Ratcatcher (comics)

Ratcatcher (Otis Flannegan) is a character appearing in American comic books and other media published by DC Comics, primarily as an enemy of Batman. He belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up the Dark Knight's rogues gallery. Once an actual rat-catcher in Gotham City, Flannegan sank into a life of crime. Calling himself the Ratcatcher because of his special ability to communicate with and train rats, Flannegan has used his minions to plague Gotham on more than one occasion by unleashing hordes of the vermin.

Ratcatcher
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceDetective Comics #585 (April 1988)
Created byAlan Grant (writer)
John Wagner (writer)
Norm Breyfogle (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoOtis Flannegan
SpeciesMetahuman
Place of originPortugal
Abilities
  • Control over an army of sewer rats
  • Manipulation over various things with cyanide gases
  • Use of gas gun

A female version of the character named Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2 appears in the DC Extended Universe film The Suicide Squad (2021), portrayed by Daniela Melchior. Taika Waititi portrays the first Ratcatcher, Cleo's father.

Publication history

Ratcatcher first appeared in Detective Comics #585 (April 1988) and was created by writers Alan Grant and John Wagner, and artist Norm Breyfogle.[1]

Fictional character biography

Otis Flannegan used to work as a rat-catcher in the Gotham City Sanitation Department and always claimed he could train rats to attack. Flannegan was eventually arrested and spent ten years in prison after stabbing a man to death in a street fight. After his release from the Gotham State Penitentiary, Flannegan kidnapped the four officials responsible for his arrest and subsequent sentence. He took his prisoners to a hideout located in the city's sewers, where he kept them for five years. During this period, Flannegan developed his current criminal alter-ego as Ratcatcher. Wearing protective equipment and using his animal training skills, Ratcatcher gathered a large mischief of rats which he used to torture and restrain his prisoners.[2]

After five years of captivity, one of Ratcatcher's prisoners managed to escape, although the Ratcatcher sent his army of rats to kill him. The man was killed upon reaching the surface and his body was found by Batman, who followed the rats back to the Ratcatcher's hideout. Forced to face the Dark Knight, Flannegan was outmatched once Batman got rid of all the rats and Ratcatcher was subsequently delivered to the authorities once again.[3] After spending time in prison, Flannegan escaped his parole hearing by using a flute that he carved to control rats at high pitched frequency. His plans for Gotham were ruined by Batman (actually Dick Grayson replacing Bruce Wayne at the time) in the end and he was captured again.[4]

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.[5]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Ratcatcher first appears in the series Batman Eternal as part of a plan to subtly destabilize Gotham via public services catastrophes.[6]

Powers and abilities

The Ratcatcher has the ability to communicate and control an army of rats. He has an in-depth knowledge of Gotham's sewer system and the layout of the Blackgate Penitentiary, which comes in handy as Flannegan is able to smuggle items in and out of prison with the help of his little servants. The Ratcatcher also wields a gas gun and can manipulate various things with cyanide gas.

Other versions

Master Comics

An alternate universe incarnation of the Ratcatcher named Ransom Trappe appears in Master Comics as an enemy of Bulletman and Bulletgirl.[7]

Mother Panic

In the Mother Panic ongoing series, Otis Flannegan, now reformed and homeless, moves into the basement of the hotel the vigilante Violet Page uses as her headquarters, where he orders his rats to dismember the supervillain Pretty's face.[8]

In other media

Television
  • A character inspired by the Ratcatcher named Patrick Fitz / Ratboy appears in the Batman Beyond episode "Rats", voiced by Taran Noah Smith. He is a teenage runaway with rat-like features and the ability to telepathically control rats, which led to others calling him "Ratboy". He develops an obsession with Dana Tan, frequently sending her love letters and gifts before kidnapping her and taking her to the sewers to confess his love for her. After she rebuffs him, he commands an army of rats to kill her, but Batman saves her. Fitz is later caught in an explosion and presumed dead.
  • The Ratcatcher appears in Harley Quinn, voiced by James Adomian. This version is an underling of Two-Face.

Film

A female incarnation of the Ratcatcher named Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2 appears in The Suicide Squad, portrayed by Daniela Melchior.[9] This version is one of the eponymous team's newest members,[10] and the daughter of an unnamed previous Ratcatcher (portrayed by Taika Waititi). She and her father were homeless in Portugal until he invented technology to get the city's rat population to help them. Following his death from a heroin overdose, Cazo came to America and began a criminal career, only to be arrested for armed robbery due to her rats being considered weapons and recruited into the Suicide Squad. Joined by her pet rat "Sebastian" (vocal effects provided by Dee Bradley Baker) and wielding her father's equipment, she assists the squad in infiltrating and destroying a Corto Maltesean Nazi-era research facility called Jötunheim, containing the secretive Project Starfish, unknowingly to the team, a secret project made by the U.S. government after making a secret deal with the previous Corto Maltesean government, which, after a coup, the new anti-American regime plans to use the project's main subject, the alien Starro, against other nations. Plus, also unknowingly to the squad (expect teammate Peacemaker (portrayed by John Cena)), their mission coordinator Amanda Waller (portrayed by Viola Davis) send them not only to destroy the project and kill Starro but also to scrub all of the informations about the U.S.'s role in it (which Waller secretly tasked Peacemaker to make sure of it). Cazo even forming bonds with her teammates Bloodsport (portrayed by Idris Elba), despite his fear of rats, and King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) along the way. After Peacemaker kills team leader Col. Rick Flag (portrayed by Joel Kinnaman), who turned rogue after learning the truth about the project and planned to revealed it the medias, and at the moment he's about to kill Cazo, Bloodsport wounded him and left him for dead, saving Cazo. During the squad's final battle against the freed Starro and the Corto Maltesean citizens under its control after its escape, Cazo summons an army of Corto Maltesean rats to overwhelm the alien and its victims and kill it by consuming it from within after her teammate Harley Quinn (portrayed by Margot Robbie) pierces its eye before Bloodsport blackmails Waller with the informations of Project Starfish to free him and his remaining teammates, including Cazo.

Video games

The Ratcatcher appears as a boss in Batman: Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Jonathan Roumie.

Miscellaneous

See also

References
  1. Greenberger, Robert (2008). The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 307–308. ISBN 9780345501066.
  2. Detective Comics #585 (April 1988). DC Comics.
  3. Detective Comics #586 (May 1988). DC Comics.
  4. Detective Comics #678 (September 1994). DC Comics.
  5. Infinite Crisis #1 (December 2005). DC Comics.
  6. Batman Eternal #24 (September 2014). DC Comics.
  7. Master Comics #41 (August 1943). DC Comics.
  8. Mother Panic: Gotham A.D. #1 (May 2018). DC Comics.
  9. Kroll, Justin (April 30, 2019). "Newcomer Daniela Melchior Eyed For Ratcatcher Role in 'Suicide Squad' Sequel (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  10. Sneider, Jeff (March 7, 2019). "'Suicide Squad 2' Exclusive: Meet the New Characters James Gunn Will Introduce in Sequel". Collider. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  11. Batman: Arkham Unhinged #29 (May 2012). DC Comics.
  12. Batman: Arkham Unhinged #30 (May 2012). DC Comics.
  13. Batman: Arkham Unhinged #31 (May 2012). DC Comics.
  14. Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis #1 (October 2015). DC Comics.
  15. Batman: The Adventures Continue #16 (December 2020). DC Comics.
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