Joker (Arthur Fleck)

Arthur Fleck, better known as his alias "The Joker" is a homicidal criminal and one of Batman's greatest enemies by far. Originally a mentally ill man with only the aspirations of making the corrupt pay, his goals have been distorted over time as his mental health worsens, and this comes at the cost of the lives of several civilians and major names in Gotham.

## History

Initially a failed comedian turned criminal, who was able to wipe the records of their crimes, Joker would reemerge and gain noriety for a presumably botched bank heist, which in reality, was set up from the start so that he could rack in the profits and put them towards funding his operations. This would bring the Gotham Riots back into light, as civilians and officers alike would recall the events.

During Batman's crackdown on crime, Joker would approach several of the mob bosses with a simple offer; killing the bat, though this came at an incredibly high price. Many of the mobsters would disagree with this, but were instilled with fear after he coldbloodingly murdered one of Gambol's men who attempted to ram him in the stomach, with a pencil. Sal Maroni would initially be slightly hesitant to take the offer, but would eventually accept this and offer Joker the bounty on Batman's head.

Sometime after the Mob Trials, he would determine several important names in Gotham to be too much of a risk for his operations, assembling a hit-list in which he would follow with shortly. He would murder a man posing as Batman, demanding his identity be truly revealed, or he would go through with many killings, all referenced on that same hit-list. Joker and his thugs would infiltrate a party full of wealthy socialites, and eventually threaten Rachel Dawes' life, by throwing her out of a high window. Amidst the confusion of the aftermath, he would escape with no leads on him.

The day following the party, followers of Joker would poison Gillian Loeb's drink, which would result in his untimely demise. A funeral service commenced immediately after, which was infiltrated by him and his men. What followed next was a botched assassination attempt, which ultimately resulted in the shooting of Commissioner Gordon, though this was unsuccessful. After hearing of Dent revealing his identity as Batman to the public, he would order for his convoy to be attacked as he saw this as a false confession, hindering his operations.

This plan was botched, and this ultimately resulted in the arrest of the Joker, who was taken to the Gotham City Police Department immediately for interrogation. He was stern on refusing to admit anything, until Gordon deployed the Batman to play the role of "Bad Cop". This would result in him revealing the location of Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes, who were set to be killed in a dilemma situation. He would escape custody after his thugs were alerted to his status at the department.

Sometime after this, he would order the killing of Coleman Reese, or else he would blow up an undisclosed hospital, following Reese's discoveries and claims of knowing the Batman's identity. He would visit the injured Harvey Dent in the targeted hospital, blowing it up and emerging on a bus following a rather unfaithful encounter. Finding himself losing money, he would open the controversial Joker Funland, which was eventually infiltrated by Batman, revealing his plans to infect everyone in the city with a toxin, exploiting the park's traffic as a super-spreader event.

Out of makeup and aware of Batman's presence, he would wave to him, and would be attacked following the crowds surging to the park's food court. He would injure Batman with a bullet from his revolver and would retreat immediately, speaking of "tying up loose ends". which would be the execution of Commissioner Gordon. This attempt would be foiled, and he would finally be captured and permanently sentenced to life in Arkham Asylum. Sometime after this, Joker would infect an unknowing guard with a special variant of the toxin, which corrupted their character, turning them into an insane murderer known as "The Clown".