City Stories: Arkham City

The City Stories in Batman: Arkham City are unlockable by solving the Riddles of the the Riddler .

Stories in Arkham City

Aaron Cash

Aaron Cash recalled that night back at Arkham Asylum when, watching from a security monitor, he saw Quincy Sharp scrawl an elaborate message on the floor of the cell block control room using a rusty nail and blood from his fingertips before forcing his way out of the cell, only to disappear into the chaos.

He didn't know where Sharp had gone, but he was sure that there was something seriously wrong with the future mayor of Gotham City.

With no other career options available and a nagging feeling that he had seen Hugo Strange before, he reluctantly accepted the job of running a small medical team charged with providing assistance to any resident of Arkham City who needed it.

• Riddle: Park Row, "If you find the name, does the Cash come hand in hand?"

The Abramovici Twins

Part 1

Andrei Abramovici was a respected man in the small Siberian village where he lived with his pregnant wife. When word reached Andrei that his wife was in labor, he rushed home, excited to be at her side, but was met only by the midwife. His wife had not survived the birth; complications due to the special nature of his newborn sons were to blame.

Pushing into the room, he found his twin sons, joined at the shoulder, screaming for their mother.

He took the twins and left town. Crying, he stood on a bridge over the freezing cold river and contemplated throwing them to their deaths, but he could not do it. Leaving his sons outside the tent of a traveling freak show, Andrei returned home to his village a broken man.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “Once assembled, do these two become one again?”

Part 2

The Joker heard tales of the conjoined Abramovici twins, now widely known as Hammer and Sickle, and their reputation for brutality, and he wanted them for himself. Sending Harley on a desperate mission to retrieve them, she passed on the message to the circus owner that her puddin' would pay big for the twins.

Of course the owner refused to sell his headlining act. He promptly vanished, only to be found three months later with a new smile carved on his face.

• Riddle: Museum, “Brothers in arms, Brothers at war. Who is right? Who's... Left?”

Arkham Island Sold

Once the decision to create Arkham City had been approved, Mayor Sharp ordered that Arkham Island be put up for sale. In a press conference, he claimed, “This is a fantastic revenue opportunity for Gotham City.”

Although a number of prominent Gotham companies entered bids for the land, the winning bid came from a previously unknown security company named TYGER.

Within weeks of the sale, TYGER was also awarded the contract to police Arkham City and instantly began using the island to launch its fleet of helicopter gunships to patrol the new prison facility.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, “Look out! Can you see where the madness began?”

Arkham City Medical Team

Cash chose the abandoned church building near the Solomon Wayne Courthouse to situate his medical team at. Knowing that Strange was only providing the minimal amount of medical assistance to placate those campaigning against Arkham City, Cash was forced to beg for equipment and additional medical supplies.

The first donations came from Bruce Wayne himself, who supplied a series of security shutters to keep the people within the building safe, along with cutting-edge body armor and supplies.

On hearing about Wayne's donations, Strange was furious and locked down all supply routes between the medical team and the outside world.

• Riddle: Park Row, “I am an instrument whose music always comes from the heart. What am I?”

Hugo Strange's Storage Vault

On the perimeter wall of Arkham City is the TYGER confiscated goods vault. This high-security facility houses all the items confiscated from criminals upon their admittance to the prison. A special vault is used to protect the equipment and ill-gotten gains of the various super-criminals and it is guarded 24/7 by a squad of TYGER guards.

Upon her arrest, Hugo Strange placed all Catwoman's belongings there, and she was vowed to get them back and leave Arkham City for good.

• Riddle: Park Row, "This den is where the vicious animals take your treasure. Is it theft, if it’s already stolen?"

Seismic Disturbances

Just weeks before Arkham City was due to open for business, the streets and roads in the northeast of the facility were devastated by a series of unexplained seismic incidents. The large scale subsidence left the street level on an entire district submerged under water.

Campaigners opposed to Hugo Strange's super-prison demanded further investigation into the cause of the disturbances, arguing that this was further proof that the area was unfit under basic humanitarian grounds.

However, Strange vetoed plans for an enquiry on his land. He provided his own experts to demonstrate that the seismic activity was a one-off event and maintained that the inmates had given up their rights to any decent standard of living.

• Riddle: Park Row, “You’ve been warned. People aren’t the only unstable part of this city.”

Compulsory Purchase

Upon becoming mayor, Quincy Sharp presented Gotham City with his plan to create a super-prison in the north of the city, claiming that the site was selected because it contained extreme areas of social decay and neglect.

When Bruce Wayne spoke out at the consultation committee hearing, the mayor pointed out that this location was where Wayne's parents had been murdered decades before.

