- "All it takes is one, rotten day, to transform a normal man, into a monster... Well, in my case, a rotten day and a chemical bath."
- ―The Joker on his origins[src]
The Joker was the Batman's archenemy, believing himself to be inextricably linked to the Batman, and considered him to be his favorite sparring partner and opponent.
About
The Joker was once a man who wanted to make people laugh, but after he fell into a vat of chemicals, he became an insane, homicidal clown and Batman's arch-enemy. Devoid of any empathy, Joker commits crimes he views as "jokes" at the expense of Gotham. Terrible things he's done include poisoning people with his deadly laughing gas; putting people in various death traps; torturing Detective Ethan Bennett for hours and causing Bennett's mutation into Clayface (for no reason other than to see what it would do to him); impersonating Batman and gassing people for minor crimes; using Bane's venom to go on a rampage; attempting to drop a teenage boy into a vat of chemicals; and filling the abandoned tunnels and mine shafts beneath Gotham with miles of dynamite to collapse the city to oblivion.
Joker said that Batman's and his relationship was "like comedy and tragedy - two sides, same coin". Joker's weapons included his signature Joker Venom (called "Joker Gas" in the series), razor-sharp playing cards, grenades with Joker smiles on them, and a bomb shaped like a Jack-in-the-Box. One of his most famous crimes was creating the supervillain, Clayface. Joker captured and tortured Detective Ethan Bennett, and, in order to drive him mad, he exposed Bennet to "Joker putty" a deadly chemical that he created which mutated Bennet and transformed him into the shapeshifting monster, Clayface. As Clayface, Bennet attempted to get revenge on Joker many times by killing him. But never succeeded due to Batman stopping him.
It was possible that this incarnation of the Joker had an origin similar to the Killing Joke, as he mentioned that he had always wanted to make people laugh. In a flashback to his origins, Joker was shown wearing red clothes after he emerged from the chemicals which suggested at the very least a Red Hood origin. It was also hinted that Joker would one day cripple Batgirl like in "The Killing Joke" as Barbra Gordon was shown to be confined to a wheelchair in the future.
He also maintained a rivalry with Penguin for the title of Gotham's greatest criminal though they were willing to work together if needed.
History
- "A very thin line separates normality, from insanity... Life brings thousands of tiny torments, in all shapes, sizes, and flavors..."
- ―The Joker driving Ethan Bennett insane[src]
At the beginning of his crime career, Joker went into Arkham Asylum and released all inmates from there. Batman encountered him at the asylum during his investigation. Joker fought well but escaped with the intention of spreading deadly laughing gas around Gotham City. Batman confronted him at his headquarters, planning to take him down and stop the deadly gas. Batman fought him while they were aboard his gas-filled Blimp which was heading towards a sharp point on a statue. Batman defeated Joker and sent him into the ocean with his Blimp, leaving the defeated Joker to be captured by the police. Once in jail, he laughed about how he had "bats in his Belfry" and swears revenge on Batman.
After that incident, Joker planned to get revenge on those who did him wrong including Batman and Police Detectives Ellen Yin and Ethan Bennett. He used a gun which could imprison victims in life-sized playing cards and a criminal named Nolan who disguised as Joker to get those victims while the Clown Prince of Crime escapes from Arkham Asylum while confusing Batman. Batman eventually discovered his plan while visiting him in Arkham: to imprison those who he wants revenge on in life-sized playing cards to make a full deck and then drown them in the Gotham River. Batman saves one of his prisoners and then battles Joker on the roof. While Joker attempted to imprison Batman with his gun, Batman turned the tables by using it on the crazed criminal, then he was sent back to the asylum.
