Tally Man

For the Jamaican work song, see Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). For the Batman villain who carves tally marks into his body to mark his murders, see Victor Zsasz.

The Tally Man is the name of two fictional characters in the DC Universe. Both characters are supervillains.

Fictional character biographies

Original Tally Man

The few glimpses provided into the Tally Man's past reveal a tragic childhood. Starving and living in rags, the boy who was to become the Tally Man lived with his mother and sister, in constant fear of the criminals who threatened the family for the money his father had borrowed from them years before. After his father died, those same criminals extorted his weekly fee from the deceased man's wife. The boy begged his mother not to pay, but she tearfully replied, "Everybody has to pay the tally man." One night, when the collector came, his mother could not afford to pay and the criminal beat her. Filled with rage, the boy attacked and brutally killed the money collector with a fireplace poker. The 12-year-old boy was arrested for murder, and abused horribly by the others in the boy's prison, who called him a "mama's boy." After his release, the boy returned home. When he discovered his sister had died of starvation and his mother had committed suicide, his mind snapped.