Mad Hatter (comics)
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The Mad Hatter is a fictional character in the Batman comics, published by DC Comics. He was modelled after The Hatter from Lewis Carroll's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. He made his first appearance in Batman #49 in October 1948. Like other Batman villains, he has become a darker character in recent years.
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[edit] Character Overview
Jervis Tetch is fascinated with hats of all shapes and sizes, as well as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass, particularly favoring the chapter 'A Mad Tea Party'. He is obsessive-compulsive, highly delusional, suffers from psychotic manic depression, and can even sometimes be homicidal. (As shown in Secret Six, he won't eat a piece of food that doesn't have a hat on it.) He exhibits delusions and thought processes typical of schizophrenia. Not only is he often known to quote and associate with Carroll's Wonderland novels, but he often fails to discern between these stories and reality. He will go to insane lengths to get what he wants. A few more recent stories have implied pedophilic overtones in his fascination with the character of Alice.
In his first appearance, the Mad Hatter attempted to steal a trophy from the Gotham Yacht Club, but was foiled by Batman while he tried to rob spectators from a high society horseshow. Tetch was subsequently sent to Arkham Asylum. Later a very different Mad Hatter appeared, claiming to be Jervis Tetch, but he was revealed as an impostor and subsequently disposed of once the real Tetch re-appeared.
The real Jervis Tetch reappeared in Detective Comics #510 in 1981. Tetch appeared with a pet monkey, as well as a mind-erasing machine. Tetch claimed to have killed his impostor, but that turned out to be untrue when the impostor returned one last time in Detective Comics #573 in 1987.
It was in 1983's Detective Comics #526 that Tetch was first portrayed with the mind-controlling devices for which he is now best known. He even managed to slip one into Scarecrow's hat and take control of him for a short time. Tetch seemed to have died under the wheels of a train, but that turned out to have been another trick.
Tetch has even kidnapped Lucius Fox of Wayne Enterprises and held him for ransom. Once again, Tetch was stopped by Batman, but not before using his advanced equipment to feed information from Fox's mind into his computer.
In Robin: Year One, Tetch devised a plan to implant his mind control devices in Walkmen, which he gave out to young girls at Dick Grayson's school in order to sell the young girls to millionaire third-world dictator Generalissimo Lee. The young Robin managed to defeat the Mad Hatter, however.
One of Tetch's latest plans consisted of implanting his devices in "free coffee and donuts" tickets he handed out in front of the police stations in Gotham. That plan had him controlling most of the cops in the city. He even had Gotham police detectives Crispus Allen and Renee Montoya break into a bank for him.
More recently, in Gotham Central #21 (September 2004), Tetch was trying to escape Arkham Asylum with the aid of a guard under mind control. The guard fired on police and was killed in return fire. Tetch as well was shot multiple times and left in critical condition. It was thought he might have died, but a small appearance in Detective Comics #800 (January 2005), in which he was working for Black Mask, proves otherwise.
While working with Black Mask, Tetch implanted a mind control chip directly into Killer Croc's brain, which caused him to mutate again due to the virus he was injected with by Hush and The Riddler. Croc embarked on a quest to get revenge on those responsible for his mutation, and started with Tetch. Batman arrived in time to save Tetch, but Croc escaped.
During Infinite Crisis Tetch was seen amongst the fighting with the Secret Society of Super Villains during the Battle of Metropolis.
[edit] One Year Later
Tetch was revealed to have been involved in the plot by The Great White Shark to frame Harvey Dent for murdering various Gotham villains in the Detective Comics storyline "Face The Face", although in what capacity he was involved is left vague.
Tetch's base of opperations in Gotham was destroyed following a search for an atomic weapon, by Robin III, Tim Drake and Captan Boomerang II, Owen Mercer. A recording of Tetch came on a monitor screen and told them that the roof will be the final hat they will ever wear as it fell down on them- Robin and Boomerang narrowly made it out of the building.
Aftwards he was approached by Catman, and he has joined the members of the Secret Six in opposition of the Secret Society of Super Villains; they have recruited him in hopes of a defense against Doctor Psycho's mind control abilities.
When Ragdoll attacked the Secret Six under Dr. Psycho's control, Tetch put on what he called his "thinking cap" and went into a seizure. After the Six crash-landed, they were attacked by the Doom Patrol, who came close to apprehending the Six until Mad Hatter stepped in and used his mind control abilities to subdue the Doom Patrol singlehandedly, going so far as to almost make Elasti-Girl eat Beast Boy before Scandal stopped him. The Six commented to themselves afterwards that even they had no idea Jervis could do this.
Jervis also seems to have developed a crush on Scandal, for touching his hat.
In the most recent issue of Secret Six, it has been revealed that Tetch designed a hat to make him happy beyond the measures of what illegal drugs can. He also revealed that he had planted miniture listening devices around the House of Secrets to keep tabs on his fellow members. After revealing the true motives of Scandal to leave the team, the Six go after her, finding themselves at Vandal Savage's temple in the mountains, where Doctor Psycho starts attacking the team. Tetch is about to get the upper hand on Dr. Psycho when Cheshire appears and stabs him in the back with a poisoned dagger. The story is ongoing.
[edit] Changes in physical appearance
The Mad Hatter has gone through many changes in his physical appearance over the years, but has always had the basic Hatter look. In his debut, he was a very short brunette- or auburn-haired man. When he reappeared in the early 1980s, he was depicted as of average height, with blond hair. In later years, he was short again but with white hair. Today, Tetch has red hair much like his impostor did, but his size and height still seem to vary. Constants throughout his depictions are a slightly overlarge head and (more recently) very large teeth.
[edit] Impostor Mad Hatter
After the real Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter had been sent to Arkham following his debut, a very different Mad Hatter appeared, who claimed to be Jervis Tetch. This Mad Hatter first appeared in Detective Comics #230 in April 1956, and, unlike the original, was sane and sported a gaudy mustache. He was primarily a thief, apparently obsessed with completing his private collection of hats from all nations, cultures, and historical periods. He often constructed various weaponry concealed inside his hats like flame-throwers and buzzsaws.
The headgear he wanted most was, of course, Batman's cowl. In numerous attempts he tried to de-cowl Batman. After many tries, he was successful, after spraying the cowl with a radioactive substance causing Batman to remove it. No sooner did the Mad Hatter put it in his collection than Batman and Robin arrive. They had traced the cowl with their "super sensitive Geiger counter" in the Batplane.
Later on, in Batman #297 (March 1978), "Tetch" claimed to have gone straight, but that turned out to be a lie. In 1981 it was revealed that he was in fact an imposter when the real Jervis Tetch returned. The real Hatter claimed to have killed his imposter, but the fake Mad Hatter appeared one last time in 1987 in Detective Comics #573, where he ended up being beaten by Batman and has never appeared since.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television appearances
[edit] Batman series of the 60's
In this series, Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter was played by the late David Wayne. He was based on the Mad Hatter from the comics at the time, who had not yet been revealed to be an imposter. He appeared in four episodes: "The Thirteenth Hat," "Batman Stands Pat," "The Contaminated Cowl," and "The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul."
In "The Thirteenth Hat" and "Batman Stands Pat", Tetch kidnapped the jurors that had previously incarcerated him, along with their hats. He was also after Batman's cowl, his "thirteenth hat." He had a female accomplice named Lisa, who worked at a hat boutique. She helped Tetch kidnap her boss, who was one of the jurors who had helped put him away, and aided in the rest of his scheme to foil Batman and Robin. In the end though, he was defeated and sent back to prison.
In "The Contaminated Cowl" and "The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul", Tetch tried to get at Batman's cowl with the use of radioactive waves. He had assumed that by covering the Dark Knight's cowl with radiation, he would take it off for fear of being infected. The radiation turned the cowl pink, but Batman did not remove it, and Tetch was again defeated.
[edit] Batman: The Animated Series
- In Batman: The Animated Series the Mad Hatter was voiced by Roddy McDowall. He was animated as an average height/sized man with blonde hair. He appeared in the following episodes: "Mad as a Hatter", "Perchance to Dream", "The Trial", "The Worry Men", and (in a non-speaking cameo) "Make 'Em Laugh" and "Joker's Wild."
A technical and electronic genius, Jervis Tetch experimented with animals using mind controlling microchips stored within hats to stimulate brain waves. His love for Alice in Wonderland, as well as his infatuation for his secretary, Alice, embittered and obsessed him to the point of insanity. Donning the guise of The Mad Hatter, he attempted to win her affection after her fiancé dumped her by taking her out on the town. She misinterpreted the gesture, however, as simply a way to cheer her up, and unwittingly spurned his affections. Driven over the edge, Tetch used his mind controlling microchips to turn Alice into his robot-like puppet. After Batman captured him, Tetch realized the futility of pursuing Alice's love and instead pursued a life of crime. Paul Dini, writer of this episode, once claimed that it was inspired by a true story [1] involving a shy technical designer who had unrequited feelings for someone at work, so he shot his workplace up. During his second appearance, Tetch trapped Batman and put him in a virtual reality realm which gave Batman his greatest desires, described as Batman's "own private Wonderland". When Batman finally freed himself from the equipment, he demanded to know why Tetch had used the machine rather than simply kill him. Sobbing, Tetch replies, "You ruined my life! I was willing to give you any life you wanted, just to keep you out of mine!"
Tetch uses his mind controlling chip to induce his victims into a trance, which either extracts information from their minds or makes them highly subjective to doing his bidding. This chip can also tap into an unused potential of the mind which can increase the subjects strength and stamina, turning them into the ultimate henchmen. He is a prominent member of the rogues gallery, who occasionally conspires with the others to destroy Batman and Robin.
[edit] The New Batman Adventures
In The New Batman Adventures, the Mad Hatter was once again voiced by Roddy McDowall. This time around, though, he was animated as a very short and skinny rodent-like man; the blond hair was kept, but somewhat lightened. He appeared in the episodes "Over the Edge" and "Animal Act", as well as an appearance in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Knight Time", where his expertise in nanotechnology allowed him to unwittingly save Batman from Brainiac.
[edit] The Batman
Mad Hatter will make a cameo on the WB animated series The Batman. [citation needed]
[edit] Video game appearances
- The Mad Hatter was a boss in the video game The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega Genesis and Sega CD. He was the master of a virtual reality world filled with mechanical rabbits and psychedelic imagery. His appearance, while based on that of the character from Batman: The Animated Series, also bore elongated eyelashes on his left eye; a direct reference to Alex DeLarge from the film version of A Clockwork Orange.
