The Batman Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

The One Who Laughs

Joker (mistakenly)

Batman

Mistah B (by Harley Quinn)

Laughs

The Scourge of the Dark Multiverse

The Clown King Of Horror

The Batman Who Talks (by the Joker)

Bat Gimp (by Penguin)

David Harper (in disguise)

Monster

Demon

Abomination

The Darkest Knight

Batman Who Tries Too Hard (by Wally West)

Co-Founder and Leader of the Batman Family (formerly)

Co-Founder and Co-Leader of the Justice League (formerly)

Supervillain

Leader of the Dark Knights

Serial killer

Terrorist

Crime lord

Professional criminal

Member of the Legion of Doom (briefly)

Leader of the Secret Six (formerly)

Expert escape artist

Various gadgets

Genius-level intellect

Organizing

Variety of weaponry

Enhanced senses

Nigh-omnipotence (as Darkest Knight)

### Goals

Resist Joker's toxin and prevent himself from becoming like him.Assist Barbatos in his plans to plunge the entire Multiverse into darkness.

Kill the Justice League (all failed).

End all life on Earth -22, his universe (succeeded).

End all life in existence.

Infect Gotham City and the rest of Earth with Dark Matter (both formerly).

Destroy the multiverse and recreate it in his own twisted image (all failed).

### Crimes

VigilantismOmnicide

Deicide

Assault and battery

Mass murder (including child murder)

Enforced uxoricide

Corruption

Attempted mass omnicide

Attempted multiversal takeover

Terrorism

Mass property damage

Abuse of power

Physical and psychological abuse

Mutilation

Kidnapping

Brainwashing

Treason

Animal cruelty

Blackmail

Torture

Theft

“ When I was Bruce Wayne, I thought that with enough preparation, I would always win. But I was wrong. I was trapped in an unwinnable war, refusing to see the obvious answers right in front of me. The answers that are so clear to me now with victory right around the corner. To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back. You see... a Batman who laughs... is a Batman who always wins. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs

“ Now I'll take my new form, child. Don't be afraid. Blue is for soldiers of morning, of light. But me... I am no dawn. No, you can call me... THE DARKEST KNIGHT. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs transforming into The Darkest Knight.

“ Batman has always been a reactionary idea. He was born in response to those gunshots in the alley. And just as he is a reaction, so too are the twisted Batmen of the dark. Even the most dominant is still a reaction to some fear that has shaped him, built him into a newer, crueler incarnation, perfectly designed to overcome it. Now, understand this, I know that I am not a Batman of any kind. Not a Batman Who Laughs, not a Batmanhattan, not even a culmination of all dark Batmen. I am more. And to be more, I must not be a reaction. I must be the thing that creates the reaction. I will be the bullet. The multiverse will be the dark alley. And its worlds will fall like pearls before me. „ ~ The Darkest Knight

**The Batman Who Laughs** is an evil version of **Bruce Wayne** and one of the main antagonists of the DC Comics universe. He serves as the secondary antagonist of *Dark Nights: Metal*, one of the two main antagonists of *Dark Nights: Death Metal* (alongside Perpetua), the titular main antagonist of *The Batman Who Laughs* seven-issue miniseries and one of the two main antagonists alongside Lex Luthor in the *Year of the Villain* saga.

He is a "Jokerized" version of Batman who originated from the Dark Multiverse. He is the team leader of the Dark Knights and their goal was to help their master Barbatos plunge the whole Multiverse into complete and utter darkness. This course of action makes them enemies of the Justice League. The Batman Who Laughs traces his origin to a different Earth, which had him actually slay his own version of the Joker. After gaining the powers of Doctor Manhattan via transferring his brain into an alternate Bruce Wayne known as Batmanhattan, he becomes a being of pure darkness with omnipotent power known as **The Darkest Knight**.

## History

### Heroic Origin

The story of the **Batman** of Earth -22 was not much different from that of any other version of the Caped Crusader. When he was a boy, Bruce Wayne watched his parents get murdered in an alleyway. Vowing vengeance against crime, he trained for years and became the hero Batman, fighting super villains in Gotham City.

Batman took on many sidekicks as a vigilante, including Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Red Robin, as well as a son he had sired named Damian Wayne.

Bruce was a member of the Justice League. When the Lex Luthor of his world decided to become a hero and tried to convince the League to let him join, Batman was the only one to oppose his acceptance, as he knew Luthor didn't really believe in being a hero but only was interested in himself.

