RG: Analysis
Feb. 27th, 2013 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thegreatinhibitorAn overview of why I write Crane the way I do, including some of the things that don't usually show up in portrayals of him. Yes, I think about this guy too much. XD
How old is Crane and what year is he from?
As I stated in my app, I think Crane is around 35 during the events of Batman Begins. In the United States, a psychiatrist’s education involves four years in an undergraduate program, four years of medical school and a residency that typically lasts four years. If Crane entered college at the age of seventeen or eighteen (which is more than likely—though he seems to be unusually intelligent, as an honors student myself I can attest to the fact that it tends to be very difficult and ill-advised to enter a four-year school early, especially if one is pursuing a science degree) then he would have completed his studies around the age of thirty. Add in a few years’ experience and the opportunity to get the kind of clout he apparently has at Arkham, and that age is pretty much the lowest I can comfortably place him.
The Nolan trilogy is set in modern times, but specific years are never given. There does appear to be a bit of a time gap between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and there’s a stated time gap of eight years between TDK and The Dark Knight Rises. For convenience’s sake, if Crane is asked about this, I assume BB took place in the year of its release date (2005) and TDK around the year of its release date (2008). Crane’s canon point is between those two films and probably shortly before the events of TDK, so I take his year as 2008 and his age upon arriving in Gulch as 38. (If it took him from TDKR, he’d actually be 46. Oh Crane, you old man. XD)
The reason why I chose that canon point was that I think it captures Crane at his best. He seems to become more unhinged over the course of the trilogy, but appears to still be fairly reasonable at the beginning of TDK, as well as recovered from being gassed with his own toxin (more on that later.) I wanted a Crane that had experienced the defining events of his character in BB and would not be surprised to be recognized as a criminal by his canonmates, but that still was capable of blending in with civilized society and practicing medicine. One of the additional benefits I’ve found of taking him from this point is that he doesn’t particularly long to return home—he’s more or less dashed his opportunity for a comfortable life to pieces back in Gotham—making it so that he isn’t reticent about establishing himself in Gulch and forming new connections.
Why does Crane torture people?
I’ve seen a number of possible motivations bandied about for him, and in the comics it often does depend on who’s writing him. Mine comes down to what seems most logical to me given his actions in the Nolanverse and what I know of his intelligence and reasoning capabilities.
To me Crane is, quite simply, a sadist. He takes pleasure in the suffering of others and in the sensation of power and control that comes with making someone suffer. The reason why he attacks others on an emotional and psychological level rather than, say, knifing them is a reflection of his particular fascination with the mind and desire to inflict torment in a very intimate way. His fixation with fear is an expression of his love of power—as an emotion, it’s the most immediate and primal response to something perceived as a threat, as well as something that can quickly render a person helpless and unable to act.
Crane generally likes people. Though I have little doubt some of his attacks have been motivated by revenge in the past, I cannot see him as a misanthrope. He would not have gone into a profession where he works one-on-one with patients on a daily basis if he thought people were scum (were he in a more research-based profession, that idea might be a little more plausible.) This does not mean that he commonly feels compassion for others, but he does seek to understand them and enjoys the process of getting to know them, the way someone might enjoy piecing together a puzzle. He’s interested in emotions and drives, and feels an emotional connection with others’ responses, if not in a particularly sympathetic way. Moreover, he is never presented as having a moral code that demands condemnation and punishment of others. I think the moment in BB where Ra’s al Ghul denies Crane’s involvement in the League of Shadows and states that Crane thought they were planning on holding Gotham for ransom speaks volumes—Crane doesn’t want to punish humanity or get even with it; he’s far more interested in personal power than settling any scores. He’d rather pursue his own interests than subordinate himself to cosmic ideals of right and wrong.
I also do not see Crane being under the impression that he’s furthering science. While he was presented this way early in the comics, being as calculating as he is and having such a strong educational background in psychology would make this implausible. Moreover, in the Nolanverse he is never mentioned to have published his findings in some roundabout way or shown compiling research. He never states a desire to contribute to scientific knowledge or become more personally knowledgeable through working on his toxin. The experimentation Falcone mentions Crane did on Arkham patients seems more a means of testing his compound and increasing its potency than a line of scientific inquiry—a nonconsensual drug trial, in effect.
