Joker character story. The history of the joker and his best incarnations

• Joker Gang
• injustice league
• Society of Super Villains
• supervillain club
• Arkham Justice League

• Perverted sense of humor
• Mad and genius intellect
• Cunning and deceit
• Extensive knowledge of poisons and explosives
• Immunity to certain chemicals (Laughter's own poison, Scarecrow's fear gas, Poison Ivy pheromones, and others)
• Mastery of handling various weapons
• Leadership skills
• Stamina and hand-to-hand combat skills
• Escape Master
• Agility and Agility
• overreaction
• Excellent actor and impersonator

• Various gadgets stylized as clown props:
  • flower splattered with acid
  • lethal hand electric shock
  • shooting toy gun
  • playing cards razor sharp
• Poison of laughter

Later, the Joker had a partner - the girl Harley Quinn, dressed in a harlequin costume and madly in love with a maniac. He also (according to an unconfirmed version) had a pregnant wife, Jenny, who died in an accident, and the Joker sometimes worried because of her.

New 52

The image of the Joker has undergone some changes in the version The New 52. For the first time here, the maniac-killer appears in Detective Comics, where he is pursued by all the Gotham police. The appearance of the character in the restarted universe has not changed much. After another skirmish with Batman, the Joker is caught and taken to Arkham. A new villain, the Puppeteer, visits the clown's cell. Dollmaker). He announces himself to the Joker's biggest fans and then amputates the joker's face. When Harley Quinn hears rumors about the death of a maniac, she loses the remnants of her sanity and leaves the Suicide Squad to personally see the cut face of her lover in the Gotham police station. Apparently she's looking forward to being able to restore the Joker's face.

Film and television

Movies

"Batman" (1966)

The Joker's first film appearance was in the 1966 film Batman, where he was slightly changed in terms of appearance: now he has light green hair combed into a "ball" and a smile drawn with bright red lipstick. His suit was made dark pink and his gloves purple; the Joker-mobile, a multi-colored van, also appears here. The villain's name and origin story are not revealed; it is also not clear if he can get rid of his make-up, or if it is the result of falling into acid. This Joker is more of a failed comedian than a criminal, and all of his attacks are jokes, not serious villainy.

"Batman" (1989)

The tragic death of Heath Ledger raised two thorny questions at the film's release: whether to show the recently deceased Heath Ledger as a disfigured Joker speaking his catchphrase, and whether to cut the scene where the Joker pretends to be dead from the final cut. This situation was resolved, motivated by the fact that Heath Ledger worked very hard on this role and in any case would be proud and happy for her.

TV serials

Batman

The television series of 1966-1968 is a continuation of the film of the same name. The role of the Joker was continued by Cesar Romero.

Predator birds

The Joker appears in one short episode in the first series. However, the main villain of the series - Harley Quinn, often remembers her "Mr. Jay", without stopping trying to avenge his death and trying to restore his criminal empire. The villain is played by Roger Stonebarner and voiced by Mark Hamill, known for frequently voicing the Joker in animated films.

Animation

Animated series

• "The Adventures of Batman" (The Adventures of Batman, 1968-1969)
• "The New Adventures of Batman" (The New Adventures of Batman, 1977)
• Batman (Batman: The Animated Series, 1992-1995) and The New Batman Adventures (1997-1999) - The Joker is voiced by Mark Hamill
• "Batman of the future" (Batman beyond, 1999-2001) - the Joker does not appear directly, but references to him are given many times: numerous gangs of Jokers (Jokerz), in "Joyride" (season 2, episode 3) shows a cave with a skeleton in a suit Joker.
• "Justice League" (Justice League) - episodes of Injustice for All (2002) and Wild Cards (2003)
• "Shock discharge" (Static Shock) - episode of The Big Leagues (2002).
• "Batman" (The Batman, 2004-2008)
• "Young Justice" - Episode Revelation (2011)
• "Batman: the Brave and the Bold" (Batman: the Brave and the Bold, 2008-2011)

