The Joker

The Joker is a fictional criminal 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. Joker is the archenemy of Batman and is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. Introduced as a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, the character became a goofy trickster in the late 1950's before returning to his darker roots during the early 1970's.

Golden Age
The Joker debuted in Batman #1 (1940) as the eponymous character's first villain and initially appeared as a remorseless serial killer, modeled after a joker playing card with a mirthless grin, who killed his victims with Joker Venom. The character was intended to be killed in his second appearance after being stabbed in the heart. Finger wanted Joker to die because of his concern that recurring villains would make Batman inept, but was overruled by then-editor Whitney Ellsworth, a hastily drawn panel, indicating that the Joker was still alive and returned. The Joker went on to appear in nine of Batman's first twelve issues.

The Joker's regular appearances quickly defined him as the archenemy of Batman and Robin, he killed dozens of people and even derailed a train. By issue #13, Joker began to be portrayed to be more of a prankster than threat due to the comic books being marketed to children without the more mature pulp elements that had originated many superheroes' comics books. The 1942 story "The Joker Walks the Last Mile" was the beginning point for the character's transformation into a more goofy prankster thief.

Silver Age
The Joker was one of the few popular villains appearing regularly in Batman issues from the Golden Age into the Silver Age, as the series continued during the rise in popularity of mystery and romance comics. In 1951, Finger wrote an origin story for the Joker in Detective Comics #168, which introduced the characteristic of him formerly being the criminal Red Hood, and his disfigurement the result of a fall in a vat of chemicals.

By 1954, the Comics Code Authority had been established in response to the increasing public disapproval of comic book content. They banned gore, innuendo and excessive violence, stripping Batman of his menace and transforming Joker into a goofy, trickster thief without his original homicidal tendencies.

The character appeared less frequently after 1964, when Julius Schwartz (who disliked Joker) became the editor of Batman comics and the character risked becoming an obscure figure of the preceding era until this goofy prankster version of the character was adapted into the 1966 television series Batman, played by Cesar Romero. Eventually, Carmine Infantino resolved to turn things around, becoming the editor and moving stories away from schoolboy-friendly adventures. The Silver Age introduced several of the Joker's defining character traits including lethal joy buzzers, acid-squirting flowers, trick guns and goofy, elaborate crimes.

Bronze Age
In 1973 after a four-year disappearance, the Joker was revived and revised by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams. Beginning with Batman #251's "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge", the character returns to his roots as an impulsive, homicidal maniac who matches wits with Batman. This story began a trend in which the Joker was used, sparingly, as a central character. Adams also modified the Joker's appearance, changing his more average figure by extending his jaw and making him taller and leaner.

Personality
The Joker's main characteristic is his apparent insanity, although he is not described as having any particular psychological disorder. He lacks empathy, a conscience and concern over right or wrong. In A Serious House on Serious Earth, he is described is capable of processing outside sensory information only by adapting to it. This enables him to create a new personality every day and explains why, at different times, he is a mischevious clown or a psychotic killer.

In The Killing Joke, Joker explains the roots of his insanity as "one bad day": losing his wife and unborn child and being disfigured by chemicals, paralleling Batman's origin in the loss of his parents. He tries to prove that anyone can be like him after one day and Batman even offers to rehabilitate his archenemy; the Joker though apologetically declines, believing 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 insanity is merely an act.

The Joker is alternatively depicted as sexual and asexual such as in The Dark Knight Returns and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious House, the Joker is seductive toward Batman; it is uncertain their relationship has homoerotic undertones or if the Joker is simply trying to manipulate his nemesis. Frank Miller interpreted the character as fixated on death and uninterested in sexual relationships, while Robinson believes that the Joker is capable of a romantic relationship. His relationship with Harley Quinn is abusively paradoxical; although the Joker keeps her at his side, he heedlessly harms her. But Harley loves him however the Joker does not reciprocate her feelings, chiding her for distracting him from other plans.

