Harold Allnut

Harold Allnut was an aide of Batman's, helping to design and build much of his equipment. He was also responsible for much of the repair.

Character appearance and disabilities

Harold has two major disabilities: he is mute and cannot speak, as well as having a misshapen body, much like a hunchback. However, he proved to be very gifted in terms of technology and electronics.

Early years

Harold first appeared in The Question #33 (December 1989), where he was expelled from his house in Hub City. His first appearance in a Batman comic was in Batman # 448 (early June 1990), which was Part 1 of the Penguin Affair. He was originally a henchman for the Penguin, who forced Harold to either work and build deadly machines to threaten Gotham or to die. While Batman was fighting off Penguin's goons one night, he found and saved Harold.

Knight-Saga

Batman then gave Harold a home and tried his best to befriend Harold. During the Knightsaga, Jean-Paul Valley displaced him, along with Ace and Robin, from the Batcave. He managed to sneak into a hidden section of the cave and work there, eventually aiding Nightwing, Robin, and Bruce Wayne to retake the Mantle of the Bat. He then becomes Batman's technological aide and is the one who designed Nightwings newest costume.

Hush saga and death

Harold had been tricked into undergoing surgery from Hush which fixed his voice and his stature. In exchange, Harold had to place a hidden circuitry relay onto the Batcave's main computer, which, in turn, lead to subliminals which affected Batman's mind. Harold was shot and killed by Hush. In his last full sentence, Harold stated, "I knew that even if I had been tricked, you [Batman] would always be the hero. You would always win." Harold was buried in a grave which overlooks Wayne Manor. Harold's last name was not revealed until Batman 'did some digging' and engraved the name "Harold Allnut" on Harold's grave marker.