Mr. Freeze
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Mr. Freeze is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. He first appeared in Batman #121 (1959).
Like most Batman villains, Mr. Freeze plans his crimes about a specific theme; in his case, ice and cold. In addition, he has an unusual medical condition that makes him unable to physically tolerate temperatures above freezing. He freezes areas around him using special weapons and equipment. In darker incarnations of the Batman mythos, Mr. Freeze’s obsession with ice stems from personal tragedy and his crimes are attempts to make the world as cold and miserable as he.
Originally called Mr. Zero, Mr. Freeze was renamed and popularized in the 1960s Batman television series. In the 1990s, the animated series revised his origin and character into a tragic figure. He starred in the direct-to-video off-shoot of the series Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, at the same time Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed the character in the 1997 film Batman and Robin.
Full History and Origin Story
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From the time of his first appearance in 1959 onward, Mr. Freeze was portrayed as one of many "joke" villains (see also, Killer Moth, The Mad Hatter) cast as stock enemies of Batman. Originally called Mr. Zero, the producers of the 1960's Batman televison series renamed him Mr. Freeze (and portrayed Batman addressing him as "Dr. Schimmell"), and the name quickly carried over to the comic books.
Nearly thirty years later, Mr. Freeze would owe even more to television. In Batman: The Animated Series' "Heart of Ice" episode, backstory and motivations were created that led to a more complex, tragic character. This version of Mr. Freeze was enthusiastically accepted by fans, and has become the standard portrayal. The following is Mr. Freeze's origin as established by "Heart of Ice" and subsequent episodes.
Victor Fries was fascinated with freezing animals as a child which would lead to his career in cryogenics research. He was sent to a strict boarding school by his father. It was here that Fries met Nora, an attractive girl, and subsequently they got married.
Unfortunately, Nora later fell terminally ill. Fries took on a job working for a large company run by Ferris Boyle, working in his field. Fries did not like the job but needed money to help Nora.
Fries discovered a way to put Nora into cryo-stasis and did so, hoping to sustain her until a cure could be found. Boyle attempted to have her brought out of stasis, overruling Fries' frantic objections. A struggle ensued, in which Boyle kicked Fries into a table full of chemicals and he was left for dead. However, this had a strange effect: his body temperature was lowered dramatically. He survived, but could only live at sub-zero temperatures and had to wear a special refrigerating suit to keep him cool. In addition, Freeze developed useful equipment using cryonic technology with the famous example being his freeze gun which fires a beam that freezes any target within its range.
Mr. Freeze's crimes tend to involve freezing everyone and everything he runs into, rather nasty and pointless, except they seem to satisfy his urge to get even with a hard, cruel world. In addition, he hardly ever forges alliances with the other criminals in Gotham City, preferring to work alone.
In other media
In the 1960s Batman television series, Mr. Freeze was played by George Sanders, Otto Preminger, and Eli Wallach. In Batman: The Animated Series and its spin-offs, Mr. Freeze is voiced by Michael Ansara. He was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film Batman and Robin. Clancy Brown has voiced the character on the animated series The Batman.fr:Mr Freeze