Lazlo Valentin, also known by the persona Professor Pyg, is an antagonist during the fourth season of Gotham. Based on the character of the same name(s) from the Batman comics, he is a maniacal serial killer with a flair for theatrics and a penchant for murdering police officers. However, the Pyg is merely a role that Lazlo plays; while he claims to murder cops and politicians out of a desire to rid Gotham of corruption, he is merely the pawn of Sofia Falcone, aiding in her plan to claim control of the Falcone crime family and Gotham, as well as take revenge on Jim Gordon for the death of her brother Mario.
History[]
Past[]
Lazlo Valentin is an enigmatic serial killer who operated in the southern United States 10 years prior to the series, except that his M.O. was different to his current one. After he was eventually captured, he quickly escaped and went missing, thus, the case was dropped. Within the next decade, he underwent major facial surgery that involved having titanium plates grafted to his skull, therefore concealing his identity.
Although he claims to suffered at the hands of Gotham's corrupt system, it is currently unknown if this is true.
Hunting Gotham's police[]
After making a deal with a criminal in an alley somewhere in Gotham, Officer Dave Metzger was alerted to noises somewhere deep in the alley. Once he entered to investigate, he only found a cat but when he turned around to leave, he found Valentin behind him, wearing a butcher's apron and a pig mask. Surprised by the sudden appearance of Valentin, Metzger did not react quick enough to prevent Valentin from drawing a cleaver and slaughtering Metzger. When the body was found by the police, it was revealed that Valentin dressed the corpse in a pig mask similar to the one he wore himself.
Back at his lair, Valentin prepared a new pig mask for his next victim, listening to opera music while doing so. Meanwhile, the GCPD had arrested the criminal from whom Valentin bought the pig's heads. The man claimed that he was hired by someone he only knew as "The Professor", and dropped the pigs' heads for the professor at a drop-off point in Gotham. As the Professor ordered four heads, Jim Gordon deduced that there were three more corrupt policemen in the GCPD that the Professor wanted to kill. While the GCPD was looking for the corrupt officers in order to save them from the Professor, Pyg murdered two more corrupt police officers, Jenny Butler and Chris Whitlock, dressing them in pig heads and leaving them on a bench outside the courthouse.
While looking for a missing policeman, Officer Nakajima, Bullock also revealed to Jim that he suspected one of their own to be the Professor, as only a policeman would have known the schedule of the other three. While they were going after a van that had been seen at the location of the last murders, Professor Pyg was bringing the frightened and tied up Nakajima to his lair.
Having followed the van, Gordon and Bullock arrive at an abandoned warehouse where they found Nakajima tied to a chair, a pig's head over his own. Nakajima was still alive so Gordon removed the mask. However, the mask was tied to the pin of a grenade that Pyg dug into Nakajima's stomach so by removing the mask, he also removed the pin. Realizing what was happening, Gordon and Bullock ran off, but are caught by the blast that ripped apart Nakajima and knocked out both detectives. After the explosion, Pyg tied Gordon to a chair on the upper part of the factory while hanging Bullock to the ceiling somewhere in the lower parts. Once Jim regained consciousness, Pyg approached him and proclaimed to be a big fan of Gordon's. Gordon wanted to know where Bullock was but Pyg claimed that Bullock was holding Jim back and that Jim should not bother with him. He revealed that Bullock was still alive for the time being and revealed that Jim was completely safe - he had no reason at all to kill him.
Gordon asked whether Pyg was a policeman but he only laughed at that and asked what would make Jim think so. Pyg revealed that they both shared the same mission: weeding out the corruption that had taken root in the GCPD. Gordon vehemently denied any association or similarities with Pyg, much to the amusement of the latter. Gordon claimed that killing Penguin's corrupt policemen wouldn't change a thing and while Pyg claimed that it would for them, he ultimately agreed. He revealed that he would continue killing until he had butchered "every single swine" on Penguin's payroll. Gordon was shocked, claiming that that could be half the police department, but Pyg shook it off and coldly stated that he never claimed it would be pretty. Suddenly, they heard Bullock's screams from the lower part of the factory and Pyg immediately left to deal with him. As Pyg headed down the stairs, Gordon moved his chair back to the edge of the platform and jumped down, breaking the chair upon impact and freeing himself.