Animated films

• "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, 1993) - Mark Hamill again voices the Joker.
• In the cartoon "Batman and Superman" (The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest, 1998), he became a partner of Lex Luthor. Batman also appeared there, as an ally of Superman and his new lover Lois Lane.
• In the feature-length cartoon Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), the Joker appears in the world of the future after he was considered dead for a long time. And the Joker again wants to defeat Batman, but Bruce Wayne is already old, and the student of the original Dark Knight becomes his opponent. The villain is voiced by Mark Hamill.
• Short film "Batman: New Times" (Batman: New Times, 2005)
• In Batman vs Dracula (2005), the Joker became a vampire. He is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
• An alternate version of the Joker - superhero Jester appears in the prologue of Justice League: Crisis of Two Worlds (2010)
• The Joker is one of the main villains in Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), voiced by John DiMaggio.

video games

Other appearances

• In The Scooby Doo New Movies - episodes "The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair" and "The Caped Crusader Caper" (1972) - There was also a Penguin, with whom the Joker teamed up. Batman and Robin were there too, as new friends of the Mystery Inc.
• In the animated series "Superteam: Galactic Guardians" (The Super Power Team: Galactic Guardians) - episode "Wild Cards" (1985)
• In the animated series "Robot Chicken" - the Joker is parodied several times (season 4, episodes 9 "But Not in That Way" and 14 "President Hu Forbids It"; season 5, episode 9 "Catch Me If You Kangaroo Jack") - in the first and in the third, he is voiced by Mark Hamill, in the second, by Seth Green.

Fan films

Criticism and reviews

see also

Notes

, Nightwing

• Perverted sense of humor
• Mad and genius intellect (approximately IQ 190)
• Cunning and deceit
• Extensive knowledge of poisons and explosives
• Immune to certain chemicals (laugh poison, fear gas, Poison Ivy pheromones and others)
• Mastery of handling various weapons
• Leadership skills
• Stamina and hand-to-hand combat skills
• Escape Master
• Agility and Agility

Later, the Joker had a partner - the girl Harley Quinn, dressed in a harlequin costume. He also (according to an unconfirmed version) had a pregnant wife, Jenny, who was killed, and the Joker sometimes worried because of her.

Joker in films

• Batman (film, 1966) (film and TV series) - Cesar Romero
• Batman: Dead End (film, 2003) - Andrew Koenig

The first appearance of the Joker in the movie was the series of the 60s, where he was somewhat changed in terms of appearance: now he has light green hair combed into a ball, and instead of a frozen smile, the corners of his mouth were lengthened with lipstick. His suit was made dark pink and his gloves purple. In the series, the Joker is more like a clown than a villain. In addition, he acts very weakly here, just following the instructions of the Penguin.

After that, the Joker was only in cartoons and comics for a long time.

In 1989, the Joker returned in Tim Burton's Batman, played by Jack Nicholson. Here he has a name - Jack Napier, the former right hand of crime boss Carl Grissom. Jack fell into a tank of poisonous waste at a chemical plant, and as a result of an unsuccessful plastic surgery, his face was disfigured: a smile froze on it forever. There is no Robin in this movie, and Batman remembers that the Joker killed Bruce Wayne's parents when Bruce was a little boy. The traditional look was retained: green hair, a white face, red lips, an expensive purple suit, purple gloves, and a permanent smile. They did their best with a smile: Jack Nicholson was put on artificial corners of his lips and cheeks, “frozen in a smile,” as makeup. At the end of the film, he was killed by Batman, although the Joker was given much more time than Batman.

In the 21st century, the Joker appeared in a new animated series, and in the cartoon Batman vs Dracula, the Joker became a vampire (like the rest of the supervillains).

Main article: Batman: Dead End

The image of the Joker (Andrew Koenig) in this fan-made low-budget film impressed many and is considered a cross between the images of Ledger and Nicholson. The Joker's appearance is reminiscent of a Nolan movie, but the Joker has brown hair instead of green hair. The Joker character in this movie is a bit of a psycho and was arrested at the end.