### Joker's Attack

Everything went sideways for Batman when the Joker started a killing spree across Gotham City; the clown had discovered that he was dying from the same chemicals that had turned him into what he was and wanted to take everyone with him. He murdered all of Batman's enemies including the Penguin, Catwoman, Killer Croc and the Ventriloquist. The Joker also killed Batman's friend Commissioner Jim Gordon, who accidentally sprung an acid trap in his notebook and melted his face off.

Batman was later drugged by Joker, temporarily paralyzing his body but not his mind, so he could witness the chaos he caused without being able to do anything about it. The Joker bombed a hospital in front of Bruce and, to make it personal, shot dead the parents of many young children in front of him before proceeding to inject the children with an incurable, irreversible strain of Joker Venom. According to the Joker, he did this in order to create a hybrid of both Batman and the Joker.

Batman eventually regained movement and, so traumatized and angry over what he had witnessed, grabbed the Joker and broke his neck. Unbeknownst to Batman though, the Joker exhaled a toxin contained in his heart, which infected anyone close to him if he died. In this case, it was Batman.

### Transformation

Two days after the murder of the Joker, Batman and Superman talked about what had happened. Though he felt no guilt, he affirmed that he was not planning to make killing a regular thing. Superman assured him that the S.T.A.R. Labs branch in Metropolis had agreed to take care of all the kids who had been infected by the Joker Venom. When Superman mentioned how one of the children bit one of the doctors, Batman let out a small laugh which surprised both of them and alarmed Bruce.

A day later, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Red Robin were training in the Batcave and talked to Bruce about his worsening condition. Though they all offered to help the Bat however they could, Batman rebutted that he didn't want any help and revealed that the real reason he called them was that he knew they would be the first to notice something was wrong with him and warn the other heroes, something he couldn't allow to happen. And then he surprised them by doing something they were unprepared for: pull out a pair of hidden machine guns and shoot them all dead.

Bruce later convinced his son Damian to join his side and transformed the boy with Joker Venom to be like him. He also retrieved all the Joker-transformed children from the original attack and turned them into his new army of pet Rabid Robins.

A week after the Joker's death, Batman slaughtered the rest of the Justice League by using the stockpile of various villains' weaponry they had built up over the years. He synthesized a strain of Black Kryptonite and used it against Supergirl, driving her insane and forcing her to kill her own family before killing her.

On the Justice League Watchtower, he cornered Superman by releasing a Kryptonite-infused gas into the air and stated that he didn't want to hold back anymore. Bruce then brought Clark's wife Lois and his son Jon before him, and told the Man of Steel to lie to his family that everything would be okay, which Clark refused. Bruce tossed a shard of Black Kryptonite at the Kryptonians and watched as father and son went crazy and ripped Lois apart before they killed each other. As such, Bruce's transformation into "The Batman Who Laughs" was finished.

### Ruling Earth -22

The Batman Who Laughs went on to slaughter many of the Immortal Men, before realizing how many of them truly were there in the world.

The people of Earth -22 fought back against the Bat's terrorism, but Bruce annihilated everything they threw at him until only he and his Robins were all that remained. The last one to face him was his butler Alfred, who almost managed to defeat Bruce by rigging his cave, his vehicles, and all his equipment. However, by convincing Alfred that there was still hope for him, Bruce managed to trap Alfred in a lower level of sub-caves. Bruce kept him a prisoner for a long time, feeding him scraps and whispering to him to drive him insane. Bruce managed to break Alfred to become his loyal servant again.

As his world began to fade from existence, Barbatos arrived and revealed the rest of the Dark Multiverse to him and his plans to go after the true Multiverse as well. Believing him to be the ideal Bat to help him, Barbatos made Bruce the spearhead for his plans to drag all of creation into darkness.

### Invading the Multiverse

The Batman Who Laughs went out into the Dark Multiverse to assemble the most twisted versions of Batman out there to aid in conquering the main Multiverse. Traveling to each of the Knights' worlds minutes before they were erased from existence, he appealed to their desire not only to live but to bring their unique brands of truth and justice to worlds beyond their own. Each Batman jumped at the opportunity, and they awaited their moment to travel to Earth 0.

Once the Court of Owls summoned them, his first act was to have his warped Robins slaughter the Court's leaders. He then set the Knights loose upon the hometowns of each member of the Justice League.

The Batman Who Laughs then attacked Cyborg aboard the Justice League Watchtower and explained that they had been called to this universe because of a great ringing and that, despite their nightmarish nature, they were needed to save the world.