The council passed the motion to create Arkham City and set about issuing eminent domain seizures, allowing it to purchase all the land within the site's walls.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “Breaking news! Get out while you still can.”

Studying the Bat

Hugo Strange's obsession with Bruce Wayne and Batman was unbearable. He needed to know every small detail of how this man functioned, to understand exactly what made him tick, so that he could finally destroy him.

Strange manipulated the mayor into allowing squads of TYGER officers to be deployed into Gotham City under the pretense of aiding the police. However, unknown to the people of Gotham, the TYGER guards had only one target: The Batman.

Strange knew his men would initially fail, but he studied every defeat meticulously, analyzing the techniques and the strategies of his opponent. It would be only a matter of time before he had the necessary data to defeat the Bat.

• Riddle: Bowery, “You don't want to be caught off-guard in this place, do you?”

Open For Business

Mayor Quincy Sharp looked proud as he addressed Gotham on the night that Arkham City officially opened for business. As he introduced Hugo Strange to the mass of journalists, he felt sure that the hard work and sacrifices had been worth it.

He could hardly believe that he had achieved so much in the 18 months since the events on Arkham Island. As the champagne bottle smashed against the wall, Strange whispered to him that he would soon have Catwoman and Two-Face arrested and brought to his prison.

Quincy smiled. With Arkham City's construction complete, he was guaranteed the approval of the city and with all the super villains in his custody, their next target would be Batman: the person he blamed for everything.

• Riddle: Bowery, “Was the writing on the wall from the moment you entered?”

Bane

After being hit by the Batmobile and knocked into the dark waters surrounding Arkham Island, Bane swam to shore but was quickly recaptured and taken back to the asylum.

Weakened by his injuries and the experiments performed upon him by Doctor Young, he patiently waited, plotting this revenge.

Forced into keeping a low profile as he recovered, Bane searched Arkham City for a suitable location to act as a hideout and found just what he needed in the form of the Krank Toys building.

There, surrounded by toys, he waited, recuperating, until the time was right to make his move.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, "This place has taken a TURN for the worse. Is it a little BEAR for your tastes?"

TITAN on the Streets

Having no love for his fellow prisoners in Arkham City, Bane set up and presided over an underground fighting contest where inmates fought in vain for the privilege of trying to take him down.

Word of these fights spread throughout Arkham, and the Joker sent Bane a little surprise. As Bane moved in for the kill, the Joker's henchman triggered a TITAN injection that ripped through his body, transforming him into a monstrous TITAN.

Barely surviving the fight, Bane had a new problem. Somehow, TITAN had found its way into Arkham City, and it was up to him to stop it from falling into the wrong hands.

• Riddle: Subway, “It’s vacation time. Where shall I go? Somewhere venomous?”

Black Mask

Roman Sionis, a.k.a. Black Mask, is the first and only inmate to have escaped from Arkham City.

Using explosives stolen from the Penguin, he waited until the TYGER shift change, blasted his way through the containment wall, and went on the run in Gotham City.

Furious, Hugo Strange ordered his TYGER operatives onto the streets, to focus all their attention on finding Black Mask, who was finally recaptured after a violent siege at the meatpacking plant he owned.

Promising that no one else would ever escape again, Strange fitted a series of automated machine guns to the walls of Arkham City, designed to kill anyone else who dared to try.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “Did you hear the HOLE story of how Black Mask escaped?”

Close Arkham City

As Hugo Strange was revealed as the public face of Gotham City, Batman attempted to uncover any information he could about the history of this mysterious figure. Convinced that nothing in Arkham City was what it seemed to be, Batman dug deeper and deeper but came up blank.

It was as if all evidence of Strange had been wiped clean. One thing was certain, however: Strange could not have done this alone.

Batman was determined to ensure that the site of his parent's death would not become a monument to Gotham's failure and dedicated himself to shutting down Arkham City.

• Riddle: Park Row, "Six legs went in and only two came out. Where am I?"

Calendar Man

Julian Day, a.k.a. Calendar Man, had been locked in his cell in Arkham Asylum for a full year when he was moved to Arkham City. Unable to celebrate the passing holidays in his own inimitable style, he could do nothing more than just imagine that he would have done if he were free.

In Arkham City, he quickly found the Solomon Wayne Courthouse and claimed it as his own. Anyone who dared come in was overpowered and taken to a cell where they remained until the next holiday, when Day would kill them.

It was all going well, until Two-Face arrived with a small army and took the Courthouse for himself, locking Day up in that cell.

• Riddle: Park Row, “Who’s crazy enough to date this guy?”

Clayface

Basil Karlo, a.k.a. Clayface, used his ability to mimic the exact appearance of anyone, to impersonate Quincy Sharp and escape from Arkham Asylum.

