"City villains the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman. Jack Nicholson played the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 film ""Batman"". The ""Newsweek"" review of the film stated that the best scenes are due to the surreal black comedy portrayed in the Joker. In 2003, American Film Institute ranked Nicholson's performance #45 on their list of 50 greatest film villains. Hugo Blick and David U. Hodges play younger versions of the character in flashbacks in ""Batman"" and ""Batman Forever"", respectively. In the film, Jack Napier is the right-hand man of mob boss Carl Grissom prior to his transformation into the Joker. During"
"Joker (character) The Joker is a fictional supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book ""Batman"" (April 25, 1940), published by DC Comics. Credit for the Joker's creation is disputed; Kane and Robinson claimed responsibility for the Joker's design, while acknowledging Finger's writing contribution. Although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman. In his comic book appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal"
"Joker (The Dark Knight) The Joker is a fictional character who appears in Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film ""The Dark Knight"". Based upon the DC Comics character of the same name, he was played by Australian actor Heath Ledger. A psychopathic mass murderer with a sadistic sense of humor, the Joker attempts to undermine the efforts of Batman (Christian Bale), James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to rid Gotham City of crime. The character embodies themes of chaos, anarchy and obsession: throughout the film, he expresses a desire to upset social order through crime, and defines himself"
"and poses as 'Joker Junior', claiming to be the original's protege. The Joker kills the second Batman (an adult Dick Grayson) before revealing his true identity to the police as he gloats about how he has finally killed Batman, but Bruce Junior, Bruce Wayne's son and Grayson's Robin, manages to switch costumes with his mentor to create the impression that the Joker killed Robin rather than Batman. In 1975 Grayson's spirit attacks the Joker in an attempt to kill him, but the spirit of the deceased Alfred Pennyworth convinces Grayson to pass on as the Joker can be no threat"
"Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's performance in ""The Dark Knight"". Joker (The Dark Knight) The Joker is a fictional character who appears in Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film ""The Dark Knight"". Based upon the DC Comics character of the same name, he was played by Australian actor Heath Ledger. A psychopathic mass murderer with a sadistic sense of humor, the Joker attempts to undermine the efforts of Batman (Christian Bale), James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to rid Gotham City of crime. The character embodies themes of chaos, anarchy and obsession: throughout the film, he expresses"
"Joker in other media The Joker, the archenemy of the fictional superhero Batman, has appeared in various media. WorldCat (a catalogue of libraries in 170 countries) records over 250 productions featuring the Joker as a subject, including films, television series, books, and video games. Live-action films featuring the character are typically the most successful. The Joker has been portrayed by Cesar Romero in the 1966 ""Batman"" television series, Jack Nicholson in the 1989 film ""Batman"", Heath Ledger in the 2008 film ""The Dark Knight"", Jared Leto in the 2016 film ""Suicide Squad"", and Cameron Monaghan in the 2014 television series"
"referenced in a number of media. The Joker has been adapted to serve as Batman's adversary in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations, including the 1960s ""Batman"" television series (played by Cesar Romero) and in films by Jack Nicholson in ""Batman"" (1989); Heath Ledger in ""The Dark Knight"" (2008); Jared Leto in ""Suicide Squad"" (2016); and Joaquin Phoenix in ""Joker"" (2019). Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, and others have provided the character's voice. Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, but their accounts of the character's conception differ, each providing his own version of events."
