The maniacal Joker is perhaps Batman's most dangerous foe in Gotham City. Unpredictable, murderous and psychopathic. The Joker is a threat to both heroes and villains alike. Doctors from Arkham believe that he isn't actually insane, but actually has some kind of super sanity.
Creation
The original Batman creators: Bob Kane, Bill Finger and the young Jerry Robinson, planned on having the Joker as a very "clowny" type of clown, not the suave character he is now.
The Joker's appearance was based on that of actor Conrad Veidt in the Man Who Laughs; an old silent film based on Victor Hugo’s novel "L'Homme Qui Rit". There are even some panels that where directly copied from stills of the film. The early Joker of the 40's contrasted with his inspiration Gwynplaine in that he was a murderous clown, and was capable of moving his lips to form a frown. Each one of the Batman creators takes credit for creating the Joker, but it's widely believed that Jerry Robinson came up with the concept of the Joker's calling card.
Origin
The Joker does not have a definitive history before the chemical accident, however the most widely-accepted story is told in The Killing Joke. In this story, the Joker is originally an engineer at a chemical plant. He quits his job to pursue his dream as a comedian. He does not succeed and is in debt while needing to support his pregnant wife. Desperate for money, he agrees to help two criminals break into the plant he used to work at. While discussing plans with the two men he is informed by the police that his wife has died in a freak accident testing a baby bottle heater. Although he then tries to back out of the plan, the criminals force him into it. Inside, they convince him to wear the Red Hood mask to “help protect his identity”. They are caught by a security guard and start shooting. Batman shows up and in a desperate attempt to escape, the Red Hood jumps over the railing and falls into the chemicals. He emerges as the Joker.
It was later revealed in Gotham Knights (#50-55) that the Riddler knew what happened to Joker’s wife. He says that the criminals kidnapped and killed his wife to get him to help them with the crime. The Joker was referred to as Jack in this story.
According to BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #7 the Joker was a master at deactivating even the toughest security systems, but alas this was no life for him. What is the point of using a gift such as this if there is no thrill or chase involved? So, he quits using his skill and trips the alarms on purpose to draw the cops’ attention. Many fans claim that since Batman Confidential is a complete retalling of Batman's history & because of Crisis on Infinate Worlds nullifying DC's pre 80s history, that this version of the Joker's history trumps the rest & that the Joker's past as the Red Hood is no longer canon to the present universe, making Jason Todd the original Red Hood.
Also, in Batman: Legends on the Dark Knight #50 a handsome man with low self esteem named Melvin Reipan claims to be Joker’s cousin. Joker doesn’t deny this, but he won’t let this man call him what is supposedly his birth name. Melvin occasionally manages to say, “Ja—err I mean Joker” hinting on the fact that Joker’s name might be Jack; like in the (1989) movie, (B:TAS) cartoons or in Batman Confidential. It might also be telling you that the character from the Batman/Planetary crossover “Night on Earth” is using Joker’s original name, Jasper. The Joker also has a tendency to refer to himself as Joseph so he can make the joke, “My name is Joseph Kerr aka Joe Kerr” and in few occasions pre-Joker get’s called Joe.
In Batman #686, it has been revealed that after all this time The Joker was actually Alfred Pennyworth, who's intentions were to give Bruce a "Moby Dick to his Ahab, a Moriarty to his Sherlock Holmes." This revelation however was only one of many alternate realities witnessed by a supposedly dying Bruce Wayne.
Even with all these various origin stories, everything is left up to the readers to what's true about Joker's origins. It is suggested that the Joker has lost all memory of his past, and has multiple imagings of what he once was, and how he became what he is now.
Criminal Career
Throughout his criminal career the Joker has committed hundreds of crimes ranging from nonsensical and bizarre to destructive and deadly, making him a highly unpredictable foe. Although he is said to be constantly reinventing his personality, the Joker is typically an egotist as well as a nihilist. He sees no value to human life and therefore his murders are always part of a macabre joke, the punch-line understood only by The Joker.
