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Do you wanna know how I got these scars? My father was a drinker, and a fiend. And one night, he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not. One. Bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me, and he says, "Why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife. "Why so SERIOUS?!" He sticks the blade in my mouth—"Let's put a smile on that face!" And... why so serious?
„
~ Joker telling his supposed backstory to Gambol before killing him, and one of the most famous monologues in movie history. noicon
“
I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.
„
~ The Joker to the Bank manager before sticking a canister into his mouth and leaving.
“
It's not about the money... it's about sending a message: everything burns.
„
~ The Joker after burning a giant pile of money to prove his point.
He was a notorious and anarchistic criminal mastermind who, describing himself as an agent of chaos, rose to power in the criminal underworld by thrusting Gotham City into turmoil. He was also responsible for corrupting renowned district attorney Harvey Dent into becoming Two-Face in the end, which indirectly leads to the latter's death. He was the sworn archenemy and mortal antithesis of Batman, as the events surrounding their conflict see the Joker drawing the Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between true heroism and vigilantism.
He was portrayed by the late Heath Ledger, who also played Tony Shepard in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Who is the main antagonist in Christopher Nolan's 2008 film, The Dark Knight?
In Christopher Nolan's 2008 film, The Dark Knight, the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger, is the primary antagonist. This character, part of the Gotham Criminal Underworld, is recognized as a highly memorable cinema villain. Ledger's portrayal of the Joker won him multiple posthumous awards.
Provided by: Fandom
How did the Joker rise to power in the criminal underworld of Gotham City?
In the Dark Knight series, the Joker ascended in Gotham City's criminal hierarchy by focusing on influential figures such as Roman Sionis or Black Mask. His reign of terror began in 1923, perplexing law enforcement with his unpredictable and anarchic criminal activities. Utilizing hypnotic substances and explosives, he inflicted widespread devastation. His morbid humor and animosity towards Batman solidified his status in Gotham's underworld.
Provided by: Fandom
Who does the Joker corrupt into becoming Two-Face in The Dark Knight?
In the 2008 film The Dark Knight, the Joker, enacted by Heath Ledger, manipulates Harvey Dent, the district attorney of Gotham City, into the vigilante Two-Face. After a Joker-orchestrated bombing disfigures Dent and kills his fiancée, Rachel Dawes, the Joker persuades Dent to exact revenge on those he deems responsible, including Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and Batman.
Provided by: Fandom
What role does the Joker play in Batman's story in the 2008 film?
The Joker, played by Heath Ledger in the 2008 film, is a key antagonist to Batman. His deformities, which likely led to his insanity, mark his character. He had a confrontation with Bruce Wayne, leading to his imprisonment at Arkham Asylum. Two years on, Bruce seeks information about the Riddler from the incarcerated Joker.
Provided by: Fandom
How is Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight unique?
Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight is distinct due to his deep dive into the character's psychology. He crafted a unique voice and laugh, distinct from Jack Nicholson's 1989 Batman portrayal. His Joker's look was inspired by punk rocker Sid Vicious, and his personality mirrored Alex from A Clockwork Orange. Ledger's dedication was evident when he urged Christian Bale to hit him hard during an interrogation scene. His performance won critical acclaim and numerous posthumous awards.
Provided by: Fandom
Appearance[]
“
Why so serious?
„
~ Joker's most famous quote, and one of the most famous quotes in movie history.
The Joker was a quite tall man who was dressed in a custom-tailored violet suit that consisted of an elegant, violet coat with orange pad and matching pin-stripe pants that were kept up by suspenders rather than a belt. He wears a green vest and a blue shirt under his coat. Joker also wears a grey tie with olive accents.
Unlike the original DC Comics version of the character, who has a clown-like appearance as a result of falling into a vast of chemical waste, the Joker in The Dark Knight wears unevenly applied clown makeup to accentuate his "Glasgow smile" facial scars; he also dyes his greasy, stringy hair green. Over the course of the film, the makeup becomes dirtier and grubbier, resembling an infection. He removes the makeup only once, to impersonate a police officer and infiltrate Commissioner Loeb's funeral.
Personality[]
“
This town deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them.