Joker later has obtained a special weapon which allows him to melt anything and anyone in addition to gaining two new henchmen named Punch and Judy. He melts a Vault at the Bank, robbing the money, and then goes to a large statue to change its face as a joke but Batman and Detectives Ethan Bennett and Ellen Yin come to stop him. Joker and his goons escape but soon kidnaps Bennett with the intentions of driving him insane. While making him laugh crazily, Joker then tries to use his weapon on Ethan, but Batman uses his Batarang to destroy it, but gas comes out, infecting Ethan. Joker then has a fight with Batman and is knocked out with a punch to the face. Ethan later becomes Clayface thanks to Jokers putty
Tired of being an insane criminal who gets beat up by Batman, Joker dresses as Batman to claim himself as Gotham City's protector. Joker also uses his Joker Venom on Batman, planning to finally kill him in 24 Hours so he can permanently take his place. Joker uses Batman's gadgets as well as his Utility Belt and Batsuit, and uses his laughing gas against criminals and people who've committed minor crimes such as littering, jaywalking, and speeding. He also uses the toxins on the Mayor's wife and threatens Gotham will pay if he doesn't get paid for his services. Batman desperately chases Joker so he can find the cure to survive. The crazed clown later confronts Penguin who he plans to stop since Penguin is a criminal. Batman also joins in, fighting the two off with Batman and Joker more or less working together, and Penguin is accidentally injected with the venom but is left hanging by a lamppost by Batman. Batman soon defeats Joker and manages to cure himself as well as telling the villain a joke, which makes Joker want to give up being Batman and instead continue as Joker spreading chaos.
The evil clown escapes Arkham once again after being attacked by Clayface and finds Detective Ethan Bennett which he planned to drop from a building to kill. Bennett then revealed to be Clayface and the two fought, but Batman interrupted to tell Bennett to stop which allowed Joker to escape. Joker then began robberies again at Wayne Industries but Clayface soon found him and wanted to get his revenge on him once again. Joker then convinces Ethan to become a criminal which he does by stealing Joker's art that he stole. Batman stops him and Clayface is apprehended while Joker escapes.
Joker later broadcasts his crimes on television as entertainment to the people of Gotham City. He dresses as a cop to kidnap and use his laughing gas on the Mayor, planning to take him hostage as well as rob a Bank. Batman fails to stop Joker while his driving in his car, then manages to kidnap Detective Cash Tankinson and use laughing gas on him too. Batman confronts Joker in a ring, but there's a twist, there is a tower which is making several canisters release laughing gas around Gotham which will make everyone in the city die laughing as well as the Mayor and Cash being tied up as hostages at the tower. Batman attempts to destroy the tower's signal with his Grappling Hook but Joker sent out his goons, Punch and Judy, to stop him. Batman outsmarts them and defeats them by leaving them hanging from the tower by their feet, then destroys the signal. Joker attempts to finish off Batman but is hand-cuffed to the tower thanks to Yin leaving them all for the police to capture.
Joker kidnaps Detective Ellen Yin to get revenge on Batman and ties her to a Jack N' the Box which will explode in 8 hours. Batman apprehends the clown taking him to Arkham and then both Batman and Hugo Strange go into his insane mind with a device made by Strange to try and find out where she is. They found out that Joker had his own Gotham City within his own mind filled with Joker's. From there, he planned on driving the two completely insane and breaking their minds. Batman encountered Jack Napier who worked in Joker's Idea Factory but he was disposed of when he secretly told Batman some clues to find Yin. Joker cut through the floor with a saw and made him fall into a vat of chemicals, Joker then came up and said "Water's warm Batman, dive in." He then went to the opera where Joker and a large crowd of Jokers attacked him. Batman soon becomes laughing uncontrollably into insanity. Alfred Pennyworth helped him and Batman eventually managed to get Joker into his mind thanks to learning it was a two-way transmitter. Batman then managed to find Ellen Yin and saved her before the Jack N' The Box could explode.
As Joker attempts to control Gotham, both Penguin and Riddler get in the way with their attempts to take control of Gotham City. Joker then agrees with the other criminal masterminds that whoever defeats Batman will get to take over Gotham. As Joker and Penguin chase after Batman and Yin, they are confronted by Riddler's goons and they eliminated his henchmen and then turn their attention to Riddler. Batman soon arrived to defeat each one of them. Batman defeated Joker by throwing an Explosive Batarang at the pipes he was underneath, destroying them and causing the pipes to fall on Joker, knocking him out. All three of them are later arrested.
Later Joker, Penguin, and Scarface are shown as members of Hugo Strange's therapy season. Joker says he can't hear the voices in his head.
