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**The Joker** is an insane, homicidal supervillain, and the arch nemesis of Batman. His white skin, green hair and blood red lips belied the chaotic nature that underlay his cartoonish appearance. The extremely intelligent self-styled "Clown Prince of Crime" had no superpowers beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating deadly mayhem, and frequently concocted elaborate schemes to entrap his nemesis.

He serves as one of the main antagonists of the Batman: Arkham series, appearing as the main antagonist of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham VR, one of the main antagonists of Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight, the secondary antagonist of the 2014 animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham and one of the secondary antagonists of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.

## History

The Joker's exact origin is a mystery, barring that Batman was somehow involved. He revealed a possible story to Dr. Harleen Quinzel in *Arkham Origins* and to Professor Hugo Strange in *Arkham City*: once he had been a failed stand-up comedian who worked night shifts at Ace Chemicals in a feeble attempt to support his sickly wife and their unborn child. They died just before the night that he helped a gang of thieves from The Falcone Crime Family break into the Ace Chemicals plant, disguised as the infamous Red Hood. Batman interrupted the heist, resulting in the would-be criminal falling into a vat of unidentified chemicals. Washed out of the plant he removed his disguise to find they had disfigured his entire body, giving him chalk white skin, green hair and his face a clown like appearance. Driven insane by this series of events he embraced it, believing that the greatest joke of all is that humanity is only "one bad day" away from total insanity.

Strange refuted this story however, claiming the Joker had probably fabricated it to avoid taking responsibility for whatever his actual actions had been and noting the clown had told at least ten different origin stories during his career. Joker admitted that even *he* didn't remember what happened and that the various stories were inspired by a friend who once told him: "if you're gonna have an origin story, it may as well be multiple choice." It was entirely possible that this too was a lie.

Other versions of the story, told to Dr.Penelope Young, included being born in a small fishing village with thwarted aspirations of joining the circus and being the son of a police officer who was slain by the mob. The Red Hood persona, the Ace Chemical break in and Batman's presence seem to be the only consistent events in each retelling; the details of whether Batman threw the Red Hood into the vat, failed to prevent him from falling in or if the criminal jumped in to escape justice seemed to depend on Joker's mood at the time.

Even the Joker's own insanity may be called into question, as it never impeded his intelligence, ruthlessness and ambition or prevented him from mastering chemistry to produce his various toxins and gases. He may not have actually been insane, simply the purest kind of human evil. However, only a true madman could find humor in the tragedies the Joker did and he at least once suffered intense visual hallucinations, visualizing Batman as a huge, winged monster during his second defeat at the hero's hands at Blackgate.

## Incident Reports

### Before *Arkham Origins* Incident

Shortly after his transformation the Joker began scheming. Seeking to carve a name for himself in the Gotham underworld he began targeting Roman Sionis, AKA Black Mask. The crime lord's trademark mask would make for the perfect disguise and his steel mill, a front to manufacture drugs, came with all the resources needed to cook up deadly toxins and explosives. He may also have chosen Black Mask because of Sionis Steel's reputation for shady theme park construction appealing to his twisted sense of humor. At some point Joker even acquired such a site by poisoning a real estate agent with a palm pin when they shook hands on the deal.

Joker started his plans by stealing chemicals from Sionis' mill to manufacture explosives, attracting enough of the crime lord's attention to have him followed. Joker raised the stakes by stalking (one of) Roman's girlfriend(s), Tiffany Ambrose. Roman placed a spooked Tiffany in his safe house at Lacey Towers. Unfortunately for Black Mask and his lover the 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, the 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. The Joker, waiting at a table, casually shot the double through the heart on sight. The real Black Mask then rushed from behind and tackled the Joker straight through his props, but the Joker rallied, overpowering Black Mask and restraining him. The Joker then used a Molotov cocktail to eliminate evidence and tortured 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 the Joker dragged the struggling crime lord out with him.

"Hmm!? Oh, right. That's me."
"You alright?"
"Never better, might say I got a new lease on life. Granted, it came with some extra mileage, but beggars can't be choosers. "
— Joker, posing as Black Mask

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

Soon the Joker had killed or turned gang members as he saw fit, ordering the survivors to place explosives in the sewers directly beneath significant skyscrapers. Then there was the matter of Batman. When not focusing on his other plans, "Black Mask" contacted eight of the world's deadliest assassins to compete for a $50 million bounty he placed on the vigilante's head. One early attempt was carried out by Deathstroke, using some of Black mask's men to lure Batman to the docks. However, thanks to interference from fellow assassin Deadshot, Batman escaped into the night. "Black Mask" surveyed the damage and informed Deathstroke he'd had his chance but the night was still young. As a wounded henchman caught in wreckage from Deathstroke's explosive ambush begged for help, the Joker casually picked up a burning beam and began to beat the man to death.

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

### Arkham Origins Incident

— Joker's ominous promise to Commissioner Lobe and all of Gotham

On Christmas Eve the Joker made his move. As Black mask he staged an all out attack on Blackgate Prison with dozens of his men and Killer Croc, who was one of his assassins. Murdering dozens of guards and releasing just as many inmates "Black Mask" took Commissioner Loeb hostage, announcing that there would be a "clean slate" and some big changes for Gotham that night. Joker had Croc drag Loeb off while he and his crew released Calendar Man from the execution chamber, though Joker was tempted to kill Calendar Man as the situation was almost too perfect to pass up. Instead he settled for the irony of switching the roles around, leaving Loeb to be gassed to death in Calendar Man's place.

While making his way to the roof, Joker spotted one of the Penguin's drones following them and ordered Croc to smash it and retrieve its memory card so he could see just how much the Penguin had managed to learn. To his irritation Croc only managed the former. As "Black Mask" made his exit via helicopter Croc got his chance to make up for it when he caught Batman's scent, staying behind to duel the vigilante and claim the bounty.

Batman subdued Croc, escaping the police in his Batwing and leaving the cannibal killer to them. To slow the vigilante down "Black Mask" 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 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 the Joker was using Sionis to break into the Gotham Merchant's Bank. "Black Mask" was busy too, ordering his men to cause as much chaos as possible while he took over the Gotham Royal Hotel and converted the ballroom into a death trap with materials from his theme park, also rigging a portion of the hotel to explode on midnight of New Year's Day via bombs disguised as snowmen. Finally, he stole 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.

— The Joker verbally sparring with Batman for the very first time.

Just as "Black Mask" and his crew were about to make off with the loot, Batman made an explosive entrance by literally blowing up the ceiling and dropping onto two goons. Only the presence of a captive Roman Sionis and the strangely hysterical bank manager kept the vigilante at bay. His deception discovered, the 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 the Joker "had" him. The Joker was unimpressed with the offer, firing several bullets into the vigilante's armor before he tossed him the bank manager. He fled the scene with Sionis and several million dollars in the back of his ambulance, and detonated bombs rigged to the vault. Though Batman managed to escape the trap the bank manager died, one of the first victims of Joker Toxin. While skeptical that even Batman could live through the explosion the Joker still sent in a handful of his men to sweep the building. Batman subdued all of them, interrogating the last one.

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

— Joker's orders to the assassins

Disguised as Black Mask, the Joker had commandeered the hotel's Penthouse and was catching 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". The Electrocutioner was more engrossed in his phone, ignoring the lecture. Displeased with the thug's attitude Joker dispensed with the Black Mask disguise altogether, surprising the assassins. Declaring himself the man with the money he asked if 'Mr. 'cutioner" had anything else to contribute; getting no response he kicked the assassin's swivel chair out a window, sending him plummeting to his death.

Taking the hint, the remaining assassins headed out into the night to find Batman, except for Bane who knew that he would be coming for the Joker. This macho posturing amused the Joker, who settled in to wait. He didn't have to wait long.

Procuring Electrocutioner's Shock Gloves Batman used them to manipulate the hotel's electronics, dispatch Joker and Bane's forces, rescue the hotel employees and navigate through Joker's makeshift carnival attractions. All this greatly disturbed Batman as he turned each corner to find a new level of the Joker's madness, including the converted Ballroom.

The Joker stayed in touch with Batman through rigged TV sets and the hotel's P.A. system the entire time, mocking the vigilante and claiming he'd done more to eliminate crime in two days than Batman had in two years. Despite the apparently fool-proof measure of not building an exit into the ballroom trap, Batman was able to fashion one with his Remote Claw and resume his progress through the hotel. An annoyed Joker temporarily ended their one-sided conversation so he could "shoot the architect". Whether the goon heard begging over the speakers actually *was* the architect is unclear, but the Joker ignored his pleas and shot him.

To Joker's mock-horror, Batman eventually found his "snowman bombs" but was unable to disarm them. Accelerating the countdown the clown laughed at the prospect of "watching the fireworks early", forcing the vigilante to dive out of a window to evade the impending explosion.

None! ...I think. That was just a stocking-stuffer. A construction site blocking my view.
— Joker 'comforts' Batman over the bodycount

When Batman finally arrived at the penthouse, Bane went to work. He brutally pulled the vigilante down through the elevator roof and hurled him through the Penthouse doors to Joker's lounging feet. The Joker's one caveat before Bane finished the job was time to speak to his target: he had his hand on the detonator to the explosives under the Royal Hotel if the giant didn't keep his word. Bane gave him one minute. After regaling Batman with an anecdote about his childhood tradition of opening one present each on Christmas Eve, the Joker detonated a nearby building. Furious, Batman grabbed him, demanding to know how many lives the clown had just taken. The Joker gleefully revealed that the building was merely a construction site. Batman slammed his enemy into the adjacent table overturning several of the unused detonators. Grabbing one the Joker teased that it wasn't as harmless as the last. Pushed to his limit, Batman destroyed the detonator and began to beat the Joker. The clown kept laughing, right up until Bane returned and sent the vigilante falling into a library below them.

Batman held his own until Bane used his Venom induced strength to toss him through another window and onto the snowy penthouse balcony. The Joker had a ring side seat to the battle, offering colorful commentary the entire time. However his fun was interrupted by the arrival of police choppers. Someone had tipped off a killjoy called Gordon about the Royal Hotel and the police were closing in for real. Bane decided to leave. This didn't sit well with the Joker who opened fire on Bane's escape chopper with a machine gun. Bane returned the favor with a bazooka.

The Joker remained completely unphased by this, even spreading his arms wide as if to welcome an end to his insanity. Bane's missile missed the clown himself but exploded right behind him, the force hurling him off the balcony. Batman dove after the Joker, catching him in mid-air. Even though it would doom them both the Joker attempted to punch the vigilante. Batman countered and subdued him with a headbutt.

Even with falling debris knocking it loose, Batman's grapnel was able to slow their fall enough that they survived by crashing through the Hotel Lobby's glass dome. They were instantly surrounded by two of Joker's surviving men, guns trained on Batman. To show the vigilante just how *insane* saving his life was the Joker shot both men and cited that they had done unspeakable things and were deserving of death just as he was before putting his gun on himself. Batman disarmed and subdued him just as Branden and his SWAT team burst in, still intent on collecting the bounty. Batman escaped in the Batwing and left the Joker in Captain Gordon and Harvey Bullock's custody. While manhandling the maniac into the back of a squad car, Bullock assumed the Bat and the Clown were partners to Joker's consternation.

My name's Harleen.
— Intern Quinzel misunderstands the Joker talking about Batman

Joker was sent to Blackgate where a psych intern began questioning him to determine his mental condition. Sensing she was sympathetic the Joker feigned interest; in reality he'd retreated into delusion recounting all the factors in his creation--the failed stand-up act, the ACE Chemicals break in and that first confrontation with a seemingly monstrous Batman.

At that point Joker came to realize that Batman was created just like he was: from one bad day. He now felt a connection to the hero and believed that it was fate for them to meet. The intern thought he was talking about her, telling him her name was Harleen. Joker told her it was pretty and that he was willing to be her friend. Drawn to him Harley stroked his arm, falling under the Joker's influence.

While Batman hunted down Bane and Firefly, the Joker (possibly tricking Quinzel into releasing him) instigated another riot at Blackgate, taking complete control of the facility. The only inmate that he didn't release was Deathstroke, since a professional killer like him probably couldn't see the funny side to being a pawn in a game in order to take control of Gotham. After he responded to the riot, Batman fought his way through the prison to the Panopticon and found Joker holding Warden Joseph hostage with Bane at his side.

The Joker laid out his ultimatum: Batman was forced to fight Bane to the death as Joker strapped himself, with a hostage Captain Gordon, to an electric chair that would automatically kill him unless a heartbeat monitor attached to the chair registered Bane's death. With seemingly no alternative Batman unleashed the full capacity of his Shock Gloves on Bane. Satisfied that he'd forced his nemesis to break his one rule, the Joker left intent on detonating the bombs still placed around the city. He paused only to shoot Warden Joseph for calling him a freak, but Gordon took the shot with his bulletproof vest.

— Joker explaining the punchline to Batman

Finding the entire night hilarious the 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 ecstatic Joker ready to become his next kill. Batman spoiled the joke by revealing that Bane was still alive. Dismayed to learn the truth the Joker threw the heart monitor aside, punched Batman and held him at gunpoint. He rambled to Batman that they were not so different until Batman knocked the gun out of his hands, sending the Joker flying with a punch. The Joker continued to goad Batman into killing him, cornered against a broken stain glass window, snatching up some shards and attempting to stab his enemy with them. Batman easily avoided the makeshift blades and continued to beat the Joker, even throttling him!

*Punch drunk with his nemesis throttling him, the Joker looked into the eyes of the monster that had made him what he was. And laughed.Then everything went black.*

The Joker came to strapped to a gurney and being wheeled back to his cell. Batman had overcome all odds and chosen to let him live yet again, which Joker found hysterical. He chose to see the funny side of the whole affair. he now believed he had a reason to be and the chance to top himself. This, he declared, was 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 secure facility to rehabilitate and secure the most dangerous criminals. In reality this was all a stunt for his mayoral campaign, and the plans of more sinister forces. Though he couldn't have known it, the Joker, through his actions and his very existence, had set in motion a chain of events that would push both Batman and himself to their limits.

### *Arkham Origins Blackgate* Incident

Three months after his big debut the 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 Warden Joseph. He took control of the Administration Building and had his men convert it into a fun-house themed fortress. He hired Deadshot again to act as an enforcer, unaware that the sniper was secretly tripling his earnings by cutting the same deal with his two rivals.

— The Joker reunited with Batman

When Batman arrived at the Administration Building in an attempt to locate an underground supply tunnel that would let him access Penguin's turf in the Cell Blocks, he found the Joker waiting for him. Joker admitted that he hadn't finished his alterations to 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 Warden Joseph was in the conference room, tied up with explosives. Batman tried to rush up the staircase that Joker was standing on top of, only to be bowled over by explosives beneath it. Joker left the semi-conscious Dark Knight to focus on his alterations to the Warden's Office. He also shut off the ventilation to the Arkham Wing, endangering the hostages held there, or so Batman believed.

— The Joker, Renaissance Man.

Batman caught up with the Joker exiting via the elevator just as he flooded the corridor with a gas version of the toxin that he'd used on the Gotham Merchant's Bank Manager on Christmas Eve. Batman escaped via the ventilation system, making his way to the Library and freed the hostages that Joker was storing there. In retaliation Joker filled the room with gas again, but Batman escaped outside. The vigilante dealt with Deadshot before he made his way back inside and to the conference room, where he found Warden Joseph tied to explosives Joker had rigged to security junction boxes. After disabling the security controls 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, entered 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.

— The Joker gets serious

This gave Joker the time to finish what he'd been cooking up in the Warden's Office: altered riot control gas that would allow him to control the minds of the inmates in small doses. Large doses would turn those 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 with 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 he fought Batman, who defeated him with well-timed uses of the Line Launcher even after Joker flooded the office with some of the gas. With Joker unconscious Batman retrieved the codes from his jacket and shut down the countdown. The Joker did manage to have the last laugh, providing Catwoman with bombs sometime during the night to distract Batman while she escaped with Bane.

*Note: Joker's involvement in Catwoman's escape attempt and the following depended on which boss Batman defeated last.*

As two guards approached a seemingly unconscious Joker to collect him the clown suddenly fired two hidden darts into their necks, killing them both. Disguised in one of their uniforms the Joker easily bypassed the authorities 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, committing crimes and causing chaos until Batman would stop him in what seemed to be a twisted running gag at Gotham's expense. He defied any kind of therapy or diagnosis, leaving doctors unable to decipher what kind of insanity he was even afflicted with. To add insult to injury, the Clown Prince of Crime came to view the Asylum as a sort of home. He was also aware of being observed obsessively by one of the doctors while in his cell and put on a show whenever released, spontaneously brutalizing fellow inmates and asylum staff just to keep everyone on their toes.

At some point while incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Joker was visited in his cell in the dead of night by Arkham Asylum Warden Quincy Sharp, carrying a knife. Before things could escalate any further Sharp seemed to freeze up with sudden terror. Never one to miss an opportunity, Joker procured the Warden's knife and had a little fun at Sharp's expense by slowly slicing his forehead. He left no visible scarring and never told anyone, most likely because the joke of a lunatic running the Asylum was too rich to spoil. However, the only record of this is found in Sharp's *Spirit of Arkham* Diaries and it's possible that he may have hallucinated the incident. (However, Joker did eventually figure out that Hugo Strange had brainwashed Sharp.)

