Ferris Boyle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ferris Boyle is a fictional character from Batman: The Animated Series. Boyle was voiced by Mark Hamill.

[edit] Fictonal character history

He only appears in the episode "Heart of Ice." The CEO of GothCorp, a multimillion dollar company specializing in cryogenics, Boyle ran his business with a philanthropic facade that masked his ruthlessness and greed.

In the episode, he is revealed as being responsible for turning scientist Victor Fries into the supervillain known as Mr. Freeze; he interrupted a cryogenics experiment Fries was performing on his terminally ill wife, Nora, accusing Fries of wasting the company's money and demanding he pull the plug, even though doing so would kill Nora. Fries refused and, in desperation, pulled a gun on Boyle. Boyle kicked Fries into the cryogenics machine, causing an explosion that permanently lowered Fries' body temperature to sub-zero levels, requiring him to wear an air-conditioned suit in order to survive. Obsessed with revenge, the scientist became a criminal, and set out to destroy his former boss.

While investigating Mr. Freeze's crimes, Batman (who, as Bruce Wayne, was one of GothCorp's investors) discovered an old security tape revealing what Boyle had done, and appealed to Mr. Freeze to relent and let the police deal Boyle. Mr. Freeze refused, and ambushed a party honoring Boyle's charitable work, imprisoning him with his trademark freeze gun. Batman intervenes just in time, incapacitating Mr. Freeze by shattering his protective helmet. Batman then turns the security tape over to the police, presumably sending Boyle to prison.

[edit] DC Universe appearance

Boyle appeared in Batman: Mr. Freeze, During a struggle ensued, Boyle kicked Victor Fries into a table full of chemicals and left Fries for dead. He survived, but his body temperature was lowered dramatically and from then on he could only live at sub-zero temperatures, forced to wear a special refrigerating suit to stay alive. As Mr. Freeze, he used cryonic technology to create a gun, which fired a beam that froze any target within its range.

Mr. Freeze's first action in his new identity was to seek revenge on Boyle. Batman intervened and, when Victor fired his freeze-gun at him, he dodged, causing the beam to shatter his wife's cryogenic capsule, killing her. Freeze later fire his gun again on Boyle, killing him. Freeze blamed Batman for this, and swore to destroy whatever the hero held dear.

[edit] Deleted material from Batman Adventures #15

Dr. Francis D'Anjou (husband of Nora Fries sells Gothcorp patents (belonging to Victor Fries) to Powers Technology (Owned by Warren Powers). Recently released from prison, Ferris Boyle earns 7 million dollars on the deal due to a hidden clause in his contract.

He would be killed by a robotic replica of Mr Freeze shortly thereafter.[1]