Joker (DC)

""This town deserves a better class of criminal...and I'm gonna give it to them.""

- ~The Joker

""If you are good at something never do it for free.""

- ~The Joker

"Why so serious" - the Joker

The Joker is one of the main villains in the Batman comic books, T.V. shows, posters, and movies.

The Joker also plays a big role as the antagonist in The Dark Knight. His criminal Master Mind allows him to control the city with the press of a button. He is shown to have a high level of intelligence and is able to comprehend various scientific tasks. The Joker will often claim he never has a plan, but this menace often has a plot drawn out long before he meets the protagonists.

Origin
About three months after Bob Kane, writer and creator of Batman first introduced the caped crusader to comics, a suggestion from Co-writer Bill Finger who approached Kane about the idea. The idea originated from the 1928 film “The Man Who Laughs” when actor Konrad Veldt played the part of a mute clown (odt NZ), The original plan was to have The Joker killed off after a couple of episodes but Bob Kane felt that The Joker as a major reoccurring villain in the DC universe would be much more interesting. After five episodes The Joker was killed off, accidentally stabbing himself as he rushed at Batman. However, his early showings inspired later writers to re-include him in the Batman Universe.

The Joker in the 1940’s was shown merely as a no-name spree killer/mass murderer. It was not until the 1980’s that an origin story for the Joker was first developed by Alan Moore which showed a de-jokerised version of an engineer. The engineer, destined to become The Joker quit his job to become a stand up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate for money and with a wife Jeannie heavily pregnant the engineer turned two criminals to help him out. Helping the criminals to break in involved the engineer to dress up as the Red Hood, this was made as an excuse by the criminals to say that they wished to protect his identity. However, they failed to mention the history of the Red Hood.

“In this version of the story, the Red Hood persona is given to the inside man of every job (thus it is never the same man twice); this makes the man appear to be the ringleader, allowing the two criminals to escape. During the planning, police contact(ed) him and inform(ed) him that his wife and unborn child have (had) died in a household accident.”

The engineer, distraught at the loss of his wife and unborn child tried to back out of the plan but he was strong-armed into continuing. The plan was doomed from start to finish.

When they entered the plant their cover was immediately blown and a shoot out with security guards ensued. In the resulting melee the two criminals were killed and the engineer escaped, only to run into Batman who happened to be investigating the disturbance.

The engineer, so frightened by the appearance of a “black demon” jumped over the railings into a vat of chemicals in order to escape from Batman. His attempted escape was successful, but the chemicals bleached his skin and turned his hair green. The unfortunate events of the day coupled with the hideous reformation resulted in The Joker becoming completely insane.

This is just one of three origin stories suggested by writers in The Batman Universe, the true story is unclear due to the fact that the only man who knows what really happened (that being, The Joker) is an unreliable source. The Joker even says to Batman after a battle between the two:

“I remember it one way, then I remember it another way, It all depends on how I want to remember it”.

Another origin is suggested by Alex Dini says that The Joker was in fact a mob enforcer who worked his way up the Gotham criminal food chain until he led a powerful criminal faction. Dini then suggests that The Joker created the Red Hood personality to commit small-time crimes, since he reveled in “dirty work”. This resulted in an inevitable “path crossing” with Batman.

The Dark Knight
The Joker, played by Heath Ledger, is the main antagonist in the movie The Dark Knight. The Joker is a psychotic villain who claims to be an "agent of chaos", seemingly doing it for the sake of destroying the plans of others and causing maximum psychological and physical damage. In the film The Joker rescinds his comic weapons in favour of explosives, knives and firearms. He is responsible for the death of Rachael Dawes and for the wounding and psychological manipulation of Two-Face among others.

The Joker states that he wont kill Batman because he is simply to much “fun” and Batman wont kill him because of his “moral obligation”. In the movie, instead of trying to kill Batman, The Joker attempts to show Gotham and subsequently Batman that anyone can be as bad as he is under the right circumstances.

Reasons for Attacking Batman
The Joker is Batman’s greatest foe. His history is so intricately defined by his opposition to Batman that the two are perversely inseparable. The Joker's obsession with Batman is unique compared to other villains. On numerous occasions, The Joker shows that he does not hate Batman, and even considers him a friend, enjoying their battles and constantly mocking him, hinting he may want to make Batman as insane as he is.

The Joker is Batman's greatest enemy, he has caused more physical and psychological damage to the Dark Knight than any other villain. Behind all of his gags and jokes, the Joker houses a vehement dislike for the Caped Crusader because of his interference with the Joker's plans to take over the Gotham crime syndicates and execute his plans. He has loathed Batman ever since the vigilante chased him into a chemical plant and he fell into a vat, disfiguring him and driving him insane. The Joker is very competitive with other rogues and has reserved the right to kill Batman himself, because of their fierce rivalry. This being said, The Joker defines himself by his opposition to the Batman, and even has shown a reluctant admiration of who Batman is. This is typified during one particular comic when The Joker knocks out Batman and could have easily finished his vendetta right then and there but he chooses not to.

