Batman: Arkham Asylum Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Arkham Asylum
px
'

Official name

Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane

First Appearance

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman #258

Galaxy

Milky Way

Star System

Sol

Planet

Earth

Country

United States

State

New Jersey

Locale

Gotham City

The video game Batman: Arkham Asylum takes place entirely in Arkham Asylum. The asylum is located on an island with a North, East and West courtyard. In the East courtyard, there is the Arkham Mansion, presumably a relic of the Arkham family where much of the staff works, as well as a Botanical garden, presumable for recreational uses. The North section contains the main entrance to Intensive Care and an unused, dilapidated structure. The West contains cell blocks, the Visitor Center and the Medical Facility. The asylum has a mainly gothic look, with many interior gargoyles, but has recently been outfitted with high-tech security, including forcefield security doors. There is also an on-site Batcave in the Caves. Many new staff members are introduced in the game. The security guards are heavily armed and armoured, resembling riot police, and, unlike traditional mental hospitals, the head administrator is a Warden named Quincy Sharp. Also introduced is Doctor Penelope Young and Guard Frank Boles. Many of these these characters are revealed to be corrupt. Boles aids the Joker in his takeover of Arkham, Young is studying clandestine research with Venom, and the Warden has followed in the insane footsteps of Amadeus Arkham, murdering inmates personally.

History[]

Amadeus Arkham[]

Amadeus Arkham originally founded the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane after his mother, whom he euthanized as treatment for her dementia. Building it on the old grounds of his family's historic mansion on the outskirts of Gotham City, Amadeus personally treated it's first inmate--Martin "Mad Dog" Hawkins, who had killed Arkham's wife and daughter. After administering fatal electroshock therapy to Hawkins, Amadeus lost all grip on sanity and was admitted into his own institution.

Amadeus was a highly respected psychiatrist until his fall to insanity, and was heir to the Arkham land and fortune. In his last years locked away in a cell within his own mansion, Amadeus was diagnosed as being a delusional schizophrenic.

Quincy Sharp[]

Quincy Sharp has been running Arkham Asylum for the past three years and has dedicated his life to restoring to sanity of the so-called super villains that plague Gotham City. He is currently campaigning to become the next mayor of Gotham; to facilitate the campaign, he has instigated stringent new security and experimental research policies at Arkham.

Sharp has an Intense dedication to "cleaning up" Arkham, and is pompous and old-fashioned in demeanor, with a focus on his own political aspirations. His contempt for Arkham inmates and disinterest in the specifics of their treatment masks a cowardly nature.

Batman: Arkham Asylum[]

Ark mansBatman---Arkham-Asylum-5

The Joker is transferred back to Arkham after his latest capture.

Arkham Asylum came under attack in Batman: Arkham Asylum. After numerous escapes by the Joker, the asylum worked more to ensure security, having every guard present as the Joker was returned to the island. The Joker escaped custody in the Intensive Treatment Center, causing chaos. He freed several Blackgate Convicts housed in the Holding Cells and caused untold damage to the facilities in his personal vendetta against Batman. Running amok through Arkham Asylum, Joker paused only briefly to murder or vandalize. Most of the security force was overwhelmed by the freed convicts, and later the more unsettled mental patients were loosed, rampaging through the asylum. More damage was caused as the Joker used asylum facilities to carry out his own evil experiments for the Titan Project, originally developed by Dr. Penelope Young. When the experimental drug was perfected, The Joker allowed some to be given to Poison Ivy, who overran the asylum with her plants. The heavily-damaged and partially demolished facility was recaptured as the Gotham City Police stormed the island, recapturing many of the escaped inmates after the Joker's defeat.

Facilities[]

Arkham North[]

Intensive Treatment Center

The Intensive Treatment Center is the "center" of Arkham Asylum. It houses Holding Cells, a Patient Pacification Chamber, and even a Decontamination room.

ARk Mansintensive-teeth-5--article image

The Processing Corridor.

It was here the Joker was being transferred back to his cell. As the Joker was being escorted by a doctor and a security guard through the Holding Cells, he broke free and killed both men. Batman, watching from a reception area, crashed through a window in pursuit. The Joker loosed all the Blackgate convicts in the Holding Cells to attack Batman. He then made his way through the Processing Corridor, killing four security guards in the area.

Ark mans intensive---statue-2--article image

The Patient Pacification Chamber.