### Holding Grudges

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

### Harley Quinn

Perhaps the Joker's most insidious act was the seduction of his therapist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel. The psych intern, now a full fledged psychologist, transferred from Blackgate to Arkham intending to study Gotham's growing number of super criminals and become a pioneer in her field. She was eager to gain insight into the mind of the self style Clown Prince of Crime in order to publish a book. Neither of them acknowledged the Blackgate Incident, but Joker strung her along as easily as he had then.

Over the preceding months he shared insights and secrets with Quinzel, many of which he most likely made up, and soon had her believing that he was the love of her life. Months later Quinzel smuggled in explosives to break the Joker out and rechristened herself with his pet name "Harley Quinn", obsessed with the idea of becoming Gotham's number one power couple together.

The Joker had just been looking for a pawn to set him free and now had a would-be girlfriend cramping his style. He treated Harley like any other member of his gang, physically and verbally abusing her even when she *did* carry out his orders.

### The Abromovici Twins

The Joker heard tales of conjoined Abramovici Twins, widely known as Hammer and Sickle, and their reputation for brutality, wanting 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 headline act. He promptly vanished only to be found three months later with a new smile carved onto his face. Later, prior to the Arkham City incident, the brothers would be surgically separated, and had a falling out with Sickle defecting to the Penguin.

### The Joker's Diary

At some point before the events of *Arkham Asylum*, Joker hatched a scheme based around the 4th of July. While stuck in an existential rut he encountered a criminal who claimed to be able to 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, overpowered the Joker and broke his nose.

Even as Joker was dragged back to Arkham, his plan unraveled. His signature toxin had been released in a powder form by fireworks. Citizens who came into contact with it died. He was sedated by Batman before they arrived at Arkham. Before Batman could warn them, staff touched the 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, after a sarcastic suggestion by Batman, Joker began to write a book that contained the names of all the people that he had ever killed.

### Death in the Family

Joker believed himself to be the leading man in Batman's life, and was constantly trying to out do his previous atrocities. He came close to destroying Gotham several times, and was almost always outsmarted and certainly always out-muscled 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 to himself. He didn't even approve of Harley's friendship with Poison Ivy.

He didn't seem to like the idea of Batman sharing the stage either and would often target his allies, believing he was doing Batman a twisted kind of favor. He was however equally prepared to use their pain as a mean's of emotionally wounding Batman, either out of his twisted desire to drive his nemesis over the edge into finally breaking his one rule, or simply out of sadism. Though he failed to kill the original Robin who would go on to become Nightwing or Batgirl, he would eventually win a terrible victory.

Whether the Joker realized or even cared a new Boy Wonder (Jason Todd) had taken Nightwing's place is unclear but he did become aware of the boy's more volatile temper. In one particularly gruesome crime spree he kidnapped a number of children, returning them to their parents but as horribly parodies of themselves; he had dismembered them and sown their body parts together at random. As distraught parents wept and struggled to identify their children, the Clown continued to taunt them with a recording of himself singing nursery rhymes.

Enraged, Jason's tense relationship with his mentor finally shattered. He had always struggled to understand Batman's principles, unable to accept that even madmen such as their super villains deserved even the bare minimum of mercy in place of execution, and the Joker's actions that night convinced him there could be no mercy for a creature like the Joker. Robin went rogue, shutting off his comms and tracking systems to conduct his own investigation without Batman's restraint or interference. He was determined to hunt down the Joker and kill him. His search led him to a section of Arkham Asylum, condemned after a fire. Infiltrating the wing through a still serviceable laundry chute he became entangled in a net, realizing too late the entire thing had been a trap. As Jason struggled to free himself the Joker casually approached with a crowbar and began to beat him.

But not to death. He had a far crueler joke to play on the Dark Knight than just that.

For over a year, the Joker kept Jason hostage in the abandoned wing, abusing and torturing him almost non-stop. Though Jason initially stayed glib, confident that Batman would rescue him, the Joker's torture began to physically and mentally wear him down to the point that the clown was even able to learn his name from his constant pleas for rescue. One of the greatest blows to his psyche came when the Joker used a hot branding iron to scar the boy forever with a 'J' mark.

Time passed and still Batman failed to come for him. In reality the Dark Knight frantically searched the city for his renegade partner each night, but the Joker began to take advantage of Jason's despair, constantly implying his mentor had simply abandoned him. He even showed Jason photos of Batman with a *new* Robin, though whether Tim Drake had stepped into the role yet is unclear. It was not remotely beyond the Joker's ability to forge the image simply for the purposes of tormenting Jason. After this Joker switched tactics, suggesting that perhaps Jason should become *his* sidekick. Despite his new fatherly persona, the torture never stopped.

The suggestions and constant torture finally broke Jason, leaving him in a drone like state where he believed he was loyal to the Joker alone. Nearing the end of his routine, the Joker acquired a camera to show Batman his handiwork. Jason was so under the Joker's control that he was fully prepared to give away Batman's secret identity...at which point the Joker shot him, revealing the entire thing, capturing, torturing and remodeling the Boy Wonder, had simply been one long cruel attack on Batman. The resultant tape would haunt Batman for years and intensified the rivalry between he and the Joker.

### Before *A Matter Of Family* Incident

— Joker upon Dr. Young asking him to be serious

The Joker resurfaced sometime later, and was soon incarcerated at Arkham again. In an interview overseen by Warden 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 (using his alias as Jack White) was introduced by Harley (under her real identity as Dr. Harleen Quinzel) to one of her old friends, Edward Burke. After he influenced Burke to think about building an amusement park for his daughter, Katie, Joker 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, Dr. Young was pleasantly surprised to find that an anonymous benefactor, 'Mr. White', had donated a generous grant for her research. Katie Burke was used as the first test 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, Edward Burke decided to sign the amusement park over to Jack White, and committed suicide by using pills that were given to him by White (not knowing that 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 the 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 simply a more powerful form of Venom, which would 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 of 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 provide 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 e-mails, then escaped the Asylum.

If Dr. Young wouldn't *give* him his army, Joker would make it himself.

### *A Matter of Family* Incident

Sometime after, Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped Commissioner Gordon. Batgirl and Robin went to rescue him after the 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 find and disarm respectively. Eventually, Batgirl and Robin confronted Joker and Harley near the top of the oil rig. After a 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 the G.C.P.D.

Some time later, Joker attempted to attack Gordon again, by going after Barbara (without knowing of her crimefighting 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 that tragedy define her and became Oracle, an invaluable hacking and information source for Batman's detective work.

### Before *Assault on Arkham* Incident

At some point while incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, Joker was visited in his cell in the dead of night by Arkham Asylum Warden, Quincy 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 the Warden's 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 the Asylum was too rich to spoil. However, the only record of this could be found in Sharp's *Spirit of Arkham* Diaries, and it's possible that he may have hallucinated the incident. (However, Joker eventually figured out Hugo Strange brainwashed Sharp.)

### *Assault on Arkham* Incident

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

When the Suicide Squad entered Arkham Asylum, Harley Quinn and Deadshot confronted Joker at the Penitentiary's Extreme Incarceration (Located near the cell where Mr. Freeze was locked up). Immediately, Joker began talking to Harley, laughed, and commented about how he pushed her out of a moving vehicle in the recent past. In a rage, Harley attempted to kill Joker by shooting at him. The glass being bullet-proof, Harley instead shot through one of the air holes in the cell until she ran out of bullets, and almost killed Joker. Harley told Joker that they were through, and she had moved on to a "new guy". This caused him to immediately frown and growl in response. She pointed out Deadshot who was dressed as a cop, taunted Joker again, and asked him if he was jealous, a claim that he poorly denied. He also immediately recognized the "cop's" true identity as Deadshot due to having previously worked together before.

— Joker escapes thanks to Harley's blunder

Later, Joker reflected on Harley and Deadshot being together. Joker couldn't believe that she had moved on after everything he did for her. Joker began to rant and pace around the room and said he'd make more of her, make them wear her skin, which caused him to fantasize about 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. Walking away, Joker smiled, saying to himself that he was willing to take back half of the horrible things he subjected Harley to because of her help in letting him escape.

After getting dressed, Joker stumbled upon Black Spider who, unknown to him, was dressed as Batman. Joker then pointed his gun at his head, but before he could kill him, Black Spider's head exploded. Momentarily stunned and confused, the Joker looked at his weapon and commented that it was the "best gun ever." Joker picked up the head to discover it wasn't Batman. Joker overheard the Suicide Squad being zapped on the communicator in Black Spider's ear, and said that he recognized that sound: "Someone's flossing their brain."

Joker immediately realized where they were, made his appearance, began shooting, and threw exploding marbles. Joker then confronted the Suicide Squad, or rather Deadshot, at which point Harley explained she was just using them to help him escape; it was a lie. The two then fled, but not before Joker attempted to kill Deadshot for "touching his stuff". Though Deadshot claimed that Joker's gun had no more bullets, Joker claimed that he was wrong, but fired the gun anyway, and after he proved that he was right, Deadshot punched him in the face, but he and Harley escaped through the laundry chute. Joker then demanded the mallet, in which he had hidden his dirty bomb.

— Joker, preparing to kill Deadshot

Broadcasting to the entire island, the Joker told Batman that he was about to give Gotham a "terminal case of tainted love" by detonating the bomb. To delay Batman from finding him, Joker decided to release the inmates; this caused chaos as the riot police had to fight back Bane, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy and Two-Face along with the rest of the prisoners.

During the riot, Deadshot escaped Arkham via an SCU Helicopter, which unbeknownst to him, Joker and Harley were also on board. Joker and Deadshot fought intensely and the helicopter crashed into a building, which threw everyone out into a building under construction.

The two continued fighting, and Joker managed to severely injure Deadshot with his knives, albeit with enough difficulty that he even admitted that Deadshot was "a real pain in [Joker's] ass" for someone who wasn't Batman. 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, which hinted that he was still alive. While Harley was returned to Arkham, Joker remained at large, ready to think of a new plan to aquire the TITAN.

### Before *Road to Arkham*

The Joker spent over a year planning on how to get back into Arkham and get the TITAN to create his army of Banes. In the end, he decided to make use of the blueprints he took from Blackgate Prison seven years ago, to set a fire to burn the place to the point where it wasn't suitable to hold his goons. Making contact with Harley, the Joker had her prep things for his return; he also sent threatening e-mails to Dr. Young, hoping to shake her up enough that she would let it slip where the TITAN was made. All the Joker needed to do now was commit a crime grand enough to grab Batman's attention. And that's when it came to him....

### *Road to Arkham* Incident

The Joker and his goons raided Gotham City Hall, claimed that the city had "a paucity of parking spots designated for clown cars," took the Mayor hostage, tied him up, and strapped a bomb to his chest. As the Joker taunted the Mayor, he expressed annoyance that Batman hadn't shown up who ironically attacked moments later. Joker tried to escape via a large 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 that he was resigning from his position, and that he had enough of the city. Batman, however, sensed that the Joker went down too easily.

### Arkham Asylum Incident

— Joker to Batman at Arkham Asylum

Batman arrived at Arkham in the Batmobile, and took the Joker to the Intensive Treatment Center. The Joker remained in high spirits, and was pleased that he was back at Arkham. He was strapped to a prisoner movement gurney and wheeled through Intensive Treatment by a variety of guards, including Frank Boles, with Batman following close by (Batman sensed that something was amiss as none of his countless battles with Joker were ever this straight-forward, so he intended to follow the Joker in case Joker intended to do something within Arkham Asylum). The Joker commented on all the brand new security at Arkham and how it was rather funny that a fire at Blackgate had sent over a hundred of his goons to Arkham, and Boles angrily remarked that he thought that Joker was to keep quiet.

During the escort, the Joker made shrewd remarks to many of the Arkham Staff including Warden Quincy Sharp, Officer Aaron Cash, and Dr. Penelope Young before he was taken down the elevator. During the elevator journey, a blackout occurred, which caused the Joker to laugh hysterically before he had his neck clutched by Batman as the lights came back on. As the Joker was moved into the lobby area of the Holding Cells, he was unstrapped and escorted by a guard and a medical assistant while Batman and Commissioner Gordon looked on. Unknown to all but Joker, Harley Quinn was already in the Security Control Room, waiting. Joker soon took the opportunity to break free at Harley's signal.

Pretending to stumble and trip, the Joker bashed his guard in the face with the back of his head as the guard demanded him to get up. He then used his handcuffs to strangle the guard, which forced the doctor to unhook the Joker to save the guard. Joker strangled the guard to death before the doctor could save him, and when his cuffs were finally off, kicked the doctor down, which killed him as well. The Joker then coldly said to the dead guard: "The choke's on you!", imitated a playful laugh, and pointed at the security door with a "Ta-da!"

— Joker releases his goons

Joker looked up at the security camera and told Harley that he was home. She then let him in by opening up the adjacent electrical doorway, which allowed the Joker to access the cell controls. He ran behind the energy screen just as Batman managed to break through the viewing window and jump into the room. Joker taunted the Dark Knight for springing his trap, released his followers from Blackgate out of their cells, and said: "Now let's get this party started!". As Batman battled the thugs, Joker said over the monitor system that he was originally going to kill everyone in the room and watch cartoons, but he decided to take a captive audience instead. After Batman defeated a round of thugs, the Joker left the room and made his way to the Patient Transfer Unit. Batman told Gordon that he would find a way out, but Joker told him not to make promises that he couldn't keep, as he was in control of the asylum and therefore where Batman was able to go. As Batman told Joker he wouldn't let him run, Joker cut off his "hero speech" and goaded him to just pursue him. Batman started to pursue him, but along the way, the Joker raided the Decontamination Chamber of Arkham with canisters of his Joker Toxin, pumped it into the room, and killed ten Arkham 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. The area was sealed off after the toxins were detected, but was re-secured after Batman destroyed the extraction system fuse box with a Batarang, which triggered the ventilation fans to filter out the deadly gas. Batman followed Joker's trail of smiles and arrows that were drawn by spray paint and dead bodies and found him. The Joker opened up a large patient transfer cell, and released a large experimental monster. The monster attacked Batman before he died of biological causes, much to the Joker's annoyance, who murmured: "Note to self: Need stronger test subjects!"

— Joker tempts Batman

As a result, the Joker allowed Batman one free shot at him, which would cause him to fall to his death and end the madness. Batman drew a Batarang, but hesitated and was unable to willingly kill his enemy, which caused the Joker to laugh at him and say that he was becoming "too predictable." Joker escaped via the patient transfer system and told Batman that he was organizing a "party" with the villains all over Arkham. While Batman tried to get the transfer unit working again, the Joker appeared on a monitor and showed Batman footage of a treacherous Frank Boles knock out Gordon and take him hostage.

Batman attempted to track down Gordon by detecting the alcohol that Boles left in the air. The Joker soon caught onto the Batman's attempt, and as a result, had Boles killed, no longer needing him. Taking control of Arkham's intercom system the Joker told his goons to destroy the Batmobile to keep Batman from leaving. He then proceeded to begin taking over the west side of Arkham Island.

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

— Joker unleashes Bane

After Batman rescued Gordon from Harley, they entered the locked room, finding a withered Bane strung up. Once Bane told them Dr. Young was responsible, Joker appeared on the monitor, telling him that Young will no longer be a problem. Calling Bane his puppet, Joker pumped a large amount of Titan into him, and caused a fight with him and Batman. Joker watched as Bane attempted to kill Batman without success, so he sent in his goons to help him. However, Batman managed to lead Bane outside of the Medical Facility and knock him into the ocean with the Batmobile.

The Joker's next order of business was to search the Arkham Mansion for Dr. Young's notes; just in case the good doctor destroyed her notes, the Joker planned on finding her to torture the formula out of Young. His thugs tore apart the mansion looking for the notes, while holding members of the staff hostage. As Cash was not spilling any information, Joker left him to mercy of his thugs. Batman followed Dr. Young's prints to the library, where he found and destroyed the notes. Joker feigned defeat, but told Batman that he had captured Dr. Young, and planned to use Victor Zsasz, who he found at the Botanical Gardens, to torture Young into giving up the formula and where it was being produced.

Thanks to Scarecrow gassing Batman on his way out of the library, Joker was given enough to let Zsasz torture the information out of Dr. Young. Batman aslo had accidentally locked himself in the bell tower; however, he cut the rope holding the bell in place to escape. As a bonus, this broke the gate keeping him out of the Warden's office.

— Joker taunts Batman

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 gotten both Venom and Titan. Batman incapacitated Zsasz and rescued the doctor, though an explosion set by Joker in the Warden's safe killed her anyway. Harley then entered and had her thugs prepare Batman for the "party". Batman defeated them all, followed Harley, and rescued Sharp by tracking his DNA.

Harley later released Poison Ivy from her cell, despite her not being on the "party list". Joker watched from the security cameras, contacting Batman again. Laughing that watching Harley and Ivy together was a riot, Joker told Batman that he had prepared some "civil unrest" just for him. At that point, he opened every cell possible in the Penitentiary, releasing the violent, insane inmates. They spread through the island, attacking and killing any living thing that they could find. Joker used the intercom to order his henchmen to kill the lunatics as they were spoiling the party plans.

