Joker (Arkhamverse)

**Joker** is the main antagonist of *Batman: Arkham Asylum* and *Batman: Arkham Origins,* and the secondary antagonist of Batman: Arkham City and *Batman: Arkham Knight.* He is an insanely homicidal professional criminal as well as Batman's arch-enemy and one of Gotham City's greatest threats.

## History

### Batman: Arkham Origins

Shortly after his transformation, Joker began scheming. Seeking to carve a name for himself in Gotham City's criminal underworld, Joker began to target Roman Sionis, also known as Black Mask, as the crime lord's trademark would make for the perfect disguise, and his steel mill, which was used as a front to manufacture drugs, came with all the resources to cook up deadly toxins and explosives.

Joker started his plans by stealing chemicals from Sionis' mill to manufacture explosives, and attracted enough of the crime lord's attention to have him followed. Joker raised the stakes by stalking one of Roman's girlfriends, Tiffany Ambrose. Roman placed a spooked Tiffany in his safe house at Lacey Towers. Unfortunately for Black Mask and his lover, Joker was waiting when Tiffany returned from grocery shopping. Just as Tiffany messaged Roman about the identity of her stalker, whom he dismissed as "no one important", and begged him to come over, Joker violently smashed her head into a counter and tied her to a chandelier.

Ever paranoid, Black Mask had a body double enter the safe house as a diversion while he snuck in via the adjacent balcony. Joker, waiting at a table, casually shot the double through the heart on sight. Roman then rushed from behind and tackled Joker straight through his props, but Joker rallied, overpowered Black Mask and tied him up. Joker then used a molotov cocktail to destroy the evidence, as well as torture Black Mask by giving him a choice: watch Tiffany burn to death or shoot her to put her out of her misery. Black Mask chose the latter, and Joker dragged the struggling crime lord out with him.

Joker kept Roman alive to access the bio-metric locks of the Gotham Merchant's Bank, give up inside information on his gang to improve Joker's disguise and take the fall if Joker didn't feel like killing him first. The next several days were spent holding Black Mask captive and torturing him to reveal every detail about himself. Using these details to his advantage, Joker disguised himself as the crime lord, and took complete control over his gang, resources and power. Any slip-ups and out of character activity were put down to Black Mask sampling his own product.

Soon Joker had killed or turned gang members as he saw fit, and had survivors place explosives in the sewers directly beneath significantly skyscrapers. Then there was the matter of Batman and when not focusing on his plans, Joker contacted eight of the world's deadliest assassins to come to Gotham and compete for a $50 million bounty placed on Batman's head. One of these assassination attempts were carried out by Deathstroke, using some of Black Mask's men to lure Batman to the docks so the assassin could duel him. However, thanks to some interference with one of the assassins, Deadshot, Batman escaped into the night. Joker then surveyed the damage and informed Deathstroke when confronting him on the newfound knowledge that he had hired other assassins beside himself that he had his chance and the night is still young. He then proceeded to brutally murder a severely injured henchman from the earlier trap by whacking him with a piece of rubble lined with nails.

As the big night neared, Joker had his men abduct Warden Martin Joseph of Blackgate Prison and brought to his hideout. There, he casually burn't out one of the warden's eyes and threatened to slaughter his entire family if security wasn't lowered on the night that he recently captured Calendar Man was to be executed.

On Christmas Eve, Joker made his move. As the assassins arrived in Gotham, Joker staged an all out attack on Blackgate Prison with dozens of his men and Killer Croc, who was one of the assassins. Murdering dozens of guards and releasing just as many inmates, and announced that there would be a "clean state" and some big changes for Gotham tonight. He had Croc drag Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb while he and his crew released Calendar Man from the execution chamber.

Joker proceeded to wipe the slate, and left Loeb to be gassed to death in Calendar Man's place. While he made his way to the roof, Joker spotted one of Penguin's drones following them and ordered Croc to smash it and retrieve it's memory card so he could see how much Penguin managed to learn. To his irritation, Croc only managed the former. As Joker made his exit via helicopter, Croc got his chance to make up for it as he caught Batman's scent, and stayed behind to fight the vigilante and claim the bounty for himself.

Batman subdued Croc, escaped the police in his Batwing, and left the cannibal murderer to them. To slow the vigilante down, Joker turned to the GCPD, and hired Edward Nigma, the head of the GCPD*s Cyber Crime Division and secret master hacker, to broadcast a jamming signal to interfere with the Batwing and brought corrupt SWAT leader Howard Branden in on the bounty. Both were completely unaware of the explosives beneath their headquarters.*

As the night wore on, Batman defeated assassins Deathstroke and Electrocutioner, learned about the Lacey Towers affair from the Penguin, broke into the GCPD to hack into the National Criminal Database, discovered the bombs under Gotham and deduced that Joker was using Sionis to break into the Gotham Merchant's Bank. Joker was busy too, ordering his men to cause as much chaos as possible, taking over the Gotham Royal Hotel to convert the ballroom into a death trap by using materials from his theme park, and stealing an ambulance so he could bust into the Merchant's Bank with Sionis at the stroke of midnight and begin his new reign at the very start of Christmas Day.
Just as "Black Mask" and his crew are about to leave with the loot, Batman made an explosive entrance by literally blowing up the ceiling and dropping onto two thugs. Only the presence of the captive Roman Sionis and a strangely hysterical bank manager kept the vigilante at bay. His deception discovered, Joker abandoned the Black Mask disguise, and came face-to-face with his nemesis for the first time since the Ace Chemicals incident.

