Jackanapes

JACKANAPES

Real Name: Jackanapes

Class: Gorilla

Occupation: Henchman

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: unnamed mother

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Gotham City, Prime Earth

First Appearance: Batman II #23.1 (November, 2013)

Powers: Jackanapes was an exceptionally intelligent gorilla skilled in gadgetry and using weaponry, including knives, firearms and explosives.

History: (Batman II #23.1) - Joker and his gang Wedge, Max and Flame Dupree broke into the Gotham Zoo, but Joker couldn’t properly enjoy feeding a zookeeper to a python because he kept having flashbacks of his abusive childhood. He remembered how his aunt Eunice berated him for clinging to his childhood toy, a monkey puppet he named Gaggy and how she would call him unclean and scrub his skin with bleach. He became fascinated with a baby gorilla in a zoo exhibit and decided to steal him, saying he wanted to start a family of his own, vowing to raise the gorilla as a son and give him the childhood he never had. Joker and Flame Dupree committed a home invasion, slaughtering the homeowners and using making it their own domicile to raise the gorilla, who Joker named Jackanapes. Over time Joker taught the gorilla how to use weapons and even how to devise his own gadgets of destruction. Joker and Jackanapes poisoned a lake with toxic chemicals and burnt down a department store after locking the shoppers inside. Joker kept telling Jackanapes he should never feel guilt because it was a weakness, and all of their victims were guilty of something so they were doing them a service by killing them and relieving them of guilt. A newly elected councilwoman planned to shut down the Gotham zoo, and was conducting a flyover inspection in a blimp. Joker was determined to stop her, and he and Jackanapes used gliders to storm the blimp. Jackanapes gunned down the councilwoman’s GCPD security, and Joker activated his newest inventive, a sonic mind-bender that drove the councilwoman and the last of her security mad. Joker expected them to tear each other to pieces, but instead they went after Joker and Jackanapes, pushing them out of the blimp. Jackanapes didn’t activate his glider and fell into a river, apparently drowning. Joker didn’t realize that Jackanapes had no taste for the mindless violence Joker loved, and was completely miserable with no will to live. Joker said he’d never forget Jackanapes, but toyed around with the idea of abducting another baby primate to raise.

Comments: Created by Grant Morrison & Andy Kubert.