The TERRIFYING EVOLUTION of the Scarecrow's Design

In this video I go in depth on how the Scarecrow's design evolved over the years of both Batman the Animated Series, as well as The New Batman Adventures!

(0:00) Intro
(3:17) Scarecrow's First Outing
(5:08) Scarecrow's Second Coming
(8:20) Third Time's the Charm
(14:16) Conclusion

[Pastraspec]

🎃 What's your favorite Scarecrow design? 🎃

[DarnHooligan]

I love Scarecrow designs that obscure his face with shadow because of the hat, with only his eyes and mouth/teeth showing. Makes him look both creepy and really cool.

[Bluecho]

I like the idea that Jonathan Crane is constantly redesigning his costume or trying new things. Not just because he's often working with whatever materials on hand (escaped mental patients rarely have large costume budgets), but because he's always looking for a fresh look to scare people with. Familiarity breeds contempt, and deadens the fear. He still has a brand to maintain, so he's always going to vaguely resemble a scarecrow. But he mixes things up, so his appearance always elicits a new terrified reaction.

I also just love the mental image of Jonathan Crane hunched over a sketchbook, doodling new ideas for his OC. The OC that is also himself. Gives another human dimension to him.

[dovasvariakojis]

What would’ve been even more shocking for Scarecrow’s design would’ve been the revelation that Crane used to look normal, but purposefully mangled and destroyed his face to look like a mask. Cracked, leathery skin, exposed teeth and gums, bloodshot eyes from the lack of eye lids, open wounds which he never let heal, and a quiet but scratched voice from torn vocal chords.

Crane would’ve been burying any tie back to his old life of being “human” and fully embrace his identity of a monster which embodies fear itself.


What happens to a man when too far is not enough?.

[residenttdk]

Scarecrow’s design in Arkham Knight is one of my favorites. That look executes the idea of not knowing what part is the mask and what part is Crane’s actual face really well just like the TNBA design. Plus, it also includes the noose which is awesome. And even though it was first seen in Asylum, the syringe glove is another detail that makes the Knight look so fantastic in my opinion.

[theGazzer]

love how pastra's art has progressed, the backgrounds have gotten more interesting, the colours have more intense, more subtle details and shading. would love to see him draw a comic book or something

[Subgenrelol]

I love how in the Injustice 2 intro for Scarecrow, it shows his normal appearance, where he then timidly releases fear gas and shuffles away anxiously, and then walks back out as the nightmare version his opponent sees

[Moofshire]

I think the Arkham Knight Scarecrow design is my favorite. If you know the lore of the games, then you'd know that in Asylum Scarecrow got absolutely mauled by Killer Croc. He had to reconstruct his own face since it was so horribly maimed. The end result, in Arkham Knight, is absolutely terrifying and cool. He literally had gas mask filters implanted in his own cheeks. His teeth are jagged and uneven in his mouth. The only thing keeping his jaw from falling on the floor is poorly done stitching. Croc mauled him so bad that he doesn't even have a nose anymore. Another thing, Scarecrows voice in this game is so great. Its calm and menacing and it works so well

[animekittykitty]

One idea I like for a Scarecrow design is that the way he looks varies from person to person, making it hard to pin down who he is or how to identify him. Seeing as how he works with fear gas, I personally like the idea of it almost clinging to him like some sort of perfume that messes with how people perceive him. This could also follow him outside of his Scarecrow persona, making others uneasy around him and therefore making it harder to connect to others thus him accidently driving himself further into isolation and anti-social behavior. I know it runs the risk of being... *pheromone-y*, but it'd be fun for a more detective-esque story line while giving way to make all sorts of fun designs to The Scarecrow since everyone's imagination of this new, terrifying entity calling himself The Scarecrow can just snowball as more urban legends spread about him.

[Meiliina]

For me, Scarecrow is a man of harsh edges and shadows obscuring his real shape, something goofy from one angle and terrifying from the next, like a real scarecrow in a field. Those are my favourite designs of him.

[silverwolfgamer]

I personally find a combination of the chemical accident and hanging to be my explanation for the ‘New’ design. With my own personal take on how the story went down: Batgirl finds him attempting to create a large, highly potent vat of his toxin, the battle leads to the raw material department of the warehouse where Krane is left on the ropes. Pieces of the banister creak and fall and him on as he plunges into the vat below. The experience setting off something in his mind, that he hadn’t thought of before. A new fear he has yet to explore, the fear of death. His crimes, though not enough to warrant an execution, especially with the Bat Family motto of not killing their enemies, leaves Krane with one test subject. Himself. Deep in his cell in Arkham the Scarecrow fashions a noose, his mind still not quite right as he steps into it. ‘What happens afterwards? Will it be painful? What will I see?’ He kicks the chair over and begins to choke. His vision and mind blur even further the lines between reality and fiction. The rope, however, being old and worn, snaps shortly after, Krane’s weight causing too much stress on the fibres. This leads to his new look, as he keeps the noose to remind him of his victory in the face of death. His new form the phantom to haunt Gotham’s nightmares.

[TheOnlySilhouette]

I do agree Scarecrow was a underutilized villain in DC for General with only a few times is written well. I loved the unnatural design that gave him a more grim reaper look in the Batman and Robin series

[tellgt]

I think the idea scarecrow doesn't have one costume makes the most sense his entire identity is based on the study and mastery of fear and emotion so it makes sense he'd always push for a new outfit both as a way of improving his control over fear and also simply to further examine the more basic aspects of fear not just the chemicals he can make in a lab but how different stimulus can produce and enhance fear

[SomewhatDapperExtraterrestrial]

I think it's such a shame how little this design was used. He only appeared in two episodes and in one of them only in the first two minutes or so, I would have loved to see a fear gas hallucination scene with this design in which he becomes even scarier.

[galaxycamerata]

I always assume that whenever Scarecrow gets a design change, it's canonically him tweaking the costume to push a different direction to try and make it scary in a specific way.
Is he feeling uncanny today? Maybe more subtly unsettling? Or does he just want to go full-on "living reminder of your mortality"

[bradycadek]

I personally like his design in the game Injustice 2, I just find him to look pretty cool while the entire form is just an illusion

[NixityNullt]

I like to think that Scarecrow's costume design change in bm:tas is actually part of the story. Of course he would change his costume to be more inimidating after his first failure, and then change it again to become even more intimidating later. Given his drive to be taken seriously and learn from his mistakes, as well as being the only character whose appearance is purely his costume and not tied to his actual appearance, him being the only character to go through a design change in the first series and have such a drastic change in the second series makes sense for his character.

[egbertmilton]

An excellent look at the designs throughout the years, especially how different his Hanged Man design in New Batman is

[Bofrab]

I honestly really like that Scarecrow’s design keeps changing. Since he’s all about fear, what’s so scary about you if you always look the same. Eventually people will get used to it. So the constant change in getup will make them scary to people again. (Hopefully, if it actually looks good)

[actualturtle]

Scarecrow: *is three stories tall*
Pastra: "one of his more realistic designs"