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| “ | You know, you used to tell me that my laugh was a condition, that there's something wrong with me. There isn't. That's the real me. "Happy". Funny. I haven't been happy for one minute of my entire f-cking life. You know what's funny? You know what really makes me laugh? I used to think that my life was a tragedy. But now, I realize, it's a f-cking comedy. | „ |
| ~ Arthur accepting himself as the Joker as he kills his mother, Penny Fleck. |
| “ | How about another joke, Murray? What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?! I'll tell you what you get - you get what you f-cking deserve! | „ |
| ~ Arthur's breakdown and most famous quote as he kills Murray Franklin. |
Arthur Fleck, later known as the Joker, is the titular main protagonist of the 2019 thriller-film of the same name and its 2024 sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.
He is a mentally unstable, impoverished clown-for-hire and aspiring/failed stand-up comedian living in the crime-ridden Gotham City during the early-1980's. After becoming frustrated with his lack of respect and success, failing to make it as a comedian and learning the truth of his past, he loses his sanity and becomes a nihilistic and psychotic criminal determined to take his anger out on the world by causing chaos and whose actions inspire an anarchist uprising against Gotham's wealthy elite.
He was portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, who also played Commodus in Gladiator and Napoleon Bonaparte in Napoleon.
Biography[]
Past[]
The man who would be known as the Joker was born in Gotham City as Arthur Fleck, supposedly the adoptive-son of Penny Fleck while its unknown who his alleged true parents are. As the film's script specified, Arthur was in his 30's during the film's events which took place in 1981 meaning he was born between 1942 and 1951.
When he was raised by his adoptive-mother and her boyfriend they abused him as Penny was obsessed with Thomas Wayne would neglect him and allow her boyfriend to physically and emotionally abuse him, which further contributed to his mental health and pathological laughter. This eventually caused him to develop a condition called the Pseudobulbar affect; a psychological disorder that causes him to release uncontrollable laughter in unsuitable moments. This most often occurs after trauma such as after being curb-stomped at the start of the film or after killing his mother. Ever since he was young, Arthur sought to become a popular comedian so he could bring laughter and joy which his mother raised him to believe in and even kept his true family lines as secrets.
Joker[]
By 1981, Arthur has learned how to somewhat control his laughter with the help of a therapist and social worker by obtaining medications from Arkham State Hospital to handle his other problems; it is even hinted that he is a released inmate. To achieve his dream, Arthur has taken the job of a clown-for-hire working in various roles, among them an advertisement clown and entertaining children at a hospital to make a few, so he can use the future salary he would get to help his mother to heal from her illnesses and to help himself.
Despite this, when he is holding the agency's sign in front of a store, a group of teenagers and kids steal the sign, causing him to chase them into an alley where they break the sign over him and beat and kick him cruelly. His fragile sanity problems increase when his boss informs him that the destroyed sign will be coming out of his paycheck. His co-worker Randall decides to give Arthur a gun for protection. However, while entertaining at a children's hospital, the gun falls out of his pocket so Randall lies that Arthur bought the gun himself and he is subsequently fired for bringing a gun into a hospital.
Arthur, alongside his mother, as like many other residents in Gotham and the US, are fans of the Murray Franklin Show, a late-night talk show led by Franklin himself. Arthur fantasizes himself attending the show in the audience and being warmly called out by Franklin himself who tells him that he wished he had a son like him.
Despite his failures and attempts to take care of his mother in their shared small rotten apartment in Gotham, he develops an obsession with a cynical young banker and single mother named Sophie Dumond after he meets her in an elevator. He imagines being with her and later trespasses at her home, leading her to ask him to leave once she found him. Depressed and sad, he follows Sophie's orders and leaves her home.
Arthur prepares to shoot and kill the Wall Street Three.
Following his firing, Authur goes on the subway home still in his costume but is watching as a young woman being harassed by three young and wealthy Wall Street stockbrokers from Wayne Enterprises. Seeking to save her, he bursts out in uncontrollable laughter which draws the trio's attention so the woman is saved, but Arthur is beaten and bullied violently by them until he pulls out his gun which was loaned for him by his associate so he can protect himself. He uses the gun to kill two of the three businessmen and chased the third one, killing him as well. He then escapes the place terrified, at the end of the day, however, he concludes that he indeed loved killing them.
The triple murder kick-starts the rise of a social anarchistic movement known as The Clowns who cause riots against the rich and the powerful population even during Thomas Wayne's speech of becoming Gotham's mayor only for his plans to get rid of the poor and destroy their homes. Returning home, Arthur takes a short shower and his mother is watching Franklin's show on TV while Arthur's mental health degrades further as he is writing jokes in his notebook. When his mother is asleep, he hides in their fridge and, after exiting the fridge, he is dancing to a music show on TV while holding his gun, until his mother has an illness episode, rushing her to the hospital.
In the hospital, Arthur is afraid of losing his mother. After the serial murders he committed, Arthur goes home, where he is investigated by two GCPD detectives where he denies anything he did. Before getting a stroke, Penny told Arthur of his true parentage, as well as her early life with Wayne. On the TV, he sees that a humiliating video of himself performing stand-up comedy was shown in Franklin's show where Arthur's pathological laughter is shown during the stand-up performance, which Franklin uses to humiliate Fleck in living, driving him mad.
