History ComicBook / GentlemanGhost

[[quoteright:253:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_gentleman_ghost_6.png]]

Gentleman Ghost is a Creator/DCComics character and supervillain. His real name is James "Jim" Craddock. He grew up 1800's England, his family was poor, and he turned to robbery to support himself. He became an immigrant to the USA, got falsely accused of a violent crime there, and was killed by a masked cowboy named Nighthawk. He became a ghost and discovered that he could only move on when his murderer moved on to the next plane of existence. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that Nighthawk is one of many incarnations of ancient Egyptian royalty, meaning that both their souls have no chance of moving on. When Nighthawk was reincarnated into ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, Craddock tried to kill him without success. In response, Craddock took on the name of "Gentleman Ghost" and took to antagonizing other superheroes as a way to pass the time.

He was able to successfully cross over the barrier into the medium of television, where he has appeared as a villain in ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'', and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoVsTeenTitans''.

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!!This comic book character provides examples of:
* AntiVillain: He tends to help out the heroes occasionally.
* AffablyEvil: He is very polite towards his allies, and his enemies too if he isn't fighting them at that moment. He is so sociable that was even invited to Captain Cold's amnesty party despite not being a Flash rogue.
* ArchEnemy: To Hawkman, for grievances going back to the 1800s.
* BreakoutVillain: As can be seen in the list of his media appearances above, the Gentleman Ghost has come a long way from his original role in the 1940s and 1960s as a recurring Hawkman villain, growing into a popular villain for multiple adaptations...even those that don't include Hawkman or Hawkwoman. Within the comics, in the 2000s and 2010s, he eclipsed Hakwman's ''other'' arch-enemy, the Shadow-Thief, who has become a comparatively minor recurring henchman.
* DealWithTheDevil: [[spoiler:In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', this is how Craddock became Gentleman Ghost. In the episode "Trials of the Demon!", which is set in VictorianLondon, he made a deal with the demon Astaroth to ensure that "his soul would never pass from Earth". Unfortunately, while Craddock thought this meant {{Immortality}}, he discovered, much to his chagrin, that he was forced to remain on Earth as a ghost indefinitely after being hanged for his crimes.]]
* DependingOnTheWriter: Perhaps befitting one of the archfoes of walking ContinuitySnarl like Hawkman, the Gentleman Ghost's origin and the limits of his powers change frequently. Is he cursed to haunt the Hawks because a past incarnation of Hawkman killed him in a case of NotWhatItLooksLike, as in he Creator/GeoffJohns version? Is he an English thief killed by Redcoats but resurrected thanks to a prophecy, as in the ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis tie-in issues of ''Comicbook/{{JSA}}''? Does he have relatively minor powers of intangibility and teleportation that he bolsters with modern technology, or does he have extensive supernatural abilities including armies of other ghosts and powers to influence the weak-willed? It all depends on the story, the writer, and the day of the week.
* GentlemanThief: SubvertedTrope. The Gentleman Ghost may put on airs at times, but he's TheHighwayman through and through.
* {{Gonk}}: What he really looks like when he's not using {{Invisibility}}.
* TheGunslinger: Sometimes he's shown using ghostly flintlock pistols.
* HighClassGlass: He is completely invisible aside from his monocle, sparkling white attire and top hat.
%%* ManOfWealthAndTaste
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In his first appearances, it was ambiguous whether or not if he's actually a ghost.
* NiceHat: A classy top hat to help point out where his head's supposed to be.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: He's the lingering spirit of a man who was wrongfully executed in the 1800s and came back as a ghost resembling a set of high-class clothing with nobody wearing it. He can only move on when his killer's soul also passes from the mortal plane but, as he was killed by an incarnation of an immortal avenger eternally bound to the physical world, he can never move on, and consequently took to simply antagonizing superheroes to have something to occupy his eternal unlife.
* PutOnABus: Pre-''Hawkworld'', he was finally be able to rest in peace along with a restless spirit of a woman. This was rendered out-of-continuity.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Briefly attempted in the 1990s, where a new version was introduced as a human GentlemanThief. This updated version didn't last very long, and [[CanonDiscontinuity the classic version soon started showing up again as though he'd been there all along.]]
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: He briefly became a Batman foe during the late 1970s and in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. There's also an odd one-off ''Comicbook/TheFlash'' story in the ComicBook/PostCrisis era that treats him as if he were a longstanding member of Flash's Rogues Gallery, but that has since become CanonDiscontinuity.
* VengefulGhost: Despite his name, the Gentleman Ghost is a supervillain that lived in 1800s England as a thief and later entered the U.S. illegally and was killed by Nighthawk, one of the incarnations of Hawkman. Revived as a ghost, he became not just the ArchEnemy of Hawkman, but also a supervillain to stand against every superhero out there.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Hawkman's Nth Metal can negate the Gentleman Ghost's intangibility.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Part of his grief is that he can't pass on to the afterlife.
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* RoguesGalleryTransplant: He briefly became a Batman foe during the late 1970s and in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. There's also an odd one-off ''Comicbook/TheFlash'' story in the PostCrisis era that treats him as if he were a longstanding member of Flash's Rogues Gallery, but that has since become CanonDiscontinuity.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Perhaps befitting one of the archfoes of walking ContinuitySnarl like Hawkman, the Gentleman Ghost's origin and the limits of his powers change frequently. Is he cursed to haunt the Hawks because a past incarnation of Hawkman killed him in a case of NotWhatItLooksLike, as in he Creator/GeoffJohns version? Is he an English thief killed by Redcoats but resurrected thanks to a prophecy, as in the InfiniteCrisis tie-in issues of ''Comicbook/{{JSA}}''? Does he have relatively minor powers of intangibility and teleportation that he bolsters with modern technology, or does he have extensive supernatural abilities including armies of other ghosts and powers to influence the weak-willed? It all depends on the story, the writer, and the day of the week.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Perhaps befitting one of the archfoes of walking ContinuitySnarl like Hawkman, the Gentleman Ghost's origin and the limits of his powers change frequently. Is he cursed to haunt the Hawks because a past incarnation of Hawkman killed him in a case of NotWhatItLooksLike, as in he Creator/GeoffJohns version? Is he an English thief killed by Redcoats but resurrected thanks to a prophecy, as in the InfiniteCrisis tie-in issues of ''Comicbook/JSA''? Does he have relatively minor powers of intangibility and teleportation that he bolsters with modern technology, or does he have extensive supernatural abilities including armies of other ghosts and powers to influence the weak-willed? It all depends on the story, the writer, and the day of the week.

