Scarecrow in other media
The Scarecrow was originally a comic book character and Batman's adversary, but he has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including feature films, television series, and video games. He has been voiced by Henry Polic II and Jeffrey Combs in the DC animated universe, by Dino Andrade and John Noble in the video game series, and by Robert Englund in Injustice 2. He has also been portrayed in live-action by Coolio in Batman & Robin, Cillian Murphy in The Dark Knight Trilogy, and both Charlie Tahan and David W. Thompson in the FOX television series Gotham.
Television
Live-action
- The Scarecrow appears in Gotham, portrayed by Charlie Tahan, and by David W. Thompson. He is introduced in the first-season episodes "The Fearsome Dr. Crane" and "The Scarecrow". His father Gerald Crane creates the 'fear toxin', a serum designed to eliminate fear, and then injects Jonathan with it. Detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock save Jonathan's life, but are too late to save his father and his sanity; the toxin has left him in a state of perpetual terror, plagued by hallucinations of his greatest fear: scarecrows. He is next seen in the season four episode "Pax Penguina", in which he is institutionalized in Gotham Asylum, where the corrupt warden Reed uses his fears to keep him under control. A gang of criminals led by Grady Harris and Merton bribe Reed to give them Crane and forces him to re-create his father's fear toxin so they can use it to control Gotham City. Jonathan eventually embraces his fear and uses the toxin against Grady Harris after Merton and his fellow gang members were arrested. He then wreaks havoc on Gotham with the toxin as "The Scarecrow". In "The Fear Reaper", Crane invades Gotham Asylum and uses the fear gas on Warden Reed and other inmates causing the guards to flee. When Gordon confronts Scarecrow, he gets infected with fear gas until he overcomes it. After Gordon turns on the sprinklers and the fear gas' effects on the inmates, Scarecrow got away. In "A Dark Knight: One of My Three Soups", Scarecrow is shown as an inmate at Arkham Asylum after getting apprehended at some point. He is freed by the Mad Hatter where they, along with Jerome Valeska, collaborate in a plot that involves releasing all the inmates of Arkham Asylum. After the Hatter is defeated by Jim Gordon, Scarecrow gasses the driver of his transport as he and Jerome free him for their next plot. In "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting", the Scarecrow is one of the criminals assembled by Jerome to be part of his "Legion of Horribles". He and the Mad Hatter break out Jerome from his twin brother Jeremiah's custody, but are chased off by Gordon and Bullock. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Jerome secretly tasked Scarecrow to concocts a laughing gas for him to spread across the city. In "That's Entertainment", Scarecrow, along with Mr. Freeze, carries out a raid on Wayne Enterprises' chemical lab to brew more of the dangerous toxin. Later, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter and the Penguin go to a hangar to load the laughing gas onto a blimp and release it upon Gotham. There, he reveals to Penguin that the other Legion members anticipated his betrayal and that he knew Penguin would go to Jim Gordon, and then proceeding to knock him out. He would later assist Jeremiah Valeska in his plot to drive Bruce Wayne insane. When Jeremiah's followers capture Alfred, Bruce goes to rescue him, but brings Selina Kyle along, who sneaks in, but is ambushed by Scarecrow and Jeremiah's goons, but Selina manages to defend herself. Scarecrow then escapes. In season 5, with Gotham now a "no man's land," Scarecrow leads his own gang as they take over a laboratory for Scarecrow's experiments, with Scarecrow killing the scientist who owns the lab. Scarecrow then leads his gang on an attack against the GCPD's territory to steal their supplies, where he faces Gordon, who manages to drive him off. Gordon later mentions Scarecrow to Eduardo Dorrance about the various criminals and their territories. He later made a cameo during Gordon's hallucination of his trial as a member of his jury and then attends his funeral.
- In the second part of the fifth annual Arrowverse crossover event "Elseworlds", the Scarecrow doesn't appear but his fear gas can be seen in the evidence room at Arkham Asylum, inside a box containing his belongings. During the mass breakout at Arkham Asylum, Barry Allen and Oliver Queen confront the inmate Nora Fries after she hit Killer Frost with the frozen ray of her husband's gun. Oliver then tries to use his speed to throw a lightning bolt at Nora but misses and, instead, knocks the Scarecrow's box containing the fear gas, exposing them to the gas and causing Barry and Oliver to start hallucinating, making them see each other as Eobard Thawne and Malcolm Merlyn, respectively. This leads to a fight between them until Batwoman brings both down, neutralizing the effects of the gas in the process. The gas appears again in the Batwoman episode "Grinning From Ear to Ear" when August Cartwright using the gas on his son Mouse and in "Off with Her Head", Mouse used it on Alice while Crane was mentioned in the same episode.
