The mad hatter

The Mad Hatter is a resident of Wonderland who Alice Liddell is acquainted with, as she met him during her first visit to Wonderland, along with the March Hare and Dormouse.

During Alice's incarceration in Rutledge Asylum, he snapped, and became a half-organic, half-metallic rendition of his former self. It is unclear why Hatter became Alice's enemy. This may be as a result of a hard reboot of Wonderland. It is also possible that the Queen of Hearts brainwashed him, or that he simply lost his sanity when Wonderland turned to ruin. Concept art for Alice: Asylum shows that after an explosion in his laboratory hurt his friends, the March Hare and the Dormouse, he blames Alice, and makes himself a mechanical and higher body.[4]

He remained a fanatic of time, but was no longer the tea party-loving hatter that Alice once knew. From his domain, Hatter began torturing Alice's friends and the residents of Wonderland, transforming many into mechanical automatons. He was later killed by Alice, but revived when Wonderland returned to its former state.

Sometime during Alice's stay in Houndsditch, he became the victim of the Hare and Dormouse, now the rulers of his former domain. All three were killed, although Hatter is seen afterwards, leaving his fate ambiguous.

History

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Hatter during his tea party. While exploring Wonderland, Alice came cross the Hatter having tea with the March Hare and Dormouse. The Hatter explained to Alice that they were always having tea because, when he tried to sing for the Queen of Hearts at her celebration, she sentenced him to death for "murdering the time." However, he escaped decapitation.

In retaliation, Time (referred to as a "Him") halted himself in respect to the Hatter, keeping him and the March Hare stuck at 6:00 forever. The tea party, when Alice arrived, was characterized by switching places around the table at any given time; making short, personal remarks; asking unanswerable riddles; and reciting nonsensical poetry, all of which eventually drove Alice away.

He appeared again as a witness at the Knave of Hearts' trial, where the Queen appeared to recognize him as the singer she sentenced to death. The King also cautioned him not to be nervous or he will be "executed on the spot."

Through the Looking-Glass Under the name of "Hatta," the Mad Hatter was in trouble with the law once again. He was, however, not necessarily guilty, as the White Queen explained that subjects were often punished before they commit a crime, rather than after, and sometimes they did not even commit one at all. He was also mentioned as one of the White King's messengers along with March Hare, who went under the name of "Haigha."

American McGee's Alice

The Hatter in a frenzy after seeing the fire. Before the fire began, the Hatter was holding a tea party with Alice and her other Wonderland friends. When the added chapter "Smoke and Fire" began in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Hatter screamed in alarm; a fire had broken out, prompting the White Rabbit to declare that "[they] must save Alice". The Mad Hatter's cries roused Alice from her dream so that she could survive the fire.[5]

Later, Alice and the White Rabbit sought out the Caterpillar in Wonderland Woods. The Mad Hatter killed the Rabbit, intentionally crushing him flat beneath his shoe – able to do so as both the Rabbit and Alice were shrunken down at this time.[6] Presumably, the Mad Hatter was also responsible for repairing the Jabberwock, who was left drastically disfigured by the Vorpal Blade, by replacing his body parts with mechanical prostheses.[7]

Hatter about to hit Alice unconscious. Once Alice defeated the Red King, the Mad Hatter knocked her out from behind, transporting her to a mad funhouse reminiscent of Rutledge Asylum.[8] After further defeating the Tweedles, Alice encountered the Hatter yet again. When she indignantly stated that she fears nothing, the Hatter cited several of her fears. He then told her that "it" might be avoided, causing her to question what he meant, before the floor crumbled around her and sent her falling into Crazed Clockwork.[3]

Along her journey, she discovered the imprisoned Dormouse, March Hare, and Gryphon, who told her that the Hatter had gone mad and planned to turn the inhabitants of Wonderland into automatons, or kill them in doing so. His victims included the March Hare, the Dormouse, and countless Insane Children taken from the Hatter's asylum. Alice learned that he had a habit of checking on his experiments at six o' clock, and so tinkered with the clock's gears in order to make "six come early."[9] Alice eventually defeated the Hatter in his lair, his head exploding after their bout.[10]

In the Heart of Darkness, the Hatter's head is a part of the inside of the Queen of Hearts' mouth, and inside his mouth is Alice's head, symbolizing that the Queen is also a part of the Hatter's insanity as well as Alice's.

