Joe Chill was a man from Gotham City that lived during the 20th century.
In his prime, he was responsible for the deaths of Bruce Wayne's parents, which led to the young boy eventually becoming the Batman.
Powers and Abilities[]
Super Powers[]
None.
Abilities[]
- Marksmanship: He had at least some level of understanding on how to aim a gun, as he killed the Waynes with only one bullet per victim.
- Intimidation: He was pretty scary, even to the man that would eventually become the Batman.
- Street Smarts: Although he was not a book-smart criminal genius, he was intelligent enough as a criminal to know where to ambush pedestrians. Crime Alley couldn't have been a better choice.
History[]
Earth-1A[]
One night, following a RoBIN HooD movie at the Monarch Theater, Joe Chill waited patiently at Park Row for a wealthy pedestrian to come walking down the dark alley he was waiting for them in.
Hailing a taxicab was considerably easier from the street down the block, so chances were pretty good that at least a few people would come that way; besides, it was a shortcut.
The Wayne family then proceeded to walk down Park Row, and as they approached the entrance of the alley, Bruce Wayne said that he didn't want to. But his mother Martha told him there was nothing to fear, as it was "only the dark."
Nevertheless he was frightened, and as soon as the entered the alley, they saw "him." "Him," was exactly how Bruce would later describe Joe Chill, because he didn't know his name; but he certainly remembered what he did. He then attempted to mug them by stealing Martha Wayne's necklace. Thomas Wayne told him to keep his hands off his wife, and then, just as thunder struck over the nighttime sky, he shot him. He then immediately turned the gun on Martha and shot her too, and he did nothing but run away; seemingly without stealing anything from them at all except their lives.
Bruce Wayne was there, and he witnessed the whole thing. And after that, he was never the same. Overtime, he went through training in a variety of ways, so that he could learn to be a crimefighter. That was how he learned that criminals were a "cowardly lot." He built his body up to its' athletic peak, learned martial arts and acrobatics; and learned a lot to also build up his mind, and he was even virtually fearless; being called Batman, "the Man With No Fear". Still, he had one fear, and that was the alley that he met Joe Chill in; where he murdered his parents.
In 1985, while pursuing the Scarecrow and his Strawmen into Crime Alley, Batman found himself virtually paralyzed with fear! Scarecrow could tell by looking at him that he was afraid. So he used the opportunity to escape, and once he got back to his hideout, he got to work on making a new type of Fear Transmitter, one that was designed to bring Batman's fear of Crime Alley to him, whether he was there or not.
After kidnapping Wonder Woman and Robin, Batman follows one of Scarecrow's pet crows to his farm, where Scarecrow exposed him to his new Fear Transmitter. This caused him to experience the illusion that he was back at Crime Alley, being confronted by Joe Chill. But this time, the "little" Bruce Wayne suddenly gets some courage, and transforms into Batman, and jumps up and assaults Joe Chill,
knocking him to the ground and then punching him in the face. Although Joe Chill wasn't real, just a fear-induced illusion; Batman's assault very much was real, but instead of punching Joe Chill, as he did in the illusion, he actually punched the Fear Transmitter, thus destroying it and shutting off the illusion of Crime Alley. Suddenly he finds himself back in the real world, so-to-speak, and he goes after the Scarecrow, and takes him out with his batropes, and then he thanks him for helping him break his one and only fear.[3]
Episode Appearance[]
- ↑ Some sources say that Michael Rye did his voice.
- ↑ As seen in the Superfriends season nine episode The Fear (September 28, 1985).
- ↑ As seen in the Superfriends season nine episode The Fear (September 28, 1985).