How Batman: Arkham Shadow’s Rat King Lore is Kept Neat and Tidy

When it was announced that Batman: Arkham Shadow was debuting a brand-new antagonist figure to the Arkhamverse named the Rat King, the community was right to be immediately skeptical of his identity. The Arkhamverse rests its laurels on a bedrock of lore between installments that have all spawned and extrapolated outward from its humble yet formidable beginnings in Batman: Arkham Asylum. For example, the only reason that the reveal of Jason Todd as Batman: Arkham Knight’s titular antagonist didn’t immediately fall flat was arguably because the lore hadn’t been clear on whether there had ever been a Jason Todd in the Arkhamverse, at least outside the cryptic dreamscape presented in Batman: Arkham VR where Joe Chill also debuted.