Batman tried to negotiate the release of the bank manager since Joker "had" him. Joker was unimpressed with the offer, and instead fired several bullets into the vigilante's armor before he tossed him the bank manager. He fled the scene with Sionis and several million dollars at the back of his ambulance, and detonated bombs that were rigged in the vault. Though Batman had managed to escape the trap, the bank manager was still dead, and was one of the first victims of Joker Venom. While skeptical that Batman could even live through the explosion, Joker still sent in a handful of his men to sweep the building and Batman took them all down, and left one for interrogation.

Amazed that Batman could survive both his gunshot wounds and the explosion, Joker nevertheless remained in a cheerful spirit as he embarked on the next phase of his plans. While the vigilante investigated Sionis's steel mill, freeing the real Black Mask and confronting Copperhead, Joker headed for the Gotham Royal Hotel to call a meeting with the remaining assassins. Still disguised as Black Mask, Joker called in Howard Branden and SWAT to keep the police and media away from the scene. After he tracked down the electronic signal from the Electrocutioner's Shock Gloves, Batman infiltrated the hotel, and dispensed Joker's henchmen just in time to hack into the security feed and watch the meeting.

Disguised as Black Mask, Joker had commandeered the hotel's penthouse and caught the assassins up on the night's events, and his displeasure. The night was almost over and "Bat Deaths" were "coming in far below projections". Electrocutioner was more engrossed in his phone and ignored Joker's lecture. Displeased with his attitude, Joker dispensed with the Black Mask disguise altogether, and, after a little fun at the Electrocutioner's expense, kicked the swivel chair that he was sitting in out of the window, and sent him plummeting to his death. An example made, the remaining assassins headed out to the night to find Batman except for Bane, who knew that he would be coming for Joker. This macho posturing amused Joker, who settled in to wait.

When Batman finally arrived at the penthouse, Bane went to work; and brutally pulled the vigilante through the penthouse doors to Joker's lounging feet. Joker detonated an explosive to a nearby building; Batman grabbed him and demanded to know how many lives he'd took; Joker gleefully revealed that the building was merely a construction site blocking his view. Batman slammed his enemy into the adjacent table, and after Joker grabbed one and revealed it isn't as harmless, Batman destroyed the detonator and began to beat Joker. Bane then returned and fought Batman with Joker offering colorful commentary the entire time. However, the fight was interrupted by police choppers and Joker then opened fire on Bane's escape chopper. Bane then fired a bazooka at Joker; this missed the crazed clown but exploded right behind him, the force of which hurled him off the balcony.

Batman dove after Joker, and caught him in mid-air, Batman simply subdued him after Joker tried to punch Batman. The two survived their fall with Batman's Grapnel Gun, the two were surrounded by two of Joker's goons. To show the vigilante how "insane" it was to save him, Joker shot his own men dead, and cited that they had done unspeakable things and deserved death just like he does, before he pointed the gun on himself. Batman disarmed and subdued Joker just as Branden and his team bursted in, and were still intent on collecting the bounty. Harvey Bullock manhandled Joker into the back of a squad car, and assumed Batman and him were partners to the insane clown's consternation.

Joker was sent to Blackgate Prison, and underwent a quick psychological examination by Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel. Sensing that she was sympathetic, Joker feigned an interest in her and talked about the memories of his past which involved him being a failed stand-up comedian and a failed Ace Chemicals break-in, the first confrontation with Batman which caused his transformation and insanity.

After Batman defeated Firefly and rescued Alfred Pennyworth from Bane's assault on Wayne Manor, Joker instigated another riot at Blackgate, and took control over the facility. The only inmate he didn't release was Deathstroke and after he responded to the riot, Batman fought his way through the prison to eventually confront Joker; who was holding Warden Joseph hostage with Bane at his side. Joker laid out his ultimatum: Batman is forced to fight Bane to the death as Joker strapped himself with a hostage James Gordon to an electric chair which would automatically kill him unless a heart beat monitor attached to the chair registered Bane's death. With no choice, Batman unleashed the full capacity of his Shock Gloves on Bane. Satisfied, Joker left and intended to detonate the bombs that were still placed around the city. He took a brief pause to shoot Joseph but Gordon took the shot with a bulletproof vest.

