Fear Toxin, also known as Fear Gas and previously as Project Umbra, is a chemical compound created and used by Scarecrow.
About[]
Fear Toxin is an extremely potent anxiogenic drug that could be administered through injection or inhalation. Acute exposure to Fear Toxin/Gas induces intense and often irrational fear, which can cause those exposed to it to go permanently insane or indirectly cause death. Death can occur with a concentrated dose due to panic induced adrenergic cardiac arrest, suicide and injuries sustained from other Toxin afflicted individuals. When Batman was exposed to the Fear Toxin in-game it led to a Scarecrow Nightmare.
However, due to his sheer force of will, Batman has developed some immunity to its effects as he has been exposed to the toxin countless times, unless enhancements to the toxin are developed or Batman is induced to take larger doses.
Incidents Reports[]
Arkham Shadow Incident[]
Crane was working on forcing patients to face their shadow, the id of their psyche, in order to become one with it and grow as people. However, the chemical he created at the time wasn't exactly safe, as he had numerous failed attempts that killed inmates; he resorted to kidnapping Dr. Harleen Quinzel's patients in the guise of treatment.
Crane called his research "Project Umbra" and it involved the use of rare plants provided to him by Dr. Pamela Isley of Gotham University's botany department. He referred to this version of his chemical agent as "Shadow" and although it was too potent for use in treatment by a factor of ten (in its liquid form it was highly caustic), the use of a nebulizer could aerosolize it. Exposure to air quickly neutralized it, however, requiring a constant dose to the "patient".
Crane attempted to administer "Shadow" to Arnold Wesker on two different occasions while in Blackgate; once after taking him by force from Quinzel's group therapy session after seeing her easily playing along with Wesker speaking through his cellmate's ventriloquist's dummy, though he failed to administer "Shadow" after Quinzel saw what Crane was about to do which resulted in a physical altercation between the two doctors and causing Crane to drop the chemical onto the floor and burning it.
As part of his second attempt on Wesker, Crane was able to successfully expose Batman to "Shadow", causing him to have vivid hallucinations of the night his parents were killed and of the night Harvey Dent's father attempted to beat his son. In both cases a demonic version of Batman, his own "Shadow", would save his parents and stop Dent's father from harming the two boys through incredibly violent and fatal methods, forcing Batman to see the kind of person both he and Alfred feared he could become. Batman fought through the hallucinations and confronted the Shadow Batman head on, while also fighting against Crane in the real world who appeared to him as the Shadow Batman, eventually defeating both and ending the effects of "Shadow".
When Irving "Matches" Malone was falsely accused of killing Chris Nakano, an undercover cop sent into Blackgate by James Gordon and Dent, Crane was called in to give him drugs to be cooperative, though had to be held back by Dent and a police officer due to both his unstable determination to administer the drug and Malone's reaction to Crane trying to make him take it. Malone, in reality Bruce Wayne himself, having already been exposed to "Shadow" knew what would happen if he were exposed to it again, and pushed the canister Crane held away from him. However, "Shadow" wasn't safe to touch in its liquid form; the moment Malone slapped the canister away before Crane could gas him, it instead smashed and sprayed the liquid all over Harvey Dent's left side, severely disfiguring him, Crane himself would avoid being named the one responsible for what happened by putting the blame fully on Malone.
Between Arkham Shadow and Arkham Asylum[]
Having discovered at some point that "Shadow" caused his victims to experience vivid hallucinations of what they feared the most, Crane would improve on the formula and use it as the criminal Scarecrow, with "Shadow" being renamed Fear Gas. Crane would go on to use it on helpless people to put them in a state of terror, gaining a reputation in Gotham as one of Batman's more psychologically dangerous foes.
During a period he was incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Crane managed to expose his doctor as well as the guards to the Fear Gas, briefly holding them hostage and holding his own "patient" interviews before being stopped by Batman, who had also been exposed to the gas but managed to fight through its effects, and worked with one of the asylum's doctors to create an antidote to reverse the Fear Gas' effects.
Arkham Asylum Incident[]
In case of the event of his capture, Scarecrow kept a cache of Fear Gas hidden behind a wall in Arkham Asylum. When Scarecrow escaped from his cell he tapped it to fight Batman. First he released it into an elevator at the Medical Facility, second through a wall vent in the Arkham Mansion's library and the final time through a cracked pipe in the Intensive Treatment Center's Cell Block Transfer.