Animation
DC animated universe
- Dr. Johnathan Crane/The Scarecrow is featured in multiple shows set within the DC animated universe.
- * The character first appears in , voiced by Henry Polic II in an English accent. In the episode "Nothing to Fear", Dr. Jonathan Crane becomes the Scarecrow to exact his revenge on the Gotham University board members who fired him for experimenting on his own students. Despite drugging Batman with his fear toxin and kidnapping the university's dean, Scarecrow is ultimately exposed to his own gas and begins hallucinating his own phobia - a fear of bats - after which he is apprehended and sent to Arkham Asylum. In "Fear of Victory", Scarecrow combines his fear toxin with adrenaline to use on Gotham's athletes, rendering them unable to play as he bets against their teams and makes a profit. In "Dreams of Darkness", Scarecrow plots to taint Gotham's water supply with fear toxin. In "Trial", Scarecrow appears as one of the "jury" members during the rogues gallery's "trial" against Batman at Arkham. In "Lock Up", Scarecrow, Harley Quinn and the Ventriloquist issue a complaint against Arkham's brutal new security guard, Lyle Bolton.
- * Scarecrow returns in The New Batman Adventures, voiced by Jeffrey Combs with a low, rasping whisper. He gets a "darker", radically ed design because the producers felt his original look was not frightening. Bruce Timm described Scarecrow's new outfit as resembling a "western preacher", complete with a "noose around his neck" as well as a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Leatherface kind of look. It really had nothing to do with being a scarecrow per se, but he was definitely scary." Paul Dini commented that "he looked like a hanged man who had been cut down and gone off to terrorise people. We weren't even sure if there was an actual guy in the suit." In the episode "Never Fear", Scarecrow creates a new strain of toxin that eliminates fear and makes its victims dangerously reckless; Batman is exposed to the gas which renders him unafraid to kill. When Batman loses control and attempts to kill Scarecrow, Robin administers the antidote and the two send Scarecrow back to Arkham Asylum. In "Over the Edge", Scarecrow seizes control of Gotham City Hall and sprays Batgirl with his fear toxin, causing her to have a nightmare in which she is killed by him and a vendetta erupts between Batman and her father, Commissioner Gordon.
- * Scarecrow was initially slated to be featured in the final season of Justice League Unlimited as a member of the Legion of Doom, referencing his appearance as an original member of the group in Challenge of the Super Friends, but these plans were ultimately canceled due to the Bat-embargo.
Other shows
- Scarecrow appeared in The Batman/Superman Hour, voiced by Ted Knight. Although he does not use fear gas in this series, he uses knock-out gas, which he keeps in eggs. He was seen in the episode "The Great Scarecrow Scare".
- Scarecrow appeared in Challenge of the Super Friends, voiced by Don Messick. He is as a member of Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom and is shown to have control over a flock of crows, but no other powers.
- Scarecrow appeared in the ', voiced by Andre Stojka. In the episode "The Fear", Scarecrow captures Robin and Wonder Woman after he expose them and Batman to his fear transmitters, as he forces the Caped Crusader to relive the memories of his parents' murder in Crime Alley, which would be the first animated rendition of Batman's origin. In the same episode, Professor Crane was working as a consultant for Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department to help them find Scarecrow and put an end to his exploits of fear, without anyone knowing yet that both are the same person. Using his detective skills, Batman was able to figure out that Scarecrow and Professor Crane were one and the same. Later, Batman confronts the villain in a cornfield, where he was soon able to apprehend Crane, rescue Wonder Woman and Robin, and turn him over to the Gotham City Police.
- Scarecrow appears in ', voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. In the episode "Trials of the Demon", he collaborates with Scream Queen to put jack-o'-lanterns filled with fear gas on a Halloween night in a local neighborhood. Scarecrow is defeated by Batman while Scream Queen is defeated by the Flash using the toxin in some pumpkins in a patch against Scream Queen. Scarecrow appears as an inmate at Blackgate Penitentiary in the episode "Night of the Huntress", and is among the singing inmates at Arkham Asylum in the episode "Mayhem of the Music Meister!".
