Mr. Freeze (Arkhamverse)

"Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within?"

―Mr. Freeze to Hugo Strange^[src]

Once a respected and brilliant scientist, Dr. Victor Fries turned to a life of crime after his wife, Nora Fries, who Victor cryogenically froze to develop enough time to create a cure for her rare illness, was stolen away from him by his corrupt CEO, Ferris Boyle. In the confusion, Fries was drenched in the cryogenic chemicals that he had created to freeze Nora, which changed his metabolism. The result was Mr. Freeze, a cold blooded villain motivated by the desire to save and cure his wife and kill anyone who would stand in his way.

Though Nora was saved by Batman, Freeze regards the hero as an adversary for stopping his revenge against Boyle and sending him to Arkham Asylum and continues in his plans and attempts to cure his wife through crime. Within the confines of Arkham City, Freeze is blackmailed to perform the will of both The Joker and Hugo Strange under the threat of his wife's death. While using his medical expertise to reluctantly aid these villains, Freeze's cold and dark rage would only be amplified as he made his own plans for revenge and ensure Nora's safety.

Biography

Batman: Arkham Origins

See: Mr. Freeze (Batman: Arkham Origins)

Mr. Freeze will be the main villain of the new DLC "Cold Cold Heart" for Arkham Origins which will be released on April 22, 2014. Batman will receive new gadgets and an extreme envrionment (XE) suit to defeat him. More information will be revealed in time.

On New Years Eve, during an award ceremony for GothCorp CEO Ferris Boyle winning the Humanitarian of the Year award, Mr. Freeze attacked the ceremony, freezing some of the occupants in the process.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Mrfreezecell--article image — Mr. Freeze's Cell in *Batman: Arkham Asylum*

Although not appearing in the game himself, Mr. Freeze's cell, which is in the same wing as Arkham's most deranged cases, can be seen in the Penitentiary area of Batman: Arkham Asylum, which can be scanned to unlock his bio, which reveals that he escaped prior to the game.

Batman: Arkham City

In Batman: Arkham City, Dr. Victor Fries was negotiated into entering the prison by Hugo Strange under the promises of being incarcerated with his wife, Nora, and the tools he needed to cure her. But after discovering Strange double-crossed him and had given Nora to Joker as blackmail to create a cure for his TITAN blood poisoning, Freeze stormed Wonder Tower, only to be captured by TYGER guards. There, Strange handed Victor over to Penguin as a part of their deal, and became a trophy of Cobblepot's in his museum. After Batman's incarceration to Arkham City, he was tasked with finding Freeze to get the cure he needed for now himself, as the Joker had poisoned him with his blood.

While searching for Mr. Freeze, Batman was attacked by the Penguin who was using Freeze's cryogenic weapons for his own amusement. Batman found Freeze locked in a display case under a heat lamp, weakened but alive. Batman and Freeze exchanged words, and after some "persuasion" Freeze divulged the weak points of his weaponry. Batman recovered an inhibitor chip from Freeze's suit and managed to disable the weapon. After battling Solomon Grundy and defeating the Penguin, Batman confronted a fully armored Mr. Freeze. Freeze proceeded to exact revenge on the Penguin for his earlier treatment by stepping on his already broken hand with his foot, only easing up when Batman told him to stop, proceeding to lock Penguin inside the Wayne exhibit after making a subtle threat towards Penguin. Freeze informed Batman that the cure was incomplete and that the only way to complete it was to find some kind of "restorative element" to stabilize its composition. Batman told Freeze that he knew a man named Ra's al Ghul, who had been exposed to a regenerative chemical for centuries. Freeze told Batman to bring him a sample of Ra's Al Ghul's blood in order to synthesize the cure.

Freeze up-close AC — Mr. Freeze in *Batman: Arkham City*.

After recovering a sample of Ra's Al Ghul's blood, Batman confronted Mr. Freeze in the GCPD Building. Freeze quickly produced two vials of the antidote and locked one of them away in a wall safe. Batman ordered Freeze to give him the cure, but he refused and crushed the vial. Freeze told Batman that the Joker kidnapped Nora and demanded that he bring her back to him. After Batman tried to recover the other vial, Freeze launched a full scale attack.

Batman, using his vast array of techniques and gadgets, was able to progressively break through Freeze's defenses and overpower him; punching through his protective glass dome and beating him senseless. As Batman was punching Freeze, he began to have hallucinations of the Joker laughing at him. Realizing that he's wasted enough time Batman attempted to retrieve the second vial of antidote. When he opened the safe however, Batman discovered that Harley was able to break into the safe and has stolen the only remaining sample. Batman lamented that getting into the Steel Mill will be extremely difficult due to the Joker's security. Mr. Freeze, accepting his role in Batman's predicament, offered him cryogenic projectiles to make his venture more manageable. Batman promised Victor that he will find Nora before leaving.

