Hush (character)

Hush
File:Hushx.jpg Art from Batman #619 (September 2003). Pencils by Jim Lee.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Tommy: Batman #609 (November 2002) As Hush: Batman #619 (September 2003)
Created by	Jeph Loeb Jim Lee
In-story information
Alter ego	Thomas "Tommy" Elliot
Abilities	No superpowers; Master surgeon, Martial arts, Hand-to-hand combat training, Expert marksman.

Hush is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics and appearing as an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee, the character first appears in Batman #609 (November 2002). Following his 12-issue debut arc (Batman: Hush), Hush resurfaced in Batman: Gotham Knights.

Character history

Origin

Dr. Thomas Elliot is a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne, and was also born into a wealthy family. Unlike Wayne, however, Elliot hated his parents, despising both his drunk and abusive father and his frail mother, who came from a background of poverty and willingly endured every abuse dealt to her and her son to keep on her lavish lifestyle. Instead of defending Thomas, she forced him to memorize Aristotle, as a way to deal in a subtle, passive way with his father, something he never forgave her for. Driven by his desire for independence and wealth, he cut the brakes on his parents' car, causing a crash that killed his father. His mother was saved in an emergency operation by Dr. Thomas Wayne, which enraged young Elliot. While at a summer camp with Bruce, Tommy attacked a boy and ended up in a psych ward. He irrationally blamed Bruce and Martha Wayne for his outburst, but he was soon released by an intern named Jonathan Crane. While at first young Tommy relished the irony that Bruce had lost his parents, as time passed, spent tending to his mother and hearing about Bruce Wayne living a life of (apparent) leisure and travel, just the situation Elliot had hoped to create for himself, his anger grew. Shortly before Bruce returned to Gotham to take Batman's mantle, Elliot befriended, over the common ground of their unwillingly sheltered lives, Peyton Riley, the second Ventriloquist, a relationship his mother never approved, foreshadowing her future transformation into a villain. Elliot's mother herself unwittingly completed their transition: when she, fully recovered from her cancer, disowned Thomas and cut him off from the Elliot's fortune in retailation for his continuing relationship with Peyton, Thomas killed her, and after having Peyton kill their butler, destroyed the new will of her mother. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, his mother had died of a mere house accident, spurred by her weakened physical conditions. Now the last scion of the Elliot's heirloom, he ditched Peyton Riley and began traveling the world, as his nemesis Bruce did. Although he went on to Harvard and became a successful surgeon, Elliot continued to hold an irrational grudge towards his childhood friend.

At some point in his career, Elliot becomes the doctor of Edward Nigma (also known as the Riddler). Nigma, diagnosed with terminal cancer, eventually hijacks one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits to regain his health. During this mystical treatment, which renders the participant temporarily insane, the highly intelligent Nigma experiences an unexpected epiphany, realizing that Bruce Wayne is Batman. After discovering that they had a common hatred for Wayne, Elliot and the Riddler decide to pool resources to bring him down. To this end, Elliot creates for himself the persona of "Hush" (The name is said to have been coined by the Scarecrow, referencing the lullaby "Hush little baby").

"Hush Begins"

In their attempt to destroy Batman, Hush and the Riddler convince and manipulate several other villains to help. These include the Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Clayface. Jason Todd (the second Robin), presumed dead at the time, also takes part in the scheme in a limited capacity. Part of this includes fooling Bruce that Tommy is the latest victim of the Joker. This brings Batman to the brink of murdering the Joker; he is only stopped when former GCPD commissioner Jim Gordon talks him down.

Cover to Batman: Hush Vol. 2 (December 2003). Pencils by Jim Lee.

With these villains as their pawns, Hush and the Riddler set up an elaborate plot against Batman, allowing him to realize that he is being toyed with and ultimately making him believe Jason Todd has returned from the grave to destroy him (Batman #617/18).

Around this time, Hush cures the disfigured Harold Allnut, a longtime Batman associate. In return, Harold 'bugs' the Batcave with several devices that alter Batman's mind. Hush then kills Harold in front of Batman, immediately engaging him in battle. Batman was at first disoriented with Hush's constant quoting of Aristotle and was suspicious of him being Deadshot or being trained by him, using roughly the same fighting style (with two guns) as he.

