Created by writer Dave Wood and artists Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, the character initially debuted in Batman #121 (February 1959) as Mr.

Zero, a mad scientist with an unknown birth name who, after a physiology-altering mishap, becomes an ice-themed criminal typically armed with freezing weapons and an adversary of the superhero Batman forced to live in sub-zero temperatures and wear a special "cryo-suit" for survival.

Freeze was reinvented as a tragic villain by writer Paul Dini, producer Bruce Timm, and artist Mike Mignola for Batman: The Animated Series, which portrayed Victor Fries (pronounced "freeze") as a scientist in Gotham City who suffers a lab accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife, Nora.

He turns to crime to fund his research in his obsessive quest to cure Nora by any means necessary, which brings him into conflict with Batman.

Michael Ansara, Clancy Brown, Maurice LaMarche, and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games.

Created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff, and Bob Kane, the character made his first appearance in Batman #121 (February 1959) as "Mr.

Zero", a criminal scientist whose experimental "ice gun" backfires and spills cryogenic chemicals on him, forcing him to wear a sub-zero suit for survival and transforming him into a gimmicky stock villain who commits ice-themed crimes.

Freeze" was first used when the character was adapted for the 1960s Batman television series, in which he was played by three different actors: George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach.

[7] Nearly thirty years later, lead producers Paul Dini and Bruce Timm completely overhauled the character in Batman: The Animated Series.

[8] The episode "Heart of Ice", which was written by Dini and directed by Timm, aired on September 7, 1992, and retold Mr.

Freeze's origin as Victor Fries, a scientist who turns to crime to find a cure for his cryogenically frozen, terminally ill wife, Nora.

To be able to go out to the normal environment, Zero creates an air conditioned costume, which helps him remain in cold temperatures, even in hot climates.

Using this equipment, Zero gathers a small gang and starts a crime spree in Gotham City, stealing mainly diamonds and other precious jewels.

Trapped in blocks of ice, Batman and Robin learn Zero's plan to steal a large collection of gems.

In the ensuing fight, Batman is only able to win when Hildy shows her true intentions and betrays Freeze, only to be encased in solid ice when her plan backfires.

[1] Eighteen months after Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, Nora contracts a fatal disease, so Fries begins developing a freeze ray for GothCorp to preserve her in suspended animation until a cure can be found.

Fries' boss Ferris Boyle decides to tell the Mob about the gun, leading Batman to create a team of specialists to help him do his job better.

[26] Initially locked in Arkham Asylum, Freeze was eventually transferred to the Gotham State Penitentiary, from where he escaped and attempted to steal technology from S.T.A.R.

He and Ratcatcher were defeated by Robin and arrested by Detective Mackenzie Bock with the Gotham City Police Department also bringing the frozen bodies of Gearhead and Tommy Mangles into their custody as well.

On rare occasions, he has worked with another member of Batman's rogues' gallery, usually, as an enforcer for Gotham's mob bosses, such as the Penguin during his reign[30] or Black Mask during the return of Jason Todd.

Here, Victor Fries' fascination with cryonics began when he was a boy and his mother fell through the ice of a frozen lake.

When Nora was 23, she was diagnosed with an incurable heart disease, so her family placed her in cryogenic stasis hoping that a cure would be found in the future.

Eventually, he fell in love with Nora and became dedicated to finding a reliable method for slowly thawing cryogenic subjects.

However, Bruce Wayne ordered the project to be shut down, as he began to feel uncomfortable with Fries' obsession with Nora.

Freeze decides to kill Bruce Wayne and takes Nora, whom he believes to be his wife so that they can leave Gotham City behind forever.

Freeze appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains at the time when the Crime Syndicate arrived from their world.

[46] In the "Ends of the Earth" story arc of All-Star Batman, Freeze has awoken many people that have been held in cryogenic stasis — using them as an army to steal resources for his research to cure his wife Nora, himself, and all of these people — and plans to release deadly bacteria held in one of the world's oldest ice cores to make a new world, but Batman has injected himself with a cold-resistant virus that becomes airborne when his skin is exposed and is able to kill the spores.

[20][21] The demon Neron briefly grants Freeze the ability to generate absolute zero temperatures around him, though his body is soon reverted to its original sub-zero state.

[55] Since the chemicals he was exposed to were meant for cryo-stasis, Freeze's aging has been decelerated to the point that he is considered to be virtually immortal, and he is immune to most toxins, bacteria, viruses, and illnesses.

After arriving in the U.S., Victor would go on to help deliver Bruce Wayne after the latter's mother Martha went into premature labor and attempt to save Alfred Pennyworth.