Joker (DC)

The Joker in Batman v2 #23.1

The Joker is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Golden Age

The Clown Prince of Crime in Batman v1 #23.

The Joker was a male human who lived in the modern age where he terrorised Gotham City.

One account claimed that he was once an ordinary lab worker who found his job unfulfilling and decided to turn to crime in order to become rich. To achieve that end, he decided to steal $1,000,000 and use the money to retire but knew that showing his face would lead to his arrest. Thus, he decided to adopt a masked identity where he became the Red Hood who attempted to rob the Monarch Playing Card Company which was when he was confronted by Batman and Robin. With no option of escape on the catwalk, he decided to jump into a large vat of steaming chemicals where he reasoned that his mask's oxygen supply would let him survive and escape to safety. The crime fighters believed the criminal to had perished in the escape attempt but the Red Hood survived and fled from a drainage pipe that emptied into the river. After emerging, he discovered that the chemicals had permanently altered his features with his skin going chalk-white, his hair going green and his lips a deep red. Using the playing card company as inspiration, he abandoned his old identity and adopted a new one where he became the criminal known as the Joker. (Detective Comics v1 #168)

The newly created Joker then looked to make a name for himself by challenging Gotham's police and the criminal underworld by declaring on the radio that he would be killing three prominent citizens namely Henry Claridge, Judge Drake and Jay Wilde. This attracted the attention of Batman and Robin who upon investigating the crimes found the dead to be stricken with a perpetual macabre grin on their faces. In his fight against them, the Joker came to trap Robin an was prepared to murder him with Joker venom but the Boy Wonder was rescued by Batman. Together, they came to defeat the Joker who was then sent to prison. (Batman v1 #1) The Joker did not stay in prison very long however. He soon escaped via an explosive capsule concealed in a molar, and continued his never-ending crime spree. The Batman laid a trap for the Joker, baiting him to steal a valuable ruby gemstone. The plan worked and the Joker crossed swords with Batman and Robin once again. During their fight, the Joker was accidentally stabbed by his own knife and nearly died. He was taken to the hospital, but quickly recovered. A criminal cartel known as Crime Syndicate, Inc. took him from the hospital and offered them the position of leader of their gang. The Joker led Crime Syndicate, Inc. on a string of jewel robberies, but the organization collapsed after another encounter with the Batman. The Joker was left for dead inside of a burning building, but again, managed to survive. (Batman v1 #2) The Joker's resilience and uncanny knack for cheating death came into play once again. While using a music store as a front for his criminal ventures, taking on the alias of A. Rekoj, he would hire thugs to steal for him. Ultimately, he'd reveal himself as the Joker and steal the loot from the thugs, who were completely flummoxed because they did not realize that A. Rekoj and the Joker were one in the same. During this caper the Joker once more ran afoul of Batman and Robin. Next the Joker stole a valuable item known as the Jade Buddha and fought the Dynamic Duo once again aboard a ship. The Joker was defeated and fell from the deck of the ship into the water, where he seemingly drowned. (Detective Comics v1 #45)

He soon returned however and started up a new gang based on circus performers that stole from the wealthy people of Gotham. Joker's gang was stopped by Batman and Robin, and during a last encounter in the Joker's own Haunted House, he fell to a dark pit and he was again assumed dead. (Batman v1 #4) However, he survived and the Joker's next plot would involve setting up an illegal gambling ship three miles into international waters with the aid of three other criminals: Queenie, Diamond Jack Deegan and Clubsy. Investigating the ship as Bruce Wayne, the Batman would learn of the Joker's involvement of the operation and end its exploitation of its clientele. After Batman discovered the whole scheme, the Joker would once more escape capture when he was thrown into the ocean during the final confrontation on a lighthouse. (Batman v1 #5) The Joker's next caper consisted on organizing a group of practical jokers to create havoc around town while he stole a valuable gem and $10,000 from a notorious Duke. This plot was also foiled by Batman when he learned the truth, and while battling the Joker on a moving railroad car, the Joker fell off the car and down a cliff face after receiving a blow from Batman. (Batman v1 #7) When Batman and Robin are called to Washington, D.C. to receive a Presidential commendation from F.B.I. director G. Henry Mover, the Joker intends to use the highly publicized event to attempt to assassinate his arch-foe. Waiting in the crowd with a loaded gun the Joker tries to take a shot at the Caped Crusader, however he hits Mover instead, and flees the scene. Due to his actions, a nationwide manhunt is called against the Joker. Batman chases the Joker across the country, as he goes on a crime spree in various states that spell out his name. Finally seeing the pattern, Batman apprehends the Joker in Rhode Island. (Batman v1 #8)

The Joker escaped prison and returned to Gotham with a new scheme, leading a group of henchmen dressed as several law enforcers. The gang was short-lived however, as Batman and Robin quickly apprehended the Joker and his various goons. (Detective Comics v1 #80) Breaking out of jail the Joker engaged in a new scheme in which he and his accomplices go on a crime spree. In order to avoid suspicion of the Joker's men suddenly having a massive wealth, they would setup fraudulent lotteries and quiz shows so that the crooks 'win' their proceedings of the crime. Although the Dynamic Duo exposed the plot and rounded up the Joker's men, the Joker himself managed to escape. (Batman v1 #9)

Joker played cards with a henchman who accused him of cheating after producing a hand of five jokers. The enraged Joker seemed ready to kill him, so the henchman feigned laughter, saying Joker couldn’t kill a goon with a great sense of humor, and claimed he thought it was hilarious when Joker robbed him. This gave Joker an idea for a series of funny robberies. He stole a ermine coat from wealthy Mrs. Carlin, snagging it with a fishing line. He proceeded to “row” away in a canoe with holes in the bottom for his legs so he could run away on foot. He stole Mr. Stark’s stamp collection, escaping on a chauffeur-driven pogo stick, and robbed the Dude Ranch nightclub by unleashing a wild steer after a patron asked for steer steak. Batman and Robin were confused when none of the victims wanted to press charges, saying they’d gotten such a good laugh at Joker’s antics. Batman wondered if he could induce joker to rob Bruce Wayne, and the next night Bruce had Alfred hang Franz Hals “Laughing Cavalier,” which he claimed to have just acquired. Joker burst in dressed as an artist, and stole the painting, calling it a masterpiece of crime. Bruce laughed at his floppy beret, and Dick, thinking he’d lost his senses, changed into Robin to pursue Joker, but the fiend knocked him out and took him hostage, flying away in a blimp. Batman used the Batplane to track down Robin’s location, which turned out to be a giant house of cards. Joker spoke to the Dynamic Duo over a loudspeaker, telling them the house of cards was a puzzle, and that if they did not solve it they would be crushed when it came tumbling down. Robin asked Batman why he’d let Joker steal the painting, and Batman explained that after some research he’d found out that all Joker’s victims had crimes in their past they sought to conceal, and he figured that joker was blackmailing him. In disguise he spread the word in an underworld bar that Bruce Wayne had paid a crook to steal the “Laughing Cavalier,” which was actually a copy painted by batman himself. Joker phoned up Bruce, saying that if he let him steal the painting and laugh about it not only would Joker keep his crime secret, he would return later with two oils. The whole idea of the funny robberies was to confound Batman, which the Caped Crusader found rather conceited of Joker. Batman found two giant aces made of steel that provided shelter when the rest of the house of cards collapsed, and the heroes went to interview Joker’s victims again. Mr. Stark had been promised two collections of stamps, and Joker gave him rubber stamps. Mrs. Carlin got two ermines, but the small animals, not full coats. Nick Weston, owner of the dude Ranch was promised $10,000 for the $5,000 Joker stole, but got beaded wampum. Batman told the victims it was their own fault for thinking Joker would ever make an honest deal. Joker realized the Hals painting was a forgery and brought two giant tubes of oil paint to Wayne Manor, planning to squeeze them open with the Jokermobile to make a giant mess of the mansion. Batman rammed the Jokermobile with the Batmobile, and as Joker fled he ran over the tubes, covering Joker in paint. Batman and Robin took their embarrassed enemy into custody. (Batman v1 #52)

