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"Are you the dreamer, or merely part of somebody else's dream? That's just the question Tweedle-Dee put to Alice in Through the Looking-"
―The Mad Hatter[src]

The Mad Hatter is an enemy of Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. He was voiced by Roddy McDowall.

History[]

Batman: The Animated Series[]

First seen in the episode Mad as a Hatter, Jervis Tetch, a meek scientist experimenting with mind control equipment, has a romantic interest in his co-worker Alice Pleasance, who is unaware of his feelings. He was frustrated upon hearing that she had a boyfriend, but when news reached him that their relationship had sunk, he made it his top priority to impress her. He dressed up as the Mad Hatter character from his favorite book, Alice in Wonderland, and set off with a bunch of flowers, ready to make his move. His attempts at impressing Alice involved him using his mind control chips to brainwash people, enabling him to pretend that he was a "man about town" and "a celebrity". Alice was charmed by Jervis but misinterpreted his gesture as one to cheer her up. Alice mended her relationship and got back together with her boyfriend, much to Jervis' anger.

His use of mind controlling chips attracted the attention of Batman, who had earlier confronted two hooligans that Jervis manipulated and told to "go jump in a river". Batman stopped the two from committing suicide and noticed that in their hats were card chips with "10/6" labels. The Dark Knight suddenly remembered seeing Jervis Tetch's mind controlling invention in his office, as well as a picture of him wearing a hat with the same label tucked inside of it. Jervis, now calling himself the Mad Hatter, brainwashed Alice's boyfriend into dumping her again before leaving an abundance of flowers and other gifts in her home, waiting in ambush for her return. Jervis was soon confronted by Batman, causing him to brainwash Alice and kidnap her. Defeating the Mad Hatter's two brainwashed thugs, Batman follows him to an amusement park with an Alice in Wonderland section, where he has brainwashed various civilians into dressing up as Wonderland characters and attacking Batman. The Dark Knight releases them from the maniac's spell and battles the Mad Hatter. Jervis fights Batman with an axe, but the Dark Knight fires a batarang at Jabberwock ornament hanging from the ceiling, causing it to fall on top of Jervis. Alice is freed from the Hatter's spell and rejoins her sweetheart. The Hatter, trapped under the Jabberwock model, quotes Alice in Wonderland with all the sadness of the Mock Turtle.

In Perchance to Dream, Bruce Wayne finds himself trapped in a dreamworld where his parents are alive, he is engaged to Selina Kyle, and does not moonlight as Batman. Although he is initially happy, Bruce notices that something is amiss when he discovers that all of the words in every book and newspaper are illegible, causing him to believe that he is in a dream (since it is impossible to read while dreaming). He also begins to feel useless after watching this other world Batman fight crime even better than Bruce himself could. Tracking down "Batman", Bruce pulls off his cowl to reveal Jervis Tetch, who admits to Bruce that he is indeed dreaming. Preferring to live in the real world, Bruce hurls himself from the roof of a clock tower (since it is impossible to die in a dream) and wakes up. It is then revealed that the Mad Hatter captured him and projected these images into his head so he could have his very own "Wonderland". When Batman finally freed himself from the Mad Hatter's machine, he demanded to know why Tetch had trapped him in a dream world. Sobbing, Tetch replies, "You ruined my life! I was willing to give you any life you wanted, just to keep you out of mine!". Jervis was arrested and returned to Arkham Asylum.

In Trial, the Mad Hatter was one of many Arkham Villains who escaped, using his brainwashing chips to subdue most of Arkham's staff, and put Batman on trial under the claims that "he created them". He was the main member of the jury and was the one who announced the verdict. He was also called to the stand and DA Janet Van Dorn asked him why he brainwashed and kidnapped Alice. His first reply was "Batman forced me to do it. He was going to take her away from me. I had no choice". Van Dorn bluntly pointed out that he could have just left Alice alone and respected her wishes, to which the Hatter shouted that he would have killed her for it. Meekly, he requested to the The Joker that the last comment be omitted from the record. Fortunately, there was no record.

In the episode The Worry Men, Jervis used his mind control equipment to his advantage and brainwashed many people to do his bidding. Including having Gotham's millionaires to donate a total of one hundred million dollars to him for a retirement.

In Make 'Em Laugh, The Joker stole his mind control devices for his own use. He brainwashed famous people to become villains and also brainwashed Tetch himself to fall into a sort of deep open-eyed sleep. He is also shown in Arkham playing chess with the Scarecrow. He also appeared telling the Joker to turn back to the previous T.V channel or in this case "Hey! I was watching that!" in Jokers Wild.

The New Batman Adventures[]

When the series was later redesigned, the Mad Hatter character design was radically changed. Looking shorter and rat like, the Hatter was an albino, white haired man in green clothes. This change was made in effort to make the character more like the original Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Many fans were not pleased by the change.

He appeared on a chat show along with Harley Quinn, The Riddler and The Ventriloquist. He claimed that he and the rest of the villains were just lost souls, and that Batman was mad. (This whole sequence later turned out to be part of a dream brought on by the Scarecrow's gas). (BTAS: Over the Edge)

At the very same circus that Dick Grayson's parents were killed at, he disguised himself as an innocent circus clown. He again took advantage of his mind control equipment once more for his own personal gain. This time, his mind control victims were not humans but animals. His plans were foiled again. (BTAS: Animal Act)

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Batman: The Animated Series[]

The New Batman Adventures[]

  • Over the Edge (cameo)
  • Animal Act

Trivia[]

  • He makes an appearance in Superman: The Animated Series episode Knight Time, where his expertise in nanotechnology allowed him to unwittingly save Batman from Brainiac.
  • One of his costumes is often visible in the Batcave from Batman Beyond.

See Also[]

External links[]

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