"down Joker's throat. With a recording of the beating leaking and the Batmobile causing huge collateral damage, debate is sparked over whether Batman is doing more harm than good. Barbara and Dick learn Bruce's violence stems from Alfred being near death, kept alive only by Freeze Tech. Joker, now stable and using his real name Jack Napier, wins a case against GCPD for insufficient evidence and for non-intervention in his beating. Freed, Napier visits Harley Quinn, who attacks him and insists he's not himself. Saved by a second Harley, Napier learns she is the original but was replaced: with Joker's"
"to the motion picture and television industry, Romero has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor, singer, dancer and vocal artist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and the Joker on the ""Batman"" television series, who was included in ""TV Guide's ""2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. Cesar Julio Romero Jr. was born"
"with the Scarecrow and provides a military presence in the evacuated Gotham City during the events of ""Batman: Arkham Knight"". Towards the end of the game's main story, it is revealed that his true identity is Jason Todd, the former and second Robin, who was thought to have been killed years earlier by Batman's nemesis, the Joker. He is voiced by Troy Baker. In an interview with Newsarama, when asked if the Arkham Knight was either an entirely new character or simply new to the """" series, Rocksteady Studios developer Dax Ginn responded with, ""Completely original. Batman has not encountered"
"survived his fall and became the Joker), ""Batman"" #450 (in which the Joker dons the Red Hood to aid his recovery after the events in ""A Death in the Family"", but finds the experience too traumatic) and ""Death of the Family"". Other stories have expanded on this origin; """" explains that the Joker's wife was murdered by a corrupt policeman working for the mobsters, and ""Payback"" gives the Joker's first name as ""Jack"". However, the Joker's unreliable memory has allowed writers to develop other origins for the character. ""Case Study"", a Paul Dini-Alex Ross story, describes the Joker as a"
"the Joker) who makes a bid at a secret auction for Batman's identity held by Professor Hugo Strange. He captures and tortures Strange to make him divulge it. Strange resists, however, and apparently dies in the process. Even though he has the body disposed of, Thorne is haunted by strange visions and sounds of Strange. After failing in his campaign against Batman and spending some time in hiding, he secretly returns to Gotham (""Detective Comics"" #507, October 1981). He gets the corrupt Hamilton Hill elected as Mayor, and then has his puppet fire Police Commissioner James Gordon in favor of"
"the Joker. Batman refuses, arguing that if he allows himself to kill the Joker, he will not be able to stop killing other criminals. The Joker kills Alexander Luthor in ""Infinite Crisis"" (2005) for excluding him from the Secret Society of Super Villains, which considers him too unpredictable for membership. In Morrison's ""Batman and Son"" (2006), a deranged police officer who impersonates Batman shoots the Joker in the face, scarring and disabling him. The supervillain returns in ""The Clown at Midnight"" (2007) as a cruel, enigmatic force who awakens and tries to kill Harley Quinn to prove to Batman that"
"villain, shortly after Batman's debut in ""Detective Comics"" #27 (May 1939). The Joker initially appeared as a remorseless serial killer, modeled after a joker playing card with a mirthless grin, who killed his victims with ""Joker venom"": a toxin which left their faces smiling grotesquely. The character was intended to be killed in his second appearance in ""Batman"" #1, after being stabbed in the heart. Finger wanted the Joker to die because of his concern that recurring villains would make Batman appear inept, but was overruled by then-editor Whitney Ellsworth; a hastily drawn panel, indicating that the Joker was still"
"him before making his announcement and Claridge dies with a ghastly grin on his face; Batman eventually defeats him, sending him to prison. The Joker commits whimsical, brutal crimes for reasons that, in Batman's words, ""make sense to him alone"". ""Detective Comics"" #168 (1951) introduced the Joker's first origin story as Red Hood: a criminal who, during his final heist, vanishes after leaping into a vat of chemicals to escape Batman. His resulting disfigurement led him to adopt the name ""Joker"", from the playing card figure he came to resemble. The Joker's Silver-Age transformation into a figure of fun was"
"Batman, Robin and the Mystery Inc. gang. The Joker appears in """" (1985–1986) episode ""The Wild Cards"", voiced by Frank Welker. He assists Darkseid by disguising himself as Ace, the leader of the Royal Flush Gang. The Joker appears in various animated series set within the DC animated universe, voiced by Mark Hamill, who is often credited as the iconic voice of the character because of his wide range of ""joyful, gleeful, maniacal, [...] malevolent and evil laughs."" The Joker first appeared in """" (1992–1995). The show is notable for introducing his sidekick and lover, Harley Quinn, to such popularity"