Silver Age

The Joker was once the criminal Red Hood who planned to steal $1,000,000 and then retire back into obscurity. However, after an accident at the Ace Chemical Processing Plant involving chemicals, his skin turned white, his hair green and his lips red, contorting his facial muscles into a perpetual malignant grin. The incident also drove the man irrevocably insane and he dubbed himself the Joker, becoming the most dangerous criminal of Gotham City and one of Batman's most notorious adversaries. (Untold Legend of the Batman v1 #2)

Joker later recruited Gaggy, a former circus performer and dwarf as his jester and protégé. Gaggy was one of the few people who could make Joker laugh with his buffoonery, and his latest act inspired Joker to rob the Salon of Spectacle's collection of original models of famous inventions. Joker and his gang drove a gimmicked buggy into the salon, and when Batman and Robin responded they fought back, with Gaggy almost prying off Robin's mask. Joker finished the theft, and left under a smokescreen. Batman knew he was fanatic about the completeness of his crimes, and tracked down Hamilton Tyne, the inventor of Gotham's first electric typewriter. Joker and company had already been there, and left a note taunting the Dynamic Duo. At Joker's hideout, Gaggy set up a punching bag dressed as Robin, and battled it fiercely. Joker broke out into peals of laughter, and came up with a new crime. He mailed a taunting letter to the news about Batman and Robin getting the point of his next crime. Batman correctly figured out that 'the point' was on the steeple of Gotham's original city hall, which was about to become a historic monument. Joker and Gaggy made off with the building using a helicopter equipped with grappling hooks, and the heroes hitched a ride. Joker was caught unaware, and in the ensuing brawl he accidentally knocked out Gaggy with a punch. Joker and Gaggy were taken to prison, and when Joker asked Gaggy to cheer him up, he said his face was funny because of how Joker messed it up. (Batman v1 #186) Ira Radon, expert on radiation and crime, doused Batman and his gear with radiation. Radon informed Batman that his body was now radioactive, and unless he auctioned off all his crimefighting career and quit, Radon would boost the radiation in his system and kill him. Batman called a press conference announcing his retirement and the auction, and when Joker got the news in jail he thought it a cruel prank because all he dreamed of was how to make Batman look like a fool. Batman was only playing along with Radon in order to capture him, and after removing the radiation from his system he announced his comeback. (Batman v1 #191)

Senor Alvarez broke Two-Face out of Arkham to steal Spanish doubloons that were on display in the Gotham museum. Joker asked to be released as well, but Alvarez told him he needed a mastermind, not a maniac. Joker could not stand for anyone to doubt his criminal capabilities, so he escaped Arkham using a helium balloon that let him float over the gate. He tried to foil Two-Face's heist on three occasions, eventually leading to a fight in which the villains knocked each other out. It turned out that Alvarez had switched the doubloons with counterfeits before they left Spain, and only wanted the museum copies to cover his tracks. Joker had a good laugh at Two-Face being double-crossed. (Joker v1 #1) Willy the Weeper's career as a criminal was in disarray because after every crime he committed he broke down in tears and soured the deal. He broke Joker out of Arkham Asylum to fix his problem and teach him how to be a better criminal. He filled Joker in on his plan to rob millionaire Sandor Cleeve of his platinum horde, using a laser to burn through an air-duct in the room where the goods were stored and sucking the metal into a vent connected to a getaway truck. Willy pulled off the crime, but started crying so hard that he nearly ran off the road. Joker told him he had nothing to be sad about, because Joker used his plans to steal the platinum from Cleeve before Willy got to the mansion. Willy was enraged and Joker pushed him around. He wanted the rage Willy felt to be what he focused on the next time he committed a crime. Benny Khiss and Marvin Fargo, two guards at Arkham that'd been fired for Joker's repeated escaped were tailing the villain, and he was apprehended by the police. (Joker v1 #2) Joker stole a rare jeweled clown mask made by Cellini from a museum, as well as a Latin joke book written by Guiseppe Pennerini. Creeper tried to apprehend him, but Joker knocked him up and tied him up. Creeper had amnesia, and Joker convinced him to help him kidnap Cashew's comic strip creator Sandy Saturn, telling him that Saturn framed him for a crime. He then convinced Creeper that he found evidence to clear Creeper's name and gave him a suitcase containing the supposed evidence to take to the police station. In truth the case had a bomb, but Creeper recovered his memory and disposed of it. Joker had Saturn draw comic strips of Joker committing atrocities on the young star of Cashews when Creeper confronted and defeated him. (Joker v1 #3)

Joker stole a bus and traveled to Star City, where he met Dinah Lance (Black Canary). He fell for her and determined to have her or kill her. He kidnapped Dinah and bragged about stealing the giant star over the bridge leading to Star City. Green Arrow tried to stop him, but Joker escaped using his laughing gas. Unbeknownst to anyone Joker replaced the star with a counterfeit one filled with laughing death radiation. Joker hoped it would kill enough people to block up the bridge and keep the police from interfering when he went after porcelain clown figures in a museum. Green Arrow again confronted him, and Joker threw Dinah from the bridge, but Arrow saved her. In the tussle Joker fell from the bridge into the waters below. (Joker v1 #4) Joker killed security guard Arthur, who was the great grandson of famous painter Thaddeus Wilde and took his diary because it contained the clues that would lead Joker to Thaddeus' fortune. Posing as Arthur he returned to his hometown of Wildewood, Wisconsin and bought the ancestral house that had the fortune buried underneath it. He was going to steal Wilde's paintings as they arrived in town for a commemorative library display, but the Royal Flush Gang was after them as well. Joker fought them off, and put a classified ad in the newspaper challenging the Gang to another showdown in the library. He disliked the similarity of their playing-card theme to his own sense of identity. He defeated the Gang, but had to leave behind the paintings because the police arrived as the fight ended. (Joker v1 #5) In their Arkham cells Two-Face related a story to Joker about how the Justice league of America had foiled his plans to help the Weaponers of Qward destroy Earth. Joker cackled, for once he was glad that the good guys won, because otherwise he’d be dead. (Justice League of America v1 #126) In his need to humiliate all detectives Joker decided to commit crimes themed on Sherlock Holmes stories. For "Scandal in Bohemia" he robbed a portrait of Fran Carfax from the Bohemia theatre company that was putting on a Sherlock Holmes play. He knocked out Clive Sigerson, the actor portraying Sherlock Holmes, but once the actor awoke he was convinced that he was Holmes and Joker was Dr. Moriarty and pursued the villain. He stopped Joker from kidnapping "Red" Wilson, who was running an air hockey league, linking him to the Holmes story "The Red-Headed League." For "The Hound of the Baskervilles" Joker tried to steal a metal piece used to "dog down the hatches" from a tugboat named Baskervilles. Sigerson confronted him and used a water-hose to knock out Joker. (Joker v1 #6)

Joker went to a movie theatre showing news clips of villains, including him killing a cameraman with a poisoned cream pie to the face. Lex Luthor was also featured in the clips, and was in the audience. Lex and Joker had lunch, and when the police arrived to take them into custody they escaped using Luthor’s forcefield device and a rocketpack. As part of Operation Mindbreak Lex was using a beam to target Green Lantern to steal his fearlessness and willpower. Joker wanted in on this, and interfered with the process, as a result he gained Lex’s genius and Lex gained Joker’s insanity. Joker enjoyed his sanity but deduced that their swapped mind states would lead to death from exhaustion in under a day. He constructed a device to undo the swap, and had to fight the insane Lex tooth and nail before the process was reversed. The villains were out cold, and easily apprehended by rookie officer Joe Malone. In Arkham Joker constructed a secret hideout, the Ha-Hacienda under his cell, with all the comforts of living he enjoyed. (Joker v1 #7) At Metropolis, Joker disguised himself as Scarecrow and stole a new fear toxin similar to Scarecrow’s from S.T.A.R. Labs. He coated hundreds of moths in the toxin and set them free in a zoo so his henchmen Southpaw and Tooth could steal a display painting of a laughing hyena for the Ha-Hacienda. Scarecrow confronted him, and he sprayed Scarecrow with laughing gas, leaving him incapacitated. To make sure Scarecrow would be blamed for his crimes he returned to his cell in Arkham through his hidden Ha-Hacienda. (Joker v1 #8) Joker disguised himself as actor Benny Springer and arrived on the set of his new movie “The Cat and the Clown” intending to kidnap the stars Benny and his cat Hiawatha. Catwoman had the same idea, and knocked out Joker. She didn’t want Joker to interfere further so she clued him in to her location so she could confront him. In the meantime Benny escaped, and when Joker arrived he was disguised as Batman, but Catwoman again saw through him. Benny returned, disguised as Joker so he could rescue Hiawatha, and Catwoman stunned Joker with a tranquilizer dart, thinking he was really Benny. Benny revealed himself, trapped Catwoman in a cage, and phoned the police. In Arkham the inmates were treated to a showing of Benny’s film, and Joker claimed a victory because he’d spliced his image into the film. (Joker v1 #9)

