What does a real joker look like? Who played the joker

Joker - Character History

Joker (character)

Art by Alex Ross
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance: Batman #1 (April 25, 1940)
Created
Bill Finger
Bob Kane
Jerry Robinson

Capabilities

• Criminal mastermind
• Experienced Chemist
• Uses military-grade props and toxins

The Joker is a fictional supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman (April 25, 1940) published by DC Comics. The rights to create the Joker are disputed; Kane and Robinson took credit for the Joker's design, acknowledging the contributions of Finger's writing. Although the Joker was planned to be destroyed during his initial appearance, he was spared editorial intervention by allowing the character to endure as the arch-enemy of the superhero Batman.

One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the Joker has been listed among the greatest comic book villains and fictional characters ever created. The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise such as clothing and collectibles, inspire real-life structures (such as theme park attractions), and be referenced in many media. The Joker has been adapted to serve as Batman's adversary in live-action film, animated, and video game incarnations, including the 1960s Batman television series (played by Cesar Romero) and in Jack Nicholson's film The Batman (1989), Heath Ledger's The Dark Knight (2008) , and Jared Leto in Suicide Squad (2016). Mark Hamill, Troy Baker and others provided the character's voice.

Creation and development

1940 sketch of Jerry Robinson's character (left behind) The Joker. (correct) Actor Conrad Veidt in character as Gwynplaine in The Man Who Laughs (1928). Veidt's grinning visage inspired the Joker's design.

Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, but their accounts of the character's concept differ, each providing his own version of events. Finger, Kane, and Robinson's versions acknowledge that Finger produced actor Conrad Veidt's portrayal of the character as Gwynplaine (a man with a disfigured face, giving him an endless grin) in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs as the inspiration for the Joker's appearance, and Robinson produced the play's sketch Joker cards (right).

Robinson claimed that it was his 1940 map sketch that served as the character's concept, and which Finger associated Veidt's image. Kane hired 17-year-old Robinson as an assistant in 1939, after he saw Robinson wearing a white jacket decorated with his own illustrations. Starting out as a letterer and background inker, Robinson quickly became the primary artist for the newly created Batman comic book series. In a 1975 interview in The Wonderful World of DC Comics, Robinson said he wanted a supreme arch-villain who could test Batman, but not a typical crime lord or gangster, designed to be easy to locate.

He wanted an exotic, enduring character as an ongoing source of conflict for Batman (similar to the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty), designing a devilishly sinister-but-buffoonish villain. Robinson was intrigued by villains; his studies at Columbia University taught him that some characters are made up of contradictions, leading to the Joker's sense of humor. He said the name came first, accompanied by an image of a deck playing card he often had on hand: "I wanted someone visually exciting.

I wanted someone who would leave a lasting impression, would be quirky, would be memorable like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or any of the other villains who had unique physical attributes. “He told Finger about his concept over the phone, later providing character sketches and images of what would become his iconic Joker playing card design. Finger thought the concept was incomplete, ensuring Veidt's image with a terrible, permanent mouth-hole grin.

Kane countered that Robinson's sketch was produced only after Finger had already shown the Gwynplaine image to Kane, and that it was only used as a card design owned by the Joker in his early appearances. Finger said he was also inspired by an image at Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, which resembled a Joker head he sketched and later shared with future publishing director Carmine Infantino. In a 1994 interview with journalist Frank Lowes, Kane stated his position:

Bill Finger and I created the Joker. Bill was a writer. Jerry Robinson came to me with a Joker playing card. That's the way I sum it up. The Joker] looks like Conrad Veidt – you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, the 1928 movie based on the novel] by Victor Hugo…. Bill Finger had a book with a photo of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and said, 'Here's the Joker.' Jerry Robinson had absolutely nothing to do with him, but he will always say that he created him until he dies. He brought in the playing card that we used for several problems for him Joker] to use as his playing card.

Robinson credited himself, Thumb and Kane to create the Joker. He said he created the character as Batman's unlikely nemesis when additional stories were quickly needed for Batman # and he received history credit in a college course:

At that first meeting when I showed them the Joker sketch, Bill said it reminded him of Conrad Veidt in The Man Who Laughs. This was the first mention of him... Bob himself can be credited to him, we all played a role in him. The concept was mine. Bill completed that first script from my outline of the persona and what should happen in the first story. He wrote the script for it, so he really was a co-creator, and Bob and I did the visuals, so Bob was too.

Although Kane adamantly refused to share credit for many of his characters (and denied Robinson's claim until Kane's death), many comic historians credit Robinson with creating the Joker and Thumb with character development. By 201 Thumb, Kane and Robinson had died, leaving the story unresolved.

Golden age

The Joker debuted in Batman #1 (1940) as the first villain of the same name, shortly after Batman's debut in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The Joker originally appeared as a ruthless serial killer, modeled after the Joker playing card with a bleak grin, who killed his victims with "Joker Venom": a toxin that left their faces smiling in a grotesque manner. the character was intended to be killed off in his second appearance in Batman No. by being stabbed in the heart. Finger wanted the Joker to die due to his concern that recurring villains would make Batman seem unsuitable, but was overruled by then-editor Whitney Ellsworth; a hastily drawn panel, indicating that the Joker was still alive, was added to the comedian. The Joker went on to appear in nine of the first twelve Batman issues.

The character's regular appearances quickly established him as the archenemy of the dynamic duo, Batman and Robin; he killed dozens of people, and even derailed a train. By issue #13, Kane's work on the syndicated Batman strip left him with little time for comics; artist Dick Sprang took over his duties, and editor Jack Schiff collaborated with Finger on the stories. At the same time, DC Comics found it easier to sell his stories to children without the more mature pulp elements that spawned many superhero comics. During this period, the first changes to the Joker began to appear, portraying him more as the Joker than a threat; when he kidnaps Robin, Batman pays the ransom by check, implying that the Joker cannot exchange it for money without being arrested. Comics writer Mark Waid suggests that the 1942 story "The Joker's Walk, The Last Mile" was the starting point for the character's transformation into a goofier incarnation, a period that Grant Morrison believed would last the next thirty years.

The 1942 cover of Detective Comics #69, known as "Double Gun" (with the Joker emerging from a genie's lamp, aiming two guns at Batman and Robin), is considered one of the largest Golden Age superhero comic covers and the only depiction of the character using a traditional weapon . Robinson said other modern villains used guns, and the creative team wanted the Joker - as Batman's adversary - to be more resourceful.

silver Age

The Joker was one of several popular villains continuing to appear regularly in Batman comics from the Golden Age into the Silver Age, as the series continued during the rise in popularity of mystery and romance comics. In 1951, Thumb wrote an origin story for the Joker in Detective Comics No. 168, which introduced the feature of him formerly being the criminal Red Hood and his acquiring a physical defect the result of a fall into a chemical vat.

By 1954, the Comics Code Authority was established in response to increasing public disapproval of comic book content. The backlash was inspired by Frederick Wertham, who hypothesized that the means mass media(especially comic books) were responsible for increasing juvenile delinquency, violence, and homosexuality, especially among young men. Parents banned their children from reading comics, and there were several mass arson attacks. The Comics Code banned gore, innuendo and excessive violence, stripping Batman of his menace and transforming the Joker into a stupid, thieving trickster without his original homicidal tendencies.

The character appeared less frequently after 1964, when Julius Schwartz (who disliked the Joker) became editor of Batman comics. The character risked becoming a vague indicator of a previous era until this goofy version of the Joker character was adapted into the 1966 television series Batman, in which he was played by Cesar Romero. The popularity of the show led Schwartz to keep the comics in the same vein. While the show's popularity has waned, however, so have those of the Batman comics. After the series ended in 1968, increased public visibility did not stop the comedian's sales decline; Publishing director Carmine Infantino decided to turn things around, moving the stories away from school-friendly adventures. The Silver Age introduced several of the Joker's defining character traits: lethal joy horns, acid-squirting flowers, trick guns, and stupid, elaborate crimes.

Bronze Age

Cover of Batman #251 (September 1973), featuring "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge", which returned the Joker to his murderous roots. Art by Neal Adams.

In 1973, after disappearing for four years, the Joker was revived (and revised) by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams. Beginning with Batman #251's "Five-Path Revenge of the Joker", the character returns to his roots as an impulsive, homicidal maniac who matches wits with Batman. This story started a trend in which the Joker was used sparingly, as central character. O'Neill said his idea was to "just take it back to where it started. I went to the DC library and read some early stories. I tried to get a sense of what Kane and Thumb were after." O'Neill's 1973 Run introduced the idea of ​​the Joker being legally insane to explain why the character is sent to Arkham Asylum (introduced by O'Neill in 1974 as Arkham Asylum) instead of prison. Adams altered the Joker's appearance, giving him a larger-than-average figure, elongating his jaw, and making him taller and leaner.

DC Comics was a hotbed of experimentation during the 1970s, and in 1975 the character became the first villain to feature as the title character in the comic book series, the Joker. the series followed the character's interactions with other supervillains, and the first issue was written by O'Neill. The stories balanced between emphasizing the Joker's criminality and making him a likable protagonist that readers could root for. Although he killed thugs and civilians, he never fought Batman.

This made the Joker a series in which the villainy of the character prevailed over rival villains instead of a fight between good and evil, as the Comics Code Authority mandated punishment for the villains, each issue ending with the Joker being arrested, limiting the scope of each story. The series never found an audience, and Joker was canceled after nine issues (despite advertising a "next issue" for an appearance by the Justice League). The complete series became difficult to obtain over time, often commanding high prices from collectors. In 2013, DC Comics republished the series as a graphic novel.

When Genette Kahn became DC editor in 1976, she rebuilt the company's struggling titles; during her tenure, the Joker would become one of DC's most popular characters. While O'Neill and Adams' work were critically acclaimed, writer Steve Englehart and penciller Marshall Rogers ran an eight-issue run in Detective Comics #471-476 (August 1977 - April 1978) have defined the Joker for decades to come with stories emphasizing the character's madness.

In "The Laughing Fish", the Joker disfigures a fish with a mouth-hole grin reminiscent of his own (anticipating copyright protection) and is unable to understand that copyrighting a natural resource is legally impossible. Englehart and Rogers' work on the series influenced the 1989 film Batman and were adapted into 1992's Batman: The Animated Series. Rogers elaborated on Adams' character design, featuring the Joker with a fedora and trench coat. Englehart outlined how he understood the character, saying that the Joker "was this very crazy, scary character. I really wanted to return to the idea of ​​Batman fighting mad killers at 3:00 under a full moon as the clouds are destroyed."

Nowadays

In the years following the end of the 1966 television series, Batman's sales continued to decline and the title was almost cancelled. Although the 1970s re-established the Joker as Batman's mad, lethal adversary, it was during the 1980s that the Batman series began to turn around and the Joker achieved recognition as part of the "medieval" era of comics: mature tales of death and destruction. The change was ridiculed for moving away from tame superheroes (and villains), but comic audiences were no longer primarily children.