Snyder's "Death of the Family" describes the Joker is in love with Batman, although not in a traditionally romantic way. The Joker believes Batman has not killed him because he makes Batman better, and he loves the villain for that. The Joker and Batman represent opposites: the extroverted Joker wears colorful clothing and embraces chaos while the introverted, monochromatic Batman represents order and discipline. The Joker is often depicted as defining his existence through his conflict with Batman. In 1994's "Going Sane", the villain tries to lead a normal life after Batman's apparent death, reverting when the Caped Crusader reappears; in "Emperor Joker", an apparently omnipotent Joker cannot destroy Batman without undoing 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 lays behind the mask, ignoring opportunities to learn Batman's secret identity. Given the opportunity to kill Batman, the villain demurs; he believes that without their game, winning is pointless. The character also has no desire for typical criminal goals like money or power; his criminalty is designed only to continue his game with Batman. The Joker is portrayed as having no fear and the villain has also be temporarily rendered sane by several means including telepathic manipulation by the Martian Manhunter and being resurrected in a life-restoring Lazarus Pit. At 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.

Skills and Equipment
The Joker has no inherent superhuman abilities and he commits crimes with a variety of weaponized thematic props such as a deck of razor-tipped playing cards, rolling marbles, Jack-in-the-Boxes with unpleasent surprises and exploding cigars capable of leveling a building. The flower in his lapel sprays a variety of chemicals depending on Joker's mood (acid, poisonous laughing gas, poison, water, knockout gas or even nothing at all) and his hand often holds a lethal joy buzzer conducting a million volts of electricity. However, his chemical genius provides his signature weapon: Joker Venom, a liquid or gaseous toxin which sends it's victims into fits of uncontrollable laughter; higher doses can lead to paralysis, coma or death with a ghoulish, pained rictus grin. The Joker is also immune to venom and most poisons.

The Joker is portrayed as skilled in melee combat and others when he overwhelms Batman but declines to kill him. He is talented with firearms, although even his guns are theatrical; his long-barreled revolver often releases a flag reading "Bang" and a second pull on the trigger launches the flag to skewer it's target. Although formidable in combat, the Joker's chief asset is his cunning and manipulative mind.

Relationships
The Joker's unpredictable, homicidal nature makes him one of the most feared individuals in the DC Universe; the Trickster says in the 2005 mini-series Underworld Unleashed, "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories". Gotham's villains feel threatened by the character; depending on the circumstances, he is likely to fight with his rivals for control of the city as he is to join them for an entertaining outcome. The Joker interacts with other villains who oppose Batman, whether he is on the streets or in Arkham Asylum. He has collaborated with criminals like the Penguin, the Riddler and Two-Face, although these partnerships rarely end well due to the Joker's desire for unbridled chaos and uses his stature to lead others such as Killer Croc and Scarecrow. The Joker's greatest rival is the most intelligent man in the world, Lex Luthor. Although they have a friendly partnership in 1950's World Finest Comics #88, later unions emphasized their mutual hostility and clashing egos.

Due to his tendency to kill subordinates on a whim, the Joker has no difficulty attracting henchmen with a seemingly infinite cash supply and intimidation: they are too afraid of their employer to refuse his demands that they wear red clown noses or laugh at macabre jokes. Even with his unpredictability and lack of superhuman powers, the 2007 limited series Salvation Run sees hundreds of villains fall under his spell because they are more afraid of him than the alternative: Luthor. Batman #186 (1966) introduced the Joker's first sidekick: the one-shot character, Gaggy Gagsworth, who is short and dressed like a clown; the character was later resurrected as an enemy of his replacement, Harley Quinn. Introduced in 1992 animated series, Harley Quinn is the Joker's former Arkham psychiatrist who develops an obsessive infatuation with him and dons a red-and-black harlequin costume to join him in the 1999 graphic novel ''Batman: Harley Quinn. ''Although Quinn loves the Joker, he is obsessed with Batman and uses her to achieve his goals at her expense. Despite violent abuse, she returns to him over and over again. The Joker is sometimes shown to keep hyenas as pets; this trait was introduced in the 1977 animated series ''The New Adventures of Batman. A 1976 issue of Batman Family ''introduced Duela Dent as the Joker's daughter, though her parentage claim was later proven to be false.

Although his chief obsession is Batman, the character has occasionally ventured outside Gotham City to fight Batman's superhero allies. In "To Laugh and Die in Metropolis" (1987) the character kidnaps Louis Lane, distracting Superman with a nuclear weapon. The story is notable for the Joker taking on a relative god and the ease with which Superman defeats him. Asked why he came to Metropolis, the Joker replies simply: "Oh Superman, why not?". In 1995, the Joker fought his third major DC hero: Wonder Woman, who drew on the Greek god of trickery to temper the Joker's humor and shatter his confidence. The character has joined supervillain groups like the Injustice Gang and the Injustice League, to take on superhero groups like the Justice League.