Joker later stole Bane's Venom because he wants to become stronger and more powerful than Batman. The Clown Prince of Crime easily defeated Batgirl at the Circus and then robbed the gold ball which is Gotham's new Landmark. GCPD Officers blockade the streets and attempt to get the gold ball back from him but Joker simply throws the ball at them. Joker then fought Batman, who tried to destroy the venom several times but failed as Joker was too powerful. Alfred Pennyworth sent in the Bat-Bot as backup to help defeat "Brawn". Batgirl used the Bat-Bot to fight Joker but was nearly destroyed and Joker took Batman to another location where he'll die. Batgirl used the Bat-Bot once again against the crazed clown. Joker's venom was destroyed and he turned back to normal. Joker still claimed to be bigger than Batgirl, Batman then said he isn't bigger than him and knocked him out with a punch to the face.
During Catwoman's attempt to try and steal two black tigers, Joker arrives to steal them and then kidnapped Catwoman to try and kill her with giant chattering teeth. Catwoman is saved by Batman and Batgirl while Joker arrives at the home of a hunter named Killgore Steed who wants the tigers. Joker gives him the tigers and then is given two laughing hyenas for him as pets. Joker then said if he can see if they can laugh "at a joke" which confuses Killgore. Punch and Judy take out both of Killgore's bodyguards and then Joker gasses Killgore with Joker Gas to betray him. Batman, Batgirl, and Catwoman arrive to save the tigers and Joker decides to put them into a giant maze filled with deadly traps. He steals their equipment by threatening to kill the tigers and then sends out a deadly spider to go into the maze making it more dangerous. Joker then goes in with his new pets and finds Catwoman. He orders them to kill Catwoman but they soon become friendly to her to Joker's anger. Joker then attempts to kill her with an acid-filled gun but fails and is defeated later by Batman.
Joker later attempted to assassinate the Mayor once again by gassing him with Joker Gas through a firetruck. However, Batman and Batgirl stopped him but Joker escaped and returned to his hideout. Joker, wanting a sidekick of his own, found a young kid who just wanted to make others laugh like himself. The insane criminal soon manipulated him into becoming Prank, Joker's sidekick. During their scheme, they launched life-sized gumballs at buildings and stuck police officers to them. Joker eventually knocked out Batgirl with his Boxing Glove Arm and attached her to one of the gumballs, planning to make Prank kill her but he refused because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, angering Joker and causing them to retreat back to their hideout. Joker intended to disfigure him by matching his on accident, by being throwing him into a vat of chemicals. Batman and Batgirl confronted Joker and saved Prank but Joker got Batgirl on the ledge too. While rescuing Batgirl, Batman and her then looked at Joker who had a gun, planning to shoot them. Prank, angered at what Joker did and is attempting to do, punched him. Joker was knocked out and it was revealed that his gun was fake.
During a scheme to try and infect every dog with Joker Venom, Punch and Judy are revealed to be Clayface. Joker tries to run away from him but is stopped when Clayface covers him in clay. Batman and Robin arrive to apprehend both Joker and Clayface. Clayface then turns himself in and the two are sent to Arkham Asylum. Joker later appears playing Chess with Basil Karlo and tells him that he still has some of his Clayface powers which was proven true.
After Harleen Quinzel is fired from her job as a TV pop host and he fails getting art from the museum. Joker recruits her into becoming Harley Quinn because he feels like he could relate to her. They have a night out in town killing squirrels and playing harmless yet annoying pranks on people. Batman arrives to put a stop to this and is shocked when he sees Harley is really Harleen. After escaping Joker later helps her try and get revenge on the people responsible for firing her but Batman stops the clowns. In a resulting explosion which knocks out Quinn, Joker escapes and Quinn is captured and taken to prison. but she still remains the clowns' girlfriend after Joker sends her a love message telling her to keep smiling.