To address a similar point, I don’t see Crane attributing all human motivation to fear. This is another way he has been written in the comics, but in the real-world setting of the Nolanverse I see him having a more mature and rounded psychological perspective on account of his apparent success and position. Fear interests him because of its involvement in power relationships and how crippling it can be to reason. He no doubt grasps the way attraction can also impair a person’s judgment, but I doubt trying to dominate someone through making them love him would be as satisfying and would likely require more of an investment on his part than he would be willing to give. The one-sided nature of his torture sessions is striking—he allows himself to be perceived as more of a monster than a person, eliminating the emotional recognition that might result from his victims seeing his face and preventing any of his own weaknesses from becoming clear. He makes his power complete by elevating himself to that level, something that cannot be done in a more romantic relationship (though romance being ill-fitted to the task of overpowering others doesn’t necessarily rule out that he can experience it—more on that in a bit.)
Is Crane a sociopath?
Crane and characters like him are often referred to as sociopaths or psychopaths, but I don’t see sociopathy as an accurate label for Crane for a number of reasons.
Sociopathy is not a mental disorder in itself, but is used to refer to a set of symptoms, the most prominent of which are shallow emotions and a lack of empathy. Sociopathic individuals tend to be highly manipulative and superficially charming, as well as—contrary to most media portrayals—impulsive and irresponsible. Because of their inability to empathize and their need for stimulation, they tend to not create long-term plans and exhibit parasitic behavior, shamelessly using others for a time and then moving on.
Crane is shown to be more than capable of planning ahead and delaying immediate pleasure for future gain. In order to become a psychiatrist, he would have to devote about a decade of his life to higher education, a task that would involve a great deal of discipline and effort with proportionally few rewards. He would also have to maintain a number of protracted relationships, which a sociopath would more than likely not have the patience for. The disorders that sociopaths are often diagnosed with, such as antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, also tend to involve a low threshold for anger and aggression, which is not evident in Crane and would not serve him well in a profession with a strong emphasis on doctor-and-patient interaction.
Crane seems to exhibit a certain amount of respect for rules and institutions, in spite of his criminal activities. His ability to function within the power structures of medical school and a hospital setting are a testament to his regard for rank and status. This does not deny that Crane actively subverts some of society’s rules for his own gain, but prior to his activities coming to light in BB, it’s evident that he works to keep this fact hidden from other authority figures and preserve his job at Arkham. He would rather be a part of society than outside of it, at least if he can occupy a position of control.
It’s worth noting as well that sadism is not necessarily comorbid with sociopathic traits. Sadism involves a strong pleasure response to others’ pain, while sociopathy alone would involve an absence of an emotional response to others’ pain—two separate presentations. Crane’s sadism thus does not have to be accompanied by sociopathy, even though in fiction the two are often presented together.
As a point of personal preference, I do also enjoy portrayals of Crane more that give him the capacity for empathy. The Nolan trilogy does not explore his character deeply enough to show whether that capacity might exist in him or not, but some of the comics have written him as able to identify with people facing challenges he’s experienced or as willing to defend people that share similar interests to his. While I do think his predatory personality would make such instances infrequent, considering that Crane is consistently presented as a victim of abuse when given a backstory, I don’t find it farfetched that he could emotionally connect with others that have undergone trauma now and then. This does not necessarily conflict with his status as an abuser—as someone with regard for power structures, I can see him viewing himself as of a higher caliber than those who lack the skill or patience to pursue their goals within those structures: a white-collar criminal as opposed a common thug. It is plausible that he could inflict psychological torment with a certain sense of entitlement due to the position he’s achieved while viewing petty criminals as worthy of reproach, rendering him able to cast judgment on some abusers in a rather hypocritical way.
What is Crane’s sexuality?