„
~ The Joker highlighting on his desire for chaos instead of power and greed after taking over The Chechen's mob. noicon
The Joker is the personification of nihilism, insanity, and anarchism. He saw himself as "an agent of chaos" whose mission in life is to destroy social order and show everyone that, deep down, they are just as evil as he is. The Joker took pride in having reached that conclusion before everyone else and viewed morally strong people as naïve, immature, ridiculous, and foolish. The Joker was also not greedy and had no interest in money or even companionship.
Moreover, the fact that made Joker all the eviller is that he was fully aware of his actions, and did not do them out of mental infirmity, but because he was simply a schizoid psychotic man.
Overall, the Joker was really hard to place, as he knew what he was doing was evil by modern standards but, at the same time, he hoped that his behavior would become acceptable once everyone realized that anarchy was the only way to live. However, once the people of Gotham proved him wrong, outside of a brief moment of anger, he didn't really care. This implies that he was doing this all for fun. Interestingly, the only times in which he's ever shown anger are when people call him a freak, as seen when he became visibly annoyed by the other mobsters calling him a freak and decided to feed the Chechen to his same dogs when he called the Joker a freak in anger. The Joker was also shown to be abnormally manipulative, treacherous and above all sadistic. He took immense joy in others being physically or psychologically wounded and even made dead-pan jokes on occasion. The Joker was also utterly fearless and masochistic, which robbed Batman of his pain-inflicting and fear-inducing tactics on his enemies. Those traits also make Joker a good hand-to-hand opponent for the Caped Crusader despite him seemingly having no martial arts training as he frantically charged at Batman and ruthlessly wailed on him, something an opponent with a fear of getting hurt would never have done.
“
Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos? It's fair!
„
~ The Joker to Harvey Dent.
Similarly to Two-Face, the Joker left prominent examples of chaos to chance, such as blowing up a hospital or the two ferries. However, unlike Two-Face, the Joker never left it up to something that he could not control like a coin. Instead, he let the people of Gotham choose the outcome and also left no option in which everyone was safe and made it perfectly plain that people were going to die regardless of what option was chosen thereby further evaluating his treacherous and duplicitous characteristics.
Despite his true ambitions, the Joker showed a bi-polar and possibly schizophrenic side. He usually spoke in a calm and almost creepy cadence and was very rarely ever seen shouting, but everything that he said had an underlying menace. Additionally, though he never became extremely angry during the movie, he often became frustrated and added angered hisses between his words. Moreover, the Joker was exceedingly cunning - being very manipulative through the use of fear, completely oblivious to his insanity and depravity, as well as being flawlessly thorough in his plans. He also had a habit of developing extremely overelaborate plans just to prove very simple points since his reason for mobbing and extorting the mob (which took up a very large part of the movie) was to make the point that "everything burns." It soon became clear that the Joker's only real setback was his blind ambition that deep down, everyone was as cruel as he was on the surface.
One of the strangest things about the Joker was that he often left it to fate whether he would be killed at multiple points in the film. He allowed himself to be held at gunpoint by Grumpy near the start of the film where he was only saved by the well-timed arrival of the getaway driver, wired himself up with dozens of explosives to threaten the mob which he could activate just by pulling his finger, he goaded Batman into running him over and he allowed Harvey to play Russian Roulette with him in the hospital room where he had a one in six chance of being shot dead.
Although the Joker doesn't appear nor is mentioned in The Dark Knight Rises, his prediction of the citizens of Gotham was proven correct as Gotham shunned Batman in the wake of Harvey's death. Joker's prediction about civilized people's code being a "bad joke" was also proven true, as Gotham fell into chaos in the wake of Bane's 'liberation', and the citizens "eat each other" as he had predicted, by way of homes being looted and Scarecrow's kangaroo court.
Powers and Abilities[]
Genius-Level Intelligence: The Joker possesses a very high intellect and he occasionally brings casefiles to Joker so that he can get his own unique understanding on the criminal. This all extends from The Joker's expert abilities of reading people and manipulating them.
Weapon Mastery: The Joker is also skilled with knives, guns, and explosives; since he's a feared anarchist that has caused citywide chaos with his resources and even killed a guy with a pencil. The Joker is incredibly durable, as shown that he can take hits from Batman and not go down.
Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: The Joker has shown exceptional fighting skills in which he managed to take down cops and thugs in hand-to-hand combat with relative ease, and he even managed to survive going toe to toe with Batman himself although he couldn't do significant damage without the assistance of attack dogs.
Physical Strength: The Joker has impressive human strength, matching Batman in a fight, slamming a pencil so hard into the mob's table that it was stuck upright in the surface and instantly snapping a pool cue with no effort.
Immense Durability: The Joker is incredibly durable since Batman repeatedly punched him and slammed his head into a wall, but the psychopath was completely unfazed.
Expert Tactician: The Joker has shown incredible feats of being an expert tactician. He has managed to create complex plans and scenarios that looped Gotham into his twisted game. Another feat of his intelligence was him corrupting Harvey Dent, a soon to be Mayor, to the point of insanity.
Arsenal[]
Knife: The Joker's signature weapon was a Smith & Wesson Extractor 1600 out-the-front automatic knife that he used to kill Gambol and threaten Rachel Dawes with. In both of his origins, he implied that this was also the knife that he was mutilated with.
Revolvers: The Joker has been seen using different revolvers throughout the film. He uses a Smith & Wesson Model 19 snub nosed then uses a Smith & Wesson Model 64, which he later gives to Harvey Dent in the hospital.
Glock 17: Joker used a fully automatic Glock 17 machine pistol with an extended magazine to rob the bank as well as murder the bus driver.
Glass Shard: During his escape from the precinct, the Joker used a glass shard to hold a guard hostage until a bomb went off and he escaped in the chaos.
~ The Joker's first spoken words while being held at gunpoint by Grumpy.
“
And I thought my jokes were bad.
„
~ The Joker upon meeting the criminal underground.
“
How about a magic trick! [puts pencil upon the table] I'm gonna make this pencil disappear...[Grabs one of Gambol's men and slams his eye into the pencil]. TA-DAH! It's...gone!
„
~ The Joker killing one of Gambol's men.
“
Let's wind the clocks back a year. These cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean... What happened? Dja... did ya balls drop off? Hmmm? Ya-ya see, a guy like me... Guy like me me-look listen. I know why you choose to have your... little "group therapy sessions" in broad daylight. I know why you're afraid to go out at night. The Batman. Ya see, Batman has shown Gotham your true colours unfortunately. Dent? He's just the beginning. And-and as for, uh, the television's so called "plan?" Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make him squeal. I know the squealers when I see them. And (goes silent and points at TV set).
„
~ The Joker to the criminals and crime lords
“
If you're good at something, never do it for free.
„
~ The Joker talking to Maroni about killing The Batman
“
Joker: Ah, ta ta ta ta. [reveals a string connected to his thumb, showing grenades towards the crime lords in the room] Let's not blow this out of proportion. Gambol: You think you can steal from us and just walk away?! Joker: Yeah. Gambol: I'm putting the word out: five hundred grand for this clown dead. A million alive, so I can teach him some manners first. Joker: All right, so...listen, why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously? Here's my card.
„
~ The Joker addressing everyone to stick with his plan.
“
Now, our operation is small but there's a lot of potential for aggressive expansion. So which of you fine gentlemen would like to join our team? Oh, there's only one spot open right now so we're gonna have... try-outs. Make it fast.
„
~ The Joker after killing Gambol.
“
Do I really look like a guy with a plan? Ya know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know? I just... do things.
Joker: Tell them your name. Brian: Brian Douglas. Joker: Are you the real Batman? Brian: No. Joker: No...NO? Then why do you dress up like him?! [Takes of Brian's mask and makes fun of it] Brian: He's a symbol that we don't have to be afraid of any scum like you. Joker: Yeah you do Brian...you really do. Yeah, so you think Batman's made Gotham a better place? Hm? Look at me...LOOK AT ME! You see, this is how crazy Batman's made Gotham. You want order in Gotham? Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and everyday he doesn't, people will die...starting tonight. I'm a man of my word.
„
~ Joker addresses Batman a video while torturing and before killing Brian Douglas.
“
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment! Only one question: where is Harvey Dent?
„
~ The Joker crashing a party.
