Jonathan Crane was a professor of psychology at Gotham University who specialised in the study of fears and phobias. During a stint as a psychologist at Blackgate Federal Penitentiary, Crane showed a remarkable ability to make his patients repent and become productive members of society. When one man committed suicide in his home, and another died of a sudden heart attack, it came to light that Crane had been forcing their obedience by injecting them with a serum that hyper-accelerates the brain’s fear centre, bringing their darkest nightmares to life.

Word of these inhumane practises soon got back to the university, and Crane very quickly found himself out of a job and with his once respectable reputation in tatters. Most men would feel angry, embittered, or vengeful, but Crane absorbed the scowls and insults with silent, clinical detachment. He had found a higher calling.

The Scarecrow has almost no human qualities, except perhaps for his insatiable curiosity. He is the true definition of a psychopath, wholly without love or empathy for other living beings or remorse for his actions. Like Josef Mengele before him, to his mind there is no Gotham City, only the laboratory, and there are no people, only specimens. He espouses that science can only advance through sacrifice, that it is inherently inhumane, and to believe otherwise is to stifle those who seek to move forward.

Little happens behind his eyes that does not further his mad agenda. His mind functions like a computer, analysing and recording the results of his cruelty. Now that the Batman — or “Rogue Variable Number Zero-Zero-One” — has entered the equation, he has found not an adversary or nemesis, but a virus in his system to be eradicated.

Voice should be medium-high to low, early-to-late-30s. Devoid of emotion, with clinical precision and a consistent, even tone.