Joker continued to the Decontamination Chamber while the remaining security personnel were preoccupied with trying to recapture Victor Zsasz, who had already murdered a guard in the Patient Pacification Chamber and was holding another hostage. After Batman had arrived on Joker's trail and subdued Zsasz, the Arkham staff retook control of the Patient Pacification Chamber. Meanwhile, the Joker had filled the Decontamination Chamber with toxic gas, killing escaped convicts and security guards alike, leaving only four survivors, who had managed to climb to safety. The Joker continued on to the Transfer Loop, killing more security staff and vandalizing everything with spray paint. He then proceeded to the Secure Treatment Transfer with several of his men, who overwhelmed the guards. The Joker loosed a mutated Blackgate prisoner on Batman, who died of natural causes after fighting the Dark Knight. The Joker escaped through Extreme Isolation, and the sole surviving security guard was not able to allow Batman through, due to the fact the Joker had rendered the computerized transport system to Extreme Isolation unusable. Around this time, corrupt security guard Frank Boles kidnapped James Gordon and took him through the Transfer Loop and into Secure Transit with Harley Quinn. Another security guard, Henry Smith, attempted to follow them, only to find that someone had jammed the elevator controls.


Ark mansBatman001-3

The Utility Corridor.

On the upper level, a team of the Joker's men had seized control of the elevator area, which had been further disabled by Harley Quinn in an effort to slow Batman down. Armed convicts, meanwhile, had wrestled control of the Cell Block Transfer section from the guards. With the situation spinning out of control, William North and a security team were still guarding the Intensive Treatment Lobby, oblivious as to the impending situation. Frank Boles betrayed them, killing at least three guards. An army of Blackgate prisoners finished off the rest of the guards while William North fled to the Utility Corridor. Batman arrived on the scene, shortly after, re-securing the area and finding Boles dead, betrayed himself by his employer, the Joker. Later, as Poison Ivy's plants began to overrun the island, the Blackgate prisoners returned and recaptured the Intensive Treatment Lobby. The Center by this point was becoming heavily damaged by Ivy's mutated plants. Batman returned to the Cell Block Transfer section, where the Scarecrow and an army of Blackgate prisoners ambushed him. Batman followed the Scarecrow back into Secure Transit and defeated the remaining henchmen. The Intensive Treatment Center was liberated by the GCPD as the police took control of Arkham island.

Arkham East[]

Ark mans est75

Batman arrives at the entrance to Arkham East from Arkham North.

Arkham Mansion

The old Arkham Mansion, the former residence of Amadeus Arkham, became a regular part of Arkham Asylum after Amadaeus went insane. It includes a Records Room, doctor's offices, and a Library.

Shortly after the Joker had seized control of Intensive Treatment, security officer Louie Green and over a dozen guards were directed to Arkham East by the Joker, where their radios went dead. At least three security guards patrolled around the Arkham Mansion, and one was posted inside the Mansion Entrance Hall to prevent entrance.

However, shortly afterward, an army of escaped Blackgate convicts stormed Arkham East, armed with weapons stolen from the guard armory. The security guards posted around the mansion were overpowered and several killed. The convicts entered the Main Hall, murdering the lone guard and bypassing the security barrier. Three remained to guard the Mansion Entrance Hall, while many other convicts penetrated deeper into the mansion. Eager to find Dr. Penelope Young's formula for her Titan Project hidden in the mansion, the Joker ordered many of his men to scour the mansion for the formula. The disorganized facilities were stuffed full of scattered discarded documents, so the Joker's men were facing a hopeless situation in trying to find the paper with the formula. The convicts entered the reception area of the Main Hall, killing four members of security personnel who attempted to stop them. One convict entered the West Wing Corridor, capturing at least two Arkham employees. Batman arrived in the Arkham Mansion shortly after, defeating the three convicts in the Mansion Entrance Hall, the one in the West Wing Corridor, and the others in the Main Hall.

Arkmans-teeth-1-2--article image

Batman arrives at the entrance to the Arkham Mansion, where the Joker is now in control.