"criminals, the two masked crimefighters share a romantic interlude, before Batman takes Canary home, with Vanzetti bound and gagged in the Batmobile's trunk. Batman and Dick manage to force from Jocko-Boy the name of the person who hired him: the Joker. Dick wants to fight crime with Batman, but Batman says he needs a secret identity. After Batman leaves the cave to dump Jocko-Boy in the river, then he encounters Green Lantern, and addresses him by his surname, Jordan, bewildering Lantern as to how he knew his true identity. Batman gives Jordan an address to meet him at in twelve"
"hero trying to defeat the era's tyrannical Batman. In some stories, the Joker is someone else entirely; ""Flashpoint"" features Batman's mother Martha Wayne as the Joker in response to her son's murder, and in """" Lex Luthor becomes the Joker in a world where Superman is Batman. Renowned as Batman's greatest enemy, the Joker is known by a number of nicknames, including the Clown Prince of Crime, the Jester of Genocide, the Harlequin of Hate, and the Ace of Knaves. During the evolution of the DC Universe, interpretations and versions of the Joker have taken two forms. The original, dominant"
"for the Joker's creation. He said he created the character as Batman's larger-than-life nemesis when extra stories were quickly needed for ""Batman"" #1, and he received credit for the story in a college course: Finger provided his own account in 1966: Although Kane adamantly refused to share credit for many of his characters (and refuted Robinson's claim until Kane's death), many comic historians credit Robinson with the Joker's creation and Finger with the character's development. By 2011, Finger, Kane, and Robinson had died, leaving the story unresolved. The Joker debuted in ""Batman"" #1 (Spring 1940) as the eponymous character's first"
"Jungian perspective to assert that Batman appeals to our own need to face our ""shadow selves"". Batman Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in ""Detective Comics"" #27, in 1939. Originally named the ""Bat-Man"", the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective. Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and owner of Wayne Enterprises. After witnessing the murder of his parents"
"Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor, singer, dancer and vocal artist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in costume dramas, characters in light domestic comedies, and the Joker on the ""Batman"" television series, who was included in ""TV Guide's ""2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. Cesar Julio Romero Jr. was born in New York City on February 15, 1907, the son of Cesar Julio Romero Sr. and Maria"
"Batman Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in ""Detective Comics"" #27, in 1939. Originally named the ""Bat-Man"", the character is also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective. Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and owner of Wayne Enterprises. After witnessing the murder of his parents Dr. Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne as a child, he swore vengeance against criminals, an oath"
"The most common interpretation of the character is that he is disguised as the criminal Red Hood, and pursued by Batman. The Joker falls into a vat of chemicals which bleaches his skin, colors his hair green and his lips red, and drives him insane. The reasons why the Joker was disguised as the Red Hood, and his identity before his transformation have changed over time. The character was introduced in ""Batman"" #1 (1940), in which he announces that he will kill three of Gotham's prominent citizens (including Mayor Henry Claridge). Although the police protect Claridge, the Joker had poisoned"
"The character has joined supervillain groups like the Injustice Gang and the Injustice League, to take on superhero groups like the Justice League. The Joker is considered one of, if not the most-recognizable and iconic fictional characters in popular culture (Batman's arguable equal), one of the best comic villains, and one of the greatest villains of all time. The character was well-liked following his debut, appearing in nine out of the first twelve ""Batman"" issues, and remained one of Batman's most popular foes throughout his publication. The character is considered one of the four top comic book characters, alongside Batman,"
"Joe Randa Joseph Gregory Randa (; born December 18, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball player. He was primarily a third baseman during his career. His nickname is ""The Joker"" due to his resemblance to the comic book character in ""Batman"" and his ever-present smile, especially during his plate appearances. It was given to him by Tony Muser, the Kansas City Royals manager during Randa's second tour with the ballclub. This had resulted from Muser having to constantly answer questions about why Randa was always smiling. ""I'd tell them that's not a smile, it's his normal look"", Muser explained."
