| “ | First you fall, then Gotham. | „ |
| ~ Black Mask to Robin in a game over sequence. |
| “ | You know what's so great about you, Batman? Even when I lose, I win. So go ahead - call the cops. They'll lock me up, sure. But my lawyer will have me out on bail before the sun's up. And you know what I'm gonna do when I get out? I'm going to dedicate every waking minute to tracking you down and taking you out. | „ |
| ~ Black Mask after having been defeated by Batman |
Roman Sionis, better known as Black Mask, is a supporting antagonist in the Batman Arkham series. After losing a big part of his criminal empire during Joker's takeover, Black Mask's hold on Gotham is completely ended when he is killed by the vigilante known as Red Hood in Arkham Knight.
History
Second Year of Batman
| “ | Kill him and I'll pay you whatever you want. Make him suffer and I'll double it. | „ |
| ~ Black Mask, explaining the reward for killing Batman |
Black Mask appears to be the main antagonist of Batman: Arkham Origins, after hiring eight assassins, including Bane, Deathstroke, Deadshot, Shiva, Killer Croc, Copperhead, Electrocutioner, and Firefly to hunt down and kill the Batman on Christmas Eve.
However it is revealed that it is actually Joker masquerading as Black Mask that ordered the hit, after forcing a tied up Sionis to kill his mistress, kidnapping him and stealing his money, by staging a violent raid on Sionis' bank.
After Batman intercepts them at the bank, he speaks to the disguised Joker, believing him to be Black Mask. He warns him that the Joker is coming, only for Joker to have his henchman bring the real gagged Sionis. When Sionis insults Joker, Joker severely beats him and has his men drop Sionis into the back of his escape car. Joker then detonates a bomb within the bank and makes off with Sionis and his money. Joker then brings the captive Sionis to his own steel mill which the clown prince of crime promptly takes over, and has Sionis chained up deep within the mill.
Black Mask as Joker's hostage
Later after Batman tracks the Joker to the steel mill he comes across Sionis and frees him. Batman then begins to interrogate Sionis on the Joker's whereabouts, by breaking several of the fallen crime lord's ribs. Sionis however refuses to speak as he wanted the pleasure of murdering the Joker himself. Just as the Dark Knight was about to malfunction Sionis' pacemaker as an incentive, the assassin Copperhead attacks him. Sionis then makes his escape from the mill but not before offering the assassin anything she wanted in return for killing the Bat and making him suffer. However, Copperhead considers him a "fallen king", as she knows about the Joker, and therefore ignores his offer.
Much later after the Joker has been defeated and taken into custody, Black Mask takes back control of his criminal empire and almost immediately starts putting his highly toxic drugs back on the streets to be sold. Batman quickly puts a stop to Black Mask's resurgence to power, by destroying all of his drug stashes. After destroying the last drug stash, Sionis, along with a small group of his gang confronted Batman in the Gotham Church. Despite being outnumbered, Batman managed to defeat both him and all of his men. Black Mask is then taken into custody by the Gotham City Police and incarcerated in Blackgate prison.
Arkham Asylum
The Black Mask as seen in the Character Bios
Though Black Mask doesn't appear in the game Batman: Arkham Asylum, one of the Riddler's riddles revolves around him. His mask can be found in Quincy Sharp's office.
He has an entry in the Character Bios. His profile states:
Following the suspicious death of his multi-millionaire parents in a fire, Roman Sionis inherited their fortune and then went on to bankrupt their company. Saved by a buyout by Bruce Wayne, Sionis came to resent and hate Wayne. Fixated on the concept of masks, Sionis carved one from his father’s black coffin and sought revenge; his ensuing battle with the Dark Knight caused his mask to be burnt into his skin, remaking him as the Black Mask. Sionis is now a feared gang leader and one of the most powerful mob bosses in Gotham, with a burning hatred of the Batman.
Escaping Arkham City's security
| “ | GET ME STRANGE!!! | „ |
| ~ Black Mask, demanding the TYGER Guards to bring him Hugo Strange |
Black Mask's only appearance in the main story is in the beginning, where he is seen holding several TYGER guards at bay with a chair, demanding to be led to Strange. He is then restrained by the TYGER guards with a taser. After falling to the ground, the guards continue beating him. He is also downloadable content, as a boss in the Robin challenges, where he is eventually fought onboard a train.
A wanted poster of him can also be seen on the part of the wall that he blasted. It is revealed that using stolen explosives he was able to escape Arkham City but was later recaptured. In his Arkham City Story, it is revealed that (aside from Hush) he was the only inmate to escape Arkham City.
