Vigilante Joker

"John Doe", later known as The Joker, is a major character in Telltale Games' Batman series. He is a minor character in Batman: The Telltale Series and the anti-villainous deuteragonist of Batman: The Enemy Within.
Unlike most other depictions of the Joker, John is shown to be a sympathetic and insecure man who is looking for direction in his life. By the end of The Enemy Within - Episode Four: What Ails You, John will either decide to become a vigilante and battle those who he perceives as villains in Gotham City or will fully embrace his inner demons and become the homicidal maniac Joker usually is. 
He was voiced by .
==Virtues==
*Localized protection
*Pandemic prevention (both as Vigilante Joker)
==Biography==
===Background===
Nobody truly knows his true identity, with the name "John Doe" that was given to him by the asylum staff. It seemed that even John himself was also unaware of his past and didn't remember his life prior to Arkham, how he got there or even his own name. It seemed that no one even remembered the day that John arrived and there was no record of him ever being committed. Other inmates were scared of John, particularly Victor Zsasz, who found him unpredictable. However, to staff members, particularly doctors Joan Leland and Harleen Quinzel, John seemed to recover and was one of the more cooperative of the inmates.
While at Arkham, John became obsessed with Bruce Wayne after saving his life and his activities in the public's eyes. He also began to admire Batman and his war against crime, particular criminals like Carmine Falcone. John kept a scrapbook of information and became determined to learn everything about Bruce. 
It's possible that John deduced that Bruce and Batman were one in the same, but it was left uncertain at that moment. It was later revealed he figured out Bruce was Batman in The Enemy Within.
===Batman: The Telltale Series===
====Episode Four: Guardian of Gotham====
John Doe is first introduced to Bruce Wayne as being an inmate of Arkham Asylum who does not remember his past or who he is, and not even any of the doctors know the truth.
He appears as an outwardly, friendly and laid-back man, but one who also possesses a violent and savage side as well, as shown when he viciously beats down two inmates threatening Bruce. The two (optionally) connect, with John also revealing some facts about Vicki Vale's past that Bruce previously did not know (such as her having been born Victoria Arkham).
John agrees to help Bruce escape from Arkham in exchange for a favor, which Bruce can choose to promise to grant or not. Either way, John helps Bruce get out of Arkham. However, to do this, John makes fellow inmate Victor Zsasz try and murder another patient. Bruce can either save the patient or use a telephone to ensure his release, allowing Zsasz to murder his intended victim. 
Regardless of the choice, John still assists Bruce in finding Vicki by informing him to locate her adoptive parents before he is released from Arkham with his butler Alfred Pennyworth arriving to either ensure his release if the phone wasn't used when Bruce chose to stop Zsasz or to pick him up if he did use the phone to get either Lieutenant James Gordon and the GCPD or Alfred (with assistance from Bruce's lawyers) to get him out.
====Episode Five: City of Light====
He gleefully witnesses the battle between Batman and the Children of Arkham and the escaped inmates in the asylum before appearing in the very last scene of the episode now out of Arkham.
===Batman: The Enemy Within===
==== Episode One: The Enigma====
It is revealed that John has been released from Arkham for good behavior, and has listed Bruce as his emergency contact. He later meets with Bruce at Lucius Fox's funeral and tries to call in the favor Bruce owes him. He also reveals that he's fallen in with some "interesting people" who turn out to be the group of criminals Bruce is after called "The Pact".
====Episode Two: The Pact====
Using his "friendship" with John, Bruce tries to get into the Pact, with John being Bruce's primary supporter (especially if Bruce continues to treat him well).
====Episode Three: Fractured Mask====
John helps Bruce and Catwoman break into the late Riddler's now abandoned lair looking for information on how to get into his laptop (which Harley Quinn has possession of and wants to decrypt).
During this adventure, John shows a willingness to beat GCPD Detective Harvey Bullock with a crowbar if Bruce does not intervene, and later, when Bruce and John have drinks together outside a coffee shop with the former giving optional dating advice of the latter being himself when talking with Harley, John admits that he can feel "someone" inside him that is trying to get out. The words John uses in describing this "someone" makes it clear that it is a darker and more violent side of him, one that Bruce can urge him to either suppress or let out. As Batman, he can also meet with John Doe and teach him how to throw a Batarang after John has gotten Riddler's laptop for him and not Catwoman if she wasn't warned about Gordon and the GCPD ambushing her.