Taking his parentage to the Wayne Manor, Arthur later meets his estranged brother, Bruce, and meets Alfred Pennyworth before getting rudely dismissed by him. Arthur soon sneaks into a private screening of Modern Times in order to personally speak with Thomas Wayne who rudely denies that he is his father, stating Arthur's mother Penny is insane and obsessed with him which leads Arthur into a mental breakdown while triggering his pathological laughter. In response to his laughter, Thomas punches him in the nose and warns him to not touch his son, Bruce again or he will kill him.
Confused and upset, the very next day, Arthur visits Arkham State Hospital to find his mother's file and meets a clerk in charge of storing files of patients there. He quickly takes notice of Arthur's unstable demeanor and pauses in horror when looking into the file, when he refused to release the file to Arthur, he steals it anyway and is saddened and distraught to find out that Penny isn't his real mother and what Thomas Wayne said was true, she is indeed delusional and that he is not Arthur's biological father.
Arthur then goes to visit her at the hospital, when Penny woke up the next day he doesn't call her mum or mother, but Penny Fleck as he now knows that they were never true family and tells her previously that he thought his life was a tragedy but he realized, it is a comedy, he immediately smothered his lying adoptive-mother to death with a pillow, as revenge for all years of lies and abuse.
Arthur after killing Randall for making him lose his job by lying while talking to Gary before sparing him.
Arthur wakes up in his own home, where he is visited by Randall and fellow co-worker Gary, who are here to give condolences about his mother's death. Arthur's response was to brutally murder Randall by using a pair of scissors and by bashing his head several times in the wall, much to Gary's horror. Arthur, however, let Gary leave unharmed for treating him well in the past. Covered in blood, Arthur later announced that he is no longer what he was, unleashing the Joker alias he created, completely.
Arthur becomes the Joker.
In his restroom, he dyes his long hair in bright green, and, puts on a clown makeup on his face before donning a luxury clown-like suit and shoes he had kept in secret, before leaving home to dance on the stairways, now fully as the Joker. Detectives Garrity and Burke see him dancing on the stairways until he stops and sees them. Despite briefly getting hit by a taxi during the chase, Arthur manages to slip onto the subway where he steals a clown mask which insights a brawl. When Detective Burke shoots a passenger in the struggle, the crowd mob and brutally beat the detectives; leaving them alive but in critical conditions as Arthur calmly strolls from the subway station. Afterwards, Arthur is invited to Franklin's show. Whilst he prepares for his performance in the show, he contemplates committing suicide but, after receiving so much love from the Clowns, he abandons it and his purpose of bringing laughter and joy to the world, aiming himself toward the Clowns' ongoing mutiny.
Arthur kills Murray Franklin on live TV.
In Franklin's show, the Joker dances before chatting with his beloved TV idol on himself; immediately telling morbid jokes before eventually admitting to murdering the three Wall Street boys at the subway. Despite being quite understandably shocked, Franklin decides to continue on with the show instead of shutting it down in hopes to improve the ratings through reasoning with the scarred Arthur. Even with his genuine efforts to try to understand his fan's pain and upbringing however, it comes to light that Arthur had become too insane to reason with. The two end up having an argument where Murray tries to calm the Joker down and then asks the producer to call the police whilst the Joker gradually gets more and more worked up until he fatally shoots Murray in the head and chest. With his transformation as the feared Joker complete, Arthur dances over the camera over to give the public a chillingly good night as news of Franklin's death spread across the media.
Arthur smiles evilly as he accepts who has become as well as becoming the Joker.
Soon after bidding a good night, he was immediately pounced on by security. As he is being driven to the police station, Joker sees an extremely destructive series of riots of the Clowns all over the town. Suddenly, a pair of Clowns ram a stolen ambulance into the police car that the Joker is in, which knocked him out while the officers in the car were killed. Despite being injured, he smiles evilly, now completely accepting what he has become and becomes the popular leader of the Clowns, achieving his goal of making Gotham smile through anarchy. At that point Arthur Fleck was no more, there was only the Joker.
During the massive clown riots, one of the protesters kills Thomas and Martha Wayne and takes Martha's pearl necklace much to Bruce's horror. This makes the Joker indirectly responsible for the death of the Waynes and the rise of Batman. Upon succeeding in everything he had ever wanted to achieve despite failing to bring laughter and joy, the Joker is apparently apprehended by the National Guard or the SWAT team which take him to Arkham's jail division where he is interviewed by an FBI shrink, aka. Mindhunter, as he laughs at the thought of Bruce Wayne ending up as an orphan like him and of what is yet to come between the two, much to the shrink's curiosity, who was possibly killed by Arthur afterwards, as he then leaves the room with his shoes drenched in blood, celebrating his glorious victory and dancing before being pursued down the halls by an Arkham orderly.
It is implied that the Joker eventually escapes from Arkham and, due to his actions in Gotham City, he becomes known worldwide as an infamous and controversial figure whose impact on society will be long-lasting, finally acquiring the fame and recognition he had always desired albeit in a very different way.