In The Dark Knight, the Joker (Heath Ledger) again has no name (besides, he leaves no clues, and his past cannot be known). The appearance is traditional, but distorted: the Joker has light green curly hair, black outlines around the eyes (taken from the comics), dirty purple suit, dark purple gloves and a white face. 2 scars carved in the mouth became a constant smile. Over the course of the film, the Joker gives two versions of their appearance: a bullying father and an unhappy family life, but the true reason is never revealed. The stories are accompanied by the phrase “Why are you so serious?” (in the original "Why so serious?"), which became the tagline for the film. Falling into the waste was abandoned here - the white face of the Joker here is a sloppily applied make-up that is wiped several times during the course of the film. The knife is the favorite weapon of the new Joker: in his opinion, knives provide the closest contact with the victim. Also a hallmark of this villain are dynamite and gasoline. In the ending, the Joker does not die, making the film a prequel.

Heath himself, having closed in the living room for a month, came up with the image of the Joker. He didn't want his Joker to look like Jack Nicholson's Joker. Joker Heath is selfish, with his unsurpassed facial expressions, with an eternal smile in the form of scars, with wonderful intonations of a psychopath. In this film, the Joker shows the whole morality of society. Not Batman, who protects the citizens of the city, but the Joker. Heath Ledger's Joker supplies us with the meaning and philosophy of people like Harvey Dent as well as society. The Joker plunges the city into chaos and plays his subtle game.

Unfortunately, the world will never see such a Joker as he appeared in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger - the actor who brilliantly performed this role, died shortly after filming ended.

The tragic death of Heath Ledger raised two thorny questions at the film's release: whether to show the recently deceased Heath Ledger as a disfigured Joker speaking his catchphrase, and whether the scene where the Joker pretends to be dead should be cut from the final cut. This situation was resolved, motivated by the fact that Heath Ledger worked very hard on this role and in any case would be proud and happy about it.

Joker in video games

Joker in the game Batman: Arkham Asylum.

• In Game Lego Batman: The Video Game The Joker is the main villain and is available as a playable character in "free play".
• The Joker is featured in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe". Its ending states that after the separation of the worlds, the Joker became much stronger. He took over Gotham City and declared himself mayor. Now he will start the Mortal Kombat tournament in Gotham City, where the participants will fight to the death for the entertainment of the Joker. In the end, the winner of the tournament will fight the Joker himself.
• In the game Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Joker is one of Batman's opponents and the game's bosses. Delivered to Arkham by Batman, he starts a riot and takes over the hospital. Constantly appears, leaving both audio messages and video messages. He is Batman's main adversary. In one of the meetings, he turns two of his assistants into intelligent monsters with the help of a mutagen called "Titan" (and in the last meeting, himself). The PlayStation 3 version of the game has the option to play as the Joker. The appearance of the Joker in the game was most influenced by the Batman movie, the comics, and the Batman animated series. The Joker was voiced by actor Mark Hamill, who managed to get acquainted with this character while working on the animated series Batman.

Other appearances

In addition to Batman, the Joker was an opponent of other superheroes. In the feature-length cartoon The Batman/Superman Movie, he became Lex Luthor's partner. Batman also appeared there as Superman's ally and Lois Lane's new lover.

The villain also appeared in the feature-length cartoon "Batman of the Future: Return of the Joker", where he is reborn in the world of the future after he was considered dead for a long time. And the Joker again wants to defeat Batman, but Bruce Wayne is already old, and the student of the original Dark Knight becomes his opponent.

Also, the Joker was in one of the series about Scooby-Doo. There was also Penguin, with whom he teamed up. Batman and Robin were there too, as new friends of the Mystery Inc.

Notes

Joker - The Last Joke Joker - The Devil's Advocate Joker

Joker dc comics, read comics online

The dc comics Joker is a fictional DC Comics supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut Batman comic book issue (April 25, 1940). Kane and Robinson took responsibility for the design of the Joker. Although the dc comics Joker was scheduled to be killed off during his first appearance, he was spared editorial interference, allowing the character to tolerate his enemy, the superhero Batman. You can read comics about the Joker online in Russian on our website.

