In his years as a vigilante, Batman has faced a wide range of unthinkable crimes, and he even maintains a ‘Rogue Gallery’ of legendary criminals. The notorious Joker and the Riddler, as well as some lesser-known villains, are included in this Rogue Gallery.
Despite their disparate methods, all of these criminal lords have wreaked havoc in Gotham and given Batman a terrible time. Victor Zsasz is one such villain, a ruthless serial murderer who delights in murdering his opponents as well as any people that cross his path.
He is a ruthless and psychopathic individual who has perpetrated numerous unthinkable crimes. Without further ado, let us delve into Zsasz’s past and review all of the heinous atrocities perpetrated by this psychopath!
A brief history of Victor Zsasz
Zsasz’s early life was full of comfort and luxury, as he was born into a wealthy family and led quite a privileged life. He even became the CEO of an international organization at just the age of twenty-five. However, things soon went downhill after his parents passed away due to an unfortunate boating accident. Zsasz was deeply traumatized by the incident and resorted to unhealthy ways of coping with his depression. He dabbled in gambling, and within no time, Zsasz suffered many financial losses due to his gambling addiction.
After he visited the Iceberg Lounge Casino, he also lost everything he owned to ‘the Penguin’ and gambled away all his belongings. With nothing left to live for, Zsasz then contemplated killing himself. He even went to the Gotham Bridge to attempt suicide, but an encounter with a homeless man changed the trajectory of his life. He ended up killing the man by stabbing him with a knife.
After his first killing, Zsasz went rogue and killed many people, but mostly his targets were young women. He preferred using a knife to slit the throats of his victims and then leaving their dead bodies in life-like poses. Zsasz also keeps a tally of his victims and carves a mark on his body after every killing.
He has come across Batman many times and has also been convicted of his crimes by the vigilante and sent to Arkham on numerous occasions. However, Zsasz always manages to break out of the facility and goes back to committing murders. He is one of Gotham’s most sadistic troublemakers, and he feels no remorse for his actions even after murdering innocent civilians.
Killing a homeless man convinced him that killing someone was liberating the person
Victor Zsasz’s very first kill was a homeless man, after which he went on to brutally murder many people in his lifetime. When Zsasz was contemplating suicide by the Gotham Bridge, a homeless man approached him and asked him for money. Upon seeing Zsasz’s refusal to help him out, the man began attacking Zsasz with his knife.
Though the homeless man was desperate, Zsasz could see that he was pretty weak and believed that he would do him a favor by taking his life. He looked into the homeless man’s eyes and realized that life does not mean anything, and nothing really matters. Zsasz stabbed the man with his knife, and he was convinced that he had liberated the man from a lifetime of misery. He did not view his killings as a crime but rather a ‘gift’ through which he frees others of their worries.
He once nearly killed Alfred
On one of his killing sprees, Zsasz had once gatecrashed a charity event hosted by Bruce Wayne. Here, he came face to face with his butler and only family, Alfred Pennyworth, and ended up attacking him. Though Zsasz stabbed Alfred quite brutally, the butler survived the attack and was taken to the hospital right away by Bruce.
When Zsasz realizes that Alfred is still alive, he feels great discomfort in knowing that the tally marks on his body are not at the correct score anymore. He sets out to kill Alfred and retain the balance, but Bruce Wayne makes sure that Zsasz does not show up anywhere near Alfred. Wayne quickly turned into Batman and chased after Zsasz before he could reach the hospital. He even strikes Zsasz unconscious and then makes sure that the killer is sent back to Arkham.
He actually killed Alfred in a different storyline
In the ‘Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Five’ comic storyline-turned-video game, Victor Zsasz actually kills Alfred Pennyworth while carrying out a mission for Superman. When Batman refused to talk to Superman, the Man of Steel recruited Zsasz to visit Bruce Manor and find out Batman’s whereabouts.
Zsasz visited the place and came across Alfred, who refused to reveal any information about Batman. Though Alfred did not give up easily and put up a tough fight, he was no match for Zsasz and eventually died in combat. Zsasz knew how important Alfred was to Batman, and he killed Alfred in the hopes that it would leave the vigilante with no option but to finally show up. Later on, Bruce and his son, Damian Wayne, sought out Victor Zsasz and Damian finally avenged Alfred’s death by killing Zsasz.
He joined the secret society of Supervillains
Zsasz also appeared in the Infinite Crisis comics, and he joined the Secret Society of Villains for some time. The secret society was founded by Darkseid decades ago and was made up of many villains who worked together. Society usually went up against the Justice League to sabotage their missions or create more problems for them.
Zsasz appeared in the 7th issue of the Infinite Crisis comics, where he works with other members such as the Joker, Harley Quinn, and even the Riddler as they launch an attack on Metropolis. However, they fail in their plans as the holy trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman save the day.
