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"But I don't want to go among mad people."
"Oh, you can't help that, we're all mad here.
"
—Hugo Strange reading a passage from Alice in Wonderland[src]


Indian Hill is a research facility located underneath Arkham Asylum in the Arkham District which specializes in experimenting on human beings and "monsters" alike. It is claimed to be a toxic waste dump, however, this is just a facade to hide its true nature. Indian Hill is secretly owned by Wayne Enterprises and supervised by The Court of Owls.

History[]

Indian Hill is an ancient Indian burial ground. It became a toxic waste dump, which came under the ownership of crime boss Sal Maroni. Maroni gave the dump to rival crime boss Carmine Falcone in return for Oswald Cobblepot's life.[1] What Maroni didn't know is that Carmine Falcone had secretly given Indian Hill's location to The Court of Owls for them to make use of.[2]

Wayne Enterprises has a research facility located under the Arkham District, which itself is named Indian Hill. Experiments are conducted there on human beings and "monsters" which is overseen by Professor Hugo Strange - the chief of psychiatry at Arkham Asylum. An elevator hidden in the asylum helps gain access to the facility.

Arsonist Bridgit Pike is brought to the facility after being badly burned and having been declared deceased. While being wheeled down a corridor, she witnesses other unfortunate prisoners inside the facility being experimented on.[3]

The corpse of controversial Mayor Theo Galavan is delivered to the facility after he is shot dead by Jim Gordon.[4]

While visiting the facility, Strange is told by his assistant Ethel Peabody that a criminal Victor Fries has perfected cryogenic experiments that Strange himself has been trying to perfect for years.[5]

After Victor is mutated after attempting suicide with his cryogenic gun, he is declared deceased by Hugo and taken to Indian Hill where he is given a special cell which is below subzero temperatures in order to keep him alive while his suit is being modified to help him survive warmer temperatures. It is also shown that Theo's body is now suspended in a tube, along with Jerome Valeska and other unknown subjects.[6]

After Oswald Cobblepot was released from Arkham Asylum, Hugo Strange states to Ethel that he has a secret plan for Cobblepot. Ethel doesn't ask about it, instead asking if it's crazier than the experiments that resulted in the sub-human creations "down below."[7]

The technicians at Indian Hill start working on Patient 44 as part of Hugo Strange's experiment that involves reviving the dead. While checking on the status of Patient 44, Hugo is informed by Ethel that their old patient at Pinewood Farms named Karen Jennings is being sent back to Blackgate Penitentiary. This gives Hugo Strange the opportunity to have Victor Fries test his modified suit by sending him after Karen Jennings before she snitches about what was done to her. Upon being called downstairs, he finds that Patient 44 has revived quickly. It is revealed that Patient 44 is Theo Galavan who after being revived, brutally beats and kills the doctors who helped bring him back from the dead.[8]

Theo then started rambling and scratching messages on the wall in his own blood, due to his mind being unable to reconcile being brought back from the dead. With unlikely help from Edward Nygma, Hugo Strange goes into the Reanimation Lab where Theo Galavan is being held in to confront him. When Theo attacks him, Hugo Strange makes Theo think that they freed him from the demons and claims that he is his "father." Hugo then gets Theo to think that he is Azrael and is told to command him. Hugo starts by having his chambers playing the footage of the St. Dumas history and then makes a new outfit for Theo as well as the forging of the Sword of Sin. Edward Nygma later finds the secret elevator to the Indian Hill facility where he is surprised with what he finds.[9]

Upon being tipped off by Edward Nygma, Selina Kyle enters the Indian Hill facility where she evades its personnel. She overhears a discussion between Hugo Strange and Ethel Peabody that all its subjects are going to be moved to another location and also gets a brief glimpse at a man with green scales being restrained by the guards. When Selina Kyle finds the room that Bridgit Pike is in, she finds her in a new outfit. As Pike doesn't remember Selina and claims that she is Firefly, she assumes that Selina is there to test her abilities. Firefly then goes on the attack as Strange and Peabody watch.[10]

As Selina evades Firefly, Hugo Strange and Ethel Peabody successfully revive Basil whose skin, thanks to the octopod DNA he's been infused with, is now malleable. Karlo, however, is yet another test subject who has no memory about his past life. After Ethel states that their employers will shut them down if another failure occurs (meaning if someone else is brought back without their memories), Strange states that they will continue with Subject 13 (who turns out to be Fish Mooney). He successfully revives Mooney with cuttlefish DNA. When Hugo attempts to give her the name of Andraste, Mooney tells Hugo her real name. The fact that Mooney was able to give Strange her full name surprises him prompting him to relay this information to The Court when they contact him for a status report. Around this time, thanks to Lucius Fox, Gordon succeeds in finding the secret elevator down to Indian Hill. Upon being contacted by the Court, Strange is told to find out what Bruce Wayne knows, have everything transferred to a facility upstate, and to destroy Indian Hill.[11]

