“Sign of the Skull”
When Cosmo “Skull” Dugger fell victim to the psychological ailment Anhedonia, the inability to feel joy, he dedicated his life to medical research in hopes of overcoming his abnormality. Unable to discover a cure, and believing a life without joy is pointless, Dugger created the E-V Scope, a device capable of stealing a persons joy, and the Recogito, a helmet that allows the wearer to fell the joy stored in the E-V Scope. Dugger set out to use his device but quickly noticed that the E-V Scope killed those it stole joy from. Undaunted, Dugger continued to use the device believing it to be an untraceable killing instrument.
Eventually, Batman discovered a skull imprint on a series of corpses that all had supposed natural deaths. In his pursuit of the killer, Batman encountered Dugger’s machines and somehow managed to inverse the E-V scope and turn all his instinctive joy reflexes into pain. Dugger’s murder spree was exposed but with Batman incapacitated by the mental disorder, Dugger became bolder and claimed the lives of more victims. Out of desperation, Batman turned to Dr. Tzin-Tzin and tricked the villain into using his occult powers to temporarily overcome the effects of Dugger’s device. Free of his affliction, Batman confronted Dugger, and in the ensuing battle Dugger manage to kill himself and permanently cure Batman.
Abilities
Cosmo Dugger is brilliant and considered the greatest medical research genius of the 20th Century. Dugger’s ingenuity lead to the creation of sophisticated gadgets that could alter psychological states, both temporarily and permanently.