The Joker was a psychopathic mass murderer who was confined to a psychiatric facility after the retirement of the Batman.
History[]
Batman: Year One[]
The Joker first surfaced in Gotham City in the December of Batman's first year as a vigilante. In his first crime, he threatened to poison Gotham's water-reservoir.
All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder[]
Joker had hired the man who murdered the parents of Dick Grayson and planned something large for the Dark Knight. By this point in time, was known to kill for sick pleasure, often indulging in sexual acts turned murders before committing his crimes.
One such woman was Donna Gugina, an upstanding attorney whom he spent a night with and then brutally attacked, crushing her larnyx. By his own admission to her, Joker stated that many of his crimes were connected by a warped loving passion, translating affection to violence. According to him, it is his repressed love for Batman that drives his obsession with him.
After having his henchwoman Bruno clean up the mess, he contacted Selina Kyle, the Catwoman. Whatever transpired left her beaten, as she was later found by Batman in such a state.
1976[]
In 1976, superheroes were deemed illegal by the U.S. government and forced into retirement, including Batman. Left without his greatest enemy, Joker fell into a depression and catatonic state as his life had lost its meaning. Largely because of his catatonia, Joker was considered the favorite patient of Arkham Asylum psychiatrist Dr. Bartholomew Wolper.
The Dark Knight Returns[]
Ten years later, once Batman took to the streets again, Joker re-emerged from his catatonia and sought to battle the hero once more. Abner found out, as he was the most faithful of Joker's old hirelings apart from the still-active Bruno. After telling Joker that Two-Face had commissioned his help in making bombs for a ransom, Joker had him sabotage the devices so that they would prematurely explode.
He manipulated his psychiatrist Dr. Bartholomew Wolper into thinking that he had been cured from his psychopathy, while putting Abner to use, having him fashion some deadly toys for a coming killing spree. Wolper then managed to get him on a talk show to talk about his new self, but was killed along with everyone in the same room. Everyone except for the Joker, that is. Batman had tried to intervene and prevent what he knew would take place, but because of the untimely intervention of the bumbling police, he failed to stop the massacre or do anything but risk his own life.

After his escape, the Joker appeared at Selina Kyle's escort service's headquarters and from there used a special brand of lipstick previously given to him by Abner, taking control of Selina's mind and that of one of her girls. The girl transmitted Joker's influence into a congressman by a kiss, resulting in his ranting for a strike on the Soviets and subsequent death from a fall. After dressing Selina up as Wonder Woman, beating her in the act, the Joker left her tied up and sobbing. Batman and Robin soon arrived and rescued Selina, the later finding a clue as to where the next crime would take place in some stray cotton candy left on the floor.
Joker then made his way to an amusement park with Abner in tow where they plotted out eventual mass murder utilizing a collection of explosive flying dolls filled with gas, until Batman arrived and dueled his old foe, promising to end his life. Robin herself was shocked by what the Joker and his sidekick had done, soon coming into conflict with Abner while Batman took on his old foe. In the battle, Joker proved to be exceptionally fast as he managed to shoot Batman in the stomach and stab him there several times, but Batman flung a Batarang into Joker's eye and broke his neck, paralyzing, but not killing him. Batman found himself unable to kill the Joker, to which Joker, out of disappointment, twisted his own broken neck while cackling cruelly in order to frame Batman for murder (especially when at least two parkgoers ended up witnessing his earlier neckbreak). Even with his own death, there was a sense of unfinished business between the two. Joker's corpse was later used as part of a booby trap by Batman when the GCPD tried to arrest him, resulting in its being burned, although not before Batman gave a spiteful final farewell to his nemesis by spitting on the corpse's face in contempt for his murders. Batman when witnessing the resulting burning of the corpse also hallucinated the corpse as still laughing at him due to his being forced to use a handgun to detonate an explosive, begging him to stop.
In Other Media[]
In the film adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker is voiced by Michael Emerson, who based Joker's voice on comedian Paul Lynde. Unlike the comic, he recovers from his catatonic state after Batman defeats the Mutant Leader, meaning he is not responsible for the premature activation of Two-Face's bombs. Joker is also shown to be directly and personally responsible for the murder of Dr. Wolper by cutting his throat open with a broken mug. The latter was inspired by a similar Joker kill from Batman: Under the Red Hood. His poisoning of the boy scouts with tainted cotton candy was also toned down to avoid directly showing the results of this crime when Batman and Robin arrive to confront him.
Influences on Other Versions[]
Film[]
- Suicide Squad: In the film Suicide Squad, the Joker (as portrayed by Jared Leto) who has his body covered in tattoos, shares the Joker's dragon tattoo on his back. Additionally there is a scene where Joker is seen wearing a white suit with slicked back green hair, possibly as an allusion to this incarnation of the character.
- Joker: The film's infamous talk-show sequence between Murray Franklin and the Joker is directly adapted from the talk-show scene from the Dark Knight Returns between the Joker and David Endocrine.
- Batman: Death in the Family: In the Jason Todd survives and tries to kill the Joker path, after Jason drops a hint about who he is after Joker unintentionally revealed his true identity by telling a certain joke he told Batman, he stabs Joker in his right eye with a butter knife in a similar manner to how Batman flung a batarang into Joker's eye in the comic. Unlike in the comic, however, this action ultimately proved fatal to the Clown Prince of Crime.
Video Games[]
- Batman: Arkham City: Joker, or more accurately, Clayface disguised as Joker, is depicted applying lipstick on himself, referring to how this incarnation frequently wears lipstick to give him his red lips instead of them being the direct result of his chemical bath.
- Batman: Arkham Origins: Joker's debut appearance had him wearing a white suit (due to having just unmasked himself after disguising himself as Black Mask), giving him an uncanny resemblance to this incarnation of the character.
Notes[]
- There was some ambiguity as to whether Joker was still alive in the original comic after Batman first broke his neck, due to his speaking with a dark speech bubble with dotted lines (similar to how Batman spoke) instead of a green speech bubble (which are used for his dialogue within the story). The animated adaptation makes it more explicit that Joker was indeed still alive after the first neck snap.
- Unlike most Joker incarnations who were depicted as extremely lean, this rendition of the Joker was depicted as well-sculpted.