The Joker: A DC Villain Known By Many

Written by: Arven Keating-Syndulla

The Joker: And All His Tricks

It feels strange that we only now get into this character, after so many blogs. After all, the Joker is one of (if not the) most known villain within all aspects of the DC Universe. Even people who are not big fans (like most of us are) will at least have heard of this character before, maybe even seen the movie. Today we get into all of this. Or at least, the basics. As there is a lot to say about this man.

A Brief History of The Joker

There is many to say about The Joker and all he has been through throughout the years, especially with all the different media he has been in and all the different versions of him. For the ease of it, we’ve decided to stick with the basics of his origin. The general story across all.

It was Detective Comics #168 which revealed the first parts of The Joker’s history before he was actually The Joker. This comic book said that he was a lab worker who eventually turned to crime underneath the name of Red Hood (yes, this does have a connection to how Jason became Red Hood, too). He robbed a factory called the Monarch Playing Card Company where he ran into Batman for the first time, trying to escape but falling into a vat of chemicals in the Ace Chemical Plant. He survived, but the chemicals changed him into the Joker we know.

However, it was Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke which depicted the joker as an engineer at said chemical plant. An engineer quitting his job and becoming a stand-up comedian, trying to support his pregnant wife. He ends up breaking into the plant he used to work at, where he was given the Red Hood name just as a name for every inside man on a job. The Joker hears bad news about his wife and unborn child and, while trying to back out of the plan, he is confronted by Batman. This is how he leaps over the railing and plummets into a vat of chemicals. Transforming him just like in the other story.

There are slight variations of both of these stories, where the Joker’s wife was actually kidnapped and he was forced to join in on the crime because of this. Or where the Joker actually was a terrible person to his wife, instead of loving her like in the ones previously mentioned. Other stories says he was simply bored and looking for a job, when Harleen Quinzel (yes, the one we also all know and love) suggests he fights some action, which makes him absolutely obsessed with Batman. Batman: Zero Year (Volume 2 of Batman) shows Joker as the leader of the Red Hood Gang, who has been inspired by the passing of Batman’s parents, just throws himself into the chemical vat. Then there’s even stories which say the Joker believed the chemicals would extend his lifespan and thus jumps into the vat because of this. Whatever happens, though, the stories always lead back to the chemical vat. Which was the place where the Joker was transformed.

Aliases of The Joker

Having spent so much time in different kinds of DC Comics media, it isn’t strange that the Joker has also been called by many different names. Originally, the actual birth name of the Joker is unknown. However, in most movies and shows he has been called Jack Napier and in the newest movies he goes by the name Arthur Fleck, whereas he’s held the name Jack White in the Batman: Arkham Asylum game. He has also gone around with many variations of his Superhero name, such as Joe Kerr or Dr. J Reko or The Laughing Man. The there are plenty of nicknames, too. The Clown Prince of Crime, The Ace of Knaves, The Harlequin of Hate, and so on.

Henchmen of The Joker

Even the best of villains need others to help them out from time to time. The Joker, even if he works alone most of the time, also has a list of henchmen to help him out. Below, we generated a list for you. Note that some of these wouldn’t be considered his henchmen anymore, nowadays, but they definitely used to be in older media!

- Aces
- Ajax
- Black Queen
- Bruiser
- Deuces
- Duke Wilson
- Harley Quinn
- Jack of Diamonds
- King of Clubs
- Kite
- Lar, Mo, and Cur
- Lefty
- Lewis
- Needles
- Nitro
- Slapsy
- Slim
- Snipes
- Sparky
- Tino
- Mr. Hammer

The Joker’s Powers & Abilities

While the Joker does not have any specific big powers or skills or abilities, he is still rather good at hand-to-hand combat. Mostly because he is more agile and has more speed than Batman has. When he’s defeated, it’s usually only through brute force. The Joker doesn’t seem to care much for a lot of pain and even seems to be immune for most of it, including for tons of poisons. He tends to fight with crazy weapons and even created his own utility belt with those, at some point.

Joker’s Insanity

All of which, might be due to his insanity. Because whether it was the chemical vat, or something completely different, we all know the Joker is a bit insane.

What do you love about The Joker? Let us know in the comments and receive a little gift. Because by share with us in the comments about your experiences and thoughts, you can earn a Limited Edition Comic Book Pack for your collection!