Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) is a fictional character in the DC universe, an enemy of Batman. Created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Gene Colan, he first appeared in Detective Comics #523 (February 1983).

Fictional character biography

Waylon Jones is born with the medical condition epidermolytic hyperkeratosis that caused him to grow progressively into the likeness of a crocodile. In his original appearances, he resembled a powerfully-built man covered entirely in green scales. However, his disease has slowly robbed him of all identifiable human traits. In the Hush storyline he is infected with a virus that greatly increases the rate of his devolution. In his most recent appearances, he has an elongated snout and tail. His intelligence level has varied from competent schemer to berserk monster.

Once he was a cocaine/arms dealer until foiled by Batman and Robin.

Killer Croc has been depicted as being so animalistic that the Swamp Thing was able to summon him to the Louisiana bayous.

Powers and abilities

Killer Croc is afflicted with epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. His skin has hardened to the point where it is invulnerable to most forms of abrasion and even high caliber weapons fired from a distance. He possesses super strength, able to rip a large bank vault door right off its hinges with ease. He has superhuman regenerative powers, able to heal even lost limbs.

Over time the primal reptilian part of his brain gains more control of his psyche. He possesses superhuman reflexes and speed. Croc also possesses the superior senses and underwater capabilities of his namesake.

In other media

Batman: The Animated Series

Killer Croc appears in several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Aron Kincaid. Croc is a former pro wrestler who turned to crime. In this series, he is given gray skin as opposed to his normal green, teeth filed to points, and his reptilian appearance is toned down somewhat. In the episode "Vendetta", he runs afoul of Harvey Bullock, who arrests him. Croc later escapes from prison and seeks revenge by framing him for the abduction of criminals Spider Conway and Joey "The Snail." In another episode, he escapes from prison and flees through the countryside, taking refuge in a town of naively trusting circus carnies (including a "seal boy", a giant, conjoined twins, and a hunchbacked ringmaster). Croc plans to betray and kill his hosts for the money they have stored away for supplies, although he begins to have second thoughts about it after they treat him like a family member. In this episode, it is established that Croc is legally sane, and therefore is to be sent to Blackgate Penitentiary instead of Arkham Asylum. In the DC comic The Batman Adventures, Croc reveals that his mother died when he was born, and that he was raised by his cruel aunt.

Later in the series, Croc would serve as nothing more than comic relief. In the episode "Almost Got 'Im", a group of villains are discussing how they almost defeated Batman. While everyone else had managed to almost kill Batman with a complex deathtrap or such, Croc proudly proclaimed that he once threw a rock at Batman. However, this was later revealed to be Batman impersonating him. Still, in the episode "Trial", when Batman is put on trial by all the prisoners he's put in Arkham, Croc is among the quasi-jury shouting "Hit 'im with a rock!!"

The New Batman Adventures

Croc also appeared — revamped, with green skin and muscles — in an episode of The New Batman Adventures where he joins forces with the criminal Baby Doll. Baby Doll, who also suffers from an unusual though less frightening physical condition, believes she has found a kindred spirit in fellow 'freak' Killer Croc. They go to live in the sewers, committing crimes planned by Doll and carried out largely by Croc.

Baby Doll seems to have a crush on him, until she overhears Croc boasting about manipulating her to a pair of clingy women (implicitly prostitutes), she betrays him to Batman and Batgirl, and in the ensuing fight, he is defeated after being drenched in boiling water. He makes his final appearance in the later episode Judgment Day, where he is seen trying to get Penguin to pay him for jewels he had stolen for him. The Judge (Two-Face in disguise) attacks and defeats him soon afterwards. He is voiced here by Brooks Gardner.

The Batman

In 2005, an episode of the animated television series The Batman featured Killer Croc, voiced by Ron Perlman. In this version Croc is even more reptilian than past versions and has a tail. He appears to be much stronger than Batman and much like a crocodile, he's able to stay underwater for long periods of time. His origins are mostly unknown: one of his henchmen tells Batman that there are different rumors: that he is a military genetic experiment gone awry, that he deals with the wrong kind of voodoo magic in the swamps, he is simply a genetic freak, or that his mother didn`t want him and flushed him down the toilet and all the acid in the sewers mutated him.(it is never explained which, if any, story is true). He recruits three criminals (two of them voiced by Jim Cummings) as henchmen to help him flood Gotham City. This animated version also speaks with a Cajun accent and has two pet crocodiles to do his bidding. Batman later deprived him of his air supply enough to be taken down and left for the police to arrest him and his henchman (remarking that "Crocs may like water but they're no fish"). He later returns as part of Penguin's Team Penguin. Killer Croc and his henchmen later appear as one of the captive victims of Rumor after he ambushed Killer Croc and his henchmen in their hideout. Croc makes his final appearance in "The End of the Batman" where he, Penguin, Ventriloquist and The Joker team up to commit a crime spree now that they are under the protection of the vigilante Wrath.

Batman: Knightfall and Beyond

In the novel Batman: Knightfall and Beyond, based largely on the comics storyline, Killer Croc is said to have suffered from "a raging skin cancer" that turned the outer layers of his flesh into a hardened covering when he was younger. He escapes from Arkham Asylum when Bane and his men destroy it, freeing most of Batman's major foes in the process as part of a plan by Bane to wear him down before Bane himself "breaks" him. Batman later defeats Croc in a one-on-one fight in the sewers, crushing a cylinder of knock-out gas against the underside of his nose to disable him. Croc is then arrested and held in Blackgate Prison with the other Arkham escapees until the asylum can be rebuilt.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Killer Croc appears as one of the villains in Batman: Gotham Knight, segment In Darkness Dwells.

In this version, Waylon Jones is a cannibalistic serial killer. The urban legend in the segment goes that he was an infant born with a rare skin disorder who had been abandoned by his mother, leaving him in the sewers of Gotham City. His skin disorder made his skin reptilian, and his teeth transformed into serrated replacements. He thus becomes a circus sideshow performer for a time. Later, Jones - now called Killer Croc - goes on a killing spree that eventually lands him in Arkham Asylum. There, his homicidal impulses intensify during treatment by college professor Jonathan Crane, who infects him with his fear toxin. Croc escapes from Arkham and flees to the sewers along with Crane (now known as The Scarecrow) and a handful of escaped Arkham inmates.

When Scarecrow orchestrates the kidnapping of Cardinal O'Fallon, Croc infiltrates the church and carries him down into the sewers. Batman comes to investigate, and Croc attacks him, biting him and infecting him with the fear toxin that is coursing through Croc's own body. After a lengthy battle, Batman fends off Croc by shoving a smoke grenade into his mouth.

Video games

A screenshot of Killer Croc from Batman: Arkham Asylum appeared in the September 2008 issue of Game Informer, issue 185, on page 71. He is chained up and is extremely large, towering over Batman and the guards that surround him. Killer Croc will also appear in Lego Batman: The Video Game.

Redesign

In recent years, Killer Croc has been portrayed as being much more reptilian than in past incarnations. An action figure made by Kenner toys in 1998 featured a tail and dinosaur-like feet. When Mattel got the license to make DC products in the early 2000s, they released their own version of Killer Croc, sculpted by the Four Horsemen. This version also featured a tail and dinosaur feet. In late 2005, a re-release of this figure was modified so that the tail, along with his shirt, was removed. This version also sports a more "human" head. The 2002-2003 Batman storyline Hush featured a more bestial Croc who had been mutated against his will to appear more reptilian. This version of the character was drawn by artist Jim Lee. His appearance in the upcoming video-game, Batman: Arkham Asylum, portrays him as far larger than he has ever been before.