The Problem with Scarecrow in Arkham Knight (Spoilers!!!)

[Unfinishedsentenc]

So I know some people hate the way the game does Jason Todd and/or Oracle. Some think Batman is also wrongfully portrayed (too emotionless for their tastes I believe), and truly despise the fact that Barbara and Tim are together instead of her and Dick. And while others might also say that Ivy, Freeze, Riddler, Catwoman, and others are also misrepresented in the story, my main issue is, even from the very beginning, the way Rocksteady changed Scarecrow.

See, to me, Scarecrow wasn't Scarecrow in this game. He was some pretender, some pathetic excuse to have Hugo Strange back in the game, monologuing and preaching to Batman all over again. I mean, he didn't even look like Crane. And I'm not talking about his face, I mean his body; he was tall and postured with a normal, sophisticated gait. Since when is that Scarecrow?!?

And while I think John Noble is a fine actor, I simply can't stand how he voiced him. It only added to his ridiculous personality, which was also completely out-of-character as well. The real Scarecrow isn't some calm, collected, voice of reason! No, he's a deranged, sadistic, giggling psycho who enjoyed watching people squirm and buckle under him to hide his own insecurities and fears. And if you ask me, THAT Scarecrow is not only a lot scarier and more realistic, but also just a lot more interesting. Like what happened in his childhood to make him like that? What made him want people to be terrified of him? Is it compensation for his scrawny, timid appearance (which, again, somehow vanished in this game)? Or is it so, somewhere deep in his subconscious, in the scared little child within him, he could guarantee that no one would ever, ever . . . . bully him again.

Bruce has enough analytical, pseudo-therpaist villains who's only desire is to see his "legend" diminished and broken instead of him, and to watch him fail miserably in life. Leave that stuff to Strange and Joker. Scarecrow should be the guy who simply wants the toughest man in all of Gotham, the one every criminal and rapist and thief fears . . . to fear HIM back. He doesn't want the Bat to be afraid of anything like his fear-toxin, or his own downfall, or losing his allies, or going any more insane than he already is, or of any other villain for that matter (like he does in the story).

No, Scarecrow simply wants Batman to be afraid of weak, skinny, defenseless little Jonathan Crane. Because no one in his life ever has.

And that just makes Crane all the more tragic and complex and desperate to me.

I just played Arkham Asylum not too long ago and found myself mourning over the fact that Paul Dini did not write this last Batman game. I mean, say what you want about him, but you can't deny that he has a clear, specific grasp on how he, personally, should write his characters in all mediums, despite different designs and circumstances. You can't deny that he understands them, at least, right? Sigh.

Did anybody else notice this and agree? I know some who actually seem to like this take on him, because it closer resembles how he was in the fourth season of the Animated Series and all that (although I know others would much rather pretend that particular season never existed). But did anyone else have problems with Crane in this one? He's probably my favorite character, so I'm interested in hearing what other fans thought about this.