- Scarecrow appears in Harley Quinn, voiced by Rahul Kohli. This version has a British accent in reference to Cillian Murphy and is a member of the Legion of Doom. In the episode "Harley Quinn Highway", with help from the Legion, Scarecrow kidnaps Poison Ivy so he can combine his fear toxin with her pheromones and destroy Gotham City. Though he is nearly thwarted by Harley Quinn and her crew, he succeeds in poisoning the Gotham Reservoir and transforming Gotham's trees into man-eating monsters. He makes a cameo in the following episode, "Devil's Snare", while being pursued by Batman in response to the event. In the season finale "The Final Joke", Scarecrow became the Joker's new sidekick after he captured Batman and Harley's crew and took over Gotham. After a week of torturing them, Joker becomes bored, so Scarecrow tries to help by unmasking Batman in front of him. However, this enrages Joker, as it ruined the "mystery", and he kills Scarecrow with his acid-squirting flower.
Film
Live-action
''The Dark Knight Trilogy''
- Cillian Murphy portrays Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and is the only villain to appear in all three films. This version of the character wears a burlap sack with a built-in rebreather that doubles as a gas mask for his fear experiments. Murphy explained that the relatively simple mask, as opposed to the full scarecrow costume usually seen in the comics, was utilized because he "wanted the Scarecrow to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, because he's not a very physically imposing man—he's more interested in the manipulation of the mind and what that can do".
- * In Batman Begins, Dr. Jonathan Crane is a corrupt psychopharmacologist working as Chief Administrator at Arkham Asylum who has secretly created a fear-inducing gas. He plots with the terrorist Ra's al Ghul to expose the entire population of Gotham City to this toxin. Crane smuggles the hallucinogenic chemical ingredient for his "fear gas" into Gotham through the connections of mob boss Carmine Falcone, and in exchange Crane testifies in court that all of Falcone's arrested men are legally insane and should be moved to Arkham for "rehabilitation". Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes accuses Crane of being corrupt, prompting Crane and Falcone to plot to have Dawes murdered. When an arrested Falcone later attempts to blackmail Crane, the latter dons his gas mask and douses Falcone with his fear toxin, driving the crime lord insane and causing him to repeatedly utter 'Scarecrow'. During Crane's first encounter with Batman, he sprays the vigilante with his fear gas and sets him on fire, though Batman narrowly escapes with both his life and mind intact. With Lucius Fox's help, Batman develops an antidote to Crane's drug. At Arkham Asylum, Crane exposes Rachel to his fear toxin when his illegal operations are discovered. However, Batman arrives and gives Crane a dose of his own toxin before leaving him for James Gordon to arrest, and he is driven insane by the exposure of his own chemical. Despite being institutionalized at Arkham, Crane escapes during the mass release of the asylum's inmates as part of Ra's plot to plunge Gotham into fear. As Ra's unleashes the gas on the city's slums, Crane, now calling himself 'Scarecrow', pursues Rachel and a boy on a police horse. After Rachel shocks Scarecrow with a taser, Crane aimlessly rides off into the night and remains at large.
- * In The Dark Knight, Scarecrow returns near the beginning of the film, his sanity is apparently restored but has become a drug dealing criminal. He and his men meet with mob boss Chechen's crew at a car park, who complains about the effects that Scarecrow's sold toxin has on his customers. A group of Batmen impostors then arrive and attack the two criminals, only to be interrupted by the real vigilante. Scarecrow attempts to escape in his van after spraying a Batman impostor with his gas, but the real Batman manages to apprehend Crane and ties him up along with the impostors for the police to arrest.
- * In The Dark Knight Rises, Jonathan Crane has a minor role. He is released along with the other prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary when Bane takes control of Gotham. Once liberated, Crane presides over a show trial which he refers to as a sentencing hearing wherein Gotham's wealthiest citizens are given a choice between death and exile. Those who choose "exile" are made to cross the thin ice over the frozen river connecting Gotham to the other shore, with an almost certain chance of falling through the thin ice and drowning. In addition, Bane also grants Crane full control of the courts to the extent that even Bane himself would not affect his ruling decision. When Commissioner Gordon, several cops, and Miranda Tate are captured and brought into trial, Gordon tells Crane that he and his men won't go on the ice willingly and therefore chooses death. Crane sentences them to "death by exile", while Bane takes Miranda. However, Batman manages to save Gordon. After Batman stops Bane's plan to detonate a nuclear bomb in Gotham, Crane is presumably arrested by Gotham police along with many other convicted criminals.