In his comics, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. Presented as a psychopath with a twisted smile and a sadistic sense of humor. The Joker has been part of the defining stories of superheroes. The Joker has had various possible origin stories over the course of his existence. The most common story involves him getting into a chemical waste tank that bleaches his skin, turning the Joker's hair green and lips bright red. The resulting disfigurement is infuriating. Batman's opposite in personality and appearance, the Joker is considered by critics to be his ideal opponent. Comics about the Joker in Russian online can be read on the site for free!

The dc comics Joker does not have superhuman powers, but uses his expertise in chemical engineering to develop poisonous or lethal concoctions and craft themed weaponry such as a razor with playing card tips, acid spray with lapel flowers. In the 1990s, the Joker became romantically interested in Harley Quinn, who becomes his villainous partner.

Read online comics about the Joker without registration, about one of the most iconic characters in popular culture. The Joker has been included among the greatest comic book villain heroes and fictional characters. The character's popularity is increasing, and various Joker-themed merchandise such as clothing and collectibles are appearing.

The Joker served as Batman's adversary in the 1960s Batman television series (played by Cesar Romero), in Jack Nicholson's 1989 film Batman, Heath Ledger played the Joker in the 2008 film The Dark Knight, most recently Jared Leto played the Joker in the 2016 film Suicide Squad.

Joker dc comics: Creation Story

The Joker debuted in Batman #1 (1940), as the first villain of the eponymous character, soon after in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The Joker originally appeared as a ruthless serial killer, modeled after the Joker playing card with a mirthless grin, who killed his victims. Read online comics with the Joker on our website.

In 1942, the cover of Detective Comics #69, better known as "Double Guns" with the Joker, is released.
The Joker was one of the few popular villains to appear regularly in Batman comics from the Golden Age to the Silver Age. In 1951, an origin story was written for the Joker in Detective Comics #168.

The Silver Age introduced several defining traits of the Joker: lethal buzzers, acid-splatter flowers, cannon gimmick, and so on.
In 1973, after a four-year disappearance, the Joker was revived (and remastered) by writer Dennis O'Neill and artist Neil Adams. Beginning in Batman #251, The Jokers Five-Way Revenge, the character returns to his roots as an impulsive maniac.
The Joker would become one of the most popular DC characters in Detective Comics #471-476 (August 1977-April 1978).
A few months after the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Frank Miller in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986) reintroduced Batman and the Joker into a single story that cannot function without its adversary.

Alan Moore and Brian Bolland published The Killing Joke in 1988, a graphic novel that expands on the Joker's origins by describing his character as a failed comedian. You can read the comic about the Joker "The Killing Joke" online in Russian on our website.

The Joker's first major story role was in The New 52 in 2011, published by DC Comics, and in 2012's Death of the Family by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo. His face was wrapped with straps, wires and hooks, he was also equipped with mechanics and dressed in a special suit. The Joker's face was restored in Batman #40 (2014), concluding the "Death of the Family" chapter, which shows the death of the Joker and Batman.

Joker personality (dc comics)

The main characteristic of the Joker is his insanity, although he is not described as suffering from psychological disorders. The Joker is only able to process beyond sensory information by adapting to it. This gives him the opportunity to create a new personality every day and explains why, at different times, he is a mischievous clown or a psychopathic killer. In "The Clown at Midnight" (Batman #663, 2007), the Joker enters a meditative state in which he evaluates his previous selves and consciously creates a new personality, effectively reshaping himself for his own needs. You can read comics with the participation of the Joker online without registration right now on our online comics website.

Killing Joke (in which the Joker is an unreliable narrator) explains the roots of his insanity as "one bad day". After losing his wife and unborn child, after which he was disfigured by chemicals, he tries and fails to prove that anyone can become like him after such one bad day.

Skills and equipment

The Joker has no inherent superhuman abilities. He commits crimes with various thematic props such as:

• a sharp deck of playing cards;
• Joker is a poison that causes uncontrollable laughter, large doses of which can lead to death, leaving its victim with a horrible smirk;
• police badges with nasty surprises and exploding cigars;
• a flower in the lapel of a jacket that sprays acid;
• an electric shock in the hand or a needle with poison.

