The Ratcatcher (Otis Flannegan) is a fictional character, a supervillain in the DC Comics universe, primarily as an enemy of Batman. First appearing in Detective Comics #585 (April 1988), the Ratcatcher 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.
Despite this, he is seen in the series 'Batman: Eternal' as part of a plan to subtly destabilize Gotham via public services catastrophes.
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.
In other media
Television
- A character similar to Otis Flannegan named Patrick Poundstone appeared in the Batman Beyond episode "Rats" voiced by Taran Noah Smith. He is a deformed runaway teen who has the power to communicate with rats. He soon became obsessed with Dana Tan and orchestrated her abduction. He showed Dana his habitat and hobbies. Unimpressed, she tried to trick Patrick into taking her to the surface for some Chili. Patrick didn't want to risk losing her, so he went by himself. He barged into Rhino's Chili and was spotted by Batman, who then overheard him mentioning Dana. Patrick returned to his place just on time to save Dana from being attacked by a pack of rats. Dana quickly grew impatient, and Patrick mistook her frustration for mockery and commanded his rats to attack her. He also reveals he has taken several other people in a similar fashion as Dana, and implied to have killed them when they upset or mocked him similar to Dana. At which time, Batman stepped in and fought off the rodent army. In the brawl, a burning hockey stick made contact with dumped toxic waste, blowing everything up. Patrick is likely to have perished in the explosion.
Video games
- 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 is mentioned in Batman: Arkham Asylum, his 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 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). Though whether Ratcatcher himself is alive is never made clear.
See also
- List of Batman Family adversaries
- Pied Piper of Hamelin
References
External links
- Ratcatcher at DC Comics Wiki