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"You rot in here, or you work for me."
—Amanda Waller to Deathstroke at Blackgate Prison[src]

Amanda Waller is the director of A.R.G.U.S. and has been in charge of the Suicide Squad/Task Force X Program for many years. Waller recruited criminals with any talents that were useful for the tasks that she needed accomplished. Waller viewed them in a negative light, deemed them replaceable, and even called them: "scum bags" and "convicts". In return, most members that Waller recruited, held a burning hatred of her. That was kept in check thanks to the nano explosives that she implanted in their necks, which would be detonated if they disobeyed her orders, escaped, or got captured.

Waller is a no-nonsense woman who always tried to accomplish her goals. Batman knew of Waller, and had more than once butted heads with her because the results of her work usually left behind more messes than she expected.

Always looking for potential members, Waller would take whoever she could depend on in the situation. Such an example was that Waller wanted Bane, but she had to settle for Deadshot and Bronze Tiger instead.

Incident Reports[]

After Arkham Origins Incident[]

After Deathstroke's imprisonment at Blackgate Prison, Waller approached him with a proposal for a job instead of remaining in prison for life, that was called the Suicide Squad.

Arkham Origins Blackgate Incident[]

Waller anonymously hired Catwoman to break Bane out of Blackgate, presumably for her Suicide Squad Mission. Waller started by setting Catwoman up by getting her to steal some data from the DEO, which resulted in her capture by Batman and her imprisonment at Blackgate. It was heavily hinted that the breakout was staged by Waller. Waller monitored the actions of Batman, Catwoman, and all those who were involved in the breakout that night, including Deadshot and Bronze Tiger, who were later taken by Captain Rick Flag under her order. The main mission, however, failed due to Catwoman's defeat at the hands of Batman, and Bane was returned to custody at Blackgate. Waller, however, saw Deadshot and Bronze Tiger as potential recruits for her mission. However, a bat-tracker was seen on Waller's chopper, which implied that Batman had caught onto her activities and monitored her.

Between Arkham Origins and Assault on Arkham Incidents[]

Some time before the events of Assault on Arkham, Waller recruited Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn for the Suicide Squad.

At one point, Waller managed to force the Riddler into her employment. However, she was left angered that the inquisitive quizzler of queries had devised a way to disable his nano bomb using a strong electric shock. That left Riddler a great liability as he could do the same for any other member of the Suicide Squad.

Assault on Arkham Incident[]

During the events of the movie Assault on Arkham, Waller put together the Suicide Squad on a special mission: infiltrate Arkham Asylum and take down the Riddler, who had stolen top secret information on potential Suicide Squad members from her computer. An earlier attempt to take Riddler down directly via black ops soldiers from A.R.G.U.S. failed due to Batman interfering with their assassination attempt on him since he needed him alive so he could find the location of the Joker's dirty bomb, and thus forced her to call in the Suicide Squad again. When briefing them on their mission to retrieve classified information Riddler stole that was stored in Arkham Asylum, she also informed them of the tracker explosive devices in their neck, which she will detonate if they do anything that might even remotely inconvenience her or the mission, and later proceeded to use KGBeast as an example after the latter tried to call her bluff.

During the mission, Killer Frost learned that there was no information and that the real reason was that Riddler knew how to disarm the nano bombs in their necks. After she realized that the Suicide Squad knew how to disarm the bombs, Waller attempted to detonate them, and only managed to kill King Shark and Black Spider, the former because the electroshock therapy could not penetrate his thick skin enough to actually defuse the bomb, and the latter of whom at the time was in Batman's Batsuit due to Batman stealing his outfit so he could be closer to the Suicide Squad.

At the end of the film, Batman confronted Waller at her office where he warned her to stop her games and that there wouldn't be a next time. Waller mocked Batman and told him that she was the U.S. Government and that no one could stop them. She then reminded him that the Joker's body was not recovered from the helicopter crash that was caused by Deadshot. Batman left in the middle of the conversation, after which she called him a "punk" after.

