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Melvin White was the name of a criminal who was linked to the shooting murders of Patrick Harvey and Richard Dent.

Biography[]

Melvin White was convicted of aggravated assault, and moved to Arkham Asylum twice. He was either released, or escaped during Ra's al Ghul's assault on Gotham City.

After White's fingerprints were discovered on bullets fired at Patrick Harvey and Richard Dent, Bruce Wayne searched for him from an MCU convict database.

Wayne pursued the lead, and discovered Gotham City Honor Guards tied up in Melvin White's apartment during the memorial of Commissioner Loeb.

Identity?[]

  • It is certain that Melvin White is NOT the Joker. This is confirmed shortly after the Joker is arrested by Jim Gordon, Gordon states that the Joker has no match on "Prints or DNA". If the Joker was Melvin White the Gotham City Police would have these prints already on file seeing as though Melvin had prior convictions of aggravated assault. (Although it's possible the Joker burnt off his fingerprints)
  • Some believe this concluded that Joker was Melvin White, when nothing stated that he was the shooter. Also, the GCPD could not identify Joker's finger prints but Batman found Melvin's finger prints from the GCPD database, so Batman would likely be no more successful from hacking their database.
  • It's possible that Bruce may have gotten the hit from a database other than the GCPD. It's also possible that the Joker removed his files before the truck chase and his capture.
  • Melvin White had been convicted of aggravated assault and moved to Arkham twice, so unless he had self-inflicted or received the scars after his release/escape, employees from Arkham would have recognized the Joker.
  • The MCU had Melvin White in their database, which likely included them taking White's fingerprints, blood samples, and dental records, all of which could not be found for the Joker.
  • A possible scenario involving the murders of Patrick Harvey and Richard Dent may be that the Joker had Melvin White load the bullets into a gun, while the Joker pulled the trigger, personally killing them.
  • Similarly, Melvin White may have handled the bullets, while the Joker could have loaded and fired them with gloved hands, leaving none of his own fingerprints on them.
  • As an alternative, the Joker could have used Melvin White simply as a lure so Batman would find and search his apartment, almost getting shot by snipers and stopped from intervening with his plan in the process.
  • If the Joker was Melvin White he could have had one of his men pose as a cop to get rid of Melvin White's record.

Trivia[]

  • When Batman tests the fingerprint on the bullet lodged in the wall, the name given is Melvin White. This name is perhaps a reference to Mel Blanc, who voiced nearly all of the classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, etc.) The word "blanc" means "white" in French. Mr. White, is one of the Joker's many first identities that he uses in the comics and is referenced in the 2009 game Batman: Arkham Asylum.
  • This name is also perhaps a reference to murderer and rapist Melvin White from Texas, who was executed in 2005.
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