Rupert Thorne

Rupert Thorne is one of the enemies of Batman, created for Batman: the Animated Series, in which he was voiced by John Vernon.

A gangster who, at several points throughout the series, virtually controlled Gotham City's criminal underworld, Thorne made his first appearance in the episode Two-Face," in which he was indirectly responsible for District Attorney Harvey Dent's transformation into the arch-criminal Two-Face. Thorne blackmailed Dent with his psychological records, threatening to tell the press that the young DA suffered from multiple personality disorder unless he stopped prosecuting his henchmen. Enraged, Dent "switched" into his alternate, violent personality and chased Thorne into a nearby chemical processing plant, where an explosion permanently disfigured half of Dent's face and left his evil personality in control.

Thorne was also notable in the series for introducing Bane into Batman's life by hiring him to assassinate the Caped Crusader. Unbeknownst to Thorne, however, his moll, Candice, was conspiring with Bane to kill him as well as Batman so they could both run the city. After Batman (just barely) defeated Bane by severing the tubing that pumped the "Venom" steroids into his body, he sent the hired killer to Thorne, trussed-up and noticeably shrunken, complete with an audio recording of his treasonous conversations with Candice.

Outside of the traditional "Rogues Gallery" villains, Thorne was the main antagonist in the series.