Months after Crisis on Infinite Earths began the era, killing off Silver Age icons such as the Flash and Supergirl and undoing decades of continuity, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) re-imagined Batman as an older retired hero and the Joker as a lipstick-wearing celebrity who cannot function without his adversary. The late 1980s saw the Joker exert a significant influence on Batman and his supporting cast. In the 1988–89 story arc "A Death in the Family", the Joker kills Batman's sidekick (the second Robin, Jason Todd). Todd was unpopular with fans; rather than changing his character, DC decided to let them vote on his fate, and the 28-vote plurality had the Joker beat Todd to death with a crowbar.

This story changed the Batman universe: instead of killing anonymous witnesses, the Joker killed a major character in Batman fiction; this had a lasting effect on future stories. Written at the height of tensions between the United States and Iran, the story's conclusion had Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini appoint the Joker as his country's ambassador to the United Nations (allowing him to temporarily escape justice).

Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's 1988 graphic novel The Deadly Joke expands on the Joker's origins, describing the character as a failed comedian who takes on the identity of Red Hood to support his pregnant wife. Unlike The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke takes place in the mainstream continuity . the novel is described by critics as one of the greatest Joker stories ever written, influencing later comic stories (including then-Batgirl Barbara Gordon's forced retirement after she is paralyzed by the Joker) and films such as 1989's Batman and 2008's The Dark Knight Grant Morrison's 1989 Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth explores the psychosis of Batman, the Joker and other rogues in the eponymous vehicle.

The 1992 animated series introduced a female sidekick to the Joker: Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who falls in love with—and ends up in an abusive relationship with—the Joker, becoming his supervillain accomplice. The character was popular, and was adapted into comics as the Joker's romantic interest in 1999. That same year, Alan Grant and Norm Breifogle's comic Anarky came to the conclusion with the discovery that the titular character was the Joker's son. Breifogle conceived the idea as a means to expand on Anarky's characterization, but O'Neill (by then the editor for the Batman series of books) was opposed to it, and only allowed it to be written under protest, and with the promise that the discovery would eventually be revealed wrong. However, the Anarky series was canceled before a retraction could be published.

The Joker's first major storyline in the New 52, ​​DC Comics' 2011 reboot of the story continuity, was 2012's "Death of the Family" by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capallo. The story arc explores the symbiotic relationship between the Joker and Batman, and sees the villain destroy the trust between Batman and his adopted family. Capallo's Joker design replaced his traditional outfit with a pragmatic, dirty, and tousled appearance to convey that the character was on a mission; his face (surgically removed in 2011's Detective Comics #1) was reattached with belts, wires and hooks, and he was outfitted with a mechanic's jumpsuit. The Joker's face was restored in Snyder and Capallo's Endgame (2014), the final chapter to Death of the Family.

Biography of the Joker character DC comics

The Joker has undergone many revisions since its 1940 debut. The most common interpretation of the character is that he disguises himself as the criminal Red Hood and is being pursued by Batman. The Joker falls into a vat of chemicals that bleaches his skin, dyes his hair green and his lips red, and drives him insane. The reasons why the Joker was disguised as Red Hood and his identity before his transformation have varied over time.

The character was introduced in Batman #1 (1940), in which he announces that he will kill three of Gotham's prominent citizens (including Mayor Henry Claridge). Although the police protect Claridge, the Joker poisons him before making his announcement, and Claridge dies with a terrible grin on his face; Batman ultimately defeats him, putting him in prison. The Joker commits bizarre, brutal crimes for reasons that, in Batman's words, "make sense to him." Detective Comics #168 (1951) introduced the Joker's first origin story as Red Hood: a criminal who, during his final heist, disappears after jumping into a vat of chemicals to escape Batman. His resulting acquisition of a physical defect led him to take the name "Joker", from a playing card it is believed he came to remind. the Silver Age transformation of the Joker into an object of ridicule was established in 1952's "The Joker's Millions".

In this story, the Joker is obsessed with maintaining his illusion of wealth and celebrity as a criminal folk hero afraid to let the citizens of Gotham know that he is poor and has been cheated out of his fortune. The 1970s redefined the character as a murderous psychopath. "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge" has the Joker taking violent revenge on the former gang members who betrayed him; "The Laughing Fish" has the character chemically add his face to Gotham's fish (hoping to profit from the copyright) by killing bureaucrats who stand in his way.

Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) was based on the 1951 origin story of the Joker, portraying him as a failed comedian who is pressured into committing a crime as Red Hood in order to support his pregnant wife. Batman's intervention causes him to jump into a chemical vat, which disfigures him. This, combined with the trauma of his wife's earlier accidental death, causes him to go crazy and become the Joker. However, Joker says that this story may not be true and prefers his past to be a "varied choice." In this graphic novel, the Joker shoots and paralyzes Barbara Gordon and tortures her father, Commissioner James Gordon, to prove that it only takes one bad day to drive a normal person insane.

After Batman rescues Gordon and subdues the Joker, he offers to rehabilitate his old foe and end their rivalry. Although the Joker refuses, he shows his gratitude by sharing a prank with Batman. After Barbara's self-mutilating character, she became more important character in the DC Universe: Oracle, a data collector and superhero informant who has her revenge on the Birds of Prey by destroying the Joker's teeth and ruining his smile.

In the 1988 story "A Death in the Family", the Joker hits Jason Todd with a crowbar and leaves him to die in an explosion. Todd's death haunts Batman, and for the first time he considers killing the Joker. The Joker temporarily escapes justice when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appoints him Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, giving him diplomatic immunity. However, when he attempts to poison the UN membership, he is defeated by Batman and Superman.

In the 1999 No Man's Land storyline, the Joker kills Commissioner Gordon's second wife, Sarah, as she shields a group of babies. He taunts Gordon, who shoots him in the kneecap. The Joker, lamenting that he may never walk again, dies laughing when he realizes that the Commissioner was taking revenge for Barbara's paralysis. This story also introduced the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn.

The 2000s began with the crossover story "Emperor Joker", in which the Joker steals the reality-altering power of Mister Mxyzptlk and remakes the universe in his image (torturing and killing Batman daily before reviving him). When the supervillain then tries to destroy the universe, his reluctance to eliminate Batman causes him to lose control and Superman defeats him. Broken by his experience, the events of Batman's death are transferred to Superman by the Specter so he can heal mentally.

In "Joker's Last Laugh" (2001), doctors at Arkham Asylum convince the character that he is dying in an attempt to rehabilitate him. Instead, the Joker (between an army of "Jokerized" supervillains) begins the final crime spree. Believing Robin (Tim Drake) to have been killed in the chaos, Dick Grayson beats the Joker to death (although Batman revives his opponent to keep Grayson from being the killer) and the character succeeds in forcing the Family member bat break their rule against killing.

In "Under the Hood" (2005), a revived Todd attempts to force Batman to avenge his death by killing the Joker. Batman refuses, claiming that if he allows himself to kill the Joker, he will not be able to stop killing other criminals. The Joker kills Alexander Luthor in Infinite Crisis (2005) to expel him from the Secret Society of Super Villains, which deems him too unpredictable for membership. In Morrison's Batman and Son (2006), the deranged police officer who impersonates Batman shoots the Joker in the face , scratching and maiming him. The supervillain returns in Clown at Midnight (2007) as a brutal, mysterious force who awakens and attempts to kill Harley Quinn to prove to Batman that he has become more than human. The 2008 story forms the arc "Batman R.I.P." "

The Joker is recruited by the Black Glove to destroy Batman, but betrays the group, killing its members one by one. After Batman's near-death experience in "Final Crisis" (2008), Grayson investigates a series of murders (which leads him to the Joker in disguise). The Joker is arrested and then Robin Damian Wayne hits him with a crowbar, finding something similar to Todd's murder. As the Joker escapes, he attacks the Black Glove, burying its leader Simon Hurt alive after the supervillain considers him a failure as an opponent; The Joker is then defeated by the newly returned Batman.

In DC's New 52, ​​the 2011 reboot of his post-Flashpoint titles, the Joker has his face cut off. He disappears for a year, returning to launch an attack on Batman's extended family in "Death of the Family", so he and Batman can be the best hero and villain they can be. At the end of the storyline, the Joker falls off a cliff into a dark abyss. The Joker returns in the 2014 "Endgame" storyline, in which he brainwashes the Justice League into attacking Batman, believing that he betrayed their relationship. The story implies That the Joker is immortal - having existed for centuries in Gotham as the cause of tragedy after exposure to a substance the Joker calls 'dionesium' - and is able to recover from mortal wounds. "Endgame" restores the Joker's face, and also reveals that he knows Batman's secret identity. the story ends clinical deaths Batman and Joker in each other's arms.

Origin of the Joker

“They gave a lot of the origin of the Joker, how he turned out. It doesn't seem to matter - as he does now. I never intended to explain his appearance. We discussed it and BillFinger and I never wanted to change it at the time. I thought - and he agreed - that this removed some of the essential mystery."

Although many backstories have been given, a definitive one has not yet been established for the Joker. An unreliable narrator, the character is ambiguous about who he was before and how he became the Joker: "Sometimes I remember him one way, sometimes another...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be a varied choice!" "The Joker's origin story appeared in Detective Comics #168 (February 1951), nearly a decade after the character's debut. Here, the character is a lab worker who becomes Red Hood (a masked criminal) to steal a million dollars from his employer and retire. He ends up in a vat of chemical waste when his robbery is thwarted by Batman, who appears with bleached white skin, red lips, green hair and a permanent grin.

This story was the basis for the most often cited origin story, Moore's one-shot The Killing Joke. The Joker quits his job as a Lab assistant, becoming a stand-up comedian to support his pregnant wife. Unsuccessful, he agrees to help the bandits with the robbery and dons the Red Hood. The robbery gets confused; the comedian jumps into a chemical vat to escape Batman, emerging disfigured. This, combined with the earlier accidental death of his wife and unborn child, drives the comedian insane and he becomes the Joker.

This version has been cited in many stories, including Batman: The Man Who Laughs (in which Batman deduces that Red Hood survived his fall and became the Joker), Batman #450 (in which the Joker dons Red Hood to aid his recovery from the events of Deaths in the Family, but finds the experience too traumatic), and “Death of the Family.” Other stories have elaborated on this origin;" Pushback" explains that the Joker's wife was killed by a corrupt cop working for mobsters, and "Payback" gives the Joker's name as "Jack".

However, the Joker's unreliable memory allowed writers to develop a different origin for the character. "Case Study", Paul DiniAlex Rossitorie, describes the Joker as a sadistic gangster who creates the Red Hood identity to continue the thrill of petty crime. He has his fateful first meeting with Batman, which leads to him acquiring a physical defect. It is suggested that the Joker be sane and feign insanity to avoid the death penalty. In Batman Confidential (#7–12), the character, Jack, is a talented criminal who is bored with his job. He encounters (and becomes obsessed with) Batman during a robbery, embarking on a crime spree to get his attention.

After Jack wounds Batman's girlfriend, Jack scars Batman's face with a permanent grin and betrays him to a group of bandits who torture him in a chemical plant. Jack escapes, but ends up in an empty vat as gunfire punctures the chemical tanks above him. A flood of chemicals (used in antipsychotic medication) changes his appearance and completes his transformation. The superhero Atom sees the Joker's memory of burning his parents alive (after they find him killing animals) in The Brave and the Bold #3, and Snyder's Zero Year (2013) suggests that the pre-mutilated Joker was the criminal mastermind leading the gang Red Hoods.