Batman went after Harley, who sent her thugs after Batman again, though he managed to defeat them all. Harley's failure prompted Joker to remove her from the "party list", and Batman defeated and locked her up. Joker gave Harley's attempt a B+, but wanted an A grade. Batman used Harley's DNA traces from around the island to track Joker to the Botanical Gardens, where he unsuccessfully tried to slow Batman down after he killed an Arkham guard, named Thomas Armbruster by tossing him into water he electrified. Joker detonated the path he was on, blocking the way to the Titan Production facility and buying himself some time.

— Joker, mixing the Titan

Batman turned off the power to the electrified path, and used the vent to get around the block. At the time, Joker was experimenting with the Titan's chemicals, hoping to perfect it to his specifications. One such henchman got an injection, which painfully failed to turn him into a Titan Henchman. Joker had his men toss the body into the void outside the room; it fell into the disused chamber below, where Batman found it.

Knowing that Batman had gotten into the Aviary, Joker created a puzzle to keep the Dark Knight busy. He had a goon waiting to drop victims into the abyss below if they spotted him. However, Batman knocked out the goon at the controls and knocked out the rest trying to find him. Using Harley's prints, Batman found the entrance to the Titan Production facility.

Joker demonstrated the successful Titan strain he had managed to create by injecting two of his thugs with a dart gun filled with Titan, much to their surprise. He escaped via elevator, which was filled with several crates of the Titan; this left Batman to deal with his new Titan Henchmen. Joker used the time his monsters bought him to kill the hostages Batman saved, using a secret path to remain out of the Dark Knight's sights. Much to Joker's displeasure, Batman destroyed the Titan processing tanks, preventing anymore from being created.

As Batman was leaving the Botanical Gardens, Joker visited Poison Ivy, who was upset that Batman had threatened the plants on the island. The Joker gave Ivy a shot of Titan, causing the plant-life on the island to go wild. Seeing that nothing happened to Ivy, Joker gave her another dose; still, Ivy didn't mutate. Amused, Joker laughed that they didn't give her the name "Ivy" for nothing; he was hoping for a "40 ft killer plant", but accepted that he couldn't get everything that he wanted. Leaving Ivy to her own devices, the Joker headed back to his hideout in the patient Visitor Center.

— Joker, getting annoyed with Ivy

Batman defeated both Scarecrow and Killer Croc down in the sewers and successfully harvested the spores needed to make an antidote to the Titan. Batman then went down further into the sewers and found that Joker was trying to pump Titan pollutants into the Gotham River, and told his men to stop Batman from preventing that in a threatening, and serious manner. After Batman shut off the pumps, Joker sent down a Titan Henchman as a token of his displeasure.Batman defeated the monster and escaped the sewers.

As Ivy continued to yell about Batman killing her plants, the Joker moaned over the intercom if she ever shut up about them. Instead, Ivy told the Joker that she would be coming after him once she killed Batman. Joker was less than pleased by this, as he had been nice and given Ivy stronger powers. Wishing her luck in trying to kill Batman, the Joker told her that he would be waiting with an army or Titan monsters and a bag of weed killer. Batman proceed to defeat Ivy, relieving the island of the threat of her plants.

With all of the enemies on Joker's 'party list' defeated Joker had his men set off fireworks to direct Batman, the "guest of honor", to the "party" at the Visitor Center . Rather than fight Batman, upon his arrival and confirmation of being on the 'guest list', the goons acted friendly, cheered him on, and allowed him safe passage. Batman found a bomb planted by Joker at the Visitor Center and upon its explosion discovered the Joker's lair: a throne room atop various plastic toys from which he had been broadcasting to the island.

— Joker, before injecting himself with Titan

Joker was holding Scarface and taking out his frustration on him by having a fictional argument before he threw him away. Joker then berated Batman for ruining everything by "turning Bane into roadkill, feeding Scarecrow to Croc, 'slapping around' Harley Quinn (which was his favorite hobby), and destroying his precious Venom plants." The Joker then dispatched two Titan fueled security guards at Batman, who defeated them both.

Joker then revealed that he had recaptured Gordon before he could escape back to Gotham. Firing a Titan-tipped dart at Gordon, Joker was overjoyed when Batman took the shot himself. However, Joker was angered when Batman resisted and fought off his attempts to make him give in. Enraged that Batman would never allow him this final triumph, Joker shot himself with one of his Titan darts, and claimed he had little more to live for.

Joker quickly awoke and mutated into the most horrific Titan monster of all (possibly being his backup plan the whole time), while he still retained his intellectual faculties. Joker then directed the circling Gotham News Helicopters and Jack Ryder to the rooftops of Arkham so that they could watch his final fight with Batman. After he strapped Gordon to an electric chair above a makeshift fighting arena (and made him the "referee"), Titan-Joker goaded Batman to give into his injection, as it was the only way they could be on even fighting terms. Batman refused, and used the only antidote injection on himself, which Titan-Joker found hysterical. The two, with assistance from Titan-Joker's henchmen, then fought a brutal battle, with Batman knocking Titan-Joker into the electrical generator that was used to torture Gordon.

Always
What!?
I'll never let you win. Never!
— Joker learns Batman cannot be broken

Titan-Joker got up from the attack and said that he could take anything Batman threw at him, and asked if the Dark Knight was ready for the next round. After he sprayed Explosive Gel onto his glove, Batman declared that he would never let Joker win and would always be prepared for his tactics. Enraged, Titan-Joker prepared to kill his relentless nemesis as Batman charged him. Just before Titan-Joker could grab him, Batman punched him straight in the teeth, and detonated the gel at the same time, causing a massive explosion which sent both Titan-Joker and Batman backwards. Joker was rendered unconscious by the blast, but Batman's armor saved him from any major injuries.

Following the Joker's defeat, the GCPD retook control of Arkham Island, recapturing the escaped inmates, and watching over the Titan-powered henchmen as they returned to normal. Joker's transformation back to humanity was quite painful compared to others, combined with the severe injuries he received in his battle with Batman. Joker was taken back to his cell by several police officers and surviving Arkham security personnel, his plans ultimately failed. While locked up and recovering from Titan's effects, 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 began to fear that his defeat at Batman's hands may have cost him more than just being locked up again.

### After *Arkham Asylum* Incident

— Joker, thinking about his dream of killing Batman

After Batman stopped him from escaping Arkham Asylum, the Joker sat alone in his padded cell, knowing something was wrong. The first sign was an unusual, lump on his shoulder. He felt... tainted. Weeks went by and ten more unusual lumps appeared. The TITAN had done something to him, something bad, something that wasn't funny at all.

The Joker was dying. He knew it and soon so would anyone who saw him. The last thing he needed was to appear weak before his rivals. So one day at lunch, the Joker took a spoon and dug out another inmate's eyes, knowing this would get him solitary confinement. He could keep out of sights, at least until his transfer to Arkham City.

The Joker needed an escape plan, and on the night of his transfer, Harley Quinn provided one. Disguised as an Arkham guard, she overpowered the Joker's escorts and stole her puddin' away to a boat 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 the Joker's escape, and here he was in the Batboat, pursuing the fugitives. They ignored his orders to stop, so Batman opened fire. As Harley steered the boat to shore, missiles ripped the hull to pieces.

They swam, the weakened Joker being pulled through the water by a distraught Harley, desperate to save her puddin'. She pulled the Joker out of the water to safety, somehow avoiding Batman's searchlight. She and the Joker sat there, gasping for breath, when they suddenly realized where they were: Arkham City.

I like it, Harley. New tricks, new home; I'm starting to feel like my old self.
— The Joker choose the Steel Mill as his base

After they arrived in Arkham City, the Joker and Harley Quinn were eager to explore their new stomping grounds. They declared themselves the mayor and mayoress of Arkham City.

Reflecting that years had passed since the Penguin banned Joker from the club, they sought out the blue neon lights of the Iceberg Lounge. Harley pounded on the door, certain that Cobblepot would let bygones be bygones. The Penguin answered, a hulking guard at his side, and immediately reminded them of his "no clowns” policy. He just managed to close the door before the acid from Joker's flower shot out at his face.

The two made their way to the former Industrial District and commandeered Black Mask's old steel mill as their base of operations. Over the next several months, Joker began to renovate the factory into his classical image, complete with a roller-coaster death trap. As more and more inmates were transferred into the prison city, the twisted device served as a sadistic recruiting method to weed out the gang initiates with the best reflexes (those that jumped from the coaster before the death plunge).

With Harley at his side, Joker began to brutally recruit inmates once again for his new army, soon becoming one of the leading powers of Arkham City, building up for a three way rivalry with Two Face and the Penguin. 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 him to embark on some of his plans himself.

I'm selling girl scout cookies.
Oooh, a joke. You'll do just nicely here.
— Joker, via inctercom, welcomes Lester to the gang

One potential recruit was a man named Lester Kurtz. He easily escaped the Joker's death traps and dispatched his goons. Impressed, Joker 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 that the 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 unsurprisingly furious, to the point that he put a bounty on Lester's head. The entire time he was unaware that Lester Kurtz was actually the latest in a series of aliases Batman used to infiltrate the underworld and gather information.

### Before *Arkham City* Incident

Keep 'em coming, doc; I'm trying to break my record.
— Joker enjoys killing people who fail him

During the Arkham Asylum incident, the Joker had mass produced large quantities of TITAN. Though Batman assumed he had destroyed the formula by detonating the containers in the secret Botanical Garden lab the clown prince of crime had planned ahead, smuggling a supply out of the Asylum and into Gotham. Once settled in Arkham City Joker somehow regained at least six containers (that we know of) and smuggled them into the prison complex as an ace in the hole for the coming gang war, though some were lost to the Penguin's turf.

Eventually Bane resurfaced, setting up and presiding over an underground fighting contest where inmates fought in vain for the privilege of trying to take him down. Word of these fights spread throughout Arkham, and the Joker sent Bane a little surprise. As Bane moved in for the kill, the Joker's henchman triggered a TITAN injection that ripped through his body, transforming him into a monstrous TITAN. Barely surviving the fight, Bane murdered the monster out of mercy when it's malformed body began to convulse under the strain and vowed to hunt down the remaining TITAN sources.

When Batman shut down the Joker's riot at Arkham Asylum, it seemed the relationship between the newly demented Scarface puppet and the Clown Prince had ended—until one of the Joker's old henchmen, Mugsy Binks, showed up at the Steel Mill in Arkham City. He'd rescued Scarface from the old asylum, knowing it would buy him favor with Joker. And Mugsy was skillful enough to make a dozen more copies, freeing the Joker to mutilate any puppet that failed to amuse him.

After all, another Scarface could quickly be built up for him to laugh with, abuse, and then break into pieces. Joker's only regret is that people aren't so easily toyed with and replaced. Or are they?

He also spent long hours confiding and performing routines with his new "pal" to make Harley jealous. This may have been a calculated ploy to manipulate Harley's emotions, taking advantage of her developing harsher persona in order to shape her into the brutal field agent the Joker would need for the gang war, or, given his twisted sense of humor, for the hell of it.

— Joker squaring off with Hugo Strange

Despite his considerable foothold in the Industrial District the Joker's gang was no match for the heavily armed forces of TYGER, meaning even the Clown Prince of Crime was forced into regular mandatory taped interview session with Hugo Strange. Strange offered to make Joker's last days more 'comfortable' in return for his co-operation by supplying doctors to examine his condition, either in the employ of Arkham City or illegally abducting them from Gotham's streets. All the Joker had to do was tell Strange why he was the way he was.

Joker accepted the offer and began to recount the events of his time as the Red Hood, but would pause the conversation at significant moments for weeks, demanding a fresh supply of doctors in exchange for continuing. It was not out of necessity, as no progress was being made in curing his condition, but out of boredom; the Clown Prince enjoyed having the captive doctors tortured and killed for his amusement as much as punishment for failing him. He even somehow managed to have the body of one of these victims left outside the elevator Strange's office. These gruesome acts were also a cover for Joker's biggest contingency plan. Every examination removed more and more of his poisoned blood until he has enough stored that he could infect hundreds of innocent people with his illness by smuggling them into Gotham's hospitals.

Eventually though, he did manage to finish the tale of his origin, blaming Batman for making him what he was. Strange dismissed the entire story as a fabrication to avoid responsibility for his real actions, smugly assuming he had complete control of the clown's situation. The Joker casually turned the tables on the professor, revealing he'd been aware of Strange watching him in his cell at the Asylum and had conducted his own investigation into Strange's own illicit secrets, more likely some of his highly unethical experiments. While the Joker was not aware of *everything*, he now had enough leverage to order Strange to back off, lest the information be leaked publicly and ruin Arkham City, and to order weapons necessary to wage his side of the gang war. At the time though, what he mostly wanted was yet another doctor...

Joker eventually found out that Strange had Mr. Freeze brought into Arkham City and was having him prepare countless medical drugs, chemicals, and serums for his plans by holding his wife, Nora, hostage. Wanting Freeze's genius for himself to develop a cure, Joker had Strange bring Nora to him to use as collateral to make Freeze develop a cure. Leaving Nora in one of his warehouses and at the mercy of his henchmen, many of whom wished to unfreeze and rape her, Joker blackmailed Freeze to develop a cure, and threatened to murder Nora if he failed to do so, though Joker planned to kill her regardless if Freeze succeeded or not.

However, Strange, fearing Joker's potential to ruin his plans, formed a pack with Penguin, helped him capture Freeze, locked him up in his Museum, and gained control of his weapons. Strange would still remain in contact with Joker, who was initially unaware of this betrayal, and continued to supply him with weapons as part of his plans to initiate Protocol 10, a military operation that Strange believed would make him famous and serve as a monument to Batman's failure and defeat.

Joker also began to suspect Strange's ambitions to use Arkham City as a cover-up to actually plan an exploitation of the situation to wipe out every single individual within the prison. To that end, Joker made use of the construction equipment at the Steel Mill to build massive tunnels that connected to Gotham's sewers and subway system as a shelter for whatever Strange had planned to ensure that his army survived while the rest of his enemies were slaughtered. Those tunnels proved to be the perfect entry points into the other villains' territory in order to conquer their turfs and claim them as his own. Joker also saw Strange's true designs as a great way to wipe out his most hated enemies and in which, by the end of the conflict, his army would be the only force left standing, ready to tear down the walls of the prison and completely destroy Gotham .

Eventually, one of Joker's trump cards arrived as Basil Karlo, also known as Clayface, who entered Arkham City completely undetected under Joker's orders. Assuming the guise of numerous inmates and security personnel alike, the monstrous mudpack eventually met with his cryptic employer.

After he formed an alliance with the dying clown during his imprisonment in Arkham Asylum, Clayface was quickly convinced to aid the Joker and embroiled himself in the Clown Prince of Crime’s last megalomaniac master plan. Despite not actually being imprisoned in Arkham City, Clayface had sided with the Joker for one key reason: to play “the role of a lifetime”. At the request of the Joker, Karlo posed as the healthy crazed Clown Prince of Crime and willingly carried out the vast amounts of chaos the actual Joker would if he was capable.

— Joker's intercom message

With Clayface’s vast and nearly unstoppable abilities under his command, the Joker knew he would all but conquer Arkham City with everyone fooled by his double, including Hugo Strange. Next to doubling as him, the Joker used the feat of clay as a puppet of power to carry out his most extreme tasks: have Clayface overlook public operations with Harley, recruite and build up his army into massive numbers, and ultimately convince a cold tempered Mr. Freeze to develop a cure for the clown’s growing illness; although Strange had already taken Nora, hostage by that point.

The Joker was almost sure that he was clearing a pathway straight to his victory and with the spotlight focused on his doppelganger, and knew that he could easily stay hidden in the shadows long enough to see through his countless plans. Coincidentally they would also play into Clayface’s final “performance” as well.

Joker eventually had Clayface disguise himself as various TYGER personnel in order to infiltrate their locations and obtain their equipment and even their card keys and codes needed to access structures right outside Arkham City's perimeter walls. With these items in his possession, Joker gained access to the Sionis Boat House, which was just next to his base, where he stored his most valuable weaponry, equipment, and plans; away from the prying eyes of Hugo Strange and his TYGER operatives who remained completely ignorant and blissful of the true magnitude of Joker's own operations.

Joker lastly used Clayface to infiltrate Arkham Island, TYGER's main base of operations, to place dozens of explosives deep within the bowels of the Asylum as part of his alternative plans for Batman and Gotham, as well as to take out TYGER when the time was right. With everything in place and his plans completely unnoticed by even Hugo Strange and TYGER, Joker waited for Batman's inevitable arrival in Arkham City, where their most brutal and psychological battle would play out.

### *Arkham City* Incident

— Joker

By the time that Arkham City officially opened, Joker had turned the Steel Mill into a complete slaughter house, having murdered hundreds of inmates, political prisoners, his own associates, and doctors alike within the torturous confines of the mill. Having built up a huge army of over a thousand men, a large portion of the city under his complete control, and even creating vast amounts of the Titan chemicals to serve as an asset to his army, Joker was easily one of the most powerful figures in Arkham City, though Penguin was a worthy rival and Two-Face was on the move to becoming a major powerhouse as well.

