Joker

Joker
General Information
Full Name	Unknown
Aliases	Joker The Clown Bozo
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Status	In Custody
Appearances
Film(s)	Batman Begins (indirectly mentioned) The Dark Knight
Portrayed by
Portrayed by	Heath Ledger

"Why so serious?"

―Joker to Gambol^[src]

Joker is the main antagonist of The Dark Knight and the overarching antagonist of the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Biography

Past

No one knows who the Joker really was, and little could ever be confirmed about his early life before he turned to a life of crime. Despite his capture, no traces could be found on his fingerprints, dental records, or DNA matches against the GCPD's databases. The Joker's testimony, while normally quite true when it came to carrying out threats, seemed at times contradictory, and he was known to give conflicting accounts at times when describing past events in his life, more specifically how he got the scars of his characteristic Glasgow smile. Therefore, there is nothing indicating that anything from his past is true.

One of his anecdotes told of his extremely abusive and intoxicated father, stating that after attacking his mother with a knife, the blade was next turned on the young man, creating his mutilated smile. The fact that the Joker later referenced his father and his hatred of him to a party guest while crashing Harvey Dent's party implies that at the very least, he did have an extremely poor relationship with his father. Another story he told was when his gambling wife told him not to worry so much and that he should smile more. This advice went overhead when she had her face carved up by enforcers of loan sharks, and the couple discovered that they didn't have enough money to pay for surgery. In a desperate effort to assure his wife that he did not care about the damage to her appearance, he took a razor to his cheeks to make his Glasgow smile match hers, but the disturbing image instead caused his wife to leave him, damaging his psyche.

It is not revealed to what degree these stories hold truth if any. The Joker himself may be unaware of his true origins. Some psychological profiles of the Joker indicate that he is insane to such an extent that he reinvents both his psyche and history daily. It is therefore possible that, if neither story is true, he genuinely believed both as he told them.

In a report filed by the GCPD, there were three theories presented for Joker's identity and origin. The first was that Joker was an escaped patient from Arkham Asylum. However, that theory was debunked on the basis that his identity had no place within any records. The second theory was that Joker was a former employee of the Harley Brothers Circus, which was documented to have connections with the mob. It was reasonable to theorise that Joker was a disgruntled former employee that had bad business with the mob. The third theory presented was that Joker was a former soldier who suffered from acute PTSD who has developed a disdain for society and order itself and vows to spread chaos to spite the system over using him and abandoning him. All of this explains his unusually cool demeanour and familiarity with weapons, as well as his devastating effectiveness in various forms of combat. It also explains why his cunning rivals and possibly surpasses that of even Batman.

Batman Begins

Shortly after the death of Ra's al Ghul, Batman discusses with Lt. James Gordon the effect that he has made on Gotham City since his appearance. Gordon then reveals that a criminal with a "taste for the theatrical" has recently committed a double homicide and an armed robbery, and leaves behind a Joker playing card as a "calling card". Gordon also warns that, just as escalation occurrs in terms of a Police Force against crime, so might the scale and style of criminality change in reaction to Batman's appearance.

Sometime later, Joker orchestrates the theft of a large shipment of ammonium nitrate from the Gotham Docks. The explosive chemical is saved for storage in the Gotham General Hospital and on two passenger ferries sometime later. In addition, Joker also frequently attends the various heists and crimes that his gang commits whilst disguised as one of the accomplices, which is believed to be at least partially where he got his name from.

The Dark Knight

Several months later, a group of bank robbers under the direction of the Joker, rob the Gotham National Bank which is used as a money-laundering front for Gotham's gangs. The clown mask-wearing robbers whittle down their own numbers within minutes in a series of calculated betrayals. Finally, only "Bozo" remains, who reveals himself as the Joker to the Gotham Bank Manager, who had earlier confronted the robbers with a shotgun. In addition, largely because he can't resist appearing on-camera, Joker deliberately unmasks himself in front of a surveillance camera and posed.

The Joker then escapes with the bank's cash in a yellow school bus, conceals his identity by driving within a convoy of other school buses, and also leaves the bank manager at the mercy of a gas grenade stuck in his mouth.