On the run in Gotham City, Clayface has been forced to constantly change his appearance in order to stay one step ahead of Hugo Strange and his guards.

His current whereabouts are unknown.

• Riddle: Park Row, "I am an actor who can transform a film with the final cut. Who am I?'"

The Falcone Family

The Falcones are America's oldest surviving crime family. Generation after generation has ruled the underworld with iron fists, preferring to stay away from more colorful super-villain activities. They maintain legitimate business interests, including garbage collection and shipping companies.

The current head of the family, Carmine “The Roman” Falcone is feared by all and until recently had the city in his pocket. But something has changed.

Quincy Sharp, the newly elected mayor, and a man who should be afraid of him, was not. Carmine's attempts to intimidate Sharp had resulted in his henchmen mysteriously disappearing, and Sharp has struck back, with the TYGER guards closing down Falcone's operations all over the city.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “Which notorious family keeps talking trash?”

A Family Business

As Hugo Strange's TYGER guards' grip on the city tightened, a Falcone family meeting was called. The choice was simple: Stay in Gotham and face arrest and imprisonment in Arkham City, or leave.

The younger members of the family argued that “The Falcones run from no one,” but in the end it was the Roman's decision.

The next day the entire family packed up and left Gotham, heading to the relative safety of Blüdhaven.

• Riddle: Industrial District, "Air, sea or land. It would be criminal not to use these guys, wouldn't it?"

A Sick Plan

Part 1

After Batman stopped him from escaping Arkham Asylum, the Joker sat alone in his padded cell, knowing something was wrong.

The first sign was an unusual, lump on his shoulder. He felt... tainted. Weeks went by and ten more unusual lumps appeared.

The TITAN had done something to him, something bad, something that wasn't funny at all.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “Do you really need to hammer it home? Everyone knows Harley is stupid.”

Part 2

The Joker was dying. He knew it and soon so would anyone who saw him. The last thing he needed was to appear weak before his rivals.

So one day at lunch, the Joker took a spoon and dug out another inmate's eyes, knowing this would get him solitary confinement. He could keep out of sights, at least until his transfer to Arkham City.

The Joker needed an escape plan, and on the night of his transfer, Harley Quinn provided one. Disguised as an Arkham guard, she overpowered the Joker's escorts and stole her puddin' away to a boat waiting on the island's quayside.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “The more things change the more they stay the same. What dummy said that?”

Part 3

As the boat carrying the twisted pair sped off towards Gotham, it was joined by a second. A secret alarm placed by Batman had alerted him to the Joker's escape, and here he was in the Batboat, pursuing the fugitives.

They ignored his orders to stop, so Batman opened fire. As Harley steered the boat to shore, missiles ripped the hull to pieces.

They swam, the weakened Joker being pulled through the water by a distraught Harley, desperate to save her puddin'. She pulled the Joker out of the water to safety, somehow avoiding Batman's searchlight. She and the Joker sat there, gasping for breath, when they suddenly realized where they were: Arkham City.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “Surely someone was clowning around when they qualified this person?”

Strange Goings On

Working at Arkham Asylum, Professor Hugo Strange used a series of complicated psychological profiling techniques to identify the man behind Batman's mask as Bruce Wayne.

Planning to become both the rich and famous, he plotted to sell the secret of Batman's identity to the highest bidder. Word spread throughout the criminal underworld that Batman's greatest secret was for sale, but before anyone could act on it, Hugo Strange vanished.

• Riddle: Park Row, "Do you have Strange thoughts? Maybe you should seek help?"

Hugo Strange's Experiments

Now in charge of Arkham City, Strange continues his radical experiments into the workings of the human mind. During processing, Strange personally selects inmates that fit his criteria and has them taken away to his inmate Behavioral Analysis Unit.

No one knows what happens to the missing prisoners in that room except Strange himself. Sometimes they emerge lobotomized to roam the streets, but more often they are never heard from again. Some people believe that Strange brainwashes the missing thugs and turns them into his TYGER guards whereas others believe he has a deal with the Penguin and hands him them to use as target practice.

• Riddle: Bowery, “Studies have shown that if you're not on your best behavior, you'll come out crazy. How Strange?”

Gordon vs. Sharp

Part 1

As the plans for Arkham City became public knowledge, Commissioner Gordon, incensed at not having been consulted over Mayor Sharp's decisions, attempted to block construction with a court order.

He failed.

The Commissioner called on Batman and explained that he suspected corruption at the highest levels of Sharp's administrations.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, "Park in his spot and you may just get a ticket."

Part 2

After losing his case against Mayor Sharp, Gordon was summoned to City Hall. Sharp tried to reason with Gordon, explaining that Arkham City would be something they could both be proud, but Gordon held his ground.