Bruce Wayne went for treatment at Graytowers, a clinic that catered to the rich and powerful and didn’t ask many questions. Graytowers was actually run by Professor Hugo Strange under the alias of Dr. Todhunter. He turned his clients into Monster Men, forcing them to obey his whims in exchange for receiving a temporary antidote. Each of his patients was ordered to bring one new wealthy Gothamite to his clinic. Bruce confronted him as Batman, but a green mamba hidden in Strange’s office bit him, rendering him comatose. When Strange revived him Batman was horrified to realize Strange had removed his mask and knew he was Bruce Wayne. Strange’;s Monster Men kidnapped Alfred and Strange posed as Bruce, selling off millions of Wayne Enterprise’s stocks. Strange arranged an auction for Batman’s secret identity, with a $10,000 buy-in. Joker, Penguin and Boss Thorne responded, and Strange planned to hold the auction the next night. Strange intended to kill Bruce Wayne before the auction, knowing that keeping him alive was too dangerous to his plans. Boss Thorne’s men shot the Monster Men that were escorting Strange with tranquilizer darts, and brought him to city hall, demanding to know Batman’s identity and saying he didn’t intend on paying for it. Robin broke into Graytowers, fought off the Monster Men, and freed Bruce and Alfred. Thorne’s men savagely beat Strange, but he’d made up his mind not to reveal Batman’s secret. He said he’d earned that knowledge and would never give it away because Batman was the one man he saw as a worthy foe. Strange said Thorne would have to defeat Batman himself, as he had, to learn his identity. Thorne did not understand Strange’s loyalty to his nemesis, and his men beat Strange until he was seemingly dead. (Detective Comics v1 #472) Batman and Deadshot fought across the rooftops of Gotham as Joker watched from the shadows, cackling to himself. (Detective Comics v1 #474)

The Joker then poisoned Gotham’s rivers with a chemical that gave the fish white faces and a rictus grin like his. He visited the Gotham copyright office and demanded full rights to his joker-fish, but G. Carl Francis told him natural resources couldn’t be copyrighted, infuriating Joker. Joker threatened to kill him at midnight, and Francis contacted the GCPD. Joker told his goons he had more business to attend to, and when one of his men asked what he was up to Joker pushed him in front of an oncoming truck. Joker dropped in on Boss Thorne in the city council bathroom, saying he knew he was at the auction for Batman’s identity. Joker said he suspected Hugo Strange was dead, and Thorne didn’t know who Batman was so Joker wouldn’t have to kill him. Thorne was astonished that Joker, like Strange, wanted Batman all to himself. Joker said he, and he alone would find out who Batman was and be the one to destroy him. Thorne ran from the bathroom screaming. Batman and Commissioner Gordon searched Francis’ house for any poison the Joker could have hidden. At midnight chemicals came up through the heating vents, and Francis died with a rictis grin. Batman realized the gas was part of a chemical compound, and Francis was the only one affected because Joker had exposed him to the other part of the compound when he’d visited his office. Joker made a TV broadcast, saying that if he wasn’t given legal rights over his joker-fish another bureaucrat would die. Joker made another broadcast targeting Thomas Jackson of the copyright office for death. Commissioner Gordon and Chief O’Hara kept watch over Jackson at his estate, and Batman came up with the plan to confuse the Joker by disguising himself as Jackson and having Jackson dress up as him. Jackson’s cat Ernest came in through the cat-door with a half-eaten Joker fish and displayed a Joker grin. The cat scratched Jackson, recognizing him through his disguise, and Jackson fell to the floor, dead and with a grin on his face. Batman searched the grounds and spotted Hugo Strange’s ghost, who vanished before his eyes. Batman convinced himself he was seeing things, and saw there were no footprints where Strange was and he spotted a vapor analysis meter, which he took with him because he had a gut feeling someone was trying to help him. Joker set up his latest Ha-Hacienda in a graveyard and burst into a fit of laughter at having gotten another one over on Batman and the GCPD. He worried that people might boycott his Joker-fish, but came up with a backup plan to infect cattle and make Joker-burgers. Batman and the GCPD were guarding another copyright office member that Joker had targeted for death, and the analysis meter picked up something on one of the officers. The 'officer' was actually the Joker in disguise, and Hugo’s meter picked up a chemical he’d sprayed joker with before the auction for Batman’s identity. Joker’s police badge squirted acid, and he tried unsuccessfully to burn Batman. He fled down a fire escape and they fought across Gotham’s rooftops in a downpour. They made their way to a construction site, where Joker was struck by lightning and plunged into Gotham’s river. Batman searched the river, but found no sign of Joker’s body. (Detective Comics v1 #476)

After his last caper, the Joker was captured and sent to a mental hospital for the criminally insane. The Joker's mental condition worsened and when he learned that one of his thugs had double-crossed him, the Joker broke out of the hospital and went on a murdering rampage, killing his former henchmen using his trademark Joker Venom, among other methods. With this new criminal mindset, the Joker was able to knock Batman unconscious and had the chance to kill him once and for all, but he refused to do so and in the end, it allowed Batman to capture the Joker and bring him back to the authorities. (Batman v1 #251)

Bronze Age

The Joker returned soon and started a loan shark business, killing his clients when they refused to pay his fees. This new crime caught the eye of Batman, who teamed up with Black Canary, the Joker's past crush, and managed to put an end to the Joker's crime spree with some vital help from Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred. (The Brave and the Bold v1 #141) The Joker's next scheme consisted of kidnapping several of Batman's allies including Robin, Commissioner Gordon and Alfred. He placed them in a death trap to lure Batman, but his plan was ultimately thwarted by the Dark Knight. In the ensuing confrontation, the Joker met his apparent demise as his escape vehicle blew up in flames. (Batman v1 #321) As usual, the Joker survived and he was locked in Arkham under undisclosed circumstances. He eventually escaped and returned to Gotham with a new scheme to murder Batman using deadly toys. The Joker's crimes and clues were left deliberately, as he wanted to lure Batman into his trap. His plan succeeded and Batman was forced to fight several deadly toys until death. However, Batman found a way to stop the toys and the Joker was subsequently captured. (Detective Comics v1 #504)

Joker agreed to bust Prankster out of jail after he learned they’d both been cheated in the past by the deceased Jerry Travis, a famous Hollywood comedian who’d made his real money by financing criminal enterprises. The villains enjoyed each others shticks, but agreed not to pull any practical jokes on each other and act like professionals. They knew Travis had secret bank accounts, and the key to finding his passbook was in his collection of practical jokes that was being auctioned off at an estate sale in L.A.. They broke onto the scene, and stole the collection of jokes, but Superman was in town, so they had to contend with him. Superman’s friend Perry White was in town for a journalist convention, so they kidnapped him, and flew off in a helicopter. Superman pursued, but Prankster double-crossed Joker and tossed him from the copter, so Superman had to give up his pursuit to save him. Joker promised to help him catch Prankster, assuring him he could help Superman save Perry. Superman reluctantly agreed, and using the estate catalogue and looking through the practical joke inventory, they realized Travis’ passbook was hidden under his star in the Hollywood walk of fame. They caught Prankster as he uncovered the passbook, and Joker injected him with a deadly nerve-toxin, grabbed the passbook, and fled. Joker severely disliked people turning against him. Superman couldn’t let Prankster die, especially when he didn’t know where Perry was, so he rushed him to the Fortress of Solitude, and hooked him up to a Kryptonian blood-filter. While he waited for him to recover he arrived at the bank containing Travis’ secret bank account and foiled the Joker’s robbery, but Joker managed to escape using a dummy of himself filled with kryptonite dust. Superman recovered, sped to the Arctic, interrogated Prankster, and saved Perry from the booby-trapped hangar he’d been stashed in. Superman finally caught up to Joker, smashed his helicopter, and brought him to justice. (DC Comics Presents v1 #41)