Eventually Batman successfully tracked down Nora's whereabouts and informs Freeze of her location. Victor froze the body of water separating the lab and the steel mill and met with his frozen wife. A bound and gagged Harley Quinn later informed Batman that Joker also stole some of Freeze's cryo-tech (freeze cluster bombs) which Batman located and acquires for his own use.

It can be assumed that after the events of Arkham City Freeze was returned to the temporary holding cells for former Arkham Asylum patients while the island was refurbished for opening.

Psychological Profile (by Dr. Young)

Mr. Freeze

Real Name: Dr. Victor Fries

ESCAPED!!

Psychological Profile: Another surprisingly intelligent inmate. Fries's narcissism and antisocial disorders are surpassed only by his intense fixation on his late wife Nora. His obsession with Nora's memory has developed into a variety of psychopathic behaviors, worsened by his narcissistic egomania and lack of concern for others. Fries's peculiar medical condition - which keeps his body temperature below zero and necessitates a variety of complicated security precautions - only furthers his antisocial tendencies.

Additional Notes: Yet another inmate here at the asylum who was formerly a doctor; certainly an odd pattern.

Treatment is difficult due to the frigid temperatures I am forced to endure in his presence.

Patient Interviews

Tape One

(Intercom is heard buzzing.)

TYGER Guard: Prisoner's here, sir.
Strange: Very good. Send him in.
TYGER GUARD: But we haven't got the suit off him yet. He's dangerous. Are you sure?
Hugo Strange: Of course. Victor Fries and I have much in common. We will be fine.

(The door is heard opening. Mister Freeze enters, servos letting off hisses as he walks. The door closes.)

Hugo Strange: Welcome to my facility. Please, take a seat.
Mister Freeze: I prefer to stand. Why am I here?
Hugo Strange: Oh, Victor, there will be plenty of time for that later. Right now I wish to get to know you. Discover how you came to have such a... frosty outlook on life.
Mister Freeze: I have nothing to say to you. You may have taken my weapons, but my suit still has considerable offensive capabilities. I will freeze the marrow in your legs. Each bone will shatter and fracture while you remain aware of your impending paralysis, begging me to end you.
Hugo Strange: I don't think that you will do that, Victor.
Mister Freeze: Really? Why not?
Hugo Strange: Simple. If you hurt me, your wife will die.

Tape Two

Mister Freeze: Where is she? Where is my wife
Hugo Strange: Nora is in safe hands. Now, let's discuss an incident from your childhood...
Mister Freeze: No.
Hugo Strange: Then this is over. (Intercom buzzing as he presses the button.) Guard!
Mister Freeze: Wait! (Strange is heard removing his finger from the intercom button.) What do you wish to learn?
Hugo Strange: Your early years were troubled.
Mister Freeze: I was not a sociable child, but that is all.
Hugo Strange: Even your parents disowned you. They sent you away to a reform school, correct?
Mister Freeze: They did not understand my work.
Hugo Strange: Your work? According to a police report, you froze over a dozen of your neighbors' pets.
Mister Freeze: I have always had an interest in cryonic preservation. I didn't understand why my parents allowed our sick pets to die instead of attempting to save them. So I set about finding my own way. I intended to revive all those creatures.
Hugo Strange: But you didn't. Which brings us to Nora.

Tape Three

Mister Freeze: Have you ever seen a flower die? Watched something that was once so beautiful, so full of life, collapse and rot from within...
Hugo Strange: You refer to Nora's illness?
Mister Freeze: It seems like yesterday when I first found her. It all happened so quickly. Suddenly, I was losing her.
Hugo Strange: Did you seek help? What about your employer, GothCorp?
Mister Freeze: I hid it from them, diverting resources from GothCorp's research in an attempt to find the cure, but in the end, I failed. Time was running out. I knew that if I was discovered, Nora would die.
Hugo Strange: Why take that risk?
Mister Freeze: Do you know what it is to love someone? To really love them?
Hugo Strange: No.
Mister Freeze: Nora was all I could think of. I re-ran the diagnostics, re-examined every detail from every angle, certain that I had missed something. I cursed myself for being so blind, so stupid. Surely there was a cure, I just needed more time. Then I realized what I had to do.

