Batman has so many villains that even some of his most exciting antagonists get lost in the shuffle at times – though in this case, an experienced cosplay artist is there to remind fans about characters like Lock-Up. Introduced in the DC Animated Universe, Lock-Up remains popular among the fandom, though he has never quite had his break-out role as an enemy of the Caped Crusader. At least, not yet.

Cosplayer @batsturd recently brought Lock-Up to life in a stunning cosplay, where he dresses up as the former Arkham Warden. The artist’s Lock-Up build features him wearing heavy chains and wielding a baton, as he menacingly looks towards the camera.

Lock-Up is a villain who isn’t used much, often only appearing as a low-level henchman, facing off against Batman before he gets to the real threat. Still, this hasn’t stopped the character from gathering fans who are willing to put in the effort to cosplay him.

Lock-Up Was The Brutal Warden Of Arkham Asylum

Cosplay Build By @Batsturd

Lock-Up first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode of the same name. Lock-Up was essentially a supervillain police officer. Batman is used to dealing with villains who focus on making chaos, like the Joker. However, Lock-Up was the exact opposite of that. He sought order and wanted to make sure anyone who disrupted Gotham City was put behind bars, which included Batman. This naturally made him a major enemy of the Dark Knight. Yet, despite this unique motivation among Batman’s rogues, he’s rarely gotten any leading roles.

Overall, Lock-Up has appeared in a few animated episodes and even fewer comics. He’s mostly only ever portrayed as an annoyance for Batman to get past, never the main architect behind whatever Batman is facing. Lock-Up compelling motivation and engaging character design have gathered a passionate subset of Batman fans, who would love a bigger role for him. As cosplay expert @batsturd shows, the villain could easily work in live-action. Considering he is an expert on prisons and cell designs, he’d be able to test Batman in a way that almost no villain of his has before, which is testing Batman’s escape artist skills.

Lock-Up Deserves Another Run As A Top-Tier Enemy Of Batman

@Batsturd’s Expert Cosplay Highlights Villain’s Untapped Potential

Batman has had a huge rogues gallery over the years. Some have been absolutely iconic, like The Joker and Riddler, but others are often one-and-done villains. Some villains for Batman didn’t even make it past a single page. While sometimes this is for obvious reasons, other times it’s because the right writer simply hasn’t come along to give a villain the attention and stories that they deserve. That seems to be the case for Lock-Up, who has an interesting character design and unique dynamic with Batman, which have yet to be realized as fully as they could be.

Source: batsturd