Batchat Chapter 1: Clayface
From the Mind of Brett Wall
Hello to all you cool cats and kittens...ok, that was a bad start. Obviously we should start this with an exciting greeting like. What’s shaking all you Meisterkhandriacs. Perfection. Thank you for joining me in my very first blog. It took me a little while to think about what I should write about, and then all of a sudden an idea hit me like a slippery hot dog wiener on a hot summer’s day. I should talk about the Batman. Kind of.
Batman is arguably the greatest superhero of all time, or at the very least has the greatest villains (or rogues gallery for all you true believers out there) of all time. I wanted to do something where I can highlight every aspect of the Dark Knight, and with that is the creation of “Batchat” (patent pending).
I didn’t know where I should start so I did the obvious thing and am going in the order of villains you face in the 2008 Lego Batman video game. In that game, the first villain you face is Clayface, so let’s get into it.
I figured that a good way to do this is by putting it into parts:
Part One: Origin (brief. This isn’t a research paper)
Part Two: Powers and abilities (and if you’re lucky: FUN FACTS)
Part Three: Best adaptations
Part Four: Pitch
Part Five: Rating
Part One: Origin
This is more for the people who don’t know. If you want to know more about Clayface than just the sparknotes I would recommend watching the Watchmojo video on his origins.
There has actually been a good number of Clayfaces (Clayfece?). According to Wikipedia, there has been 8, but the one we’re going to be talking about today is the most popular and the most used: Basil Karlo. Karlo was a B-list actor who turned to a life of crime using the alias of a character he played in a movie (WHAT?!? That’s...so dumb). The reason he turned to crime is because he found out that a movie that he once starred in is being remade without him in the leading role. When I said “turned to a life of crime” I really just meant he put on a costume and murdered all the people in the movie. Don’t worry though, Batman and Robin put a stop to that nonsense.
So...I’m a little embarrassed right now, I guess the Clayface from the cartoon was Matt Hagen not Basil Karlo...oops.
Ok look, Clayface is a guy who once was an actor and is now a man-made out of clay. Alright? The one that was in Batman the animated series was Matt Hagen APPARENTLY. Which if I’m going to be completely honest pisses me off. Hold on, I’m going to check who the Clayface was in Arkham City.
*Pause to Google angrily*
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!!! HE’S BASIL F***ING Karlo.
My sincerest apologies about all of that. Let me try and break it down in a super simple way. 90% (80%) of the time when Clayface is in something, he is going to be Basil Karlo. All the other times he isn’t Basil Karlo I guarantee you he’ll be Matt Hagen. Except that time he was some guy named...Ethan...Bennett. Who in the HELL IS ETHAN BENNET! Ok, you know what?
Part Two: Powers and Abilities (and maybe fun facts)
It shouldn’t matter which Clayface you’re talking about, he will probably always have the same powers. He is made of clay and can form weapons and projectiles with that clay. In most versions he is also able to transform his appearance into other people. I remember vaguely that he can’t talk while he looks like other people, but I can’t confirm that. That doesn’t happen very often though, for example in the Harley Quinn series, Clayface is very talkative no matter what form he is in. (Just so you know, the Clayface in Harley Quinn is Basil Karlo).
Fun Facts (because I promised): Recently he has joined a team called the Gotham Knights that is run by Batman. I guess he’s giving being a good guy a go.
Part Three: Best Appearances
I mentioned the Lego Batman video game, that appearance is a great start, but if you can’t find that game or you’re more of a tv person, I would watch the episodes of Batman the animated series called “Feat of Clay” part one and two. He’s also in that series more, but none of the episodes are as good. There is a really old game called “Batman: The rise of Sun Zsu”. That game has a killer Clayface boss battle. I was playing earlier when I was talking about Ethan Bennet. Bennet was actually created for the animated series called “The Batman” and that show is just genuinely good and their version of Clayface isn’t bad at all. Also, he makes a cool appearance in Arkham City (and a cameo in Arkham Asylum).
Clayface hasn’t been portrayed in any movies, which is honestly a shame. He is mostly portrayed as an idiot or a mindless monster, which I feel is a complete injustice (pun) to his character. I would love to see him in more things.
Part Four: Pitch
I’m using this section to talk about ways that Clayface could be used in different media. My original idea was for movies, but I think I’m going to expand it to everything.
“Joker” Style:
Set in the 40’s (The time of the monster flick) Basil Karlo is one of the hottest actors in town. This movie would focus on his original appearance where he isn’t a monster, but is a serial killer. In his original appearance, he kills people because he didn’t get cast in the remake of a movie he started in. In this movie, Basil doesn’t get cast in a movie that he auditioned for, but his rival (whoever) is cast instead. Now you can go onto the serial killer side of it. Where he goes around killing those involved in the movie. At the end of the film, when he tries to murder his rival, he falls into something that turns him into a monster. I absolutely have no idea what that thing could be. I’ll need to keep working this angle a bit. Whatever plot device is used to turn Karlo into Clayface, I want the final shot being his rival getting killed by the clay monster. Oo oo oooo Maybe Karlo can take the form of his rival at the end and the final shot could be of the movie poster starring “The rival”
2) The Treasure Hunter:
Matt Hagen is a treasure hunter, I think it’d be cool if the first half of the movie was a typical Indian Jones movie but at the second half he begins to turn into a monster because of something he fell into early in the movie. He’d be home from his adventure and the BOOM. Clay monster. It’d be a bit of a mislead. I’m not really sure where it would go from there.
I’m going to be totally honest right now, I thought I would be able to think of more ideas for Clayface, but I can’t seem to do so. Other than cameos or side plots, there really aren't many things to do with Clayface other than completely changing his character like in Harley Quinn. I do think that he could be used very effectively, but I’m not sure you could make him a decent adversary to Batman. In video games he could be a fun boss fight, and in comics he could be used for a fun issue, but other than that Clayface is and probably always will be a side character used for plot progression.
Part Five: Rating
This section is used for me to give my rating of the character. I’m not really sure if I can explain that any better. I gave away how I felt about Clayface in the last paragraph. He just doesn’t have much going on. As a character, I’m going to give him a 5/10. Not because I think he’s a bad character, but as an underused one. Clayface has tons of potential, but he just needs more light to shine on him. The truth is, there are just too many other villains that people want to see, and that pushes Clayface to the rear.
If I had to choose which form of media Clayface could be used most effectively in, it would be video games. I feel like he has a lot of potential there. Maybe he could be used as a side character in a Batman game, not as Basil Karlo, but as Robin or somebody, and at the end he could reveal himself as being Clayface the whole time. However, that’s dangerously close to the twist in Arkham City’s. Clayface is a character I would like to see a lot more of, but he will never be more than a minor villian.
Thank you all for joining me on this week's edition (see Dad, edition is for written text, silly goose) of Batchat. Join me next week where we will discuss Mister Freeze in all of his icy glory, same Bat time, same Bat website.
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Hi there, it’s Brett from the blog. I just wanted to leave a footnote here saying that Lego Batman: The Videogame (2008) is an excellent start on getting to Batman and his mythos. Excellent for all ages!
I wanted to do more facts, but honestly, Clayface isn’t all that interesting. I feel like he is underused.
*Art by Phil Cho