What was jokers name

The original screenplay explicitly refers to him by this name;. They'd be happier someplace else. As well as showing us a copy of his pre-Joker "mug shot";. What do we know so far? The Joker was a man who was forced to be the red hood to make a crime, there is information that he maybe was a criminal in the past. Their identities? Joker's name isn't Jack Napier. That was actually a name given to the character played by Jack Nicholson by the screenwriters.

When the character was created originally he had no name besides 'The Joker' to give the character a bigger sense of creepy, craziness, and a sense that he's plainly just-not-right in the head.

In fact, The Joker was never given a normal name until the Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, just so they could provide a longer back-story in the movie. First he was an engineer,who tried becoming a comedian, but failed.

He then falls into an experimental vat that permanently bleaches his skin white and his lips red, and dyes his hair green. The fact that this happened was enough to turn him into an insane criminal in Gotham, leaving him to be an enemy of Batman.

Still, they don't reveal his name. It was both a movie and a comic. In fact, I just saw it a couple weeks ago. His name was Jack Napier, but a different Dc Universe. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What is the Joker's real name? Ask Question. Asked 10 years, 1 month ago. Active 1 year, 5 months ago.

Viewed 54k times. Improve this question. Gallifreyan 20k 6 6 gold badges 98 98 silver badges bronze badges. OghmaOsiris OghmaOsiris Actually, I DO know the answer, but if I told you he'd kill me.

Jeff Don't worry, it'd be kept secret Joseph "Joe" Kerr. Discussing Batman's final letter, Alfred asserts that the story of Batman would always end in tragedy, and that while Batman had the resources to be immortal and escape death as the Joker offered, he was determined to only live in the time he had.

The note is shown, bearing only the word "Ha". It is revealed that Bruce Wayne had been exposed to the Dionesium pool being restored to life with no memory of his previous life.

While sitting on a park bench with everything but being the Batman revealed to him by Alfred Pennyworth he meets a stranger who smiles a lot It is heavily implied that this is the Joker who has no real memory of who either of them was.

While this is all going on Gotham in under siege by an onslaught created by a criminal known as Mister Bloom who Batman had faced before. Thanks to his is talk with the smiling stranger Bruce Wayne realizes he is Batman and forces Alfred Pennyworth to restore to use a machine Batman designed to turn a clone of him into the next Batman. During an investigation into Batman's activities, Hal Jordan and Duke Thomas discovered and accidently released him, leading to a brief fight between the trio.

Joker revealed that Batman was investigating metals, specifically Dionesium and Nth Metal, and he needed to be stopped before it was too late.

He escaped shortly before Batman could arrive. After learning that Catwoman was going to marry Batman, Joker lured them to a church where a wedding was taking place, murdering all of the attenders just before they arrived.

During the ensuring fight, he knocked Batman out and fought Catwoman, which resulted in the both of them being seemingly fatally injured. Whilst bleeding out, Joker asked her whether Batman would really be happy married and if he could still operate, planting seeds of doubt about their relationship.

Eventually deciding to finish her off, Joker stopped tending his injury to retrieve his gun, though lost consciousness before he could shoot Catwoman. It was later revealed that Joker was under the control of Psycho Pirate , which forced him to cooperate in Bane and Thomas Wayne 's scheme to "break" Batman mentally.

When the duo took control of the city, he was one of the criminals patrolling as police officers. After Bane and Wayne's defeat, Joker was contacted by one of his admirers, Alexis Kaye , who sought to join him in his activities. Tutoring her into making his venom, he took her on as his next henchwoman, Punchline, though simply to replace Harley Quinn.

As part of a grand scheme to take over the Wayne fortune, Joker acquired the gas and resources of the criminal mastermind Designer , who he had murdered years ago after an attempted formation of a United Underworld.

Hiring many assassins, he orchestrated loose versions of schemes intended for Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler. However, through Punchline, he organized for the Underbroker to steal from Bruce Wayne's off-shore accounts by tricking Catwoman into doing the transfer for him. The scheme was successful, with Joker gaining control of both Wayne Enterprises and Batman's resources.

