What Makes Batman and Hush Narrative Foils in DC?

“What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.” – Aristotle

A narrative foil, or simply a foil, is not the wrap you use in the kitchen. In storytelling, a foil is a contrasting character within that story who serves to highlight different qualities, motives, and intents. Typically, the protagonist’s foil is an antagonist. By drawing parallels between the two characters, an author can easily point out the rights and wrongs committed by each. Sometimes foils are created by their own inescapable circumstances. Other times, they are catalyzed by characters’ own flaws and flawed choices. By virtue of existing, a villainous foil can help us see how truly heroic our main character is.

Foils are generally sorted into three different categories, explained as “this is different because,” “this is not X because,” or “this exists because of that.” In most instances, foils also spotlight pretty extreme differences. The two characters could not be more opposite, and yet they are (or were) also inextricably the same. At some point, however, something splintered. Their opposing personalities or desires emerged from that splintering.

Are Batman and The Joker foils?

So. We know what you’re thinking. The Joker is Batman’s greatest and oldest enemy. Then, are they narrative foils? The answer is, surprisingly, no. Despite all of their similarities, they don’t share enough backstory. The Joker is a total blank page, while Bruce Wayne’s story is known far and wide by people who don’t even read comics. What Batman and The Joker share was started by their first meeting and grew from their interactions. Meanwhile, true narrative foils don’t have to meet until much later in life — but they travel on parallel lines until they do. That’s why Batman’s foil is actually the villain Hush.

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Dr. Thomas Elliot, AKA Hush

Thomas “Tommy” Elliot first appeared in Batman #609 (2003), written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee. The collective story arc has come to be known as Batman: Hush, which was published together in graphic novel format. It is named for Thomas Elliot’s evil alter ego, Hush. Throughout most of the story, the readers do not know that Thomas is Hush until the climactic reveal. Before that, however, Thomas is simply an old friend of Bruce Wayne’s who appears in his life a little before the mysterious bandaged villain does. This Hush moniker is even inspired by Tommy’s need to keep his criminal deeds a secret from Bruce.

Batman: Hush

The arc begins with Batman suffering a dangerous head wound while on duty. Batman’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, reaches out to the renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Thomas Elliot in order to save Bruce. Dr. Elliot successfully does so, and the two reminisce about their past. It turns out that the two were very close when they were younger. Both were born into wealthy, elite families. They also enjoyed playing strategy games together. Although Bruce was brilliant, Tommy always beat him since he was more willing to implement devious and ruthless tactics. This is important because it shows Bruce Wayne’s moral compass is much stronger in comparison.

In the end, Two-Face shoots Hush. Yeah, there are a ton of villains in Hush, and they’re not all allies. Hush’s body falls into a river before Batman can collect it. It’s also revealed that Hush was not the true mastermind behind this plot to ruin Batman’s life. Rather, The Riddler harnessed Tommy’s resentment into a weapon. It was an especially cruel plot considering how it toyed with Bruce’s emotions. What little vulnerability Bruce showed to even call Tommy in the first place got fully bottled up after Tommy betrayed him. Poor guy.

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Hush is 6′ 3″

Let’s recap what makes Hush and Batman foils. Firstly, they have a similar upbringing. They’re also pretty evenly matched in intelligence and problem-solving skills, with a natural ability and passion for puzzles. Bruce and Tommy begin to differ, though, with their emotions and life goals. Bruce loves his parents, whereas Tommy resents his. He intentionally sabotages the Elliots’ vehicle, cutting the brakes to kill them. Thomas Wayne saved Tommy’s mother’s life. Because of this, Tommy can’t inherit his parents’ wealth or gain early independence. Tommy resents the Waynes for ruining his plans. This sours into a need to exact revenge upon Bruce, who gets to live out Tommy’s dreams when Joe Chill murders Martha and Thomas Wayne.

Notably, these events forge them into protagonist and antagonist. Basically, they’re foils because Bruce uses all of his money and resources to do good. Thomas Elliot uses his money and resources to commit atrocities, and he is easily diagnosable as a sociopath. Batman may have some of his own problems to deal with, but he’s at least empathetic and somewhat emotional! Also, Tommy’s signature weapons are pistols. Batman refuses to use guns. Can you track the resemblances? Do you see where, if Bruce was less kind or more greedy, he could easily be a villain like Hush? By pitting Batman and Hush against each other, we see how Batman is a man worthy of our admiration. But it’s a delicate balancing act.

Physical characteristics and similarities

We should also mention Batman and Hush’s physical similarities. While these aren’t at all necessary to be foils, most writers will try to match characters’ appearances if they are foils. It just adds another layer of resonance when readers notice their true contrast. Hush is 6’3″, while Batman is 6’2″. They could be brothers — they could be the same wealthy white man.

In fact, in Heart of Hush — a much later comic — Dr. Elliot performs routine plastic surgery on himself. He continues to wear his bandages over his face, though, so we don’t get to see what he did. When Elliot captures and nearly kills Catwoman, though, she scratches off a portion of the bandages. Tommy turned his own face into an almost identical match to Bruce Wayne’s! Talk about taking the foil thing a little too far!

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Batman: Hush is one of the most iconic graphic novels of all time, and established a well-known super-villain in Batman’s Rogues Gallery. Now you can collect equally awesome Batman action figures to further bring out Bruce’s many dark sides. After you fill up your own Batcave, share your collection at side.show/geekgroup or in the Sideshow Social Network. And as always, don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!