Sharp calmly stated that he understood Gordon's position and expected Gordon to quietly resign.

Furious, Gordon stormed out. He might have resigned if he hadn't been talked out of it by Batman. Batman suggested attacking Mayor Sharp and Arkham City with a public campaign, headed not by Gordon, but someone with the money and profile needed to win popular support. Someone like Bruce Wayne.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, “Always a shining example of Justice? Not if you ask me.”

Holding Grudges

Part 1

Soon after his arrival in Gotham City, the Penguin decided to make an impression on the underworld elite with a gala opening for his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge. He included the notorious Joker, whose appearance would surely impress the crowd.

When the Joker arrived, Harley Quinn on his arm and a dainty flower in his lapel, the Penguin was thrilled. He was hosting the sinister soiree of the century-until a clumsy waitress spilled a drink on the Joker.

The laughing Joker aimed his flower and an acid spray melted the girl's face. As alarmed patrons fled the scene, a cold, dark rage at the Joker curled inside Penguin.

• Riddle: Museum, “Have Joker's pets laughed themselves to death or just eaten too much?”

Part 2

The Joker eagerly returned to the Iceberg Lounge a few weeks later, but was insulted to find his name was not on the guest list. Willing to overlook this obvious mistake, he shot the doorman on his way in, kicked his feet up at a table, and ordered a glass of warm milk.

He was pleased when alongside the milk was a summons to the club's VIP section.

Led to a back room—past a tank where Tiny the Shark circled—the Joker happily greeted the Penguin, who promptly pushed him out of a door onto the street. The Penguin squawked out that the club had a new "no clowns" policy before slamming the door.

• Riddle: Park Row, "Acing this chemistry test will illuminate you."

Part 3

After arriving at Arkham City, the Joker and Harley Quinn were eager to explore their new stomping ground.

Reflecting that years had passed since the Penguin banned Joker from the club, they sought out the blue neon lights of the Iceberg Lounge. Harley pounded on the door, certain that Cobblepot would let bygones be bygones.

The Penguin answered, a hulking guard at his side, and immediately reminded them of his "no clowns” policy. He just managed to close the door before the acid from Joker's flower shot out at his face.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “What’s a funnyman without his box of tricks?”

A Killer in the Sewers

In order to remove Waylon Jones, a.k.a. Killer Croc, from the sewers below Arkham Asylum, Strange ordered a squad of TYGER guards to lure him out using body parts from deceased inmates.

Although this strategy proved unsuccessful, the team was able to subdue Croc when he emerged from the sewers looking for food once the supply of bodies had run out.

• Riddle: Subway, “This Killer was collared, but is he now on the loose?”

The Mad Hatter

Part 1

Disgusted at the crimes Jervis Tetch committed in the guise of the Mad Hatter, Quincy Sharp decreed that Tetch should never see the outside world again.

For months, Tetch was locked in solitary confinement, deep in the bowels of Arkham Asylum's Maximum Security wing. Locked up in the dark without his hats, his tea, and, most importantly, his Alice, Tetch's mind crumbled. Professor Hugo Strange became fascinated by Tetch's case, taking particular interest in Tetch's mind control experiments.

Strange manipulated security procedures, allowing him full access to Tetch behind the warden's back.

• Riddle: Bowery, “Cowboy, trilby or bowler? Hats off to anyone brave to try one on.”

Part 2

If Hugo Strange's plans were going to work, he needed a way to control Quincy Sharp. Having worked with Tetch for months, he had refined and perfected a psychoactive compound that would make anyone who ingested it more malleable and open to suggestion.

The next day, Strange invited Sharp to join him for tea at his office in the Administration Building.

• Riddle: Park Row, "I wonder how you can land an appointment with this milliner? Perhaps it would be best to book?"

The Maroni Family

The Maroni family has long been at war with their archrivals, the Falcones. In a constant game of one-upmanship, each family has been hurt. Sons and daughters have been killed, businesses have burnt to the ground, and still it goes on.

Determined to win the war once and for all, the Maronis met in their family restaurant and talked into the night.

Little did they know that as they talked, they were surrounded by Carmine Falcone's men who opened fire, killing almost everyone within. With their leadership gone, the surviving Maronis have all been incarcerated in Arkham City.

• Riddle: Bowery, “The feuding families always sit down to a good meal. Will there be a massacre?”

Maxie Zeus

Not every building in Arkham City was in disrepair before the mega-prison was constructed. One operating building was the Gotham City Olympus Nightclub, originally owned by Maxie Zeus.