He was later resurrected after the Queen of Hearts was destroyed, no longer hostile towards Alice.[11]

Alice: Madness Returns

The Mad Hatter freed by Alice. The Mad Hatter had been ironically torn apart at the hands of his former victims, the March Hare and the Dormouse, out of revenge. Alice found his head and torso in the garbage dump of his domain. She offered to collect the rest of his limbs in exchange for help.[12]

After successfully retrieving his arms and legs, Hatter became delighted, but refused to reveal any information and resorted to jabbering nonsense when Alice asked him about the Infernal Train. He did, however, lead her to the main part of the factory, where the Train was built.

After the Train passed through, the Dormouse and Hare appeared in an imposing looking mecha, taunting the pair and promising to destroy them. The Hatter became furious with them for their part in Alice's potential downfall by unleashing the Train. The two new leaders responded to his scolding by snagging him with a hook. Hatter was able to free himself and destroy the mech within seconds by dropping a giant teapot on it. The weight of the teapot caused March Hare and Dormouse's deaths.

The Mad Hatter offering tea to a dead March Hare. The severity of Hatter's actions finally dawned on him and he suffered another break with reality. He cradled his dead friends in his arms, lamenting that all he wanted was another tea party as his domain crumbled around him. He wrapped them both in his arms and offered them tea. Alice persistently demanded information about the Train, but Hatter did not answer her and only suggested that she should talk to the Mock Turtle mere seconds before the roof fell and crushed him.[13]

Much like the White Rabbit, the Hatter appeared after his death in Wonderland in the Radula Room Endurance Challenges. Hatter's status remained unknown, as his appearance in the Radula Room either meant that he was revived after being crushed, or that Alice was simply visiting him in some realm of the dead.

He later appeared on the Infernal Train, criticizing Alice for her "hammerheaded" methods of solving her problems, and reminiscing about a party he had with Hare and Dormouse before they turned on him. He remarked that insanity was no excuse for forgetting, and told Alice that he had tried to forget what she had done, but was unsuccessful.[2]

Appearance American McGee's Alice

The portrait of Hatter in Castle Keep. The Hatter had become a tall, long-limbed cyborg. He was green-skinned, with a large nose and ears, tiny eyes, and his teeth bore an overbite. His body was made out of metal and wood, and he had a rusted cog sticking out of his back, while his clothes consisted of a loose straightjacket, black trousers, and dress shoes with spats. He also wore a large black-and-white checkerboard top hat, covered in alchemy symbols and a few drops of blood. He carried a walking stick topped with a teapot head.

Hatter's hat consists of known alchemical and astronomical symbols. The alchemical symbols are antimony (although missing a horizontal line under the curve), arsenic, bismuth, iron, mercury, phosphorus, potassium, and tin, while the astronomical symbols are Aries, Pisces, and ascending node. One astronomical symbol bears resemblance to Virgo. However, the curved arrow is different from its usual curve.

Alice: Madness Returns The Hatter retained his previous visage, although he appeared worse for wear, bearing several cuts and bruises across his face and ear, and his top hat having several holes in it. He also retained his long black staff topped with a white porcelain teapot.

Personality The Mad Hatter is "mad" and obsessed with time and clockworks. He considers himself to be a genius and invents mechanical devices. He also enjoys drinking tea.

When Alice meets him in Mirror Image, he bears no empathy for others, and has descended further into madness. Once Alice's friend, he is now her enemy. He uses the bodies of living organisms as the frameworks for his inventions, a conduct he plans to extend to all of Wonderland's inhabitants. The Hatter himself is also mostly mechanical, as revealed in the conclusion of his battle with Alice; his body short-circuits and his head explodes upon his defeat. It is possible that his hostility resulted from the experiments he performed on himself – perhaps he wanted to become a mechanical being in order to endure the Queen's Wonderland, but it had personality-changing side effects.

When they meet again in Hatter's Domain, the Hatter's personality seems to have reverted to resemble that of his very first meeting with Alice. He is now civil towards her and begs for her help, as his previous victims are now his sadistic dictators. When March Hare and Dormouse "die," he is saddened, lamenting that all he wanted was another tea party. Evidently, he wishes to return to a time before the Ruin set in, when he and his friends were happy.

Of course this story is going to be a little different with you around.