Many of the Joker's crimes have left a deep impact on Batman. The first was in the Killing Joke when he paralyzed Batgirl. The Joker knocked on the Gordon's door and when she opened the door, he shot her and the bullet hit her spine paralyzing her. As a result of this shooting, Batgirl became the Oracle The Joker proceeded to kidnap James Gordon and tortured him to prove that “one bad day can turn anyone into me”. Batman rescues Gordon and Joker willingly returns to Arkham Asylum.
In A Death in the Family, the Joker kills the second Robin, Jason Todd. Jason was searching for his mother to discover that she was being blackmailed by the Joker. He tries to rescue her but fails and is beaten badly by the Joker with a crow bar. The Joker then blows up the warehouse they were in and Jason is killed before Batman could rescue him. The outcome of which was the result of a public vote.
In The Joker: Devil's Advocate, the Joker is falsely accused of committing a murder and is put on trial. The Joker pleads guilty and Batman believes that the Joker did not commit these crimes because it was uncharacteristic. Batman eventually succeeds in finding the real killer and proves that the Joker was framed.
In Joker: Last Laugh, the Joker finds out he is infected with a terminal brain tumor and plans a big crime spree to make sure he goes out with a bang. He uses a venom to "jokerize" super villains locked up in the Slab, making them insane as well as bear a physical resemblance to him. They escape and proceed to wreck havoc across the world. The Joker also tries to get Harley pregnant before he dies. The U.S. declares war on the Joker under the orders of President Lex Luthor. Later Black Canary discovers the Joker’s CAT scan was modified to look like he was dying. Eventually Nightwing faces the Joker one on one with Joker's intention to kill the first Robin before he dies. Nightwing defeats him and he's sent to jail.
During No Man's Land, the Joker murders Sarah Essen Gordon, wife of James Gordon. In the end he surrenders to Batman and Gordon points his gun at the Joker, however ends up only shooting him in the knee. The Joker is at first distraught that he may never walk again, until he realizes that Gordon was just avenging his daughter's paralysis. He interprets it as a joke and laughs uncontrollably exclaiming, "Good one, Commissioner!"
At the end of Infinite Crisis, the Joker kills Alex Luthor.
In Emperor Joker, Mr. Mxyzptlk pays The Joker a visit in the slab in New York. Bored of his pranks being ruined, Mxyzptlk decides to give less than 1% of his powers to Joker to see the havoc he would cause, but Joker capatilized on his insanity and tricked Mxyzptlk and gained 99% of his powers and remakes the the universe in his image. He replaces the JLA with his Joker League of Anarchy, and makes original JLA into pathetic versions of themselves.
In Batman R.I.P., the Joker underwent electroshock therapy after surviving a close-range gunshot to the head. He decided to strip himself of his past, starting with the deaths of all his former henchmen & every person he met in the hospital ward; a baptism of blood. He's started wearing a completely different costume consisting of a sleeveless surgeon jacket & long hospital gloves, going for a Doctor Death look, but he's kept his purple pinstripe pants.
Harley Quinn
Batman Confidential suggests that they met in a bar before he became the Joker. She also claimed herself to be Joker’s girlfriend until he tried to kill her in Batman 663 and later told the Riddler that she and the Joker were through. Joker isn't interested really in her, and he tried to replace her as a henchgirl in Joker's Millions. Harley has also been seen in a partnership with Poison Ivy.
Characteristics
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 191 lbs (87 kg)
Eyes: Green
Hair: Green
Unusual Features: facial nerves are paralyzed, which makes him appear as if he is persistently grinning, white face and green hair is due to chemical exposure, his face is also damaged from massive scarring in the shape of a hideous smile.
Powers and Abilities
- Pain Resistance
- Tainted Blood
- Joker Venom Immunity
Immunity to fear as he doesn't understand the concept and sees everything as a joke, an immunity to poison due to prolonged exposure to chemicals, plus incredibly high pain tolerance. Scarecrow's fear gas has no effect on him & Visionary failed to hypnotize him into a state of fear in Birds of Prey #121. He and Poison Ivy have shown immunity to each others attacks. In Birds of Prey #16, the Joker was in a leg cast, but jumbled about as if it wasn't there, he showed no symptoms of pain after a couple of batarangs slit his mouth in Batman Confidential. A lot of time, he seems to enjoy pain; provoking others to take a swing at him, so one could say he's a sadomasochist. Bullets don't seem to do much more than slow him down or put him out of commission temporarily. On several occasions, he's been known to survive explosions & crashes. His bones heal quickly and it's been hinted in a few comics that he doesn't physically age.