The Joker has stated many origins, including being the child of an abusive father who broke his nose and a long-lived buffoon of an Egyptian pharaoh. As Batman says, "Like any other comedian, he uses whatever material will work."

Alternate versions of the Joker

Many alternate universes in DC Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on the Joker in which the character's origins, behavior and morals differ from the mainstream setting. The Dark Knight Returns depicts the final battle between an aged Batman and the Joker; others depict the aftermath of the Joker's death at the hands of many characters, including Superman. Still others describe distant futures in which the Joker is a computer virus or a hero trying to defeat the era's tyrannical Batman. In some stories, the Joker is someone else entirely; "Flashpoint" features Batman's mother Martha Wayne as the Joker in response to her son's murder, and in Superman: Bullets Flying Lex Luthor becomes the Joker in a world where Superman is Batman.

Characteristics

Known as Batman's greatest enemy, the Joker is known by many nicknames, including the Clown Prince of Crime, the Jester of Genocide, the Harlequin of Hatred and the Ace of Dodgers. During the development of the DC Universe, interpretations and versions of the Joker have taken two forms. The original, dominant image is that of an extreme psychopath, with a genius-level intellect and a warped, sadistic sense of humor. Another version, popular in comics from the late 940s to the 960s and in the 960s television series, is the eccentric, harmless Joker and thief.

Like other long-lasting characters, the Joker's character and cultural interpretations have changed over time, however, unlike other characters who may have to accommodate or ignore previous versions to make sense, more than any other comic book character, the Joker thrives on his changeable and contradictory personalities. The Joker is typically seen wearing a purple suit with a long tail, padded shoulder jacket, ribbon tie, gloves, striped pants and spats on sharp pointe shoes (sometimes with a wide-brimmed hat). This appearance is such a fundamental aspect of the character that when the 2004 Batman animated series placed the Joker in a straitjacket, it quickly redesigned him into his familiar suit.

The Joker is obsessed with Batman, the pair representing the yang of the opposition against the dark and light force; although it is the Joker who represents humor and color and Batman who lives in the dark. Murder, theft and terrorism, there is no crime outside of the Joker, and his exploits are a theatrical performance that are funny to him alone. Spectacle is more important than success to the Joker, and if it's not exciting, it's boring. Although the Joker demands indifference to everything, he secretly craves Batman's attention and validation.

The character was described as having killed over 2,000 people in Joker: The Devil's Advocate (996). Despite this body count, he is always found not guilty due to insanity and sent to Arkham Asylum, avoiding the death penalty. Many of the Joker's actions attempt to force Batman to kill; if the most organized and self-governing of people can kill, anyone is capable of becoming a monster like the Joker. The villain shows no instinct for self-preservation and is willing to die to prove his point. The Joker is "the personification of an irrational number" and represents "everything that Batman stands against."

Individuality

Joker co-creator Jerry Robinson in 2008; he conceived of the Joker as an exotic, resilient arch-villain who could repeatedly challenge Batman.

The Joker's main characteristic is his apparent insanity, although he is not described as having a specific psychological disorder. Like a psychopath, he lacks empathy, conscience and concern for right and wrong. In Serious House on Serious Earth, the Joker is described as being capable of processing non-sensory information only by adapting to it. This allows him to create a new personality every day (depending on what would benefit him) and explains why in different time he is a mischievous clown or a psychopathic killer. In "Clown at Midnight" (Batman #663, 2007), the Joker enters a meditative state where he evaluates his previous self to consciously create a new personality, effectively changing himself for his needs.

The Deadly Joke (in which the Joker is an unreliable narrator) explains the roots of his madness as "one bad day": losing his wife and unborn child and being disfigured by chemicals, finding something similar to Batman's origins in the loss of his parents. He tries (and fails) to prove that anyone can become like him after one bad day by tormenting Commissioner Gordon, physically and psychologically. Batman offers to rehabilitate his opponent; The Joker apologetically shrinks away, believing that it is too late for him to be saved.

Other interpretations show that the Joker is fully aware of how his actions affect others and that his madness is simply an act. Comics scholar Peter Coogan describes the Joker as attempting to bend reality to fit himself, superimposing his face on his victims (and fish) in an attempt to make the world understandable, creating a twisted parody of himself. Englehart's "The Laughing Fish" demonstrates the illogical nature of the character: trying to copyright the fish that bear his face, and not understanding why threatening the copyright clerk cannot achieve the desired result.

The Joker is alternatively depicted as sexual and asexual. In Dark Knight Returns and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth, the Joker seduces Batman; it's questionable whether their relationship has homoerotic overtones or if the Joker is simply trying to control his nemesis. Frank Miller interpreted the character as fixed on death and uninterested in sexual relationships, while Robinson believes the Joker is capable of romantic relationships. His relationship with Harley Quinn is offensively paradoxical; although the Joker keeps her on his side, he inadvertently harms her (such as by throwing her window without seeing if she survives). Harley loves him, but the Joker does not reciprocate her feelings, reproaching her for distracting him from other plans.

"Snyder's Death of the Family" depicts the Joker as loving Batman, although not in a traditionally romantic way. The Joker believes that Batman didn't kill him because he makes Batman better, and he loves the villain for that. Batman comic book writer Peter Tomasi agreed, saying that the Joker's main goal is to make Batman the best he can be. The Joker and Batman represent opposites: the extroverted Joker wears bright clothes and embraces chaos, while the introverted, monochromatic Batman represents order and discipline. The Joker is often portrayed as defining his existence through his conflict with Batman.

In "Move 994 Normal", the villain tries to lead a normal life after Batman's (apparent) death, only to become his old self again when Batman reappears; in "Emperor Joker", the apparently all-powerful Joker cannot destroy Batman without canceling himself. Since the Joker is simply "The Joker", he believes that Batman is "Batman" (with or without the costume) and has no interest in what is behind Batman's mask, ignoring opportunities to learn Batman's secret identity. Given the opportunity to kill Batman , villain hesitation; he believes that without their performance, victory is meaningless. the character has no desire for typical criminal goals like money or power; his crime is designed only to continue his game with Batman.

The Joker is portrayed as having no fear; when fellow supervillain Scarecrow doses him with fear toxin in Knightfall (993), the Joker simply laughs and says, "Boo!" the villain was temporarily rendered normal by several means, including telepathic manipulation by Martian Manhunter and being revived in the restoration of life by Lazarus Pete (an experience typically causing temporary insanity in the subject). During these moments, the Joker is depicted as expressing remorse for his actions; however, during a medically induced period of partial sanity in Batman: Cacophony he tells his opponent: “I don't hate you 'cause I'm crazy. I'm crazy 'cause I hate you" and confirms that he will only stop killing when Batman is dead.

Joker Skills and Abilities

The Joker has no innate superhuman abilities. He commits crimes with a variety of military themed props such as a razor-tipped card playing deck, marble spins, Jack in the Box with nasty surprises and a cigar explosion capable of leveling a building. The flower in his lapel sprays acid, and his hand often holds a lethal joy buzzer, conducting a million volts of electricity, although both points were introduced in 952 as harmless joke points. However, his chemical genius provides his most famous weapon: the Joker's venom, liquid or gaseous a toxin that sends its targets into fits of uncontrollable laughter; higher doses can result in paralysis, coma or death, leaving its victim with a ghoulish, distressed grin at the mouth.

The Joker has used poison since his debut; only he knows the formula and is shown to be gifted enough to produce the toxin from common household chemicals. Another version of the poison (used in "The Joker's Last Laugh") causes its victims to resemble the Joker, susceptible to his orders. The villain is immune to the poison and most poisons; in Batman #663 (2007), Morrison writes that, being "an avid consumer of his own chemical experiments, the Joker's immunity to poison concoctions that might kill another person instantly was developed over years of ad hoc abuse. »

The character's arsenal is inspired by his nemesis's weaponry, such as batarangs. In "The Joker's Utility Belt" (952), he emulated Batman's utility belt with non-lethal items such as Mexican jumping beans and sneeze powder. In 942 "The Joker Follows Example", the villain built his versions of the Batplane and Batmobile, the Jokergyro and the Jokermobile (the latter with a large Joker face on its hood), and created a Joker signal with which criminals could call him for their robberies. The Jokermobile lasted for several decades, evolving with the Batmobile. His technical genius is not limited by practicality, allowing him to hijack Gotham's television airwaves to release threats, transform buildings into death traps, go on a gas offensive on the city, and rain poisoned glass shards on its citizens from the airship.

The Joker is portrayed as skilled in melee combat from his initial appearances, when he defeats Batman in a sword fight (almost killing him), and others when he overwhelms Batman but refuses to kill him. He is talented with firearms, although even his weapons are theatrical; his long-barreled revolver often fires a flag reading "Strike" and a second trigger pull starts the flag to pierce his target. Although formidable in battle, the Joker's greatest asset is his mind.

Green hair, white face, smile, more like a grin - even those who have never touched comics in their lives recognize him. A laughing psychopath, a killer jester, a clown prince of crime - or simply the Joker, the one and only. Batman's arch nemesis turned 77 years old, and it's been one hell of a busy year. In our material we will try to go through at least the top of this voluminous and vibrant story, filled with laughter and blood.

If you approach the character from the perspective of cultural studies, it turns out that he is a couple of thousand years old. After all, in essence, the Joker is a trickster, not much different from the folklore Loki and Mephistopheles, an evil, insidious creature who mocks what people revere, the embodiment of pure nihilism. Its predecessors can be found in almost every world culture and era, be it a forest spirit with a specific sense of humor or a fairground Harlequin mocking poor Pierrot. Perhaps this is why the Joker has taken root so well - because he has always been around.

Joker's first appearance

The terrorist clown appeared in its familiar form in 1940. Who this character's father really is is a mystery that is not destined to be solved. Each of the three people working on Batman comics at the time - Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson - claimed that he created the Joker, and the others, they say, just picked up the idea.

It is no longer possible to determine which of them is right. But the source of inspiration is definitely known - the German actor Conrad Veidt in the image of Gwynplaine from the film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel “The Man Who Laughs” in 1928. And also, oddly enough, the Joker playing card.

Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine. It is possible that the Joker's skin color also owes to the fact that the film was in black and white.

Those who think that at first the Joker was a cheerful criminal and joker, and began to kill only towards the end of the 20th century, do not know the history of comics well. The so-called "Golden Age", which lasted from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, was heavily implicated in blood. The same Batman, for example, did not immediately become a thorough moralist and once did not stand on ceremony with gangsters. Of course, he didn’t shoot at point-blank range, but if he had to throw another bandit off the roof, he didn’t hesitate. So the Joker made his debut in comics as a real serial killer.

According to the plot of Batman #1, the newly-minted villain announced on the radio the names of his victims, usually someone from the city elite of Gotham, and they died exactly 24 hours later with unnatural smiles on their faces. The maniac had a simple goal - to sow fear and gain authority based on it among local gangsters. A very reasonable plan. The early Joker was generally far from mad. Cruel, cold-blooded, resourceful, but hardly crazy. He hardly even laughed.