The Joker states that he won't kill Batman because he is simply too much “fun” and Batman won't kill him because of his “moral obligation.” In the film, instead of trying to kill Batman, the Joker attempts to show Gotham and subsequently Batman that anyone can be as bad as him under the right circumstances.

Frustrated, Gambol then put a bounty on Joker. The Joker later took revenge that night and had his men come to Gambol, who then claimed to have killed the Joker. the Joker's 'dead' body was brought inside in a garbage bag before he attacked Gambol and told him the 'origin' of his mouth scars as a way of psychological torture and intimidation. Then, when Gambol was most terrified and shaken, Joker killed him with his knife. Then, with the remains of Gambol's men, who were overpowered and at his mercy, Joker took a pool stick, broke it in half, which made it spear-like, and said that there was only one spot open at the moment in order to join his "team", threw the piece of sharp stick at the middle of Gambol's scared men and has his gang, which was made up mostly of mentally-ill and unstable vicious crooks who escaped from Arkham Asylum who seemed to have taken the Joker as their leader, made Gambol's men fight to the death with the stick until only one was left, and advised them to "make it fast".

Eventually, after he realized that Batman had retrieved Lau from Hong Kong and that the police had struck a deal with Lau to testify against the Mob, Maroni and the Chechen relented and finally hired Joker to kill Batman. The Joker first kidnapped a Batman Impersonator, filmed his murder, and hung the body, complete with white make-up and Joker Scars, outside Mayor Anthony Garcia's office. In the murder tape that he sent to the Media, the Joker viciously mocked Brian Douglas (Batman Impersonator) as well as terrorized him to the point of leaving him absolutely frozen and weeping, as well as taunted his beliefs and his actions. Then, when he has finished humiliating and terrifying Douglas, Joker gave Gotham an ultimatum: Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in to the authorities, and, every day that Batman refused to do so, he would murder innocent people day after day. As a result of Batman not turning himself in, the first major victims were Janet Surillo, the judge who presided over Dent's indictments, and Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, the former via car-bomb and the latter via acid into the Commissioner's scotch, respectively.

Later, the Joker and his gang stormed a fundraiser at Bruce Wayne's Penthouse, using Michael Wuertz as his bargaining chip, in order to kill Harvey in person. When Joker was unable to get the guests to tell him of Dent's location, he decided to settle for killing them off. Joker then attempted to threaten a not-intimidated guest whom he noted bored a resemblance to his own hated father, to which Rachel Dawes then intervened. Suddenly, Batman appeared and fought with Joker. Joker only managed to escape by throwing Rachel out of a window, who Batman then leaped after and saved.

The killings then continued with two innocents and an attempt on the Mayor's life at a Memorial for Commissioner Loeb. The Joker appeared in public without his makeup, impersonated one of the Honor Guards, as well as had most of his gang impersonate the rest of them. In order to further ensure that the GCPD was kept on its toes, the Joker also placed a sniper rifle on the windowsill of an apartment room, as well as a timer to release the blinds for the GCPD sharpshooters to shoot at anyone who was hapless enough to be caught in the trap. Afterward, Joker, still disguised as an Honor Guard, shot his rifle at Garcia and Gordon was apparently killed when he leaped in front of Garcia. As a result, Batman told Dent to call a press conference so that he could reveal his identity and stop the killings. In a surprise move, Dent instead claimed to be Batman himself and was subsequently arrested.

While Dent was transported, the Joker and his gang attacked the caravan of police vehicles and attempted to kill Dent with a machine pistol, a shotgun, and even a rocket-propelled grenade. Joker and his men managed to destroy nearly all of the GCPD vehicles in the convoy, but, when he attempted to destroy the armored car that carried Dent, Batman intercepted his RPG, at the cost of the Batmobile (Batman detached part of it in the form of the Batpod). After he realized that Dent wasn't Batman, Joker broke off his pursuit and attempted to ram the Batpod instead: Batman managed to dodge him and then capsized the Joker’s eighteen-wheeler by use of his cable launchers.