“No, I cannot kill him. It cannot end like this. I use my insanity, he uses his detective work, Batman must live”.

Strangely The Joker and Batman have a mutual respect for each other that goes beyond that of all other Batman villains. During the 1980’s a series of comics with a strong identity crisis of the Batman came out. A crime boss named Rupert Thorne paid a psychologist called Hugo Strange (one of Batman’s earliest foes) to find out the true identity of the Batman. Thorne’s idea was to learn the identity of the Batman and on-sell it to the highest bidder. Fortunately Dr Strange had a change of heart when he found out that Batman was Bruce Wayne and refused to part with the information.

This is where The Joker comes in again. Aware that Rupert Thorne was close to finding out the true identity of Batman, The Joker threatened Thorne saying as follows:

“Only one person may kill the Batman, and that is me, when I decide”.

Again, The Joker never shows a desire to kill Batman. Superman even points out that The Joker’s psychosis places him clearly in Batman’s world. To the Joker, his opposition of the Dark Knight defines who he is, he is nothing without Batman and Batman is nothing without The Joker.

Strategy


The way the Joker works is that he uses people's fear and strengths against them with a comedy theme added to it. He creates a sense of victory through the fact that he looks easy to kill or that he might slip up because of his appearance. The reason he does what he does is to show that the city of Gotham needs a better villain and his technique leaves him as the man people will fear or hire for the job of the killing of Batman. He rigs everything with bombs and a detonator and will not be satisfied until what he has been trying to destroy is levelled.

Batman Arkham Asylum
The Joker was also the main villain in the videogame Batman: Arkham Asylum. He got himself locked up in the asylum, along with other so-called "super-villains" to pull off a daring scheme. He planned to build an army of super henchman by mutating his normal henchman with Titan, a venom created by a scientist of Arkham Asylum. To do this, he had to take over the entire asylum, and he was quite successful, since he managed to take control of the security system, the warden, and even over Batman.

The Jokers profile states:

An insanely homicidal super-villain, the Joker’s white skin, green hair, and blood-red lips belie the chaotic nature underlying his cartoonish appearance. The self-styled Clown Prince of crime has no superpowers beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating deadly mayhem. He frequently concocts elaborate schemes to entrap is arch nemesis, Batman.

Personality
In the mini-series Underworld Unleashed, the Trickster remarks, "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories". As far as truth about Joker’s personality, one word sums him up… unpredictable. One day The Joker may be a harmless clown, on others he can become a crazed super-killer.

In 1984, with the conclusion of Infinite Crisis, The Joker cruelly murdered the once-hero now villain of the comic, Alexander Luthor, who was a mirror opposite from Earth-Two of Lex Luthor. Alexander Luthor set up a society for supervillains aimed at taking down Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, however he made the deadly mistake of not inviting The Joker. One night Alexander Luthor was trapped by Lex Luthor and The Joker in an alley. The Joker attacked Alexander with an over-powered joy buzzer, which horribly burnt one side of his face. Lex Luthor watched on as The Joker shot Alexander from point blank range with a shotgun, killing him instantly.

Facts
Real Name: Unknown

Occupation: Professional Criminal

Base of Operations: Gotham City

Eyes: Green

Hair: Green

Height: 6 ft

Weight: 160 lb

First Appearance: Batman #1 (Spring, 1940)

Attributes

 * Unrepentant homicidal maniac, albeit without a precise psychological diagnosis
 * Depending on portrayal, has varying levels of strength, however he has always been portrayed as extremely agile
 * His past is unknown; conflicting, unconfirmed reports state that he was a failed comedian, a petty thief, and a broken family man
 * Employs various deadly weapons, often based on party-gag items
 * Frequently uses a toxin that stretches victim's face into a Joker-like grin and causes death

Harley Quinn
Previously known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a perky, ambitious young psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, Harley is now employed as the Joker's hench-wench/ girlfriend. The relationship began when Harleen took on the Joker's case at the asylum, becoming his doctor. During the short time she was his psychiatrist, the Joker wooed and subsequently manipulated her into breaking him out of Arkham. Her obsessive love is what keeps her with him; the Joker is often abusive (physically and emotionally) towards her, taking out his anger on her and taking advantage of her. It is speculated that over the years the Joker developed some kind of fondness for her; however, most believe he keeps her around for the sadistic pleasure he gets from abusing her. She is elemental in many of his schemes, and he occasionally demonstrates a jealous possessiveness of her.