When Batman fought back the effects from his third exposure to the gas and managed to grab onto Scarecrow during it, Crane used his claws to inject Batman with enough Fear Toxin which, according to him, would drive ten men insane. However, Batman also fought through the effects of this Fear Toxin, causing Crane to stab Batman's arm in order to escape his grip, and made his way down into the sewers underneath Arkham. Scarecrow planned on releasing an entire bag of his Fear Toxin into the Gotham River in Killer Croc's Lair, with the contents of the bag being large enough to not only keep Batman in a constant Fear Toxin fuelled state, but also contaminate Gotham's water supply for 100 years. However, before Crane was able to do this, he was quickly subdued, pulled underwater, mauled and disfigured by Killer Croc, his bag of Fear Toxin would remain on the floor of the sewers, unopened, for the rest of Joker's takeover of the island.
Arkham City Incident[]
Scarecrow's gas was seen throughout Arkham City. Canisters of it appeared in the third Riddler Hostage Room and also at Hush's Hideout. Roach, a victim of the toxin could be found in Scarecrow's Boat surrounded by crates of cockroaches used for Scarecrow's experiments and had a spasm when Batman approached him.
Arkham Knight Incident[]
According to a City Story unlocked by scanning a Riddle, Scarecrow ground up the cockroaches he kept in his boat and forced Roach to consume them as part of his tests; the results were apparently promising enough that Scarecrow used the insects as one of the ingredients in his new toxin.
Scarecrow supposedly planted bombs of Fear Toxin all over Gotham City and forced a citywide evacuation after The Arkham Knight released some of it at Pauli's Diner. After seizing control of Ace Chemicals, he had his toxin produced on a larger scale and the factory rigged to blow. Most, if not all remaining occupants of Gotham wore gas masks and similar equipment to protect themselves if Scarecrow detonated his bombs. The Arkham Knight's Militia went over the plan to evacuate or find cover when the bombs went off and were reminded that it was absorbed through the skin, meaning the only way to avoid the gas was to be underground or above it. Simon Stagg was later revealed to have helped Scarecrow make the new strain of Fear Toxin while also using the Cloudburst invented by Alex Sartorius and saw it as profitable. Exposure to the Fear Toxin also caused Batman to have hallucinations about the the Joker, who taunted him about succumbing to his previous blood infection and becoming him. According to the Stagg Enterprises research logs the gas was potent enough that not even facial and bodily protection could block out the effects and, according to a militia soldier only slowed it down for a few seconds before kicking in.
Scarecrow's new strain was apparently strong enough to affect those who were usually resistant or immune; Poison Ivy immunized herself using spores she produced but removing the Cloudburst-amplified toxin resulted in her death, and despite Batman's willpower he was weakened to the point of almost letting Joker take control of him.
Involvement[]
Arkham Asylum Incident[]
After being exposed to the gaseous toxin while walking through the halls of Arkham Asylum, Batman experienced elaborate hallucinations ranging from finding his parents' bodies in the Morgue, reliving his last moments with them and an 'inversion' where he was the lunatic brought to Arkham by the Joker which culminated in him being forced to travel through a twisted, nightmare-esque version of Arkham composed of islands floating over a brown whirlwind while fighting skeletons and evading a giant Scarecrow who normally crushed him if caught in his gaze.
The confrontations ended when Batman shone the Bat-Signal on Scarecrow at the end of each 'maze'; the signal apparently represented Batman's strength of will as he focused to get out of the hallucinations. Scarecrow himself noted after the third and final confrontation that he continued to resist even after taking in enough toxin to apparently drive ten men insane.
In the DLC content of Arkham Asylum and Batman: Return To Arkham, Batman could enter a Scarecrow Nightmare where he needed to avoid being hit for as long as possible.
Arkham Knight Incident[]
After being exposed to Scarecrow's toxin again, Batman experienced horrifying flashbacks of Joker's heinous crimes (the crippling of Oracle and torture of Jason) as well as an auditory and visual recreation of Joker who taunted the Dark Knight. Along with this, Batman experienced vivid hallucinations where Oracle committed suicide (apparently being realistic enough to even fool Detective Mode), he snapped Joker's neck while fighting him in Crime Alley and essentially became Joker himself. Unlike the hallucinations in Arkham Asylum there was no definite way to break free as most were cinematic in nature and did not offer much in the way of gameplay. Unfortunately, exposure to the toxin caused Joker to see his fear of being forgotten letting Batman retake his being, and Scarecrow was not immune to his latest batch of toxin causing him to go mad.
However, if one had access to the Scarecrow Nightmare Missions DLC for the PS4 version of Arkham Knight, Batman with the Batmobile could be thrown into battle with a giant version of Scarecrow and armies of the Arkham Knight's Drones.
