Arkham Knight's Scarecrow remains Batman's greatest Arkham villain

Some video games are great when you first play them and eventually get boring. Things like repetitive gameplay, easily defeated enemies, and uninteresting stories are why they lose replay value. Then there’s the Batman Arkham. A series that kept improving. Arkham City is arguably the best, but the final game had one thing over it. Scarecrow was better than any of them.

While replaying Arkham City, Scarecrow stood out more than ever. I’ve played the game a bunch, but seeing everything he accomplished with a new set of eyes made him even better. Dr. Jonathan Crane wasn’t as funny or entertaining as Joker or as strong as Bane, but he did everything else better and this list will prove that. 

Had Gotham evacuated

The first noticeable thing Scarecrow did was empty Gotham City. He beta-tested his fear toxin in a controlled environment to ensure that everything would work ( (like any intelligent scientist would). Once he was satisfied with the results, he set his plan in motion.

Seeing what the toxin could do in a small diner was enough, but Scarecrow went further. Once everyone saw the chaos, Crane spoke to the city and scared them more. With no other option other than extreme terror, death, or abandonment, Gotham’s officials organized and got everyone willing out of town.

Other villains have taken over parts of Gotham like in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. However, none terrified a place so much that a major city was abandoned. He was also a step away from releasing enough toxins to cover the entire East Coast of the United States.

United and used the criminals

Scarecrow promised them a Gotham City where they could run wild and commit crimes and he delivered. None of the other criminal masterminds have done that because they must be in control. Scarecrow knew better. He played to their basic needs, made an offer, and continued his mission.

Realistically, every crook was working for him the entire time. They kept Batman busy and softened him up for the final confrontation. Crane even found a way to incorporate Poison Ivy into his plans despite her refusing to help him.

Weaponized Jason Todd’s rage

Using Jason Todd against Batman was brilliant. Once he found out that Jason had a vendetta against the Dark Knight, he knew he could use it. Jason never told him how he understood everything Batman did or who he was under the mask, but that didn’t matter. He had a weapon against his greatest enemy.

In the end, the Arkham Knight experiment backfired. Jason (now dressed as Red Hood) thwarted Scarecrow’s plan. This didn’t work out the way Crane hoped, but it’s not like Batman was going to lose.

Drove Batman crazy

The plan was to cloud all of the East Coast of the U.S. with fear toxin. Batman stopped the initial plan but inhaled enough of the poison to drive him crazy. Scarecrow got lucky and ended up with a little accidental offense here.

This threw Batman completely off his game. If he wasn’t seeing Joker during inopportune times, the villains left in Gotham would’ve been defeated sooner. Although, thanks to Scarecrow, fans got another dose of Mark Hamill’s Joker. That was a win for the player.

Exposed Batman's identity

Did Jonathan Crane lose his battle? He certainly did. His plan failed and he was driven crazy by his toxin. It was a fitting end for a diabolical villain. However, Crane proved that you can win while taking a loss.

Because his secret identity was exposed, Bruce Wayne had to activate the Knightfall Protocol. He couldn’t be the Dark Knight anymore. Well, at last for a short time. Since Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in the same universe, I guess Scarecrow still lost in the end.

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