Unfortunately, Nightwing has always struggled to maintain a recognizable rogues gallery in his history as an independent hero. Despite having his own city to take care of for the past twenty years, it’s difficult to name more than a handful of Nightwing’s villains. But one iconic Batman villain might be able to fix this, since Scarecrow has a much deeper connection with Nightwing than he does with Batman.
Despite trying to separate himself from Batman’s shadow by moving to an entirely separate city, Nightwing has never really managed to develop Batman-level villains. Batman has some of the most iconic villains in comic books, but Nightwing struggles to get even one recognizable villain. While some of the scariest Batman villains were introduced during Dick Grayson’s time in the cowl, when Dick returned to the Nightwing mantle, the villains stayed with Batman. Even Professor Pyg, who runs a demented circus, remained a Batman villain instead of Nightwing’s, despite the fact that Pyg mirrors Dick Grayson more than Bruce Wayne. But despite all of this, one iconic Batman villain really does work better for Nightwing: Scarecrow.
Scarecrow and Nightwing Team Up
The surprisingly perfect villain for Nightwing was shown in Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2 by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Daniele Di Nicuolo, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott. While everyone on Earth is trapped in their nightmares during the Knight Terrors event, Nightwing finds himself trapped along with Johnathan Crane, the Scarecrow. In his nightmare, Nightwing has murdered Batman and been locked up in Arkham Asylum. Needing to escape and learn what exactly is going on, Nightwing has no choice but to team up with his cellmate, the Scarecrow. Despite their differences in the past, the two work surprisingly well together. With the help of Scarecrow, Nightwing is not only able to face his fears, but he ultimately escapes the Asylum as well.
Knight Terrors is far from the first time the two have interacted. Scarecrow is the only Batman villain who has consistently shown up, over and over, in Nightwing’s stories. During the controversial “Ric Grayson” arc, Scarecrow acts as Ric’s therapist to try to manipulate the amnesiac hero. Nightwing has even developed a resistance to Scarecrow’s fear toxin, a feat even Batman hasn’t accomplished. That resistance alone should interest Scarecrow far more than Batman does. Scarecrow cares about fear, about how fear affects the human mind, and about what people fear the most. That’s why he’s often paired against Batman: a hero who uses and thrives on fear versus a villain who can cause and control it. But Nightwing is borderline immune to Scarecrow’s fear toxin, which makes him a far more interesting adversary for Scarecrow.
Scarecrow And Nightwing’s Possible Friendship
Scarecrow has literally been in Nightwing’s nightmares; he’s seen Nightwing on an intimate level that most heroes haven’t, never mind villains. The two have consistently run into each other over Dick’s history as both Nightwing and Robin, and their dynamic works far better than Scarecrow and Batman’s. This is why, out of all Batman’s villains, Scarecrow works much better as a villain for Nightwing. Maybe the next time the two run into each other, a new kind of rivalry will be born between the “master of fear,” Scarecrow, and the apparent “man without fear,” Nightwing.
Check out Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2, available now from DC Comics!
