| “ | "I've been phys - and psych - evaled every two weeks. There's been no sign of Joker - ware in my body, and no residual brain anomalies. I'm free of the Joker... of all off it... for good." | „ |
| ~ (Tim Drake explains to Terry McGinnis that he is completely free from Joker possession). |
The Joker is the overarching antagonist of the Batman Beyond saga, which began in 2010 with the miniseries Hush Beyond and continued with Batman Beyond: Industrial Revolution, Batman Beyond Unlimited, Superman Beyond, and Justice League Beyond. He is one of many iterations of the eponymous DC Comics supervillain.
Since this continuity of stories is a sort of mash-up between the mainstream DC continuity and the DCAU, this version is based on the DCAU version, also incorporating characteristics of the comic book character. Depending on the style of the artists who have worked on this saga, he may be portrayed in some stories with the look of the comics or that of the DCAU animated series.
History[]
We have only a few scattered pieces of information about the Joker's activities between one story and the next. Given the return of an elderly Andrea Beaumont as the Phantasm, it's almost certain that he was the dangerous hitman employed by the Clan Valestra and that he killed Andrea's father. From other details scattered throughout the various chapters of the saga, it's implied that he shot Barbara Gordon and killed Jason Todd, and, given the mention of No Man's Land in Hush Beyond, he may also have murdered Sarah Essen, James Gordon's second wife.
We know for certain that, as told in Hush Beyond, 50 years before the events of the series, he kidnapped Alfred Pennyworth, forcing Batman and Dick Grayson to chase him to the Gotham Steelworks. In the ensuing battle, as Batman hadn't worked alongside a partner for the Joker shot Dick with a modified Hunziker J-08 before he fled with Alfred, leaving Dick seriously injured and near death. Fortunately, Batman called in an ambulance, which allowed Dick to survive, though a has been bullet lodged in his spine while his right eye was damaged to the point that would worsen over time, requiring him to cover it with an eyepatch). During his stay in the hospital, however Batman never visited him during his recovery, since he was more focused on catching the Joker and rescuing Alfred. The only (and closest) time Dick heard from him was when Alfred was sent to the hospital once with Dick's Nightwing costume and a note saying that a new one is waiting for him.
As Batman was cold, distant, not really caring for his partners or anyone else, with the exception of his mission, and only truly loving his late parents, this created a rift between him and Dick, who, after recovering, retired from his vigilante career out of disgust for the former's lack of concern and moved to Bludhaven, where he now runs an athletics training center.
Other certain events involving the Joker included the kidnapping of Tim Drake—the third Robin—with the complicity of his girlfriend Harley Quinn; deciding that the "game" between him and Batman was getting old, devised one last plan aimed at the Bat "family." After Dick Grayson left for Bludhaven, the Joker kidnapped Tim Drake, Dick and Jason's successor as Robin, while the Boy Wonder was alone on patrol. Suddenly hearing a woman scream, he immediately rushed to her aid, unaware that the distressed woman was actually a disguised Harley Quinn, and Tim fell into her trap before being taken by the Joker to Arkham Asylum, which was now in ruins, decommissioned and slated for demolition. While Batman and a recovered Barbara Gordon, now Batgirl, desperately searched for the boy, the Joker sadistically tortured and brainwashed Tim for three weeks. After several serum injections and electric shocks, Tim revealed all of his secrets to the Clown Prince of Crime, including the fact that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne. Joker then completed the "transformation" by brainwashing Tim and genetically altering his appearance, as well as combining their DNA, which resulted in Tim being turned into a child-version of the Joker called "Joker Junior" (or "JJ" for short).
When Batman and Batgirl arrived at Arkham Asylum, they were horrified of what had become of Tim. While Batgirl battled Harley Quinn, Batman went after the Joker, who showed Batman in the operating room a documentary called "Our Family Memories", which features Tim's torture, all in order to crush Batman's spirit.
Vowing to break the Joker, the enraged Dark Knight engaged in a final showdown with the Clown Prince of Crime. Having successfully provoked Batman, Joker plunged a knife into his knee, paralyzing his nemesis. When Joker has JJ kill him, however, as he was unable to fully transform him, JJ, instead of shooting Batman, shot and mortally wounded the Joker, "delivering the punchline". A shocked by the unexpected attack, the Joker's final words were "That's not funny... That's not..." before he took his last breath and collapsed from his fatal wound, dead. Tim then suffered a mental breakdown while Batgirl tried to comfort him. Batgirl later noted that it took intensive therapy with Leslie Thompkins to reverse the effects of Joker's brainwashing on Drake. It has been suggested that the traumatic event caused Batman to sever ties not only with his immediate partners, but also with his allies in the Justice League.
Although he was buried deep beneath the remains of Arkham Asylum following his death, the Joker's latest attempt tainted the Bat Family, leading to the estrangement of all members of the family. Tim Drake would also suffer lasting trauma well into adulthood, despite regaining his sanity a year after Joker's death with help from Leslie Thompkins. Despite his death, the Joker's murderous legacy as a criminal mastermind would live on for years to come. While the residents of Gotham City were free of the villain, several gangs of teenage street thugs were formed to honor the Clown Prince of Crime's destructive legacy, most notably by J-Man and Terminal, though these groups, unlike the Joker, mostly consist of petty criminals that caused mischief and rarely killed people.
