View source for Victor Zsasz

{{Character
|image= Birds of Prey Victor Zsasz Textless Poster.jpg
|name= Victor Zsasz
|real name= Victor Zsasz
|alias= Mr. Zsasz
|species= [[Humans|Human]]
|nationality= {{Nationality|USA}}
|gender= Male
|affiliation= [[Galante crime family]]<br>[[False Face Society]]<br>[[Black Mask Club]]
|status= Deceased
|movie= ''[[Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)]]''
|actor= [[Chris Messina]]
|DOD = [[2020]]}}
{{Quote|I got one for all the little birds I helped fly away from this world. I'm saving a special spot for you. Right here.|Victor Zsasz to [[Harley Quinn]]|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
'''Victor Zsasz''' was a serial killer who marked himself for every murder he carried out, working with his best friend and boss, [[Roman Sionis]]. Zsasz was tasked with working with [[Dinah Lance]] to obtain the [[Bertinelli diamond]], but the search caused it to be stolen by [[Cassandra Cain]]. However, Zsasz learned that Lance betrayed her boss, so he tried to kill her and Cain until [[Helena Bertinelli]] killed him in revenge.

==Biography==
===Early Life===
====Serving Black Mask====
Victor Zsasz was a serial killer and hitman who would torture and murder for [[Roman Sionis]]. He had been killing for at least 15 years and worked for Sionis for essentially all this time. Zsasz left scars for each of his several victims.<ref name="BP">{{Film ref|Birds of Prey}}</ref>

====[[Bertinelli Massacre]]====
[[File:Bertinelli Massacre.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz murders the [[Bertinelli Crime Family]].]]
As part of his duties, he participated in the [[Bertinelli Massacre]]. Under [[Stefano Galante]]'s orders, This was the slaughter of almost the entire [[Bertinelli Crime Family]] to consolidate the power of Black Mask's [[False Face Society|criminal organization]] in [[Gotham City]]. Though the assault was successful, it would ultimately prove Zsasz's undoing, as one member of the family, the young daughter [[Helena Bertinelli]], was spared.<ref name="BP"/>

===[[Manhunt of the Birds of Prey]]===
====Killing Mr. Keo====
{{Quote|I'm gonna set you free.|Victor Zsasz to [[Mrs. Keo]]|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
[[File:Black Mask and Victor.jpeg|thumb|250px|Zsasz and Sionis during the party.]]
One night at the [[Black Mask Club]], Zsasz was meeting [[Roman Sionis]] while he was watching Sionis, continuing to consolidate his power, many years later demanded that [[Mr. Keo]] of the [[Golden Lions]] join his organization with the False Face Society. When Mr. Keo declined, he captured him, his [[Mrs. Keo|wife]] and [[Miss Keo|daughter]], and chained them up. Zsasz and Sionis said goodbye to Keo with a macabre laugh, as they had intentions to kill him for rejecting.

[[File:Roman & Victor.jpeg|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz and Sionis watching [[Black Canary|Dinah Lance]] from the penthouse.]]
Zsasz was still enjoying the party until [[Harley Quinn]] killed Sionis' driver in front of everyone, and Sionis later ordered Zsasz to find a new personal driver. Sionis and Zsasz watched from Sionis’ penthouse as [[Black Canary|Dinah Lance]] rescued an intoxicated [[Harley Quinn]] from being kidnapped. Sionis sent Zsasz downstairs to tell Lance that she would be his new driver, as Harley had disabled his previous driver the night before. Though Lance initially turned down the job offer, Zsasz didn’t give her an option.

[[File:Black Mask with the Keos.jpg|thumb|250px|Zsasz looks at the tied up Keo's.]]
At the Gotham City docks, Zsasz and other members of the [[False Face Society]] captured [[Mr. Keo]], his wife, and his daughter, then tied them up and held them as victims for a massacre. Zsasz was waiting and sharpening his knife until Roman Sionis arrived to remind Keo about how he rejected him.