Each and every day, the war for control over Arkham City escalated and became more chaotic and violent as Joker relished in the mass amounts of chaos, destruction, torture, murder, and mutilation that he brought to the streets. In love with the very madness that he created, Joker was not concerned in the slightest about his opponents in the turf wars as he had already begun to lay the foundations of his megalomaniac plans and implement his numerous trump cards that only he and a select few knew about. Before long, Joker would obtain everything that he needed in order to conquer Arkham City and find the means to obtain complete power and control to destroy Gotham.

As Bruce Wayne was abducted and brought into Arkham City under Hugo Strange's orders, Joker's crew seized control of the Arkham City Medical Facility, that was built inside the Gotham Cathedral, and had captured all the medical staff in order to claim all the chemicals and drugs for themselves. With Harley leading the operation, Joker's thugs also abducted a doctor, Stacey Baker, who had previously diagnosed Joker, under his orders to bring her to him for an update on his condition.

Joker knew that Two-Face was stationed at the Solomon Wayne Courthouse near the church, and planned to execute Catwoman to showcase his might, and also intended to ambush the operation to spoil Two-Face's plans, kill Catwoman himself, and grab Batman's attention. As Batman infiltrated the courthouse, defeated Two-Face's men, rescued Catwoman, and strung Two-Face upside down over a pit of acid, Joker saw his opportunity to implement a surprise attack. Using a remote controlled sniper rifle that Harley had set up in the cathedral bell tower, Joker attempted to assassinate Catwoman, though his primary motive was simply to coax Batman into tracking him down as part of an elaborate trap.

Be quiet, Harley!
— Joker shushes Harley, to keep Clayface a secret

At the same time, Joker also began sending groups of his men to find Mr. Freeze, who had mysteriously disappeared, and to also enter Two-Face's territory and attack his gang in order to take advantage of his dwindling numbers.

After he made his way to the Smelting Chamber, Batman rescued Stacey, defeated all of Joker's henchmen, and finally entered the office of the Clown Prince of Crime himself. When he entered the office, Batman found Harley crying over a seemingly lifeless Joker in a wheelchair. However, this was all a part of Joker's plans as he faked his own death in order to divert Batman's attention, which allowed the hero to become vulnerable to a surprise attack.

Batman was gassed from behind by Clayface disguised as Joker (Batman believed that the Joker in the wheelchair was simply a dummy) and then beaten into unconsciousness by Harley with a bat, at which point Joker firmly tied Batman to the wheel chair, taped a phone to his chest, and stuck a syringe in his throat to transfer his poisoned blood into his body. Batman was infected with the same disease as Joker. Joker insisted that Batman follow his commands in order to get a cure for the disease from Mr. Freeze. Though Batman was willing to die if that meant the end of the Joker, the villain revealed one of his trump cards: thousands of innocent people in Gotham were also infected with his blood.

After he revealed that poisoning Gotham City was a separate plot from Protocol 10, Joker rolled the wheelchair outside the window, and told the Dark Knight that he would keep in touch with the phone that he taped to him. However, Joker planned to not only use Batman to obtain the cure, but also as his greatest asset in the turf wars in Arkham City in order to defeat his rivals. After Batman realized he had no choice but to find the cure in order to save Gotham, he allowed Joker to send him on several missions to obtain the cure.

Meanwhile, a portion of Joker's crew had split up into two groups with one that killed Penguin's crew outside the old GCPD Building, where Freeze was previously stationed, and one that moved into Two-Face's territory and massacried all of his crew and rounded up any stragglers for information on where Freeze was.

— Joker's first annoying call

Keeping in contact with his longtime enemy through phone calls, Joker eventually sent Batman to rescue Mr. Freeze from Penguin, and knew that this would also topple Cobblepot's power in Arkham City and eliminate a major opponent in his control for Arkham City. Once Batman defeated Penguin's forces, saved Mr. Freeze, and put Penguin out of commission, Joker immediately took advantage of this new tide in the battle and had his men slaughter hundreds of Penguin's men and press any survivors into joining him. Using the sewers systems and tunnels that Joker's crew had made over the previous months, Joker's followers infiltrated Penguin's territory and began claiming it for themselves.

At the same time, Joker sent his men to retrieve the last shipment of weapons from Hugo Strange under the foundations of Wonder Tower (Hugo Strange's base of operations), which contained the most devastating weaponry: missile launchers, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, automated assault rifles, mines, high frequency power generators, thermal googles, shotguns, grenades, and much more.

With his increased firepower, Joker took Arkham City by storm, nearly conquered the entire compound with only a small portion of Two-Face's territory left, and left a trail of death and destruction in his wake. Almost every prisoner within Arkham City would be forced to join Joker's army, which made Joker the ruling elite on the streets while Two-Face's men were being rounded up and tortured for information at the Steel Mill. However, Joker was still in desperate need of the cure and feared that perhaps Batman had actually failed or turned on him as he had not been heard from in hours.

Taunting Batman through phone calls with dubious clues about what he was truly planning, Joker was relieved to learn Batman had found the means to develop the cure and had Freeze create enough for both of them. However, Freeze destroyed one of vials of the cure and refused to give Batman the remaining one, which he locked up in his safe, until Batman saved his wife from Joker. Batman, knowing how little time he had left, fought Freeze for the cure. Joker in the meantime, planned to double-cross Batman the entire time, sent Harley to steal the cure (and to also murder several of his henchmen for failing to capture Freeze) while Batman and Mr. Freeze were fighting by cutting the wall open that was located behind the safe and pilfered the cure.

— Joker tells Batman vaguely about his ruse

In place of the cure, Harley left two Joker cards, with one being a faxed version and the other being a physical card, which were actually clues to what Joker's plans truly consisted of, to taunt Batman. Joker also ordered Harley to steal some of Freeze's offensive equipment in order to increase his weaponry after successfully obtaining the cure. With Harley on her way to deliver the cure, Arkham City under his complete control, his increased weaponry, and Protocol 10 just under an hour away from commencement, Joker began making his plans to blow open the walls of Arkham City and form escape routes to lay a bloody siege on Gotham City and completely destroy it and wipe out all its citizens. To that end, Joker began placing explosives all around the perimeter walls, which were ready to be detonated when the rest of his plans were in place. As all supplies, ammunition, and weapons were prepared and stored away for transportation, Joker motivated his army and prepared them for the massive attack on the city.

When Batman had accomplished everything that he was blackmailed to do, Joker was delighted to begin his cat and mouse game with his old enemy and friend anew. To renew his game with Batman, Joker made an anonymous phone call to the Gotham Tonight Show to inform the staff there that Batman was in Arkham City in order to lure news reporter, Vicki Vale, to Arkham City. Once Vale was in the perimeters of Arkham City in her news chopper, Joker took over her broadcast in order to taunt her and then fired a rocket at her chopper, which caused it to crash-land.

With Vale's chopper destroyed and her pilot dead, Joker sent some of his men to kill the helpless reporter with sniper rifles, and knew that this would force Batman out into the open and serve as a diversion while Harley returned to the Steel Mill with the completed cure. Batman neutralized the threat and rescued Vale, at which point, Joker contacted him again, and told him that if he wanted the cure, it would be waiting for him at the Steel Mill. With all the pieces in place, Joker was prepared to start the next phase of his plans and obtain the main objective of his schemes: find the Lazarus Pit, which was hidden somewhere under Arkham City, to obtain immortality and absolute power and assume control over the League of Assassins.

However, just as Harley Quinn was about to reach Joker with the completed cure, Talia al Ghul, also in Arkham City to aid in her father's operations, intercepted her, tied her up, and stole the cure. Joker soon realized that something must have went wrong and resorted to an alternative, and knew that he needed to have his gang under the impression that he was cured in order to motivate them to attack the rest of Arkham City and Gotham.

— Joker and Clayface taunt Batman

Joker had Clayface utilize his abilities to assume his appearance once again and sent out a video taped message all throughout the Steel Mill to make his forces believe him to be completely cured and ready to lead them in full force once again. This worked beautifully as all his men prepared for their final siege of Arkham City as Joker concentrated his efforts on securing the Lazarus Pit. In the meantime, Joker also sent out a handful of his men to the Gotham Radio Tower near his base to take control of the broadcast frequencies and implant a message from him to all of Gotham as part of a fail-safe plot.After Batman rescued Nora from Joker's henchmen and retrieved Freeze's stolen equipment, he confronted Joker, who was staring into a mirror and appeared perfectly healed, though his reflection curiously showed him still sick, at the top of the Steel Mill at the Funhouse.

However, the reality was that Clayface was still posing as the healthy Joker while the real Joker was on the other side of the mirror, and escaped from the Steel Mill through this diversion.

Batman eventually defeated that Joker and dozens of his men, but was soon surprised when the TYGER Helicopters suddenly began firing missiles at the Steel Mill and all over Arkham City under Strange's orders, which revealed that Protocol 10 was actually a security measure to wipe out the entire inmate population through missile attacks. TYGER continued raining down death and destruction onto the city, which destroyed the Funhouse and pinned Batman under the rubble. Clayface as Joker, gleeful, prepared to carve a smile into his face when Talia al Ghul interrupted him and offered him immortality in return for Batman's life.

When Batman warned Talia not to do so. Talia presented her sword to the Joker, who gladly accepted it, agreed to lead the League of Assassins, and planned on taking advantage of Talia's knowledge of the Lazarus Pit to finally locate it. Leaving Batman, hundreds of his own crew, and even Harley Quinn, at the mercy of Protocol 10, Joker was led to the very building that was directly located over the Lazarus Pit Chamber, the Monarch Theatre.

Talia, don't! He'll be unstoppable.
You mean she's telling the truth?
— Clayface learns for the Joker that he can live forever

Contacting his forces, Joker ordered the rest of his vast army to take shelter in the tunnel systems that they had constructed over the months to wait for Protocol 10 to end and the rest of their adversaries slaughtered before they emerged back onto the streets to start the final phase of his plans. At the same time, Joker sent a handful of his henchmen down to Wonder City to retrieve all the Wonder City Mechanical Guardians, and planned on reprogramming them to serve as weapons once he assumed leadership of the League of Assassins and commenced his massive attack on Gotham.

While it seemed that Talia had betrayed Batman, she truly intended to lure the Joker aside and kill him while Batman tracked her down by using one his trackers that Talia had equipped onto her person. Batman, however, knew that Talia was the one in danger and, true to his prediction, Joker easily outsmarted and overpowered her at the Monarch Theatre, and held her hostage to ensure that Batman arrived at the Theatre for their final performance. Joker finally prepared the last steps of his plans; and set up an arena for an incredible showdown with his old friend and eternal enemy.

Turning the Monarch Theatre into his own personnel arena, Joker rigged explosives all over the floors and walls, and knew that the key to immortality that he so desperately craved was underneath his very feet. With Protocol 10 wiping out the rest of the competition, Joker counted on Batman to take down Strange and come to him for their final battle. As Joker waited for Batman's arrival, he recorded one final message that was meant to be communicated to Batman in the event of his death. Once recorded, Joker gave it to his henchmen to be stored within the Steel Mill as part of his contingency plans to destroy Gotham. Once the rest of Gotham's super-criminals were killed off in Protocol 10 and Strange was taken down by Batman, Joker would be able to take complete control of the entire criminal underworld and lead the whole inmate population of thousands of bloodthirsty and sadistic mass murderers, serial killers, and rapists to blow the walls of the prison, stage a coup against TYGER, steal the rest of their equipment and armory, and erupt onto the streets of Gotham in an orgy of bloodletting.

With the League of Assassins under his complete control, the powers of immortality at his disposal, the most technologically advanced military grade weaponry known to man in his possession, and the sheer amount of numbers in his forces to command, Joker relished all of the death and destruction that he could bring to Gotham and the world for centuries with nothing in existence to stop or kill him.

After Batman stopped Protocol 10, all of TYGER's forces were neutralized, Wonder Tower was destroyed, and Hugo Strange and Ra's al Ghul, the secret benefactor behind Strange's plans and operations, were killed. With everything in place, Joker had his men conquer what was left of Arkham City and patrolled the streets as he took control of the prison's monitor and communication systems to challenge Batman to a final showdown at the Monarch Theatre.

— The title on the Monarch Theater

Batman arrived, subdued all of Joker's men, and entered the very Theatre where his life as a crime fighter began to take root. With Talia at gunpoint, Joker demanded the cure from Batman, and confused the hero as he believed that Joker already had it and cured himself. In the confusion, Talia grabbed the sword that she presented to Joker and ran him through with it, which seemingly killed the Joker once and for all.

As Talia revealed that she had stolen the cure from Harley Quinn before she could deliver it to Joker, Batman looked at his hated enemy, believed that his death was an unnecessary casualty, and told Talia that there was always an alternative tactic to defeating an enemy. Talia defended her course of action to Batman by stating that it was a necessary one in order to save him, comforted him, and assured him that the long night of chaos and destruction instilled by the Joker, Hugo Strange, and her father, was finally over.

However, after realizing that it was never simple with the Joker, Batman began to rethink all the strange occurrences throughout the night: a seemingly dead Joker dummy in a wheelchair, the two versions of the Joker card left in place of the cure, and a healthy Joker looking into a mirror that reflected a sickly Joker. Connecting them all together, Batman realized the truth: there was always two Jokers.

Surmising that since Joker had never received his cure, Batman immediately concluded that the healed Joker was not the real one and turned to Talia just as he heard a gun click in the distance. Batman, screamed out to Talia in vain, was too late to warn her, and watched in pain as she was shot fatally in the back. Falling into the arms of her beloved, Talia apologized to Batman for her carelessness with her last breath and died as the insane laughter of the one, true Joker revealed himself in front of the movie projector and held the gun that he shot Talia with.

Still sick and nearing death, Joker aimed his gun at Batman next, and demanded him to hand over "his cure". The healthy Joker finally revealed himself to Batman as Clayface, having been smuggled into Arkham City under Joker's orders to take up the spotlight and divert attention from his true plans. Clayface agreed to assist Joker for the chance to play the role of a lifetime and then take on Batman's persona after he killed him.

— Joker demands his life-saver from Batman

Clayface grabbed the cure before Batman could, absorbed it into his body, and started an incredible battle with the Dark Knight, by using all his abilities to the fullest of their potential. With Joker watching the spectacle from the balcony, the fate of Gotham City and the world at large hung in the balance of this final showdown as Batman's own life was merely moments away from death. However, Batman was able to use the Freeze Blasts that were manufactured and given to him by Mr. Freeze in return for saving his wife to stop Clayface in his tracks and retrieve the sword that was still stuck within him from Talia's attack. Batman then proceeded to cut Clayface into pieces with the sword, at which point the Joker, after he made a tasteless joke about Talia's death, detonated the bombs on the floor for a "change of scenery."

As the floor exploded, Batman and Clayface were violently thrown down into the Lazarus Chamber, where their brutal fight continued. Clayface, greatly weakened, began isolating portions of his body into small soldiers to attack Batman as he attempted to compose his body mass once more. However, Batman, still wielded Talia's sword, was able to cut through Clayface's forces, and threw Freeze Blasts into his body, which froze him once again. The dying hero then entered Clayface's body, retrieved the cure, cut him open, and incapacitated the monster once and for all. Batman, after he finally retrieved the cure, drank it and cured himself of the Titan Disease, and also kept half to cure Joker and the rest of Gotham.

Joker, unshaken by Clayface's defeat, prepared to jump into the Lazarus Pit to claim immortality once and for all and become the new leader of the League of Assassins. However, much to Joker's dismay, Batman threw the sword into the main generator, which caused it to falter and knock what was left of Clayface into the pit. The controls and remaining generators went critical as a result as Clayface's body matter contaminated the chemicals of the pit, which resulted in an explosion that completely destroyed the pit and most of the room.

— Joker sees life's big joke

With his plans ultimately ruined, Joker demanded his last hope from Batman, and taunted him that despite all the death and destruction that he caused in just a single night, Batman would still save him. Batman voiced his hatred of the Joker and his temptation to refuse him the cure and let him die, and knew that he would only continue to break out and kill if left alive and locked up. Laughing at the absurdity of their never ending battle, Joker stabbed Batman in the arm, which caused him to drop the vial, and shattered on the floor. Joker screamed in horror as Batman threw him to the ground and tried in vain to drink the cure from the floor.

Accepting that he would ultimately die, Joker asked Batman if he was happy and calmly sat on the ground. As the Joker's health began to reach its ultimate low, Batman reflected on the irony and humor in that Joker was actually correct: despite his crimes, Batman would have still saved him. The Joker agreed with Batman, found the situation genuinely funny, laughed and coughed soundly in his final moments before spluttering and croaking, before giving one final grin and succumbing to his Titan poisoning, ending Gotham's most dangerous reign of terror.

Pitying his long time nemesis, Batman grimly picked up and carried Joker's corpse out of the Monarch Theatre. As the doors opened, Joker's gang was outside chanting his name, and expected to see their leader triumphantly striding out and having defeated Batman once and for all. They all went completely silent when they saw the Dark Knight carrying the Clown Prince of Crime motionless in his arms. Among the gang outside the theater was Harley Quinn, who gasped, fell to her knees, and sobbed uncontrollably as she saw the Joker's limp body being carried away by Batman. Batman finally carried Joker's corpse through the main gate of Arkham City and into Gotham City, where the GCPD had gathered in preparation to retake the area from the rampaging criminals. He placed the Joker's body on the GCPD patrol car of Commissioner Gordon, who was also shocked to see Batman's greatest nemesis dead and repeatedly asked him what happened, only to be met with silence. Over the following weeks, as Arkham City was shut down, Batman saw to it that a massive quantity of the cure for the Titan Disease was manufactured and administered to all of Joker's victims, which cured them and saved their lives.

