10 Darkest Batman: The Animated Series Episodes

The villains of Batman all have machinations that stem from mental illness - and with The Ventriloquist it's never more obvious than a man who is suffering under the weight of his own personal demons.

In the episode 'Double Talk', the Ventriloquist is released from Arkham under a rehabilitative program. He is put to work, but immediately displays signs of ill-health as figments of the puppet Scarface start to dominate his conscious. Coupled with the arrival of old goons he once knew, it looks like the Ventriloquist can’t escape a life of servitude for Scarface.

That is until it is revealed that the manifestations of Scarface we’re not his psyche, but real-world impersonations and manipulations brought on by con-men and crooks.

For kids, the Ventriloquist physically looks rather funny and Scarface has a hilarious voice - but beneath all of this, viewed by an adult, you see a character so deeply entrenched and traumatised by their own psychosis that they struggle to function in the real world.

Coupled with the fact that we actively see a man with a mental illness being abused, and the whole episode makes for not-so-light children's entertainment.