Ghoul

Ghoul
Real name:	Stewart Carter Winthrop III
Species:	Human
Hair:	Blond
Eyes:	Black
Base:	New Gotham
Affiliations:	Jokerz
Rogue of:	Batman (Terry McGinnis) Justice League Unlimited
Voiced by:	Michael Rosenbaum

"Hard to believe someone as stupid as you ever beat the Joker."

Ghoul was one of the Jokerz who followed the rejuvenated Joker. He was heavily into techno-goth music and has adapted the horror look into his costume. Ghoul was never without his plastic Halloween pumpkin, which he kept filled with a number of monster-inspired weapons and tricks. He was usually paired up with Woof before being defeated by Batman and arrested by the police.

History

Ghoul joined a sub-gang of the Jokerz under the control of the Joker himself. He served as the group's techie, manning the computers and technical equipment.

During the heist at Gotham Shipping, Ghoul attempted to attack Batman, but was knocked out a few times. The rest of the Jokerz later managed to recover Ghoul and Woof when their heist was foiled by Batman. In the aftermath, Joker tasked Ghoul with locating another systems scanner to make up for the one they lost in the earlier heist on their database. Ghoul managed to locate a list of the only other places to find the cutting-edge systems scanner that they are searching for: including Wayne Enterprises, which had tight security. During the heist in which Woof and Dee Dee managed to cause a distraction, Ghoul waited outside of the security post until they were called and, donning a gas mask, hurled a gas grenade to immobilize security. Chucko and Ghoul then managed to recover the device in question.

The Jokerz were later dispatched by Joker to kill Terry McGinnis. Ghoul held Dana Tan hostage, although she briefly got free by stomping his right foot. Ghoul then "let go" of Dana while sarcastically complying with "Sure, cutes!" by throwing her off the ledge, inflicting serious injuries on her in the process and would most likely have been killed by the fall had Terry not caught her. He was later knocked out into submission.

Ghoul and the other Jokerz were later dispatched to tie up a loose end by eliminating Jordan Pryce. When Batman cornered them on the ship, Ghoul used his Jack-o-lantern bucket to break the window for an alternate means of escape for the gang.

When the Jokerz fought Batman at their hideout, Ghoul attempted to sneak attack Batman after Woof was driven away by Ace, but Batman managed to give him a surprise punch while facing away from him, knocking him out. He was presumably arrested afterwards.

Alternate timeline

In the alternate future created by Chronos, he was upgraded to have a robotic buzz saw implanted in place of his arm and was shown to be able to retract that and swap between his arm and the buzz saw. Ghoul, along with rest of Joker's Jokerz, were the "security" of Chronos and contracted to kill the Justice League (Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman) but was interrupted by the JLU (the second Batman, Static, and Warhawk). Later, Ghoul was interrogated by the original Batman then by an elderly Bruce Wayne.

Abilities and equipment

Ghoul is not much of a physical fighter, virtually always being the easiest member of the gang Batman has beaten (usually with one punch). He does seem to have a vast knowledge of technology, as he was able to locate equipment for Joker's plan. With his upgrades in an alternate future, he was considerably much more of a threat although he was still brought down easily when confronted by the Justice League.

Background information

• In Paul Dini's screenplay for Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the fate of the Jokerz, and Ghoul's as well, following their battle against Batman and Ace at the Jolly Jack Candy Factory was going to be revealed as being arrested by Barbara Gordon and the GPD during their escape from the factory. Furthermore, the last scene of the male Jokerz at their cell following the release of Dee Dee was to feature Ghoul sharing a cell with Woof and Chucko.
• Ghoul is a very loose tribute to original Batman villain Scarecrow. Interestingly, while most of the original Batman villains who are referred to in Batman Beyond are referenced to the way (or somewhat similar) they appeared in the revamp, Ghoul's costume actually bears more resemblance to how the Scarecrow appeared before the revamp.
• Much like his Kevin Spacey impression that formed the basis of Deadshot's voice performance in Justice League, Michael Rosenbaum based the voice of Ghoul on actor Christopher Walken according to the DVD commentary of Return of the Joker. Both Spacey and Walken have played a DC Comics villain, with Spacey portraying Lex Luthor in Superman Returns and Walken portraying Max Shreck in Batman Returns.

Appearances

Feature film

• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Justice League Unlimited

• "The Once and Future Thing Part One: Weird Western Tales" ^(Cameo)
• "The Once and Future Thing Part Two: Time, Warped"