Even Liu Kang falls for it.
Antoine Rotelli: What if we say no?
The Joker: Well, Tony, nobody wants a war. If we can't do business, why, we'll just shake hands and that'll be it.
From clowns to big kids to kids with big brains, you can count on them pulling out one of these eventually. Usually made by Acme Products or a competitor, these seem to appear everywhere in media.
Note that until recently, a true electric joy buzzer was just a thing of fancy; the traditional joy buzzer is actually a vibrating device that you wind up. However, there is now a gag device that will deliver a small, harmless shock (albeit at nowhere near the power of the device used by various villains).
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Ranma used a magical one on Mousse in the manga.
Comic Books
- Batman: The Joker. Since this is The Joker we're talking about, his version of the joy buzzer is frequently lethal to those foolish enough to shake hands with him, such as the gangster from Batman (1989) who got fried alive during a crimelord meeting. ("Oh, I got a live one here!")
- He also occasionally uses a version that is a needle poisoned with his Joker Venom, as seen in The Killing Joke when an unfortunate businessman, having just sold him an abandoned amusement park, shakes hands with him.
- In The Batman vs. Dracula, the Joker uses two in a fight, and when he exits down a waterfall he appeared to have electrocuted himself.
- In a crossover with Static Shock, the Joker uses one on Static with no effect. Static then returns the favor.
- Return of the Joker sees the joybuzzer used to destroy a microchip on the Joker's neck. Which was allowing him to take over the mind and body of Tim Drake, a now-retired Robin.
- And in Batman: The Brave and the Bold's Animated Adaptation of Emperor Joker, when the Clown Prince of Crime is accidentally powered up into a Reality Warper by Bat-Mite, he uses a superpowered version of the joybuzzer to shock Batman unconscious mid-sentence, in the same way that Emperor Palpatine uses his Force Lightning to shock Luke Skywalker into submission in the Star Wars episode Return of the Jedi.
- The picture at the top of the page is one of Joker's attacks in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
- It's also one of his combat moves in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
- The Joker of Batman ‘66 seems to have one that just kind of hurts for a second, rather than causing physical harm.
- Captain America used one on Iron Man in Marvel's Civil War event, shutting down his power armor with it. To be fair, what Cap used was a specially made device designed to do exactly that, not a joybuzzer. Sure, there was a similarity, but it was a purpose-designed device built to use against Stark.
- The Electric Joybuzzer is a key item in the armoury of trickster characters (i.e. most of the heroes) in British children's comics such as The Beano and The Dandy.
- The Simping Detective: Jack Point keeps one that functions as more of a cutting laser. Since nobody ever bothers to frisk for one, he finds it useful for cutting ropes whenever he's tied to a chair.
Fan Fic
- When The Prankster Socrates gets cloned in Calvin and Hobbes: The Series, he quickly finds that he is very annoying. When the two declare a prank war, they shake on it, leading to them both being shocked by the other's joy buzzer.
- In the Darkwing Duck fanfiction series, Negaverse Chronicles, Quackerjack invents one to try on Megavolt...
- The Joker (obviously) uses one in an unfortunate high school jock in The Last Son.
"50,000-volt joy-buzzer; slays 'em, every time!
Film
- Featured prominently in Who Framed Roger Rabbit: "The hand buzzer. Still our biggest seller." Marvin Acme's joy buzzer was designed to look like a fancy jeweled ring befitting a millionaire businessman/prankster.
Live-Action TV
- In one Sesame Street Muppet sketch, the prankster Harvey Kneeslapper intended to use one of these for a gag involving the number 5.
- In Supernatural a confused kid with Reality Warping powers turned a normal joybuzzer into this. It not only electrocuted a man, it was later used to cook a ham. "That'll do, pig," indeed.
- On The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon rigs one up to use on Howard, powerful enough to nearly knock himself out when he tested it. When he uses it on Howard, however, he appears to collapse from a heart attack and is forced to administer a syringe of adrenaline straight to the heart, Pulp Fiction style. Of course, Howard was faking it and it was all an elaborate counter-prank. Sheldon facepalms himself... and knocks himself out with his own buzzer.
Video Games
- Destroyman of No More Heroes uses this during the pre-battle on Travis. He seriously thought he was going to die laughing from how Travis fell into it.
- He tries the same trick in the sequel against Shinobu, but she senses something's wrong and cuts his hand off mid-shake.
- This is one of the pranks Sims can pull on each other in The Sims 2. It makes the camera shake if it happens on-screen.
- You can get one in Kingdom of Loathing from the skill Summon Hilarious Objects. When equipped, it provides a skill that deals damage if your foe falls for it. they never fall for it.
Webcomics
- Riff's Omnitaser
Joy-50 from Sluggy Freelance. Justified since it's as large as a joybuzzer would realistically need to be for that sort of electrocution.
- Bangladesh DuPree in Girl Genius found an unconventional use for a tweaked medical device installed on her hand after it was crushed in the previous fight, that is more in line with her personality.
- Avey: The titular character greets Coneboy with this.
Web Original
- In Arfenhouse: Teh Movie, Piakchu uses one of these on Joe. The buzzer then flies off shouting "SO LONGG, SUCKKKREZA!" Yeah, it's a weird movie.
- Death Battle: In "The Joker vs. Sweet Tooth", The Joker uses his lethal joybuzzer to shock Needles Kane in the fight but it's only a minor inconvenience since Needles has survived the electric chair before.
Western Animation
- Daffy Duck - specifically, "Daffy Dilly" and The Stupor Salesman.
- One of the pranks pulled by Pinkie Pie in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Griffon the Brush-Off".
- The Mickey Mouse short "Mickey's Rival" has a variation. After Mortimer plucks the buttons off Mickey's shorts, Mickey tries to do the same. He gets shocked, as Mortimer's buttons are connected to batteries hidden in his pockets.
- In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Monkey tries to get Tigress with a "joy luck buzzer". Tigress doesn't fall for it, and doubts anyone is stupid enough to do so. But Po does. Repeatedly.
- Krusty does this in The Simpsons episode Homie the Clown when handing diplomas and shaking hands to the clown college graduates. Homer avoids this and runs off, but Krusty tackles and buzzes him several times.
- In SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick is a victim of this when he and Spongebob enter a prank store, and the buzzer looked like it really shocked Patrick.
- The Flintstone Kids had a prehistoric version of this. One episode has Barney's bratty younger brother Dusty "shock" Freddy with a primitive joybuzzer (a bee tied to his hand).
- In the Darkwing Duck episode "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain" Darkwing gets sneaked up on from behind and buzzed on the keister with an electric joy buzzer twice. First by Goselyn, later by a possessed Mr. Banana Brain.
- Becomes a Chekhov's Gun in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker when the Joker's buzzer is thrown loose in his struggle with Batman, only for Batman to get his hands on it and use it to immobilize the Joker as he was being strangled. Earlier it also dropped into the circuits of the Joker's Kill Sat control circuits, fusing them out.
- On The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "Circus Midgets", Stimpy falls victim to one. It leaves his nose glowing like a light bulb.
Real Life
- Truth in Television: You asked for it?.. There, first item (#13). If you'll look at others, you may need Brain Bleach, though. (NSFW)
- Here's one from the 1930 DeMoulin Bros. & Co. Fraternal Supply Catalog— one of many shock-inducing items available for those initiation ceremonies.
- There is also a working pen, which causes an electric shock when you push the button on top of the pen. The harder the push, the more shock. (Something similar is featured during the end credits once on World's Dumbest.... The commentators are not amused.