When Elliot finally reveals himself to a worn-out Batman, the Dark Knight is saved only by the intervention of Harvey Dent, whose destructive Two-Face persona had been unwittingly wiped out by Elliot when he repaired Dent's disfigured face. Once again on the side of the law, Dent shoots Hush twice, throwing him off a bridge.

Although Batman is sure that Hush indeed is Thomas Elliot, he is not able to unmask him.

"Hush Returns"

When Hush resurfaces, he does so with a vengeance. Still out to destroy Batman and determined not to let the rest of the villains get in his way, Hush quickly carves out a niche for himself, beating his former accomplice, the Riddler, within an inch of his life and even driving the Joker out of town. Hush also ends up killing Poison Ivy in a fruitless attempt to recruit her.

Hush Returns. Cover to Batman: Gotham Knights #60 (December 2004). Pencils by Jae Lee.

Following a short-lived alliance with JLA nemesis Prometheus, Hush then begins to torment Bruce Wayne with the aid of an all-new Clayface. Exploiting the latter's shape-shifting abilities, Hush is briefly able to shed doubt on his true identity and has Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth framed for murder. His name has since been cleared, albeit through trickery.

Payback

The Joker eventually returns to Gotham City with an army of trained pigeons and retaliated (in Batman: Gotham Knights #73-74). He captures Hush and keeps him sedated for three weeks, during which time he implants a pacemaker into his body, effectively gaining control of his heart. At the Joker's mercy and unable to remove the device himself, Hush turns to the one man he feels he could trust (or rather, predict): Bruce Wayne.

Wayne consents to help Hush on the condition that he allow himself to be treated in and confined to Arkham Asylum. Hush agrees, and then immediately escapes after being told that the surgery had been a success. He is intercepted by Batman before he can confront the Joker, and the two men debate the merits of a code against killing such vile criminals. Hush demands that Batman allow him to do what he would not, and finish off the Joker once and for all. Batman seems to agree and begins to leave, but then reveals that he had tricked Hush - the pacemaker is still in his body, and he had been allowed to escape the asylum. At that moment the Joker arrives, and Hush begs Batman not to leave him.

The issue (and the Batman: Gotham Knights series) ends unresolved. Hush returns in the later Man-Bat miniseries, and Hush is later shown remembering how painful was removing the pacemaker alone, and how the time spent between Gotham Knights and Heart of Hush was almost totally spent recovering from the damage suffered, confirming that Batman did desert Hush at the conclusion of Payback.

Heart of Hush

Hush returns in Detective Comics #846-#850, in the story "The Heart of Hush", which ties together with Batman R.I.P.. In this arc, Hush is portrayed in a slightly different thematic fashion than in his prior appearances. Beyond being merely a manipulative sociopath, his past as a surgeon is made into a major aspect of his modus operandi. In the first issue Hush makes it known he will not let anyone else kill Batman, as he sees that as his right. In the second part it is shown that Hush has teamed up with the Scarecrow, who is revealed to have had contact with Elliot as a child. Hush is shown performing routine plastic surgery on his own face, whos nature and extent, revealed only some issues later, is granting him the same appearance of his nemesis, Bruce Wayne

In issue #848 he ambushes and subdues Catwoman after she scratches off a portion of his facial bandages, recoiling in horror at what she sees. He then cuts out her heart, putting her on life support and delivering her to Gotham General Hospital. Hush comments to himself in that same issue that it was Batman's desertion of him during the pacemaker storyline that inspired this current plan.

While Selina is left in Doctor Mid-Nite's hand, Batman collects all the information he can about Hush from Arkham inmates, and is able to deduce the secret location of his base. Hush, however, ambushes him, by showing the room containing the machines needed to keep Selina's heart alive and pumping, and flooding it with paralysis-inducing gas. He then confesses to Bruce Wayne his plan: using his newfound resemblance to Bruce, he will kill and disfigure him to steal his identity, then he would retire with the Wayne's riches.