The Joker is a genius inventor and chemist. Using several comedy-themed weapons, such as: his patented laughing gas, a bang-labelled spear-gun, explosive whoopie-cushions, acid flower, high voltage joy buzzer, razor-sharp cards, poisonous pies and exploding cigars. the Joker manages to create an MO which fits his macabre appearance. The Joker is immune to his own venom as well as various similar toxins.
In “A Clown at Midnight” and again in Batman 663, there is a panel in which the Joker is sitting in a cell at Arkham waiting for the Dark Knight’s arrival. As he’s waiting a mosquito lands on his unnaturally pale arms and attempts to suck his blood. Quickly the insect dies for the blood in the mad man’s veins acts like a poison, killing off its unknowing prey.
The Joker does not posses any outright superpowers, however he does show several inhuman abilities. The Arkham Asylum story arc suggests that he is 'super-sane'; that he sees how the universe really is, without any personal illusions, and that his entire personality can alter to fit the circumstances, making him excellent at impersonating and lying as he truly believes what he says. He has the great strength that madmen are often said to have, and is quite agile. And, like so many comic-book characters, the Joker always has the habit of cheating death. People might assume he is dead, only for him to rise up again and wreak havoc once more.
The Joker also has the tendency to break the fourth wall and seems to have a heightened sense of awareness that he is a comic book character. He is the only character to talk directly to the reader and has the ability to do things such as "turn" the comic page or handle his own word balloons. The Joker also seems to know that he exists as Batman's perfect foil. In "Going Sane" (in Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68), the Joker, thinking that he has killed Batman, figures there is no point to him being the Joker anymore and gets plastic surgery and attempts to lead a normal, sane life. However, upon discovering that Batman is still alive, he reverts to insanity and continues his life as a mass murderer.
Regardless of whether he is insane or faking insanity, his intelligence is obvious and his malevolence unmatched. The villains of Arkham fear and sometimes take orders from him and those who don't know any better and shrug him off as a clown soon learn that he's a force to be reckoned with. He has a habit of pushing his authority and doesn't always use henchmen to enforce it. Some notable weight-pushing, leadership, and rogue bossing can be found in Arkham Asylum: ASHoSE, Salvation Run, Batman R.I.P., Emperor Joker, & Batman: Gotham Knights.
Sexuality
The Joker's a complex man and so is his sexuality. Most don't even consider his sexuality because psychopaths don't have the capacity to love. We, the comic readers, are still uncertain of the Joker's true feelings. However this clown prince has been alive since 1940 and much has happened.
Homo: In The Dark Knight Returns the Joker was written in as a homosexual, same for Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. A former henchman Batman once interrogated told him that the Joker broke his heart. In Batman Cacophony, the Joker started to undress after a man gave him a suitcase full of cash. When he took off, the Joker said "Seduced & abandoned."
Bat-sexual: If the battles between the Joker and his "nemesis" were thought of as something else in the Joker perverted mind he might be 'Bat-Sexual'. This has been a theory for quite some time because of his obsessive behavior towards the Dark Knight. There are some encounters between the Batman and the Joker such as the one in Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth where the Joker slaps the Bat's butt & continuously calls him pet names. This could be taken as his just playing around and trying to tick him off or as something more. In The Dark Knight Returns the Joker refers to Batman as "Darling," & "My Sweet". The sadomasochistic ritual the Joker has with the Batman is sacred to him. In The Outsiders: Joke's On You Luthor taunts the Joker with "Batman likes Catwoman better than you. He'll never love you, Sweetheart! You can keep screwing with his city, but he's never gonna take you to the prom!" after which the Joker becomes enraged and ups his torture tactics. He has also shown repetitive intolerance to sidekicks & substitutes. He's shown as positively obsessed with Batman throughout Batman Confidential, as he causes havoc strictly to lure Batman into a fight, which caters to his sadomasochism, rather than Batman showing up to stop some random crime. He has also been known on several occasions to call Batman affectionate pet names & he celebrates their anniversary of meeting. Although this may be an odd obsession within a mad-man's mind.