Though everyone believed he is dead, however, no one knew that the Joker, using highly sophisticated cutting-edge genetic technology, had created a microchip encoded with his own DNA, which he implanted in Tim's neck so he could make a comeback. This allowed him, decades later, to return by "possessing" a now-adult Tim Drake. If Drake's family ever became concerned, he would simply call Tim's wife in his host's voice, telling her he would be working late. Using Drake's knowledge of communications, Joker carried out a series of corporate thefts using a subset of Jokerz members. He then broke into Bruce Wayne's "Welcome Back" party with his Jokerz group, both to steal the last piece of equipment needed (a systems scanner) and to reveal to all of Gotham City (Wayne included) that he was "back in town". He later sent his minions to kill Terry McGinnis (though it is never explained how the Joker knew Terry was Batman) while Joker himself personally broke into Wayne Manor and attacked Bruce Wayne, inoculating him with his venom. He also kicked Bruce's dog, Ace, and ensured that Drake's old Robin costume was torn to pieces, vandalizing Wayne Manor in the process, nearly killing Wayne if Terry hadn't provided him with an antidote that Wayne had previously hidden.
With the stolen communications technology, Joker created a satellite jammer and hijacked control of a Hyperion-class defense satellite orbiting the planet, so he could impose his will on Gotham. His first target was his ally Jordan Pryce's yacht, after sending his Jokerz to "turn a blind eye" by trapping him aboard. After Terry deduced that Drake was likely involved in Joker's plan, Joker predicted that Terry had deduced the connection and set a trap with a hologram of Drake, as well as a recording that activated after Terry touched the holographic representation of his victim, which "confirmed" that Drake had indeed joined Joker, as well as revealing that he intended to use the hijacked satellite to cause unspeakable acts of destruction on Gotham. Ultimately, he used the hijacked satellite to attack Terry, though not before McGinnis discovered his hideout.
Joker then reverted to his new body's owner's original form before trapping Terry with an electronic belt and then showing off his transformation into Joker to both him and Bruce. After unraveling the mystery of his rebirth, Joker planned to destroy the new Dark Knight's spirit by destroying Wayne Manor with Bruce, Terry's family and girlfriend inside, all while drawing a smiley face on the ashes of Gotham City. But before he could activate the satellite, Ace ambushed Joker and tackled the mad clown, freeing Terry in the process. Joker then used his joy buzzer to fend off a second attack from the Great Dane and moved to finish him off, but a kick to the jaw knocked his joy buzzer off his vital equipment.
After the jamming system accidentally redirected the satellite's laser directly into Joker's hideout, Joker mocked Terry and sarcastically thanked him for ruining his plan. The latter attempted to take Joker back to Arkham Asylum before the laser killed them both, but Joker refused and engaged in one last battle with Terry, using his host's knowledge of every trick the original Batman had taught Robin. However, Terry decided to "fight dirty" and, after punching Joker in the groin as proof that he was nothing like Bruce Wayne, began taunting and laughing at him. Insulting the Joker's supposedly poor attempt at jokes, gags, his general sense of humor, and even his own creation and obsession with Bruce, Terry knew that his predecessor had never insulted Joker's ego in such a manner, preferring to fight one-on-one in stoic silence. Terry's attitude drove Joker into a complete mental breakdown, and he began throwing everything he had at his disposal, including pocket bombs. Moments after the satellite beam hit the building, Terry used Joker's lethal joy buzzer against him, electrocuting him and incinerating the microchip encoded with his DNA on Tim's body, saving him and definitively eliminating the Joker, ending his threat for good.
However, the Joker's possession of Tim Drake had profound consequences: after being freed, he went to great lengths to ensure the Joker was truly gone, even placing himself under 24-hour surveillance. Thanks to his knowledge of the Bat-Family, he became a suspect in the Hush murders. When Terry McGinnis interrogated him, he gave him his tapes and told him where to find Dick Grayson, also a suspect. Furthermore, the memory of his exploits would inspire a member of the Jokerz far more terrifying than any previous one: Joker King, aka Douglas Tan, the brother of Dana (Terry's girlfriend).
In Batman Beyond Unlimited, the Joker's burial outside Arkham is shown in a flashback, as Barbara Gordon had told Terry.
In the Batman of Gotham story arc of Chip Zdarsky's run, the Joker is momentarily resurrected along with several other versions of the character (including the Tim Burton's film version and his DCAU counterpart), bursting into the Batcave and declaring he was "there for Bruce."
Trivia[]
- This version of the Joker is presented as a mash-up between the character from the pre-Flashpoint comics and his DCAU adaptation. Therefore, since Earth-12 (the alternate universe in which Hush Beyond and its sequel series are set) is a possible future in mainstream continuity that incorporates many elements of the DC Animated Universe (the return of Andrea Beaumont and a possible involvement of Amanda Waller in Terry's existence), this Joker could blend his possible past as a failed comedian driven to crime by the desire to support his pregnant wife with that of the cruel mob hitman seen in the DC Animated Universe.
- Given that this continuity includes some events from the mainstream DC Universe (leaving aside many others, such as Damian Wayne replacing Tim Drake as Robin) and several elements of the DCAU (including The Mask of Phantasm and Return of the Joker), as well as his actions chronicled in Hush Beyond, it's possible that this version of the Joker is one of the few to have managed to injure almost every member of the Bat-family, killing Jason Todd, shooting Barbara Gordon, kidnapping Alfred, seriously injuring Dick Grayson, and making Tim Drake his heir, in addition to negatively impacting the rest of his life. Furthermore, he could be the perpetrator of Carl Beaumont's assassination and responsible for Andrea's transformation into the Phantasm and her conversion to assassination. If all of this is true, this incarnation of the Joker has the potential to be one of the darkest and cruelest versions of the character ever.