However, Batman is able to stave off the effects of the paralysis gas in time, thanks to a filter in his utility belt, recover Selina's heart and warn Alfred Pennyworth of Thomas' deception. Hush manages to get into the Bat-Cave, where he nearly kills Batman, but Alfred's continuing interference and the arrival of Nightwing and Robin turn the tide. Hush retreats on the Whirly-Bat (a one man helicopter) but his bandages become tangled in the rotor and it explodes.

Batman and his allies can find no trace of Hush, save some bloody bandages, and count him dead. Selina Kyle, not taking chances and seeking some form of retaliation, posthumous or not, for her predicament and her current condition (while she recovered, Doctor Mid-Nite made clear that it is unlikely she'll be ever able to regain her physical prowess), has Oracle, Holly Robinson, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Slam Bradley track down Hush's secret bank accounts, and cut them off. Thomas Elliot, wounded but alive, limps off to plot his next move.

Powers and abilities

Thomas "Hush" Elliot has no superpowers on his own. However, mirroring in a twisted way the life of Bruce Wayne, he has spent a vast portion of his life, honing his skills enough to be a match for the Dark Knight. Formerly known, before his staged death during his first appearance, as one of the finest surgeon of his times, Thomas Elliot has an incredible intellect and is also a master planner, with tactical skills equal, if not exceeding those possessed by the Caped Crusader. Indeed, Hush's greatest skill is his ability to think like his opponents and use their motivations against them.

Hush is an expert marksman, able to shoot two batarangs out of the air and set off C4 using twin M1911.45 caliber pistols, his weapons of choice (his skill has been compared to that of Deadshot). While not possessing the kind of training that Bruce Wayne acquired Hush has proven his ability to fight hand-to-hand. He shows expertise and competence, being able to fight almost on par with Batman, and knock out Catwoman, albeit in a moment of distraction.

Despite his advanced marksmanship, and his demeanor far distant from the one of the gimmicked villains usually rampaging through Gotham, Thomas Elliot's medical background is shown in his arsenal of choice, as he's shown using scalpels as throwing of slicing knives, and employing a large array of drugs, muscle relaxants and other surgical appliances as weapons along with his trusty guns.

Hush is a brilliant surgeon and has been able to perform breakthrough medical operations, thought impossible by many, like granting Harold Allnut a fully functional body, removing his hunchback and giving him the ability to speak, repairing Harvey Dent's face (with only a small scar to show for it), inventing a virus which accelerated Killer Croc's devolution, and tearing out Selina Kyle's heart without any other lasting damage.

Hush is also able to perform plastic surgery on himself, no matter how painful it may be, using minimal anesthetic and sheer force of will. He's implied to have removed the pacemaker installed on his own heart by himself, and routinely performs surgeries on his own face, with the aid of a simple mirror.

Thomas Elliot has still access to the almost unlimited resources of the Elliot household, putting him on par with Bruce Wayne, and so he's fully able to fund his more expensive plans, and get the cooperation of the main villains in Gotham, like Mister Freeze. However since the Heart of Hush storyline Catwoman tapped his resources, reducing him to poverty.

Appearances in other media

Television

Batman vs. Man-Bat

Hush will appear in the upcoming movie,Batman vs. Man-Bat.

The Batman

Hush was going to be originally featured in a planned DTV set on the animated series The Batman, along with that universe's versions of Riddler, Catwoman, Joker, Clayface, Mr. Freeze and Penguin. However, the project was later scrapped by DC and WB. There is some sketch art of Hush in Legions of Gotham.

Hush was also going to be introduced in the episode "Rumors", written by Joseph Kuhr. However, DC didn't like the idea, and the villain Rumor was created in his place.

Video games

LEGO Batman

Hush is a playable character that can be unlocked in LEGO Batman: The Video Game after rescuing all the civilian hostages throughout the game. He uses two handguns as weapons, and can build objects and shoot faster than other characters. When left idle, he raises his hand to his mouth and makes a "hush" expression.

DC Universe Online

Hush is set to appear in the upcoming video game DC Universe Online.