Joker didn't make it very far, and was forced to take shelter in the prison chapel until he could stop laughing. Batman caught up to him; an ecstastic Joker ready to become his next kill. Batman then spoiled his fun by revealing Bane was still alive and dismayed to learn Batman had saved Bane, Joker tried to goad Batman into killing him, but Batman subdued him after a brutal and ferocious beatdown.

Joker came to be strapped to a gurney and was wheeled back to his cell, Batman overcame all odds and chose to let him live yet again, which Joker found hysterical. He chose to see the funny side of the whole affair and declared this is going to be "fun". Later that evening, political activist Quincy Sharp made an appearance on the Jack Ryder show to announce his intentions to reopen Gotham's infamous Arkham Asylum in an effort to create a more security facility to rehabitilate and secure the most dangerous criminals. In reality, this was all a stunt for his mayoral campaign, and plans for more sinister forces. Unaware, Joker, through his actions and very existence, had set in a chain of events that would push Batman and himself to their limits.

### Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Three months after his big debut, Joker was at it again. A riot allowed him and fellow bosses Black Mask and Penguin to each take over a section of Blackgate. Using a series of tunnels that connected to a panic hatch in the Warden's Office, Joker captured Joseph again. He took control over the Administration Building and had his men convert it into a funhouse-themed fortress. He also hired Deadshot once more as an enforcer, and was unaware that the sniper was secretly tripling his earnings by cutting the same deal with his rivals.

When Batman arrived at the Administration Building, and attempted to locate an underground supply tunnel that would allow him to gain access to Penguin's turf at the Cell Blocks, he found Joker waiting for him. Joker admitted he hadn't finished his alternations for the building yet, but Batman was more interested in threatening him for the Arkham Wing's Cryptographic Sequencer codes. Joker brushed off the vigilante's bravado by revealing Joseph was in the conferance room, and tied up with explosives. Batman tried to rush up the staircase that Joker was standing on top of, only to be bowled over by the explosives beneath it. Joker left the semi-conscious Dark Knight to focus on his alternations to the Warden's Office. He also shut off the ventilation to the Arkham Wing, and endangered the hostages held there, or so someone would have Batman believe.

Batman caught up to the Joker exiting via elevator just as he flooded the corridoor with a gas version of the toxin he'd use on the Gotham Merchant's Bank Manager during Christmas Eve. Batman escaped via the ventilation system, made his way to the Library and freed the hostages Joker was storing there. In retaliation, Joker filled the room with gas again, but Batman escaped outside. The vigilante dealt with Deadshot before making his way back inside and to the conference room, where he found Joseph tied to explosives Joker had rigged to security function boxes. After disabling the security consoles to short out the boxes, Batman headed into the maintenance tunnels to find a way into the room, and came face-to-face with Joker's puzzles. Batman solved them, navigated the vent system, entering the room through a floor grate, and freed Joseph. Batman headed into the sewers to gain access to the office, but was delayed by other situations.

This gave Joker to finish what he'd be cooking up in the Warden's Office: altered riot control gas that would allow him to control inmates in small doses. Large doses would turn their brains to "succotash". Batman emerged from the bookcase panic hatch to confront the Joker, who had rigged the gas canisters to the prison's major air units for timed release. Joker taunted Batman while the Sequencer Codes, the only thing that would enable the office computer to shut off the countdown. Armed with a stun baton and a revolver, Joker fought Batman, who defeated him with well-timed uses with the Line Launcher even when Joker flooded the office with some of the gas. Joker was knocked out, which allowed Batman to retrieve the codes from his jacket and shut down the countdown. But Joker did manage to have the last laugh, and provided Catwoman with some of the bombs sometime during the night, which allowed her to distract Batman while she escaped with Bane.

As two guards approached a seemingly unconscious Joker to collect him, the clown suddenly fired two hidden darts into their necks, killing both guards. Disguised in one of their uniforms, he easily bypassed the security forces and escaped into Gotham to plan his next performance.

### Between Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum

Once recaptured, Joker was transferred to the newly re-opened Arkham Asylum. Despite the city's best efforts, he would go on to continually escape, and would cause chaos until Batman stops him; a twisted "running gag" at Gotham's expense. He defied any type of therapy or diagnosis, his doctors were unable to decipher what kind of insanity he was afflictd with. To add insult to injury, the Clown Prince of Crime came to view the asylum as a sort of home. He was aware he was being observed obsessively by one of the doctors in his cell, and out of it put on a show, and spontaneously brutalized fellow inmates and asylum staff just to keep everyone on their toes.

### Harley Quinn

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel became a fully fledged psychologist, transferred from Blackgate to Arkham and intended to study Gotham's growing number of super criminals and became a pioneer in her field. She was eager to gain insight into their mind of Joker in order to publish a book. Neither of them acknowledged the Blackgate Incident, but Joker had easily strung her on as he had then. Over the proceeding months, he shared insights and secrets with her, many of which he most likely made up, and managed to convice her he was the love of her life. Months later, Quinzel smuggled in explosives to break out Joker and rechristened herself with his pet name "Harley Quinn". Joker had just been looking for a pawn to set him free, and now had a would-be girlfriend cramping his style. He treated her like any member of his gang: physically and verbally abusing her even if she did carry out orders.