Television

 * Batman (1960's): Cesar Romero portrayed the character in the 1960's Batman television series and he refused to shave his distinctive mustache for the role, and it is partially visible beneath the white face makeup applied. This version of the character is based on the 1960's comics version, who is more of an elaborate prankster than a psychopathic madman. He had a fiendish cackle and a very cunning mind, which one of his first goals being to unmask Batman. Some of his crimes were for little more than goofy amusement, while others were far more dangerous. His many schemes after this included committing crimes based on the signs of the Zodiac, stealing the famous Renaissance art collection for ransom and trying to take over Gotham City with a flying saucer. He can also easily persuade women to help him in his crimes with his charm and wits. Joker came close to discovering Batman's secret identity several times and was defeated by Batman many times, the felenious funnyman never rested until the last laugh was his. As a parody of Batman also, the Joker develops his own Jokermobile and his own Utility Belt containing many weapons in his crime waves such as a joy buzzer, joke flower, trick streamers, exploding cigars, sneeze powder pellets and jumping beans, and has been remarked that he was a hypnotist during his youth.
 * Birds of Prey: Roger Stoneburner made a cameo appearance as the character in an episode of Birds of Prey in which Batgirl was caught in the crossfire between Batman and the Joker. In the series, Joker did not only paralyze Barbara, but hires a thug (who later turns about to be Clayface) to kill Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman. Joker is said in another episode to be locked up in a prison far from New Gotham, however his old partner Harley Quinn intends to take over the city and avenge him. Mark Hamill provided Joker's voice in the scene, and he was the only of the two actors to be credited.
 * Gotham: The creators of the TV Series Gotham have stated that the Joker will be in season one via easter eggs. In the first episode, a standup comedian portrayed by Jon Beaver was seen performing at Fish Mooney's club and is later forced to witness Fish Mooney beat up Oswald Chesterton Cobblepot after she caught the latter feeding information to the GCPD about Mario Pepper being framed for the murder of the Waynes. In the episode "A Blind Fortune Teller", a teenaged man named Jerome Valeska played by Cameron Monaghan and was a member of Haly's Circus and is orphaned when his mother, the snake charmer, was discovered to be murdered. It is later revealed Jerome is the murderer and his birthfather, Cicero the blind fortune teller, had tried to cover up Jerome's role in the murder. Various promotional spots strongly implied that Jerome might become Joker when he grows up. He later reappeared as the public leader of the Maniax, a gang of sociopathic criminals comprised of former Arkham Asylum inmates that was secretly formed by Theo Galavan in his agenda against Gotham, eventually slaughtering most of the GCPD. However, his reign of terror ended when Galavan, while "playing the hero" stabs him in the neck, although it is heavily implied by Cicero that his actions inspired several people to continue his legacy and one of these new criminals would eventually become the Joker. At the end of season two, it is shown that Jerome along with other deceased people were reanimated from the dead by Hugo Strange and ended up escaping into the streets of Gotham. In the ending of the episode "The Red Hood", shortly after the remaining members of the Red Hood gang were stopped, the Red Hood was recovered by a long-haired blonde youth who proceeded to put it on, and then make a finger motion in a similar manner to a gun, implying that he was going to continue the Red Hood legacy and possibly inferring that he might become the Joker later on.