Before Rumor came to be, Joker attacked Paul Karon and wanted to steal his latest invention which was capable of destroying buildings. Batman arrives to stop Joker but fails to save Karon from being crippled. Mario, Paul Karon's bodyguard, then became Rumor to seek revenge for his boss by kidnapping Joker and every single criminal in Gotham City to execute them. Joker remained in his hideout and ordered thugs he hired to defend him from Rumor, but they failed, and Joker was kidnapped. As he was going to kill Joker and the rest, Batman and Robin stopped Rumor but accidentally released all the villains who wanted to get revenge on Mario. The heroes took down the villains. As the fight reached its end Joker and Harley Quinn fought them in hand-to-hand combat. Batman knocked out Joker by smashing him into ice which Mr. Freeze created then they all get arrested.
When The Joining started to invade Earth, Joker, Bane, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze started to assist the police in destroying the alien forces after Arkham gets attacked. While using his gas gun on the aliens, Joker says he only gets to cause terror in Gotham and exclaimed the town has gone mad upon seeing Gordon and Freeze work together while laughing insanely about it.
One day, Joker used a new kind of laughing gas to control people in throwing valuable goods into the water. Batman Batgirl and Robin soon found out Joker's plan and pursued him on his train which he was going to use to blow up Gotham. The kids fought Punch and Judy while Batman fought Joker who was acting as the train's conductor. Batman managed to defeat Joker by removing his battery allowing the police to apprehend him again.
Joker, escaped from the asylum again, and hires school dropout Marty Slacker to help him try and get more money without getting caught. Slacker built an invention which allowed the Clown Prince of Crime to download money illegally. Batman eventually confronted Joker and his henchmen to put a stop to their plan, but Batman accidentally damages the invention while it was connected to his mind. Joker was then placed in Hospital and another Joker escaped using Wayne Industries nanobots. Joker used these to his advantage by gaining the ability to shape-shift, taking heavy damage, and flight. Joker escaped from the Hospital and attempted to backstab his better counterpart, but failed and was betrayed by his own henchmen for Joker 2.0 Joker 2.0 then tried to kill the real Joker, Batman, and Robin but Joker survived thanks to Batman saving them all and was subdued by Robin. Joker manages to cut himself free with his Razor playing card and then knocks out Robin with his Joy Buzzer, although Robin later ties up Joker and his gang. After Joker 2.0 was destroyed by Batman, Joker and his henchmen were arrested. Harley tells him to cheer up by saying that Marty has more ideas. Joker then wonders if Penguin has problems with his own henchmen.
After successfully stealing money while both Wrath and Scorn fight Batman, Joker alongside Penguin, the Ventriloquist/Scarface and Killer Croc attempted to become rich with Wrath and Scorn's help but they failed and was instead promised of Batman's true identity. After being defeated, Wrath and Scorn were arrested. As they swore they'd tell the police who he really is, Joker gassed them with Joker Gas and claimed he's the only one who could defeat Batman then escaped with Harley Quinn.
At some point afterwards Joker was captured and returned to Arkham Asylum. When Batman, Robin, and Green Arrow go there to confront Hugo Strange about working with the Joining, They quickly pass by Joker's cell where he simply looks back and smiles knowing he will likely escape once again.
The Batman vs. Dracula
Vampire Joker attempting to rob a blood bank.
Vampire Joker feasting on blood.
Likely taking place in between seasons 2 and 3, Joker first escapes from Arkham Asylum in search of treasure. Joker tricks Penguin into thinking they will work together to find the treasure, he shocks Penguin with his joy-buzzer and runs off. After a fight with Batman, Joker falls into a river and seemingly gets electrocuted to death, much to Batman's shock and sadness.
Joker survived and encountered Penguin outside a mausoleum after being found in a fisher man's net and chased him down, only to be dragged into Draclua's sarcophagus and was turned into a Vampire. Joker's hair turned white, his eyes turned blue-white, and even his clothes were affected as well. Unlike all the other vampires, however, Joker retained his individuality and his speech as well as gained vampiric superhuman strength and speed. Nevertheless, Joker was still incapable of betraying Dracula's resting place. At one point, Joker humorously commented that the blood that he feasted on in a blood bank had a delicious flavor of "a bold finish of wild cherries with a hint of oak" before belching. Joker and Batman had a battle which resulted in Joker's defeat.