This is yet another subject that largely depends on the source material one is using for Crane, and one that is not expressly addressed in the Nolanverse. My interpretation is influenced by my understanding of pleasure being a powerful motivator for him and the intensity of emotion he experiences as a result of torturing others.
I see Crane as being technically asexual. By this I mean that Crane is not sexually attracted to individuals—he cannot look at a woman or a man and feel lust for them on account of their physical or sexual characteristics. This is largely inferred from the reserved manner in which he conducts most of his social relations, as well as the lack of a pattern in who he tortures that could be attributed to an overall sexual attraction. Crane is not presented as having a strong preference in terms of who he tortures and is implied to derive pleasure from the act of torture more than any characteristic of his victims, unlike a criminal that might target women or boys or attractive individuals in particular.
This does not imply that Crane might not find particular people attractive in some sense. As someone interested in emotion and breaking through people’s defenses, I can see him being intrigued by people that are very guarded, as well as drawn to people that are very expressive. This is distinct from any sexual favoritism, existing as more of an intellectual curiosity or an emotional tie based on how blatantly someone might later display their helplessness during torture.
Neither does this imply that Crane has no desire for sex. On the contrary, I see his experience of sexual pleasure existing as an extension of the thrill he receives through torturing others. Overpowering others is both emotionally stimulating and sexually arousing for him, with expressions of his victims’ agony—screaming, writhing, being wide-eyed and openmouthed with fear—potentially serving as specific triggers. It doesn’t matter who the victim is so long as they react in that way, nor does penetration have to be involved, though I would not dismiss the possibility that Crane might be able to receive stimulation through physical means as well. His arousal rests more in the excitement of dominance than anything else.
What about his romantic orientation?
I do see Crane being capable of romantic attraction—though I admit this is another point that boils down to my own preferences and what I feel makes him interesting as a character. It is something that I don’t see occurring lightly or often, either, because of the infrequency with which Crane empathizes with others. As with his sexual life, any romantic relationship would also have to include a power differential tipped in his favor, at least in the early stages.
For this reason I tend to ship Crane with characters that are female and insecure. Because women generally tend to be more emotionally outgoing than men, as well as less physically imposing, I think that while he may not be partial to either sex, Crane does tend to feel more at ease around women. He may hold a fascination for people that are defensive and manipulative, but considering how being met with such challenges would cause him to act in kind, he would have difficulty forming a romantic bond with individuals like that. Additionally, interacting with someone with obvious insecurities gives him the security of an easy out, the understanding that if they prove a threat to him, he can pick and prod at the places where their self-confidence falls short. If one holds that he spent his formative years abused and victimized, it’s only logical that he would be reluctant to open up in a relationship without such security.
In general, I believe Crane tends to admire in others the qualities that he possesses—a strong work ethic, a desire to learn, an appreciation of professionalism and human behavior. While he’d prefer the company of someone interested in the sort of things he’s interested in, he would not be terribly comfortable around someone whose knowledge matched or surpassed his in his own field, with the way he strongly associates information with power. One of the other things I do see him enjoying that does not come up in many portrayals of him is a willingness to engage in acts of physical intimacy, such as kissing and cuddling. While there are certain kinds of touch that would definitely make him uncomfortable—being held down, for instance—it isn’t difficult to imagine him savoring being physically close to others, much as he savors exploring the intimate corners of their minds.
It should be noted that I don’t see the experience of romantic love as being something Crane is very familiar with, if at all. He understands it more analytically, but as someone who grew up suffering abuse, I imagine he displayed a kind of reserve for many years that prevented him from seeking romantic relationships and experiencing such love. While he has since achieved an authority and self-assurance through his education and profession that makes it easier for him to socialize without a great deal of anxiety, I nevertheless see it as not something he actively seeks nor an emotion he would necessarily recognize in himself right away. Depending on the state of the relationship, it may even make him uneasy with its implications of a strong emotional dependence on a particular person. Crane does accept his need for emotional validation from others, even revels in it, but the idea that he would especially require it from a certain individual rather than being able to seek it through many sets him in a necessarily depowered position. Unless that individual was someone he felt he could control, he would recoil from that position.