Asexual: The Joker has no sexual drive he only does it to hurt the other person when he leaves or does it to get something in return. These actions have been shown in All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder#8 and It's Joker Time.
Death was described as sex for the Joker in a comic illustrated by Marshal Rogers and that may possibly be the only type he craves.
Auto-sexual: The Joker is so vain he finds only himself appealing. People such as Haley Quinn adore him to the point where he knows he just is that great and therefore when he plausibly does it with her, he does it to prove his greatness. However, he's not against killing his own self-disguised henchmen & harlequins.
Symbolism
Seeing as the clown is supposed to symbolize happiness, fun and not at all death and destruction looking at other references will give a clearer look into the Joker’s character.
His colors are a definite portal into his dementia. The white skin was said to represent the way Joker hasn’t been able to die since his ‘death’ in his second appearance because he is possibly already dead; a zombie like figure walking amongst the living. That theory was mentioned by Alex Ross when he spoke on the Batman (1989) special. The violet attire could in fact be there to demonstrate his royalty or at least the fact that he is incredibly vain and finds much beauty in himself.
Another very important thing is that the Joker's crimes are always 'funny' for him. They're also 'perfect' (in Mad Love after Harley Quinn suggested him to kill Batman by only shooting him, he gets mad and says 'Know this, my sweet: the death of Batman must be nothing less than masterpiece! The triumph of my sheer comic genius over his ridiculous mask and gadgets!'). He wants to be funny because he's a very theatrical man: he thinks of himself as an expert actor, always on stage. To maintain this trait he speaks in a very dramatic way, thinking of his words as lines instead of simple things he says. He's a dramatis persona and he wants to underline it. The Joker's also very careful about his own appearance; in his twisted mind he's beautiful and he likes to be well-dressed: in fact he always wears purple, clownish suits. The most common is a purple suit, orange shirt, a big green bow tie, violet silk gloves and spats on his shoes. Sometimes he carries a cane, and wears a long purple raincoat and a broad-brimmed hat (obviously violet). His hair is regularly combed and pomaded. In some movies like Batman (1989) and The Dark Knight (2008) the Joker puts clown makeup, his skin is not 'naturally' white. In comics, at the contrary, his chemical bath made his skin marble white and eyes hair and nails green.
Le Mat is a Marseille Tarot card and was said to represent the Joker in Clash of Symbols (Detective Comics #617) written by Alan Grant. He represents the mystical cleverness bereft of reason within us, the childlike ability to tune into the inner workings of the world. There are things commonly found in the image of this card that also have explanations; such as the sun that sits in the background. It is the divine nature of the Fool's wisdom and exuberance. Le Mat, like the Joker is fully equipped with everything he may need in his quest for experience and chaos. He is often illustrated with a flower that represents the way he sees beauty. Frequently accompanied with a dog or wolf, le Mat is distracted by the hardships of the world. This beast may also represent the fools animal desires. In a few versions of the card, he is seemingly unconcerned that he is standing on a cliff apparently about to leap. This action has been thought to illustrate the fool’s acts of idiocy, trust or simply carelessness.
Mythology In terms of mythology the Joker represents a “Trickster” archetype or an immortal being that uses deceit and chaos to interrupt the hero’s journey. More perfectly the reason a trickster does this is for his own amusement (the Joker’s reason to do anything).
Elseworlds
Deaths :
The many deaths of the Joker are a common theme among Elseworld comics. This might be because of the reaction others get and because he is the most evil of all villains.
Kingdome Come : The aged prankster was the turning point in Superman’s life. The vile thing the Joker has done drove Magog to the point were he knew the only way to deal with the clown was to finish him off. This act led to chaos in the society.
Blood Storm: Armed with holy water the Joker marched into the vampire Batman’s life, killed his only hope at surviving without blood shed, and allowed the demonic Bat to suck him dry so that his heart would be black.
