Maxie Zeus
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Maximillian "Maxie" Zeus is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. He is a criminal mastermind who believes that he is the god Zeus from Greek mythology. He is an occasional enemy of Batman. He first appeared in Detective Comics #483 (April-May 1979).
[edit] Character History
Maxie was originally a history teacher and a married man, but through unrevealed circumstances he lost his wife and went insane. He became a crimelord, and used his cunning and intelligence to rise to power amidst the chaos in Gotham City's underworld caused by the city's numerous insane criminals. He fought Batman on several occasions before ending his operations in Gotham and moving to the West Coast. There, he formed a team of superhuman agents, the New Olympians, and attempted to kidnap Olympic athlete Lacinia Nitocris and force her to marry him and become a mother figure for his daughter Medea. This plot was foiled by Batman and the Outsiders, who beat the Olympians in a series of Olympic-style games. Maxie was sent to Arkham Asylum. He was one of the villains that escaped when Bane brought down the walls of Arkham Asylum until he ran into a tree. When Joker escaped, he ignored Maxie's pleas to release him too since Joker deemed him annoying.
Sometime later however, he was drawn into a plot engineered by the children of Ares — Deimos, Phobos, and Eris to merge Gotham City with Ares' throne capital, the Aeropagus with the intent of re-establishing his rule on Earth. Maxie was killed as a result of that plot and his sacrifice brought about Ares' return. However, their scheme was foiled by Wonder Woman and her allies, and Ares himself banished his children back to Tartarus.
[edit] Arkham Asylum
An electrified, emaciated version of Maxie Zeus appears in the graphic novel Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. Batman finds him connected to the electroshock therapy room of Arkham Asylum, perpetually receving electrical currents. This version's insanity more resembles a messianic complex.
[edit] In Other Media
In Batman: The Animated Series, Maximillian Zeus is a shipping tycoon with underworld connections. In his debut episode, "Fire From Olympus", after recovering from a serious financial crisis, Maxie went insane, developed a god complex, and started to believe that he was the Greek god Zeus and his lawyer-girlfriend was the muse Clio. When Batman arrived at the top of his building, Maxie believed he was Hades, as no 'mortal' could reach 'Mount Olympus' without his permission. Maxie stole a giant lightning gun which he used on "pitiful mortals" who dared to oppose him, although on a couple of occasions he seemed to revert to normal. He was eventually taken down by Batman with help from Mrs. Zeus. While being dragged through Arkham Asylum, he looked at the prisoners watching him and believed that he saw a Greek deity in their place: the Joker was Hermes the trickster god, Two-Face was the "double-faced" Janus, and Poison Ivy was the goddess Demeter. His voice was provided by Steve Susskind.
