History SelfDemonstrating / TheJoker

** ''Joker: Folie à Deux'' (something tells me I'll go [[Music/LadyGaga gaga]] over my new partner)

* I'm not the nickname to that floaty banana Dr. Screwball Jones fighting that [[WesternAnimation/WanderOverYander orange hillbilly]].

* And I'm ''also'' not [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} a round nightmare creature]]! Though I do pride myself on my own nightmarish qualities. At least with this guy, his name was spelled differently from mine most of the time, but they just ''had'' to rename him "[[DubNameChange Joker]]" in that one game!

Well! [[NoFourthWall Finally got my own page, did I?]] 'bout time! I was created in TheForties, for Pete's sake! I've been around way longer than [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Superham's]] [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} cousin]]! Why'd SHE get her own page first?![[note]]Rhetorical. I know exactly [[MostCommonSuperpower what you're all going to say]].[[/note]] Weelll, it's not ''too'' bad, I guess... at least I can still gloat to SelfDemonstrating/{{Lex|Luthor}}y about getting my own page first... As for [[{{SelfDemonstrating/Sinestro}} that guy with the yellow ring]]...? He only ''wishes'' he was half as scary as me!

Ah, well, who cares about all that? TheSeventies might have returned me to life, but it was TheEighties that were really my heyday. You might recall an obscure little book called ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' written by some nobody called Creator/AlanMoore. If you haven't... GET OVER THERE AND READ IT, AND DON'T CALL YOURSELF A FAN OF MINE UNTIL YOU'VE MEMORIZED ''EVERY WORD!''

And if you value your pitiful life, DO NOT call me "[[Memes/{{Reddit}} jonkler]]!" Just because I'm a clown, doesn't mean I always shoot for the ''low-hanging'' fruit! Get classier material, ''pretty please!'' Hehe!

Of course, a ''true'' fan would want all the gory details fleshed out, yes? So then. There's me, and there's [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} the Bat]], two peas in a pod. I'm the better-looking pea, of course, but that's beside the point. [[Creator/BillFinger Billy Finger]] and [[Creator/BobKane Bobby Kane]], inspired by both the playing card and Creator/ConradVeidt's ''deliciously'' chilling title character in the 1920s film ''Literature/TheManWhoLaughs'', conjured me up in 1940, [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks back when heroes were allowed to kill, everyone Asian spoke with their R's and L's mixed up, and the art was worse than something drawn by a six-year old brat with colored pencils]] ('course, Jerry Robinson said he had a hand too, but that's not my department)... I gave that flying rodent a good runaround in ''ComicBook/BatmanNumber1'' (I was modest enough to give him the title...), and soon enough, [[BreakoutVillain I began carving out my own little niche]].

But, as it turned out, that wasn't enough! No, they planned to whack me in my second appearance! Can you believe that?! But, someone (in this case, Whitney Ellsworth) came through for me, and I lived through a self-inflicted stabbing after all. So, instead of dying painfully, I only had to endure six months of agonizing hospital time! Those were the glory days... I'd show up, make a bit of trouble, kill a couple of people, get foiled by Fatman, and escape at the last minute. Gambling rackets, sniping FBI agents, I've seen (and done) it all. I was even executed once, y'know. 'course, TheGrimReaper [[JokerImmunity couldn't hold me]], and I came back... just in time to witness the rising of UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode. (Hoo... [[EveryoneHasStandards and some people thought]] ''[[EveryoneHasStandards I]]'' [[EveryoneHasStandards was evil and insane]]... heh heh heh...)

Maybe I should've stayed buried a bit longer, cuz, you all know [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks what happened next]]. The Dork Knight and that brat Robin were joined by ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Bat-Girl]], Bat-Hound, ComicBook/BatMite (yeesh, what's next? [[BattleButler Bat-butler]]?), and [[ThouShaltNotKill no one was allowed to kill ever again]]. And we all lived happily ever after... NOT! Then again, I can't say that it was ever boring. I was allowed to play with bigger toys -- everything from my own utility belt to giant record players. ([[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys Where the heck does Gotham get all that stuff, anyhow?]]) I even managed to get all of Gotham City to marvel at my enormous [[HaveAGayOldTime BONER]]![[note]]By the way, when I said "Boner", I meant "Mistake". But I guess that's not as ''funny,'' is it?[[/note]]

Come UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks, I was finally allowed to roam free again, and what a joy it was! Blowing off people's heads with exploding cigars and feeding them to sharks! It seems that finally, the heads at DC Comics got brains - it was here that I got my own series! And it lasted all of... nine issues... [[{{Jobber}} And I had to lose most of the time.]]

