Frank Boles was a corrupt chief member of Arkham Asylum's security staff and a mole of the Joker. He aided the Clown Prince of Crime in his takeover of Arkham Asylum.
Biography
Early life
According to Boles' ID card, he was born on June 15th, 1962. He started out as a security guard for the controversial security contractor known as TYGER, before he became a security officer at Arkham Asylum, where he has been working for six years. Despite rising to become one of the asylum's senior officers, Frank was extremely arrogant and sarcastic with a notably violent temper. This has led to several asylum patients sustaining injuries from Boles. He has twice been suspended for drinking on the job. Boles has a gambling addiction, as a result he regularly holds poker evenings in the guard rooms in an attempt to recuperate his losses. Frank is desperate to be top dog at Arkham, which he thinks he is already. He fails to recognize that he is considered untrustworthy and generally disliked by most, if not all, of his colleagues, including Officer William North.
Incident Reports
Arkham Shadow Incident
Following the death of Shrike, and Bruce Wayne going undercover as Irving Dennis “Matches” Malone, Frank Boles would process Malone as he was being escorted through the Nexus of Blackgate Prison, after beating a prisoner who stepped over the line without meaning to. At the end of some days, he can occasionally be heard ordering the cells to be locked for the night.
When the day came for Malone to be put on trial for supposedly murdering an undercover police officer, he, along with another officer would discuss the present situation with Leslie Thompkins, who provided a suit for Malone to wear for the trial, was mostly stalling for time. When Malone arrived, Boles mockingly referred to the suit as a “hand-me-down” from Bruce Wayne, not knowing that Malone and Wayne were one and the same, before ordering him to get dressed for the trial, but when Malone talked back, Boles ordered his associate to tranquilize Malone, before they would transport him to the Solomon Wayne Courthouse.
Following Harvey Dent’s mental breakdown in court, Boles would personally escort Malone through the Nexus of Blackgate, before leaving him to be beaten unconscious by Lyle Bolton.
Before Arkham Asylum Incident
Boles was a cocky man, always claiming that he was the best guard at the Asylum. The Joker, being a master manipulator, played to the guard's ego and reinforced the idea. He eventually got him to take bribes and become his "inside man" as a way to show that he could strike back at the other guards. He would help Joker get out of his cell for short periods of time in order to torture Jason Todd. Although not confirmed, it is possible he also assisted Scarecrow on Joker's orders by releasing him from his cell also for short periods of time and helping him with his hideout in the elevator shaft in Intensive Treatment, where Scarecrow had security monitors, asylum blueprints and supplies for his Fear Toxin, which he prepared specifically for Batman in anticipation for the Clown Prince of Crime's future takeover of the asylum.
Arkham Asylum Incident
Frank Boles escorts the Joker through Arkham Asylum.
After having Joker help him out of a previous situation, Boles ultimately finds himself embroiled in Joker's latest scheme to rid Gotham of the Dark Knight, helping him break free upon entering Arkham right under the nose of Batman. Boles is also instructed to subdue and capture James Gordon, to whom he brings into the care of Harley Quinn. Over the monitors, Joker shows footage of this to Batman, who was in Secure Loop following the death of the Titan Henchman and Joker's escape to Extreme Isolation.
Batman then returns to the Holding Cells in Intensive Treatment where Gordon was left with Boles and was knocked out and taken captive by the corrupt officer. Using his knowledge of Boles' past, however, and noticing that Boles sloppily dropped on the floor his personal flask with favorite whiskey, Batman is able to analyze it and picks up traces of Boles' favorite tipple in the Arkham air and follows it in the hopes that it will lead him not only to Boles but to Gordon himself.
Boles about to hit Commissioner Gordon from behind with a baton.
