| “ | Knock knock. Who's there? Batgirl. Past tense. | „ |
| ~ The Joker mocking Batgirl after paralyzing her. |
The Joker is the overarching antagonist of the WB 2002-2003 TV series Birds of Prey. Like his mainstream counterpart, he is a clown-like supervillain and psychopath who is well-known as the archenemy of Batman and the boyfriend of Harley Quinn.
He was responsible for the death of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and for paralyzing Barbara Gordon, which brought an end to the latter's career as the vigilante Batgirl but inadvertently gave rise to her new career as the hacker Oracle.
The Joker was played by Roger Stoneburner while his voice was provided by Mark Hamill, who also voiced the character in multiple other DC Comics media adaptations, most notably the DCAU and the Batman: Arkham franchise.
Biography[]
Origin[]
While the Joker's past is a complete mystery, its possibly that Batman made him fall into a vat of drainage chemicals that bleached the Joker's skin white while his hair turned green and his lips becoming a bright red, giving him the facial appearance of a clown, which caused him to lose his sanity and become the supervillain he is known as of the present.
Feud with Batman[]
For many years, the Joker had been in a longtime-conflict with Batman, though the former was unable to defeat his adversary and he would always be thwarted and be sent to Arkham Asylum only to escape and continue his criminal activities. During one of his many imprisonments in Arkham, psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel attempted to cure him of his insanity only to fall to the Joker's manipulation, giving rise to the villainous Harley Quinn, who became his lover.
As years passed, the Joker and Batman had engaged in a secret night war in Gotham City until Batman managed to defeat him after the Joker swiftly defeated Batgirl with his electric Joker buzzer. As it is obvious that he will escape from Arkham Asylum again, Joker was handed over into the police's custody this time. As Batman had dismantled all of his criminal operations, the Joker hungered for revenge. After escaping from the authorities once again, he set his vengeance in motion by hiring Clayface to kill Batman's lover Selina Kyle, who is known as the supervillain Catwoman.
Meanwhile, as the Joker clearly knew of Batgirl's identity as Barbara Gordon, he goes to her apartment and shot her in the spine, leaving her paraplegic from the waist down to the legs, forcing Barbara to retire as Batgirl all-together, though she would compensate this by becoming the professional hacker and computer genius known as Oracle so she could continue fighting crime through her technological skills. The Joker was later incarcerated in a maximum security prison that is located far away from New Gotham in order to keep the city safe from his mad carnage.
Legacy[]
Even though the Joker is now imprisoned in a more secured location, however, his actions and crimes left behind a haunting legacy; the death of Selina Kyle by Clayface and Barbara’s paralysis by Joker left Batman devastated and with a sense of guilt. He soon left New Gotham to start a new life somewhere in Europe, disappearing from the public eye and apparently abandoning New Gotham City. However, prior to his departure, he instructed his butler Alfred Pennyworth to take his place in looking after his daughter Helena Kyle (also known as Huntress), who was born as a result of Batman and Catwoman’s loving relationship.
Meanwhile, following the Joker’s imprisonment, Harley Quinn was motivated to take over New Gotham in honor of her now-imprisoned love and exact her revenge on the city for what it "did" to her 'Mr J'. Though it is unknown on what became of the Joker, however, because he is now confined in a highly-secured prison, it is apparent that he has lost the opportunity to return and terrorize New Gotham ever again.
Trivia[]
- Though Roger Stoneburner physically portrayed the Joker, however, his role is uncredited while Mark Hamill, who voiced dubbed the character in the TV series, is the only actor to be given credit for said role.[1]
- The scene where he paralyzed Barbara Gordon at her apartment is a direct reference to Alan Moore's 1988 comic Batman: The Killing Joke, where his mainstream incarnation also paralyzed Barbara in the comic. However, some of the elements differed from the book.
- The main difference is that, unlike his mainstream counterpart, the Joker clearly knew of Barbara's identity as Batgirl, which was revealed when he mockingly called her by her superhero name.
- Another difference in the show is when he did not put her on display while nude so as to psychologically torture Commissioner Gordon, and instead left her on the floor for her father to find.
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