Joker (Earthling) Real name unknown Gang : red hood gang Calls himself the joker Crazy homicidal maniac
Hair: light green Eye: Grey Skin: pale (sometimes look white) American
Biography[]
Origins[]
Joker is an insane villian with a love for chaos. His passion for anarchy makes him the Yin to The Dark Knight's Yang
- The most commonly accepted theory was that the man who would become the Joker had at some point been coerced into joining the Red Hood Gang. This man acted as a body double to Red Hood One and due to this, fell in a vat of chemicals during the Showdown at A.C.E. Chemical. The acid severely disfigured his skin and shattered his sanity, sending the man down the path to becoming the Joker. As the man who was the real Red Hood One was found dead after the Showdown, it was unknown if the body double killed him and took his spot or replaced him sometime during the Showdown.
- A theory that began to arise in the later years of the Joker's activities was that he was actually the Pale Man of Gotham City. This more supernatural take on the Joker's past perepetuated that at some point prior to the construction of Gotham, a man had come into contact with the chemical compound known as Dionesium. It was alleged that this compound transformed him into an immortal being that haunted Gotham City during the time of great disasters.
- There are actually supposed to be 3 Jokers.
Whatever his origin was, the first sightings of the Joker began to happen during the Zero Year. At this time, the Joker had not yet taken that specific name and covered his face with wrapped bandages. At this point, this man started to hunt down members of the Red Hood Gang, while also taking an interest in Jason Todd. This man followed Todd to the place the remnants of the gang would be meeting and massacred the remaining members of the gang. His notorious murders growing, the man quickly gained the title of the Joker and due to concrete proof of his existence, became a larger media sensation than the Batman. The Joker confirmed his existence when he murdered Henry Claridge while the man was under police custody. After killing Claridge, the Joker attempted to poison the City's reservoir before being brought to justice by Batman for the first time.
One "Bad" Day[]
Killing about nineteen people per year, the Joker would slowly build up a small gang. While building up his gang, the Joker would begin experimenting with a young boy named Jason Todd, in an effort to see if he could create "his own" Robin. With the gang created, the Joker would eventually try to prove that anybody could go insane with just one "bad" day. Trying to make James Gordon insane, he would end up paralyzing his daughter, Barbara Gordon, realizing after that she was once Batgirl. Although he would be imprisoned in the Penitentiary system by the Batman, whom he would become obsessed with, the Joker would escape several times, once even carving a whistle out of a police officer's finger bone. The Joker's goal to make Jason Todd a Robin, however, would be successfully completed.
One time, the Batman would drop the Joker off at Arkham Asylum, where he would be treated by a doctor named Harleen Quinzel, whose name happened to be Harley Quinn. The Joker would seduce Quinzel into insanity and would make her his assistant, aptly named Harley Quinn. Eventually he would even scar her through acid in the same factory where he was scarred. The Joker would very quickly ditch Quinzel, though, and return to his "single" status. However, this status did not stay long as the Joker took in a new partner, an evil gorilla named Jackanapes. However, in one of the Joker's plans, Jackanapes fell into the river and was never seen again.
Soon after, the Joker, trying to accomplish his new goal, getting the Batman to kill, would end up murdering Jason, after the boy wonder's mother would sell him out. Nevertheless, the Joker would fail to get the Batman to kill him. However, the murder of Robin would drive him into fame and hence into the clutches of the Black Glove.
When the Black Glove would seemingly damn the Batman, the Joker would go under an international killing spree and disguise as Oberon Sexton. The new Batman, Richard Grayson, would figure out Sexton to be the Joker, but would be unable to stop the Joker from killing Simon Hurt, the leader of the Black Glove.
The Death of the Family[]
Although he eluded the authorities for a while, the Joker eventually started a new killing streak to once again get the attention of the Batman. Coming into contact with the Dollmaker, the Joker made a plan to try and take down the Batman Family. Getting the Dollmaker to cut off his face, the Joker faded into obscurity and was presumed dead for a whole year. However, in reality, he began putting together traps that either recreated his old crimes or turned Arkham Asylum into an impenetrable fortress. The Joker also reformed his crew by using the guards solely from Arkham. After spying on the GCPD, the Joker decided to "Put on a Happy Face" and struck against the Batman by slaughtering several police officers and strapping his face on his skull as a mask. Terrorizing the entire Batman Family, the Joker's plan eventually went awry and he ended up plummeting down the depths of the Batcave.