"Jerry Robinson Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and the Joker and for his work on behalf of creators' rights. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004. Jerry Robinson was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Mae and Benjamin Robinson. He was of Russian-Jewish descent. He attended Columbia University, but did not graduate. Robinson was a"
"Jokerz The Jokerz is the name of a fictional street gang in the DC animated universe featured in ""Batman Beyond"". The elements of the Jokerz later crossed over into the mainstream comics. The Jokerz are a notorious street gang 35 years in the future of Gotham City that take their inspiration from the supervillain Joker, who had mysteriously disappeared for decades following his final battle with the original Batman. They tend to dress in clownish costumes and make-up (similar to the later real-life Juggalo gangs), as did their namesake, but have none of the style or humor of the original."
"of media, including television series, animated and live-action films. WorldCat (a catalog of libraries in 170 countries) records over 250 productions featuring the Joker as a subject, including films, books, and video games, and Batman films featuring the character are typically the most successful. The character's earliest on-screen adaptation was in the 1966 television series ""Batman"" and its film adaptation ""Batman"", in which he was played as a cackling prankster by Cesar Romero (reflecting his contemporary comic counterpart). The Joker then appeared in the animated television series ""The Adventures of Batman"" (1968, voiced by Larry Storch), ""The New Adventures of"
"had employed his own father. Alfred tended to Bruce and Dick, unaware of their alter egos, until one night when they returned from crimefighting, and Bruce had been injured. Dick needed Alfred's help to attend to him. From that point on, Alfred was entrusted with the duo's secrets. Meanwhile, sorting through headshots of his rogues gallery, Batman points out that many of his enemies hate him enough to do this to him. He recalls The Joker's origin as an example. In their first meeting, at the Monarch Playing Card Company, The Joker was a masked criminal known as the Red"
"Joker is simply ""the Joker"", he believes that Batman is ""Batman"" (with or without the costume) and has no interest in what is behind Batman's mask, ignoring opportunities to learn Batman's secret identity. Given the opportunity to kill Batman, the villain demurs; he believes that without their game, winning is pointless. The character has no desire for typical criminal goals like money or power; his criminality is designed only to continue his game with Batman. The Joker is portrayed as having no fear; when fellow supervillain Scarecrow doses him with fear toxin in """" (1993), the Joker merely laughs and"
"and who takes up his murderer's former criminal identity upon being returned to life by Ra's al Ghul - calls it Batman's greatest failure. Jason also obliquely refers to the Joker crippling Barbara. The man who will become the Joker is an unnamed engineer who quits his job at a chemical company to become a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife Jeannie, he agrees to guide two criminals through the chemical plant where he previously worked so that they can rob the playing card company next to it. During the planning, the police inform"
"the Batman that he would try again to kill Lois, Batman then kills Joker. With the tragedy averted Superman is able to live a happy life with his wife and child. Superman is eventually woken from his dream and forced to contend with a world where the Joker bested him. In Year Four it is revealed that the Joker's name is used by the Joker Underground, a large group of people who oppose Superman's Regime. They see Joker as a symbol of freedom, though this catches Batwoman and Harley Quinn's eyes and they convince the protestors to use a different"
"Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: The Killing Joke is a 1988 DC Comics one-shot graphic novel featuring the characters Batman and the Joker written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. ""The Killing Joke"" provides an origin story for the supervillain the Joker, loosely adapted from the 1951 story arc ""The Man Behind the Red Hood!"". The Joker's origin is presented via flashback, while simultaneously depicting his attempt to drive Jim Gordon insane and Batman's desperate attempt to stop him. Created by Moore and Bolland as their own take on the Joker's source and psychology, the story became famous"