The Joker |
|
Portrayed by Heath Ledger |
Statistics |
Full Name |
Joseph Kerr |
Age |
32 |
Height |
6'0" |
Build |
Tall and Lean |
Eyes |
Green |
Hair |
Green |
Factions |
None |
Occupation |
Murderer and Terrorist |
Alignment |
Villain |
Claim to Fame
The Joker is known in psychological circles as a dangerous untreatable case obsessed with the Batman and to a lesser extent, other heroic individuals.
Reputation
The Joker is, well, the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime has quite the name in the underworld community as both an anarchist menace who wrecks organizations seemingly for fun… and, more quietly, as the man to go to if you need someone to disappear and can stomach the risk of talking to him. At large, the Joker has a small but growing reputation as a troublemaker with a taste for blood. It won't be long before the world finds out just how much of an understatement that is.
Biography
The Joker is a legend, a myth, a boogieman story made horrifyingly real. His life before becoming a murderous clown is something of a mystery. When he deigns to answer questions about it, the story changes with each telling. He was an abused child. He was a two bit thief. He was an engineer at a chemical plant who had a horrible accident. It’s possible that he no longer remembers himself who he was before life became all smiles and blood.
It’s impossible to say if it was before or after whatever event caused this man to take up his current criminal career that he acquired his obsession with superheroes in general and Batman in particular. He has something of a love/hate relationship with the Dark Knight. On the one hand, he believes –no knows- that everything he stands for is a sham and a lie. The very notion of an incorruptible hero eats like a canker at what’s left of the Joker’s psyche. On the other hand, the Clown Prince would be very much lost without his nemesis – a shadow without a light.
Since becoming the Joker, the psychotic clown has embarked on a spree of mayhem targeting both legitimate and illegitimate concerns that has ultimately landed him in Arkham Asylum no less than 250 times (curiously, he’s listed as having escaped 251 times). It was during one of these stays that he met Harleen Quinzel. She had come to interview and study him. He made quite a first impression, first appearing to flirt with her and then trying to strangle her. Her reaction intrigued him and he decided against killing her. Over the next few years he slowly dragged Harleen into his world. She helped him orchestrate several of his escapes from Arkham until on the final one remaking herself into Harley Quinn and joining him on his criminal escapades.
One of these ended badly a few years later with the Joker nearly beaten to death by Batman. Harley’s subsequent attempt to gain revenge on the Joker’s behalf tripped a particularly vicious psychotic episode in which the Joker attacked both Harley (pushing her figuratively and literally out of his life) and then the Batman.
Both survived, however, and the Joker went on to commit several crime sprees more or less solo. Sometimes Harley would join him, but more often she was with the ‘Gotham City Sirens’. Occasionally she even worked to thwart him. The situation gnawed at him though he couldn’t quite say why. When at last he could take it no longer he confronted her in a dingy junkyard on the outskirts of the city. The next several hours were quite violent. By the end of it though the two had come to an understanding. One might almost come to the conclusion that she had earned some respect from him. One might be sent to have one’s head checked though, if that were ever voiced aloud.
The Joker and the Harlequin are back to keeping Gotham in –ahem- stitches, but their association is somewhat looser than before, as the latter still associates with the Sirens on occasion. The Clown Prince, though, is as he ever is. The world is a joke, and he is the punchline. All of his routines end with a bang.
|
Character Details
The Joker is not as stable an entity as he is popularly made out to be. That’s actually a quite common feature of madness and even madness incarnate is not immune to it. He seems to have three general phases. During his aloof phase he is cold, distant and calculating. It’s during these times he’s most likely to plan out carefully organized and orchestrated capers. During his manic phase he is wild, violent and most apt to make horrible bloody jokes. There is a place between these two extremes that he inhabits a rather surprising amount of the time. During these times he’s nearly normal if a bit philosophical, though he still has a predilection carnage and mayhem.
