Shriek (Batman Beyond)

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Publication information
Shriek
Shriek
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman Beyond "Shriek"
Created by	Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
In story information
Alter ego	Walter Shreeve
Team affiliations	Iniquity Collective
Abilities	None. He is a sound expert, and commits sound-related crimes. His suit can use soundwaves and sound vibrations as weapons. It can mute sound in a surrounding area and enhance his hearing.

Shriek is a fictional character from the animated television series Batman Beyond, making him a villain of Batman. In the series, he was voiced by Chris Mulkey.

This Shriek should not be confused for the Marvel Comics villain of the same name, though it is notable that both use sound as a weapon.

[edit] Character History

His real name is Walter Shreeve, a sound engineer with robotic body armor able to use sound as a weapon. His primary weapons are the hands of his armor that carry disc-like sound blasting weapons, allowing him to use soundwaves and sound vibrations to destroy anything in its direct path.

He is first seen in the episode "Shriek", where Shreeve tries to find a job through Derek Powers with his sound technology. Although Powers dismisses it as impractical for conventional tasks, he has other plans for Shreeve, hiring him to assassinate Bruce Wayne. Thanks to Batman (Wayne's assistant, Terrie McGinnis) Shriek fails in directly killing Wayne, but manages to put him in a hospital. He then implants a radio device on a band-aid on Wayne's head, and attempts to compel him into committing suicide. The voices refer to Bruce Wayne as "Bruce Wayne" however, so he knows he cannot be crazy because he subconsciously refers to himself as "Batman."

Meanwhile, McGinnis investigates the sound device he confiscated from Shriek in the previous fight and finds it's made up of a unique sound affect alloy called acoustium, created by Shreeve's business. Posing as a pizza delivery boy, McGinnis meets Shreeve on the pretext of a mistaken delivery and engages the technician in casual conversation. Unfortunately, when the questions get too invasive, Shreeve realizes that the boy suspects him and attempts to kill him. McGinnis escapes while the attempt's commotion draws the police's attention to the business and Shreeve becomes a wanted fugitive after attacking the officers to escape.

Now Shreeve depends on killing Wayne for Powers to help him, but Batman discovers both his ruse and his hideout. In one of the most memorable sequences in the series, Shriek completely turns off all sound in a battle with Batman within a running factory, and later out in the streets. This leads Batman to being repeatedly struck by various moving objects that he cannot hear approaching. He hunts Batman down by adjusting his suit's volume pickup to hear for Batman's footsteps only. Fortunately, Bruce Wayne's dog, Ace who is in his guardians' company at that time, hears the commotion and comes to assist Batman. With Ace's assistance, Batman manages to destroy Shriek's muting device, and with the volume of his suit still adjusted so high, his suit picks up and amplifies every noise around him, which ironically leaves him permanently deaf. In his returning appearances, he must rely on his suit or a special headphone set to be able to hear again. The loss of his hearing drives him completely insane, and he becomes obsessed with destroying Batman.

He appeared in "Babel" where he sent out high pitch frequencies to drive animals in Gotham City crazy, and made speech impossible between its citizens. He appeared again in "Where's Terry?" In both of those appearances, he makes an alliance with a character named Ollie.

His last appearance was in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", in a flashback sequence of Terry's, where he is seen having formed an alliance with Inque, Stalker, and Parasite as members of Iniquity Collective.

Shriek is interesting in that he is one of the few villains in the show who is obsessed with Batman, who he blames for his loss of hearing. His crimes will always center around Batman's destruction; while he had the entire city at his mercy in "Babel", all he wanted was Batman. Indeed, his obsession is his weakness; he becomes so focused on his target, he cannot concentrate on factors that may stop him.

[edit] References

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