History Characters / DCAUJoker

* AndYourLittleDogToo: His EvilPlan is to create a giant smiley face in Gotham with a KillSat. He intends to start with Wayne Manor, but he also (literally) storyboards that the smile will just happen to take him through Terry's home -- killing his mother and little brother -- and Gotham General Hospital -- killing Dana, who was injured earlier by the Jokerz while they were trying to kill Terry himself. To rub salt in this further, he sarcastically justifies it by saying it will make Terry a more interesting hero once Joker gives him the tragic backstory of killing everyone he loves, which is just another way of the Joker telling Terry he finds him inferior to the previous Batman.
* BadassBookworm: He has developed formidable hand to hand skills since his return and can actually outfight Terry, which differs from his old self who was never able to fight with Batman without resorting to cheap shots and dirty tricks. [[spoiler:This is because he is possessing Tim Drake, who after all was trained by Batman.]]

* DomesticAbuser: The Joker and Harley have what is, beneath the make-up, a classic abusive relationship filled with emotional trauma and physical violence.
* DontTryThisAtHome: He escapes from Arkham with a rather dangerous-looking stunt--tying a rock around a rope made from bedsheets, using it as a grapple to snag a truck passing by the asylum, and using it to pull himself over the fence. He laughs [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall "Don't try this at home, kiddies!"]] before he pulls it off.

* AdaptedOut: His role as the first Red Hood. Instead, he started off as a lowly hood working for Sal Valestra before becoming Gotham's scariest "nutjob".

* AintTooProudToBeg: In both "Joker's Favor" and "Beware the Creeper", Joker gets so frightened of the situation he's in and begs Batman to help him. He even screams out for his foe in the former!

* BigBad: He is the main antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', part of the BigBadEnsemble in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', the more dangerous of the BigBadDuumvirate in [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest World's Finest]] (though he was happy to play TheDragon to Luthor for most of the movie), and a major recurring antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. He's [[TheHeavy the most recurring threat]] out of all the villains, although in terms of scale, he doesn't ''quite'' match it. [[spoiler: Until he gets his hands on Ace or a government KillSat later on.]]

* EvilGenius: Beneath the theatrics and flashy outfits, Joker is extremely intelligent with a great knowledge of chemistry which he uses to make his Joker Venom and is a brilliant GadgeteerGenius. [[spoiler: He boasts of this, with some justice, in ''Return of the Joker'' by pointing out that he used cutting-edge genetics to orchestrate his GrandTheftMe, claiming that he was "years ahead of his time" in pulling of the nearest thing to a science fiction SoulJar]].

* EvilerThanThou: To Lex Luthor. In "World's Finest", Luthor thought he held his strings the entire time and when the Joker failed to kill Superman (though he came closer than almost anyone previously), tries to betray and kill him. This turned out to be an incredibly '''BAD''' idea, as Joker quickly stole his Lexwing and started a plan to destroy everything Luthor had built.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: He causes massacre after massacre and rarely receives any real punishment for it apart from being imprisoned at Arkham. [[spoiler: Subverted in ''Return of the Joker''. After gleefully torturing Robin to insanity in the film's flashback sequence, he's either shot or electrocuted to death (depending on whether you're watching the edited or unedited version of the movie). While he does come back from this in the main story by using a chip to control Tim Drake's mind, he is eventually killed for good when Terry shorts his mind control chip out.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: He very clearly feels none of the pain that he causes others. No better is this displayed than in ''Return of the Joker'', where he [[spoiler: mocks Batman after learning his SecretIdentity from torturing Robin enough to drive him insane ''while showing Batman that he filmed it all'', remarking that Batman's OriginStory "would be funny if it weren't so pathetic," before deciding to laugh about it anyways. When Batman manages to crash through a window and beats him to a pulp, Joker nonchalantly tells him, "If you don't like the movie... I've got slides!" When Batman threatens to "break [Joker] in two", Joker is unfazed, saying that if Batman really wanted to "have that kind of fun", he would have done it years ago. This final comment perfectly displays his inability to understand human emotions, as any viewer could immediately tell from the context and the tone of Batman's voice that there was a very real chance of him breaking [[ThouShaltNotKill his one rule]] this time, but the Joker apparently didn't realize that killing strangers and torturing one of Batman's loved ones might cause him to react differently from normal. Either that, or the Joker just never cared.]]