“
Well hello beautiful! You just be Harvey's squeeze. Hm? And you are beautiful.
„
~ The Joker greeting Rachel Dawes.
“
You look nervous. Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got 'em? C'mere. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife. Beautiful, like you. Who tells me...I worry too much, who tells me I ought smile more. A few gambles and gets in deep, the sharks. One day they carve her face. We didn't have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just wanna see her smile again. Hm? I just want her to know that I don't care about the scars. So...I stick a razor in my mouth and do this [swishes his tongue around in his mouth] to myself. And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!
„
~ The Joker revealing parts of his backstory to Rachel at knife-point.
“
Harvey, Harvey, Harvey Dent. 'Scuse me, I wanna drive!
„
~ The Joker while taking Dent hostage.
“
Can you please just give me a minute!?
„
~ The Joker to Gordon
“
Evening, commissioner.
„
~ The Joker in a interrogation room as Commissioner Gordon enters. noicon
“
What's the time?
„
~ The Joker
“
Well, depending on what the time is he might be in one spot or several.
„
~ The Joker making it intricate for Gordon.
“
Does it depress you, commissioner? Just to know how alone you really are?
„
~ The Joker
“
Never start with the head the victim gets all fuzzy. You can't feel the next- [Batman punches his hand, much to Joker's lack of care] See?
„
~ The Joker to Batman in the interrogation room.
“
I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, no...no you, you complete me.
„
~ The Joker confirming he will not kill Batman for the sake of his own amusement.
“
Don't talk like you're one of them! You're not — even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me. They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper. See, their "morals", their "code", it's a bad joke, dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you — when the chips are down, these, ah, "civilized people"? They'll eat each other. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.
„
~ The Joker explaining his nihilistic worldview. noicon
“
See I'm a guy of simple tastes: I enjoy dynamite, gunpowder, and gasoline! And you know the thing they have in common? They're cheap. All you care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal, and I'm gonna give it to them. Tell your men they work for me now. This is my city.
„
~ The Joker compelling the Chechen to start following his way of crime.
“
Freeak...[pulls out knife] Why don't we cut you up into little pieces and feed you to your pooches? Hmm? And then we'll see how loyal a hungry dog really is!
I had a vision, of a world without Batman. The Mob tried to ground a little profit and the police tried to shut them down, one block at a time, and it was so...boring. I've had a change of heart. I don't want Mr. Reese spoiling everything, but why should I have all the fun? Let's give someone else a chance. If Coleman Reese isn't dead in sixty minutes, then I blow up a hospital.
„
~ The Joker threatening all of Gotham City in broadcast.
“
Hi...
„
~ Joker meeting the disfigured Harvey Dent removing his nurse outfit.
“
Ah, ya made it. I'm so thrilled.
„
~ The Joker to Batman shortly before violently attacking him.
“
We really should stop this fighting otherwise we miss the Fireworks (Batman: There won't be any fireworks!) And. Here. We. Go.
„
~ The Joker to Batman waiting for his detonator to be triggered by the people he had instructed to do.
“
You can't rely on anyone these days you got to do everything yourself don't we? That's okay I came prepared, It's a funny world we live in, speaking of which you wanna know how I got these scars?
„
~ The Joker to Batman after realising the Bomb hasn't been triggered but brings a spare to start the Fireworks.
“
Oh the familiar places!
„
~ The Joker stabbing Batman.
“
Ooh, look at you go!
„
~ The Joker
“
Very poor choice of words.
„
~ The Joker moments before throwing Rachael off a building for Batman to save her.
“
HIT ME!
„
~ The Joker goading Batman into committing autocide.
“
The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules. And tonight you're going to break your one rule.
„
~ The Joker
“
A little fight in you. I like that.
„
~ The Joker to Rachel.
“
I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us Harvey when you and...Rachel were abducted, I was in Gordon's cage. I didn't rig those charges.
„
~ The Joker manipulating Harvey Dent into believing that he wasn't responsible for Rachel's death.
“
There's only a few minutes left, so you're gonna have to play my little game if you want to save one of them.
„
~ The Joker to Batman.
“
You know, for a while, I thought you really were Dent. The way you threw yourself after her...!