Batman: Arkham Knight
| “ | You don't need to do this. I'll give you money. Drugs! Guns! Weapons! Whatever you want. Please. I'll take a plane. Leave Gotham. Never show my face again. Anywhere you want! I'll go anywhere! | „ |
| ~ Black Mask's last words |
Though not appearing in the Batman: Arkham Knight main game, Black Mask is the main antagonist of the Red Hood DLC, which is set some time after the events of the game.
Black Mask moments before his death
To clean up Gotham, Jason Todd, now known as the vigilante Red Hood, plans to take down Black Mask as well as to destroy his criminal empire. Opposed to Batman, Red Hood is more violent and ruthless and also kills his enemies and therefore decimates Black Mask's thugs. After defeating many of the henchmen, Red Hood interrogates the last one and is told that Black Mask keeps the real stuff at the docks. Heading there, Red Hood continues killing Black Mask's men. When interrogating one of them, he is told that Black Mask is at his office in Downtown, but that he expects Red Hood. After shooting the thug, Red Hood heads downtown to settle things with Sionis. There, he defeats the present henchmen, which causes Black Mask to enter the room with more henchmen. During the fight with Red Hood, Black Mask uses a gun as well as his fists, but is eventually defeated.
Outmatched, Black Mask pleads for his life, saying he will leave Gotham for good. However Red Hood decides that Black Mask had his chance and instead pushes him through a window, causing him to fall to his death.(Though there are rumors stating that the Black Mask depicted here is just a double.)
Trivia
- Black Mask is voiced by Nolan North in Arkham City, who also did the voice of the Penguin in the Arkhamverse series.
- In Arkham Origins, Black Mask was voiced by two actors; Brian Bloom, who voiced the real Black Mask, and Troy Baker, who voiced the Joker when he was impersonating as Black Mask.
- In Arkham Knight, he was voiced by Brian Bloom.
- Brian Bloom, the voice actor for Black Mask in Arkham Knight as well as the real one in Arkham Origins, had previously voiced Ultraman in Justice League: Crisis of Two Earths. Like that character, Brian Bloom's rendition of Black Mask gave him a slight Mafioso accent.
Quotes
- "This time tomorrow, Gotham's gonna be mine!"
- "You son of a bitch! You think you can steal from me and get away with it? You're a dead man! DEAD!"
- "You waiting for something? Get me out of this thing!"
- "Go to hell!"
- "You think that'll make me talk? After what his put me through? The torture...turned my men on me. Stole from me. Murdered my woman. His my kill, not yours!"
- "You wouldn't."
- "Kill him and I'll pay you whatever you want. Make him suffer and I'll double it!"
- "Couple a 'freaks. You two deserve each other."
- "You'll die badly, Batman. Making that happen is my person mission in life!"
- "You know what's so great about you, Batman? Even when I lose, I win. So go ahead, call the cops. They'll lock me up, sure. But my lawyer will have me out on bail before the sun's up. And you know what I'm gonna do when I get out? I'm gonna dedicate every waking minute to tracking you down, and taking you out! And there's not a damn thing you can do about it. Because that justice system you love so much, it's a scam! And you? Well, you're the mark. Because you keep tossing us in, and we keep bouncing right back out!"
- "No one arrests Black Mask! No one!"
- "Get me Strange!"
- "You'll die for this!"
Game Over Lines
Arkham Origins
- "I was hoping you'd at least live long enough to see what I've got planned for this place." (Batman)
- "With you out of the way, Gotham's mine for the taking. And sooner than I thought!" (Batman)
- "That's it?! All this build up and he falls over like he's made of sticks?! What an anti-climatic ending!" (Batman)
- "What?! The party's already over?! But I was just getting warmed up!" (Batman)
- "I didn't think it would be this easy! Oh well, live and Learn!" (Batman)
- "Unkillable?...Not quite!" (Deathstroke)
- "Not your best day Deathstroke...now hurry up and die!" (Deathstroke)
Arkham City
- "No one goes up against the Black Mask and lives."
- "What? Did you think you could beat me? Me?!"
- "First you fall, then Gotham."
Arkham Knight (Red Hood Story Pack)
- "Is this some kind of joke! Trying to run me outta Gotham! Get this schmuck outta here!"
- "Bring me the hood. The rest... do whatcha want. Just don't make a mess."
- "Do me a favor and die already! I got a business to run."
Gallery
Arkham City
.png "Black Mask (Arkham City).png (46 KB)")
Arkham Origins
Arkham Knight
Videos
