Red Hood

Latest revision as of 09:46, 15 August 2024

The Red Hood in Batman v2 #24.

The Red Hood is the name used by several characters in the DC Universe.

Red Hood (Joker)

Main Article: Joker

Golden Age

The original Red Hood was actually a masked identity of a lab worker who found his job to be unfulfilling for his personal ambitions and he turned to crime to amass a personal fortune for himself, planning to steal $1,000,000 and then retire on his ill-gotten gains. He first started operating as a masked professional criminal leader known as the Red Hood. When the Red Hood attempted to rob the Monarch Playing Card Company, Batman and Robin arrived on the scene and cornered Red Hood on a catwalk. With little choice, the Red Hood jumped off the catwalk into a large vat of steaming chemicals. Batman and Robin assumed that their adversary died being exposed to the heated toxic chemicals. However, the Red Hood actually survived the chemical bath and managed to escape through a drainage pipe that emptied out into the river. When he emerged from the waste pipes, he discovered that the chemicals turned his hair green, his skin chalk-white and his lips rouge red. Using the Playing Card Company as inspiration, the criminal decided to pattern himself after the Joker playing cards that the chemicals were used to create. (Detective Comics v1 #168)

Silver Age

The Red Hood was a masked criminal who planned to steal $1,000,000 and planned to retire back into obscurity. However, after an accident at the Ace Chemical Processing Plant involving chemicals, his skin turned white, his hair green and his lips red, contorting his facial muscles into a perpetual malignant grin. The incident also drove the man irrevocably insane and he dubbed himself the Joker, becoming the most dangerous criminal of Gotham City and one of Batman's most notorious adversaries. (Untold Legend of Batman v1 #2)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The figure that became the Red Hood was actually the leader of the Red Hood Gang who operated under the name of Red Hood One. They comprised of blackmailed individuals from the middle and upper classes of Gotham that the Red Hood kept under his sway. With the ideology of pointless violence, the gang dared the authorities to try and catch them all. (Batman v2 #23) He first faced off against Bruce Wayne when the returned billionaire-turned-vigilante rescued some hostages from the madman. (Batman v2 #21) Having been tipped off by Edward Nygma, the Red Hood sent his gang to kill Bruce Wayne, catching the billionaire in an explosion in his brownstone. Taunting Wayne as he lay dying, Red Hood One added insult to injury by shooting two bullets through a portrait of Wayne's deceased parents before leaving the future vigilante to his injuries. (Batman v2 #23)

Red Hood (Jason Todd)

Main Article: Jason Todd

Jason Todd came to be the second Red Hood following his resurrection where he used the identity as he operated as a violent masked vigilante that brought justice by killing criminals. (Batman v1 #635)

Overview

At least one incarnation of the identity served as the leader of a gang of criminals known as the Red Hood Gang. This version operated under the name of Red Hood One. (Batman v2 #23)

Notes

• The concept of the Red Hood was created by Bill Finger where it made its first appearance in Detective Comics v1 #168 (February, 1951).
• On the Infinite Crisis hardcover, Jeanine Schaefer spoke about Geoff Johns original plans for the character, "Well, Geoff's idea was to have Red Hood be the Jason Todd of Earth-Two. So he'd be this kid, who wanted to be Batman's sidekick. He sneaks into the Batcave, and the first thing he sees as he boots up the bat-computers is ... Batman murdered. And so he uses Bruce's stuff, training himself to take over for him. I think there was even talk of his possibly being Deathstroke's Robin."

Alternate Versions

• In Kingdom Come v1 #2 (June, 1996), an alternate version of Red Hood appeared in the Kingdome Come reality designated as Earth-22 in the Multiverse. Lian Harper was the superheroine Red Hood, becoming an archer just like her father Red Arrow. She joined Batman's team, working under the guise of aligning themselves with Luthor's Mankind Liberation Front, only to later turn against them when Bruce Wayne discovered and revealed that Luthor was brainwashing Captain Marvel Billy Batson into doing his bidding.
• In Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular v1 #1 (August, 2020), an alternate version of Red Hood appeared in the Batman '66 reality set in a world in the Multiverse. Professor Anders Overbeck was a German scientist who worked at the Gotham City Atomic Energy Laboratory. He later invented a brain regulator for the Arkham Institute and briefly became the supervillain called the Red Hood whilst he was under the mental influence of the Joker.