In the Records Room of the Arkham Mansion, six convicts intercepted Dr. Young along with two security guards, Zach Franklin and Aaron Cash. The two guards were taken hostage while Young escaped to her office. Batman arrived to free Cash and Franklin, while three convicts discovered Young's office and tried to break into it. Using the Ventilation System, Batman reached the North Corridor, where two cells were, one in which Amadaeus Arkham spent his last years. Meanwhile, many of the Joker's men had moved down the Southern Corridor, securing and the multi-level mansion Library. It was here Dr. Young fled, encountering an orderly and an unidentified member of security personnel, identified only as "Bill". Bill attempted to defend Young, but all three were inevitably captured. Batman, meanwhile, had managed to defeat the convicts breaking into Young's office and learned from the security moniters that Young had taken the formula from her office safe and fled. Batman rushed to the Southern Corridor and then to the Library, finding the Joker's men tearing the area apart in search of Young's formula. Young herself had been taken to the Joker, who decided to use Victor Zsasz to torture the formula out of her. On the lowest level of the Library, Batman discovered Bill and the orderly tied up in front in front of a bomb, later revealed to have been a fake. The Scarecrow, meanwhile, had proceeded to the mansion, rigging the Southern Corridor with his fear gas to entrap Batman. Wandering around in a drugged state, Batman awoke from an intense nightmare in the Arkham Mansion's bell tower. The Dark Knight cut the rope of the bell to send it crashing to the floor below, causing extensive damage to the mansion's East Wing Corridor. Zsasz was hiding in Warden Sharp's office, having tortured the formula out of Young. He used her as a hostage, but Batman used a batarang to knock him out. Young was killed by a booby-trap rigged in the Warden's safe while trying to retrieve the security codes. Harley Quinn took Sharp through the mansion afterward, beating Sharp brutally with his cane and leaving several convicts to "hurt" Batman. Quinn took Sharp out of the mansion, and Batman left the Arkham Mansion in pursuit. Shortly after, the Joker loosed the more unsettled mental patients of the island, who ravaged the mansion grounds but did not enter the mansion itself. The Arkham Mansion suffered extremely heavy damage when Poison Ivy's Titan-enhanced plants overran the island. Aaron Cash and Zach Franklin regrouped with doctor Kevin Liew and a third surviving security guard in the mansion's Main Hall. The mutant plants, however, smashed through the mansion's windows and killed the third, unidentified, guard. Batman returned to the Arkham Mansion shortly after, finding Cash and Franklin standing around the plants and Liew seated behind a desk. The Arkham Mansion's Entrance Hall was so overrun by Ivy's plants that the hall became filled with toxic spores released from the mutated vegetation, and Batman warned Cash to stay away from the plants as they would most likely kill him. The remains of the Arkham Mansion were retaken by the GCPD as they recaptured the island.


Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens of Arkham Asylum provide fresh greenery as possible rehabilitation for the institution's inmates. It includes a Statue Corridor, an Aviary, and even a top secret Titan Production Facility used by Dr. Penelope Young.

Ark-manseast-teeth-3-4--article image

The outside of the Botanical Gardens.

With Arkham East the only part of Arkham Island under control during the early stages of the Joker's takeover of Arkham Island, security guards were posted around and within the Botanical Gardens. While several guards patrolled the outside, one guard was posted at the Glasshouse Entrance, and two others at the entryway to the inner Botanical Gardens. Shortly after armed convicts stormed Arkham East, the gardens fell to them as well. Victor Zsasz raided the Glasshouse Entrance and killed the security guards, arranging them in a lifelike pose around a bench. The Joker's men then entered the inner Gardens, meeting little resistance.

Two Blackgate prisoners armed themselves with security issue weapons and remained at the Glasshouse Entrance. When both Harley Quinn and Doctor Young mentioned a lab for the Titan Project in the Botanical Gardens, Batman decided to investigate, fighting his way through Arkham East and entering the gardens through the Glasshouse Entrance. After defeating the two convicts, Batman used Warden Sharp's Cryptographic Sequencer to bypass a security barrier and enter the inner gardens. Meanwhile, several convicts led personally by the Joker attacked the Flooded Corridor in the gardens. The guards fought back, killing the convicts in the ensuing gunfight, although the Joker managed the defeat them and take security guard Thomas Armbruster hostage.

Ark MAnsteeth-7-8--article image

The Flooded Corridor.