Joker was taken back to the Batcave and Alfred expressed pity on him stating, "Joker has suffered a fate crueler than death." Joker suffered as a vampire due to a lack of blood but Batman gave him some of his blood to help him. Despite this Joker remained a vampire and stayed that way until Batman had managed to find a cure and reverted him back to normal. As a side effect, Joker didn't remember anything after his meeting with Penguin outside of Dracula's Mausoleum and is sent back to Arkham Asylum.
Appearance
In his first few appearances, Joker's costume consisted of a purple-sleeved straitjacket, blue pants, finger-less gloves, and bare feet. Later in the series, Joker wore a purple jacket (with lavender flower pin), orange shirt, and dark purple leggings (with finger-less gloves of the same material), but still had wild hair and wore no shoes, except in one episode (which had mechanical stilts concealed in them) in which ironically he reverted to his earlier costume. Joker also moved and fought with a monkey-like style, by using his feet as dexterously as his hands, and often hung from the walls and ceilings. He was born by falling into a vat of chemicals, which bleached his skin, dyed his hair, and drove him to insanity.
Personality
Joker often switched from a prankster-like clown to a much darker homicidal barefoot wild man (as in later episodes). Despite this, he was always kind to his sidekick Harley Quinn, and never physically abused her.
While it could be argued that this version of the Clown Prince of Crime more resembled the colorful, comic relief character featured in the comics of the 1950s and '60s and the 1960s show, he was still a highly dangerous, intelligent, and cruel character - as most of his crimes were silly and prank-like in nature, they could still be legitimately destructive. Joker treated each of his crimes like an elaborate joke designed to make his victims literally die of laughter. Due to his unpredictable nature, bizarre appearance, and unnerving instinct for the absurd, Joker earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous criminals in Gotham. Despite his rivalry with Batman, he was shown respect for his abilities and even saved him from Wrath and Scorn so they could keep fighting. He also seemed to care about Harley Quinn, as he admired her show and even once saved her from Batgirl in issue 35 of The Batman Strikes.
Sometimes he would simply intend to cause relatively harmless mischief, such as messing up statues with his Joker putty, pranking people with Donnie, or throwing coins into a water fountain with Harley. Other times, he will get more dangerous to the point where in Joker Express, he fills dynamite in Gotham and attempts to blow them up to make Gotham fall into a sinkhole, and when he steals Bane's Venom to wreak Gotham.
Quotes
- "Even if we couldn't, Batsy?"
- "You're good."
- "How many Jokers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Wouldn't know! They're too busy loosening Batman's screws!"
- "They all said I was sick in the head. They said I needed help. Well, maybe I am a bit batty. Blame it on the bats in my belfry."
- "Goodbye, Arkham! Hello, Gotham!"
- "Undead and kicking!"
- "Funny, I was trying to turn you into dust!"
Appearances
The Batman
- Season 1
- "The Bat in the Belfry"
- "The Man Who Would Be Bat" (Cameo in a photo)
- "Topsy Turvy"
- "Bird of Prey" (Mentioned)
- "The Rubberface of Comedy"
- "The Clayface of Tragedy" (Impersonated by Clayface)
- Season 2
- "The Laughing Bat"
- "Meltdown"
- "JTV"
- "Grundy's Night" (Cameo as a Halloween costume)
- "Strange Minds"
- "Night and the City"
- Season 3
- "A Fistful of Felt"
- "Brawn"
- "The Laughing Cats"
- "The Apprentice"
- "Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind" (Mentioned)
- Season 4
- "Team Penguin" (shown in a photo)
- "Clayfaces"
- "The Breakout" (mentioned)
- "Two of a Kind"
- "Rumors"
- "The Joining, Part 2"
- Season 5
- "White Heat" (mentioned)
- "Joker Express"
- "Ring Toss" (mentioned)
- "The Metal Face of Comedy"
- "The End of the Batman"
- "Lost Heroes, Part One" (cameo)
- The Batman vs. Dracula
The Batman Strikes!