Joker: Folie à Deux[]
After being apprehended because of his public murder of Murray Franklin on television, Arthur was interred in Arkham State Hospital for two years. While the anarchist movement he inspired still persisted, it had seemingly retreated into theft and vandalism. The Arkham guards routinely taunt Arthur, especially Jackie Sullivan, who degraded him every day by asking for a joke, as to taunt Arthur's original dream of being a comedian; although, Sullivan does act pleasant at times, such as giving Arthur cigarettes in exchange for jokes, sometimes without cost. Despite Sullivan's pleasant demeanour, most things he said to Arthur are thinly veiled insults, and should Arthur or any patient resist, he retaliates with disproportionate violence.
Arthur is supported by his lawyer, Maryanne Stewart, who expressed a sincere hope that in the upcoming trial for the five murders connected to him (the Gotham Three, Randall, and Murray Franklin), everyone will see that Arthur Fleck and Joker are two separate entities, and thus Arthur shouldn't have to suffer the consequences from the actions of a persona that was born from his childhood trauma. Meanwhile, the prosecution, led by Harvey Dent, do a press conference in which they state they will prove that Arthur wasn't mentally ill, and knowingly committed the crimes, thereby the State is seeking the death penalty. The trial will be televised, the first of such example.
Due to desiring an excuse to leave Arkham for day, Sullivan enrolls Arthur in a musical therapy program, surpassing the ban on violent inmates by the fact of Arthur being a model patient as he had two years of imprisonment being without incident (thus, he never killed the psychiatrist at the end of the first film). When passing a group of patients rehearsing, Arthur caught the attention of Harley Quinzel known mostly as "Lee", whom mimed the execution of Murray Franklin to imply approval. When Sullivan is distracted, Lee invited Arthur to talk to her; she expressed admiration for his crime spree two years prior, while also claiming to have suffered similar abuse by her parents in their home in Arthur's neighbourhood. Lee said that she loved the TV movie that was made about Arthur, which he asked about due to being forbidden from watching it, thereby she said it was really great. Lee said that her father died in a plane crash, and tired of her mother, she set their home on fire, although failed to kill her mother to her disappointment; since it wasn't publicly revealed, Arthur confessed to her that he murdered his own mother, which seemed to delight her.
At Arkham, it is movie night, so the patients are contently watching a film. Lee is seated next to Arthur, and tells him that she is bored, but he shushes her as he wants to watch the movie and a musical segment he liked is coming up. Annoyed, Lee gets up and goes to the back of the room, with nobody noticing due to the film; she lights all of the matches in her matchbox and throws sheet music as kindling. As Lee returned to her seat, the fire slowly grew until it engulfed the back of the room, triggering alarms and enacting a fire escape. Arthur and Lee flee together, when they get outside, the fire had spread to half of the building; they dance a waltz together, then try to ascend the wire gate, but are restrained by the guards.
Due to a perceived attempt to escape, Arthur is locked in solitary confinement; Lee sneaks into the cell, claiming she bribed the guard to let her. Lee claimed that she is being moved because the staff believe Arthur is a bad influence on her. They kiss and then have sex, although due to being a virgin, Arthur needed Lee's help to initiate it.
Prior a TV interview, Maryanne Stewart encouraged Arthur to remain calm, and allow the people to see that he wasn't the monster everyone thought he was two years ago. Arthur tried to kiss her, but she confusedly pushed him back. TV personality Paddy Meyers begins the interview with some passive aggression, before becoming accusatory, which provoked Arthur into accusing him of being unsympathetic and obsessed with a version of Arthur that no longer existed; Paddy asked what had changed, which Arthur explained that he wasn't alone anymore. Paddy revealed a newspaper with Lee on the front page "Mad in Love," asking if that who Arthur was referring to, which Arthur confirmed with happiness. Arthur reaffirms his love through song, which is seen in the televisions in a store window that Lee passed; inspired, she smashed the window and stole one of the televisions.
At the trial, Arthur was disinterested as he was looking for Lee, and only paid attention upon noticing that she had arrived. Harvey Dent called a psychiatrist whom had analysed Arthur to the witness stand in an attempt to undermine defendant's claims of insanity; the psychiatrist noted that Arthur was mentally ill, with a few disorders such as narcissistic personality disorder and sociopathy, however, he was mentally sound enough to willingly commit the murders and understand the consequences of his actions. Maryanne Stewart crossed examined the psychiatrist, getting him to admit that he only spent 80 minutes with Arthur, which she argued was insufficient time to confidently determine Arthur's state of mind. She also listed the intense abuse that Arthur suffered as a child from his mother and mother's boyfriends, creating a sympathetic background that could imply that he was indeed broken enough by the trauma to create an alternate protective personality, although hearing these details made Arthur deeply uncomfortable and distraught.
During a break, Maryanne advised that Arthur stop interacting with Lee, but he refused due as he proclaimed he loved her. Maryanne, however, revealed that Lee was a liar, as she grew up in a wealthy part of Gotham, her father was still alive and a doctor, and Lee never committed arson, instead voluntarily surrendered to the mental hospital, and checking out whenever she wanted. A final truth was that Lee was a psychiatry student, which led Maryanne to believe Lee was manipulating Arthur just to get attention for herself.