Using it, Joker waged an endless war of destruction in Gotham, targeting every "civil citizen" with an endless army of goons and henchmen. He also acquired a prototype Batsuit, which he stylized into his own fashion. Joker himself also collected all the corpses of the people he'd killed in fights with Batman, leaving them within the Monarch Theatre for him to discover and reanimate with the Designer's Gas.

He also used the corpse of Alfred Pennyworth as one of these puppets, simply as a final resort to get under Batman's skin. Joker's fight gradually forced Batman to call the entire Batman Family to round up all the criminals and take away his illegally acquired resources. In a final confrontation at Ace Chemicals, Joker overpowered and defeated Batman.

Before he could kill him, Joker was shot in the eye by Harley, subduing him. Tied to a post, Harley attached bombs to herself and Joker, telling Batman to choose between who he was going to save.

Though Joker believed he'd chose him, Batman ultimately chose to save her, leaving him to die. However, his body was never found at the site, leading Batman to believed he'd been able to escape with equipment stolen from his utility belt. Using their resources, the Jokers each referred as "the Criminal", "the Clown" and "the Comedian" torment the three Bat-Family members and kidnap citizens of Gotham, using the same chemical solution that transformed them into other Jokers.

However, this proves deadly and many of their victims die. After a confrontation at the Gotham Aquarium, "the Clown" goads Jason into killing him.

After capturing and sadistically torturing him, the other Jokers kidnap Joe Chill from Blackgate Penitentiary , forcing him to film a confession to why he killed Bruce Wayne's parents. The Jokers then lure Batman to the Monarch Theatre, with the Criminal threatening to Chill into the same chemical solution and turn him into another Joker. After Batman rescues his parents' murderer, the Comedian shoots the Criminal dead and surrenders without a fight.

In the ride to Arkham, the Comedian reveals to Batman that he is the original Joker and created the others in the chemical vats. Each one had been specifically designed to take on a personality he'd adopted over the years: the Criminal being when they first began their rivalry and the Clown mimicking the more light-heated aspects, though with a sadistic view of the world. The Joker reveals he'd masterminded the scheme so that Batman would forgive Chill for murdering his parents, allowing him to become his sole focus.

Joker also reveals his knowledge of Batman's identity Bruce Wayne and the other Batman Family members, but will never reveal them as it would mean the end of their careers. The Joker commits crimes with countless "comedic" weapons such as razor-sharp playing cards , acid flowers , cyanide pies and lethal electric joy buzzers and Joker Venom , also called "Happy Gas" by the Joker, a deadly poison that infects his victims with a ghoulish rictus grin as they die while laughing uncontrollably.

This venom comes in many forms, from gas to darts to liquid poison, and has been his primary calling card from his first appearance till the present; he is immune to it. He even created his own utility belt to contain all his weapons. The Joker is also very skilled in the fields of chemistry, genetics, and nuclear engineering. In a miniseries featuring Tim Drake , the third Robin, he kidnaps a computer genius, admitting that he doesn't know much about computers.

In future issues, he is shown as very computer literate, presumably meaning that he researched the subject. The Joker has moderate skill in hand to hand combat. Over the years it has been shown that although Batman is stronger, the Joker is faster and more agile. The Joker has been known to be able to hold his own in hand-to-hand combat against Batman, however every time he is subdued by Batman, it is through physical force.

However, the Joker has proven to be very skilled in the area of martial arts as well, this being proven when beating Batman once in a fight without "cheating".

However, this skill in fighting can also be questioned, due to different artists having different interpretations of the Joker. In some cases, he is so weak, that Batman can take him down with a single punch, whilst in other cases, he has proven to be more than a match for the Dark Knight.

The Joker has cheated death numerous times, even in seemingly inescapable and lethal situations. Though he has been seen caught in explosions, been shot repeatedly, dropped from heights, electrocuted, etc. Basically, the Joker's most powerful weapon is his mind and he is a cunning and manipulative intellect. Over several decades there have been a variety of depictions and possibilities regarding the Joker's apparent insanity, of which the following are a sampling:.

