KILLER CROC (Waylon Jones)
Created By: Gerry Conway & Gene Colan
First Appearance: Batman #357 (March 1983)
Role: Big Gruff Powerhouse, The Freak
Mental Problems: Foolishness, Greed
PL 10 (113)
STRENGTH 6
STAMINA 8
AGILITY 3
FIGHTING 9
DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0
AWARENESS 0
PRESENCE -1
Skills:
Athletics 4 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+12)
Deception 6 (+5)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Insight 2 (+2)
Intimidation 12 (+11)
Perception 5 (+5)
Advantages:
All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Diehard, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Favoured Environment (Underwater), Great Endurance, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Grab, Improved Hold, Power Attack, Ranged Attack 2, Startle, Takedown, Tracking
Powers:
"Circus Freak- Resembles a Crocodilian"
"Reptilian Scales" Impervious Toughness 3 [3]
Leaping 1 [1]
Regeneration 2 [2]
"Semi-Aquatic"
Swimming 4 (8 mph) [4]
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Immunity 2 (Drowning, Heat) (Flaws: Limited to Half-Effect) [1]
Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Bite +12 (+7 Damage, DC 22)
Initiative +3
Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +8, Fortitude +9, Will +6
Complications:
Motivation (Greed, Respect)- After a lifetime of bullying thanks to his appearance, Croc has grown into a brutish man who tries to beat people into respecting him.
Enemy (Batman)
Prejudice (Freak)- Croc frequently looks scaly or flat-out reptilian.
Total: Abilities: 50 / Skills: 38--19 / Advantages: 16 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 15 (113)
Killer Croc- Elite Menace to Jobber To The Stars:
-Killer Croc has always occupied a bit of an odd place among Bat-Villains- he was often just a deformed criminal, often with average intelligence, but then other writers turn him into a slobbering monster who looks more like Marvel's Lizard. He initially had the real-life skin condition Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis, but naturally got comic-booked until he looked like he had crocodilian scales. He was a frequent juvenile offender, raised by an alcoholic aunt, and served 18 years in prison for murdering a fellow inmate for mocking his appearance. He got out and began wrestling alligators (and winning) for a local circus, soon realizing that his near-superhuman strength would make for a great criminal. He began scheming and forcing his way into to various crime circles, including shooting his former boss. He announced to the mob leaders that he was their new boss, but they rebuffed him, even when he claimed to have drowned Batman- discovering they were still loyal to the jailed Tony Falco, Croc broke into his jail cell and ripped him apart.
-Even worse, when Batman & Robin involved Joe & Trina Todd in a church protection racket, he had them tail Croc- an act which got them killed. Commissioner Gordon, not realizing the familial connection, lectured the boy for his stupidity- "We can only hope they were already dead when he threw them to his friends below. YOU brought them into this, Robin. It's on YOUR HEAD." Finally, after several fights ended in draws or escapes, there was a final battle when the Joker's supervillain army captured Batman, Catwoman & Talia- Croc demanded Batman be let free and they battle "man to man" for the lives of his ladyfriends. This time, Batman finally scored the win. But it was a phyrric victory, as a young Jason Todd soon discovered his parents had been murdered, and came to live at Wayne Manor.
Croc Turns JTTS:
-Despite this big origin story and status as a recurring menace that was hard to defeat, Croc soon ended up on the list of "Background Baddies"- he was a minor threat as a minion of Ra's al-Ghul, being beaten by a gas pellet. Batman once nearly paralyzed Croc for life using a nerve gas as a last resort after Croc blew up thirty people with a bomb. In one story, he'd been "adopted" by a makeshift homeless family after escaping Arkham- he and Batman risk their lives to save his surrogate mother, and he's believed to have died in the flood. Later, he became delusional while stumbling about Gotham's alleyways- his rampage drew in Jean-Paul Valley as "Batman", but Valley's ribs were broken- Croc then has his arms broken by new villain Bane, who left as quickly as he arrived.
-Around this time, the character got reinvented in
Batman: The Animated Series, where he was a crafty, if simple-minded, foe, going from a physical threat to Batman to a bit of a doofus. This isn't entirely his fault, as the iconic "I threw a ROCK at 'im" line actually comes from Batman IMITATING Croc. He was mostly a similar character however, but the comics went back and forth on just how monstrous he was- at one point, he nearly joined Swamp Thing thanks to a mutual link to "The Green", but left when the creature struck him to teach him a lesson. He went back and forth to Arkham and wasn't really focused on again, but reappears in
Hush having been given a virus that causes him to "devolve" even more (translation: Jim Lee wanted to draw him as a Reptile-Man), a form that stuck for a bit. After that he's largely just been a goon in other stories- he was used by Black Mask once, then feuded with Victory Zsasz after the serial killer crippled a guy in Croc's gang... but he's really just a "filler" guy. Curiously, his status as a guy who murdered the parents of Jason Todd (currently a big deal at DC) almost always goes unremarked-upon- he's often either a Marvel-style "Sympathetic Freak" or a mere monster- rarely as calculating a menace any longer.
Killer Croc's Stats:
-Killer Croc is always an interesting character to stat out, as his primary threat to Batman is that he's one of very few enemies in his Rogues Gallery who's flat-out STRONGER than Batman is. Like, a fight between them is an uphill battle against a monstrous, super-strong foe. And given how M&M kind of rewards more damaging & tougher characters slightly using the rules, I think making Croc a PL 9.5 brawler against the PL 9-11 Bat-Crew actually somewhat reflects this. Eventually, Batman has learned to beat Croc, usually with gear or by tossing him off of something, but it's always a tricky grappling match at first, as Croc isn't exactly slow- just unrefined. His Mental Abilities are unimpressive, but he's still a tad clever. Back in the day he was more prone to finding actual gangs to follow him, and even schemed once in a while, but struggled to earn respect without shows of force.
-Croc was notably one of the most wildly-inaccurate builds when Green Ronin did a
DCA book series- for whatever reason, it was determined that he needed ST 12 and to be EXTREMELY high-level, which was just insane. Croc can lift nowhere near 100 tons. It's like either the builder didn't know that, or DC Editorial swooped in like "No- Croc needs to be X strong".