Batman then bores down on the Joker (who goaded Batman to kill him by screaming "HIT ME!") but stopped short of ramming him at the last second, which then forced him to crash. Joker then prepared to unmask Batman but Gordon, who had faked his death to keep his family safe, stepped behind him, held a shotgun to his head and said: "We got you, you son of a bitch." The Joker was then successfully jailed at the GCPD, and, as a direct result, Gordon was then promoted to Commissioner by the Mayor. Joker also did a sarcastic clap for the newly-promoted Commissioner Gordon.

With the Joker in custody, Gordon and Batman believed that his madness was over but became alarmed when they were informed that Harvey was missing. Desperate, Gordon let Batman interrogate Joker for information, but Joker seemed unshaken by the pain. Instead, Joker gleefully told Batman his view of people as selfish and violent, who only needed a little pressure before they descended into madness. Joker also admitted that he could never kill Batman and considered him his only equal. Harvey's kidnapping was part of a test to see if Batman would save him or Rachel, whom Joker could tell that Batman cared for. When Batman started intimidating him, out of fear for his life, the Joker then told Batman where Harvey and Rachel were located; however, Joker "knew" that Batman would choose Rachel and tricked Batman into saving Harvey instead and gave him Harvey's location and told him that it was Rachel's, and vice versa. After most of the police were gone, the Joker took his guard hostage and escaped by detonating a phone-activated bomb that he had surgically planted in the stomach of Kilson who was arrested with him, with Lau in tow. After he failed to save Rachel, Gordon came to the realization that it was a setup and that Joker had planned to get caught in order to get Lau.

Harvey and Rachel each awoke tied to chairs with barrels of explosive material that surrounded them and a speakerphone that was hooked up to the other's location. Rachel then confessed her love for Harvey and agreed to marry him. Harvey fell on the floor and his left side was then completely immersed in Turpentine. Batman arrived, but found Harvey instead of Rachel. Batman then realized that Joker had lied about Rachel and Harvey's whereabouts in order to further crush Batman's morale. Batman then rescued Harvey as the building exploded, disfiguring half of his face. Unfortunately, Gordon was unable to get to Rachel before the explosion, and she was killed. At the hospital, Harvey was driven to madness by grief, and blamed Batman, Gordon, and the Joker.

The Joker later met the Chechen in a container ship with Lau and was given his reward: half the Mob's smuggled money, which Joker then doused with gasoline, and set alight with the Chechen's cigar, with Lau on top of the burning money pile. Joker then betrayed the Chechen and took control of his men. He then declared that Gotham deserved a "better class of criminal" - one that was unmotivated by money or power but who committed crimes purely for fun. That corresponded with something that Alfred said to Bruce earlier in the film:"Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn". However, the Chechen, horrified by the exact scope of Joker's plans, refused to have any part in him while he denounced him as a "freak," which caused Joker to order his men to cut the Chechen up into little pieces and feed them to his dogs to see "how loyal a hungry dog really is" before he stated that his motives, far from being about money, were about spreading a message: "Everything burns."

The Joker then made a call to a news program where Coleman Reese threatened to go public on the news with information about Batman's identity. Reese was interrupted by the Joker who then stated that he had changed his mind and believed that Gotham would to be too boring without Batman. To in order to "give others the fun," Joker then threatened that if someone didn't kill Reese in sixty minutes, he would blow up a hospital. Gordon then abandoned his ambush on the Joker and focused on evacuating all of Gotham's Hospitals.

During the mass evacuation, the Joker disguised himself as a nurse and entered the hospital room of Harvey. Joker then first apologized to Dent and maintained that he was not responsible for Rachel’s death. However, Harvey saw through his ruse and attempted to attack him only to be restrained by the Joker. The Joker then introduced Harvey to his view of the world that his time in Gotham had introduced him to, that people, or "schemers" as he called them, were the truest form of evil in the world, as it was they who laid out the plans of society, including when human lives were expendable.

In order to prove his argument, Joker pointed out that if his threats were aimed at 'gangbangers' or 'soldiers', then people wouldn't really care as society trained them to see the death of such people as acceptable. Thus, Joker then turned the disillusioned Harvey against society and against the "schemers" who put his and Rachel’s lives in danger, namely the corrupt cops who kidnapped them, as well as the "schemers" who viewed Rachel's life to be expendable: Batman and Gordon.