It is also worth noting that the Joker has a genius-level intellect, a master of hand-to-hand and tactical combat, a master of escape and is immune to various types of poisons.

Joker in the editorial Jared Leto– his photo film director "Suicide Squad" David Eyre posted on his Twitter in honor of the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of the green-haired villain on the pages of DC comics. Now is the time to compare how Leto's version differs from others that have appeared both in print and on screen. THR brings to your attention the 75-year evolution of the Joker.

Original

The Joker appeared in the first issue "Batman" in 1940. He belonged to pen and pencil Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson And Bob Kane, although it is still not entirely clear which of the latter two designed the character's appearance. In any case, none of them argue that the image of the German actor served as inspiration Conrad Veidt in the 1928 film "The Man Who Laughs"- American adaptation of the novel Victor Hugo.

Golden age

One of the best versions of the Joker is the one that was created Wild Sprang in the 50s. After the redesign, the character became more abstract and cartoony - ideal for the comics of the period when Batman stories were reimagined in a vein of surreal excess.

Cesar Romero

Although Romero refused to shave off his mustache for the role of the Joker in the television series of the 60s with Adam West(on Blu-ray this vegetation looks especially wild and obvious), he nevertheless brought a certain drive to the image and became the main and, what is there, the only incarnation of this character for a whole generation of viewers.

Bronze Age

In the 70s, Batman underwent a major change in hands. Dennis O'Neill, Neil Adams And Jim Aparo. His opponents also endured them, including our sinister clown, who was again given checkers in his hands and allowed to kill - for the first time in a long time.

"Killer Joke"

Perhaps the most famous Joker story of all time is a graphic novel. "The Killing Joke" (The Killing Joke). In the text Alana Moore the character appears in all the glory of his psychopathic nature, and the drawn Brian Bolland the image of the villain is grotesque, insane and truly terrifying. Actually, it was this version of the character that Leto tried to portray in the photo.

Jack Nicholson

Perhaps this is natural, given the star status of the actor, but when Jack Nicholson appeared as the Joker in "Batman" Tim Burton in 1989, he just looked like Nicholson in makeup, not like a skinny comic book psycho clown. However, the filmmakers cannot be blamed for straying from canon and putting the character in the hands of a well-known actor. The fans, of course, complained, but what to take from them if they were then unhappy even with the choice Michael Keaton for the main role.

Animated series

Created in Art Deco style Bruce Timm and design inspired Alex Toth, animated series of the 90s "Batman" introduced the Joker to the world as a combination of all existing images, but at the same time he looked completely unique. The most surprising thing was that the sinister clown was quite skillfully voiced by Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill.

Heath Ledger

Image Heath Ledger, who was the last to appear on screen as the Joker in "The Dark Knight", initially caused a lot of critical reviews. But all those who like to make a diagnosis from a photograph fell silent when they saw the film in its entirety and one of the most powerful villains in modern cinema, performed by the already deceased actor by that time. Ledger has set the bar very high and Summer is in "Suicide Squad" you have to get out of your skin to jump to it.

"Death of the Family"

One of only two significant reimaginings of the Joker in comics in recent years has come from Greg Capullo in the stories the story arc goes through "Death of the Family". There, the character had to literally add an old face to himself after it was amputated. The result was so impressive that the mask with the disfigured face of the Joker began to be mass-produced for merchandising purposes.

In this article, we will talk about one of the most famous comic book villains. His nickname is The Joker (DC Comics). The real name is still a mystery to both fans of cartoon stories and fans of superhero films.

Birth of the Joker

For the first time, a character with that name appeared in 1940 in the first issue of the Batman comic book.

The villain's past is shrouded in mystery. It is not completely clear who he was, what his real name is, whether there was a family. The hero himself each time tells completely different versions of his past. There is an opinion that he no longer remembers who would have been before the Joker himself became a villain.

