Arkham's inmates

Meet just some of Batman's most notorious foes that you will be taking on in Batman: Arkham Asylum on PlayStation 3.

The Joker
The Joker is an insanely homicidal super-villain. His white skin, green hair, and blood-red lips mask the chaotic nature underlying his freakish cartoonish appearance. The self-styled Clown Prince of Crime has no superpowers, beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating complete and total mayhem on the streets of Gotham.

The Joker consistently employs various deadly weapons, often based on party-gag items and frequently uses a toxin that stretches his victim's face into a Joker-like grin resulting in an instant demise.

First comic book appearance: Batman # 1 (1940)

Harley Quinn
Dr. Harleen Quinzel was once an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist assigned to treat The Joker. Instead she became obsessively fixated on her patient, believing herself to be in love with him. Soon after she helped him escape confinement and took on her own twisted criminal persona as Harley Quinn.

Quinn is a hostile and unpredictable felon whose only motivation, beyond general mayhem, is earning The Joker's complete approval for everything she does. Because of his cruel nature, this in some ways makes her just another of his victims - albeit an extremely dangerous one like no other.

First appearance: Batman: The Animated Series episode #22 Joker's Favour (1992)

Bane
Imprisoned from birth to serve his dead father's sentence, Bane was raised inside the walls of Santa Prisca prison. Finding solace in smuggled books and meditation, he developed incredible powers of concentration. When he was subjected to military experiments with the experimental steroid Venom, his iron will helped him survive when other test subjects had died, allowing him to make his escape.

Determined to prove his worth, he sought out Batman and broke the Dark Knight's spine in the epic tale Knightfall. However, Batman eventually recovered and managed to defeat Bane, cutting off the precious Venom supply that transforms him into a superhuman with unparalleled strength.

First comic book appearance: Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (1993)

Killer Croc
Born with a rare mutation that made his skin green and scaly, and grew his body to grotesque proportions, Waylon Jones was raised by an alcoholic aunt and bullied relentlessly for his strange appearance.

He briefly worked as a carnival freak under the name Killer Croc, but his anger grew as did his hostile nature, pushing him further and further into a life of crime. As his physical condition and mental state lessened over the years, Killer Croc soon transformed into a much more bestial creature filled with pure rage.

First comic book appearance: Batman #357 (1984)

Poison Ivy
Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley was a promising botanist from Seattle who was coerced into stealing an Egyptian artifact containing ancient herbs. Fearing she would implicate her partner, Marc LeGrande, in the theft, he attempted to poison her with the herbs but she survived and quickly discovered she was immune to all natural toxins and diseases.

Poison Ivy is arguably one of the world's most prominent eco-terrorists and is obsessed with plants, botany, and environmentalism. Ivy uses toxins from plants and her own bloodstream to act out her elaborate criminal plans, which are usually aimed at protecting the natural environment.

Fellow villain Harley Quinn has become her recurring partner-in-crime and possibly her only human friend.

First comic book appearance: Batman #181 (1966)

Mr. Zsasz
A true sociopath, Zsasz grew up in a life of ease but nonetheless became a serial killer on the streets of Gotham City, terrorising its population and providing a true challenge in detective prowess to Batman.

Indiscriminate in his prey, body count is the only thing that matters to Zsasz when he goes out on the hunt. Bizarrely, he scars himself every time he takes a victim on his body, and is saving a special spot for the Batman. This villain is as dangerous as they come, which means Batman will have his hands full inside the walls of Arkham Asylum.

First comic book appearance: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (1992)

Scarecrow
Jonathan Crane, otherwise known as Scarecrow was a former psychiatrist who uses a variety of drugs and psychological tactics to exploit the fears and phobias of his adversaries and victims.

Scarecrow does not commit crimes for wealth, rather as a form of twisted research to further his studies into the effects of fear on humans, making the innocent citizens of Gotham City his unwilling guinea pigs. While he may occasionally commit a robbery or two and other types of larceny, he does so only to obtain the funding he needs to carry out his latest nefarious experiments.

First comic book appearance: World's Finest Comics #3 (1941)