5. "Would You Like To See My Mask?"
Nolan didn't want any of his villains to be frivolous, and so he decided there needed to be a reason why a psychiatrist would don a scarecrow mask. Crane tells Rachel Dawes that "Patients suffering delusional episodes often focus their paranoia on an external tormentor. Usually one conforming to Jungian archetypes. In this case, a scarecrow." The mask also serves as a respirator to protect Crane from the fear gas he dispenses on his victims, once again speaking to Nolan's preference for function over form. But more than any of this, it was the effects of Crane's fear toxin that made the villain's screen time so cool. The hallucinations of maggots or bats spewing out of Scarecrow's face, along with the warped surroundings and creepy voice combined to make some exciting scenes which still fitted into Nolan's 'hyper-real' world. Later on we see Scarecrow with a greater comic book resemblance atop a horse in his torn straitjacket, showing Nolan's respect for the source material.