### Holding Grudges

Some time after his arrival in Gotham City, Penguin decided to make an impression on the underworld elite with a gala opening for his nightclub, the Iceburg Lounge. He included the notorious Joker, whose appearance would surely impress the crowd. When Joker arrived, he had Harley Quinn on his arm and a dainty flower in his lapel, Penguin was thrilled. He was hosting the sinister soiree of the country, until a clumsy waitress spilled a drink on Joker. The laughing Joker aimed his flower and sprayed acid on her face, melting it. As alarmed patrons fled the scene, a cold, dark rage at the Joker curled inside the Penguin. Joker eagerly returned to the Iceburg Lounge a few weeks later, but was insulted to not find his name on the guest list. Willing to overlook the "obvious mistake", he shot on the doorman on his way in, kicked his feet up at a table, and ordered a glass of warm milk. He was pleased with the warm milk was a summons to the club's VIP Section. Led to the back room, past a tank where Tiny the Shark circled, Joker happily greeted the Penguin, who promptly pushed him out the door onto the street. Penguin then squawked he had a "no clowns" policy before he slammed the door.

### Ambromovici Twins

Joker heard tales of conjoined Ambromovici Twins, widely known as Mr. Hammer and Sickle, and their reputation for brutality, and he wanted them for himself. Sending Harley on a desperate mission to retrieve them, she passed on the message to the circus owner that her puddin' would pay big for the twins. Of course, the owner refused to sell his headlining act. He promptly vanished, only to be found three months later with a new smile carved onto his face. Later, during Arkham City, the brothers would be surgically separated, had a falling out and Sickle defected to Penguin.

### Joker's Diary

At some point before the events of Arkham Asylum, Joker hatched a scheme around the 4th of July. While stuck in extistential rut, he encountered a criminal who claimed that he could control the weather. Joker learned this criminal's techniques and months later, set his scheme in motion by causing a power outage. This encouraged Gothamites to go outside, Batman investigated the power outage and then overpowered the Joker, breaking his nose.

Even as Joker was dragged back to Arkham Asylum, his plan unraveled. His signature Joker Toxin had been released in a powder form by fireworks. Citizens who came into contact with it died, Joker was then sedated by Batman before they arrived at Arkham. Before he could warn them, staff touched Joker, and the toxin on his skin and clothes, killed them. He was taken to a special cell without clothes and away from the other inmates, the one that was frequently used by Amadeus Arkham. During his time there, Joker began to write a book, which was sarcastically suggested by Batman, that contained the names of all the victims that he had ever murdered.

### Before A Matter of Family

Joker resurfaced sometime later, and was soon incarerated at Arkham again. In an interview overseen by Warden Quincy Sharp, he was introduced to the up and coming Dr. Penelope Young who saw right through his various origin stories. Joker feigned forming a rapport with her, but became genuinely interested in Young's Project Titan research, a medical process that was based on Young's theory that improving a patient's physical condition would also improve their mental recovery.

At some point, Joker, who used the alias Jack White, was introduced by Harley to one of her old friends, Edward Burke. After he influenced Burke to think about building an amusement park for his daughter, Katie, also gave him several ideas on how to build one. Eventually, Burke became the owner of Seagate Amusement Park. However, Katie was diagnosed with an incurable disease, which left Burke devastated.

Months later, Young was pleasently surprised to find that an anonymous benefactor "Mr. White" had donated a generous grant for her research. Katie was used as the first subject for Project Titan, though the project was a failure, as Katie's condition got worse, and she suffered a painful death. Feeling distraught over losing Katie, Burke decided to sign the amusement park over to Joker, and committed suicide by using pills that were given to him by Joker, unaware it contained Joker Toxin.

Soon after, Bane was captured and quietly brought to Arkham Asylum so that Young could study him and the effects of Venom on the human body to design a more powerful variant of the formula. When discussing Titan Project in public, Bane's involvement was kept secret, and he was referred to only as "Patient X". Officially, Bane was listed as an escapee from Blackgate Prison. Unfortunately, Young's initial Titan results were a simply more powerful version of Venom, which could temporarily increase the subject's muscle mass but actually impaired their mental processes to the point of savagery. Young remained optimistic about her work until her next session with the Joker.

The Joker immediately dispensed with any civility, and demanded to know Titan's status, which gave away his knowledge on the project. A horrified Young realized that Joker had been her benefactor the entire time and was more than satisfied with the Titan formula as it was. Joker had seen the manpower potential of Young's work instantly and had spent months making sure that she could prove him with the means to create an army of monsters. Young refused, but didn't go public with the revelation to save face. Young tried everything from returning the donations to actually putting a block on her account. Joker simply responded with multiple threatening emails, then escaped the asylum. If she wouldn't give him his army, Joker would do it himself.