Believing the Batman to have betrayed him for ruining "their" family, in his own twisted image, the Joker once again began to plan revenge for one final time. Eventually creating a laughing gas powerful enough to harm even Superman, the Joker began his next plan. Repairing his face, which had already begun to grow back, the Joker began posing as Arkham Asylum guard, Eric Border. After learning of Paul Dekker and his obsession with Dionesium, Border freed the mad scientist and with him, developed a new strain of Joker Venom. Border later tricked Batman into fighting the Anchoress and relocated with the rest of the Arkham staff to Arkham Manor. Border nearly exposed himself to the Batman when expressed slight rage at the Dark Knight placing the Meek into a cell bearing his old Arkham cell numbers. Taking initiative against Batman after the Gotham Cold War, Border shed his disguise and as the Joker, confronted the Batman and unleashed a new strain of Joker Venom on Gotham. Jokerizing Joe Chill and trying to get him to kill Duke Thomas, Joker attacked Commissioner Gordon. Surviving a gunshot wound to the chest by Gordon, Joker used a phone to address Batman as Bruce Wayne for the first time before leaving, letting Gordon live. Joker later attacked the Batcave directly and survived a gunshot wound to the ear by Alfred Pennyworth. In retaliation, the Joker then cut off Alfred's hand before creating a giant parade with which to fight Batman. After discovering the Batman at the parade to actually be Dick Grayson, Joker retreated to his cave with a pool of dionesium. There Joker fought the original Batman to a standstill, both collapsing as the cave did so as well, locking the two in the depths below Gotham.
Batman Returns[]
The former Joker and the amnesic Bruce Wayne.
The dionesium begins seeping into the Joker's brain, the clown prince found himself corrected and amnesic. Resurfacing in a park, the now memory-less man went and bought a gun. Heading to a park bench, he tried to kill himself but found himself unable to. Getting an apartment, the former Joker also got a job at a butcher shop but often returned to the park bench and watched a bearded man whom he recognized as Bruce Wayne sit down on the same bench. Approaching him, he learned that they were both in an accident by the park. Telling Wayne what happened to him, the former Joker requested Wayne not to let the park lake go back the way it was. His request misunderstood, a violent Wayne nearly attacked the former Joker. Informed that Wayne no longer was in charge of Wayne Enterprises, the former Joker found acceptance with the lake possibly once again getting accepted. With that, the former Joker once again tried to kill himself but was stopped by Wayne who quickly ran off after seeing explosions in Gotham.
When a natural earthquake caused a blackout in Gotham City, the former Joker contemplated the situation. After a brief moment, he decided that it was not the right night to do what he had been planning.
Psychology[]
The most insane man on Earth Prime, the Joker, unlike other killers as Victor Zsasz, had no modus operandi. Not only did the Joker's methods of killing change often, but how he murdered and the style in which. During some slayings, the Joker simply killed, others he tortured. In some instances the Joker has had a goal, whereas at other times he has killed for no reason. The Joker was above all, very proficient at what he did. Viewing himself as a jester with the Batman as his king, the Joker saw it as his job to keep the Batman up and active, stable enough to continually protect the city. The Joker had this skewed view due to his misinterpretation of the Batman's coda against killing. The Joker himself was more of a manipulator, acting as if he were an agent of chaos itself, striking from afar. Thus, the Batman had rarely ever seen the Joker ever kill somebody himself, as most of the villain's assumed death count had been racked up by secondary means (henchmen, Joker gas, etc).
Death Count[]
By the official toll of the GCPD, murders attributed to the Joker counted over three hundred victims. However, this count was greatly exaggerated due to the police likely including in the victims from copycat killers and deaths caused by the actions of Joker's Crew. By the time the Joker had cut off his face, according to the much more accurate number compiled by the Batman, the super-villain had only killed about 114 people. Despite this, the count was still extremely high, causing him to become the number one priority of any foe.
Alternate Futures[]
| “ | Vile creature. A plague in every timeline. | ” |
End Future[]
Bruce and the Joker, Brother Eye's assassin.
- Main article: Bat-Joker
In the End Future, the Joker was kept detained by Brother Eye in an Arkham Asylum. Forcefully fed his nutrients, the Joker was recovered and prepped for surgery by Eye's number one agent, Frankenstein. Brought by Frankenstein to what he thought was the deceased body of the Batman, the Joker was initially shocked, only to realize that his now one-armed foe was still alive. Upon realizing this, the Joker burst out in a fit of laughter, unable to control his emotions once more. After discovering how Batman sent Terry McGinnis back in time, Frankenstein proceeded to perform a strange and twisted surgery on the Joker and Batman. Eventually he "merged" the two, placing Batman in a suit which served the purpose of Brother Eye's cause but with the Joker's head attached to the back of Batman's. This twisted abomination created by Frankenstein was then brought before Mr. Terrific as Brother Eye's assassin to go back in time. The Bat-Joker was then sent back, arriving right in front of Plastique.
Joker's persona ran true throughout the Bat-Joker and instead of resisting Brother Eye, the clown prince gave in completely. With malevolence being pure, hatred incarnate resulted in the Bat-Joker's dominant personality being the Joker. In the end, though, even though the Joker's insanity allowed the Bat-Joker to eventually mortally wound Terry McGinnis. Upon wounding McGinnis, however, the Bruce Wayne personality mounted a resurgence and gave Terry the motivation needed to destroy the Bat-Joker; with this, the Joker of the End Future was finally put to rest.
Earth 2[]
In Earth 2, the Joker was much of the same, but after being defeated by the original Batman 2, was put into cryo stasis. While in stasis, he was killed by the second Batman 2.
Earth 3[]
On Earth 3, the Joker had much of the same origin, but was instead forcefully dropped into the pit by Owlman. Representing anarchy against Owlman's tyranny, the Joker killed Talon and disabled the Outsider. For this, he was killed by Owlman.