Later, when both Bruce and Catwoman are in hot water with The Pact, John urges Bruce to give up Catwoman to save himself, which Bruce can choose to do so or not.
====Episode Four: What Ails You====
John, alongside the other members of the Pact, storm the Bodhi Spa and the SANCTUS Research Facility. John will briefly assist Bruce/Batman against Bane and Mr. Freeze during the battle (and if Batman taught him how to throw a Batarang after stealing Riddler's laptop instead of Catwoman if Batman chose not to warn her about Commissioner Gordon's ambush, then he will use it). However, during the chaos, Harley Quinn flees, leaving John Doe behind.
Heartbroken by this, John escapes himself, returning to the Pact's hideout, the abandoned Old Five Points subway station, to drown in his sorrows. However, when Harley Quinn returns and discovers that the Agency was there without John knowing, she punches him in the face and leaves in disgust. Bruce and Special Agent Iman Avesta then stumble upon the distraught John Doe, who lashes out at Bruce for his advice and despairing over how he's lost everything: The Pact, his dreams, and Harley. However, Bruce (whether forcefully or with genuine empathy), convinces John that they have a common enemy in Harley and that they need to stop her together. John then goes to find Harley on his own.
Later, John tells Bruce his location, and Bruce goes to see him. Once at the abandoned Bonus Brothers Carnival, he discovers three dead Agency operatives; John killed them, and his story of killing them in self-defense has numerous holes in it. Bruce has to decide whether to continue trusting John or not.
<tabber>
Believe John is telling the truth=
:If Bruce agrees to work with John and believes he killed the agents in self-defense anyway, John happily embraces him, reaffirming their friendship, and they then go off to stop Harley together. John helps stop Harley on the bridge by pretending to be there to help her, only to disarm her of both the bomb trigger and LOTUS Virus vial. Harley angrily condemns him and vows revenge, but John has at last seen that Harley does not truly love him. Amanda Waller congratulates John for his efforts and then demands that he hand over the LOTUS Virus. John refuses, believing that no one should have it. Waller then coldly pulls a gun on John and tries to kill him before she is stopped by Bruce. This sends John into a rage, and he stabs Amanda Waller, detonates the bombs on the bridge, and vows that he and Batman will bring the Agency to justice together and that it will be "so much fun".
|-|
Refuse to believe him and think he's lying=
:If Bruce refuses to work with John in addition believing he is lying and that he didn't kill the agents in self-defense, a heartbroken John vows revenge and runs off, intending to help Harley, now hostile to Bruce. Bruce then goes to the bridge alone as Batman. John then shows up in a truck and intercepts him and Harley, saving the latter and retreating with her into the waters below the bridge after blowing it up with homicidal relish. Additionally on the other hand, if Bruce agrees to work with John and believes he killed the agents in self-defense, John asks Bruce if he can help out with taking down Harley, and if Bruce says no or doesn't stop Waller from interfering with his attempt to disarm Harley, then John takes the detonator off Harley and blows up the bridge himself with homicidal relish before retreating with her into the waters below the bridge.</tabber>
====Episode Five: Same Stitch====
:NOTE: This section does not include his actions as Villain Joker because he never does anything heroic by then, so it only includes his actions as Vigilante Joker.
Two weeks later, John Doe emerges as a Batman-inspired wannabe vigilante calling himself "The Joker". At first still friendly to Batman and actively helping him against Waller, the Agency and her special task force (a coerced Bane, Harley and Catwoman), when Batman and Waller blackmail each other into an impasse (Batman can request Waller to either let Avesta leave the Agency peacefully and without prosecution, remove Catwoman from her special task force due to not being like the rest of the Pact, have Harley and Bane released from her special task force but then have the pair incarcerated at Blackgate Prison for their crimes, or don't make a request; regardless of either choice in which Waller will agree to if he agrees to hand over Joker to which Batman can either agree to or refuse to do so, but regardless she will still agree to his chosen request), an enraged Joker goes berserk and attacks. The situation escalates into a chaotic rooftop battle with Joker on one side, Batman on another, and the Agency alongside Waller's special task force trying to take down both. Joker ultimately ends the battle by detonating two mannequin bombs, and in the chaos escapes with Waller as a hostage.
