Professor Pyg

Professor Pyg
Professor Pyg as he appears on the cover of Batman #62 (January 2019). Art by Mitch Gerads.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Corpse: Batman #666 (July 2007) Full appearance: Batman and Robin #1 (August 2009)
Created by	Grant Morrison Andy Kubert Frank Quitely
In-story information
Alter ego	Lazlo Valentin
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Circus of Strange Spyral
Abilities	Surgical mutilation Psychosurgery Brainwashing

Professor Pyg is a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Pyg was created by Grant Morrison, Andy Kubert, and Frank Quitely and debuted as a corpse in the alternate reality story Batman #666 (July 2007) before being introduced as a recurring character in the mainstream DC Universe two years later in Batman and Robin #1 (August 2009).^[1] Professor Pyg was re-introduced following DC's The New 52 comics relaunch in 2011, appearing throughout the continuity and the subsequent DC Rebirth relaunch that began in 2016.

The character's in-universe real name is Lazlo Valentin, a scientist who suffered a schizophrenic breakdown that led him to become a supervillain who wears a pig mask. Morrison intended Pyg to seem disconnected from reality, believing him to be one of the "weirdest, most insane" characters in Batman comic books. Pyg is an obsessive perfectionist who sees human beings as broken individuals; he commonly kidnaps people and uses surgery and chemicals to permanently change them into mind-controlled automatons known as Dollotrons, and sometimes into human–animal hybrids.

Morrison took the name "Professor Pig" from the song "Pygmalism" by Momus and Kahimi Karie; the name "Pyg" is also shorthand for "Pygmalion", referring to both the mythical sculptor who fell in love with his own creation and the 1913 stage play by George Bernard Shaw, both of which serve as parallels for Lazlo Valentin and his love for his Dollotron creations. The character's origin story alludes to real-life animal testing carried out in the mid-twentieth century. He has a makeshift mother made of nails and boards, from which he associates auditory hallucinations commanding him to constantly improve his surgical work.

Pyg began making substantial appearances in other media in 2013 with the animated series Beware the Batman and has since appeared in video games, television, and film. The character has been positively received by entertainment journalists as a strange and disturbing addition to Batman's rogues gallery.