"Motherfu..."
—Waller sees a target laser aiming at her

When she turned around, Waller noticed a laser sight on her chest and then it moved to between her eyes. Waller realized that it was Deadshot who was taking revenge on her and briefly cursed under her breath in shock. Deadshot was in the distance with his daughter, with him peering through his Sniper Rifle scope. Finally, Deadshot said: "Bang" aloud, before he smiled, which implied that he was going to shoot Waller. However, as later confirmed by Deadshot, Batman intervened and prevented him from assassinating Waller.

Arkham Underworld Incident[]

Between Arkham City and Arkham Knight Incidents[]

In the Arkham Unhinged Comics, it was implied that Waller had somehow been involved in Deadshot's transfer to Arkham City. In the Arkham Knight prequel comics, it was revealed that Waller got Deadshot to work for her once again. That time, Waller became curious over the Penguin's recent operations and the gathering of members from the old Suicide Squad. Deadshot was sent to work undercover and investigate. Upon seeing Deadshot's progress she became upset, telling him over her earpiece that the situation was sensitive and provoking Batman in his territory was a catastrophic mistake.

Metropolis Invasion[]

"Congratulations Task Force X, you're the first assets to make it into Metropolis alive." - Amanda to Task Force X

Sometime after Arkham Knight, Amanda Waller recruits Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark to stop the Metropolis Invasion.

Quotes[]

Arkham Origins[]

  • "You rot in here, or you work for me." (Deathstroke)

Arkham Origins Blackgate[]

  • "I make the decisions on this op, and I say we keep going. There's something to be gained here." (Rick Flag)
  • "He was this close to beating Batman hand-to-hand...Impressive." (Bronze Tiger)
  • "Hmm. We could use a marksman and an expert in firearms..." (Deadshot)
  • "Personality's not a qualification for the job I want him for." (To Rick Flag about Deadshot)
  • "Catwoman?" (Rick Flag)
  • "Time enough for that, Captain Flag. Catwoman did do us a great service." (Rick Flag)
  • "You see degenerates, Captain... I see soldiers." (To Rick Flag about Bronze Tiger and Deadshot)

Assault on Arkham[]

