Red Hood
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Red Hood is a fictional character in the DC Universe. He is an enemy of Batman.
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[edit] History
[edit] The first Red Hood
In the original continuity, the man later known as the Joker was a master criminal going by the alias of the Red Hood. His costume consisted of a large domed red helmet and a red cape. While attempting to rob a chemical plant, his men were dispatched and then he was suddenly surrounded on a catwalk by Batman and Robin. Left with no alternatives, he dove into a catch basin for the chemicals and swam to freedom, surviving because of a special breathing apparatus built into the helmet. The toxins in the vat permanently and grotesquely disfigured him, however, turning his hair green, his skin white and his lips red. Upon discovering this, he went insane and became the Joker.
In Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore wrote an alternate origin of the Joker, and thus the Red Hood; the Joker is portrayed as a former chemical technician, now a struggling stand-up comedian with a pregnant wife. Approached by the Red Hood gang to lead a raid of his former workplace, the Ace Chemical plant, he accepts, in order to make enough money to start a better life for his family. The gang gives him the costume of the Red Hood, which has been worn by many men before - this way, the gang is able to falsely identify the Red Hood as their leader on all the crimes they perform, with the police unaware that a different dupe is behind the hood every time. The day of the proposed robbery, however, police inform him that his wife died in a freak accident. He attempts to back out of the robbery, but the gang strong-arms him into keeping his commitment to them. During the robbery, the plant's security men spot the intruders and shoot the other criminals dead. The engineer tries to flee, but Batman appears and corners him on the plant's catwalk. Terrified, he jumps off the catwalk into the chemical basin to escape. As in the previous origin story, he goes insane after discovering what the chemicals have done to his face, and becomes the Joker.
An interesting retroactive continuity change appears between the Batman #450-451 story line The Return of the Joker and the recent graphic novel one-shot The Man Who Laughs. In The Return of the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime resurfaces after apparently being killed at the end of the Batman: A Death in the Family storyline. In this story, the Joker rummages through his belongings, finds the Red Hood costume and wears it for a robbery in order to regain his confidence and become the Joker again. The Man Who Laughs is a retelling of the first appearance of the Joker, a few months after the Red Hood's plunge into the chemicals, tying the story into both Batman: Year One and The Killing Joke. In this story, Batman is in possession of the Red Hood costume, presumably having discovered it on the banks where the Joker washed up after his swim in the chemical basin. Presumably, this difference is due to The Killing Joke origin having appeared after The Return of the Joker. The Man Who Laughs, however, remains ambiguous, able to be applied to either Joker origin.
[edit] The second Red Hood
In the Batman: Under the Hood storyline, Jason Todd, the former Robin killed by the Joker in A Death in the Family, returns using the moniker of the Red Hood. He beats the Joker with a crowbar (mirroring the way the Joker had beaten him with a crowbar before killing him with a bomb) and later kidnaps him. The new Red Hood assumes control over various gangs in Gotham City and starts a one man's war against Black Mask's criminal sectors. He actively tries to cleanse the city of corruption (such as drug dealing and gang violence), but in an anti-heroic way, coming to blows against Batman and several of his allies, including Tim Drake (who had taken his place as Robin) and Onyx. It is possible that the alter-ego Robin assumes in Teen Titans, known as Red X, is derived from the same character.
He was brought back by The Life and Times of Juniper Lee creator Judd Winick.
[edit] Earth-Two Red Hood
In an interview for the Infinite Crisis Hardcover, Jeanine Schaefer states that Geoff Johns had another plan for The Red Hood: to reintroduce him as the Jason Todd of the Earth-Two universe. Said Schaefer:
"Well, Geoff's idea was to have Red Hood be the Jason Todd of Earth-Two. So he'd be this kid, who wanted to be Batman's sidekick. He sneaks into the Batcave, and the first thing he sees as he boots up the bat-computers is... Batman murdered. And so he uses Bruce's stuff, training himself to take over for him. I think there was even talk of his possibly being Deathstroke's Robin."[1]
[edit] Other media
An animated version of the character appears at the end of Batman Adventures #8. It was meant to be a subplot to be resolved later, but the cancellation of the title prevented that. Though the creative team (Dan Slott and Ty Templeton) behind the story are hoping for a chance to resolve it, should they get a chance to do an issue of Justice League Unlimited. A clue concerning the Red Hood is it being someone crucial to the DC animated universe.[2]
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Bob Kane • Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