What is Crane afraid of?
Or, alternately, the “what would Crane experience under fear gas?” question.
Above anything else, as I’ve reiterated through the above topics, Crane fears being vulnerable. He fears being at the mercy of others that may harm him. This doesn’t mean that Crane avoids danger at all costs—rather, he tends not to act without an alternative approach or escape route in mind. He needs to be able to one-up potential threats, to combat foes on their own playing field or redirect them to one he’s more competent in. Crane can be, for instance, beaten and bruised by Batman, but so long as he can say something that gets under the man’s skin and knocks his confidence down a peg, then Crane can stave off his own sense of helplessness and anxiety (hence why he hallucinates Bruce as being a demonic figure—he can’t out-maneuver something without human doubts and fears.)
There are a few specific offshoots to this. I’ve always written Crane as being insecure about his body due to how he’s frequently shown being teased about his frame in renditions of his backstory. Often I have this manifest as an unwillingness to undress in front of others, even if he rationally knows they aren’t going to comment on his appearance. Similarly, as mentioned beneath the subject of romance, I think he tends to become anxious when physically restrained, unless the act is a direct reaction to him getting to someone. He knows he’s not very strong in that area, and I see it being an uncomfortable callback to his experiences with bullying.
Because I’m hesitant to select a specific backstory for him and more inclined to work in generalities (though I admit I am partial to many of the details in the Year One version), I do not write Crane as having a phobia of birds, bats, or Batman himself. His scene in TDK depicts him as being more thrilled by than terrified of Batman anyway, even after his experiences in BB.
It’s worth mentioning that, consistent with his portrayal in BB, I don’t see him as having any immunity to his toxin, nor enjoying its effects. I would find it wholly inconsistent with his sadism and concern for power anyway to enjoy being terrified, and as his toxin is shown to dredge up some painful memories in Bruce, I hold that it does the same in him. While the movies offer no explanation for his apparent recovery in TDK, I imagine that in the wake of the gassing of the Narrows, he was able to eventually get his hands on some antidote that was being distributed and thus relieve some of the symptoms. I would not be surprised whether he did experience some PTSD and/or some neurological aftereffects at any rate, achieving a full or partial recovery with time.
What is Crane’s fear toxin like, anyway?
In terms of existing drugs, it’s probably similar to serotonergic psychedelics. This is a class of drugs that mimic serotonin, a neurotransmitter linked to mood. Personally, I like to refer to the toxin as “LSD with only bad trips.”
It’s also highly likely that it triggers the release of hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine, involved in the fight or flight response. Based on how quickly individuals beneath the influence of the drug are shown to assume a terrified state without complex hallucinations, I surmise that the sense of terror is independent of them—the individual experiences a profound anxiety first and foremost, which is then exacerbated by the hallucinations. At low doses, the hallucinations may not even be present, or may be limited to visual and auditory manifestations. At higher doses, I can easily imagine them as spanning a variety of senses, to the point that the subject is both paralyzed with fear and unable to distinguish what is and isn’t real.
The quantities in which Crane was able produce the toxin in BB indicate that while the compound originated in the blue flowers introduced near the beginning of the movie, Crane did develop a method of not only increasing its potency, but artificially synthesizing it. The fact that he was able to conceal the process so well and that he has the toxin with him in TDK suggests that the synthesis is likely not all that involved or expensive, and I’ve found it safe and pragmatic to assume that he can create it with some basic laboratory equipment in a short amount of time.
In BB it’s shown as having one definite route of administration—inhalation as an aerosol. It apparently has no effect through an oral route and may be broken down by the acid of the stomach. Many comics and the Arkham series also show it as being injectable in some way, and I would not be surprised if it could be delivered intravenously as well. Because of it not being absorbable through the skin or the mucous membranes of the mouth and digestive tract, I’d venture to say that the intramuscular route is likely a poor mode of delivery.
