Superhero and supervillain identities are rarely static; sidekicks take over, continuity
gets rewritten, and heroes and villains routinely switch sides.
But even among a list of strange legacy characters, Red Hood may be one of the oddest.
From his origin as one of Batman's oldest foes, to a completely different origin involving
an alternate-universe Superman, here's a rundown of Gotham's strangest villain-turned-vigilante.
College Criminology
Red Hood first appeared in Detective Comics #168, a story about Batman guest-lecturing
at a college to teach students criminology.
Oddly enough, the first appearance of the Red Hood is actually in a flashback, and Batman
enlists his students to help him solve the mystery of a criminal that escaped him ten
years ago.
When the Red Hood shows back up on the college campus to steal some priceless artifacts,
Batman manages to trap him.
It turns out that the Red Hood is an illiterate groundskeeper, Earl "Farmerboy" Benson.
Well, not quite.
Farmerboy had actually captured the real Red Hood earlier so that he could use his costume
to go on his own crime spree.
The real Red Hood?
Believe it or not, it was the Joker all along, giving Batman's greatest enemy an iconic origin.
"No."
Why a dopey groundskeeper could capture and undress the Joker when Batman usually can't
is another story altogether.
Zero Year
In "Zero Year," a revamped origin story for Bruce Wayne saw him come into conflict with
The Red Hood Gang, a group of criminals who enlisted ordinary Gotham citizens to don the
trademark red hood through blackmail and extortion.
The leader of the gang went by Red Hood One, and his sleeper cell of Red Hood followers
managed to be a pain in Wayne's side long enough for him to create the Batman persona.
Although "Zero Year" never explicitly confirmed that Red Hood One was the Joker, his climactic
showdown with Batman did end in an Ace Chemicals warehouse, which is the birthplace of the
Joker in most continuities, so readers were left to their own conclusions.
Still, while the Joker might have been the first Red Hood, he's certainly not the only
one, and arguably not even the most famous one.
The short life of Jason Todd
The most famous Red Hood, and the character who's worn the mantle the longest, would be
Jason Todd, former Robin.
Originally, Jason Todd's parents were acrobats murdered by Killer Croc... until Crisis on
Infinite Earths, a massive event that saw DC retconning various story threads.
Following Crisis, Jason Todd was an orphan who was taken under Batman's wing after stealing
the tires off of the Batmobile.
This revamped Robin was haunted by his life on the streets and constantly filled with
rage… and despised by some readers.
A 1-900 number was advertised in the pages of Batman, encouraging readers to vote on
whether Jason Todd would live or die.
In Detective Comics #428, his fate was revealed.
"No."
Jason Todd redux
Jason Todd's death was set in stone until 2002's Batman: Hush, when it looked like Jason
Todd had returned from the grave.
A twisting arc that brought Batman up against most of his rogues gallery, it all came to
a head when then-Robin, Tim Drake, was kidnapped by Jason Todd, who was supposed to be deceased.
As it turned out, it was actually Clayface mimicking the former Robin.
While Jason's return from the dead had been a ruse, the plot twist did convince writer
Judd Winick to bring Jason Todd back to life for real in Under the Hood.
How he actually came back was a bit of a doozy involving Infinite Crisis, which had an alternate
version of Superman punching stuff so hard that he broke time.
Because of this reality-altering punch, Jason Todd was brought back to life and wandered
the streets in a crazed state until he returned to Gotham with a new identity: the Red Hood.
As the Red Hood, Jason was a lethal vigilante, killing criminals and torturing the Joker,
while also coming to blows with Batman.
The story arc ended with Jason as the Red Hood poised to become a much more lethal vigilante
than Gotham City was used to.
Red Hood and Scarlet
Red Hood's rivalry with the Bat-family came to a head while Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne
had taken over as Batman and Robin.
In a fit of jealousy, Jason started his own dynamic duo with his own twisted child sidekick,
Scarlet — a girl that had been horrifically scarred by a supervillain after Damian failed
to save her.
Not coincidentally, the story arc involved Red Hood giving Gotham City a number to call
to vote about whether or not to unmask Batman and Robin — a meta-textual wink to Jason
Todd's own fatal phone poll.
Animating the Hood
DC adapted Jason Todd's story into an animated feature, but in the interest of not having
to explain the complicated events of Infinite Crisis, Jason's resurrection was simplified
to be the sole product of the Lazarus Pit, but the adaptation was otherwise fairly accurate
to the comic events.
"You want to rule them through fear.
But what about the ones who aren't afraid?
I'm doing what you won't!
I'm taking them out."
Red Hood would also appear in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, an animated series that
deliberately featured a light tone straight from the Silver Age.
In the episode "Deep Cover for Batman," Batman travels to Earth-23, a world where the roles
of heroes and villains are switched.
Batman's counterpart is Owlman, the villainous leader of the Injustice Syndicate, while Owlman's
arch-nemesis is the Red Hood, a vigilante fighting for justice even after being knocked
into a vat of chemicals.
Sound familiar?
Considering that Jason Todd spent a decent amount of time killing criminals, Earth-23
Red Hood might actually be the most heroic of all.
"What?
What, your moral code just won't allow for that?
It's too hard to cross that line?"
Red Hood live
Gotham, the live-action show ostensibly about Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, has a knack for
remixing continuity for a new audience, and it's already had an impact on the Red Hood.
While Red Hood stories usually revolve around the Joker's origin or Jason Todd's new identity,
Gotham mixed it up by positioning the Red Hood as... an actual red hood.
"what is it?" "it's a hood!
I thought it would spice things up."
"When did we start wearing hoods?"
"We didn't!"
"Wait, was I supposed to get one?"
"No!"
When the headgear seems to convey good luck, the media dubs the bankrobbers "The Red Hood
Gang," the criminals begin fighting over who gets to actually wear the item.
Eventually, the hood proves to be not so lucky, leaving the hood in the hands of a young boy
who pantomimes shooting the police.
No matter who wears the identity, the Red Hood sure seems to be unlucky.
Still, at least the gang in Gotham didn't get dumped into a vat of chemicals or get
resurrected by an evil Superman's fit of rage.
So, points to Gotham.
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