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The Joker is the arch-enemy of the Batman and the primary antagonist of the Batman franchise. He first appeared in the comic books in 1940 and has since been remembered as one of the most famous villains of all time. The Joker is a criminal mastermind with the appearance of a clown. In most versions, his appearance is due to falling into a vat of chemicals, but in others it is simply makeup. The Joker's personality has varied throughout the years. In some versions he is a sociopath takes pleasure in killing peoplefor his own amusement, in others he is a harmless trickster, but in others, most notably the 2007 film The Dark Knight, the Joker is a chaotic person whos only goal is to create chaos and prove people can become just as evil as he is. The Jokerhas caused numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including paralizing Batman, murdering Batman's ally Jason Todd and killing Jim Gordon's second wife Saraj Essen. The Joker's real name has never been confirmed.
Comics
Television
Batman
In the Joker's first appearance besides the comics, he was played by Cesar Romero in the Adam West 1960's television series, Batman. He was played by Cesar Romero, and he was one Batman's arch-enemies. The Joker was a former hypnotist that turned to a life of crime. The Joker's weapons were usually harmless, ranging from sneezing powder to squirting flowers to joy buzzers. The Joker was fairly harmless, and his primary goal was to unmask Batman and Robin. He has come close to defeating them multiple times, but they have managed to outwit him each time. The Joker uses strategic plans to escape from prison. His crimes, acording to Batman in the episode "the Jokes on Catwoman", include robbery, attempted murder, assault, battery, mayhem, and overtime parking.
Film
Batman: The Movie
In the film adaption of the Adam West television series, The Joker is portrayed by Cesar Romero like in the television series. He has teamed up with The Riddler, The Penguin, and Catwoman and has formed the United Underworld, and they plan world domination, but not before they dispose of Batman and Robin so they don't interfere with their plans. The criminals kidnap inventor Commodore Schmidlapp to use his inventions, but he is unaware that he has been kidnapped. The Joker and the other members of the United Underworld have taken the dehydrator, an invention that can turn humans to dust. Their plan is to dehydrate and kidnap the United World Organization Security Council.
The United Underworld try to kill the Dynamic Duo by firing torpedoes at them when they are trapped in the Batboat, but they escape and a torpedoe hits a porpoise. After the attempted murder, Catwoman disguises herself as Miss Kitka and becomes Bruce Wayne's love interest to lure him into a trap. The Penguin schemes his way into the Batcave with the dehydrated minions, but they are rehydrated by contaminated water. Finally, the Security Council is captured, but Batman and Robin find the United Underworld and a fight ensues. Robin defeats the Joker by knocking him into the water, and they are captured. Despite winning, Batman is heartbroken to discover that Miss Kitka is Catwoman.
Batman
In the more popular Batman film directed by Tim Burton, The Joker is the main antagonist and is portrayed by Jack Nicholson. His name is Jack Napier in the film. Napier was born in Brooklyn, and at school he proved unstable but highly intelligent. He turned to a life of crime when he was older and was convicted of assault at age
Jack Napier
fifteen.
When Napier was older, he became a criminal. He and his partner mugged a young Bruce Wayne's parents, Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha. When Thomas attempted to protect his family, Jack shot both of them in cold blood, and came out of the shadows and pointed the gun at Bruce. Before he could shoot, his panicked partner convinced him to leave so they could get away. Jack taunted Bruce before leaving him. The experience eventually caused Bruce to become a crime fighter under the name of Batman.
Napier had become the right-hand man of crime lord Carl Grissom. Napier would often toy with a deck of cards. Napier had an affair with Grissom's girlfriend Alicia Hunt, and when Grissom found out, he set Napier up to be killed by a corrput policeman Lt. Max Eckhardt at the Axis Chemicals. Grissom tricked Napier into entering the Axis Chemicals by informing him that he had to steal documents from the plant. The plan failed when Batman entered the scene to capture his parents murderer, and during the fight, Napier killed Eckhardt and tried to escape, followed by Batman, and the criminal tripped and plummetted into a vat of chemica
Napier after the accident
ls. His appearance was altered by the chemicals, his skin turning white, his hair turned green, his lips became red, and he had a permanent smile. Napier lived and was washed into Gotham Harbor by a drainage pipe. Submerged, he stretcehd an arm upward through the water. He soon realized the effects of the chemicals. He tried to get his face fixed by a plastic surgeon, but he failed to fix his permanently disfigured face. Napier tried to let go of what had happened to him, but that failed too. Losing whatever sanity he had left, Napier renamed himself the Joker, declaring that Jack Napier was dead now. He murdered Grissom as revenge for setting him up and went on a crime-spree to outdo Batman. In a metting with the other crime lords, the Joker lied and said Grissom wasn't dead and was just hiding and had ordered him to run Gotham. One of the crime lords, Antoine Rotelli, was suspicious of the Joker, so the Joker terminated him by giving him a hand-shake and electrocuted him with a joy buzzer, horrifying the other criminals. The Joker's minions came out and held the mob bosses at gunpoint. The Joker then murdered Roscoe at City Hall after claiming he was his Uncle Bingo. The Joker took an interest in reporter Vicki Vale and gassed everyone in the building to death except her so he could woo her. At that moment, Batman burst through the ceiling window to rescue Vicki, but the Joker escaped.
The Joker's death
The next day, the Joker surprised Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale and shot Bruce, who survived because he was wearing a bulletproof vest. Batman discovered that the Joker was actually the gunman who killed his parents, and seeked revenge. The Joker had another plan in store, and he paraded out in the streets and threw twenty million dollars everywhere, and the citizens of Gotham rushed out to grab it. The Joker then made a speech while they took the money that he would relieve them of their lives, but they didn't listen. The Joker then released Smylex gas out of his balloons and those taking the money were killed. Batman arrived in the Batwing to save them and kill the Joker in revenge. Taking away the balloons, Batman then fired at the Joker, who shot back with a long barrelled gun and destroyed the Batwing. The Joker kidnapped Vicki and danced with her at Gotham Cathedral while Batman fought his minions and defeated them easily. Batman snook up on the Joker and attacked him, beating him with his bare hands. During the fight, The Joker, Batman, and Vicki fell from Gotham Cathedral, and the Joker tried to knock the two off the ledge they were hanging from. His minions flew a helicopter to the Cathedral and threw down a ladder, and the Joker was about to climb up when Batman tied his leg to a gargoyle that broke loose. The Joker was pulled down by the weight of the gargoyle and fell and died from the fall. Commisioner Gordon and the cops came and found his body.
Gallery
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