On a routine trip returning The Joker to Arkham Asylum, the Batman himself must deal with traps set within its inner sanctums, purposely set by the now escaped Joker, along with the rest of his rogues' gallery that are now free within the premises.
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Mark Hamill has said that once he saw the character model for this version of the Joker, he made a conscious choice to push the performance in a darker, more unhinged direction than his animated series take, while still keeping that playful, clownish streak underneath. It's a big part of why this Joker still gets brought up as one of the character's best portrayals.
During one of Scarecrow's fear-gas hallucinations, he appears posing as Batman's therapist and casually remarks that Bruce has 'been like this' ever since his parents died - a chillingly casual line delivery that plays on one of the character's most famous traumas, before it's clarified he doesn't actually know who's under the mask.
In one of the game's twisted dream-sequence detours, Scarface delivers a version of Warden Sharp's usual welcome video, boasting that Killer Croc runs a security wing with a 'perfect record' and 'nothing but empty cells.' It's never spelled out directly, but the implication that Croc has simply been eating the patients is about as grim as this game gets.
Some of the Riddler's environmental clues point toward villains who never actually show up in the game itself, like an early hint dropped toward the Ratcatcher. It's a small thing, but it shows Rocksteady was already thinking about the wider rogues' gallery beyond just who they had the budget to model and animate.
Climb around Rome's rooftops long enough and you'll eventually hear a passing NPC mutter 'another capering crusader' under their breath. It's a pretty blatant jab at Batman, dropped into a game about a guy who spends most of his time jumping across rooftops in a hood.