[[File:Zsasz makes fun of Keo's family.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz makes fun of Keo's family]]
On Sionis’ orders, Zsasz cut off Mr. Keo’s face while laughing, after which he slit Mrs. Keo’s throat, referring to it as “setting her free.” Zsasz came to the daughter and laughed at the deaths and asked Sionis what they will do with the daughter. Though Sionis initially considered sparing the daughter, her blowing a snot bubble while crying disgusted him so much that he had Zsasz peel her face off as well.<ref name="BP" />

====Losing the Diamond====
{{Quote|All right. We can go."<br>"I'll take [[Bertinelli Diamond|that]]."<br>"[[Black Mask|Mr. S]] said for me to hold on to it."<br>"Go get your car.|[[Dinah Lance]] and Victor Zsasz|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
[[File:Zsasz and Sionis talks about the Crossbow Killer.png|thumb|250px|Zsasz and Sionis talks about the [[Huntress|Crossbow Killer]].]]
The next day, Zsasz had breakfast with Roman Sionis while they talked about the [[Huntress|Crossbow Killer]] who was killing several of his allies such as [[Carlo Rossi]], bothering Sionis, who complained because he wanted to have the assassin as an ally, and Zsasz began to give her massages to calm him down until Lance arrived late to pick Sionis up for his planned murder of the Keo family.

[[File:BlackMask 3.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz accepts to find Quinn.]]
When she arrived, Zsasz was in the process of updating Sionis on the news of the day, and suggested that Sionis tell her to come back later because she was late. When Sionis refused and his attention was diverted towards showing off to Lance, Zsasz made a grab to regain his attention by dropping the news that Harley had blown up [[Ace Chemicals]], publicly declaring her break up with the [[Joker]]. His attempt was successful, and Sionis told him to send the boys to capture her, as he had a longstanding vendetta against her. 

[[File:Birds of Prey - Victor Zsasz looks around corner.jpg|thumb|250px|Zsasz outside the Gotham City Imports Office.]]
Zsasz then went with Dinah Lance to secure the [[Bertinelli Diamond]], a valuable diamond that was the key to unlocking the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family, for Sionis from the [[Gotham City Imports Office]]. Lance successfully secured the diamond, which Zsasz insisted on taking from her possession though Sionis had given the task to Lance. It was snatched from him by [[Cassandra Cain]], a local thief and pick-pocket about Gotham City.

[[File:Lance and Zsasz watch Cain get arrested.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Lance and Zsasz watch Cain get arrested.]]
Zsasz met up with Lance to leave and checked his pockets only to realize that the diamond was missing and watched as Cain had it, but by the time he realized what had happened, it was too late, as she had already been picked up by a squad car of the [[Gotham City Police Department]] and taken to jail. The duo quickly went to find Cain to retrieve the diamond, though it was already too late, and they had both failed in their objective.<ref name="BP" />

====Making a Deal with Harley Quinn====
{{Quote|I'm gonna get your [[Bertinelli Diamond|diamond]] back. I promise. Why don't we go downstairs and kill that [[Harley Quinn|Harley bitch]]? Blow off a little steam."<br>"Yeah, I have wanted to do that for quite some time.|Victor Zsasz and [[Roman Sionis]]|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
[[File:Lance and Zsasz explain to Sionis about the diamond theft.jpg|thumb|250px|Lance and Zsasz explain to Sionis about the diamond theft.]]
Upon returning to Sionis’ penthouse, Zsasz prevented Lance from telling their employer that the diamond had been stolen from them, insisting instead that they had never gotten their hands on it before it was stolen. When Sionis threw a tantrum about the missing diamond, Zsasz was able to calm him down. He suggested they blow off steam by killing Harley, who had been brought in downstairs, and when Sionis left, Zsasz mocked Lance.

[[File:BoP Exclusive Image.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz and Sionis making a deal with [[Harley Quinn]].]]
Zsasz brought Sionis down to where Quinn was be held. Sionis intended for Zsasz to dole out the same punishment he had given to the Keo family. However, when Quinn heard Sionis ranting about the loss of the diamond, she offered her services to him as a finder of lost things. Sionis took her up on her offer, while simultaneously having Zsasz send out a bounty for Cassandra Cain to every mercenary in Gotham.

[[File:Black Mask Business.jpg|thumb|250px|Zsasz informs Sionis about Cain and Quinn.]]
Quinn tracked down and freed Cain, deciding to go into hiding with her until she could pass the diamond she swallowed through her sistem instead of handing Cain over to Sionis to be killed. When Zsasz informed Sionis that Quinn and Cain had disappeared, he diverted Sionis’s anger away from him by encouraging him to take his frustration out on [[Erika]], an innocent bystander.