Early comic books were a bit like silent horror films. For all their absurdity, they regularly create horror

But there was still something irrational in him. The evil jester decided that he did not want to know who was hiding under the mask of Batman, and even refused to kill the hero at the first opportunity - it’s not interesting. If we draw parallels between the first Joker and Heath Ledger's interpretation, the image of the villain in The Dark Knight no longer seems so non-canonical.

When the Joker was funny

For ten years, none of the authors even thought to explain why the character has white skin and green hair. Although this was not common for Batman comics. The Joker generally became the first full-fledged supervillain of the Bat-universe - before him, Bruce Wayne fought with ordinary criminals. The story of the red-hooded robber falling into a vat of chemicals only appeared in the early 1950s and is still considered canon.

In the Silver Age, the Joker was hungry for wealth and afraid of the tax office

Around the same time, conservative psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published a controversial book, Corrupting the Innocent, in which he argued that comic books were polluting the minds of children and leading them down a crooked path. The work caused a lot of noise, and publishers across America were forced to adopt the Comics Code, which obliged writers and artists to strict self-censorship. Thus began the “Silver Age” - an era of fun, harmless and monotonous adventures.

Batman and the Joker also came under attack, turning into a noble knight and a playful clown, respectively. From now on there could be no talk of any murders. Thematic crimes took their place. Pumping the city with laughing gas and making everyone throw away their jewelry, committing a robbery dressed up as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton, escaping from the police by making the cops laugh until they were helpless - that’s what the white-faced villain now liked. And what kind of villain is he? So, a hooligan and a dirty trick.

In the 1960s, the Joker finally received his first screen incarnation in the Batman series with Adam West. The role was played by Cuban-born actor Cesar Romero, who had previously played mostly heroic lovers. However, he showed himself brightly in his new role. The Joker turned out to be noisy, silly, but charming - to match the series itself.

The 1960s Batman series is considered a classic in the States. This is how most mature Americans have known the Joker since childhood.

The jokes are over

You can't expect anything good from such a clown

In the 1970s, the good nature pills with which he had been fed for twenty years slowly stopped working on the Joker. Violence was creeping into popular culture, especially in cinema, and comics could not help but succumb to the general trend. It was then that the saga of the Dark Knight acquired the familiar features of a dark detective thriller.

The first bell that marked the return of the killer clown was the plot of “Five Ways of Revenge of the Joker” in 1973. There's a villain in it Once again escaped from custody, but instead of committing absurd crimes, he began to punish former accomplices who abandoned the leader to the mercy of fate. And the punishment did not mean throwing a cake in the face - no, everything was in an adult way. Two were poisoned with the poison of laughter, another took a drag from a cigar with nitroglycerin, and the fourth was simply hanged by the maniac. The last henchman was supposed to be a snack for the shark, but Batman saved him.

The Joker's personal series did not last long. How to write about someone who doesn’t even look like an anti-hero?

The Joker experienced a real renaissance in the 1980s, when two stories about him were released, which left the deepest mark in the history of comics. Everyone who is into geek culture has heard about Alan Moore's The Killing Joke at least once. This graphic novel consistently ranks among the top must-read comics. There are many reasons for this.

Firstly, it was after the events of The Killing Joke that Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, found herself chained to wheelchair. This was a bold move on the part of the publishing house - before this, the heroes had never lost their strength for a long time and certainly had not become disabled.

Secondly, The Killing Joke is the first attempt to show the Joker as a real person, a tragic figure whose madness has a good reason. Thanks to the deft manipulation of emotions, the reader was surprised to discover that the sinister jester, it turns out, could be empathized with. But it is a mistake to believe that the comic reveals the real backstory of the Joker - no, DC and Moore would not risk killing the intrigue. The novel offers only one of the possible options.

This scene from The Killing Joke has sparked outrage among feminists across America.

But the “Death in the Family” arc, on the contrary, sought not to surprise the reader, but to please. DC audiences at the time loved the Joker's violent antics and hated the second Robin, Jason Todd. The writers created him to replace the super-correct Dick Grayson, who left Batman for free and became Nightwing. The new boy wonder was supposed to be a "bad guy" in the spirit of the times, but instead he became a bad character.

The public did not like the daring and harsh sidekick so much that DC took an unprecedented step - they launched a telephone vote whether Todd would survive the next adventure or not. Readers coldly sentenced the guy to death. His death was not quick or painless - the Joker, laughing devilishly, beat the young man with a tire iron and left him, barely alive, in a mined warehouse. Batman tried to save his ward, but everything was already predetermined.

Over time, Jason Todd was resurrected, but it took more than ten years. And in the 1980s, Robin's death was final and irrevocable. It's hard to overstate the importance of this plot twist for Batman and the comic book industry as a whole. Later, the scriptwriters more than once forced the Joker to commit much greater atrocities, going beyond all limits. But it seems that no one has been able to surpass the effectiveness of “The Killing Joke” and “Death in the Family”.

On large and small screens

The success of the 1978 Superman film and the increased popularity of the Batman comics convinced Warner Bros. that audiences were ready for a big Night Knight movie. The studio bosses decided to play straight away with their trump cards. Or rather, from the Joker. In early drafts of the script there was also a Penguin, but the creators threw him out so as not to distract the audience's attention from the confrontation between the two arch-enemies.

The film company wanted the film to be a clear hit, and the risk tolerance was exhausted by hiring a young Tim Burton to direct and the not-so-famous Michael Keaton to play Batman. The villain had to be played by a real star. Robin Williams and even David Bowie showed interest in this role.

Legend has it that Jack Nicholson became a prime candidate after one of the producers saw Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. The actor’s wild grin and crazy eyes made an indelible impression on the film boss, and he convinced his colleagues that Nicholson and no one else should play the Joker. After much persuasion, Jack agreed, but the fee he asked for was fabulous - 60 million from the film’s box office receipts and a percentage of video and merchandise sales.

Let's admit the obvious: Nicholson played Nicholson in "Batman", only in makeup

The Joker in Burton's film turned out to be bright and charismatic, but... not crazy at all. This is a narcissistic and cruel gangster dude, but not an infernal buffoon whose laughter sends goosebumps down your spine. Perhaps the reason is that its origin is not shrouded in secrecy. The viewer knows that before falling into a vat of chemicals, Nicholson's Joker was an ordinary bandit. The writers even gave him a human name - Jack Napier (in honor of the late actor Alan Napier, who played Alfred in the 1960s Batman). There is no mystery, no intrigue. And the decision to make him the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents caused wild indignation among comic book fans.

However, the film turned out to be worthwhile and successful. He popularized Batman and the Joker, showed them in all their dark glory, erased the memories of the old comedy show. Warner Bros. almost immediately they gave the go-ahead for a sequel and, what is much more important for us, the animated series “Batman” by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini - gothic, gloomy, and not wanting to coddle the young viewer. Of course, it was also intended for children, but he was not shy about raising adult topics. There was drama, there was psychologism. It was there that the Joker's companion appeared - everyone's favorite Harley Quinn. And there was the best Joker outside of comics.

Hamill's Joker will forever remain in the childhood memories of thousands of viewers. Well, or in nightmares

When Mark Hamill was invited to the studio, he was sure that he would be offered to write a couple of stories for the series. After " Star Wars" his actor career didn’t work out, and Mark began writing scripts, even achieving success in this. So when he was asked to stand behind the microphone, former Skywalker somewhat surprised. But there was nothing unusual about this - two years earlier, Hamill played the supervillain Trickster in the series “The Flash,” created by the same WB television division in the wake of the popularity of Burton’s “Batman.” The types of the two villains coincided in many ways, and the creators decided to call this particular actor.

And this turned out to be one of the most correct decisions in almost the entire history of animated series. Mark felt the character so subtly and truly, got into the role so much that to this day he is considered in the best voice Joker of all. What's there - it's simple the best Joker. He's funny, creepy, crazy, and his laugh is unmistakable.

Mark Hamill still managed to play the Joker live... well, almost. In the TV series "The Flash" he returned to the role of the Trickster, but borrowed his voice and mannerisms from the killer clown

Joker of the new century

In the 1990s, the comic book industry was in a frenzy. A crisis of sales, a crisis of ideas - in general, a crisis of everything. In what was happening in the DC universe of those years, with its parallel worlds, space-time shifts, sudden deaths and resurrections, the devil himself would break his leg. Therefore, we will bypass this kingdom of chaos, since nothing truly epochal about the Joker came out then. Although true comic book experts can certainly argue with this.

In the "Emperor Joker" arc, the evil jester tricked him into gaining divine power and temporarily became the ruler of the universe...

...and in “The Last Laugh” he infected the whole world with a virus that turns everyone into a crazy clown

He remained on the periphery in the early 2000s. In significant arcs like Batman: Hush! the clown appeared, but more often in a supporting role. Readers and authors seem to have become bored with him. The tired image needed a radical update.

In the 2004 Batman animated series, the Joker already appears in an unusual form. He is hunched over, moves in the manner of a monkey, instead of a neat hairstyle there is a lush green mane, instead of a tailcoat there is a straitjacket. Unusual, but fresh and bold, although overall the animated series was much inferior to its predecessor. But those changes in the Joker were only a sign of what was really to come.

In the 2004 animated series, the Joker is completely different from himself. And it suits him

When Christopher Nolan was asked why he cast Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight, the director replied, “Because Heath is fearless.” And what Nolan and David Goyer had in mind required remarkable courage. Both fully understood the burden of responsibility that lay on their shoulders, despite the fact that Christopher was and remains far from comics. Restarting the Batman franchise is one thing, but introducing a fantasy character into a conventionally realistic world, who also has a gigantic army of fans, is quite another. This required an actor who was ready, firstly, to accept a barrage of criticism from geeks, and secondly, to convince the world that the filmmakers were right in encroaching on the canon.

Many articles have been written about Ledger's Joker and even scientific works. This is, without a doubt, one of the brightest and most influential acting work in cinema of the early 21st century. But comic book conservatives still criticize it for being uncanonical. They say this is no Mr. Jay: he behaves wrong, doesn’t look like he should, and in general, Nolan made something of his own, and not a film adaptation of comic books about Batman.

The last entry in the diary that Ledger kept on behalf of the Joker while preparing for the role was the words “bye-bye” on the entire page. Creepy coincidence

But if we analyze the image created by Ledger, precisely in the context of the character’s history, an interesting thing becomes clear: the actor and the screenwriters captured the essence of the Joker as accurately as possible. What should a killer jester be like? Crazy? The Joker in The Dark Knight makes grandiose multi-step plans in order to achieve an irrational goal that is understandable to him alone. Treacherous and cruel? How many
He killed during the film, how many lives he broke! It was he who turned the honest and noble Harvey Dent into the revenge-obsessed Two-Face, significantly desecrating the moral ideals that had barely arisen in Gotham. Eccentric and ironic? Yes, all the Joker’s monologues resemble the stand-up show of a radical comedian, and he himself is a kind of hybrid of Andy Kaufman and Charles Manson. And how he bursts into laughter during the beating - this is the most revealing scene that reflects the essence of the character!

Even the Joker’s special relationship with Batman is revealed in “The Dark Knight” much better than in Burton’s, where the gangster clown perceived the arch-enemy as just another hindrance, nothing more. So everything couldn’t be more canonical.

The year The Dark Knight was released, Brian Azzarello published the graphic novel Joker, where the villain clearly resembles Heath Ledger

Clown without a face

Eight years have passed since the release of The Dark Knight. All this time, the Joker, whose interest has grown sharply, constantly appeared in comics, cartoons and video games. We especially highlight the Batman: Arkham series, in which Mark Hamill returned to his favorite role for two games, and was replaced by the no less talented Troy Baker. The franchise covers almost the entire history of the confrontation between Batman and the Joker - from the first clash to the death of the laughing psychopath and his, so to speak, posthumous existence. This is a competent compilation of dozens of comic stories into several voluminous but integral works.

As for the comics, the one that made the most noise was the version of the clown from The universe New 52. Screenwriter Scott Snyder (no relation to Zack Snyder, by the way) took a daring move: in the story, the Joker loses face. Literally. The clown simply cuts it off. And after some time, he steals his face from the Gotham police evidence vault. And puts it on. Like a mask. Directly onto the bare meat. Brrr, even writing about this is unpleasant.

So just watch

Nevertheless, such extreme suited the character perfectly. New look emphasized the depth of the clown's mental disorder. He is a real monster, whose inflamed brain generates ingenious and sophisticated plans. Even Harley Quinn is afraid of such a Mr. Jay, and she is understandable.

It seems that the Joker is able to survive anything only because death itself prefers to stay away from him. Batman is more confused and helpless than ever before this embodiment of chaos. In the finale of the Death of the Family arc, which is considered one of the best in The New 52, ​​the Dark Knight defeats his enemy, but it seems that this is also just part of the Joker's plan. Show must go on.

In the Batman arc R.I.P. The Joker already looks like a serial killer from a horror movie

Over the past year, we've gotten two new on-screen Jokers. The first of them appeared in the series “Gotham”, and everything is not easy with him. The character played by Cameron Monaghan is named Jerome Valeska. He is the son of a circus performer who killed his own mother, after which he was committed to Arkham Asylum, escaped from there and became a daring criminal with a penchant for theatrical effects.

The creators claim that Jerome is not the Joker, but it’s hard to believe them. He acts like the Joker, talks like the Joker, laughs like the Joker. He even looks like the Joker, except that his skin is normal color and his hair is red. And since the series has completely given up on realism and resurrects dead characters once or twice, the likelihood that a young psychopath will bathe in chemicals increases to 99%.

And this is good. Yes, the mystery of the identity of the killer jester will disappear again, but “Gotham” is famous for showing on the screen everything that was left behind the scenes in the comics. Otherwise, Monahan's image corresponds to the canon, and the acting style is clearly inspired by Mark Hamill's voice acting.

Cameron Monaghan (Jerome from Gotham) doesn't even need to wear makeup

And now we get to the most talked about Joker of recent years - Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. The irony is that there is essentially nothing to say about him. The character in the film the bat cried - for a little over eight minutes, and he is revealed (or rather, “outlined”) in just a couple of scenes. He is eccentric, self-centered, emotionally unstable - in general, almost as he should be. Only sometimes, like everything in the DC cinematic universe, it is too serious and pathetic. The Joker's comedic side is barely hinted at.

But they added humanity to the image. In the film, Mr. Jay not only keeps Harley Quinn with him like a funny toy, but loves her, although it is difficult to believe that his rotten heart is capable of feelings. Leto himself said in an interview that he wanted to show the complex and contradictory nature of the Joker, to make him a man who both enjoys madness and suffers from it. Alas, great amount The filmed scenes with his participation were never included in the theatrical cut of the film.

Let's hope all the deleted scenes with the Joker will be shown someday. I really want to know what kind of toys Leto wanted to show

Of course, we missed something. It is impossible to cover everything that has come out about the Joker over 75 years within one material. For example, there are no theories about what is happening with the clown in DC comics now. And there it just turned out that all these years there were as many as three different Jokers acting as villains instead of one. This plot twist is aimed at hype as clearly as Captain America's highly publicized betrayal. And until the writers come up with a clear and sane justification for it, it’s not worth taking it seriously.

Joker is a global star. An icon of modern pop culture, no less than Batman. And no matter what writers, artists, actors and directors do with it, its essence will not change. An evil clown, the embodiment of cruel irony of fate and unadulterated madness. A villain whose image is etched in your memory at first sight. Too popular to ever disappear. No matter how the fate of the DC cinematic universe turns out, there is no need to worry about the Joker - his laughter will ring out more than once.

Hero Characteristics

• Real name: Unknown
• Nicknames: Red Hood (Red Hood), Domino Killer (Domino Killer), Joseph "Joe" Kerr (Joseph "Joe" Kerr), Oberon Sexton (Oberon Sexton), Clown Prince of Crime (Clown Prince of Crime), DJ (DJ).
• Current nickname: Joker
• Identity: Hidden
• Universe: New Earth
• Gender: Male
• Position: Evil
• Height: 183 cm (6 ft)
• Weight: 73 kg (160 lb)
• Eye Color: Green
• Hair Color: Green
• Relatives: Father (presumed dead), mother (presumably dead), Jeanie (wife, deceased), unborn son.
• Group affiliation: Black Glove (Black Glove), Injustice Gang (Injustice Gang), Injustice League (Injustice League), Joker Anarchist League (Joker League of Anarchy)
• Friends: Lex Luthor (Lex Luthor), Harley Quinn (Harley Quinn)
• Enemies: Batman (Batman), all Robins (Robin), Nightwing (Nightwing), Justice League (Justice League), James Gordon (James Gordon), Batgirl (Batgirl), Red Hood (Red Hood), Superman (Superman), Black Glove (Black Glove), Red Robin (Red Robin), Catwoman (Catwoman).
• Date of Birth: Unknown
• Place of Birth: Unknown
• Citizenship: USA
• Family status: Widower
• First appearance: Batman #1 (April, 1940)
• Creator: Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger, Bob Kane

Biography

Homicidal maniac and Batman's nemesis (Batman) with the face of a clown. Uses various objects as weapons, stylized as the props of a jester and an illusionist. He is one of the most dangerous people on Earth, with countless victims.

Here's the cold, hard truth, Bats. I don't hate you because I'm mad... I'm mad because I hate you.

Origin

Little is known about the Joker's past. According to one version, he was a member of one of the Gotham gangs and was known as the Red Hood (Red Hood). During his gang's robbery of a chemical plant, the thugs were attacked by Batman. (Batman), and in a scuffle with him, Kolpak fell into a vat of chemicals. However, the bandit survived, and his appearance changed beyond recognition: his hair turned green, his lips stretched and froze in a smile, and his skin became deathly pale.

Further history

His activities between the chemical factory accident and his first public appearance as the Joker are unknown, but his return to Gotham City (Gotham City) was huge. He announced himself on television after the murder of a reporter by Joker Venom (Joker Venom) and publicly told police that he intended to kill local millionaire Henry Claridge (Henry Claridge) around midnight. Despite a large number of guards and the intervention of Batman, Claridge fainted to the ground at midnight in a fit of laughter and died with the Joker's signature "smile of death" on his face. The Joker also nearly contaminated Gotham City's entire water supply with his poison, but Batman was able to stop him by cutting off the reservoir's connection to the sewer bay, which subsequently led to a drought. The Joker was successfully imprisoned in a cell at Arkham Asylum. (Arkham Asylum), but not for long.

Life in Gotham and criminal career

Imprisonment had no effect on the Joker. He often began to view Arkham Asylum as a cozy sanatorium, where he makes sinister plans and takes a break from fighting with Batman. His crimes either took on a bizarre form or became truly brutal. The Joker, unlike many criminals, was not interested in money. He often committed crimes for pure pleasure, or simply to hurt other people, whom he viewed as part of a "big joke." He often attacked the Dark Knight (Dark Knight), approaching him through loved ones and members of his Family (Bat-Family). The Joker showed complete indifference as to who his victims were, as it really didn't matter to him. Here is what he himself said on this matter:

The only crime I cannot afford is to kill time!

Although many were afraid to form an alliance with the Joker, during the event "The Long Halloween" (Long Halloween) The Clown Prince of Crime was recruited into a gang of supervillains led by Two-Face. (Two-Face) to fight against Carmine Falcone's criminal empire (Carmine Falcone). One of the Joker's tasks was supposed to be to eliminate Mario Falcone, but he failed. The group was also responsible for the destruction of Gotham's mob bosses, including Bobby "Don" Gazzo (Bobbie "The Don" Gazzo), held on Columbus Day. The team was disbanded after the battle with the Executioner (Hangman), as well as the newly formed Dynamic Duo (Dynamic Duo) Batman and Robin.

In addition to the above, the Joker has committed a significant number of crimes that distinguish him from ordinary villains.

Killing Joke

Trying to show Batman how even the most sane of people can go crazy, the Joker tried to break Commissioner Gordon (Commissioner Gordon) and drive him crazy. He came to Gordon's house and, expecting to see the commissioner himself there, shot at the man who opened the door for him. But it turned out that it was not James Gordon himself, but his niece. The bullet got stuck in her spine, after which the clown forced the commissioner to watch a slide show where the girl was suffering and bleeding. The Joker didn't know that James Gordon's niece was the first Batgirl (Batgirl). She remained disabled and paralyzed, and later became a mysterious superheroine nicknamed Oracle. (Oracle).

Death in the family

One of the Joker's most heinous acts was the murder of Jason Todd. (Jason Todd), the second boy to wear the Robin costume. Jason searched for his mother in Africa and learned too late that she was involved in criminal activities with none other than the Clown Prince of Crime. Jason's mother betrayed the jester, and the Joker tied them up in a warehouse with explosives in order to later blow up both of them at once, but not before brutally beating Jason with a crowbar, breaking almost all his bones. Batman was unable to save any of the prisoners. There was an explosion, and Jason and his mother were killed.

No Man's Land

During the period when Gotham City became known as No Man's Land (No Man's Land), Batman had left town, and the Joker simply saw no reason to stay in the city without his nemesis. However, the clown showed up during the burgeoning chaos, and his contribution was shocking. A large number of city officials and police were killed. The Joker forced some police officers to dress up like himself, and they were killed by a police sniper who wanted revenge on the Joker for his comrades. The Avenger did not know who was hiding under the guise of jokers, so a large number of innocent police officers were shot.

The jester later took an entire hospital ward full of newborn babies hostage. When Detective Sarah Essen (Sarah Essen), Jim Gordon's wife, arrived at the hospital, the Joker pointed a gun at her and told her not to move, but then threw the baby at the woman. Sarah instinctively put her hands out to catch the child, and the Joker shot her in the head. When Gordon found out about this, in his anger he almost killed the clown, but instead he shot the maniac in the knee. The Joker pretended to be concerned about his leg injury, worrying that he would never be able to walk, but then laughed hysterically and said it was a joke.