Having bypassed the six armed Blackgate prisoners guarding the Botanical Glasshouse, Batman entered the corridor, eventually demanding that the Joker let Armbruster go. Instead, the Joker pushed the guard into an electrified pool of water, killing him. The Joker taunted Batman with the slowness of his progress, then left, detonating the entrance behind him so Batman would not attempt to follow. The Joker and his men then continued through the Aviary, entering the Titan Production Facility and shooting five asylum security personnel before loading the Titan into oil drums. Batman, meanwhile, had followed the power cables through the Statue Corridor and into the Glasshouse Generator Room, where he hoped to disconnect the power to the Flooded Corridor so as not to suffer Armbruster's fate. Convicts had taken control of the Glasshouse Generator Room, capturing an Arkham janitor, Carl Todd. Batman swiftly defeated them, then used the Cryptographic Sequencer on a control panel set to release Joker Toxins if tampered with. After bypassing the control panel, Batman proceeded back to the Flooded Corridor, finding an alternate way to an Abandoned Corridor through a ventilation shaft. Batman found an alternate route to the other side of the Flooded Corridor, and freed an Arkham worker who claimed to have escaped the Aviary, where the Joker had captured two orderlies from the Titan Production Facility and was suspending them in giant birdcages over a deadly chasm. Batman entered the Aviary, where he found that the Joker did have the two orderlies suspended over a pit inside cages, and was forcing him to play a deadly game. There were four armed thugs patrolling the Aviary and one of them was in a control room with a lever that can drop the cages into the chasm. If any of the Joker's men spotted Batman or if Batman attacks one of them, the thug in the control booth would flip a lever and drop the orderlies to their doom. Batman was forced to rely on all his stealth skills to sneak up to the control room and take the operator out first. After defeating the Joker's men, Batman freed the orderlies from the birdcages, who explained they thought they were working for Dr. Young. One orderly, Robert Stirling, alerted Batman to the fact he knew that there was a secret entrance to the Titan Production Facility. Stirling, however, was not able to tell Batman exactly where in the Aviary the secret entrance was located. Batman followed a trail of Harley Quinn's fingerprints to find the secret entrance, entering the Titan Production Facility via a drawbridge. Here, Batman encountered the Joker and two Blackgate convicts. The Joker, who had perfected the Titan Formula, injected both of the convicts with it, mutating them into mindless monstrosities three times Batman's size and strength. The enraged and mutated henchmen attacked Batman, attempting to strike him with their huge hands and even hurling at him the bodies of fallen security guards killed earlier. While Batman battled the beasts, the Joker took his perfected formula and fled back through the gardens, killing Robert Stirling and the other orderly Batman had rescued earlier in the Aviary. After defeating the two thugs (and wrecking the Titan Production Facility), Batman called upon the Batwing to drop him a Line Launcher, an upgrade to his regular grappling gun. Batman returned to the Flooded Corridor, using his line launcher to cross another chasm to reach another part of the Botanical Gardens. An escaped Poison Ivy awaited him here, having bent the vegetation of the Botanical Gardens to do her will. After Batman threatened her plants, Ivy revealed that an antidote to counter the Joker's Titan drug could be made from the spores of a rare plant growing in Killer Croc's lair under Arkham Asylum in the Intensive Treatment Center. Meanwhile, a group of Blackgate convicts gathered in the Flooded Corridor, denying Batman access.

Ark mansbotanic-teeth-1-3--article image

Batman arrives at the Glasshouse Entrance of the Botanical Gardens.


After Batman defeated them, he continued back through the Abandoned Corridor, and to the other side of the Flooded Corridor, where two convicts had turned the power back on, attempting to trap Batman on the other side of the Flooded Corridor by re-electrifying the water. Batman grappled across the water using his Line Launcher and defeated the Blackgate prisoners. He returned to the Glasshouse entrance after defeating more of the Joker's men in the Botanical Glasshouse. Here, the Joker broadcast triumphantly over Arkham's intercom that he had supplied Poison Ivy with Titan. The plants of the Botanical Gardens mutated and overran the Botanical Gardens, mainly destroying the Garden's facilities. Batman found his exit blocked by the mutant plants, but escaped using an alternate route through the flooring. The remains of the Botanical Gardens soon became filled with Titan Pods which could spit toxic gas orbs at any movement. Batman returned to the Gardens to battle Ivy, who cleared her vegetation out of the way for him to proceed. She allowed him to re-enter the Flooded Corridor, where she unleashed two security guards under her control to attack and weaken Batman. After being forced to defeat the zombified guards, Batman was lured further into the Gardens by the mutated plants. He found Ivy in the Elizabeth Arkham Gardens, where she bounds with a titan plant, controlling the massive plant from inside its mouth behind a shell. She powered toxic vines to grow out of the ground and sent Arkham security guards infected by her mind-controlling spores after Batman, who finally knocked down all the guards and fought off the vines, detonating explosive gel on the mutated plant and defeating Ivy. The ruined Botanical Gardens were reclaimed by the GCPD as they recaptured Arkham Island.


Caves

The Caves are an underground part of Arkham Asylum, consisting of an Old Sewer that empties into the Gotham River, an unused Pump Station, and Killer Croc's high-security lair. The Caves also include a top-secret Batcave Batman has built on Arkham Island.