After he gave Harvey a revolver, the Joker advised Harvey to break away from the law that failed him and turn to chaos, which the Joker described as the only truly fair system, as the fate of everyone would be only decided by chance, without the interference of the flawed laws of Man. Harvey then responded by flipping his coin to decide Joker's fate, gave him the same chance that Rachel had, although he had his finger on the hammer making it impossible to fire anyway. Soon after Harvey left, Joker detonated Gotham General Hospital, skipped merrily away down the street, before he paused and noticed that most of the explosives hadn't gone off, before he tapped the detonator again, which then exploded the remaining explosives. Joker and his men then stole one of the nearby evacuation buses and kidnapped the TV reporter and his crew who were inside.

The Joker publicly declared that Gotham would become his by the end of the night. He then told people that they could leave, but that anyone who left by the tunnel or the bridge would discover a "surprise," which lead many fleeing Gotham citizens to avoid those two routes. As a result, two ferries sailed from the harbor that night: one was full of ordinary civilians, and the other was full of criminals. However, before their departure, Joker had arranged for both boats to be loaded with explosives, and provided with the detonator to the bombs on their counterpart's ferry, at which point he hijacked the ferries' PA system and explained the rules of what he referred to as a "social experiment:": The Joker, would blow up both boats if one didn't choose to destroy the other by midnight, or if anyone tried to escape, which would kill everyone on board.

Batman discovered not only the Joker's location at an unfinished skyscraper, but that the majority of his "gang" were actually the people that he had kidnapped earlier, who wore clown-masks with unloaded guns that were taped to their hands, and that the people, who were dressed as hostages were the actual criminals. Batman was then forced to fight not only the Joker's Henchmen but the SWAT Teams as well in order to save the hostages. Eventually, Batman confronted Joker and, after the mad clown sarcastically claimed that he's "so thrilled" that Batman made it, initiated a final battle between them (with Joker using a metal bar and a knife), also siccing Rottweilers that formerly belonged to the Chechen on Batman to gain more of an advantage. Joker managed to get the upper hand, including temporarily disabling his vision, and pinned Batman under a scaffold. He then gleefully waited as the ferry's deadline neared, and was visibly disappointed when both groups of passengers refused to kill the other in order to save themselves: The civilians had voted to blow up the other ferry but could not bring themselves to actually do so, while Ginty stepped forward and, after he took the detonator, threw it out of a window, and said that the cops should have done that from the start. As the deadline passed, Batman asked Joker if he was trying to prove that everyone was as ugly as him deep down and bluntly informed him that he was alone in both his corruption and insanity. Before he could detonate both ferries, Batman knocked the detonator out of Joker's hand with his shooting wrist-blades, threw him over the edge, and also cited right before he threw him off, in reference to Joker's scar stories, that he knew how he got his other scars. The Joker then laughed hysterically as he fell to his death, but Batman, who refused to kill him, instead caught him with his Grapple Gun and left him hanging for the GCPD to capture.

With that act, Joker acknowledged that Batman really was incorruptible but that Harvey was no longer the "White Knight;": Joker had unleashed the scarred man on the city. Joker then stated that Harvey was his "ace in the hole" in his plan to show the people of Gotham that everyone was corruptible and thus, undo Harvey's work before his transformation into Two-Face. Batman then angrily left the Joker dangling helplessly as he laughed maniacally and was then approached by the SWAT Team at gunpoint thus causing him to get arrested.

The Dark Knight Rises

Though the Joker was neither seen nor mentioned, his prediction of the citizens of Gotham was proven correct as Gotham shunned Batman in the wake of Harvey's death. Joker's prediction about civilized people's code being a 'bad joke' was also proven true, as Gotham fell into chaos in the wake of Bane's 'liberation', and the citizens 'eat each other' as he had predicted, by way of homes being looted and Scarecrow's kangaroo court.

