When was arkham asylum built

CCTV cameras were now installed in every room and at periodic intervals in every corridor. Exterior windows were now fitted with heat and motion detectors, while magnetic foil insulation in the walls helped jam suspicious signal reception in the cell blocks. Arkham Asylum reverted to its roots as an imposing manor when Jeremiah relocated operations to Mercey Island following the asylum's destruction by Bane.

The Mercey Mansion was portrayed as possessing a particularly dark and gothic exterior which included pointed arches, octagonal towers, flying buttresses, vaulted ceilings, and decorative spires. It was an extremely tall, multi-storey structure, sweeping upwards to emphasize its loftiness and grandeur.

Arkham Asylum has employed both psychiatrists and clinical psychologists; the latter are responsible for conducting most patient interviews and prescribing medication. As the most immediate concern for Arkham's administration is reducing the aggressiveness of high risk patients, prescriptions are often doled out for dopamine inhibitors such as Thorazine. Other recurrent medications used by Arkham staff include Haloperidol and Fluoxetine. Robin , Volume Four 23 , December Due to the fact that most incarcerated supervillains such as the Joker rarely display the common side effects of these drugs, it has been theorized unscrupulous orderlies are failing to make certain they are properly administered, or are pilfering the real medication and substituting cheaper, alternative pharmaceuticals which are less sedating, have lower rates of relapse, and result in subtler side effects.

Interviews are held periodically by Arkham's therapists for evaluation purposes; in the event of dealing with high-profile cases, sometimes an entire team of doctors may be present. Detective Comics Volume Two 17 , April Patients are encouraged to discuss their lives, thoughts, and desires.

The psychiatrists do not adhere to any set therapeutic model, so the results of the interviews may vary; for example, in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth Dr. Ruth Adams favors word association asking the interviewee to respond with the first word that comes to mind when offered an item from a word list.

These sessions occur in specialized evaluation rooms overseen by orderlies prepared to physically restrain the patient as needed. If additional force is called for, each room is also fitted with a "panic button" that summons a crash team of armed security officers held on perpetual standby. A member of the team carries a video camera to document the incident from the guards' perspective and guarantee no excessive force is exerted off the record. Jeremiah Arkham's regime is a known proponent of electroconvulsive therapy.

It is probable that the employment of shock treatment as punishment may be used in an unethical manner to deter antisocial conduct among the inmate population. Jeremiah once forced a "difficult case" to undergo ECT after he was observed smuggling contraband to the Joker, without providing a medical pretext or taking the patient's specific diagnosis into consideration.

According to Vicki Vale, the asylum also practices insulin shock therapy. Despite the prevalence of so many other outdated psychiatric techniques, Arkham neither encourages nor routinely authorizes prefrontal lobotomies. Jeremiah Arkham has stated that he does not consider lobotomy a "progressive" treatment, dismissing it as a poor substitute for medication and therapy.

Batman 67, September The liberal use of lobotomy procedures to control Arkham's most feral inmates is further discouraged by bureaucratic restrictions and opposition from patients' rights groups.

Arkham staff must obtain prior approval from the State Board of Medical Examiners before performing a lobotomy. Originally, Arkham Asylum was used only to house genuinely insane characters - the Joker and Two-Face were patients from its very first appearance - but over the course of the s a trend was established of having the majority of Batman's supervillain opponents end up at Arkham, whether or not they were actually insane.

This is likely because of some of the facility's high-tech features that make it more efficient to hold a villain such as Clayface there than in a prison. Nearly all of Batman's enemies have spent some time in Arkham. Arkham has also been featured in varying capacities in a number of high profile DC miniseries events, such as Identity Crisis , Day of Vengeance , Countdown , and Crisis on Infinite Earths among others.

Arkham has appeared beyond the pages of the comics in numerous guises and designs. Its appearances include:. In the films, it is depicted as a tall, spiraling castle-like structure, with narrow hallways lined with brightly-lit glass bricks.

Batman 's enemies are often held in the Asylum after their capture, often immediately afterwards. In Batman Forever , Edward Nygma was incarcerated in a large padded cell after his brain is scrambled by the destruction of his Box devices. There was an alternate opening sequence involving Two-Face escaping from Arkham at the beginning of the film, but it was cut due to its ominous implication of violence. Freeze is imprisoned at the asylum after his capture by Batman, though he escapes with help from Poison Ivy and Bane.

After their scheme to freeze Gotham is foiled by the Batman Family, both Ivy and Freeze are imprisoned as cellmates, despite both being different genders. Batman Forever video game : The video game adaptation of the film features Arkham as its first stage. While the film shows Arkham as being in a remote forested area, the backgrounds in the game seem to place it on the waterfront, directly across the bay from Gotham.

In Batman Begins , Arkham played a much larger role than a simple jail in this film, with Jonathan Crane also known as the Scarecrow being either the administrator or at least a high ranking doctor at the Asylum, and using it to conduct cruel experiments with his fear gas, using his own patients as guinea pigs. He also used the pipes under the Asylum to empty his toxin into the Gotham water supply.

One notable change in this version of Arkham from the comics was the location; while still on an island separate from the rest of the city by 9 large drawbridges , in Batman Begins , it is located in the slum region known as The Narrows , as opposed to the remote forests that surround it in the comics. By the end of the film, it is implied that the Narrows has been rendered uninhabitable. In the aftermath of the film, Arkham Asylum is closed with many of its inmates moved to Blackgate Prison.

Batman also mentions it briefly in the extended edition of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , revealing to have arranged for Lex Luthor to be imprisoned there. Arkham has appeared frequently in the series. It is depicted as generally dark and gloomy, and the cells are similar to those in the comics, being primarily closed via glass doors. Much of the rest of the asylum resembles a prison more than a mental hospital, however; in one episode, it is explained that all criminals apprehended by the Batman are sent to Arkham rather than jail although it is shown that Harley Quinn goes to Stonegate , a regular jail.

