"There's no difference between me and everyone else. All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day." ~The Joker~
(Warning! Rated PG-13 for language and suggestive material.)
Don't kill me all you Joker fans, but I'm gonna be very frank with you. My entire life has been divided into good guys and bad guys and up until I did this research on the Joker, I didn't hate any of them. I hate, with a passion, this character. I think he's a sick, perverted psychopath who should have died a long time ago. (I'm thinkin' at the hands of Nightwing, even though that's really not in his personality.) Some of you see humor in his madness and I promise you that I used to. But after finding out what I have about the character he was created to be, I cannot see him as funny anymore.
Granted, most of this is not expounded upon and probably not even existant in BTAS, he's the same character. He was created by the ones who formed the Batman legend. And I really, really don't think that he was created with the intention of being a "favorite villian" to anyone but the sickos in this world. (No offense, please!)
This is inevitably going to become one of the most disputed topics on the messageboard, and that's okay. You're all entitled to your own opinion. And you're all quite free to object to mine. A minor note: Joker's real name has never been released in BTAS or the comics. I'm using Jack Napier because that was his name in the movie, but it's merely to avoid confusion. And now... the Joker.
A lab assistant at Ace Chemical Processing Plant, Joker-to-be was also a father-to-be when he quit his job to try his hand at stand up comedy. He hoped to make more money with which to support his wife, Jeannie, and future child. When the career floped, he resorted to crime, if just for a night. The robbery of the Monarch Playing Card Company was promising; this one job, if pulled off, would provide Jack and his family a comfortable life for years. However, he received news that his wife had died in a freak accident (either a fire or electrocution, depending on which version you use) and decided not to go through with the heist. He was coaxed and forced to accompany the two thugs against his will.
During the robbery, as can be expected, a certain caped hero showed up. In the fight that ensued, Jack either a. jumped or b. is accidently pushed into a drainage vat of chemical waste. He emerged with bleached white skin, green hair, and bright red lips. He went mad.
Joker's mentally disabled cousin Melvin made the original "Joker Venom" in exchange for plastic surgery (or so Joker promised). Later, to throw Batman off the trail, he killed Melvin, dressed the corpse up as himself, and threw it into the river. Unfortunately for him, Batman wasn't stupid enough to fall for it and cousin Melvin died in vain.
Joker's goal in life was quickly established. He wanted to make people insane by providing them with their "one bad day". And he had his heart set on Commissioner Gordon. Jim Gordon was having coffee with his daughter, Barbara (AKA Batgirl) and discussing the recent breakout of the Joker from Arkham Asylum when the doorbell rang. Babs had been expecting a friend and ran to get the door, throwing it open without even thinking to check and see who it was. Joker, who was at the door, shot her at point blank. The bullet severed her spine and left her a parapalegic for life. And most people (I was one of them) believed that Joker then took off into the night to go get into more trouble. But he did not.
He beat the shit out of the Commissioner and, rendering him unconscious, returned to Babs who was dying on the floor. (Anyone who might not know, she didn't end up dying though I'm sure she wished she could.) He stripped the bleeding girl and proceeded to take pictures of her (while drinking a glass of wine and thoroughly enjoying himself, I might add.) But he was not done even yet.
Jim Gordon was taken to an amusement park, stripped naked, and put on a roller coster with the Joker. The ride consisted of various pictures of his naked, bleeding daughter and an insane song sung by Joker. Gordon managed to combat the Joker's urges to give up his sanity until Batman arrived.
I expected Batman to be pissed. I was let down. He quickly forgot what his archenemy had just done to his friend and his protege and ended the comic laughing over a joke that was not even the least bit funny. I was not at all satisfied with Batman's reaction.
Joker has also had a lasting affect on two of the three Robins:
ROBIN I (Dick Grayson)- In a nutshell, he got him fired. On a rooftop after an escape from Arkham he shot Robin through the upper right arm. The wound wasn't all that serious, but it got Bats freaked and he fired him.
ROBIN II (Jason Todd)- He "had the time of his life" beating the shit out of him just before he blew him and his mother up. (For more info on this, see Robin II's profile.)
It was so nice to find that I am not the only one who thinks the Joker should be drug out into the street and shot. So nice, in fact, that I'm going to print this letter I found. (You can see it in the back of BATMAN #444 if you want to read the whole thing.)
"After all the Joker has done to countless numbers of innocents, and taking into consideration the personal losses he's inflicted on Batman himself and his immediate friends, the Gordons, think Batman should snap the punk's neck with absolutely no remorse at all.. And I wouldn't consider him a murderer, either." -"Uncle Elvis"
SO THERE! I feel much better now.
The many deaths of Joker (Feel free to add any you may know of.):
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