Joker planned his own birthday celebration by kidnapping Batman’s friends. He disguised himself as a woman in need of a tire change to lure in Robin, who found the tires of Joker’s car were coated in super-sticky taffy. He flooded the GCPD precinct with laughing gas and made off with Commissioner Gordon. Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox and Selina Kyle were all waiting at the Wayne Foundation for Bruce, and Selina complained that the headaches she was suffering from were growing more severe. Joker blasted his way in with dynamite, and assuming Selina was there to rob the Wayne Foundation he sincerely apologized if he’d ruined a scheme of hers before knocking her out with a spring-loaded boxing glove hidden in a bouquet of roses before taking Fox and Pennyworth with him. At Joker’s Ha-Hacienda he gloated about killing everyone who ever crossed him while all of Gotham watched. He broke out into uproarious laughter, and when he noticed one of his hired goons wasn’t laughing along with him he shot him in the head. Joker organized the Harlequin Bakery Show at the Seaside Coliseum, advertising free samples and drawing an enormous crowd. Joker had his henchmen lock all the doors to the building before revealing himself and showing off a giant birthday cake with his kidnapees all ties to candles. A detonator was set to light the candles ablaze, but Batman revealed he was in the audience, and agreed to surrender and allow Joker to tie him to a candle in exchange for releasing his friends. Joker went back on his word, but Batman freed himself and severed the fuses of the candles with his batarang. Joker fled on a motorboat with Batman in pursuit, and his boat exploded when it collided with rocky shoals. Commissioner Gordon asked Batman if he thought Joker was dead, but Batman doubted it. (Batman v1 #321)

Later on, the Joker was in Arkham when explosions damaged the Asylum allowing for a mass break-out from its in-mates. All of the prisoners came to gather their costumes and equipment as they made their escape. They then received instructions from their mysterious benefactor who bade them to kidnap people that had connections to Bruce Wayne. Unknown to anyone, this was actually part of an elaborate plan by Ra's al Ghul to tempt Batman into joining him. (Batman v1 #400)

Post-Crisis

The Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The Joker

According to him, he had come up with different variations of his past where he ultimately said that if he had a past then he preferred it to be multiple choice. (Batman: The Killing Joke v1 #1)

Whilst in Arkham Asylum, he came to steal cleaning supplies in order to make his lethal laughing gas thus killing eight men. This allowed him to escape to his hideout where the Joker told his associate Rupert how his assets were seized during his incarceration. It was then that he revealed that he had a cruise missile and launch vehicle in storage which he obtained from a military contact. The Clown Prince of Crime then decided to sell the weapon to Arab terrorists. In the air, the Joker and his gang were en-route to Lebanon aboard a stolen Navy C-130 cargo plane while Jason Todd is aboard an airliner. Meanwhile, Batman finds the Joker's hideout and realizes his arch foe has left for Lebanon with a nuclear weapon to replenish his cash flow. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon came to inform Batman of Joker's escape with the Dark Knight in pursuit to capture the villain again. Travelling abroad, Batman led a team of naval commandos to Lebanon to recover the stolen C-130 and discovered that the Joker had indeed smuggled a nuclear device into the Middle Eastern nation. The caped crusaders witness the Joker's sale of the smuggled cruise missile to Jamal, a terrorist who wants to launch the device at Tel Aviv. The gathering was then interrupted by Batman and Robin, who were soon joined by Sharmin Rosen. When the missile was fired, it exploded in its launcher but the warhead failed to detonate. The Joker then came to escapes in the ensuing confusion where in his disguise he came to books a flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Batman v1 #426)

At one point, the Swamp Thing visited Arkham Asylum and looked in on a few of the inmates. Whilst there, he came to find Joker to be the most disturbing person incarcerated there. (Swamp Thing v2 #52) Dr. R. Huntoon took a nightshift at Arkham to research his new book on superhuman psychology, and kept close watch on the inmates. He observed Joker laughing himself to tears while reading Kant’s "The Critique of Pure Reason". (Swamp Thing v2 #66)

An Arkham doctor named Harleen Quinzell would later be allowed to speak to the Joke as she had planned to write a dissertation on him. She spent a year working with him, and saw nothing of the monster everyone else saw. Quinzell thought Joker was intelligent and had a great sense of humor where she soon fell in love with him. This led to her blowing a hole in Joker's cell and helping him escape with her putting the blame on inmate Snowman Milos Janek. Joker let her accompany him on robberies, but he soon grew tired of her affections and tried numerous times to kill her. Harleen came to see these as simply being commitment issues from the Joker. The police caught up with Harlene and imprisoned her in Arkham in Joker's old cell. (Harley Quinn v1 #26)

The Joker would later look to see if he could make the sanest of people to lose their minds and he attempted to drive Commissioner Gordon insane. He arrived at Gordon's house where he came to shoot his niece Barbara Gordon in the spine and took pictures of her naked, in pain and bleeding on the floor. It was then that he proceeded to kidnap Gordon and forced the Commissioner to behold the atrocity in a slideshow. Joker was eventually stopped by Batman and his plan to drive Gordon insane had failed, but Barbara was left wheelchair-bound. (Batman: The Killing Joke v1 #1)

Joker killed a kindergarten class, and the grieving wealthy father of one of the children put a hit out on him. Hitman Tommy Monaghan accepted the contract, and used his superhuman powers to make it past the GCPD and Batman into Arkham.. He made it to joker’s cell and shot him between the eyes, but 'Joker' revealed himself to be the demon Mawzir in disguise. He’d been the one to put a contract out on joker to lure hitman to him because his masters, the Arkannone, wanted hitman as their servant. Hitman refused and shot him in the face. Mawzir and Hitman battled across the asylum, but Batman joining the fight. Hitman found Joker tied up in a side office and shot him in the chest. Batman begrudgingly gave joker emergency medical treatment, and Joker vowed to kill hitman painfully. (Hitman v1 #3) Joker came to Vanity City for his annual vacation from Gotham. He strived to find bigger hellholes than Gotham, and in past years visited Bosnia and Rwanda. After slaughtering a number of people with Joker venom he met with Fixit, the supervillain supplier, who constructed robot crickets for him that produced insanity-inducing chirps. Fixit thought Joker's bombastic personality was very difficult to be around. Joker was in a cosmic trickster mood, wanting to show the joke of the meaningless of the universe. Joker challenged Aztek, Vanity's protector, to find all the crickets he'd hidden around the city. Aztek destroyed the crickets, and dealt with the rush of patients in the ER. Joker was caught by VCPD, but said it was all part of his plan. Batman had followed his nemesis, and told Aztek he'd need his help dealing with the madman. The Joker venom mutated into an electronic version, flooding all of Vanity's media with a laughing Joker smile. Aztek located the venom canister high over the city, and used an anti-gravity generator to raise it into the stratosphere, where it exploded. (Aztek: The Ultimate Man v1 #7)

Joker went to NYC to visit The Killing Joke, a club scene paying homage to Joker and filled with groupies. He didn't appreciate their imitation of him, and started killing them with poison gas before Batman arrived, and he told his fans to sic him. Spectre was soon on the scene, and used a giant bullet and gun to tear apart some of his fans, which delighted Joker. Batman told Spectre he wouldn't allow him to kill Joker, and did not recognize his authority as the wrath of God. Batman said Joker was sick, and deserved to be locked away back at Arkham, telling Spectre he had no conception of good. Spectre doubted him, and entered Joker's soul for a closer look. Spectre, still recovering from the wound he received from the Spear of Destiny, was trapped in Joker's funhouse mirror mind, and Joker took over the Spectre-Force to cause mayhem. Spectre found Joker's consiousness represented by circuit breakers, with his consience not powered, so he shared some of his own empathy. Joker felt the pain he'd caused and realized for the first time how awful he was, allowing Spectre to reassert himself, and the Joker slipped into catatonia. (Spectre v3 #51)

Joker in Joker's Asylum: The Joker v1 #1.

