Clayface is an alias used by several fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Most of them possess clay-like bodies and shape-shifting abilities, and all of them have been enemies of Batman.

In 2010, IGN named Clayface the 73rd-greatest villain in comic book history.

Biography

Basil Karlo

The original Clayface, Basil Karlo, appeared in Detective Comics #40. He is an actor who is driven insane when he hears that a remake of the classic horror film he had starred in, The Terror, would be shot without him acting in the film, even though he is to be one of the advising staff. Donning the costume of the film's villain he once played, Clayface, he begins kissing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they die in the film, along with someone who knew his identity. Last, he plans to murder the actor playing the Clayface killer. He is foiled by Batman and Robin. He reappears in Detective Comics #49 (March 1941) after the prison ambulance he is riding in plunges off a cliff. He once again dons the mask of Clayface and targets Bruce Wayne's fiancée, Julie Madison. Once again, the Dynamic Duo foil his plans. A movie buff, Batman creator Bob Kane states that the character was partially inspired by the Lon Chaney, Sr. version of The Phantom of the Opera and that the name of the character comes from Boris Karloff and Basil Rathbone.

Much later, Karlo languishes in a prison hospital, when the current Clayface, Sondra Fuller, visits him out of curiosity. Karlo proposes an alliance between all living Clayfaces to kill Batman. Even though "the Mud Pack", as the group called itself, is defeated, Karlo injects himself with samples from Preston Payne, Matt Hagen and Sondra Fuller, gaining the abilities to shapeshift and melt with a touch; he becomes the self-declared "Ultimate" Clayface. He is defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and Looker of the Outsiders by overloading his abilities, making him melt into the ground. He literally sinks into the Earth's crust when he loses control of his powers; he survives, however, and now his body sports crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater powers. Karlo escapes his underground prison when Gotham City is struck by a great cataclysm. He captures Batman and is about to kill him, but he gets into a feud with Mr. Freeze on who has a right to kill the Caped Crusader. Using that distraction, Batman soundly defeats both of them.

During the "No Man's Land" storyline, Karlo holds Poison Ivy, who is in charge of producing fresh vegetables for the remaining people in the city, prisoner in Robinson Park. Poison Ivy eventually battles and defeats Karlo, sinking him deep into the ground. It appears that the Ultimate Clayface is destroyed in this battle, but has resurfaced as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. Later, he seeks to increase his already formidable powers by absorbing Wonder Woman (a clay construct similar to him), giving him an amount of powers that bordered on invulnerability. While he is successful in absorbing some of the heroine's powers, causing her to regress to a teenage appearance resembling Donna Troy, he is ultimately returned to normal when Wonder Woman and Donna were able to trick Clayface into entering a train carriage with Wonder Woman while she was disguised as Donna, Donna subsequently using the Lasso of Truth to swing the carriage around and turn it into a mystical centrifuge, causing the clay Clayface had taken from Wonder Woman to split away from him and re-merge with Wonder Woman due to the differences between the two types of clay

Basil Karlo is among the members of the Injustice League and is among the villains seen in Salvation Run. He can be seen as a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains. In the second issue of Final Crisis, he triggers an explosion at the Daily Planet under Libra's orders when Lex Luthor demands for Libra to do something that will draw Superman to them.

Black Mask attempted to control Clayface by implanting a device in his body. He escaped Black Mask but was captured and imprisoned by the Outsiders.

In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe) as a part of "Death of the Family" storyline, Poison Ivy breaks Basil Karlo out of Arkham intent on marrying him. This turns out to be a ruse with Poison Ivy messing with Karlo's mind. He later sets out to seek revenge.

Karlo later returns with a new plan: to use his DNA-duplication abilities to impersonate Bruce Wayne and take control of Wayne Enterprises. He even guesses that Wayne is Batman's true identity. However, Batman plants false evidence to suggest that he anticipated Karlo's attempt to take his DNA and tricked him into taking a fake sample. Batman eventually stops him by trapping him in a security system that can only be deactivated with Karlo's original DNA, reasoning that Karlo has changed too much for his original DNA to be present in his system.


Matt Hagen

The second Clayface, Matt Hagen, first appeared in Detective Comics #298. A treasure hunter, Hagen finds a mysterious radioactive pool of protoplasm in a cave. Immersing himself in it, he is transformed into a malleable clay-like form which could be shaped into almost anything he desires. This is only a temporary effect, however, requiring him to return to the pool periodically in order to maintain use of his powers.

He eventually copies the pool's protoplasmic jelly by chemistry studies, although the artificial proptoplasm only allows him five hours of Clayface powers compared to the full two days of the pool's.

Hagen is ultimately killed by a shadow demon during the 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Clayface appeared alongside the other dead villains only to be defeated by Hawk and Dove and the Teen Titans.

During the "Mud Pack" storyline, the other villains who use the name Clayface gather Hagen's remains and make him a post-mortem member of their gang.


Preston Payne

The third Clayface, Preston Payne, first appeared at the end of Detective Comics #477 before making his first full appearance in #478. Suffering from hyperpituitarism, Payne works at S.T.A.R. Labs searching for a cure. He obtains a sample of the then-living Matt Hagen's blood, and isolates an enzyme which he introduces into his own bloodstream. Although he is briefly able to shape his own appearance, this effect is short-lived: while on a date, his flesh begins to melt, and when he touches his horrified girlfriend, she completely melts. Payne builds an exoskeleton anti-melting suit to prevent himself from touching anyone, but he learns that he needs to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive (he feels pain if he doesn't melt anyone). During this time his mental health starts to slip as he falls in love with a wax mannequin he names "Helena", thinking she is the only woman immune to his touch. After another breakdown, he thinks Helena enjoys watching men "fighting over her" when he battles Batman yet again in front of the wax doll. Although he doesn't give her up, he keeps her in Arkham Asylum, saying "we're both too polite to admit divorce, but she can't live forever."

When Swamp Thing visits Arkham Asylum, he witnesses Payne in an argument with "Helena".

Dr. R. Hutton takes a nightshift at Arkham Asylum in order to do research for his new book detailing superhuman psychology. He keeps a close watch on the inmates at Arkham Asylum. During this time, he sees Clayface spending intimate time with "Helena."

During the events of "The Mud Pack", Sondra Fuller, the fourth Clayface, begins masquerading as the hero Looker and visits Payne at Arkham. That same night, he gets into an argument with "Helena" and unintentionally knocks her head off. Believing he has killed her, Payne goes on a rampage until subdued in a nearby swamp by the asylum guards. Fuller, who is still using Looker's appearance and powers, rescues him and influences him to follow Basil Karlo's commands. Karlo ultimately betrays Fuller, and takes samples of her and Payne's blood to inject into himself. Payne finally breaks free of Fuller's control, and is about to kill her when she admits how sorry she is for using him. The two fall in love and go on to live together, leading to Fuller becoming pregnant with their child, Cassius.

Preston acquires medicine to control his pain and now feels the "hunger" only in his mind. It is also revealed that he was abused by his parents.

A stunted, emaciated Preston Payne appears in the graphic novel Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. He is used to metaphorically represent sexually transmitted diseases.

Payne next appears in the Justice League: Cry for Justice miniseries, having been coerced into working for Prometheus, who had threatened the life of his son. Prometheus had further mutated Payne giving him back his old shapeshifting abilities and had him act as a decoy for the Justice League. When the ruse was discovered, an explosive device planted inside Payne's body detonated. It is unknown if he survived the explosion.


Sondra Fuller
The fourth Clayface, Sondra Fuller (also known as Lady Clay), first appeared in Outsiders (volume 1) #21. She is a member of Strikeforce Kobra who is transformed into a shape-changer by her employer Kobra's technologies. She agreed to going through with the process because she hates her own face.

She possesses identical abilities to those of Matt Hagen, but they are permanent, without the requirement for a source of protoplasm. She can additionally copy any special powers of the being she is mimicking. She is defeated by the Outsiders.

Later, after the Mud Pack forms and battles Batman, Fuller falls in love with Preston Payne. After Clayface-Prime (Karlo) is defeated, Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller get married and they have a child named Cassius "Clay" Payne. After Abbatoir kidnaps the child, the couple get into a fight involving Azrael/Batman.


