Origin
Howard Spratt was a common thug who grew up in the streets of Gotham City. He worked his way up to being a mob boss and in one of his many attempts to take control of the city he had the Rory Regan’s father Gerry Regan killed. It is this event that leads Rory to become the Ragman.
The Ragman become a thorn in the side of Howard and in return Howard steps up the anti by funding two rival gangs the Nats and the Mimes. in a hopes of them killing each other and creating chaos. The plan however backfires and when the two gangs get wise they take the issue to Howard, killing him.