Victor Fries spent his early childhood in Gotham City. As an adult, Victor developed an interest in cryogenics and was working at GothCorp. He was married to Nora Fries, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and in order to find a cure in time to save her, Fries started experimenting with cryogenics using GothCorp's funds. When the CEO of GothCorp, Ferris Boyle, learned of Fries's experiments, he decided to shut them down. Fries begged for his wife's life, but Boyle broke into his laboratory, destroyed most of his equipment and kicked Fries into a batch of chemicals, leaving him to die.

Fries endured, but his physiology was permanently altered. His body no longer could survive on temperatures above zero degrees celsius and so he became the criminal mastermind Mister Freeze. He built a cryo-suit that kept his body at low temperatures and also tripled his normal strength. He also built a freeze gun to start a criminal campaign against GothCorp and Boyle. He was captured by Batman and incarcerated in a special cell in Arkham Asylum.

Losing touch with humanity over time, he eventually turns into a colder and more sadistic psychopath.