### Games in Gotham

After taking over the Watchtower, each Dark Knight was given control of a city. The One Who Laughs was assigned to protect Gotham, as it was where Barbatos would fulfill his final plans.

Bruce fought his way through Arkham Asylum, causing a mass breakout, and offered magic playing cards made out of Cosmic Metallurgy to the worst of Batman's enemies, allowing them to manipulate reality the way they saw it. The villains to receive the cards were the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Firefly, Bane, Mister Freeze and Mad Hatter, who were then each given a section of the Gotham to manipulate and rule over to protect the newly formed Challengers Mountain sitting in the middle of the city.

The One Who Laughs was able to see the carnage ensue from his mountain top, viewing each villain's actions with the reality warping powers of his cards. Eventually the Teen Titans, Green Arrow, Nightwing and the Suicide Squad teamed up to form a sort of "Gotham Resistance" to take down Batman's reality-bent villains.

During the conflict, the Batman Who Laughs' son Damian was killed, but Bruce was apathetically unmoved.

### Bats Out of Hell

The Batman Who Laughs watched as his Dark Knights tortured the Justice League across the world, but his joy was interrupted by Cyborg, who rescued the League members.

As part of his plot, the Batman Who Laughs revealed that he had captured the Over-Monitor, who, when linked up with the Anti-Monitor's astral brain, would destroy all of reality, both the Dark Multiverse and the Multiverse and leave nothing but darkness. However, his plan was interrupted by the Justice League and their allies from throughout the Multiverse.

Having realized that the Batman Who Laughs could only anticipate every move Bruce Wayne would realistically do, the Batman of this world did something he would otherwise never do - team up with the Joker to save the day. In the final confrontation, Batman escaped his evil counterpart and rescued the Over-Monitor, while the cave they were in collapsed on the Batman Who Laughs and the Joker.

From a combined effort of all the world's heroes, Barbatos was defeated, and the invasion of the Dark Multiverse was stopped while the remaining Dark Knights were either apprehended or killed during their final battles with members of the Justice League.

### After Barbatos

The Batman Who Laughs survived the cave collapse and continued his quest for world destruction, allying himself with the House of Conquest against the Council of Immortals. The Batman Who Laughs aided in trying to start a global war, as part of the House of Conquest's motives was that humanity had gotten weak without a devastating longform conflict.

Sometime after this, he went looking for Lex Luthor of Prime Earth, infiltrating LexCorp's Multiverse Research Lab. The Batman Who Laughs allowed himself to be captured by the Legion of Doom so that he could share his multiversial knowledge of the Totality and Perpetua.

### The Laughing House

*Main article: The Batman Who Laughs Vol 2*

The Batman Who Laughs resurfaced in Gotham and partnered up with another Batman from the Dark Multiverse called the Grim Knight to work on a deadly serum from dead Bruce Waynes of the multiverse to cause maximum chaos. As part of the plan, they began by going after the Joker.

Though they succeeded in invading Arkham Asylum and making it to the Joker's cell, the real Joker had gone to Prime Earth's Batman to seek protection. Though Batman agreed to partner with the Joker again, this was all a trick, and the Joker attempted to kill himself to activate the toxin within his system that had created the Batman Who Laughs in his universe.

The Batman Who Laughs kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and brought him to the hideout that he shared with the Grim Knight. Laughs remarked that he hoped to form a strong partnership with Gordon - in his own twisted way.

The Batman Who Laughs encountered the real Batman at Blackgate Penitentiary and, though they fought, Laughs, while in disguise, tricked the guards into attacking the heroic Batman and escaped.

Laughs set up a meeting to try to ally himself with the Court of Owls, asking for a small favor, but they refused. They sicced their army of Talons on the evil Batman, but, thinking ahead, Laughs had severed all the undead assassins' arms off ahead of time, leaving the Court defenseless for his counterattack. The Court of Owls tried to flee, but the Batman Who Laughs proceeded to detonate explosives he planted earlier to reshape their labyrinth and make escape much more difficult. Laughs admitted the small favor he wanted was for them all to *die*.

The Batman Who Laughs met up with the Batman of Prime Earth again, who was almost overtaken by the toxin from the Joker's death. Laughs was excited to have another version of himself, though he saw Prime Batman as the weakest alternative in the multiverse, because he was the least compromising in his values and therefore the least happy. However, Laughs figured he could possibly be the ingredient in his evil Wayne serum he was missing and stuck a syringe in Prime Batman's chest to finish the transformation.

