Raymond Underhill was a firefighter in Gotham City. Born and raised in Gotham, his life began tragically when his mother died giving birth to him which left his father to raise him by himself. Because his father was a firefighter and Fire Chief, Ray spent much of his youth at Fire Station 17. The station became like a second home for Ray, and the firefighters became his family. Feeling a special bond for his father's workplace, Raymond was inspired to one day succeed his father and carry on his legacy as a firefighter and Fire Chief of Station 17.
History[]
Before Arkham Knight[]
Raymond Underhill was a man of true kindness and compassion, and was respected by his fellow firefighters. In his spare time, Raymond even tried to help burn victims in anyway that he could. Raymond's men trust him without question, and knew that his heart was always in the right place.
After the events of Batman: Arkham City, Gotham City was forced to pay restitution money to various former inmates that survived Protocol 10. As a result, many cutbacks and redundancies were forced to be taken to prevent the city's economy from collapsing.
Willing to do what ever it took to protect his fellow firefighters and Station 17, Underhill teamed up with an arsonist named Firefly to set alight unoccupied buildings so that Gotham's Fire Department would continue to have work to do which would prevent the city from closing it down.
Unfortunately for Underhill, his partnership with Firefly soon turned sour: his men had decided to stay in Gotham during Scarecrow's attack, and angered Firefly, who was promised that he could burn the city without any resistance. Using information given to him by Underhill, Firefly disabled the fire sprinklers at all three fire stations in Central Gotham and set them ablaze, which caused all the firefighters to go missing.
Arkham Knight Incident[]
After rescuing almost all the missing firefighters, Batman deduced that Chief Underhill had worked with Firefly and was the reason that the fire station fires were started in the first place. Chatter from the firefighters explained that Underhill had met regularly with a "burn victim" - Firefly undisguised. When Batman rescued Underhill, the Fire Chief was sent to the GCPD Lockup for helping an arsonist. Underhill felt remorse for his actions because he felt that he tricked, endangered, and betrayed the trust of his fellow firefighters.
Personality[]
The root of Underhill's actions was driven more out of desperation and loyalty towards his men than actual malice. Due to government setbacks his entire station were at risk of losing their jobs and unable to break the promises he made, Underhill began engaging in morally dubious activities such as abetting the psychopathic serial arsonist, Firefly and giving him full security access to buildings which he could burn down, assuring his men would be able to keep their jobs. Though Underhill's morality became nonetheless transparent he displayed some principles and made sure that all buildings he gave Firefly access to were uninhabited.
As he began working deeper with Firefly, Underhill became more conscientious, filled with sorrow and regret over breaking the law and constantly endangering his men but knowing he could not back out of his deal. His guilt only worsened, to the point where he could barely live with himself any more and, perhaps realising a chance for penance Underhill orders his men to return to Gotham on the night of Scarecrow's terrorist threat. This was more out of a guilty conscious than actual nobility, however and what Underhill saw as a chance for small redemption only added more to his already heavy-set conscious.
When finally confronted by Batman, Underhill shows genuine regret and humility as well he doesn't attempt to resist his incarceration but at the same time he considered not admitting to his men about his deal with Firefly. He admits to Batman in captivity that although he began with somewhat heroic intentions he quickly spiralled out of control and knew that whatever punishment came his way he deserved it. He also has a humourous side, best shown while being taken to the GCPD he states "riding in the Batman's car. My little girl's gonna be jealous."
Quotes[]
- "My men...are they okay?"
- "You know, don't you?"
- "I always made sure they were empty. No one was hurt."
- "The city was shutting us down...I couldn't let them do it, I couldn't.
- "They've got families, they gave their lives to this city. I made a promise to them. I couldn't break it, you understand that, right?"
- "Riding in the Batman's car. My little girl's gonna be jealous."
- "Scarecrow's plan, I didn't know about any of it, I swear. You have to believe me. Why would you?"
- "Why would anyone? I...don't know how to tell them...I don't think I can."
- "I know."
- "Yeah, a guilty conscience. But thanks."
- "God, this is really happening."
- "Try and make sure the men don't find out. I wanna be the one who tells them. You're right. They deserve that much."
- "I'll live. Funny, I always hoped I'd get to meet you one day. Never thought it'd be like this."
- "I betrayed those closest to me. Whatever happens, I deserve it."
- "I wanted to help. That was all. Things just got messed up. I lost sight of what matters."
- "I'd give anything to go back and change what I did. The hell was I thinking?"
Trivia[]
- Raymond Underhill had a daughter. She possibly was a fan of Batman, as Raymond noted she'd be jealous after hearing her dad had a "ride" in Batman's car.
- Despite assisting Firefly in committing his arsonist crimes, it was clear that Raymond Underhill showed signs of regret in his actions. Notably, he was the only prisoner in the GCPD lockup who willingly commited a crime and later showed remorse. Even Kirk Langstrom, who was emotionally crushed after finding out what he had done, commited his crime(s) by accident, having no control over his condition.
- Underhill's staff didn't hold a grudge or blame him for what he did, and knew fully well that he was only looking out for them.
- His character is very similar to that of John "Axe" Adcox from the movie Backdraft (1991), a veteran firefighter who starts fires to protect his crew and livelihood.