Shriek

Favorite Villains / Bad Guys (84 items)
list by filthyhandsgod

Walter Shreeve was a brilliant sound engineer who created a suit that could generate and control sound. With the suit, Shreeve became Shriek.

Walter Shreeve was a talented sound engineer and owner of Shreeve Sound Laboratories. After consuming all his money on his research, he inevitably drove his company into bankruptcy. Derek Powers eventually saw the prospect of his work, so he acquired his business and funded his experiments.


Shriek fails to kill Bruce Wayne.

Shreeve developed a sound suit with four built-in sound generators, each of which capable of different effects. He intended this technology to be used in demolition work. However, Powers had other plans for it. Shreeve was commanded to use the suit to murder Bruce Wayne.

He followed Bruce to Gotham City's historical district, where he attempted to kill him with focalized sound vibrations. Thanks to Batman, Shreeve failed in directly killing Bruce, but he hurt him enough to be committed in a hospital.

Before escaping, Shreeve left behind his right-hand sound generator, which was vital for Batman to track him down. Later that night, Terry posed as a pizza delivery boy who got his address wrong in order to get into Shreeve's lab. Shreeve couldn't resist an offer of a free pizza, so he let the pizza boy inside his lab.

Shreeve allowed the pizza boy to look around his gizmos, and even explained to him how sound masking worked. He then asked him to leave so that he could get back to work, but as soon as the pizza boy asked him about sound vibrations, Shreeve realized he was being duped, so he tackled the impostor. He put on his sound suit and wrecked most of his lab in an attempt to kill the pizza boy. He followed him outside, where he was intercepted by the GPD. Shreeve repelled the police blimps and escaped.

Now turned into a wanted fugitive, Shreeve sought retribution against Powers, whom he blamed for his current status. Powers appealed to Shreeve's vanity, arguing that he should be contented with the absolute power bestowed by his suit. He even gave him a new name, which would fit his new persona and impart fear in others. As of that moment, Shreeve adopted the moniker "Shriek".

Though Bruce was in a secured hospital, Shreeve had managed to implant a two-way radio in his bandage by bribing a nurse, through which he goaded him to commit suicide. When that failed, and Bruce was transferred into the psychiatric ward, Shreeve tried to drive him insane (and eventually kill him) by suggesting his food was poisoned. However, Batman discovered the hidden transmitter, and traced the signal back to the Zanti factory near the hospital.

Inside, Shriek battled with Batman, making use of several sound effects. He blasted him with vibrations, and then suppressed the sound of the contiguous area, and turned up his suit's volume to hear Batman's footsteps. Batman destroyed his sound masker with a batarang, canceling its muting effect. Consequently, Shriek was overwhelmed by the surrounding sound amplified by his helmet, leaving him permanently deaf. Shreeve was arrested but refused to testify against Powers.