Batman tracked Boles through the Intensive Treatment Center and while navigating, could listen over the intercom as Boles encountered William North and his team of several other Arkham security guards and attempts to draw them away to the front entrance under the pretext that more Blackgate prisoners are on the way and that the entrance should be covered. As several of the guards moved to cover the exit and began questioning Boles' knowledge of more inmates coming, Boles shot them dead. North managed to evade Boles and hide in a nearby room. With the help of Harley Quinn and an army of Blackgate Prisoners, Boles secured the front entrance of the Intensive Treatment Center.
Boles betrayed and murdered
When Batman defeated Quinn's henchmen and eventually did reach the end of the trail to Boles, he finds that the Joker is aware of his actions and has already had the corrupt guard murdered (presumably killed by Quinn on Joker's orders) after he has outlived his usefulness. Frank has been strapped to a prisoner movement handcart with a green smile painted across his mouth and a sign reading "Dead End" chained around his waist when found by Batman.
Batman then encounters North, who hid in the Utility Corridor, and tells Batman of Boles' treachery and how Boles lured and shot to death the poor guards. Batman in turn informs North that Boles was killed by the Joker after outliving his usefulness. North is unmoved of Boles' death and exclaims "Good! He was scum." North then returns to the Utility Corridor room and kneeled beside the corpse of a masked security guard, who was among the officers that were betrayed and shot by Boles, and appeared to be a close friend of North, with North mourning his death and saying "I'm sorry buddy. I'll look after Maria. I promise."
After Arkham Asylum Incident
It was Frank's role in allowing the Joker to torture Jason Todd that indirectly led to Todd becoming the Arkham Knight and plotting with Scarecrow against Batman in Batman: Arkham Knight before settling on the Red Hood identity.
Personality
Frank Boles was an arrogant, gambling, short-tempered, corrupt and alcoholic senior officer at Arkham Asylum, who held the arrogant belief he was the best guard in Arkham, failing to see how much he was disliked by his colleagues. He was extremely ruthless and cowardly as shown when he killed the unfortunate Arkham guards at the Intensive Treatment entrance in cold-blood after instructing them to guard the entrance.
His desperation to prove he was the best in Arkham led to him falling in with The Joker and his schemes and concoctions, eventually getting him involved with his latest scheme to take over Arkham and upon outliving his usefulness, being killed by the Joker. Ultimately, he dies as a hated, treacherous and corrupt guard, who betrayed and killed his former colleagues for nothing.
Quotes
- "Shut it, clown. A lot of people here really want to talk to you." (Joker)
- "I thought I told you to stay quiet!" (Joker)
- "Whatever, just be quick!" (Arkham Asylum doctor)
- "Quinn! It's clear! Get your ass in here!" (Harley Quinn)
Psychological Profile
Attributes
- Arrogant belief that he is the best guard at Arkham Asylum
- Uses sarcasm to cover up insecurities and failures
- Violent temper has resulted in many injuries to patients
- Reprimanded constantly for drinking on the job
Gallery
Trivia
- There is a discrepancy in Frank's physical information, as his bio says his height is 6ft and his weigh is 185lbs, but his ID card says his height is 5ft 10in and his weight is is 193lbs.
- Various viral marketing for Arkham Asylum, as well as Frank Boles' reaction to Joker insinuating that the fire at Blackgate was no accident, implied that Frank Boles was the reason why Blackgate was burned down to the ground and thus why several convicts in Blackgate Penitentiary were transferred to Arkham Asylum.
- The password to Boles' ArkhamCare file is "125845712"; his guard registration number.
- Boles' ID card was a giveaway, with various cards hidden throughout the 2009 Comic Con for passerbyers to pick up. The card was later included with various promotional packs with the game.
- His biography states that he has worked at the Asylum for 8 years. This does not fit the timeline, the longest he could have worked there is 6 years.
- It was never stated how Boles' eye became scarred.
- According to the Joker, Boles was married and had multiple children.
- In Arkham Knight, graffiti inside the Joker cells reads "I Hate Frankie!", which may be an allusion to Boles.
- Frank Boles was introduced into the mainstream comic books as he appeared in Supergirl Vol 7 #12. He was a Arkham Asylum security guard, but killed by the Emerald Empress.