Before his transformation, Matt Hagen was a muscular caucasian man with blond hair. As a Shadow, he wore the required uniform: a black, zip front jumpsuit, a harness for equipment, gloves, and shin guards.[1] After the transformation, Clayface became a large, humanoid mass of wet clay. He has sharp teeth set irregularly in his jaws, resembling dried clay. His eyes took on a blank white appearance after the transformation.[3]
Hagen was a member of the League of Shadows, but not a very good one. When he found he had terminal cancer, he devised a plan to gain access to the Lazarus Pit, by dating Talia al Ghul.[1]
Ra's al Ghul did not approve of the relationship, but after several pleas, he reluctantly agreed. When Talia told Hagen, he revealed his true motive. Talia, still not fully recovered from being rejected by Batman, was heartbroken, and out of spite, showed him to the pit. Once he was fully submerged, she closed the lid and locked it. Hagen was stuck.[1]
After Talia and Sensei were unable to stop the transformed Hagen, Ra's used his powers of persuasion to order him to sleep. Hagen was shipped to Gotham City to bother Batman, out of revenge for stopping his plans.[1]
Clayface was delivered to the Wayne Foundation in a canister. Once he escaped, he was not fully aware how he got there and what Talia did to him. He attacked the guards, and Batman and Robin. Clayface could withstand all their actions, even two tasers, and managed to escape to the sewers.
Batman had called in the Team to track Clayface, and not engage him until he had come up with a solution. Clayface discovered his pursuers, and attacked them.[1] He pinned down all the members, but they managed to free themselves. Clayface feigned defeat, and when his opponents were resting, struck them down and escaped.[5]
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He decided to take down all the members of the Team one by one. It helped that they had split up looking for him,[5]and he had studied them to learn more about them.[2] His first victim was Superboy, whom he trapped by pretending to be Miss Martian. He then lured the others into his trap, one by one.[5]
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Miss Martian was next. Clayface made her drop her guard by pretending to be Superboy and calling her "gorgeous"; it was easy to take her down.[5]
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Kid Flash similarly fell for Clayface's trick. He pretended to be Miss Martian again, and with the speedster distracted with the premise of a kiss, overpowered him.[5]
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Robin proved more difficult to trick. Clayface created two Kid Flash replicas to confuse him; it worked. Robin thought one of them was the actual Kid Flash, but was wrong, and Clayface attacked him from both sides.[5]
The last to take down was Aqualad. He caught the deception sooner than the others, and was able to defend himself against the attack. But even he was not powerful enough. Clayface slammed him against the wall, and prepared to give the finishing blow.[5]
Luckily, Batman arrived on the scene and intervened, using a stronger taser against him. The electricity prevented Clayface from maintaining his form, and he dissolved into a puddle of mud on the ground.[3]He was taken to Arkham Asylum.[6]
Clayface was waiting to ambush Superboy in the Gotham City sewers. Miss Martian and Robin arrived to help, but still Clayface was confident he would win. Superboy threw a pill in his mouth, which soldified him from the inside. Clayface was then sent to Arkham Asylum.[7]
Before his transformation, Hagen was in shape, but not very skilled at being a Shadow.[1]
After his transformation, he can change the density and size of his body mass, allowing him to take a variety of shapes and mimic the appearance of others.[5] As a result, he is able to fashion his form and limbs into weapons, like spiked anvils, and use them at any time he wants.[3]
In the comics there have been eight versions of Clayface: Basil Karlo, Matt Hagen, Preston Payne, Sondra Fuller, Cassus "Clay" Payne, Dr. Peter Malley, Todd Russel, and Johnny Williams.
This is the fourth animated appearance of Clayface, but the second animated appearance of the Matt Hagen version. Previous versions of Clayface include The New Adventures of Batman, the DC Animated Universe (Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures and Justice League) and The Batman. Clayface also appeared in the short-lived live action Birds of Prey series.
The appearance of this Clayface bears a strong resemblance to the DCAU Matt Hagen, and the current comic incarnation of Basil Karlo. This version is named after Matt Hagen, but his origin is revised.
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