Joker (Earth-One)

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See also Joker, Red Hood for a complete list of references to distinguish between these closely named or closely related articles.

Contents 1 History 2 Powers and Abilities 2.1 Powers 2.2 Abilities 2.3 Strength level 2.4 Weaknesses 3 Paraphernalia 4 Notes 5 Trivia 6 Appearances in Other Media 7 See Also 8 Links and References 8.1 Footnotes

History

The Joker was once little more than a petty criminal who committed crimes using the masked identity of the Red Hood. His career as the Red Hood ended after an altercation with the Batman, which resulted in the Red Hood falling from a catwalk into a vat of chemicals. The chemicals changed the Red Hood's appearance by bleaching his skin, dying his hair green, and contorting his facial muscles into a perpetual malignant grin. The incident also drove the man irrevocably insane. Dubbing himself the Joker, he became the Batman's most notorious adversary. Not only did he prove himself to be the most dangerous of foes, but he also proved to be the most mysterious. Even after countless battles with one another, the Batman never discovered the Joker’s true identity.

Initially, the Joker appeared to be little more than a colorful crook with a penchant for gimmicks, but as the years passed, his crimes became ever more gruesome, a possible reflection of his own increasingly downward spiral into insanity. Although the Joker preferred working alone (a ubiquitous horde of henchmen not withstanding), he occasionally teamed up with criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, and together they matched wits against the "Worlds Finest" team of Batman, Robin and Superman.

The Joker even managed to give the Justice League of America trouble on more than one occasion.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

None known.

Abilities

None known.

Strength level

Average The Joker possesses the strength level of a man his age, size and weight who engages in moderate regular exercise.

Weaknesses

None known.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: None known.
Transportation: Jokermobile
Weapons: Joker Venom, and any number of weapons disguised as props, such as exploding fish or lapel flowers that spray acid. Famously, in Batman #321, he uses a gag gun that at first only shoots out a small flag that says "BANG!," lulling his victim into a false sense of security, but on the trigger's second pull fires the sharp-tipped flag out like a spear and kills the man.

Notes

The Earth-One Joker shares many similarities with his Earth-Two and New Earth counterparts. Their origins, career history, personalities and physical appearance are nearly identical to one another. The establishment of the Earth-One Joker is the result of retroactive alteration to the character’s established published history (colloquially known as a Retcon). The Joker’s actual first appearance as an Earth-One character is a matter of interpretation as there has never been an actual distinction between when the Golden Age Earth-Two Joker ceased making regular published appearances and when the Silver Age Joker was introduced. It is commonly accepted that most appearances made by the Joker from the early-mid 1950s until 1986 are attributed to the Earth-One Joker. One of the major differences that distinguishes the Silver Age Joker from the original iteration of the character is the revelation of his Pre-Joker Red Hood identity. The Earth-Two Joker never adopted such an identity and was known only as the Joker throughout his entire career. The Red Hood origin was revisited for the Modern era Joker in Alan Moore's 1989 one-shot special Batman: The Killing Joke. It is also unknown how much of the Joker’s Pre-Crisis history survived into his Post-Crisis chronology. While many of his earlier appearances from the 1950s and 60s are likely apocryphal, it is reasonable to assume that many of the Joker stories presented in the 1970s-80s are still considered canon as per current continuity.

In June of 1985, the dimension-spanning catastrophe known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths resulted in the collapse of the Multiverse. Earth-One and all of its denizens, including the Joker, ceased to exist and were merged into the restructured Post-Crisis continuity commonly known as New Earth.

Trivia

• The Joker is the first DC Comics super-villain to receive his own ongoing comic book series.

• The earliest canonical appearance of the Earth-One Joker is Batman #85, though it has also been established that Batman has fought the Joker on many occasions prior to that issue. ^[1]
  
  

Appearances in Other Media

The Silver Age Joker made his debut in 1966 in the live-action Batman television series. He was played by actor Caesar Romero and first appeared in the episode "The Joker is Wild". He appeared in nineteen more episodes of the series culminating with an uncredited appearance in "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra". Romero reprised the role of the Joker for the 1966 Batman movie where he worked alongside other members of Batman's notorious rogues gallery played by Lee Meriwether (Catwoman), Burgess Meredith (the Penguin) and Frank Gorshin (the Riddler).

The Joker also appeared as a recurring villain in The New Adventures of Batman. He premiered in the pilot episode "The Pest" where he was voiced by Lennie Weinrib. He was often accompanied by a cackling pet hyena named Giggles. The Joker also appeared in the episodes "He Who Laughs Last" and "Have and Evil Day (Part I)".

See Also

• Discuss Joker (Earth-One) on the forums
• Appearances of Joker (Earth-One) (Chronological)
• Appearances of Joker (Earth-One) (Alphabetical)
• Character Gallery: Joker (Earth-One)
• Fan-Art Gallery: Joker (Earth-One)
• Quotations by Joker (Earth-One)

Links and References

• Joker (comics) at Wikipedia.org
  

Footnotes

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Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of the Batman, or members of the Batman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."