- "Welcome, inmates. You are now taking your first, tentative steps towards a better world. A world of fun, mischief and best of all, a world where the only person you need to answer to is yours truly."
- ―The Joker[src]
Joker's Funland was the base of operations of the Joker and Harley Quinn within the confines of Arkham City. It was comprised of the former Industrial District, particularly Falcone Shipping and Sionis Industries.
History[]
Batman: Arkham City[]
After they were imprisoned within Arkham City, the Joker, Harley Quinn, and their gang of clown thugs completely overtook the Industrial District of Old Gotham within the new megaprison and transformed it into a demented amusement park. The warehouses that formerly belonged to Falcone Shipping became storage for The Clown Prince of Crime's arsenal as well as home to his army. The Steel Mill that formerly belonged to Sionis Industries became the Joker's personal headquarters, and contained Joker's Fun House in the old Manager's Office, where he stayed in total seclusion from the outside world while he recovered under Quinn's care.
Falcone Shipping was completely abandoned after Mayor Quincy Sharp had completely chased Carmine Falcone and his crime family out of Gotham City. After Sionis Industries stolen from him, Black Mask was initially left without a base of operations within Arkham City, just as he was powerless without a gang, and most of the inmates were gang members who worked for either the Joker, the Penguin, or Two-Face; however, Sionis later partnered with the Riddler and made his headquarters into a warehouse with a freight train. The two relied on various double agents and traitors within the three top gangs as their own henchmen while they took advantage of the ensuing threesome war between Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face to distract anyone from their own respective agendas.
Joker's Funland was by far the largest gang turf in Arkham City, and consisted of an entire district that was filled with the Joker's seemingly endless supply of clown henchmen. All around the amusement park-like fortress were decorative flashing lights, circus themed structures such as giant metal nutcrackers and wooden clown faces, ice cream trucks that members of "Joker Enterprises" used to travel around the city and defunct carnival attractions. Within "Joker's House of Fun" was the "Ghost Train", a deadly system of locomotives that Joker forced prisoners to ride either as a form of torture, execution, or to prove their loyalty to his gang, and also acted as fast transport for clown reinforcements on the inside. Batman infiltrated the Steel Mill to confront the Joker twice when he was imprisoned in Arkham City.
The first time that he entered Sionis Industries, Batman was incapacitated by Harley and briefly taken prisoner in the Manager's Office, which was set up by the twisted duo. There, Batman was poisoned when the Clown Prince of Crime transfused his own diseased blood into him, and forced the Dark Knight to pursue Mr. Freeze in order to acquire a cure for them both. Later, Batman entered Joker's Fun House a second time to retrieve the cure that had been stolen by Harley, and faced off against the Joker (actually Clayface in disguise), his numerous gang members, his army lieutenant Mr. Hammer and a Titan Henchman in combat. Joker's Fun House was mostly destroyed by bombardment from the TYGER helicopters after Professor Hugo Strange initiated Protocol 10, and Joker's Funland, as a whole, was heavily damaged as well, but was left relatively intact.
Harley Quinn's Revenge[]
After the death of the Joker and Arkham City was shut down almost immediately after, Joker's Funland was evacuated of its thugs, including Harley; however, she soon managed to escape from the temporary facility that she was kept in and rallied Joker's old gang back together. She led her army back to the abandoned Industrial District, painted over the sign at the entrance in red that read: "Harley's Funland", and turned the entire area into a mourning ground for the deceased Joker, with banners with his face on them, and many various messages such as "R.I.P. Mr. J" and "Joker Forever" hung on many structures.
Most of the carnival-themed lights in the stronghold remained dimmed, which gave it a less vibrant and more depressing atmosphere. The thugs were also redesigned to have clothes that boasted Harley's classic black and red, diamond jester theme. There were also multiple forms of graffiti drawings of things such as "HARLEY RULES", and cartoon symbols of Harley's mischievous smiling face and threats against Batman. Harley also made use of the Ship Yard within Sionis Industries, and expanded her base beyond the Steel Mill, though it was unknown if the Joker had also made use of the Ship Yard during his reign.
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- "Welcome to Mr. J's Carnival. You must be 74 inches tall to ride. Guests with heart conditions, vertigo or who are not trained in martial arts should not ride. Please keep arms and hands moving at all times. Park is not responsible for any damage, loss or injury to the neck, back, face, ribs, skull, spleen or other vital organs. Enjoy!"
- ―Harley Quinn[src]
- An altered version of Joker's Funland was featured as a DLC Challenge Map for those who pre-ordered Arkham City, under the name The Joker's Carnival. It was an arena fenced in and surrounded by bumper cars, flashing lights and various amusement park rides with carnival music playing in the background. In it, the player must fight a never-ending onslaught of the Joker's clown thugs as well as other inmates and gang members while the Joker spectates from the sidelines.
- In The Joker's Carnival, it was actually the real Joker present who spectated and fought instead of Clayface, as his body showed a skeleton in Detective Mode, though he was shown as healthy rather than sick as in the story. Joker watched and commented on the player's performance in the brawl, and sat on a bumper car from behind a fence; if the player reached a x100 hit combo, he climbed over the fence and joined the fight. When fought, Joker could be K.O.'d before the other enemies unlike in the campaign due to the fact that enemies continued to spawn endlessly until the player was K.O.'d or ran out of time.
- Joker's Fun House also appeared in the Challenge Maps under the name Funhouse Brawl.
- The Ship Yard was not featured in the main story of Batman: Arkham City, and was introduced for the first time in Harley Quinn's Revenge, which was a DLC expansion and the final chapter to the game's story. The Ship Yard was located just beyond the Steel Mill along the Arkham City wall.
- Oddly enough, there was a Ferris Wheel within Joker's Funland, even though it was located in the Industrial District rather than in Amusement Mile, which was usually the site of a Gotham City amusement park and Joker's favored location for a base instead. It was possible, though unconfirmed, that Joker Enterprises made use of the Falcone Shipping cranes and moved the Ferris Wheel after Joker and his henchmen took up residence in Arkham City. That would not be surprising, given the numerous details of construction that the gang undertook in forming their base.