Grant Morrison's graphic novel Arkham Asylum suggests that the Joker's mental state is in fact a previously unprecedented form of "super-sanity," a form of ultra-sensory perception. It also suggests that he has no true personality of his own, that on any given day he can be a harmless clown or a vicious killer, depending on which would benefit him the most thus explaining the two very different interpretations of the character that have developed over the decades; see below.

Later, during the Knightfall saga, after Scarecrow and the Joker team up and kidnap the mayor of Gotham City, Scarecrow turns on the Joker and uses his fear gas to see what Joker is afraid of. To Scarecrow's surprise, the gas has no effect on Joker, who in turn beats him with a chair.

In Morrison's JLA title, the Martian Manhunter rewires his own brain in order to think like the Joker, and later briefly rewires the Joker's brain to create momentary "sanity". In those few moments, the Joker seems to regret his various murders and wishes to reevaluate his life. He is returned to his usual self soon afterward. Various DC Comics Who's Who publications state that due to his level of insanity, at times the Joker manifests a degree of superhuman strength.

In an alternate depiction of the Joker called Elseworlds: Distant Fires , the Joker is rendered sane by a nuclear war that deprives all super beings of their powers. In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight , the Joker became sane when Batman put him in one of Ra's al Ghul 's Lazarus Pits after being shot, a reversal of the insanity which may come after experiencing such rejuvenation.

However, the sanity, like the more commonplace insanity, was only temporary, and soon the Joker was back to his normal self. It is to be noted that during the brief moments of sanity, the Joker expressed regret for all the crimes that he had committed and begged for forgiveness. The character is sometimes portrayed as having a heightened sense of self-awareness that other characters do not, such as being aware of being in a comic book. This fourth wall awareness also seems to carry over to Batman: The Animated Series.

The Joker is the only character to talk directly into the "camera" such as in Joker's Wild , where he says "Don't try this at home, kids! The only one who should be aware of such events is Access who fixed these errors in dimensional overlap.

From the media, to the films and his relationship with the Dark Knight, the Joker's personality could be the obvious. The Joker is a homicidal, psychopathic, ruthless, sadistic, maniacal, insane, manipulative, intelligent and diabolical lunatic and master criminal who wants nothing but chaos and anarchy wherever he goes, as well as reveling in the suffering of others. In most speaking roles, the Joker is often given a high-pitched, comical, bouncy, silly, and over-the-top voice that occasionally stoops down to a slight growl, in accordance to his clown-like appearance and maniacal personality, with the only known exceptions being his appearances in Under the Red Hood and the Tim Burton Batman film, both of which give him a comparatively deeper, though still humorous voice.

In several sources, Joker's infamous brutality and insane nature was such that the Gotham criminal element feared him far more than even Batman himself, citing that while Batman was merely scary, Joker was downright terrifying and was even willing to inform Batman of his location just to get him off the streets.

His malevolent, sadistic sense of humor and psychopathic tendency of murdering whoever he wants to depicts him as Batman's greatest foe and not even Poison Ivy or even Two-Face could possibly beat the Joker. The Joker is a genius but uses his intelligence for evil schemes in Gotham. However, he does not have any plan to kill Batman because he is "just so much fun" because he always plays his little "games".

The Joker also likes to corrupt his enemies in various media and that is perfectly shown in the Dark Knight movie, when he manipulated Harvey Dent into getting revenge on those who were involved in Rachael's death just so that he can pledge more anarchy. In the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Batman Arkhamverse, there are two personality sides of the Joker-in the Dark Knight, his diabolically devious side is shown and in the Arkhamverse, his psychopathically ruthless side is shown but in both trilogies, the Joker is sadistic, evil, maniacal, chaotic, ruthless, murderous and rather cunning in his behavior.

He has some on and off alliances and on and off rivalries with Batman's villains, such as Two-Face, Penguin, Catwoman etc. The Joker has a tendency of cheating death and escaping Arkham Asylum in order to create more chaos. At his most harmless, the Joker is still menacing and will endanger lives with no regard for the harm he causes while also pulling dangerous pranks for no reason other than to spread chaos.

