A Magical Cannibal

 

Cornelius Stirk has probably the least scary name for someone truly horrifying. Created in 1988 by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle for Detective Comics #592, Stirk is a cannibal with mind altering powers. 

A serial killer is bad enough, there is already one of those in Gotham. Stirk, though is a cannibal. And to make things worse, he can make people see him as someone else. Apparently, a hypothalamic disorder allows him to change his appearance in other people's minds. This allows him to camouflage himself as someone his victim trusts, long enough to murder them. 

He eats hearts. He believes by eating the hearts of his victims, he can gain norepinephrine and extend his life. Norepinephrine is an actual hormone produced by the human body in bigger doses, like adrenaline, when the body is under stress. Stirk believes fear brings out the hormone, which he desires, so he scares his victims first. This seems like it would be pretty easy to do, considering he's going to murder them. Most people, I would think, experience terror when they realize they're going to be killed. 

Cornelius Stirk has made 25 appearances since 1988. His most notable appearances are his debut, Knightfall, The Last Arkham, and Kevin Smith's the Widening Gyre. Having a cannibal on the roster is under rated. Cannibalism, as William Arens said in The Man-Eating Myth: Anthropology and Anthropophagy, is one of humanities worst fears, and biggest taboos. Colonialism often used it as an excuse to "civilize barbarian cultures". Several cultural mythologies have stories of people turning into monsters after eating people.

Cornelius Stirk can be that villain, a terrifying monster projecting illusions of normalcy, but secretly a Wendigo or Rakshasa, or a witch like Baba Yaga, or Muma Padurii. Perhaps retconning Cornelius Stirk as gaining his illusion casting because of his cannibalism could make him more compelling. Certainly though, sharing the theme of fear with the Scarecrow and Batman himself should make this character more important and prominent in the Batman villain roster.