Although Maxie disappeared in Arkham Asylum after one too many rounds of electroshock therapy, the club kept running in his absence, leading some to think Maxie hasn't gone far.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, "Would an invitation to party like the gods be a bolt out of the blue?"

A Cold Start

Part 1

When Hugo Strange arranged for Nora Fries to be moved to Arkham City, her husband Victor Fries, a.k.a. Mister Freeze, escaped from his refrigerated containment cell to find her. But Strange was waiting for him, and he calmly informed Victor that Nora had been transported for her own safety and that if Victor wished to see her again, he should move quietly into his new home in Arkham City.

To motivate Victor further, Strange promised him full access to laboratory facilities in the old GCPD building, now abandoned within the high-security walls of Arkham City, stocked with all the tools required to seek a cure for Nora.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “Can you find this cool couple before the romance thaws?”

Part 2

Mister Freeze stood alone in his new laboratory. Everything Strange had promised was true. Everything except his frozen wife, Nora, who was nowhere to be seen.

Furious, Freeze upgraded his suit's weapon systems, arming himself to force Strange to give him back his wife. Waiting until dark, he marched out of the GCPD, only to be ambushed by a squad of TYGER operatives with orders to take him to Professor Strange.

• Riddle: Steel Mill, “What can BOYLE and Freeze at the same time?'”

Illegal Operations

While in residence at Arkham Asylum, Hugo Strange experimented on prisoners as part of the process leading to him unlocking the workings of the mind in order to control it. In order to cover up his experiments, he arranged for these poor individuals to be lobotomized, locked in the cells and forgotten.

It was during these experiments that Strange perfected his ability to place posthypnotic suggestions in the minds of his victims; a technique he used to guarantee absolute loyalty from his handpicked TYGER guards.

After escaping from custody, the Joker released the lunatics and allowed them to roam free across Arkham Island in an attempt to stop Batman.

• Riddle: Bowery, “You don't have to be crazy to shop here, do you?”

The Cobblepot Feud

Part 1

At the opening of the Cobblepot Towers, Henry Cobblepot, print magnate turned hotelier, looked at his latest hotel, determined to outclass the also-newly opened Grand Wayne Plaza.

Desperate to ruin his rival, Judge Solomon Wayne, Henry laughed at reports that the people of Gotham preferred the restrained splendor of the Wayne Hotel to his own location's. He swore that the Cobblepot hotels would be the premier destinations of the world.

He was wrong, and it cost him from his fortune and his heatlh. On his deathbed, Henry left the remains of this fortune to his son, Stanley Cobblepot. Stanley vowed to outdo the Wayne family and their empire, now headed by Alan Wayne.

• Riddle: Bowery, “Arkham City is not the place to be rich or famous. Bruce Wayne has never felt quite so wanted.”

Part 2

Stanley Cobblepot instigated a very public feud with the Wayne family. As the Wayne business empire extended to include hotels and other public buildings, Stanley was determined to outdo them, pouring more and more money into his fledgling hotel business, to the detriment of the newspaper business and his relationship with his son, Oswald.

As Stanley's business crumbled around him, he sent Oswald to school in England. Feeling abandoned and picked on by his peers for his homely appearance, Oswald skipped class after class, preferring the company of the thieves and scoundrels he met on the streets.

By the time his father's empire collapsed, Oswald had vanished.

• Riddle: Museum, “How do you protect yourself when it's raining bullets?”

Part 3

When the council decided to shut down the Pinkney Natural History Museum, they sold this historic structure to the highest bidder. Located in a deteriorating part of the city many investors passed up the opportunity but for Oswald Cobblepot this was exactly what he wanted.

He purchased the building and established this as his base of operations, converting the attached theme restaurant, the Iceberg Lounge was a reputable establishment. But below the surface was a den of iniquity, a go-to place for illicit and illegal wares.

The adjacent museum exhibit halls were repurposed as the Penguin's storage facility, housing everything from his torture room, his weapon cache and a gladiator pit wherein illegal fights to the death occurred nightly, with the victors earning a job on Penguin's crew.

• Riddle: Museum, “Can anyone TOP the Penguin when it comes to the full VIP treatment?”

Part 4

The Penguin's operation was run on fear and pain. One night, a guest at the Iceberg Lounge was caught cheating at poker. The Penguin tortured this man in full view of everyone. A friend of the man grabbed a beer bottle, smashed it on a table, and attacked, driving the bottle hard into the Penguin's face.

As the Penguin screamed, the attacker and his friend were dragged away to a private torture room. Cobblepot was examined by the finest doctors in Gotham City but the prognosis was always the same; removing the bottle could be fatal.

• Riddle: Museum, “Was he framed? Or does it just run in the family?”