Emperor Joker

One day, the Joker used cunning to obtain the reality-altering power of the imp Mister Mxyzptlk. (Mister Mxyzptlk) and remade the whole world in his ugly image. He entertained himself with various atrocities, such as constantly killing Lex Luthor and devouring the entire population of China. Possessed by Batman, the Joker tortured and killed his opponent every day, bringing him to life and resurrecting him again and again. Strong will Superman (Superman) allowed him to escape the clown's influence long enough to come into contact with the weakened Mxyzptlk, who, along with the less powerful Specter (Spectre), helped Superman identify the Joker's weakness before reality was destroyed by the Imp's misuse of power.

Superman realized that the Joker still could not erase Batman from history, since the clown presented himself as an opposition to the Dark Knight. For this reason, the Joker was unable to destroy the entire universe, since he is unable to kill Batman. This freed Mxyzptlk and the Specter from the control of the psycho, who restored reality from the moment the Joker destroyed everything. However, Batman remained broken from the experience of dying multiple times, and Superman had to erase Bruce's memories (Bruce Wayne) about these events so that he can continue his activities.

Joker's last laugh

In an attempt to force the clown to accept his mortality, the prison doctor informed the Joker that he would die from a malignant cancerous tumor. Instead, the Joker decided he wanted to leave his mark on the world and began a chain of chaotic events that would become known as "The Joker's Last Laugh." (Joker\'s Last Laugh). He used various compounds of the Joker's Venom and essentially transformed all the metahuman inmates of Slabside Prison. (Slabside Penitentary) into the jokers, putting them in the same state, but with the added advantage of each of them being absolutely loyal to him. The Joker's army ravaged the planet, fighting all of Earth's heroes, but Batman was eventually able to foil the attacks using an antidote he received from Harley Quinn. (Harley Quinn). Harley was angry with the Joker for trying to impregnate her without marrying her. Nightwing (Nightwing), falsely believing that Robin, in the ensuing frenzy, had been eaten by Killer Croc, caught up with the Joker and beat him to death. However, Batman, not wanting Nightwing to have blood on his hands, resuscitated the Joker, thereby saving his life.

Hash

Hash (Hush) and The Riddler (Riddler) recruited several other villains to destroy Batman. Part of their plan involved making Bruce believe that his childhood friend, Tommy Elliot (Tommy Elliot), was one of the Joker's victims. This enraged Batman, but before he could kill the clown, Commissioner Gordon stopped Bruce, saying that he would not allow him to become a killer, thereby preventing the Joker from ruining Wayne's life.

In the story \"Easy targets\" (Soft Targets) The Joker started the fun by killing Mayor Dickerson (Mayor Dickerson) with a sniper rifle to force the residents of Gotham City to remain in their homes during the Christmas holidays. He then planted several bombs throughout the city. This forced security to react quickly to save large numbers of Christmas shoppers from death. But this was not enough for the Joker, and then he started a shootout at the Main Office for Crime Prevention, where he killed several detectives, but was shot by Maggie Sawyer (Maggie Sawyer). When a bomb exploded in an already evacuated toy store, the Joker was revealed to have survived and was watching TV in the hospital, laughing at the carnage he had caused.

Infinite Crisis

The Joker was one of the very few villains who was not a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains (Secret Society of Supervillains) Alexander Luthor Jr. (Alexander Luthor jr.) during the Infinite Crisis. Unlike many other villains - such as Catman (Catman), - The Joker wanted to become a member of the Society, but the leaders of the organization did not allow him to join, which made him furious. When the Joker destroyed the Royal Flush gang (Royal Flush Gang), he was ridiculed by the King, who said that the Joker was too wild to be in the Secret Society (after which the clown killed him with a hand-held stun gun). Later, after the Society was defeated, Alex Luthor was lured into a trap by the real Lex Luthor (Lex Luthor) and Joker. Before the Joker sadistically killed Alex, Lex told him that they should have let the Joker play.

Under the hood

Due to the events of Infinite Crisis (Infinite Crisis) Jason Todd has returned to life. Angry at Batman for refusing to avenge his death, he took on the guise of the Red Hood, which was the Joker. Todd kidnapped the clown and tried to force Batman to shoot him. Even though the Clown Prince of Crime was surprised that Jason was alive, the fact that ex-Robin became another enemy of Batman, which amused him.

Oooh, so you're thinking about me?

Running for the Rescue

During the next period, most of Earth's villains were banished to Planet Hell (Hell Planet), where the Joker became the leader of one of the factions. This group did not accept active participation in the events on the planet, but only tried to steal food and supplies from Lex Luthor's group in order to find a way to escape. The conflict ended in a one-on-one fight between Luthor and the Joker. Although Luthor had the advantage, the Joker eventually overpowered Lex, but then the entire villain community was forced to unite as they were attacked by Parademons (Parademons), servants of Darkseid (Darksied). Ultimately, the villains were able to fight back and return back to Earth.

Countdown

Jimmy Olsen (Jimmy Olsen) interviewed the imprisoned Joker, where he asked a question about the murder of Duela Dent (Duela Dent) who called herself "The Joker's Daughter" (Joker\'s Daughter). The Joker stated that he never had a daughter, but admitted the existence of the Multiverse (Multiverse) and changes in reality.

Clown at midnight

A deranged policeman named Joseph Mueller (Josef Muller), donning the Batman costume, shot the Joker in the face, leaving him disabled. The clown underwent extensive plastic surgery and physical therapy, and reappeared, only with new scars running from the corners of his mouth high up his cheeks.

In intensive care at Arkham, the Joker developed a new, deadlier version of the Joker Venom and ordered Harley Quinn to use it to kill her former henchmen to inform everyone of his spiritual "rebirth". Before Batman stopped him, the Joker tried to kill Harley herself. (her death was the final "culmination point" of his rebirth), but he didn’t succeed.

Batman, rest in peace (Batman R.I.P.)

One day, Joker was offered to join the Black Glove organization. (Black Glove) Dr. Hurt (Doctor Hurt), who was planning a plot against Batman. At this time, the Joker escaped from Arkham Asylum in an ambulance, but was forced to turn off the bridge as the Batmobile blocked the road (Batmobile), driven by Damien Wayne (Damian Wayne).

Oberon Sexton

The Joker soon reappeared under the guise of British journalist/detective Oberon Sexton (Oberon Sexton). At the same time, in parallel, he acted as the Domino Killer (Domino Killer), killing the Black Glove members one by one. Since the Joker's main opponent, Batman, had died, he decided to make Hurt and his organization his new main enemies. But Dick Grayson (Dick Grayson), the former Nightwing and current Batman, figured out his plan and tried to stop Domino from all the murders. Oberon took off his mask in front of Dick, and he saw a grinning face without a scar from a bullet wound in the head.

After the Joker was arrested, he admitted that he underestimated the new Robin (Damien Wayne), trying to gain pity from the prodigy. Damien responded by beating him with a crowbar (reflecting the murder of Jason Todd). The police ignored the Joker's pleas for help.

However, the Joker's apparent helplessness was yet another ploy. Feigning wounds from Robin's attack, he poisoned him with a paralyzing toxin applied to his fingernails. Taking Robin's belt, the clown ran off to attack the Black Glove, poisoning a group of spectators gathered by Professor Pyg with poisonous popcorn. (Professor Pyg), and began to lead Batman and his allies to a final confrontation with the Black Glove. A little later, the Joker was already in an unspecified place with Robin, whom he had tied up and gagged. The situation was dangerous because there were nuclear weapons in the place where they were. Help arrived in the form of the original Batman (who had just returned from his time travel). He aided his successor and son in their battle against the Black Glove and the Clown Prince of Crime. The Joker eventually killed Dr. Hurt by infecting him with Joker Toxin and burying him alive. The Second Batman pursued and captured the Joker, while the original Dark Knight, Robin, and Alfred Pennyworth (Alfred Pennyworth) disarmed the nuclear weapons and defeated the remaining members of the Gauntlet.

Black mirror

The Joker escaped Arkham again by ingesting his venom mixed with alcohol so that it would be released through his pores, making it poisonous to the touch. James Gordon's ex-wife, Barbara Eileen Gordon (Barbara Eilin Gordon) was exposed to a large amount of toxic substances. Batman tracked down the Joker in an underground lair. While fighting Batman, the Joker refused to recognize Dick Grayson as a worthy successor to "his" Batman, but revealed that he had never touched Gordon's wife. As it turned out later, the villain was telling the truth, and James Gordon Jr. participated in the attack (James Gordon Jr.), who freed the Joker in order to divert Batman's attention.

The real joke is your stubbornness, your deep-seated beliefs that somehow, somewhere, everything must make sense! This is what always pisses me off!

Flashpoint

After the timeline was changed by Professor Zoom (Professor Zoom), in the new version of the story that appeared, Bruce was shot by Joe Chill (Joe Chill) on Crime Alley (Crime Alley), and his parents survived. Thomas Wayne (Thomas Whane; Bruce's father) vowed to avenge his son and became Batman. At the same time, after Chill was brutally beaten on the street, Martha Wayne went mad with grief and became the Joker, carving a smile on her face. She got into a fight with Batman and ultimately died.

Post-Flashpoint or The New 52

Here, the Joker is reintroduced as a deadly killer, hunted by the entire Gotham police force. His appearance in new universe DC changed relatively little at first.

After a fight with Batman, the Joker was captured and sent to Arkham Asylum. There he was visited by a villain nicknamed the Puppeteer (Dollmaker). The villain admitted to the Joker that he was his most devoted fan and was ready to do anything for him. After this, the clown asked to amputate his face. When the guards found the cut off skin, everyone assumed that the Joker was dead. Everyone except Batman.

Harley Quinn soon learned about the incident, after which she left the Suicide Squad. (Suicide Squad), organizing a mass prison break in Belle Reve (Belle Reve).

Death of the family

Here you go. Family reunion, how sweet!

The Joker has returned to Gotham City a year after he disappeared. He killed several police officers and reported this to Commissioner Gordon. In the following days, he reenacted some of his earliest crimes, such as publicly announcing his intention to poison the mayor. Moreover, in every crime there was some painful unexpected turn. In addition, he claimed to have revealed Batman's secret identity.

The Joker used Harley Quinn to distract Batman while the clown himself hunted down anyone with a connection to the Dark Knight. The Joker defeated and captured all of Bruce Wayne's friends: Batgirl, Alfred Pennyworth, Catwoman (Catwoman), Robin, Nightwing, Red Robin (Red Robin) and Red Hood, after which he took them to Arkham.

By the time Batman arrived, the Joker had set a trap for him, where the Dark Knight fought all his old enemies, but was captured by the clown. But all this was just the beginning. The Joker seated the entire Batfamily, whose faces were bandaged, at a large table. He claimed to have amputated their faces, just as the Puppeteer had amputated his. He also explained why he ordered the Puppeteer to remove his face: the Joker simply wanted to show that underneath his smile there was another big smile. After that, he set fire to the room where the table stood and left.

Batman was able to free himself and free his friends. He was relieved to find that their faces were undamaged. He caught up with the fleeing Joker and began to taunt him, promising to tell him who the Joker was before taking his chemical bath. Not wanting to listen to him, Joker jumped off the cliff. At the moment he is considered dead.

Batman lied: he still had no idea who the Joker really was. But the clown also lied about exposing Batman. He had already seen his enemy without a mask, but he chose to look through him and not pay attention to his face, so as not to find out the Dark Knight’s secret.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Unique Physiology: due to falling into a vat of chemicals, the Joker's physiology has changed, which gives him an advantage over ordinary people.

