The Joker (Heath Ledger) "You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are The Joker destined to do this forever." ―The Joker to Batman In The Dark Knight, the Joker is depicted as a maniacal criminal mastermind who terrorizes Gotham City and whose goal is to plunge it into anarchy. The Joker has been described as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy." He was portrayed by the late Heath Ledger, in the role that won him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Contents Biography Origin and Early Life "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger." ―Joker to the Bank Manager of Gotham National Bank No one knows who the Joker really is. Little can be confirmed regarding his early life before he turned to a life of crime. Despite his capture, no traces could be found on his fingerprints, dental records, or DNA General Information matches against the GCPD's databases. Real name: Unknown The Joker's own testimony, while normally quite true when it came to carrying out threats, seemed at times Joker contradictory, and he was known to lie at times when describing past events in his life, more specifically Aliases: Bozo Clown how he got the scars of his characteristic Glasgow smile. One of his anecdotes told of an extremely Joker without his makeup Alignment: Bad Added by Sammeetw inchester abusive and alcoholic father, stating that after attacking his mother with a knife, the blade was next turned on the young man, creating his mutilated smile. The fact that the Joker later referenced his father and his Father Mother Affiliation: hatred of him to a party guest while crashing Harvey Dent's party implies that at the very least, he did have an extremely poor relationship with his Wife father. Another story he told stated that he once had a wife who had her face cut by enforcers of loan sharks. In a desperate effort to assure his wife Thugs that he did not care about the damage to her appearance, he took a razor to his cheeks to produce his Glasgow smile. But the disturbing image Gender-Male Hair-Sandy, Dyed Light instead caused his wife to leave him, damaging his psyche. It is not revealed to what degree these stories hold truth, if any. It is possible that the Characteristics: Green Joker himself is unaware of his true origins. Some psychological profiles of The Joker, indicate that he is insane to such an extent that he literally Eyes-Brown reinvents both his own psyche and history on a daily basis. It is therefore possible that, while neither story is true, he genuinely believed them both as Portrayed by: Heath Ledger he told them. Batman Begins Appearances: (mentioned) In a report filed by the Gotham City Police Department, there were three theories presented for the Joker's origin and identity. The first was that the The Dark Knight Joker was an escaped patient from Arkham Asylum. However, this theory is debunked on the basis that his identity has no basis within any records. The second theory was that the Joker was a former employee of the Haley Brothers Circus, which was documented to have connections with the mob. It is reasonable to theorize that the Joker is a disgruntled former employee that had bad business with the mob. The third theory presented was that the Joker is a former soldier suffering from acute PTSD, explaining his cool demeanor and familiarity with weapons, as well as his devastating effectiveness in various forms of combat. Batman Begins Shortly after the death of Ra's al Ghul, Batman discussed with Lieutenant James Gordon the effect that he had made on Gotham City since his appearance. Gordon then revealed that a criminal with "a taste for theatrics" recently committed a double homicide and an armed robbery, leaving behind a Joker playing card as a "calling-card". Gordon also warned that just as escalation occurs in terms of the police force against crime, so might the scale and style of criminality change in reaction to Batman's appearance. Some time later, the Joker would orchestrate the theft of a large shipment of ammonium nitrate from the Gotham Docks. The explosive chemical was saved The Joker's card. Added by Sammeetw inchester for storage in the Gotham General Hospital and on two passenger ferries some time later. In addition, he also frequently attends the various heists and crimes his gang commits while disguised as one of the accomplices, which is believed to be at least partially where he got his name from (another being that he wears clown makeup to scare people). The Dark Knight Bank Robbery "If you're good at something, never do it for free." ―The Joker Several months later a group of bank robbers, (Grumpy, Happy, Dopey, Chuckles, Bozo and an unidentified bus-driver) under the direction of the Joker, robbed Gotham National Bank which was used as a money-laundering front for Gotham's gangs. The clown mask wearing robbers whittled down their own numbers within minutes in a series of calculated betrayals. Finally only "Bozo" remained, who revealed himself as the Joker to the manager of Gotham National Bank, who had earlier confronted the robbers with a shotgun. In addition, largely because he couldn't resist appearing on-camera, he also deliberately unmasked himself in front of a surveillance camera and posed. The Joker then escaped with the bank's cash in a yellow school bus, concealing his identity by driving within a convoy of other buses, and also leaving the manager at the mercy of a gas grenade stuck in his mouth. Dealing with the Mob "Why so serious?" ―The Joker mocking Gambol. Shortly following the bank robbery, Italian crime boss Sal Maroni mentioned the Joker's recent theft of Mob owned cash to his fellow crime leaders at a business meeting, dismissing him as a threat and saying that he was a "nobody" wearing a "cheap purple suit and make-up." The Joker, overhearing this comment and the plan presented to the Mob by Chinese mobster, Lau, arrived unannounced at the meeting while faking a laugh, as he saw their "so called plan" as a bad joke. The mobsters were at first unwilling to hear him out, and Gambol, one of the crime lords who seemed to take the most dislike for the Joker, sent one of his men to take him out by force. The Joker unexpectedly performed a magic trick by making a pencil "disappear," and embedded the pencil in the table, and shoved Gambol's man head-first into The Joker robbing Gotham the pencil where it indeed disappeared inside the man's head, instantly killing him. The Joker also mentioned that his suit wasn't cheap and that they ought to National City bank, under know this since they bought it, which meant that he used the money he stole at the start of the film to buy his suit. He proposed that it was Batman's interference the alias "Bozo", with Grumpy taking aim at him. that had resulted in idealistic leaders like Harvey Dent rising in popularity, and offered his services to kill him for half of all the money that Lau, an illegitimate Added by Roger Murtaugh Chinese accountant, took away from Gotham for safe keeping. He also warned them that Lau would betray them if arrested, claiming to know a squealer when he saw one. While the Bratva mobster, the Chechen, and Maroni were interested, Gambol, angered by the Joker's lack of respect, attempted to attack him, forcing the Joker to reveal his insurance policy: several grenades hidden under his coat, allowing him to make a quick escape. Frustrated, Gambol proceeded to put a bounty on him. The Joker later took revenge that night by having his men come to Gambol, claiming to have killed the Joker. In a bit of unintended tragic irony regarding the fate of his actor, the Joker's 'dead' body is brought inside in a garbage bag before attacking Gambol and proceeding to tell him the origin of his mouth scars as a way of psychological torture and intimidation, then when Gambol is most terrified and shaken, the Joker proceeds to kill him with the knife. Then with the remains of Gambol's men overpowered and at his mercy, he takes a pool stick and breaks it in half, making it spear-like and says that there is only one spot open at the moment to join his "team", then throws the piece of sharp stick at the middle of Gambol's scared men and has his The Joker presented his calling card to the mob Added by JSquish gang, made up mostly of mentally-ill and unstable vicious crooks escaped from Arkham Asylum who seem to have taken the Joker as their leader, to make Gambol's men fight to the death with the stick until only one is left, and advising them to "make it fast". The Joker's Threat "Harvey, Harvey, Harvey Dent. Oh, 'scuse me. I wanna drive!" ―Joker to his unconscious truck driver Eventually, realizing that Batman had retrieved Lau from Hong Kong and that the police had struck a deal to testify against them, Sal Maroni and the Chechen relented, finally hiring the Joker to kill the Batman. The Joker first kidnapped a Batman impersonator, filmed his murder and hung the body, complete with white make-up and a Joker scars, outside the mayor's office.