### A Matter of Family

Sometime after, Joker and Harley had kidnapped Commissioner James Gordon. Batgirl and Robin went to rescue him after Joker threatened to kill Gordon if Batman arrived. He also took hostages and planted bombs around the oil rig which Batgirl and Robin had to save and disarm respectively. Eventually, Batgirl and Robin confronted Joker and Harley near the top of the oil rig. After the battle, both were defeated, but Joker held a gun to Harley's head and threatened to kill her. He then jumped off the oil rig and opened a parachute as he descended. Robin stated they would track him down later as Harley was arrested by GCPD.

Some time later, Joker attempted to attack Gordon again by going after Barbara without knowing of her crime-fighting life. He arrived at Gordon's house, and shot Barbara in her spine, which caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down, and unknowingly ended her career as Batgirl. The joke was on him though, as Barbara refused to let her tragedy define her and became Oracle, an invaluable hacking and information source for Batman's detective work.

### Before Assault on Arkham

At some point while being incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Joker was visited in his cell in the dead of night by Warden Sharp, who bore a knife. Before things could escalate any further, Sharp seemed to freeze up with sudden terror. Never one to miss an opportunity, Joker procured his knife, had a little fun at his expense and slowly sliced his forehead. He left no visible scarring and never told anyone, most likely because the joke of a lunatic running an asylum is too rich to spoil.

Joker believed himself to be the leading man in Batman's life, and was constantly trying to outdo his previous atrocities. He came close to destroying Gotham several times, and was always outsmarted and outmuscled by the Dark Knight. While Joker saw the importance of a good supporting cast, he never developed strong ties with the rest of Arkham's super criminals, and preferred to keep the spotlight all on himself. He didn't even approve of Harley's friendship with Poison Ivy and didn't seem to like the idea of Batman sharing the stage either and one of the most heartbreaking moments of the Dark Knight's life, "killed" Robin.
Assault on Arkham

During one crime spree, Joker kicked Harley out of their getaway car, and left her face the music while he focused on his schemes. Joker was eventually returned to Arkham Asylum, but not before he stole a "dirty bomb" and hid it inside Harley's mallet.

When the Suicide Squad entered Arkham, Harley and Deadshot confronted Joker at the Penitentiary's Extreme Incarceration. Immediately, Joker began to talk to Harley, laughed and commented on how he pushed her out of his car in the recent past. In a rage, Harley attempted to kill Joker by shooting at him. The glass being bullet-proof, Harley instead shot one through one of the air holes in his cell and almost killed the clown. Harley told Joker that they are through and moved onto someone else. This caused him to immediately frown and growl in response. She pointed out Deadshot who was dressed as a cop, taunted him again and asked him if he was jealous, a claim he poorly denied.

Later, Joker reflected on Harley and Deadshot being together. He couldn't believe she moved on after everything he did for her. Joker began to rant and pace around the room and said he'd made more of her, made them wear her skin which caused him to fantasize on how perfect and creamy her skin was. Joker stopped upon seeing a gap in the wall where Harley was shooting at, in which he gleefully opened the wall to activate the door. After getting dressed, Joker stumbled upon Black Spider who, unknown to him, was dressed as Batman. Joker pointed his gun at his head, but before he could kill him, his head exploded. Momentarily stunned and confused, Joker commented on having the best gun ever. Joker picked up the head to discover it wasn't Batman and overhead the Suicide Squad being zapped on the communicator in Black Spider's ear, and said that he'd recognize the sound.

Joker immediately realized where they were, made his appearance, started shooting and threw exploding marbles. Joker confronted Deadshot, at which point Harley explained that she was just using them to escape; a lie. The two then fled, but not before Joker attempted to shoot Deadshot for "touching his stuff". Though Deadshot claimed that he has no more bullets, Joker claimed that he was wrong but fired the gun anyway, and after proved he was right, Deadshot punched him in the face but he and Harley escaped through the laundry chute. Joker then demanded the mallet, where he had hid his dirty bomb. He then released all of the inmates in Arkham in an attempt to stop Batman. During the riot, Deadshot escaped the asylum via an SCU helicopter, which unknowingly to him, Joker and Harley was also on board. Joker and Deadshot fought intensely and the helicopter crashed into a building, which threw everyone out. The two continued fighting, and Joker managed to severly injure Deadshot with his knives. Deadshot then threw Joker into the helicopter, which promptly fell out of the building and exploded, with Joker laughing all the way down while he was pinned to the bulkhead with his own knives. It was confirmed that Joker's body was not found at the site, hinting he was still alive.

### Road to Arkham

Two years later, Joker and his goons raided Gotham City Hall, claimed the city had a paucity of parking spots designed for clown cars, took the Mayor hostage and strapped a bomb to his chest. After Joker taunted the Mayor, he expressed annoyance that Batman hadn't shown up who ironically attacked him moments later. Joker tried to escape via parachute, but was stopped by Batman, who proceeded to personally escort him back to Arkham Asylum in the Batmobile. In addition, as a direct result of Joker's assault, the Mayor declared he had resigned from his position and had enough with Gotham. Batman, however, sensed that the Joker went down too easily.