As Hugo Strange prepares the bomb that would destroy Indian Hill, he tells Ethel Peabody to have most of their patents transferred to the facility upstate. Fish Mooney tries to get Ethel to release her. While using an honesty serum on Gordon, Hugo gets the answers of the Indian Hill facility is making monsters for Wayne Enterprises for a "secret council." As there are a few hours left before the bomb explodes, Hugo takes his leave from where Jim Gordon is being held. Upon Bruce and Lucius awaking in the room where Gordon is being held, Bruce is informed by Selina Kyle that there is bomb in the Indian Hill facility. Most of the Indian Hill facility's patients are loaded onto the buses. Peabody later confronts Mooney who successfully touches Peabody enough for Fish to use her powers on her. Strange learns of Mooney's abilities as he ends up activating the security systems. Before leaving, Strange orders Victor Fries to kill Selina causing Firefly to fight him. This enables Selina to free Gordon, Bruce, and Lucius. As Strange notices this, he accidentally gets into the crossfire between the fight between Victor Fries and Bridgit Pike. Gordon managed to resuscitate him as he states that the Indian Hill facility is on lockdown. Gordon attempts to obtain the code to deactivate the bomb from Strange, but the latte adamantly refuses, stating that even setting off a nuclear bomb would be better than, "releasing what's down there." Fish Mooney had already escaped onto one of the buses which she drives out of the Indian Hill facility. With help from Nygma, the security systems at the Indian Hill facility are deactivated as Gordon and Lucius work to disarm the bomb. With advice from a wounded Peabody, Gordon uses water on the bomb to short it out. Afterwards, Gordon and Lucius are told by Peabody to get her water. As for the bus that Fish Mooney escaped on, an old homeless woman unknowingly released its unknown deformed passengers as one of them thanks her.[12]

At a press conference revolving around the Indian Hill escapees, Nathaniel Barnes and Aubrey James tell Valerie Vale and the press that they have no knowledge if Wayne Enterprise had any connection to Indian Hill. Some of the Indian Hill escapees have become members of Fish Mooney's gang.[13]

The remaining corpses that weren't resurrected at Indian Hill (one of them being that of Jerome Valeska) were relocated to another facility by the remnants of the Indian Hill staff and were kept frozen in chambers. A former employer of Indian Hill named Dwight Pollard was part of a movement dedicated to Jerome Valeska, and used some of his knowledge of Strange's resurrection techniques to plot Jerome's resurrection. Dwight, along with the followers of Jerome, broke into the facility where his corpse was kept and managed to obtain it.[14][15]

The Court of Owls later obtains an unidentified weapon that was made at Indian Hill.[16] This weapon turned out to be an air dispersal device that would spread the weaponized version of Alice Tetch's blood all around Gotham City.[17]

It was revealed that some biomedical waste from Indian Hill was dumped into Slaughter Swamp. When Butch Gilzean/Cyrus Gold's body was dumped into there by some orderlies, it revived Butch Gilzean as Solomon Grundy while regenerating his hand.[18]

Oswald Cobblepot later went to Slaughter Swamp and salvaged one of the Indian Hill barrels. He used it to sway Solomon Grundy to his side where he makes plans to find Hugo Strange to see if he can restore Solomon Grundy back to normal.[19]

It was revealed that Arkham Asylum inmate Jane Cartwright was taken below to the Indian Hill facility where the experiments done by Hugo Strange granted her shapeshifting abilities.[20]

Staff Members[]

Subjects resurrected[]

  • Theo Galavan: Strange's first successful resurrection, Theo was prematurely resurrected with enhanced physical abilities, far greater than any athletic human being. However Theo didn't retain the memories of his original personality, which Strange exploited to brainwash him into thinking he was the ancient warrior Azrael. This led Strange to decide to implant different personas into future revived test subjects. He later regained his memories with the help of his sister Tabitha, though Strange was unaware of this. He was finally killed with the combined efforts of Oswald Cobblepot and Butch Gilzean.
    Theo Galavan's corpse at Indian Hill

    Theo Galavan in Indian Hill

  • Basil: Basil was revived with the help of octopod DNA, making the skin of his face malleable.
  • Fish Mooney: Fish was revived with the help of cuttlefish DNA. She is the first successful subject to be resurrected and retain the memories of her previous life. The cuttlefish DNA gave her the ability to enthrall people by touching them. She is killed by Jim Gordon, became temporary ill, when she tried helping to save Gotham.
  • Jerome Valeska: Though his body was still in captivity, a lookalike is heard letting lose Jerome's trademark cackle as he walks past the old homeless woman who freed him from the crash bus headed to another facility.[21] The true Jerome is officially revived by Dwight. He is finally killed by Jim Gordon who shoots mortally then Jerome drops into the void.
  • Butch Gilzean: Butch was revived as a zombie like creature that took the name Solomon Grundy after his comatose body was dumped into Slaughter Swamp that was filled with biologically hazardous material from Indian Hill.

It is mentioned that Strange has managed to resurrect other subjects from the dead prior to Basil and Fish. Although it is likely they have had different personas and memories implanted into them.