Taking her to the abandoned Ace Chemicals plant, Joker tries to get Waller to confess to murdering Riddler (a crime Joker believes she had herself tried to pin on him), but she's innocent; it's actually Tiffany Fox who is responsible. But now out of control and lost in a vigilante-minded fervor, Joker snaps completely and tries to kill Waller anyway alongside Tiffany, with Batman intervening to stop him. Feeling betrayed and declaring himself a fool for having believed in Batman and his way of doing things righteously, Joker savagely murders three Agency operatives and engages Batman in a brutal fight that ends with Joker defeated and Batman too injured to get up. Joker asks Batman if he ever considered himself Joker's friend, in which Batman can either say yes or no. If Batman says yes, Joker simply calls Batman "one messed up guy." If Batman says no or says nothing, Joker says that from now on they are enemies.
After the credits of either version, Joker is seen back in Arkham Asylum. What he does inside his cell depends on Bruce's final choices with Joker and Alfred.
*Vigilante Joker: Joker sits on his bed, in regret over his actions.
**Considered Joker as your friend: Bruce arrives to pay Joker a visit after his imprisonment, much to the latter's delight.
**Told Joker he was never your friend: Joker stays beside the window and waits for Batman to present himself after seeing the Bat-Signal in the sky.
***Gave up Alfred: Joker sees Batman from far away, states he knew Bruce "would never abandon him, and that nothing can keep enemies like them apart", and laughs maniacally.
***Gave up the mantle of Batman: Joker becomes angry when the Bat-Signal turns off and that Batman never appears, shattering a picture of him and Bruce or Batman together.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*The character is one of the most sympathetic incarnations of the Joker to make an appearance in official media alongside the Joker from The Killing Joke, Martha Wayne from the DC Flashpoint comics, and Arthur Fleck from the 2019 blockbuster Joker.
**He has also received critical acclaim, with many critics noting how this is one of the first truly sympathetic portrayals of the Joker to ever come along and praising the player's ability to shape John's decisions and affect what kind of a character he will become. 
*As a friend of Bruce Wayne's with a dark side that the player can try to help him fight against or else mistreat him to bring it out faster, he is in some ways similar to Harvey Dent/Two-Face. However, he differs from Harvey in that his particular mental illness is clearly different, as is his general excitable and humorous personality. His backstory, goals, and connection to Catwoman are all likewise different. Also just like Harvey, both can somewhat be redeemed (Harvey can spare some hostages before trying to kill himself out of guilt and John can stay friends with Bruce despite everything he did).
*Unlike most depictions, where Joker is the abusive manipulator and Harley the more sympathetic villain pining for love, in this version the roles are reversed; John Doe craves in vain Harley's approval, while Harley is an unloving psychopath who is only using him.
**Ironically, John's personality here, that of a lonely and insecure person who just wants to make people laugh and desires friendship and love, is strongly in-line with how most versions of Harley view their versions of the Joker. The difference is that here that interpretation would actually be correct, instead of merely delusional.
*His willingness to hit Harvey Bullock over the head with a crowbar references Joker's crowbar beating of Jason Todd in the comics and the animated movie adaptation, Under the Red Hood.
*There are many differences between Vigilante Joker and Villain Joker.
**Vigilante Joker only kills three people in self-defense after they started shooting at him. Villain Joker kills hundreds if not thousands of people with the LOTUS Virus Gas.
**Vigilante Joker can be saved/redeemed as he can stay friends with Bruce despite his crimes, while Villain Joker cannot be saved or redeemed.
**Vigilante Joker cared for his men. If Batman saves Special Agent Roger Harrison over Willy Deever, Joker is horrified and saddened by Willy's death, and if Batman hesitates, Joker will save Willy himself. Villain Joker kills one of his own men and doesn't show any genuine care for anyone except for Bruce and Harley.
*John has admitted that he has a hard time taking rejection and his outbursts are a result of being antisocial. This shows John Doe may have .
*John seems to believe that his green hair is natural since he doesn't remember a time when it wasn’t green.
*It is questionable as to how he was legally kept at Arkham Asylum, given that there was no record of him being committed there.
*It is possible that John was a victim of Thomas Wayne, although this is just a speculative theory.
==External links==
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