Outwardly a model student at Hamilton Hill High School, Carter Wilson led a secret life as Terminal, the leader of a gang of Jokerz.
History[]
At first appearance, Carter was everything a student could be: smart, athletic, class president. Inside, he was morbidly sensitive about his reputation and his sense of achievement; at home, he suffered the constant harangues of his cold-hearted mother who constantly pushed him to excel in everything.
At some point he adopted the identity "Terminal", with a frightening disguise resembling a weird cross between a zombie and an escaped mental patient. Before long, he had a gang of Jokerz under his personal command, whom he dominated through his intelligence and the force of his personality.
In part, this may have been his way of rebelling against his mother's strict authority. On the other hand, it was also his unconscious way of lashing out at a world that his mother portrayed as cold and unforgiving to anyone who wasn't "the best".
Later, he got the idea of using the Jokerz to further his own agenda. After he placed second in the standardized GATT test, behind Maxine Gibson's perfect score, he and his Jokerz invaded the high school at night to delete the test records. During his search of school records, Terminal also found that Max was the leading candidate to be class valedictorian. He tried to delete those records as well, but his access was blocked. He saw no way to his goal of being first other than to remove Max.
One night, when Max was working late at school, Terminal had his Jokerz appear outside the school to lure Batman away, then reprogrammed school robots to attack Max inside. Batman arrived back, narrowly saving her. Later, Terminal and his thugs followed Max to a park where she was due to meet Terry McGinnis, and ambushed her. Batman arrived to save her again, and in the ensuing fight, Terminal fell into a fountain, where his makeup was washed off, and was subsequently arrested.
Hearing the news, his fellow students pronounced that they had always known he was a loser. Terminal's actions inadvertently led to Max discovering Terry's secret identity as Batman.
Powers and Abilities[]
Terminal had no known superhuman powers or abilities. However, he was highly intelligent and had a certain amount of skill with computers and mechanical devices. He used several deadly "toys," closely similar to those used by the original Joker, many of which seemed to be of his own design. Given his high intelligence and how close he came to success, he could arguably be described as the most competent member of the Jokerz seen in the series.
Background Information[]
Trivia[]
- Terminal is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced several other characters on Batman Beyond and went on to voice The Flash on Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Terminal's voice bears a strong resemblance to another character voiced by Rosenbaum, Deadshot, whose voice was reportedly based on that of actor Kevin Spacey.
- In the feature film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Rosenbaum voices another Joker, Ghoul, whose real name is given as "Stewart Carter Winthrop III."
- He reappeared in Batman Beyond volume 2 #12, titled "Terminal Velocity". He had received psychiatric treatment and was cured of his Terminal persona, but his Jokerz gang brought him back to his criminal ways, and he ultimately returned to juvie hall. He now has a split personality, with Carter and Terminal fighting for control, strikingly similar to Two-Face.