Back in Arkham, Arthur is told he had a visitor, so goes to the visitation room divided by glass. Lee greets him on the phone. Arthur asked if she lied to him, which she confirmed but with a vague qualifier about how everyone lied to everyone else. Although, he insisted on the truth about her background; Lee admitted that she made it all up, but only so Arthur would like her. Arthur wondered why she wasn't honest, which Lee excused by noting that she was a nobody trying to talk to a star; Lee then claimed to be pregnant. Despite the uncertainties, Arthur forgave her and they sing together.
At the next day of the trial, Sophie Dumont, whom Arthur imagined he had a relationship with, is brought to the stand. She was questioned about why she had previously refused to answer subpoenas, which she revealed was due to harassment that she received after the TV movie, as Arthur's more deranged followers would stalk, bully, and threaten her and her daughter. Maryanne asked her if the Arthur she knew and the one that broke into her apartment seemed like the same person, but Sophie responded by saying she didn't know him well enough to know; Sophie said she mostly interacted with his mother, Penny Fleck. Sophie is questioned about the contents of the conversations, which were often merely pleasant small talk, but other times Penny would talk about her son; Penny would deride Arthur's dream of being comedian due to believing he wasn't funny, and Penny would also mock him behind his back about believing her line about his purpose - he was put on Earth to make people happy, hence the nickname "Happy." However, Penny further degraded him as a fool, since she said that as an off-hand comment when he was a child, thus she couldn't believe he still believed such an infantile fantasy. With no more questions, Sophie left the courtroom.
During subsequent debate, Arthur disrupted proceedings by admitting that he couldn't take it anymore, thus fired his lawyer, Maryanne, and declaring that he would represent himself henceforth. Arthur literally kissed Maryanne goodbye.
Due to a loophole about attorneys being allowed to dress themselves however they desire, Arthur attended court in his Joker make up and attire. The final witness was Gary Puddles, the little person former co-worker of Arthur. Harvey Dent questioned Gary about the murder he witnessed, which Gary detailed with great misery. Joker, acting like Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, repeatedly questioned Gary about his name, as Joker found the name "Puddles" so absurd that it had to be a joke. The judge ordered Joker to focus on a point, so he did, asking Gary how he felt about the murder witnessed. Gary mournfully described how he was terrified, and it was the first time he actually felt small; Gary then lamented how Arthur was his friend and the only person who never mocked him and treated him with kindness, but he lost that with Joker, thus suffered fear and grief. Gary is excused.
Prosecutor Harvey Dent said that they have completed their case, as does Joker to the befuddlement of the judge, whom had already been irritated by Joker's antics. Joker ranted about how nobody cared about him before, but now he is inundated with attention; he also noted that he past despair was so bad that he wished to bring everything down, but is aiming to change that. He concluded by insulting the Arkham guards for being fat and sadistic.
Escorted back into Arkham, the other inmates cheer for Joker, but a furious Sullivan and a few fellow guards violently dragged Joker into the showers; Joker admitted that he expected some pushback, though attempted to placate them with a joke. It does nothing, however, as Sullivan washed the clown make up away to prove Arthur is still Arthur; the guards brutally pummel Arthur over and over, and are implied to have sexually assaulted him, too.
The guards drag a catatonic Arthur and toss him back into his cell; Ricky, a fellow Arkham inmate and friend of Arthur, sings to show support to him. Sullivan angrily ordered him to stop, but Ricky kept singing; in retaliation, Sullivan opened the cell and strangled Ricky to death, to the shock of even the other violent guards.
Before the final day in court, Lee arrived now donning her own chaotic clown persona, and entered to watch the end of the trial. During closing statements, Arthur - no longer wearing his Joker visage - sorrowfully confessed that he knowingly committed the murders, as well as revealing the previous publicly unknown murder of his mother, Penny Fleck. Arthur also confessed that he deeply regrets the murders, though knows it is too late for that, but nevertheless renounces his Joker identity, acknowledging it was only a lie to protect himself from further suffering, and "Joker" was never real. Lee is both disappointed and enraged, so departed the courtroom.
The jury find Arthur Fleck guilty on all counts. The judge began to deliver a sentencing, but was interrupted as an explosion ripped into the courtroom, killing and wounding many (notably, Harvey Dent suffered disfiguring wounds on the left half of his body). Arthur was briefly unconscious, but stumbled to his feet, cautiously exiting through the blast damage; a man dressed as Joker noticed him and grabbed his arm to drag him to a waiting taxi, which driven by another man but in a plastic clown mask. As they hide Arthur in the back seat, they excitedly exclaim how their was a success; on the radio, it was noted a car bomb was the source of the courthouse destruction.
The Joker Copycat asked Arthur the next stage of plan, as the followers had misinterpreted Arthur's rant about tearing down everything as a code to execute an escape; Arthur, due to lacking any plans, doesn't reply, so the Joker Copycat thinks he is still just briefly deafened due to the explosion. When the taxi stopped in gridlock, Arthur left the vehicle; the followers follow him, asking where he is going. Arthur began sprinting away, with the two men following him, until they are apprehended by arriving cops in police cars; as they are arrested, they exclaim that they still love "Joker."