Later on, Arthur Rankle was a serial killer who raped and killed eighteen women before Batman took him down with a batarang to the head. As he was being arrested Rankel bellowed that Batman was a coward and should have confronted him face to face. The authorities could not discern a M.O. from his killings, which targeted women of all ages and races, and he did not neatly fit any psychological profile, but was sent to Arkham Asylum anyway. Joker heard him fuming about Batman and said he had taken an interest in the man, and knew what made him tick. He knew every woman Rankel killed was an authority figure of one type or another, and Rankel, despite being a conventional loser, couldn’t abide anyone having power over him. Arthur asked if Joker had ever taken an interest in anyone before, and Joker said it didn’t matter, because he was just a figment of his imagination. Joker said everyone except him and Batman weren’t real, they were just daydreams he and Batman dreamed into existence to populate their world. Joker spent months teaching everything he knew and every strategy he’d come up with to counter Batman to Arthur. Joker said Arthur would be free soon, and warned him never to confront Batman in the dark because it was his natural habitat. Joker alerted Scarecrow’s crew when their boss was scheduled for pickup for court and they agreed to bust out Rankel along with Scarecrow. Joker gave Arthur his diploma and bid him good luck. On the outside Arthur read his diploma, finding ways he could contact the Joker via a pay phone or e-mail, and keys to one of Joker’s hideouts, the former film studio of Slaphappy films. Arthur settled in, planning his big debut and his next kill. He started talking to a rat he named Lassie. He told the rat all his thoughts, how he was in control and the Joker was not, and how he chose to kill unlike Batman’s rogues gallery, and could stop himself at any time. He told Joker he’d need two men to help him carry out his big kill, and Joker sent him Dr. Thomas DeGeorge, a doctor who was locked up after it was discovered he was causing seizures in his patients so he could save them and seem a hero, and Calvin Marshall, a brute full of rage who killed a nun in broad daylight for rejecting his advances. He had DeGeorge knock on a woman’s door, in tears that his dog was lost, and when she let him in Calvin came close behind and brutally slaughtered her. Rankel filmed the incident, and mailed it to the police under the alias DeMille. The authorities, believing Calvin to be DeMille, saw how sloppy his methodology was, and were convinced he would easily be caught after making a mistake. Weeks later Rankel and his crew had killed 23 more women and Commissioner Gordon was frustrated that he didn’t have a single lead. He met with Batman and said he suspected they weren’t dealing with a simple madman, they were dealing with a lunatic with a purpose, and Gordon suspected he was after Batman. Batman contacted Oracle, and after hours of research she came up blank, but planted the idea that Batman was looking for more than one unsub. Batman confirmed the hypothesis when he realized the fingerprints left behind at the crime scenes were identical except for their size, and knew the unsubs were using false fingerprints. Batman confronted Professor Milo, who connected Rankel with his associates, and he spilled his guts, but Joker had foreseen this and told Rankel to get ready to ambush Batman. Rankel locked the film studio once Batman was inside and Calvin and Thomas chased him through old film sets with guns and a flamethrower. Batman defeated Calkvin and Thomas, and when confronted Rankel went to pieces and curled in the fetal position. Rankel was returned to GCPD custody and Joker laughed his head off at the present he’d gotten Batman for their anniversary, 5 years from the day they first met. (Batman: Joker’s Apprentice v1 #1)

On April 1st, Joker and three henchmen dressed as the Marx Brothers went to the Smith-Johnson Novelty Co. to steal supplies, but when a security guard pulled a gun on Joker he took the entire staff hostage. Batman and Impulse responded, and Joker made Impulse go on a scavenger hunt and take Polaroid's from landmarks around the world. Impulse passed on the lay of the Novelty Company to Batman, allowing him to defeat Joker while Impulse saved the hostages. (Impulse v1 #50)

When Spectre Hal Jordan felt overwhelmed by the vengeance the Spectre-Force demanded he exact of sinners Martian Manhunter took him inside Joker’s mind and showed a very small part of the killer’s mind that showed the light of the Presence, and therefore the possibility of redemption. A part of Joker wanted to be normal, married, and having a very simple life. Spectre considered turning away from vengeance and becoming the spirit of redemption. (JLA v1 #35)

Joker contracted Harley Quinn through Harry the Mole to steal military specs from Nova-Tec labs, knowing not to contact her directly because of their past. He refused to finish the transaction when Milos Danek framed Harley for murdering Detective James Seaborn, making Harley too hot to work with. Harley learned it was Joker that contracted her and suspected him of framing her. She dropped two of his thugs down an elevator shaft and threatened to do the same to him. He swore he didn't set her up, and she believed him, but reminded him she could get to him if he ever messed with her. (Harley Quinn v1 #28) Joker offered Harley Quinn a chance to re-join his gang and start their relationship over. She refused, and he followed her on a date with Detective Bishop. Things went decently except that Joker kept luring her away and demanded she work for him. He threatened her life, but she wouldn't back down. She offered him a chance to work for her, which he accepted. She also made it clear their relationship was over; she realized he'd only end up trying to kill her again. (Harley Quinn v1 #32)

The Burning, who needed fear and chaos to reproduce, unleashed a wave of fear and remorse that washed over the inmates of Arkham Asylum, including Joker. (JLA v1 #84)

Batman fought joker in the rain, and the villain said he never could take Batman's threats seriously because he could not commit himself to murder. Joker hit Batman a few times in the head with a pipe and said Batman would enjoy being dead, guessing that his parents had messed him up, and their spirits would have some explaining to do. Batman was surprised that joker had a belief in the afterlife, but overcame his enemy and knocked him out. (Batman: Gotham County Line v1 #1)

Later, he took an entire hospital ward full of newborn infants hostage. When Detective Sarah Essen-Gordon, Jim Gordon's wife, arrived on the scene, he pointed a gun at her and told her not to move, before throwing a baby at her. Sarah instinctively went to catch the child, and the Joker shot her in the head. Oddly, he seemed to take no pleasure in this act. When Gordon found out, his anger led him to the verge of murdering the Joker, only shooting Joker in the knee instead. The Joker was immediately concerned about the damage to his leg, worrying that he might never walk again, but quickly cracked up laughing, realizing there was a joke. The Commissioner had just gotten him back for the damage to his niece. (Detective Comics v1 #741)

For a period, the majority of Earth's villains were deported to the Hell Planet, where the Joker became responsible for one of the factions. They were largely non-constructive and attempted to steal food and supplies from Lex Luthor's group, who were trying to find a way to escape. The conflict ended in one-on-one fisticuffs between Luthor and the Joker. Although the match was nearly even, the Joker ultimately overcame Lex, just before the entire villain community was forced to unite against an oncoming Parademon attack. (Salvation Run v1 #6) Joker eventually escaped the planet along with most of the other villains. (Salvation Run v1 #7)

Within Arkham, he had to undergo facial reconstruction surgery following the shot to his face by Bat-Cop leaving it covered with bandages whilst he was crippled and forced to use a wheelchair. The Joker felt the rise of a new 'self' and that he needed to purge his life of the old things within it. Around this time, he was visited by his speech therapist Miss Wisakedjak who was actually Harley using the name of an ancient Indian trickster god. Through his eyes, he managed to convey a message to her via Morse code that told her to kill all his former henchmen. In this time, she delivered him Joker Toxin secretly whilst she began delivering black and red roses that were coated in the substance which started killing clowns all across Gotham. Despite the Joker's M.O. being used, many were perplexed on how he was managing to accomplish the murders whilst being restrained in Arkham and with his current condition. Ultimately, Batman uncovered the truth but by this point the Joker had freed himself in Arkham after regaining control of his body and removed the bandages on his face with him applying Joker Venom to give it a permanent grin. He killed numerous orderlies where he decided to unleash his newest 'self' which was when he was confronted by Batman. (Batman v1 #663)

Joker was locked in his cell in Arkham when Batman showed up and attacked the Scarecrow in front of Joker's cell. Batman opened the cell, cuffed Joker to a pipe and proceeded to torture Crane on the Joker's toilet, much to the madman's delight. After Crane confessed his crime, Batman left the place and Joker was thankful with him for letting him witness such a great performance. (Detective Comics v1 #849)

He later resurfaced where he took the guise of a masked British detective known as Oberon Sexton. At the same time, he began targeting the members of the Black Glove organization who he killed one-by-one and came to be regarded as the mysterious Domino Killer. (Batman and Robin v1 #12)

