Scarecrow: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Jonathan Crane

First Appearance: World’s Finest Comics #3 (Autumn 1941)

Powers: Scarecrow is an expert in the fields of psychology and biochemistry. He uses this knowledge to create chemical weapons. Most notably of the weapons is his fear gas. Scarecrow is also proficient with a scythe. Aside from his fear gas, the scythe is his weapon of choice.

Affiliation: Legion of Doom, Injustice League, Secret Society of Supervillains, Injustice Gang, and Sinestro Corps.

Did You Know? Scarecrow is one of the oldest and most enduring enemies in Batman’s entire catalog.

A Little History

The origin of Scarecrow is pretty straightforward. 

Scarecrow first appeared inside the pages of World’s Finest Comics #3 in the Autumn of 1941. He was created by the duo of Bill Finger and Bob Kane.

As a teenager, Jonathan Crane spent the majority of his life being bullied by the much bigger students. Although many were involved in his bullying, the one most responsible was Bo Griggs. To make matters worse for his teenage years was that the eye of his affection, Sherry Squires rejected him when he asked her to the senior prom. Distraught, he vowed revenge.

At the aforementioned senior prom, Crane showed up wearing his now-iconic Scarecrow costume. Moments after his arrival, he pulled out a gun. In the panic that followed, the bully Bo Griggs wound up in a car accident. The accident did two things. First, it paralyzed Griggs and second, it killed his passenger. That passenger was Sherry Squires. The thrill he received from the chaos was enough to set him on a path of fear and disorder.

Later in life, he became a psychologist. As one, he landed a job that very few would ever want…the on call doctor at Arkham Asylum. As the doctor, he had unbridled access to the inmates that the asylum held. Unknowing to anyone, Crane used his position to experiment on the inmates.

While working at Arkham, he was also filling his time as a Professor at Gotham University. His position meant that he could teach students and continue to do his research on phobias at the same time. His time at Gotham University was short lived, however. One day while teaching a class, he accidentally shot a gun and wounded a student. This resulted in his firing. After his firing, he returned and took revenge upon all the professors responsible for the dismissal. 

And that’s it. The origin of Scarecrow.