Meanwhile, Pyg had reached Bullock, who claimed that backup was on the way and that Pyg had the chance to flee. Pyg, however, called him a liar and claimed that the police would have arrived by now, if they really were on their way. He prepared to cut Bullock's throat, claiming that he deserved it, but Gordon suddenly arrived. Claiming that he hated to "cut and run", Pyg sliced Bullock's throat, dropped the knife and ran. In his effort to save Bullock, Gordon did not pursue Pyg who in turn used the chance to escape. At the hospital, Bullock recuperated from the wound. When Gordon visited him, Bullock revealed that Pyg cut him only deep enough to make Jim choose to save him instead of going after Pyg; Pyg had every opportunity to kill Bullock back then. Soon after, Gordon learned that the media had dubbed the serial killer "Professor Pyg".
The next night, Pyg visited his pig pen, where he fed his pigs. As he made his next plans for Gotham City, he told himself that tomorrow "the axe shall fall".
Setting a trap[]
Over the phone, Pyg had 44 boxes full of pig heads delivered to the Gotham Central precinct, one box for every policeman at the precinct. However, he also gave special instructions not to hand a box to Jim Gordon. The GCPD took this as a threat - Pyg was now not targeting only corrupt policemen but seemed to have plans for the entire precinct. The same day, three policemen went missing in the Narrows, the poorest district of Gotham.
The GCPD, together with a gang of Oswald Cobblepot's triggermen, specifically dispatched to assist in the capture of Pyg, arrived at the alley where a police car had been found abandoned. They arrived in force but found only the car, soaked in blood. From the testimony of an eyewitness, they learned that Pyg's lair must be located somewhere on Hoover Island. Arriving at the location, they found two of the policemen strapped to chairs. One was dead but the other, although severely injured and seemingly impaled with a blade, was still alive. The wounded officer Fazoli begged Jim to help him and the GCPD immediately called an ambulance.
Jim rode in the ambulance with the wounded Fazoli. When the man regained consciousness, Gordon calmed him down. He asked whether Fazoli saw his face but the officer told him that the Pyg was wearing a mask. He claimed that he and the others were being tortured for hours while Professor Pyg sang nursery rhymes and was talking crazy. Disheartened, Fazoli asked why the Pyg was doing this and Gordon claimed that he seemed to have reached a breaking point, as there was so much rot in Gotham from the lowest to the highest ranks of society. Fazoli then revealed that he overheard Pyg planning something in a place where there is "justice no more". Gordon thanked Fazoli for the clue, as he now knew that Pyg was hiding at an old courthouse. Before Gordon got off the ambulance, Fazoli told him that he was one of the "good ones".
Jim headed to the old courthouse where he found a trail of blood. He was soon joined by the GCPD and Penguin's men, as well as Penguin himself. While they prepared to storm the building, Gordon was called on his cellphone. The caller was revealed to be Professor Pyg himself, who told Jim a fun fact about himself. He revealed that he spelt his name P-Y-G, because it was short for Pygmalion (the myth of a Greek sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved) and he wanted to create a new, better Gotham. He claimed that he was creating a newer and better Gordon as well, but couldn't do so if he was dead. Thus, he warned Gordon not to enter the courthouse as he would not leave it alive. Pyg then told Gordon that he was one of the "good ones", mimicking the act he put up earlier when he disguised himself as Officer Fazoli. Realizing that Pyg had been playing him from the start, Gordon urged Bullock and Penguin not to storm the courthouse, but they do not listen and attacked anyway.