Thanks to the intervention of Alfred and a young Bruce Wayne from another universe, Prime Earth Batman was saved, and the Batman Who Laughs was subdued and beaten within an inch of his life by Batman with his own mother's tombstone. He was then taken and locked inside a dungeon within the Hall of Justice.

### Infecting the Secret Six

Before being captured, The Batman Who Laughs came up with a plan to infect the entire world and required the energies of six different heroes to get the process started. Targeting members of the Justice League and their allies, the Batman Who Laughs used special Batarangs coated with the same toxin that the Joker used to initially infect him to infect four heroes to his cause: Shazam, Hawkman, Donna Troy and Blue Beetle.

Laughs gave Jokerized-Shazam a Batarang and instructed him to find and use it on Superman, while the Grim Knight infected the last initiate - Commissioner Gordon.

Jokerized-Superman broke the Batman Who Laughs out of his cell in the Hall of Justice - his plan seemingly working. Superman asked the Bat what his ultimate goal was, which he admitted was destroying all life in the multiverse.

This was all a ruse though, and Superman was only feigning his brainwashing to learn the evil Batman's plan. Having never left his cell due to an illusion cast on him, the Batman Who Laughs was left in the Hall of Justice while the real Batman and Superman tracked down all the heroes he previously infected - who had all teamed up and become the newest Secret Six.

### Hell Arisen

While Batman and Superman were busy trying to stop the Secret Six, the Batman Who Laughs escaped his cell under the Hall of Justice. The cosmic threat Perpetua, now working with Lex Luthor, assigned Luthor to recapture the Bat, stating the energies of the Dark Multiverse were a threat to her. Lex succeeded in outmaneuvering the Secret Six but realized that Laughs had infected 666 superheroes while retrieving a sample from Gordon. Luthor was however saved by the real Joker, who advised him to be himself in order to defeat the Batman Who Laughs. Luthor later assembled a team of villains he gifted powers to take on Laughs' infected heroes.

During the fight, Lex Luthor stripped Laughs of his visor, knowing it was the only thing that was keeping him grounded on their Earth, but Laughs tricked Lex in turn with explosives and took back his visor. The nightmare Batman then ordered Supergirl to put fire in the area; mocking Lex due to the weakness to fire of his Human/Martian form and wished that Perpetua was watching as he dies.

However, Lex rose up from the ground and declared to him that he should have gone with the kill before stabbing him with a blade that contained the antidote to his dark infection, freeing those infected by the Batman who Laughs. Before the newly freed heroes could do anything Lex then teleports himself alongside Mercy and the subdued Batman Who Laughs back in the Godhead, where Lex showed to Perpetua his victory.

However it was all just a ruse from the Batman Who Laughs; as he rose to his feet he revealed everything he knew about her from Barbatos. He also revealed that that the Justice League were still alive and were sent by the Quintessence in a journey to end her for good if she didn't act quickly. Finally he pointed out that Lex was too egotistical to realize that the supposed future that he saw where all worshipped him might have been fake.

The Batman Who Laughs bowed, saying that she should choose him over Lex to be her second in charge. After depowering an insolent Lex for his arrogance and sending him and Mercy Graves back to Earth-0 the Mother of the Multiverse peers inside The Batman Who Laughs' mind, both laughing for what was to come.

### Rise Of The Darkest Knight

After gathering up his forces to fight the Justice League, the Batman Who Laughs fought against the Justice League and was killed by Wonder Woman using a chainsaw built using parts of the Invisible Jet. However, the Batman Who Laughs had a contingency plan in case he was killed; having encountered a Bruce Wayne who had come into contact with the Comedian's Button and built an intrinsic field generator to study it, the Batman Who Laughs decided to use him as part of his plan. He then locked that Bruce in the machine and the resulting accident granted Bruce the power of Doctor Manhattan. After Bruce was able to reconstitute himself, The Batman Who Laughs used an energy knife to quickly lobotomize Bruce before he gained omnipotence. He then stored him away and informed Batmage and the remaining Dark Knights to its location.

Due to The Batman Who Laughs' head and brain surviving intact, the Dark Knights recover the remains and are instructed to transplant his brain into the lobotomized Bruce Wayne. The Batman Who Laughs eventually awakens after a period of time and slowly adjusted to his new body, overhearing Batmansaurus Rex insulting him for not responding to his name; he disintegrated him and quipped there is not a name for one like him. Suddenly, Perpetua telepathically reached out to them and summoned Laughs. Morphing his body into his old form prior to death, he spoke with Perpetua and was warned that the other beings would come after him if they knew what he had done. After the link is severed, The Batman Who Laughs had no further use for the Dark Knights and disintegrated them except for one Robin. Anointing him The Robin King, the Batman Who Laughs enlists him to assist in keeping Diana from renewing the Multiverse while he regains his strength. Finally, he changes his form once more, becoming a thin being of pure darkness and renaming himself The Darkest Knight.