Part 5

When the Penguin received the eminent domain seizure from City Hall ordering him to vacate the Iceberg Lounge, he replied with a letter telling Mayor Sharp that no one tells Oswald Cobblepot what to do. He'd bought his property legally and the city could find somewhere else to stick their prison.

On the day that the perimeter wall was due to be completed, the GCPD were dispatched with backup from TYGER guards to forcibly reclaim the building. The Penguin ordered his men to fire at the police, killing three veteran officers.

With the Penguin's criminal nature no longer in dispute, Mayor Sharp ordered the wall closed, trapping the Penguin and his gang in Arkham City.

• Riddle: Museum, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, or there will be explosive consequences.”

Poisonous Intent

Part 1

Ready to turn over a new leaf, Pamela Isley rejected her Poison Ivy persona and opened a small flower shop in the backstreets of Gotham. Surrounded plants, she was content for a while. But society continued to mistreat her "babies" and eventually, she snapped.

A man came to buy flowers for his wife, obviously feeling guilty about having been unfaithful. Pamela smiled and handed over an elaborate bouquet. The plants came to life, rapidly growing onto his screaming face and piercing his skin with toxic thorns. Pamela laughed. Poison Ivy was back.

• Riddle: Park Row, "Has this flower turned over a new leaf?"

Part 2

After being given an overdose of TITAN by the Joker, Poison Ivy was left to die in her airtight cell by Warden Sharp, who blamed her for the mass destruction of Arkham Island.

As her health declined, she prayed for salvation. It came in the form of a priest, who was unknowingly covered in pollen from the trees near his church. As he performed the last rites, Ivy manipulated the pollen into an antidote that worked in harmony with the unique, natural toxins in her blood, and to the amazement of the priest she began a full recovery.

Furious, Warden Sharp locked her in a biological containment unit and arranged for her to be one of the first criminals sent to Arkham City.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, “If she is the ROOT of evil, how could anyone be expected to CONTAIN her?”

Election Time

Quincy Sharp claimed to have been instrumental in stopping the riot at Arkham Asylum, stirring a tide of public admiration. Throughout his mayoral campaign, Sharp repeatedly told voters that he would never allow their safety to be threatened by criminal scum.

His victory was assured when he announced that he would create a new, high-security prison that would forever separate the good people of Gotham City from the bad. One elected, his first move was to put the relatively unknown psychiatrist, Professor Hugo Strange, in charge of the whole facility.

• Riddle: Bowery, “Do you need to look SHARP to campaign for change?”

The Ratcatcher

Otis Flannegan, a.k.a. The Ratcatcher, looked out through the cellar window on the opening day of Arkham City. He had kept out of trouble so far, but he would need a plan to survive. Arkham City claimed to be escape-proof and the Penguin had the illicit goods market sewn up, so Ratcatcher would sell small comforts.

Fine soap. Breath mints. Extra buttons. He sent his rats out to collect such items from the outside world. It worked, business was brisk, and he felt safe, until the Penguin came looking for his rival vendor.

Flannegan was dragged screaming through the streets of Arkham City, followed by a trail of rats, into the museum and never to be seen again.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “Was this parasite ratted out, or does he continue to plague Gotham?”

A New Robin

Richard “Dick” Grayson was the youngest in a family of acrobats known as the Flying Graysons. Their death-defying act was all that kept the circus where they performed in business. As the people of Gotham clamored for tickets to the show, the mob came looking for their cut. After the circus owner refused them, mobsters killed Dick's parents during a packed performance attended by Bruce Wayne.

Wanting to protect the devastated orphan, Bruce took Dick under his wing and became his legal guardian, eventually entrusting the boy with the greatest secret. Desperate to help his friend and mentor, Dick trained hard to become Robin, patrolling Gotham at Batman's side.

Now an adult, Dick fights crime on his own as the vigilante called Nightwing.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, “Which acrobat family gambled with their lives, and has now been left to fly solo?”

Scarecrow

No one has seen Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarecrow, since he was attacked by Killer Croc in the sewers below Arkham Asylum.

Some say he escaped certain death by dragging what was left of himself onto a TITAN container and floating out to sea, while others believe he was eaten by Croc.

Undeterred, Batman has spent months searching for Crane, refusing to believe that he is dead. If Crane is out there, plotting his revenge on Batman, then Batman knows Gotham will never be truly safe.

• Riddle: Amusement Mile, “If you're afraid, don't be scared to crow about it.”

Buried on a Sunday

Part 1

On a dark and stormy night, in the late 19th century, a merchant named Cyrus Gold was murdered and dumped in the swamps near the emerging Gotham City. As the body sunk into the pit, it was exposed to an unusual chemical in the swamp which miraculously reanimated the merchant. He set out wandering the streets of Old Gotham, unable to remember his name and only able to recite the nursery rhyme “Solomon Grundy.”