„
~ The Joker to Batman
“
Look at you go! Does Harvey know about you and his "little bunny"?
„
~ The Joker to Batman.
“
Choose between one life or the other: Your friend the District Attorney, or his blushing bride-to-be!
„
~ The Joker taunting Batman.
“
Do you wanna know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the...little emotions. You see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I knew your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?
„
~ The Joker to Gerard Stephens.
“
I just did what I do best I took your little plan, I turned it on itself, Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. you know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan," even if the plan is horrifying! IF tomorrow, I tell the press that like a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blowing up, nobody panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one, little old mayor will die, well, THEN EVERYONE LOSES THEIR MINDS! Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? Its fair.
„
~ Joker convincing Harvey Dent towards spreading judgement in Gotham.
“
You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with! Nothing to do with all your strength! But don't worry, I'm gonna tell you where they are! Both of them, and that's the point. You'll have to choose. He's at 250, 52nd Street and she's on Avenue X at Cicero.
„
~ The Joker giving coordinates to Batman and upon mixing both Rachael and Harvey's locations on purpose to derail him after being interrogated.
“
Tonight, you're all gonna be part of a social experiment. Through the magic of diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate, I'm ready right now to blow you all sky-high. If anyone attempts to get off their boat, you all die. Each of you has a remote to blow up the other boat. At midnight, I blow you all up. If, however, one of you presses the button, I'll let that boat live. So, who's it gonna be? Harvey Dent's most wanted scumbag collection or the sweet and innocent civilians? You choose. Oh, and you might wanna decide quickly because the people on the other boat may not be quite so noble.
„
~ The Joker conducting a sadistic 'social experiment.'
“
You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me, out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness...and I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun! I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
„
~ The Joker during his final confrontation with Batman.
“
I took Gotham's "White Knight", and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. See, madness, as you know, is like gravity: all it takes is a little push!
„
~ The Joker as he explains how he drove Harvey Dent to insanity before he is arrested and his final lines in the movie.
Reception[]
The Joker of Christopher Nolan's Batman films is regarded as one of the most memorable villains in cinema. Following his death, Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker, while initially controversial at the start, received universal acclaim, winning numerous posthumous awards for his performance, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, and a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards.
"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-brilliant as the Joker", wrote Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, stating that the film is deeper than its predecessor, Batman Begins, with a "deft" script that refuses to scrutinize the Joker with popular psychology. Travers said Ledger moves the Joker away from Jack Nicholson's interpretation into darker territory and expresses his support for any potential campaign to have Ledger nominated for an Academy Award.
The late Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated that Heath Ledger's portrayal is a "key performance" and pondered whether he would become the first posthumous Academy Award-winning actor since Peter Finch in 1976.
Mark Dinning from Empire magazine called Ledger's performance "monumental" and wrote "The Dark Knight is Ledger's movie. It is a towering performance. ... A force of f---ing nature". Filmmaker and comic book fan Kevin Smith commented on Ledger, calling his "incredible" performance one of "the most frightening, smart and well-played villains ever. Ever." Mark Lee, writing for The Daily Telegraph, commented that Ledger accomplished "a genuinely unsettling, brilliant nuanced portrait of evil".
Tim Teeman commented for The Times that "Ledger is so terrifying and unpredictable that his very presence on screen makes you nervous." Total Film reviewed that Ledger is "burning brightly as he embodies an icon. ... This is the definitive Joker", calling the performance "a masterpiece". For The Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt called Ledger's performance "a beauty." Entertainment Weekly put the film on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Every great hero needs a great villain. And in 2008, Christian Bale's Batman found his in Heath Ledger's demented dervish, the Joker." Emanuel Levy wrote Ledger "throws himself completely" into the role.
David Denby of The New Yorker, otherwise critical of the film, praised Ledger's "sinister and frightening" performance, which he says is the film's one element of success. Denby called Ledger "mesmerizing" and said, "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss." "It's just one of the most iconic movie performances of modern times," declared chief film critic of Variety Scott Foundas.
Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine, and many of Ledger's colleagues in the film community joined Christian Bale in calling for and predicting a nomination for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger posthumously won the award in 2009, a year after his death, with his family receiving the award in his name.