The Mud Pack
Before the debut appearances of the fifth and sixth Clayfaces, Lady Clay and Clayface III team up, breaking Clayface I out of prison and futilely revive Clayface II. Together, the quartet form "the Mud Pack." Clayface I later copies the others' powers by injecting himself with extracts of samples of Clayface II, III and Lady Clay, becoming the "Ultimate Clayface." The three battle, and are defeated by Batman in Detective Comics #604-607.


Cassius "Clay" Payne

After the Mud Pack, Payne and Fuller fall in love and eventually have a child together named Cassius "Clay" Payne, who becomes the fifth Clayface and debuted in Batman #550. The boy is separated from his parents and held in a government laboratory. The name "Cassius" is a pun on "Cassius Clay", the birth name of boxer Muhammad Ali.

If a piece of him is separated from his body, it can grow a mind of its own, but it mostly thinks in an unstable form of what Cassius wants. If bonded with another human, becoming a Claything, the piece can give that human Clayface-like abilities, such as becoming soft and malleable, being able to withstand bullets and other harm, and could also manifest Payne's ability to melt objects; all this person would have to do to perform such an action is think about it.

In an issue of Batman: Gotham Knights, Cassius is depicted as having the clay-like appearance of his mother and father, but can only stay in Clayface mode while awake (a similar trait shared by Plasmus in the Teen Titans animated series (2003-2006)).

Following the Final Crisis storyline, Cassius attacks the National Guard on the roadblock, but when he was approached by General Immortus' team, he is able to recognize one of the team, Human Flame. Cassius attacks and blames him for Libra enslaving the Earth. The Justice League arrives to end the fight as Human Flame and General Immortus' team teleport away, leaving Cassius to be captured. After the League interrogates him, he is taken to FBI vehicles, but the measures to contain him are proven useless; Cassius breaks loose, escaping into the desert.


Dr. Peter "Claything" Malley
The sixth Clayface, also known as Claything, also debuted in Batman #550. Claything is created when a skin sample from Cassius Payne comes to life and merges with a DEO (Department of Extranormal Operations) scientist, Dr. Peter Malley. He has the ability to melt objects simply by looking at them. Claything is destroyed and his remains are stored at the DEO Headquarters.


Todd Russell
The seventh Clayface debuted in Catwoman Vol. 3, #1 (January 2002), but is not actually shown until Catwoman Vol. 3, #4 (May 2002). This version of Clayface is not named until Catwoman Vol. 3, #44. Having the power to change into virtually any shape and size, he preys upon prostitutes in Gotham's East End until Catwoman is able to capture his shriveled body inside of a freezer. There are very few background details given about the seventh Clayface's past. He was in the army, suffered injuries, and was subsequently experimented on (possibly by the DEO) before losing most of his memory and discovering his new powers. After his capture, he is held captive and further experimented upon for almost two years at S.T.A.R. Labs in Gotham before being freed by Catwoman.


Johnny Williams

The eighth Clayface debuted in Batman: Gotham Knights #60 (February 2005). Johnny Williams is introduced as a former firefighter in Gotham who is transformed into a clay-based creature by an explosion in a chemical plant. He first discovers his transformation after he accidentally kills a prostitute; horrified and stricken with guilt, he plans to commit suicide. Just then, he is approached by Hush and the Riddler, who tell him that the chemicals turned him into the latest Clayface. They begin to manipulate Williams, holding out the promise of a cure and making him do their bidding, including pretending to be Tommy Elliot (Hush's true identity) and an adult Jason Todd, to hurt and confuse Bruce Wayne. Eventually, Williams realizes he is being manipulated. Knowing that he is going to die, he offers Batman assistance against Hush in exchange for protecting his family. He redeems himself in his death, also ensuring that Alfred Pennyworth is cleared of murder.


Clayface of Japan
The ninth Clayface debuted in Batman Incorporated Vol. 1 #6 (June 2011) as part of The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe). Batman tasks Batman Japan (Jiro Osamu) to fight The Clayface of Japan about two-and-a-half months into his Batman Incorporated venture. Not much is known about this Clayface, although he resembles all the previous Clayfaces and seems to have their same power set. Presumably, this Clayface, as a rival to Osamu, is a native to Japan. Batman states that this Clayface is a newcomer, a samurai, and operates in or around Hokkaido.


Clayface Clones
In The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe), a villain named Jeffrey Bode makes several short-lived clones of Clayface.

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