It was then that the Joker was offered a position on Doctor Hurt's conspiracy called the Black Glove and murdered several people in Arkham as part of the plan. (Batman v1 #676) Joker joined Black Glove on the condition that they let him have Robin, and not long after this, Guy Dax freed Joker from his cell. (Batman v1 #679) Dr. Hurt invited the Black Glove to Arkham Asylum for the annual Danse Macabre, where they’d bet on the life or death of a victim chosen by Hurt. Batman was this years victims, and they watched his progress through viewscreens. Dr. Hurt set Joker loose, and Le Bossu told Joker how much they all admired him. Joker was unimpressed, and after Le Bossu explained that his hunchback disguise represented the ugliness within him Joker took a razor to him and disfigured his face. Joker told El Sombrero his hat made him laugh, and hung him, breaking his neck. Batman confronted Joker, demanding to see Jet. Joker was fascinated seeing Batman wearing rag-tag motley, his psychotic Batman of Zur-En-Arrh having been activated after Dr. Hurt broker him mentally. Joker told Batman he’d learned that he’d allowed Dr. Hurt to perform isolation experiments on him in hopes of understanding Joker’s psychopathic mind, and Joker was amused that Batman thought he could ever understand him. Joker said Batman couldn’t analyze him or break him down into components like a crime scene. Joker was still furious that Batman broke their arrangement as eternal arch-enemies by shooting him in the face. Batman protested that the man that shot joker was Josef Muller, an imposter trained and set on Joker by Dr. Hurt, but Joker refused to listen. After a brief clash Batman saw Jet behind a glass case with flower petals falling on her. The petals contained powerful neurotoxins, and Dr. Hurt told Joker to let things play out. Batman broke the glass, but the petals poisoned him and further warped his mind. Jezebel Jet laughed, revealing herself as a member of the Black Glove. Dr. Hurt buried Batman alive in a shallow grave. The Black Glove held a mock funeral for Batman, and some of the members told Dr. Hurt they weren’t yet satisfied with his promise that they’d see a noble spirit completely broken. Hurt said that they had dined, and then dig up Batman. He only had thirty minutes of oxygen in his coffin, and when they unearthed him he would have suffered permanent brain damage. Jezebel Jet suggested they take the helpless Batman and torture and mutilate him. They returned to Arkham, and Joker said he wanted to bet on Batman’s survival. Dr. Hurt told Joker only members of the Black Glove could vote, and Joker argued he was worthy of membership because he’d burned more money than most of them had and was more infamous than any of them. He broke the neck of a Black Glove member and said he bet Batman would not only survive but make them all regret they had ever tried to destroy him. He presented Batman’s Bat-Radia, which Jet said was a broken radio he’d found in a homeless man’s shopping cart, but realized it was sending out a signal to the Batcave, locking down Arkham. Joker said he was leaving, and would collect his winnings from the Black Glove in due time. Joker drove an ambulance through Gotham, but Damian Wayne, who’d returned to Gotham when he had learnt that Batman was in trouble, ran Joker off the road in the Batmobile, and the ambulance plunged into Gotham’s river. (Batman v1 #681)

Post-Flashpoint

The Pale Man in Batman v2 #37.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. The Joker

It was said that his criminal career as Red Hood One who served as the leader of the Red Hood Gang. They comprised of blackmailed individuals from the middle and upper classes of Gotham that the Red Hood kept under his sway. With the ideology of pointless violence, the gang dared the authorities to try and catch them all. (Batman v2 #23) He first faced off against Bruce Wayne when the returned billionaire-turned-vigilante rescued some hostages from the madman. (Batman v2 #21) Having been tipped off by Edward Nygma, the Red Hood sent his gang to kill Bruce Wayne, catching the billionaire in an explosion in his brownstone. Taunting Wayne as he lay dying, Red Hood One added insult to injury by shooting two bullets through a portrait of Wayne's deceased parents before leaving the future vigilante to his injuries. (Batman v2 #23)

The Joker's notoriety continued to grow to the point that he operated his own gang of henchmen in Gotham. At some indiscriminate point early in the Joker's criminal career, he and his gang terrorized the Gotham Zoo, killing its employees. While there, a baby gorilla caught the Joker's attention, and the clown killed its mother to raise it as his new sidekick. Naming the gorilla Jackanapes, Joker and his 'son' terrorized Gotham until, on a mission to kill a Gotham City councilwoman for trying to close the Gotham Zoo, Jackanapes fells into a river and seemingly drowned. The Joker was unfazed at the death of his son, instead insisting he get a refund for the swimming lessons he purchased. (Batman v2 #23.1)

During Batman's second year, the Joker came to find himself unable to laugh with this coming to annoying him. By this point, he was tracked down by the Riddler who had recently escaped the prison. He proposed that the pair work together to kill the Batman but the Joker did not find this funny and instead shot the Riddler leaving him badly injured. This triggered a conflict that erupted over Gotham with this being known as the War of Jokes and Riddles. (Batman v3 #25)

Drugging the Justice League using a new and extremely potent Joker Venom, the madman sent Batman's superhero allies after the vigilante, forcing Batman to single-handedly fend off the entire Justice League. (Batman v2 #36) Wasting no time, Joker infected the entire city with the same virus, turning them all into laughing homicidal maniacs. Revealing that he knew Batman's secret identity, Joker then singled out some of Batman's closest allies, putting a hatchet into Commissioner Gordon's chest. (Batman v2 #38)

The Dionesium, despite having thought to been destroyed in the cave's collapse, managed to still revive both Bruce and the Joker, healing the scars on their bodies but also robbing them of their memories. The man who was once the Joker—his skin and hair turned back to normal—returned to society and started a new life at a butcher shop. (Batman v2 #47) Months later, Bruce, also living a normal life without the knowledge that he was once the Batman, met the former Joker in the park, who had intended to kill himself that night but eventually backed down. (Batman v2 #48)

Batman, weary from all his adventures, proposed to Catwoman, who accepted. However, after months of anticipation for the event, the wedding was crashed by the Joker, who convinced Catwoman not to marry Batman because happiness is Batman's greatest weakness. (Batman v3 #50)

He then hired Deathstroke to lead a band of assassins to enact his plan to steal the Wayne fortune and take over Gotham City. (Batman Secret Files v1 #3)

Joker then managed to capture a member of the Court of Owls and tortured them for information on the location of the Tomb of the Unworthy that was used to store their Talon assassins that failed them. Breaking into the site, he proceeded to find and awaken Lincoln March where he forced the Talon to serve him and dispatched him after Batman. (Detective Comics v1 #1023)

Thus, the Wayne fortune was transferred over to the Joker which he used to enact the next step of his plan. (Batman v3 #93) With the money, he made it appear that Bruce Wayne had embezzled millions resulting in the police seizing Wayne Manor and Wayne Enterprises. He then had his people move to target Batman's support network and his friends as he embarked on a plan to kill thousands in the city. (Batman v3 #94) He briefly made a stop at Arkham Asylum in order to confront the captive Bane and told him that there would be a reckoning between them over how the Santa Priscan had wasted the opportunity in killing Alfred Pennyworth. (Batman: The Joker War Zone v1 #1)

He had a limousine take him to Ace Chemicals to begin the next stage of his plan where he was informed that Punchline had failed in her mission. However, the Joker was unconcerned and told her to meet up with him at the plant whilst he planned for the new batch of Joker Toxin to be shipped to Gotham's cinemas that were to be packed with civilians. At the same time, he prepared for his next encounter with Batman where he wore a new incarnation of the Batsuit that he vandalised with Joker paint whereupon he ambushed the Dark Knight who arrived at Ace Chemicals. (Batman v3 #99)

With the expansion of Batman Incorporated, the Joker decided to make his own version that were based on himself. Thus, he created Joker Incorporated where he secretly clown-themed supercriminals based on himself all as part of an attempt to make Ghost-Maker break his promise not to kill these 'Jokers'. Each were implanted with a unique trigger failsafe where a secret bomb would release Joker gas if the villain was captured or detained. Thus, the only way to stop them was by killing these 'Jokers'. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)

Overview

Personality and attributes

The three Jokers in Three Jokers promo.