On a rather amusing note, if it does chemically resemble drugs like LSD, it is probably functionally an amine. This would mean that the aerosol could very well smell like ammonia and dead fish. Lovely.
How old is Crane and what year is he from?
As I stated in my app, I think Crane is around 35 during the events of Batman Begins. In the United States, a psychiatrist’s education involves four years in an undergraduate program, four years of medical school and a residency that typically lasts four years. If Crane entered college at the age of seventeen or eighteen (which is more than likely—though he seems to be unusually intelligent, as an honors student myself I can attest to the fact that it tends to be very difficult and ill-advised to enter a four-year school early, especially if one is pursuing a science degree) then he would have completed his studies around the age of thirty. Add in a few years’ experience and the opportunity to get the kind of clout he apparently has at Arkham, and that age is pretty much the lowest I can comfortably place him.
The Nolan trilogy is set in modern times, but specific years are never given. There does appear to be a bit of a time gap between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and there’s a stated time gap of eight years between TDK and The Dark Knight Rises. For convenience’s sake, if Crane is asked about this, I assume BB took place in the year of its release date (2005) and TDK around the year of its release date (2008). Crane’s canon point is between those two films and probably shortly before the events of TDK, so I take his year as 2008 and his age upon arriving in Gulch as 38. (If it took him from TDKR, he’d actually be 46. Oh Crane, you old man. XD)
The reason why I chose that canon point was that I think it captures Crane at his best. He seems to become more unhinged over the course of the trilogy, but appears to still be fairly reasonable at the beginning of TDK, as well as recovered from being gassed with his own toxin (more on that later.) I wanted a Crane that had experienced the defining events of his character in BB and would not be surprised to be recognized as a criminal by his canonmates, but that still was capable of blending in with civilized society and practicing medicine. One of the additional benefits I’ve found of taking him from this point is that he doesn’t particularly long to return home—he’s more or less dashed his opportunity for a comfortable life to pieces back in Gotham—making it so that he isn’t reticent about establishing himself in Gulch and forming new connections.
Why does Crane torture people?
I’ve seen a number of possible motivations bandied about for him, and in the comics it often does depend on who’s writing him. Mine comes down to what seems most logical to me given his actions in the Nolanverse and what I know of his intelligence and reasoning capabilities.
To me Crane is, quite simply, a sadist. He takes pleasure in the suffering of others and in the sensation of power and control that comes with making someone suffer. The reason why he attacks others on an emotional and psychological level rather than, say, knifing them is a reflection of his particular fascination with the mind and desire to inflict torment in a very intimate way. His fixation with fear is an expression of his love of power—as an emotion, it’s the most immediate and primal response to something perceived as a threat, as well as something that can quickly render a person helpless and unable to act.
Crane generally likes people. Though I have little doubt some of his attacks have been motivated by revenge in the past, I cannot see him as a misanthrope. He would not have gone into a profession where he works one-on-one with patients on a daily basis if he thought people were scum (were he in a more research-based profession, that idea might be a little more plausible.) This does not mean that he commonly feels compassion for others, but he does seek to understand them and enjoys the process of getting to know them, the way someone might enjoy piecing together a puzzle. He’s interested in emotions and drives, and feels an emotional connection with others’ responses, if not in a particularly sympathetic way. Moreover, he is never presented as having a moral code that demands condemnation and punishment of others. I think the moment in BB where Ra’s al Ghul denies Crane’s involvement in the League of Shadows and states that Crane thought they were planning on holding Gotham for ransom speaks volumes—Crane doesn’t want to punish humanity or get even with it; he’s far more interested in personal power than settling any scores. He’d rather pursue his own interests than subordinate himself to cosmic ideals of right and wrong.
I also do not see Crane being under the impression that he’s furthering science. While he was presented this way early in the comics, being as calculating as he is and having such a strong educational background in psychology would make this implausible. Moreover, in the Nolanverse he is never mentioned to have published his findings in some roundabout way or shown compiling research. He never states a desire to contribute to scientific knowledge or become more personally knowledgeable through working on his toxin. The experimentation Falcone mentions Crane did on Arkham patients seems more a means of testing his compound and increasing its potency than a line of scientific inquiry—a nonconsensual drug trial, in effect.