After years of death, misery, and tragedy, the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, and Batman's greatest threat and arch-nemesis was gone at long last. However, unknown to Batman at the time, not all of the late clown's plots had been foiled as Joker had laid out a series of contingency plans and operations in the event of his death that had already taken effect. With Harley and the rest of Joker's followers ensuring that his legacy would be upheld, Joker's back up schemes would rock Gotham to its very core and continue to plague Batman.

### Legacy of Insanity

— Harley thinks of how Joker commanded their gang

Joker's death had deeply affected both Harley Quinn emotionally and mentally, and made her more vicious and temperamental, and Batman, who hadn't been the same, was unable to say a word about what happened during the last time that he was in Arkham City. Joker's death had also caused the creation of Harley's revenge plan on Batman.

Not long after his death, Joker's corpse was immediately taken to the hospital for an autopsy. Initial search revealed his body had a secondary layer of skin on top of the decaying one, and a box containing a flash drive, with a message "Do Not Open Till X-Mas" written on it, hidden under that layer. One of the doctors attempted to remove the box, only to trigger a Joker Gas booby trap. Afterwards, Commissioner Gordon, believing that a dead Joker was just as dangerous than a live one, decided to take his corpse away and hid it from the rest of Gotham, and let only Batman in on its location.

Two weeks later, Harley escaped from her prison, reformed her old gang at the Steel Mill, kidnapped various GCPD Officers, and even created a shrine to Joker. While looking for the officers, Batman came across a message left by Joker before his death, but decided to put it off until later. After going to rescue the kidnapped cops, Batman was shot by Harley and put in a sphere in the Joker robot in a comatose state. After two days, Robin went to rescue Batman and stop Harley's plans.

After Robin rescued Batman, Batman himself went to deactivate the bombs before the facility blew up while Robin went to take the officers out of the building. After he deactivated the three bombs, Batman went to arrest Harley and discovered that it was she who stole the Mechanical Guardians from Wonder City and used them to attack him. Batman, after he defeated Harley's robots, discovered her ultimate plan: destroy the entire facility with a final bomb that was hidden inside the Joker Statue and kill everyone in it including herself, so she could reunite with her beloved Mr. J. Batman managed to escape the blast radius along with an angered Harley, but it appeared that Robin was caught in the explosion. After she took advantage of the situation, Harley tried to stab Batman with a knife to finish her revenge, and was stopped by Robin, who threw a Shuriken at her, which knocked her out. After he saw that Robin and the cops were okay, Batman left the area.

The day after, a posthumous message that was left by Joker was broadcasted to all of Gotham, including Batman. Joker warranted a search for his dead body to be returned to Harley Quinn, with the prize money of 100 million dollars, or several bombs rigged around Arkham City's wall would go off, and release its remaining inmates onto the streets of Gotham. Joker also left behind a message for Batman to go to Arkham Asylum to retrieve the code that could be used to deactivate the bombs. That, however, turned out to be a trap, as the bombs were actually placed within Joker's cell at the asylum by Clayface, in order to lure Batman there. The trap caused a large explosion, and destroyed a portion of the asylum. Batman, however, managed to survive, and later contacted Gordon to meet up. The Joker was later cremated with both Gordon and Batman present. Gordon handed Batman the flash drive that was found in Joker's body, which he would later analyzed at the Batcave. Inside was a video recording entitled: "The Last Will and Testament of the Joker", where he explained his reasoning for inducing chaos in Gotham. Not long after this, Gordon was somehow affected by Joker's toxin, which forced Batman to break Harley Quinn out of prison in order to find the location of the antidote for the toxin. Batman, while able to find the antidote, was led into a trap, and had to battle Killer Croc. With the help of Aaron Cash, Batman was able to immobilize Croc and cured Gordon in time.

### *Arkham Knight* Incident

— Gordon, explaining that Joker was the catalyst for the crime in Gotham

Nine months after Arkham City's shutdown, Joker's death and the ultimate failure of his plans lead Gotham to a time of peace and crime dramatically decreased to nearly zero for the first time in years. Without the Joker's chaotic and murderous presence plaguing the streets of Gotham, the citizens never felt safer and other criminals became much more quiet and relatively neutral. After he feared that something was developing behind the scenes, Batman continued to keep a dedicated vigil over the city and developed new technology as he continued to struggle with his feelings over his nemesis' death. However, without Joker's hold over the criminal underworld, a power vacuum was left in place as the other villains began to seize the opportunity to gain control over the criminal element for their own designs.

Ultimately, Scarecrow, who returned after two years of hiding and plotting after Killer Croc's attack on him underneath Arkham Asylum, which left him horribly scarred and deformed, took over the criminal underworld and united all of Batman's enemies. After they all knew that Gotham City would never truly be theirs to conquer and twist to their own desires with Batman still alive, the villains agreed to temporarily collaborate in order to finally achieve their common goal. With Joker's presence gone, the remaining members of Batman's rogues' gallery had a much easier time working together without the Clown Prince of Crime upsetting the balance and were silently working together for the past year to unleash an elaborate plot to destroy Batman and conquer the city that he vowed to protect.

After he consolidated all of the city's worst criminals and villains, Scarecrow instigated an evacuation of Gotham City on Halloween Night under the threat of his new strain of Fear Toxin, which was developed over the last couple of years, and was unleashed from within chemical weapons and bombs that were hidden throughout the city. With the city evacuated, only the police officers were left as the villains and their respective gangs, who were all working together, began to take over the streets and created chaos and destruction all over Gotham.

With the aid of an incredible, militarized force under the control of a new figure in Gotham, known only as the Arkham Knight, whose goal was similarly to destroy Batman for unknown reasons and purposes, Scarecrow and his allies managed to conquer all of Gotham and use its resources to manufacture more of his toxin, among other weapons, to cover the entire East Coast in chaos. Harley Quinn herself joined the alliance with her own plans to avenge Joker's death and ensure that the villain's legacy lived on throughout Gotham City and the world beyond.

As Gotham descended into chaos, Batman attempted to neutralize the threat by infiltrating ACE Chemicals; the factory was converted into Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight's base of operations. Scarecrow manufactured massive quantities of his Fear Toxin within the chemical mixing plant and rigged the entire factory to blow, which would cause all of Gotham and the entire East Coast to be engulfed in a paralyzing wave of Fear Toxin. Though Batman managed to reach Scarecrow, the villain quickly turned the tables on the Dark Knight by revealing that his forces were currently attacking the Clock Tower, and had deduced that Barbara Gordon had been aiding Batman's war on crime for countless years.

— Joker annoys Batman

As Batman attempted to contact Oracle, Scarecrow locked him in the room as his new strain of Fear Toxin was pumped throughout. After he accepted that there was little chance of survival, Batman willingly stayed behind to reduce the amount of Fear Toxin in the facility before it exploded, which left the city safe. He reduces the blast by 75% but as he prepares to finish stopping the blast from destroying Ace Chemicals, Batman turns around to find Joker standing in front of him, who suffered from the early stages of the Titan infection. Joker then asks "Miss me"? before knocking him out with a gunshot to the head.

Batman briefly dreamed about when he showed Gordon the four people infected with Joker's blood. Most of the victims who were administered the blood were cured by Batman and his allies, but some fell under the radar due to hospital records that never made note of their transfusions. By the time that Batman had cured them, the Joker's blood had already become assimilated into their bloodstream and with it, Joker's consciousness. Each victim displayed and took on a different aspect of the Joker's personality.

Nothing but mere pawns to the Joker, those individuals performed violent mass murders and acts of extreme sadism and megalomania until Batman was able to quarantine them underground in an abandoned movie studio that he had converted into a safety facility. The only victim that did not seem to show any symptoms of becoming another Joker was Henry Adams, a school principal, but he was kept under surveillance by Batman and Robin as he may have been the key to curing the others.

When he came to, Batman realized the horrifying truth that Joker's blood, which was injected into his veins by the villain nine months prior, was allowing his consciousness to take control of his mind. Scarecrow's Fear Toxin had accelerated the process and enabled Batman to see the Joker, who represented many of his greatest fears, though he alone was able to see and hear him. Joker revealed he accepted the possibility of death within Arkham City and took precautions to ensure that he lived on through his poisoned blood.

Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, mixed with the infection, brought out the darker aspects of Batman and all his fears in the form of the Joker, a Joker who knew that Batman was Bruce Wayne, and who taunted him on many personal things such as Talia's death and even Batman's own doubts and fears, including his guilt over Joker's death, much to the hallucination's delight as he slowly took over. With Joker in his mind, the psychopath had access to all his secrets and planned to use Bruce's company, equipment, funds, and resources to murder all his enemies, consolidate all the gangs under his criminal empire, kill all of Batman's allies, and ultimately lead a campaign of violence on Gotham and the world itself.

— Joker wonders if Batman will save Oracle or Catwoman

Throughout the night, Batman had to put up with listening to the Joker remembering about his past crimes, which brought the Clown Prince of Crime great joy; Joker even made poor deductions about who the Arkham Knight was. When Batman planned to telling Gordon about Barbara's double life as Oracle, the Joker laughed at the idea since it was all Batman's fault that Barbara was in danger. Once Batman got to the clock tower, Joker used his control of Batman's mind to show him the night that he crippled Barbara. He laughed at Gordon ending his alliance with Batman, noting that he's been through a lot "first some handsome maniac cripples his daughter, and now she's been kidnapped."

As Batman continued looking for Oracle throughout the night, and taking down Gotham's Most Wanted, Joker kept making comments about what idiots the criminals of Gotham were; he also told Batman about what he would do once in control of his body. Joker even laughed at Batman being scared by Man-Bat, stating that the Dark Knight was scared of his own reflection. Riddler even revealed that Catwoman was his hostage and Batman needed to complete challenges to free her. Joker saw that Batman had feelings for Catwoman, encouraging him to move on from Talia and have a good time with Catwoman; however, he then added it would only be worse for Batman once he took control of their body and killed her.

Once Scarecrow lured Batman to the Chinatown safe-house, Joker used the fresh Fear Toxin pumped into the room to make Batman hallucinate that Barbara had been infected with the gas instead; hoping a new dose of trauma would make Batman give control of their body to him, Joker make the Dark Knight think Barbara killed herself. With Batman grieving, Joker offered to take control of his body to free him of his pain; however, Joker lost his chance when Batman was encouraged to save Gotham from Scarecrow by Alfred. That's when the Dark Knight remembered that Poison Ivy was immune to the Fear Toxin.

— Joker sees his evidence case

Batman went back to GCPD, where he sadly told Cash that Oracle was dead. Retrieving the REC, Batman saw Joker bemoaning his deadly toys were now locked up in the evidence room of the GCPD. Joker told Batman that his toys need to be used for senseless violence, not museum pieces. Joker even laughed that Batman left evidence of his "theft" behind in the room, noting that it was a subtle joke. Once Ivy was dropped off at the Botanical Gardens, Batman learned that Penguin and Two-Face were at large; Joker encouraged Batman to go after them, wondering "who's throat are we going to slit first?" Joker continued laughing that Batman chose not to break Robin's heart by telling him about Oracle, noting it was "classic Joker" to wait to crush someone later.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Henry Adams, who was previously believed to be immune to the effects of Joker's blood, was actually the victim that was the most affected and was simply pretending to still be sane. With Joker's influence taking hold of him, Henry made contact with Harley Quinn, revealed the existence of the other Jokers to her, and the pair made their plans to fool Batman in order to gain entry to the quarantine zone. When the time was right, Henry switched the security measures to allow Harley and her gang in, released the other Joker victims, and attempted to kill Robin. Upon losing contact with Robin, Batman headed to the movie studio and was able to help Robin neutralize all the Jokers and apprehend Harley.

*(Henry threatens Batman)*
I've changed my mind! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
— Joker is temporarily swayed to chose Henry as his new host

However, Henry revealed his hand and, after he cruelly took Harley hostage, murdered the rest of the Jokers with a gun, and believed them to be shams of the original Joker. Henry drew his gun on Batman, as Joker's influence became stronger on the Dark Knight, with Joker commenting throughout the entire course of events. Joker deduced that, though Henry was an impressive host for him, he still could not compare to Batman and used his consciousness to influence Henry into committing suicide, which resulted in all four innocent hosts having their lives ruined and taken by the same influence. Batman put Harley in one of the quarantine cells as Joker continued to taunt him with his impending loss of free will and sanity. Soon after, Scarecrow detonated the Cloudburst, covering Gotham in Fear Toxin. Joker laughed that another dose was all it would take to make him strong enough to gain control. Batman was forced to brave the toxin to repair the Batmobile, with Joker making him see the victims attacking each other as copies of him. Eventually, Batman cleared the toxin, with the Joker warning that by dawn, Bruce Wayne and the Batman will be no more since the Fear Toxin has given him the strength needed to take over his mind for good.

— Joker thinks he won

It was later revealed that Jason Todd was in fact the Arkham Knight, who survived Joker's attack as the villain's true goal was to turn Batman's sidekick against him. After he named himself after the facility in which he was tortured for over a year, Jason lusted to kill Batman for not only failing to find him, but replacing him as well. After he stated that nothing could be further from the truth, Batman told Jason that he never forgave himself for what happened and plead to not let Joker win as that was what he wanted to happen with his torture. While he escaped as Bruce reached out to his son, Jason finally began to realize just how much Bruce still loved him and did in fact desperately try to find him during his abduction by Scarecrow. Joker's moment for victory seemed assured when he and Batman engaged in a brutal, mental battle within Crime Alley that ended with the Dark Knight breaking both his nemesis's neck and his no-kill rule, albeit only in his mind. With that, Joker knew that he was pushing Batman toward his ultimate limit.

### The Joker's Final Laugh

Joker fully took control over Batman when Scarecrow trapped the hero at the Arkham Mansion, exposed Batman's identity to the world as Bruce Wayne on live television, and finally injected him with a lethal dose of Fear Toxin. With Joker controlling his mind, the villain imagined all of the violence that he could perform and laughed insanely at the imagined carnage, as he began a massacre in his own twisted Batmobile, before he continued to murder Killer Croc, Penguin, Riddler, Two-Face, and Commissioner Gordon, saw Gotham City in flame and ruin, cited it to be his 'finest work yet', and told a pleading Alfred that his 'new master' would be returning soon.

Get ready for the encore!
Why. aren't. you. scared?
— Scarecrow doesn't know he is talking to Joker

Back in the real world, Scarecrow continued to taunt Batman on his failures and proclaimed that he had won. However, Joker began to taunt Scarecrow back and told him to: "get ready for the encore", and laughed manically as a confused Scarecrow injected him again, due to him having no idea that Joker had taken over and thought that Batman was resisting. Being sent back into Bruce's mind, Joker considered himself to be immune to the Fear Toxin, and called out to Batman to check if he was still around, which caused everything to go dark. But Joker underestimated the fact that he too may have felt the effects of the Fear Toxin injected within him.

When Joker turned the light attached to his gun on, he found himself in front of a painting of Batman carrying his corpse from Arkham City, which he reflected on, and eventually found his corpse being cremated, causing him to go "ooh, crispy!" in a humorous manner. As he explored, Joker became very disturbed and progressively frightened at the new surroundings around him: his grave shown to be small, overgrown, and vandalized, getting surprised by a stone Batman statue before he shot it to pieces, no one (except a crying Harley) attending his wake, a radio broadcast explicitly detailing that no-one would remember him before an announcement that regarded the construction of a Batman museum focusing on his rivalry with the Penguin, and Gotham, Batman, and even Harley (who was going to marry Riddler according to a newspaper) moving on without him.

— Joker realizes Batman is trying to get to him

Joker eventually realized that, even with all the horror, misery, and death that he had inflicted on others over the years, no one would mourn or miss him, and his legacy would soon be forgotten as Gotham's citizens moved on with their lives. Genuinely frightened that he was trapped within the nightmare and that he would not be remembered by anyone, he continued on to an empty graveyard where he was continuously haunted by an exponentially increasing number of Batman statues, no matter how many he shot down, more still appeared. Finally, as Joker approached one of the statues, Batman ambushed him as he broke out of the statue and punched him hard, which sent him flying into a hard wall. Joker then used his weapon to blow away the wall and was slightly relieved when he believed that he had found an exit in the center of Batman's psyche.

Ironically, that was nothing more than a ruse by Batman, who finally turned the tables on his hated nemesis and regained control of his mind. Batman revealed to Joker that the villain was afraid of being ashes and being forgotten and that he would indeed be forgotten by everyone. For the first time in their battles, Joker was truly horrified, helpless and useless against Batman, ending with the clown prince being severely beaten and thrown into a cell within Arkham Asylum in Intensive Treatment. As Batman locked the door to the cell, Joker screamed and desperately plead with the hero not to imprison, leave, and forget him, as he would be locked away within his mind forever. Batman, after he had finally realized that Joker was always at his mercy, bid one final goodbye to his nemesis and locked him away in his personal hell in the Extreme Isolation Wing of Arkham Asylum forever, with Joker dejectedly uttering his final words to the hero: **"I need you"**.