### Arkham Asylum

Batman arrived at Arkham Asylum in the Batmobile, and took Joker to the Intensive Treatment Center. The Joker remained in high spirits, and was pleased when he went back to Arkham. He was strapped to a prisoner movement gurney and wheeled through Intensive Treatment by a variety of security guards, including Frank Boles, with Batman following close by. Joker commented on the brand new security and how it was rather funny that fire at Blackgate caused his crew to be sent to Arkham Asylum, and Boles angrily remarked that he thought he told Joker to stay quiet. During his escort, Joker made many remarks on the Arkham staff including Warden Sharp, Aaron Cash and Dr. Young before he was taken down to the elevator. During the elevator journey, a blackout occurred, which caused Joker to laugh hysterically before he had his neck clutched by Batman before the lights were turned back on. In the Holding Cells, he was unstrapped and he was escorted by a guard and medical assistant while Batman and Commissioner Gordon looks on. Unaware to them, Harley Quinn was in the control room and after Joker pretended to trip, he killed his escorters and due to Harley's control, Joker escaped before Batman broke inside the room. Joker taunted the Dark Knight for springing the trap and released his followers from their cells. As Batman fought the thugs, Joker stated he was originally going to kill everyone in the room and watch cartoons, but he decided a captive audience instead. After Batman defeated a round of thugs, Joker left and made his way to the Patient Transfer Unit.

Batman told Gordon that he would find a way out, Joker claimed he was in control of the asylum and decides wherever he goes. As Batman told Joker he couldn't run, the clown cut off his "hero speech" and goaded him to just pursue him. Batman began to pursue him, but along the way, Joker raided the Decontamination Chamber of Arkham with canisters of his Joker Toxin, pumped into the room, and killed ten guards and several of his own men in the process. Three guards and an inmate managed to climb to safety, and were quickly rescued by Batman, who knocked out the inmate to keep him out of trouble. Batman managed to destroy the extraction system fuse box with a Batarang, which triggered the ventaliation fans to filter out the deadly gas. Batman followed Joker's trail and arrows that were drawn by spray paint and corpses, finding him eventually. Joker opened up a large patient transfer cell and release a large experimental monster onto Batman, which fought him and died of biological causes. As a result, Joker allowed Batman one free shot at him, which could cause him to fall to his death and end the madness. Batman drew a Batarang, but hesitated and was unable to kill his enemy, which caused Joker to mock him. Joker escaped via the patient transfer system and told Batman he was organizing a "party" with villains all over Arkham. While Batman tried to get the transfer unit working, Joker appeared on a monitor and showed Batman a video of a treacherous Frank Boles knock out Gordon, take him hostage and was prepared to kill him.

Batman attempted to track down Gordon anyway, by detecting the alcohol that Boles left in the air. Joker soon caught onto Batman's attempt, and as a result, had Boles killed, and no longer needed him. Joker took control of Arkham's intercom system, and ordered his goons to destroy the Batmobile as he took over the west side of the island.

Joker's next target was the Medical Facility where he ordered his goons to round up all the doctors, most importantly Dr. Young, from whom he needed to retrieve the Titan formula. To the Clown Prince of Crime's annoyance, Batman defeated his goons and rescued their prisoners. Joker drew up a "party list" which contained the individuals who would help him take care of Batman. He enlisted the help of Scarecrow, who proceeded to attack Batman at the Morgue. After escaping the Fear Toxin hallucination, Batman made his way to Gordon, who was conveniently placed near Bane's holding cell.

After Batman rescued Gordon from Harley, Joker pumped a large amount of Titan into Bane, and caused a fight with him and Batman. Joker was disappointed with Bane's inability to kill Batman, so he ordered his goons to assist him, though Batman managed to defeat them. Joker's next order of business was to search the Arkham Mansion for Dr. Young's notes, and Dr. Young herself, who went to get them. After he found Victor Zsasz at the Botanical Gardens, Joker enlisted him to help deal with her. Zsasz held Young hostage in the Warden's Office and threatened to kill her if he saw Batman approach. Joker told Zsasz to just kill Young, as she was useless to him since he had already gained both Venom and Titan. Batman incapacitated Zsasz and rescued the doctor, though an explosion set by Joker killed her anyway. Harley then arrived and had her thugs prepare Batman for the "party". Batman defeated them, followed Harley and rescued Sharp by tracking his DNA. Harley released Poison Ivy from her cell, despite her not being on the list, much to Joker's apparent pleasure. He then released the more violent, insane imates all over the island.