[[File:Zsasz is ordered to go to The Booby Trap.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz is ordered to go to [[The Booby Trap]].]]
When Harley did finally agree to set up a meeting at the [[The Booby Trap|Booby Trap]], Zsasz met with Sionis in his room and was pleased to learn that Quinzel had already restrained Cain, and they celebrated their triumph. To meet with Quinn, Sionis ordered Zsasz to go there, with Lance as his driver, Zsasz asked if he could kill the girls and Sionis allowed him.

[[File:Zsasz discovers Lance's betrayal.png|thumb|250px|Zsasz discovers Lance's betrayal.]]
Along the way, Zsasz discovered that Lance had betrayed them after noticing messages from her to police officer, [[Renee Montoya]]. Zsasz angrily ordered Lance to stop the car to go to the bathroom, but in reality, he informed Sionis of the betrayal, and asked if he could killherhim, devastating Sionis, who ordered him not to, as he would go himself.<ref name="BP" />

====Death====
{{Quote|I knew you couldn't be trusted. Roman's little bird. You little fucking bird. That's why he needs me to take care of him."<br>"You know you're just being paranoid, Zsasz.|Victor Zsasz and [[Dinah Lance]]|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
[[File:Zsasz shows his scars to Harley Quinn.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz shows his scars to [[Harley Quinn]].]]
Zsasz arrived at the Booby Trap, where he found and temporarily paralysed [[Harley Quinn]] with a poisoned dart. He taunted Quinn while she was unable to move, stating that he had been waiting a long time to kill her and showing her where on his chest he would cut a mark after she was dead, but Quinn couldn't do anything, until Zsasz realized that Lance was taking too long.

[[File:Zsasz confronts Dinah Lance.png|thumb|250px|Zsasz confronts [[Dinah Lance]].]]
Upon discovering that [[Cassandra Cain]] had swallowed the diamond, Zsasz held a gun to Dinah Lance’s head and told her to cut Cain open, revealing that he knew all about her betrayal because he never trusted her. He confronted her on being a rat, stating that he never trusted her and that rats like her were why Sionis needed Zsasz to take care of him. In a rage, he ordered Lance to prove her loyalty by killing Cain, something she refused to do.

[[File:Zsasz is killed by Dinah Lance.png|left|thumb|250px|Zsasz is killed by [[Dinah Lance]].]]
His plan to kill Lance, Harley, and Cassandra Cain was thwarted by the surprise arrival of [[Helena Bertinelli]], now going by the alias "Huntress." She shot him with her specialized [[Crossbow Pistol|crossbow pistol]], Lance dug the bolt into his neck until he collapsed, and Harley then tranqed him over and over until he died.<ref name="BP" />

===Legacy===
{{Quote|I killed Victor Zsasz. And now I'm done.|[[Helena Bertinelli]]|Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)}}
His death avenged the Bertinelli Family as the last remaining individual that was part of the group that had slaughtered her family, causing [[Roman Sionis]] to attack the girls at [[The Booby Trap]] in order to get the [[Bertinelli Diamond]], but they fought back and [[Harley Quinn]] killed Sionis, ending his empire. The deaths of Zsasz and Sionis inspired [[Renee Montoya]], [[Dinah Lance]] and [[Helena Bertinelli]] to become the Birds of Prey and stop other criminals like Zsasz.<ref name="BP" />

==Personality==
Victor Zsasz is a psychopath and a sadist, who takes pleasure from exerting power over others and “freeing” people from life. He enjoys watching fear and suffering in his victims as much the act of killing them, though the methodology of removing faces may be for Roman Sionis's enjoyment rather than his own, as the main take away from killing for Victor Zsasz isn't physical trophies (to which the cuts on his skin for each victim serve the purpose) but rather the ending of their lives itself. He gets close to his victims, invading their personal space and body autonomy because he relishes their fear, and their knowledge that he is in a position of power over them.

Victor's main driving force in the comics is chaotic nihilism, and this seems to be reflected here his general disregard for anyone other than Roman Sionis. He's shown encouraging Sionis to torment innocent people and potential allies alike. Victor had no qualms murdering children, as seen when he was involved in the murder Helena Bertinelli's family, and was willing to cut Cassandra Cain open to receive the diamond. He has an obsessive fixation on being the sole person on whom Sionis can rely, and relishes watching him lean into criminal and unethical behavior. He is immensely jealous and annoyed when anyone else has Sionis' attention and confidence, leading him to act in a petty and sometimes rash manner to reinstate his position.