— Joker sadly sings

Immediately afterward, Batman regained both his mind and sanity and, having built up a tolerance to the Fear Toxin and being freed by a redeemed Jason Todd (who donned the image of the Red Hood), injected Scarecrow with his own toxin. Scarecrow was reduced to a pathetic and cowering man in front of live television and screamed insanely as his fears took control and saw Batman as a demonic figure, until Gordon knocked him out. Humiliated, beaten, and mentally broken, Scarecrow was taken to the GCPD Lockup, where he would remain locked up for the rest of his life along with his fellow criminals.

During the end credits, Joker's hallucinatory ghost was heard singing "The Asylum Blues", and realized that he was trapped forever in Batman's mind and was only remembered as nothing more than a bad memory that was best left forgotten before he broke down in tears and his voice was not heard again. The Clown Prince of Crime was now permanently dead and Gotham was returning to normal without him or his presence.

## Personality

— One Joker's thugs thinks about J's leadership

The most definable trait of the Joker was his malevolent and twisted sense of humour. By Gotham City's standards of criminals the Joker far exceeded this, exposing the world to a more amoral and diabolical class of anarchist and psychopath. He declared no interest in money, greed or human companionship and believed that cruelty and immorality was the true inner core of humanity and that extreme acts of inhumane violence unveiled the truth of the world which was the biggest and most meaningless joke of all. His nature was such that Batman, shortly after encountering him, noted that of all of the criminals he had encountered during his two years fighting crime, even among the most extreme, he had never encountered someone like the Joker before then. Remarkably, Joker has displayed an understanding of morals but simply found them as restrictions to his own fun and his only desire being to corrupt others down to his own level of evil to prove this belief and create a legacy for himself that would never be forgotten. In the mind of the Joker, mindless anarchy, city-wide destruction, panic and uncountable deaths on a malevolent scale was "funny', with him laughing excessively enough at the carnage that it was a trademark of his, but after encountering Batman, he has made it his goal to destroy the Dark Knight's ideals and foundations before killing him, while at the same time, cherishes their rivalry as it has made his agenda and, by extension, life all the more interesting and entertaining. In large part because of his disfigured, clown-like appearance and his obvious insanity, he generally spoke with a high-pitched, flamboyant, and silly tone that sometimes stooped down to a menacing growl.

It's unclear what specific mental illness he suffers from but he has them in abundance, ranging from borderline personality, hysteria, narcissism and schizophrenia and while listing his psychoses, the psychiatrist states it was endless. However, he does not seem fettered by his psychopathic qualities or simply unaware of them but took no attempt to better himself. Some even question, from psychiatrist to Batman himself, if the Joker is truly insane as he is extremely intelligent, cunning and appears to have a full grip on reality (if not a highly cynical one). The Joker in his early activities was also shown to be significantly emotionally unstable, often times changing from goofy to serious at the drop of a hat and at random times, as well as frequently shouting at both his minions and, late in *Arkham Origins*, at Batman himself in a sudden manner. His true actions and inner motives are highly complex due to his own mysterious past and scattered background, adopting numerous backstories that were all different and intricate, which allowed him to operate as an enigma within the present without a discernible cause or reason for many of his violent actions or possibility to be negotiated or bargained with.

He often underwent monomaniacal fixations upon different obsessions to a deranged degree. The most obvious one being clowns which, after an accident that resulted in the mutation of his appearance to resemble harlequins, became the motif of his crime empire and carried out in his manner of killing his victims (making them laugh to death after exposing them to his Joker Toxin). Perhaps the most defining and deranged of Joker's obsessions was his relationship with Batman. His obsessions was so bad he focused most of his energy into killing him. Should Batman interfere in his plans, he instantly became the top priority. Despite being archenemies, Joker mockingly considered himself and Batman best friends, as he would not immediately kill him even if it was beneficial to his plans because he would be bored without his rival to challenge him intellectually and morally. This is also because he is not simply satisfied with Batman's death, but to destroy the foundations of everything he cherishes and values, and psychologically break Batman by making him compromise his morals to prove that he is no better than the Joker himself. He has stated, however, that he constantly relishes the idea of Batman's death and has attempted to kill the Dark Knight whenever the opportunity presented itself. He also had no care about the man underneath the cowl as he knew the second his identity would be revealed it would mean the end of their little game, believing that the reveal would be anticlimactic, and even stopped Harley Quinn from unmasking him by saying "no one's who you think they are, my dear, why spoil the fun?" This however, seems to condradict to him asking Batman about his identity in *Arkham Asylum.*

— Joker doesn't care who Batman is under the mask

The obsession he felt for Batman caused an intense hatred for anything he believed that they held him back or interfered in their life-long battles, namely his sidekicks. His action to kidnap and torture Jason Todd (the second Robin) was not only a way to attack Batman on an emotional level but to warn him to leave his friends out of the "crazy little game of ours".

Due to his negative and nilihistic beliefs of human morality and nature, there were very few crimes the Joker did not commit, reserving no mercy to his own men who he would kill often randomly and violently with no apparent reason, simply because he found it entertaining, even murdering innocent civilians, bystanders and infants, viewing their deaths as a contributing factor to an already sick and sadistic world. The Joker's lack of interest in companionship or friendship results in him constantly abusing Harley Quinn, his loyal minion and girlfriend, attacking her out of irritation or simply for a hobby. Aside from the time he callously abandoned her after her failure to kill Batman during his siege of Arkham Asylum, he keeps her by his side because of her usefulness to him and being mildly entertaining. There were however, rare times where Joker cares about her.

Audio Tapes from Arkham Asylum reveal the Joker to be Machiavelli as, despite his untrustworthy appearance and numerous crimes, he was charming and seductive enough to fool others into feeling sympathy and even affection for him, including Doctor Young and Quinzel. He was a pathological liar and a sadomasochist. Given his incarceration in Arkham City, he had concocted twelve unique identities with Batman being a defining detail in each. Interestingly, during his incarceration into Blackgate and therapy session with Harleen Quinzel, he was able to lie and tell the truth at the same time, using the situation to make it appear he was talking about her so he could plan his escape but was in reality expressing his newfound feelings regarding Batman. Joker was completely unafraid of physical pain, intimidation or imprisonment. Not only did he take twisted delight in being beaten half to death by an enraged Batman but actually persuading him to kill him. He had no fear of his own imprisonment as he has escaped captivity multiple times and has since developed a symbolic connection towards Arkham Asylum, ignoring that it was the place of his confinement and has staged numerous of his plans on the site of the Asylum due to its violent background and connection to the mad clown himself. Joker's very presence was corruptive, he brought out the worst in people, turning good men into killers (excluding The Bat of course). He openly did not think much of humanity, believing every man, woman and child were as equally insane and sadistic as he was in the inside and that to deny this was purely madness. The Joker's ego-centrism in this regard was absolute as he viewed anyone who did not agree or attempted to deny his beliefs as irrational or crazy, namely Batman whose ideals of people being basically good oppose the Joker's misanthropic ones.

The Joker was not totally deluded however, he was aware that he was a bad person who deserved death and was completely dumbfounded when another person risked their own life to save his as he was aware that he wasn't worth saving. He was intensely nihilistic and suicidal. Examples of such are when Bane rocketed an RPG toward the Gotham Royal Hotel, instead of panicking he casually accepted his fate without a hesitation and when he shot himself with a harmful amount of Titan. On more than one occasion he presented numerous opportunities for Batman to take his life, if only to prove that deep down everybody was like him. On the other hand, despite his nihilism, the Joker seemed to have sense of self-preservation. After feeling the effects of the TITAN poisoning from Arkham Asylum, he frantically searched for a cure so he would not die, even having Harley Quinn kidnap doctors across Gotham then brutally tortured and killed anyone who could not cure his disease. Nonetheless, he did not fear his own death in itself. This was best demonstrated when he was forced to experience the concentrated effects of the Fear Toxin late into Scarecrow's reign of terror, where he saw a portrait depicting Batman carrying a deceased Joker as well as his own corpse being placed in the crematorium, and not only did not feel even slightly afraid of what he was seeing, he even managed to reflect nostalgically on the event and even went as far to crack a joke about the scene as being "crispy", respectively. This is further supported in the climax of the Assault on Arkham incident: Shortly after realizing that the chopper he was thrown into by Deadshot was about to fall to the ground, he attempted to escape, only for Deadshot to pin him inside the chopper via the Joker's discarded daggers, yet then proceeded to laugh hysterically as the remains of the chopper descended down to the street below after Deadshot gave his signature "bang" pointer.

— Joker's promise to Batman the night they met

The relationship between Batman and Joker has changed his personality and views drastically, this can be specifically seen during the events of *Arkham Origins*. Though he originally viewed the Dark Knight as a "tiny little distraction" compared to his grand plans he slowly becomes more focused on the vigilante, relating to him on an (imagined) personal level as he establishes himself to Batman due to their mysterious background, goals and juxtaposing desires and characteristics. This turning point for Joker was first shown where he was saved from his death on top of Gotham Royal Hotel, perplexed at the very idea that someone would risk their life to save the like of him (having previously admitted that he deserved death) and, ignoring the crimes he had committed and the fact that he devoted a great deal of resources to kill him, he admits that it was destiny he and Batman met the day, that all the days, good and bad, were the hands of Fate at work, solely for the two of them to meet that very day. After being defeated during the Blackgate Riots, he was seen laughing insanely all the while saying "this is going to be fun" indicating their lifelong battle has finally begun and would not end until one of them died.

The Joker's emotions were impossible to read, one of his own henchman even commented on how his mindset could change so easily from being maniacal and humorous to being a serious, calculative mastermind. He was capable of being calm and rational yet this broke in an instant and he reverted to his hysteric state, literally laughing until he was near the brink of tears. Joker also had a volatile temper and whenever it arose it was almost impossible to realize, however, he did come close to having a breakdown when Batman had set his plans in disarray during the siege of Arkham.

After indirectly destroying his own cure, Joker gloated over Batman, showing arrogance and overconfidence in his final moments as he knew he was going to save him despite the terrible things he's done. Though his slow death had finally caught up with he was able to find humor and ultimately got the last laugh on his archenemy.

Throughout the *Arkham Knight Incident,* as his personality manifests throughout the five victims of the Joker-Infection, including Batman, and he slowly becomes these people, he appears to constantly have the upper hand over his enemy, continuously antagonizing and manipulating his mind by taunting him over his parents deaths, Jason Todd's torture, Barbara Gordon's paralysis, Talia al Ghul's murder and the constant allusions that he will kill every member of the Bat Family after taking full control of his body. Though he seemingly gained the ultimate victory after being exposed to Scarecrow's Fear Toxin, his weakness and greatest fear was exposed which Batman uses to defeat him that being the terror of leaving no legacy or memory, centralized through his ego is what resulted in his ultimate and final defeat.

Joker's sense of humor, whilst chaotic and sadistic, was also prone to bouts of dry cynicism, sarcasm and deadpan, as it was largely hinted that his background was that of a failing comedian. Such humor was displayed when referring to someone as being crazy during his Audio Tapes with Harley Quinn and she asks if that he meant Batman, he instead responds with "Santa Claus" before correcting that he did indeed mean the Dark Knight in an angrier town of voice. He often belittled others over their shortcomings, such as toying with Aaron Cash, during his incarceration back into Arkham Asylum over his fear of Killer Croc and, after being rescued, announces to give Cash "a hand", following with "he could use one". Joker could also be rather macabre, as he found other peoples' death, the threat of death and his own quite amusing. This behavior was displayed when he stated to the corpse of an Arkham guard whom he had just choked to death, "the choke's on you", pretending to be electrocuted and dying after attaching himself to a heartbeat-powered electric chair and repeatedly alluding to his impending death throughout the *Arkham City Incident* over his Titan disease.

## Appearance

### Overall

The Joker's appearance was that of a very tall and very thin man with bright green eyes, a long sharp chin, a pointy nose and an unusually wide smile. He was identified by his white skin, green hair and red lips, which made him look like a clown, though it seemed that he had painted his lips to give himself a clown smile in order to make his smile even wider than it already was.

### Arkham Asylum

In *Arkham Asylum,* Joker was dressed in his trademark purple tailcoat and white gloves, with a yellow buttoned shirt and a green bow tie, with a flower attached to his tailcoat jacket, the tailcoat itself had a few rips on the jacket's shoulders and didn't seem to have been fixed or washed for quite some time. Also, he had a wide widow's peak, which possibly showed a receding hairline. Joker also wore dress shoes and matching purple pants with a few stitched patches in a crude attempt to repair possible tears in the pants. After overdosing himself on Titan, Joker's appearance drastically changed; like most of the thugs that he injected Titan into, he grew in size and muscle. However, the physical change seemed more grotesque for him, as his spine jutted out far more than the others, as well as his shoulder blades and ribs broke through his skin, which was covered in boils and veins, and his hair also changed into a mohawk while on Titan.

### Arkham City

*Arkham City* showed that the amount of Titan that Joker used was killing him, and when Batman first encountered Joker in Arkham City at the Steel Mill, it's shown that his face had started to develop boils and rashes as well as him looking very sick, with Joker's tailcoat being much darker in color. By the time Batman faced Joker again later on, his condition took a turn for the worst; with his face being completely covered in heavy rashes and thick veins, which nearly covered most of his white skin and stopped Joker from making his lips red, as shown in the Steel Mill Funhouse when he tried applying lipstick onto his ruined face. He was also shown missing patches of his green hair, and showed some mild bald patches on his head. By the time he died, Joker's face was now completely covered in a huge rash and thick veins, and his trademark white face was completely gone.

### Arkham Origins

*Arkham Origins* showed a much younger Joker in the prime of his youth, with a full head of hair and a younger looking appearance overall, along with a thicker and messier painted smile on his face. Instead of his purple suit, the Joker was shown wearing the clothes that he wore as the Red Hood, which consisted of a white shirt, dark purple trench coat that had a light red inside, green waistcoat with bloodstains, grey trousers and dress shoes, his face also showed very mild patches of human pigmentation on his white face, which indicated that his transformation from Red Hood into the Joker had recently happened, and, as seen in the previous games, the rest of his skin did eventually turn completely white. Before he revealed himself to Batman in the Vault at the Gotham Merchant's Bank, Joker was disguised as Black Mask, and wore his white suit and trademark mask.

### Arkham Knight

*Arkham Knight* first showed Joker during his cremation, and it could be seen that his face had returned to normal after his death, with mild boils and rashes on his face. When Batman saw the Joker hallucination, he appeared to the Dark Knight wearing his *Arkham Asylum* purple tailcoat rather than the darker tailcoat he died in in Arkham City, all while his face appeared to Batman in the early stages of the Titan infection. As the night went on, and he took more control over Batman's mind, Joker's appearance began to heal. By the end of Scarecrow's reign of terror, he appeared as a healthy Joker once again, having gained control of Bruce's mind after he forced him to mentally snap his neck, which went against his moral code and everything he stood for.

When Batman first started seeing visions of Joker shooting Barbara, he was shown wearing a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, a hat, shoes, and sunglasses. Years before the Arkham Riots, Joker was seen wearing a carnival master's suit, which closely resembled his purple tailcoat, with a top hat. He wore this when he kidnapped Commissioner Gordon in order to lure Batgirl to his new lair at the Seagate Amusement Park in the DLC: Batgirl: A Matter of Family. Some have noted the difference in Joker's appearance when compared to other games, as Joker's face doesn't quite match the first two games, particularly in the eyes. Many have assumed that this is due to the higher graphical capabilities of the PS4 and Xbox One, as it allowed developers more options for the appearance features of each character.

## Victims

* Giovanni Luchese: Shot in the heart while sitting in a chair.
* Tiffany Ambrose: Forced Black Mask to shoot her.
* Gillian B. Loeb: Placed him into an Gas Chamber in Blackgate to gas him to death.
* Unnamed Bank Manager: Used laughing gas on her.
* Multiple Employees at Gotham Merchant's Bank: Killed in various ways.
* Electrocutioner: Kicked him out of the Royal Hotel penthouse's windows 30 floors down.
* Multiple Black Mask goons: Killed in various ways.
* Multiple Blackgate staff on March riot: Killed in various ways.
* Two unnamed Joker thugs: Shot them.
* Two Arkham Asylum guards: Snapping his neck, and then shooting the other before changing into his regular outfit.
* Katie Burke: Manipulated Dr. Penelope Young into overdosing her anti-cancer pills and making her cancer even worse.
* Edward Burke: Manipulated him into taking "suicide pills" laced with Joker venom.
* Paulie: Various conflicting accounts of the motive or how exactly he was killed, though it was generally agreed upon that he was shot and then cast down to the Gotham Bay.
* Multiple kindergarten children: Murdered and mutilated, possibly to provoke Jason Todd.
* Hundreds of Gotham Citizens: Killed when Joker blew up firecrackers laced with Joker toxin in celebration of the 4th of July.
* Various Arkham Asylum's staff: In various ways such as laughing gas.
* Aaron Cash's son: Killed with mysterious poison.
* Frank Boles: Killed him in an unknown way.
* Dr. Penelope Young: Sneaked bombs into the Warden's Office which she opened and exploded.
* Razor: While he was working on one of the gargoyles, Joker blew it up to kill him for absolutely no reason.
* Arkham City doctors: Killed for failing to cure him.
* Talia al Ghul: Shot her in the back with a firearm.
* Joker also killed countless people off screen.