Akin to how The Dark Knight itself inspired several other studios to make action movies a bit more gritty (to varying results), Ledger's Joker has been quoted as an inspiration for the portrayals of other film and television villains (even fellow DC ones), whether from the superhero genre or not: among some cited villains, there are Severine and Raoul Silva from the James Bond film Skyfall, Count Vertigo from Arrow, Ramsay Bolton from Game of Thrones, Lex Luthor from the DC Extended Universe, Erik Killmonger from the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther, Kang the Conqueror from the MCU's Multiverse Saga, The Tracker from John Wick: Chapter 4, Jack Delroy from Late Night with the Devil and Grady Lovell from Wolf Man, to name a few. Extravagant while morbidly fun characters villains from other films are often felt by audiences as the "Heath Ledger's Jokers" from their franchises, such as Pennywise the Dancing Clown from the It duology or Dante Reyes from the Fast & Furious film series.
Trivia[]
The movie was released after Heath Ledger's death in 2008. Following Ledger's death, The Dark Knight was dedicated to his memory and to his family. Ledger would posthumously win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker, which makes the Joker the first comic book character to ever win an Academy Award. The film's director Christopher Nolan received the award in his name.
This depiction in the film is often considered by many to be the most realistic version of the original Clown Prince of Crime since his early beginnings in DC Comics, at least in regards to the live action films. Perhaps due to the popularity of The Dark Knight, the mainstream Joker's extreme psychopathic and sadomasochistic tendencies have begun to be more emphasized.
Before filming the interrogation scene, Ledger told Christian Bale, who portrayed Batman, to hit him as hard as he could, as if Batman was really hitting The Joker.
Mark Hamill, who voiced The Joker in the DC Animated Universe, called Ledger's performance, "The most original (he) has ever seen since Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs".
Heath Ledger directed both homemade videos that The Joker sends to GCN. The first video involving the fake Batman was done under writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan's supervision. Nolan thought Ledger had done so well with that sequence, he felt there was no need for him to be there when it the time came to film the scene where reporter Mike Engel reads The Joker's statement. He put his trust in Ledger and let him do whatever he wanted, ultimately pleased with the result after he'd seen the outcome.
Similar to Ra's al Ghul and Bane, the main antagonists of the trilogy's other installments, the Joker's real name was never revealed and was only known by his alias.
This is one of only three Joker incarnations whose backstory does not involve falling into a vat of chemicals and being disfigured to resemble a clown, the other two being Auther Fleck in Joker and Martha Wayne in the Flashpoint story arc.
When Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker in the film, he was 28 years old, being the first youngest actor to portray the character (the second being Cameron Monaghan, who played both Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska in Gotham).
Before the premiere of the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, Ledger's sister Kate debunked the rumor that the role of the Joker contributed to his death, saying "He had an amazing sense of humor and certainly playing the Joker, for him it was one big gag. He had so much fun doing that. It was actually the exact opposite. There was no doom and gloom. ... That was a shock to me that people even thought that, really." She also revealed he planned to reprise the role. "He was a really happy person and he had huge plans for his future... I spoke to him the night before (he died) and we were laughing and joking. He was so proud of what he had done in Batman. And I know he had plans for another Batman. He loved working with Chris Nolan, Christian Bale and Gary Oldman. He just had the best time ever doing that film."
Whenever he removes his gloves except when he's disguised as a nurse, bits of his facial makeup can be seen on his hands.
The Joker is one of the two villains in The Dark Knight Trilogy who doesn’t die, along with Scarecrow.
The Joker doesn't appear nor is mentioned in The Dark Knight Rises, out of respect to Heath Ledger's memory, even though his actions have had a lot of impact in said film, especially when Bane reveals Harvey Dent's crimes as Two-Face and Gordon making Batman the scapegoat to the world, thus proving the Joker right (albeit temporarily) on his view about Gotham's fall to anarchy and chaos. According to Kate Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, Ledger was willing to reprise the role in the third film before his unexpected death.
The first time he saw Ledger act as the Joker, Michael Caine, who portrayed Alfred Pennyworth, was so unsettled by Ledger's performance that he forgot his lines. Cain would later describe that his first time meeting Ledger was when the actor was already in his Joker makeup and attire. Moreover, he described the latter's performance as "one of the scariest [he] has ever seen."