Arthur makes it to the staircase that he used to frequent and had danced upon, and is delighted to find Lee waiting for him. Arthur requested that she run away with him; she asked where, which he replied anywhere, because anywhere can be great when they are in love. Lee, however, rejected this claim, as she said that by renouncing Joker, Arthur had killed the fantasy, and the fantasy was the only place where they could be together. Arthur tearfully attempted to engage her by the fact of her pregnancy, however, this was revealed as another lie. Before Arthur could process, a group of police had clogged the bottom of the stairs, and were quickly ascending. Arthur was recaptured and sent back to Arkham State Hospital.
Arthur sits completely defeated and depressed in the TV room, when he is alerted to a visitor. On the way to visitation, when Arthur is alone in a corridor, a younger fellow Arkham inmate approached him, asking if he could tell him a joke. Arthur agreed when it was promised to be brief, and appeared mildly pleased to hear something funny. The young inmate tells a joke about a psychopath entering a bar to see a famous clown; the psychopath revealed admiration for the clown, but then disgust and anger for how the clown had failed to live up to his expectations. The young inmate delivers the punchline - in an echo of Murray Franklin's death - "you get what you f*cking deserve," then rapidly shivved Arthur in the belly several times, and laughing as he did it.
Arthur becomes faint, trying to hold the corridor wall, but collapsing to his side on the ground. The young inmate then used his blade to carve a Glasgow grin into his own face, laughing hysterically. Arthur appeared to die, as the bloodily smiling psychopath continued to laugh.
Appearance[]
Arthur Fleck is a man with thick and wavy shoulder-length dark brown hair, he is very pale and has an emaciated body with almost no muscle or fat, as well as appearing old and sickly, likely a result of his poor lifestyle and smoking habits. He was often seen wearing a casual brown jacket, brown pants and grey buttoned shirt. He has an almost constant demented gaze that he gave off. As his original clown persona Carnival, he wore big clown shoes, a squirt flower, a small hat and a bald cap with two funny tufts of curly green hair on either side.
As Joker, he wears a crimson slim fit suit, marigold waistcoat and green patterned dress shirt as well thick white socks and dark brown shoes. He also dyed his hair bottle green and slicked it back while painting his face with clown makeup, drawing tear-like blue markings around his eyes, while his mouth was painted with a bright red smile.
Personality[]
| “ | Murray: Okay, I-I think I-I understand that you... did this to start a movement? To become a-a symbol? Joker: Come on, Mur-ray. Do I look like the kind of clown that can start a movement? I killed those guys because they were awful. Everybody is awful these days. It's enough to make anyone crazy. Murray: Okay, that's it? You're crazy. That's your defence for killing three young men? Joker: No, they couldn't carry a tune to save their lives. [The audience boos him] Ohhhh, why is everybody so upset about these guys? If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you'd walk right over me. I pass you every day but you don't notice me but these guys? What, because Thomas Wayne went and cried about them on TV? Murray: You have a problem... with Thomas Wayne? Joker: Yes I do. Have you seen what it's like out there, Murray? Do you ever actually leave the studio? Everybody just yells and screams at each other, nobody's CIVIL anymore! Nobody thinks what it's like to be the other guy! You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me?! To be somebody but themselves?! They don't. They think that we'll just sit there and take it like good little boys! That we won't werewolf and go wild!'' |
„ |
| ~ The Joker ranting about society and how it broke him. |
Initially, Arthur is a deeply disturbed and broken man who is in a near constant state of anguish and clinical depression who still tried his best to be kind towards others. While he claims to enjoy certain things in life, it isn't clear if he is serious, as he once told his mother he was "never happy for a single minute of his life."
Ever since that he was born, however, Arthur Fleck was an altruistic and good man who didn't want others to suffer as he does, and always wanted to bring laughter and joy to the entire world, aiming to do so by becoming an famous comedian. However, he was often physically and mentally abused by his mother and her boyfriend due to being the estranged son of a billionaire, something Arthur later takes as hatred toward the rich and the powerful. As a result of being abused, Arthur dives deeply into depression, borderline personality disorder and pathological laughter created by the abuse.
Despite his mental health, Arthur would have never thought of giving up on his goal to be a popular comedian, and, when he goes to achieve this goal, he takes the job of a clown for a talent agency. As he was abused again by a group of teenagers, Arthur developed a hatred towards society. Hence, Arthur's fragile sanity began to be broken, and he was still not giving up and found some joy in his mother and Sophie Dumond, until he wound up being humiliated by society again, this time by his beloved TV idol Murray Franklin.
When he shot the bullies, he ran to a public restroom and for the first time in his life, he experiences something unfamiliar to him: contentment. All the weight of the world, the expectations, moral obligations, all the put downs and times life had crushed him where alleviated. For the first time in his entire life, Arthur felt like he was in control and had achieved something meaningful. However, this was also one of several breaking points for Arthur and one of several lines he would cross, from that moment on he begins to develop a sociopathic persona, who lacks empathy, lacks remorse, is manipulative, violent, cold, aggressive and relentless.
