Clayface

Clayface is the identity used by a number of shapeshifting supervillains who have battled the Batman. He is notable for being a classic villain who is metahuman rather that a deranged 'normal' human being like most in the Batman's rogues gallery.

Clayface I, Basil Karlo, appeared in Detective Comics #40. He was an actor who was driven mad when he heard of a remake of the classic horror film he had starred in. Donning the mask of the film's villain, the Clayface, he embarked on a murder spree among the cast and crew of the remake. He was foiled by Batman and Robin, and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum.

Clayface II, Matt Hagen, first appeared in Detective Comics #298. A treasure hunter, Hagen found a mysterious radioactive pool of protoplasm in a cave. Immersing himself in it, he was transformed into a malleable clay-like form which could be shaped into almost anything he desired, though this was only a temporary effect, requiring him to return to the pool periodically in order to maintain use of his powers. Hagen was ultimately killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Clayface III, Preston Payne, first appeared in Detective Comics #478. Suffering from hyperpituitarism, Payne worked at S.T.A.R. Labs searching for a cure. He obtained a sample of the then-living Matt Hagen's blood, and isolated an enzyme which he introduced into his own bloodstream. Although he was briefly able to shape his own appearance, this effect was short-lived: while on a date, his flesh began to melt, and when he touched his horrified woman, she completely melted. Payne built an exoskeleton to prevent himself from touching anyone, but he learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive (he feels pain if he doesn't melt anyone). He fought and was defeated by Batman, and was believed dead for a time.

Clayface IV, Sondra Fuller, also known as Lady Clay, first appeared in Outsiders (volume 1) #21. She was an agent of Kobra who was transformed into a shape-changer by her employer's technologies. She possesses identical abilities to those of Matt Hagen, but without the requirement for a source of protoplasm. She was defeated by the Outsiders.

Clayface III and Clayface IV teamed up, breaking the original Clayface out of prison. Karlo later managed to copy the others' powers by injecting himself with extracts of samples of Clayface III and IV becoming the Ultimate Clayface, and the three battled and were defeated by Batman.

Payne and Fuller fell in love, and eventually became recluses and had a child together named Cassius "Clay" Payne who became Clayface V.

Clayface VI is Dr. Malley. A skin sample from Clayface V came to life and merged with Dr. Malley. He can melt anything without touching it.

Basil Karlo is currently active as Ultimate Clayface.

Clayface in Other Media

In Batman: The Animated Series, several episodes featured a Clayface character, voiced by Ron Perlman, that combined aspects of several of the comic-book Clayfaces. He was Matt Hagen, a past-his-prime actor who had been disfigured in an accident and turned to an untested, and highly addictive, cosmetic compound to maintain his youthful appearance. He was caught in S.T.A.R. Labs trying to steal a large supply of the chemical by two thugs working for the corrupt plant owner, Roland Daggett; they then tried to kill him by dumping an entire barrel of it onto him. The overdose turned him into a bulky and misshapen claylike form who could, for short periods of time, shapeshift into anything or anybody he wished. After trying to get revenge on Daggett, he was stopped and, apparently, destroyed by Batman. He survived, however, and continued on as a criminal.

Eventually, however, Clayface began to slowly fall apart as his chemical structure degraded. He took refuge with a young, female research scientist who fell in love with him and helped him commit crimes to afford the research necessary to find a cure. Just as they were about to administer a treatment, however, Batman intervened and fought him. Beaten, Clayface essentially committed suicide by allowing himself to fall into the nearby ocean.

About a year later, he once again took shape, hiding in the Gotham reservoir system, and gained the ability to form automatons from his body to be sent to do things for him at a distance. Robin encountered one which had no memory of her origin and developed an independent personality. Eventually, however, Clayface sought to reabsorb her, fighting Robin to get to her. As Clayface was just about to kill the hopelessly overmatched Robin, the automaton sacrificed herself to save him by running and absorbing herself into her maker, knocking him into the sewer.

The original animated Clayface was coincidentally derived from the Teen Titans comics character, Plasmus.

In The Batman, Clayface is a police detective named Ethan Bennet. Bennet was an old schoolmate and good friend of Bruce Wayne, and a great supporter of Batman, but got dismissed from the Police for supporting the Dark Knight. After he inhaled a substance invented by the Joker named "Joker putty", Bennet became Clayface and tried to kill his boss, only to be reminded of his former humanity by Batman and his old partner. Unlike the old Clayface, this one was not bulky and could form wings and blades out of his arms. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Clayface also made an appearance on the short-lived Birds of Prey television series.fr:Clayface