Scarecrow, The Joker, Man Bat, and Killer Croc often get brought up when people talk about Batman's scariest villains. They strike at things that people already fear. Clowns, bats and crocodiles. Scarecrow even forces people to see their worst fears. Despite that, none of these are Batman's scariest villain. No, I'm not going to say it's Penguin, or Two Face, not even The Riddler or Ra's. No, it's Professor Pyg.
Progessor Pyg is relatively new character, not appearing until 2007. He doesn't have the reputation and highlights that the other villains have but I assure you he's terrifying. The key part of his villainy is the living dolls better known as dollotrons. See, these are people he's captured and brainwashed. There's no sense of personality left in them. They obey his every command without question. There's no motive behind who he chooses. The genitals are destroyed, they a have a mask attached to their face permanently and they're treated with a combination of brain surgery and heavy drugs to complete the process.
See, that just sounds like some comic book menace stuff, but it's more than that. See, Professor Pyg scares me because of the fact that he can be real. He's not a villain, he's essentially a serial killer. Professor Pyg pieces together parts of real serial killers into one terrifying beast. For starters, many serial killers both male and female mutilate the genitals of their victims. I can't pin that down, but lets look at the masks. Serial Killer Ed Gein did not wear masks of his victims. However, he was known to dig up graves and corpses. Turning skin and bone into trinkets, dishes, bedding and most notably clothing. Professors Pyg might not go that far, but here he is, destroying his victims bodies and creating living dolls. You can't help but think back to Ed Gein.
Then there's the living zombie aspect. It sounds completely impossible. But, then there's Jeffrey Dahmer. A serial killer who preyed on gay black men because they featured traits he found attractive and knew police would not search for them. For a period of time he attempted to create living zombies in various ways. The most common involved drugging his victims then drilling a hole into their skulls before injecting acid directly into their brains. Pyg drugs his victims, performs surgery and creates living zombies, succeeding where Dahmer failed.
Gotham takes it a few steps further. He's not out to make living dolls. He's just a serial killer for hire who does everything to avoid capture including changing his own appearance. He's not creating dolls, he's butchering people and creating scenes to be found. The actions are different but the motives of the character are the same. They strike at the heart of the character and bring the fear levels up.
Pyg scares me. He's just too real. Joker would not be running around my city and bombing buildings. Scarecrow could not poison an citie's water supply. There is no 11 foot tall crocodile man running through the sewers waiting to rob jewelry stores or running mobs. But Pyg, is just a serial killer with a flair for the dramatic. Serial killers are all too real. There's still serial killers out there today. That's why Pyg scares me.
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