When the Joker began to take control of Arkham Island, security guards were posted around the entrance to the Caves to the Pump Station, which had been closed by Warden Sharp years earlier on the grounds that it was a security threat. When Arkham East was overrun by the Joker's men, they killed the guards and infiltrated the Caves, entering and securing the old sewer. The escaped Blackgate convicts killed an Arkham orderly near the entrance to Killer Croc's lair and remained on guard there under the Joker's orders. Batman, meanwhile, had accessed the Batcave built near the Old Sewer. The Batcave included a Batcomputer, which Batman used to do research on Doctor Young's formula for the Titan drug. Batman then assembled the Batclaw using spare gadgets among the equipment stored in the Arkham Batcave. He proceeded to the Old Sewer, defeating the convicts. The Joker was talking to one of his henchmen positioned in the Old Sewer via walkie-talkie, but when he lost contact, contemplated aloud if the henchman had been cut off by Croc or Batman. But Killer Croc was still in his lair, and he spotted Batman as the Dark Knight passed a bolted metal door leading into his lair. Croc smashed against the door and cracked the window glass, but was unable to reach Batman. From the Old Sewer, Batman entered the Main Sewer Junction, which he found was filled with decrepit columns, archways, and platforms. He also found he couldn't use his grappling gun in very many places here as most of the surfaces were not strong enough to support his weight. Batman then escaped back to the island surface using the Surface Access corridor leading into an abandoned building in Arkham North. Shortly after the Joker had perfected his Titan formula, one of his Titan powered test subjects wandered into Croc's Lair, which proved to be a fatal mistake. Poison Ivy's mutated plants had begun to destroy the asylum, and the Old Sewer and the Pump Station were increasingly damaged by the Titan-fueled plants. Batman, following the villainous Scarecrow through Secure Transit in the Intensive Treatment Center, found an alternate route into the Caves through the Control Room Access in the lower level of Secure Transit. Batman entered, and found the remains of Joker's unfortunate Titan subject. He also found the Scarecrow, holding a bag of fear toxin samples over the water and threatening to flood the Gotham River with his toxins. But Killer Croc leaped from the water and captured Scarecrow, intending to kill him. Batman activated Croc's shock collar, causing him and Scarecrow to disappear under the water. Batman then entered Croc's actual lair which proved to be a labyrinthine of tunnels that were not mapped. Batman set a tracking device that was tuned to lead him to rare plant spores needed to create an anti-Titan compound.

Ark manscaves-interview-1--article image

Batman in the Old Sewer.

After finding the spores, Batman reset the tracking device so it lead him back to the the entrance of the lair. Croc began leaping out of the water and chasing Batman from under the floating wooden platforms that covered the lair. Batman made his way back to the entrance via the tracking device. Croc pursued Batman all the way to the mouth of the his lair, and Batman found iron bars had mysteriously blocked his exit. But Batman detonated explosive gel on the breakable stone floor it under Killer Croc as he charged, dropping him further into the Caves. Batman slipped under the bars, then re-entered the Old Sewer. The Joker dispatched a group of convicts to find the Batcave, but Batman defeated them in the Old Sewer. Upon reaching the Main Sewer Junction, Batman found the entire water flow polluted by Titan waste. The Joker was planning to flood the Gotham River with Titan, causing chaos. Batman invaded the Pump Control Room to shut off the Titan flood. He defeated several of the Joker's men in the Pressure Control Junction. Batman reached the Pump Room, and shut off the Titan pumps after facing seven more Blackgate prisoners. As Batman backtracked to the Pressure Control Junction in the Caves, and once he entered the center of the junction the Dark Knight was locked in by barriers and forced to fight his way through hordes of thugs and one Titan powered henchman. After wrecking the Pressure Control Junction and defeating the thugs, Batman destroyed the elevator leading from Arkham West and exited the Caves. The Caves, mainly the sewer parts, were heavily damaged and shaken by more earthquakes caused by Poison Ivy's plants, and toxic plant pods began to appear in the Old Sewer and the Main Sewer Junction. The Caves were reclaimed by the GCPD as they took over Arkham Island.

Arkham West[]

Medical Facility

The Medical Facility is an important part of Arkham Asylum. It includes a Sanatorium with holding cells, an X-Ray facility, and an Experimental Chamber which houses Bane and is used by Dr. Young for research on Venom.