Tape Four

Mister Freeze: I had worked without sleep for a week. My needs didn't seem important. Sleep didn't matter. Food didn't matter. There was only her. I looked at Nora and told her that I loved her. She said there was nothing I could do, that I... we should just accept fate. She smiled her beautiful smile as she said it. I promised to cure her. and then I pressed the button.
Hugo Strange: You cryogenically froze her. Keeping her on ice, so to speak, while you worked on a cure. It broke your heart but now you had all the time in the world. Did you feel relieved?
Mister Freeze: I went home and fell into a deep sleep. For the first time since we discovered Nora's illness, I dared to dream. But... for weeks I had ignored my superiors' attempts to contact me. The next morning, I overslept. And by the time I got to the lab, Ferris Boyle, the CEO, was there waiting.
Hugo Strange: What did he do?
Mister Freeze: He accused me of industrial espionage, which I denied, but then his guards found Nora. Boyle told me that, like all of my "research," she belonged to him. I was enraged. I attacked him, but his guards beat me back and in the struggle, I was drenched in by the cryogenic chemical I had created. I lay on the floor helpless watching the guards steal Nora away. Boyle told me it was such a tragedy for a promising mind to perish in a lab accident. Then he left me to die.
Hugo Strange: But you survived.
Mister Freeze: The chemicals absorbed into my body and... transformed my metabolism. My body went numb. I felt a strange tingling, then searing pain all over... Each breath ignited my lungs. I clawed my way back to a refrigeration unit and as I closed the door behind me, I felt the icy chill calm my aching body. Things suddenly seemed clear.
Hugo Strange: What seemed clear? Finding a cure for Nora?
Mister Freeze: No. Revenge. Boyle would pay.

Tape Five

Hugo Strange: You failed to kill Ferris Boyle, though, didn't you?
Mister Freeze: Yes.
Hugo Strange: Why?
Mister Freeze: You know why. Batman. Though he did return Nora to safety - until you got her.
Hugo Strange: See, there you go. Blame me. Blame your parents because you failed to revive your neighbors' pets. Blame Ferris Boyle for spoiling your plans to cure Nora. Blame Batman for stopping your revenge against Boyle. And now your Nora is in danger...
Mister Freeze: Because of you.
Hugo Strange: No, Victor. Because of you. You have always had a heart of ice. You stole peoples' pets, you stole GothCorp resources, and since then you've stolen so much for your own selfish, scientific inquiries. If you had shared your genius with others, devoted your energy to medicine instead of crime, perhaps your ice princess would be at home now, preparing you a hot meal - instead of being delivered to the Joker.
Mister Freeze: No...
Hugo Strange: You could have saved Nora a long time ago, Victor.
Mister Freeze: It's all for her. Everything. I will get her back. And when I do, I'm coming for you.
Hugo Strange: Thank you. We are done now.
Mister Freeze: Nora...

Weaknesses

Electricity/Electromagnetic Pulses: Electricity can short circuit the equipment in the armor, allowing Batman the opportunity to attack as Freeze attempts to compensate.
Heat: Freeze is at high risk when exposed to intense heat and must maintain a low body temperature at all times. He most commonly wears a suit of armor to keep his temperature low, but also has developed small cooling units that can be directly attached to his body.
Stealth: The bulkiness of the Freeze suit limits the mobility of Mr. Freeze significantly, allowing Batman the opportunity to use stealth attacks against him. However after each attack he adapts his suit so the same attack can't be used again.
Anti-Freeze tech: As part of a plot to defeat Penguin, Freeze gave Batman a chip designed to prevent his tech from being used against him, which may be used against Freeze during his fight against Batman. However, after its use, Freeze will reprogram his ice gun so the disruptor cannot be used again.

Quotes

"This is futile."
"I will not fail Nora."
"How can this Ra's al Ghul hold the secret to the clown's cure? Batman must have lost his mind."
"When this is over, the clown will suffer."
"Thank you for finding Nora."
"I am preparing a solution to remedy whatever damage the clown has caused my beautiful Nora."
"Leave me with my wife, Catwoman."

Trivia

The search for Nora Fries is a side mission in Batman: Arkham City and it is not required that you locate her to complete the main storyline. Additionally, the recovery of Freeze Tech being investigated by Joker is not required to complete the main story.
After telling Mr. Freeze of Nora's location, he will no longer be at the Gotham City Police Building. He can be found where Nora was located, triggering a cutscene in which Batman tells Mr. Freeze to cure her and quit his life of crime. Similarly, after giving the location of Nora to Freeze, a trail of ice will have appeared in the water from the back of the GCPD building to the location of Nora, implying it was left by Freeze.
It is possible to visit Freeze in the building in which Nora is found in with Catwoman. Catwoman makes a snarky remark, asking if he is willing to help her in a theft she is planning later on, and he replies by telling her to leave him and Nora alone.
Although Mr. Freeze is generally an antagonist in the game, he also serves as an ally to Batman, as he develops the cure to the disease and builds him ice grenades. This reflects his status of being a tragic figure/anti-hero rather than a full on villain. This is also similar to Catwoman's role in the game, as she too helps Batman without being his actual ally.
Freeze's boss battle has been praised as one of best boss battles in the series, and is considered a major improvement from the repetitive Titan bosses from the previous game.

Game Over Lines

thumb|300px|right|Mr. Freeze's game over screens.

"Death is cold, Batman."
"I will turn your blood to ice."

Gallery

Mr. Freeze (Batman: Arkham City)/Gallery