• Pain resistance: it is suggested that falling into the chemicals increased the Joker's resistance to pain. Also, due to his masochistic nature, the Joker is resistant to torture.
• Infected Blood: The Joker's blood is infected. It has been said that, as a consumer of chemical products, the Joker is actually a carrier of toxic substances. When the mosquito sucks the Joker's blood, \"he writhes and whines, choking on contaminated blood\".
• Joker Venom Immunity: The Joker is immune to his own poison, as well as various similar toxins.

Cheating Death: The Joker has cheated death many times, even in the most inevitable and lethal situations.

Awareness of the Fourth Wall: The Joker has shown from time to time that he is fully aware that he is a comic book character. However, everyone ignores his arguments simply because he is crazy.

Capabilities

Unbending willpower: the Joker's madness or the structure of his mind leaves him immune to the Specter's justice. Batman tried to explain this phenomenon by saying that the Joker is essentially unaware of what is right and wrong, expressing a lack of understanding of what the Specter should judge him for.

Genius Level Intelligence: The Joker is portrayed as highly intelligent and skilled in the fields of chemistry and technology, as well as an explosives expert.

• Escape Artist
• Tactical Analysis

Disguise: The Joker is also a master of disguise.

Hand-to-hand combat: Joker applies some knowledge in hand-to-hand combat. Over the years, it has been shown that while Batman is stronger, the Joker is faster and more agile, and his fighting style is chaotic and difficult to predict. This gives him an advantage over fighters like Cassandra Cain (Cassandra Cain). The Joker has been known to be able to put up a decent fight against Batman, and sometimes even come close to defeating him.

Weaknesses

Mentally unstable. He may change his plans at the very last moment, which leads to the failure of the whole venture.

Equipment

The Joker commits crimes using "comic" weapons (such as razor-sharp playing cards, acid-spewing flowers, cyanide pies, and lethal hand-held stun guns) and Joker Venom.

Notes

• There were rumors that the Joker's name was Jack Napier (Jack Napier). This version was used in the 1989 movie and subsequent animated series, where the name was one of 100 aliases.
• Two canon sources suggest his name is Jack, and the name Joe has also been used multiple times.
• In the issue Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #50 The Joker's name was almost revealed by his cousin Melvin Rapen (Melvin Rapien), using part of his name (most likely the beginning) - \"Ja..\". However, when Melvin was about to mention the name in full, the Joker shut him up in time: \"We don't use the old name, remember? I'm now Cousin Joker.".
• In comics issues Batman: Confidential #22-25, 29, 30 The Joker's fingerprints were taken, but they turned out to be just pure black blobs without lines. \"Acid. Lots of acid"- said the Joker. He also has green nails on his hands.
• The Joker has one of the most extensive body counts of any human-level villain in DC (not counting those incidents where entire planets were destroyed).
• In the graphic novel \"Arkham Asylum\"(1989), composed by Grant Morrison (Grant Morrison), it was theorized that the Joker's mental state was a previously unprecedented form of "super sanity", a form of ultrasensory perception. There are also suggestions that he has no true personality of his own, and that on any given day he could be either a harmless clown or a vicious killer, whichever would benefit him more.
• In the crossover Marvel vs DC The Joker has been shown to be immune to Death Powder (Dust of Death) Red Skull (Red Skull), since its composition is similar to Joker's Venom.

Alternate Universes

• Joker from Earth One.
• Joker from Earth-2.
• Joxter (Jokester) from Earth-3.
• Joker from Earth-12.
• Joker from Earth-31.
• Joker from Earth-37.
• Joker from Earth-43.
• Joker from Earth-3898 (Superman/Batman: Generations) .

No less interesting alternative universe

There is a universe where Bruce dies, and his father tries to fight crime after the tragedy, thereby becoming a bat. And in turn, the mother, having never recovered from the loss, goes crazy, her mind and soul are so crippled that her alter ego in the form of the embodiment of hysterical laughter and chaos for the sake of chaos, takes precedence over everything holy that she had in herself. After which she transforms into the Joker.

In fact, it would be a very interesting interpretation of the famous battle between the cold and calculating mind and the unpredictable chaos and anarchy. This could explain a lot about their relationship, namely that they would never kill each other. Bats will not be allowed by his morality, and the Joker will not be allowed by his love for the bat character, because if he kills him, he will lose the meaning of his existence

He first appeared in a comic called Batman#1 (April 25, 1940) and was created by Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Credit for creating the Joker is debatable; Kane and Robinson took credit for creating the Joker's design, acknowledging Finger's writing contributions. Although the Joker was intended to be a one-time character and was supposed to die during his first appearance, he was retained and eventually became Batman's nemesis.

The Joker's facial nerves are paralyzed, creating the appearance of a permanent smile. His green hair and nails, rosy red lips, and chalky white skin are directly due to exposure to chemicals. The Joker's face in the mouth area is “decorated” by large scars in the form of a terrible smile. Joker is 198 cm tall and weighs 73 kilograms.

Biography

The Joker's past remains shrouded in mystery to this day, despite the character's seventy-year history. DC continues to adhere to Alan Moore's theory about the sinister clown's multi-variant past. Perhaps even the Joker himself no longer remembers who he was before the night he put on the Red Hood. According to the accepted canonical version, the man who became the Joker (perhaps he was an unsuccessful comedian, and perhaps a gangster) fell into acid, frightened by Batman, when he took part in a robbery of a card factory in the Red Hood costume. As a result, he went crazy, got white skin, black circles around his eyes and green hair, and a smile was forever frozen on his face.

Some time later, after the Hood incident, a warehouse full of smiling corpses was discovered in Gotham. And on the TV screens a strange character appeared in a purple suit, who announced in advance who and when he was going to kill. Batman and Commissioner Gordon had to make a lot of efforts to stop the Joker, who dealt with the owners of the ill-fated plant and intended to poison the Gotham reservoir. As a result, the villain ended up in the Arkham mental hospital, whose patients he had recently released onto the city streets.
Later, the Joker got a partner, Harley Quinn, dressed in a harlequin costume and madly in love with the maniac. Also, according to some versions, he had a pregnant wife, Jenny, who died in an accident, and the Joker sometimes worried about her.

Easy targets

The Joker begins shooting with a high-powered sniper rifle, killing Mayor Dickerson and the Superintendent, all in an effort to force the city's residents to stay home during the Christmas holiday. He then causes major crimes in Gotham before being revealed to have planted bombs throughout the city as a "Christmas gift" for Batman, forcing him to rush to save a large number of Christmas shoppers from death. The Joker then begins shooting in a number of large locations, where he kills several detectives, only to be shot by Sawyer's Maggie, after which his bomb explodes, but people have already been evacuated from the toy store, ultimately the Joker comes to his senses already in the hospital and laughs at the bloody the massacre he caused.

Renaissance

In the comic Batman#655, The Joker is shot in the face by a mentally ill police officer, leaving him disabled for a period of time. After undergoing extensive plastic surgery and some physical therapy, the Joker appeared in the comic Batman No. 663 with a completely new look. While he was in the intensive care unit, he developed an even more dangerous form of his Venom, giving it to Harley Quinn to kill her former partners to signal spiritual rebirth. Later, he went on a rampage, attempting to kill Harley Quinn, which would have been the climax of his rebirth, but Batman stopped him, and through these events, the Joker joins the Black Glove.

Faces of Death

After the events Flashpoint, Joker story moments may have changed, but the Joker's personality has not changed in New 52.

In the comic Detective Comics #1, it appears as main suspect in a number of murders in Gotham, he used a black shirt, and at the end of this comic, we see that his face was cut off by the Puppeteer.

Capabilities

Due to his mental state, the Joker is immune to fear as he takes everything as a joke. He also has immunity to poison, as a result of prolonged exposure to chemicals. The fear gas that Scarecrow is famous for has no effect on him, and the Visionary was unable to hypnotize him in the comic. Birds of Prey#121. The Joker and Poison Ivy have been shown to be immune to each other's chemicals. He also has a very high pain tolerance. In the comic Birds of Prey#16, The Joker had a cast on his leg, but he walked as if it wasn't even there. He laughed after getting shot in the comic Batman: Dark Victory. He shows no signs of pain after several batarangs cut his mouth in the comic Batman Confidential. It seems that in most cases he simply enjoys the pain, provoking others to hit him; thus, to some extent, he can be described as a sadomasachist. He was known to survive explosions and accidents on several occasions. His bones heal quickly, and it has been hinted in a couple of comics that he does not physically age.

Joker is a brilliant inventor and chemist. Using a seemingly ridiculous but actually very dangerous arsenal of comedy-themed weapons, examples include his patented laughing gas, a flag pistol, exploding fart pillows, an acid-spraying flower (which is usually found on his jacket), a hand-held stun gun, sharp as razor cards, poison pies and exploding cigars. The Joker is immune to his own poison, as well as other types of similar toxins. Joker is an excellent shooter; he almost never misses. His accuracy was also proven when he shot the ropes of suspended hostages to distract Batman. The Joker has sometimes demonstrated above-average hand-to-hand combat skills, sometimes even taking Batman by surprise with his punch.

The Joker does not possess any direct superhuman abilities. However, he does display several superhuman abilities. Arc of History Arkham Asylum indicates that that he is "supernormal"; this means that he sees the reality of the universe without any personal illusions, and that his personality can change everything to suit the circumstances, allowing him to be excellent at pretending and passing off lies as truth, since he truly believes what he says. Also, the Joker very often manages to cheat his death. People have repeatedly assumed that he is dead, but he came back again and again to wreak havoc. Super strength is a moot point in regards to the Joker, but the Joker's insanity, or his mood, leaves him immune to the Specter's judgments, although Batman at one point explains this by saying that the Joker doesn't actually know what is right and wrong.

The Joker also has a tendency to break the fourth wall and seems to have a sense of heightened awareness of being a comic book character. He is the only character who directly addresses the reader. The Joker also knows that he is the perfect opposite of Batman. In the comic Legends of the Dark Knight#65-68, Joker, thinks he killed Batman and there is no point in being the Joker anymore, he resorts to plastic surgery and tries to lead a normal, sane life. However, upon discovering that Batman is still alive, he returns to madness and continues his criminal career.

In the media

Cartoon series

The Hour of Batman and Superman" released in 1968. The character was voiced by Larry Storch. The Joker appeared as a regular adversary of Batman.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Batman Adventures" aired between 1968 and 1969. He voiced the role of the character. In the episode "How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow?", the Joker raids technology firms to build a powerful solar mirror that he can use as a laser weapon. He also appears in a number of other series" My crime is your crime", "Two Penguins are too many", "A Game of Cat and Mouse" and others.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Super friends"published between 1973 and 1983. The role of the character was voiced by Frank Welker.

The Joker appears in the animated series " New Batman Adventures"released in 1977 - 1999. The role of the character was voiced by Mark Hamill.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Super Power Team: Guardians of the Galaxy"released in 1985 - 1986. The role of the character was voiced by Frank Welker.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Batman", the character is voiced by Mark Hamill. He appears in the episode "A Joker Christmas", in which he escapes from Arkham Asylum on Christmas Eve.