  • "You're trying my patience." (Riddler)
  • "What do you want, Nigma?" (Riddler)
  • "Your name." (Riddler)
  • "No. I have Google like the rest of the world." (Riddler)
  • "Simple, I needed to keep you babbling long enough to pinpoint your position." (Riddler)
  • "Take him out. Make it hurt." (To ARGUS Soldiers about Riddler)
  • "What is it!? Report!" (ARGUS Soldiers)
  • "I'm invoking priority level ultraviolet. Assemble Task Force X. We have another suicide mission."
  • "Stop!" (KGB Beast)
  • "Sit down."
  • "I'm Amanda Waller. I'm here to indoctrinate you convicts into our special forces."
  • "Task Force X is an off the books government strike team...made up from convicts with no hope for release... serving as expendable agents for impossible missions."
  • "Succeed and I'll shave time off your sentences."
  • "You'll be dead. Any other stupid questions?" (Black Spider)
  • "Yes. And a powerful nanotech explosive. Run away, get yourself captured, disobey an order... hell, give me a right answer too slowly, and I'll blow your head clean off." (Killer Frost)
  • "Try me." (KGB Beast)
  • "Anyone else?"
  • "I didn't think so."
  • "You're going to break into Arkham Asylum."
  • "A week ago, while in my employ, a lowlife calling himself the Riddler... managed to gain access to my computer system."
  • "He downloaded a file containing the identities and histories... of every current, past and potential member of the suicide squad."
  • "That's right. He's threatening to release them all on the Internet. You're going to get it back. Riddler's got one copy and it's on a thumb drive in his cane... which is currently locked away in the Arkham property room."
  • "Harley Quinn has an encyclopedic knowledge... of Arkham's layout and its logistics. "
  • "You'll be snuck into Gotham. You'll rendezvous with a power broker who will set you up for the break-in."
  • "This is as off-the-grid as it gets, so let's keep the body count to a minimum. Deadshot, rubber bullets only."
  • "He has his hands full on another case. In fact, we work it right, we might be able to take advantage of him."
  • "What, Lawton?" (Deadshot)
  • "Be a good convict, Lawton. Don't make me blow you up." (Deadshot)
  • "I'm clear. Gas 'em!"
  • "Remember this feeling, convicts. I hold your lives in my hands."
  • "Louise? It's Amanda. I have a special assignment for you. Something I'd rather keep between the two of us." (Killer Frost)
  • "You don't get to call me up and demand answers, Deadshot."
  • "Joker stole a dirty bomb and hid it somewhere in Gotham. Apparently it's large enough that the radiation would kill half the population. Batman's torn the city apart trying to find it. At one point he thought Riddler might know."
  • "I don't care, convict, do your job." (Deadshot)
  • "Lawton! GPS has you in the main security hub. What's going on?" (Deadshot)
  • "Don't get too cocky Lawton. You're at the point of no return. You best keep that in mind." (Deadshot)
  • "Status report! I've got you on the exercise yard but you don't show up in the cameras." (Deadshot)
  • "Don't yank me around convict. Get the cane. Get out!" (Deadshot)
  • "What are you trying to pull, Deadshot? You're not checking in!"
  • "So you're all together?"
  • "Then why has the Special Crimes unit been called in to protect the medical center?"
  • "I am getting reports that there's a break-in at Arkham. You're on red alert!"
  • "What part of 'off the books' do you not understand!?"
  • "Are you in the medical center?!"
  • "Batman again?"
  • "Spider? But he's-"
  • "No excuses, Lawton! You get that!?" (Deadshot)
  • "No more crap! No more time! No more shenanigans!"
  • "Those scumbags are trying to screw me!" (The Suicide Squad)
  • "Nobody screws the Wall!!"
  • "Oh, it's just you." (Batman)
  • "Let's just say I break a lot of eggs to make an omelet." (Batman)
  • "I got careless. My men will get Nygma next time." (Batman)
  • "No? We're the U.S. government. Who's going to blow the whistle on us? The convicts? Who'd believe 'em? You? Heh. You're going to start a blog and expose us? I don't think so. That's checkmate, Batman."
  • "Enough! Don't they need you back in your squalid little city? They never did find the Joker's body, did they" (Batman)
  • "Punk." (Batman)
  • ''Motherf--'' (Deadshot)

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League[]

  • "All of you are the worst, of the worst, of the worst. but still, your good at what you do, even if what you do is far from good." - Amanda to Task Force X
  • "Welcome to Task Force X." - Amanda to Task Force X
  • "Congratulations Task Force X, you're the first assets to make it into Metropolis alive." - Amanda to Task Force X
  • "Task Force X, your new mission is to kill the Justice League." - Amanda to Task Force X

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Waller's "work" for Deathstroke was the "Suicide Squad", which was a group of incarcerated villains who went on missions for the government in exchange for reduced prison sentences.
  • As part of the promotions for the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game, a special phone number was set up that could be called by fans. Waller would thus answer the phone and give out different responses directed to different members of the team. One response was also addressed to potential recruits for Task Force X.[1]
  • In the Arkhamverse, Waller has known ties with A.R.G.U.S. and the Department of Justice. In the comics, she has also worked for Cadmus and was the Warden of Belle Reve Prison.
  • In Assault on Arkham, Waller's design was more obese compared to the other instalments. The design was somewhat similar to her pre-New 52 appearance. In Arkham Origins and Arkham Underworld, she looks younger and slimmer than said version, although not to the extent of her New 52 counterpart.
  • When Batman confronted her in Assault on Arkham due to her role in the events of the film, she casually states that one can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, which was what the Joker told Vikki Vale in the 1989 Batman movie when explaining that Alicia Hunt "committed suicide" by jumping off a building, and which was itself based on a comment made by Walter Duranty regarding the Soviet Union.
  • Waller has noticeable wrinkles in Year 17, which makes sense; she's at the end of middle age and heading for her senior years. The stress of her job doesn't help much either.
  • Waller is shown having differing opinions on each member of the Suicide Squad in Kill the Justice League:
    • She is actually cordial with King Shark, although she sees him as a gullible brute who returns respect when it's given to him, she only snaps at him personally when he calls her out on being dishonorable.
    • While disagreeing with her at first, as the mission continues, Deadshot begins to agree with Waller's point of view and takes orders without much issue.
    • Waller finds Harley Quinn to be annoying due to her personality, but finds her to be more valuable than Boomerang.
    • Out of the four members of the Suicide Squad, Waller finds Captain Boomerang to be the most vexing due to his occasional stupidity and overall annoying antics, threatening to blow off his head every time he made an annoying comment and even begrudgingly let the team go with Boomerang's plan, in reality the Lex Luthor of Earth-2's plan, on finding a way to weaken Superman via Batman, showing absolutely no faith in him during this at all.
  • As opposed to the Suicide Squad, Waller is shown to be less abrasive with the Support Squad:
  • She doesn't have anything rude to say to Hack, however, despite this Hack sets up the Contracts server behind Waller's back.
  • She is strictly business with Penguin, who gives his top quality weapons to the Squad, albeit against his will.
  • She doesn't talk with Ivy, having no patience for the humanity hating youth, who in turn doesn't interact with Waller at all.
  • Apart from respecting and being on good terms with Rick Flag, Waller is shown actually being kind to Toyman, who willingly offered his help; and was shown being annoyed that Boomerang injected Toyman with the nano-bots.