The Medical Facility, part of Arkham West, was one of the first area where the Joker managed to seize control during the early stages of his takeover of Arkham Island. The Joker's men and Arkham inmate Victor Zsasz attacked Arkham West, killing most of the security guards in the area. The convicts entered the Medical Facility through the Medical Foyer after killing two guards outside. It was here Harley Quinn relaxed after taking Commissioner Gordon hostage, seated behind the front desk. Meanwhile, the Blackgate prisoners received orders from the Joker to round up all the doctors in the Medical Facility, particularly Dr. Young. The convicts secured the Sanatorium, then entered the Upper Corridor, killing Arkham orderlies and security personnel on their way further into the Medical Facility. They rounded up five doctors and held them in the Sanatorium. One doctor attempted to escape, only to be brutally "torn apart" by the Joker's men, and thrown into the water.

Arkmans-teeth-1-3--article image

Batman outside the Medical Facility.

Batman was alerted to the Joker's move on the Medical Facility by an Arkham guard hiding in the Arkham West watch tower, and headed to the Medical Facility to put a halt to it. The convicts took Dr. Adrian Chen hostage in the Surgery Room, then captured Dr. Young in the X-Ray facility. They also secured the Patient Observation area, trapping guard Aaron Cash and Dr. Stephen Kellerman inside, with orders to fill the room with Joker Toxin gas and kill them both. Batman entered the Medical Foyer and found Harley Quinn with Gordon during Quinn's "me time", but was unable to reach them, due to the fact his way was blocked by a security barrier. Batman used Explosive Gel to blow up part of the Medical Facility's roof, entering the Maintenance Access. From here, he used an air duct tunnel to reach the Sanatorium, where five gun-toting convicts were holding four doctors hostage, strapping two of them to electroshock therapy chairs to prevent escape. Batman defeated the thugs and liberated the doctors, moving next to the Upper Corridor. He proceeded to the X-Ray Room, where Dr. Young was being held by five armed goons within a locked office.

Ark mans Secure Accessbatman-arkham-asylum-15

Arkham staff were poisoned by the Scarecrow's fear gas in a closed-off operating room.

Batman sprayed Explosive Gel onto the walls, then detonated it, blowing the men off their feet and knocking them out. After rescuing Dr. Young, Batman also proceeded to the Surgery Room, where Dr. Chen was strapped down in the center of the room. It proved to be a trap, as Blackgate prisoners dropped down into the room from above and Batman had to fight his way through them before freeing Dr. Chen. Batman moved to Patient Observation, where he liberated Cash and Kelllerman. Batman proceeded back to the Sanatorium, pausing inly briefly to deal with a "present" the Joker had left for him: a knife-wielding henchman. Back at the Sanatorium, Batman regrouped with the four doctors he'd rescued earlier, as Cash and Dr. Young arrived from the Upper Corridor. Young insisted on heading to the Arkham Mansion to save her notes, and Cash agreed to accompany her. Meanwhile, three of the Joker's men arrived from the Morgue to attack Batman, prompting the doctors to flee to Patient Observation. After dealing with the convicts, Batman used the elevator to reach Secure Access, where several Arkham orderlies and a patient were being tortured by the Scarecrow's fear gas. Batman watched them panic to the point of death through a window in an operating room, but was unable to help them. Iron bars seperated him from reaching Scarecrow, who fled the scene. Batman eventually continued to the Lower Corridor, where a dead Arkham security guard was dragged and left as a macrabare marker pointing Batman toward the Morgue. Batman, having been exposed to the Scarecrow's fear gas, imagined that the guard's corpse was instead that of Commissioner Gordon. Wandering into the Morgue in his drugged state, Batman imagined that the Morgue housed his reanimated parents, then his hallucinations turned into a full-fledged nightmare after the Scarecrow pumped more fear gas into the Morgue. Batman dreamed that the ruined Morgue was turned into a fearful dreamscape, where he had to avoid the fatal gaze of a giant version of the Scarecrow. After the effects of the fear gas began to wear off, Batman left the Morgue and entered the Lower Corridor, realizing for the first time all that he had experienced was not reality. After being attacked by three Blackgate Convicts, Batman followed a narrow hallway to the Experimental Chamber, where Harley Quinn was holding Gordon hostage inside a small room. The area around the room was patrolled by the Joker's men, with orders to kill Gordon if they saw Batman. Using his stealth skills, Batman managed to defeat the convicts and Harley Quinn, but then found that the Joker had left him a surprise in another room: Bane, who was strapped onto hoses that Dr. Young had used to drain the Venom from his blood. The Joker sprung his trap, and returned to Bane his supply of Venom, with chaotic results. Bane attacked Batman, aided by several of the Joker's men. The Medical Facility was heavily damaged during the following battle, and the Experimental Chamber destroyed after the battle had weakened it's foundations. Batman and Gordon fled to Arkham West, where Batman rammed Bane with the Batmobile and knocked him into the Gotham Bay. As Batman rescued more Arkham staff, he told them to all go to the Medical Facility, as it was the safest place on the island. The Medical Facility was further damaged by Poison Ivy as her mutated plants overran the island later, though it's remains were recaptured by the GCPD as they took control of Arkham Island. It was then converted into a makeshift hospital for those injured during the Joker's takeover, including Cash and Louie Green. Holding cells in the Sanatorium were temporarily utilized to hold recaptured patients, as the usual cell blocks had been heavily damaged during the riot.