In the series, neither Jeremiah or Amadeus Arkham are shown or mentioned, but the episode " Dreams In Darkness " features a character who is obviously modeled on Jeremiah, but toned down to have a more compassionate persona.

It's known inmates are Joker , Mr. Justice League featured Arkham in a brief cameo during A Better World: Part 2 in an alternate dimension where a Fascist League has taken over the world and dispatches villains via execution or lobotomy. The asylum is run by a lobotomized version of The Joker and is protected by robotic copies of Superman. The entire patient population is lobotomized by the alternate Superman's heat vision.

If you watch closely, you can see that the Ventriloquist has not been lobotomized by Superman's heat vision, but his doll Scarface has. This direct-to-video animated film had the final battle between the original Batman and The Joker taking place at an abandoned Arkham.

It is also the same spot where Robin as a brainwashed, junior version of The Joker killed Joker. A deleted scene featured on both versions of the DVD as a special feature has Bruce Wayne touring the abandoned Arkham, where Terry McGinnis , Wayne's successor as The Dark Knight, follows and sees Joker's corpse hanging it was implied that the new Joker placed it up there fairly recently to intimidate Bruce Wayne, or anyone investigating it, since it was bound by ropes, which the Joker's recent corpse wasn't, and more importantly, his corpse now bears the words "I know" on it.

The staff is far more heavily armored than in its previous incarnation, wearing heavy trenchcoats and gloves, which is, in spite of itself, no deterrent for the patients to easily escape. It's located close to Gotham city limits, though here it's still presented as occupying a small island on a river, with a bridge connecting it to the city, similar to Mercy Island in the comics. The prisoners are Joker, Mr. Batman also mentions in later episodes that other villains such as Black Mask and Hellgrammite are also prisoners there.

The asylum itself was transformed into a high-security fortress, with checkpoints and sniper towers augmenting the natural barrier of the island. This depiction was later utilized for Batman: Arkham Asylum. The videogame features Arkham Asylum as the villains' hub. It includes an experiment room, and docking bay for vehicles owned by Joker , Penguin , and Two-Face.

Arkham is the primary focus of the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum , which takes place during a riot orchestrated by the Joker. Taking inspiration from Mercey Island of the 90's, it is located on an island off the coast of the city.

Rather than one building, the facility is depicted a sprawling, multi-faceted campus with both new and old structures, including the traditional Victorian mansion of the comics, a factory re-purposed as an intensive care unit, and a vast subterranean network. Hugo Strange also appears in the background of stages, though depicted as the Asylum's staff. Batman Wiki Explore. Batman: Soul of the Dragon Batman vs. Video Games. Catwoman Robin Nightwing Birds of Prey. Explore Wikis Community Central.

Register Don't have an account? Arkham Asylum. View source. History Talk 0. The image of the run-down, dreary building contrasts nicely with the individuals caged within, making Arkham a memorable location in nearly every comic in which it is featured.

Arkham Asylum sometimes contains modern or futuristic technology, but every version includes some level of decay and entropy, resulting in a place constantly on the edge of disaster. Legitimately crazy. They're monsters, and in Arkham they get treated like monsters! Byron Meredith , former Arkham psychiatrist. Main article: Arkham Asylum Schumacherverse.

Is Arkham Knight inappropriate? Is there a sequel to Batman Arkham Asylum? What are the Collectables in Batman Arkham Asylum? What kind of engine is Batman Arkham Asylum? Where did the idea for Arkham Asylum come from? What was Arkham Asylum based on? Since Jeremiah Arkham was a little crazy himself, he began to release criminals, forcing Batman to participate in a literal cage match.

Another time Batman played psych patient at Arkham was after the facility had been moved to Wayne Manor. Assuming the identity of a dead homeless veteran, Jack Shaw, he gets admitted to Arkham Manor to get to the bottom of the deaths of several inmates.

The Elseworlds story of The Dark Knight Returns actually presents an Arkham Asylum in later years that seems to be focused on this almost exclusively. The name is even changed to "Arkham Home for the Emotionally Troubled," suggesting the guilt and stigma surrounding the horrific crimes of most of the patients have been mostly dismissed and blamed on their mental condition.

Wolper would never get to see his patient rehabilitated, of course. He was amongst the victims when his attempt to reintroduce the Joker to the world during a late night talk show results in the killer clown killing everyone in attendance. Many said it was more reminiscent of Joker or the Riddler than it was of the traditional Lex Luthor. It sees the Joker kidnapping Robin while the dynamic duo are in the Middle East.

The Clown Prince of Crime beats Jason within an inch of his life with a crowbar before setting off explosives, bringing the warehouse down on top of the Boy Wonder. This story was reimagined for the Arkhamverse videogames in Arkham Knight. This new version has the Joker lock Jason Todd up deep in an abandoned section of Arkham Asylum, torturing him for a full year.

After Joker reveals that Batman has forgotten about him and taken on Tim Drake as a new Robin, Jason turns on his former mentor. Arkham Asylum has only garnered a brief mention in the BvS: Ultimate Edition , but some rumors suggest it will be very prominently featured down the road. Let us hear about it in the comments section!

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Stephen has been infatuated with movie magic on screen and off since wearing out his VHS copy of The Making of Star Wars when he was 7. This passion continues in his work as a film journalist, whether it's hunting down breadcrumbs about the Snyder Cut, breaking down box office trends, or obsessing over Rotten Tomatoes data, Stephen lives in the minutiae, as listeners of his podcast, Batman v Superman: By the Minute with fellow-Screen Rant editor Andrew Dyce know all too well.