The Joker (Jack Nicholson)

"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

- The Joker (Jack Nicholson

Joker was the chosen alias of Jack Napier, a hood whose appearance was radically and permanently altered by chemicals. He became Batman's first, and greatest foe, and the two shared a secret past that made them greater enemies than either first realized.

Early life
Born in Brooklyn Napier would come to live in Gotham. In his school years, Jack Napier showed an aptitude for art, science, and chemistry. He also turned to a life of violent crime. When he was fifteen, Jack was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

Years later, as a young man, he and his partner in crime mugged Bruce Wayne's parents, Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha.

When Thomas interceded to protect his family, Jack stepped from the shadows and shot both him and Martha in cold-blooded murder. Jack pulled the hammer back on his gun and next pointed it at Bruce. Jack inquired "Tell me kid, you ever danced with the Devil by the pale moon light?". Before Jack could fire, his panicked partner urged him to leave. Jack decided to spare the boy and left, saying "See you around, kid."

Grissom's Number One Guy
"He can't run this city without me..."

- Jack Napier

The narcissistic Jack Napier became the right-hand man of Boss Carl Grissom. He often toyed with a deck of lucky cards, twirling the cards in small tricks. Napier entered an affair with Grissom's girlfriend, Alicia Hunt, prompting the jealous crime lord to set his right-hand man up to be killed by the corrupt police officer Lt. Max Eckhardt at Axis Chemicals. When Grissom informed Napier of his entrusted task with stealing incriminating documents from the plant, Napier was again toying with his lucky deck. He turned a random card's face towards him as he inquired "me?". The card happened to be a Joker.

Grissom's plan went awry thanks to intervention by both Batman and Commissioner James Gordon. After killing Eckhardt, and then catching a ricocheted bullet through his cheeks, in a panic Napier stepped off a catwalk over a vat of a toxic chemical. Though Batman caught Napier's arm and attempted to pull him back up to to safety, Napier's leather glove slipped through Batman's, and he plummeted into the chemical vat below him.

Napier survived, and was washed into Gotham Harbor by a drainage pipe. Still submerged, he stretched an arm upward through the water's surface, where his lucky deck lay floating. Jack Napier's long chemical submersion permanently wreaked a horrible toll: his hair follicles were altered so that they grew green hair, his skin pigmentation was bleached chalk white, his soft flesh, such as his mouth and lips, were flushed crimson red, and a botched attempt at reconstructive surgery severed critical facial nerves, leaving him with a wide rictus smile.

Joker
"Jack? Jack is dead my friend. You can call me...Joker! And as you can see, I'm a lot happier!"

- The Joker to Carl Grissom, moments before murdering him.

After seeing the horrible result of his chemical encounter, Jack turned to a hack plastic surgeon, desperate to have his cheek wounds fixed. Despite going through the long and careful procedure, the surgeon informed Jack that he simply could not fix his face. Upset with the result and reflecting on all that had transpired, Jack lost touch with whatever sanity he had left. He then began laughing maniacally and convulsively, he then smashes everything in front of him and stumbles out of the room, laughing into the night.

With his mind completely snapped after seeing his bizarre new appearance, he assumed the new identity of the Joker. He killed Grissom and took over the crime lord's empire, engaging in a violent, chaotic crime spree, the motive being to "outdo" Batman, who he felt was getting too much press. He also tried to woo Gotham Globe reporter Vicki Vale, Batman's love interest.

When Bruce Wayne learned about Joker, he recalled that his parents were murdered by Jack Napier, realizing that Napier was responsible for his oath to protect the innocent of Gotham as Batman.

Death and legacy
"Sometimes I just kill myself!"

- Joker

Announcing on the television that he would be reigniting the previously cancelled Gotham City's 200th Anniversary Parade, the Joker threw twenty million dollars into the crowd. After that, he released a gas form of Smylex out of his balloons. Batman arrived in the Batwing and took away the balloons, releasing them in the night sky. Batman then made a strafing run on Joker, but the crazed clown blew up the Batwing with explosive rounds fired from his long barreled gun. He then took Vicki Vale into Gotham Cathedral and forced her to dance with him. After walking up to the belfry, Batman, after defeating a small army of The Joker's men, confronts The Joker and vows to kill him for murdering his parents years ago. During their confrontation, Batman manages to knock The Joker off the roof, but Joker reached both his arms up, and managed to pull Batman and Vicki down, themselves holding on for life from a narrow ledge. Joker's Helicopter arrived to retrieve him to safety.