** Although it's [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', in which he's explicitly shown to [[spoiler: have been the mob henchman who killed Andrea's father before he took his infamous chemical bath.]] "Beware The Creeper" even makes a reference to it, while admitting his identity is still unknown and probably irrelevant.

* SueDonym: In "Joker's Millions", the impoverished Joker is living in a cheap apartment due to money issues. When heading in, he's addressed at the front desk as a "Mr. Kerr", implying he signed his name as "Joe Kerr" when renting the place.

* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: How he circumnavigates death at the hands of Tim Drake.]]

* TooSpicyForYogSogoth: Even ''he'' thinks the Creeper is a lunatic.

* WouldHurtAChild: He planted a bomb at Jordan Hill's birthday party with several children in attendance and then kidnaps Jordan and has no problem holding him hostage and lobbing bombs around with the boy caught in the fray. And of course, there is the time when he used torture to drive [[spoiler: Tim Drake]] insane.

* HateSink: The DCAU incarnation of the Joker was always a monster, but his evil was usually counterbalanced by making him a LaughablyEvil LargeHam. ''Return of the Joker'', however, seems designed to make him out to be as despicable as possible. To elaborate, he [[spoiler: kidnapped then-Robin Tim Drake, [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] and {{Mind Rape}}d him for three weeks, mutilated him, "fixed" him up as Joker Jr., implanted a microchip doctored with the Joker's DNA into his body, and invited Batman over to see his work in detail (which included a home video of the boy's torture labeled as "Our Family Memories"). He then reveals that he's learned Batman's SecretIdentity, ''mocks'' him for it (and for not having the balls to kill him after all this), and knifes him before he tosses "J.J." a spear gun to finish him off with]]. To drive the point home, the Joker's actions in the film were so monstrous that, despite having voiced him for nearly a decade by this point, Creator/MarkHamill actually felt uncomfortable with reprising the role this time around.

** While the Joker knows Bruce almost as well as a best friend [[spoiler: (he did have access to Tim's memories)]] and could predict his actions very well, Terry makes it a point to let Joker know that he doesn't know ''him''. More than that, Terry had an outsider's perspective on the Joker, though with in-depth knowledge from studying Bruce's old files, which meant he could more objectively find the flaws in Joker's thinking and planning without the serious personal history that the original Batman had with the Joker. [[spoiler:Joker's typical strategy of goading Batman and making it personal to cloud Bruce's judgment are utterly ineffective against Terry, who just sees the clown as another stupid criminal. Joker [[VillainousBreakdown doesn't take Terry's disrespect well]]. Ironically, the villain isn't entirely wrong when he furiously shouts that Terry isn't Batman; Terry is ''a completely different type'' of Batman at least.]]

* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Of the "killing people with laughing gas and bombing a whole city is a ''hoot''" variety. But as Terry and King Barlowe point out, he ironically ''cannot'' stand being the punchline.

* IgnoreTheFanservice: To Harley in "Mad Love" and "Beware the Creeper". He even provides the trope image.

* NamedByTheAdaptation: Played straight than averted. The episodes, "Dreams in Darkness" and Joker's Wild" give him the name [[Film/Batman1989 Jack Napier]]", but "Beware the Creeper" retconned it into one of several aliases he used.

* RetCon: Early episodes stated his real name was Jack Napier, but in ''Mask of the Phantasm'' Batman doesn't recognize Joker's pre-chemical dip self for a while. "Beware the Creeper" mentions that Jack Napier was merely an alias and the Joker's true identity is unknown.

* SanitySlippage: Downplayed. While he was always a psychotic murderer, he was cool and collected pre-chemical dip who was loyal to the Valestra mob. Afterwards, he's unhinged, loud, and loyal only to himself.

** Also in ''Return of the Joker'', his reaction to Terry calling his clown-themed MO [[BoringInsult stale]] and mocking his fixation with Batman is [[VillainousBreakdown pure rage]]. After all, a comedian's worst nightmare is TheHeckler. Joker loves to hear himself laugh even if others don't care, but he ironically has NoSenseOfHumor as he hates being laughed ''at''.

* StupidEvil: Has a penchant for this, as he's had multiple times when he could have [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just killed Batman]], but instead insists on a needlessly elaborate way of killing him in order to feed his own [[{{Sadist}} sadism]] and [[{{Narcissist}} ego]]. Also, in Harlequinade he gets hold of a nuclear bomb but plans to set it off in Gotham [[ForTheEvulz just because]], rather than bothering holding the city for ransom or anything that would actually benefit him. [[spoiler:Rival mob boss King Barlowe exploits the clown's vanity posthumously with his fake UnexpectedInheritance scam in a final up-yours, knowing that Joker would binge-spend before realizing he's been had]].