Seemingly able to cheat death, the undead man, now called Solomon Grundy, was captured and ruthlessly experimented on. Determined to discover what had brought Grundy back to life, it became apparent that the creature was now immortal, due to a combination of the swamp chemicals and the storm that raged on the night of his death.

• Riddle: Subway, “Coming back from the dead is cheating in any day of the week.”

Part 2

As the army moved through the condemned Wonder City searching for stragglers, no one expected what lay in Ra's al Ghul's private medical laboratory. For months, Solomon Grundy had been exposed to the Lazarus chemical and then repeatedly electrocuted.

He had died dozens of times, but each time he was brought back for more. While the soldiers debated what he even was, Grundy revived again—and killed everyone nearby.

Mentally broken by his ordeal, he waited at the lab for the doctors to return and murder him again.

• Riddle: Wonder City, “Wanted: Dead...and alive?!”

Talia's Guard

Even though she is a fearsome warrior in her own right, as Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia is always shadowed by a secretive order of highly trained female protectors, known as the Elite Guard.

Each individual guard is chosen generations in advance and trained from birth to be the best of the best, easily capable of holding her own against a hundred men.

• Riddle: Wonder City, “Do these demonic twins pose a threat?”

Brokering Deals

Sherman Fine, a.k.a. the Broker, has carved out a lucrative business in Gotham City by being the go-to guy to purchase property. Mainly hired by the criminal underclass, Sherman will find and arrange all the necessary paperwork to ensure that the deal will go untraced while providing exactly what the client needs.

In the past he purchased rooms on behalf of the Great White Shark, Mister Zsasz, and the Joker. When planning his revenge on Batman, the Riddler look advantage of the Broker's services to secure the buildings that would later house his challenges.

• Riddle: Industrial District, “If you’re planning on making a mark in Arkham City, you’ll need a special kind of realtor.”

Scarface

Part 1

The original Scarface puppet was carved from the old gallows tree at Blackgate prison, and eventually fell into the hands of the meek Arnold Wesker, who'd disappointed his mafia family by showing more interest in ventriloquism than gunplay.

Scarface became an unlikely mob boss in Wesker's hands—until Wesker was locked up in Arkham Asylum without his precious puppet. Forced to improvise, he scrounged up materials for a new Scarface—one left mute upon Wesker's departure from the asylum.

When the Joker took over Arkham, he discovered Scarface in lock-up and took a liking to the puppet. Scarface quickly received a garish repaint and a new voice, complete with a demented laugh and a twisted sense of humor.

• Riddle: Museum, “Who's in control here? The puppet or the puppeteer?”

Part 2

When Batman shut down the Joker's riot at Arkham Asylum, it seemed the relationship between the newly demented Scarface puppet and the Clown Prince had ended—until one of the Joker's old henchmen, Mugsy Binks, showed up at the Steel Mill in Arkham City. He'd rescued Scarface from the old asylum, knowing it would buy him favor with Joker. And Mugsy was skillful enough to make a dozen more copies, freeing the Joker to mutilate any puppet that failed to amuse him.

After all, another Scarface could quickly be built up for him to laugh with, abuse, and then break into pieces. Joker's only regret is that people aren't so easily toyed with and replaced. Or are they?

• Riddle: Bowery, “You're a dummy if you don't try and buy one.”

Catwoman and Two-Face

Part 1

As Strange's grip tightened and the gates of Arkham City slammed shut on Gotham's criminals, only three were left at large: Two-Face, Catwoman, and Batman. Catwoman sat in her apartment, debating whether to flee, when her phone rang. On the other end: the unmistakable voice of Two-Face. “Sorry, Kitty-cat, but one of us had to go down.” Suddenly, TYGER guards were at her door.

Fleeing, Catwoman fought her way through guard after guard to the safety of a nearby roof. She could only watch as the guards ransacked her apartment until they found her safe. She readied her claws, but a shadowy figure appeared behind her and held a gloved hand over her mouth until, she passed out.

• Riddle: Park Row, “DA campaign special: Get two votes, for the price of one.”

Part 2

Catwoman came in the Batmobile as it raced through the streets of Gotham. She angrily told Batman that he should not have gotten involved. Batman told her to give up on her loot and leave town before it was too late.

Undeterred, she asked how Batman knew so much about Arkham City. He explained that he had found a secret room in Sharp's office back at Arkham Asylum, filled with detailed plans for the new prison complex.

Catwoman thanked him and pressed the emergency eject button on her seat. The Batmobile screeched to a halt, but it was too late. Catwoman has disappeared... and Batman knew exactly where she was headed.