The Joker appears in the animated series " New Batman Adventures", which was published between 1997 and 1999. The role of the character was voiced by Mark Hamill.

The Joker is mentioned in the animated series" Batman of the Future", which was published between 1999 and 2001. He himself does not personally appear in the cartoon, but there are references to him.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Justice League", the role of the character was voiced by Mark Hamill.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Static shock", voiced the role of the character. He appeared in the episode entitled "Major League", in which the Joker wants to destroy a young superhero named Static Shock.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Batman"published between 2004 and 2008. The character was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Batman: The Brave and the Bold", the character was voiced by Jeff Bennett. The Joker first appears as the Red Hood in the episode entitled "Deep Cover Job". This episode shows how Owlman and the Scarlet Scarab caused an accident at a chemical plant, which led to his deformity. In contrast from his counterpart in the world of Batman, this Red Hood becomes a real hero and also appears in the episodes entitled "Joker: Vile and Vile!", "Emperor Joker!" and others.

The Joker appears in the animated series " Young Justice", voiced by Brent Spiner. He appears as a member League N justice, together with Count Vertigo, Black Adam, A languid Skull, I'm a dove Ivy, Ultra-Humanoid and Wotan. They used a combination of poison Cobra and Joker's poison in mysticism having received radioactively enhanced plants for attack largest cities in the world. The Joker was given the task of controlling plants when "Justice League" started a fight with them.

Animated films

The Joker appears in " Batman: Mask of the Phantasm", which was released in 1993, the character is voiced by Mark Hamill.

The Joker appears in " Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" The character is voiced by Mark Hamill. He mysteriously returns to Gotham. In flashbacks, the Joker is shown to have kidnapped and tortured Tim Drake, driving Robin to madness; Drake kills the Joker during his madness, but the chip implanted in Tim's neck possesses a copy the Joker's mind and DNA, allowing him to gradually take over Drake's body and transform him into a duplicate of the Joker.

The Joker appears in " Batman vs Dracula" released in 2005, he is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. The Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and unwittingly becomes a vampire under the control of Count Dracula. Batman manages to catch him, after which he brings him to the Batcave, where he cures the Joker of his bloodthirstiness.

The Joker appears in " Batman: Under the Red Hood" released in 2010. The character was voiced by John DiMaggio. According to the film, he was once an early version of the Red Hood (as several people used the alias). Recruited by Ra's al Ghul to distract Batman from terrorists planning to destroy the world economy in exchange for a small condition, the Joker lures the Dynamic Duo to Sarajevo, Bosnia, where he beats Jason Todd with a crowbar and leaves Robin in the hope that he will be killed by a bomb.

The Joker appears in " Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths"The character was voiced by James Patrick Stewart. On an alternate Earth, the heroic version of the Joker is known as Harlequin. He is a longtime ally of the same Earth's Lex Luthor and a former member of their Justice League/Underground Justice. He sacrifices his life so that Luthor can escape and to ask for help for their Earth, which was under siege by the villainous Crime Syndicate of America.

The Joker appears in " Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Part 1" And " Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Part 2", the character was voiced by Michael Emerson. The Joker becomes catatonic and is confined to Arkham Asylum after Batman retires and with the return of the Dark Knight ten years later (at the end of the first part), the Joker comes to his senses. During the events In the second part of the film, the Joker deceives his doctor and ends up on television. While at the studio, he carries out his terrible plan, during which many people die (with the help of his signature gas) and goes to the local amusement park. In the final scene, the Joker succeeds. inflict multiple stab wounds on Batman and ends up breaking his own neck, which was already damaged.

The Joker appears in " Batman: Assault on Arkham" released in 2014. The character is voiced by Troy Baker. The Joker is in Arkham Asylum, but before he got there, he hid a bomb in Gotham, which Batman is trying to find.

The Joker appears in " Batman Unlimited: Chaos" released in 2015. The character was voiced by Troy Baker.

The Joker appears in " Batman: The Killing Joke".

The Joker appears in Batman: Return of the Masked Knights.

The Joker appears in The LEGO Movie: Batman, which was released in 2017, voiced by Zach Galifianakis.

Series

The Joker appears in the television series " Batman", released between 1966 and 1968, the role of the character was played by Cesar Romero. Romero refused to shave his mustache for the role, and its outline is noticeable despite the makeup.

The Joker appears in the television series Birds of Prey, played by Roger Stonebarner and voiced by Mark Hamill. The Joker appears in the first episode, in which he has a small role.

The Joker appears in the television series Gotham, played by Cameron Monaghan.

Movies

The Joker appears in " Batman", which was released in 1989, the character was played by actor Jack Nicholson, and Hugo Blick played the role of the Joker in flashbacks . In the film, the Joker is originally Jack Napier, who is right hand gangster leader Carl Grissom (Jack Palance), who is disfigured as a result of a skirmish with Batman (Michael Keaton) at a chemical factory. After being shot in the face, Napier falls into a vat of chemical waste.as a result, he gains green hair, chalk-white skin and bright red lips. Due to an unsuccessful attempt plastic surgery on his face, he has scars that give the appearance of a permanent smile. Driven into absolute madness by seeing a reflection of himself, the Joker kills Grissom, becoming the new head of his syndicate and launching a new crime wave designed to outdo Batman, who he feels is receiving too much attention from the press. During Batman and the Joker's final battle, they discover each other's equality and realize that they "made each other."

Jack Napier appears in the film " Batman Forever", which was released in 1995, the character was played by David Y. Hodges. Napier appears in a flashback.

The Joker appears in the film " The Dark Knight", which was released in 2008, the character was played by Heath Ledger. At the beginning of the film, the Joker appears as a bank robber, after which he was hired by the Gotham City crime families to kill Batman (Christian Bale). He threatens to kill every day until Batman won't reveal his secret identity.

The Joker appears in the film Suicide Squad, played by Jared Leto.

Games

The Joker appears in Lego Batman: The Videogame.
The Joker appears in the game" Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe".
The Joker appears in the game Batman Vengeance Joker.
The Joker appears in the game "Batman: Arkham Asylum".
The Joker appears in the game "Batman: Arkham City".
The Joker appears in the game "DC Universe Online".
The Joker appears in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.
The Joker appears in the game "Batman". released for Sega Mega Drive
The Joker appears in the game" The Adventures of Batman and Robin".
The Joker appears in the game "Batman: Arkham Origins".
The Joker appears in the game "Injustice: Gods Among Us".
The Joker appears in Infinite Crisis.
The Joker appears in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
The Joker appears in the game "Batman: Arkham Knight".
The Joker appears in the Lego Dimensions game.

In this article we will talk about one of the most famous comic book villains. His nickname is Joker (DC Comics). The real name still remains a mystery for both fans of cartoon stories and fans of superhero films.

Birth of the Joker

A character with that name first appeared in 1940 in the first issue of the Batman comic book.

The villain's past is shrouded in mystery. It is not entirely clear who he was, what his real name was, whether he had a family. The hero himself tells everything every time different variants of your past. There is an opinion that he no longer remembers who the Joker himself became a villain before.

DC Comics initially adhered to this version: the character was “born” due to tragic accident. A loser comedian or robber (versions differ in different issues of comics) in a red cap accidentally fell into a vat of acid. It happened at night, Red Hood was scared of Batman. But after the fall, the unfortunate robber did not die, but was reborn as a completely different creature. It turned out to be a man with snow-white skin, black circles under his eyes, green hair and a frozen smile on his face.

Debut

Some time passed after the acid incident, and a mountain of corpses was discovered in one of Gotham's warehouses. Each dead man had a smile frozen on his face. Then viewers saw the message strange man in a purple suit. He promised to kill one of the local millionaires and even named the exact time. This, of course, was the Joker.

DC Comics is the company that created one of the most popular villains. Despite his madness, the Joker is not without some charm.

However, let's return to the plans of this extraordinary bandit. As promised, the millionaire died despite the efforts of the police. But that was not all. The Joker (DC Comics), whose photo can be seen in this article, was planning to poison the reservoir. It was only thanks to the efforts of Batman and Commissioner Gordon that he failed. The villain ended up behind bars, and then went to Arkham, a psychiatric clinic.

Career in the underworld

This, of course, was not the last thing the Joker did. DC Comics hasn't forgotten about this villain. On the contrary, it was he who managed to carry out the most notorious and incredible crimes. It is no coincidence that the Joker began to be called Bamten's main opponent. For the villain, fighting the superhero has become a fun and exciting game of a lifetime.

The Joker became a regular visitor to Arkham, from where he periodically escaped alone or released all the criminals in company. The hospital itself became for him a place of rest from fighting and a headquarters for creating new insidious plans.

The Joker even has an accomplice - Harley Quinn. She dresses like a harlequin and has tender feelings for the murderous maniac.

Character

So, who is the Joker (DC Comics)? The company's scriptwriters left the secret of his identity undisclosed, but they painted the character of the villain in all colors.

The Joker is a self-confident, crazy maniac with a thirst for destruction. Despite his destructiveness, he is very smart, cunning, cunning and devilishly resourceful. He trusts no one and treats both enemies and allies equally cruelly. But the Joker's favorite enemy is Batman. This is not just a person against whom the clown is constantly ready to take revenge, he is also a worthy opponent. "Games" with Batman give the Joker the most pleasure. The villain can compete with him in cunning and wit, and not just in strength. In many ways, the Joker's love for cunning plans is explained by the fact that in terms of physical strength he is much inferior to the superhero.

Even if the Joker is on a team, he is not amenable to anyone’s control, so he often acts as the leader or organizer. However, those who perceive him as an ally sooner or later pay for it with their lives. Nor can employers rely on him. The Joker always completes the task in his own way. and not always new plan does not include the death of the customer himself.

The villain knows no pity or mercy. But his main feature is madness. The Joker is always cheerful and never takes anything seriously. Everything that is happening is just a joke, even if hundreds of people are dying around.

Nothing can stop the Joker on his way to his goal. He is not afraid of danger, torture, or death. However, in those moments when his life is truly in danger, the instinct of self-preservation invariably turns on. Only thanks to this he remains alive.

The Joker quickly navigates in any situation, and thanks to an unhealthy psyche, he is able to make unpredictable but correct decisions. A villain can turn the tide of even the most predictable battle. In addition, he easily identifies his opponent's weaknesses. You can't expect a fair fight from the Joker. He always has a couple of sneaky tricks ready.

Among other criminals, he enjoys constant authority. In Arkham, his power over other prisoners knows no bounds.

Capabilities

The Joker (DC Comics) is not an ordinary comic book hero. He has no obvious superpowers. His strengths are incredible willpower and a brilliant mind. In addition, poisons and torture do not affect the villain. The Joker is good at hand-to-hand combat. However, he wins not through strength, but through tricks, unpredictability and cunning.

Equipment

The Joker (DC Comics) does not have an affinity for any particular type of weapon. The only thing is the poison, which makes people smile on their faces after death. The madman also has a passion for all kinds of pranks, turning them into deadly weapons: electric shock on the hand at 500 volts for the last handshake, sharp playing cards, fake pistols that turn out to be deadly, etc.

In general, the Joker is one of the most extraordinary villains in the DC comics universe.