Arnold Wesker, better known as the Ventriloquist, is perhaps one of the most intriguing villains in Batman’s extensive rogues’ gallery. Arnold is a seemingly weak man who is beaten up both physically and emotionally on a daily basis by a puppet that is under his own control. While that is sad enough on its own, this puppeteer has an origin story that is just as, if not more, tragic.
Like most comic book villains, the Ventriloquist has more than one origin story and like most origin stories some stand out more than others. In Showcase '94 #8 - #9 (by Alan Grant, John Wagner and Teddy Kristiansen) Arnold Wesker is sent to Blackgate after years of repressed anger triggered a deadly bar fight. There, he meets his ventriloquist roommate Donnegan and his dummy Woody, now known as the infamous Scarface.
The Ventriloquist Meets Scarface
Arnold develops an obsession with Woody, much to the dismay of his new roommate. The more engrossed Wesker became, the more defensive Donnegan grew. This toxicity escalated to the point where Donnegan beat up Arnold for touching his dummy. As time went on, Arnold became a shell of a human. Losing all hope, he prepares to hang himself in his cell. However, just as he was about to do so, Woody told him to stop and convinced him to break out of prison instead, even giving him an escape route. The pair made a bloody departure and began their life of crime together.
There has been a long-standing debate among readers regarding if Scarface is his own entity or just one of Arnold’s personalities. It has been implied in almost every iteration of the Ventriloquist that he has dissociative identity disorder. While this implication may not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of the DC Universe, it is absolutely crucial in regard to whether or not Arnold Wesker is a villain. If Scarface is a figure who can exist without Arnold then Wesker could easily be written off as a pawn in someone else's game. However, if the puppet is an extension of him then he is as guilty as one can possibly be.
Arnold Wesker's Fate Has Always Been Sealed
This specific origin story offers readers a unique perspective. On one hand, it displays the mental instability that troubles Arnold Wesker. On the other hand, Scarface did appear to have a mind of his own when he gave Arnold an escape plan that his former owner had been working on, something that Arnold couldn't have known on his own. If the latter is the case then Arnold could have been spared a life of crime if he had a different roommate -- making him the victim of an abusive relationship. However, if Scarface is indeed one of Arnold's multiple personalities then it's safe to assume that his life of violence is inevitable. Even if he ended up in a different prison cell, the relentless and angry nature of this alternate personality would have found another way to manifest itself. Scarface would not have allowed the Ventriloquist to take his own life as he would die with him.
Unfortunately for Arnold Wesker, his history in comics has made it all but confirmed that Scarface is and always will be a part of him. Many comics have given subtle, clever hints that Wesker was the one who was in control all along, such as his death scene in Detective Comics #818 (by James Robinson, Leonard Kirk and Andy Clarke). In this issue, the dying Ventriloquist is shown grabbing Scarface's hand and using it to leave a clue about who murdered him -- suggesting that he was always the mastermind. While it's fun to muse about how there might be some supernatural element to the infamous puppet, the sad truth is that he was never "real". He was only ever the result of a great tragedy.