To address a similar point, I don’t see Crane attributing all human motivation to fear. This is another way he has been written in the comics, but in the real-world setting of the Nolanverse I see him having a more mature and rounded psychological perspective on account of his apparent success and position. Fear interests him because of its involvement in power relationships and how crippling it can be to reason. He no doubt grasps the way attraction can also impair a person’s judgment, but I doubt trying to dominate someone through making them love him would be as satisfying and would likely require more of an investment on his part than he would be willing to give. The one-sided nature of his torture sessions is striking—he allows himself to be perceived as more of a monster than a person, eliminating the emotional recognition that might result from his victims seeing his face and preventing any of his own weaknesses from becoming clear. He makes his power complete by elevating himself to that level, something that cannot be done in a more romantic relationship (though romance being ill-fitted to the task of overpowering others doesn’t necessarily rule out that he can experience it—more on that in a bit.)
Is Crane a sociopath?
Crane and characters like him are often referred to as sociopaths or psychopaths, but I don’t see sociopathy as an accurate label for Crane for a number of reasons.
Sociopathy is not a mental disorder in itself, but is used to refer to a set of symptoms, the most prominent of which are shallow emotions and a lack of empathy. Sociopathic individuals tend to be highly manipulative and superficially charming, as well as—contrary to most media portrayals—impulsive and irresponsible. Because of their inability to empathize and their need for stimulation, they tend to not create long-term plans and exhibit parasitic behavior, shamelessly using others for a time and then moving on.
Crane is shown to be more than capable of planning ahead and delaying immediate pleasure for future gain. In order to become a psychiatrist, he would have to devote about a decade of his life to higher education, a task that would involve a great deal of discipline and effort with proportionally few rewards. He would also have to maintain a number of protracted relationships, which a sociopath would more than likely not have the patience for. The disorders that sociopaths are often diagnosed with, such as antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, also tend to involve a low threshold for anger and aggression, which is not evident in Crane and would not serve him well in a profession with a strong emphasis on doctor-and-patient interaction.
Crane seems to exhibit a certain amount of respect for rules and institutions, in spite of his criminal activities. His ability to function within the power structures of medical school and a hospital setting are a testament to his regard for rank and status. This does not deny that Crane actively subverts some of society’s rules for his own gain, but prior to his activities coming to light in BB, it’s evident that he works to keep this fact hidden from other authority figures and preserve his job at Arkham. He would rather be a part of society than outside of it, at least if he can occupy a position of control.
It’s worth noting as well that sadism is not necessarily comorbid with sociopathic traits. Sadism involves a strong pleasure response to others’ pain, while sociopathy alone would involve an absence of an emotional response to others’ pain—two separate presentations. Crane’s sadism thus does not have to be accompanied by sociopathy, even though in fiction the two are often presented together.
As a point of personal preference, I do also enjoy portrayals of Crane more that give him the capacity for empathy. The Nolan trilogy does not explore his character deeply enough to show whether that capacity might exist in him or not, but some of the comics have written him as able to identify with people facing challenges he’s experienced or as willing to defend people that share similar interests to his. While I do think his predatory personality would make such instances infrequent, considering that Crane is consistently presented as a victim of abuse when given a backstory, I don’t find it farfetched that he could emotionally connect with others that have undergone trauma now and then. This does not necessarily conflict with his status as an abuser—as someone with regard for power structures, I can see him viewing himself as of a higher caliber than those who lack the skill or patience to pursue their goals within those structures: a white-collar criminal as opposed a common thug. It is plausible that he could inflict psychological torment with a certain sense of entitlement due to the position he’s achieved while viewing petty criminals as worthy of reproach, rendering him able to cast judgment on some abusers in a rather hypocritical way.
What is Crane’s sexuality?
This is yet another subject that largely depends on the source material one is using for Crane, and one that is not expressly addressed in the Nolanverse. My interpretation is influenced by my understanding of pleasure being a powerful motivator for him and the intensity of emotion he experiences as a result of torturing others.
