Victor Zsasz was the head of his own international company and had amassed a large personal fortune in addition to his family's wealth. When he was 25, his parents died in a boating accident, sending him into a deep depression. He turned to gambling, losing money in competitions around the world. One night, he ended up in a Gotham City casino, where he gambled everything he owned, and ended up losing it all to the Penguin; afterwards he saw that his life was empty, driven by desire, and that there was no point to his existence.
While he was attempting to commit suicide by jumping from Gotham Bridge, a homeless man tried to assault him with a knife, after he refused to give him money. Instinctively grabbing the knife, Zsasz saw in the man's eyes that all life is meaningless and that nothing nor anyone matters. He then proceeded to stab the man to death as a "gift" for saving his life.
From then on, he dedicated himself to "liberating" others from their pointless existence (Zsasz often refers to victims as "zombies"). He usually preys on young women but has no qualms over whom he murders. He slits his victims' throats and leaves them in lifelike poses, adding a tally mark to his own body each time. He has been diagnosed as insane and is regularly incarcerated in Arkham Asylum courtesy of Batman, breaking out on occasion to carry on killing.
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History
CREATORS: Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle
FIRST PRE-FLASHPOINT APPEARANCE: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 (Jun 1992)
APPEARANCE OF DEATH: Convergence #3 (Jun 2015)
FIRST POST-FLASHPOINT APPEARANCE: Batman Vol 2 #1 (Nov 2011)