Batman vs Lobo-The Joker of this world resided in Arkham like any other world until Lobo came a knocking. He had been hired by Scarface to take the Joker out, But Joker in turn hired Lobo to take out the Bat at a higher price. As the story went along we learn that the Joker is Batman's long lost brother. The night that Bruce Waynes family were killed Bruce froze in fear while Joey (Joker) went crazy and tried to fight off the man who killed their parents, the man took Joey and the young boy hadn't been seen for quite some time. In the end the Joker is defeated as is Lobo and it ends with Batman taking Joker back to Arkham.
In Catwoman Guardian of Gotham the Joker was attempting to unleash a lethal dose of Laughing gas into the ventilation system in a building when Batman slammed a batarang into his chest killing him instantly.
Other Earths
Earth-2 recently an aged version of the Joker appeared, He attempted to turn Helena Wayne's friend Harry into the new Two-Face by throwing acid at him which burned harry's whole face. Later Helena and Powergirl track him down. He tries to kill her with a zap buzzer in his hand but Powergirl grabs his hand sending a shock towards him, killing him
Movies
Cesar Romero as the JokerThe Batman : Movie (1966)
The Adam West Batman of the sixties had every thing he’d ever want in his utility belt, Bat-mobile or Bat-cave, so what about the Joker? Why did Cesar Romero seem to be the less threatening Joker? Unfortunately these questions cannot be solved. In this particular movie the central villains were Riddler, Penguin, Joker and finally curvaceous Catwoman. Both Riddler and the squawking Penguin have a greater reputation then Romero’s Joker. Could it be because this wasn’t a Joker you could sink your blood thirsty teeth into? In my honest opinion this Joker was too camp and an ill-portrayl as well as completely lacking the more sinister side that all Joker fans adore, but he did fit the era. The energy within this Clown Prince of Crime was explosive, but E. Nigma could sadly out laugh the Joker. There were many faults within this character at the time, but Romero still filled in the role of the Joker decently for his happy time. Gladly, that overly campy Joker isn’t the way most remember him.
Batman (1989)
The Great and Wonderful Clown Prince of Crime shows himself in this great and stunning movie filmed by Tim Burton. Jack Napier, played by Jack Nicholson, is a big time mobster who works for mob boss Carl Grissom. Jack is Grissom's right hand man and most trusted acquaintance. Grissom sends Napier to Axes Chemicals to raid them. Little did Jack know that what he got himself into would turn him into the Batman's worst and most dangerous foe. As there in axes chemicals the police arrive, once they do Jack realizes that he was set up by his boss, Grissom. While trying to escape the Batman shows up and Jack falls into toxic waste. When he does it turns his face green and his skin white, along with his lips red. He is then known as the Joker. After words Grissom believes that he had done away with Jack. Later as he comes out of the shower Jack shows up in his apartment, “Jack is that you? Thank god, I thought you’ve been..” “Fried!?” asks the Joker, “You set me up. Over a woman, a woman!” They continue to argue on the subject for a few more seconds and then the Joker shoots Grissom again and again. After he does he takes over his empire, although many of the other gangsters don’t like it, the Joker kills one gangster to show whose boss. As the Movie goes on we learn that the Joker falls madly in love with Viki Vale and that he had killed Bruce Wayne’s parents.
Later in the Movie, the Joker invites Viki to an art studio and ruins all the paintings and talks to her about being his girl. Batman then comes and takes Viki away, “Where does he get those wonderful toys?”
Later the Joker gets angered by the Batman, and he puts a deadly poison into all sorts of cosmetics. When combined they turn people into dead, and yet smiley people. As the city worries the Batman later exploits the Joker’s code and reveals what Joker had poisoned and they do a giant recall.
As the Movie goes on the Joker creates a huge parade to lure out the citizens of Gotham, he does so by giving away 20 million dollars. As the parade goes on, he tricks the citizens and with the balloons that he has he begins to spray out a lethal poison, only to be stopped by the Batman.
Batman then steals away his balloons using the Batplane, a mad and furious Joker then says, “He stole my balloons. He stole my balloons! Why didn’t anyone tell me he had one of those, things?” He then kidnaps Viki and takes her atop the Gotham cathedral, after the fight with Batman he falls down the giant tower and when the police surround him they hear laughter. That’s when they reveal a recording of the Jokers laughter.
The Dark Knight (2008)
The film begins with several of his hired clowns robbing a bank owned by the mob. After each clown double crosses the other (following Joker's orders), Joker reveals himself being among them and leaves with the cash... alone.