I see Crane as being technically asexual. By this I mean that Crane is not sexually attracted to individuals—he cannot look at a woman or a man and feel lust for them on account of their physical or sexual characteristics. This is largely inferred from the reserved manner in which he conducts most of his social relations, as well as the lack of a pattern in who he tortures that could be attributed to an overall sexual attraction. Crane is not presented as having a strong preference in terms of who he tortures and is implied to derive pleasure from the act of torture more than any characteristic of his victims, unlike a criminal that might target women or boys or attractive individuals in particular.
This does not imply that Crane might not find particular people attractive in some sense. As someone interested in emotion and breaking through people’s defenses, I can see him being intrigued by people that are very guarded, as well as drawn to people that are very expressive. This is distinct from any sexual favoritism, existing as more of an intellectual curiosity or an emotional tie based on how blatantly someone might later display their helplessness during torture.
Neither does this imply that Crane has no desire for sex. On the contrary, I see his experience of sexual pleasure existing as an extension of the thrill he receives through torturing others. Overpowering others is both emotionally stimulating and sexually arousing for him, with expressions of his victims’ agony—screaming, writhing, being wide-eyed and openmouthed with fear—potentially serving as specific triggers. It doesn’t matter who the victim is so long as they react in that way, nor does penetration have to be involved, though I would not dismiss the possibility that Crane might be able to receive stimulation through physical means as well. His arousal rests more in the excitement of dominance than anything else.
What about his romantic orientation?
I do see Crane being capable of romantic attraction—though I admit this is another point that boils down to my own preferences and what I feel makes him interesting as a character. It is something that I don’t see occurring lightly or often, either, because of the infrequency with which Crane empathizes with others. As with his sexual life, any romantic relationship would also have to include a power differential tipped in his favor, at least in the early stages.
For this reason I tend to ship Crane with characters that are female and insecure. Because women generally tend to be more emotionally outgoing than men, as well as less physically imposing, I think that while he may not be partial to either sex, Crane does tend to feel more at ease around women. He may hold a fascination for people that are defensive and manipulative, but considering how being met with such challenges would cause him to act in kind, he would have difficulty forming a romantic bond with individuals like that. Additionally, interacting with someone with obvious insecurities gives him the security of an easy out, the understanding that if they prove a threat to him, he can pick and prod at the places where their self-confidence falls short. If one holds that he spent his formative years abused and victimized, it’s only logical that he would be reluctant to open up in a relationship without such security.
In general, I believe Crane tends to admire in others the qualities that he possesses—a strong work ethic, a desire to learn, an appreciation of professionalism and human behavior. While he’d prefer the company of someone interested in the sort of things he’s interested in, he would not be terribly comfortable around someone whose knowledge matched or surpassed his in his own field, with the way he strongly associates information with power. One of the other things I do see him enjoying that does not come up in many portrayals of him is a willingness to engage in acts of physical intimacy, such as kissing and cuddling. While there are certain kinds of touch that would definitely make him uncomfortable—being held down, for instance—it isn’t difficult to imagine him savoring being physically close to others, much as he savors exploring the intimate corners of their minds.
It should be noted that I don’t see the experience of romantic love as being something Crane is very familiar with, if at all. He understands it more analytically, but as someone who grew up suffering abuse, I imagine he displayed a kind of reserve for many years that prevented him from seeking romantic relationships and experiencing such love. While he has since achieved an authority and self-assurance through his education and profession that makes it easier for him to socialize without a great deal of anxiety, I nevertheless see it as not something he actively seeks nor an emotion he would necessarily recognize in himself right away. Depending on the state of the relationship, it may even make him uneasy with its implications of a strong emotional dependence on a particular person. Crane does accept his need for emotional validation from others, even revels in it, but the idea that he would especially require it from a certain individual rather than being able to seek it through many sets him in a necessarily depowered position. Unless that individual was someone he felt he could control, he would recoil from that position.