But no, you don't care about any of that, do you? I bet you came to this page because you were so impressed by that [[Film/TheDarkKnight pencil trick]], or [[WebVideo/TheJokerBlogs my apocryphal shenanigans afterwards]]. No? [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman The dreadlocked barefoot monkey-man with that sexy, sexy laugh]], then? [[Series/Batman1966 Perhaps you remember the days when I faced off with]] Creator/AdamWest (who it looks like I [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} rubbed]] [[AdamWesting off on]]?) with [[Creator/CesarRomero a mustache]]? The [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse pointy-chinned me]] who's [[Creator/MarkHamill still]] fighting the {{Dark|IsNotEvil}} [[LightIsNotGood Side]]? The [[Creator/CameronMonaghan young, handsome]] version of me with the [[EvilRedhead fiery red hair]], running amok in Series/{{Gotham}}? (Too bad Lexy had to clone him into his [[WesternAnimation/ReignOfTheSupermen very own ersatz Superham]]!) The [[Film/Batman1989 meaty ol' me]] played by Creator/JackNicholson? The [[Film/SuicideSquad2016 tattooed fella]], coming to your [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Knightmares]] via [[Music/ThirtySecondsToMars a quick stop by]] [[Creator/JaredLeto ol' Cal Swanwick's pad]]? The [[Film/Joker2019 washed-up comedian turned giggling anarchist]] who [[Film/{{Gladiator}} ruled the Roman Empire]] [[Creator/JoaquinPhoenix once upon a time?]] Oh, what about the [[Film/TheBatman2022 mangled-looking maniac]] who's ready to take on [[Creator/RobertPattinson that sparkly vampire in a Batsuit]] after [[Film/{{Eternals}} saving the world]] [[Creator/BarryKeoghan from giant space gods?]] Or the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]-esque [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold me]], sounding a lot like [[JustForFun/CandleJack that jolly good sport who even I'm not crazy enough to address]]? Or was it [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins God's gift to Gotham, the world, and that Grinchy old bat]] (delivered [[AnAsskickingChristmas on Christmas Eve!]], even!)? Kept on giving, too, when, [[spoiler:instead of killing the second bird-brain, I tortured him into joining the dark side (just like I did with little Timmy in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Batman Beyond|ReturnOfTheJoker}}'' continuity), [[DeathFakedForYou faking his own death]], and becoming an [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Arkham Knight]]]], [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum years before taking over Arkham Asylum and turning into a twenty-foot tall muscleman]]! (Although [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity that one didn't end too well. Object lesson on steroid use, kids!]] [[spoiler: Oh yeah, and [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight I still continued to torture the drug-induced Bat-Jerky to the point of insanity from beyond the grave]]! What FUN! That is, until he managed to [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind lock me away forever in the depths of his subconscious.]] NO FAIR, BATSY! (How was I supposed to know that the [[ContrivedCoincidence exact moment]] I took over Batsy's psyche was the moment that Good ol' Doctor Crane was injecting him with enough fear toxin to make ''the entire eastern seaboard'' go bonkers...and thus ''I'' was the one that ended up getting scared, somehow protecting Fatman from psychological harm?)]]

* I'm also not related to that [[Series/TheJokersWild game show with the big slot machine]].[[note]] It's no casino built by Kaiser. At least ''it'' was a scheme worthy of me, the way he got me riled up and turned me loose on the place![[/note]]

* I'm also not related to that [[Series/TheJokersWild game show with the big slot machine]].

And if you value your pitiful life, DO NOT call me "[[Memes/{{Reddit}} jonkler]]!"

** Nor am I [[VideoGame/Persona2InnocentSin that cultist clown trying to bring Lovecraftian beasts]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext into the world with rumors]]. Avant garde ol' boy, you're far more ambitious than [[ComicBook/BatmanTheCult Blackfire and his sewer rats]] I'll give you that at least (although your god taking the form of [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler that hack painter]] of all things [[EvenEvilHasStandards costs you a ton of points in my book]]). That wannabe successor of yours [[VideoGame/Persona2EternalPunishment Leo]] certainly pulled off my act better in that second go around![[note]]Out of all the edgy, two-bit chumps [[Characters/PersonaRecurring Iggy]]'s meddling kids come across in their [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Poké]]-[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei demon]] adventures, the only ones to even come ''close'' to understanding me was [[VideoGame/Persona4 some cop out in the sticks]] and [[VideoGame/Persona5 that prince with the daddy issues]]. They oughta transfer to Gotham, they'd love it down here! [[Webcomic/{{Hiimdaisy}} Talk about all the murders you want]] while [[EvilMentor the so-called Prince can learn from the best]] that life gets a lot more fun once you rip that MaskOfSanity off. I can have more [[FriendOnTheForce Friends on the Force]] than Batsy usually does![[/note]]

