King Tut

King Tut
King Tut from Batman Confidential #26, Artist Jose Luis Garcia Lopez
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	television The Curse of Tut (April 1966) comics Batman Confidential #26, (April 2009)
Created by	television Earl Barret (writer) Robert C. Dennis (writer) Charles R. Rondeau (director) Victor Buono (actor) comics Christina Weir (writer) Nunzio DeFilippis (writer) Jose Luis Garcia Lopez (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	television William Omaha McElroy comics Victor Goodman

King Tut, is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. The character made his television debut in Batman: The Curse of Tut (April 13, 1966). He was created by Earl Barret, Robert C. Dennis and Charles R. Rondeau, and portrayed by Victor Buono. He made his comic book debut in Batman Confidential #26, (April 2009), this version was created by Christina Weir, Nunzio DeFilippis and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

Publication history

The character of King Tut started out on the Batman television series episode The Curse of Tut (April 13, 1966), and was portrayed by Victor Buono for ten episodes of the series' original run.^[1]

King Tut recently made his debut in the DC Comics Universe, appearing in the pages of Batman Confidential #26 (April 2009).

Fictional character biography

The comic book version of King Tut is shown to be Victor Goodman, a criminal Egyptologist who targets and murders wealthy citizens, and leaves Egyptian-themed riddles, similar to the Riddle of the Sphinx. Batman teams up with the Riddler, who does not appreciate his modus operandi being stolen, and agrees to help to stop Goodman. His alter-ego is an homage to actor Victor Buono.^[2]

Other media

Television

King Tut began as Professor William Omaha McElroy, an Egyptologist at Yale University. After a blow to the head during a student riot, the Professor developed amnesia and thereafter believed he was a reincarnation of King Tut. He sought to take over Gotham City and defeat Batman and Robin. He was defeated by another blow to the head, returning him to his normal state.

The pattern would follow for subsequent appearances—he would suffer a blow to the head, believe himself to be King Tut, fight Batman and Robin for control of Gotham City, only to suffer another blow to the head, which would return him to his real self. As such, he would be the only villain not to be jailed for his actions (the insanity defense would apply here). Completely cognizant of what happens during his states of amnesia, Professor McElroy tried to prevent the personality switching by wearing a reinforced hat to prevent unwanted blows, but without success.

King Tut attempted to release a handful of ancient scarab beetles on Gotham City in the second season of the series. With the beetles in his possession, Tut would have the ability to create a terrible ancient potion called abu raubu simbu tu, which can be used to subdue the human will. Tut planned on concocting 95,000 gallons of the drug, more than enough to put all of Gotham under his power. His first victim was the head of the Gotham City Police, Chief O'Hara, who Tut commanded to perform acrobatics on the ledge of a building. King Tut nearly succeeded in his sinister plot, having tricked Batman into taking the drug as well. However, Batman protected himself from the drug's hypnotic power by coating his stomach with buttermilk. While trying to escape, Tut accidentally swallowed the drug himself and became Batman's slave, which allowed Batman and Robin to safely take King Tut to Commissioner Gordon's office where he reverted to his normal self.

In his final appearance in the series, King Tut bought a plot of land adjacent to Wayne Manor, as part of a plan to obtain a rare mineral. The villain tunneled beneath the manor and accidentally discovered the subterranean Batcave. He realized that Batman and Bruce Wayne were the same person. Batman and Robin then battled Tut and his henchmen in the Batcave. The Dynamic Duo administered a drug spray to the henchmen that would erase their recent memory. Tut, however, fled to the surface via the tunnel after all the spray ran out from the can. Once at the top of the tunnel, Tut was about to reveal his discovery of the Batcave—and Batman's true identity of Bruce Wayne—to Commissioner Gordon, when Batman provoked Tut to raise his voice, thereby causing a rock to fall on his head, knocking him out. When Tut regained consciousness, he was once again Prof. McElroy, with no memories of Batman's secret identity.

Tut's hideouts sometimes included an "apothecary", the only one in Gotham, in the "Pyramid" building.

Animation

King Tut appears on Batman: The Brave and the Bold in the episode "Day of the Dark Knight!". He is shown as a convict trying to escape Iron Heights, but was foiled by Batman and Green Arrow. It should be noted that the other convicts that Tut escapes with are either common criminals, the show's supervillains, or other villains from the Adam West series including Egghead, The Bookworm, The Archer, Louie The Lilac and Shame, which are recognized both by face features and their trademark hats. Tut makes another jailbreak cameo, this time in Blackgate Prison, in "Night of the Huntress!".

Due to copyright issues with FOX, King Tut is referred to in the synopsis as "Pharaoh".^{[clarification needed]}

See also

• List of Batman Family enemies

References

External links

• IMDB: Batman, The Curse of Tut
• IMDB: King Tut, Character Filmography
• King Tut Animated Sketch and info available.
• The 1966 Batman TV Villains - Victor Buono