Ratcatcher (comics)

The Ratcatcher (Otis Flannegan) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe, primarily as an enemy of Batman.

Publication history

Ratcatcher first appeared in Detective Comics #585 (April 1988) and was created by Alan Grant, John Wagner, and Norm Breyfogle.

Fictional character biography

At one time an actual rat catcher in Gotham City, Otis Flannegan sank into a life of crime. He's been imprisoned numerous times in his career (he is a regular in Blackgate Penitentiary) for assault, kidnapping, and robbery. Flannegan calls himself The Ratcatcher because of his special talent: the ability to communicate with and train rats. The Ratcatcher has used his minions to plague Gotham on more than one occasion by unleashing hordes of the vermin. In prison, Flannegan is able to smuggle items in and out with the help of his small friends.

Flannegan isn't the most devious or most powerful of Batman's rogues gallery, nor is he insane. His supervillain outfit is a gas mask and vermin control gear. Flannegan is often drawn with rat-like features.

When Infinite Crisis began, the Ratcatcher was being protected by, in addition to his rat friends, the homeless community. When he was discovered and being taken away, one of the homeless attempted to aid Flannegan, but was easily knocked aside by the arresting officers. The man turned out to be an OMAC in hiding, and the injury apparently initiated its release. The OMAC identified the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and vaporized him.^[1]

After The New 52 reboot, Ratcatcher is seen in the series Batman Eternal as part of a plan to subtly destabilize Gotham via public services catastrophes.^[2]

Powers and Abilities

The Ratcatcher has the ability to control an army of rats. He also wields a gas gun and can manipulate various things with cyanide gas.

Other versions

Batman: Arkham

• The Ratcatcher appears in Batman: Arkham Unhinged, his appearances are in issues #20 and #29-31.
• In Batman: Arkham Knight Genesis comic, it is revealed that Ratcatcher did in fact survive his encounter with Penguin, albeit losing his left eye and arm in the process. After Hush, disguised as Bruce Wayne, enters his domain with two police officers, Ratcatcher sends his rats to attack them, managing to kill the officers and incapacitate Hush. Before the rats could kill Hush, Arkham Knight comes down with a knee to Otis' face, putting him to the ground. The Knight then uses an intense taser to fry Ratcatcher and his rat minions alive. Batman later arrives at the scene of the crime and discovers Otis' charred corpse.

In other media

• The Ratcatcher appears as a boss in Batman: Dark Tomorrow voiced by Jonathan Roumie. While attempting to infiltrate Arkham Asylum through the sewers, Batman is confronted by the Ratcatcher and a pair of giant rats, with Batman defeating the rats before knocking out the Ratcatcher.
• The Ratcatcher's equipment can be found in Batman: Arkham Asylum. His character bio can be unlocked by finding his mask, gloves and book in the ventilation system of the Botanical Gardens.
• A poster advertising the Ratcatcher's skills as an exterminator can be seen in Batman: Arkham City. Scanning this unlocks Ratcatcher's character bio, which states he had become a player in the black market, selling smaller items like buttons and gum to avoid upsetting other major players such as Penguin. This eventually failed him, and he was last seen being dragged into Penguin's museum by the Penguin's men, followed by his army of rats, and has not been seen since. Penguin may also have used the rats that followed Flannegan to the museum as a death trap used on disloyal grunts (as mentioned by several of Penguin's men). Whether Ratcatcher himself is alive is never made clear.

See also

• List of Batman Family adversaries
• Pied Piper, a similarly-themed Flash villain
• Pied Piper of Hamelin

References

External links

• Ratcatcher at DC Comics Wiki