* ManInWhite: As his picture shows, his most common appearance is an invisible man in all white clothing.

* BreakoutVillain: As can be seen in the list of his media appearances above, the Gentleman Ghost has come a long way from his original role in the 1940s and 1960s as a recurring Hawkman villain, growing into a popular villain for multiple adaptations...even those that don't include Hawkman or Hawkwoman. Within the comics, int e 200s and 2010s, he eclipsed Hakwman's ''other'' arch-enemy, the Shadow-Thief, who has become a comparatively minor recurring henchman.

* ReimaginingThe Artifact: Briefly attempted in the 1990s, where a new version was introduced as a human GentlemanThief. This updated version didn't last very long, and [[CanonDiscontinuity the classic version soon started showing up again as though he'd been there all along.]]

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: He briefly became a Batman foe during the late 1970s and in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.

[[quoteright:253:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_gentleman_ghost.png]]

[[quoteright:265:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gentlemanghost_5727.jpg]]Gentleman Ghost is a Creator/DCComics character and supervillain. His real name is James "Jim" Craddock. He grew up 1800's England, his family was poor, and he turned to robbery to support himself. He became an immigrant to the USA, got falsely accused of a violent crime there, and was killed by a masked cowboy named Nighthawk. He became a ghost and discovered that he could only move on when his murderer moved on to the next plane of existence. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that Nighthawk is one of many incarnations of ancient Egyptian royalty, meaning that both their souls have no chance of moving on. When Nighthawk was reincarnated into ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, Craddock tried to kill him without success. In response, Craddock took on the name of "Gentleman Ghost" and took to antagonizing other superheroes as a way to pass the time.

* ManOfWealthAndTaste

* OurGhostsAreDifferent

He was able to successfully cross over the barrier into the medium of television, where he has appeared as a villain in ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie''.

* GentlemanThief: SubvertedTrope. The Gentleman Ghost may put on airs at times, but he's a highwayman through and through.

He was able to successfully cross over the barrier into the medium of television, where he has appeared as a villain in ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'', ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold.''

* HighClassGlass

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: He briefly became a Batman foe during the late 1970s.

* PutOnABus: pre-''Hawkworld'', he was finally be able to rest in peace along with a restless spirit of a woman. This was rendered out-of-continuity.

Gentleman Ghost is a Creator/DCComics character and supervillain. His real name is James "Jim" Craddock. He grew up 1800's England, his family was poor, and he turned to robbery to support himself. He became an immigrant to the USA, got falsely accused of a violent crime there, and was killed by a masked cowboy named Nighthawk. He became a ghost and discovered that he could only move on when his murderer moved on to the next plane of existence. Unfortunately for him, it turns out that Nighthawk is one of many incarnations of ancient Egyptian royalty, meaning that both their souls have no chance of moving on. When Nighthawk was reincarnated into ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}, Craddock tried to kill him without success. In response, Craddock took on the name of "Gentleman Ghost" and took to antagonizing other superheroes as a way to pass the time.