Penitentiary

The Penitentiary was the main incarceration area for the various deranged inmates of Arkham Asylum. It includes a Main Cell Block for some of the most crazed patients on the island, an Extreme Incarceration area, and a Visitor's Center.

Ark man cell block927

The indoor entrance to the Penitentiary.

As Arkham West fell to the Joker's men during the villain's takeover, the Penitentiary was taken by storm as well. The Joker made his headquarters in the Visitor's Center, and had his men construct a clown face facade over the entrance, and waited in one of the prisoner rooms, playing a recording for Batman's arrival, while at least three Blackgate convicts entered the Penitentiary through the Cells Access, shooting several security personnel near the entrance. Victor Zsasz also invaded the Penitentiary, killing three security guards in the Penitentiary's upper guard room. Several convicts also dragged two orderlies and guards outside to kill them. After knocking them down, the convicts remained on guard near the entrance of the Penitentiary, destroying an ambulance by pushing it down into the lower courtyard of Arkham West. Batman arrived on the scene and defeated the convicts, freeing the surviving orderly, who promised to take a wounded guard to the Medical Facility. Batman infiltrated the Cells Access, and disposing of the three convicts inside. Meanwhile, Harley Quinn had infiltrated the Penitentiary with Warden Sharp as her hostage. She took him to the Security Control Room and held him there. Batman followed the Warden's DNA trail through the Penitentiary, passing through the Main Cell Block and the Green Mile, where Poison Ivy begged to be freed. Batman proceeded to the Security Control Room, finding and freeing the Warden, who gave him a Cryptographic Sequencer, a device that allowed the user to hack Security Gate Control panels. Harley Quinn set Poison Ivy free, then went about freeing those on the Joker's "party list", which included the Penguin and the Mad Hatter. The Joker then loosed the more insane patients from their cells, freeing Two-Face and Calendar Man. Batman headed back to the Green Mile, pausing only briefly to knock escaped mental patients about. The patients stormed through the Penitentiary, leaving both Arkham staff and the Joker's men at the mercy of their rampage. Harley Quinn made her way to the Main Cell Block and awaited Batman's arrival. As he reached the scene, she fled to a control platform atop the unlocked cells and activated the Patient Pacification System: an electrified floor. Quinn killed a security guard on the floor as a demonstration, But Batman avoided the floor by grappling up to the control platform, where an army of Blackgat prisoners had overpowered the two lone guards and now turned on him. Using security shock batons, the convicts fought Batman but were eventually defeated. A dismayed Harley Quinn accused them of being "idiots" and reminded them that "Their guns are everywhere!", referring to the emergency riot gun lockers.

Ark mans cell block fight968

Batman fights an army of henchmen on the control platform atop the Main Cell Block.

The convicts failed despite attempts to use the guns, and Batman deactivated the Patient Pacification System before following the fleeing Quinn. Harley reached the Guard Room, where she took two security guards hostage, including Louie Green. She strung them up over electrified pools of water as Batman arrived, hot on her heels. After Batman had shut down the power electrifying the water and freed both guards, Quinn revealed that she had a canister of Joker Toxin set to be released in the room. Batman hacked through the security gate and saved both Arkham personnel. While Green and the other guard attempted to get the ventilation system working. Quinn fled to Extreme Incarceration, where Mr. Freeze had recently made his escape. Batman followed Quinn through Controlled Access, where she had allowed them through the security gate. Batman entered Extreme Incarceration, where he found himself standing on a set of three electrified floors. Harley, from the control tower, loosed an army of Blackgate prisoners on Batman while electrifying one section of the floor. After defeating the henchmen, Batman was attacked by Quinn, although he easily evaded her and put her in a Solitary Confinement cell. Batman scanned Quinn's fingerprints, hoping to follow the trail to the Joker's secret lab in the Botanical Gardens. Harley Quinn attempted to trap Batman inside a sealed cell, but he blew his way out using explosive gel. Batman then left the Penitentiary to go to the Botanical Gardens. On his way out, he knocked out a mental patient who had killed the guard and orderly he'd rescued earlier. Batman then exited to outer Arkham West. The Penitentiary was the least damaged by Poison Ivy's plants when they overran the island, and the Joker continued to make his headquarters in the Visitor's Center. After Batman defeated Poison Ivy, the Joker was so proud of all he'd accomplished he decided to have a "party" in Batman's honor.