Abilities

The Joker was a genius at planning and improvising criminal activities: He was incredibly intelligent and calculating and always stayed one step ahead of everyone else, including Batman and the GCPD. Joker's unique (if rather disturbed) worldview, as well as the complete mystery that surrounded his identity also gave him something of an edge. Having no connections, friends, former identities or family to be traced back to made Joker very difficult to predict, track down, or even understand. Joker was also shown to be a fearless, and unpredictable fighter, who took on Mob henchmen and cops with ease and showed how lethal he was with many forms of weaponry such as shotguns, RPGs, machine pistols, handguns, explosives and knives. While he used guns on many occasions, the Joker expressed his preference for knives because "guns are too quick" according to him.

Equipment

The Joker was even capable of holding his own against Batman and trapped him near the climax of the film (although he had assistance on both occasions when he fought Batman). One explanation for his fighting skills might have to do with his sadomasochist personality: Joker didn't really fear physical damage to himself like a normal person did, and, even when brutally injured, laughed at his own pain. His casual insensitivity to pain, and his extreme fearlessness, let Joker take risks that a normal person couldn't even attempt, and most people just didn't see his attacks coming, i.e. walking into a room full of mobsters and casually using a 'magic trick' that impaled a pencil into one of their heads. The Joker's obliviousness to danger made him invulnerable to what was usually Batman's greatest weapon in combat: his ability to frighten low-level thugs.

Relationships

Allies

• Harvey Dent/Two-Face † - Enemy-turned-Puppet
• Joker's Thugs - Henchmen
  • Grumpy †
  • Chuckles †
  • Happy †
  • Dopey †
  • Thomas Schiff

Enemies

• Bruce Wayne/Batman - Archenemy
• Salvatore Maroni †? - Former Ally turned Enemy
• Chechen † - Former Ally turned Enemy
• Gambol † - Enemy and Victim
• Lau † - Enemy and Victim
• Rachel Dawes † - Victim
• Harvey Dent † - Attempted Victim-turned-Puppet
• Mayor Anthony Garcia † - Target
• Judge Surrillo † - Target
• G.C.P.D.
  • James Gordon- Puppet, Attempted Victim, and Target
  • Commissioner Gillian Loeb † - Target
  • Stephens

