Condiment King

The Condiment King is a fictional DC Comics villain created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for the Batman: The Animated Series. He makes use of various condiments, sometimes capable of causing Anaphylactic shock, as his weapons. He is generally used as comic relief within the series.

Fictional character biography

Television

The Condiment King first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode 'Make Em Laugh', voiced by Stuart Pankin. The character was a throwback to the 1966 Adam West Batman series in that he was whimsical and made many condiment-based puns, for example: "The big bad Bat-guy. I knew you'd ketchup to me sooner or later. How I relished this meeting. You, the dynamic Dark Knight, versus me, the conceptual Condiment King! Come, Batman. Let's see if you can cut the mustard." He attacked the Crown Restaurant only to end up fighting Batman. When he was accidentally knocked off the balcony and fell onto a passing police car, Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock identified him to be stand-up comedian Buddy Standler (who was brainwashed by the Joker using the Mad Hatter's devices). With Buddy in the hospital with no memory of the events, his agent told Summer Gleason that he doesn't know why Buddy did it and that the studio cancelled his show when the restaurant sued Buddy for $1,000,000 worth of damage. It was revealed that he (alongside Lisa Lorraine and Harry Loomis) had unwittingly spurned the Joker (in the disguise of Shecky Rimshot) the previous year and he planned revenge by mind-controlling them to be his supervillain pawns. After Joker was arrested and his plans exposed, it can be assumed that Buddy alongside Harry and Lisa were cleared of all charges.

Comics

Chronologically, The Condiment King first appeared in Batgirl: Year One, as written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty. This version is a man named Mitchell Mayo. Much like his animated counterpart, he is a comic relief villain that is easily taken down by Robin and Batgirl. He also appears in Birds of Prey #37, where he is defeated by Black Canary, the new Robin, and Blue Beetle.

In Robin #171 (April 2008), Robin defeats the Condiment King again. Robin observes that the villain is potentially dangerous (only because his condiment guns could cause anaphylactic shock), but his ludicrous nature prevents the justice department taking him seriously.

Condiment King reappears in Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #2 (Aug 2009), in which he is one of a number of obscure or second-string villains working for General Immortus and inducts the Human Flame into the group. It is stated that all the villains in Immortus's employ have had their powers improved by Professor Milo, but the full details of Condiment King's upgrade, save for the addition of powerful corrosives to his arsenal, have not been revealed. He is beaten to the point of death by Human Flame, who then finishes the job by choking Condiment King with a bottle of ketchup.

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies