Joker (Arkhamverse)

* Origins
* Asylum
* City
* Knight

***Joker** has character files in Arkham Origins, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City and Arkham Knight.*
**Joker** is an insane, homicidal supervillain.

## Arkham Origins

### Notes

* Psychopath
* Highly intelligent
* Unpredictable

### Profile

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 organisation. His capacity for wanton destruction makes him a threat to the entire city. He must be stopped.

### Extortion File 1

**Black Mask:** You know I murdered your Commissioner tonight, right? So what makes you think I give two farts what some dumbass dirty cop’s gotta say?
**Cop:** I - I got it from reliable sources - Penguin is makin’ a move on Falcone territory. The Falcone’s got no idea what’s comin’.
**Black Mask:** And this concerns me because…?
**Cop:** You uh… you don’t care if Penguin takes over their racket?
**Black Mask:** Why should I?
**Cop:** Uh, I dunno. I mean… there’s a balance right now - and you’re at the top. But… one of these other types starts makin’ too much money and - you know - that balance will -
**Black Mask:** You know what I know? What I know is that I don’t like balance. Balance is boring and boring is a four-letter word in my book. No. Balance - balance is what’s wrong with this city. We need to upset the balance, kick it over, light it on fire, and then see what comes scurrying out.

### Extortion File 2

**Mobster:** Boss?
**Black Mask:** Hm? Oh, right - that’s me!
**Mobster:** Uh, are you feeling OK?
**Black Mask:** Never better. I’ve got a new lease on life! Granted, it came with some added mileage, but beggars can’t be choosers!
**Mobster:** Yeah, well, anyway, you know it’s the first Thursday of the month, right?
**Black Mask:** So it is! Good job! Observation and initiative are the keys to advancement. I have my eye on you!
**Mobster:** It’s just that normally you have me drop of the commissioner’s, uh, commission every month.
**Black Mask:** Well, of course I knew that! But, I’m, uh, rethinking our arrangement with my good friend the commissioner.
**Mobster:** Ok, ok. You’re the boss.
**Black Mask:** That’s right. I am.

## Arkham Asylum

### Attributes

* Unrepentant homicidal maniac, albeit without a precise psychological diagnosis
* Surprisingly strong hand-to-hand combatant
* His past is unknown; conflicting, unconfirmed reports state that he was a failed comedian, a petty thief, and a broken family man
* Employs various deadly weapons, often based on party-gag items
* Frequently uses a toxin that stretches victim’s face into a Joker-like grin and causes death

### Story

An insanely homicidal super-villain, the Joker’s white skin, green hair, and blood-red lips belie the chaotic nature underlying his cartoonish appearance. The self-styled Clown Prince of Crime has no superpowers beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating deadly mayhem. He frequently concocts elaborate schemes to entrap his arch nemesis, Batman.

### Patient interview #1, June 16th

**Doctor Young:** Taped patient interview. Subject has no recorded name, alias listed as the Joker. In the room is Warden Sharp and myself, Dr. Young.
**Joker:** Is this another one of those boring psych evaluation tests?
**Doctor Young:** No, it’s not. So, you’re the famous Joker.
**Joker:** In the flesh. So, Doc, do you want me to look at the ink blots again? The first one is the kitten I has when I was a child. The second is, hmmm, let’s see… a dead elephant. The third is a…
**Doctor Young:** Very funny. Now let’s skip the jokes.
**Joker:** Skip the jokes? Hey Sharpie, didn’t she get my permanent record?
**Warden Sharp:** Be quiet, Clown!
**Doctor Young:** Every doctor that has ever interviewed you claims a different types of psychosis. Everything from multiple personality disorders to, well… The list is endless.
**Joker:** I do my best.
**Doctor Young:** Well, I don’t believe it. Anything can be cured given the correct treatment.
**Joker:** And… you think… you can cure me?
**Doctor Young:** Oh, I know I can.

### Patient interview #17, June 27th

**Doctor Young:** Taped patient interview 17. Joker remains uncooperative. My earlier diagnosis remains true. I believe he enjoys his persona too much.
**Joker:** What’s up, Doc?
**Doctor Young:** Today I thought we’d try something different.
**Joker:** You’ll make me blush, Doc. I have a girlfriend.
**Doctor Young:** Dr. Quinzel. I know. I’ve seen the tapes. I saw what happened.
**Joker:** What can I say, I’m a charmer.
**Doctor Young:** Anyway, I thought it would be good to talk about your childhood.
**Joker:** Ever heard of romance, Doc? I don’t give up the goods for free. You have to try harder.
**Doctor Young:** What are you hiding?
**Joker:** Didn’t you hear me? You scratch my back, Doc, and… well, I won’t have you wrapped in plastic and left in a gutter.

### Patient interview #20, August 1st

**Doctor Young:** Taped patient interview 20. Joker is more interesting than I originally believed. When Project Titan is operational, I believe Joker will be the perfect test subject. Good afternoon. Today I thought I’d skip back to our previous conversations about your family.
**Joker:** Of course. I was born in a small fishing village. I always wanted to join the circus, but my father wouldn’t really let me.
**Doctor Young:** I don’t believe you.
**Joker:** My father was a cop, 1 week from retirement when the mob…
**Doctor Young:** I’ve seen the movie. What are you scared of?
**Joker:** Scared?
**Doctor Young:** Yes, scared! There’s obviously something. Something that made you what you are.
**Joker:** What if… what if I am too scared to remember? It hurts too much.
**Doctor Young:** Then I can help you.

### Case study notes December 22nd

**Doctor Young:** These are the private notes of Doctor Young. Titan is a success. Even my funding worries have been solved by the unexpected donations from Mr. White. Joker has also shown a remarkable interest in the possibility of a cure. Once the protein bonding process is finalised, I will…
**Asylum Guard:** Dr. Young, you ready?
**Doctor Young:** Oh, yes. Yes, come in!
**Joker:** You’ll hurt my feelings, Doc, keeping me waiting like that.
**Doctor Young:** Sit down, you can leave us.
**Asylum Guard:** You sure?
**Doctor Young:** We’re fine. Aren’t we, Joker?
**Joker:** Oh yes.
**Asylum Guard:** Well, if you insist. I’m just outside. OK?
**Joker:** So, is he here? Did your Patient X arrive?
**Doctor Young:** Yes, I must say progressing more rapidly than I expected. But… enough of that. Let’s talk about you.
**Joker:** No. Let’s talk more about your Titan project.
**Doctor Young:** My what…? How do you…?
**Joker:** How do I know you have Bane strapped to a table in the basement while you pump him dry? Would you believe a lucky guess?

### Case study notes 23rd

**Doctor Young:** I’ve been a fool. Joker is behind it all. He’s Jack White, he gave me the money, pulled the strings to release Bane. How could I not have seen it? He’s been blackmailing me. He has a crazy plan to create an army of monsters. I want out, but… Hello… hello? Doctor Young’s office.
**Harley Quinn:** Please hold for Mr. White.
**Doctor Young:** What?
**Joker:** Hello, Doc. We need to talk.
**Doctor Young:** I’m not doing it, Joker. Do you hear me? Wait, how did you get access to a phone?
**Joker:** Oh yes, sorry, Doc, Had to split. I hate small confined space, reminds me of my childhood.
**Doctor Young:** Another lie?
**Joker:** Who knows? I certainly don’t, but let’s not get distracted with details… So anyway. I want my monsters.
**Doctor Young:** I sent you back the money. I don’t want it.
**Joker:** Do I look like I care about money? I just want my monsters, Doc. And if you don’t give them to me, well then, it won’t be funny!

## Arkham City

### Bio

The self-styled Clown Prince of Crime has no superpowers beyond a capacity for incredible violence and a skill at creating deadly mayhem.
Since his last encounter with the Dark Knight, the Joker has been transferred to Arkham City. Eyewitnesses claim he is stricken with a serious disease, possibly caused by his Titan overdose on Arkham Island.
He has been lying low, delivering orders through Harley Quinn, so no one can confirm if the Joker is actually in poor health or playing another sick joke.

### Attributes

* Unrepentant homicidal maniac
* Surprisingly strong hand-to-hand combatant
* Unknown past
* Employs various weapons, often based on party-gag items
* Uses a fatal toxin that stretches the victim’s faces into Joker-like grin

### Phone Call 1

**Joker**: I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier. A hotline straight to my bestest friend in the world. Just think, I can call you up whenever I get bored. I think our relationship is really maturing here, the next thing you know is we’ll be exchanging emails or meeting up for romantic dinners.

### Phone Call 2

**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Ring, ring. I was just remembering when it first occurred to me. It was about 6 months after you left me on that rooftop back at the asylum. As the bones knitted back together I had plenty of time to think: So how do you keep a secret from the World’s Greatest Detective? Well, do you know? It’s easy. You stick it right in front of him. Right under his long, pointy nose and wait.

### Phone Call 3

**Joker**: I hope you’re doing your best here, Bats, because I’ve just had a horrible thought. We could both actually die here tonight. Fortunately the odds are weighted in my favour, but just imagine how you’ll feel if I’m gone? It’s not like you’re not lonely enough, right? All that brooding. It’s not good for you, you know? Do you have someone to go home to each morning, and I don’t mean that kid you drag across the rooftops, I mean someone real, someone you can talk to? I don’t think you do. It’s sad, isn’t it? You do all this for Gotham and the only person you can rely on is… me.

### Phone Call 4

**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Hey. Been missing you. Get back to me. Laters.
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Hello. I’m not sure that you got my call earlier. I’m just dying to speak to you. Call me, Bats.
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Bats. Seriously. You’re making me paranoid. Why aren’t you answering my calls? You haven’t gone and died on me have you?
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Look. I know you’re not dead. I’m missing a group of my guys down under the tower. Guess that means you know about the guns already. OK, I admit it. They’re mine. Strange gives them to me. OK. Can we be BFF’s again?
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Maybe it wasn’t you that took out my guys. Alright then. The message I left before, you know, the one I left about the guns. You can ignore it. Just delete it.
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Right. This is getting ridiculous. I’ve been leaving messages all night and still you haven’t got back to me. Who do I need to kill to make you pick up?
**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: At last. Hey, Bats. Where you been? I was just calling to find out how you’re feeling? Are you getting the hallucinations yet? I know. It’s hard to tell these days. You just never can tell if it’s Scarecrow again, that little guy with the hat, my blood running through your veins or if after all this time, you really are actually going crazy.

### Phone Call 5

**Voice Mail**: You have one missed call
**Joker**: Hey, Bats. Are you OK? I’m sorry I had Harley steal cure. You were so busy with Freeze that she didn’t have time to ask. But don’t worry - as soon as that little minx is back here and I’ve had my share, I’ll save some for you. You’ll have to work hard for it but it will be right here waiting for you. You probably won’t believe this, but I really don’t think I can sit back and watch you die. It’s selfish really, but we need each other. Life would be so boring without you. Who would I talk to? Who would really understand me?

### Tape 1

**Joker**: Hello! Anyone in there? No sense of humour. Oh, the strong and silent type, eh? Think you’re safe behind that mask? Give me 20 minutes and a can opener and I’ll have you whimpering like a schoolgirl. You might like it.
**Hugo Strange**: That’s enough, patient. Guard, leave us.
**TYGER Guard**: Yes, sir.
**Hugo Strange**: Good afternoon. My name is Professor Hugo Strange. And you are?
**Joker**: Two-Face. Catwoman. Batman.
**Hugo Strange**: We can play these games as long as you like.
**Joker**: Great. I love games.
**Hugo Strange**: Not in my facility you won’t. I am offering you this opportunity to make a deal. I am fully aware of your… condition. The last thing you have is time. But I can make your final days more comfortable.
**Joker**: And in return I’d be giving you…?
**Hugo Strange**: I wish to study you. I need to know why you are the way you are.
**Joker**: I don’t have long, doc. You’re going to need more than some psycho mumbo jumbo to get to the bottom of what’s wrong with me.
**Hugo Strange**: Oh, I have more than that. Much more. So, do we have a deal?

### Tape 2

**Hugo Strange**: How are you feeling today?
**Joker**: You promised me another doctor, Strange?
**Hugo Strange**: Maybe you shouldn’t have killed the one I sent last week. What made you do it?
**Joker**: Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly. Besides, it was worth it to see the look on her face. Hey, you know what, I think I’ve got a piece of it here in my pocket.
**Hugo Strange**: You are trying my patience. That was the third doctor you’ve killed.
**Joker**: Keep on sendin’ ‘em, doc. I’m trying to break my record.
**Hugo Strange**: I think it is time for you to do something for me.
**Joker**: Name it, doc.
**Hugo Strange**: Tell me how you came to be. Explain what made you what you are today, how you come to be sitting across the table from me, dying.
**Joker**: Is that all? I guess you can say I once had a very bad day.
**Hugo Strange**: Really? Go on.
**Joker**: It was a Thursday night. Things had been getting worse. I was 3 days from the bank foreclosing on my home. The chemical plant I worked nights at was about to lay off half the workforce, and I was sitting in the hospital, holding the hand of my pregnant wife, wishing to God that she wasn’t dead.
**Hugo Strange**: That must have been upsetting for you.
**Joker**: Probably was. Back then, though, all I knew was that if I didn’t let old man Falcone’s men into the plant that night, they’d a killed me too. So here’s the thing. I had to decide: Could I live without her? Was there any point going on? I’ve got to admit it, I was scared. Not of being dead, you understand.
**Hugo Strange**: No one would blame you if you were. It is perfectly common.
**Joker**: Do I look common? No, I was scared of the part just before you die. When you don’t know what is about to happen. When you are desperately clutching at life and trying to hold on with slippery, blood-covered hands. So I made a decision right there.
**Hugo Strange**: And what was that?
**Joker**: That, well, that is a story for another day, Strange. I think I may need to see a doctor. Get me one.

### Tape 3

**Hugo Strange**: You were telling me about the night your wife died.
**Joker**: No, Hugo. As I recall, I was waiting for you to send me another doctor.
**Hugo Strange**: We both know I have sent you three more doctors.
**Joker**: Did you?
**Hugo Strange**: Yes. One was left dismembered outside the elevator to my office. The other two have not been seen since they were sent to you.
**Joker**: How careless. Listen, doc—
**Hugo Strange**: Professor.
**Joker**: OK, Pro-fess-or, I’ll give you a little more. I just hope you’re taking notes. It’s the day after and I’m standing in the freezing rain, Just staring at the chemical plant; feeling numb. Jeannie was dead. It didn’t seem real. I could remember the day I first met her. Her infectious smile as I told her bad joke after bad joke. How, even after living with the pathetic wretch I was, she still wanted my child. And then they arrived. Reality’s way of yanking me another wedgie. Falcone’s men told me to cheer up. He said, “Things could be worse”. I asked him how? He grabbed me by the collar, pulled me close - he’d been eating garlic and each word stank as he threatened to perform oral surgery on me with a nail and a brick. Creative guy. They hand me a box. I remember thinking it was heavy. Was it a bomb? A gun? I’d never used a gun before, were they that heavy?
**Hugo Strange**: And what was in the box?
**Joker**: How’s that doctor coming along?
**Hugo Strange**: I’ll get you one.
**Joker**: And when you do, I’ll tell you the rest.