In appearance, the Joker was a male with chalk white face, bright red lips and green hair with his face styled in a ghastly grin. (Batman v1 #1) He once created a fake persona named John Dough in order to lead a populist movement. (Justice League of America v1 #77) At one point, he was a mysterious masked man who had adopted the identity of the Red Hood. (Detective Comics v1 #168) One time, he operated in the guise of the masked bespectacled Oberon Sexton as well as being the infamous Domino Killer. (Batman and Robin v1 #12) As Sexton, he was known in Englan as the Gravedigger who was an amateur detective that hunted serial killers. (Batman and Robin v1 #5) Once disguised as a doctor, he appeared normal and operated in Arkham where he went by the name of Eric Border with this being a hint at his identity as the surname of 'Border' was a homophone for 'Bourder' that was an obsolete word for 'jester'. (Batman v2 #36) One account claimed that he was an immortal being from before the founding of Gotham who was known as the Pale Man. (Batman v2 #38)

He said that he sometimes remembered his past one way and other times another way. The Joker claimed that if he had a past he preferred it to be multiple choice. (Batman: The Killing Joke v1 #1)

The Joker was described as being capable of processing outside sensory information only by adapting to it. This enabled him to create a new personality every day depending on what would benefit him at the time. This was used to explains why that at different times he could range from being a mischievous clown to a psychopathic killer. (Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth v1 #1) In one case, he was able to enter into a meditative state where he evaluated his previous selves to consciously create a new personality, effectively modifying himself for his needs. (Batman v1 #663)

A calling card he left behind at the scenes of his crime was a joker card. (Batman v1 #1)

At times, the Joker was said to had liked it at Arkham Asylum. (Batman v1 #400)

In fact, he refused to kill Batman if a mere chance allowed his attack to succeed as he always envisioned himself winning as a result of cunning at the end of a bitter struggle. This would involving pitting his divine gift men called madness against the Dark Knight's detective skills. Thus, he felt that winning was nothing after playing the game against Batman for so many years and would let his foe live so that he could destroy him properly one day. (Batman v1 #251)

Powers and abilities

As an avid consumer of his own products, the Joker was said to had developed an immunity to poisons over the years. In one case, a mosquito was known to had sucked his blood where it writhed, whined and choked on the tainted blood. (Batman v1 #663) The chemicals that stained his skin also damaged his genetic material that prevented him from being cloned with an attempt resulting in deformed creations. (The Joker v2 #9) He could disguise his features by using muscle relaxers to drop his constant grin allowing him to appear with more normal features by using make-up. This included chemicals that could change his skin pigmentation to give him a more normal complexion. (Batman v2 #36)

One of his signature weapons was the Joker Venom that caused people to experience a laughing fit where they died and were left with a smile on their faces. (Batman v1 #1) A more vicious version of the original venom was created with this pathogen capable of being tailor-made for individual super-powered opponents. (Batman v2 #36)

At one time, he was noted to had created his own version of Batman's Utility Belt that he equipped with a number of joke-themed gadgets to give him an edge in a fight. (Batman v1 #73)

In his hand, he was known to use a joy buzzer that typically only dealt a mild electrical shock but the Joker had increased his version's capacity with it dealing 200 volts. (Joker v1 #2)

He once sought to copy the tactics of Batman and made his own Jokermobile. (Batman v1 #37)

The Joker's gang in The Joker v2 #11.

Among his followers included:

• Gaggy the Dwarf : Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy was a dwarfish man who was a refugee from the circus before he joined as the court jester for Joker and served as his sidekick with him notable for having a glass-shattering scream. (Batman v1 #186)
• Harley Quinn : Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a young psychologist who became enamoured with the Joker during her attempt to study him at Arkham Asylum where she was seduced by his madness and became his sidekick where she took the name Harley Quinn. (Batman: Harley Quinn v1 #1)
• Flame Dupree : a woman with long blonde hair who wore pink clothes. (Batman v2 #23.1)
• Jackanapes : a gorilla that the Joker abducted from his mother at the zoo when the Clown Prince of Crime wanted to start a family. Naming him Jackanapes, he gave the gorilla the childhood that the Joker wished he had growing up. Dressing the ape in a clown costume, the gorilla was taught about survival of the fittest yet the pair had a father and son relationship. Eventually, he was taught to build his own inventions and came to use weapons such as machine guns or rocket launchers where he assisted the Joker on his criminal ventures. One day, the pair were involved on a heist on a plane where the Joker gassed the people turning them into zombies with Jackanapes becoming horrified at their actions. After jumping from the plane, Jack decided he didn't want to continue living he life and seemingly perished in the river after refusing to activate his jetpack. (Batman v2 #23.1)
• Merrymaker : Dr. Byron Merideth was a psychiatrist noted for his extreme methods in treating patients at Arkham Asylum where he eventually left to start his own private practice with him specialising to treat those with obsessions over the Joker. He eventually faked his death and became the masked Merrymaker where he created the League of Smiles consisting of his former patients as they terrorised Gotham during the Joker's return but really used them to eliminate his enemies. (Detective Comics v2 #17)
• Clownface : a version of Clayface or possibly a fragment of him that separated where it gained sentience and took the form of a mute old man. Upon finding him, the Joker infected him with Joker Toxin and turned him into a monstrous shapeshifting killer with a pale white form along with a constant grin on his face. (Arkham Manor v1 #3)
• Punchline : a dark haired woman who came to be the Joker's right hand woman and was a skilled killer who did his bidding. (Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen v1 #3)
• Hench Master : a large muscular masked man who was responsible for training henchmen for the various crime bosses in Gotham that included the Joker. (Batman: The Joker War Zone v1 #1)

At another point, the Joker looked to make his own version of Batman Inc. and began recruiting clown-themed criminals based on himself with these including:

• Alpaca
• Charles De Ghoul : He headed a circus to serve as his base of operations which he called the Cirque de la Mort. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)
• Corvus Cawl : a dark-haired male dressed in all black and wielded swords. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)
• Dai Laffyn : All records of the person were erased from every government database with even articles involving the person being removed from every news website. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)
• Dusty Bronco : a cowboy themed Joker who made use of pistols. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)
• Tap Dance : a Spanish male who operated in Argentina who was ultimately killed by the remote bomb placed in him. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)

Unknown to some of Joker Incorporated, they were outfitted with bombs containing Joker Venom within them that could be triggered remotely or under certain conditions. Any attempt to remove the bombs or capture the individual resulted in the failsafe detonating. When the unique trigger detonated, it resulted in the dispersal of Joker gas over a one-block radius to even a kilometre radius in some cases. The purpose of such a move was to force an opponent to kill the 'Jokers' in order to stop the potential damage they could do if bombs were activated. (Batman Incorporated v3 #9)

He was known to make use of henchmen known as Slapstick Men that were people who impersonated him and had their identities changed multiple times to hide their true selves. (The Batman Who Laughs v2 #1) At one point, he recruited a team of smugglers that rescued him at sea and made him their boss. They came to be a gang he named the Four Cards and modelled on the suites of cards to match the Joker's persona. Thus, they came to be known as Black Queen, Jack of Diamonds, and King of Clubs. (Batman v1 #5)

The Joker was said to have he tendency to attract anybody not in their right mind. These included the obsessives, the nihilistic fanatics looking for a hero and even the depressingly ordinary who simply required inspiration to indulge in their dark thoughts. (Detective Comics v2 #16)

It was believed that the Joker's heart contained a singular super-toxin that was released if he ever died. The toxin then transformed the person who killed him into the next Joker. (The Batman Who Laughs v1 #1)

The Joker's spine once contained a regenerative healing compound called Dionesium that allowed those exposed to it to recover from injuries at an accelerated rate. (Batman v2 #38) At one point, he had the omnipotent powers of a 5th Dimensional Imp after Mister Mxyzptlk gave his abilities to the Joker. (Emperor Joker v1 #1)

He came to reside in his lair that he called Ha-Hacienda which was a secret base of operations for him and his gang. (Joker v1 #2)