Arkmans-teeth-5-6--article image

The Penitentiary guard tower.

The Joker's men set off fireworks to direct Batman back to Arkham West, where they cheerfully awaited him and urged him on, allowing him access. Entering the Visitor's Center, Batman listened to the Joker make a short speech to him before blowing up the Visitor's Center to reveal his secret headquarters. A disoriented Batman staggered through the Visitor's Center guard office and holding cells, entering the Joker's headquarters. The Joker awaited him atop a throne of gag toys, venting his frustration on the Ventriloquist's dummy Scarface. Here, the Joker had massed all his remaining goons and two security guards he'd injected with the steroid drug Titan. Having lost their sanity to the chemical, the Titan-powered guards turned on Batman with the Joker's men, although Batman managed to defeat them all. The Joker then revealed he had Commissioner Gordon hostage. Trying to fire a Titan dart at Gordon, the Joker was delighted to see Batman take the shot himself. The Joker was willing to take a chance on Titan-because Batman had used up all the antidote himself. The Titan-powered Joker mutated and took Batman up to the Penitentiary roof, where he left Batman to fight in an enclosed arena against an army of Blackgate prisoners. The Joker also strapped Gordon to an electroshock therapy chair, sending bolts of electricity into him at random intervals. Several new crews in helicopters circled the upper roof, filming Batman's desperate battle. Eager to get into their film, the Joker stood on the upper roof, posing for them. As he commented on the news helicopter, Batman pulled him off his perch with his Batclaw. Batman did this twice, although the Joker loosed knife-wielding henchmen out to fight Batman and tossed explosive gag wind-up teeth into the arena to kill him in an explosion. Batman finally yanked the Titan-powered Joker into the Penitentiary roof for the third time, causing it to collapse under Joker's weight and knock him into the generator used to electrify Gordon's restraint chair. The Joker was finished off as Batman detonated explosive gel on his fist while punching the Joker, winning the fight despite extensive damage to the Penitentiary. An attack force by the GCPD stormed the Visitor's Center, capturing the remaining henchmen and watching over the Titan-powered guards as they returned to normal. The shambles of the Penitentiary were retaken by Arkham security forces, and the Green Mile was still mainly intact, allowing for Poison Ivy to be placed back in her usual cell.

Aftermath of The Joker's takeover[]

Arkham was heavily damaged during the Joker's takeover, and many of it's deranged inmates remained on the loose after the Joker's defeat, including Bane, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and Two-Face. The asylum also suffered in losses among Arkham staff. At least 115 personnel died during the Joker's takeover, 102 of which were security guards. Identified casualties included guard Thomas Armbruster and chief member of security Frank Boles. Aaron Cash, Louie Green, Eddie Burlow, William North, and Zach Franklin make up much of the surviving members of security. At least 12 medical staff also fell during the chaos, including doctor Penelope Young and Robert Stirling.

Staff[]

Ark mans112408 arkham t

Some of the medical staff of Arkham Asylum.

Warden

Quincy Sharp

Medical Staff
Penelope Young
Sarah Cassidy
Mike
Adrian Chen
Kevin Liew
Gretchen Whistler

Security
Aaron Cash
Frank Boles
Henry Smith
Eddie Burlow
Louie Green
Zach Franklin
Bill
Mike

Inmates[]

The following is a list of inmates in Arkham Asylum, past and present.


Intensive Care
The Joker
The Riddler
Killer Croc
Victor Zsasz
Maxie Zeus
Razor (shipped in from Blackgate)

Penitentiary
Harley Quinn
Poison Ivy
Clayface
Two-Face
Calender Man
Mr. Freeze

Arkham Mansion
Amadeus Arkham
Ra's al Ghul (Dr. Young's Office morgue)

Other Inmates
The Scarecrow
The Penguin (shipped in from Blackgate)
Catwoman (shipped in from Blackgate)
The Ventriloquist
Mad Dog
The Great White Shark
Humpty Dumpty
The Mad Hatter
Killer Moth (shipped in from Blackgate)

Advertisement