* NamedByTheAdaptation: Played straight than averted. The episodes, "Dreams in Darkness" and Joker's Wild" give him the name [[Film/Batman1989 Jack Napier]]", but "Beware the Creeper" retconned it into one of several alias he used.
* {{Narcissist}}: Vanity is his FatalFlaw. He has a truly titanic ego, thinking he's the smartest and greatest comedian, criminal, and person in the world. Even a minor insult will set the clown off.

** He has a much more straight version in ''Return of the Joker'' after Terry dissects his psyche and [[BreakThemByTalking points out]] that while he may be a pretty intimidating supervillain, he's nothing but a pathetic comedian with a childish obsession of breaking the original Batman's stoicism and then starts laughing at him.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Joker always wanted to make Batman laugh. When the new Batman ''does'' laugh, he's laughing at how [[IShallTauntYou lame the Joker really is]].

From then, he rose to become the greatest villain known to the streets of Gotham City (and beyond), ComicBook/TheJoker, "the ''most'' deranged nut-job in Gotham". He is the [[ArchEnemy arch-nemesis]] of Batman and has a penchant for turning all his crimes into a game for his own amusement. He developed a strange toxin called "Joker Venom" (or "Laughing Gas" on occasion) that can cause a victim to literally laugh themselves to death, leaving them with a disturbing grin.

* IronicLastWords: [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker has spent years terrorizing Gotham for laughs. His final battle with Batman has him brainwash Robin into a miniature version of him, with the intent of having Batman's own partner be the one to finish him off. When Robin regains slight control at the last second and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard shoots Joker instead of Batman]], his last words are "That's not funny... that's not..." before collapsing, dead.]]

* RedemptionFailure: In "Joker's Millions", he seems surprisingly content to spend the rest of his days as an UpperClassTwit, until he runs out of real money. Once he learns that [[spoiler:the majority of the money given to him was fake]], he goes right back to crime to try and pay off the IRS without Batman finding out.

* StupidEvil: Has a penchant for this, as he's had multiple times when he could have [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just killed Batman]], but instead insists on a needlessly elaborate way of killing him in order to feed his own [[{{Sadist}} sadism]] and [[{{Narcissist}} ego]]. Also, in Harlequinade he gets hold of a nuclear bomb but plans to set it off in Gotham [[ForTheEvulz just because]], rather than bothering holding the city for ransom or anything that would actually benefit him.

* CombatPragmatist: One reason he's so dangerous in a fight. He'll use all and any resources at his disposal as a weapon, even if it happens to be some random item in the room or one of his numerous gadgets.

* {{Narcissist}}: Vanity is his FatalFlaw. He has a truly titanic ego, thinking he's the smartest and greatest comedian, criminal, and person in the world. Should anyone bruise his ego even slightly, Joker will drop his LaughablyEvil image and focus all his efforts on killing that person.

* LegacyCharacter: Downplayed. He's not the ''actual'' Joker as Bruce remembers him, but rather a clone [[note]] more specifically, a genetic backup of the Joker's memories stored into a microchip and implanted into Tim Drake as a host [[/note]], intended to carry on his legacy in the event he ''did'' die.

* LogicalWeakness: Terry figures out and ridicules Joker's fixation with making Bruce laugh. The repeated insults drive Joker to a VillainousBreakdown.

* PetTheDog: Electing to adopt Tim is this towards Harley, as the alternative would be to have her conceive which... yeah, better to not think about that. Of course, from Tim's perspective it's [[KickTheDog completely the other trope.]]

** His vanity has been used against him twice. Despite loving to hear himself laugh even if others don't care, he ironically hates being laughed ''at''.

*** During their final battle in ''Return of the Joker'', Terry would rile the clown by insulting him so he would [[spoiler:leave himself open for Terry to fry the DNA-altering chip he used on Tim Drake with the joy-buzzer, finally killing him for good.]]

* {{Irony}}: He does want people to laugh, albeit in his own sick, insane way, but as Terry points out, he really sucks at being a comedian in any form.

!!! '''Voiced in Swedish by:''' Per Sandborgh

* ItAmusedMe: Half of the time, he’s only doing whatever he’s doing because he finds it funny. Unfortunately, the things [[{{Sadist}} he]] finds [[KickTheDog funny]] differ wildly from a normal person’s sense of humor.