## Gameplay

### Arkham Asylum

A special download for *Arkham Asylum* exclusive to the PlayStation 3 allowed players to take control of the Joker. He had his own attacks and challenge maps in which he must fend off Arkham's security guards trying to apprehend him. During combat, Joker employed a spray can of his lethal laughing gas, a revolver handgun, and his joy buzzer as special attacks. Joker used his impressive hand-to-hand abilities to punch, slap, kick, and poke out eyes. During stealth missions where Joker must dispose of Arkham's security on patrol, he could use a pair of glasses called specs to see through walls and identify guards, similarly to Detective mode, though he can't move while using them. The Joker also fights specific characters, including guards Aaron Cash, Henry Smith, Eddie Burlow, Zach Franklin, William North, and Louie Green, as well as Commissioner Gordon. The challenge maps were divided into melee and stealth challenges. The melee challenges pitted Joker in an arena-like room to face off against a number of security guards who came in to face the Clown Prince of Crime in groups. The stealth challenges were when the Joker must defeat all the Arkham guards without being detected in a large area of Arkham Asylum complete with nooks and crannies for the Joker to hide in. He also had Joker Teeth that exploded, destroyed walls and killed enemies.

### Arkham Origins Multiplayer

In Arkham Origins Online, Joker was a playable character, by activating the marked door by the Joker's Elites, which allowed the player to take control of him. Due to Joker's unique characteristic, he had the potential to turn the battle in his favor making him an ideal character to have in combat, and very effective in killing Bane's Elites & Heroes. In combat, Joker had no special abilities: he's marked, his health bar does not regenerate, & he did not respawn after being defeated. But he had unlimited sprinting, had opposing Elite's marked, melee from Elites & Heroes was not very effective, a melee joy buzzer that effectively killed both Elites and Heroes, and a larger amount of health compared to the Elites and Heroes to compensate his weakness. Joker's primary weapon was his Ace of Spades: it dealt a large amount of damage which could kill two Elites at the same time and could ricochet through corners allowing to kill an Elite taking cover. However, it had a powerful recoil and reloading was quite time consuming. Joker's secondary weapon was his King of Hearts: it had a long range and did splash damage which launched a volley of grenades, was very effective against a group of Elites and also against the Heroes taking cover in vantage points or from long distance, but it did need reloading after each shooting.

## Psychological Profile

### Dr. Penelope Young

My most challenging patient at Arkham. The Joker's derangement defies easy class. His rapidly changing mood swings hint at borderline personality disorder, but he has no trace of associated identity problems. He also displays signs of deep narcissism, but nonetheless he has a well-developed sense of others, as his ability to manipulate everyone from orderlies to doctors in Arkham is extraordinarily well-developed; he also shows all the signs of a highly functioning sufferer of antisocial personality. At times I actually wonder if he is actually insane at all.

**Additional notes**

His criminal record makes clear that he is an unrepentant homicidal maniac.

He is extremely manipulative; the file detailing Harley Quinn's associations with him is fascinating reading. It's unfortunate I was not on staff at the time to witness his seduction of her firsthand.

His past is unknown, and his answers to me about it are wildly inconsistent and frequently fantastical.

**MR. WHITE?**

### Dr. Hugo Strange

Joker

**Dr. Hugo Strange: Side Note** This self-styled criminal Clown Prince of Crime remains as volatile and violent as ever. His showdown with Batman in Arkham Asylum has left him humiliated, angry and thirsty for revenge. Some form of disease is spreading over the Joker, ravaging his face and body. He has repeatedly refused to be treated by anyone except his special 'nurse' Harley Quinn.

The Joker came to Arkham City laughing himself silly -- what's so funny about this place?

~ Dr. Hugo Strange

### Attributes

* **Insanity:** Unrepentant homicidal maniac, albeit without a precise psychological diagnosis. His past was unknown; conflicting, unconfirmed reports stated that he was a failed comedian, a petty thief, and a broken family man.
* **Master Hand to Hand Combatant:** While having no formal combat training, Joker is a strong hand-to-hand combatant. Being a completely unpredictable fighter, Joker relies on his insanity-fueled instinct to defeat even well trained combatants such as members of Gotham city police force and Bane's henchman. Even Batman required very great effort to subdue the Clown Prince of Crime.
* **Master Strategist:** A dangerously cunning and intelligent master tactician, Joker has terrorized Gotham for many years, and masterminded countless anarchic plans for immense chaos and destruction which lead to the deaths of numerous people. He is a unpredictably skilled anarchist planner to an extent that many times Batman could not completely stop the tremendous misfortune and bloodshed caused by Joker's ingenious malevolence. Despite his immensely dangerous nature, through his dark charisma and extremely manipulative leadership, Joker gained the undying loyalty of countless psychopaths and criminals, the most prominent being Harley Quinn to form one of the most dangerous crime syndicates in Gotham City, becoming one of the most feared crime lords in the Underworld.
* **Immense Speed:** Joker is a highly quick and agile fighter, able evade assaults from several enemies at once. He was so fast that not even Batman could catch him that easily.
* **Immense Durability:** Joker has a very strong endurance,and due to his extremely crazed nature, he has a beyond frightful tolerance to physical pain, to an extent that forceful rage-fueled beatings from Batman did not shatter his will to fight. He even amusingly enjoyed the great pain from the beatings and found the unbearably painful effects of the Titan transformation to be enjoyable while still retaining his intellect and self control without losing his personality like his Titan enhanced henchmen due to the extreme pain. Even while dying from Titan poisoning, Joker was able to exert himself long enough to move about in Arkham City, even physically exert himself to kill Talia and stabbed Batman in an attempt to take the cure for his poisoning. Incredible tolerance for physical pain, which made fights with him unusually long.
* **Weapon Expert:** Joker employed various deadly weapons, often based on party-gag items
* **Chemistry Expert:** Frequently used a toxin that stretched victim's face's into a Joker-like grin and caused death. He was even able to refine the Titan Formula.
* **Escape Artist:** Unbelievable escapist and stronger endurance than a normal human being
* **Dark Humor:** His sense of humor could be credited to what he perceived to be wrong with the world around him, as he was often seen laughing at the pointlessly terrible and truly wrong. This gave an indication as to his true feelings on the matter as his laughter was seen as hollow at times. For instance, Joker commented on finding Arkham City funny, even though a normal human being would consider it an abomination. Joker only found humor in what was wrong with humanity and pointed it out, highlighting it before attempting to either broaden the chaos around it or simply destroy it himself, often doing both in the process.
* **Actor/Impersonator:** He was able to impersonate as Black Mask for weeks before coming clean about his identity. By that time, even Black Mask's henchmen and organization had known that their boss had been compromised and they are under new leadership.
* **Self-Destructive:** Took absolutely no value in money, power, anyone besides his rivalry with Batman, and even his own life, which made him impossible to intimidate, interrogate, bargain with, or persuade.

### Formerly

* **Titan Enhancements:** He injected himself with the Titan formula, which caused a bio-metamorphosis which transformed him into a bane-like being with superhuman abilities.
	+ **Superhuman Strength:** He had the strength to even overpower Batman during this state.
	+ **Superhuman Durability:** He survived a large amount of physical trauma and even massive amounts of electrocution with just some fatigue. During this state, his body's deformities gave him critical injuries, which would normally cause an immense amount of pain, but didn't due to his durability.
	+ **Claws:** The tips of his fingers form into large bone claws.

### Batman's Profile of The Joker

"*I prepared for muggers, killers, thieves. Criminals, increasingly extreme in their methods and personality. But I never imagined someone like "The Joker". There is no information on him in any criminal database. As far as records go, it's as if he stepped out of thin air. He appears to be a highly resourceful psychopath with a sadistic intelligence, who delights in causing chaos, destruction and human suffering. Skilled with explosives and firearms. He displays personality traits consistent with criminal insanity, though his mental instability did not hinder his ability to infiltrate and take over Black Mask's criminal organization. His capacity for wanton destruction makes him a threat to the entire city. He must be stopped.*"

## Behind the Scenes

* In *Batman: Arkham Asylum,* *Batman: Arkham City*, and *Batman: Arkham Knight,* the Joker was voiced by Mark Hamill, who previously voiced the character in various other related mediums, most notably the DC Animated Universe.
	+ Coincidentally, Mark Hamill's last three letters of his first name and the first three letters of his last name spell out Arkham (mARK HAMill).
* In *Batman: Arkham Origins*, *Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate*, and *Batman: Assault on Arkham*, the Joker was voiced by Troy Baker, who voiced him in a similar manner to Mark Hamill's take on the character.
* In the first Catwoman Mission, a portrait could be found with the inscription: "Cain & Abel - The Duality of Man". That was a reference to Two-Face, and to the end of the game where Cain and Abel's pose was similar to how Batman was carrying the dead Joker. That also may have been a resemblance to Adam and Eve's sons, Cain and Abel.
* When unlocked, Concept Art for "The Death of the Joker" showed Batman carrying the Joker's body, which strongly resembled the iconic scene of Batman holding Jason Todd's body in "A Death In The Family."
* When coming up with the plot of *Arkham City*, Rocksteady decided early on that the Joker would die. Warner Bros. and Paul Dini did not oppose the decision, although they had two conditions: one, the Joker's death could not be done for shock value (that was, his death could not have happened without warning, but have a precedent); and two, it had to be made clear that Batman was in no way responsible for Joker's death, as the hero would not intentionally kill someone. They also came up with the idea that Joker would poison Batman with the same affiliation that he had in order to show how the two diametrically opposed characters would interact in pursuit of a shared goal.

## Trivia

### General

* Joker was one of the few villains to appear in all of the Arkham games just like Harley Quinn, the Riddler, and Killer Croc.
* Joker was also one of the many villains to die like Electrocutioner, Hugo Strange, Talia al Ghul, Clayface (presumably), Ra's al Ghul, and Poison Ivy.
* Joker was the first playable villain in a DLC. The following games continued the trend: Catwoman (*Arkham City*), Deathstroke (*Arkham Origins*), and Harley Quinn (*Arkham Knight*).
	+ Joker was also the first playable character that killed his opponents, followed by Red Hood and possibly Harley, who were both playable in *Batman: Arkham Knight.*
* Joker was the only villain to appear in a poster on his own AND with Batman for *Asylum* and *City*.
* Joker's age was unknown, but due to his face wrinkles and hair loss, it could be assumed that Joker was at least around 10, maybe even 20 years older than Batman. However, these could have been caused by his acid bath, and due to his physical shape, he was likely Batman's age. Also, In virtually all continuities, when Joker fell into the acid as the Red Hood, he was a young man, likely in his early 30s as he had already graduated college and grad school, which was evident by his chemical expertise, and as this happened in *Origins* when Batman was roughly 30 years old, he and Batman were roughly the same age.
	+ In *Arkham Origins,* Joker was listed to be 6ft 1in, while in *City* and *Asylum,* he wa 6ft. His weight was also 165lbs in *Origins*, not 160lbs in the previous games. This, combined with his widow's peek and possibly-receeding hairline, seemed to imply the Joker was possibly old enough for his body-mass index to gradually be decreasing with age.
* In *Arkham Asylum*, Joker would usually crack wise when his henchmen were taken out, but he was much more serious when that happened in *Arkham City*. That only happened when Joker was being impersonated by Clayface, which was another clue to the trick.
* The Joker had multiple different Character Trophies in each game. In *Asylum,* there was regular Joker and Titan-Joker. In *City,* there was Sick Joker and Clayface Joker. In *Origins,* there was Regular Joker and Red Hood. In *Arkham Knight,* there was Regular Joker, Sick-Joker, and Young Joker.
* Despite being scrawny to the point of anorexia, when it came to fighting Batman, Joker could take almost twice the amount of physical pain of his thugs. That may have had something to do with the chemicals that were flowing through Joker's blood, which possibly eliminated his basic pain factor. It's also possible that the bleaching of his skin was so excruciatingly painful at first that he built up a tolerance to all but the worst injuries.
* The *Arkham* version of the Joker seems to be a bit of a music buff:
	+ When Batman confronted Joker in the penthouse of the Gotham Royal Hotel, TV sets behind him were playing the *Looney Toons* short: "Rabbit of Seville" with *the Barber of Seville* also playing in the background.
	+ In one of the game over scenes for *Arkham Origins*, Joker sung his own version of "Ding-Dong, The Witch is Dead" from *The Wizard of Oz*.
	+ During his therapy session with Harley Quinn, the background music of the Comedy Club brawl was from *The Thieving Magpie*, which alluded to *A Clockwork Orange.* The theme played during a similar scene with several escaped inmates fighting people in an abandoned theater.
	+ During the credits for *Arkham City*, Batman received one last pre-recorded message from Joker's cellphone: a recording of the Clown Prince of Crime singing *Only You (And You Alone)* by The Platters. This was referred to in Arkham Knight, as the song was playing in the background in the room where Joker 'killed' Two-Face.
	+ The credits for *Arkham Origins* homage this: as Joker was locked back in his cell at Blackgate Prison, he sung *Cold, Cold Heart* by Hank Williams.
	+ Interestingly, in both instances, the Joker was singing love songs, apparently to his adversary.
		- Even more interesting, *Cold, Cold Heart* was the name of the following DLC to Origins.
	+ Although not sung by Joker himself, the scene in which Joker was cremated in the opening to *Batman: Arkham Knight* had the Frank Sinatra song: *I've Got You Under My Skin* playing in the background.
	+ In Batman's nightmare of Joker possessing his mind and murdering all of Gotham's villains, *Only You* can be heard playing through an old record player. However if you shot at it, the music stopped playing.
* In both *The Road to Arkham* and the comic prequel to *Arkham City*, Joker was shown yelling *"Are we there yet?"* repeatedly, and both times led to him being harmed afterwards (in the former, Batman punched him in the face hard enough to leave him groaning without taking his eyes off the wheel, and in the latter, the Arkham Asylum personnel proceeded to inflict torture on Joker in revenge for his killing 103 personnel during the events of *Arkham Asylum*).
* Of all the minor tweaks to his appearance, the Joker had been given a make-up based smile to make it look like he's always smiling. This was most likely inspired by Caesar Romero's portrayal of the character, who sported the same artificial smile. Unlike most incarnations, the Arkham Joker's red lips seem to be painted on in order to give himself his trademark smile, as shown by the thicker and messier smile of *Origins* compared to the cleaner and thinner smile of *Asylum. Arkham City* showed Joker applying lipstick on himself in order to get his lips red, though at the time he was suffering heavily from the Titan infection that had ravaged his face. *Assault on Arkham* showed Joker without his red lips for most of the film while in his prison uniform in his cell in Extreme Incarceration at the Penitentiary.
	+ The Arkham Origins flashback showed him with red lips immediately after his transformation, albeit it's unclear whether they actually were red, given the unrealistic style of the flashback.
* Joker was the only playable character in the series who took fall damage if he fell from too great a height.

### *Batman: Assault on Arkham*

* At one point while ranting about Harley Quinn supposedly abandoning him in favor of Deadshot, Joker mentioned that he'll "make five more just like [Harley Quinn]", which alluded to his revelation that he had prior Harley Quinns' before the current one and managed to murder them in Harley Quinn's arc in the crossover storyline: Death of the Family.
* Joker's recognition of Deadshot and having worked with him in the past was most likely a reference to his hiring of the assassin in Batman: Arkham Origins.
* Two references to some of Joker's plots in different mediums were made when Harley Quinn was searching the Evidence Locker for her mallet: A clown mask and a fish with a grin, which referred to his robbery of Gotham National Bank in The Dark Knight and the events of the episode, The Laughing Fish from Batman: The Animated Series.
* In the storyboards for the scene where Harley was trying to shoot at the Joker included in the behind-the-scenes featurette, Joker said a slightly different line from the final version. In the storyboards, Joker said: "Women! Can't live with them, can't kick them out of a moving car without them getting steamed!" In the final release, Joker said: "Women! Am I right, officer? Can't live with them, can't kick them out of a moving car!"
* After Joker set off a cache of one of the Arkham guards' grenades and while approaching to steal his gun to kill him before "changing into something more comfortable," as well as when encountering the Suicide Squad near the laundry chute, he briefly whistled the version of "Jingle Bells" from the BTAS episode: "Christmas with the Joker."
* When discovering that the "Batman" who had just died was actually Black Spider, Joker said: "Denzel! What have they done to you?" This line referred to the actor, Denzel Washington.

