Mr. Zsasz lived a privileged existence. He had a loving, wealthy family and graduated top of his class in college, later going on to amass his own fortune of his own through various companies. At the age of 25, his parents tragically died in a boating accident, and while he accepted what had happened, Zsasz could not help but feel depressed at their loss. In an attempt to distract himself from his growing depression, Zsasz became swept up in high stakes gambling. He neglected his companies while gaining, and just as often losing, huge sums of money in card games. It all came to a head in one game, in which Zsasz bet everything to his name in a game against the Penguin and lost. It was then that Zsasz realized that no amount of wealth could change the hollow person he had become or give any meaning to his life, and he fled the casino to attempt suicide at the Gotham Bridge. Before he could jump, a transient threatened him with a knife for whatever he had on him. Zsasz fought back and, upon looking into the homeless man's eyes, realized he was just as empty as he himself was. He killed the man and decided to free 'zombies' of their mortal coils, cutting a notch in himself for each one to remind himself that he too was a human like them |