Batman used a grappling hook to tie Joker's ankle to a large, heavy gargoyle. Batman sealed the Joker's fate when he broke it loose. Unable to break free from the heavy burden of the gargoyle, Joker fell screaming to his death.

Commissioner Gordon came upon Napier's body, hearing a repetitive laugh. He reached into Napier's coat and pulled out a laugh box that had been activated by the landing.

Bruce Wayne would continue to have bad memories of Jack Napier slaying his parents for several years.

Personality
Jack Napier, in the beginning of the film, is seen as being quite vain, with an penchant for nice suits and Alicia as his trophy girlfriend. In a contrast to the Joker, Napier is quite humorless. However, he is still equally as psychotic - just not outwardly. When he seeks out surgery after falling into the chemicals, Napier probably finally loses his sanity when he sees his new appearance. The Joker is born, cackling madly. Throughout the film, we see The Joker's skill for using all sorts of gadgets as weapons. He kills a mob boss with a quill, another with a supercharged joy buzzer and is frequently seen using a flower that squirts acid. In addition to his trademark gadgets, the Joker also has a macabre sense of humor both surreal and morbid. The Joker is also quite sadistic, as seen when he enjoys killing Max Eckhardt, shoots Carl Grissom and laughs, deliberately disfigures Alicia Hunt (it's strongly implied also that he throws her to her death out of a window) and finds humour in killing Mob boss Antoine Rotelli. It's also implied when he kills Carl Grissom that he actually seems to enjoy death in itself, and not just the deaths of other people, even going as far as referring to it as "therapy" from his experience. This belief is contradicted near the end of the film, though, when he is seen screaming as he falls to his death.

Police Case History Folder
Bruce Wayne asked for Alfred Pennyworth to bring him a copy of the GCPD's Case History Folder on Jack Napier. Included were two mugshots, one of Napier from recent years, and one of Napier from the time period that he murdered the Waynes. The following are known segments of their report. All underscores indicate sections of words or numbers that are currently unverifiable.

Jack Napier - Police Case History Folder

Name: Jack Napier. Sex: Male. Address: 1379 P __ 565, Gotham City. Age: 38. __:5 ft. 8". __: Gotham. Height: 5 ft. 11". __: JN7. __:265-784. __ by: __. __ : 2846287.

Assault: AC+D = __ N (8-29-76)

__: AC+D = __ A (2-16-78)

__: AC+D = __ A (11-6-80) Can not prove

Extortion: AC+D = __ J (12-16-81)

Bruce Wayne then summarized the remainder of the report. "Jack Napier, assault with a deadly weapon, age fifteen. Results of psychological profile: Violent mood swings, highly intelligent, emotionally unstable. Aptitudes include science, chemistry, and art."

Behind the scenes

 * The 1989 Batman film, directed by Tim Burton, offered a somewhat different origin for Joker, portrayed by Jack Nicholson, and at the same time made him part of Batman's origin. Joker's real name in the movie is Jack Napier, a play on the word "jackanapes"; and the historic criminal Jack the Ripper possibly a reference to a Spanish term for playing cards, "naipes"; and also the surname of actor Alan Napier, who had played Alfred in the 1960s series.
 * Joker refers to himself, and is credited as, Joker, and not the Joker. Some other characters call him simply Joker as well.
 * According to the wanted posters handed out by Lt. Eckhardt at Axis Chemical Co., Jack Napier was born in Brooklyn.
 * During the flashback sequence of the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, the young Jack Napier is played by Hugo E. Blick.
 * In the flashback for Batman Forever, the young Napier is played by David U. Hodges.
 * The first draft of Batman Returns was intended to be a direct sequel to the previous film. As a result, subplots and continuity from the first film that would have been addressed included further revelations into the past of the now deceased Jack Napier a.k.a Joker.

Appearances

 * Batman (first appearance)
 * Batman Returns (possible mention only, when Penguin referred to "Eagle Scouts [turned] into crazed clowns")
 * Batman Forever (young Jack Napier appears in a flashback of the Waynes' murders)

Clips
Video:Joker Mirror Scene

Video:The Joker's Entrance

Video:I'm glad you're dead

Video:Batman (1989 film) - Joker Movie Scenes

Video:The Joker's death

See

 * The Joker (Cesar Romero)
 * The Joker (Heath Ledger)
 * The Joker (Roger Stoneburner)
 * The Joker (BTAS)
 * The Joker (The Batman)