The Joker has captivated audiences, writers, and actors alike since the 1940s.
His humorous and violent nature makes us wonder what goes on inside the Clown Prince of Crime’s head.
Stick around as we can shed some light on this insane criminal’s life with these batty facts about The Joker.
The Joker first appeared in 1940 in the first issue of the Batman comic book series, making him Batman’s oldest nemesis.
The Joker’s appearance was inspired by the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs. The film is about a man whose face is disfigured into a permanent smile.
In the “The Darkseid War” storyline (2016), Batman finds out that, in this universe, there are three jokers working together: the criminal, the clown, and the comedian.
Since 2016, it has been canon that Batman knows the identity of the original Joker, though this identity was not revealed in the comics.
According to “The Killing Joke” comic (1998), the Joker was a failed comedian who fell into a vat of chemicals, which gave him his pale skin and made him insane.
According to one of Batman’s writers, Peter Tomasi, the Joker’s main goal in the books is to make Batman the best he can be, going so far as to say that they have a strange kind of love for each other.
The Joker has no fear. In the comic “Knightfall” (1993), the Scarecrow sprays the Joker with his fear-inducing toxin, which should make him cower, but this has no effect on him.
Due to many years of exposure to the chemicals and toxins he makes, the Joker has an incredibly high tolerance to being poisoned.
Batman has almost killed the Joker many times over the years, always declining to finish the job. Whether he should kill the Joker is a highly debated subject among fans of the comic books.
The Joker often teams up with the other villains of Gotham City. However, it rarely goes well for them because the Joker loves chaos above all else.
Many actors have played the Joker on TV, as voice actors, and in cinemas, making it a sought-after role. Both Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix have won Oscars for their roles as the Joker.
Be careful of the Joker’s flower lapel. In most renditions of this character, it shoots face-burning acid or his powerful Joker Venom, which will have you laughing til you die.
Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker in 2019 was the first R-rated film to make over 1 billion dollars.
The Joker’s girlfriend and accomplice, Harley Quinn, was once his psychiatrist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel. After falling in love with him in Arkham Asylum, she helped free the villain.
The Joker has made several attempts on Harley Quinn’s life, including shooting her point blank and trapping her in a crashing rocket.
After all the Joker’s attempts to kill Harley Quinn, she left the Clown Prince of Crime for her best friend, Poison Ivy.
Although the Joker’s real name is unknown, he has created many aliases. Some of these include “Joe Kerr,” “Jack White,” “Jack Napier,” and “A. Rekoj.”
The Joker is a master of disguise. He poses as everything from pilots to journalists and even creates new villains for Batman to fight.
The Joker’s first-ever sidekick, A. Gagsworthy, appeared in Batman #186. He’s had a wide variety of sidekicks since, including Mr. Hammer and a pair of hyenas named Bud and Lou.
In Batman #427 (1988), the Joker successfully kills Robin. This event was decided by fans who were able to phone in to vote for Robin’s fate, which was then shown in issue #428.
In the DC multiverse alternate version of Earth, Earth-3, the Joker goes by “the Jokester” and is the superhero who must fight against “Owlman,” the evil Batman counterpart.
On Earth 22 in the Dark Multiverse, Batman gets infected by the Joker’s disease, making him “The Batman Who Laughs.”
In the 2015-2016 crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Joker almost kills Batman before being knocked out by Donatello.
In “A Death in the Family,” Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appointed the Joker as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations.
The Joker’s only real power is “super sanity,” which allows him to control his personality and mind in ways other superheroes can’t.
Due to his super sanity, he has a high tolerance for pain, once even cutting his own face off and reattaching it with staples.
One of his abilities, which comes with his super-sanity, is that he is aware that he is in a comic book and often breaks the fourth wall.
In 1976, DC created a calendar that revealed the Joker’s birthday to be August 1st.
Disregarding planet-destroying villains, the Joker has the highest body count in the DC Universe, killing more than 2000 people in various comical ways.
The Joker has died multiple times during his time in the comics. He is often revived through his own plans, those of his henchmen, and once by Batman himself!
The Joker may be centuries old. This was implied during “Endgame,” where it is revealed that a criminal known as “the Pale Man” has been in Gotham much longer than Batman.
Not even the Joker himself knows his origin story. In “The Killing Joke,” he says, “Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another… if I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple-choice!”
Many of the Joker’s gadgets, like the Jokergyro and the Jokermobile, are copies of Batman’s gadgets, making fun of how serious Batman is.
The Joker has had us on our toes for nearly a century with his comedic antics
His presence in films and comics reminds us that sometimes the scariest villains aren’t the ones with superpowers or giant robots but the ones that reflect humanity’s chaotic nature.
Love him or fear him, one thing is clear: the Joker isn’t going anywhere anytime soon!