Film

 * Batman (1989-1997 film series): Portrayed by Jack Nicholson, Joker is originally Jack Napier as the right hand of mob boss Carl Grissom prior to his transformation into the Joker. During a confrontation with Batman in a chemical factory, Jack is shot in the face and falls into a vat of chemical waste despite Batman trying to save him; dying his hair green, bleaching his skin chalk white and his lips bright red. A botched attempt at plastic surgery leaves him with a permanent rictus grin and driven insane by his reflection, he kills Grissom and takes over his syndicate, launching a crime wave designed to outdo Batman, whom he feels he is getting too much press. The Joker describes himself as the "world's first fully functional homicidal artist" who makes avant-garde "art" by killing people with cosmetics laced with his Smilex, which leaves it's victims with a grotesque grin similar to his own. Bruce Wayne later recognizes the Joker as the killer of his parents and during their final battle, they discover each other's identities and realize that they created each other. As the Joker attempts to escape in a helicopter, Batman ties a grappling hook around the Joker's leg and attaches it to a stone gargoyle, causing the Joker to fall to his death when the gargoyle breaks loose of it's moorings. Jack also appears briefly in a flashback in Batman Forever portrayed by David U. Hodges and was to return in the now-cancelled Batman Unchained as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by Scarecrow's fear toxin. Jack Nicholson received critical acclaim for his performance, with the Newseek review of the film that the best scenes in the movie are due to surreal black comedy portrayed in his character.
 * The Dark Knight (2008): Portrayed by Heath Ledger and the Joker character in this is influenced by The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, and he wears traditional color palette while his facial appearance includes clown makeup that covers facial scars of a Glasgow smile. The portrayal summarizes philosophical ideas of anarchy and chaos. The Joker is revealed in the film along with his accomplices, all wearing clown masks, robbing a mob-owned bank with the robbers killing each other and the Joker is left the only survivor, who escapes with the money and later interrupts a videoconferance between mob leaders Sal Maroni, the Chechen and Gambol with their Chinese accountant, Lau, and offers to kill Batman for half of the mob's money. Gambol then places a bounty on his head, so Joker kills him and takes over his empire. The Joker eventually announces that people will die each day until Batman reveals his true identity and murders Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb and mob trial Judge Janet Surillo. The Joker eventually gets captured but manages to kidnap Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes and rigged them up to time bombs, killing Rachel and Batman saves Harvey but is left disfigured and is transformed into Two-Face, the Joker then escapes captivity and takes over Chechen's gang after killing Lau. The Joker then releases Two-Face from a hospital before blowing it up after Coleman Reece didn't die in 60 minutes. Joker then tries to force two ferries into blowing each other after threatening to destroy both if they don't within the time limit, but Batman stops him and leaves him dangling against a window. The Joker smilingly defines himself by his conflict with Batman and says they're destined to fight each other forever. He also gloats that he nevertheless won "the battle for Gotham's soul" as the city's inhabitants will lose hope once Harvey's rampage on the murderous vigilante "Two-Face" becomes known and is taken into custody as he laughs hysterically. Batman ultimately foils the Joker's plan by taking the blame for Two-Face's murders.
 * DC Extended Universe: This Joker is portrayed by Jared Leto and makes his debut in the 2016 film Suicide Squad, and flashbacks reveals that the Joker, already known as Gotham's most powerful crime lord, manipulated Dr. Harleen Quinzel into falling in love with him during his time as a patient at Arkham Asylum. He eventually manages to convince Quinzel to free him and subsequently gives her electroshock therapy. The Joker then takes her to the Ace Chemicals plant, and Quinzel voluntarily jumps into the chemicals that created her lover, bleaching her skin and completing her transformation into Harley Quinn. At some point, the Joker kills Robin with Harley's help though Quinn is ultimately apprehended and blackmailed into joining Amanda Waller's government task force composed of captured super-criminals. In the present day narrative, the Joker attempts to extract Harley from the task force and tortures one of Waller's security officers into leading him to the facility where the nano bombs used to control the criminals are manufactured, and threatens one of the A.R.G.U.S. scientists there to disable the bomb implanted in Harley's neck. After commandeering one of Waller's helicopters, Joker and his men rescue Harley in Midway City and make their getaway. However, the chopper is shot down and Harley jumps out while Joker seemingly perishes in the explosion, prompting Harley to rejoin the task force. After the Suicide Squad defeat the Enchantress, Joker, who survived the crash, breaks into Belle Reve Prison with his gang to free Harley from her cell, and the pair reunite as the movie ends. Although the film received mixed views from critics, Jared Leto's performance was praised despite the character's miminal screen time.