Kill the Justice League Incident[]
Batman had taken to using Fear Toxin in the years spent in the shadows as the Demon Bat. Even prepping his Batcave in Metropolis with it to stun intruders. Harley Quinn, however, learned how to alter it from Scarecrow (with great difficulty as she mentions in frustration).
Hallucinations[]
Batman: Arkham Asylum[]
- James Gordon
- Thomas and Martha Wayne
- Joe Chill
- Scarecrow
- Crime Alley
- Arkham Asylum
- Skeletons
- The Joker
- Victor Zsasz
- Harley Quinn
- Scarface
- Aaron Cash
- Quincy Sharp
- Penelope Young
- Other Arkham staff
- Arkham Lunatics
Batman: Arkham Knight[]
- Demons
- The Joker
- Oracle
- Jason Todd
- Monarch Theatre
- Crime Alley
- Thomas and Martha Wayne
- Penguin
- The Riddler
- Two-Face
- Killer Croc
- Hanrahan
- James Gordon
- GCPD Building
- Bleake Island
- Alfred Pennyworth
- Harley Quinn
- Batman
- "Ghost"
- Scarecrow
- Arkham Knight's Drones
- Miagani Island
- Founders' Island
- Skeletons
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Tye prototype batches in Arkham Shadow are shown to be corrosive; since this is what helped create Two-Face.
- According to Scarecrow himself, he has the needles used to inject toxin because in its purest form it leaves more damage from the trauma. The gaseous version doesn't have much effect as it can be cured and the trauma treated.
- One of the Riddler's Riddles involved finding canisters of Fear Toxin in Arkham West.
- When under the influence of the toxin in Arkham Asylum, Batman's eyes glowed orange which was a nod to the color of the chemical. In Arkham Knight they instead glowed green which alluded to Joker's infected DNA in his blood.
- How Batman's eyes glowed differed between games due to Arkham Knight being on a more advanced system than Arkham Asylum; in the former Batman's eyes glowed similar to Detective Mode while only the irises of his eyes changed color in the latter.
- In Arkham Knight, Batman's veins darkened and his face became similar to after he was poisoned by Joker in Arkham City. This effect is also present when Joker takes over Batman's body on one of Stagg's Airships and before Batman fights back the infection.
- In Arkham Asylum, when light briefly flashes Batman is replaced by Scarecrow himself before a second flash returns him to normal.
- The third encounter with Scarecrow in which the game appears to reset and show a false Game Over screen was most likely a reference to games like Metal Gear Solid or Eternal Darkness when triggering an event made the game "crash". It could also be a reference to Earthbound when Giygas is defeated. It could also be a play on a hardcore gamer's worst fear: their game crashing before they could save.
- The skeletons in the Nightmares appeared to be normal enemies in reality. This was why when Batman awoke from Scarecrow's last Nightmare in the Asylum he found Joker's Henchmen and a Titan Henchman resembling the skeletons he fought knocked out.
- The demons from the Nightmare at Pauli's Diner are actually people also under the toxin's effects; this is proven through character dialogue if the player as Officer Owens decides to shoot any of them.
- If you tried using Detective Mode while fully under the toxin's effects in Asylum, Scarecrow laughed quietly as if the button triggered a taunt.
- In Arkham City, some of Scarecrow's canisters could be found in the third Riddler Hostage Room as well as Hush's Hideout. This foreshadowed Scarecrow working with Hush and Riddler behind the scenes.
- This was also likely in reference to the trio's partnership in Batman: Hush. According to Riddler in the comic, Scarecrow was the one who gave Hush (who he mentored) his name by singing the nursery rhyme Hush Little Baby.
- The first Nightmare seemed to be Batman's worst fear: he had no one beside him and failed to save those closest to him.
- The second Nightmare was Bruce Wayne's worst fear: having to relive the deaths of his parents.
- The third Nightmare was the player's worst fear mentioned above: the game freezing and restarting without saving.
- In Arkham Knight, Stagg reveals in his research notes that the toxin could be used as a possible cure for depression or to turn an army against itself. The Fear Toxin would most likely alter a person's brain chemistry but it is unknown if the toxin itself would cure depression if applied directly.
- Therefore, if it doesn't cure depression directly then the formula could be altered into a different substance with different effects on the human mind.
- If the ending in Arkham Asylum where Scarecrow grabs the floating Titan crate is canonical, perhaps he adapted the formula to make improvements to his toxin (which would partially explain why it was more powerful in Arkham Knight).
- In Arkham Knight, while exploring Ace Chemicals before coming across another deceased worker you can find a chemistry table with a vial labeled "Copperhead Poison", implying Scarecrow used the assassin's signature toxins to enhance his own; Copperhead's poison was also shown to cause hallucinations that could either be cured and/or broken out of.