Eventually, The Darkest Knight grows in power and breaks into Valhalla Cemetery to steal energy from Wally West; noticing both him and Barry Allen running, he gleefully begins to chase them both down while taunting them. Even though the Justice League are able to divert the Crisis energy to Barry Allen sitting atop the Mobius Chair, it was tampered to send the energy to the Darkest Knight regardless of the outcome. Proclaiming victory, the Darkest Knight then reveals he has everything needed to remake the Multiverse into his own image: "The Last 52."

The Knight travels to Perpetua and, informing her that it was him all along behind the plot, reveals his intent to kill her. Despite getting cut off from the Crisis Energy and entrapped by Perpetua, the Darkest Knight is able to break free and kill her by sealing her away within fragments of the Source Wall. He then summons a group of his followers including several of the original Dark Knights to kill the alive and undead that were brought to fight him.

As the Darkest Knight revels in his victory, he is confronted by a golden clad version of Wonder Woman. The two fight through time and space, with the Darkest Knight bringing Diana to the beginning of the Universe and the hand of Perpetua. Confronting her with how he can keep the Hands (others of Perpetua's people) from erasing the Universe, he requests that he join her or else the Universe will be wiped from existence. Diana responds by punching him using Perpetua's own hand. She strikes the Darkest Knight several times as they plummet through the future towards the last embers of the Death Sun. The Darkest Knight becomes fearful of Diana's newfound energy and, noticing the arrival of the Hands, pleads with her to join him; screaming in vain, the Darkest Knight is thrown into the Sun and killed once and for all.

## Personality

“ Joker says that to accept that there's no meaning in your actions is to win. I say, to believe there is a meaning in all your actions is to win. That demon, what he says is that there is no meaning in your actions, therefore the only meaningful act is to win. He is the fear that we're both right, Joker and I. The fear that without any grander meaning, at heart we are cold, animalistic, selfish things. „ ~ Bruce Wayne about The Batman Who Laughs.

The Batman Who Laughs was once much like Prime Earth's Batman except that he ended up killing his version of the Joker. After doing this, Bruce was exposed to a nano-toxin that slowly transformed him. It rewired his mind not only to think more like Joker but also twisted his moral core into something evil. However, despite these changes, Bruce still managed to retain the orderly and logical aspects of his mind as well as his highly keen and calculating intellect. Thus he became someone with Batman's tactical genius and combat training and Joker's lack of morality. He also has the latter's desire for chaos, and insanity.

The Batman Who Laughs seems to have a fixation on winning and believes that he can always do so against his opponents because he had shed the self-imposed rules that restrained him from using more cruel and lethal methods in the past. Indeed, without his code holding him back, The Batman Who Laughs has been able to adapt to various situations and triumph against all sorts of remarkable odds. Laughs can also be quite arrogant, having already destroyed his own world and gaining knowledge from many others. He is also highly sadistic, with this aspect of him showing when he prevents the Grim Knight from killing Jim Gordon so he can experience a far crueler fate and comes to the Court of Owls with no intention but to "hear them all die screaming".

While he still is one of the most evil characters in the DC universe, it is assumed Bruce did not become a villain of his own free will. By this logic, it would appear Laughs may be more tragic than the Joker despite his evil surpassing his. When it comes to his actions, the idea of a version of Batman having the Joker's twisted morality would mean that it is possible The Batman Who Laughs might disregard the concepts of good and evil aside to do what he thinks is best, which in this case means winning, since he thinks it is the only meaningful act. However, considering he managed to retain some of his previous mindset when it comes to his genius, Laughs may still have some sense of right and wrong as well, although it would be very distorted. Since he has gained cosmic awareness, however, this is no longer the case, as Laughs now knows that what he did was wrong but still wants to create chaos and destruction without any remorse. Thus, Laughs isn't tragic anymore and any Freudian Excuse he once had is gone, becoming far worse than the Joker ever was.

As The Darkest Knight he is more arrogant than ever, however this led to his downfall, as he didn't expect Wonder Woman to be able to kill him.

## Powers and Abilities

The Batman Who Laughs has all the training, discipline, and experience of the Prime Earth Batman. In addition, he possesses information about the strengths and weaknesses of numerous superheroes and supervillains in the *DC* Universe, as he had already killed them in his own reality. He also has knowledge from various other worlds he has visited and can adapt to almost any situation.

