Zsasz on Paper and Screen

Victor Zsasz is one of the villains created by the phenomenal duo of the late 1980s/early 1990s, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. Some of the other great villains concocted by the two are the Ventriloquist/Scarface, Anarky, Kadaver and Cornelius Stirk. 

Zsasz appeared relatively late in the Grant/Breyfogle run, in 1992's story "The Last Arkham" published in Shadow of the Bat #1. This debut story presented the villain as someone already established, well known to Batman and Gordon and doing time in Arkham.

Zsasz is a very cruel and disturbing villain, even for the standards of the dark, Modern Age Batman and all the psychos he faces. He would perfectly fit in one of the David Fincher movies about the psychotic serial killers and could have a movie on his own.

When Zsasz is first introduced in the story, his appearance isn't revealed for quite some time and there's a considerable buildup to his reveal. He is right away presented as someone extremely dangerous, kept locked like Hannibal Lecter, and also shown as someone equally intelligent being able to mess with people's mind and manipulate them without them knowing it.

The signature trait in Zsasz's appearance are his tally marks. Everytime he murders someone, he marks his body with a scar. 

Another signature visual trait is the appearance of his eyes. He doesn't have any special eyewear, but his eyes look the way they do to visually express his insanity and twisted perception of life and world

His methods are quite brutal. He slits victims throats and is completely immune to cries or pleads, and doesn't care if it's a small child or a pregnant woman. He always smiles while doing his deeds and takes a tremendous pleasures in doing them. After the murder, he always leaves his victims in a lifelike poses and that's his Modus Operandi

The reason why he kills and why is he referring to all people as Zombies is revealed in his origin story in 1996's Batman Chronicles #3. He is another one of those psychos who had a tragedy in his life that pushed him into the dark corners of madness. He was a rich head of an international company but he suddenly lost his parents and soon after all of his money. While trying to jump off the bridge he gets attacked by a mugger and defends himself killing the oppressor with his own knife. He enjoyed the kill and from then on decided that life is meaningless and pointless and that everyone should be freed from this 'pointless' life. A knife became the weapon of his choice, but sometimes he uses anything that he has available

It is also worth mentioning that he is actually a physical match for Batman, an extremely good fighter whose cleverness helps him in the duel - he can often sneak up on Batman and surprise him

In the more recent years the comic books really toned down the character and made him into someone almost completely different, especially when it comes to his behavior, high energy and insanity

BATMAN BEGINS

Due to the brutality of the character, he never appeared in any Batman related mass media until 2005's Batman Begins. Not announced by the media, he was a nice surprise and nod to the hardcore Batman comic book fans

Tim Booth: I have a tiny part, as a serial killer (IGN 2005)

Zsasz in the movie is called Zsaz and appears three times.

The first time during trial smirking after Crane saves him from prison time and testifies that he is insane and should be moved to Arkham. Soon after it's revealed that Zsaz is 'someone who butchers people for the mob' and is also referred to as "Falcone's thug". Those descriptions sound very different than the comic book version, however it's important to note that in the recent years Zsasz worked for the gangster Black Mask for money - not that he cared about monetary gain, but because he wanted money so he can realize his dreams - mass murder. It is a possibility that the movie Zsaz had the same motivations.

As oppose to his comic book version he seems quiet and reserved, even when he regains his freedom. As far as similarities, Zsaz has the signature physical traits of the characters like the tally marks on his body

As far as his personality, it seems like he also likes to use knives and looks like he's about to enjoy his deed