### Arkham Asylum

* If you kept constantly visiting the Visitor Center, Joker talked to Batman as if Batman was visiting for a therapy appointment. See here
* When visiting the Visitor Center, after the Joker finished talking to you, turn the camera around and after a few seconds turn it back and you noticed how the Joker "mannequin's" arms change positions. showing that the mannequin is actually Joker.
* At the time, Joker disappearing into Extreme Isolation atop the cell which contained the TITAN thug meant nothing. However, due to the events near the end of *Arkham Knight,* that scene foreshadows Joker's ultimate fate of being sealed away in the darkest corner of Batman's mind forever.
* Unlike other henchmen infected with the Titan serum, Joker keeps his mental state and can speak, as opposed to simply roaring. This is because he was already extremely violent, murderous, sadistic and insane and Titan had no effect on his mentality.
* During his take over of the Medical Facility, one of several statements the Joker made throughout the Asylum's P.A. system was "Paging Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard!". That was a reference to the classic *Three Stooges* episode *Men In Black*, where the Stooges played incompetent doctors who worked at a hospital.
* In Dr. Young's Notes, Joker may have looked at them, but he only put his signature around himself only, not even Harley. Yet, there was a Joker smile on the Tweedledee and Tweedledum page, as the Tweeds regularly hired themselves out to Joker.
* Unlike the other inmates, Joker didn't appear to have an identifiable or decorated cell in Arkham Asylum. The only cell that could *possibly* be his was one found in the Penitentiary, because on the wall someone had written "Welcome to my humble abode". Alternatively, he could have been kept in the "Extreme Isolation" area of the Asylum, which was the one place that the player could not explore.
* Joker was briefly playable during the third Scarecrow encounter. This was the only time that he was available to play for PC or Xbox users as his Challenge Pack DLC was a Playstation 3 exclusive, most likely due to Warner Bros/DC's business deal with Sony at the time. Joker's only gameplay during this segment was walking.
* After Joker "killed" Batman during the third Scarecrow encounter by shooting him at point blank range, the game recommended "using the middle stick" to avoid his gunfire. The PC version told the player to "tilt the mouse" instead.
* It was revealed that some time before the events of the game, Warden Quincy Sharp entered Joker's cell and tried to kill him, only to be stopped in his tracks by sheer terror, possibly a result of Scarecrow's Fear Gas or Hugo Strange's manipulations. Precisely why Joker never revealed Sharp's madness to anyone after the incident was not clear, though he might have simply found it more amusing not to.
	+ It should be noted however, even if he did reveal Sharp's madness to someone, it is likely he would not have been taken seriously, given his insanity and various schemes would cause him to be viewed as unreliable or just attempt to cause trouble.
* The unlockable Patient Interview Tapes for Harley Quinn borrowed heavily from Bruce Timm and Paul Dinni's *Mad Love* story, which acted as the Animated Series origin for the character. Her ending line, "Say hello to your new and improved Harley Quinn!" was a direct quote from the story.
	+ Although these tapes acted as the first meeting between the infamous duo, *Arkham Origins* retconned it into being technically their second.
* The throne of mannequins, dolls and plastic toys Joker sits on just before the finale is likely a homage to the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where Joker tormented Gordon while sitting on a throne similar to the one used in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
* *Asylum* was not the first time the Joker had turned to Bane style steroids to improve his act. The idea for his final boss state may have been inspired by *Brawn*, an episode from the third season of *The Batman* cartoon show, where that version of the character stole Bane's Venom injector to menace Gotham.
* Joker's Challenge Maps possibly showed how he made his way through the Asylum during the events of *Arkham Asylum*. However, as he could kill both Aaron Cash and James Gordon during combat, the reality of these events was questionable.
	+ If you take Cash and Gordon out of the equation, then it makes more sense.

### Arkham City

* When Joker won the VGA 2011 Rewards, he was holding a file with the name *Batman: Arkham World.* He then dropped it: "Whoops, Spoilers*".*
* The Joker's death in *Arkham City* was considered, by many Batman fans, to be one of the most shocking moments in video game history.
* In an alternate ending to *Arkham City* that played if Catwoman decided not to save Batman, a disturbing and panicked radio frequency would be broadcast by Oracle. She pleaded for anyone who could hear her to send help as Joker and his forces had completely destroyed Gotham and murdered nearly everyone, including Batman and her father, and ended by stating that Joker had won. During this ending, a rewound, sped-up message could be heard of the Joker, saying "Thank you for the entertainment, Bats" if the message was slowed down and fast forwarded.
* In the Joker's Carnival Challenge Map, the Joker could be seen watching the fight and joined in when the player reached a x100 hit combo.
* Joker would also act confused by the presence of Robin, and referenced Jason Todd: "Didn't I already kill you?"
* The box of tricks found in the Steel Mill's Boiler Room, that was needed to solve the *Riddler's Revenge* challenge contained Joker's X-ray spectacles from his *Asylum* DLC and a grinning Joker fish, a reference to the classic two part Detective Comics #475-#476 story *The Laughing Fish!* and *The Sign of the Joker!* by Steve Englehart, as well as the DC Animated Universe adaptation of the story, "The Laughing Fish", where Joker poisoned Gotham City fish to bear his distinctive grin so he could mass market his own brand of fish products.
* Initially, the *Arkham City End Game* story (a 6-part arc released as part of the *Arkham Unhinged* series) revealed that after his death, Joker had one final plan to blow up the walls of Arkham City, which was triggered by a posthumous message that Batman recovered during his mission to rescue the GCPD officers from Harley Quinn. Eventually, Batman managed to foil his plan, and he and Gordon arrived to the decision of cremating Joker's body. The *Arkham Knight* prequel comics told a similar version of the story, with Joker's final plan taking place before *Harley Quinn's Revenge*, rather than after, and also with the Arkham Knight involved.
* During *Harley Quinn's Revenge,* several posters for Cadmus Labs could be seen. Cadmus was a science lab in the DC universe that was infamous for cloning experiments. The posters may have indicated a way that Harley was considering to bring her "Puddin'" back or simply a red herring for fans to speculate about a possible resurrection.
* The appearance of Sick Joker in the game was completely different to the reveal trailer for *Arkham City.* In the trailer, Joker's appearance was far less severe with a more receding hairline and a more realistic sickly look, compared to how he eventually looked at the end of of the game.
* Throughout the game there were three times where the major plot twist with Clayface acting as Joker was subtly revealed.
	+ The first was when Harley talks about how Joker looked 'perfect' before going on to say it wasn't really him. While this can be dismissed during the first playthrough as playful banter, this little bit actually reveals the plot twist very early on.
	+ The second was during 'Joker's speech in the Steel Mill, at one point the camera shook and the cameraman was heard coughing. As Joker at that point was being impersonated by Clayface, that meant that the cameraman who was heard coughing was the real Joker.
	+ The third was the most obvious one if the player knew what to do: during the fight with Joker in the Steel Mill activating Detective Mode showed that Joker didn't have a skeleton, the only other character not to have one was Clayface, which revealed, very clearly to the player, that the Joker fought at the Steel Mill was a fake.
* When Joker (or rather, his body double Clayface) gave his speech about how he was back where he mentioned that he wouldn't do that since he didn't wish to ruin things, said as one of his reasons for not revealing it as an example: "Imagine your favorite show. You've been through it all. The ups, the downs, the crazy coincidences. And then, BANG! They tell you what it's all about. Would you be happy? Does it make sense? How come it all ended in a church?". That was a reference to the TV Drama series *Lost*, which writer Paul Dini had a hand in creating.
	+ Ironically, regarding Joker's question about how come the series ended in a church, *Batman: Arkham Origins* had the final confrontation with the Joker occur in the Prison Chapel at Blackgate.

### Arkham Origins

* The Joker's theme song in *Arkham Origins* was a very dark rendition of "Carol of the Bells."
* Joker's references to "one bad day" and killing a real estate agent to acquire a themepark came from Alan Moore's *The Killing Joke*.
	+ Ironically, in *Batman: Arkham City*, the origin story that Joker told Hugo Strange (which could be heard in his Interview Tapes) was directly from the same graphic novel.
* In *Arkham Origins*, during the failed comedian flashback, all of the Joker's combat moves were lifted directly from *Arkham Asylum* including his strutting walk. He also borrowed a few takedowns from Nightwing and used Batman's beatdown.
* In *Origins*, Joker's biography was the only one to be personally written by Batman.
* It was revealed in *Arkham Origins* that most of the Joker's henchmen were originally mobsters in Black Mask's gang, before the Joker took over his operations. Listening in on conversations between the gangsters also revealed that many of them were dissatisfied with Black Mask under-paying and dispatching them, and preferred Joker's chaotic way of doing things.
* The in-universe existence of *Batman Smells* seemed to come from one of Joker's P.A. announcements during the second Blackgate Riot: "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Gotham's quite a mess! Blackgate's mine and you're out of time, which means you'll soon be dead!" A Blackgate escapee sung it later on, to which Batman simply responded with an annoyed "No." before he knocked him out.
* The monstrous version of Batman, seen from Joker's P.O.V. during his flashback and final confrontation with the hero, was the 'Nightmare Batman', an alternative skin that was initially going to be unlockable after completing the Worst Nightmare challenges in *Arkham Origins*. See Beta/Unused Content for more info.
* Joker was playable in an online multi-player mode and very briefly in the Story mode in *Batman: Arkham Origins,* which was the second time that he had been playable since *Arkham Asylum*.
* The Joker's biography in *Arkham Origins made* a reference to Batman's thoughts in: The Man Who Laughs.
* Joker's Character Trophy showed that his wrists weren't bleached white and had a normal pigmentation to them, while that could have been seen as just a developer oversight. It should be noted that there were very small traces of human toned pigmentation on Joker's face, which possibly indicated (along with the newspaper articles of Red Hood in the Batcave) that Red Hood's encounter with Batman and his transformation into the Joker had only recently happened, and that slowly, the rest of his skin started to turn white.
* While wearing Black Mask's outfit, sans mask, Joker bears a strong resemblance to his incarnation from Frank Miller's *The Dark Knight Returns*.

### Arkham Knight

* In New Game Plus, the opening sequence where the Joker was cremated ended with the Joker suddenly waking up and screaming in pain before proceeding to lie back down and laugh all the way to oblivion, with him then mockingly narrating the first line of Commissioner Gordon's speech.
* In the opening, the name of the retort used to cremate the Joker was "Robinson" alluding to Joker's original artist and one of his co-creators, Jerry Robinson.
* Joker's X-ray specs, his personal handgun, a set of explosive Joker Teeth and the dart gun which Joker used to inject Titan in his body after failing to take over Arkham Asylum could be seen in a display case in the Evidence Room at the GCPD Lockup.
* This game reveals what was Joker's greatest fear: being forgotten by the citizens of Gotham and eventually even Harley.
* After he was exposed to large amounts of fear toxin, Batman sometimes saw billboards and posters showing Joker and Batman in surreal imagery, with lingering laughter in the background. More and more billboards gained an alternate Jokerized appearance as the player progressed though the story mode.
	+ Joker also could randomly replace thugs during street fights and certain statues gained Joker's face.
* One of Joker's Game Over sequences was a reference to the Game Overs in the Metal Gear Solid series.
* Enemy conversations revealed that Joker had once attempted to run for President of the United States, complete with his own TV spots. The militia also remarked that it was unclear how he even got onto the ballot.
	+ This may have been a reference to Batman: Dark Detective #1, which had on the cover Joker, Uncle Sam-style, requesting the readers to vote for him, or he'll otherwise kill them.
* Throughout the game, Joker shifted between his healthy appearance from *Asylum* and his sickly, scarred face in *City*, though his sick appearance got more play due to a bit of subtle storytelling. In the first hallucination, over half of Joker's face had Titan scarring, his suit was ratty and washed out, and even his lapel flower was wilted, roughly as bad as he looked at the time of his death. As the game progressed, and Batman was exposed to more toxin, Joker's appearance improved, his suit gaining more color and his scarring becoming less severe. By the truck sequence, he looked slightly better than he did in his first *City* appearance, and once Scarecrow hit Batman with the last dose of toxin while strapped to the gurney, Joker's makeup was perfect and his suit looked newly made. That reflected how much stronger the Joker persona was growing as Batman's willpower was broken down, but it also showed Batman letting go of the guilt that he felt for not being able to save the Clown Prince of Crime. In a backwards way, the Joker persona and his constant commentary was partially Batman reminding himself of what the Joker really was, and realigned his memory of the Joker from the man he couldn't save to a pure, impartial view of a murderer and monster that flat-out didn't want to be redeemed, and who could only be stopped in death. Once Batman had freed himself of the guilt, and remembered the Joker that he had spent years fighting instead of the Joker that he spent one night trying to save, he was able to capitalize on the clown's fear of being forgotten to reduce him to nothing but that memory, an untarnished image of the Joker, who was finally locked away forever.
* The hallucination where the Joker's neck got snapped by Batman's hands was similar to his final fate in The Dark Knight Returns.
* Joker's consciousness surviving and taking over his foe's knowledge and resources was done in "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker". He took over the body of Tim Drake, and used his skills as an engineer to create a satellite weapon, before he was defeated by the new Batman, Terry McGinnis. Similarly, Joker also had a weakness that Batman ultimately exploited to take him down once and for all (in the film, Joker's irritation that he never got Batman to laugh, which the new Batman, Terry McGinnis, exploited by mocking Joker; in Arkham Knight, his fear of being forgotten, which Batman exploited by exposing himself and Joker to a full dose of fear gas and then locking him away into a central part of his consciousness doomed to be forgotten). Nevertheless, there were several differences. The first was that instead of a blood transfusion, it was a microchip. Second, a significant amount of time had passed and Joker had not been forgotten - if anything, the series and film portrayed Joker's legacy lasting as long as Batman's own, with an entire gang-faction of criminals being founded in the Clown Prince's honor; "The Jokerz". Fittingly, both versions of the Joker were voiced by Mark Hamill.
* *Arkham Knight was* the third time the Joker was a playable character in the series; though he was only playable near the end of the game, and could only walk around, shoot, and briefly use the Jokermobile.
* The idea of Joker appearing as a hallucination due to Scarecrow's Fear Toxin was planned for the unreleased fifth Schumacher film, Batman Triumphant. Notably, Arkham Knight had a similar plot to what was known, with Joker returning as a ghost (rather than a hallucination as seen in *Arkham Knight*), Scarecrow as the main antagonist, and Harley's prominent role. Whether or not it was a coincidence or Rocksteady used it as inspiration, was unknown.
* When commentating on the enemies trying to fight Batgirl and Robin in the beginning of the DLC, he shouted: "Where's Gordy?!" in much the same manner as the announcer yelling: "Here's Johnny" in the beginning of the Johnny Carson show.
	+ Coincidentally, Jack Nicholson, the actor for the version of the Joker in the 1989 *Batman* film, had played the father in *The Shining*, who said a darker version of the above opening catchphrase when chopping down a door with an axe with murderous intent toward his family.
* Sometimes, Joker would refer to Batgirl as "Bat-Fake", which was the insult that he used on Terry McGinnis in the movie, *Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker*. Coincidentally, both *Return of the Joker* and A Matter of Family had Batman being replaced by Terry and Batgirl, respectively (although the latter was temporary while the former was permanent).
* Using Photo Mode during the scene where Joker showed Jason Todd the Batman and Robin picture would actually reveal it to be a picture of when Batman and current Robin, Tim Drake, meet once during the events of Arkham City. The picture in question showed them after Robin arrived to help Batman after being ganged up on by the League of Assassin ninjas, and before Batman went to search for Ra's al Ghul.
	+ The picture was likely simply a recycled prop, as Jason was already free during the events of *City*.
* The Joker appeared to break the fourth wall. Sometimes, while on a building, the Joker would mention that he had figured out who the Arkham Knight was and mentioned several unlikely candidates, with an odd explanation behind how they could be the Knight. That could be a subtle jab directed at individuals who attempted to figure out the Arkham Knight's identity with ridiculous ideas and concepts prior to the game's release, like Quincy Sharp being the Arkham Knight for example.
* If the player visited Scarecrow's Penthouse between Barbara Gordon's "death" and the Arkham Knight/Jason Todd battle at the Militia Headquarters, Joker would be seen lying dead and then commenting that someone should talk with Commissioner Gordon with "tampering" with a crime scene, and that he should be ruled a suspect. That was a foreshadowing of the plot twist where Barbara Gordon was actually alive and that Jim Gordon was pressured into working with Scarecrow to ensure her safety.
	+ Similarly, during the scene where Barbara Gordon "commits suicide", Joker would be seen moving her gun closer to her slightly, which hinted that the scene was not actually real.
* After locking a villain in the cell at the GCPD Lockup, Joker made a comment about them. He also made a comment after talking to the villain for the first time after they were locked up.
	+ The Joker however did not appear at all during The Season of Infamy, indicating it takes place after Scarecrow is apprehended by Batman. However, this may have been an oversight by the programmers, or they simply couldn't think or anything that Joker would say to the villains of *the Season of Infamy,* and thus didn't attempt to do so.
* It was a surprise for many players to hear the Joker being voiced by Mark Hamill again, as he hadn't voiced the character since 2011's *Arkham City*, and he only said that he'd come back if an adaptation of *The Killing Joke* were ever made. Though many did assume that Joker would make an appearance as a short Fear Toxin hallucination in the game, many never expected the hallucination to be one of the main characters in the game as well as voiced by Mark Hamill once more.
* In the Batgirl DLC "A Matter In The Family", Joker took over the amusement park when he met Edward Burke, the man who the built the amusement park for his 5 year old daughter. After the death of Burke's daughter, Burke died when he tried pills that had Joker Toxin that poisoned him. This is reference to the comic "The Killing Joke" that Joker killed the amusement park owner with a poison grin pin on his hand when they shook hands on the deal.
* Joker implied, during his many comments, that one of the reasons why Batman had decided to outfit the new Batmobile with a more extensive arsenal was because of the villain's consciousness subtly influencing him. While Batman never designed the weapons to react lethally and simply wanted to be better prepared for the inevitable war that was to break out in Gotham, Joker may have had a hand in the vehicle's designs.