Once they were inside, Pyg's trap sprung into action. Bullock shot at a person he assumed to be Pyg, but was actually revealed to be the missing cop, Officer Patel, disguised in Pyg's attire. The same moment, two heavy machine gun turrets were activated and opened fire at the people inside the courthouse, killing many and pinning down the rest of them. Only when Gordon stormed into the building after them and took down the two turrets was Pyg's trap disarmed and the survivors carried the wounded Patel outside.
After Jim returned to the GCPD, he was called by Pyg once more. Pyg claimed that he was right in his opinion about Gordon. He stated that Gordon actually inspired the newest part of his plot when he stated that the rot in Gotham had infested all parts of its hierarchy. After ending the call, Pyg removed the fake hair and beard, as well as a fake nose, meaning that Gordon still had no idea how the true Pyg looked after all.
Eat the poor[]
True to what he had told Gordon, Pyg had made another plan which targeted the wealthy elite of Gotham. In order to do so, Pyg dressed himself as an Italian priest and handed out food to six homeless people in Gotham. He also invited them to come with him and they accepted. While he provides them all with food, Pyg took photos of each of them. The homeless ate but suddenly, they all fell onto the table, dead. Having poisoned all six of them, Pyg collected the corpses and carved them up.
The same day, Pyg called Gordon at the precinct. He congratulated Gordon on being promoted to captain and revealed that he had decided to listen to Gordon's advice. Having only attacked the lower part of the rot in Gotham by killing policemen, he would now start going after the elite. He claimed that he wouldn't spoil the fun but had built a little demonstration outside the precinct. Gordon rushed outside to find a small, fancy tent built on the plaza outside. Inside were two corpses - two of the homeless he murdered - dressed in fine clothes and tied to chairs. Inside the tents were also two pigs, who had started to eat one of the corpses when Jim arrived. On a table near the corpses, a card saying "Long live the revolution" was positioned. Despite the demonstration, Pyg was nowhere to be found.
Gordon and Harper followed Pyg's trace into the Narrows, where they eventually arrived at an old abandoned paper plant in the area. Inside, they found more of Pyg's homeless victims, all missing their organs. Finding a grill, still hot, Gordon realized that Pyg had been cooking his victims. They suddenly heard a noise outside and while rushing to look, Pyg ambushed Harper, stabbing her in the chest and taking her hostage. He forced Gordon to drop his gun and claimed that Gordon had found him too early. Gordon offered himself as a hostage if Pyg let Harper go but he refused, claiming that Gordon had to see his final act, along with all of Gotham. He then pulled Harper inside his van and drove off with her, leaving Gordon behind. Inside the paper plant, the GCPD also found a poem by Swift left by Pyg, which was about the rich eating the poor orphans. From this, Gordon deduced that Pyg was about to attack the fundraiser gala of Sofia Falcone's orphanage.
At the same time, Sofia Falcone was looking for the chef in the kitchen of her orphanage to make last preparations for the fundraiser. The chef, as it turned out, was Pyg in disguise and he revealed to Sofia that he had made a small change in the menu, revealing that he cooked several "Gotham Meat Pies" and claimed that Sofia's guests would die for them. When later meeting with her friend Penguin during the gala, Sofia claimed that she would talk to the chef once more, as he seemed a little odd. While Pyg was making his final preparations, Gordon arrived behind the orphanage and talked to a waiter, who revealed to him that the chef, whom Gordon believed to be Pyg, was in the kitchen. However, Gordon soon realized that the waiter is no waiter at all and knocked him out. However, moments later he was knocked out from behind by Pyg, who claimed that Gordon really was an impressive policeman. The false waiter got back up at that and revealed to Pyg that the wage of him and his partner, whom Pyg hired as henchmen, just doubled. They locked up Gordon in a room in the orphanage, together with the still wounded Harper.
While the guests at the fundraiser were in a separate room, Pyg's two hired henchmen fired their guns and forced everybody to get seated at the table. At the same time, Pyg, now clad in his pig mask once more, confronted Sofia Falcone and Penguin and forced them to join the rest of the guests in the other room.
