The 'Answer' to a question nobody asked

Recently somebody asked me if I recognized this obscure 90s Batman villain. I've read significantly more than my fair share of Batman but I was drawing a blank.

It's not unusual for certain characters to make one appearance. Villain appears once, doesn't really catch on or readers just outright reject them (anyone remember Agent Orange?) And they fade into obscurity. If they're lucky they pop up as background art in a Multiverse story.

But what makes the answer here interesting is he faded into obscurity BEFORE his first appearance

turns out Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 was his first and last appearance. The DC comics Database had the full scoop

The Answer was one of the final Batman related characters created by writer Alan Grant, making his first and only appearance in one of the profile pages on the Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins #1, detailing his origin story. At the time. The Answer was apparently intended to play an important part in the aftermath of Cataclysm and Aftershock as one of the main villains. However, The Answer wouldn't make any further appearances, most likely because Alan Grant was quickly fired from the Batman comics after Cataclysm and none of the other writers or editors of the Batman comics had any use or interest in this new villain.

Cataclysm and Aftershock are two of my favorite Batman story arcs from the 90s. Cataclysm led into No Man's Land, and elements of No Man's Land were used in 'The Dark Knight Rises,' so it seems someone else liked it too

I'm surprised nobody jumped on this and tried to shoehorn the character in somewhere. He has Arrowverse written all over him.