To prepare for his role as Joker, Heath Ledger locked himself in a motel room in London for about six weeks. During this isolation, Ledger delved into the psychology of the character. He was dedicated to developing every tic of the Joker, namely the voice and the laugh (for voice, Ledger's goal was to create a tone that did not resemble that of Jack Nicholson in the 1989 film batman). Ledger based the appearance of the Joker on the look of the late punk rocker Sid Vicious combined with the personality of Alex from A Clockwork Orange.
Before the scene where the Joker corrupts Harvey Dent was filmed, Ledger was just walking around, in his character's skin, mumbling in a weird way. All Aaron Eckhart could do at the time was watch him while still being his character. It went on for several minutes, until Ledger moved closer to him. Eckhart felt compelled at this point to raise his hand abruptly. Immediately Ledger grabbed Eckhart's raised hand exactly the same way. At the end of the scene, Ledger, now being himself, told Eckhart, "That's what acting's all about."
Nolan decided early to not explore the Joker's origin in order to present him as an "absolute".
Many theories have been made about Joker's backstory with most assuming he was somewhat involved in a war or at least the military (possibly FBI) because of the conversation he has with Harvey Dent. As well as the fact of his bi-polar disorder possibly coming from PSTD.
According to the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises, written by Greg Cox, it is implied that Joker was incarcerated as the sole resident of Arkham Asylum or had escaped, as stated here:
"Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible to cop an insanity plea, it had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure."
Since The Dark Knight takes place one year after the events of Batman Begins, establishing the Joker as a now well-known criminal terrorizing Gotham and also showing the Joker at the mob reunion to know very well how Batman operates, it can be assumed that he and Batman already faced each other off-screen during the time between the finale of Batman Begins and the beginning of The Dark Knight.
Different situation is for the gap between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, since Batman and Gordon hint that the former would continue for a time his activity as outlawed protector and "Dark Knight" of Gotham, but it is not known how much this lasted before Batman's 8 years of self-exile, nor it is known if he faced the Joker again during this time before his "definitive" retirement.
When he did eventually decide to complete the trilogy, director Christopher Nolan decided to pay homage to Heath Ledger and his Joker, by not mentioning the character at all at the same time. Nolan decided to pay a subtle visual tribute to Ledger's generational performance as the Clown Prince of Crime by recreating the character's iconic smile during the unveiling of a Batman statue during The Dark Knight Rises's final moments.
Despite this incarnation of the Joker being infamous for the "We live in a society" line, he only actually says the word "society" once in the entire film. The only portrayal of the Joker to actually say this quote is Jared Leto's version, and by this point, it was already a well-known meme.
Similar to his incarnation in The Batman TV show, he corrupts a law official (Harvey Dent) and turns him into Two-Face similar to how that animated show's Joker turned Ethan Bennett into Clayface.
This is so far the only version of Joker responsible for the creation of Two-Face.
In their face to face confrontations, neither Batman nor Joker refer to one another by name.
Peter Griffin once paried him while blowing up a hospital as part of an anti-vaccine campaign by him and Lois Griffin.
So far, the Joker is the only main antagonist in The Dark Knight trilogy who never finds out about Batman's true identity. Throughout the entire film, he threatened to kill people unless Batman unmasked himself. Ironically, Coleman Reese (a Wayne Enterprises employee), found out that Bruce Wayne is Batman and attempted to reveal his identity on live TV, only for the Joker to lose interest and instead threaten to blow up the hospital where Harvey Dent (now Two-Face) was being treated unless someone killed Reese.
Joker's absence in The Dark Knight Rises and in the 8 years before the events of the film, whether he escaped Arkham or not, could be seen as a reference to Frank Miller's famous graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, with a Joker who lost all his meaning of life and the will to continue any criminal activity without Batman, even to the point of falling into a long catatonic state.
Batman: Dark Tomorrow (2003) Ra's al Ghul | Black Mask | False Face Society | Ubu | Joker | Killer Croc | Mr. Freeze | Victor Zsasz | Poison Ivy | Talia al Ghul | Ratcatcher | Ventriloquist & Scarface
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Villains
