10 Things You Need To Know About Black Mask
8. He Has His Own Cult
In his rise to become a Gotham crime lord, Black Mask started his own gang, the False Face Society. Members of the Society were ordered to wear a mask and keep it on at all times, essentially taking up a new identity as the mask became their "true" face. That, combined with the fact that they operated out of the Sionis family crypt, made the Society seem more like a cult than a conventional gang.
Either way, the False Face Society would graduate to a full-blown cult during the events of 'No Man's Land'. When a catastrophic earthquake hits Gotham, its inhabitants are evacuated and the city is officially abandoned by the US government. Those who decided to stay find Gotham turned into a lawless wasteland as gangs carve the city up into their own territories.
Amidst all that, Black Mask went completely insane and altered the False Face Society to match his new world view. Instead of criminals hiding behind masks, the Society became a cult who mutilated their own faces to match the destruction of Gotham.
Black Mask would later change his mind though and decided that power and big stacks of money were better than cutting off your own face so the Society went back to being a gang.