Infectious Madness |
Joker has the disturbing ability to bring people around to his way of thinking with a combination of conversation, intimidation and abuse. This tends to affect those that are… weak willed, have weak convictions, weak minded… however you want to put it. Those of stronger will are frequently immune, though it hasn't prevented him from kidnapping people in the past and trying, just to make sure. |
Chemical Arsenal |
The Joker is fond of chemical substances that deprive their victims of control in some manner - such as laughing gas - or that distort their perceptions of reality making them, in effect, as mad as he is. LSD, MDMA and other more exotic chemicals like the supposed "Joker Venom" all find use at his hands at times. Not fear gas though. That's Crane's gag and the Joker is nothing if not original. How he gets - or possibly makes - them is something of a mystery, but he doesn't to have any trouble using them often and in occasionally massive amounts. |
Armaments of Insanity |
The Joker has evinced an ability to get his hands on… lots of things sane people don't want a madman to have. Guns. Knives. Explosives. RPG's. Cable guns. It's not really clear how he does, but you can count on him to include at least one thing you really wish he didn't have in his arsenal. |
Swinging For The Fences |
It's probably a stretch to call Joker a trained hand to hand combatant… but as anyone who's physically tangled with him can tell you, the man can fight. And he fights dirty. Any trick, any advantage he can gain he will. Couple that with just enough legitimate fighting moves to make one wonder about his background and the result is an unpredictable fighter who is exceedingly dangerous if underestimated. |
Limits Are For Quitters |
An often observed trait of the drugged or insane is the ability to ignore their bodies natural limits and accomplish physical feats. The Joker has this ability in -heh- spades. To a point, a point far past what a rational observer might expect, he can push himself to ignore pain, injury and fatigue. He's also shockingly strong. Not superhumanly so, but most certainly strong enough to constantly surprise. |
Vanishing Act |
Whether disappearing down an endless chasm, presumed to be dead in a fiery explosion or just locked away (again) in Arkham Asylum, the Joker just keeps coming back. He's an escape artist extraordinaire and has the Devil’s own luck. Until his corpse is cooling in the city morgue (and possibly not even then) the people of the Tri-City area (mostly Gotham) will have to endure his spree of lethal pranks. |
Toxic Personality |
Possibly related to his frequent use of toxins both deadly and less than deadly, the Joker appears to be immune to most, if not all, forms of toxin and drug, especially the ones he wields himself. As a side effect of this immunity, or possibly vice versa, his blood is ridiculously toxic. Skin to skin contact is not recommended. |
Deviant Brilliance |
The Joker is, absolutely no question, batshit insane. He is, however, also exceedingly cunning, very intelligent and his insanity often works out to his advantage, allowing him to plot courses of action his sanity bound opponents would never consider. The net result is that he's very hard to predict and it can be difficult to suss out what his endgame is until the match is well under way. |
Bring In The Clowns |
One advantage of being so insanely charismatic (literally, in many cases) is that the Joker never has a shortage of people to do his bidding. Whether placing a bomb on a ferry, hiding a weapons cache or simply participating in a brute force bank robbery, the Joker never lacks for minions when he wants them, and can appear to be in many places at once thanks to their efforts. |
Rogues Gallery |
Some friends are more special than others. The Joker isn't above working with those who can stand or use his particular brand of insanity. Double crosses are common when working with others of his ilk but while the partnership lasts, sorrows abound for their unfortunate victims. |
Joy Buzzers |
Joker has an odd predilection for clown themed tricks of the dangerous variety. Shoes that spring knife blades, gag flowers squirting toxins or acids, electrocuting joy buzzers… It's funny to him. It's… less funny to his prank victims. |
Watch Dogs |