Trivia

• The movie was released after Heath Ledger's death in 2008. Following Ledger's death, The Dark Knight was dedicated to his memory and to his family. Ledger would posthumously win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker, which makes the Joker the first comic book character to ever win an Academy Award. The film's director Christopher Nolan received the award in his name.
• This depiction in the film is often considered by many to be the most realistic version of the original Clown Prince of Crime since his early beginnings in DC Comics, at least in regards to the live action films. Perhaps due to the popularity of The Dark Knight, the mainstream Joker's extreme psychopathic and sadomasochistic tendencies have begun to be more emphasized.
• Before filming the interrogation scene, Ledger told Christian Bale, who portrayed Batman, to hit him as hard as he could, as if Batman was really hitting The Joker.
• Alongside Two-Face, the Joker was the only main antagonist in The Dark Knight Trilogy that had no affiliation with the League of Shadows. Ra's al Ghul was the former leader, Carmine Falcone was an associate, Scarecrow was an affiliate, Bane was defrocked and Talia al Ghul was a high-ranking member.
• Mark Hamill, who voiced The Joker in the DC Animated Universe, called Ledger's performance, "The most original (he) has ever seen since Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs".
• Heath Ledger directed both homemade videos that The Joker sends to GCN. The first video involving the fake Batman was done under writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan's supervision. Nolan thought Ledger had done so well with that sequence, he felt there was no need for him to be there when it came time to film the scene where reporter Mike Engel reads The Joker's statement. He put his trust in Ledger and let him do whatever he wanted, ultimately pleased with the result after he'd seen the outcome.
• Similar to Ra's al Ghul and Bane, the main antagonists of the trilogy's other installments, the Joker's real name was never revealed and was only known by his alias.
• Elements of this Joker were later used in the creation of the version for the Flashpoint story arc.
• This is one of only three Joker incarnations whose backstory does not involve falling into a vat of chemicals and being disfigured to resemble a clown, the other two being Arthur Fleck in Joker and Martha Wayne in the Flashpoint story arc.
• When Heath Ledger portrayed the Joker in the film, he was 28 years old, being the first youngest actor to portray the character (the second being Cameron Monaghan, who played both Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska in Gotham).
• Before the premiere of the documentary I Am Heath Ledger, Ledger's sister Kate debunked the rumor that the role of the Joker contributed to his death, saying "He had an amazing sense of humor and certainly playing the Joker, for him it was one big gag. He had so much fun doing that. It was actually the exact opposite. There was no doom and gloom. ... That was a shock to me that people even thought that, really." She also revealed he planned to reprise the role. "He was a really happy person and he had huge plans for his future... I spoke to him the night before (he died) and we were laughing and joking. He was so proud of what he had done in Batman. And I know he had plans for another Batman. He loved working with Chris Nolan and Christian Bale and Gary Oldman. He just had the best time ever doing that film."
• Whenever he removes his gloves except when he's disguised as a nurse, bits of his facial makeup can be seen on his hands.
• The Joker is one of the two villains in The Dark Knight Trilogy who doesn’t die, along with Scarecrow.
• The Joker doesn't appear nor is mentioned in The Dark Knight Rises, out of respect to Heath Ledger's memory. According to Kate Ledger and Aaron Eckhart, Ledger was willing to reprise the role in the third film before his death.
• The first time he saw Ledger act as the Joker, Michael Caine, who portrayed Alfred Pennyworth, was so frightened by his performance that he forgot his lines.
• To prepare for his role as Joker, Heath Ledger locked himself in a motel room in London for about six weeks. During this isolation, Ledger delved into the psychology of the character. He was dedicated to developing every tic of the Joker, namely the voice and the laugh (for voice, Ledger's goal was to create a tone that did not resemble that of Jack Nicholson's in the 1989 film Batman). Ledger based the appearance of the Joker on the look of the late punk rocker Sid Vicious combined with the personality of Alex from A Clockwork Orange.
• Before the scene where the Joker corrupts Harvey Dent was filmed, Ledger was just walking around, in his character's skin, mumbling in a weird way. All Aaron Eckhart could do at the time was watch him while still being his character. It went on for several minutes, until Ledger moved closer to him. Eckhart felt compelled at this point to raise his hand abruptly. Immediately Ledger grabbed Eckhart's raised hand exactly the same way. At the end of the scene, Ledger, now being himself, told Eckhart, "That's what acting's all about."
• Nolan decided early to not explore the Joker's origin in order to present him as an "absolute".
• According to the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises, written by Greg Cox, it is implied that Joker was incarcerated as the sole resident of Arkham Asylum or had escaped, as stated here:
  • "Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible to cop an insanity plea, it had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham's sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina."
• Since The Dark Knight takes place months after the events of Batman Begins, establishing the Joker as a now well-known criminal terrorizing Gotham and also showing the Joker at the mob reunion to know very well how Batman operates, it can be assumed that he and Batman already faced each other off-screen during the time between the finale of Batman Begins and the beginning of The Dark Knight.
  • Different situation is for the gap between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, since Batman and Gordon hint that the former would continue for a time his activity as outlawed protector and "Dark Knight" of Gotham, but it is not known how much this lasted before Batman's 8 years of self-exile, nor it is known if he faced the Joker again during this time before his "definitive" retirement.
  • Joker's absence in The Dark Knight Rises and in the 8 years before the events of the film, whether he escaped Arkham or not, could be seen as a reference to Frank Miller's famous graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, with a Joker who lost all his meaning of life and the will to continue any criminal activity without Batman, even to the point of falling into a long catatonic state.
• When he did eventually decide to complete the trilogy, director Christopher Nolan decided to pay homage to Heath Ledger and his Joker, by not mentioning the character at all at the same time. Nolan decided to pay a subtle visual tribute to Ledger's generational performance as the Clown Prince of Crime by recreating the character's iconic smile during the unveiling of a Batman statue during The Dark Knight Rises' final moments.

Appearances

• Batman Begins (indirectly mentioned)
• The Dark Knight