DC Comics initially adhered to this version: the character was "born" due to a tragic accident. A comedian-loser or robber (versions differ in different editions of comics) in a red cap accidentally fell into a vat of acid. It happened at night, Red Hood got scared of Batman. But after the fall, the unfortunate robber did not die, but was reborn as a completely different creature. It turned out to be a man with snow-white skin, black circles under his eyes, green hair and a frozen smile on his face.

Debut

Some time passed after the acid incident, and a mountain of corpses was discovered in one of Gotham's warehouses. Every dead man had a smile on his face. Then viewers saw a message from a strange man in a purple suit. He promised to kill one of the local millionaires and even named the exact time. This, of course, was the Joker.

DC Comics is the company that created one of the most popular villains. Despite his madness, the Joker is not without some charm.

But back to the plans of this outstanding bandit. As promised, the millionaire died despite the efforts of the police. But that was not all. The Joker (DC Comics), whose photo can be seen in this article, was about to poison the reservoir. It was only thanks to the efforts of Batman and Commissioner Gordon that he failed. The villain was behind bars, and then went to Arkham - a psychiatric clinic.

Career in the underworld

This, of course, was not the last thing the Joker did. DC Comics hasn't forgotten about this villain. On the contrary, it was he who managed to pull off the loudest and most incredible crimes. It is no coincidence that the Joker began to be called the main opponent of Bamten. For the villain, fighting a superhero has become a fun and addictive game of a lifetime.

The Joker became a regular guest of Arkham, from where he periodically escaped alone or releasing all the criminals for the company. The hospital itself became for him a place of rest from the fighting and a headquarters for creating new insidious plans.

The Joker even had an accomplice - Harley Quinn. She dresses like a harlequin and has tender feelings for a homicidal maniac.

Character

So who is the Joker (DC Comics)? The scriptwriters of the company left the secret of his personality undisclosed, but in all colors they painted the character of the villain.

The Joker is a self-confident crazy maniac with a thirst for destruction. Despite his destructiveness, he is very smart, cunning, cunning and diabolically inventive. He trusts no one and is equally cruel to both enemies and allies. But the Joker's favorite enemy is Batman. This is not just a person whom the clown is ready to take revenge on all the time, he is also a worthy opponent. "Games" with Batman give the Joker the most pleasure. With him, the villain can compete in cunning and wit, and not just in strength. In many ways, the Joker's love for cunning plans is due to the fact that in terms of physical strength, he is much inferior to the superhero.

Even if the Joker is on the team, he is not under anyone's control, so he often acts as a leader or organizer. However, those who perceive him as an ally, sooner or later pay for it with their lives. You can not rely on him and employers. The Joker always completes the task in his own way. And not always the new plan does not include the death of the customer himself.

The villain does not know pity and mercy. But his main feature is madness. The Joker is always cheerful and never takes anything seriously. Everything that happens is just a joke, even if hundreds of people are dying around.

Nothing can stop the Joker from reaching his goal. He fears neither danger, nor torture, nor death. However, in those moments when his life is really in danger, the instinct of self-preservation invariably turns on. This is the only way he stays alive.

The Joker quickly navigates in any situation, and thanks to an unhealthy psyche, he is able to make unpredictable, but correct decisions. A villain can turn the tide of even the most predictable battle. In addition, he easily determines the weaknesses of the enemy. You can't expect a fair fight from the Joker. He always has a couple of sneaky tricks ready.

Among other criminals, he enjoys the same authority. In Arkham, his power over other prisoners is limitless.

Capabilities

The Joker (DC Comics) is not an ordinary comic book hero. He has no overt superpowers. His strengths are incredible willpower and a brilliant mind. In addition, the villain is not affected by poisons and torture. The Joker is good at hand-to-hand combat. However, he wins not due to strength, but due to tricks, unpredictability and cunning.

Equipment

The Joker (DC Comics) has no affinity for any particular type of weapon. The only thing is the poison, from which a smile freezes on people's faces after death. The madman also has a passion for all sorts of pranks, turning them into deadly weapons: a 500-volt electric shock on the hand for the last handshake, sharp playing cards, fake pistols that turn out to be deadly, etc.

In general, the Joker is one of the most outstanding villains in the DC comics universe.