The Joker has a pair of Hyenas… well, had a pair of Hyenas. The damn things listen to Harley now more than him, but he did train them and they do play the most wonderful pranks on people when he can get them to listen. |
The Batman |
The Joker knows about the Batman. Oh, not the details most people think are important. He doesn't know the Batman's real name, where he lives, who he dates (as if) or any of that. He does know what the Batman stands for though. He's a symbol of incorruptibility in an increasingly corrupt world, and a promise of swift vengeance for the weak. The Joker can't stand it. He can't stand the upright caped crusader because he knows it's a lie. The world cannot support a legend like the Batman and one day he'll show the world how right he is. How right he's always been. |
Dishonor Among Thieves |
There's no shortage of powerful, unscrupulous people out there who would like to see the Joker dead and they're not just on the side of the law either. The Clown Prince of Crime is a menace to anything organized and this applies to cartels and mafia syndicates as much as to society at large. Moreover many people who sometimes work with him are inclined to backstab or one up him and the Joker is more than happy to return the favor. |
Fey Moods |
The Joker is prone to changing ‘moods’ rather suddenly which can sometimes upset his plans, particularly when he goes from aloof to manic. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to his sudden shifts in psyche, but they are if nothing else quite terrifying in their abruptness. |
Stick It To The Man |
Organization rankles the Joker something fierce. The natural tendency of the world is toward disorder, after all. The Joker is merely an agent of natural chaos. As such an agent he has a tendency to go after highly visible symbols or agents of the lies and delusions that are order and justice be they places, people or things and that's quite aside from his compulsion to attack such systems outright. |
Mad As A March Hare |
Actually, march hares are quite sane compared to this guy. He’s insane. Completely and utterly insane and sometimes that works against him. His logic will dictate courses of action that just don’t make a lot of sense and expose him to more risk than is necessary, often to make a flashy point or make sure people understand exactly who is terrorizing them. |
Sadist |
The Joker likes causing pain. A lot. He likes causing pain so much that he will frequently keep ‘fun’ opponents alive just to watch their suffering when it would be more prudent to orchestrate their death or maiming. His victims may not see this as a flaw, but it keeps them alive to get their revenge. |
Harlequin's Spell |
The Joker has some kind of attachment to Harley Quinn. She seems to touch a place in his madness and he makes an effort to keep her around. It’s possible that some twisted part of his soul cares for her though it’s probably unwise to bet on that. What is certain is that he will go to lengths to recover her if she’s taken from him even if he was the one that put her in that position in the first place. And the lengths to which he will go are frequently quite destructive. Were someone to actually win her affections away from him the results would likely be very, very violent. |
Relationships
Image |
Name |
Relation |
Information |
|
Character Name |
Friend |
Insert a description of the relationship here. |
Notes
This section is optional. You can delete it.
Character Gallery
Logs
Intro to Insanity
December 30 2014: Evelyn runs into the Joker in New York
(log: 20141230-intro-to-insanity | tags: evelyn joker | posted: 01 Jan 2015 10:30)
The Jokes On Babs
December 22, 2014: The Joker is in Gotham and crosses Bab's path… what transpires….
(log: 20141222-thejokesonbabs | tags: david_ironheart gotham joker oracle robin | posted: 23 Dec 2014 05:37)
Gone to Ground
December 11 2014: SHIELD and Melinda May attempt to prevent the Joker and Harley from going to ground.
(log: 20141211-gone-to-ground | tags: harley joker shield the_cavalry | posted: 12 Dec 2014 12:33)
Breakout
December 11 2014: Joker and Harley decide they're past due to leave Arkahm
(log: 20141211-breakout | tags: harley joker | posted: 12 Dec 2014 12:29)
Funhouse Mirror
November 20 2014: The Joker and Harley Quinn take on… sanity.
(log: 20141120-funhouse-mirror | tags: gotham harley joker | posted: 22 Nov 2014 02:07)
Tears Of A Clown
<November 19, 2014>: The Joker put Tim in the hospital. Vorpal is determined to return the favor.