At his worst, the Joker would be best described as a living nightmare. A creature whose only purpose is to bring pain and death for his own perverse amusement. In the Dark Knight and possibly for any other portrayal Of the Joker for that matter , Alfred Pennyworth is right about Joker, implying him as "one of the men who want to watch the world burn".

The Joker actually wants to corrupt Batman by causing greater tragedies in his life so that he can get Batman to kill him or make Batman like him. Even though the Dark Knight has shown to be incorruptible and sticks to his moral code of not murdering his enemies and having them receive justice instead, the Joker never gives up because the more tragedies he causes, the more Batman will get angry at the Joker and thus, risk breaking his code. The Joker has a vicious, sadistic and ruthless mind of physically and mentally torturing his enemies or puppets.

The perfect example is none other than Harley Quinn, who has an undying crush on the Crown Prince of Crime as he just uses her for his own diabolical schemes and he always slaps her and belittles her.

The Joker also takes a lot of pride in his crimes, often freely admitting and taking credit for the crimes he commits. In fact, he has done it so many times that usually a surefire sign that the Joker is actually innocent of a crime is when the Clown Prince of Crime actually denies any involvement in it.

In more recent incarnations, presumably due to the popularity of the version played by Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight , the Joker also frequently says "Let's put a smile on that face", or similar phraseology, when about to harm someone physically.

Throughout the evolution of the DC universe, interpretations and incarnations of the Joker have taken two forms. The original and currently dominant image is of a sadistic, fiendishly intelligent lunatic with a warped sense of humor, deriving pleasure from inflicting twisted, morbid death and terror upon innocent people.

The Joker often expressed this pleasure by breaking out into hysterical laughter. In this interpretation, he is a textbook example of antisocial personality disorder. He also was shown to be extremely nihilistic, claiming that all of life is "one big joke," and that all the things people fight and strive for are all one "monstrous, demented gag," and the only sensible way to live is either to descend into madness or to live without rules, and also believing that "one bad day" is more than enough for anyone to turn out like him, even someone who is a paragon of justice like Batman.

In this characterization, he also has little care for his own life and safety, even laughing during instances where his death seemed inevitable, and in some cases has even attempted to goad Batman or another character to kill him usually with the intent of also ensuring that those he was goading end up corrupted in the process. It is heavily implied, especially in sources like The Killing Joke and to some extent the Arkham series, that his nihilism and psychopathy ultimately stemmed from a bad day.

The other interpretation of the character, popular in the late s through s comic books as well as the s television series , is that of an eccentric but harmless prankster and thief. The s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series is notable for blending these two aspects to great acclaim, although most interpretations tend to embrace one characterization or the other.

The Joker also tends to boast about any crimes he commits, to such an extent that it ironically only requires his denial of being involved in a crime to prove he truly wasn't involved in that crime. This was especially evident when Joker allegedly shot Thomas Elliot, where he told Batman that he was in fact innocent of that crime, and reminded him that he doesn't take credit for crimes he didn't actually commit.

The Joker's victims have included men, women, children, and even his own henchmen. A issue of Hitman stated that the Joker once gassed an entire kindergarten class. In the graphic novel The Joker: Devil's Advocate , the Joker is reported to have killed well over 2, people.

Despite having murdered enough people to get the death penalty thousands of times over, he is always found not guilty by reason of insanity. In the Batman story line "War Crimes", this continued ruling of insanity is in fact made possible by The Joker's own dream team of lawyers. He is then placed in Arkham Asylum , from which he appears able to escape at will, referring to it as a resting ground between his "performances".

There have been times when Batman has been tempted to put the Joker down once and for all, but has relented at the last minute. After capturing the Joker in one story, he threatens to kill his old foe, but then says, "But that would give you the final victory, making me into a killer like yourself!

Conversely, the Joker has given up many chances to kill Batman. Their mutual obsession is unique compared to other superheroes and villains:. The Joker is renowned as Batman's most unpredictable foe, despite him not having any special powers. While other villains rely on tried-and-true methods to commit crimes such as Mr. Freeze 's freeze gun or Poison Ivy 's toxic plants , Joker has a variety of weapons at his disposal.