• Riddle: Park Row, “BANG! BANG! Order in the court.”

Part 3

Two-Face was already in the warden's office in Arkham Asylum, photographing the plans to the secret vault inside Arkham City. As Catwoman burst into the room, Two-Face laughed as he tossed the originals into the fire. Furious, she knocked him to the ground, grabbed the camera and ran.

With seemingly no escape for either of them and the TYGER guards alerted and closing in fast, Catwoman was suddenly pulled to safety by Batman, leaving Two-Face to be captured.

As Catwoman ascended, she opened the camera to reveal her prize only to find the memory card had vanished. She looked down on Two-Face who was showing her the card, before calmly swallowing it. Furious, Catwoman sliced though the line and plummeted to the ground, only to be surrounded by TYGER guards, arrested and taken to Arkham City.

• Riddle: Park Row, "Its far from PURRFECT, but she calls it home."

TYGERs in the City

After disagreeing with Commissioner Gordon over the policing of Arkham City. Quincy Sharp announced that a private firm had been commissioned to provide a total security solution: TYGER.

Unknown to everyone but Hugo Strange, each TYGER operative was profiled and implanted with a posthypnotic suggestion that made them unquestionably loyal to him and him alone.

• Riddle: Bowery, “My intellect towers over yours, Batman. I wonder if you'll ever solve this riddle?”

Vicki Vale

When Vicki Vale first interviewed Quincy Sharp, just days after the events of Arkham Asylum, she felt something was wrong. Sharp's later appearance on the Gotham Nightliner show that she co-hosts confirmed her suspicions. Convinced that Sharp was not the hero he made himself out to be, Vale pressed him for answers and he became confused, struggling with the facts.

As she moved in for the journalist kill, she was shocked when Sharp suddenly regained his composure, answering all her questions with authority. It was as if he suddenly spoke with someone else's voice.

Whatever was going on, Vale became even more determined to uncover the truth.

• Riddle: Subway, “BOARD at drive-time? I'm not going to broadcast any more clues!”

Wonder City

Part 1

Over a century ago, the mysterious Ra's al Ghul arrived in Gotham City and met with the Gotham elders. Even then, Gotham was a crime-ridden, lawless place. Ra's promised a brighter future for all in exchange for a deed to the north end of the city. The Gothamites laughed at this strange man, until he produced more gold than they had ever seen.

The deed in hand, Ra's began construction of a new city, a utopian vision powered by clean, free energy. With no crime, the future would be bright, and as the last brick was laid by the slaves he had shipped in from his homeland, Ra's presented the future of Gotham: Wonder City.

• Riddle: Wonder City, “Where can you get a wonderful view of the past?”

Part 2

Mechanical guardians watched over the population of Wonder City while behind the scenes, lawbreakers were removed and executed. Wonder Tower stood above it all, a monument to prosperity. But for Ra's, the real reason for choosing this location was simple. Beneath the streets, he had located a chemical source that he called Lazarus. In small doses it would rejuvenate a person, but Ra's believed that with enough power the Lazarus could be super-changed to defeat any aliment... even death itself!

Unknown to all but Ra's and his engineers, Wonder Tower was actually a giant lightning rod. When the time was right, he would test his theory.

• Riddle: Wonder City, “Crime is a global issue, Batman. You'll never stop it.”

Part 3

Wonder City continued to operate for months before the effect of prolonged exposure to the Lazarus chemical became clear; it was driving the city's inhabitants insane. When Ra's al Ghul failed to act, the newly formed Gotham City Hall did. Wonder City was declared a public health hazard and quarantined.

Troops dragged the screaming citizens out of their homes, straight to Arkham Asylum. Ra's al Ghul disappeared. As Gotham reached into the sky, new neighborhoods were built over Wonder City, until the site was all but forgotten. Some years later, Ra's returned in need of his old Lazarus Pit. As his forces began the mining process, the streets above collapsed, but Ra's forced them to keep digging.

• Riddle: Wonder City, “Read all about it! Is this the end of the Times?”

The Payphone Killer

At first it was just missing people, last seen near payphones, but then the bodies started to appear, mutilated and posed. Stories of a payphone killer spread fast.

As the sound of ringing phones haunted the streets, M. Zsasz smiled. Hiding in a lair he's purchased from the Broker, he monitored an array of surveillance cameras pointing at each payphone in Arkham City.

As each victim answered his call, he acted fast, following them, tracking their movements, and then, when the time was right, killing them. It was perfect. He knew one day he would see Batman holding that phone, and then he would be able to carve his final mark.

• Riddle: Industrial District, "Does Zsasz still pose a threat? This guy called to find out."