Known experimented residents[]

  • 514A (formerly)
  • Alice Tetch (formerly)
  • Basil (formerly)
  • Bridgit Pike (formerly)
  • † "The Dog" (formerly)
  • Fish Mooney (formerly)
  • Jerome Valeska (formerly)
  • Jerome Valeska lookalike (formerly)
  • Jane Cartwright (formerly)
  • Marino / Ridgeback Monster (formerly)
  • Marv (formerly)
  • Nancy (formerly)
  • Nip (formerly)
  • Scale Skin Man (formerly)
  • Sid (formerly)
  • Theo Galavan
  • Tuck (formerly)
  • Tweaker (formerly)
  • Victor Fries (formerly)
  • Two unnamed tall men (formerly)
  • Unnamed balding man (formerly)
  • Unnamed bulletproof bearded man (formerly)
  • Unnamed electrical woman (formerly)
  • Unnamed four-fingered creature (formerly)
  • Unnamed muscular, bald man with mouth guard (formerly)
  • † Unnamed overweight alligator man (formerly)
  • Unnamed person with mangled hand (formerly)
  • Unnamed person with mask and yellow goggles (formerly)
  • † Unnamed yellow-eyed shape-shifting creature (formerly)
  • Unnamed skin-burning woman (formerly)
  • Unnamed small person with head lumps (formerly)
  • Unnamed snake-eyed creature (formerly)

Appearances[]

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Novels


Notes[]

  • Indian Hill is likely based on Injun Peak, a research facility near Gotham City that first appeared in Garth Ennis's Hitman.
  • Whether it be error or intentional, the entrance for Indian Hill, via elevator in Arkham changes. In the episode, Mr. Freeze (2x12), Hugo uses a key on an exposed lock. In the episode, Azrael (2x19), the lock is covered by a section of the wall.

References[]

  1. Heller, Bruno (writer) & Bailey, Rob (director) (November 3, 2014). "Penguin's Umbrella". Gotham. Season 1. Episode 7. FOX.
  2. Hull, Robert (writer) & Culpepper, Hanelle M. (director) (November 21, 2016). "Mad City: Time Bomb". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 10. FOX.
  3. Cutter, Rebecca Perry (writer) & Scott, T.J. (director) (October 26, 2015). "Rise of the Villains: By Fire". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 6. FOX.
  4. Heller, Bruno (writer) & Hunter, Jeffrey (director) (November 30, 2015). "Rise of the Villains: Worse Than A Crime". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 11. FOX.
  5. Woodruff, Ken (writer) & Copus, Nick (director) (February 29, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Mr. Freeze". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 12. FOX.
  6. Boston, Seth (writer) & Egilsson, Eagle (director) (March 7, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: A Dead Man Feels No Cold". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 13. FOX.
  7. Behring, John (writer) & Harper, Jordan (director) (March 14, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: This Ball of Mud and Meanness". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 14. FOX.
  8. Hull, Robert & Brown-Mostyn, Megan (writers) & Stephens, John (director) (April 18, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Pinewood". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 18. FOX.
  9. Barnes, Jim & Woodruff, Ken (writers) & Kondracki, Larysa (director) (May 2, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Azrael". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 19. FOX.
  10. Cannon, Danny (writer) & Edwards, Paul A. (director) (May 9, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Unleashed". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 20. FOX.
  11. Harper, Jordan (writer) & Bailey, Rob (director) (May 16, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: A Legion of Horribles". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 21. FOX.
  12. Heller, Bruno (writer) & Egilsson, Eagle (director) (May 23, 2016). "Wrath of the Villains: Transference". Gotham. Season 2. Episode 22. FOX.
  13. Stephens, John (writer) & Cannon, Danny (director) (September 19, 2016). "Mad City: Better to Reign in Hell...". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 1. FOX.
  14. Cannon, Danny (writer) & Egilsson, Eagle (director) (January 16, 2017). "Mad City: Ghosts". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 12. FOX.
  15. Lilien, Steven & Wynbrandt, Bryan (writer) & Osunsanmi, Olatunde (director) (January 23, 2017). "Mad City: Smile Like You Mean It". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 13. FOX.
  16. Hull, Robert (writer) & McKenzie, Ben (director) (May 1, 2017) "Heroes Rise: These Delicate and Dark Obsessions". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 16. FOX.
  17. Chun, Tze (writer) & Tonderai, Mark (director) (May 15, 2017) "Heroes Rise: Light The Wick". Gotham. Season 3. Episode 18. FOX.
  18. Chun, Tze (writer) & White, Scott (director) (October 19, 2017) "A Dark Knight: The Blade's Path". Gotham. Season 4. Episode 5. FOX.
  19. Lilien, Steven & Wynbrandt, Bryan (writer) & Vrvilo, Maja (director) (April 5, 2018) "A Dark Knight: Mandatory Brunch Meeting" Gotham. Season 4. Episode 17.
  20. Boston, Seth (writer) & Fink, Kenneth (director) (February 28, 2019) "Legend of the Dark Knight: Nothing's Shocking" Gotham. Season 5. Episode 8.
  21. Fox's 'Gotham' NYC Casting Call for the Joker's Photo Double - Project Casting
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