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Taken (in part) from the journal of Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Chief of Staff -.. ..
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The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a psychiatric hospital. It is located near Gotham City, and is where those of Batman's foes considered to be legally insane are incarcerated (other foes are incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary)... ..
Arkham Asylum does not have a good record, at least with regard to the high profile cases; escapes are frequent (on at least one occasion, an obsessive-compulsive multiple murderer was signed out of Arkham into the care of an incontinent, alcoholic vagrant, on the grounds that he "looked like a responsible citizen"), and those who are 'cured' and released tend to re-offend. Furthermore, several staff members, including at least one director, have ended up as residents, notably Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn), Lyle Bolton (Lock Up) and, in some incarnations, Dr. Jonathan Crane (Scarecrow) and Professor Hugo Strange (Please see Pic section for pictures of former staff)... ..
In addition, prisoners with unusual medical conditions that prevent them from staying in a regular prison are housed here. For example, Dr. Victor Fries (Mr. Freeze) is not technically insane, but he requires a strongly refrigerated environment to stay alive, which only Arkham can provide... ..
The Asylum is named after Elizabeth Arkham, founder Amadeus Arkham's mother. Its dark history began in the early 1900s when Arkham's mother, having suffered from mental illness most of her life, committed suicide. (It is later revealed that she was actually euthanized by her son, an act his mind repressed). Amadeus Arkham decided, then, as the sole heir to the Arkham estate, to remodel his family home in order to properly treat the mentally ill, so others might not go untreated and suffer as his mother had. Prior to the period of the hospital's remodeling, Arkham treated patients at the State Psychiatric Hospital in Metropolis, where he and his wife, Constance, and daughter, Harriet, had been living for quite some time... ..
Upon telling his family of his plans, they moved back to his family home to oversee the remodeling. While there, Arkham received a call from the police notifying him Martin Hawkins (Mad Dog) — a patient referred to Arkham by Metropolis Penitentiary while at State Psychiatric Hospital — had escaped from prison, and sought his considered opinion on his state of mind... ..
On April 1, 1921, Arkham returned to his home to find his front door wide open. Inside, he discovered the raped and mutilated bodies of his wife and daughter in an upstairs room, Hawkins having carved his nickname on Harriet's body... ..
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Despite this family tragedy, the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane officially opened that November. One of its first patients was Martin Hawkins, whom Arkham insisted on personally treating. On April 1, 1922, after treating Hawkins for six months, Arkham strapped him to the electroshock couch and purposely electrocuted him. The death was treated as an accident but contributed to Arkham's gradual descent into madness, which he began to believe, was his birthright. Eventually, Arkham was institutionalized in his own hospital, where he eventually died... ..
Arkham Asylum has been demolished or destroyed several times in its history, notably during the events of The Last Arkham. It was also seriously damaged at the beginning of Knightfall, when “Bane†(alter ego unknown) used stolen munitions to blow up the facility and release all the inmates. After these events, the asylum was relocated to a large mansion known as "Mercey House" (previously owned by one Eric Mercey), where it remains to this day. At the beginning of No Man's Land, the asylum was closed down and all its inmates set free (a timer was used to open the doors two minutes before the city was sealed). This was orchestrated by the administrator himself, who had the choice of releasing the inmates or watching them all starve or kill each other... ..
During No Man's Land, Arkham was taken over by “The Joker†(alter ego unknown) and Dr. Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn). With the sole exception of Edward Nygma (The Riddler), the inmates elected to remain in the cut-off Gotham City... ..
Originally, Arkham Asylum was used only to house genuinely insane characters – “The Joker†and former District Attorney Harvey Dent (Two-Face) were inmates from their very first appearance - but over the course of the 1980s a trend was established of having the majority of Batman's “super-villains†end up at Arkham, whether or not they were actually insane. This is likely due to some of the facility's high-tech features that make it more efficient to hold a villain such as Basil Karlo (Clayface) there than in another prison. Nearly all of Batman's villains have spent some time in Arkham; other than those mentioned above, here is a brief list (by no means is this complete): Julian Day (Calendar Man), Jane Doe (alter ego unknown), Humphrey Dumpler (Humpty Dumpty), Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy), Waylon Jones (Killer Croc), Roman Sionis (The Black Mask), Jervis Tetch (The Mad Hatter), Floyd Lawton (Deadshot), Deever Tweed (Tweedle Dee), Dumfree Tweed (Tweedle Dum), Drury Walker (Killer Moth), Arnold Wesker (The Ventriloquist), Warren White (Great White Shark), Maximillian Zeus (Maxie Zeus), Victor Zsasz (Mr. Zsasz), and, in some incarnations, Oswald Cobblepot (The Penguin) and Selina Kyle (Catwoman) (Please see Pic section for pictures of Inmates or in the above slide show)... ..
Other “super-villains†(not traditionally linked to Batman) who are or have been inmates include: John Dee (Doctor Destiny), Roger Hayden (The Psycho-Pirate), Anthony Ivo (Professor Ivo), Dr. Barbara Minerva (Cheetah), Jason Woodrue (The Floronic Man), and attorney Jean Loring (ex-wife of Prof. Ray Palmer)(Please see Pic section for pictures of Inmates)... ..
Arkham has also been featured in varying capacities in a number of high profile events, such as Countdown, Identity Crisis, Day of Vengeance, Crisis On Infinite Earths, and Final Crisis... ..
Our goal is to ensure that the criminally insane are locked safely away; that they are provided with the best in mental health care; and to assure the fine citizens of Gotham that those housed within these walls will not escape (Please see Pic section for pictures of both Arkham Asylum and current staff)... ..
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