Batman then pursued and subdued Harley, with her failure prompting Joker to remove her from the "party list". Batman used Harley's DNA traces from around the island to track Joker to the Botanical Gardens, there he demonstrated the successful Titan strain by injecting two thugs and had them attack before escaping via elevator. Batman defeated them and chased Joker, who revealed over the intercom he had teamed up with Ivy and injected her with Titan, which caused her to become far more powerful and took control over the island surface with her evolved plants. Batman managed to defeat both Scarecrow and Killer Croc in the sewers and managed to harvest the spores needed to create an antidote for the Titan injection. Batman furthered into the sewers and discovered Joker trying to pump Titan pollutants into Gotham River, so he shut off the pumps.

Driven more power hungry, Ivy betrayed Joker and swore to target him next after she killed Batman. Batman though defeated Ivy and with the villains on the "party list" defeated, Joker had his men set off fireworks to direct Batman to the "party" as the "guest of honor" located at the Visitor Center. Batman found a bomb planted by Joker there and upon it's explosion, discovered his lair which is a throne room atop various plastic toys which had been broadcasting to the island. Joker had Scarface but threw him away, then berated Batman for ruining everything and had dispatched two Titan fueled security guards at Batman, which he took down.

Joker then revealed he had recaptured Gordon and fired a Titan-tipped dart at the Commissioner, Joker was then overjoyed when Batman took the shot instead. However, Joker was angered when he resisted and fought off his attempts to not give in. Enraged that Batman would never let him win, Joker shot himself with a dart, and mutated into a horrific Titan monster, while he still retained his intellectual faculties. After he strapped Gordon to an electric chair and made him the "referee", Batman then cured himself which Joker found hysterical. The two fought a brutal battle, with Batman knocking him into the electrical generator that was used to torture Gordon.

Joker though got up from this attack saying he can take anything the Dark Knight threw at him, and after he sprayed Explosive Gel on his glove, Batman declared he would never let Joker win and would always be prepared for his tactics. Joker then prepared to kill his relentless nemesis as Batman charged him and the gel on his fist detonated as he struck his opponent, finally knocking out the most dangerous Titan subject of them all. Following the lunatic's defeat, GCPD reclaimed Arkham Island, recaptured escapees and watched over the Titan subjects as they turned back to normal. Joker's transformation back to normal was more painful than others, and culminated with several injuries he received in his recent battle. Joker was taken back to his cell by several police officers and survivors, his plans ultimately failed. While locked up and recovering, Joker was left humiliated, angry and thirsty for revenge. While Joker planned his next move, he began to notice his body was not healing well after being injected with Titan, and started to fear that his defeat might have cost him more than just being locked up again.

### Sickness

After Batman stopped Joker from escaping Arkham Asylum, the clown sat alone in his padded cell, and knew that something was wrong. The first sign was an unusual lump on his shoulder and he then felt tainted. The Titan had done something to him; Joker was dying. Joker knew it and so would anyone who saw him. The last thing he needed was is to appear weak before his rivals and enemies. So, one day at lunch, Joker took a spoon and dug out another inmate's eyes, and knew that would get him solitary confinement. Joker could keep out of sight, at least until his transfer to Arkham City. The Joker needed an escape plan and on the night of the transfer, Harley Quinn provided him one. Disguised as an Arkham guard, she overpowered the Joker's escorts and stole her puddin' away that was waiting on the island's quayside.

As the boat carrying the twisted pair sped off towards Gotham, it was joined by a second. A secret alarm placed by Batman had alerted him to Joker's escape and he pursued the fugitives in the Batboat. They ignored his orders to stop, so Batman opened fire. As Harley steered the boat to shore, missiles ripped the hull to pieces. They swarm with the weakened Joker pulled through the water by a distraught Harley, who was desperate to save her puddin'. She pulled the Joker out of the water to safety, and somehow avoided Batman's searchlight. She and Joker sat there, gasped their breaths, and suddenly realized where they are: Arkham City.

After they arrived in Arkham City, Joker and Harley were eager to explore their new stomping grounds. Being the first inmate in the city undetected, Joker planned to become the ruling elite in the Arkham City underworld and to use the facility for his own malicious designs and purposes, then established his main base of operations at the Sionis Steel Mill, which was one of Black Mask's former company properties which Joker knew well from his time impersonating him. Over the next several months, Joker began to renovate the factory into his classical image, complete with a roller-coaster death trap that was mean't as a sadistic recruiting method to weed out the inmates with the best reflexes.

With Harley at his side, Joker began to brutally recruit inmates once again for his new army, both old and new associates alike, and soon became one of the leading powers in Arkham City, which rivaled that of Penguin and his gang. With Harley nursing him, Joker soon gained some of his health back and was well enough to walk without the use of a wheelchair, which allowed to embark some of his plans himself.

Having firmly situated himself in Arkham City, Joker began to look to form several connections and partnerships to aid in his plans. He started by paying a visit to the Penguin, who was also one of the first inmates in the prison as he refused to move when the perimeter was still being built, and believed that their bitter rivalry that started years ago was ancient history. However, Penguin still remembered all the trouble that Joker had caused him over the years, refused to even let him enter the Iceburg Lounge, and shut the door just before he squirted acid in his face. With Penguin now back on his hit list, Joker made it one of his goals to topple Penguin's power in Arkham City and slaughter him and his entire army. With both Joker and Penguin being the first inmates in Arkham City, they were seen as the major power-bases by other inmates to join in order to survive in the hellish domain.