Notes

• The Joker was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson where he made his first appearance in Batman v1 #1 (April, 1940).
• According to Bill Finger, he showed fellow co-creator and artist Bob Kane a photograph of actor Conrad Veidt wearing make-up for the 1928 silent film "The Man Who Laughs" with this becoming the model of the character that became the Joker.
• During a panel discussion, Finger said in 1966, "I got a call from Bob Kane.... He had a new villain. When I arrived he was holding a playing card. Apparently Jerry Robinson or Bob, I don't recall who, looked at the card and they had an idea for a character ... the Joker. Bob made a rough sketch of it. At first it didn't look much like the Joker. It looked more like a clown. But I remembered that Grosset & Dunlap formerly issued very cheap editions of classics by Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo ... The volume I had was The Man Who Laughs — his face had been permanently operated on so that he will always have this perpetual grin. And it looked absolutely weird. I cut the picture out of the book and gave it to Bob, who drew the profile and gave it a more sinister aspect. Then he worked on the face; made him look a little clown-like, which accounted for his white face, red lips, green hair. And that was the Joker!"
• "Batman From the '30s to the '70s" (1970) noted that the character was initially going to be killed by a knife wound in his second appearance but series editor Whitney Ellsworth decided the character had potential and should survive with this resulting in an additional panel depicting the Joker's survival.
• In Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight v1 (2012), Jerry Robinson noted that, ""They've given many origins of the Joker, how he came to be. That doesn't seem to matter—just how he is now. I never intended to give a reason for his appearance. We discussed that and Bill [Finger] and I never wanted to change it at that time. I thought—and he agreed—that it takes away some of the essential mystery."
• In the 1960's, editor Julius Schwartz who despised the character came to take over the Batman line of comics and relegated the Joker to comic book limbo.
• In Justice League v2 #50 (2016), writer Geoff Johns had Batman consult the Mobius Chair on the Joker's identity where the machine revealed that there were three different Jokers. The story arc was later followed in Batman: Three Jokers v1 (2020) where one was referred to as the Criminal, the other Comedian and the last one as the Clown.
• According to Flashpoint Beyond v1 #5 (2022), the real name of the person that became the Joker was possibly Jack Oswald White.

Alternate Versions

The Red Mask in Batman v3 #134.

• In Detective Comics Annual v1 #7 (1994), an alternate version of the Joker appeared in the Elseworld setting on Earth-494. This version was a white-faced sadistic pirate known as the Laughing Man who was a foe of Captain Leatherwing.
• In Legends of the Dark Claw v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of the character was merged with that of Sabretooth in the Amalgam Comics universe crossover between DC Comics and Marvel Comics. This version was originally Creed Harley Quinn who was in the Royal Canadian Air Force when he was accepted as a candidate for the Weapon X project along with four other "volunteers". Few records of the procedures used survive, fragments of Professor Carter Nichols' notes do mention two scientists by name, Cornelius and Hines. Logan's latent metamutant healing power kicks in, which allows him to survive the adamantium-crafting process. Creed survives as well, but becomes a remorseless killing machine, exactly what the project was hoping for where he came to be known as the Hyena.
• In Batman: White Knight v1 (2018), an alternate version of the Joker appeared in the Elseworld setting where originally he was Jack Napier. He eventually took Harley Quinn as his henchwoman where she was madly in love with him but he was obsessed with Batman. In time, he became more mentally unstable and looked to murder Robin but Harley stopped him by informing Batman of their hideout with her leaving him. Afterwards, Joker robbed a bank where he forced a woman at the counter named Marian Drews to help him. Going to his lair, he treated her injuries and she suffered Stockholm Syndrome where she took on the identity of Harley Quinn. One day, the Joker was partially cured of his madness where he resumed his former identity of Jack Napier and attempted to make amends for his past actions. However, he believed that Batman was bad for Gotham City and promoted violence in the city. Napier then attempted to make amends to 'Harley' and confessed his love to her but she rejected him and attacked him in response. She was only stopped by the real Harleen Quinzel who forced Marian to flee who then adopted a new identity as the Neo-Joker in a bid to restore Napier to his 'true identity'.
• In Dark Knights of Steel v1 #1 (2022), an alternate version of the Joker appeared in the Dark Knights of Steel reality within the Multiverse. This version was originally Alexander Luthor a former advisor to the Wayne Royal Family. He was considered a wise and knowledgable man but was in fact arrogant and superstitious. One day, a masked man came to him and warned him that Mount Kristoff would explode in a few days, providing him with detailed plans on how to avert disaster. However, Luthor's pride would not allow him to accept the stranger's advice and he never informed the Waynes. A few days later the mountain did explode and the stranger, a man from the stars with godlike power named Jor-El and his wife Lara saved the kingdom and denounced Luthor to the Waynes, revealing that he had ignored their warnings. Luthor was banished, as his arrogance had almost destroyed the kingdom, and Jor-El and Lara took his post as advisors to the king. Angry and bitter, Luthor journeyed to the erupted mountain and found a magic ring, which granted him great power but also left him disfigured and insane.
• In The Jurassic League v1 #1 (2022), an alternate version of the character named Jokerzard appeared in the reality designated as Earth 27 in the Multiverse. This version was a psychopathic Dilophosaurus who, unlike other carnivores, killed for pleasure rather than simply for food. He was shown to had been responsible for murdering Batsaur's parents. Jokerzard believed that he would be the vessel for Dark Embryo's power and was enraged when he was not present for his egg hatching. He gathered a horde of followers to attack Metraaaghpolis, but Batsaur came to stop him.
• In Batman v3 #134 (2023), an alternate version of the character appeared in another reality in the Multiverse. This version was revealed to be named Darwin Halliday who was a red-haired male that never became the Joker. By adulthood, he became a chemist where in his youth he developed a pharmaceutical empire called Halliday Industries. One day, he conducted experiments that showed him the Multiverse and saw his prime counterpart becoming the Joker. Becoming obsessed with the freedom his counterpart had Darwin looked to become the Joker. Taking control of Gotham City, he operated publicly as a socially minded billionaire but secretly he operated as the superpowered Red Mask where he imprisoned many people that became superpowered in the prime reality who he kept trapped in his underground Arkham facility.

In other media

Television

• In Batman, the Joker appeared in the setting of the 1960s live-action television series where he was portrayed by actor Cesar Romero.
• In the DC Animated Universe, the Joker made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, the Joker appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Mark Hamill.
  • In Justice League, the Joker appeared in the animated television series where he was once again voiced by actor Mark Hamill.
• In The Batman, the Joker appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Kevin Michael Richardson.
• In Batwoman, the Joker appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse where he was portrayed by actor Nathan Dashwood. He was revealed to had been responsible for the hijacking of a bus which led to the accident that separated Kate Kane from her sister Beth and their mother Gabi despite Batman's attempt to save them. In the episode "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury", it was revealed that his real name was Jack Napier and had been previously prosecuted by assistant district attorney Angus Stanton. In "A Narrow Escape", it was revealed that Bruce had killed Joker at some point as Luke Fox revealed to Kate that "The Joker Is Not In Arkham".
• In Harley Quinn, the Joker appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Alan Tudyk.

Films

• In Batman, the Joker appeared in the 1989 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Jack Nicholson. This version was originally Jack Napier who was the right-hand man of mob boss Carl Grissom and years ago was responsible for the murder of Thomas along with Martha Wayne.
• In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the Joker appeared in the animated film set in the DC Animated Universe where he was once again voiced by actor Mark Hamill.
• In The Dark Knight, the Joker featured as the primary antagonist in the live-action film that was part of The Dark Knight Trilogy where he was portrayed by actor Heath Ledger.
• In Batman Ninja, the Joker appeared in the setting of the 2018 animated film where he was voiced by Japanese actor Wataru Takagi and English actor Tony Hale.
• In Batman: Hush, the Joker appeared in the setting of the animated film where he was voiced again by actor Jason Spisak.

Video games

• In Infinite Crisis, the Joker appeared as a playable champion in the setting of the MOBA video game where he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.
• In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the Joker appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Joker appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.
• In Injustice 2, the Joker appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.
• In Mortal Kombat 11, the Joker was introduced as a playable character in the fighting video game through DLC where once more he was voiced by actor Richard Epcar.

Appearances

• Batman v1: (1940)
• Joker v1:
• Batman v2:
• JLA v1:
• Joker: (2008)
• Batman and Robin v1:
• Batman v2:
• Detective Comics v2:
• Batman v3:
• Justice League v4:
• The Batman Who Laughs v2:
• Justice League: Hell Arisen v1:
• Batman Secret Files v1: (2020)
• Batman: Three Jokers v1: (2020)
• Batman: The Joker War Zone v1: (2020)
• The Joker v2:

External Links

• DC Comics.com Entry.
• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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