All of these factors. combined with the fact that those born in the Dark Multiverse are extremely resistant to attacks by those from the central Multiverse makes The Batman Who Laughs immensely dangerous. However, he possesses a couple of notable weaknesses. He is highly vulnerable to both Nth Metal and Element X. Also, despite how different he has become, Laughs is still Batman and can be caught off-guard by situations Batman is not prepared for such as Batman and Joker teaming up. This, along with his arrogance, means that surprise factors can lead to his defeat.

It is revealed in *The Batman Who Laughs* miniseries that Laughs has the ability to sense people's urges, which can be used to find what he desires. However, he needs to wear a visor made of Dark Metal in order to focus his senses and pinpoint what he is searching for.

After absorbing the powers of an alternate reality Doctor Manhattan and being reborn as the Darkest Knight, the Batman Who Laughs now has nigh-omnipotent powers at least on par with Manhattan - which easily ranks him one of DC's most powerful antagonists (since Manhattan was never truly defeated, simply convinced to alter his plans).

## Groblins

The Groblins (also known as Dark Robins, Rabid Robins, or simply Robins) usually seen accompanying The Batman Who Laughs are a group of children that were presumably among the many Jokerized by the Joker after he had killed their parents in an alley. Laughs later took them in and groomed them into animalistic "pets" that have lost their humanity. Because of this, the only word they know how to say is *"crow"* and will viciously attack anyone they are sent to hunt, unless The Batman Who Laughs or one of his allies tells them to heel by saying the word *"bar"*.

Damian Wayne of Earth -22 was also transformed into a Groblin. Unlike the other Groblins, Damian is still capable of speech and retained his ability to think more rationally. He assisted his father in battling against the Gotham Resistance until he was killed by his Prime Earth counterpart using an arrow made from Nth Metal.

The Batman Who Laughs can transform more children into Groblins should he choose to using a device he calls the Robin Pit, which immerses them in a green solution that causes them to lose their free will and develop the physical characteristics associated with Groblins, such as pointed ears, pale skin, green hair, and fangs. He gave the Grim Knight a few Groblins who were all alternate versions of James Gordon Jr. from different worlds and later used the Pit to forcibly convert another sociopathic version of himself into a Groblin, although he retained his intellect using a specially-prepared pill.

It appeared that Billy Batson of Prime Earth became a Groblin, after he was infected with Dark Matter by a special Batarang during the *Year of the Villain* saga. However, Billy might have just been in disguise in order to ambush Batman and Superman.

## Quotes

“ Dnnn't! Nnnn! „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs prior to his transformation, before the Joker shoots a child's parents.

“ JOKER!, STOP! „ ~ Pre-Batman Who Laughs after breaking his bonds and began attacking the Joker.

“ STOP! ...stop...stop... „ ~ Pre-Batman Who Laughs killing the Joker and breathing the Joker gas from the corpse.

“ He was dying Clark, the chemicals that made him the Joker, they were starting to eat him away from the inside. That's what pushed him to take things too far...why he pushed me... „ ~ Pre-Batman Who Laughs explaining to Superman why he pushed him.

“ He said he wanted to make something new out of the best of both of us. Both my trauma and his blended together... they might be beyond saving, Clark. „ ~ Pre-Batman Who Laughs also explaining what the Joker wanted to do before he dies.

“ HA!...I'm...I'm sorry. That wasn't...funny. „ ~ Pre-Batman Who Laughs chuckling after hearing Superman saying about a nurse almost being killed, a sign that he's about to lose his humanity.

“ Something you weren't prepared for. \*laughs\* „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs now becoming Jokerized as he shoots the Batfamily dead.

“ Aw. That's okay...you can lie to mine. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs revealing his new family.

“ I know. Catch. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs throwing the Black Kryptonite towards Superman's family, making Superman and his son kill Lois Lane.

“ Don't be the victim who drowns. Don't sink with the rest. Be active. Rise up, … reclaim the light, … and be the one who does the drowning. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs talking to The Drowned.

“ Stop me if you've heard this one... worlds will live, worlds will die... but imagine if your every fear, each bad decision, gave birth to a malformed world of nightmare. A world that shouldn't exist. And desperate as it fights to survive in the light of the true multiverse far above... these worlds are doomed to rot apart, and die, because they are wrong at their core. Welcome to the Dark Multiverse. Home to stories that should never be... It's all one big cosmic joke, except no one on this side is laughing. ...well, almost no one... „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs explaining the Dark Multiverse.

