- "All it takes is one, rotten day, to transform a normal man, into a monster... Well, in my case, a rotten day and a chemical bath."
- ―The Joker on his origins[src]
The Joker is the Batman's nemesis.
History
- "A very thin line separates normality, from insanity... Life brings thousands of tiny torments, in all shapes, sizes and flavors..."
- ―The Joker driving Ethan Bennett insane[src]
A very different interpretation of the Joker appeared in the animated series The Batman, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
In this series he is only referred to as simply "Joker" and barely as "the Joker" - he had wild green hair, red eyes, dark red lips, unusual yellow teeth, and a milky blue tongue. He was born by falling into a vat of chemicals, which bleached his skin, dyed his hair and drove him to insanity. In his first few appearances his costume consists of a purple sleeved straitjacket, blue pants, fingerless gloves and bare feet. Later in the series, he wore a purple jacket, orange shirt, and dark purple leggings( with fingerless gloves of the same material), but still had wild hair and wore no shoes, except one episode (which had mechanical stilts concealed in them) in which ironically he reverts to his earlier costume. Joker also moves and fights with a monkey-like style, using his feet as dexterously as his hands, and often hangs from the walls and ceilings.
Whilst it can be argued that this version of the Clown Prince of Crime more resembles the colorful, comic relief character featured in the comics of the 1950s and '60s, he is still a highly dangerous, intelligent and cruel character - whilst most of his crimes are silly and prank-like in nature, they can still be legitimately destructive. He treats each of his crimes like an elaborate joke designed to make his victims literally die laughing. Due to his unpredictable nature, bizarre appearance and unnerving instinct for the absurd, he has earned a reputation as one of the most dangerous criminals in Gotham.
The Joker in this series has often switched from a prankster-like clown to a much darker murdering psychopath (as in later episodes). Within The Batman, the Joker's body count can be arguably ranged from 19-30 victims on screen.
He believes himself to be inextricably linked to the Batman, and considers him to be his favorite sparring partner and opponent he says their relationship is "like comedy and tragedy - two sides, same coin". His weapons include his signature Joker venom (called "Joker Gas" in the series), razor sharp playing cards, grenades with Joker smiles on them and a bomb shaped like a Jack-in-the-Box. One of his most famous crimes was creating the supervillain Clayface. Joker captured and tortured Detective Ethan Bennet and, in order to drive him mad, he exposed Bennet to "Joker putty" a deadly chemical he created which mutated Bennet transforming him into the shapeshifting monster Clayface. As Clayface Bennet would attempt to get revenge on Joker many times. It is possible that this incarnation of the Joker has an origin similar to the Killing Joke, as he mentions having always wanted to make people laugh, in a flashback to his origins he is shown wearing red clothes after emerging from the chemicals suggesting at the very least a Red Hood origin. It is also hinted that Joker will one day cripple Batgirl like in "the Killing Joke" as Barbra Gordon is shown to be confined to a wheelchair in the future. He also maintains a rivalry with the Penguin for the title of Gotham's greatest criminal. In "The end of Batman" is the last episode when Joker and Harley Quinn appears and they escape.
The Batman vs. Dracula
Vampire Joker attempting to rob a blood bank.
Joker encountered Penguin outside a mausoleum and chased him down. Joker was caught by Count Dracula and turned into a vampire. His hair turned white, his eyes turned blue-white, and his clothes were affected as well. Unlike all the other vampires, however, he retained his individuality and his speech as well as gaining vampiric superhuman strength and speed. Nevertheless he is still incapable of betraying Dracula's resting place. At one point, he humorously comments that the blood he feasts on in a blood bank has a delicious flavor of "a bold finish of wild cherries with a hint of oak". He stayed this way until Batman managed to find a cure and revert Joker back to normal. As a side effect, Joker didn't remember anything after his meeting with Penguin outside of Dracula's mausoleum.
2 of the Joker at the same time
Bowman VS. Joker (Full Fight)
Joker In The US Army.
Young The Joker
Trivia
- In this series, unlike all other media, the character is almost universally referred to simply as "Joker" rather than "the Joker"; this is to contrast with the way his enemy's name is similarly altered, universally being referred to as "the Batman" instead of just "Batman".
- Joker's line expressing how men are easily driven insane and how he became what he is after only 'one rotten day' is based off the famous "one bad day" monologue from Batman: The Killing Joke.
- Joker's long, dreadlocked hairstyle is inspired by the Jester's Hat, which are often associated with The Joker or The Fool.
- Joker never uses the monkey-like combat style in the comic strips, TV series and Live-Action movies until The Batman.
- Interestingly enough, when Joker was changed into a Vampire by Dracula, he was the only one who appears to have kept his identity. Even going so far as to rob a blood bank unlike his fellow victims, who seemed to have changed into mindless animals. The explanation for this could be due to his extreme insanity being able to protect him from Dracula's control (though it still prevented him from being able to tell the Batman where Dracula's location was).
- Despite Dracula himself turning Joker into a Vampire, the Count appears to have little concern for him when he doesn't return to the crypt. It's possible that he was considered too dangerous and unpredictable by Dracula and was thus ousted from the pack (or he left of his own free will).
Appearances
The Batman
- Season One
- "The Bat in the Belfry"
- "Topsy Turvy"
- "The Rubberface of Comedy"
- "The Clayface of Tragedy"
- Season Two
- "The Laughing Bat"
- "Meltdown"
- "JTV"
- "Strange Minds"
- "Night and the City"
- Season Three
- "A Fistful of Felt"
- "Brawn"
- "The Laughing Cats"
- "The Apprentice"
- Season Four
- "Clayfaces"
- "Two of a Kind"
- "Rumors"
- "The Joining, Part 2"
- Season Five
- "Joker Express"
- "The Metal Face of Comedy"
- "The End of the Batman"
- The Batman vs. Dracula
See Also
- The Joker (The Batman)/Gallery
- The Joker
- The Joker (Disambiguation)