(log: 20141119-tears-of-a-clown | tags: gotham joker titans vorpal | posted: 19 Nov 2014 08:46)
Punchline
November 17 2014: Tim encounters the Joker. It goes very, very badly.
(log: 20141117-punchline | tags: joker oracle robin the_cavalry | posted: 18 Nov 2014 07:59)
Date Night Ruined
November 10, 2014: Arthur and Mera go to a surface restaurant to sample some chowder, and various elements ruin dinner. For everyone.
(log: 20141110-date-night-ruined | tags: aquaman aquawoman baroness joker storm | posted: 11 Nov 2014 08:40)
Paint the Town Red
October 04 2014: Joker tells Harley she has an impersonator.
(log: 20141004-paint-the-town-red | tags: harley joker | posted: 17 Oct 2014 00:27)
Chaos at Cold Stone
October 3, 2014: Ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery turns to chaos; takes place after Holy Suicidal Sidekicks Batman!
(log: 20141003-chaos-at-cold-stone | tags: darce joker robin the_cavalry wolverine | posted: 11 Oct 2014 14:28)
Upping the Ante
September 09 2014: Harley is unhappy with the size of her bounty.
(log: 20140909-upping-the-ante | tags: harley joker | posted: 10 Sep 2014 00:25)
It's A Gas
September 8, 2014: Vorpal knows better than to go into Gotham looking for the Joker. That doesn't seem to stop fate, though.
(log: 20140908-it-s-a-gas | tags: gotham joker vorpal | posted: 08 Sep 2014 07:29)
Blood in My Eyes
August 21st, 2014: Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and the Joker rescue Catwoman before Batman puts her in Blackgate. (Backdated scene - 9/14/14)
(log: 20140821-blood-in-my-eyes | tags: batman catwoman gotham harley joker poison-ivy | posted: 15 Sep 2014 03:45)
Tricky Treats
August 18 2014: When the Joker decides to be helpful, worry.
(log: 20140818-tricky-treats | tags: fleece joker | posted: 20 Aug 2014 08:44)
Kill Bruce: Joker Edition
August 14 2014: The Eraser approaches Joker about killing Bruce Wayne
(log: 20140814-kill-bruce:joker-edition | tags: eraser joker | posted: 15 Aug 2014 10:03)
The Old Bait and Switch
August 08 2014: Recovering at one of their Hideouts, Joker plans and Harley tries to get his attention
(log: 20140808-the-old-bait-and-switch | tags: harley joker | posted: 10 Aug 2014 21:29)
Why So Circus?
August 1st, 2014: (Bullet to the Face Gag, pt.3) Yet another hit on the Joker and Harley by the likes of the Taskmaster and the Javelin, caught in the crossfire is one unfortunate Amy.
(log: 20140801-why-so-circus | tags: amy gotham harley javelin joker taskmaster | posted: 01 Aug 2014 22:29)
Zoo Zig
July 24, 2014: (Bullet to the Face Gag, pt.2) The Joker and Harley Quinn have a bounty on their heads. Who would be crazy enough to try and cash in on it, though? (Language and violence warning.)
(log: 20140724-zoo-zig | tags: domino gotham harley joker tempest | posted: 25 Jul 2014 13:53)
Bullet to the Face Gag (pt.1)
July 18th, 2014: After the transmission of a contract hit on the Joker - Black Cell mercenaries and Deathstroke the Terminator show up to take the Ace of Knaves down. Batman intervenes with some help from the Catwoman. (Part one of the Clown Hunt - Emits by Batman).
(log: 20140718-bullet-to-the-face-gag-pt-1 | tags: batman catwoman deathstroke gotham joker | posted: 19 Jul 2014 13:41)
New York City Mayhem
July 16 2014: The Joker and Harley lure an odd assortment of heroic types into an elaborate, and deadly trap
(log: 20140716-new-york-city-mayhem | tags: constantine dragnet dragon harley joker the_cavalry | posted: 19 Jul 2014 05:58)
Back to: Current Cast
|