As satisfaction and happiness introduced themselves to him, he dances triumphantly as he experienced all these new, wonderful, pleasant sensations. He waved his arms and swayed his head in euphoric delight. The pent-up blood cravings had manifested and were quenched. "Killing felt GOOD" Arthur thought, and this satisfaction would need to be refuelled again. Arthur always loved taking care of his mother, until he learned that she wasn't his real mother and realized she had always been horrible, false and negligent towards him, which moved Arthur to kill her, though the deed pained him. Upon meeting his estranged father, Arthur was in denial of how his father was denying his existence, yet showed joy with meeting Bruce Wayne, his estranged brother and his yet-to-be arch-enemy.
Arthur making a smile on his face by using his fingers while also crying.
After a complete mental breakdown, Arthur lost the capacity to fear anything and having scraped rock bottom for so long, he realized the only new direction to take is up as his life couldn't get any worse. He developed a totally nihilistic outlook on life and therefore decided to go with the flow rather than change anything.
As Joker, Arthur loved being completely freed from his depressed life he used to have, liking to think that his life is a comedy now rather than a tragedy, and, he later developed himself to become the leader of the Clowns after killing his TV idol in front of a horrified crowd, yet, he was already inside of his insanity, so he burst out in crazy laughter, which is commonly regarded as his first true and honest laugh in the film. Having triumphantly danced on a stair case, he finally basked in the embracing warmth of happiness and the sensation of pleasure which was new and wonderful to him. Once he accepts his new life as Joker, he expresses no remorse or regrets for any of his murders and actually seems to take pride in them and frequently made jokes about the people he killed. He also revels in the destruction and chaos he causes in Gotham, calling it "beautiful".
However even after his breakdown he had some moral standards as he allowed Gary to leave unscathed. He spared Sophie and her daughter as well because they never wronged him. After killing Murray, Arthur shoots Murray’s corpse a second time but didn’t shot Ms. Ruth or anybody else in the area despite the fact he easily could have done so since he still had bullets in his gun.
Arthur also had a soft spot for children. He didn’t fight back against the teenagers who attacked him due to their youth. He enjoyed entertaining sick children at a hospital and a young child on a bus. He spared Sophie and her daughter and stopped himself from killing Alfred when he saw a young Bruce Wayne watching in horror.
However, despite his moral standards, Arthur has committed many terrible crimes to get his point across. Also, as with most versions of the Joker, his mental illness makes it hard to tell which events of the film did happen. For example, while Franklin was a bit rude towards Arthur on his show, it is possible that it was part of the program. Therefore, it is possible that Arthur's decision on who to kill or not stems from a warped morality.
Skills and Abilities[]
- Peak Human Condition: Despite receiving very little to no physical training at all, Arthur is in peak human condition as evidenced in multiple occasions in the movie when he performed feats such as: Cracking the thick glass in a telephone booth with a single headbutt, destroying a metal punch clock with a few punches, stabbing a man in the eye before he could react, sprinting a very far distance without showing a single sign of fatigue and getting hit by a speeding taxi and then getting up like nothing happened.
- Pain Tolerance: Arthur has a high tolerance for pain. This is seen when he was hit by a taxi and kept on running. He even quickly recovered from being hit by a speeding car. However despite of that, there times that Arthur can feel pain, this is demonstrated when Thomas Wayne punched him in the face, Arthur shows traces of pain. Also, unlike many versions of the Joker, he does not appear to enjoy his own pain. This indicates that, like his other counterparts, his illness makes it easier to endure pain.
- Intelligence: Initially Arthur was a rather simple-minded man and very clumsy, but as time progressed he became increasingly cunning and shrewd. However, due to his mental illness, Arthur often misspells words and shows many signs of being very impulsive.
- Fearlessness: While Arthur initially had severe anxiety issues, he eventually "burned out" and became totally numbed to anything remotely frightening. This may be due to his new outlook on life as he sees his existence as a meaningless comedy.
- Combat Skills: Surprisingly, Athur's lithe, wiry physique doesn't stop Arthur from having aggressive outbursts and combined with his unpredictability, he can occasionally return punishment to anyone who crosses him.
- Marksmanship: Arthur has some skill using a gun. This is seen when he performed two close-range headshots in quick succession while on the ground. He even shot someone in the leg while they were running away from him from a few feet away.
Arsenal[]
- 38-caliber: The Joker's main weapon was a large calibur pistol he got from Randall. It was the gun he used to kill the Wall Street Trio as well as Murray. It was confiscated when he was initially arrested by the GCPD.
- Scissors: The Joker used a pair of scissors to murder Randall.
- Pillow: The Joker killed his mother Peggy by smothering her with a pillow.