Lester Kurtz, who arrived and was searching for a job, easily escaped Joker's death traps and dispatched his goons. Joker, impressed, took a liking to Lester and welcomed him into his gang, but also instructed his men to keep a close eye on him. After he realized Joker was a poor choice of an employer, Lester bailed out on the gang and went looking for a job with the Penguin, Joker was unsuprisingly furious to the point that he placed a bounty on Lester's head and unaware of the fact Lester Kurtz was actually the latest alias of his most hated enemy, Batman.

Joker and his gang became embroiled in violent turf wars for control over Arkham City with other factions and gangs. In order to ensure nobody could confirm nor deny the rumor of his illness, Joker relayed his orders through Harley while he remained in the shadows, and cooked up his plans and operations in preparation of Batman's inevitable arrival in Arkham City. Joker also used Harley to lead some of his men into making frequent raids on other inmates' supply of drugs in order to aid in his condition.

In addition to this, it seemed Joker had taken every precaution to prolong his fate, including abducting his doctor, force him to give a diagnosis and isolate some of the Titan compound from his bloodstream. The doctor, after informing Joker of his deteriorating condition and giving him the isolated Titan formula, was sent into the factory's old incinerator on Joker's roller-coaster.

At the same time, Joker began to obtain several shipments of the Titan formula that he had sent off of Arkham Island into Gotham prior to Batman spoiling his plans. However, he knew someone like Penguin would obtain some of the shipments as well and used the Titan that he salvaged from his blood stream as a failsafe supply should the other shipments get stolen or destroyed. To that end, Joker used the Titan in his possession to mass-produce large quantities in his plans to take control over Arkham City.

Among them was Bane, who ran a makeshift fighting ring in Arkham City, and was attacked by one of Joker's men, who was pumped up on Titan. Bane was defeated and nearly killed until the Titan-enhanced thug's heart went into cardiac from the overuse of Titan and was mercifully killed by him, who decided to locate and claim all the sources of Titan for himself once and for all, and knew just how dangerous it was, especially if it was used against him.

Joker would also target many of the political prisoners within the city, most of them have been incarcerated simply because they knew too much about Arkham City and his gang used them as little more than slaves to do his bidding. Some of them would entail these individuals to actually complete several tasks that would aid in Joker's ambitions for the war over Arkham City, but for the most part, they were simply another outlet for the Clown Prince of Crime to let his madness loose and torture then murder more innocents even within the country's most massive prison complex.

While Joker continued to be embroiled in the turf war for control of the prison complex, Mugsy, an old associate of the Ventriloquist, brought Scarface back to Joker as a favor to get back into his gang, who was delighted to get his buddy back. Joker started spending more time with Scarface than anyone else, who made Harley jealous. Harley tossed Scarface into a boiler when Joker wasn't around and consoled him by saying that she slipped, but he told her not to worry as he brought out a new Scarface that Mugsy had made for him.

When Joker hugged the dummy, it notioned to his eyes with his fingers to Harley, which implied that it was watching her and hinted that Joker was intentional with this just to mess with Harley for his own amusement as well as make her more viscous and erratic in leading his plans and operations. Scarface was also the perfect means of abuse that Joker needed, with Mugsy creating a new one everytime Joker got bored with one, who freed him to mutilate, torture and destroy any puppet that failed to entertain him.

With multiple unseen connections and pawns in place, Joker was prepared to launch his latest plans for the death and destruction all over Gotham City and beyond. With his pending illness, Joker took precautions to ensure that he was still seen as one of the leading powers in Arkham City and eventually conquer the new compound for himself. With his plaything of a manipulation, Harley Quinn, Joker issued orders that would eventually come in fruitation to reveal a heinous plan that would be unleashed in Arkham City and violently erupt onto the unsuspecting citizens of Gotham City.

None knew of the full extent of Joker's plans, not even Hugo Strange himself, who assumed that he had everyone in Arkham City under his control. Joker's plans would not only light up all of Gotham City with death and destruction, but give him everything he had desired in the past year: power, revenge against Batman, a cure for his illness, incredible numbers to command and even immortality himself to continue wreaking havoc, chaos and destruction for decades with no end in sight.

## Abilities

Joker employs countless "comedic" weapons including lethal electric joy buzzers, comical glasses similar to Detective Mode, joke teeth set to explode, acid-spewing flower and his deadly Joker Toxin which infects victims with a ghoulish rictus grin as they die while laughing uncontrollably. Joker is also an impressive hand-to-hand combatant who can comically punch, kick, slap and poke out eyes as well as able to hold his own against Batman and is also faster than him. Joker is also skilled in the fields of chemistry however his most powerful weapon is his cunning and manipulative mind.