He broke out of Arkham to commit murders
Victor Zsasz’s first comic appearance was marked in the ‘Batman: Shadow of the Bat’, where he is sent to Arkham after being convicted of his crimes. At Arkham, Zsasz paid a contractor to dig a hole in his cell to create a secret tunnel out of the Asylum. Zsasz would break out of the place at night when no one would check up on him through his cell. He went out and committed more murders and returned through the secret passage before dawn.
During the days, he was in the presence of ‘Jeremiah Arkham’ who would treat Zsasz. However, it was soon revealed that Zsasz had managed to wrap Jeremiah Arkham around his finger and that he was using Jeremiah as a pawn in his own Asylum.
His crimes did not go undetected for long, and the police soon suspected that Zsasz must be behind these killings due to his signature M.O. of leaving his victim’s dead bodies in life-like poses. Batman then decided to find the truth himself and checked himself into Arkham by faking insanity. He was treated by Jeremiah himself when he realized that Zsasz had placed Arkham’s leader under his control.
In the meantime, Zsasz uncovered the truth behind the newcomer inmate’s identity and realized that Batman was onto him. Zsasz then covered up his tracks by murdering the contractor who created the secret tunnels for him and also killed any inmates who knew that he sneaked out of Arkham. Finally, he attempted to break out of the Asylum for one last time, but he was captured by Batman and sent back to Arkham.
He worked for Black Mask for a while
In the ‘Batman: Battle of the Cowl’ comics arc, the infamous supervillain ‘Black Mask’ approached Zsasz to join his team of villains that could wreak havoc in Gotham city. He also offered Zsasz a lot of cash and all the resources that he desired to take over Gotham and commit crimes on a larger scale. Zsasz agreed and became a part of the Black Mask team for some time. Zsasz had once saved Black Mask from Firefly, which is why the supervillain was grateful for having Zsasz work with him. With the money and resources provided to him, Zsasz decided to set up a gladiatorial arena.
He then brought in young children to fight each other for his entertainment, and he sometimes stepped into the ring himself to fight these young children. Batman and Robin soon get wind of his fighting arena, and they show up at the scene to put an end to it. Robin fights against Zsasz himself and almost ends up dying at the hands of this crazy killer. However, he gets some help at the last minute, and Robin eventually defeats Zsasz at his own game.
He joined Riddler’s evil forces
Zsasz was also written into many D.C. Rebirth arcs, and at one point, he became a part of Riddler’s army of evil forces. When Riddler was in a feud with Joker during the ‘War of Jokes and Riddles’ arc, Zsasz chose to side with the Riddler. He also fought under the command of ‘Killer Moth’; and was one of the culprits who were to be blamed for the spike in crimes in Gotham during that period.
He is the worst serial killer in Gotham
Victor Zsasz was one of the most sadistic serial killers to walk the streets of Gotham city. He used a knife to stab his victims to death and believed that he was liberating them from their miseries. Though a knife was his preferred choice of weapon, Zsasz also had a collection of other weapons and was quite experienced in combat. He spent hours and hours exercising in his cell at Arkham and bragged about practicing isometrics for up to sixteen hours in his cell.
Zsasz also felt no remorse over his gruesome actions and kept a record of all the innocent people who had died at his hands. On multiple occasions, he declares that he kills not because of any trauma or childhood abuse and only because he wants to kill. He carved tally marks on his skin for every person he had killed and wore them as a prize. Zsasz is one of Batman’s most formidable opponents, as he is quite an unpredictable serial killer who will kill just about anybody for his satisfaction. So far, he is responsible for the deaths of around ‘one hundred and forty-three’ citizens of Gotham, and he does not intend to stop anytime soon.
He was a creepy killer in Nolan’s Batman Begins
Portrayed by Tim Booth, Victor Zsasz had a couple of scenes in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. In this version, Zsasz worked in Falcone’s crime syndicate as an assassin. He kept count of his victims by adding a new mark on his body while working under Falcone, and his tally marks kept increasing throughout the movie. In his first appearance, Zsasz was questioned in court about murdering a large group of people under the orders of Falcone.
Even Dr. Crane, who was portrayed by Cillian Murphy, shows up at the hearing and declares that Zsasz is a danger to everyone and must be sent to Arkham for everyone’s safety. However, Zsasz sees killing as his only purpose in life, and not even Arkham could keep him from committing murders.
Even after being admitted to Arkham, Zsasz reappears at the movie’s end as a free man with four new tally marks on his neck. Though Zsasz did not have a big role in the film, his character was portrayed quite accurately, and he represented the grim reality of Gotham’s crimes.
Conclusion
To conclude, Victor Zsasz is one of the most messed up characters in Batman’s rogue gallery. He is a heartless criminal, and killing people and wreaking havoc in Gotham is what keeps him going. Zsasz has no sympathy for anyone, and it is advisable to stay out of his way!