Kill Count[]
Directly[]
- Three Wayne Enterprises employees (shot dead)
- Penny Fleck (smothered to death with pillow)
- Randall (brutally stabbed in the neck and then the right eye with scissors, head smashed against a wall multiple times)
- Murray Franklin (shot in the head and then in the chest post-mortem)
- FBI psychologist (implied to have killed by stomping on her head)
Indirectly[]
- Thomas and Martha Wayne
- Many other unnamed victims
Quotes[]
| “ | My mom always told me to smile… and put on a happy face… Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there? | „ |
| ~ Arthur Fleck aka Joker. |
| “ | Growing up, I hated school. And my mother would say, "You should enjoy it. One day, you'll have to work for a living." No, I won't, ma. I'm going to be a comedian. | „ |
| ~ Arthur performing stand-up. |
| “ | I f-cked up. I’ve done some bad shit. And I’ve been thinking real hard about it. It’s so hard just to try and be happy all the time. | „ |
| ~ Arthur to Carl. |
| “ | It's f-cking crazy, innit? Me on the telly? | „ |
| ~ Arthur to Gary after killing Randall. |
| “ | When you bring me out… can you introduce me as Joker? | „ |
| ~ Arthur to Murray Franklin. |
| “ | Murray: You okay? Joker: Yeah. This is exactly how I imagined it. Murray: Well, that makes one of us. So, can you tell us about this look? When we spoke earlier, you mentioned that this look is not a political statement. Is that right? Joker: That's right, Murray. I'm not political. I'ma just tryin'a make people laugh. Murray: And how's that goin' for you? Joker: [laughs with the audience] Murray: So-so I know you are a comedian. Have you been working on ny new materials? You wanna tell us a joke? Joker: Yeah. Okay. [pulls out his psychological diary] Murray: He's gotta book. A book of jokes. Take your time, got all night. Heh heh. |
„ |
| ~ The Joker and Murray Franklin on the latter's talkshow. |
| “ | Joker: Okay, okay, here's one. Knock knock. Murray: And you had to look that up? Joker: I wanna get it right. Knock knock. Murray: Who's there? Joker: It's the police, m'am. Your son's been hit by a drunk driver. He's dead. [chuckles] Doctor Friedman: No, no, no. You can't joke about that. Murray: Yeah, that's not funny Arthur. That's not the kind of humor we do on this show. Joker: Okay, okay. Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just, y'know... it's been a rough few weeks, Murray. [chuckles] Ever since I... killed those three Wall Street guys. Murray: Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline. Joker: There is no punchline. It's not a joke. Murray: You're serious, aren't you? You're telling us you killed those three young men on the subway? [Joker makes reaffirming grunts] Why should we believe you? Joker: I got nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore. [chuckles] My life is nothing but a comedy. Murray: Let me get this straight. You think that killing those guys... is funny? Joker: I do and I'm tired of pretending it's not. Comedy is subjective, Murray. Isn't that what they say? All of you, the system that knows so much. You decide what's right and wrong. The same way that you decide what's funny or not. |
„ |
| ~ The Joker's twisted sense of humor. |
| “ | Joker: Have you seen what it's like out there, Murray? Do you ever actually leave the studio? Everybody just yells and screams at each other, nobody's CIVIL anymore! Nobody thinks what it's like to be the other guy! You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me?! To be somebody but themselves?! They don't. They think that we'll just sit there and take it like good little boys! That we won't werewolf and go wild! Murray: Yah finished? I mean, there's so much self pity, Arthur. You sound like you're making excuses for killing those young men. Not everybody, and I'll tell you this, not everyone is awful. Joker: But you're awful, Murray. Murray Franklin: Me? I'm awful? Oh yeah, how am I awful? Joker: Playing my video, inviting me on the show. You just wanted to make fun of me. You're just like the rest of them. Murray: You don't know the first thing about me, pal. Look what happened because of what you did, what it led to. There are riots out there, two policemen are in critical condition— (Arthur laughs hysterically) You're laughing, you're laughing. Someone was killed today because of what you did. Joker: I know. How about another joke, Murray? Murray: No, I think we've had enough of your jokes. Joker: What do you get… Murray: I don't think so. Joker: …when you cross… Murray: I think we're done with your joke. Joker: …a mentally-ill loner… Murray: That's it. Joker: …WITH A SOCIETY THAT ABANDONS HIM AND TREATS HIM LIKE TRASH?!?!?!?! Murray: Call the police, Gene! Joker: I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU GET!!! Murray: Call the police!!! Joker: YOU GET WHAT YOU F-CKING DESERVE!!! [Arthur shoots Murray in the forehead, killing him instantly. The audience screams and panics, with even some workers fleeing the scene. Arthur laughs again before shooting Murray a second time in the chest. He then walks to the camera and picks it up to speak to the audience.] Good night, and always remember. That's- |
„ |
| ~ Arthur's mental breakdown before killing Murray Franklin on live television. |
| “ | I asked my mom why she only dated abusive violent guys, and she said "Beats the hell outta me!" | „ |
| ~ Arthur attempting to placate though also deriding Jackie Sullivan and other guards preparing to attack him. |
Joker's Laugh Vocals[]
Trivia[]
- This is one of the few Joker incarnations to be truly sympathetic with others being his The Killing Joke, Flashpoint, and Telltale incarnations. This incarnation is indeed easily considered the most tragic of all as he's one of the few versions that have a fleshed out backstory that makes him sympathetic.
- Likewise this is one of the very few incarnations of the Joker depicted as having mercy demonstrated when he spares Gary for treating him well. Thus, he's one of the few versions that don't go out of their way to kill others for the sake of chaos. That said, if a sequel does get made, it's possible that he would become less merciful over time.