“ I know I'm not exactly the Bruce you were hoping for. But I am Bruce. We all are. Let me remind you of a story we have in common. On my world, I developed ways to eliminate the Justice League… then they found out and were so disappointed in me. I betrayed their trust. It was a dark time for the League. But in all honesty… I was holding back. Now imagine if seven Bruce Waynes put their heads together… what horror they could be capable of. If they were to… say… develop separate murderous Batcaves meticulously designed with each of you in mind. So I hope you appreciate our work, because… you're going to die here. Ha. Ha. Ha. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs.

“ You know I am something twisted and wrong, and that terrifies you. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to The Riddler.

“ It was simple, really. Killing my world. No matter what they threw at me-armies of villains, alien tyrants, the wrath of god-they were all just problems to solve. One by one. Methodically. With precision. And blood. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs.

“ I think he understood on some level. The Joker. Not entirely, of course. He was too single-minded for that, but he saw the potential. He saw that the two of us were incomplete without the other. He knew that we needed to evolve into something new, together. Something more. He used to call me a bat-king, ruling over my dark kingdom. And what is a king, really? It's a powerful card. The highest valued face card in the deck. Not infallible, to be sure, but potent. And the joker card? On its own? It has no inherent value. It's defined by what is played against. Dangerous in its potential more than anything. But if you hold the two together in a hand, they can hold nearly any value. They can shift and adapt to any threat they face. And so can I. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs.

“ Take a good look Bruce. What do you see? You've never fought someone with all your training. Your discipline. See it yet? I'm not him in a batsuit. I'm you. You. How you are supposed to be without the codes. Without the rules. Except one. BATMAN. ALWAYS. WINS. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Batman of Prime Earth.

“ You hear that? People think of birth as loud, and death as silent. Things start with a bang, end with a whimper, but I'll tell you a secret. See, endings...endings are the loudest of all. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs.

“ I'm not mad. Just open-minded. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs.

“ You're standing on the edge right now, Lex. You could be the ultimate version of yourself. Let go of what always held you back, like I did. The universe isn’t destined for you. But you can still take it. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs talking to Lex Luthor.

“ He's not the Joker, Jim. He's Batman. He's me. Joker has points to prove—to me, to the world. The Batman Who Laughs...he's not here to prove anything. He's here to win, to kill anything and everything that's a threat. „ ~ Batman describing The Batman Who Laughs to Jim Gordon.

“ Out of every version of us across the universe, you're the most miserable. The least accomplished. You don't understand why yet, but you will. See, to me, to us, you're the nightmare Batman. The bad joke. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Batman of Prime Earth.

“ Right now you're trying to see past it...past the danger. The terror... You're trying to see things through the eyes of your Robins, aren't you? Through the eyes of your so-called children...but they knew, Batman. The hope you saw in people, it was a lie. That's why Dick, that's why all of them, stayed high above. (...) Yes. The hard truth is, you're finally starting to see things clearly...because for the first time ever, you're looking at Gotham through the eyes of your real child...you're truest child...The Batman Who Laughs. In other words...me. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Batman of Prime Earth.

“ But my favor...all I wanted...was to hear you all die screaming. So...help a guy out? „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to the "littlest one" of the Court of Owls before killing her.

“ That's the secret I've been waiting to tell you all this time... the point of Gotham was to conquer! „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Batman of Prime Earth.

“ It all comes down to this. Everything. A thousand versions of myself, at war with me, all led by one creature. This is the final battlefield. I feel it. „ ~ Batman to fight The Batman Who Laughs.

“ Aw, that's what I said when I was where you are in my transformation. I even called the family over to let them know it would all be okay. While waiting for them, I got a pitcher of water for the table. That's all the exertion it took. And when they arrived, I killed them all. Then I had a cool glass of water. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs response to Batman's claim that he will never be like him.

“ The happiest Bruce Wayne--The one I'll use for the last bit of my serum--is the version who finally let's go of his sadness, his mistaken ideals...and becomes who he was always meant to be...the true bat of Gotham. Meaning, the happiest in Bruce in existence... (...) ...is you, right at this every moment!... Right now. When you become me. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Batman of Prime Earth.

“ The World's Finest--back together again. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Superman.