### Tape 4

**Hugo Strange**: You are looking better, yes?
**Joker**: I have good days and bad days, but I do try to start each one with a smile.
**Hugo Strange**: Are you ready to continue your story?
**Joker**: Why not. So where was I?
**Hugo Strange**: The box.
**Joker**: Ah, yes, the box. So there I was, tearing open this box, expecting the worst, and all it had in it was a crazy red dome and a cloak. I thought they were having a joke with me, but oh, no. They made me put it on. They said it was a disguise, it would keep me safe. It smelt like garlic. And that was it really. I was dressed up like a Spaceman, barely able to see, trying to break into the one place in this town that had given me a job. Have you ever tried to walk with an enormous fish bowl on your head? Don’t answer that. It’s hard. I couldn’t see where I was going. I must have tripped one of the alarms. I heard muffled gunfire. I panicked and tried to run. And then I saw him.
**Hugo Strange**: Who?
**Joker**: Batman.
**Hugo Strange**: Really?
**Joker**: Yes, really. Batman tried to hit me, I moved out of the way but, well, what you need to understand is, I had this giant bowl on my head, and I lost my balance. It’s like life really. One minute everything’s bad, the next, your wife’s dead and you're hanging on for dear life, suspended over a tank of experimental chemicals. I’m sure he’d say he tried to save me, but we all know he didn’t. I fell. For a second, just as I hit the surface, I thought I may just get away with this.
**Hugo Strange**: I assume that wasn’t the case.
**Joker**: Do I look like I got away with it?

### Tape 5

**Joker**: I was drowning. The chemicals were burning my skin. My entire body felt like it was on fire and it was all his fault.
**Hugo Strange**: Who’s fault? Batman’s?
**Joker**: Who else?
**Hugo Strange**: Yours.
**Joker**: Come again?
**Hugo Strange**: Let me tell you what I believe. I believe that you have fabricated a series of events that you use to conceal the truth about your condition. I have read 12 different accounts of your past. All different, except for one detail: Batman.
**Joker**: What can I say? I like to keep things interesting. A wise man once told me that if you have to have an origin story, you’re better off making it multiple choice.
**Hugo Strange**: And never facing up to the truth of what happened. What you did. How you got here.
**Joker**: Oh, I know exactly how I got here. A big truck brought me here from Arkham. You remember the asylum, don’t you?
**Hugo Strange**: Of course.
**Joker**: Good, because I’d hate to think that I’d fabricated seeing you watching me in my cell all those times.
**Hugo Strange**: Excuse me?
**Joker**: Hugo, you merry maniac. You were obsessed with me. You all were. Trying to get in here. Next thing, you’ll tell me it wasn’t you who sent old Sharpie over the edge. Nice work by the way.
**Hugo Strange**: Thank you.
**Joker**: So here’s the thing. If you want to make sure that no one else finds out about your past, you should stop poking your nose into mine. Oh, and send me another doc, Doc. I think I need a second opinion.

## Arkham Knight

### Bio

Batman’s arch-nemesis, the self-styled Clown Prince of Crime has a capacity for incredible violence and a penchant for creating deadly mayhem.
His death in Arkham City resulting from an earlier Titan overdose sent shockwaves through Gotham’s underworld, with many holding Batman directly responsible.
Despite his death, Joker’s legacy lives on when it emerges that several people were exposed to his Titan-infected blood, and are now displaying symptoms of a Joker-like personality.

### Attributes

* Unrepentant homicidal maniac
* Surprisingly strong hand-to-hand combatant
* Unknown past
* Employs various deadly weapons, often based on party-gag items
* Uses a fatal toxin that stretches victim’s faces into Joker-like grin

### Audio File 1

**Batman**: Two years ago I uncovered Joker’s plot to unleash a genetically enhanced army on Gotham. The drug he used to modify his henchmen was called Titan. Before I coils stop him, Joker ingested a massive dose of the Titan formula and mutated into a gigantic abomination. I managed to defeat him, but his overdose had devastating side-effects. Joker was dying and he needed a cure. To ensure my cooperation he infected my blood with his own, leaving me no choice but to help him. But that wasn’t all. He contaminated Gotham’s blood banks too. The result: the patients currently quarantined here. Joker’s mutated blood behaves like a prion infection, attacking the brain and transforming these people… into him. Unless we find a way to reverse the process, no one will be able to stop what he has unleashed.