Origin
Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong is a psychotic child with the mind of a military genius. Bored with his life at a military school, he reads books about military history. Ulysses later scares the bullies that pick on him into helping him to escape the school, and work as his henchmen. He goes to Gotham City to recruit gang members into his “army”, uses his military skill to grow his gang, and has taken on Black Mask‘s gang. His reputation gains him the nickname “The General“. He dresses himself and his henchmen, primarily gangs he has conquered, in historical attire as they act out crimes based on military history.
While his father, sister and brother know of his psychosis and the threat he poses, his mother is blind with affection for him, even as he is being hauled into juvenile hall after his crimes are foiled by Batman. The General has been expanded beyond Batman into the larger DC Universe and has also taken on Robin separately.
The General has teamed up with other costumed criminals, including a henchman of Maxie Zeus known as Caesar. Picking up the dillusional criminal in a museum, he brought Caesar home (much to the dismay of his father). The General and Caesar use a stolen circus lion to threaten a biker group known as “Los Bandidos” into becoming their henchman. Wanting even more members for the gang, they set out to conquer an enemy gang. A fight erupts between the biker gangs but is stopped quickly by Robin (who has used detective skills, intel from the General’s sister, and the help of Sheriff Shotgun Smith to find the General) and Shotgun Smith. The General and Caesar steal money from the back, jack a police car and would’ve gotten away if Robin hadn’t stopped them using “the Redbird“. The General then went to jail for a number of weeks.
Several weeks later, the General teamed up with Toyman, as they plan to steal a toy collection made by Schott from a collector. Robin tracks them down to the collector’s house, to find that Schott (a homicidal maniac who hates kids to begin with) pointing a gun at Ulysses. The General saves himself using an automized panzer toy, a train and help from the boy wonder. After the two crooks are caught, Ulysses claims that Toyman made him do it and only serves a brief sentence in jail.
Once out, he meets the pre-teenaged ruler of an Eastern country and they become fast friends. Deciding to help the ruler thwart his enemies, the General travels to his aquantice’s home country, and wages war. Hiring Gunhawk, the NK Demon, Hatchet, and Deadline (four dangerous mercenaries) and using a vast army, Ulysses is on the brink of comitting genoside when Robin and Nightwing show up in a bat-plane. Robin stops the mercenaries and is about to grab the General when he sees that Ulysse’s “friend” is unhappy with the General for starting a war. Now a slave, the General spends several years scrubbing floors and cleaning palaces.
After a very long absence, the General has returned to Gotham City, having aged several years, grown several feet and has become a more formidable hand-to-hand combatant. He physically appears closer in age to Robin and Spoiler. He has for reasons yet unknown been hired by Spoiler to gather information about the Gang Wars, and find a possible solution to them. He continues to hold a grudge against Robin and betrays Spoiler. Spoiler survives a gunshot to the shoulder, and then distracts him long enough to get the drop on him and escape.
He comes into possession of the Red Robin costume worn by Jason Todd, and uses it as part of a campaign of psychological warfare against Tim Drake. More formidable than ever, he’s revealed to be holding Lonnie Machin, an anarchist vigilante, hostage and to have commandeered the latter’s identity as “Anarky”. Where Machin’s approach as Anarky had been to cause social change, Armstrong’s approach bordered more on psychotic and meaningless acts of chaos and destruction.
Armstrong manages to catch Robin in his warehouse, yet Robin escapes through unknown means, but not without sustaining serious burns to his head. Soon after, a final confrontation ensues, where Anarky attempts to kill all of Gotham City’s Gangs, so as to create more violence. The combined efforts of Robin, Spoiler, Commissioner Gordon, Officer Harper and the Gotham Gangs, results in Armstrong’s defeat. However, not without a price. In order to take the edge off of Armstrong, Robin asked Officer Harper to bring the Armstrong Family to confront Ulysses. Unfortunately, while the action worked, Armstrong caused a bomb to explode, killing his brother and sister in the blast. Armstrong blames Robin for their deaths.
Managing to escape from the Police, Armstrong returns to his hideout where he has Lonnie Machin paralyzed. There the pair of them argue about the true meaning of Anarchy, in which Ulysses states he could create enough anarchy with only one question: “Who is Robin?”
After Scarab’s failed attempt to murder Tim Drake, Anarky (Armstrong) took it upon himself to destroy Red Robin once and for all. Ulysses begins killing three possible canidates that he presumed were Red Robin and wrote off Tim Drake as the fourth since the assassination attempt on Tim along with the capture of Scarab made by Red Robin was done simultaneously. Ulysses automatically concludes that his fifth candidate is Red Robin. Fortunately, Tim was working with Lonnie Machin’s cyber persona Moneyspider and learned the location of the fifth candidate. Tim saves the target and immobilizes Ulysses but Ulysses has an insurance policy in case Machin reached out to anybody. Ulysses rigged his hideout to blow and tells Tim the exact location. Tim manages to save Machin but Anarky regains his mobility and escapes.