealed as the true culprit; "Shadow of the Bat", in which he is part of corrupt GCPD Deputy Commissioner Gil Mason's plot to frame Gordon; and "Second Chance", in which Robin questions him about Two-Face's apparent kidnapping.
• In The Batman, Thorne briefly appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the pilot episode "The Bat in the Belfry" where he was voiced by actor Victor Brandt. Implicitly one of Gotham's last old-school crime bosses, he is quickly apprehended by Batman, leaving Gotham's underworld open for claiming by Batman's traditional rogues gallery. He makes several cameos in subsequent episodes, such as "A Matter of Family" and "Rumors".

Films

• In Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Rupert Thorne appeared in the setting of the direct-to-DVD film set in the DC Animated Universe where he was voiced once again by actor John Vernon.

Video games

• In Batman: Arkham Origins, Rupert Thorne was referenced in the setting of the video game.

Appearance

• Detective Comics v1: #469 (1977)
• Batman v1:
• Batman: Three Jokers v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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