For example, the flower he wears in his lapel sprays at any given time acid, poisonous laughing gas, or nothing at all. His most recurring gadget is his high-voltage hand-buzzer where he literally electrocutes his victims with a handshake. Sometimes he commits crimes just for the fun of it, while on other occasions, it is part of a grand scheme; Batman has been noted to say that the Joker's plans make sense to him alone. This capricious nature, coupled with his maniacal blood-lust, makes the Joker the one villain that even the DC Universe's other super-villains fear; in the Villains United and Infinite Crisis mini-series, the members of the villains' Secret Society refuse to induct the Joker for this reason.

In the one-shot Underworld Unleashed , the Trickster remarks, "When super-villains want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories. Cruel and sadistic as he is, the Joker has a human side. Before his accident, nobody thought he was worth anything special, and all he wanted to do was prove his worth.

Now emotionally scarred by life's tragedies, he merely desires to extend his amazing sense of humor to the point where people finally see who he is meant to be — a star. However, with Batman foiling his every comically-ridden crime, he feels he may never get that chance, so he attempts constantly to prove himself to Batman as special, so maybe the Dark Knight will leave him be.

This is a false hope, however, as Batman will always be there to rid the city of turmoil, no matter how much pain it causes the Joker. Also, he even has his own code of ethics and honor, as during the Living Hell arc, he tells Warren White , aka Great White Shark, that he's a bigger monster than he was, admitting that while he is a killer, even he doesn't steal from a child's college funds.

He was also sane enough to realize when he actually committed a crime or not, as evidenced by the Joker: Devil's Advocate arc where he was to be placed on death row because several people had died of Joker venom from licking postage stamps, and he explains even after being sentenced to death row that he considered himself innocent of the crime because even he wouldn't stoop down as low and simply as just placing joker venom on stamps for people to die from licking it, and would have operated on a much smarter level given his credentials of a criminal mastermind, something that even Batman agreed with.

In addition, upon becoming a nigh-omnipotent being from stealing reality warping powers, Joker also plotted to destroy the universe, besides for his own amusement, because he felt a universe that allowed such a being as himself to exist means the universe is inherently broken, implying that he has a great deal of self-loathing for himself and his actions.

A similar hint at this self-loathing nature occurred in the ending for Batman: The Killing Joke : When Batman offered to have him rehabilitated, the Joker, in a noticeably saddened demeanor, refuses and says that it's far too late for redemption.

The Joker's origin is also a focus of much attention. Though many have been related, a definitive history of the Joker has never been established in the comics, and his real identity has never been confirmed. The most widely cited back-story can be seen in Alan Moore 's The Killing Joke , but no recounting of the Joker's origin has been definitive, however, as he has been portrayed as often constantly changing several details about his background, either through willful deception or because his sanity was depleted to such an extent that even he doesn't have any firm grasp of the details of how he came to be other than it involving Batman and it being a bad day.

According to the Joker himself, the three most common origin stories are that he was failed comedian who could never make an audience laugh, a mob killer named Napier from outside Gotham City, and of course, the Red Hood story recounted in The Killing Joke. Virtually nothing is known about Joker's past life, including his real name. As such the Joker has used various aliases over the years. These have included variations on his name, such as Joe Kerr and Dr.

J Reko, references to his theme, such as Mr. Only in movies and cartoons does Joker have an official real name, the aforementioned Jack Napier. Jerome was seemingly insane from birth, while Jeremiah was ultimately corrupted by his brother.

Jerome was all about chaos, while Jeremiah's plans proved much more complex and layered. There will likely never be a canonical origin or true real name given to the Joker - and nor should there be. The Joker's creator Jerry Robinson never intended to reveal his backstory and believed the mystery was way more intriguing, which is probably why the character remains so popular 80 years after his first appearance. A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games — he even arguably had a little bit of talent for it.

He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU - where Hawkeye is clearly the best character - to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

By Padraig Cotter Published Dec 15, Share Share Tweet Email 0.