Animation

 * The Adventures of Batman: The Joker appeared in the recurring adversary in the 1969 Filmation series The Adventures of Batman. Two episodes of the 1972 series Scooby-Doo movies featured a meeting with Batman, the Joker was one of the villains and voiced by Larry Storch.
 * Super Friends: The Joker was planned to be the main antagonist and part of the Legion of Doom on Challenge of the SuperFriends, but Filmation already had the rights of the character for The New Adventures of Batman. However he appeared in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Wild Cards" which featured a version of the Royal Flush Gang. The leader of the group, Ace, turned out to be disguised by Joker voiced by Frank Welker.
 * DC Animated Universe: The Joker in several animated series set within the DC Animated Universe voiced by Mark Hamill, who is often credited as the iconic version of the animated Joker, often for, as he describes his wide range of "joyful, gleeful, maniacal [..] malevolent and evil laughs". He made his first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) is in "Christmas with the Joker", in which he escapes Arkham Asylum on Christmas Eve. The series is notable for introducing his accomplice and lover, Harley Quinn, to such acclaim that she became a character in the comics. The Joker is also a pivotal character in the spin-off feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), although the writers were initially reluctant to include him since it was only a few years since the Batman 1989 film was released. However, they realized they "could make his appearance serve the story in a way that we never could in live-action". The Joker later returned in the follow-up series The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999). He went through a stylist revamp that included black sclerae and the omission of his trademark red lips. The Joker also makes appearances in non-Batman titled series such as Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000), he travels to Metropolis and makes a deal with Lex Luthor to kill Superman in exchange for one billion dollars. In future DC Animated Universe appearances, the Joker was reverted back to his original look, albeit with more angular design with yellow sclerae. He was featured in Justice League (2001-2006) in which he forces his way into Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang and in "Wild Cards", he pits the Justice League against the Royal Flush Gang as part of an elaborate ruse. He also starts a crime spree on Static Shock (2000-2004) in the episode "The Big Leagues", in which he recruits Hot-Streak, Kangor, Shiv and Talon, but the group is foiled by Static. Although presumed to be long dead, the Joker's legacy inspires an motorcycle gang known as the Jokerz in Batman Beyond (1999-2001) and the Joker returns in the 2000 film Batman: Return of the Joker, in which he mysteriously returns to Gotham. A flashback reveals that the Joker kidnapped and tortured Tim Drake, turning Robin into an insane, miniature version of himself dubbed Joker Junior. Joker was killed when Tim shot Joker in the heart (the censored version shows that Joker was electrocuted by damaged cables off-screen) however a microchip implanted in the back of Tim's neck possesses a copy of the Joker's mind and DNA, allowing him to gradually take over his host as a duplicate of the Joker until the chip was destroyed by the new Batman, defeating Joker once and for all.
 * The Batman: Joker is portrayed by Kevin Michael Richardson and this version has long, wild hair and he initially wore a straight jacket modified to his kooky color scheme, though he later adopts his signature purple suit. In the first season finale, he is responsible for transforming Detective Ethan Bennett into Clayface. In Batman vs. Dracula (2005), the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and unwittingly becomes a vampire under the control of Count Dracula, though Batman cures Joker of his vampirism in order to learn the location of Dracula's lair in Gotham Cemetery.
 * Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Joker is portrayed by Jeff Bennett. His appearance and personality are similar to the Silver Age version as drawn by Dick Sprang. On a parallel earth, he is a known as the heroic vigilante Red Hood.
 * Young Justice: The Joker appears in the Young Justice cartoon series, voiced by Brent Spiner. He is a member of the Injustice Gang.
 * Batman: Under the Red Hood: The Joker is voiced by John DiMaggio and is hired by terrorist Ra's al Ghul to distract Batman from foiling his plans. To do so, the Joker lures the Dymanic Duo to Sarajevo, Bosnia, where he captures and tortures Robin (Jason Todd) with a crowbar, and leaves him to perish in an explosion. Years later, Jason returns as the Red Hood and attempts to force Batman to kill Joker. However, Batman refuses to do so, and the Joker is returned to Arkham Asylum.
 * The Dark Knight Returns: The Joker appears in this two-part adaption and is voiced by Michael Emerson. It is revealed that the Joker went into catatonia after Batman's retirement, and was held in Arkham Asylum for ten years. But when Batman returns, the Joker's mind awakens and he goes on a killing spree. During his final battle with Batman, the Dark Knight snaps his neck in a fit of rage, paralyzing him. Content that he made Batman a murderer in front of witnesses, the Joker twists his neck to completely sever his spinal cord, killing himself. His body was later cremated.
 * Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths: A heroic version of the Joker voiced by James Patrick Stuart, called the Jester. He is a member of their world's Justice League and sacrifices himself during a battle with the Crime Syndicate of America.
 * Batman: The Killing Joke:

Video Games

 * Batman: Vengeance:
 * Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe:
 * LEGO Batman: The Video Game:
 * Batman Arkham series:
 * DC Universe Online:
 * Injustice: Gods Among Us: