King Tut is a fictional character in the television series ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'', who first appeared in the episode "The Curse of Tut" (April 13, 1966). He was created by Earl Barret, Robert C. Dennis and Charles R. Rondeau, and is portrayed by

Victor Buono Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938January 1, 1982) was an American actor, comic, and briefly a recording artist. He was known for playing the villain King Tut in the television series '' Batman'' (1966–1968) and musician Edwin Flagg in '' ...

for a majority of his appearances, though Guy Way portrays King Tut in the episode "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra". In his memoir ''Back to the Batcave'', Adam West describes him as the only villain created for the series to be a real success.

Publication history

The character of King Tut started out on the ''

'' television line episodes of the series' original run.

Fictional character biography

''Batman''

Professor William Omaha McElroy is an Egyptologist at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

who suffers a blow to the head during a student riot that causes him to develop amnesia and believe he was a

reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

of King Tut. Ever since, he would make several attempts to conquer Gotham City and defeat

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

, and later

Batgirl Batgirl is the name of several superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. Although the character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in ...

, only to suffer more blows to the head that revert him to his original personality before he can succeed. Due to being cognizant of what happens during his time as King Tut, McElroy tries to prevent unwanted blows and personality shifts, though without success. Throughout his appearances, King Tut's plans to take over Gotham have involved ancient scarab beetles capable of creating a potion that will allow him to control minds; gaining assistance from two Yale students who suffered their own blows to their heads and believe themselves to be King Tut's royal jester and Lord Chancellor; masquerading as a crime predictor and claiming Bruce Wayne is Batman while attempting to secure a scroll that will lead him to a god statue; and joining forces with Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft and Cabala, among other supervillains, in a bid to take over Gotham City in exchange for being allowed to rob Gotham's museums. Most notably, in the episode "I'll Be a Mummy's Uncle", King Tut buys a plot of land adjacent to

Wayne Manor Wayne Manor Estate (or simply Wayne Manor) is a fictional mansion appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the personal residence of Bruce Wayne, who is also the superhero Batman. The residence is depicted as a large ma ...

so he can mine for a rare mineral. After tunneling underneath the manor and accidentally discovering the Batcave, he confirms Wayne and Batman are the same person, but gets hit on the head with a rock before he can reveal this to

Commissioner Gordon James W. "Jim" Gordon, Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane as an ally of Batman, the character deb ...

DC Universe

A depiction of King Tut made his

DC Comics Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

debut in ''

Batman Confidential ''Batman Confidential'' is an American monthly comic book series from DC Comics which debuted on December 6, 2006 and concluded on March 2, 2011. Like a previous Batman series, '' Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight'', ''Batman Confidential'' feat ...

'' #26 (April 2009). This version was created by

Christina Weir Christina Weir is a writer of comic books and television. She writes with her husband, Nunzio DeFilippis, whom she met while they were both students at Vassar College. The two have written for two seasons on HBO's '' Arli$$'', and have sold story ...

Nunzio DeFilippis Nunzio DeFilippis is an American writer of comic books and television. He writes with his wife, Christina Weir, whom he met while they were both students at Vassar College. The two have written for two seasons on HBO's '' Arli$$'', and have sold ...

, and

José Luis García-López José Luis García-López (born March 26, 1948) is a Spanish-Argentine comics artist who works in the United States, particularly in a long-running relationship with DC Comics. In addition to his storytelling art, he has been responsible for produ ...

. His alter-ego, Victor Goodman, is an homage to actor Victor Buono, since "Buono" is Italian for "good". The comic book version of King Tut, Victor Goodman, is a criminal egyptologist who targets and murders wealthy citizens and leaves Egyptian-themed riddles, similar to the

Riddle of the Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

. Batman teams up with the

Riddler The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #140 in Oc ...

, who does not appreciate his modus operandi being stolen and agrees to help to stop Goodman. They manage to defeat King Tut, who is sent to prison until he is transferred to

Arkham Asylum The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane (), commonly referred to as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital/prison, named after the city of Arkham which appeared first in the stories of H. P. Lovecraft, and later appear ...

. The character appears once again in the " DC Rebirth" in ''The Riddler: Year of the Villain'' as a friend of Edward Nygma. He is first shown talking to Nygma in an Egyptian-themed restaurant and Nygma tells him that he is angry and jealous that he has not received a visit from Lex Luthor (who has been visiting various villains across the DC Universe as part of a nefarious plan he is setting up). But after stating this, he eventually gets visited by Luthor anyway. King Tut then appears later on telling him that they should team up to outsmart Batman by working together and he initially agrees. After Batman goes through a complicated Egyptian puzzle set up by Tut, Riddler decides to quit and leaves, thinking about the advice Luthor gave him. Batman then knocks out Tut with a single punch.''The Riddler: Year of the Villain'' #1 (September 2019). DC Comics.

In other media

Television

A character inspired by King Tut called the Pharaoh for copyright reasons appears in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', voiced by John DiMaggio. He wields a staff capable of turning people into obedient zombies and has been imprisoned in Iron Heights Penitentiary and Blackgate Penitentiary.

Film

* King Tut appears in '' Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders''. * King Tut appears in '' The Lego Batman Movie'' as a member of the Joker's army. * King Tut appears in ''

Batman vs. Two-Face ''Batman vs. Two-Face'' is a 2017 American Animation, animated direct-to-video superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and a direct sequel to ''Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders''. I ...

'', voiced by Wally Wingert.

Miscellaneous

King Tut appears in ''

Batman Unburied ''Batman Unburied'' is an American superhero audio drama podcast series featuring the DC Comics hero Batman. It is the first of an intended series of Spotify-produced scripted podcasts based on DC's characters. In June 2022, the podcast was re ...

'' as a resident of

References

External links

IMDB: Batman, The Curse of Tut

IMDB: King Tut, Character Filmography

King Tut Animated
Sketch and info available.

{{Batman characters Comics characters introduced in 2009 Television characters introduced in 1966 Fictional historians DC Comics supervillains DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics television characters Fictional crime bosses Fictional characters with amnesia American male characters in television