“ You're not going to kill me. You're too smart for that. You know I came here because I wanted to see how much you already knew. You've got a good start, I'll give you that. You've moved a few pieces along in this game. But you're going to need my help when you get stuck. Because I'm not from here. I don't give a damn about the little ants you're trying to convince to be gods. I barely give a damn about you. I've walked the cosmic folds of this multiverse. I've stood by the side of beings who could shatter reality with a well-placed punch. You won't kill me, because you're smart, and you know I know things that no other being in this universe knows. And there's a deeper reason. A more Human reason... you and Batman are probably the two greatest strategic minds of your world. But your Batman has rules that I don't. You're not going to kill me. Hell. A few months down the road, and I bet you'll unlock the chains yourself. Because you're going to want to know, when all the chips are on the table, and we both become all we can become... who is going to win? You...or me? „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs talking to Lex Luthor about upcoming events.

“ Yes. You just gave me everything I need. To remake the Multiverse in my own image. So let me be the first to welcome you... to the Last 52. „ ~ The Darkest Knight.

“ Heh. I know, I know. You want to be a bird, but that's because you're still young. You want to inspire others to follow you. But it never works, son. Good, evil, there is no higher calling. And in the end, what you learn is that there is no winning them over, there is only winning over them. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to the Robin King.

“ Don't give me too much credit, Deathstroke. It's not hard to predict what Batman can do... when you are Batman. We needed the World's Greatest Detective to unlock the secrets of the island. He needed an emotional engine to drive him. Catwoman. I know a thing or two about other realities too. You might say all this is right in my wheelhouse. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs to Deathstroke.

“ Oh, stop it, Lex. I know you didn't get rich by giving up your best material for free. But let's not start fighting again. We got exactly what we wanted... all of us. „ ~ The Batman Who Laughs responding to Lex Luthor on the topic of his secret identity.

“ The gold looks good. Now tell me I was right, tell me, Diana, and I'll let you and your friends live. Well?(Wonder Woman hits him with his miniaturized earth) GAW! „ ~ The Darkest Knight making a deal with Wonder Woman, only for her to reject it.

“ Picture it, picture the world you could have! „ ~ The Darkest Knight pleading Wonder Woman to not kill him.

## Trivia

* The Batman Who Laughs was created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
* In *Dark Knights: Metal* issue 6, The Batman Who Laughs' fingers were amputated by the Joker. However, during his appearances in comics since then, he still has them. It may be possible that he replaced them with prosthetics.
* The Batman Who Laughs represents Prime Earth Batman's fear of the Joker and his own madness as well as who Batman would have become if he had went through with killing Joker.
* The Batman Who Laughs' name was taken from the silent films that helped inspire the creation of Batman and the Joker; *The Bat* and *The Man Who Laughs*.
* The Batman Who Laughs can be seen as the literal interpretation to one of Joker's longtime goals for Batman; to have the Dark Knight kill him and make Batman a murderer no better than himself. However, The Batman Who Laughs is perhaps far worse than what the Joker could expect from Batman of becoming like him.
	+ Indeed, even the Joker loathes The Batman Who Laughs to the point of teaming up with Batman to stop him, refusing to accept him as a teammate in the Legion of Doom and quitting the Legion (after non-lethally gassing them) as a result. Furthermore, when referring to him, the Joker drops his usual joking demeanor and turns deathly calm and serious, without neither smiling nor laughing. That said, he still tried to transform Batman into his own version as he thought that the only way he could stop him was to become him.
* Most fans initially assumed that The Batman Who Laughs was blind because of the spiked visor which covers both his eyes while others believed that he just wore it because that contributed to his disturbing appearance. However, since the release of *The Batman Who Laughs* miniseries, it's explained that he uses it to focus his senses, and the spikes are not solely for aesthetics.
* According to The Batman Who Laughs, the death of the Commissioner Gordon of his world motivated him to hunt down and kill the Joker.
* The Batman Who Laughs is the only villain thus far that Batman has openly expressed an intention to kill.
* During his confrontation with the Gotham Resistance, The Batman Who Laughs claimed that the Harley Quinn of Earth -22 was his ally. However, as pointed out by Raven, this might have been a lie in an attempt to manipulate the Harley Quinn of Prime Earth. Considering that the Joker of Earth -22 killed all members of Batman's rogues' gallery before The Batman Who Laughs killed him, it's possible that Raven was right.
* The Batman Who Laughs was the winner of DC Comics' 2019 "Villain of the Year" award.
* Noob Saibot received a skin based on The Batman Who Laughs in *Mortal Kombat 11* when the Joker was added as a DLC character.
* Due to his looks, he's compared to *Judge Dredd* antagonists, Judge Death.