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Preventing this from happening becomes his primary motivation in "Joker's Millions." Realizing the fortune he got from "King" Barlowe [[spoiler:was mostly CounterfeitCash, the clown is torn between admitting he's been had by a dead man (and become Gotham's punchline), going to jail for tax evasion, or returning to crime to save his image]].

* DontExplainTheJoke: It’s his biggest BerserkButton outside of killing Batman instead of him; he nearly kills Harley for explaining how she improved on one of his death traps to use it to kill Batman. He also flips out when Terry trolls him during their final battle in ''Return of the Joker''.

** Also in ''Return of the Joker'', Joker's reaction to Terry calling his clown-themed MO [[BoringInsult stale]] and mocking his fixation with Batman is [[VillainousBreakdown pure rage]]. After all, a comedian's worst nightmare is TheHeckler. Joker loves to hear himself laugh even if others don't care, but he ironically has NoSenseOfHumor as he hates being laughed ''at''.

** He flings darts at a newspaper's front-page photograph of Commissioner Gordon.

* PsychopathicManchild: Terry mocks him as such during the final showdown. His fixation with the original Batman was childishly pathetic, and once the makeup and the props are gone, Joker was nothing but a stale comedian whose jokes are bland. The clown doesn't take this insult lightly.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: His design in both the flashback sequence (which was reused for ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'') and future era of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' have red colored eyes.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: This version has red pupils that glow in the dark.

* AllTakeAndNoGive: His relationship with Harley Quinn. She has an almost doglike unconditional love and loyalty to him, and he still treats her horribly, including trying to murder her at least once. Even worse, WordOfGod has confirmed that he is a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] incapable of loving anyone, and views her as a useful [[EliteMooks elite mook]] at best.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. WordOfGod stated that Joker is not related to the Dee-Dee twins, although Harley Quinn was.

* MadScientist: At ''Return of the Joker'', he claims to be one. FridgeBrilliance if you think that he must have been creating Joker Venom from common chemicals:

* RedEyesTakeWarning: His design in both the flashback sequence (which was reused for ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' and ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'') and future era of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'' have red colored eyes (which, according to WordOfGod, was a deliberate ShoutOut to ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' along with the slicked back hair on the latter design).

* GeniusBruiser: [[spoiler:The real Joker made (or stole and modified, according to WordOfGod) the device that controls Tim. The Drake-Joker has the combined intellect of both the regular Joker AND Tim Drake, who in addition to being a highly-trained crimefighter went on to become a satellite engineer.]]

* PetTheDog: Electing to adopt Tim is this towards Harley, as the alternative would be to have her conceive which... yeah, [[UnfortunateImplications better to not think about that]]. Of course, from Tim's perspective it's [[KickTheDog completely the other trope.]]

** A TV example where he throws a pie on his own TV as if he's hitting the Mayor's face.

* KilledOffForReal: In a subversion of [[JokerImmunity the very trope named after him]], the Joker eventually got this treatment in the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''. Yes, having proven himself as much of a survivor as his comic book counterpart and every bit the "no one" in NoOneCouldSurviveThat. [[spoiler:''Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' took the big leap and put him down once and for all via killing him twice. First, his body was destroyed and buried deep within Arkham in the flashback sequence. Then, the chip containing a copy of his DNA and memories was burned out just to make sure he won't be coming back. But there is a bit of a cheat with his permanent death, as the event occurs at the far end of the universe-at-large's history, allowing him to show up in stories taking place earlier; ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' took advantage of this.]]

* MadScientist: At ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', he claims to be one. FridgeBrilliance if you think that he must have been creating Joker Venom from common chemicals:

* MasterPoisoner: He makes all of his own toxins.

* MultipleChoicePast:
** "Mad Love" demonstrates that he has offered several {{Freudian Excuse}}s to those who ask. Batman even lampshades it to Harley.

** "Joker's Millions" has him getting enraged [[spoiler:at a dead rival who conned him with a fake UnexpectedInheritance. Like a SoreLoser, he shoots the VideoWill in anger]].

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: Preventing this from happening becomes his primary motivation in "Joker's Millions." Realizing the UnexpectedInheritance he got from "King" Barlowe [[spoiler:was mostly CounterfeitCash, the clown is torn between admitting he's been had by a dead man (and become Gotham's punchline), going to jail for tax evasion, or returning to crime to save his image]].

* GivingThemTheStrip: Batman tries to grab him, only to end up holding his cardigan, complete with a false set of arms.