Gentleman Ghost (James "Jim" Craddock), introduced as Ghost, and also known as Gentleman Jim, is a supervillain appearing in works published by DC Entertainment. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert, the character first appeared in Flash Comics #88 (October 1947). Gentleman Ghost has been substantially adapted into media outside comics, including animated television series, films, and video games. He is voiced by Greg Ellis in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, "Weird Al" Yankovic in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, Toby Stephens in Batman: Caped Crusader, and Robin Atkin Downes in Justice League Unlimited.

Fictional character biography

Earth-Two

On Earth-Two, a criminal called "Ghost" fights Hawkman and Hawkgirl, claiming to be an actual ghost. Hawkman refuses to believe it and the couple's investigation seems to support that. In their next encounter, it is confirmed that Ghost is a mundane criminal named James "Jim" Craddock who used tricks and gadgets to appear to be a ghost.

Post-Crisis

In Post-Crisis continuity, James "Jim" Craddock is the son of an English gentleman who abandoned both him and his mother, forcing them into poverty. Craddock grows up to become a notorious highwayman and robber who terrorizes England in the 19th century under the name "Gentleman Jim", after a prophecy from a Romani said he would be a highwayman. He encounters the ghosts of other highwaymen, and Dick Turpin leaves him a horse. He journeys to the United States and encounters the gunslingers Nighthawk and Cinnamon. The hot-headed Nighthawk lynches Craddock after wrongly assuming that he sexually assaulted Cinnamon. However, Craddock eludes death to rise again as a ghost. The Gentleman Ghost learns that he must wander the earth until the spirit of his killer moves on to the next plane of existence. Nighthawk and Cinnamon turn out to be the reincarnations of Ancient Egyptian royalty Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara: their souls (due to their exposure to the Thanagarian Nth metal) can never truly pass on. Both are resurrected as Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and the Gentleman Ghost becomes their recurring nemesis. Craddock over the decades menaces other heroes, including Batman, Atom, Flash, The New Teen Titans, Max Mercury and Stargirl, but the vengeful ghost always returns to his main foes, the Hawks, sometimes as a foe and sometimes as a friend. Gentleman Ghost later appears as a member of the Injustice Society. During the Infinite Crisis storyline, he joins Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains. He fights Alan Scott and places him in a coma. His origin is explored and altered in the pages of JSA #82-87 (2006). The natural son of an abusive father and a poor mother, young Jim Craddock slips into a life of crime, making contacts with the supernatural. After a gypsy prophesies that he will be able to transcend death and return to life fighting and killing his enemies on English soil, his villainous career is put to an end when he is captured and sentenced to death by hanging after being tricked by a woman he is trying to seduce who summons Redcoats. Returning as a ghost, he battles those on JSA, hoping for the prophecy to come true. When the rightful time arrives, the Ghost gains the additional power of summoning vengeful ghosts from the JSA's past, like someone Scott killed with an electrical accident, although this is a fake, and other highwaymen. His plan is foiled by Stargirl, who, as a virgin girl, is impervious to ghostly attacks, an army of ghostly nobles who attack his army, and Wildcat, a descendant of the Royal House of England, who decapitates him. Vanquished, he disappears. Gentleman Ghost is one of the villains sent to retrieve the Get Out of Hell Free card from the Secret Six.

The New 52

In 2011, The New 52 rebooted the DC universe. Gentleman Ghost is still a thief and is not a ghost like his Earth-Two counterpart. In his first appearance, he steals the Mortis Orb, which can resurrect the dead. Hawkman deduces that Gentleman Ghost is Jim Craddock (whom he knew in a previous incarnation). Gentleman Ghost talks to Hawkman because the Nth metal drew him to the Mortis Orb. He plans to take Hawkman to the orb, but the latter refuses. Gentleman Ghost sends more apparitions after Hawkman, who flees. Gentleman Ghost later appears to Hawkman again, saying that the warlock's spell rendered the orb inert years before, but the Nth Metal broke the spell causing the orb to regain its power. Gentleman Ghost takes the orb, saying that he will use it to transcend death and resurrect himself through the life-force of every man, woman, and child nearby. Then, he disappears and the zombies attacking Hawkman fall apart. Gentleman Ghost begins fully harnessing the orb’s power, creating a portal from which Julius Gates comes out. Gates (demanding the orb) grabs Craddock, while Hawkman takes the orb from him. The portal vanishes with Craddock and Gates inside causing them both to disappear along with the apparitions and zombies. Hawkman drops the Mortis Orb somewhere in Antarctica to keep it from falling into the wrong hands again. Craddock later takes up residence in Duskhaven, a New Hampshire town out of which he operates while robbing wealthy socialites of Gotham. When the Midnight Shift apprehends him, he reveals his new origins. Craddock was a philanderer and drew the ire of a witch, who cursed him, granting his abilities but forcing him to commit criminal acts. He believed the curse would be lifted once the witch died. It was not and he found himself to be immortal and having been turned into a ghost.

DC Rebirth

In 2016, DC Comics implemented DC Rebirth another relaunch of its books which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Gentleman Ghost joins Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad Black to fight Sebastian Faust after he steals several artifacts in A.R.G.U.S. storage. In The New Golden Age, Gentleman Ghost obtains a special sphere to summon an army of zombies. He fights the Justice Society until Icicle unknowingly uses his ice attack on the sphere, which ends up summoning Surtur to Earth. Legionnaire borrows some of Hawkman's lifeforce and uses it to revive Gentleman Ghost, causing Surtur to explode and the zombies to disappear.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

The Gentleman Ghost of Earth-Two relies on various devices to simulate ghost-like capabilities for his criminal capers. Jim Craddock is a ghost who can become invisible and intangible, teleport, and freeze people with his touch. However, he is vulnerable to Nth metal, which has anti-magic properties.

Other versions

In other media

Television

Film

Video games