When everyone was seated, Pyg addressed the group and claimed that there had been a change in the program. The new program was called "The Meat Pie Tango" and at Pyg's order, his henchmen served the dishes, the pies Pyg cooked out of the six homeless. While music started to play, Pyg suddenly started singing, calling out the names of all the murdered homeless and claiming that the pies would not taste the same if everyone around the table hadn't been corrupt and greedy. Sofia interrupted the performance and asked where the other children of her orphanage were since only Martin, one of the boys, was present in the room next to Pyg. While she started threatening Pyg, he simply rammed his knife into Sofia's hand, pinning it to the table. He calls her interruption rude and stated he was not yet finished and outraged, Oswald jumped up. However, he was stopped from drawing the knife out when Pyg threatened to ram the next one into Sofia's head if Penguin actually removed the knife from her hand. He forced Penguin to sit back down and revealed to Sofia that all other students and the staff are safely locked in the kitchen.
Pyg then continued with his performance, telling the assembled Gothamites to open the envelopes near their plates and showing signs of annoyance when they were too shocked to comply. When they do so, they found the photos of the homeless people Pyg took earlier. Oswald asked who Trish was, and Pyg told him that he thought the assembled people should know whom they were about to eat, revealing that his pies were "people pies" and that everyone around the table had to eat. Oswald outright refused and Pyg grabbed the boy Martin, threatening to kill him if they refused to eat. When one of the guests claimed that Martin was just an orphan and they should just let him die, Oswald furiously ripped the knife out of Sofia's hand and ramed it into the guest's head. The man fell into his pie and Pyg applauded the sentiment, especially since Oswald was the reason he was there. He called Penguin the biggest glutton of them all and stated that he had gorged himself on Gotham more than anyone. Once more threatening to kill Martin, Pyg forced Penguin to eat the pie, which Penguin did. When Oswald screamed at all other guests that he would kill them if they refused to eat, the others started eating as well.
As all the people struggled to eat their pies, Pyg claimed that no one would leave until the plates were cleaned. Looking at Sofia, who was struggling to eat with her wounded hand, he reminded her that she must eat as well. She remained defiant, claiming that she would not eat until Pyg let the boy go but with help from Oswald, she soon stepped down. Before she could take a bite, however, Gordon, who had freed himself with help from Harper, burst into the room and shot Pyg's two henchmen. The guests ran off and Gordon aimed his gun at Pyg but Penguin disarmed him, screaming that Pyg would kill the boy. Gordon shook him off and turned to face Pyg, as the room was quickly emptying. Martin was freed as well and escaped with Oswald, leaving only Pyg and Gordon.
Pyg removed his jacket, revealing several cleavers strapped to his butcher's apron. He hurled two of them over the table at Gordon, who dove onto the table for cover. Pyg jumped onto the table as well and threw another knife at Gordon, who covered himself with a wooden tray. Gordon battled Pyg on the table, further deflecting his cleaver strikes with the tray. Eventually, Pyg pushed Gordon back onto the table and Gordon rolled backwards to evade Pyg's cleaver strikes. With his remaining cleaver, Pyg swung down on Gordon, but Gordon caught his hand. While the two struggled, Gordon noticed the knife in the head of the guest Oswald murdered earlier, drew it and rammed it into Pyg's shoulder. Gordon then knocked Pyg off the table, defeating him for good.
As Gordon led Pyg to a police car which was to take him to prison, a vast crowd of news reporters witnessed the arrest of Professor Pyg, strengthening Gordon's position as captain of the GCPD.
Arkham Asylum[]
Following his capture, Pyg was imprisoned at Arkham Asylum. While there, he was allowed into a common room with several other prisoners who were partaking in different activities. Pyg headed towards the gramophone and started playing the vinyl disk "Ave Maria", much to the surprise of several inmates. While Pyg enjoyed the music, one inmate approached him and told him that he didn't like this song because his mother used to beat him to it and the music also played when he killed her. The man told Pyg to turn off the music, threatening to kill him otherwise. Pyg, however, instead provoked the brute by asking him why it was that his mother beat him. Outraged, the man punched Pyg hard, disfiguring his face by dislocating Pyg's jaw.