Zsasz works directly with Roman Sionis, and serves not only the function of bodyguard and hitman but also performs the tasks of a personal assistant. He is ever-present as a physical threat behind Sionis' words, but he also manages some degree of his staff and informs him of the goings-on of his employees and the general criminal activities of Gotham. He appears to have Sionis' full confidence and trust, as Zsasz has shown that he is intimately familiar with Sionis' tantrums and how to bring him down from a manic episode. He relishes in Sionis's turns of violence and enjoys that Sionis lets him torture and kill whoever he pleases. However, Zsasz is not above lying to Sionis or deceiving him to make him more infuriated, such as when he told Sionis that the woman in the booth was laughing at him as a way to divert his rage onto an external target. While Zsasz is not book smart, shown struggling with advanced vocabulary, he is a competent manipulator who is constantly observing the situation around him and trying to lead it in a direction that best suits his and Roman Sionis' needs.

==Abilities==
*'''Knife Mastery''': Zsasz is extremely proficient with knives and has a lot of experience with skinning and cutting people.
*'''Expert Marksman''': Zsasz shot Harley with a tranq dart before she could react from across the room. He was also capable of spraying down a family with a machine gun and seems to be adept with other types of firearms.
*'''Expert Torturer''': Zsasz is an expert interrogator and takes deep pleasure in the torture and murder of his victims.
*'''Stealth''': Zsasz was capable of sneaking up on Harley and subduing her before she could react.

==Equipment==
*'''[[Bertinelli Diamond]]''': A diamond that unlocks the fortune of the Bertinelli crime family. He briefly secured it for the Black Mask, but it was quickly stolen by Cassandra Cain.

===Weapons===
*'''Hunting Knife''': Zsasz uses this knife as his preferred weapon, using it to torture Black Mask's enemies.
*'''Curved Folding Knife''': Zsasz used Black Mask's knife when he was about to torture Harley Quinn.
*'''Tranquilizer Dart Gun''': Zsasz shot Harley with a tranq dart from this gun, temporarily subduing her.
*'''Handgun''': Zsasz used this handgun during a confrontation with Dinah.
*'''Sub-machine gun''': Zsasz used a sub-machine gun when killing the Bertinelli crime family.

==Relationships==
{{Col-begin}}{{Col-2}}
===Allies===
*[[False Face Society]]
**[[Black Mask|Roman Sionis/Black Mask]] † - employer and friend
**[[Carlo Rossi]] †
**[[Happy]] †
*[[Galante Crime Family]]
**[[Stefano Galante]] † - former employer
*[[Aguilar]]
{{Col-2}}
===Enemies===
*[[Bertinelli Crime Family]] - victims
**[[Franco Bertinelli]] †
**[[Joe Bertinelli]] †
**[[Maria Bertinelli]] †
**[[Pino Bertinelli]] †
*[[Joker]]
*[[Harley Quinn]] - attempted victim and co-killer
*[[Birds of Prey]] - attempted victims
**[[Huntress|Helena Bertinelli/Huntress]] - killer
**[[Black Canary|Dinah Lance/Black Canary]] - co-killer
**[[Renee Montoya]]
*[[Cassandra Cain]] - attempted victim
*[[Golden Lions]]
**[[Mr. Keo]] † - victim
*[[Mrs. Keo]] † - victim
*[[Miss Keo]] † - victim
*[[Gotham City Police Department]]
*[[Erika]]
{{Col-end}}

==Trivia==
*Zsasz first appeared in the comic ''Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1'', part of a storyline called ''Batman: The Last Arkham'' in 1992.<ref name="IGN">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/26/birds-of-prey-movie-victor-zsasz-gotham-explained-who-is-chris-messina|title=Birds of Prey Movie's Victor Zsasz Explained: Who Is the Twisted Batman Villain?|first=Jesse|last=Schedeen|date=March 26, 2019|accessdate=January 26, 2020|publisher=IGN}}</ref>

==References==
{{Gallery}}
{{Reflist}}

==External Links==
*{{DC}}
*{{WP}}

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[[de:Victor Zsasz]]
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[[Category:Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) Characters]]
[[Category:Humans]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:False Face Society Members]]
[[Category:Deceased Characters]]