Joker (disambiguation)

The Joker is a serial killer and a super-villain, a dangerous madman who dresses like a clown and commits violent crimes. He is often recognized as Batman's greatest enemy, living in and terrorizing Gotham City, although he spends most of his time in Arkham Asylum. He deems Batman as his only worthy opponent, and although he has passed up multiple opportunities to murder the Dark Knight, he has no such problems with harming other members of the Batman Family, like killing Robin or crippling Batgirl.

In addition to being a deadly and unpredictable physical combatant, he is a brilliant and ruthless criminal mastermind. His crimes require no motivation other than his sadistic desire to show people the meaninglessness of life through pain and death, and the narcissism to see the world remade in his own image. He is constantly adapting his personality and his psychosis to respond to the world around him, sometimes a harmless trickster and at others a brutal mass-murderer.

Various "real names" have been implied or revealed at different points in the character's history—including Jack Napier, Jerome Valeska, Jeremiah Valeska, Arthur Fleck, Jack Oswald White and even Alfred Stryker—but none have been consistently applied to all versions of the character. Although his origins remain unclear and shrouded in mystery, it is also known that prior to the chemical accident that scarred his mind and body, he was the small-time criminal Red Hood. He has also been a member of the Injustice Gang, the Injustice League, and the Legion of Doom.

The codename of The Joker was created by Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger and Bob Kane, first appearing in Batman #1 (1940).