External links[]

References[]

Batman: Arkham Origins
Characters
Heroes
Alfred Pennyworth - Batman/Bruce Wayne - James Gordon - Barbara Gordon - Robin (Dick Grayson)
Villains
Anarky - Andrew Carter - Bane - Black Mask - Blackgate Prisoners - Bird - Calendar Man - Chucky Berks - Copperhead - Deadshot - Deathstroke - Electrocutioner - Enigma - Firefly - Ian Chase - Joker/Red Hood - Killer Croc - Mad Hatter - Mr. Freeze - Penguin - Qing Lu - Ricky "Loose Lips" Leblanc - Robert Hanes - Shiva
Other Characters
Alberto Falcone - Alex Cane - Amanda Waller - Branden - Bryan Murphy - Candy - Clarissa Rodriguez - Cyrus Pinkney - David Shannon - Ferris Boyle - Gillian B. Loeb - Harvey Bullock - Harleen Quinzel - Horace Riley - John DeMarco - John F. Baker - Kirigi - Martin Joseph - Matthew Kadai - Nate Ramo - Nora Fries - Owen Grant - Quincy Sharp - Thomas and Martha Wayne - Tiffany Ambrose - Tracey Buxton - Vicki Vale
Locations
Gotham City

Amusement Mile - Batcave - Blackgate Prison - The Bowery - Burnley - Coventry - Diamond District - Final Offer - GCPD Building - GothCorp - Gotham Merchant's Bank - Gotham Cathedral - Gotham Pioneer's Bridge - Industrial District - Jezebel Center - Lacey Towers - My Alibi - Park Row - Royal Hotel - Steel Mill - Solomon Wayne Courthouse - Wayne Manor

Terms
Bat-Signal - Batarang - Batclaw - Batmobile - Batsuit - Batwing - Character Bio - Cryptographic Sequencer - Detective Mode - Disruptor - Enigma Datapack - Explosive Gel - Freeflow Combat - Glue Grenade - Grapnel Gun - Interview Tape - Predator Mode - Remote Claw - Riddler Trophy - Smilex - TN-1 - Venom - Wayne Enterprises - WayneTech
Music
Archives
Achievements & Trophies
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Characters
Heroes
Batman/Bruce Wayne - Flash - Green Lantern - Superman - Wonder Woman
Villains
Brainiac - Captain Boomerang - Deadshot - Gizmo - Harley Quinn - Ivy - Joker (Elseworlds) - King Shark - Lex Luthor - Penguin - Riddler - Toyman - Zalika
Other Characters
Aaron Cash - Amanda Waller - Jack Ryder - Lois Lane - Rick Flag
Locations
Arkham Asylum - Batcave (Metropolis) - Gotham City - Hall of Justice - LexCorp - Metropolis - The Batman Experience - Wayne Manor
Terms
Batarang - Batsuit - Riddler Trophy
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