- It has been widely debated whether the events of the film really happened or not as Arthur was explicitly shown to be prone to hallucinations and is unable to determine that those hallucinations are fake. Fans, however, have also pointed evidence that the events were real and Arthur did indeed become the Joker before being captured and taken to Arkham. Todd Phillips stated the ending was intentionally meant to be unclear whether it happened or not but went to confirm that Arthur's appearance on Murray Franklin's show happened.
- Phillips also stated that Arthur originally intended to go on Murray's show to kill himself, but changed his mind and killed Murray instead.
- Joker's outfit seems to be similar to the adaptation of the DCEU version of Harley Quinn done through a cartoon rubber house styled animation introduction of her as a psychiatrist with the similar colored outfits with the darker red and slightly brighter orangish-yellow but having blond hair instead and how the dress is like a skirt instead of pants. This could have been a coincidence or a wink at the Joker 2019 film.
- Joaquin Phoenix's preparation for the role was so intense he would lose 50 pounds of his normalized body weight not even eating or drinking for long periods. To find the "perfect laughter" he watched and attempted to copy people with the pathological laughter disorder shown in the film.
- Joaquin Phoenix is the sixth actor to portray the Joker and the third adult actor to do so at the age of 44 alongside Jared Leto who also did so.
- This incarnation of the Joker and the film itself have been well received by both film critics and comic book fans despite initial skepticism on the film's success considering the uneven reception films in the DC Extended Universe have met. Some went as far as suggesting Phoenix's performance outranked Heath Ledger's, whose Joker is commonly regarded as the best one in film. Phoenix and Ledger were friends during the latter's lifetime and both won an Academy Award for playing the Joker. Nevertheless, while Ledger posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor Award, Phoenix won the Best Actor Award.
- Despite this, however, the announcement of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker was not well received by Jared Leto who played Joker in the DCEU. Reportedly, Leto was displeased with the existence of multiple different contemporary Joker characters and went as far to convince his music manager Irving Azoff to force Warner Bros. to cancel Joker although other sources deny that. Ironically, Leto's portrayal of the Joker is considered the most negatively received.
- Leonardo DiCaprio, who also portrayed Calvin Candie, King Louis XIV and Jay Gatsby was originally approached by Warner Bros. to play Joker but Phoenix was cast instead. According to Todd Phillips, Phoenix was his only choice for the role. On the other hand Phoenix accepted because it was the kind of comic book film he wanted to make and he would not have to appear in sequels as the film was intended to be stand-alone.
- This is the second Joker that replaces Joe Chill as the man responsible for the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne in film; the first being the Joker from the 1989 movie. The only difference, however is that while the 1989 Joker outright murdered the Wayne couple (accompanied by Chill, who didn't expect him to kill them), the 2019 Joker just inspired some with his anarchic sense of justice which led one of the Clowns to shoot the Waynes making him responsible for their deaths albeit indirectly.
- An alternate ending had Arthur himself killing all the Waynes. However, this was scrapped because it meant Batman will never come to exist in that universe.
- This is the fourth version of the Joker in media to be given an actual name and backstory following Jack Napier, Martha Wayne and Jeremiah Valeska.
- This is one of only three Joker incarnations whose backstory does not involve falling into a vat of chemicals and being permanently disfigured to resemble a clown, the other two being the Nolanverse and Flashpoint versions.
- Since the film's release it has been debated whether Arthur killed Sophie and her daughter after trespassing in her apartment and being asked to leave as Arthur makes the gesture of shooting himself with his hand and police alarms are heard in the background. However, Lawrence Sher confirmed that Todd Phillips told him Arthur didn't kill Sophie and by extension her daughter as she didn't wrong him.
- The scene where Joker kills Murray Franklin on the talk show is similar to the one in The Dark Knight Returns comic book, where Joker kills David Endochrine on his talk show.
- Although Joker was announced as a stand-alone origin story Todd Phillips mused in an interview with Los Angeles Times that perhaps the Joker facing Batman will not be Arthur Fleck speculating that Arthur inspired the man who becomes the Joker like Jerome Valeska. This is a possibility considering Arthur's imprisonment.
- However, Joaquin Phoenix opines that Arthur indeed became the Joker who would face Bruce Wayne as Batman and expressed interest in making a sequel to Joker.
- The background of this version of the Joker is vaguely reminiscent a flashback in the New 52 comics (although this background is also not confirmed as true): in this comic the Joker claims to have grown up with an extremely violent aunt, who beat him and physically and psychologically abused him in various ways-such as rubbing bleach on his skin to make it white. He was also bullied and lived as an outcast.
- Phoenix became the second actor to win an Oscar award for playing Joker, the first being Heath Ledger who won posthumously.
- This was the second time two different actors had won an Oscar for the same character, with the previous being Vito Corleone portrayed by Marlon Brando and then Robert De Niro (who also coincidentally portrayed Murray Franklin in Joker).
- Joaquin Phoenix was previously considered for the role of Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
- In the original script of the film (also published in volume for the "FYC" ("For Your Consideration") series of script books and later, by Insight Editions, Arthur Fleck had scars in the corners of his mouth like the Joker from the Nolanverse.
- Young Patient who killed Arthur Fleck maybe the new Joker and will be Batman arch enemy.
External Links[]
- Joker on the DC Database Wiki
- Joker on the Batman Wiki
- Joker on the VS Battles Wiki