Other films
- During pre-production of Batman Forever; Scarecrow was intended to appear as one of two main villains, sharing this role with the Riddler, but this changed after the change of direction from Tim Burton to Joel Schumacher. Brad Dourif was considered for the role.
- Scarecrow was one of the villains planned to star in Batman Unchained, the fifth in the, before it was cancelled. Actors Nicolas Cage, Steve Buscemi and Jeff Goldblum were courted for the role. Coolio's uncredited role in Batman & Robin was revealed to have been a portrayal of Jonathan Crane in February 2017, with Coolio set to reprise the role in Batman Unchained. The Scarecrow would have appeared alongside Harley Quinn. Scarecrow's fear gas was meant to resurrect the Joker, who would be portrayed by Jack Nicholson once again.
- Scarecrow was intended to appear as the main villain of , another film of the Batman film series that was cancelled, in which he would have also been portrayed by Coolio. In the film, Dr. Jonathan Crane uses his position as professor of psychology at Gotham University and as head psychologist at Arkham Asylum to conduct experiments concerning fear. During a vengeful confrontation with a colleague, Dr. Kirk Langstrom, Crane unknowingly initiates Langstrom's transformation into the creature known as Man-Bat. Crane then exacts revenge on those responsible for his dismissal from both Arkham and the university while encountering truths about his past.
- A concept art of Scarecrow for Suicide Squad reveals that he was originally set to appear in the film, but was cut for unknown reasons.
Animation
- Scarecrow appears in the direct-to-DVD animated production ', voiced by Corey Burton. During the character's appearance in the segment "In Darkness Dwells", Scarecrow gathers an army of Arkham inmates in the sewers and uses Killer Croc to get them from above. As Jonathan Crane, he had been Killer Croc's psychologist at Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow uses Killer Croc to capture the priest Cardinal O'Fallon to hold on a mock trial in the sewers because Scarecrow is angered by O'Fallon's attempts to help the homeless. Scarecrow sentences O'Fallon to death, but is saved by Batman triggering an explosion in the process. Nevertheless, Scarecrow escapes the authorities when the sewers begin to flood.
- Scarecrow didn't appear in ', but he is mentioned by Batman. Also in the film, his fear gas is used by Star Sapphire in a trap against Green Lantern, to undermine his will and exploit his fears, convincing him that he doesn't deserve the power and to renounce his ring. Batman then shows himself and offers to Jordan the antidote, but refuses, instead summoning his ring and reestablishes his willpower, overcoming the effects of the fear gas.
- Scarecrow appears in ', voiced by Christian Lanz. Scarecrow is one of the many inmates released from Arkham Asylum by the Joker during his plans to activate a dirty bomb within Gotham and the Suicide Squad's mission to infiltrate the institution. He injected his fear gas into some of the guards before ultimately being recaptured.
- Scarecrow didn't appear but is mentioned in '. In the film, Batman is pursuing some of Scarecrow's henchmen in order to scare them into giving Batman his location, but Green Lantern intervenes and catches them, which angers Batman.
- * Scarecrow also appears in an animated short included on home video of the film called Nightwing and Robin, with Michael Rosenbaum providing the voice for the character. The short features Nightwing and Robin facing Scarecrow and his gang in a warehouse, which results in the villain's defeat.
- Scarecrow appears in ', voiced by Brian T. Delaney. This version of the character is tall, muscular and has green skin, and uses a sickle as a weapon. He joins the Joker's gang of monsters to wreak mayhem on Gotham City.
- Scarecrow appears in , voiced by John DiMaggio who's uncredited for the role. He is among the villains Superman unintentionally releases from Arkham Asylum. When the Justice League is held captive at the Joker's funhouse, Scarecrow douses the Justice League with fear gas, rendering them cowardly enough for the other villains to torment them. Scarecrow is last seen towards the end of the movie where he is defeated by Robin and put back in Arkham Asylum.
- Scarecrow appears in The Lego Batman Movie, voiced by Jason Mantzoukas. At the start of the film, Scarecrow is one of the many supervillains attacking Gotham City as part of Joker's army where he breathes fear gas onto a gate guard. He is defeated by Batman, but escapes alongside the others. In the following day, Scarecrow invades the city's winter gala party with the rest of Gotham's villains. He and the rest of them are apprehended by the police when Joker persuades them to surrender. Later, along with the other city's villains, Scarecrow is recruited by Batman and his allies to work together to send the escaped villains back into the Phantom Zone and save Gotham City. Once Gotham is saved, Batman allows Scarecrow and the rest of his rogues gallery to escape.
- Scarecrow appears in the 2018 direct-to-video animated movie '.
- Scarecrow appears in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, voiced by Jim Meskimen. As in the original comic, he is transformed into a mutant raven when the Joker infects the inmates of Arkham Asylum with mutagen. He faces off against Batman and Leonardo and infects the latter with his fear gas, causing the leader of the TMNT to see visions of his brothers dying. Batman helps Leonardo overcome the fear gas, allowing him to knock Scarecrow out. Scarecrow is later cured thanks to Batgirl and Donatello's retro mutagen.
- Scarecrow appears in , voiced by Chris Cox. While investigating a graveyard break-in, Nightwing and Catwoman are attacked by the Scarecrow. Nightwing is overpowered by fear toxin, but Catwoman defeats Scarecrow and gets Nightwing to safety.
- Scarecrow will appear as the villain in the upcoming animated crossover film Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!, He will be voiced by Dwight Schultz.
Video games
''Lego''
- Scarecrow appears in ', with vocal effects provided by Dave Wittenberg. He is seen working for the Joker, and is the third boss of Chapter 3 "The Joker's Return." He has only one special ability: mind control, with which he can make guards open doors. He also sprays his fear gas which petrifies his victims; however, it only works at close range. In addition he makes full use of his "violent dancing" martial arts skills in unarmed combat. Scarecrow also uses a biplane, which he uses in his boss fight to distribute his fear gas. When Batman and Robin pursue the Joker in their air vehicles, they encounter Scarecrow who drops a weight on the Batwing's right wing causing it to spin. The player needs to use the Batcopter to grapple on to him then switch to the Batwing to fire torpedoes at him. If the player runs out torpedoes, s/he can get more on the right. When Scarecrow's defeated, his plane crashes into the Joker's helicopter and they float down on balloons. In the villain story, it's revealed that they land in Gotham Museum where they try to escape. Unfortunately a cop grabs Scarecrow with a crane and the Joker leaves without him. In the hero ending, he's seen hanged up like a real scarecrow with a bunch of birds.
- Scarecrow appears in ', voiced by Nolan North. After the Joker breaks out of Arkham once again, Batman and Robin investigate. The elevator breaks and they fall under the asylum, where lots of rioting inmates are on the loose. Scarecrow is then seen watching and he tries to slow Batman down multiple times using fear toxin. After Batman shuts down all the fear venom barriers, Batman finally faces Scarecrow. Scarecrow then floods the room with fear toxin which makes Batman and Robin see visions of a giant Scarecrow. Once Batman and Robin turns on the fans to stop the fear poison, they easily take down Jonathan Crane. Later, when all the inmates of the asylum are on the loose, Scarecrow hides out in a pumpkin tent in the amusement mile, and his catchphrase is, "You know what I always say? Fright makes right." He is flooding the amusement park with fear poison, which you can see the citizens running and screaming. Batman confronts Scarecrow, but Scarecrow fills the tent with his fear toxin, which makes Batman see a giant version of Scarecrow once again. Batman then destroys the pumps that are producing fear venom, which makes Scarecrow look normal size again. Batman then easily takes down Crane and brings him back to custody. After you defeat Scarecrow, you can buy him and play as him anytime in free play mode.
- The Batman Begins version of Scarecrow appears as a playable character in via downloadable content.
- Scarecrow appears in Lego DC Super-Villains, voiced by Jeffrey Combs, who reprises his role from The New Batman Adventures. He is first seen being apprehended by GCPD officers at a warehouse until laughing gas created by the Joker was used to his freedom and happily accepts the Joker's request to retrieve his joy buzzer from the Gotham City Police Department with Riddler and Clayface. He is later seen at the Legion of Doom's lair where he wants to find Sinestro, citing the reason he is big fan of him. He is later accompanied to Oa to free Sinestro with Killer Frost, Gorilla Grodd and the Rookie.
''Batman: Arkham''
- In