As the mob conducts a meeting discussing a way to hide their money from the law, the Joker appears and tries to strike a deal with them; half of the money in exchange for killing Batman, who is a major factor that would cause their plan to fail. They refuse, with one leader, Gambol, calling a million dollar hit on him. The Joker kills Gambol instead.
After the Joker is proven correct and Batman is considered the main problem to the mob, they then seek his help. His next move, offer a deal with Batman: the Dark Knight must reveal his true face or people will die each day. He succeeds in murdering Commissioner Loeb and Judge Surrilo.He fails in killing his next target, the mayor, but he apparently killed Gordon through the chaos.
When Harvey Dent turns himself in as the Batman, Joker is captured as he tries to kill Dent, but is apprehended by the true Batman. While in prison, it's revealed that the Joker managed to coerce some of Gordon's cops into kidnapping Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent. During his interrogation he explains his view on morality as a "bad joke" and that people will give up on their morals when it's convenient. He tells Batman where the two are held, but switches the addresses. Each building the captives were held in were all rigged to explode. Batman manages to save Harvey (who has the left half of his face horribly burned), but Rachel isn't as lucky. She dies in the explosion.
The Joker escapes prison and finds the mob's hidden cash. However, he burns it and takes the mob's henchmen.
A Wayne Enterprises employee by the name of Reese discovers Batman's secret identity and plans to reveal it in a live show in order to stop the killings. However, the Joker called into the live show as a "guest" and told the viewers that he doesn't want Mr.Reese to ruin the "fun" of finding out who Batman really is, so he threatens to blow up a hospital if Reese isn't dead in 60 minutes.
During the madness as Gotham's hospitals evacuate it's patients and random people try to kill Reese, he sneaks into the one Harvey is held. The clown explains himself to Harvey as a "mad dog chasing cars, without plans" and that killing Rachel and disfiguring Harvey weren't personal, just chance. And convinces him to "spread a little anarchy" and hands him a loaded revolver. He allows Harvey to escape and then destroys the hospital.
The Joker's last appearance in the movie had him conduct a "social experiment" where he threatens to blow up two boats which were leaving the city. However, he would spare one boat if they destroy the other before midnight. Batman appears and stops him. Before the authorities take him, he tells Batman that he took Gotham's White Knight (Harvey Dent, now Two-Face) and "brought him down to our level". While he didn't succeed in having Batman throw away his morality, the opposite was true for Two-Face.
This Joker's appearance is very unorthodox compared to how he's usually portrayed. Instead of being clean and sharply dressed, this Joker is intentionally dirty looking. Instead of being exposed to chemicals, this Joker wears makeup to give himself his clownish appearance. He is shown once without the make up (when he tries to kill the mayor), and in certain parts of the movie, it begins to smear and look like an infection. He also sports a Glasgow smile.
It's an intentional mystery how the Joker got his Glasgow smile. He told different stories throughout the film. First he told Gambol that his abusive and alcoholic father gave it to him as a child. His second story he told to Rachel Dawes, saying that he gave it to himself to prove how much he loved his wife (who was scarred by some unknown criminals). He said his wife left him afterward. In his final battle with Batman, the Joker starts to tell a different story, but is interrupted by the Caped Crusader. The Lovers & Madmen story arc could have been a possible inspiration for the Joker's Glasgow smile featured in the movie. However, the comic shows Batman as being responsible for the disfigurement.
| Super Name: | Joker |
| Real Name: | ??? |
| Aliases: |
Clown Prince of Crime Harlequin of Hate The Ace of Knaves Joe Kerr The Leonardo of the Larcenous Laugh Batman's Archenemy Mr. Rekoj Nemesis of The Knight The Bandit Mr. Face Paint Patient 0 Patient 223 Prometheus Red Hood Tartarus The Caliph Of Clowns The Jocund Jack Of All Crimes The Mirthful Menace Jack Napier Uncle Bingo Nurse Joker Agent of Chaos Doctor Joker Mr. J Thin white duke of death |
| Publisher: | DC Comics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Character Type: | Human |
| 1st Appearance: | Batman #1 |
| Appears in: | 543 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