- Issue 2 " City Of Bats" (cameo)
- issue 3 "Outlaw and Disorder"
- Issue 9 " Sanity Plea"
- Issue 16 "Hit and Run"
- Issue 26 " Escape" (cameo)
- Issue 28 "The Comic and the Straight Man"
- Issue 32 " How to Take Out A Room Full Of Goons"
- issue 34 " Shtick Shift" (cameo on Batman's trap)
- Issue 35 " The Clown Prince Of Late Night"
- Issue 39 " Hostile Takeover"
- Issue 40 "The Burning Question"
- Issue 41 " Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!" (mentioned)
- Issue 43 " Grounded (cameo)
- Issue 47 " :20 Minutes"
- Issue 48 (mentioned)
Voiced by
- Kevin Michael Richardson (English)
- Kozo Shioya (Japanese)
- Ruben Leon (Spanish)
- Pierre Hatet (French)
- Riccardo Peroni (Italian)
- Michael Iwannek (German)
- Julio Chaves (Portuguese)
- Aarre Karén (Finnish)
- Per Sandborgh (Swedish)
- Gilad Kietter (Hebrew)
Trivia
- In that series, unlike all other media, the character was almost universally referred to simply as "Joker" rather than "the Joker"; this was to contrast with the way his enemy's name was similarly altered, universally being referred to as "the Batman" instead of just "Batman".
- Joker's line of expressing how men were easily driven insane and how he became what he was after only 'one rotten day' was based off the famous "one bad day" monologue from Batman: The Killing Joke.
- Joker's long, dreadlocked hairstyle was inspired by the Jester's Hat, which is often associated with The Joker or The Fool. This led fans to believe Joker was African-American and confused them when Joker was shown to be Caucasian in a flashback.
- Joker never used the monkey-like combat style in the comic strips, TV Series, and Live-Action movies until The Batman.
- Joker underwent relatively drastic visual changes throughout the series, bringing him closer to more conventional Joker designs. His straightjacket was switched out for the iconic purple tuxedo, his hair became shorter and less fluid, his teeth, while still jagged, were no longer "jigsaw" teeth that slotted together and he adopted a straighter posture. This accompanied the downplaying of his combat skills and ultimately resulted in him being quite similar to his TAS counterpart by the end of the series.
- Interestingly enough, when Joker was changed into a Vampire by Dracula, he was the only one who appeared to have kept his identity and even went so far as to rob a blood bank unlike his fellow victims, who seemed to have changed into mindless animals. The explanation for that could be due to his extreme insanity being able to protect him from Dracula's control (though it still prevented him from being able to tell the Batman where Dracula's location was).
- Despite Dracula himself turning Joker into a Vampire, the Count appeared to have little concern for him when he didn't return to the Crypt. It's possible that he was considered too dangerous and unpredictable by Dracula and was thus ousted from the pack (or he left of his own free will).
- This version of Joker is much nicer to Harley than his DCAU counterpart buying her a diamond the size of a softball for her Valentine's Day and choosing to indulge on her simply because he could as opposed to manipulating her to get out of Arkham. He also never physically hits or abuses her but he does leave her behind in a fire albeit out of indifference rather than active malice and it's possible he knew Batman would save her life.
- This version of Joker shares a resemblance with his version interpreted by the late Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight: both having kidnapped a law official (Ethan Bennett in The Batman, Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight) and corrupted them into two criminals.
- When the character of Gotham's Mayor Grange warned Joker he would not get away with his latest scheme in one episode, he had some experience saying that, as he was played by TV's original Batman, Adam West, who in his time had faced down another Joker.
- The Joker would later use Venom to be a strongman again in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
- This version of the Joker, next to Jack Nicholson's portrayal, is the only one who refers to himself as "Joker" instead of "The Joker".
- Despite never being acknowledged onscreen, it's possible that The Joker committed the same crimes his original counterpart did during the popular 1988 one-shot Batman: The Killing Joke at some point before 2027. This is because Barbara Gordon is depicted as wheelbound in the episode "Artifacts". As Joker's origin resembles that of his (The Killing Joke counterpart, this could be the case.
- Most of the toys created for him are just recolors of his straightjacket, although the toy "Strange Sleeves Joker" had cloth sleeves though the other recolors of the straightjacket were plastic.