Choosing Black Mask as a villain in Batman: Arkham Origins automatically lends the game a twisted tone, based on his history as a merciless, sociopathic torturer and killer. The Black Mask in Arkham Origins is Roman Sionis, the original man behind the mask, and he runs Janus Cosmetics, a mega corporation that grants Sionis power, money and notoriety, Game Informer reports. Off-hours, Sionis is the No. 1 gang leader in Gotham, and for Arkham Origins, he hires a collection of the world’s best killers to take down Batman on Christmas Eve.
“It’s basically Batman’s worst nightmare,” says Narrative Director Dooma Wendschuh. “We have eight of the best assassins in the world who’ve come together to Gotham City for one night, Christmas Eve of all nights, to kill the Bat.”
Sionis originally appeared in the Batman comics in 1985; his rage toward humanity stems from his wealthy, hostile parents, whom Sionis eventually murders. He crafts a mask from his father’s casket and it becomes permanently attached to his face when Batman attempts to save him from a fire – a fire in his childhood bedroom that Sionis himself set ablaze.
“His thing is torture,” says Creative Director Eric Holmes. “That is what gets his rocks off. And he’s really good at it.”
Batman: Arkham Origins is due out on October 25 for PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Wii U from Warner Bros. Montreal.