Pyg was not impressed, calmly stating that he really wished the brute wouldn't have done that. He coldly ripped his jaw back into the normal position, claiming that he paid a fortune to look so good. This provoked the inmate even more and he charged at Pyg, but Pyg took another record from near the gramophone, broke it in half and rammed one half into the brute's chest. Using the other half, Pyg sliced the man's throat and killed him. After Pyg was subdued by the personnel, he was placed in solitary confinement and Captain Gordon was informed of what had transpired.
Gordon later visited Arkham and entered Pyg's cell. Pyg stated that he wondered whether the murder would draw Gordon to Arkham, claiming that he hoped it would. He stated that he missed their little chats and Gordon picked up on that by asking Pyg who he really was. Pyg replied that he was a reflection of Gordon and Gordon, stepping closer, stated that he couldn't see it. He then hit Pyg in the face, dislocating his jaw again. Pyg sarcastically called Gordon a "swine" and once more flexed his jaw back into place. Again, Jim demanded to know Pyg's true identity but once more, Pyg refused to reveal his real name. Jim tried to get answers by provoking Pyg, claiming that Pyg needed attention and surely wanted to be acknowledged for all his brilliant crimes. However, Pyg stated that he already got all the credit - the whole town had gone hog wild for the Pyg. However, Gordon added that Pyg was already old news and since he was captured, he would soon be forgotten. Gordon stated that Pyg didn't not have the "staying power" of Gotham's more well-known lunatics and thus would surely be forgotten. In denial, Pyg reminded Gordon that he terrorized the city for months and that the city would surely remember that. Gordon replied that Gotham had already forgotten him but Pyg claimed that Gordon never would.
Gordon answered that this meeting would be their last and that after they were done, Gordon would leave Arkham and never waste a thought on Pyg again. When Jim called the outside guard and told him that he was finished with Pyg, Pyg jumped up and angrily shouted that Gordon would not walk out on him and promised him that he would never forget him. Smiling, Gordon replied that he finally got to see the real person behind Pyg and then left the cell.
Back at the GCPD precinct, Lucius Fox revealed to Gordon that he had found out Pyg's real name, Lazlo Valentin, and informed Gordon about Valentin's past as a serial killer. Gordon was surprised because serial killers usually don't change their modus operandi. When Gordon asked why the case against Pyg fell apart, Lucius replied that it hadn't - Valentin escaped. Noticing this, Jim told Lucius to call Arkham and have a guard posted at Pyg's cell. However, this effort proved to be too late as Pyg had already devised a plan to escape. Using bedsheets as a makeshift rope, Pyg lured a guard into his cell and strangled him, successfully escaping from Arkham afterwards. On the wall of his cell, he left the message "It's been fun - Lazlo" written in the guard's blood.
Death[]
Valentin, along with other hitmen, ambushed Carmine Falcone as he is about to leave with his daughter Sofia. Valentin shot Sofia, though he purposefully missed the vital areas of her body to ensure her survival. Sofia used this act to set up Penguin as her father's assassin, and make Gordon arrest and lock him up. Later on when Gordon confronted Sofia at her home, Valentin dropped by and pointed a gun at Gordon, who soon learned the truth that he was a hired killer who copied the MO's of other serial killers, and that Sofia called upon him to commit his murder spree in Gotham. Valentin was betrayed and shot in the head by Sofia, who then managed to blackmail Gordon not to report her to the authorities, as him enlisting her for help taking down Penguin is what caused Valentin to murder many cops at the G.C.P.D in the first place, a revelation which would most likely turn the cops he had won over against him. Gordon then decided to claim that he killed Valentin in an act of self-defense.