Blog
That Electrocutioner Moment...
2/20/2021
Batman: Arkham Origins is a great game, even though it tends to be the least-beloved entry in the Arkham series. One of the most-remembered moments in the game is the boss fight with one of the assassins pursuing Batman; the Electrocutioner. After a fun amount of buildup, the player basically one-shots the boss, who crumbles under a single kick, letting you equip his electrical gauntlets for the rest of the game. It's hilarious, and in a lot of ways this is probably the moment this character is best known for.
How cool is it, then, to actually be able to go back and find a comic appearance that might have served as inspiration for this moment? Arkham Origins was released in 2013, but all the way back in 1999, Electrocutioner appeared in one of my favorite arcs of one of my favorite comics of that era; Chuck Dixon's Nightwing. In it, series baddie Blockbuster took out a contract on Nightwing and he was being chased all over Bludhaven by a small army of killers-for-hire. (That plot already sounds quite a bit like the plot to Arkham Origins, doesn't it?)
One of those baddies, who spent the whole arc appearing just as threatening and dangerous as all the rest, is the Electrocutioner. Then in Issue #34, when he finally squares off with Nightwing, their exchange goes like this:
One of those baddies, who spent the whole arc appearing just as threatening and dangerous as all the rest, is the Electrocutioner. Then in Issue #34, when he finally squares off with Nightwing, their exchange goes like this:
Just like that. "I'm immune to your whole deal", and then boom.
Is this the actual inspiration for this character's most infamous appearance? Maybe, right? I don't know if this entertains anyone else as much as it entertains me, but I just love tracking story inspiration back to it's origin, so moments like this are just little treasures.
Is this the actual inspiration for this character's most infamous appearance? Maybe, right? I don't know if this entertains anyone else as much as it entertains me, but I just love tracking story inspiration back to it's origin, so moments like this are just little treasures.