* And I'm not [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates that lap dog butler serving some dragon brat]]. Don't think [[DubNameChange changing your name to Jakob]] or that [[CosmicPlaything cosmic punchline]] [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Arthur}} of a knight]] will keep you safe from me, boy-o![[labelnote:By the way...]][[Characters/FireEmblemFatesNohrRetainersAndOthers Peri]] my dear I've heard a ton about you, slicing and dicing poor saps whenever [[Characters/FireEmblemFatesNohrRoyalFamily the not so great Xander]] isn't being daddy's attack dog. Gotta say... [[VillainRespect well done kiddo]]! You're far more fun than [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Henry}} Lord Bluey's birdbrain mage]], although you're wasting your talents in [[CrapsackWorld Gotham's medieval cousin]]. If there's one thing I can't stand it's wasted talent. Just say the word and I can make a house call to "[[DeadlyEuphemism convince]]" that [[Characters/FireEmblemFatesCorrin insufferable goodie-goodie dragon]] to let you serve someone who can teach you a thing or two...[[/labelnote]]
* I'm ''also'' not [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} a round nightmare creature]]! Though I do pride myself on my own nightmarish qualities. At least with this guy, his name was spelled differently from mine most of the time, but they just ''had'' to rename him "[[DubNameChange Joker]]" in that one game!

* I'm ''also'' not [[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} a round, clownish nightmare creature]]! Though I do pride myself on my own nightmarish qualities. At least with this guy, his name was spelled differently from mine most of the time, but they just ''had'' to rename him "[[DubNameChange Joker]]" in that one game!

** Nor am I [[VideoGame/Persona2InnocentSin that cultist clown trying to bring Lovecraft's slimy monsters]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext into the world with rumors]]. Avant garde ol' boy, you're far more ambitious than [[ComicBook/BatmanTheCult Blackfire and his sewer rats]] I'll give you that at least (although bringing back [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler that hack painter]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards costs you a ton of points in my book]]). That wannabe successor of yours [[VideoGame/Persona2EternalPunishment Leo]] certainly pulled off my act better in that second go around![[note]]Out of all the edgy, two-bit chumps [[Characters/PersonaRecurring Iggy]]'s meddling kids come across in their [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Poké]]-[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei demon]] adventures, the only ones to even come ''close'' to understanding me was [[VideoGame/Persona4 some cop out in the sticks]] and [[VideoGame/Persona5 that prince with the daddy issues]]. They oughta transfer to Gotham, they'd love it down here! [[Webcomic/{{Hiimdaisy}} Talk about all the murders you want]] while [[ToxicFriendInfluence the so-called Prince can learn from the best]] that life get's a lot more fun once he rips that MaskOfSanity off. I can have more [[FriendOnTheForce Friends on the Force]] than Batsy usually does![[/note]]

'Course, any version of me is good as long as you don't think I'm [[ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} that other psychotic, fourth-wall breaking clown]][[note]]I resemble that remark![[/note]] who works for those Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} guys. I'm not really fond of Mr. Wilson, but I ''do'' love friending him on [[Website/{{Facebook}} that Facebook thingy]] and asking him to "do that pencil trick". [[MagnificentBastard It just gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside]]. Oh, and if you value your life[[note]]Unless, of course, you ''don't'' value it, then [[SchmuckBait who am I to stop what comes next!]][[/note]], please don't confuse me for:

* And I'm not [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates that lap dog butler serving some dragon brat]]. Don't think [[DubNameChange changing your name to Jakob]] or that [[CosmicPlaything cosmic punchline]] [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Arthur}} of a knight]] will keep you safe from me, boy-o![[labelnote:By the way...]][[Characters/FireEmblemFatesNohrRetainersAndOthers Peri]] my dear I've heard a ton about you, slicing and dicing poor saps whenever you're not serving [[Characters/FireEmblemFatesNohrRoyalFamily the not so great Xander]]. Gotta say... [[VillainRespect well done kiddo]]! You're far more fun than [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Henry}} Lord Bluey's birdbrain mage]], although you're wasting your talents in [[CrapsackWorld Gotham's medieval cousin]]. If there's one thing I can't stand it's wasted talent. Just say the word and I can make a house call to "[[DeadlyEuphemism convince]]" that [[Characters/FireEmblemFatesCorrin insufferable goodie-goodie dragon]] to let you serve someone who can teach you a thing or two...[[/labelnote]]