What is Crane afraid of?
Or, alternately, the “what would Crane experience under fear gas?” question.
Above anything else, as I’ve reiterated through the above topics, Crane fears being vulnerable. He fears being at the mercy of others that may harm him. This doesn’t mean that Crane avoids danger at all costs—rather, he tends not to act without an alternative approach or escape route in mind. He needs to be able to one-up potential threats, to combat foes on their own playing field or redirect them to one he’s more competent in. Crane can be, for instance, beaten and bruised by Batman, but so long as he can say something that gets under the man’s skin and knocks his confidence down a peg, then Crane can stave off his own sense of helplessness and anxiety (hence why he hallucinates Bruce as being a demonic figure—he can’t out-maneuver something without human doubts and fears.)
There are a few specific offshoots to this. I’ve always written Crane as being insecure about his body due to how he’s frequently shown being teased about his frame in renditions of his backstory. Often I have this manifest as an unwillingness to undress in front of others, even if he rationally knows they aren’t going to comment on his appearance. Similarly, as mentioned beneath the subject of romance, I think he tends to become anxious when physically restrained, unless the act is a direct reaction to him getting to someone. He knows he’s not very strong in that area, and I see it being an uncomfortable callback to his experiences with bullying.
Because I’m hesitant to select a specific backstory for him and more inclined to work in generalities (though I admit I am partial to many of the details in the Year One version), I do not write Crane as having a phobia of birds, bats, or Batman himself. His scene in TDK depicts him as being more thrilled by than terrified of Batman anyway, even after his experiences in BB.
It’s worth mentioning that, consistent with his portrayal in BB, I don’t see him as having any immunity to his toxin, nor enjoying its effects. I would find it wholly inconsistent with his sadism and concern for power anyway to enjoy being terrified, and as his toxin is shown to dredge up some painful memories in Bruce, I hold that it does the same in him. While the movies offer no explanation for his apparent recovery in TDK, I imagine that in the wake of the gassing of the Narrows, he was able to eventually get his hands on some antidote that was being distributed and thus relieve some of the symptoms. I would not be surprised whether he did experience some PTSD and/or some neurological aftereffects at any rate, achieving a full or partial recovery with time.
What is Crane’s fear toxin like, anyway?
In terms of existing drugs, it’s probably similar to serotonergic psychedelics. This is a class of drugs that mimic serotonin, a neurotransmitter linked to mood. Personally, I like to refer to the toxin as “LSD with only bad trips.”
It’s also highly likely that it triggers the release of hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine, involved in the fight or flight response. Based on how quickly individuals beneath the influence of the drug are shown to assume a terrified state without complex hallucinations, I surmise that the sense of terror is independent of them—the individual experiences a profound anxiety first and foremost, which is then exacerbated by the hallucinations. At low doses, the hallucinations may not even be present, or may be limited to visual and auditory manifestations. At higher doses, I can easily imagine them as spanning a variety of senses, to the point that the subject is both paralyzed with fear and unable to distinguish what is and isn’t real.
The quantities in which Crane was able produce the toxin in BB indicate that while the compound originated in the blue flowers introduced near the beginning of the movie, Crane did develop a method of not only increasing its potency, but artificially synthesizing it. The fact that he was able to conceal the process so well and that he has the toxin with him in TDK suggests that the synthesis is likely not all that involved or expensive, and I’ve found it safe and pragmatic to assume that he can create it with some basic laboratory equipment in a short amount of time.
In BB it’s shown as having one definite route of administration—inhalation as an aerosol. It apparently has no effect through an oral route and may be broken down by the acid of the stomach. Many comics and the Arkham series also show it as being injectable in some way, and I would not be surprised if it could be delivered intravenously as well. Because of it not being absorbable through the skin or the mucous membranes of the mouth and digestive tract, I’d venture to say that the intramuscular route is likely a poor mode of delivery.
On a rather amusing note, if it does chemically resemble drugs like LSD, it is probably functionally an amine. This would mean that the aerosol could very well smell like ammonia and dead fish. Lovely.