In other media

Television

• In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the Red Hood appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Jeff Bennett. The Red Hood was shown to be the superheroic identity of the Joker from an alternate reality where the villains were the heroes. This Red Hood came to meet the main reality's Batman to enlist his help to fight the Injustice Syndicate.
• In Gotham, the Red Hood identity appeared in the setting of the live-action television series. They consisted of Gus Floyd (portrayed by Michael Goldsmith), Clyde Destro (portrayed by Jonny Coyne), Trope (portrayed by Peter Brensinger), Regan (portrayed by Kevin T. Collins), and Haskins (portrayed by Peter Albrink). Floyd conceives the idea of the Red Hood identity after making a red hooded mask for himself. Following a successful bank robbery, Floyd suggests whoever is wearing the red hood should lead the gang. Destro shoots him and takes the red mask and leadership of the gang for himself until Trope wounds Destro for the mask to impress his girlfriend. However, James Gordon and Harvey Bullock find Destro and force him to reveal his allies' names and their plans. Confronting the Red Hood Gang at the third bank they intended to hit, the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) kill Trope, Regan, and Haskins, though a young boy picks up the fallen mask while they are not looking. According to the Gotham Chronicle website, Destro survived being shot and is in police custody. A second Red Hood Gang appears in the episode "Mad City: Anything for You", consisting of an unidentified leader (portrayed by Michael Stoyanov), several unnamed members, and Butch Gilzean as their secret benefactor. After they attack Mayor Oswald Cobblepot's press conference, Barbara Kean, Tabitha Galavan, and Edward Nygma discover Gilzean's connections to the Red Hood Gang. He kills the gang, but Nygma and Victor Zsasz eventually expose Gilzean.
• In Titans, the Red Hood appeared in the setting of the live-action television series starting from the third season. Afterwards, Jason Todd was killed his body was taken by Crane's Alcatel to a hidden Lazarus Pit under Arkham Asylum where he is resurrected. When Todd awakens, he finds Crane there, who calms him and gives him a better version of the anti fear gas, all the while manipulating Todd into working with him. Equipped with an arsenal of weapons and a new suit, Jason takes up the new moniker of Red Hood. His first act is to confront and kill Pete Hawkins, saving a young boy, Diego, from his kidnapper in the process. After returning the boy to his friend, Molly, he sets out. Todd tracks down second in command gangsters and kills them. He then sets up a meeting with the mob, violently revealing his new Red Hood identity, putting a bag in front of them with the heads of their lieutenants. He promises to protect them if they give 40%. After killing a defiant gangster, the mob agrees to work with him.

Films

• In Batman: Under the Red Hood, Jason Todd as the Red Hood appeared in the setting of the animated film adaptation of the comic storyline.
• In Batman: The Killing Joke, the Joker incarnation of the Red Hood appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced again by actor Mark Hamill.

Video games

• In Batman: Arkham Knight, Jason Todd as the Red Hood appeared in the setting of the Arkhamverse video games where he was voiced by actor Troy Baker. Jason allied himself with Scarecrow and Deathstroke, and planned to destroy both Batman and Gotham. After he unmasked himself in front of Batman, and after he saw how much that Bruce still cared about him, Jason decided to help Batman, instead. He took on a new name, and became a vigilante once more, albeit with extreme tactics, and tried to put an end to crime under the identity of the Red Hood. He tracked Batman's movements to the abandoned Arkham Asylum and freed him from Scarecrow.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Red Hood appeared as an alternate skin for the Joker obtained through DLC in the setting of the fighting video game.
• In Injustice 2, Jason Todd as the Red Hood appeared as a playable character in DLC for the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Cameron Bowen.

Appearances

• Detective Comics v1: (1951)
• Untold Legend of Batman v1:
• Batman v2:
• Red Hood and the Outlaws v1:
• Red Hood and the Outlaws v2:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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